Self-sealing internal manhole chimney seal
An assembly internally seals a manhole against infiltration of water. A pleated sleeve, made of an resilient material, includes a first and second sealing sections at opposite ends. The first sealing section has a lip that forms a recess for receiving an inwardly projecting flange on a frame of the manhole to attach the sleeve in a watertight manner. A fastening device engages the second sealing section and presses an outer surface of the sleeve against a different portion of the manhole to form another watertight seal.
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STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENTNot Applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to articles for internally sealing a chimney of a manhole against ground water infiltration, and more particularly to mechanisms by which the seal is attached to the manhole.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical manhole includes a main chamber or barrel section to which the sewer pipes connect. That section is topped with a conical riser in which the diameter reduces going upward to a size needed to fit a metal frame for the manhole surface opening. The metal frame receives the manhole cover and either sits directly on top of the riser or there may be one or more vertical adjusting rings there between, as needed to raise the top of the frame level with the surrounding surface. Adjusting rings usually are formed by annular precast concrete sections or courses of bricks or blocks. This combination of components is referred to as a “chimney”.
During construction of the manhole, the joints between the chimney components are sealed with mortar or other material to prevent surface water infiltration. Nevertheless, movement of the metal frame, resulting from expansion and contraction due to seasonal temperature changes and from vibration as vehicles pass over the manhole, causes cracks to form at those joints. As a result, ground water from rain and snow is able to enter the manhole through these cracks. Such ground water infiltration is undesirable for sanitary sewers, as it increases the volume of effluent which has to be processed by a sewage treatment plant. Municipalities go to great lengths to minimize the inflow and infiltration of ground water into sanitary sewers.
As a consequence, different external and internal sealing systems have been devised to prevent ground water infiltration into manholes. One type of an internal sealing system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,469,467 and utilizes a resilient sleeve that is inserted into the manhole chimney and held against the inside surface by upper and lower metal fastening bands.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAn assembly is provided to internally seal a manhole against infiltration of water, wherein the manhole includes an inwardly projecting flange.
The assembly comprises a sleeve made of a resilient material which includes a first sealing section and a second sealing section. The first sealing section has a recess for receiving the flange to attach the sleeve to the manhole. In a preferred embodiment, the first sealing section is formed with a hook-like lip that creates the recess and the resiliency of the sleeve enables the lip to engage the flange in a manner that provides a watertight seal.
A fastening device engages the second sealing section of the sleeve and presses an outer surface of the sleeve against a surface of the manhole, thereby providing another watertight seal. The preferred embodiment of the fastening device comprises a fastening band that has first and second end portions which overlap and a mechanism that adjustably secures those end portions together to form a loop. For example, the first end portion has a tab and the second end portion has a plurality of slots that cooperate with the tab to connect the first and second end portions together in the loop.
Another aspect of the assembly provides a pleated section between the first and second sealing sections to allow the sleeve to expand and contract with movement of the parts of the manhole without breaking the watertight seals.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
With initial reference to
The metal frame 18 has an opening 22 by which a person gains access to the interior of the manhole 10. An interior, annular flange 24 extends around the interior of the opening 22. A manhole cover 26 is shown closing the upper portion of the opening 22 above the annular flange 24. The cover 26 is dropped in place and the annular flange 24 prevents the cover from falling completely through the opening 22.
An internal chimney seal 30 is attached inside the manhole 10 to provide a watertight barrier at the joints between the manhole frame 18, the adjusting rings 16, and the riser 12, thereby blocking ground water infiltration. The seal 30 consists of a tubular sleeve 32 that preferably is constructed of rubber or a similar resilient material that is extruded as a strip. The extruded strip is cut to a length that corresponds to the circumference of the finished sleeve and the ends then are sealed together with a suitable adhesive, for example. The exemplary sleeve 32 has two central pleats 33 and 34 located in between cylindrical sealing sections 35 and 36 at opposite ends of the sleeve. The pleats 33 and 34 allow the sleeve to expand, thereby accommodating vertical movement of the manhole components. Additional pleats or a straight section may be placed between pleats 33 and 34 to provide a sleeve that is able to span taller manhole chimneys.
