1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to restraining apparatus and more particulary relates to a restraining mechanism which holds a pipe or conduit at a connection with another pipe, valve housing, or similar member coupled with the pipe.

2. History of the Prior Art Various apparatus and techniques have been used for many years to couple pipe of all types with other pipe, valves, various pipe fittings, hydrants, and miscellaneous connections where pipe is secured to another member and thereafter subjected to internal fluid pressure which tends to separate the pipe from the member to which it is coupled. Typical uses for a variety of such pipe devices are sewer systems, water distribution systems, and the like. While such pipe systems have often used ductile iron pipe, it has become very common in recent years to also use plastic pipe such as pipe made from polyvinyl chloride, usually referred to as PVC pipe. It is also been common in such systems to use fittings and valves made primarily for uεe with cast and ductile iron pipe. The principal problem presented by such joints is gripping or grasping the pipe. Pipe joint restraining devices relying on friction alone are very unpredictable. To restrain reasonable amounts of internal pressure in pipe, it has been found necessary to create a groove in the surface of the pipe deep enough and wide enough to provide adequate shear strength to resist large axial loads created by the pressure. The soft character of PVC pipe has made it necessary to create grooves around the outer surface of the pipe over a major portion of its circumference without either damaging the pipe or reducing the capability of the pipe to withstand pressure. To create a system using PVC pipe to resist high axial loads it is necessary to provide at least one groove of sufficient depth for almost the entire circumference of the pipe. More than

one groove arranged in parallel relation can alεo be used. To create a system to resist high axial loads without damaging the pipe it has been necessary to keep the radial loads on the pipe to a minimum and to reduce the radial loads after the groove has been formed. The mechanism used to form the restrainer connection with the pipe must include thrust resisting engaging means which remain in the groove or grooves around the pipe.

A substantial number of prior art patents show a wide variety of apparatus and methods for attachment to grip a pipe.

Several devices have used an inclined plane to create enough mechanical advantage to grip a pipe to prevent separation. See the following U. S. Patents: Gammeter, 1, 898, 623, Yano, 3,594,023, Sato, 3,937,500, Felker, 4,070,046, Yamaji, 4, 417, 754, and Hattori, 4, 438, 954. These devices provide no limit to the travel of the wedging member and thus there iε little or no limit to the radial deflection of the pipe ring due to the extreme radial force. Alεo, these devices require extremely strong rings and pipe if high presεύres and large diameter pipe are restrained.

Babb, U. S. Patent 3, 920, 270 provides a front flange on his grip ring which could be used as a limit to the travel of the wedge. However, if the pressure continues to increase after the wedge reacheε itε limit, the result is a toggle which creates extreme radial force on the pipe as the wedge overturns.

Sato, U. S. Patent 4, 092, 036, shows a wedging action with a limit in the form of a rear wall in a housing which contacts the wedge at the rear and thus stops the travel of the wedge. Actual experience with this device used on ductile-iron as well aε PVC pipe indicateε that because of the oval εhaped hole in the top of the housing a toggle action around the intersection of features 28 and 43 in Fig. 7a as a pivot point allows the rear tooth to disengage and the front tooth to dive into the pipe. This action inσreaεeε the radial stress in large diameter pipe at very high pressures, i. e. , 500psi.

Toggling has also been used to grip the surface of the pipe in joint restraint designs. Dillon, U.S. Patent 1,930,194, Hashimoto, U.S. Patent .4, 647, 083 and Mousεiaux, British Patent 1,403,671, show toggling or Belleville spring deviceε. Toggling involves pivoting about a point slightly off the vertical center line of the mechanism. As the pivot point passes the vertical, deflection of the pipe or the groove usually remains. In Hashimoto, for a 12 inch pipe and a 1 inch toggle arm the maximum groove depth would be approximately .026 inch.

The key to a reliable restraint device for PVC pipe, especially on larger diameters, is the ability to reliably create these grooves. Other devices such as those described in Roche, U. S. Patent 4, 336, .959 and Bradley, ϋ. S. Patent 4, 568, 112 form grooves in the pipe with side bolts connecting two half rings. Thiε does not produce enough force to reliably create multiple grooves completely around a large diameter pipe such as 12 inch through 30 inch pipe. The result is slippage on the pipe and premature failure. Tests on large diameter versionε of theεe deviceε have εhown that grooves are created only near the side bolts. When the pressure is increaεed, shear failures in these limited grooves cause sudden slippage and impact on the highly stressed PVC pipe. The result is sudden premature bursting of the pipe itself at pressures well below those required by the AWWA standard.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a principal object of the invention to provide a new and improved mechanism for restraining pipe againεt the force of internal pressure at a connection of the pipe with another pipe or other members such as a valve.

