US1024095A - Device for manipulating pipe-fittings. - Google Patents

Description

P. MUELLER.

DEVICE FOR MANIPULATING PIPE FITTINGS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 28, 1911.

1,024,095. Patented Apr. 23, 1912.

- amw wliw Philip Mueller UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PHILIP MUELLER, F DECATUR, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE H. MUELLER MANUFAC- TURING COMPANY, OF DECATUR, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

DEVICE FOR MANIPULATING PIPE-FITTINGS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 23, 1912.

Application filed March 28, 1911. Serial No. 617,510.

To all whom, it may concern Be it known that I, PHILIP MUELLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Decatur, in the county of Macon and State of Illinois, provements in Devices for Manipulating Pipe-Fittings, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a tool for connecting in and removing pipe fittings from pipe systems. It relates particularly to the manipulation of corporation cocks such as are usually found in connection with water mains. These cocks are many times constructed without the usual squared or hexagonal surfaces to which a wrench can be applied, and inasmuch as the standard corporation cock is quite compact there is no place to which a wrench can be applied without danger of scarring the cook or injuring it.

The prime object of my invention is the production of such a device by which plugs may be removed from water mains and corporation cocks substituted through the usual boring machine without escape of water. There is a limited space only in a boring machine tool chamber, and this device is adapted to be attached to the boring bar and be operated in the said chamber.

In some instances the trench which a plumber has to work in to remove a corporation cock is too narrow to admit of the use of a very long wrench. This limits the power which can be applied to manipulate a cock, either to attach it or to remove it. Plumbers are then tempted to use pipe wrenches which in practice results in a much worse scarring of the cock than if the square wrench were used and may cause a brand new cock to leak by some accidental dis tortion of the main body or a disfigurement of the plug.

The tool which I have designed obviates the above difliculties and makes the attachment and removal of corporation cocks very simple and reliable.

My improved tool consists of a plug or stem member associated with a coupling member for clamping it to the outlet end of a cock in such a manner that the stem or plug may be turned to right or left to attach or remove the cook. The plug or stem is formed with a shank for manipulation have invented new and useful Imeither by a socket wrench or by a tapping machine. By the use of a tapping machine great force can be brought to bear on the cock, and thus it may be firmly attached and readily removed even if it has been con nected in for a long time. The plug member is preferably in the form of a sleeve provided with right and left hand threads adapted to engage the threads on the outlet end of a corporation cock, and the left hand threads formed on the plug member, the left hand threads being of greater pitch than the right hand threads. The coupling member is provided with what I call a locking member which looks the cock and the parts of the tool together after the tool is applied no matter whether the plug be rotated to right or left. When the plug and coupling member are rotated with respect to each other independently of the locking member, the tool is readily removed.

My invention will be readily understood and appreciated from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which,

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation showing one form of my device applied to a cock; Fig. 2 is an elevation of the complete device, and Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of a modified form of my device applied to a cock.

Referring to the drawing, 10 represents a corporation cock to which is applied my manipulating device 11. The form of device shown in Fig. 1 comprises a plug or stem 12 and a coupling member 13 having loosely mounted within it a locking member 14: in the form of a flat disk. This locking member 141 is secured within the coupling member 13, which is in the form of a sleeve, intermediate its ends by a series of pins 15 which bear loosely in a groove 16 in the periphery of the disk. On one side of the disk the sleeve is. provided with right hand threads of a size to fit the threads 17 on the outlet end of the standard corporation cock. On the other side of the disk 14: are provided left hand threads of relatively greater pitch to receive the screw-threaded end of the plug or stem 12.

My improved device is used as follows First the coupling member 13 is screwed to the outlet end of the corporation cock desired to be attached or removed, being screwed up until the disk 14 bears firmly against the end of the cock as shown in Fig. 1. Then the plug 12 is entered and turned left-handedly until it bears firmly against the opposite side of the disk 14, the coupling member being held with a wrench if necessary. Thereafter the plug member may be turned to the right or left to attach or remove the cock, and will remain firmly coupled to the cock. The reason for this is that the disk 14 acts as a locking member in combination with the right and left hand screw threads of the coupling. Assuming the cock is to be applied rotation is of course right handed, the first tendency is for the plug member 12 to unscrew from the coupling member 13, but on account of the friction between its end, which is made fiat, with the disk 14, and on account of the fact that the right hand rotation brings the end of the cook to bear more forcibly against the disk and then forces the disk into tighter engagement with the end of the plug, this is prevented, and the greater the force applied to screw the cock home the tighter my device is clamped to the cock. The lost inotion connection of the disk 15, 16 augments this effect greatly.

Assuming that it is desired to remove an already attached cock rotation is in a lefthanded relation when the reverse of the above takes place. The flat end of the plug 12 in left-handed rotation is brought firmly into engagement with the disk 14 and thus forces it more firmly into engagement with the end of the cock making a firm frictional engagement and bringing stress to bear on the right and left screw threads of the coupling as before, tightly clamping the parts of the device and the valve together.

l/Vhen it is desired to remove the device from a fitting all that is necessary is to hold the coupling member with a wrench and turn the plug member with respect to it in a right handed direction, when the pressure on the disk member will be re leased and the device may thereafter readily be removed from the fitting. To this end I prefer to form the coupling member 13 as a hexagonal nut or sleeve, or else to form on it surfaces for engagement by a wrench.

Preferably I form the end of the plug 12 as a shank for a tapping machine, making it tapering and providing it with a slot 18 as shown. It thus fits in the tool socket 19 of a tapping machine, and as great a force as desired can be brought to bear upon it. By thus using my device a corporation cock can be attached to a main or removed therefrom conveniently with ease and without danger of scarring.

