WO1998027294A1

WO1998027294A1 - Pipe holder

Info

Publication number: WO1998027294A1
Application number: PCT/SE1997/002104
Authority: WO
Inventors: Örjan Fellert; Tommy Andersson; Jan Hansson
Original assignee: Lindab Ab
Priority date: 1996-12-18
Filing date: 1997-12-16
Publication date: 1998-06-25
Also published as: SE9604646D0; AU5352898A; SE9604646L; SE508091C2

Abstract

A pipe holder, especially for downpipes, comprises a cylindrical pipe clamp (1) which is adapted to grasp the pipe, and an anchoring means (2) for mounting the pipe clamp on a wall or the like, the pipe clamp and the anchoring means constituting separate parts which when interconnected constitute the holder. A part (4) of the anchoring means (2) is, during said interconnection, placed on the inside of the pipe clamp (1) and extends in parallel with the centre axis thereof. The connection part (4) has spaced-apart means for grasping a wall portion of the pipe clamp.

Description

PIPE HOLDER

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a holder for pipes, especially downpipes, and more specifically concerns a pipe holder of the type as defined in the preamble to claim 1. Background Art

There are several types of downpipe holders that have been known for a long time. SE-B-311,077 discloses a pipe holder comprising a cylindrical body, which in technical language is usually referred to as pipe clamp and is adapted to grasp the pipe. The pipe holder is mounted in the wall with the aid of an anchoring means which has on the one hand a spike to be driven into the wall and, on the other hand, a part extended perpendicularly to the spike and adapted to be inserted into a loop on a fitting of the pipe clamp. The pipe clamp and the anchoring means thus constitute two separate parts. When mounting the pipe holder, the spike is first driven into the wall, whereupon the loop of the pipe clamp is pushed onto the above-mentioned perpendicular part of the an- choring means. The fitting supporting the loop is riveted to the outside of the pipe clamp, and this riveting operation makes the pipe holder expensive.

A modern version of the pipe holder described above is disclosed in a brochure entitled "Tagrender όg Ned- lδbsrδr" issued by SIBA-verken in 1995. Also the modern variant, however, has a fitting riveted to the pipe clamp and having a loop for receiving a part of the anchoring means. The riveting operation makes the holder unnecessarily expensive. A further drawback of this pipe holder is that a flap associated with the fitting must, during mounting, be folded against a part of the spike for fixing thereof.

For the sake of completeness, reference is also made to the catalogue entitled "Tak-vaggkatalogen" issued by the applicant in 1994 and showing on p. 26 a pipe holder designated SVSTI, which has its anchoring means (spike) riveted to the pipe clamp via a fitting. The pipe holder does not consist of two parts, but is supplied as a unit comprising pipe clamp and spike. The manufacture of this pipe holder also involves riveting operations, which makes the product expensive in an undesired manner.

There is thus a need of an improved pipe holder.

In respect of prior art, mention should also be made of DK-C-34056 which discloses a pipe holder having an

L-shaped anchoring means, whose part extending in parallel with the wall constitutes the mounting for the pipe clamp via an elongate groove. The pipe clamp is pushed onto the vertical part of the anchoring means via said groove. Although the manufacture of this old-fashioned pipe holder does not comprise any riveting operation, the holder suffers from other drawbacks which disqualify it from use when mounting downpipes included in modern drainage systems. The annular pipe clamp in fact consists of two semicircular parts which are interconnected via two joints. This makes the pipe holder expensive, and moreover the clamping round the pipe becomes too unreliable. Besides, the pipe clamp is made of relative thick metal sheet or even flat iron, which makes the holder heavy and unwieldy compared with modern pipe holders which are made of thin metal sheet.

