JPH0697077B2 - Companion flange for flexible pipe joints - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a companion flange for a flexible pipe joint, and more particularly to a companion flange used for flange-joining a flexible pipe joint having an elastic flange at its end with a pipe to be connected. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a water pipe such as a water supply / drainage pipe, a flexible pipe joint having a relatively short length at a bent portion or a rising portion on the ground or in the ground or a connecting portion to various devices and equipment. Is used. Such a flexible pipe joint is usually made by forming an elastic flexible material such as synthetic rubber into a tubular shape, and depending on the application, tire cords or spiral metal wires for reinforcement are provided in the pipe wall. There is also a case where the pipe is bellows-shaped in order to be embedded in the interior or to be more flexible.

Conventionally, in order to connect a flexible pipe joint to a connected pipe such as another metal pipe or a hard plastic pipe, a flexible pipe joint end portion in which an end portion of the connected pipe is inserted. It is generally practiced to fasten the outer circumference of the pipe with a ring-shaped band, or to provide a flange at each end of the end of the pipe to be connected and the end of the flexible pipe joint, and bolt them together. ing. However, the former band fastening method is inherently easy to disengage and its sealing property is low, so it is limited to only a simple connection method.For industrial applications with a relatively large diameter, the latter flange coupling method is exclusively used. ing.

This flange connection method is a connection method which is more reliable and more reliable than band fastening, but it has been difficult to satisfy both the requirements for ensuring the sealing property and maintaining the durability of the elastic flange at the same time. That is, when such an elastic flange is connected to the flange of the pipe to be connected by a bolt with a large tightening force to improve the sealing property, a large stress is always applied to the bolt tightening portion of the elastic flange, and It could not withstand use for a certain period of time, leading to leakage or damage from the connection part. Especially when the fluid pressure in the pipe is high, this tendency becomes even stronger. In order to solve the problem in such a flange connecting method, the present applicant previously proposed a new flange connecting method using companion flanges (Japanese Patent Application No. 62-128296).
This method does not directly connect the elastic flange of the flexible pipe joint to the flange of the mating connected pipe by bolts, but separately provides a ring-shaped companion flange with a stopper, and this companion flange and the flange of the connected pipe. After sandwiching an elastic flange between them, the companion flange and the flange of the pipe to be connected are bolted together.

[0005]

The flange connecting method using the companion flange is an excellent method that can secure a sufficiently high sealing property even with a low tightening force, but it is still insufficient in workability in bolt connection. There was a point. That is, in this coupling method, the companion flange and the flange of the connected pipe have a larger outer diameter than the elastic flange for securing the bolt coupling portion, and the inner diameter of the companion flange clamps the elastic flange, so It is smaller than the outside diameter of the flange. Therefore, in order to sandwich the elastic flange between the companion flange and the flange of the pipe to be connected, it is necessary to push the elastic flange between the both flanges while reducing it by hand. This pushing operation requires considerable skill, and the difficulty of operation increases accordingly, especially when the hardness of the elastic flange is relatively high. Therefore, the present invention solves the problems in the flange coupling method using such companion flanges, and provides a novel companion flange excellent in workability in bolt coupling while maintaining high sealability. It is what

[0006]

The companion flange of the present invention for achieving the above object is to connect a flexible pipe joint having an elastic flange at its end and a pipe to be connected to the pipe to be connected. Is a companion flange which is used for bolting the elastic flange by sandwiching the elastic flange. The companion flange has a ring-shaped flange main body having an inner diameter sufficient to press and clamp the elastic flange against the flange of the pipe to be connected, and a ring having a larger inner diameter than the flange main body. The body is coaxially assembled. The flange body and the ring body are each provided with a plurality of holes for connecting bolts at corresponding positions.

[0007] In a preferred aspect of the present invention, a bolt connecting hole in the flange body is provided at least on a dividing line thereof. In another preferred aspect of the present invention, one surface of the ring-shaped flange main body has a step surface with a lower radial inside and a higher outer side, and the inner side in the radial direction within the low stepped surface is further A ring-shaped ridge is formed. This low step surface serves as an abutting surface of the elastic flange, and the elastic flange is partially pressed against the flange surface of the connected pipe by a higher pressure to be sandwiched by the projections formed therein.
Further, the high step surface serves as a stopper surface when the elastic flange is held and bolted.

