US2005701A - Conduit construction - Google Patents

Description

'Jpne 18, 1935. M. L. SPACKMAN 'CONDUIIT CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 12. 1931 Patented June 18, 1935 UNITED STATES.

7 2,005,701 I CONDUIT CONSTRUCTION Morton L. Spackman, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to The Ric-wiL Company, Cleveland, Ohio,

a corporation of Ohio Application August 12, 1931, Serial No. 556,630

14' Claims. (CL 137--75 This invention relates to conduit construction and is particularly useful for use in conjunction with underground pipes such as are used in the transmission of steam, waterand other fluid materials.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved construction which may'convementlybe used with'subterranean lines.

Another object is to provide an improved construction which will efiiciently support underground pipes.

Another object is to provide an improved construction unit which may easily be formed of ceramic material.

Another object is to provide an improved construction unit which when made of ceramic material will. be relatively free from deformation during manufacturing or firing.

Other objects will hereinafterv appear.

This invention constitutes an improvement upon the inventions disclosed in the patent to Christian Gottwald, Number 1,681,731, issued August 21, 1928. r w

The invention will be better understood from the description of one practical embodiment thereof, illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a cross-sectional view of a completed conduit system embodying the invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a single unit or section of tile used in constructing the base drain of Figure 1;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an older form of base drain and some associated parts, and Figures 4 and 5 are, respectively, a perspective view and cross-sectional view of the base drain of Figures 1 and 2 with pipe supporting means positioned thereon.

As'shown'in Figures 1, 2, 4 and 5, the base drain'consists of a row of hollow tiles, each having a flat bottom web orbase I inwardly inclined sides 2, and a concave top 3. Upon the outer surfacesv of the sides 2 are projections having their tops formed into substantially horizontal shoulders 4, while at the juncture of the sides with the top are formed bead-like ridges 5 by which the shell surrounding the fluid conveying pipe is supported.

The central portion of the tile is cut away, as indicated at 6 from about the level of the shoulders 4 upwardly, the space so provided being adapted to receive the belied ends of the shell sections.

The shell or casing consists :of cylindrical tiles split longitudinally into upper and lower halves 1 and 8, respectively, and provided adjacent the split portion with flanges 9 forming grooves for the reception of cement or other sealing material.

Centrally of the casing is arranged a steam or water pipe it! supported upon brackets, as most. clearly indicated in Figure I. Each bracket con-: sists of a transverse vertically arranged web H which may be placed between the upper ends of.

consecutive base drain tiles, this web being provided at its ends with flanges 12 parallel to the sides of the tile, and with horizontal flanges 13. The upper portion of the web I i has formed upon it cradle-like bearing members MWhich support a roller l5 having trunnions 16 arranged to roll in notches I! in the upper edges of the members l4. Web, H extends through a hole in shell sec-.

tion8;

The pipe I0 rests upon the rollers 15, and by them is supported so that it may slide slightly within the casing to allow for expansion and contraction. Between the-shell and pipe 10 is placed heatinsulating material which may be either a covering-applied to the exterior, of the pipeor to the interior of the shell, or a filling of more or less loosely associated material.

Heretoforelthe base drain tiles have been made as shown in Figure 3 having straight inclined sides I02 which were embraced by the flanges l2 and thus supported the roller carrying brackets. It will be obvious, particularly from Figure 3, that any variations in the width of a base drain would be reflected in a much greater variation in the height of'the top of roller 15 from the bottom IOI of the base drain; also that the weight supported by the roller was transmitted substantially normally to the sides we, tending to collapse these sides and placing the flange l I under a tensile strain: As this flange and its associated parts are most conveniently made of cast iron, this condition was extremely undesirable, as the cast iron is weakest in tension, and the hollow tile was subjected to forces which induced bending stresses in its sides.

It has therefore been necessary in some installations using the tile and base drain of- Figure 3 to support flanges. 13 upon concrete or the like, increasing the labor and expense in'installing this system, and it has also at timesbeen necessaryto grind ofi flanges l2 and flt the sup? porting brackets tothe base drain tiles to bring rollers 15 in alignment. i

From Figures 4 and 5, it will beseen that with the improved form of this drain, flanges l3 rest on shoulders 4, so that the metal of the bracket is undercompression rather than tension and exactly the amount of such variations.

Another advantage of this form of base drain provided with shoulders is that the distribution of the clay or the like'of which, the tile is formed is substantially symmetrical with respectto ahorizontal plane half .way from the bottom of base I and the top of ribs 5. That is, the crosssectional area of the clay above this plane is sub-.

stantially equal to that below the .plane.. As

these tiles areformed by being extruded through dies, this symmetrical distribution of material permits the extrusion of the material at a uniform rate at both the topand bottom of this section much'mo're easily than with the sections illustrated in Figure 3. .Moreover, when the older types of sections were fired, they exhibited a great tendency to bend and warp, as the-top of the section, being'smaller in extent, dried more quickly than the bottom, whereas with the improved tile,drying takes place substantially uniformly and distortion isgreatly reduced.' Probably the prevention. of distortion is also aided by the strengthening imparted to the sides by the thickened portions formingthe shoulders. 4.

