GB2404956A

GB2404956A - A coupling arrangement having a removable locking member

Info

Publication number: GB2404956A
Application number: GB0417741A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Peter Hart
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2003-08-14
Filing date: 2004-08-10
Publication date: 2005-02-16
Also published as: GB0417741D0; GB0319072D0

Abstract

A coupling apparatus comprises first 10 and second 12 members which are provided with recessed portions 18, 26 that align to provide a locking channel 18, 26. Locking means 14 may then be inserted into the locking channel 18, 26 in order to selectively secure the first 10 and second 12 members. The locking means may be a flexible wire 14 or a plurality of rotatable members such as ball bearings. Sealing means, such as O-rings 20, 28 may be provided on the first and second members 10, 12. Blocking means 32 may be provided to block the first and second members 10, 12 when they are disengaged.

Description

1 "Coupling Apparatus and Method" 3 The present invention relates to a

coupling 4 apparatus and a method of use, and particularly but not exclusively relates to a coupling apparatus and 6 method for use during the transfer of material from 7 one container or pipe to another container or pipe.

9 It is often desirable to join two or more components together such that the coupling between the 11 components may be selectively engaged and disengaged 12 by the user. Though many different coupling devices 13 exist and are used widely, these are often 14 cumbersome, and take time and/or skill to operate.

16 For instance, screw thread couplings are widely used 17 as a means of coupling a first component to a second 18 component and in many instances provide a 19 satisfactory solution. However, screw thread couplings have the disadvantage that, by their very 21 nature, they require rotation of the two components 22 relative to one another to engage or disengage the 1 coupling, and in some circumstances, providing such 2 relative rotation is difficult or not possible.

3 Also, ties, or coupling bands are often used in many 4 instances, but these often require large tension forces to be applied to them in order to tighten 6 them, and in some circumstances, the provision of 7 large tension forces may not be possible.

9 According to the present invention there is provided coupling apparatus comprising: 11 a first member having a recessed portion; 12 a second member having a recessed portion) and 13 a locking means; 14 wherein the first and second members are adapted to selectively engage with one another such 16 that the respective recessed portions of the first 17 and second members combine to provide a locking 18 means receiving channel.

Preferably, alignment of the respective recessed 21 portions of the first and second members provides 22 the locking means receiving channel.

24 According to the present invention, there is also provided a method of connecting the coupling 26 apparatus comprising the steps of: 27 attaching the first member to a first container 28 or pipe; 29 attaching the second member to a second container or pipe; 31 engaging the first and second members and 32 aligning the respective recessed portions of the 1 first and second members to create a locking means 2 receiving channel; and 3 inserting the locking means into the locking 4 means receiving channel.

6 According to the present invention there is also 7 provided a method of disconnecting the coupling 8 apparatus comprising the steps of: 9 removing the locking means from the locking means receiving channel; 11 disengaging the first member from the second 12 member.

14 Preferably, the second member comprises a throughbore adapted to accommodate the first member.

17 Preferably, the method of disconnecting the coupling 18 apparatus also comprises the step of selectively 19 blocking the throughbore of the first and/or second members.

22 Preferably, the first and/or second members are 23 substantially tubular.

Alternatively, the first member comprises a 26 substantially planar member, the diameter or width 27 of which is preferably equal to, or greater than the 28 diameter or width of the throughbore, and preferably 29 further comprises side walls adapted to pass within the inner bore of the first or second member.

1 Alternatively, the first member comprises a 2 substantially planar member further provided with 3 side walls adapted to pass over the outer 4 circumference of the second member. Preferably the side walls are made of a resilient material. More 6 preferably, the side walls comprise a radially 7 inwardly extending protrusion.

9 Preferably, the second member comprises a formation, which is preferably a recess formed on its outer 11 circumference and which is adapted to engage with 12 the inwardly extending protrusion.

14 Preferably, the first member is adapted at one end to form a flange to be attached to a first container 16 or pipe by a fixing means.

