DE29807550U1 - Sealing cap for closing or sealing an opening in a surface - Google Patents

Description

SI/cs980470G
29 April 1998

Sealing cap for closing or sealing an opening in a surface

The invention relates to a cover or sealing cap for closing or sealing an opening in a surface, which comprises a plate-shaped cover part and a clamping part, between which a deformable body made of elastic sealing material is attached, as well as clamping means by means of which the deformable body can be clamped between the cover part and the clamping part in such a way that its circumference is larger in the clamped state than in the non-clamped state.

A sealing cap of this type is known in practice as a so-called feedthrough seal. Feedthrough seals are used in practice, for example, for temporarily or permanently sealing pre-formed openings or boreholes for pipes, quivers, lines and the like with the cover part, whereby the sealing cap with the deformable body clamps against the wall of an opening or borehole.

In the known feedthrough seals, the clamping means consist of clamping screws, the threaded end of which protrudes outwards over a certain distance either past the cover part or the clamping part. A

appropriate screw nut, with which the deformable body is clamped by screwing it in between the cover part and the clamping part.

These known feedthrough seals are not suitable as a sealing cap for closing or sealing an opening in a floor surface. The design with a bolt end protruding outwards from the cover part, for example, poses a risk of damage to objects that move across the floor, such as tires or wheels of vehicles, but also a risk of injury to people walking across the floor. Feedthrough seals in which a screw bolt protrudes outwards past the clamping part at one end with a screw nut attached to it are also not suitable for sealing blind openings or holes in a floor, since there is then no way of clamping the deformable body using a suitable tool. Finally, the screw nut is also not accessible.

The invention is therefore based on the object of creating a sealing cap of the type mentioned at the beginning, which is particularly suitable for sealing openings or holes in floor surfaces and which does not pose a danger to vehicles or people moving over the floor, etc.

To achieve this object, the sealing cap according to the invention has the property that the clamping means are recessed clamping bolts accessible from the side of the cover part facing away from the deformable body,

which are attached to the clamping part, whereby the cover part is flattened on its side facing away from the deformable body over a distance in the direction of the peripheral edge.

Thanks to its countersunk clamping bolts, the sealing cap according to the invention has no parts protruding outwards past the cover part, so that the risk of damage and/or injury explained above has been effectively eliminated. Because the cover part is evenly flattened along its peripheral edge, an almost seamless transition is obtained between the ground surface and the surface of the cover part, which also effectively reduces the risk of the sealing cap being "grabbed" by the tire of a car or truck, for example. Particularly in the case of stepped transitions between the floor surface and the surface of a sealing cap, there is a risk that the cap could be caught, for example, by a tire moving over the cover plate, which could result in the sealing cap being forced and/or twisted into the opening, which would impair its sealing function, or that the sealing cap could be pulled out of the opening as a whole or thrown away, with all the dangers and risks that this entails.

In a preferred embodiment of the sealing cap according to the invention, the cover part is flattened following a rounding radius. This rounding radius is selected in such a way that a very even, almost stepless transition to the floor surface is achieved.

In order to clamp the deformable body with a force that can be precisely dosed, a further embodiment of the invention is characterized in that the clamping part is provided with an internal thread, to which the screw clamping bolts attach in order to clamp the deformable body between the cover part and the clamping part by screwing it in. The clamping part is preferably provided with threaded sleeves that run between the cover part and the clamping part and in which the screw clamping bolts attach. In particular in the case of a deformable body made of a stiff-elastic sealing material, such threaded sleeves simplify clamping because the screw clamping bolts attach to the deformable body only over a small distance. At the same time, the threaded sleeves achieve a smooth, fluid-tight attachment to the material of the deformable body - compared to the threaded surface of a screw clamping bolt.

In order to achieve sufficient stability in the event of point loads on the sealing cap, such as can be exerted by the tires of cars, trucks and the like, the cover part for use in floor surfaces is designed in a solid plate shape in a further embodiment of the sealing cap according to the invention.

In a further embodiment, the cover part is provided with grooves or pits on the side facing away from the deformable body to create a surface roughness in order to avoid injuries to persons as a result of slipping. This applies in particular to environments in which oil or other

greasy substances are used that can get onto the floor or the sealing cap.

