A method and an apparatus for waterproofing and gastightening a cable and/or tube passage in a wall or the like, using a foamable synthetic resin

Abstract: A method and an apparatus for waterproofing and gastightening a cable or tube passage (9) in a wall (11) or the like, using a foamable synthetic resin (8). A box-shaped or cover-shaped element, e.g. a cap (1, 2) is attached to one side of the wall, after which through an opening in cap (1, 2) the foamable resin (8) is supplied therein and the opening is stopped. The cap (1, 2) may consist of two parts (1, 2) and the two parts may be provided with rupturable closures or closable openings.

Description: The present invention relates to a method of waterproofing and gastightening a cable or tube passage or hole in a wall or the like, using a foamable synthetic resin, wherein a cover element, e.g. a cap is attached to one side face of the wall to cover the passage or hole, after which, through an opening in said cap the foamable resin is supplied therein and the opening is closed. A similar method is known from FR-A-2,406,903 in which first a hull is placed in the passage in the wall and later on the cap, which has a depending skirt, is placed at which a shoulder of the cap abuts said hull and wall passage. In this known method the foamable resin does not seal against the surface of the passage and there is no guarantee that the wall passage is fully closed outside of the skirt. Further reference is made to DE-A-3,411,642. The method and apparatus known from this citation discloses a cover comprising a rim which is held by screws against one side of the wall to surround the passage. The cover and passage are filled with cement or a pourable or injection mouldable synthetic material. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method suitable for application in cable passages or holes in walls, the inner surface of which passages or holes cannot be cleaned or insufficiently so. To that end, the present invention provides a method in which the cap is only attached to the said one side face of the wall to surround the passage by placing a sealing ring of an open-celled material between the cap and the wall, pressing the cap with the sealing ring against the wall and attaching the cap to the cable or tube by means of a thread or filament, such that the cap is so attached in a fluid-tight manner, that when the foaming resin is supplied it fills up and seals the space between the surface of the passage or hole in the wall and the cable or tube and obtains a good adherence to said one side face of the wall around the passage. The advantage of this method is that a properly adhering and waterproof and gastight cable and/or tube passage can be obtained in a relatively simple manner. This is especially important as the work has often to be carried out under difficult conditions. It is sufficient to drill a hole in a wall, to clean the surroundings of the hole on said one side of the wall, to fit the cable through the wall and the tube, to make the connections to the inner cable and, in the case of a gas pipe passage, to make the connection to the inner pipes, to attach the cap to the cable or tube to pour the foamable resin into the cap and to close the opening in the cap. To prevent the resin from leaking away along the tube so long as it has not yet expanded it has to be ensured that the bottom of the cap is fitted sufficiently far underneath the opening in order that the volume enclosed by the wall surface and the cap and situated underneath the lower edge of the hole can contain the quantity of liquid synthetic resin supplied. The present invention further relates to an apparatus for performing the above described method and is characterized in that the cover element is a flexible plastics conical cap which is provided with aperture means for passing a cable or tube and with a closable filling hole and is capable of receiving and containing a foamable resin, said cap having a rim provided with a sealing ring of an open-celled material as well as attachment means near the cable or tube passing for holding said rim and sealing ring in engagement with only one side face of the wall by attachment to the cable or tube. Such a cap can be attached to the cable passed through by means of a thread or filament of synthetic plastics, rubber or like material. By attaching the thread or filament to the cable at some distance in front of the cap, and then winding it towards the cap, the latter will be pushed, and held firmly against the wall by the stiff turns of the plastic filament or thread. The end of the thread or filament can then be secured by means of adhesive tape also serving to seal the respective cap end relative to the cable passed through. For an easy attachment of the cap, this may be provided with an axial split containing means for interconnecting the respective axial longitudinal edges of the split. Said means may take the form of an H-section member, and pins for interconnecting the axial longitudinal edges of the split via aligned openings in said longitudinal edges and the H-section. By selecting an angle of about 45° between the wall and the axis of the conical cap, it is ensured that the cap is properly pressed against the wall. As the cap is