18 Preferably, the fixing means comprise bands which 19 may be tightened around the flange and the container or pipe.

22 Preferably, the locking means comprises a flexible 23 elongate member which preferably has a degree of 24 strength along its longitudinal axis and this provides the advantage that the elongate member can 26 more readily be inserted into the locking means 27 receiving channel. More preferably, the flexible 28 elongate member comprises a flexible wire which may 29 be formed from a metal such as steel or a suitable/ therrno-plastic material. Typically, the flexible 31 wire is provided with tapered ends.

1 Alternatively, the locking means comprises a 2 plurality of rotatable members which may be ball 3 bearings.

Preferably, the locking means is provided with a 6 gripping means, which may comprise a handle, at one 7 end. More preferably the handle is T-shaped.

9 Preferably, the recessed portion of the first and/or second member is adapted to accommodate the locking 11 means cross-sectional shape. More preferably the 12 recessed portion on the first and/or second member 13 is substantially semi-circular where the locking 14 means comprises a substantially circular cross sectioned wire, and the recessed portion on the 16 first and/or second member may comprise a C-shaped 17 groove.

19 Preferably, the recessed portion on the first member is provided around the outer circumference of the 21 first member.

23 Preferably, the recessed portion of the second 24 member is provided around the inner bore of the second member 27 Preferably, an aperture is provided in the second 28 member suitable to pass the locking means through, 29 such that the locking means may enter the locking means receiving channel.

1 Preferably, the second member is provided with a 2 gripping means recess adjacent the locking means 3 aperture.

Preferably, the first and second members are 6 provided with one or more shoulder portions which 7 abut when the first member is inserted into the 8 second member, in order to maintain the respective 9 recessed portions aligned with one another.

11 Preferably, the shoulder portions comprise a 12 shoulder surface which extends substantially 13 perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the first 14 and/or second members.

16 The shoulder portions may be provided by an end face 17 of the first and/or second members. Alternatively, 18 or in addition, the shoulder portions may be 19 provided by an internal or external face formed on the first and/or second members.

22 Preferably, the coupling apparatus further comprises 23 one or more sealing means which is typically 24 provided between, and which preferably acts between, the first and second members. More preferably 26 sealing means is provided on each of the first and 27 second members. Typically, the sealing means 28 comprises an 'O' ring seal made of rubber or any 29 other suitable material.

1 A pipe or conduit may be provided with a first 2 member at one end and a second member at the other 3 end.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be 6 described by way of example only, with reference to 7 the accompanying drawings, in which: 9 Fig. 1A is a partial cross-sectional side view of a male connector which forms part of the 11 coupling apparatus in accordance with the 12 present invention) 14 Fig. 1B is a side view of a first embodiment of a blocking means, in the form of a flush cap, 16 for blocking a female connector of Fig. ID, in 17 accordance with the present invention) 19 Fig. 1C is a side view of a second embodiment of a blocking means, in the form of an enlarged 21 cap, for blocking a female connector of Fig. 22 ID, in accordance with the present invention; 24 Fig. ID is a partial cross-sectional side view of a first embodiment of a female connector 26 which forms part of the coupling apparatus in 27 accordance with the present invention) 29 Fig. 1E is a partial cross-sectional side view of a third embodiment of a blocking means, in 31 the form of a snapping cap, for blocking the 1 female connector of Fig. ID, in accordance with 2 the present invention; 4 Fig. IF is a plan view of a wire, utilised in embodiments according to the present invention, 6 in its straightened position) 8 Fig. 1G is an isometric view of one an 'O' ring 9 utilised in embodiments according to the present invention) 12 Fig. 2 is a more detailed partial cross 13 sectional side view of the male connector of 14 Fig. lad 16 Fig. 3 is a more detailed partial cross 17 sectional side view of the female connector of 18 Fig. lDi and Fig. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of a 21 second embodiment of a female connector, 22 showing two barbs.

24 The embodiments of the coupling apparatus described below may be used to connect the outlet of one 26 container or pipe (not shown) to the inlet of 27 another container or pipe (not shown) via attachment 28 means (not shown) for the purpose of transferring 29 the contents of one to the other.

