QUICK-COUPLING CONNECTOR GROUP FOR PIPES, PILES OR THE LIKE

Abstract: The quick-coupling connector group for pipes, piles or the like is constituted of a pair of half-couplers, male (4) and female (5) respectively, capable of being connected to the ends of the pipes (1,2) to be joined, of which the male half-­ coupler (4) possesses, on its external surface, an annular raised profile capable of being coupled with a correspond­ ing annular raised profile present on the internal surface of the female half-coupler near to its end, the female half-­ coupler (5) being equipped, starting from its end, with axial slits (15) defining, along its entire surface, a plurality of out­ wardly elastically flexible lamellar elements (16), adapted for permitting the fitting of the female half-coupler (5) over the male half-coupler (4) and the coupling together of the respective raised annular profiles (16), an axially movable ring (19) being also provided, capable of being fitted over the female half-coupler (5) and of being blocked in position, adapted for preventing radial deformations at the end zone of the female half-coupler (5) itself.

Description: The subject of the present invention is a quick-coupling connector group, adapted for permitting rapid and rigid connecting together of pipes, piles or the like, in order to restore entirely the mechanical characteristics of the pipe in the joint zone. Construction elements, such as pipes, tubular piles and the like, are used in many works, such as for example for the fixing of marine platforms to the sea bed, for the construction of well casings, for foundations and the like. In such structures, the necessity arises of having available tubular components of considerable length, greater than the maximum commercially available or transportable length; for this purpose, therefore, a number of tubular sections must be connected together on the jobsite in order to achieve the desired dimension of the tubular element required. The mechanical jointing of lengths of tube may be carried out by means of various types, which must provide a rigid joint capable of reproducing the mechanical strength characteristics of the tubular element in order to guarantee structural continuity, particularly to obtain mechanical resistance either to tensile or to compressive stress as said tubes or piles, that have diameter and weight respectively varying from 0.5 to 2.50 meters and from 5 to 300 tons, must be set into the ground by means of a drive hammer or similar and successively extracted. Actually one of the technologies used for the connection of said tubes consists of a complete penetration welding, being particularly difficult and unreliable because of the precarious working condition under which they are realized. Other different types of joints are known, which provide for the coupling by mutual screwing together of adjacent lengths, or by coupling them together by elastic deformation. Such operations require the use of complex external equipment, which shall provide for the suspension and rotation of one of the pipe lengths relative to the other, in order to obtain the joint by screwing up, or which shall produce the necessary loading for obtaining the coupling required by elastic deformation; in both these cases, the operations carried out demand considerable time and govern the speed of execution of the entire assembly and installation operation. Some coupling devices are known from the prior art but they are not effective for the above described special purpose. FR-A-1.310.713 discloses a coupling means which can offer a good resistance to tension but cannot offer any resistance to compression infact the mechanical radial coupling is actuated through some gullet teeth with flat contact (3b) and the frontal coupling between female part (1) and male part (2) through a resilient ring, it is not therefore possible to transmit axial compression forces applied through drive hammers as required for offshore platforms. Furthermore it is deducible from fig. 1 that, because of the particular configuration of the gullet teeth coupling (3a), the coupling device must work under continuous traction and that under a compression action the ring (4) would be radially outwardly deformed and enlarged, therefore after a new traction it would not act any containing action. BE-A-572.928 discloses a blocking of the male and female parts actuated through the deformation of an element (25) pushed by radial screws (21); it is evident that the device is not applicable on structural piles having the above mentioned dimensions and weight, it could be infact not possible to deform the element (25) that, in such application will assume a thickness of some centimeters. It results that also a combination of the two citations does not teach a solution to the problem of providing resistance to both compression and traction axial forces. Some other coupling devices are also known from the art from GB-A-1.275.273 that refers to a coupling of flexible garden tubes kept through conical deformation between male and female parts that leaves clearance in the coupling in order to allow the pushing