[0008]

When the flexible pipe joint is flange-connected to the pipe to be connected using the companion flange of the present invention, first, the elastic flange of the flexible pipe joint is inserted into the ring body having a relatively large inner diameter. , One surface of the elastic flange and one surface of the flange of the connected pipe are brought into contact with each other. Next, a flange main body having a smaller inner diameter is inserted into a ring shape by combining the flange main body in a divided state while contacting the other surface of the elastic flange, and inserting the elastic flange between the flange main body and the flange of the pipe to be connected. Sandwich between. Then, the flexible pipe joint is flanged to the connected pipe by bolting the flange main body, the elastic flange, and the flange of the connected pipe to each other.

Therefore, in the companion flange of the present invention, the flange main body, which generally has an inner diameter smaller than the outer diameter of the elastic flange, can be easily divided so that the elastic flange can be clamped between the flange of the pipe to be connected. It can be brought into contact with an elastic flange. The flange body thus abutted in this manner has a larger inner diameter and is coaxial with a non-divided ring body through which an elastic flange can be easily inserted in order to compensate for instability due to the division. Polymerized.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a state in which a flexible pipe joint is flange-connected to a pipe to be connected using an example of the companion flange of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the companion flange in FIG. It is a perspective view.

In FIG. 2, the companion flange 1 is shown in FIG.
2 and the non-divided ring body 3 of FIG. 2B. The flange body 2 has a semicircular shape 2.
It can be divided into individual ring pieces 2a, 2b. However, it may be divided into three or more.
Both sides of the flange main body 2 (each ring piece 2a, 2b) form a step surface, and one step surface 4 is a step surface whose inner side in the radial direction is low and whose outer side is high, and the other step surface 5 is a radius. It is a stepped surface that is higher on the inside and lower on the outside in the direction.

The lower surface of the stepped surface 4 is a ring-shaped neck pressing surface 6 against which an elastic flange of the flexible pipe joint abuts, and the higher surface of the stepped surface 4 clamps the elastic flange between the pipes to be connected and is bolted. The stopper surface 7 is a ring-shaped stopper when it is pressed. Further, a ring-shaped ridge 8 is formed on the inner side of the neck pressing surface 6 in the radial direction. The stopper surface 7 has a function of preventing the companion flange 1 from inclining with respect to the flange of the pipe to be connected when the elastic flange is held and bolted. The difference in height between the neck pressing surface 6 and the stopper surface 7 is
It is determined according to the compression ratio desired for the elastic flange when the elastic flange is clamped and bolted. In some cases, this difference in height may be set to zero and the stopper surface may not be provided. On the other hand, the lower surface on the outer side in the radial direction of the step surface 5 serves as a ring contact surface 9 for the ring bodies 3 to be coaxially combined.

The inner diameter of the flange main body 2 is set to a size sufficient to press and clamp the elastic flange against the pipe to be connected, but generally, the diameter is smaller than the outer diameter of the elastic flange by the amount of securing the overlapping portion by the clamping. It is said that In the flange body 2, at the position of the stopper surface 7, six bolt connecting holes 10 are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction,
The diagonal pair is provided on the dividing line of the two ring pieces 2a and 2b. By providing the holes 10 for bolt connection on the dividing line in this manner, the ring piece 2a,
It is possible to effectively prevent the lifting of the end of 2b,
The stability of the seal is also improved. The number of the holes 10 increases as the diameter increases, and usually about 4 to 20 are formed.

The ring body 3 is formed in a ring shape adapted to come into contact with the ring contact surface 9 of the step surface 5, and further has holes 10 for connecting the respective bolts of the flange body 2.
6 are provided with holes 11 for connecting bolts. An internal screw is provided in the hole 11 so that the bolt can be screwed in when the bolt is connected as described later. When a nut is prepared for bolt connection, the hole 11 is not provided with an internal screw. The inner diameter of the ring body 3 is the same as or slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the elastic flange. From the viewpoint of seal stability, it is preferable that the inner diameter of the ring body 3 is slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the elastic flange and the elastic flange is inserted into the ring body 3 while being inserted. The companion flange 1 can be made of various metals and rigid plastics materials such as rigid polyvinyl chloride. The metal material can be processed by cutting or casting, and the hard plastic material can be processed by injection molding or blow molding.

In FIG. 1, a flexible pipe joint 12 has elastic flanges 13 at both ends thereof, and is flanged to a flange 15 of a pipe 14 to be connected by a companion flange 1. The companion flange 1 is configured by combining a flange body 2 and a ring body 3. The flange body 2 has its stopper surface 7 abutted against the flange 15 of the connected pipe 14, and the neck pressing surface 6 presses the elastic flange 13 against the flange 15 to sandwich it.
The elastic flange 13 is a ridge 8 provided on the neck pressing surface 6.
Due to the stronger compression, the sealing property between the flexible pipe joint 12 and the connected pipe 14 is made more reliable.