3] The coupling apparatus in accordance with the 32 present invention includes a male connector 10 1 which, in use, is adapted to interlock with a female 2 connector 12. A locking wire 14 is provided to lock 3 the male 10 and female 12 connectors together by the 4 user in the manner described subsequently. Also provided is a flush cap 32, an enlarged cap 34, and 6 a snapping cap 36 which, as will be described 7 subsequently, can each be used to block the internal 8 bore of the female connector 12 when the female 9 connector is disconnected from the male connector 10.

12 Referring to Fig. 1A and Fig. 2, the male connector 13 10 is of a substantially tubular form having a lip 14 16, a wire receiving inner groove 18 (which is substantially semi- circular in cross-section) and an 16 upper 'O' ring seal 20. The lip 16 projects 17 radially outwardly from the male connector 10 in 18 order to form a shoulder 70 around the circumference 19 of the connector 10. An abutment rim 72 is provided at the bottom of the connector 10. An upper flange 21 8 is provided, the outer surface of which is adapted 22 for connection to a first container or pipe (not 23 shown) and may be lengthened or shortened dependent 24 upon the strength of attachment means required to the first container or pipe. The flange 8 is 26 provided with one or more barb(s) 29 or other form 27 of projections to assist the gripping capabilities 28 of the attachment means. The flange 8 may also be 29 provided with a number of grooves (not shown) to assist the gripping capabilities of the attachments 31 means. The male connector 10 is preferably made of 32 an easily machinable but durable material such as 1 plastic, or a metal material such as steel, brass or 2 any other suitable metallic material, which has been 3 machined such that it has a wall cross sectional 4 profile 22 and a connecting portion 56.

6 Referring to Fig. ID and Fig. 3, the female 7 connector 12 is also of a substantially tubular form 3 having a ridge 24, a wire receiving outer groove 26 9 (which is substantially semi-circular in cross section) and a lower 'O' ring 28. A lower flange 6 11 is provided, the outer surface of which is adapted 12 for connection to the internal bore of an end of a 13 second container or pipe (not shown) and may also be 14 lengthened or shortened dependent upon the strength of attachment means required to the second container 16 or pipe. The flange 6 is preferably provided with 17 one (as shown in Fig. 3), or two (as shown in Fig. 18 4) or more barb(s) 31 or other form of projection(s) 19 to assist the gripping capabilities of the attachment means. The flange 6 may also be provided 21 with a number of grooves (not shown) to assist the 22 gripping capabilities of the attachments means. The 23 female connector 12 is also preferably made of an 24 easily machinable but durable material such as plastic or a suitable metal which has been machined 26 such that it has a wall cross section profile 30 and 27 a connecting portion 58. The profile 30 has a 28 reduced diameter portion provided by inwardly 29 projecting shoulder 74 which extends around the internal diameter of the female connector 12. The 31 skilled reader will note that the diameter of the 32 inner profile of the female connecting portion 58 is ll 1 designed to accept the diameter of the outer profile 2 of the male connecting portion 56.

4 The flush cap 32 is a solid disc 60 made of a suitable material such as plastic 60 which has an 6 inner wire receiving groove 38 (which is 7 substantially semi-circular in cross-section). An 8 'O' ring 40 is provided around the circumference of 9 the disc 60.

11 The enlarged cap 34 is also a solid disc made of a 12 suitable material such as plastic 60 which has an 13 inner wire receiving groove 42 (which is 14 substantially semi-circular in cross-section) and an 'O' ring 44. The enlarged cap 34 additionally 16 comprises a protruding cap head 46 which allows the 17 user to position, install and remove the cap 34 from 18 the coupling apparatus.

The 'O' rings 20, 28, 40, 44 are arranged such that 21 there is at least one 'O' ring provided between the 22 internal bore of the coupling apparatus and the 23 interlock provided by the locking wire 14 (which 24 will be described subsequently) and serve to form a seal which prevents material from escaping from the 26 internal bore of the coupling apparatus between the 27 connectors 10, 12 and are made of any suitable 28 material such as rubber compounds. Examples of 29 suitable rubber compounds include E.P.D.M or NITRILE. Thus, the 'O' rings 20, 28, 40, 44 provide 31 a sealing means.