action on a valve 11 without closing the feeding passage of the fluid and that does not realize any mechanical continuity and therefore cannot resist to axial compression forces. GB-A-2.054.081 is a connector for conduits for fluids, manually opearable; its structure, designed for manual operation on small tubes, cannot be applied to the foundation pipes of the application. US-A-3.245.703 is a pipe coupling for garden hoses, oxygen lines and the like; similarly to the preceeding documents, it relates to small tubes and has not the necessary rigidity to be used in the field of the application. The undercut formations of the application are contained in a structure which can completely remove the axial play between the connected parts; nothing similar can be found in US-A-3.245.703. The problem therefore arises of providing a connecting group for tubular elements which shall permit quick joining together of lengths of pipe, with the use of simple equipment, producing a joint which shall possess mechanical resistance to either compressive and tensile axial forces and cannot be accidentally loosened, but nevertheless can be disconnected if the occasion arises. These results are obtained by the present invention which provides a quick-coupling connectro group for pipes, piles or the like, comprising a pair of half-couplers respectively male and female, capable of being rigidly connected to the corresponding ends of the pipes to be joined together, of which the male half-coupler possesses, on its external surface, a raised annular profile of saw tooth section capable of being coupled to a correspondingly raised annular profile present on the internal surface of the female half-coupler near to its end, said raised annular profiles of the one half-coupler being capable of being engaged into the spaces contained between two adjacent raised zones of the other half-coupler, the female half-coupler being equipped, starting from its end, with axial slits defining, along its entire surface, a plurality of outwardly elastically flexible lamellar elements, adapted for permitting, by their deformation, the fitting of the female half coupler onto the male half-coupler and the coupling together of the respective raised annular profiles, an axially movable ring being also provided having an internal diameter equal to the external diameter of the female half-coupler in the zone thereof internally equipped with the raised annular profile when the lamellar elements are in the undeformed state, the ring being capable of being fitted onto it, thereby preventing radial deformations at the end zone itself of the female half-coupler, the saw tooth section having for both the half-couplers conical surfaces with a smaller cone angle facing towards the free end thereof in converging sense for the male half-coupler and in diverging sense for the female half-coupler, being characteristic of the coupling that the saw tooth section comprises opposite conical surfaces having a wider cone angle facing towards the pipe to which the half-coupler is connected in converging sense for the male half-coupler and in diverging sense for the female half-coupler, and in that an inclined abutment surface is provided on the male and on the female half-coupler in order to eliminate any axial play after coupling and to restore entirely the mechanical charcteristics of the pipes in the joint zone. The axially slidable ring, in one form of the embodiment of this invention, is situated around the external surface of the female half-coupler and can be held in a retracted position, which does not obstruct the radial deflections of the lamellar elements, and brought into an advanced position by axial sliding on the female half-coupler, thereby surrounding the end of the lamellar elements and preventing their deformation in the radial direction. In said embodiment, the axially slidable ring possesses an internal conical surface, diverging towards the end of the female half-coupler, while a corresponding conical surface, diverging towards the free end of the half-coupler is present on the external surface of the lamellar elements of the female half-coupler, the forced sliding of the ring into the advanced position determining a radial inward deflection of the lamellar elements, thereby forcing the female half-coupler onto the male half-coupler between the mating conical surfaces of wide cone angle of the annular raised zones and the abutment surfaces of the male half-coupler inside the female half-coupler. According to an alternative form of embodiment, the axially slidable ring possesses a portion having internal threading, screwed onto a threaded portion situated on the external surface of the male half-coupler behind the raised annular profile, and may be held in a retracted position on the male half-coupler, where it does not obstruct the radial deflection of the lamellar elements of the female half-coupler, and brought into an advanced position by screwing on the threaded portion of the male half-coupler, thereby surrounding the end of the lamellar elements and preventing their deformation in the radial direction. In this