One surface of the ring body 3 is brought into contact with the ring contact surface 9 of the flange main body 2 so that they are coaxially combined. Then, the bolt 16 and the ring body 3 which are inserted into the bolt coupling holes provided in the flange 15 are screwed together, and the flange body 2 and the ring body 3 are integrally bolted to the flange 15.

Next, a method for flange-joining the flexible pipe joint 12 to the flange 15 of the pipe 14 to be connected as shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. First, the elastic flange 13 of the flexible pipe joint 12 is inserted into the ring body 3. Next, after the elastic flange 13 is brought into contact with the flange 15 of the pipe 14 to be connected, each ring piece 2a, 2b which is a disassembled piece of the flange body 2 is formed.
Is inserted while abutting on the surface of the elastic flange 13 opposite to the surface abutting on the pipe 14 to be connected, and then the ring body 3 is abutted on the flange body 2 to be coaxially combined therewith. The flange 13, the flange body 2 and the ring body 3 of the connected pipe 14 thus combined are aligned with each other for the bolt coupling holes and the bolt 16 is screwed onto the inner screw of the ring body 3 (see FIG. 3). State), these are strongly bolted to each other. As a result, the elastic flange 13 is compressed and deformed by the neck pressing surface 6 of the flange main body 2, in particular by the ridges 8 thereof, as shown in FIG. 3, and finally on the flange 15 of the connected pipe 14 as shown in FIG. It is closely sandwiched. In addition,
In the example shown in FIG. 3, the tire cord 17 is embedded along the surface layer of the flexible pipe joint 12 for reinforcement, and
A metal wire 18 made of steel or the like is embedded in a ring shape along the peripheral edge of the elastic flange 13.

[0018]

The companion flange of the present invention, which has been described in detail above, has the following special effects when it is used for bolting a flexible pipe joint and a pipe to be connected. (1) A flange main body having an inner diameter sufficient to hold an elastic flange of a flexible pipe joint and being separable,
Since the companion flange is constructed by combining the flange body stably and with the ring body having a diameter larger than the inner diameter of the flange body, the elastic flange can be easily mounted between the connected pipe and the companion flange. In addition, it is possible to sufficiently secure a high sealing property. This ease of mounting is applied to flanges with high hardness and elasticity.
The effect is particularly great. (2) Bolt connection holes provided in the flange body
By positioning at least on the dividing line of the flange main body, it is possible to effectively prevent the end portions of the respective seal pieces from being lifted, and the stability of the seal is improved. (3) One surface of the flange main body is a step surface whose inner side in the radial direction is low and whose outer side is high, and a ring-shaped ridge is formed on the inner side in the radial direction in the low stepped surface. As a contact surface, the ridge formed there,
By partially pressing the elastic flange with a higher pressure, it is possible to further improve the sealing property of the flange coupling while maintaining the ease of mounting.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a state in which a flexible pipe joint is flange-connected to a pipe to be connected using an example of a companion flange of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view in which the companion flange in FIG. 1 is exploded into parts.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a method of flange-bonding a flexible pipe joint to a flange of a pipe to be connected.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Companion flange 2 Flange main body 2a Ring piece 2b Ring piece 3 Ring body 4 Step surface 5 Step surface 6 Neck pressing surface 7 Stopper surface 8 Convex ridge 9 Ring contact surface 10 Hole 11 Hole 12 Flexible pipe joint 13 Elastic flange 14 Connected pipe 15 Flange 16 Bolt 17 Tire cord 18 Metal wire

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Internal reference number FI technical display location F16L 23/032 27/10 B 7123-3J

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. When the flexible pipe joint 12 having an elastic flange 13 at the end and the connected pipe 14 are flange-joined, the elastic flange 13 is sandwiched between the flange 15 of the connected pipe 14. In the companion flange used for bolting with each other, the companion flange has an inner diameter sufficient to press and clamp the elastic flange 13 against the flange 15 of the connected pipe 14 and is separable. A ring-shaped flange body 2 and a ring body 3 having an inner diameter larger than that of the flange body 2 are coaxially combined with each other, and the flange body 2 and the ring body 3 are for connecting a plurality of bolts at corresponding positions. Comparable flanges for flexible pipe joints, characterized in that holes 10 and 11 are provided. 2. The companion flange for a flexible pipe joint according to claim 1, wherein the bolt connecting hole 10 in the flange body 2 is provided at least on a dividing line of the flange body.