It is another object of the invention to provide pipe restraining mechanism which is useful with both plastic pipes εuch aε PVC pipe and various forms of metal pipe. It iε another object of the invention to provide pipe restraining mechanism which iε especially adapted to use with PVC pipe.

It is another object of the invention to provide PVC

pipe restraining mechanism which will neither damage the pipe nor reduce the capability of the pipe to withstand internal presεure. It is another object of the invention to provide pipe restraining mechanism which creates the necessary grooves to an restrain high presεures in PVC and ductile iron pipe while reducing the radial force required to create the grooves to abεolute minimum after the groove haε been cut allowing the thruεt reεiεting engaging member or wedge to reεt in a groove with little of the radial force required to originally cut the groove.

It iε another object of the invention to provide a pipe restraining mechanism which lowers the stress in the housing ring or gland around the pipe while preserving the strength of the pipe wall and gland to resist axial thruεt and internal preεsure. It is another object of the invention to provide pipe restraining mechanism using a pipe gripping wedge which is initially engaged with the pipe by mechanical torque action and thereafter further engaged with the pipe through wedging and additional torque action responsive to axial thruεt in the pipe generated by internal fluid pressure in the pipe.

It is another object of the invention to provide pipe restraining mechanism which employs minimum static load on the pipe once the mechanism is engaged with the pipe and thereafter more tightly grips the pipe responsive to and in proportion to the hydraulic presεure in the pipe.

In accordance with the invention there iε provided a pipe restraining mechanism which includes a wedge housing adapted to be mounted at a pipe εurface to be gripped, the wedge housing having a wedge pocket therein, a wedge operating screw threaded through the housing into the top of the pocket for operating a pipe gripping wedge in the pocket, and a pipe gripping wedge in the pocket having at least one pipe surface engaging tooth across the bottom of the wedge, the operating screw engaging the top surface of the wedge along a line spaced from the wedge tooth to provide a moment arm for rotating the wedge to initially engage the back corner of the wedge and tooth with the pipe

εurface and hold the wedge at an angular poεition for subsequent wedging action between the pipe surface, the wedge, and the operator screw, to further penetrate the pipe εurface with the wedge tooth, and thereafter to further rotate the wedge about an axiε along a line of engagement of back upper corner of the wedge with a back wall of the pocket for maximum engagement of the wedge tooth and bottom surface of the wedge with the pipe surface, the wedging action, and final torque step being produced responsive to hydraulic presεure in the pipe. The reεtrainer mechaniεm iε uεed in mechanical and puεh-on pipe jointε with flangeε, and in couplingε, and the like. The reεtraining echaniεms are mounted in circumferentially spaced relation around a pipe, the number of mechanisms employed depending upon the diameter of the pipe.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The details of specific embodiments of the invention and the foregoing objects and advantages will be better understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a view in perεpeσtive of a pipe joint retainer gland incorporating pipe restraining mechanisms embodying the features of the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 εhowing a wedge houεing and a pipe gripping wedge in the pocket of the housing;

Fig. 3 iε a view in section of the wedge housing and wedge illuεtrated along a plane parallel with the plane of illustration of Fig. 2 taken along a line 3-3 of Fig. 4; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view in εection of the wedge houεing and wedge aε seen in a vertical plane along the line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 iε a top plan view of the pipe gripping wedge illustrated in Figε. 1-4; Fig. 6 is a back view in elevation of the wedge shown in Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a right end view in elevation of the wedge as illustrated in Fig. 5 and 6;

Fig. 8 iε a fragmentary top plan view of a modified top wedge housing of a restraining mechanism of a retainer gland as shown in Fig. 1 with the wedge operator screw removed;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary front view of the retainer gland portion shown in Fig. 8 illustrating in phantom lines the wedge pocket and the operator screw hole opening into the pocket;

Fig. 10 is top plan view of a modified form of pipe gripping wedge used in the mechaniεm of Figε. 8 and 9; Fig. 11 iε a back view in elevation of the wedge of Fig. 10;