The idea behind the construction according 'to the Danish patent could not be applied in modern pipe holders since such an insert groove of trapezoidal cross-section could hardly be made of thin metal sheet. Further the pushing-on operation may be difficult to accomplish when mounting the prior-art pipe holder. This old-fashioned pipe holder thus does not remedy the inconveniences described above. Summary of the Invention

The object of the invention is to provide a pipe holder which is improved over prior art and which permits more rational mounting and simplified handling. This and other objects which will appear from the following specification have now been achieved by means of a pipe holder which is of the type described by way of introduction and which in addition has the distinguishing features stated in the characterising clause of claim 1 with preferred embodiments in the appended subclaims. The pipe holder according to the invention is extremely advantageous by the manufacture thereof not requiring any riveting operation making the pipe holder expensive and by the possibility of mounting the pipe holder more quickly than before. The mounting part of the anchoring means is first fixed in the wall, whereupon the cylindrical body for holding the pipe is, in a pivoting motion, hooked onto a connection part of the anchoring means. There is no brace on the outside of the body, but instead use is made of a direct connection between the body and the anchoring means by the anchoring means engaging parts of the body which are spaced from each other.

The invention thus is based, inter alia, on the facts that a part of the anchoring means in said connection is arranged on the inside of the body and that the anchoring means has means for grasping a body wall portion, which is positioned radially outside said part of the anchoring means. This permits simple and effective interconnection of the anchoring means and the body.

A special advantage of the invention is that it is generally applicable to many different types of bodies or pipe clamps for encompassing and holding of pipes. Brief Description of the Drawings The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate non-limiting embodiments and in which Figs 1-2 are two oblique perspective views of a pipe holder according to an embodiment of the invention,

Figs 3-6 are different perspective views of the two parts constituting the pipe holder, Figs 7-9 are side views showing how the pipe holder is mounted on a wall, and

Figs 10-12 are top plan views showing how a body associated with a pipe holder is made to encompass a pipe . Description of Preferred Embodiments of the Invention

Figs 1-2 show a pipe holder according to an embodiment of the invention, which is specifically intended for downpipes. The pipe holder comprises two parts, viz. an essentially cylindrical body, which below is referred to as pipe clamp 1, and an L-shaped anchoring means 2 consisting of a spike 3 and a leg 4 extended perpendicularly thereto. The spike 3 is adapted to be driven, during mounting, into a vertical wall 5 (see Figs 7-9) , while the leg 4 is adapted to accomplish the connection between the anchoring means 2 and the pipe clamp 1, as will be described in more detail below. Thus, the spike 3 constitutes a mounting part, while the leg 4 constitutes a connection part.

When the two parts 1, 2 of the pipe holder are con- nected with each other, the leg 4 is placed on the inside of the pipe clamp 1 in an elongate, outwardly curved groove 6 which extends in parallel with the centre axis of the pipe clamp 1. The leg 4 has at its free end a hook 7 which engages a lower edge portion 8 of the pipe clamp 1. This hook 7 constitutes a first portion of the anchoring means 2 for engaging a first portion of the pipe clamp 1.

A transition portion 9 between the spike 3 and the leg 4 engages an upper edge portion 10 of the pipe clamp 1 (see Fig. 2) . The transition portion 9 forms a second portion of the anchoring means 2 for engaging a second portion of the pipe clamp 1. By the distance between the active engagement portion of the transition portion 9 and the active engagement portion of the hook 7 being smaller than the distance between the two edge portions 8, 10 of the pipe clamp 1 therebetween, a very reliable engagement and thus a reliable connection between the leg 4 and the pipe clamp 1 is obtained in the groove 6, with a certain deformation of the pipe clamp 1. The two engagement portions 8, 10 of the pipe clamp 1 are thus positioned at a distance from each other in parallel with the centre axis of the pipe clamp 1.

The two engagement portions 7, 9 of the anchoring means 2 thus grasp a wall portion of the pipe clamp 1, which is defined by the two engagement portions 8, 10 of the pipe clamp 1 and which is positioned radially outside the leg 4.