1 The snapping cap 36 comprises a plastic disc 49 2 which has flexible side walls 48 protruding downward 3 from the disc 49. The side walls have a protrusion 4 50 extending inwardly from the side walls 48.

6 The locking wire 14 is formed of a flexible steel 7 wire 54 which has tapered ends 52. The locking wire 8 14 could also be made of any other suitable material 9 such as plastic, or it could take the form of a string of ball bearings which would be particularly 11 suitable if the coupling is to be subjected to 12 rotary movement during operation.

14 In use, the male connector 10 is attached to an end of a first container or pipe (not shown) by any 16 suitable method, such as strapping (not shown) which 17 is tightened around the outlet (not shown) of the 18 first container and the flange 8 of the male 19 connector 10, such that the outlet of the first container is held tightly against the flange 8 and 21 is sealed with respect thereto. It will be 22 understood by the reader that any number of 23 strapping bands could be tightened around the flange 24 8 in this way to ensure that a secure attachment to the first container is made. In this regard, the 26 length of the flange 8 may be increased or decreased 27 during manufacture to accommodate a greater or fewer 28 number of attachment bands, as required by the 29 specific situation.

1 In a similar manner, the female connector 12 is 2 attached to the second container by tightening the 3 inlet of the second container around the flange 6.

An example of a suitable first container or pipe 6 would be a pipe for transferring drill cuttings from 7 a borehole drilling operation created during 8 hydrocarbon or water exploration although many other 9 forms of container or pipe could be used here. An example of a suitable second container is a flexible 11 elongate container for transporting drill cuttings 12 such as that described in British Patent Application 13 No. 0205748.7 and International Patent Application 14 no PCT/GB2003/000995, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference, though the 16 coupling apparatus could be used on virtually any 17 container or pipe.

19 When material is to be transferred from the first container or pipe to the second container or pipe, 21 the male and female connectors 10, 12 (which are in 22 this example respectively attached to the first and 23 second containers or pipes but which could be 24 respectively attached to the second and first containers or pipes) are manually brought into line 26 with each other and the lower connecting portion 56 27 of the male connector 10 is then inserted into the 28 inner bore of the female connector 12 such that it 29 is adjacent the upper connecting portion 58 of the female connector 12. The skilled reader will note 31 that when inserted in this way, the shoulder 70 of 32 the male connector lip 16 abuts against the female 1 connector ridge 24 and the rim 72 of the male 2 connector 10 abuts against the inwardly projecting 3 shoulder 74 of the female connector 12. When this 4 occurs the semi-circular profile of the wire receiving inner groove 18 and the wire receiving 6 outer groove 26 forms a wire receiving groove having 7 a circular cross section around the circumference of 8 the male and female connector 10, 12. At the same 9 time, 'O' ring 20 is compressed between the lower connecting portion 56 of the male connector 10 and 11 the internal diameter of connecting portion 58 of 12 the female connection 12. The male and female 13 connectors 10, 12 are then locked together by 14 inserting the locking wire 14 through an aperture (not shown) in the ridge 24 into the gap created by 16 the inner groove 18 and the outer groove 26. The 17 position of the locking wire 14 once inserted is 18 indicated for clarity by dashed lines as 14A in 19 Figs. 2 and 3. The locking wire 14 is progressed around the circumference of the grooves 18, 26 by 21 manually pushing the other end or the portion of the 22 wire 14 remaining outside the aperture until the 23 majority of the entire length of the wire 14 is 24 inserted into the gap created by the outer and inner grooves 18, 26. The tapered ends 52 of the locking 26 wire 14 assist in the insertion of the wire 14 into 27 the aperture in this regard by minimizing the risk 28 of the wire 14 catching on the inner walls of the 29 locking means channel 14A.