The countersunk attachment of the clamping bolt on the clamping part can be made fluid-tight using suitable sealing means, such as, for example, by using sealing rings or sealing disks made of plastic. A further preferred embodiment of the invention is, however, characterized in that the cover part is provided with conical or tapered openings on the side facing away from the deformable body, in which a corresponding conical or conical head of a clamping bolt can be countersunk, such an opening and such a head having sufficient surface precision to achieve a fluid-tight connection of the head in the opening when clamped in.

It has been found that clamping bolts which, for example, are provided with an Allen-shaped recess so that the cover part and the clamping part can move towards or away from each other by means of a rotating movement, provide good protection against easy removal of the sealing caps by unauthorized persons. Instead of Allen-shaped recesses, clamping bolts with other suitably shaped heads can of course also be used, even if these do not offer the advantage of additional protection against unauthorized loosening and removal of the sealing caps.

It was found that when using clamping means consisting of clamping bolts arranged rotationally symmetrically to one another, in combination with plate-shaped cover and clamping parts to achieve a uniform clamping force on the deformable body, a fluid-tight seal of openings with a relatively large diameter (in the order of cm or more) can be achieved.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is characterized in that the cover part is a circular plate with a first diameter, that the clamping part is a circular plate with a smaller second diameter and that the deformable body made of elastic sealing material is a ring or an annular disc made of rubber with a third diameter, the dimension of which lies between the first and the second diameter.

The deformable body can - depending on the application area of the sealing cap - be made of a suitable elastic sealing material, for example a deformable body made of an oil and fuel resistant elastic sealing material for use in environments such as floors of petrol stations, workshops, in particular in car repair shops and the like.

In order to guarantee a high-quality seal for a long time and also in the outside air and/or in environments with aggressive atmospheres, the cover part, the tensioning part and the gills are in a

Embodiment of the sealing cap according to the invention made of stainless steel.

In practice, the dimensions of the cover part and the clamping part as well as the deformable body are chosen, for example, such that the cover part of the cover cap, if it has been attached to seal an opening in a floor in a fluid-tight manner, rests on the floor and the clamping part and the deformable body are received in the opening, with the deformable body in the clamped state being attached to the peripheral wall of the opening in a fluid-tight manner.

The invention is described and explained in more detail below with reference to the preferred embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings. They show schematically:

Fig. 1 a sealing cap in a view from above;

Fig. 2 is a cross-section along the line II-II in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a partial view and cross-section of the sealing cap according to Fig. 1 used for sealing an opening in a floor surface.

Fig. 1 shows a cover or sealing cap 1 in a view from above in a preferred embodiment of the invention. Here, the sealing cap 1 comprises a round, plate-shaped cover part 2, which is provided with openings and

holes 8 and all-round pits or grooves 7 to achieve a surface roughness.

Fig. 2 shows a cross section along the line II-II in Fig. 1, where a further plate 3 can be seen, which is located parallel at a certain distance to the cover part or cover plate 2 and functions as a plate-shaped clamping part. A deformable body 4 made of elastic sealing material, for example a round cylindrical disk or a ring made of rubber, is attached between the cover part 2 and the clamping part 3. In the embodiment shown, the plate-shaped clamping part 3 is also circular. From the cover part 2, screw clamping bolts 5 are attached to the clamping part 3 in corresponding screw sleeves 6.

The openings or holes 8 in the cover part 2 have a conical or tapered shape from the outside of the cover part 2 or from the side or outer surface 11 facing away from the deformable body 4, in which the screw bolts 5 are countersunk with a correspondingly shaped head 9. This means that the head 9 of a screw bolt 5 does not run outwards on the outer surface 11 of the cover part 2. The head 9 of a screw bolt 5 is provided with a hexagonal or Allen-shaped recess 10 in the embodiment shown so that the clamping part 3 can be moved in the direction or away from the direction of the cover part 2 by turning the screw bolt 5 with a suitably shaped tool.

If the cover part 2 and the clamping part 3 are moved towards each other by screwing, the deformable

Body 4 assumes a larger circumference; if the cover part 2 and the clamping part 3 are moved away from each other by turning in the opposite direction, the circumference of the deformable body 4 again assumes more or less its original dimensions.

