Patent ID: 7441319
Filing Date: 2008-10-28
Classification: F16L,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A method for installing a gasket within a triangular gasket receiving groove provided within the bell end of a pipe section, the bell end having a mouth opening which is engageable with a spigot end of a mating pipe section to form a pipe joint, the method comprising the steps of: providing a pipe section having a bell end opening; orienting the pipe section having the bell end along a longitudinal work axis; providing a sealing gasket formed at least in part of a flexible material, the gasket having a relatively rigid internal retainer ring which circumscribes the gasket interior at one circumferential location; temporarily transforming the sealing gasket from a generally cylindrical shape to a generally elliptical shape; inserting the gasket within the mouth opening of the bell end, the annular gasket being oriented at an oblique angle with respect to the longitudinal work axis such that a trailing edge of the gasket engages the annular groove, and a leading edge of the annular gasket is moved past the annular groove provided in the bell end; exerting a retracting force on the annular gasket by pulling the leading edge thereof backwards in the direction of the mouth opening of the bell end until the gasket again assumes a generally cylindrical shape and snaps into a locked-in position within the annular groove; and wherein the location at which the relatively rigid ring circumscribes the gasket interior is selected according to the following formula: where when R where D L D E wherein the optimum ring location is determined by the intersection of the lines which represent D