GB2202775A

GB2202775A - Method and apparatus for forming the end of a pipe

Info

Publication number: GB2202775A
Application number: GB08704668A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Peter Raffels
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1987-02-27
Filing date: 1987-02-27
Publication date: 1988-10-05
Anticipated expiration: 2007-02-27
Also published as: GB8704668D0; GB2202775B

Abstract

Apparatus for flaring the end of a pipe such as an automotive brake or clutch fluid feed pipe, is provided in portable form comprising jaw means 12 to grip a pipe to be flared, a forming tool 14, and screw means 16 acting between the jaw means and the forming tool and manually actuable to flare the end of a pipe. The jaw means 12 is mounted on a self grip wrench 22 whereby the entire apparatus can be conveniently held in one hand and the screw actuator manipulated by the other hand using a tommy bar 20. The jaw means 12 includes a slot (42, Fig. 4) having at opposite ends thereof die recesses (44, 46) of differing shape. Further forming tools 48, 50 are provided, and each forming tool may have different shaped forming elements at its opposite ends. The jaws (30, 32, Fig. 2) are positively located relative to one another by a peg (28). <IMAGE>

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING THE END OF A PIPE This invention relates to a method and apparatus for forming the end of a pipe . An example of the application of the invention is to flaring the end of a metallic conduit for conveying brake fluid to a wheel cylinder in the braking system of a road vehicle. Although the invention is particularly applicable to the automotive industry , it is possible that it may have applications elsewhere.

In the situation where a road vehicle braking system is under maintenance it frequently happens that there is a requirement to replace a portion of a metallic conduit for the brake fluid . Such an operation may necessitate not only bending the conduit to accommodate the spacial requirements of the vehicle , but also the conduit itself needs to be suitably formed whereby it can be readily coupled in a fluid-type manner to the wheel cylinders or other hydraulic components at both ends of its length .

One widely used system for coupling such metallic conduits to wheel cylinders and the like is by means of an externally screw threaded collar inserted onto the conduit and adapted to co-operate with a flared end formed on the conduit or pipe. Thus , it will be appreciated that for such a system there is a need to be able to form a flared end on the pipe at its end conveniently and easily.

Previously available apparatus for pipe flaring operations of this kind is of the benchmounted kind , being of substantial size and weight , an#d necessitating the performance of the flaring operation at the bench and away from the vehicle itself. Such an arrangement may necessitate several stages in the production of a suitably formed pipe by the operative , in which he offers up to the relevant parts of the vehicle a length of standard unformed pipe , bends same and then cuts it to length , and finally flares the ends. It will be appreciated by anyone who has ever attempted to perform operations of this kind that even with skill and experience such an arrangement involving stagewise performance of a fitting operation with the necessity for returning to the vehicle to check spacial requirements several times is time consuming and inefficient.The Applicant proposes that a considerable improvement in this process could be achieved if the pipe flaring operation could be carried out in situ at or below the vehicle.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus offering improvements in relation to one or more aspects of matters discussed above , or generally According to the invention there is provided apparatus for forming the end of a pipe , and a method of forming the end of a pipe as defined in the accompanying claims The invention also provides a method and apparatus for forming the end of a pipe comprising any feature or combination of features disclosed herein and serving to meet one or more of the requirements or benefits of such apparatus and method as disclosed herein In an embodiment described below there is provided apparatus for forming the end of a pipe which is portable , whereby the pipe forming operation can be performed , for example , in situ below an automotive vehicle.In this way , standard piping can be suitably bent and/or cut to length and then formed with a flared end . These operations can be carried nut by the operative at or under the vehicle conveniently and relatively quickly without the need for several , or indeed any , visits to bench mounted apparatus. The apparatus comprises self-grip wrench means providing a handle on which jaw means for gripping a pipe to be formed is provided. The handle can be held in one hand and screw means can be manually actuated by the other hand . The arrangement of the support handle and the handle of the screw means disclosed below enables simple and easy avoidance of the application of twist to the pipe , and the whole forming operation can be performed quickly and easily.

Moreover , the provision of a locating pin on one of the jaws , arranged to enter a corresponding recess in the other , positively locates the jaws relative to each other and serves to provide a mounting for one side of the screw means , the mounting being reversible to enable the screw means to perform its function at either side of the jaw means whereby forming recesses at both ends of a pipe-gripping slot in the jaws can be selectively utilised.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 shows a plan view of pipe forming apparatus ; Fig. 2 shows a side elevation view of the apparatus of Fig. 1 the direction of viewing being indicated by arrow II in Fig. 1 ; Fig. 3 shows an end elevation view of the apparatus of Fig. 1 , the direction of viewing being indicated by arrow III in Fig. 1 ; Fig. 4 shows a detail of jaw means of the apparatus of Figs. 1 to 3 , as viewed in the direction indicated by arrows IV-IV in Fig. 3 ; Fig. 5 shows , somewhat diagrammatically a detail of a modified forming tool arrangement for use in the apparatus of Figs. 1 to 4 ; Fig. 6 shows an end view of the apparatus of Fig. 5 , the direction of viewing being indicated by arrow VI in Fig. 5 ; and Fig. 7 shows a further modification corresponding to that of Fig. 5.

