DEVICE FOR PERFORMING A GRAFT IN A PIPELINE

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a device for making a graft in a pipe pipeline that reduces the number of tools, and the number of these elements necessary to make grafts in the different diameters of available pipes. The subject device of the invention is applicable in the construction industry.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In a system or network of plastic pipes for pipeline of a fluid in any application (gas, drinking water, domestic hot water, air conditioning, irrigation, wastewater, depression evacuation, etc.) there are two main basic elements: the pipes and their joining elements or fittings.

Inside the joining fittings there are different main elements such as sleeves, elbows, tees, flange holders, reductions, mixed threaded elements, grafts, etc. Each of them has a utility within the connecting elements. In the case of graft, it is a piece designed to make a "take" in a network on the surface of the main pipe directly, replacing the use of a reduced "T".

Currently, to carry out grafts in pipelines, it is necessary to have a plurality of tools that depend both on diameter of the main pipe from which it is desired to extract the branch that is grafted and on diameter of the branch itself, which results in the existence of an infinite number of elements for grafts since the variability of diameters in the main pipe and branch and the combination of both results in an infinite number of combinations.

Plastic pipes are characterized, among other methods of joining, by their thermofusion welding in all their parts and fittings. Currently, socket thermofusion welding is the most widespread system in installations with plastic pipes. It consists of heating a male end of a tube and a female part of a fitting by means of a heating element called a die and once heated, remove the die and proceed to insert the male part of the tube into the female part of the fitting, in this way the tube and fitting are melted, and the welding is perfectly reliable.

Thermofusion welding has a number of advantages such as that it does not require initial tube and fittings preparations, such as peeling, cleaning, etc.; it achieves the absorption of dimensional differences during the welding process, since tube and piece are calibrated during their fusion in the die, that is, the die conforms them dimensionally; it is done in a short period of time, (for example in a diameter of 110 mm it can take around 2 minutes to make a complete weld.); it is a very comfortable system to execute in small diameters, from 20 mm to 63 mm can be done by a single person manually with a very simple tool; the fittings are very cheap, since both machinery and tools for welding diameters up to 63 mm are very cheap.

However, this welding also has a series of drawbacks such as: from a diameter of 75 mm it is necessary to make them with a welding bench; it is very difficult to make welds in large diameters with the tube placed aerial; there are no fittings on the market for diameters greater than 125 or 160 mm that allow all types of joints or their price is very high.

For this reason, for transitions in high diameters, the connection system with threaded or nonthreaded grafts, by means of socket welding, allows to make outlet connections or branches in pipes of large section already installed, merging both in the outer surface of the pipe and in its wall thickness. In this case the initial step is to drill a large diameter tube using a drill with a cutting crown to graft at the point at which a new connection is desired.

Subsequently, the tube part is heated by inserting the specific male die into the tube hole until it touches the concave part with the outer surface of the tube. At the same time, the graft fitting is inserted into the specific female die. Once the heating is finished, the graft piece is inserted into the heated hole without rotating it. These dies for carrying out grafts are specific and different from all those used in the rest of the joining elements due to their concave and convex feature at the ends.

Currently, in the grafts that exist in the market for thermofusion welding, the welding is radial in thickness of the main tube on which the connection is made and as generally the tube thickness is insufficient to guarantee that attachment, these pieces have a wing with the radius of curvature of the tube to which they are welded, which is also fused to the external face of the tube, this fusion does not guarantee the tightness of the system, the function of this fusion is to ensure a support between the universal graft piece and the tube element so that in case of mechanical stresses that may occur in the output branch connected to the graft, it is not the radial welding that has to withstand said stress, since this welding would run the risk of breaking.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention a device for making a graft in a pipeline, comprising a main pipe and an outlet pipe, comprising a main body which, in turn, comprises a curved face configured to be located on the outer surface of the main pipe, wherein the curved face comprises first fixing means to said outer surface of the main pipe for fixing the position of the main body on the outer surface of the main pipe, and a circular flat face opposite to the curved face configured to guide in making a drillhole both of the circular flat face itself and of the outer surface of the main pipe; and an outlet body configured to be fixed to the main body and to the main pipe being the outlet body where the outlet pipe is fixed.

In the device for making a graft in a subject pipeline of the invention, the circular flat face comprises a perimeter lip with two opposite recesses, such that said opposite recesses are configured to receive two projections of the outlet body.

In the device for making a graft in a subject pipeline of the invention, the main body comprises two side fins on the sides of the circular flat face, and which give continuity to the curved face, such that said side fins are configured to receive a second fixing means to the outer surface of the main pipe.

In the device for making a graft in a pipeline on the side fins, projections are located that configure a housing for the second fixing means.

In the device for making a graft in a subject pipeline of the invention, the main body comprises two side fins following the opposite recesses of the circular flat face, such that said side fins comprise housings configured to receive the end of a second fixing means to the outer surface of the main pipe.

In one embodiment of the device for making a graft in a subject pipeline of the invention, the main body comprises two fins on the sides of the circular flat face and which give continuity to the curved face are configured to receive a second fixing means to the outer surface of the main pipe; and two side fins following the opposite recesses of the circular flat face, wherein said side fins comprise housings configured to receive the end of a second fixing means to the outer surface of the main pipe.

In the device for making a graft in a subject pipeline of the invention, the outlet body is an element to choose from a sleeve, a reduction or a flange carrier.