Fig. 12 is a view in section and elevation .of the wedge of Figs. 10 and 11 as seen along the line 12-12 of Fig. 11; Fig. 13 iε a fragmentary view in εection and elevation illuεtrating a pipe coupling including the retainer gland of Fig. 1 in uεe on a pipe end telescoped into a bell end on a axially aligned pipe showing the pipe gripping wedges of the pipe restraining meσhanismε of the invention fully engaged with the pipe end; Fig. 14 iε view in εection and elevation of the pipe coupling of Fig. 13 taken in a plane rotated 45 degrees from the plane of illustration of Fig. 13;

Fig. 15 is a view in section and elevation along the line 15-15 of Fig. 13; Fig. 16 iε a fragmentary view in section and elevation of the mechanism of the invention in use as illustrated in Fig. 13 at the initial stage of operation at which the pipe gripping wedge has not yet been activated;

Fig. 17 is a fragmentary view in section and elevation similar to Fig. 16 showing a first step in the operation of the wedge in which the operator screw has pressed the wedge downwardly and rotated the wedge toward the back wall of the pocket of the wedge houεing;

Fig. 18 iε a fragmentary view in section and elevation similar to Fig. 17 showing the next step in the operation of the wedge responsive to hydraulic presεure in the pipe illuεtrating the wedge moved rearward and downwardly into the pipe surface and a wedge tooth embedded farther into the

pipe surface;

Fig. 19 is a fragmentary view in section and elevation similar to Fig. 18 showing the final step in the operation of the wedge illustrating the wedge bottom surface against the pipe surface, the back face of the wedge engaging the back wall surface of the wedge pocket, and the wedge teeth fully embedded in the pipe surface;

Fig. 20 is a fragmentary view in section and elevation of the pipe restraining mechanism of the invention aε illuεtration in Fig. 16 when uεed on a metal pipe εuch ductile iron, illuεtrating a wedge spacer in the pocket for holding the wedge in the forward position during asεembly and the first step of wedge operations;

Fig. 21, 22, and 23, are fragmentary views in section and elevation similar to Fig. 20 illustrating the sequential εteps in the operation of the mechanism as εhown Figε. 17- 19, reεpeσtively.

Fig. 24 iε a fragmentary view in εection εimilar to Fig. 4 illuεtrating a modification in the reεtraining mechaniεm which may be uεed with a εplit ring type of retainer gland.

Referring to Fig. 1, a pipe reεtraining mechanism asεembly or retainer gland 50 includes four circumferentially spaced pipe restraining mechanisms .51 embodying the features of the invention. It will be understood that the number of the mechanisms 51 will depend upon the diameter of the pipe on which the gland is mounted. The four pipe meσhanismε 51 illuεtrated in Fig. 1 are identical in construction. For purposes of illustration and description specific details of only the bottom mechanism 51 as illustrated in Fig. 1 are shown and will be described in relation to Figs. 2-7 inclusive.

It is to be understood that in describing the pipe restraining mechaniεm 51 the termε "front", "top", "back", and "bottom", are used solely as matters of definition and are selected based upon the orientation of the mechanism 51 as illustrated in Figs. 16-23 to facilitate a better understanding of the sequential operation or the progressive

steps in the operation of the pipe gripping wedge described and illustrated for the reference to Figs. 16-23. It will be apparent therefore that since the retainer gland shown in Fig. 1 includeε four of the mechaniεmε 51, the uεe of the terms "front", "top", etc, are meaninglesε in termε of the actual poεitions of the mechanismε in the retainer gland. Further, the bottom mechanism 51 in Figs. 1-7 is inverted in terms of the mechanism 51 shown in Figε. 16-23. Referring to Figε. 1-4 and 13, the pipe reεtraining mechanism 51 includes a wedge housing 52 having a front wall 53, a top wall 54, and a back wall 55. The back wall is formed in three sections, 55a parallel to the front wall 53, and forwardly and outwardly divergent walls sections 55b. The wall sections 55b and the front wall 53 join side or end walls 60. The walls 60 are essentially perpendicular to the front wall 53 and parallel with each other. The inside faces or surfaceε of the front and back walls 53 and 55 and the top wall 54 define a wedge pocket 61 which has an open bottom opposite the top wall 54. Each of the inside surfaces of the end walls 60 has a recess 62 which runε from the front to the back of the pocket in each end wall parallel with the top wall 54 for a purpoεe explained hereinafter.