embodiment, the axially slidable ring possesses an internal conical surface, diverging towards the end of the male half-coupler, while a corresponding conical surface, converging towards the free end of the half-coupler, is present on the external surface of the lamellar elements of the female half-coupler, starting from their end, the screwing of the ring on the male half-coupler into the advanced position causing a radial inward deflection of the lamellar elements, with forcing of the female half-coupler onto the male half-coupler between the coupled conical surfaces of wide cone angle of the annular raised zones and the abutment surfaces of the male half-coupler inside the female half-coupler. In both these forms of embodiment, there are provided, in the axially movable ring, screw means for blocking the ring itself in the position surrounding the lamellar elements of the female half-coupler. According to a further form of embodiment there is provided, on the male half-coupler, a second axially slidable ring having a conical portion capable of being coupled with a corresponding conical internal surface of the end of the female half-coupler and capable of being introduced with an axial advancing movement inside same, thereby determining the radical outward deflection of the lamellar elements of the female half-coupler, causing disengagement of the respective raised profiles of the half-couplers, means being provided for blocking said second ring in the retracted position. In said embodiment, the means for blocking the second ring in the retracted position are constituted of the anterior surface of the axially slidable ring, adapted for bearing against the second ring, blocking its advance, when the axially movable ring, surrounding the female half-coupler, is advanced onto same and is blocked in position around the mutual engagement zone of the respective raised profiles. Further details will become apparent from the following description, with reference to the attached drawings, in which there are shown: In Fig. 1, the connector according to this invention in one form of embodiment, in the coupled position; In Fig. 2, a section on the plane II-II of Fig. 1; In Fig. 3, detail III of Fig. 1; In Fig. 4, an enlarged detail of the connector of Fig. 1; In Fig. 5, the connector according to this invention in a different form of embodiment, in the coupled position; In Fig. 6 a section on the plane VI-VI of Fig. 5; In Fig. 7, detail VII of Fig. 5; In Fig. 8, an enlarged detail of the connector of Fig. 5; In Fig. 9, the connector according to this invention in a different form of embodiment, in the coupled position; In Fig. 10, a section on the plane X-X of Fig. 9; In Fig. 11, detail XI of Fig. 9; In Fig. 12, a detail of Fig. 11; In Fig. 13, the connector of Fig. 1 during the assembly stage; In Fig. 14, the connector of Fig. 5 during the assembly stage; As Fig. 1, 2 show, a pair of tubular elements 1, 2 is present, connected together by a quick-coupling connector group 3, constituted of a male half-coupler 4 and female half-coupler 5, attached respectively to tubular element 1 and tubular element 2, for example, as illustrated by welding. The male half-coupler 4 possesses a cylindrical body which has, near to its end, a first fitting and guiding portion 6 with a smooth external surface and, thereafter, a coupling portion 7 having two or more annular raised zones forming an annular set of teeth 8 of sawtooth section, with conical surfaces 9 of each annular raised zone having a small cone angle and converging upwards (i.e. towards the free end of the male half-coupler), and opposite conical surfaces 10 of the annular raised zones, having a large cone angle and downwards (i.e. towards the attached end of the male half-coupler). The female half-coupler 5, for its part, is constituted of a cylindrical body having an anterior or end portion 11 having an internal diameter greater than the external diameter of the male half-coupler 4, this anterior or end portion possessing, opposite to the annular set of teeth 8, internal annular raised zones forming an internal annular set of teeth 12 of sawtooth section having conical surfaces 13 with a small cone angle diverging downwards (i.e. towards the free end of the female half-coupler) and opposite conical surfaces 14, with a large cone angle, diverging upwards (i.e. towards the attached end of the female half-coupler), and of a diameter such as to couple with the set of teeth 8. The end portion 11 of the half-coupler 5 possesses furthermore a plurality of longitudinal slits 15, which define a plurality of lamellar elements 16. The lamellar elements 16 possess elastic deformability in the radial direction, which enables them to move apart, as shown in Fig. 13 during the coupling stage of the connector, by sliding of the corresponding conical surfaces 9, 13; this permits the insertion of the male half-coupler 4 into the female half-coupler 5, with coupling together of the corresponding surfaces of the sets of teeth 8 and 12 when the lamellar elements 16 return into the undeformed position, until contact occurs between the end surface 17 of the male