Apparatus for repair of high temperature and pressure conduits, method for repairing high temperature and pressure conduits, and a sealing device for repairing high temperature and pressure conduits

• US 6,240,965 B1
• Filed: 04/22/1999
• Issued: 06/05/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Link-Pipe Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Link-Pipe Incorporated
• Inventors: Maimets, Lembits
• Primary Examiner(s): HOOK, JAMES F
• Application Number:
  US09/296,674
• Time in Patent Office: 775 Days
• Field of Search: 138/97, 138/98, 405/150.1, 294/020.9, 294/021.3, 294/021.6, 295/23
• US Class Current: 138/98
• CPC Class Codes: F16L 55/163 a ring, a band or a sleeve being pressed against the inner surface of the pipe
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49732 by attaching repair preform, e.g., remaking, restoring, or patching

Abstract

A conduit repair apparatus includes a carriage configured for movement within a conduit, the carriage including a carrying frame and a drive member. An expansion and brake mechanism is provided on the carriage, and includes at least one radially movable engagement member to apply a radially outwardly directed force. A mechanical force applicator mechanism is provided on the carriage and includes at least one force applicator configured to apply radially outwardly directed pressure and for rotation about an axis of rotation. A power source is connected to the force applicator mechanism to rotatably drive the force applicator about the axis of rotation, whereby the force applicator mechanism can be actuated and simultaneously rotated to thereby apply radially outwardly directed pressure uniformly to an inner wall of a repair sleeve positioned within the conduit. A method of repairing a conduit includes positioning a repair sleeve at a location within a conduit to be repaired, expanding the repair sleeve into engagement with an inner wall of the conduit by actuation of an expansion and brake mechanism exerting an internal outwardly directed radial force on the repair sleeve, further deforming the repair sleeve into sealing engagement with the inner wall of the conduit by actuation of a force application mechanism exerting a rotating internal outwardly directed radial force on the repair sleeve.

Claims

1. A conduit repair apparatus comprising:

a carriage constructed and arranged for movement within a conduit in which repairs are to be effected, said carriage including a carrying frame and a drive member;

an expansion and brake mechanism provided on said carriage, said expansion and brake mechanism including at least one radially movable engagement member operatively mounted to apply a radially outwardly directed force;

a force applicator mechanism provided on said carriage, said force applicator mechanism including at least one radially movable pressure member operatively mounted to apply radially outwardly directed pressure and for rotation about an axis of rotation generally coincident with a central longitudinal axis of the conduit in which repairs are to be effected; and

a power source operatively connected to said force applicator mechanism to rotatably drive said at least one pressure member about said axis of rotation;

whereby a repair sleeve positionable within the conduit can be radially expanded by said expansion and brake mechanism into engagement with an inner wall of the conduit, said expansion and brake mechanism can be positioned at a location outside the repair sleeve and radially expanded to engage the inner wall of the conduit to hold said carriage fixed relative to the conduit, and said force applicator mechanism can be operated to radially actuate said at least one radially movable pressure member and simultaneously to rotate said at least one pressure member about the axis of rotation to thereby apply radially outwardly directed pressure uniformly to an inner wall of the repair sleeve.

2. The conduit repair apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said expansion and brake mechanism includes a plurality of said radially movable engagement members.

3. The conduit repair apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said engagement members are generally uniformly radially spaced about a central axis.

4. The conduit repair apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said at least one radially movable pressure member is operatively connected to said carriage by at least one of an hydraulic actuator, a pneumatic actuator, and a mechanical actuator which effects radial outward movement of said pressure member to apply said radially outwardly directed pressure.

5. The conduit repair apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said at least one radially movable pressure member comprises a hammering applicator for applying repeated hammering strokes to the inner wall of the repair sleeve.

6. The conduit repair apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said at least one radially movable pressure member comprises a rolling applicator for applying a spinning force application to the inner wall of the repair sleeve.

7. The conduit repair apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said at least one radially movable pressure member comprises a pressing applicator for applying a pressing force application to the inner wall of the repair sleeve.