As shown in the drawings , apparatus 10 for forming the end of a pipe comprises jaw means 12 to grip the pipe to be formed , a forming tool 14 to engage and form a pipe to be formed , and screw means 16 acting between the jaw means and the forming tool and actuatable to cause the forming tool to apply a forming thrust to a pipe to be formed Handle means 18 is provided on which the jaw means 12 is mounted , whereby the jaw means can be hand held while the screw means 16 is simultaneously manually actuated by means of a tommy bat 20 to form the end of a pipe.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 , the handle means 18 comprises means for actuating the jaw means 12 in the form of self grip wrench means 22 The screw means 16 comprises tommy bar 20 which provides a handle which can be rotated in a radial plane 24 with respect to the screw axis 26 of screw means 16 . Tommy bar 20 is spaced axially from handle means 18 on which jaw 12 is mounted As shown in Fig. 3 , jaw means 12 comprises locating means in the form of a dowel or peg 28 whereby one jaw 30 is postively located with respect to the other jaw 32 , during use . Peg 28 is mounted on jaw 32 and locates in a recess in jaw 30 . Moreover peg 28 provides an anchor for a linkage 34 connecting screw means 16 to the jaw means , for loading purposes.

As shown in Fig. 1 , linkage 34 is connected at its other end 36 to the wrench 22 at the pivot axis 40 for jaw means 12 As shown in Fig. 4 , jaw means 12 has formed therein a slot 42 to receive a pipe to be formed . The slot is formed in two complementary portions in the upper and lower jaw portions 30,32 . At the ends of the slot are provided recesses 44,46 forming dies into which a projecting portion of a pipe to be formed can be forced by the screw means 16 in a forming operation. Screw means 16 is adapted to be connected to the jaw means selectively for co-operation with both recess 44 and recess 46 , as will be more fully described below.

Likewise , the forming tool 14 , together with two alternative forming tools 48,50 , is reversible to provide two stages of forming.

Having now outlined the principal features of the apparatus , further details of these will now be described.

Jaw portions 30,32 of jaw means 12 are secured to upper and lower plates 52,54 which form an extension of handle means 18 for actuation thereby in the manner of a conventional self grip wrench Screw means 16 comprises a central boss 56,in which tommy bar 20 slides, and an integral threaded rod 58 received in a female thread formed in link 60 of linkage 34 to apply thrust to forming tool 14 . Link 60 is connected by a removable pin 62 to a fixed cross-member 64 mounted on jaw means 12 . At its other end , link member 60 is connected by a pivot pin 66 to a second Link member 68 which is freely pivoted on dowel rod 28 which extends between the two jaw portions 30,32.

By this construction , removal of pin 62 permits the linkage 34 to be disconnected from cross-member 64 at one side of jaw means 12 and re-attached to another cross-member 65 at the other side of the jaw means , by insertion of pin 62 into a corresponding recess 70 for the pin.

Turning now to the structure of handle means 18 , it will be seen from Fig. 2 that this is in the form of the corresponding part of a conventional self grip wrench and comprises the usual clamping lever 72 , release lever 74 , adjusting screw 76 and associated parts including a tension spring 78 . No further description of these parts is believed to be necessary Turning now to the details of the forming tools or punches 14,48 and 50 , these are shown in Figs. 1 and 5 to 7 . Punches 48 and 50 have respective plain ends 80 and 82 of cylindrical form for insertion into screw means 16 to receive actuating thrust . The forming end 84 of punch 48 is of conical form whereas the forming end 86 of punch 82 has a spigot 88 projecting from its end face to produce a different flared end on a pipe.