half-coupler 4 and the internal raised stop surface 18 of the female half-coupler 5. For the purpose of faciliting mutual fitting and sliding of the two parts of the connector, the sets of teeth 8 and 12 have primary conical surfaces. Outside the female half-coupler 5 there is an axially slidable ring 19, having an internal diameter equal to the external diameter of the portion 11 in the undeformed state. The ring 19, at the stage of connecting the half-couplers of the connector, is held as shown in Fig. 13 in a raised position or, in general, retracted; when coupling of the annular sets of teeth 8, 12 has taken place, the ring 19 is lowered or advanced into the position shown in Fig. 1, surrounding the sets of teeth themselves now in mutual engagement, in such a way as to prevent any further deformation of the lamellar elements 16, thereby guaranteeing complete solidarity of the joint. For advancing the ring 19, a device 20 is provided, shown schematically in Fig. 1, actuated by, for example, hydraulic servo-actuators. The ring 19 is kept in the lowered position or, more generally, if the orientation of the pipes or piles to be jointed were different, in an advanced position towards the free end of the half-coupler 5, by means of one or more screw wedges 21, shown more clearly in Fig. 3, inserted into a threaded hole of the ring 19 and tightened inside the conical hole 22 of one or more lamellar elements 16 by their points 23. The assembling of the connector group may be carried out simply, especially in the usual case where the tubular elements are positioned vertically: In fact the upper tubular element, carrying the female half-coupler, with the ring 19 in the retracted position, and kept in this position, for example, by dowels or the like, may be lowered onto the lower tubular element carrying the male half-coupler, sliding on it as a result of the outward elastic deformation of the lamellar elements and the relevant sliding of the conical surfaces of the annular raised zones, until the corresponding surfaces 17, 18 come into abutment and the sets of teeth 8, 12 simultaneously couple together, which produces a final rigid locking of the joint. The ring 19 can now be lowered by the device 20, to surround the mutual coupling-together zone of the sets of teeth 8, 12 and finally prevent any relative movement between the coupled-together half-couplers and the tubular elements connected to them. As Fig. 4 shows, when the surfaces 17, 18 come into abutment, the convex conical surfaces 10 of the male half-coupler are in contact with the corresponding surfaces 14 of th female half-coupler; the external surface 16a of the lamellar elements 16 of the female half-coupler, in the end zone of the elements themselves, is moreover provided with a slight conicity, having its larger diameter towards the end, and a corresponding conicity is possessed by the relevant coupling surface 19a of the ring 19. An appropriate dimensioning of the connector will ensure that the maximum advanced position of the ring 19 causes, by action of the coupled surfaces 16a, 19a, a clamping of the lamellar elements 16 onto the portion 7 of the male half-coupler, with relative sliding of the conical surfaces 10, 14, thereby producing in the lamellar elements 16 of the female half-coupler and in the portions 6, 7 of the male half-coupler, as a result of the inclination of the surfaces 10, 14 themselves and of the bearing of the surfaces 17, 18, an axial loading which produces a tightening of the connector, ensuring for it the rigidity characteristics required. In Figures 5, 6 there is shown an alternative form of embodiment, in which the male half-coupler 4a possesses, adjacent to the annular set of teeth of sawtooth form 8, a threaded portion 24, on which a ring 19a is screwed, equipped with an internally smooth portion 25a capable of being coupled with the end portion 16a of the lamellar elements 16, and with an internally threaded portion 25b, by which the ring is screwed on the threaded portion 24 of the male half-coupler. During assembling of the half-couplers, the ring 19a is kept in the retracted position on the male half-coupler 4a, as illustrated in Fig. 14; when, in a manner analogous to that described with reference to Figures 1, 2, the female half-coupler 5a is fitted onto the male half-coupler 4a with mutual coupling together of the sets of teeth 8, 12, the ring 19a is advanced, by screwing it by acting on the gripping recesses 26 situated on the external surface with a screwing device, not shown, until it comes into a position surrounding the end of the lamellar elements 16 in the position illustrated in Fig. 4, tightening it onto the abutment surface 27 of the lamellar elements themselves. The ring 19a is therefore held in the position surrounding the lamellar elements 16 in such a way as to prevent them from deforming and loosening the connection between the half-couplers, the ring being secured by dowels 28, one of which is shown in Fig. 7 to enlarged scale, possessing at the end a portion of deformable material 29, such as elastomeric material, lead or the like, adapted for acting upon the threaded