The top wall 54 of the houεing 52 of the reεtraining mechaniεm 51 has an internally threaded screw hole 63 which passeε through the top wall opening into the pocket along an axiε perpendicular to the bottom εurface of the top wall defining the top of the pocket. A wedge operating εcrew 64 iε inεtailed in the εσrew hole 6*3 and is rotatable to extend the end 65 of the operator screw into the pocket. The end of the εcrew 64 preferably has a spherical end surface 65 as seen in Figs. 13 and 16-23. The operator εcrew has a head 70 which preferably is a limiting torque type asεembly as illustrated and described in US Patent 4, 627, 774, iεsued to Earl T. Bradley, December 9, 1986. Aε discuεεed hereinafter, the limiting torque type screw head allows the deεired amount of torque to be applied to the operator εcrew when installing the pipe restraining mechanism 51 on a pipe.

It is to be understood, however, that a fixed εcrew head may be used and the torque limited by turning the screw with a torque wrench.

A pipe gripping wedge 71 is installed in the housing pocket 61 for gripping the surface of a pipe on which the gland 50 is installed. The wedge is illustrated in detail in Figs. 5-7. In Figs. 5-7, the wedge 71 is illustrated in an inverted position from the position shown in Figs. 13, and 16-23. The wedge has a bottom pipe engaging face 72 on which are formed pipe gripping teeth 73 and 74. The bottom face 72 and the teeth 73 and 74 are curved or arcuate to conform to the circular shape of the outer surface of a pipe on which the restraining mechanism is installed. The wedge has a front face 75 and back faces 80a and 80b which slope divergently forward from the back face 80a. The wedge has opposite side or end faces 81 and end latch or retainer flanges 82. The wedge has a top face 83.

It will be recognized from the drawings and the description that the housing pocket 61 and the wedge 71 are substantially rectangular in radial, axial, and circumferential cross section except for the sloping back side faces such as the wedge faces 80b. The houεing pocket is defined by generally parallel axial and circumferential walls. The parallel end or side walls in the embodiment illuεtrated in Figε. 2-4 includeε the recesses 62 while the wedge 71 in such embodiment is provided with the end flanges

82. As evident in Figs. 2-4, the housing pocket is significantly larger in width than the wedge so that the wedge fits very loosely in the pocket. The spaces between the sides of the wedge and the side walls defining the pocket, as obvious in Figs. 3 and 4, is filled with a εolid εhearable material 84 which, in the preferred embodiment, iε a thermoplastic injected or poured into the pocket around the ends of the wedge while hot and in a liquid state. The material 84 is introduced into the cavity when the wedge is installed in the retainer gland for the purpose holding the wedge in place during the packaging, shipment, and the installation of the gland on a pipe. The extremely loose

fit of the wedge in the pocket would permit the wedge to fall out of the pocket unless it is temporarily held in place as by the εhearable material. The εhearable material flowε into the recesses 62 and around the flanges 82. The recesses 62 in the pocket side walls aid in holding the shearable material in place at the endε of the wedge. The flangeε 82 on the wedge aid in holding the wedge in place. Such funσtionε of the recesses 62 and the flanges 82 are most clearly evident in Fig. 4. It is to be understood that the shearable material functions only during the packaging, shipment, and installation of the retaining mechanism. Once the operation of the wedge is initiated with the operating screw, the material shears releasing the wedge for radial inward movement into engagement with the pipe. While the preferable shearable material is the thermoplastic, other suitable materials such as a thermoεetting plastic, rubber pins, and low shear εtrength solid metals which can be melted and will set in place, such as lead or zinc, can be used to hold the wedge in the pocket temporarily. While the looεe fit of the wedge 71 in the pocket 61 permits the use of the shearable material to temporarily to hold the wedge in place, there are other advantages inherent in the looεe fit and the spherical shape of the operating end 65 of the screw 64. Similar prior art devices require the engaging member of the device, such as the wedge 71, to follow or be guided by the angular orientation of the housing, such as the houεing 52. Thus, if a pipe joint formed with prior art devices iε deflected during aεse bly, but prior to engagement with the pipe surface, the contact with the pipe surface may be impaired. For example, a tooth on an engaging member, such as the teeth 73 and 74 on the wedge 71, designed to engage a pipe along a perpendicular line to the pipe surface will not properly grip the pipe surface if disoriented. In contrast, in the present invention, the spherical end 65 of the operating screw and the loose fit of the wedge in the pocket after the material 84 iε sheared, allows the wedge to properly orient with the surface of the pipe for maximum contact of the wedge with

the pipe at the proper angle. Thus, the wedge automatically orients with the pipe surface independent of the angular orientation of the housing so . that the teeth always penetrate the surface at the same angle resulting in no reduction in the thrust restraining ability of the mechanism when the housing is at an angle other than perpendicular with the pipe axis.

