GB2494307A

GB2494307A - An apparatus for breaking cast iron pipes

Info

Publication number: GB2494307A
Application number: GB201215793A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Paul Kevin Cook
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2011-09-05
Filing date: 2012-09-04
Publication date: 2013-03-06
Also published as: GB201208556D0; GB201215793D0; GB201115243D0

Abstract

This device has been designed and manufactured to break cast iron pipes of various diameters and of even and uneven thicknesses whilst in situ operated by two operatives. The device is powered by hydraulics; the tonnage will be determined by the diameter and thickness (even or uneven) of the cast iron pipe to be broken.

Description

CAST BUSTER 3

Description

The reason this device has been designed and manufactured is that the apparatus used to break cast iron pipes at the present can cause harm & injury to the operators. This device with correct use eliminates the harm & injuries that are currently being sustained by the operatives. This device uses hydraulic power being generated by a generator without the need for any high powered JCB5 or similar to power the device or lift and manoeuvre the device and as such leaves a minimal carbon footprint, and requires considerably less working space than would be required if using a JCB or similar item of plant.

This device can be used to break cast iron pipes from 8" diameter to 36" diameter with even or uneven wall thicknesses without any of the fractures of cast iron being thrown outward thereby minimising any risk to the operatives.

This device can be used to completely break a cast iron pipe in the excavated hole in the ground or to break out just the top section to allow insertion of new pipes orjoints to be made in the existing encased pipes without the need to excavate all the way around the cast iron pipe.

This device comprises of manufactured parts made from steel plus manufactured special bolts and nuts made from steel. When the main parts are fitted togetherwith the nuts and bolts, these main parts form two circles which create two harnesses around the cast iron pipe with a bridge piece fitting between the two circles of the harness fastened into slots on each of the harnesses as the harness is assembled. The harness is assembled so that the slots for the bridge are at the top of the cast iron pipe and therefore the bridge piece is centrally above the area of pipe to be broken. The hydraulic jack when retracted fits centrally under the bridge piece and on top of a short pointed adaptor, the point of the adaptor towards the cast iron pipe to enable the point to pierce the pipe. Hydraulic force is then applied to the jack that forces the point of the adaptor downwards and breaks the cast iron pipe, the hydraulic pressure is then released and the harness can then be rotated around the pipe and further breaks made. The harness can be rotated around the pipe without having to disassemble it or loosen any of the fastenings by one operator.

To break the bottom of the cast iron pipe a longer pointed adaptor replaces the short adaptor when the hydraulic jack is retracted and is positioned through the broken cast iron pipe touching the inside of the cast iron pipe beneath the break, again hydraulic pressure is applied thereby breaking the bottom of the cast iron pipe. Again by moving the harness around the cast iron pipe further breaks can be made in the same way. When the cast iron pipe has been sufficiently broken the device can easily be removed from the pipe.

Although this device is made from steel, it could be made from other material depending on the application of use.

The main manufactured parts are fitted together around the cast iron pipe and are fastened with the specially designed bolts and nuts. The reason this device has been designed in this way is so that the harness can be constructed around the cast iron pipe whilst the cast iron pipe is in the excavated hole' in the ground.

The specially designed bolts and nuts have been used as they enable the operators to hand tighten these fastenings without the use of any other tools. This will allow the harnesses to be constructed around the cast iron pipe wherever the pipe is situated with minimum effort from the operators. The tops of both the bolts and nuts have an up stand that is easily turned by hand. The nut is connected to a bolt and the nut is turned in a clockwise direction until hand tight. The diameter of the nut and bolt head is larger than standard nuts and bolts thus giving more leverage to aid hand tightness. Although standard nuts and bolts could be used, it may be difficult to use tools to tighten and loosen the standard nuts whilst the pipe is in excavated ground as the amount of free space around the pipe may not be enough to allow the use of tools.

There is no uniformity as to where the breaks in the cast iron pipe occur.

The harness is constructed around the pipe by items 1,2 & 3 fitted together as shown in figure 6 and fastened with the special bolts items 5 and nuts items 4. Two of these are constructed and then the bridge piece fig 7 item 6 is fitted into the slots of each hand of the constructed harness and the locking pin and fastened with a wedge piece fig 8 item 7, the turnkey is then tightened down on to the cast iron pipe. The hydraulic jack can then be positioned under the bridge piece in the housing item 17 and locked into place using the Allen pins. The adaptor Fig 10 item 8 is attached to the jack and the tool attached into the adaptor with the point of the tool towards the pipe as shown in Fig 9. The angled length iteml3 slots onto the welded lugs itemsl4 on the inner side of the harness.