In this way, the sealing cap 1 according to the invention can be clamped in an opening or a borehole in a floor or a wall, with the cover part 2 resting on the surface of the floor or wall and the deformable body and the clamping part 3 lying in the opening or the borehole. In the clamped state, the deformable body 4 then rests on the wall of the opening or the borehole.

With a flat ring- or disk-shaped deformable body 4 and flat, plate-shaped cover and clamping parts 2, 3 - with symmetrically arranged clamping bolts 5, as shown in Fig. 1 - a uniform clamping effect of the deformable body on the wall of a cylindrical opening or a cylindrical borehole is achieved in order to achieve a fluid-tight seal of an opening or a borehole. The force of the clamping effect can be precisely dosed via the clamping bolts 5.

The connection of the head 9 of the clamping bolt 5 in the countersunk opening 8 of the cover part 2 can be made fluid-tight if desired using plastic rings. However, by sealing the wall of the conical or tapered opening 8 of the cover part 2 and the conical or tapered peripheral wall of the head 9 attached to it with

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are made with sufficiently high surface precision, a fluid-tight seal between the head 9 and the opening 8 can also be advantageously created when the sealing cap 1 is clamped in place. With sufficiently hard materials, a guaranteed fluid-tight effect is maintained even when a sealing cap 1 is repeatedly clamped in and loosened, which is not always guaranteed when using sealing rings made of plastic and rings that have a static deformation behavior and can tear over time due to aging and the like.

By using screw sleeves 6, an excellent fluid-tight connection of the deformable body 4 is obtained around the transition of the clamping bolt 5 with the clamping part 3 and the screwing in of the clamping bolt 5 is simplified, since, depending on the length of the clamping sleeves 6, it only has to be in contact with the deformable body 4 over a small part when it is clamped. The screw sleeves 6 preferably have a sufficiently smooth outer surface that is in contact with the deformable body 4 to achieve a fluid-tight attachment.

Instead of or as a supplement to the threaded sleeves 6, the plate-shaped clamping part 3 can also be provided with an internal thread so that the screw clamping bolts 5 are screwed into it.

The unwanted access to an opening sealed with the sealing cap 1 or the unwanted

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Removal of a sealing cap 1 can be prevented, for example, by providing the clamping bolts 5 with a specially shaped head 9 so that it can only be loosened with a special tool. In practice, there are suitable screw bolts for this purpose or they can be designed by a specialist, for example a head 9 with an Allen-shaped recess 10.

The elastic sealing material from which the deformable body 4 is made can be selected depending on the desired application, such as oil and fuel-resistant rubber for sealing openings in the floors of workshops, for example car repair shops, petrol stations and the like. Of course, other areas of application with sealing materials tailored to these are also conceivable.

As can be clearly seen from Fig. 2, the cover part 2 is solidly plate-shaped in order to provide sufficient resistance and rigidity against point loads from the tires of cars, trucks and the like. These point loads are absorbed by the plate-shaped cover part 2 itself and balanced by a base on which the cover part 2 rests in the assembled state. The balancing of such point loads via the deformable body 4 and the wall of an opening or borehole against which it is clamped is thereby largely eliminated. The sealing cap 1 can therefore achieve a guaranteed, long-term, fluid-tight sealing of openings and holes in floors or walls that is subject to changing loads.

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can be removed or reattached as needed.

For high-quality use, for example in aggressive environments, the cover part 2, the clamping bolts 5 and the clamping part 3 are made of stainless steel in one embodiment of the invention. It is clear to a person skilled in the art that suitable plastic materials can also be used for this purpose, although the expected mechanical loads on the sealing cap 1 in the assembled state must be taken into account.

As can be clearly seen from Fig. 2, the cover part 2 is evenly flattened on the side facing outwards over a certain distance from the peripheral edge 12. This shows an even rounding according to a rounding radius, which can, for example, be of the order of magnitude of the radius of the plate-shaped cover part 2. In this way, an almost stepless connection of the cover part 2 to a floor or a wall is achieved. When mounted on the floor, this prevents the sealing cap 1 from being caught by the profile of the tires, for example by tires of cars and trucks moving over the cover part 2, and being screwed into the opening in which it is mounted or otherwise displaced, which is certainly not desirable in the case of a fluid-tight assembly. It also prevents the sealing cap 1 as a whole from being turned or thrown out of an opening, which can pose a danger to the surroundings. It should be remembered that the sealing cap 1 is for the

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Suitable for installation in the floor of petrol stations etc. where heavy freight traffic is encountered.