As the sides of the bracket'do not have to engage the sides of the tile, liberal tolerances between tile and brackets may be allowed, so that variations in the width of. either the tile or bracket will be provided'for. 1

Moreover, the strengthening ofthe sides of the tile prevents the distortion of its ends. It is the practice to apply a board or the like tooneiend of a tile section as it leaves the die and then stand the tile on end upon the board; the tile remain-.

inginthis position during firing. Both the im'- pact of the board and the weight of the tile tend to upset or expand the clay of the lower endfand these tendencies are to a large extent overcome by the increased strength of the sides. WhileI have described the illustrated embodiment of my invention in some particularity, ob-

viously many others will readily occur to those skilled in this art and I therefore do notlimit myself to the precise detailsshown and described herein but claim as my invention all embodiments, modifications and variations coming within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: J i

1. A base drain comprising a series of tiles each being an integral piece having two pair of ribs, one pair along its top, and the other pair along its sides.

'2'. A one-piece tubular tile of substantially quadrilateral cross-section, one base'b'eing shorter than i the other and the sides being thicker throughout a portion of their height than the bases, the upper edges of said thickened portion constituting supporting shoulders.

3. .A one-piece tubular tile of substantially trapezoidal cross-section, the shorter'base of which has twoprojecting parallel ribs and the sides of which have outwardly projecting ribs adjacent said base and'tapering to adjacent the other base.

- 4. A one-piece tubular tile of substantia y trapezoidal cross-section, the shorter base of which has two projecting parallel ribs and the sides of which have outwardly projecting ribs adjacent said base and tapering to adjacent the other base, the tile being recessed for a portion of its extent, and the recess extending from the shorter base to said ribs upon the sides.

5. A one-piece tubular tile of'substantially trapezoidal cross-section, the upper base of which is the shorter and has upwardly projecting parallel ribs, and the sides of whichliave upwardly projecting tapering ribs which are thickest adjacent the upper base. 7,

6. A one-piece tubular tile of substantially trapezoidal cross-section, the upper base of which is the shorter'and has upwardly projecting parallel ribs, and the sides of which have upwardly projecting tapering ribs which are thickest adjacent the upper base andterminate in,

substantially horizontal shoulders.

,7. In combination, a series of hollow. trape-' zoidal prismatic one-piece tiles open at the ends and arranged end to end, each tile having, pro-- jecting ribs formed along its sides and provided with substantially horizontal surfaces, at 'plu-r rality of supporting brackets each having feet resting upon said surfaces of twoadjacent tiles,

and a fluid conducting conduit supported by said brackets.

.8. In combination, a series of hollow. trapezoidalprismatic one-piece tiles open at the endsand arranged end to end, 'each tile having projecting ribs formed along its sides and provided vwith substantially horizontal surfaces, and ribs formed along its top, a plurality of supporting brackets each having feet resting upon said sur-v facesof two adjacent tiles, a fluid conducting conduit supported by said brackets, and a casing surrounding said conduit and supported by the ribs along the tops of the tiles.

'9. In combination, a series of hollow trape-- zoidal prismatic one-piece tilesopen at the ends and arranged end to end, each tile having projecting ribs formed along its sides, 'a plurality of brackets each positioned at the ends of successive tilesand having rigidly connected feet resting upon the upper surface of said. ribs, supportingmeans associated with each bracket intermediate said feet, and a fluid conductingconduit carried by said supporting means.

10. In combination, a series of hollow trape zoidal prismatic one-piece tiles open at the ends and arranged end to end, each tile having pro jecting ribs formed along its sides, an" integral bracket having feet resting upon the top surfaces of the ribs on opposite sides of the tiles,

supporting means on said bracket intermediate said feet, and a conduit carried by said supporting means. v

11. In combination, a. series of hollow trapezoidal prismatic one-piece tiles open at the ends and arranged end to end, each tile having projecting ribs formed along its sides, an integral bracket having feet resting upon the top surfaces of the ribs on opposite sides of the tiles and supporting means intermediate said feet, a casing surrounding and supported directly on the tops of the tiles, and a conduit within said casing carried by said supporting means.

12. In combination, a series of hollow trapezoidal prismatic one-piece tiles open at the ends feet being spaced apart slightly more than the Width of the portion of the tiles between them, supporting means on said bracket intermediate said feet, and a conduit carried by said supportting means.

13. In combination, a series of hollow trapezoidal prismatic one-piece tiles open at the ends and arranged end to end, each tile having projecting ribs formed along its sides, an integral bracket having feet resting upon the top surfaces of the ribs on opposite sides of the tiles and loosely embracing the sides of the tiles, and. supporting means intermediate said feet, a casing surrounding and supported directly on the tops of the tiles, and a conduit within said casing carried by said supporting means.

14. In combination, a series of hollow trapezoidal prismatic one-piece tiles open at the ends and arranged end to end, each tile having projecting ribs formed along its sides, an integral bracket having feet resting upon the top surfaces of the ribs on opposite sides of the tiles, the feet being spaced apart slightly more than the width of the portion of the tiles between them, anti-friction supporting means on said bracket intermediate said feet, and a conduit carried by said supporting means.

MORTON L. SPACKMAN.

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