zone 24 and blocking the unscrewing of the ring 19a. As Fig. 8 shows, the smooth internal surface of the portion 25a of the ring 19a has a conicity diverging towards the unthreaded end of the rings, while a corresponding conicity is formed on the surface of the end portion of the lamellar elements 16. In this way, screwing-up of the ring 19a as far as the abutment position against the surface 27 leads to relative tightening of the corresponding conical surfaces 10, 14 of the sets of teeth 8, 12, in a manner analogous to that described with reference to Fig. 4, thereby achieving a tight assembly of the joint which eliminated any play and ensures the necessary rigidity. The hydraulic tightness, if required, of the joint between the half-couplers 4 or 4a and 5 or 5a, is provided by a seal 30 seated in the female half-coupler, near to the abutment surface 18, and acting upon the cylindrical surface of the portion 6 of the male half-coupler. Figures 9 to 12 show a connector with reversible coupling; it is composed of a male half-coupler 31, equipped with a cylindrical end portion 32 and with an annular set of teeth of sawtooth form 33, analogous to that described earlier; onto it, a female half-coupler 34 may be fitted, equipped with an anterior portion 35 having the internal annular set of teeth of sawtooth form 36, capable of engagement with the set of teeth 33, and furnished with the slits 37 defining the outwardly flexible lamellar elements 38. Around the portion 35 there is also situated the axially slidable ring 39, capable of being displaced around the coupling zone of the sets of teeth 33, 36 by a device 20, as already described, and of being blocked in position by screw wedges 40, inserted into the holes 41 of the lamellar elements 38, as illustrated in Fig. 11. The tightness of the joint is assured by the seal 42, inserted into the female half-coupler 34 and acting upon the cylindrical portion 32 of the male half-coupler 31. The male half-coupler 31 possesses, at the base of zone having the annular set of teeth 33, an axially slidable ring 43, equipped with a conical portion 44 conjugate with the internal conical surface 45 of the lamellar elements 38 of the female half-coupler 34. The assembling of the half-couplers and their blocking by means of the ring 39 is carried out in a manner analogous to that described earlier; the ring 39, when it is situated in the advanced position as shown in detail in Fig. 11, acts with its end surface against the external flange 46 of the ring 43, blocking its retracted position in bearing against the abutment surface 47 of the male half-coupler 31. The half-couplers can be separated by removing the screw wedges 40 and retracting the ring 39 into the position shown in broken line in Fig. 9, in which position it can be held by dowels or the like; the ring 43 can then be advanced, by acting upon it through the notches 48 present in the body of the male half-coupler 31 by means of a tool 49, thus bringing its conical portion 44 to enter inside the lamellar elements 38 of the female half-coupler 34 and causing, as shown in Fig. 12, a radial outward bending of the lamellar elements themselves, which leads to mutual disengagement of the sets of teeth 33 and 36, which then enables the half-couplers to be separated.

Claims: 1. Quick-coupling connector group for pipes, piles or the like, comprising a pair of half-couplers (4, 5) respectively male (4) and female (5), capable of being rigidly connected to the corresponding ends of the pipes (1, 2) to be joined together, of which the male half-coupler (4) possesses, on its external surface (7), a raised annular profile (8) of saw tooth section capable of being coupled to a correspondingly raised annular profile (12) present on the internal surface of the female half-coupler (5) near to its end, said raised annular profiles of the one half-coupler being capable of being engaged into the spaces contained between two adjacent raised zones of the other half-coupler, the female half-coupler being equipped, starting from its end, with axial slits (15) defining, along its entire surface, a plurality of outwardly elastically flexible lamellar elements (16), adapted for permitting, by their deformation, the fitting of the female half coupler (5) onto the male half-coupler (4) and the coupling together of the respective raised annular profiles (8, 12), an axially movable ring (19) being also provided having an internal diameter equal to the external diameter of the female half-coupler (5) in the zone thereof internally equipped with the raised annular profile when the lamellar elements are in the undeformed state, the ring being capable of being fitted onto it, thereby preventing radial deformations at the end zone itself of the female half-coupler, the saw tooth section having for both the half-couplers conical surfaces with a smaller cone angle facing towards the free end thereof in converging sense for the male half-coupler and in diverging sense for the female half-coupler, characterised in that the saw tooth section comprises opposite conical surfaces (10, 14) having a wider cone angle facing towards