GB2230062A - Sealing shroud - Google Patents

Abstract

A sealing shroud for sealing a vapour barrier (45) pierced by a pipe (30), comprises a flat outer flange (10) having an adhesive coating, and an inner annular region (11). The inner region (11) has a circular aperture (24) which is surrounded by several concentric O-rings (18, 20, 22), each of a size corresponding to various standard pipe sizes. In use, cuts may be made in the material of the inner region (11) so that the working aperture size corresponds to that of the pipe (30). The pipe (30) is pushed through the shroud, which is pulled axially of the flange, and seals firmly on the relevant O-ring (18, 20, 22), and the outer flange is sealed by the adhesive to the vapour barrier (45). The outer flange may contain several similar apertures, and shrouds may be produced in strip form. <IMAGE>

Description

SEALING SHROUD The present invention relates to a sealing shroud for use, for example, in sealing a vapour barrier which has had to be pierced to allow the passage therethrough of a pipe or other fitting.

It is common in buildings to provide a vapour barrier somewhere in the construction, usually adjacent the inner lining, to prevent the entry of water vapour.

There are many situations, however, where a plumbing pipe, an electrical lead or another fitting has to pass through the vapour barrier. In this case, of course, the vapour barrier has to be pierced and then re-sealed around the fitting to prevent the passage of moisture through the resultant gap.

A known sealing shroud, intended to deal with this problem, is shown in GB 2150650. While the shroud shown in that document has proved to be very successful in practice, there are a number of disadvantages: firstly, the shroud has to be manufactured and stocked in a range of sizes corresponding, for example, to the range of plumbing pipes sizes currently in use; furthermore, transporting and storing these variouslysized shrouds is not particularly convenient since they take up a relatively large amount of space.

It is a first object of the present invention at least to alleviate the problems of the prior art.

It is a second object of the present invention to provide a cheap, simple sealing shroud which can be easily transported and stored.

It is a further object of the invention to reduce the costs involved in having to provide sealing shrouds of various sizes.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a sealing shroud comprising a generally flat outer mounting flange having an adhesive on at least one surface thereof, and an inner generally flat flexible portion, the said flexible portion having an aperture therethrough and being divided into a plurality of annular regions, each surrounding the aperture, by at least one integral bead.

Of course, it is nt intended that the "annular" regions necessarily have circular inner and outer peripheries: they may well have peripheries of other shapes, for example square or oval. The inner and outer peripheries may even be of different shapes.

In a convenient embodiment, a sealing shroud for surrounding a pipe or a like cylindrical fitting, has an annular mounting flange with circular peripheries.

The aperture is, in this case, circular and is positioned centrally of the mounting flange, with the integral bead or beads forming one or more concentric circles around the aperture.

Alternatively, the flexible portion could be provided with more than one aperture, each aperture having its own bead or beads and a corresponding plurality of annular regions. Such a shroud is particularly useful as a multipoint services seal, and conveniently has four apertures and a mounting flange which is square or trapezoidal.

A multi-point services seal of this type may be conveniently produced in strip form, so that several such seals may be made at once. Such a strip has a series of multi-point services seals, joined together by a common portion of their respective outer mounting flanges. Adjacent seals can then be separated, if desired, merely by cutting along the common portions of the mounting flanges.

The easiest way to manufacture the seals of the present invention is to mould them integrally from a plastics material. The mounting flange can be made thicker than the inner portion, so that the mounting flange is rigid or semi rigid whereas the inner portion is more flexible.

Alternatively, the inner portion and the mounting flange could be manufactured separately and then joined along a common periphery.

One side of the mounting flange may be provided with an adhesive whereby the flange may be secured to a support, for example a vapour barrier. The adhesive is preferably covered with a release sheet, which is removed prior to use. If desired, both of the surfaces of the mounting flange could carry the adhesive.

A plurality of beads or ribs may be provided for the or each aperture, enabling the shroud to be used for sealing pipes or other fittings of various sizes.