Fig 1 and Fig 6 shows item 1 (2off), Fig 2 and Fig 6 shows item 2 (20ff), Fig 3 and fig 6 shows item 3 (8 off), Fig4 and Fig 6 shows item 4 specially manufactured nuts (8 off), FigS and Fig 6 shows item 5 specially manufactured bolts (8 off), Fig] shows item 6 (1 off), Fig 8 shows item 7 (2 off) and Fig 9 shows the harness fitted around a cast iron pipe with the bridge piece fitted to the harness and the hydraulic jack in place above the adaptor with a tool attached. Fig 10 shows the adaptor item 8 which attaches to the jack by way of a strong magnet item 9 and holds the tool item 10 by way of item 11 (another strong magnet) in the centre. There is also a small clip holder item 12 where a safety strap clips on, the other end of the safety strap clips on to a clip holder on the bridge piece to prevent the tool and adaptor from being lost down the hole. Figs 10, 11 & 12 Show the tools items 10 which can be manufactured to the desired lengths and shapes depending on the type of break being made and on the size of the cast iron pipes to be broken. Fig 13 shows item 15(2 off) the locking pin. Fig 14 shows iteml6 (2 off) the specially designed turnkeys.

Item 1. These pieces have the slots to accept the bridge piece and are joined to items 3.

There is a handle on each side Item 2. These pieces are joined to items 3. There is a handle on each side Item 3. These are the joining pieces used between items land 2, one on each side of the items land 2 and when the holes in 34 & 5 align a bolt (item 5) and a nut (item 4) anchors them together to hand tightness.

Item 4 & 5. Specially designed bolts Sand nuts 4 have been used as they enable the operators to hand tighten these fastenings without the use of any other tools. This allows the harness to be constructed around the cast iron pipe wherever the pipe is situated with minimum effort from the operators. The tops of both the bolts and nuts have an up stand that is easily turned by hand. The nut is connected to a bolt and the nut is turned in a clockwise direction until hand tight. The diameter of the nut and bolt head is larger than standard nuts and bolts thus giving more leverage to aid hand tightness.

Item 6. The bridge piece fits into the slots of items 1 and is secured by items 15 and items].

The hydraulic jack fits into the central housing item 17 under the bridge and secured by the Allen pins items 18. There is a handle on each side of the top of the bridge piece.

Item 7. These wedge shaped pieces fit in turn into the slots of item 6 and items 15 after item 6 has been slotted into items 1 and item 15 fitted either side of the slot of item 6 the bridge piece aligning the holes to accept the wedge.

Item 8. The adaptor fits between the hydraulic jack and the cast iron pipe and secured by way of a strong magnet item 9.

Item 9. A strong magnet.

Items 10. The tool is attached into the adaptor and secured with item 11 a strong magnet with the point of the tool towards the pipe where the break is to be made. Various lengths and shapes of tools are used depending on the type of break to be made and the size of the pipe to be broken. By leaving the harness and bridge in place after the first break, a longer tool may be used to breakthrough the bottom of the pipe. Packers may be used between the hydraulic jack and the adaptor if necessary by the use of further magnets.

Item 11. A strong Magnet.

Item 12. Clip Holder on the adaptor to accommodate one end of the safety strap.

Item 13. Angled Length to fit on the welded lugs items 14 on the inside of the two harnesses items 1 forming a fulcrum point to use a bar to release the jack after the break has been made in the cast iron pipe when using a single acting jack. If a double acting Jack is used (power up and power down) then it is not necessary to use the angled lengths.

Items 14. Welded lugs on the inside of items ito accept angled length.

Items 15. Locking Pins. These are fitted to the end of item 6 aligning the slots to accept the wedges item 7, and the turnkey item 16 is then tightened down on to the cast iron pipe.

Item 16. Specially designed Turnkeys, these fit into the locking pins and tighten down onto the pipe.

