Apparatus for positioning the end of a first elongated synthetic piece with at least the end of a second elongated synthetic piece, for the coupling thereof

An apparatus for straightening and aligning the end of an elongated piece with the end of a second elongated piece, comprising a positioning device comprising a pusher means mounted in a radially movable manner with respect to an axis of one of the aforesaid ends in its straightened and aligned position and angularly movable about this axis, in a support structure, so as to be in a condition to exert a predetermined lateral radial pressure for the desired positioning of the said end.

The present invention has as an object an apparatus for straightening and 
aligning the end of a first elongated synthetic piece, such as a tube, 
with at least the end of a second elongated synthetic piece, such as a 
tube, for the coupling, in particular for the end-to-end coupling thereof. 
Apparatus intended to this purpose are already known, which include at 
least a device for positioning one of the said tube ends with respect to 
the other, a device for holding the tube and a frame on which said 
positioning and holding devices are mounted. It is found in particular 
that these apparatus use straightening and aligning jaws the structure of 
which is compact and heavy, to which are associated control devices which 
are also heavy and bulky. Moreover, all these apparatus are designed for a 
single tube diameter. 
Due to the important weight and to the bulkiness of the different devices 
and of the frame which carries them, the known apparatus, in particular 
for straightening and aligning tubes in an excavation, are difficult to 
mount and to handle in the latter. 
The objective of the present invention is to propose an apparatus which 
overcomes the aforesaid drawbacks. 
To meet this objective, an apparatus according to the invention is 
characterized with respect to the above-described apparatus of known type 
in that the positioning device comprises a pusher means mounted radially 
movable with respect to the axis of the end, in its straightened and 
aligned position, to which it is associated, and angularly movable about 
this axis, in a support structure, so as to be in a condition to exert a 
predetermined lateral radial pressure for the desired positioning thereof. 
According to an advantageous feature of the invention, the support 
structure of the pusher means comprises a bow and the pusher means is 
advantageously formed of the piston of a jack such as a hydraulic jack 
mounted in a slide-shaped support movable on said bow. 
According to another advantageous feature, a device for holding the 
apparatus according to the invention comprises a support part mounted in a 
fixed manner on the frame and a carriage movable perpendicularly to the 
axis of the elongated piece which it holds, on the support, the carriage 
advantageously comprising means forming a cradle for receiving said piece 
and a means for tightly holding the latter in the cradle, such as a 
clamping strap anchored on both sides of the cradle so as to surround the 
free circumferential part of the piece, radially opposite the said cradle 
means.

The apparatus according to the invention, which is shown by way of example 
in FIG. 1, is designed to permit the positioning of the ends of three 
synthetic tubes stored for example in a wound up condition on drums for 
and in the course of the connecting operations thereof. To this end, the 
apparatus comprises three parts I, II and III each of which being designed 
to carry out the gripping, the clamping and the aligning of a tube end and 
to hold same during the heating and cooling cycle of the connection 
accessories such as sleeves, which are known per se and are therefore not 
shown. To permit the assembling or connection according to configurations 
with the desired angular shift, the three parts I, II and III are hinged 
at 1 and 2. 
Each part I, II or III comprises a frame comprising essentially a girder 3 
made of a steel tube with a square cross-section, which rests at its free 
end on a support 4, a jaw-carriage 5 for clamping and translating a tube 
and a bow 6 with a movable support slide 7 for correctly positioning the 
end of the tube for the aligning thereof with respect to the ends of the 
other tubes, to which this end is to be connected. The dotted lines 8 
symbolize the axes of the tubes in the aligned position of the ends 
thereof. For that purpose, the support side 7 is angularly movable in a 
plane perpendicular to the axis 8, about same, on the periphery of bow 6. 
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, it is seen that a jaw-carriage 5 according to 
the invention comprises a stationary support part 10 provided with a base 
11 for gripping on the frame girder 3. This base 11 presents a 
cross-section which is complementary to that of the girder and carries 
advantageously on its surfaces intended to come into contact with the 
girder projecting elements 12. The supporting part 10 is provided with two 
positioning pin devices 13 permitting the immobilization of the 
jaw-carriage 5 on girder 3. 