Desirably, each bead is of such a size and shape as conveniently to fit around and seal a pipe or other fitting of one standard size.

The invention may be carried into practice in a number of ways and two specific embodiments will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a series of cross sections through part of a wall of a building, showing how an incoming service pipe can be sealed in four different ways with a sealing shroud comprising a first embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2a is a schematic perspective view of the sealing shroud of figure 1, prior to use; Figure 2b is a central cross section through the sealing shroud of figure 2a; Figures 2c and 2d show how the sealing shroud of Figure 2a is, in practice, applied to a pipe; and Figure 3 is a schematic view of a sealing shroud according to a second embodiment of the invention.

There is shown, in Figure 2a, a schematic view of a sealing shroud according to a first embodiment of the invention. The shroud shown comprises a generally flat integral plastics moulding having an annular rigid outer flange 10 within which there is a thinner annular inner region 11. The region 11 is divided into three concentric annular rings 12, 14, 16, by means of integral O-rings or beads 18,20. A further bead 22 is provided on the inner periphery of the region 16, to define a central hole 24.

The annular regions 12, 14, 16 are desirably all of the same thickness, this thickness being less than that of the flange 10, although it will be possible for each region to have a different thickness. The thickness or thicknesses of the inner regions should be sufficiently small to allow for some flexibility in the plastics material, while the thickness of the flange 10 is desirably sufficiently large for the flange to be rigid or substantially rigid. It would also be possible, however, for the flange 10 to be flexible and for it to be stiffened by an additional annular stiffening member (not shown) secured thereto. In certain circumstances, it may even be desirable for the flange 10 to be relatively flexible itself, particularly if it is to be secured to a surface which is not flat.

Instead of the seal being all of one material, it could be of two or more materials: for example, the flange 10 could be of a different material from that of the annular inner region 11. In this case, of course, some means of securing the two materials together at their common periphery would have to be provided.

The flange 10 has an adhesive coating (not shown) on one surface, this adhesive conveniently being protected by means of a suitable release sheet (not shown). Adhesive coatings and release sheets may be provided, if desired, on both the upper and the lower surfaces of the flange. ~ Figures 2c and 2d illustrate how the shroud is attached to a pipe 30. As is clearly evident from the diagrams, the pipe 30 is pushed up through the central hole 24, so that the inner flexible region 11 pulls up into a generally conical shape 32 around the pipe. The flexibility of the inner annular portion 16 and of the inner beading 22 ensures that the shroud can be fitted tightly over a pipe of the correct size. Indeed, this flexibility ensures that a good seal is provided even if the diameter of the pipe is slightly larger than the diameter of the inner bead 22.

In order to use the seal on a pipe of a size very much larger than the hole 24, for example having a diameter substantially that of the bead 20 the user simply makes several radial cuts through the inner bead 22 and the inner region 16 up to the bead 20. The pipe can then easily be pushed through the resultant enlarged hole, and will seal firmly at the bead 20.

Similarly, of course, for pipes of an even larger size, for example having a radius corresponding to that of the bead 18, the user simply cuts through the beads 20 and 22 and the two inner most annular regions 16, 14.

If desired, more or fewer beads could be provided to allow for the use of the shroud on any desired number of standard pipe sizes.

Once the seal is on the pipe, as is shown in figure 2d, it may be pulled along until it reaches the position required. If the seal is pulled in the opposite direction the conical portion 32 will simply pull through the flange 10 and reverse to the other side. In this way, the user can have the conical portion pointing in what ever direction may be the most convenient in practice.

Figures la to ld illustrate examples of the way in which the flange may be secured to a barrier which has been pierced by a pipe 30. In Figure la, a plaster board lining acts (at least partially) as a vapour barrier, and the shroud is secured by the adhesive on the flange to the upper surface of the plaster board by being pushed along the pipe from above. Following the securement of the shroud, an insulating material 50 is placed over the plaster board.