the pipe to which the half-coupler is connected in converging sense for the male half-coupler and in diverging sense for the female half-coupler, and in that an inclined abutment surface (17, 18) is provided on the male and on the female half-coupler in order to eliminate any axial play after coupling and to restore entirely the mechanical charcteristics of the pipes in the joint zone. 2. Quick-coupling connector group for pipes, piles or the like according to claim 1, characterised by the fact that the axially slidable ring (19) is situated around the external surface of the female half-coupler (5) and can be retained in the retracted position, where it does not obstruct the radial deflection of the lamellar elements (16), and can be brought into the advanced position by axial sliding on the female half-coupler (5) surrounding in this position the end of the lamellar elements (16) and blocking their deformation in a radial direction. 3. Quick-coupling connector group for pipes, piles or the like according to claim 2 characterised by the fact that the axially slidable ring (19) possesses an internal conical surface diverging towards the end of the female half-coupler (5), while a corresponding conical surface, diverging towards the free end of the half-coupler, is present on the external surface of the lamellar elements (16) of the female half-coupler (5), the forced axial displacement of the ring (19) into the advanced position causing a radial inward deflection of the lamellar elements (16), accompanied by forcing of the female half-coupler (5) onto the male half-coupler between the coupled-together conical surfaces having a wide cone angle of the raised annular zones and the abutment surfaces of the male half-coupler inside the female half-coupler. 4. Quick-coupling connector group for pipes, piles or the like according to Claim 1, characterized by the fact that the axially slidable ring (19a) possesses a portion having an internal threaded zone (25b), screwed onto a threaded portion (24) situated on the external surface of the male half-coupler (4a) behind the raised annular profile (8), and can be retained in the retracted position on the male half-coupler (4a), where it does not obstruct the radial deflection of the lamellar elements (16) of the female half-coupler (5a), and can be brought into an advanced position by screwing up on the threaded portion (24) of the male half-coupler (4a) in which this ring surrounds the end of the lamellar (16) elements and blocks their deformation in the radial direction. 5. Quick-coupling connector group for pipes, piles or the like according to Claim 4, characterized by the fact that the axially slidable ring (19a) possesses a conical internal surface, diverging towards the end of the male half-coupler (4), while a corresponding conical surface, converging towards the free end of the half-coupler, is present on the external surface of the lamellar elements (16) of the female half-coupler (5, 5a), starting from their end, the screwing of the ring on the male half-coupler (4) into the advanced position (4a) determining a deflection of the lamellar elements (16) in the radial inward direction, accompanied by forcing of the female half-coupler (5) onto the male half-coupler (4a) between the coupled-together conical surfaces having a wide cone angle of the raised annular zones and the abutment surfaces of the male half-coupler (4a) inside the female half-coupler (5). 6. Quick-coupling connector group for pipes, piles or the like according to Claims 2 or 4, characterized by the fact that there are provided, in the axially movable ring (19, 19a), screw means (28) for blocking the ring itself in the position surrounding the lamellar elements (16) of the female half-coupler (5). 7. Quick-coupling connector group for pipes, piles or the like according to one or more of Claims 1 to 3, characterized by the fact that there is present, on the male half-coupler (4), a second axially slidable ring (43) having a conical portion (44) capable of being coupled with a corresponding conical internal surface (45) of the end of the female half-coupler (34) and capable of being inserted by an axial advancing movement inside same, thereby determining the radial outward deflection of the lamellar elements (38) of the female half-coupler (34) and causing disengagement of the respective raised profiles of the half-couplers, means being provided for blocking said second ring in the retracted position. 8. Quick-coupling connector group for pipes, piles or the like according to Claims 2 or 7, characterized by the fact that the means for blocking the second ring in the retracted position are constituted of the anterior surface of the axially slidable ring (39), adapted for coming into bearing against the second ring, blocking its advance when the axially movable ring, surrounding the female half-coupler (31), is advanced on same and is blocked in position around the mutual engagement zone of the respective raised profiles.

Inventors: MONTANARI, PAOLO, SALA, ONEGLIO
Applicants: RIVA CALZONI S.P.A.
Application year: 1987
Main classification: F16L37
IPC codes: F16L37