Crimping tool for pipe fittings
A crimping tool for pipe fittings has a pair of semi-cylindrical opposing jaws with opposing ends, pivotally attached at one end of each, for closing and opening movement about the pivot axis. When closed, the jaws define a cylinder for engaging a pipe or other cylindrical element to be crimped. The other ends of the jaws have integral extensions that meet when the jaws are closed and are clamped together by a simple crimping force assembly comprising a threaded eyebolt, the eye end being pivotally attached to the end of one jaw extension. The bolt swivels in and out of a slot in the other jaw extension. A nut on the other end of the eyebolt is used to compress the two jaw extensions together. In another embodiment, the jaws have annular grooves on their inner surfaces to accommodate the male ridges of ProPress® pipe fittings.
This invention claims the benefit of the inventor's previously filed provisional application, No. 60/699433.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThis invention is directed to apparatus for crimping and sealing copper fittings joining copper pipe, more particularly for crimping ProPress® fittings.
The need for leakproof conduit for fluids is extensive and entails the use of variously shaped connectors and pipe fittings for routing the conduit. Copper tubing and fittings were traditionally connected by “sweating ” the joints, or with threaded connectors. Then polyvinyl choride (PVC) conduit became widely used, particularly in residential plumbing applications. Sections of PVC were glued together. Later technology substituted flexible PVC and utilized a crimp ring to compress the tubing ends deformably down against a rigid insert positioned in the internal conduit in the tubes. This use of crimp rings is particularly well known in association with elastomeric hose or tubing, where the material possesses sufficient elasticity to be deformed without breaking.
In many large facilities, such as airports, government buildings, sports stadiums, military bases, casinos, hotels, schools, colleges, hospitals and healthcare facilities, copper tubing is preferred for plumbing and heating applications. Recently, threadless, solderless and “sweatless” couplings for copper piping have been developed and are being used in industrial applications where copper pipe is specified. Examples include the axially clamping pipe coupler, subject of U.S. Pat. No. 6,056,330 to Compton et al., and the ProPress® System with its “Smart Connect” feature from Ridge Tool Company of Elyria, Ohio and Viega, a German company, first available in May 2000. The latter system joins copper tubing by crimping the fitting around the tube to form a watertight connection in seconds. The system comprises a series of engineered copper and bronze press fittings offered in over 400 configurations and sizes ranging from ½″-4″. Fittings are offered with distinct sealing elements that, together, meet a broad range of piping applications.
A battery-operated crimp tool, the RIDGID® 320-E, developed by Ridge Tool Co. for use with the ProPress System, weighs ten pounds and is touted as being suitable for joining tube in tight spaces. However, its size, which is slightly larger than a battery-powered hand-held electric drill, prevents its use in very small spaces. U.S. Pat. No. 6,269,675 to Burnett is a manually operated tool which utilizes a threaded bolt to apply crimping force. However the arrangement of parts with a handle adjacent the pivoting connection of the jaws and the complicated crimping-force-application assembly make the invention bulky, awkward to use, and complicated and expensive to manufacture. Accordingly there is a need for a crimping tool that can be used for the ProPress System, that will fit in the spaces which are too small for the RIDGID® 3 20-E, and that is more compact and simpler than the Burnett device.
Thus it is an object of this invention to provide a compact crimping tool that can seal ProPress copper tubing joints satisfactorily in tight spaces too small for use of the RIDGID® 3 20-E battery operated tool, that is compact and simple in construction.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA crimping tool for pipe fittings has a pair of semi-cylindrical opposing jaws with opposing ends, pivotally attached at one end of each, for closing and opening movement about the pivot axis. When closed, the jaws define a cylinder for engaging a pipe or other cylindrical element to be crimped. The other ends of the jaws have integral extensions that meet when the jaws are closed and are clamped together by a simple crimping force assembly comprising a threaded eyebolt, the eye end being pivotally attached to the end of one jaw extension. The bolt swivels in and out of a slot in the other jaw extension. A nut on the other end of the eyebolt is used to compress the two jaw extensions together. In another embodiment, the jaws have annular grooves on their inner surfaces to accommodate the male ridges of ProPress® pipe fittings.
Referring to
Referring now to
When the jaws are closed, as in
Both embodiments have the advantage of being relatively small in relation to the other crimping tools now available in the market place. Thus they can be used effectively where space is limited where bulkier crimping tools cannot fit or operate. This invention has fewer parts than the Burnett patent, it lacks a handle adjacent the pivot point of the jaw members. The crimping-force-application assembly is very simple and lacks the bushing, the spindle, the pintles and the retention plates of Burnett. Thus it is less complicated and less expensive to manufacture.
Claims
1. In a manually operable crimping tool comprising first and second opposing semi-cylindrical jaw members with first and second ends, or engaging an element to be crimped, said jaw members being pivotally joined at the first end of each said jaw member, for pivotal opening and closing movement about a first axis, and defining a cylindrical space when closed, further comprising a crimping-force-application assembly including the improvement comprising a straight bar extension from each said first and second jaw member at their second ends, on which extensions are mounted said crimping-force-application assembly elements.
- (i) means to pivotally attach said assembly to one of said first and second jaw members for pivotal movement about a second axis generally parallel to said first axis;
- (ii) means to releasably engage another one of said first and second jaw members, said means to releasably engage being movable between a first disengaged position in which said crimping-force-application assembly is not touching said second jaw member, permitting movement of said first and second jaw members onto and off of the element to be crimped and a second engaged position permitting application of a crimping force;
- (iii) manually operable means to reduce a distance between said means to pivotally attach said assembly and said means to releasably engage, thereby causing said first and second jaw members to interact to crimp the element therebetween,
2. The improvement of claim 1 wherein said extensions have slots at their second ends, which align when said jaw members are in their second engaged position, and said manually operable means to reduce a distance further comprises a threaded eyebolt having an eye end and a second end, the eye end of said eyebolt pivoting on a pin mounted parallel to said first axis within the slot of the first jaw member extension, and a nut rotatable at the second end of the eyebolt, whereby when said eyebolt is pivoted to lie within both slots of the jaw member extensions with its second end outboard of the second jaw member extension, rotation of the nut causes the jaw member extensions to come together.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 29, 2006
Publication Date: Jan 31, 2008
Inventor: Carlos Feliciano (Orlando, FL)
Application Number: 11/495,256
International Classification: B21D 7/00 (20060101);