The advantages of the device for making a graft in a pipeline can be summarized in that from the point of view of its use in the installation the device for making a graft in a subject pipeline of the

RECTIFIED SHEET (RULE 91) ISA/EP invention provides a simple and easy to install joining element, with reduction of process time and total parts employed, that is, a lower cost, with respect to the systems known in the state of the art.

With the device for making a graft in a pipeline, the need to have a set of curved dies adapted to each output and input diameter is avoided, but standard flat matrices that the user already has available in their installation can be used. Therefore, a reduction in the use of specific dies is achieved to a standard one for each diameter, allowing to have a range of inexpensive fittings and low-cost tools, being an efficient and sustainable solution.

The subject device of the invention causes that an axially welding does not occur to the outer face of the tube in need of a wing in the tube but is welded by the outlet socket which in turn is welded radially to the thickness of the tube.

In addition, the subject device of the invention establishes a flat support on the main network adapted to its curvature, protecting the connection to undesired perpendicular or torsional movements that can damage its integrity, and which are common in this type of connections, therefore, the subject device of the invention ensures with respect to other systems known in the state of the art, traction and pressure behavior throughout the shelf life of the installation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following, a series of drawings that help to better understand the invention and that expressly relate to various embodiments of said invention are described in a very brief manner and presented as non-limiting examples thereof.

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of the main body of the device for making a graft in a subject pipeline of the invention.

Figure 2 shows an exploded perspective view of a first embodiment of the device for making a graft in a subject pipeline of the invention without an outlet body.

FIG. 3 shows an exploded perspective view of a second embodiment of the device for making a graft in a subject pipeline of the invention without an outlet body.

FIG. 4 shows an exploded perspective view of the first embodiment of the device for making a graft in a subject pipeline of the invention with an outlet body configured by a sleeve. FIG. 5 shows an exploded perspective view of the first embodiment of the device for making a graft in a subject pipeline of the invention with an outlet body configured by an electroweldable piece.

FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of the second embodiment of the device for making a graft in a subject pipeline of the invention with an outlet body configured by a tube.

FIG. 7 shows an exploded perspective view of the first embodiment of the device for making a graft in a subject pipeline of the invention with an outlet body having projections for orientation about the recesses of the circular flat face.

FIG. 8 shows a sectional view of the first embodiment of the device for making a graft in a subject pipeline of the invention with an outlet body configured by a tube.

FIG. 9 shows a perspective view of a third embodiment of the device for making a graft in a subject pipeline of the invention with an outlet body configured by a tube.

The numerical references used in the figures are:

1- main body,

2- outlet body,

3- curved face,

4- first fixing means,

5- circular flat face,

6- perimeter lip,

7- opposite recesses,

8- projection,

9- fin,

10- second fixing means,

11- first embodiment side flap projections,

12- side fin,

13- side fin housing, and

100- main pipe.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The subject device of the invention comprises a main body (1) comprising a curved face (3) configured to be located on the outer surface of a main pipe (100), the curved face (3) comprising first fixing means (4) to said outer surface of the main pipe (100) which, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, are an adhesive, which allows fixing the position of the main body (1) in the main pipe (100).

The main body (1) also comprises a circular flat face (5) opposite the curved face (3) such that said circular flat face (5) serves to guide in making a drillhole both of the circular flat face itself (5) and of the outer surface of the main pipe (100) for the accommodation and subsequent fixing of an outlet body (2). The fixing of the outlet body (2) to the main body (1) and the main pipe (100), in the preferred embodiment of the invention, is carried out by welding.

In one embodiment of the subject device of the invention, to facilitate the correct positioning of the outlet body (2) on the circular flat face (5), said circular flat face (5) comprises a perimeter lip

(6) with two opposite recesses (7), such that said opposite recesses (7) are configured to receive two projections (8) of the outlet body (2), so that with the projections (8) in the opposite recesses

(7) it is ensured that the position of the outlet body (2) on the circular flat face (5) is correct.

In one embodiment of the subject device of the invention, the main body (1) also comprises two fins (9) on the sides of the circular flat face (5) and which give continuity to the curved face (3) in the area positioned against the main pipe (100), such that said fins (9) are configured to receive a second fixing means (10) to the outer surface of the main pipe (100), said second fixing means (10) being configured by flanges that surround the main pipe (100) and pass over the fins (9). In this embodiment, in order to prevent undesired movement of the second fixing means (10), on the fins (9), projections (11) appear that configure a housing for the aforementioned second fixing means (10).

In another embodiment of the subject device of the invention, the main body (1) also comprises two side fins (12) following the opposite recesses (7) of the circular flat face (5), such that said side fins (12) comprise housings (13) so that said housings (13) receive the end of a second fixing means (10) to the outer surface of the main pipe (100), said second fixing means (10) being configured by slings that surround the main pipe (100).

There is a further embodiment in which the two previous embodiments are combined and the main body (1) comprises both two side fins (9) on the sides of the circular flat face (5) and which give continuity to the curved face (3) in the area positioned against the main pipe (100) and two side fins (12) with housings (13) following the opposite recesses (7) of the circular flat face (5), this embodiment allows to have in a same main body (1) the two options of second fixing means (10) improving the versatility in fixing the main body (1) on the main pipe (100).

There are different embodiments of the outlet body (2) in the subject device of the invention, said outlet body (2) can be, among others, a sleeve, a reduction or a flange carrier, being able to obtain a male fitting , female fitting, flange carrier or any other outlet fitting, including an electroweldable fitting.