The device of the invention may be applied to a very broad range of pipe sizes, for example, from 4 inch pipe to as large or larger than 24 inch pipe. In such larger sizeε it may be deεirable to minimize the radial thickness or height and length of the wedge and housing pocket as illustrated in Figε. 8-12. In such alternate embodiment, the pipe restraining mechanism and similar features of the components of such mechanism as described in connection with the mechanism 51, shall be referred to by the same reference numerals with the postscript "A" added. Referring to Figs. 8 and 9, the mechanism 51A has a pocket 61A provided with receεεes 62A for deposit of the shearable material along the tapered back wall surfaces of the pocket as best seen in Fig. 8. The wedge 71A that fits in the pocket 61A, as seen in Figs. 10, 11, and 12, similarly, haε recesses 90 in the tapered back walls of the wedge. It will be apparent that in the wedge 71A, the flangeε 82 which are present on the wedge 71 have been eliminated and the recesses 90 have been substituted. The recesses 62A and the recesses 90 perform exactly the same function in the modified form of the reεtraining mechaniεm shown in Figs. 8-12, as the recesses 62 in the pocket and the flanges 82 on the wedge of the mechanism 51. When the wedge 71A is installed in the pocket 61A and the shearable material 84 is deposited in the pocket between the pocket walls and the wedge walls, the material flows into the pocket recesses 62A and into the wedge recesεes 90 to better hold the wedge in the pocket during packaging, shipment, and installation of the mechanism on a pipe.

A preferred use of the pipe restraining mechanism 51 of the invention is as a component of a pipe joint restrainer

gland, such as the gland 50 illustrated in Fig. 1. Referring to Figs. 13-19, the gland 50 is uεed to grip an end portion of a pipe 100 at a coupling 101 of the pipe with a bell 102 on a pipe 103. The bell includeε a flange 104 for attaching the retainer 50 to the bell to complete the coupling of the pipe 100 with the pipe 103. The aεsembly of the coupling 101 begins with the installation of the retainer 50 on the end portion of the pipe 100. Since the retainer 50 is not a split retainer, the retainer is placed over the end of the pipe 100 and moved onto the pipe sufficiently for the end of the pipe to teleεcope into the bell 102 to the position shown in Figε. 13 and 14. After placing the retainer on the pipe end, an annular seal or gasket 105 is placed on the pipe for sealing in the flange 104 between the flange and the retainer 50. When the retainer is placed on the pipe end, the operator screws 64 and the wedges 71 are at the retracted positions represented in Figε. 4 and 16. The wedges are held at such retracted positionε by the shearable material 84, as best understood by reference to Fig. 4. As previously εtated, the εhearable material firmly holdε the wedges in the retracted positions until the operator screwε 64 are turned to drive the wedgeε radially inwardly. With the retainer and the gaεket on the pipe 100, the pipe iε teleεσoped into the bell 102 with the gaεket 105 being εeated in the flange 104 aε illustrated in Fig. 13. The retainer 50 is secured to the flange 104 by bolts 110 provided with heads 111 which rest against the face of the flange. The bolts 110 pass through holes 112 in the retainer ring. Nuts 113 are screwed on the bolts against the retainer ring to hold the retainer ring to the flange. Pulling the retainer toward the flange with the bolts forces the gasket 105 into a sealing relationship within the flange around the pipe 100.

With the retainer 50 on the pipe 100 and attached to the bell flange 104 aε represented in Figs. 13, 14, and 16, and the wedges 71 and screws 64 retracted as seen in Fig. 16, the pipe restraining meσhanismε 51 are operated to grip the pipe 100. With the wedgeε 71 in the initial retracted