A carriage-forming part 14 itself is slidably mounted in translation in a 
direction perpendicular to the plane defined by the axis of girder 3 and 
the axis of the aligned tube 8, on L-shaped slides 15 provided at each end 
of the fixed support part 10. The carriage part 14 comprises an upper 
plate 17 and a lower counter-plate 18, which are removably fit together 
with the aid of screws 19, so that the free legs of the L-shaped slides 
enter between both plates. 
The support part 10 and the carriage part 14 are made of a light material, 
such as a cast light alloy, for example cast aluminum. Moreover, as 
clearly seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, these parts, in particular the carriage 
part 14, are made in such a manner that appropriate recesses and ribs are 
provided to obtain a light and strong apparatus. Structural elements 20, 
21 with a L-shaped cross-section, made for example of stainless steel, are 
inserted respectively between upper plate 17 and slide 15 on the one hand, 
and between counter-plate 18 and slide 15 on the other hand, to ensure a 
good sliding motion of the plates on the slide. 
The upper plate 17 carries on its upper surface, near each end, an element 
22 with a recess in the shape of an arc of a circle, in the plane 
perpendicular to the tube axis 8 and which is open upwards. The two 
elements 22 thus form a cradle which permits a tube to be supported, as 
schematically illustrated in FIG. 2. To each cradle element 22 is 
associated a clamping strap 23 made advantageously of polyester which is 
anchored on both parts of element 22, on carriage plate 14, respectively 
at 24 and 25, the anchoring point 25 being provided with winding means 
enabling the strap 23 to always bring the tube back into its appropriate 
position in the cradle. The surfaces of the elements of cradle 22, for 
contact with the tube, present a chamfered shape which is designed not to 
hurt the tube, as it is clamped by straps 23. The carriage part 14 may be 
displaced in translation on the slides 15 of the stationary support part 
10 with the aid of an actuating means with a unidirectional effect, 
essentially comprising a strap 27 and winding means shown at 28 which are 
mounted on the base-forming part 12, the free end of strap 27 being 
attached to the lower surface of the counter-plate 18 of carriage 14. The 
jaw-carriage 5 of parts I and II of the apparatus according to the 
invention, which are shown in FIG. 1, advantageously position themselves 
in a head to tail manner on frame 3. 
It is still to be noted that the carriage 14 of a jaw-carriage 5 according 
to the invention is equipped with a means for locking the carriage on the 
slides 15 of the stationary support part 10, by means of advantageously 
hand-actuated means, such as a lever diagrammatically shown at 29 in FIG. 
3. 
Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, it is seen that a straightening bow 6 according 
to the invention is made of two annular elements 31, 32 parallel to each 
other and disposed at a certain axial distance perpendicularly to tube 
axis 8. Both elements 31, 32 are assembled in the lower part with distance 
blocks 33 and may be removably fixed with pins 34 on a base-forming part 
35 slidably mounted on the frame girder 3. It is seen that the base 35 
presents a passageway with a rectangular cross-section complementary to 
that of the girder. 
As shown in FIG. 5, the movable support slide 7 is composed of one radially 
outer element 38 and one radially inner element 39, which are shaped in 
such a manner that once assembled by any appropriate means, they form on 
both sides of their mid-plane parallel to the planes of annular elements 
31, 32 recesses 40, 41 each having a shape complementary to the 
cross-section of elements 31, 32 so that the support slide 7 can move 
angularly about axis 8, in the circumferential direction of bow 6, while 
being perfectly kept in position and guided. The recesses 40 and 41 become 
broader from the axially outer face of elements 38, 39 towards the 
interior and the annular elements 31, 32 present on their radially outer 
and inner surfaces complementary shaped chamfers with respect to the 
recesses, so that the strains exerted on the bow concentrate on the 
movable support slide 7, whereby the assembly is stiffened. 
