U.S. patent application number 12/656104 was filed with the patent office on 2010-08-12 for two-piece pipe end cap.
Invention is credited to Frederick W. Zeyfang.
Application Number | 20100200102 12/656104 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 42539390 |
Filed Date | 2010-08-12 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100200102 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Zeyfang; Frederick W. |
August 12, 2010 |
Two-piece pipe end cap
Abstract
A two-piece end cap for an industrial pipe is provided. The end
cap comprises a planar end wall and a flexible side wall extending
about the periphery of the end wall, the side wall having a lip
extending inwardly from the bottom thereof, the lip having a groove
therein within which the periphery of the planar end wall is
seated, an oblique surface being present along the top of the lip
extending downwardly from the side wall toward the end wall and
terminating adjacent a lateral edge of the lip, and the side wall
having at least one annular ridge extending about the inner
periphery of the side wall for engagement with an exterior surface
of a pipe upon insertion of the pipe into the end cap, the annular
ridge being in a plane which is parallel to the planar end
wall.
Inventors: |
Zeyfang; Frederick W.;
(Erie, PA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Muncy, Geissler, Olds & Lowe, PLLC
4000 Legato Road, Suite 310
FAIRFAX
VA
22033
US
|
Family ID: |
42539390 |
Appl. No.: |
12/656104 |
Filed: |
January 15, 2010 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61202242 |
Feb 9, 2009 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
138/96R ;
138/96T |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 59/06 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
138/96.R ;
138/96.T |
International
Class: |
B65D 59/06 20060101
B65D059/06 |
Claims
1. A two-piece end cap for a pipe, comprising a planar end wall and
a flexible side wall extending about the periphery of the end wall,
the side wall having a lip extending inwardly from the bottom
thereof, the lip having a groove therein within which the periphery
of the planar end wall is seated, an oblique surface being present
along the top of said lip extending downwardly from said side wall
toward said end wall and terminating adjacent a lateral edge of the
lip, and the side wall having at least one annular ridge extending
about the inner periphery of the side wall for engagement with an
exterior surface of a pipe upon insertion of the pipe into the end
cap, said annular ridge being in a plane which is parallel to the
planar end wall.
2. The two-piece end cap of claim 1, wherein said side wall is
formed from an extruded sheet having opposing ends joined
together.
3. The two-piece end cap of claim 1, wherein said side wall
includes multiple annular ridges.
4. The two-piece end cap of claim 1, wherein said at least one
annular ridge includes an air channel.
5. The two-piece end cap of claim 1, wherein said at least one
annular ridge comprises a series of annular ridges each having an
alternating ridge-trough configuration.
6. The two-piece end cap of claim 1, wherein said ridge includes an
air channel extending along the extent thereof.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C.
119(e) of U.S. application No. 61/202,242, filed Feb. 9, 2009, the
entirety of which is herein incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
[0002] The present invention is directed to a two-piece pipe end
cap.
[0003] Pipe end caps for large industrial pipes have been employed
for over 40 years. More recently, two-piece pipe end caps have been
provided. The advantage of using a two-piece pipe end cap was at
the time related to ease of manufacture. That is, an extruded side
wall could be wrapped around an extruded circular end wall to form
the pipe cap. However, present two-piece pipe end caps employ an
L-shaped end for the side wall upon which the end cap is placed and
must somehow be secured (such as by tape).
[0004] However, such end caps frequently are difficult to place on
the end of the pipe, become easily dislodged during handling,
transit and storage, and/or difficult to remove. They also do not
provide the maximum degree of pipe protection, as the material from
which the end cap and side wall are produced is the same in each
instance.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] It is accordingly an object of the present invention to
provide a two-piece end cap for a pipe that may be easily assembled
and which may be tailored to a specific end use due to the use of
impact resistant materials.