positionε as seen in Fig. 16, the screw axis 114 is spaced from the wedge tooth 73 toward the back wall 52 of the housing pocket. These relative positions of the operator screw and the wedge tooth 73 provides a moment arm about the wedge tooth 73 measured by the distance between the screw axis 114 and a line 115 in alignment with the tooth 73 as seen in Fig. 16. The first step in the engagement of the wedges 71 with the surface of the pipe 100 then begins with the turning of the operator εcrew 64 uεing a wrench applied to the screw head 70. The screw is advanced downwardly as viewed in Fig. 16 into the housing pocket as represented in Fig. 17. A radial downward force is applied by the screw 64 through the spherical end 65 of the screw to the top of the wedge 71 shearing the material 84, releaεing the wedge, and thereafter forcing the wedge downwardly. When the tooth 73 engages the pipe surface the downward force of the screw end is applied to the wedge creating a turning force having a moment arm measured by the distance between the axis of the screw and the tooth 73 as represented in Fig. 16 between the lines 114 and 115. The screw iε operated to rotate the wedge toward the back of the pocket to the poεition of Fig. 17 at which the lower back corner 71a of the wedge engages the pipe surface, and the tooth 73 engages the pipe surface toward the front of the pocket as seen in Fig. 17. When the lower back corner 71a of the wedge engages the pipe surface, the tooth 73 will begin to bite into the pipe surface. This first step of the engagement of the wedge with the pipe surface by the operator screw starts the initial partial insertion of the wedge teeth into the pipe surface, but because of the length of the teeth the wedge cannot be fully engaged using the screw alone. A radial force large enough to insert the teeth cannot be applied to the εcrew without over deflection or general indentation of the pipe εurface. The use of the torque limiting screw head 70 therefore controlε the amount of torque applicable to the screw and a screw head is selected to limit the torque to a value of which will not damage the pipe. If a torque limiting screw head is not employed, a torque wrench can be used to limit

the amount of torque applied to the εcrew. Another factor affecting this first stage of forcing the wedge downwardly against the pipe is the diεtanσe of insertion of the screw end 65 into the housing pocket. This is a factor in the design of the mechanism and iε determined by how far the εcrew muεt travel to force the wedge downwardly to the poεition of Fig. 17 at which the initial entry of the wedge tooth 73 beginε.

Thiε firεt εtep sufficiently setε the coupling for the pipe to carry internal pressure. The second and third stages of engagement of the wedge with the pipe surface are then effected by hydraulic presεure in the pipe tending to force the pipe away from the bell to the left as viewed in Figs. 16-19. When the initial engagement of the tooth 73 and the lower back corner 71a of the wedge is established, the second step of gripping the pipe with the wedge beginε as a wedging action between the εcrew and the wedge. Aε apparent in Fig. 17, the top εurface of the wedge 71 is inclined downwardly toward the back of the wedge forming an inclined plane with the operator εcrew end 65. At this stage in the movement of the wedge, the back faces 80a and 80b of the wedge are εtill εpaσed forward away from the back wallε of the pocket. The tooth 73 of the wedge iε biting into the pipe εurface. The hydraulic preεεure in the pipe iε increasing and with the tooth 73 biting into the pipe surface the wedge is forced toward the back of the pocket by the moving pipe with a wedging action occurring between the spherical end 65 of the εcrew and the top εloping surface of the wedge. As the hydraulic pressure forces the pipe 100 to the left carrying the wedge with the pipe, and because the spherical end 65 of the operator screw cannot move upwardly, the wedging action on the wedge by the screw end forces the wedge farther downwardly into the pipe with the teeth 73 and 74 biting into the pipe εurface. This wedging action and continued biting of the wedge teeth into the pipe surface continues as the pipe drags the wedge to the back wall of the pocket. The wedge firεt contacts the back wall of the pocket at the upper back corner 71b of the wedge as

represented in Fig. 17. Moderate internal hydraulic presεure will carry out thiε second step in the engagement of the wedge. Since the wedging action coupled with the hydrostatic forces creates an extreme radial force, the wedging must be strictly controlled. This control is provided by the limiting the distance over which the action may take place. Aε the wedge moveε back, the teeth are inserted more and slight rotation of the wedge occurs. When the upper back corner 71b of the wedge engages the back pocket wall, the wedging action ceases. In the embodiments of the invention used with PVC pipe, wherein the force required to insert the teeth is comparatively small, the mechanism is designed to provide a short travel distance of the wedge over which the wedging action with the screw occurs. This is the distance between the position of the wedge when the screw has rotated the wedge to a position at which the lower back corner 71a engages the pipe and the position when the upper back corner 71b of the wedge engages the back wall of the pocket. By making this distance small, the wedging action will be completed at a low pressure. This distance, of courεe, will vary depending upon hardneεs of the pipe being restrained. For PVC pipe, thiε diεtance has been found to be approximately 1/16 of an inch.