secured using a thread or filament of synthetic plastics, rubber or the like material, a sufficient frictional force is produced to ensure that the cap is not pressed away during the foaming of the synthetic plastics material. In order to easily adjust the cap passage to the diameter of the cable passed through, the cap may be provided with a graduation. The cap described above can also be employed to provide a closure in a pipe, tube or wall bushing or the like, using two spaced apart caps to be installed in the hole concerned. The wall has to be cleaned around the opening, so as to obtain a good adherence of the foamed synthetic resin to the wall. When the diameter of the hole on the outside of the wall is larger than the outer diameter of the tube, it is possible to fit a collar of an open-celled material between the tube and the hole. This open-celled material then ensures that the foaming resin that would reach the outside of the wall through the hole is retained. Two embodiments of apparatus for making a waterproofed closure of a cable passage in a wall will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a cross section of apparatus for waterproofing a cable passage through a wall; Fig. 2 is a corresponding cross section of another embodiment ; Fig. 3 is a cross section similar to Fig. 1 and showing an embodiment according to the present invention ; Fig. 4 is a part-sectional view of a conical cap with an H-section sealing member used in the apparatus shown in Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view taken on the line V-V of Fig. 4. As shown in the drawing, the following procedure is followed for making a waterproofed and gastight cable passage, first. a passage or hole 9 is drilled in a wall 11, after which a tube 4, whose end that comes to lie in the outside soil 12 is stopped (not shown), is pushed or hammered outwards through the hole (in the drawing from the right to the left). The stopper ensures that the tube is not clogged with soil, grit or sand. The tube 4 is pushed or hammered so far into the wall that the edge 17 is located between the inner surface and the outer surface of the wall 11. The tube stopper (not shown) is now removed, so that an outer cable 5 can be pushed through tube 4 inwards. When the diameter of the hole on the outside of the wall is much larger than the outer diameter of the tube, a collar of an open-celled material can be installed between the tube and the hole on the outside. Then a start can be made with the provision of electrical connections 7 (connectors) between the wires of the outer cable 5 and those of the inner cable 6. The manner in which this is effected is of little relevance here. Also, the wall is cleaned on the inside around the opening 9, so as to ensure a good adherence between wall 11 and the foaming material to be described hereinafter. After cleaning the wall, a cap consisting of two parts 1 and 2 is attached to the wall, e.g. by means of screws 14. The cap has a cut-out or opening, not shown, through which the inner or house cable 6 can be passed. The sealing of the cap relative to the wall is ensured by a sealing ring 13 of an open-celled material. After cap 1, 2 has been attached to the wall 11, a foamable resin 8 is poured into cap 1, 2, to which end first a stopper 10 is removed, after which the foamable resin 8, e.g. a two-component resin, is poured into cap 1, 2 whereafter stopper 10 is reinstated. Cap 1, 2 should be installed in such a manner that the volume of the quantity of resin poured into cap 1, 2 does not exceed the volume enclosed by the inner surface of wall 11 and cap 1, with the level of the liquid resin remaining below the lower edge of hole 9, since otherwise the not-yet-foaming resin will leak away into hole 9, with the result that the space between wall 11 and cap 1, 2 and the space in hole 9 and between the inner wall of tube 4 and the outer cable 5 and between tube 4 and the inner wall of hole 9 is not completely filled with foam 8 so that the waterproofness is not ensured. When cap 1, 2 is installed properly, the foaming resin 8 will first entirely fill up the space between cap and wall, and subsequently penetrate into hole 9 and tube 4, between the inner wall of tube 4 and the outer cable 5. Fig. 2 shows a different embodiment of cap 1, 2. The difference from the cap shown in Fig. 1 is that the connectors 15 are situated in a space 16 formed by means of a cover 19 outside cap 1, 2. The cover is connected to cap 1, 2 in a conventional manner, not shown. The connectors can now be covered separately: this embodiment. however, has the advantage that the connectors do not lie in the foamed synthetic resin and thereby remain "easily" accessible. Figs. 3-5 show an embodiment according to the invention of the application of a conical cap 20 in sealing a passage 21 in a wall 22. Through the wall passage extends a cable 23. Conical cap 20 is attached to the cable 23 by means of a flexible synthetic plastics thread or filament (e.g. of PVC). The thread or filament is fastened to cable 23 by means of a clove hitch or the like and subsequently filling up the space between the first turn and the conical front of the cap by adjoining turns. By slightly tightening or stretching the thread or filament during this