GB973648A - Method and apparatus for filling-in joints between pipe sections - Google Patents

Abstract

973,648. Repairing leaks in pipes; jointing apparatus. J. DELARUELLE, and J. LE CARRE. May 30, 1961 [May 31, 1960], No. 19474/61. Headings F2G and F2P. In a method for executing or repairing joints in pipes a strip of ductile metal or alloy carrying outwardly an adhesive is urged against the inner wall of the pipe in the region of the joint by means of an expansible or inflatable support. The metal strip which is preferably of aluminium or aluminium alloy one or a few tenths of a millimetre thick is wound round a rubber sleeve 2. The strip which has previously been roughened is coated with a polymerizable resin. The rubber sleeve 2 is secured over the ends of a tubular body 1 by reinforcements 3, 3<SP>1</SP> and wires 4, 4<SP>1</SP> and is adapted to be inflated by compressed air via passages 6, 5 and 8. One end of the apparatus carries an electronic probe 10, inside a plastic casing 11, which detects a joint. In use the apparatus is pulled through a pipe by cable 15, elastic shoes 9, 9<SP>1</SP> or rollers engaging the inner surface of the pipe, until a joint is located. The rubber sleeve 2 is then inflated to press the metal strip against the walls of the pipe. A fraction of the adhesive on the metal strip engages the recess in the joint while the remainder secures the metal strip to the pipe. The compressed air is exhausted after one or two minutes and the apparatus removed. The final release of the strip from the support may be furthered by coating the latter with a lifting material, e.g. silicone fat, talcum powder. In another embodiment a series of inflatable supports are adjustably connected together at distances corresponding to those between the joints of the pipe previously measured by a probe, so that all the joints may be filled simultaneously on inflation of the supports.