Preferably the transition portion 9 consists of a part of the underside of the spike 3. The spike 3 has the cross-sectional form of a cross, such that a downwardly directed ridge 3a (see Figs 7-10) is made to engage a recess 11 at the upper edge portion 10 of the pipe clamp 1. That portion of the upper edge portion 10 of the pipe clamp 1 which directly adjoins the recess 11 is deformed somewhat owing to the engagement between the ridge 3a of the spike 3 in the transition portion 9 and the walls of the recess 11. Thanks to this deformation, a very reliable engagement is established.

To make the pipe clamp 1 turnable in mounting, there is a further recess 12 in the lower edge portion 8. The recesses 11 and 12 are identical. The resilient pipe clamp 1 has, in its opposite end portions, means 13, 14 for mutual, snap-acting engagement when fitting and clamping the pipe clamp 1 round a pipe 15 (see Figs 10-12) . Since the pipe clamp 1 in respect of the present invention can be fitted in an arbitrary man- ner, these engagement means 13, 14 will not be described in detail here. On the other hand, the design of the pipe clamp 1 in association with the connection with the anchoring means 2 is important to the present invention.

The various components of the pipe clamp 1 and the anchoring means 2 are shown in more detail in Figs 3-6. The elongate outwardly curved portion 16 which forms the groove 6 and contains the two recesses 11 and 12 for engaging the transition portion 9 of the anchoring means 2 is clearly shown in Figs 4 and 6. In addition to the above-described components it is also apparent from Figs 3 and 5 that the leg 4 of the anchoring means 2 is U-shaped in cross-section with two elongate flanges 17, 18 which when fitting the pipe clamp 1 round the pipe 15 preferably rest against the outside thereof (see Figs 10-12) . The leg 4 advantageously has cross-sectional dimensions corresponding to the cross-section of the groove 6.

Figs 7-9 show how the pipe holder according to the invention is mounted on the wall 5. First the spike 3 of the anchoring means 2 is driven into the wall 5 until the leg 4 is positioned about 40-50 mm from the wall 5 (see Fig. 7) . During this operation, it is a great advantage that the fitter can hold the downwardly directed leg 4 and drive the spike 3 in with a hammer. The upper part of the leg 4, which is positioned on a level with the spike 3, is preferably designed in such manner that it will be easy to hit it with a hammer.

In Figs 8-9, one semicircular part of the pipe clamp 1 has for the sake of clarity been removed with a view to illustrating the engagement between the pipe clamp 1 and the anchoring means 2. Fig. 8 shows how the lower edge portion 8 of the pipe clamp 1 is first made to abut against the inside of the hook 7 and is then pivoted in the direction of arrow A. In this pivoting motion, a strong engagement between the upper edge portion 10 of the pipe clamp 1 and the underside of the spike 3 is established, especially in the transition portion 9 discussed above. The downwardly directed ridge 3a of the spike 3 deforms those wall portions of the pipe clamp 1 which surround the upper recess 11 in connection with the upper edge portion 10 (cf . Fig. 2) . In the pivoting motion in the direction of arrow A for accomplishing said engagement, the hook 7 forms an abutment. In an alternative embodiment (not shown) also the lower edge portion 8 of the pipe clamp 1 is deformed to a certain extent, for instance in connection with a recess (not shown) .

Fig. 9 shows the pipe holder in its finally mounted state, the downwardly directed leg 4 of the anchoring means 2 extending in parallel with the centre axis of the pipe clamp 1 and being positioned on the inside of the pipe clamp 1. The pipe holder is now ready to be used. A great advantage of the inventive pipe holder is that the anchoring means 2 is first driven into the wall 5 and that the pipe clamp 1 can be fixed at a later stage. As a result, the wall 5 can be plastered and painted without the actual pipe clamp 1 being in the way of the people working with the wall. The pipe clamp 1 is mounted only when the downpipe 15 is to be fitted.