31 During operation, when a force which tends to pull 32 the connectors 10, 12 apart is imparted on them 1 (such as gravity or the force of the material 2 passing through the coupling or by any other force), 3 the presence of the locking wire 14 in the 4 substantially circular gap created by the longitudinal and coaxial alignment of the outer and 6 inner grooves 18, 26 prevents the connectors 10, 12 7 from parting since the locking wire 14 abuts against 8 the lower edge of the inner groove 18 and the upper 9 edge of the outer groove 26.

11 When locked together, the connectors 10, 12 provide 12 connection means having a continuous, co-axial and 13 sealed internal bore (not shown) of a constant 14 internal diameter suitable for securely transferring material from the first container to the second or 16 vice versa.

18 When the transfer of material is complete, the 19 connectors 10, 12 can easily be disconnected by removing the locking wire 14 from the gap created 21 between the inner and outer grooves 18, 26. This 22 may be done by pulling the locking wire at one end, 23 which may be provided with a gripping means such as 24 a T-shaped handle (not shown) or the like, until the other end is pulled out from the aperture. A 26 suitably shaped recess may be formed on the outer 27 surface of the female connector 12, adjacent the 28 aperture which accepts the locking wire 14, such as 29 a T-shaped recess (not shown) into which the T shaped handle may locate when the locking wire is 31 located within the inner 18 and outer 26 grooves.

32 The male and female connectors 10, 12 are then free 1 to be pulled apart by the user by pulling on the T 2 shaped handle of the locking wire 14 or by any other 3 means in order to withdraw the locking wire 14 from 4 the inner and outer grooves 18, 26 to disconnect or unlock the coupling apparatus.

7 When the second container has been filled with 8 material it is often desirable to block the internal 9 bore of the female connector 12 in order to prevent the material from escaping from the second container 11 during transit or handling etc. One way of doing 12 this is to attach a blocking means such as a locking 13 cap 32 to the female connector 12 which operates in 14 a similar manner to the locking mechanism used to connect the male connector 10 to the female 16 connector 12 as previously described. The locking 17 cap 32 has an 'O' ring seal 40 and a wire receiving 18 groove 38 similar to the connecting portion 56 of 19 the male connector 10. The locking cap 32 is provided with a solid disc 60 which provides the 21 necessary obstruction in the inner bore of the 22 female connector 12. The height of the locking cap 23 32 is such that when it is inserted into the inner 24 bore of the female connector 12 its upper surface sits flush with the upper edge of the lip 24. This 26 has the advantage that the cap is less likely to be 27 knocked off the connector during handling of the 28 second container whilst also being relatively less 29 expensive to manufacture since a smaller amount of (often expensive) material is required in the cap 31 32.

1 An alternative cap is shown in Fig. 1C where a 2 protruding cap head 46 is provided on the cap 34.

3 This has the advantage of providing a gripping 4 surface which allows the user to manipulate the cap 34 whilst removing and installing it on the 6 connector 12.

8 Referring to Fig. 1E, the snapping cap 36 is another 9 alternative method of blocking the female connector 12. When the inner bore of the female connector is 11 required to be blocked, the snapping cap 36 is 12 pushed onto the female connecting portion 58. As 13 the protrusion 50 around the circumference of the 14 cap is progressed down the outer diameter of the connecting portion 58, the protrusion 50 is adapted 16 to displace outwardly due to the resilience of the 17 flexible side walls 48. Upon reaching an indent 62 18 in the outer wall of the connecting portion 58, the 19 protrusion is pulled inwardly by the resilience of the side wall 48. In this way the protrusion 50 21 holds the disc 49 tightly against the lip 24, 22 thereby sealing in the contents of the second 23 container.

The skilled reader will realise that the internal 26 bore of the male connector 10 may also be blocked in 27 a similar way as that described above by providing 28 suitably adapted and co-operatively shaped 29 equivalent blocking means to any one, more than one or all of the flush cap 32, extended cap 34 or 31 snapping cap 36 of the female connector 12.