The third and last stage of the engagement of the wedges 71 with the surface of the pipe 100 is effected by a still further increase in the hydrostatic pressure in the pipe at the coupling. As previously described, the wedging action is complete when the upper back corner 71b of the wedge engages the back wall of the pocket, as seen in Fig. 18. At this stage, the front tooth 74 may or may not be engaged in the pipe surface. If the two teeth on the wedge are not fully inserted into the pipe when the top corner of the wedge contacts the back wall of the pocket, the wedge may be further rotated clockwise as viewed in Fig. 18 by the increasing hydrostatic pressure. As the hydrostatic increases, the axial thruεt applied to the pipe 100 increases. With the teeth biting into the pipe surface, the force of the pipe on the teeth causes the wedge to rotate

about the upper back corner 71b from the position of Fig. 18 to the final full contact poεition of Fig. 19. The force of the pipe on the wedge with the wedge against the back wall of the pocket causes the wedge to move in a rotating motion downwardly to the position of Fig. 19 at which the teeth are fully engaged in the pipe surface and the bottom face of the wedge restε on the surface of the pipe. The back face of the wedge iε then engaged with the back face of the pocket. The upper back corner of the wedge is no longer a pivot axis for the wedge. Any further force on the wedge with a tendency to rotate the wedge will develop about the bottom corner 52c of the back wall of the housing. The moment created by the axial thrust on the wedge times the diεtance to the pivot point at the top corner 71b of the wedge has now been reduced to the axial thrust times the distance between the pipe surface as the force iε applied to the wedge teeth and the bottom corner 52c of the housing, greatly reducing the radial force of the wedge against the housing once the wedge is fully seated on the surface of the pipe. This provides a particular advantage in the uεe of the mechanism of the invention in that continued increases in the hydrostatic preεεure in the pipe doeε not directly produce correεponding inσreaεeε in the radial force of the wedge againεt the pipe, and thuε, protectε the pipe againεt excessive indentation and also against breakage of the retainer body holding the restraining mechanismε around the pipe. In the preferred embodiment when uεed on a 12 inch PVC pipe with an outside diameter of 13.20 inches the reduced moment and consequent reduced radial force was only 10% of the original force on the pipe by the wedge. When used on a 12 inch PVC pipe of 12.75 inches outεide diameter, the radial force waε reduced to 37% of the original. The top of the wedge no longer engageε the lower end of the εcrew and the wedge iε loosely trapped in the pocket. Thiε permits the continued increases in pressure in the pipe without corresponding damage to the pipe and retainer asεembly.

In experimental pressure tests on 12 inch pipe, the pipe reεtraining mechanism has εuεtained preεsures well in

excess of the minimum burst pressure requirement on DR 18 and DR 25 AWWA C900, as well as American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) Standard 2241, SDR 21, IPS pipe. The 12 inch device is alεo been teεted on pipe machined from American Water Workε Aεεociation (AWWA) Standard C900, DR 18 pipe to an outεide diameter of 12.75 inches and dimension ratio of approximately DR 25.

The size of the pipe 100 on which any given pipe restraining mechanism assembly 50 is installed may vary to some extent in diameter. It will be apparent that as the diameter of the pipe on which the assembly is installed increases, the wedge 71 and the operator screws 64 are not required to move radially inwardly as far as with εmaller sizes. To accommodate the larger sizeε by limiting the inward movement of operating screws, a spacer, such as the spacer 116, Fig. 1, may be placed on the screw εhank to limit how far the εσrew can be turned to extend the lower end of the εcrew into the houεing pocket againεt the wedge. Obviouεly, only relatively εmall differenσeε in pipe εize may be accommodated by the uεe of a εpacer beσauεe of other factors, such as the proper sizing of the assembly- housing to properly hold the ring seal 105 in place in the bell flange 104.

While the mechanism of the invention has been described and illustrated in Figs. 1-19 as primarily used with PVC pipe, it is to be understood that the mechanism also may be uεed with metal pipes, such as ductile iron. A pipe coupling with such harder materials is capable of operating under higher internal pressureε and requireε a greater force to properly engage the wedge teeth in the pipe εurface. To accommodate the materialε εuch as ductile iron, the mechanism of the invention is modified as illustrated in Figs. 20-23 which show the use of a pipe restraining mechanism 51B which is identical to the mechanism 51 with the exception of a modification of the relationship between the front to back dimension of the wedge and the front to back dimension of the housing pocket. The mechanism 5IB uses a wedge 7IB and wedge spacer 120. The distance in the