Figs 10-12 show from above how the pipe clamp 1 in the mounting operation is fitted round the pipe 15. Fig. 10 shows the pipe clamp 1 in its open position, and Fig. 11 shows the pipe clamp 1 in its completely closed position. Fig. 12 shows an intermediate position, where the pipe clamp 1 is spaced from the outside of the pipe 15, thereby permitting adjustment of the pipe holder in relation to the pipe 15.

Thanks to the snap-acting engagement means 13, 14 of the pipe clamp 1, a very reliable fitting and clamping of the pipe clamp 1 round the pipe 15 is achieved.

Finally, it should be pointed out that the invention is in no way limited to the embodiments described above, and several modifications are feasible within the scope of the inventive idea as expressed in the appended claims. For instance, it may be mentioned that the engagement between the anchoring means 2 and the pipe clamp 1 can be effected in some other manner. In a variant (not shown) the hook 7 of the leg 4 is not made to engage an edge portion of the pipe clamp 1, but instead to engage in a slot extending through the wall of the pipe clamp and positioned at a distance from the edge portion. It will also be appreciated that the upper engagement between the anchoring means 2 and the pipe clamp 1 need not necessarily take place in precisely the manner as described, and modifications of this engagement are feasible as is also the case with the lower engagement. The leg 4 of the anchoring means 2 may be of a different design; for instance, it may be in two pieces or fork-shaped.

It will also be appreciated that the mounting part need not be a spike, but it may also consist of a screw or a completely different type of fastening means. The essential thing is that the connection between the fastening means and the pipe clamp can be effected in the manner as indicated according to the invention, but the design of the pipe clamp for grasping the pipe may vary.

Claims

1. A holder for pipes, especially downpipes, com- prising a substantially cylindrical body (1) adapted to grasp the pipe (15), and an anchoring means (2) for mounting the body on a wall (5) or the like, the body and the anchoring means constituting separate parts which when interconnected form the holder, c h a r a c - t e r i s e d in that the anchoring means (12) has a projecting part (4) which for said connection is placed on the inside of the body (1) and extends in parallel with the centre axis of the body; that the connection part (4) has a first portion (7) for engagement with a first por- tion (8) of the body; and that the anchoring means (2) has a second portion (9) for engagement with a second portion (10) of the body, said two engagement portions (7, 8) of the anchoring means (2) encompassing a wall portion of the body (1) , said wall portion being posi- tioned radially outside the connection part (4) and being defined by said two portions (8, 10) of the body, which are located at a distance from each other in parallel with said centre axis.

2. A holder as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first engagement portion of the anchoring means (2) comprises a hook (7) which in said connection engages an edge portion (8) of the body or a recess therein, which constitutes said first portion of the body.

3. A holder as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the second engagement portion of the anchoring means (2) comprises a transition portion (9) between the connection part (4) thereof and the part (3) thereof for mounting on the wall, said transition portion (9) in said connection engaging an edge portion (10) of the body or a recess therein, which forms said second portion of the body.

4. A holder as claimed in claim 3, wherein said transition portion is a part (3a) of the mounting part

(3) of the anchoring means (2) .

5. A holder as claimed in claim 4, wherein that por- tion of the body (1) which in said connection is located in immediate connection with the transition portion (9) is deformable.

6. A holder as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the body (1) has an elongate outwardly curved groove (6), which in said connection receives the connection part (4) of the anchoring means (2) and which extends in parallel with said centre axis.

7. A holder as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the connection part (4) of the anchoring means (2) is U-shaped in cross-section with two elongate flanges (17, 18) adapted to rest against the outside of the pipe (15) placed in the body (1) .

8. A holder as claimed in claims 6 and 7, wherein said connection part (4) has cross-sectional dimensions corresponding to the cross-section of the outwardly curved groove (6) .

9. A holder as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the anchoring means (2) has a mounting part in the form of a spike (3) or the like to be driven into the wall (5) .

10. A holder as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the body (1) is resilient and has two opposite end portions with means (13, 14) for mutual snap-acting engagement for fitting and clamping the body (1) round the pipe (15) .