8. The conduit repair apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said at least one engagement member is operatively connected to said carriage by at least one of an hydraulic actuator, a pneumatic actuator, and a mechanical actuator which effects radial outward movement of said at least one engagement member.

9. The conduit repair apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said force applicator mechanism is operatively mounted on the carriage to provide a generally helical path of movement of said at least one pressure member relative to the inner wall of the repair sleeve.

10. The conduit repair apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said force applicator mechanism is operatively mounted on the carriage and is driven by said power source to move along a longitudinal axis of said carriage to provide said generally helical path of movement of said at least one pressure member relative to the inner wall of the conduit.

11. The conduit repair apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said at least one pressure member is rotatably mounted on the carriage to move in a plane of rotation oriented at an angle of less than 90°

with respect to a central longitudinal axis of the repair sleeve to provide said generally helical path of movement of said at least one pressure member relative to the inner wall of the repair sleeve.

12. The conduit repair apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said at least one pressure member is engagable with the inner wall of the repair sleeve to deform the sleeve along said generally helical path to cause said at least one pressure member to thread itself within the repair sleeve.

13. The conduit repair apparatus according to claim 1 in combination with a malleable repair sleeve, said sleeve being expandable by said expansion and brake mechanism into engagement with an inner wall of the conduit to be repaired, and subsequently further deformable by said force applicator mechanism such that an outer surface of said repair sleeve can be firmly pressed into engagement with the inner wall of the conduit to create a seal to effect the repair.

14. The combined repair apparatus and malleable repair sleeve according to claim 13, wherein said malleable repair sleeve comprises a bi-metal repair sleeve having an inner layer of a first malleable material and an outer layer of a second malleable material.

15. The combined repair apparatus and malleable repair sleeve according to claim 14, wherein said second malleable material is softer than said first malleable material.

16. The combined repair apparatus and malleable repair sleeve according to claim 15, wherein said first malleable material comprises steel and said second malleable material is selected from the group comprising lead, tin, bronze and buter.

17. A method of repairing a conduit comprising:

positioning a repair sleeve at a location within a conduit to be repaired;

expanding said repair sleeve into engagement with an inner wall of the conduit by actuation of an expansion and brake mechanism exerting an internal outwardly directed radial force on said repair sleeve;

further deforming said repair sleeve into sealing engagement with the inner wall of the conduit by actuation of a force application mechanism exerting a rotating internal outwardly directed radial force on said repair sleeve.

18. The method of repairing a conduit according to claim 17, wherein said rotating internal radial force is applied by hammering.

19. The method of repairing a conduit according to claim 17, wherein said rotating internal radial force is applied by spinning.

20. The method of repairing a conduit according to claim 17, wherein said rotating internal radial force is applied by pressing.

21. The method of repairing a conduit according to claim 17, further comprising mounting said expansion and brake mechanism and said force application mechanism on a movable carriage, and wherein said positioning is provided by initially mounting said repair sleeve on said expansion and brake mechanism and moving said carriage with said repair sleeve mounted on said expansion and brake mechanism to said location.

22. The method of repairing a conduit according to claim 21, including moving said carriage to move said expansion and brake mechanism to a position spaced from said repair sleeve subsequent to said expanding of said repair sleeve into engagement with an inner wall of the conduit by actuation of said expansion and brake mechanism, and further actuation of said expansion and brake mechanism to thereby engage the inner wall of the conduit to fixedly position said carriage within the conduit.

23. The method of repairing a conduit according to claim 22, rotatably mounting said force applicator mechanism on said carriage for rotation by a power source mounted on said carriage, said force applicator mechanism including at least one radially actuatable member for exerting said outwardly directed radial force, and whereby said deforming of said repair sleeve results from rotating said force application mechanism during actuation of said at least one radial actuatable member.

24. The method of repairing a conduit according to claim 23, further comprising advancing said force applicator mechanism along a central longitudinal axis of said repair sleeve during rotation of said force applicator mechanism to effect uniform deformation of said repair sleeve along a length thereof.