With reference to
In addition to providing a watertight seal to the manhole chimney frame 18, the lip 40 of the sleeve 32 also acts as gasket between the manhole cover 26 and the chimney frame to prevent water infiltration through that seam. As seen in
Referring to
The fins 50 of the lower sealing section 36 are held against the inner surface of the manhole 10 by a stainless steel fastening band 48 that is received in an annular groove on the inner circumferential surface 46 of the lower sealing section 36. The fastening band 48 has overlapping end portions 51 and 52 which are slidable with respect to each other, as shown in
Referring to
The foregoing description was primarily directed to a preferred embodiment of the invention. Although some attention was given to various alternatives within the scope of the invention, it is anticipated that one skilled in the art will likely realize additional alternatives that are now apparent from disclosure of embodiments of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined from the following claims and not limited by the above disclosure.
Claims
1. An assembly for internally sealing a manhole against infiltration of water, wherein the manhole includes an inwardly projecting flange, the assembly comprising:
- a sleeve made of an resilient material and having a first sealing section and a second sealing section, the first sealing section having a recess for receiving the flange to attach the sleeve to the manhole, and the second sealing section having an outer surface; and
- a fastening device engaging the second sealing section and pressing the outer surface against a surface of the manhole.
2. The assembly as recited in claim 1 wherein the first sealing section comprises an annular lip which forms the recess.
3. The assembly as recited in claim 2 wherein the annular lip provides a seal between a manhole cover and the flange.
4. The assembly as recited in claim 1 wherein the first sealing section comprises a hook-like lip which extends around the sleeve and forms the recess.
5. The assembly as recited in claim 1 wherein the flange is received in the recess of the first sealing section in a manner that provides a watertight seal.
6. The assembly as recited in claim 1 wherein the sleeve further comprises a plurality of pleats between the first sealing section and the second sealing section.
7. The assembly as recited in claim 1 wherein the outer surface of the second sealing section comprises a plurality of annular fins extending outwardly around the sleeve.
8. The assembly as recited in claim 7 wherein each of the plurality of fins has an edge for contacting the surface of the manhole and has a section spaced from the edge and adapted to deform as the fin is pressed against the surface of the manhole enabling the fin to conform to irregularities in the manhole.
9. The assembly as recited in claim 7 wherein the section of each of the plurality of fins is hollow.
10. The assembly as recited in claim 1 wherein fastening device comprises a fastening band engaging the second sealing section.
11. The assembly as recited in claim 10 wherein the fastening band has a first end portion and second end portion which overlap, and has a mechanism that adjustably secures the first and second end portions together to form a loop.
12. The assembly as recited in claim 10 wherein the fastening band has a first end portion with a tab projecting therefrom, and second end portion with a plurality of slots that cooperate with the tab to connect the first and second end portions together to form a loop.
13. An assembly for internally sealing a manhole against infiltration of water, wherein the manhole includes a frame with an opening for access to inside the manhole and an annular flange projecting inwardly around the opening, the assembly comprising:
- a sleeve made of an resilient material and including a first sealing section and a second sealing section, the first sealing section having a lip that forms a recess for receiving the flange to attach the sleeve to the frame of the manhole, and the second sealing section having an inner surface and an outer surface; and
- a single fastening band, wherein the single fastening band engages the inner surface of the second sealing section and presses the outer surface against a surface of the manhole.
14. The assembly as recited in claim 13 wherein first sealing section provides a watertight seal with respect to the frame when the flange is received in the recess.
15. The assembly as recited in claim 13 wherein the lip provides a seal between a manhole cover and the flange.
16. The assembly as recited in claim 13 wherein the sleeve further comprises a plurality of pleats between the first sealing section and the second sealing section.
17. The assembly as recited in claim 13 wherein the outer surface of the second sealing section comprises a plurality of annular fins extending outwardly around the sleeve.
18. The assembly as recited in claim 17 wherein each of the plurality of fins has an edge for contacting the surface of the manhole and has a section spaced from the edge and adapted to deform as the fin is pressed against the surface of the manhole enabling the fin to conform to irregularities in the manhole.
19. The assembly as recited in claim 17 wherein the section of each of the plurality of fins is hollow.
20. The assembly as recited in claim 13 wherein the fastening band has a first end portion and second end portion which overlap and further including a mechanism that adjustably secures the first and second end portions together to form a loop.
21. The assembly as recited in claim 13 wherein the fastening band has a first end portion with a tab projecting therefrom, and second end portion with a plurality of slots that cooperate with the tab to connect the first and second end portions together to form a loop.
22. The assembly as recited in claim 1 wherein the fastening device is the only fastening device that engages the sleeve.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 18, 2005
Publication Date: May 24, 2007
Applicant:
Inventor: Peter Tortorici (Bartlett, IL)
Application Number: 11/282,845
International Classification: E02D 29/14 (20060101);