1 The embodiments of the invention herein described 2 provide a secure coupling device which is quick to 3 connect and disconnect with a minimum of skill 4 required by the user. Embodiments of the invention are suited for a variety of coupling applications 6 but a particularly preferred application relates to 7 coupling a first conduit leading from a drill 8 cuttings container to a flexible and preferably 9 readily transportable second container, since the embodiments provide the advantage of providing a 11 quick yet secure means of coupling the second 12 container to the first conduit, and also provide for 13 quick disengagement of the connections 10, 12.

Modifications and improvements may be made to the 16 foregoing embodiments without departing from the 17 scope of the invention. For instance, the barb(s) 18 29, 31 could be replaced by a conventional annular 19 ring pipe flange (not shown) having a plurality of bolt holes therein to allow the male 10 and/or 21 female 12 connector to be bolted to a 22 correspondingly shaped annular ring pipe flange 23 provided on the respective container or pipe.

24 Alternatively, the barb(s) 29, 31 could be replaced by either an internal or external screw threaded 26 connection to allow the male 10 and/or female 12 27 connector to be screwed to a corresponding screw 28 threaded coupling provided on the respective 29 container or pipe. Also, the male 10 and/or female 12 connector could be formed integrally with, or 31 could be heat fused or cemented with solvent, to 32 either end of a pipe (not shown) having a similar 1 internal diameter in order to provide a quick and 2 efficient method of providing a sealed conduit or 3 pipeline, providing each individual section of pipe 4 within the pipeline with the quick release advantages of the coupling apparatus.

Claims

1 Claims 3 1. Coupling apparatus comprising: 4 a first member having a

recessed portion; a second member having a recessed portion; and 6 a locking means; 7 wherein the first and second members are 8 adapted to selectively engage with one another such 9 that the respective recessed portions of the first and second members align to provide a locking means 11 receiving channel.

13 2. Coupling apparatus according to claim 1, 14 wherein the second member comprises a throughbore adapted to accommodate the first member.

17 3. Coupling apparatus according to either of 18 claims 1 or 2, wherein the first member is 19 substantially tubular.

21 4. Coupling apparatus according to any of claims 1 22 to 3, wherein the second member is substantially 23 tubular.

5. Coupling apparatus according to any of claims 26 1, 2 or 4 when not dependent upon claim 3, wherein 27 the first member comprises a substantially planar 28 member.

6. Coupling apparatus according to claim 5 when 31 dependent upon claim 2, wherein the diameter of the 1 first member is at least equal to the diameter of 2 the throughbore.

4 7. Coupling apparatus according to either of claims 5 or 6, when dependent on claim 2, wherein 6 the planar member further comprises side walls 7 adapted to pass within the inner bore of the first 8 or second member.

8. Coupling apparatus according to any of claims 5 11 to 7, wherein the planar member is provided with 12 side walls adapted to pass over an outer 13 circumference of the second member.

9. Coupling apparatus according to claim 8, 16 wherein the side walls comprise a resilient 17 material.

19 10. Coupling apparatus according to either of claims 8 or 9, wherein the side walls comprise a 21 radially inwardly extending protrusion.

23 11. Coupling apparatus according to claim 10, 24 wherein the second member is provided with a formation adapted to engage with the inwardly 26 extending protrusion.

28 12. Coupling apparatus according to claim 11, 29 wherein the formation comprises a recess formed on an outer circumference of the second member.

1 13. Coupling apparatus according to any preceding 2 claim, wherein the first member is adapted to form a 3 flange to be attached to a first container or pipe 4 by a fixing means.

6 14. Coupling apparatus according to claim 13, 7 wherein the fixing means comprises bands which may 8 be tightened around the flange and the container or 9 pipe.

11 15. Coupling apparatus according to any preceding 12 claim, wherein the locking means comprises a 13 flexible elongate member.

16. Coupling apparatus according to claim 15, 16 wherein the locking means has a sufficient degree of 17 strength along its longitudinal axis to assist 18 insertion of the elongate member into the locking 19 means receiving channel.