pocket from the front to back wallε iε εubεtantially greater to allow more travel by the wedge 7IB during the second and third steps of engaging the wedge with pipe surface. The wedge 7IB is held in poεition in the houεing pocket uεing the shearable material 84. Additionally, the spacer 120, which is of a material which fractureε when εubject to compreεεion, is placed between the back walls of the wedge and the pocket to fill increased space between the wedge and the back of the pocket during packaging, shipping, and installation. The spacer 120 can be formed of material similar to or the same as the shearable material 84. The operation of the mechaniεm 5IB on ductile iron pipe is identical to the sequence of operational stepε described with respect to Figs. 16-19. After a retainer including the modified mechanisms 5IB is installed on ductile iron pipe 100B, the operating screws 64 are turned to advance the screws into the housing pocket. The operator screws rotate the wedges counterclockwise, as viewed in Fig. 20, crushing the spacer 120 releasing the wedge to turn downwardly toward the back of the pocket to the position of Fig. 21 at which the lower corner edge of the spacer engages the pipe- surface and startε the wedge tooth 73B into the εurfaσe of the pipe. Hydraulic preεεure iε increased in the pipe tending to move the pipe toward the left aε viewed in Fig. 21. The wedge 7IB iε dragged along the pocket toward the back of the pocket due to the engagement of the tooth 73B in the pipe εurfaσe. The wedging action with the lower end of the operator screw rotating the wedge clockwise with the teeth 73B and 74B being embedded farther into the pipe surface. When the upper back corner of the wedge strikeε the back wall of the pocket, the wedging action ceaεeε and the force of the pipe on the teeth of the wedge rotateε the wedge farther clockwise about the upper back corner of the wedge as the turning axis until the teeth are fully embedded in the pipe surface and the back face of the wedge engages the back face of the pocket as illuεtrated in Fig. 23. Thuε, the operation of the mechaniεm 5IB with ductile iron pipe is substantially identical to that with PVC pipe with the

exception of the greater travel distance of the wedges to adapt the mechanism to the higher preεεureε εuεtainable by ductile iron pipe, and apply greater radial forceε downwardly on the wedges to firmly bury the teeth of the wedges in the ductile iron pipe surface.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illuεtrated and deεcribed as uεing the operator screw 64, a modified form aε in Fig. 23 may be uεed in thoεe instances where the mechanism of the invention is applied to a split ring restrainer gland, including applications where a harnesε is employed, such as shown in U. S. Patent 4, 568, 112, issued to Earl C. Bradley, et al, February 4, 1986. In Fig. 24 the corresponding features of the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 4 are referred to by the same reference numerals aε uεed in Fig. 4 with the εuffix "C" added. In the modified mechanism 51C the operator screw 64 has been eliminated and the housing top wall 54 has been modified to include a ball or εpherical εhaped protruεion 64C which engages the wedge 71A effecting the same application of force to the wedge as applied by the end of the operator screw 64. One further modificatio in the relationship between the wedge and the wedge housing is the provision of additional space between the wedge and the top wall 54C of the housing to allow some pivoting of the wedge relative to the protrusion so that the wedge will readily self orient to the εurface of the pipe aε the wedge engageε the pipe. It will be apparent that the wedgeε included in the mechanisms 51C in a split ring form of restrainer gland are forced against the pipe as the two rings of the gland are brought together, such as when the bolts 32 are tightened as in Fig. 5 of the U.S. Patent 4,568,112. As the rings are forced together by the bolts, the protrusion 64A drives the wedge against the pipe' s εurface in the same manner as the end of the operator screw 64. The internal pressure induced stepε of fully seating the wedge against the pipe occur in the same manner as with the other forms 51A and 5IB of the mechaniεm.

The mechaniεm of the invention iε readily adaptable to

a wide range of pipe sizes and a variety of forms of pipe coupling apparatus, such as mechanical joint glands, flanges, push-on pipe bells, harnesses, and other restraining devices for holding plastic and/or metal pipe together and for holding variouε pipe fittings with plaεtic or metal pipe. Aε previouεly εtated, the mechaniεm has the ability to create the neceεεary grooves to restrain high pressureε in PVC and metal, such as ductile iron pipe, and after creation of the grooves, the radial force which was required to form the grooves is reduced to an absolute minimum for holding the pipe in a coupling. The teeth of the wedges rest in the pipe grooves with a minimum of radial force in comparison to the radial force required to form the grooves. The result is analageous to the formation of grooves by a lathe and thereafter loosely placing an engaging or latching member in the grooveε, εuch aε the wedge teeth of the preεent invention. Thiε lowerε the εtress in the gland or retainer ring in which the mechanisms of the invention are installed reserving the εtrength of the pipe wall and the ring to resist axial thrust and internal preεεure. In one example of the uεe of the preferred embodiment of the mechaniεm of the invention, two grooveε 0.08 inches deep and 3 inches long can be formed in a PVC pipe at 8 locationε around a 12 inch pipe and at 16 location around a 24 inch pipe.