IE59663B1 - Improvements in or relating to swaging pipe ends - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to swaging pipe ends. Pipe ends are swaged to enlarge their internal diameter so that a further pipe section may be received therewithin. In particular, the invention relates to swaging pipe ends for use in exhaust systems for motor vehicles.

The majority of exhaust system and silencing components in motor vehicles are joined together by way of a slip joint arrangement or sleeve.

Basically one pipe of a pair of pipes to be joined is swelled or enlarged in diameter sufficiently to slide over the other pipe and the larger pipe is then clamped or tightened down onto the smaller diameter pipe by a U-bolt clamp.

For a variety of reasons, the two pipes do not always fit together as they should. For example, during transport, pipes often get damaged, so that when a fitter comes to use one of them, its ends may be off round, flattened or dented. A further problem arises when the larger diameter pipe has been spliced or slotted during manufacture. This process may leave a burr or jagged edge inside the pipe and this can hamper smooth fitting. t Such pipe ends have therefore required to be reworked before a joint could ’ «L be made. Traditionally the process of reshaping such pipe ends has been 4 relatively lengthy and relatively costly. Customarily it required the - 2 operator to hold the exhaust unit or other tubular component in one hand and try and reshape the damaged end section with the ball point of a hammer.

The reshaping required frequently proved impossible to achieve, with the result that the defective part had to be discarded.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a tool and method for reshaping end regions of pipes, so that they may be enlarged or reformed as required for use in establishing joints between a plurality of tubular sections or pipe portions or between a pipe section and other duct means.

Pipe end swaging means com^i^ng a ^^mber^and a piurjl members extending therefrom,/ said ^waging members being mounted on/said base member for reception of an end region of any of a range of pipes of different sizes on a suitable one of said swaging members for a swaging operation to be carried out thereon., each of said plurality of swaging members being substantially cylindrical over at least the major part of its axial length and each member of said plurality being of a different diameter for reception of a particular internal diameter of pipe end region.

Each swaging member preferably has a tapering free end region narrowing ir diameter towards the free end so that introduction of a pipe end portion onto the said member may be facilitated. Said plurality of swaging members may be mounted in an array on the base member. Said array may suitably consist of a linearly arranged row of swaging members, each such member being of a different size from the or each adjacent swaging member.

The base member may be substantially planar for attachment to a planar surface such as a well. Alternatively, and in a preferred embodiment, the base member may be supported at a suitable height for convenience in use et the upper extremity of a column member, the swaging means also incorporating a foot member for maintaining said column member in an upright disposition. The base member may be an inverted channel section and said swaging members may extend laterally from each flange region of said channel section. At least one further swaging member may extend from the upwardly directed external face of the web portion of the channel member. The or each said further swaging member may be shaped for reforming bellmouth pipe . end portions and may be of substantially frusto-conical shape, having a tapering section extending over a major pert of the axial length of the member from its free end towards the base member, said tapering section widening in diameter from the free end. This especially favoured free standing embodiment of the swaging means according to the invention may also be provided with hanger means for supporting a swaging hammer, when the hammer is not in use/ In a further aspect, the invention also provides a method of swaging a pipe end portion, comprising placing the pipe end over a selected one of the swaging members of swaging means according to the first aspect of the invention, reshaping said pipe end portion as required using a swaging hammer, and optionally repeating the operation as required on a swaging member of different diameter of said swaging means.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described having regard to the accompanying drawings, together with certain variations thereon.

Figure 1 is a pictorial view of a first embodiment of swaging structure in accordance with the principles of the invention, Figure 2 shows a further embodiment of swaging means according to the invention, and Figure 3 shows the commencement of a swaging operation using the swaging means of the invention.

As shown in Figure 1, swaging means 1 in accordance with the invention consists of a base member 2 in the form of an inverted channel section, together with a plurality of swaging members 3a to 3k mounted thereon and extending laterally from the downwardly directed flange portions 4a and 4b of the channel section 2. The swaging members 3a to 3k are suitably bar portions, each of a different diameter, having a slight taper 5a-5k at their free end regions and welded to the channel section at their inner ends.

The swaging members 3a to 3k are each of a different diameter, and as shown in the drawing, the smallest such member (3a) has a diameter of 32 cm (1.25 inches), and they then increase in size by approximately 3 cm (one-eighth inch) for each swaging member up to a maximum size of 54 cm (2.5 inches) (member 3k). The swaging members 3a to 3f and 3g to 3k extending from each flange 4a and 4b respectively of the channel section 2 each define a - 4 respective linear array, that on the left-hand side of the the swaging device as shown in the drawing consisting of six such members 3a to 3f and that on the right-hand side having five members 3g to 3k.

The channel section is supported at the upper end of a column member 6, which is welded at its lower end to a foot member 7. The foot member 7 is a large plate section, providing stand means for holding the entire device in an upright disposition. it is of sufficient size for a tool box 8 to be located thereon.