Fig. 3 shows a typical assembly of the sealing cap when using a soil gas analysis system.

Fig. 3 shows an embodiment of a soil air release unit 15 in the form of an elongated tubular body 16 with a first end 17 and a second end 18. The first end 17 of the tube 16 is closed with a cap 19, and at the second end 18 there is a closable opening 20, for example in the form of a so-called "quick coupling" 21.

From the first end 17 of the tube 16, perforations or grooves are provided in the wall of the tube 16 over one end towards the second end 18. Preferably, a filter in the form of, for example, a nylon filter sleeve is provided over the perforations 22 from the first end 17, which is clamped to the tube 16 near the second end 18, for example with a clamping band 24. For the sake of illustration, the filter sleeve 23 is shown with part of it broken away.

The soil air release unit 15 extends into the so-called unsaturated zone 2 5 of the soil, that is, the part that contains a certain amount of pores in addition to granules.

As shown schematically in Fig. 3, the end 17 of the pipe 16 can continue into the soil or groundwater 26, so that in addition to the soil air,

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Soil water 16 is available for examination purposes via the soil air release unit 15. Of course, the closable opening 20 at the first end 18 must be suitable for access to the soil water 26 present in the soil air release unit 15. If desired, the cap 19 can be provided with suitable openings so that soil water can enter the pipe 16.

The soil air release unit 15 is surrounded by a guide pipe 29 near the fluid-tight, in particular liquid-tight, floor 27, which runs from the floor surface 28 over a part of the floor 25. This guide pipe 28 can be a pipe made of metal, plastic or, for example, ceramic material. Guide pipes suitable for this purpose are known in practice and are used, among other things, for cable ducts in residential and commercial buildings.

A fluid-tight connection 31 is provided in the space between the outer wall of the guide pipe 29, i.e. as seen from the soil air release unit 15, and the inner wall of a receiving opening 30 provided in the floor 27. For example, in the case of a floor 27 made of concrete, a seal made of non-shrinking joint mortar can be used. For other floors, a non-shrinking, adhesive glue or, for example, an elastic putty can be used. This must be coordinated with the specific requirements placed on the properties of the floor and the material of the guide pipe 29, which can be selected to match these if necessary.

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The opening between the outer wall of the pipe 16 of the soil air release unit 15 and the inner wall of the guide pipe 29 is sealed with a sleeve 32, which essentially consists of an elastic material that can be clamped in a fluid-tight manner between the outer wall of the pipe 16 and the inner wall of the guide pipe 29 using a clamping device 33. Sleeves suitable for this purpose are also known in practice for use in residential and commercial construction.

To install the soil air release unit 15, in an existing floor 27, a borehole or a receiving opening 3 0 is made therein, which extends into the floor 25. Then, if desired - as described above - a guide pipe 2 9 is installed in the floor 27. The use of a guide pipe 29 is not necessary per se if the floor 27 is sufficiently thick to install a closable opening 2 0 countersunk with respect to the floor surface 2 8 - as shown in Fig. 3 - and if the floor 27 is sufficiently rigid or the receiving opening 3 0 has a sufficiently smooth inner wall to clamp the sleeve 32 in it in a fluid-tight manner. Sufficiently rigid means that the floor can absorb the pressure forces parallel to the floor surface 2 8.

A soil air release unit 15 is then introduced into the receiving opening 3 0, after which the space between the receiving opening 3 0 and the pipe 16 of the soil air release unit 15 is filled with filter gravel 34 up to a certain distance below the closable opening 20. On the filter gravel 34

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Then a layer of moisture-absorbing and moisture-repellent material, for example bentonite grains 35, is applied. Then everything is sealed with the sleeve 32.

