Patent ID: 7089964

Claim:
A coupling used during testing of a water line including an upstream pipe and a downstream pipe, said coupling comprising a substantially cylindrical wall member having a longitudinal centerline, and a removable substantially planar circular disk within the cylindrical wall member, integral therewith, and substantially at a right angle to the cylindrical wall member, said planar disk having a center with said longitudinal centerline intersecting said center substantially at a right angle to the disk and said planar disk forming within the wall member on opposite sides thereof a first section sized to receive the upstream pipe and a second section sized to receive the downstream pipe, said planar disk having an upstream surface and a downstream surface, said upstream surface having therein a groove that is substantially circular and substantially continuous, said groove having an outer perimeter offset inward from the cylindrical wall member a predetermined distance substantially from 0.10 to 0.28 inch to provide, upon removal of the planar disk, a substantially annular pipe stop extending outward from an inside surface of the cylindrical wall member substantially at a right angle to the wall member to enable an end of the upstream pipe to abut an upstream side of the annular pipe stop and an end of the downstream pipe to abut a downstream side of the annular pipe stop, and a piercing assembly attached to the disk and offset with respect to the center of the planar disk, said piercing assembly including a piercing member mounted to the upstream side of the planar disk and having a piercing end aligned with the groove and positioned within or spaced away from the groove substantially 0.1 inch, said piercing member adapted to be pulled manually towards the planar disk to pierce said planar disk at the groove, and a lever member mounted to the downstream side of the planar disk and oriented substantially in the same manner as the piercing member and having an outer terminal end offset inward from the groove substantially from 0.15 to 0.28 inch, and a pulling member to attached to said outer terminal end of the lever member to enable a user while the coupling is installed in a water line to pull the lever member, causing the piercing assembly to rotate and advance the piercing member towards the planar disk and pierce said planar disk at the groove.