[0006] In accordance with the present invention, there is provided
a two-piece end cap for a pipe, comprising an end wall and a side
wall extending around the periphery of the end wall, the side wall
having a lip extending inwardly from the bottom thereof, the lip
having a groove therein within which the periphery of the end wall
is seated, an oblique surface being present along the top of the
lip extending downwardly from the side wall toward the end wall and
terminating adjacent a lateral edge of the lip, and the side wall
having at least one annular ridge extending inwardly from the side
wall to the interior of the end cap for engagement with an outer
surface of a pipe upon insertion of the pipe into the end cap, with
the at least one annular ridge extending about the inner periphery
of the side wall in a plane parallel to the end wall.
[0007] In a preferred embodiment, the side wall has an alternating
wave-trough configuration, and which may include embedded air
channels within the within the wave portion.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of the end cap of the
present invention when inserted onto the end of a pipe.
[0009] FIG. 2 is a view in perspective of the end cap of the
present invention when viewed from the bottom.
[0010] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the end cap of the
present invention as shown in FIG. 1.
[0011] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the end cap of the
present invention as shown in FIG. 2.
[0012] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the end cap
of the present invention as shown in FIG. 3.
[0013] FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of
the present invention showing a different wall configuration.
[0014] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of
the present invention showing yet another wall configuration.
[0015] FIG. 8 is a view in perspective of the extruded sheet
forming the side wall of FIG. 5.
[0016] FIG. 9 is a view in perspective of the extruded sheet
forming the side wall of FIG. 6.
[0017] FIG. 10 is a view in perspective of the extruded sheet
forming the side wall of FIG. 7.
DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
[0018] The present invention will be described in relation to FIGS.
1-10.
[0019] The two-piece end cap 1 of the present invention is intended
as an end cap for a pipe 7 as shown in FIG. 1. The end cap 1
comprises a planar end wall 3 and an extruded side wall 5 extending
around the periphery of the end wall 3.
[0020] The extruded side wall 5 has a lip 27 extending inwardly
from the bottom of the extruded side wall. The lip 27 has a lateral
groove 13 therein within which the planar end wall 3 is seated. An
oblique surface 11 is provided along the top of the groove 13
extending downwardly from the side wall 5 toward the end wall 3 and
terminating at a lateral edge of the lip 27.
[0021] The oblique surface 11 serves several purposes. Primarily,
the oblique surface assists the placement of the planar end wall 3
into groove 13 upon insertion of the end wall 3 between the
peripheral side wall 5. Further, such oblique surface serves as a
stop for the end of the pipe upon insertion into the end cap as
shown in FIG. 5.
[0022] The extruded side wall 5 has at least one annular ridge 9
extending from the inner surface of the side wall 5 to the interior
of the end cap for engagement with the surface of a pipe upon
insertion of the pipe into the end cap. Multiple annular ridges 9
are shown in FIGS. 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7, which ridges extend
circumferentially about the inner periphery of the side wall and
are substantially parallel to the plane of the end wall 3 and
perpendicular in orientation to the longitudinal axis of the end
cap. Such ridges serve to enhance the grip of the end cap to the
end of the pipe upon being inserted into the end cap.
[0023] The uppermost extent of the side wall 5 is preferably
tapered outwardly to provide a tapered end 15 (FIG. 5) to permit
ease of insertion of the pipe into the end cap.
[0024] FIGS. 6 and 7 depict additional embodiments of the extruded
side wall 5.
[0025] In FIG. 6, the extruded side wall includes embedded air
spaces 21 formed by the extrusion of continuous channels within the
side wall. As shown, the air spaces alternate from one side to the
other of the side wall in an offset manner, and are located within
the bottom portion of the wave along the entire extent of the side
wall. As also shown in FIG. 6, annular ridges 17, 19 are shown to
be present in an offset manner on the outer and inner surfaces,
respectively, of the wall 5 in the form of alternating waves and
troughs.