The movable support slide 7 carries a hydraulic jack 43 or a jack of any 
other appropriate nature, through a fixing part 44. The jack extends 
radially through the movable support slide 7, between annular elements 31, 
32. The piston rod of the jack is shown at 45, which extends radially 
towards the tube axis 8 and carries at its free end a pusher head 47 which 
is adapted to come into contact with the side surface of the end of the 
tube to be positioned, as seen in Figure 4 in which is schematically shown 
in dotted line a tube end to be positioned along axis 8. The surface of 
the pusher head 47 intended to come into contact with the tube presents an 
appropriate curve. As shown in Figure 1, the jacks of the different bows 
with movable support slide are each connected through a valve element 49 
to a pressurized fluid control device 50, which is advantageously 
hand-actuatable, e.g. by means of a lever 51. The operation of this lever 
provokes the motion in radial direction of the pusher head 47 of the 
movable support slide 7. 
To complete the description of the apparatus according to the invention, it 
is further to be indicated that the supports 4 of the frame girders 3 
present recesses 52 for housing the girder 3, which recesses are laterally 
open thus permitting the withdrawal of support 4 from the girder by means 
of a simple side movement without being obliged to act upon girder 3. 
It should be further added that the frame may be provided in its part close 
to the connecting area of the tubes with a marking which facilitates the 
cutting of the tube. 
Concerning the operation of the apparatus which has just been described and 
the way of actuating same the short following remarks seem sufficient. It 
is supposed that two tubes are to be connected end to end inside an 
excavation. The apparatus according to the invention, owing to the modular 
base structure, can be readily mounted on the bottom of the excavation. 
One only has to use the parts I and II shown in FIG. 1. Each of the tubes 
to be connected is fixed on the jaw-carriage 5 of one part, by means of 
cradle elements 22 and of the clamping strap 23. The cradle elements 22 
are removable and can be readily force-fixed e.g. on the protuberance 53 
of the upper plate 17 of carriage 14. By means of an appropriate 
displacement, facilitated by the possibility to move the carriages 14 in a 
head to tail manner, the ends of the tubes can be brought into an 
appropriate position. After cutting of the tubes, and, possibly, 
installation of an appropriate connecting sleeve, the positioning of the 
tube ends is started. To this end, the movable support slide 7 of bow 6 
surrounding the end to be positioned is put into the appropriate angular 
position. Thereafter, a pressurized fluid is sent into jack 43, by 
actuating the lever 51 of the source 50 of pressurized fluid to enable the 
jack pusher head 47 to exert a side pressure on the tube end, and to push 
the latter into its desired position e.g. along axis 8. These operations 
are carried out for each of the tubes which are then correctly positioned 
and maintained in that position for the operation of connection. It is 
obvious that, owing to the hinge 1 between parts I and II, the apparatus 
according to the invention permits a shift between the two tubes according 
to a desired angle. In order to carry out the assembling of three tubes, 
the part III is added to parts I and II. It is then sufficient to position 
the third tube in an appropriate manner with respect to the first and 
second tubes, in the way which has just been described. 
The apparatus according to the invention presents a number of advantages. 
The use of cast light alloys for making the different modules of the 
apparatus, the design of the shapes, thicknesses and ribs make it possible 
to obtain a light and strong apparatus which is not subject to 
deterioration. The use of clamping straps 23 made of polyester, for the 
clamping and for the operations of translation renders it possible to 
reduce the number of moving mechanical parts. The modular design of the 
apparatus and the low weight thereof facilitate its mounting and its 
dismounting in an excavation. Its withdrawal is carried out without the 
need to move the tube. The jaw-carriages 5 position themselves in a head 
to tail manner on girder 3. Once this girder on the bottom of the 
excavation, a symmetrical translation with respect to the axis of the tube 
to be assembled is possible which permits a greater clearance and a 
smaller bulkiness than with the known apparatus. The fixing of the 
jaw-carriage does not impede the translation thereof along the axis of the 
tube before or after the cutting. This makes it possible to bring the 
tubes back into an end-to-end position with a minimum effort. Once the 
appropriate position is thus found, the locking on the girder is readily 
carried out by means of pins 13. As each jaw-carriage possesses two 
support points formed of cradle elements 22, the tube is readily 
positioned. The straightening bow with a movable support slide makes it 
possible to carry out the straightening operation with a latitude of about 
300.degree.about the bow. Finally, the set of tools for handling the 
apparatus is reduced : a single wrench might be sufficient. The apparatus 
according to the invention permits the positioning of tubes with very 
different diameters, e.g. of 160, 125, 110 and 90 mm by changing the 
cradle elements 22 only.