21 17. Coupling apparatus according either of claims 22 15 or 16, wherein the flexible elongate member 23 comprises a flexible wire.

18. Coupling apparatus according to any of claims 1 26 to 14, wherein the locking means comprises a 27 plurality of rotatable members.

29 19. Coupling apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the rotatable members comprise ball 31 bearings.

1 20. Coupling apparatus according to any preceding 2 claim, wherein the locking means is provided with a 3 gripping handle.

21. Coupling apparatus according to any preceding 6 claim, wherein the recessed portion of the first 7 member is adapted to accommodate at least a portion 8 of the locking means cross-sectional shape.

22. Coupling apparatus according to any preceding 11 claim, wherein the recessed portion of the second 12 member is adapted to accommodate at least a portion 13 of the locking means cross-sectional shape.

23. Coupling apparatus according to any preceding 16 claim, wherein the or each recessed portion is 17 substantially semi-circular.

19 24. Coupling apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the locking means comprises a wire having a 21 cross section capable of being inserted into the or 22 each semi-circular portion.

24 25. Coupling apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the recessed portion on the first 26 member is provided around the outer circumference of 27 the first member.

29 26. Coupling apparatus according to any of claims 2 to 25, wherein the recessed portion on the second 31 member is provided around the inner bore of the 32 second member.

2 27. Coupling apparatus according to any preceding 3 claim, comprising an aperture provided in a portion 4 of the second member adapted to allow the locking means to be passed therethrough such that the 6 locking means may enter the locking means receiving 7 channel.

9 28. Coupling apparatus according to claim 27 when dependent upon any of claims 20 to 26, wherein the 11 second member is provided with a gripping handle 12 recess adjacent the aperture.

14 29. Coupling apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the first and second members are 16 provided with at least a shoulder portion which abut 17 against one another when the first member is 18 inserted into the second member, in order to 19 maintain the respective recessed portions aligned with one another.

22 30. Coupling apparatus according to claim 29, 23 wherein the shoulder portions comprise a shoulder 24 surface which extends substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the first and second 26 members.

28 31. Coupling apparatus according to any of claims 29 29 to 31, wherein the shoulder portions are provided by an end face of the first and second members.

1 32. Coupling apparatus according to any of claims 1 2 to 30, wherein the shoulder portions are provided by 3 an internal or external face formed on the first and 4 second members.

6 33. Coupling apparatus according to any preceding 7 claim comprising sealing means provided between the 8 first and second members.

34. Coupling apparatus according to claim 33, 11 wherein the sealing means is provided on each of the 12 first and second members.

14 35. Coupling apparatus according to either of claims 33 or 34, wherein the sealing means comprises 16 an 'O' ring seal.

18 36. A female coupling member adapted for coupling 19 with a male member, the female coupling member comprising: 21 a recessed portion; wherein the recessed 22 portion is arranged to align with a recessed portion 23 provided on the male member when the male and female 24 members are engaged to form a receiving channel for a locking means.

27 37. A male coupling member adapted for coupling to 28 a female member, the male coupling member 29 comprising: 3() a recessed portion; wherein the recessed 31 portion is arranged to align with a recessed portion 32 provided on the female member when the male and 1 female members are engaged to form a receiving 2 channel for a locking means.

4 38. A coupling method comprising the steps of: attaching a first member having a recessed 6 portion to a first container or pipe; 7 attaching a second member having a recessed 8 portion to a second container or pipe; 9 engaging the first and second members and aligning the respective recessed portions of the 11 first and second members to create a locking means 12 receiving channel; and 13 inserting locking means into the locking means 14 receiving channel.

16 39. A coupling method according to claim 37, 17 further comprising the steps of: 18 removing the locking means from the locking 19 means receiving channel; and disengaging the first member from the second 21 member.

23 40. A coupling method according to claim 39, 24 wherein the method further comprises the step of blocking a throughbore of one or both of the first 26 and second members.

28 41. Coupling apparatus substantially as 29 hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 42. A coupling method substantially as hereinbefore 2 described with reference to the accompanying 3 drawings.