[0026] In FIG. 7, the side wall 5 is extruded to form a wavy or
sinusoidal configuration having alternating waves and troughs, such
that annular ridges 25, 23 are formed both on the outer and inner
surfaces, respectively, of the wall 5.
[0027] The embodiments of FIGS. 6 and 7 particularly enable the end
cap to provide good fit performance for a wide variety of pipe
tolerances and under a wide variety of weather conditions (as
plastic pipe caps typically expand or contract in an amount 5 to 10
times that of steel).
[0028] FIGS. 8-10 depict the side wall of the end cap of FIGS. 5-7
in the form of various cross-sectional configurations of an
extruded cut sheet prior to being wrapped end-to-end to form the
continuous side wall of FIG. 2. Advantageously, the extruded sheet
can be cut to whatever dimension is required to fit the pipe upon
which the end cap is to be placed. The cross-sectional
configuration of the sheet can also be easily modified due to the
fact that the sheet is extruded along the direction of the
circumference of the resulting side wall which is formed.
[0029] The end cap of the present invention is easily formed by the
steps of providing a length of extruded side wall of the length
corresponding to the circumference of the side wall of the end cap
(as shown in FIGS. 8-10), forming the length of extruded side wall
into a continuous side wall by joining the ends of the length of
extruded side wall by suitable means, and then either placing the
planar end wall downwardly into engagement with the bottom of the
continuous side wall so that the periphery of the planar end wall
becomes inserted into lip 27 at the bottom of the circular side
wall, or wrapping the side wall around the end wall and joining the
ends. The planar end wall does not need to be permanently attached
to the side wall as it is seated within the annular lip 27 and held
therein. The respective ends of the cut extruded side wall member
may be joined together by adhesive bonding, spot welding,
mechanical connectors, etc. to form a joint 29 (FIG. 2). The manner
of joining is not critical to practice of the present
invention.
[0030] One advantage of the present invention is that the material
used to form the end wall 3 may be tailored to enhance the physical
properties of the end cap. For instance, it may be advantageous for
the end cap to be comprised of an impact resistant material, which
material is more impact resistant than the material which comprises
the side wall. The end cap may also be of a different thickness
than the material used to form the extruded side wall--e.g., the
end cap may be greater in thickness than the side wall for purposes
of enhanced durability.
[0031] Another advantage of the present invention is the ability to
form an endless number of pipe caps for different sizes of pipes by
the cutting and connecting the cut extruded wall together to form a
side wall ring of the desired size without having to provide such
side wall rings by injection molding which would require providing
different tooling for each desired size ring. The end wall disc may
be easily formed by die cutting to provide a disc size configured
to fit within the desired side wall ring size. Such flexibility in
manufacturing is very valuable in the marketplace.
[0032] Another advantage of the present invention is that the end
cap may be shipped in two pieces in "knocked-down" form. The end
caps may be stacked flat and the side wall rings can be coiled to
reduce shipping space. The end caps may be easily assembled into
the side wall rings in the field by the end user by being inserted
within the groove at the bottom of the wall.
[0033] By way of an alternative embodiment, the end wall may be
spot welded to the bottom of the side wall ring to provide a more
permanent attachment of the end wall to the side wall ring. In such
a case, the groove at the bottom of the side wall may or may not be
used to provide additional securing means for the end wall to the
side wall ring. However, the annular lip at the bottom of the side
wall ring would still be present. In such a case, the end wall may
be spot welded at either the junction between the end wall and the
bottom of the side wall ring, or at the junction of the end wall
and the side wall ring at the interior of the end cap.
[0034] The planar end cap may be made by die cutting sheets of
material, preferably extruded sheets. The side wall may be made by
any conventional extrusion process. The material employed will
typically be polyethylene for the reason that it is cost-effective,
flexible, and provides good weather resistance. Either low density
or linear low density polyethylene are preferred materials for use
in the present invention. One of ordinary skill in the art can
readily determine suitable materials for use in the present
invention.
* * * * *