The bentonite grains 35, which can be installed if desired, serve to collect very small amounts of liquid that enters along the pipe 16 despite the sealing with the sleeve 32. The bentonite swells and further seals the leak. Filter gravel 34 is the generic term for a grain material with a sufficient number of pores that allow soil air to enter the soil air release unit 15.

The receiving opening 30 and the guide tube 29 are sealed on the base surface 28 using a sealing cap 1. The cover part 2 rests on the surface 28 of the base 27 and the clamping part 3 and the deformable body 4 are located in the guide tube 29. The deformable body 4 is clamped against the inner wall of the guide tube 29 in the assembled state, thus achieving a fluid-tight seal.

Although the invention is illustrated using an embodiment of a sealing cap provided with screw clamping bolts, it is clear to the person skilled in the art that other clamping means known per se in practice can also be used to clamp the deformable body between the cover part and the clamping part. Of course, more or fewer grooves than those shown can also be used to achieve a

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surface roughness, and if desired, means for marking the sealing cap so that it is clearly visible even in poor lighting. For a specialist, further changes and/or
Additions to the invention are possible, but without deviating from the idea underlying the invention.

Claims (14)

Sl/cs 980470G 29 April 1998 Claims 1. Sealing cap for closing or sealing an opening in a surface, comprising a plate-shaped cover part (2) and a clamping part (3), between which a deformable body (4) made of elastic sealing material is attached, as well as gill means (5) with which the deformable body (4) is clamped between the cover part (2) and the clamping part (3) in such a way that its circumference is larger in the clamped state than in the non-clamped state, thereby characterized in that the clamping means (5) are countersunk clamping bolts accessible from the side (11) of the cover part (2) facing away from the deformable body (4) and which are attached to the clamping part (3), the cover part (2) being flattened uniformly over a certain distance in the direction of the peripheral edge (12) on the side (11) facing away from the deformable body. 2. Sealing cap according to claim 1, characterized in that the cover part (2) is flattened following a rounding radius. 3. Sealing cap according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the clamping part (3) is provided with an internal thread, in the screw clamping bolt (5) in order to clamp the deformable body (4) by screwing it between the cover part (2) and the clamping part (3). 4. Sealing cap according to claim 3, characterized in that the clamping part (3) is provided with threaded sleeves (6) which run between the cover part (2) and the clamping part (3) and in which the screw clamping bolts (5) are inserted. 5. Sealing cap according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cover part (2) is solid plate-shaped. 6. Sealing cap according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cover part (2) is provided with grooves or pits (7) on the side (11) facing away from the deformable body (4) in order to achieve a surface roughness. 7. Sealing cap according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cover part (2) is provided with openings (8) tapering from the side (11) facing away from the deformable body, in order to accommodate in such an opening (8) a correspondingly conically shaped head (9) of a clamping bolt (5) in a countersunk manner, such an opening (8) and such a head (9) having sufficient surface precision to achieve a fluid-tight connection of the head (9) in the opening (8) when clamped in. 8. Sealing cap according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the clamping bolts (5) are provided with an Allen-shaped recess (10) so that the cover part (2) and the clamping part (3) can move towards or away from each other by a rotating movement. 9. Sealing cap according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the clamping means (5) consist of clamping bolts arranged rotationally symmetrically to one another. 10. Sealing cap according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cover part (2) is a circular plate with a first diameter, that the clamping part (3) is a circular plate with a smaller second diameter and that the deformable body (4) made of elastic sealing material is a ring or an annular disc made of rubber with a third diameter, the dimension of which is between the first - 4 and
the second diameter. 11. Sealing cap according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the deformable body (4) is made of an oil and fuel resistant elastic sealing material. 12. Sealing cap according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cover part (2), the clamping part (3) and the clamping means (5) are made of stainless steel. 13. Sealing cap according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the sealing cap (1) is attached to close an opening (30) in a base (27) in a fluid-tight manner, the cover part (2) resting on the surface (28) of the base (27) and the clamping part (3) and the deformable body (4) being received in the opening (30), the deformable body (4) being clamped in a fluid-tight manner against the peripheral wall of the opening. 14. Sealing cap according to claim 13, characterized in that the sealing cap (1) is mounted in an opening (30) of a system for releasing soil air.