In Fig. 3 I show a modified form of my device which differs from the device described principally in the fact that instead of forming the coupling member as a sleeve With right and left hand threads the coupling member is formed as a plug with right and left hand threads, the left hand threads cooperating with threads formed interiorly of the plug or stem while the right hand threads cooperate with threads formed on the interior of the outlet of the cook. The plug member is provided with a peripheral flange ring 20 at its middle, this ring being rigidly secured to the plug and preferably formed integral with it. The shank is socketed as at 21 and the opposite sides of this ring are adapted to frictionally engage the end wall 22 of the socket 21 and the end face 23 of the cock. In this form the operation is somewhat different from that of the first form described, although the principles are the same. In applying a cock by this device the plug is first screwed into the shank until the ring abuts the wall 22 and is firmly held therein by frictional contact with the wall, there the opposite end of the plug is screwed into the end of the cock which as shown is screwthreaded for that purpose. hen the end of the shank engages the end of the cock it is pressed into very tight frictional engagement therewith, the end of the shank being faced for this purpose. Thereafter the greater the pressure brought to bear on the shank to turn the cock up, the tighter becomes the frictional engagement, Which engagement rigidly couples the shan: to the cock as it is being turned up and also prevents movement of the shank with respect to the plug. "When the cock is screwed fully up the shank and plug may be readily removed by turning the shank in the opposite direction whereupon the plug is removed with the shank. The plug is provided with polygonal ends to facilitate its application and removal. To remove a cock the operation is reversed (see Fig. The plug is first screwed firmly into the end of the cock with the ring abutting the end. Then the shank is screwed to the outer end of the plug and turned left handedly. The frictional engagement of the shank end with the cock end as before rigidly couples the shank and cock and the cock may be as readily removed as applied. After removal the cock may be held in a vise and the shank and plug removed by turning them in the opposite direction, first the shank and then the plug.

As will be readily understood from the foregoing description, the locking action of the tool relatively to the pipe fitting, is due to the fact that when the parts are in operative position, any rotational movement of the shank 12 in either direction merely increases the direct or abutting pressure between the service end of the fitting and the adjacent face of the locking member, so that the fitting must turn with the shank, and that, too, independently of whether, in the absence of the direct or abutting pressure just mentioned, the threaded members, or any of them, are screwed up to their respective limits. Thus it will be seen that I have invented a very efficient tool for manipulating pipe fittings. I say pipe fittings because it is obvious that my invention may be used in connection with fittings other than corporation cocks, there being use for it wherever it is desired to remove a fitting without handling the same with a wrench, or when it is impossible to so handle it.

Ordinarily my device will be locked firmly enough to the fitting with the surfaces of the part-s and particularly of the locking disk or member left in the smooth condition as first machined. In some instances I may roughen the surfaces of the disk and of the end of the plug or stem of my device to a suitable degree, thus securing a better frictional engagement of the surfaces with each other and with the end of the fitting and securing a better clamping or locking action.

IVhile I have described the best form of my invention now known to me it is obvious that many modifications may be made in its form, proportionment, etc., without departing in anywise from its generic spirit. desire to cover all such modifications in the annexed claims.

hat I claim is,

1. A device for manipulating pipe fittings comprising a stem member and a coupling member consisting of a screw threaded main body having a locking member midway its ends binding frictionally against the adjacent ends of the stem and the fitting.

2. A device for manipulating pipe fittings comprising a stem member and a cou pling member, said coupling member being provided with threads in one direction engaging a pipe fitting, and threads in the opposite direction engaging the said stem memher, and a locking member on the coupling member binding between the stem and the coupling members.

3. A device for manipulating pipe fittings comprising a stem member, and a coupling member for clamping the same to a fitting, said coupling member comprising a main body, and circular locking means provided with frictional surfaces for binding engagement between the adjacent ends of the stem and the coupling member.

i. A device for manipulating pipe fittings comprising a stem member, a clamping member screw threaded to the stem member and adapted for screw threaded engagement with the fitting, and a locking member within the clamping member and having a lost motion connection therewith, said locking member being positioned to frictionally engage the end of the fitting and the end of the stem at the same time.

5. A device for the manipulation of pipe fittings comprising a stem member, and a coupling member having oppositely threaded ends, and a locking member midway of the ends, said stem member having cooperating threads engaging one end of the coupling member and having a frictionally engaging surface binding against the locking member, said coupling member engaging in the pipe fitting at its opposite end and having its locking member binding thereagainst.

6. In a tool of the class described, a coupling member having means for detachably engaging a fitting to be inserted or removed, a locking device loosely mounted within the coupling member and having a face against which the fitting to be inserted or removed may abut, and a shank carried by the coupling member and having a longitudinal movement relative thereto, and adapted to be brought into and out of engagement with the opposite face of the locking device.

7. A tool of the class described, comprising a coupling member provided with a surface for engaging a mating surface of a fitting to be inserted or removed, a locking member carried by said coupling member and movable relatively to the same, said locking member having a surface for abutting directly against said fitting and having also a second surface, and a shank carried by said coupling member and provided with a surface for abutting directly against said second surface of said locking member, said shank being movable both revolubly and axially in relation to said locking member in order to press the latter against said fitting and to relax the pressure thus created.

8. A tool of the class described, comprising a coupling member provided with ya surface for abutting against a mating surface of a fitting, and also provided with an opening and with an internal thread bounding said opening, a locking member carried by said coupling member and movable relatively thereto, and a shank extending into said opening and provided with a thread mating said thread bounding the opening, said shank being revoluble relatively to said coupling member for the purpose of producing or relaxing pressure between said locking member and said fitting.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

I PHILIP MUELLER.

Witnesses:

LEONARD F. MOKIBBEN, WILLIAM R. BIDDLE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). G.

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