A METHOD OF CONNECTING PIPES

摘要

Electrically fusible sleeve connectors for connecting large diameter thermoplastic pipe sections are produced by winding a tape (10) of molten thermoplastic material onto a large diameter drum (14) whereby adjacent windings are fused and upon being cooled a solid sleeve (22) is formed, embedding an electric resistance heating wire (16) in a surface of sleeve 22 while the thermoplastic material is still in the molten state and removing sleeve (22) after cooling with wire 16 embedded therein from demountable drum 14 by deflating a bladder 28. The wire 16 may be embedded in the internal or external surface of sleeve 22 by winding wire 16 on drum 14 before or after winding tape 10 on drum 14. Two end sections of pipes can be thermofused to sleeve 22 by placing sleeve 22 to overlap the end sections either internally or externally and by passing electric current through wire 16. Alternatively adjacent end sections of pipes can have windings of the wire while a thermoplastic split sleeve is placed over the windings through which current is passed.