procedure, the conical cap 20 is pressed against the wall 22. Proper sealing relative to the wall can be accomplished by fitting the rim of the conical cap with a sealing ring 25 of open-celled material. The end of wire 24 is attached to the conical cap by taping the "knot" with a tape diagrammatically shown at 26, which can also ensure a sealing of the cap end relative to cable 23. To facilitate making a correct aperture for the passage of the cable, the conical cap is provided with a graduation 32, so that the end of the conical cap can easily be sawn to size. As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the conical cap has a split 27 through which the cap can be easily installed. The two longitudinal edges of split 27 are kept together by an H-section member 28 and pins 29 extending through openings, not shown, in the H-section member 28 or the respective edges of the split. In the same way as discussed in the above, the conical cap is provided with a filling hole 31 stoppable by a plug 30. Although not shown in the drawings the conical surface of the cap preferably makes an angle of 45° with the axis of the cap. This makes for a good attachment of the cap relative to the cable or the wall. When this angle is chosen too small, the cap will not be properly pressed against the wall by winding filament 24 around the cable. If, on the other hand, too steep an angle is chosen, the same effect will occur. After the installation of the conical cap in the above described manner, a liquid foamable synthetic resin (shown in Fig. 3 in cured condition and indicated at 33) can be introduced therein and the filling hole can be stopped or otherwise closed. The use of the conical cap of flexible synthetic plastics material (polyethylene. polypropylene, PVC and the like) has the advantage that this makes it possible to easily take up out-of-roundness of the cable or to pass through two or more cables. Also an eccentric arrangement of the cable relative to the wall bushing can be realized without any problem. It will be clear in view of the above that many modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the inventive idea, in particular with regard to the form of the cap and its attachment to the cable.

Claims: A method of waterproofing and gastightening a cable (23) or tube passage (21) in a wall (22) or the like, using a foamable synthetic resin, wherein a cover element (20), e.g. a cap is attached to one side face of the wall (22) to cover the passage (21), after which, through an opening (31) in said cover element (20) the foamable resin (33) is supplied therein and the opening (31) is closed, characterized in that the cover element (20) is only attached to said one side face of the wall (22) to surround the passage (21) by placing a sealing ring (25) of an open-celled material between the cover element (20) and the wall (22), pressing the cover element (20) with the sealing ring (25) against the wall (22) and attaching the cover element (20) to the cable (23) or tube by means of a thread (24) or filament, such that the cover element (20) is so attached in a fluid-tight manner, that when the foaming resin (33) is supplied it fills up and seals the space between the surface of the passage (21) in the wall (22) and the cable (23) or tube and obtains a good adherence to said one side face of the wall (22) around the passage (21). A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the under-side of the cover element (20) is provided sufficiently far below the passage (21) so that the volume enclosed by the wall (22) and the cover element (20) and located below the horizontal plane through the lower edge of the passage (21) in the wall (22) can contain the quantity of liquid synthetic resin (33) supplied. An apparatus suitable for performing the method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the cover element is a flexible plastics conical cap (20) which is provided with aperture means for passing a cable (23) or tube and with a closable filling hole (31), said cap (20) being capable of receiving and containing a foamable resin (33) and having a rim provided with a sealing ring (25) of an open-celled material as well as attachment means near the the cable (23) or tube passing means for holding said rim and sealing ring (25) in engagement with only one side face of the wall (22) by attachment to the cable (23) or tube. An apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that the cap (20) is provided with an axial split (27), means (28, 29) being provided for interconnecting the respective axial longitudinal edges of the split (27). An apparatus according to claim 4, characterized by an H-section closing member and pins for interconnecting said longitudinal edges via aligned openings in the axial longitudinal edges of the split and the closing member. An apparatus according to claim 3, 4 or 5, characterized in that the angle between the cap wall and the axis of the conical cap (20) is about 45°. An apparatus according to claim 3, 4, 5 or 6, characterized in that the conical cap (20) is provided with a graduation (32).

Inventors: BAARS JAN, BAARS, JAN
Applicants: FILOFORM CHEM IND BV, CHEMISCHE INDUSTRIE FILOFORM B.V.
Application year: 1986
Main classification: H02G3
IPC codes: F16L5, H02G3