Use of the apparatus is as follows . A pipe to be formed is inserted into jaw means 12 by placing it in the slot 42 with its end flush with the jaw or die end . According to the form of the flare required , the pipe is placed so that the end to be formed projects either from recess 46 or recess 44 . The pipe is clamped in position by manipulation of the wrench means 22 The appropriate punch is inserted into screw means 16 and the latter is then actuated to form the required flared end as determined by the form of the dies provided in the jaw means 12 . It will be appreciated that upper jaw portion 30 is formed to complement exactly lower jaw portion 32 shown in Fig. 4 The punch and die forms shown in the drawings enable a variety of imperial and metric flared ends to be formed in one or more forming stages carried out in sequence.These stages include an initial compression and flaring stage which may be followed by a subsequent forming stage performed on the previously flared end . These details may be modified according to requirements of the pipe end formation required in any particular case Figs. 5 to 7 show details of the mounting of the punches with respect to the screw means 16 The actuating rod 58 of the latter is formed , as shown in Fig. 5 , with a cylindrical recess 90 to receive the cyanide-hardened punch and apply thrust thereto . Fig. 5 shows a double-ended punch 92 having a conical end 94 at one end and a spigot 96 having a taper towards its*,and projecting from a concave end face 98 .A knurled collar 100 projecting from the shaft of the punch is formed with a slot 102 to co-operate with link member 68 and prevent rotation of the punch and consequential scrubbing and malformation of the end flare on the tube Fig . 7 shows an alternative arrangement in which a single ended punch 104 having a conical forming end 106 has a flat end face 108 to which thrust is applied from rod 58 through a ball bearing 110 whereby rotation of the punch by the screw means is minimised and the need for anti-rotation means 100,102 is thereby avoided Many modifications may be made in the above embodiment while remaining within the scope of the * free end to facilitate removal of the spigot after use invention as defined in the accompanying claims these modifications including changes to the form of the dies and punches , and the arrangement of the jaw means and screw means with respect to the handle means The advantages provided by the portable apparatus disclosed above are believed to be self-evident in view of the long-accepted disadvantages of previously proposed apparatus . In addition , the provision of the double ended jaw means with its dies of differing form at opposite ends and the reversible punch arrangement disclosed above in relation to Fig. 5 provides a versatility to the apparatus which extends beyond the limits of the portable apparatus disclosed herein Amongst other modifications which could be made in the above-described embodiment while remaining within the scope of the invention are the following. Firstly , detailed changes in the form of the tool for forming the pipe end may of course be adopted to achieve any desired pipe end formation .Likewise , the co-operating recess or die provided in the jaw means is chosen to suit the application. In the above embodiment the alternative die forms at opposite ends of the jaws may provide either a right angle outward flare or a frusto-conical flare. As regards the latter a metric flare angle of 110 degrees or an Imperial flare angle of 90 degrees may be provided. Naturally , the pitch of the screw means may vary . In the above embodiment a screw thread pitch of approximately one millimetre or 26 threads per inch is adopted . The pitch depends upon the length of the hand lever used for actuating the screw means . Various modifications to the handle means for mounting the jaw means can be provided while still meeting the need for a conveniently holdable and actuable assembly . In the above embodiment use is made of a conveniently commercial product but details of the design of the latter are by no means essential to the proper performance of the invention.

In place of tommy bar 20 , boss 56 may be formed with a hexagon head for spanner actuation , or other manual actuation means may be provided.

Claims

1. Apparatus for forming the end of a pipe comprising jaw means to grip a pipe to be formed ; a forming tool to engage and form a pipe to be formed ; screw means acting between the jaw means and the forming tool and actuatable to cause said forming tool to apply a forming thrust to a pipe to be formed ; characterised by handle means on which said jaw means is mounted whereby the jaw means can be hand held while said screw means is simultaneously manually actuated to form the end of a pipe

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 characterised in that said handle means comprises means for actuating said jaw means

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 characterised in that said means for actuating said jaw means comprises self grip wrench means.

4. Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 characterised in that said screw means comprises a handle adapted to be rotated in a radial plane with respect to the screw axis of said screw means and spaced axially from said handle means on which said jaw means is mounted.

5. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims characterised in that said jaw means comprises locating means whereby one jaw is positively located with respect to the other jaw during use.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5 characterised in that said locating means comprises projection means on one jaw and recess means on the other jaw.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 characterised in that said projection means provides an anchor for said screw means with respect to the jaw means.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 characterised in that said screw means comprises a linkage connected between said projection means and pivot means for said jaw means

9. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims characterised in that said jaw means comprises a slot to receive said pipe , and an end recess in said slot and forming a die into which a projecting portion of a pipe to be formed can be forced by said screw means in the forming operation.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9 characterised in that an end recess is provided at both ends of said slot in said jaw means and said screw means is adapted to be connected to said jaw means selectively for co-operation with both ends of said slot means.

11. Apparatus according to claim 10 characterised in that said forming tool is reversible to provide two stages of forming

12. Apparatus for forming the end of a pipe substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.

13. A method of forming the end of a pipe comprising providing apparatus according to claim 1 , manually holding said apparatus by means of said handle means on which said jaw means is mounted , and simultaneously manually actuating said screw means to form the end of a pipe.

14. A method of forming the end of a pipe substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings

15. Apparatus for forming the end of a pipe comprising jaw means to grip a pipe to be formed, a forming tool to engage and form a pipe to be formed and screw means acting between the jaw means and the forming tool and actuatable to cause the forming tool to apply a forming thrust to a pipe to be formed characterised in that die means mountable in the jaw means has dies of differing form at its opposite ends whereby differing formed ends may be selectively provided on a pipe.

16. Apparatus for forming the end of a pipe comprising jaw means to grip a pipe to be formed a forming tool to engage and form a pipe to be formed', and screw means acting between the jaw means and the forming tool and actuatable to cause the forming tool to apply a forming thrust to a pipe to be formed characterised in that the forming tool has selectively usable forming elements at its opposite ends for use in pipe forming operations