In an alternative arrangement, shown in figure lb, there is a separate vapour barrier 45 which is pushed down onto the upper surface of the flange once the shroud has been placed into position. With this arrangement, the flange may be adhesively secured to the plaster board 40 from below and to the vapour barrier 45 from above.

Another arrangement is shown in figure lc. Here, the shroud is placed on the pipe after the vapour barrier 45 has been positioned on the plaster board, with the flange being adhesively secured to the rear surface of the vapour barrier.

Finally, figure ld shows a simple sealing arrangement suitable for use when a pipe has to be passed through a pre-existing wall. Here, the shroud is pushed onto the pipe from the inner side of the plaster board, for example inside a duct or a cupboard, and secured to it.

A second embodiment of a sealing shroud of the present invention, particularly useful for sealing pipe clusters, is shown in figure 3. In this embodiment, there is an outer square or rectangular rigid or semi rigid flange 60 within which there is a more flexible interior portion 70. 'Within this portion there are four spaced holes, each corresponding to the hole 24 of the embodiment of figure 2, and each being surrounded by a plurality of annular flexible regions and O-rings or beads corresponding to those already shown and described in relation to figure 2. Once again, the flexible portion may, but need not, be integral with the flange 60, the latter having an adhesive coating on one or both of its surfaces, and preferably also release sheets, as has previously been described with reference to the flange 10 of figure 2.

Instead of being square, the flange 60 could instead be trapezoidal. It would also be possible for the beads for the four holes to be of differing sizes.

Also, of course, there might well be more than four or fewer than four holes provided.

While it would be possible for just a single multi-point shroud, generally indicated at 80, to be provided, it is convenient for a plurality of such shrouds to be linked together in the form of the elongate strip shown in figure 3. In this way, a large number of seals can be provided by a single integral plastics moulding. The user simply cuts off as many shrouds as he needs, for example along the dotted line indicated at 90, cuts the annular flexible regions according to the sizes of the pipes in the cluster, and then pushes the entire seal down over all the pipes at once.

As will be appreciated, not only are the sealing shrouds of the present invention easy and convenient to use, they are also easy and convenient to store and transport since, prior to use, they are substantially flat and can be packed accordingly.

Claims (14)

CLAIMS:

1. A sealing shroud comprising a generally flat outer mounting flange, and an inner generally flat flexible portion, the flexible portion having an aperture therethrough and being divided into a plurality of annular regions, each surrounding the aperture py at least one integral bead.

2. A sealing shroud as claimed in claim 1 in which the aperture is circular and positioned centrally of the mounting flange, with the integral bead or beads forming one or more circles around the aperture.

3. A sealing shroud as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the outer mounting flange is stiffer than the inner portion.

4. A sealing shroud as claimed in claim 3 in which the outer mounting flange is thicker than the inner portion.

5. A sealing shroud as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which at least one side of the outer flange is provided with an adhesive.

6. A sealing shroud as claimed in claim 5 in which both sides of the outer flange are provided with an adhesive.

7. A sealing shroud as claimed in claim 5 or claim 6 in which the adhesive is covered with a release sheet.

8. A sealing shroud as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the aperture is provided with a plurality of surrounding beads, each of a different size.

9. A sealing shroud as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the inner portion has more than one aperture, each aperture having its own bead or beads and a corresponding plurality of annular regions.

10. A sealing shroud as claimed in claim 9 in which the inner portion has exactly four apertures, the periphery of the outer flange being generally square or trapezoidal.

11. A strip of sealing shrouds, each as claimed in claim 9 or 10, and each being joined to an adjacent shroud by a common portion of their respective outer mounting flanges.

12. A sealing shroud, or a strip of sealing shrouds, as claimed in any one of the preceding claims which is integrally moulded of a plastics material.

13. A sealing shroud substantially as specifically described with reference to figures 1 and 2.

14. A strip of sealing shrouds substantially as specifically described with reference to figure 3.