25. The method of repairing a conduit according to claim 24, further comprising mounting said force applicator mechanism on said carriage such that a plane of rotation of said at least one radial actuatable member is positioned at an angle of less than 90°

with respect to said longitudinal axis of said repair sleeve such that said at least one radial actuatable member moves along a generally helical path and thereby threadably engages and deforms said repair sleeve to effect said advancing of said force applicator mechanism.

26. The method of repairing a conduit according to claim 24, wherein said deforming of said repair sleeve comprises hammering.

27. The method of repairing a conduit according to claim 24, wherein said deforming of said repair sleeve comprises spinning.

28. The method of repairing a conduit according to claim 24, wherein said deforming of said repair sleeve comprises pressing.

29. The method of repairing a conduit according to claim 17, further comprising providing said repair sleeve as a malleable repair sleeve such that an outer surface of said repair sleeve can be firmly pressed into engagement with the inner wall of the conduit to form a seal therewith in order to effect the repair.

30. The method of repairing a conduit according to claim 29, wherein said malleable repair sleeve comprises a bi-metal repair sleeve having an inner layer of a first malleable material and an outer layer of a second malleable material.

31. The method of repairing a conduit according to claim 30, wherein said second malleable material is softer than said first malleable material.

32. The method of repairing a conduit according to claim 31, wherein said first malleable material comprises steel and said second malleable material is selected from the group comprising lead, tin, bronze and buter.

33. The method of repairing a conduit according to claim 17, further comprising providing said repair sleeve as a malleable repair sleeve having a generally tubular member having an outer diameter selected to be smaller than an inner diameter of a conduit to be repaired, providing said generally tubular member with at least one longitudinal indentation extending inwardly thereof along an entire length of said malleable repair sleeve, whereby said repair sleeve may be readily positioned within the conduit and said at least one longitudinal indentation may be subsequently outwardly deformed by said expanding to cause an outer surface of said malleable repair sleeve to frictionally engage the inner wall of the conduit.

34. A conduit repair apparatus comprising:

a carriage constructed and arranged for movement within a conduit in which repairs are to be effected, said carriage including a carrying frame and a drive member;

an expansion and brake mechanism provided on said carriage, said expansion and brake mechanism including at least one radially movable engagement member operatively mounted to apply a radially outwardly directed force;

a mechanical force applicator mechanism provided on said carriage, said mechanical force applicator mechanism including at least one force application member configured to apply radially outwardly directed force and operatively mounted for rotation about an axis of rotation generally coincident with a central longitudinal axis of the conduit in which repairs are to be effected; and

a power source operatively connected to said mechanical force applicator mechanism to rotatably drive said at least one force application member about said axis of rotation;

whereby a repair sleeve positionable within the conduit can be radially expanded by said expansion and brake mechanism into engagement with an inner wall of the conduit, said expansion and brake mechanism can be positioned at a location outside the repair sleeve and radially expanded to engage the inner wall of the conduit to hold said carriage fixed relative to the conduit, and said force applicator mechanism can be operated to actuate said at least one force application member and simultaneously to rotate said at least one force application member about the axis of rotation to thereby apply radially outwardly directed force uniformly to an inner wall of the repair sleeve.

35. A conduit repair apparatus comprising:

a carriage constructed and arranged for movement within a conduit in which repairs are to be effected, said carriage including a carrying frame and a drive member;

a mechanical force applicator mechanism provided on said carriage, said mechanical force applicator mechanism including at least one force application member configured to apply radially outwardly directed force and operatively mounted for rotation about an axis of rotation generally coincident with a central longitudinal axis of the conduit in which repairs are to be effected; and

a power source operatively connected to said mechanical force applicator mechanism to rotatably drive said at least one force application member about said axis of rotation;

whereby said force applicator mechanism can be operated to actuate said at least one force application member and simultaneously to rotate said at least one force application member about the axis of rotation to thereby apply radially outwardly directed force uniformly to an inner wall of a repair sleeve positioned within the conduit.

36. A method of repairing a conduit comprising:

positioning a repair sleeve at a location within a conduit to be repaired;

deforming said repair sleeve into sealing engagement with the inner wall of the conduit by actuation of a force application mechanism exerting a rotating internal outwardly directed radial force on said repair sleeve.