Item 17. Jack Housing Item 18. Allen pins This device can be made bigger by including additional pieces or enlarging the existing pieces so that it can be used on larger pipes or for alternative uses, likewise by shortening the pieces, it can be used on smaller diameter pipes orfor alternative uses, but done in such a way that the inner circles of the harnesses are maintained whether shortening, enlarging or adding more pieces. The bridge can be made wider or narrower depending on the diameter of the cast iron pipe and higher or lower to accommodate different sized jacks, adaptors and tools depending on the size of the cast iron pipe. A different configuration of harnesses could be adapted dependent on the application used for. This device could be made out of alternative materials depending on the application it is being used for, and the material(s) being cracked or broken.

In Example:-

The Device to Crack 24" Pipes The device remains basically the same but the harness is manufactured slightly differently to ensure that the operation remains with two operatives and the weight of the manufactured pieces are easy to manhandle. Again there is no requirement for machinery to lift the device into place and therefore leaving no carbon footprint.

Fig 15. Shows items 19 (2off), items 20 (2 off) and items 3 (8 off) used to make the harnesses. Fig 16 shows item 19. Fig 17 shows item 20.

Item 19. These pieces have slots to accept the bridge piece and a handle on each side above the slot. These pieces are joined to items 3 using the specially designed nuts items 4 and bolts items S. Item 20. These Items have a handle on each side and are joined to items 3 using the specially designed nuts items 4 and bolts items 5.

Each of the two harnesses are made by connecting items 19 (2 off) and items 20 (2 off) with connecting pieces items 3 (8 off) four connecting pieces on each side of the harness. Again the specially designed nuts items 4 and bolts items 5 are used to hand tightness. There are now two slots on each of the harnesses to accept the bridge piece to allow for choice of positioning of the jack on the lower quadrants.

The design of all the other items required to complete the device remain the same and the device is operated in the same way.

The Device To Break out the Top or a Section of the Pipe.

The operation of the device is the same but using some different manufactured parts.

Instead of full harnesses around the pipe, the device uses claw harnesses that only reach just over half of the diameter of the pipe, thereby alleviating the need to fully excavate around the cast iron pipe in the ground. The difference is that these harnesses are made from three manufactured parts with four connectors and the specially designed nuts and bolts. The design allows the harnesses to grip the cast iron pipe with the two lower parts of the harness to prevent the harness from slipping upwards when the pressure is applied by the jack.

Fig 18 shows the device in position around the top portion of the cast iron pipe. Fig 19 shows one of the two harnesses assembled. Fig 20 shows the pieces of the harness without the connection pieces items 3 attached. Fig 21 shows the top section of the harness item 21.

Fig 22 shows the lower piece item 22 (2 off) of the harness. Fig 23 shows wedge piece item 23 (2 off) that fit in the slots created between items 21 and 22 when connected around the cast iron pipe to send the bottom of the claw pieces items 22 into the cast iron pipe therefore creating two anchor points on each of the harnesses.

Item 21. The top piece of the claw harness with 3 slots to accommodate different positioning of the bridge piece item 6. The top piece item 21 connects to items 3 (4 off) using the specially designed nuts items 4 and bolts items 5.

Item 22. The two bottom pieces of the claw harness that connect to items 3 (4 off) using the specially designed nuts items 4 and bolts items 5 to hand tightness.

Item 23. The wedge pieces (2 off) driven into the slots created by items 21 and 22 when connected around the cast iron pipe by items 3 connecting pieces (4 off) using the specially designed nuts items 4 and bolts items S to hand tightness.

The rest of the device is assembled as before and pressure applied to break the cast iron pipe where required. The three slots in the harness are there to enable different positioning of the jack and tools bearing in mind that the area around the bottom section of the cast iron pipe will not have been excavated, and therefore the device will be unable to move around the cast iron pipe as before.

Claims

<claim-text>CAST BUSTER 3 Claims 1 This device does break cast iron pipes of even or uneven thickness insitu by two operatives and with less applied physical force when operated correctly.</claim-text> <claim-text>2 This device is constructed by two operatives on site to create the harness around the cast iron pipe to be broken with a bridge in the centre where a hydraulic jack fits above a pointed adaptor using specialist fixings which have been designed so that no other tools are required.</claim-text> <claim-text>3 When the hydraulic force is applied the pointed adaptor is forced into and breaks the cast iron pipe.</claim-text>