GB2168775A - Supporting of insulated piping or ducting - Google Patents

Abstract

A support (10) for a thermally and/or sound insulated pipe (11) comprise upper and lower sleeve portions (15, 16), each having a relatively rigid backing (17) and an integral layer (18) of insulating material, to define an insulated supporting sleeve encircling the pipe. The sleeve portions (15, 16) have cooperating outwardly directed flanges which are secured together and to a supporting beam (12, 12A) for the pipe by threaded tie rods (20). At least a portion of the inner surface of the insulating material (18) is coated with a bearing material to allow the pipe to slide with respect thereto, when subject to temperature variations, without damaging the insulating material. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Supporting of insulated piping or ducting This invention relates to the supporting of thermally and/or sound insulated piping or ducting, e.g. in building services.

Such pipes or ducts are often supported on horizontal cross-members at points spaced along their length. At each support point, it is desirable to maintain the integrity of the insulating material applied to the pipe or duct across the support point whilst allowing for expansion or contraction of the pipe or duct in use. In my British Patent No.

1,317,972, a pipe support is described which comprises a body of thermal insulating material encircling the pipe and secured thereto by a shell having a flat bottom portion for sliding engagement with the upper surface of a supporting crossmember. The pipe support is located with respect to the cross-member by a large inverted U-bolt or strap passing over the top of the support and secured to the angle-iron cross-member on each side by means of nuts. However, it has been found in practice that sometimes an undersize securing Ubolt or strap is used on site so that the pipe support is clamped tightly against the cross-member and cannot readily move with respect thereto.

Thermal expansion of the pipe then causes damaging of the annulus of thermal insulating material surrounding the pipe.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved means of supporting a thermally and/or sound insulated pipe or duct on a cross-member to accommodate expansion or contraction of the pipe or duct without damaging insulating material applied around it at its support position on the crossmember. It is also desirable to provide such a means in which the insulating material is readily protected from water.

The invention provides a pipe or duct support comprising upper and lower parts which cooperate to provide an annulus of insulating material around the pipe and an outer protective sleeve covering the outer periphery of said annulus, the insulating material of each part being integral with the protective sleeve portion thereof, wherein the two pairs of abutting ends of said protective sleeve portions have cooperating outwardly extending flanges which are fastened to a cross-member at a support location for the pipe or duct to clamp firmly said parts with respect to one another and with respect to the cross-member, and wherein at least a portion of the inner surface of said insulating material is adapted to act as a sliding bearing surface to permit sliding movement of the pipe therein.

Said flanges preferably lie in planes generally parallel to a plane containing the upper support surface of said cross-member.

It is preferred that said upper and lower parts each comprise half sections of said support and are preferably generally similar so that a single type of half section is required for both the upper and lower parts.

The protective sleeve may extend axially beyond said annulus in each direction to provide annular spaces within the sleeve to receive end portions of lagging applied to the pipe.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic end view of a pipe support embodying the invention; and Figure 2 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a half section of the support of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a pipe support 10 for locating a pipe 11 on a cross-member 12.

The cross-member 12 in Figure 1 is in the form of an extended channel section member. The free ends of the side walls of the channel member are turned inwardly and then downwardly to form a pair of opposed flanges 13, 14. Specially shaped nuts 15 are located within the channel member to allow screw-threaded connecting elements to be secured with respect thereto. Each nut is shaped such that it can be passed between the flanges 13, 14 into the channel-member 12 and then rotated to lock therein with grooves provided in the upper surface of the nut to receive the downturned edges of the flanges 13, 14. The nuts may be springloaded to maintain the engagement thereof with the flanges. Such a system is made for example by Unistrut Ltd., Unistrut House, Edison Road, Elms Industrial Estate, Bedfor, MK41 OHU and sold under the name "Unistrut" system.

Alternatively, the cross-member could be in the form of an angle-iron which is slotted or is drilled to receive a connecting element. Such an angleiron cross-member 12A is illustrated in Figure 1 and in Figure 2.

The pipe support 10 comprises a pair of semi-circular parts 15, 16 which cooperate to form an annulus engaging around the pipe 11. Each part 15, 16 comprises a semi-circular metallic backing shell 17 having fixed centrally therein a narrower semicircular body 18 of insulating material, e.g. cork or other suitable heat and/or sound insulating material, and having sufficient rigidity to be substantially incompressible under the weight of the pipe.

The body 18 may, for example, be attached to the backing shell 17 by an adhesive or by using one or more grub screws or both. Each backing shell has an outwardly directed flange 19 at each end thereof. The two parts 15, 16 are secured together and to the cross-member 12/12A by threaded rods 20 as illustrated in Figure 1.

The internal surface of the body 18 of insulating material is adapted to provide a sliding bearing for the pipe 11, for example by being provided with a coating of a bearing material, e.g. polytetrafluoroethylene.

In use, the pipe 11 is lagged and end portions of lagging material may be received in the annular spaces defined within the cooperating backing shells 15,16 on each side of the insulating material 18. Thus, the integrity of the insulation applied to the pipe is substantially maintained across the support portions thereof. Moreover, since the backing shell 15 covers in a continuous fashion the upper portion of the insulating material, that material is substantially waterproofed.

Temperature variations of material within the pipe 11 will cause longitudinal movements thereof and such movements are permitted by relative sliding of the pipe within the body 18 of insulating material without causing damage thereto.

Claims (11)

1. A pipe or duct support comprising upper and lower parts which cooperate to provide an annulus of heat and/or sound insulating material around the pipe and an outer protective sleeve covering the outer periphery of said annulus, the insulating material of each part being integral with the protective sleeve portion thereof, wherein the two pairs of abutting ends of said protective sleeve portions have cooperating outwardly extending flanges which are fastened to a cross-member at a support location for the pipe or duct to clamp firmly said parts with respect to one another and with respect to the cross-member, and wherein at least a portion of the inner surface of said insulating material, is adapted to act as a sliding bearing surface to permit sliding movement of the pipe therein.

2. A pipe or duct support according to Claim 1 wherein said flanges lie in planes generally parallel to a plane containing the upper support surface of said cross-member.

3. A pipe or duct support according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein said upper and lower parts each comprise similar half sections of said support.

4. A pipe or duct support according to any preceding Claim wherein the sleeve extends axially beyond said annulus in each direction to provide annular spaces within the sleeve to receive end portions of lagging applied to the pipe.

5. A pipe or duct support according to any preceding Claim wherein each set of cooperating outwardly extending flanges are fastened to said cross-member by an elongate tie member extending between the cross-member and the respective set of cooperating flanges and passing through apertures in the flanges.

6. A pipe or duct support according to Claim 5 wherein the cross-member has a generally horizontal upper support surface portion provided with a series of apertures therein to receive said elongate tie member.

7. A pipe or duct support according to Claim 5 wherein the cross-member is generally channelshaped in cross-section having a base portion and a pair of side walls upstanding therefrom with inwardly directed flange means provided at the upper ends of the side walls, respectively, and wherein a securing block is provided and adapted to be located within the channel-section of the cross-member and to be retained therein by engagement with said flange means, the block having a threaded aperture therein to cooperate with a threaded end portion of the tie member.

8. A pipe or duct support according to any preceding Claim wherein said outer protective sleeve is metallic.

9. A pipe or duct support according to any preceding Claim wherein a coating of bearing material is provided on at least a portion of the inner surface of said insulating material to provide said sliding bearing surface.

10. A pipe or duct support substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.

11. A pipe or duct when supported on a crossmember by a pipe or duct support as claimed in any preceding Claim.