In addition to the swaging members 3a to 3k provided on the flanges of the channel section, two bellmouth formers 9a, 9b are provided on the outer upper face of the web 11 of the section. Each of these is substantially frusto-conical in form, tapering over the greater part of its length from a short cylindrical portion 12a, 12b at its fixed end region where it is welded to the channel, towards its free end. These formers 9a, 9b serve to facilitate shaping of bellmouth pipe portions as required and each such former is of a different diameter appropriate to a particular bellmouth.

For tidiness and convenience in using the device of the invention, a hanger for a swaging hammer 14 may be welded to one axial end 15 of the channel section.

The arrangement 21 shown in Figure 2 is substantially similar, in its essential features, but the base member 22 consists of a plate which may be bolted to a wall, as indicated by bolts 26, the bolts passing through the plate. The particular embodiment shown has only three swaging members 23a to 23c but a greater number may be provided if appropriate, similar to the arrangement of Figure 1.

Figure 3 shows an exhaust pipe 31 being offered up to one of the swaging members 3k of the device of Figure 1. The other swaging members are omitted for clarity in this drawing. The pipe end portion 32 has a splice or slot 33 formed in it, which may result in an internal burr, such as already referred to herein above. The drawing also shows a U-bolt clamp 34, by which a pipe of lesser diameter received within the pipe end region 32 may be retained in interlocking sleeved engagement. The pipe end may be reworked as required to remove, for example, any burr present, by - 5 introducing it over the swaging member and carrying out the necessary operations with a swaging hammer. If the internal deformation or burring is such that the pipe end will not fit over the swaging member appropriate to its nominal size, it may be initially introduced onto a swaging member of lesser diameter, so that the swaging operation may proceed, and the pipe end is subsequently transferred to a swaging member of larger diameter.

Following reworking, the appropriate smaller diameter pipe may readily be introduced and the two pipe ends are clamped or locked together by means of the U-bolt clamp, which is then tightened up, to form the joint.

Thus in accordance with the invention, there is provided swaging means for swelling out a larger pipe of two pipes of a pipe joint or for reshaping a swelled pipe. The device of the invention, in a preferred embodiment, also provides a facility for reforming bellmouths, the bellmouth being the section of an exhaust system joining up to the engine manifold. It will be immediately apparent that any leak in this portion of the system may have serious consequences, and a high quality of joint is essential. In the same manner as exhaust pipe components, bellmouths are frequently delivered with minor damage.

The swaging means of the invention is especially practical and versatile, in that in addition to the particular requirements for reshaping pipe bends and the like, it may also serve as an anvil or small work bench, and may be used for purposes such as bracket forming, heating and bending pipework, and swelling, stretching and welding. The swaging means of the invention particularly facilitates the salvaging of damaged parts, which would otherwise have to be discarded.

Claims (13)

1. Pipe end swaging means comp^isjng a b ^rg^^ r 0^ nd a Plurality of swaging members, extending therefrom „ysaid/swaging members being mounted onysaid base^member for reception of an end region of any of a range of pipes of different sizes on a suitable one of said swaging members ior a swaging operation to be carried out thereon,, each of said plurality Oi swaging members being substantially cylindrical over at least the major part of its axial length and each member of said plurality being of a different diameter for reception of a particular internal diameter of pipe end region.

2. Pipe end swaging means according to claim 1, wherein each swaging member has c tapering free end region narrowing in diameter towards the free end so that introduction of a pipe end portion onto the said member may be facilitated.

3. Pipe end swaging means according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein said plurality of swaging members is mounted in an array on the base member.

4. Pipe end swaging means according to claim 3, wherein said array consists of a linearly arranged row of swaging members, each such member being of a different size from the or each adjacent swaging member.

5. Pipe end swaging means according to any preceding claim, wherein the base member is substantially planar for attachment to a planar surface such as a wall.

6. Pipe end swaging means according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the base member is supported at a suitable height for convenience in use at the upper extremity of a column member, the swaging means alsc incorporating a foot member for maintaining said column member in an upright disposition.

7. Pipe end swaging means according to claim 6, wherein the base member is an inverted channel section and said swaging members extend laterally from each flange region of said channel section. - 7

8. Pipe end swaging means according to claim 7, wherein at least one further swaging member extends from the upwardly directed external face of the web portion of the channel member.

9. Pipe end swaging means according to claim 8, wherein the or each said further swaging member is shaped for reforming bellmouth pipe end portions and is of substantially frusto-conical shape, having a tapering section extending over a major part of the axial length of the member from its free end towards the base member, said tapering section widening in diameter from the free end.

10. Pipe end swaging means according to claim 9, wherein hanger means are provided for supporting a swaging hammer, when the hammer is not in use.

11. A method of swaging a pipe end portion, comprising placing the pipe end over a selected one of the swaging members of swaging means according to any of claims 1 to 10, reshaping said pipe end portion as required using a swaging hammer, and optionally repeating the operation as required on a swaging member of different diameter of said swaging means.

12. Pipe end swaging means substantially as described herein with reference to and as shown in Figure 1 or Figure’2 of the accompanying drawings.

13. A method of swaging a pipe end portion, substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.