Expansion Plugs. Concave Expansion Plugs, Dome Expansion Plugs, Welch Style Expansion Plugs, Core Plugs Definition: Concave expansion plugs are inexpensive, efficient, and are a permanent method of sealing manufactured holes in castings or other processes. Tapered Cup Expansion Plugs, Cupped Plugs Definition: Tapered cup expansion plugs, similar dome expansion plugs, are inexpensive, efficient and are a permanent method of sealing manufactured holes in castings or other processes.
Counterbore should have a finish of microinches or smoother. The counterbore must be clean and smooth with a sharp, square corner. A fillet may prevent the plug from sealing properly. Counterbore diameter should be round within 0.
Installation Plug should be installed with a tool similar to that shown in illustration. The amount of flattening must be established by the user depending on the tightness required of the seal consistent with other factors of the user's design. A gasket type sealant may be used for severe applications. Plugs should be driven square to the hole. The shoulder on the driving tool should bottom out on the part the plug is being driven into.
Since it can be easily aligned, the pull-style plug is often used for angled channels. This style of expander plug is also ideal for applications where holes are on different faces and it is difficult to move the block for proper orientation.
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The expansion plug of this invention is characterized by a carriage bolt provided with a pair of steel washers spanning a flexible washer and a nut threaded on the shank of the carriage bolt for expanding the flexible washer between the steel washers and wedging the expansion plug in the inlet leg of the gas meter service line.
A plug tool is also provided for inserting the expansion plug in the inlet leg and removing the expansion plug from the inlet leg by a service representative of the gas company.
One of the problems realized in using gas meters to meter gas from an incoming gas main to a residence or commercial building is that of unauthorized use of the gas under circumstances where the gas service has been discontinued and the gas meter locked for non-payment of the gas bill. A typical ploy of such users is to break the lock which secures the service valve closing the inlet leg of the gas service line and rotate the service valve into the open position to again route the gas through the gas meter.
Another illegal practice is to unflange the inlet swivel coupling which attaches the inlet leg of the service line to the gas meter and route the gas directly to the residence or office building, bypassing the gas meter. Various locking mechanisms have been used to lock the gas meter service valve in closed configuration in the inlet leg of the gas service line in order to prevent unauthorized use of gas. However, most of these locking devices are easily removed by using lock cutter, hacksaws and even torches to free the service valves.
In other cases, the locks are picked or otherwise opened by those skilled in such an art, to facilitate unauthorized use of the gas. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved expansion plug for insertion in the inlet leg of a gas service line in order to prevent the unauthorized use of gas.
Another object of this invention is to provide an expansion plug for insertion in a gas line near a gas meter, in order to prevent the flow of gas through the line, which expansion plug is easily inserted in the service line, expanded to remain in line and retracted for removal from the line.
Still another object of this invention is to provide an expansion plug and companion tool for selectively inserting and removing the expansion plug into and out of a gas line, respectively, which expansion plug is characterized by a carriage bolt, a pair of steel washers fitted on the shank of the carriage bolt, with a flexible washer sandwiched between the steel washers and a nut threaded on the shank of the carriage bolt.
One end of the tool is designed to engage and selectively tighten and loosen the nut on the carriage bolt when the expansion plug is inserted in a gas service line and removed from the line, respectively, and the tool further includes an opposite, internally-threaded end for engaging the threaded shank of the carriage bolt and removing the loosened expansion plug from the service line.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved tool for inserting an expansion plug in a gas service line and removing the expansion plug from the gas service line, whcih tool is characterized by a nut-engaging end for engaging and selectively tightening and loosening the nut in the expansion plug and an internally-threaded end for engaging the threads of the carriage bolt element in the expansion plug, for removing the expansion plug from the service line.
These and other ojects of the invention are provided in a combination expansion plug and plug handling tool, which expansion plug is designed to block the inlet leg of a gas service line at the gas meter and which tool is adapted for inserting the expansion plug in the inlet leg and removing the expansion plug from the inlet leg. In a preferred embodiment, the expansion plug is characterized by a carriage bolt provided with a pair of steel washers with a flexible rubber washer sandwiched between the steel washers and a nut threaded on the shank of the carriage bolt, such that the nut can be tightened to expand the rubber washer between the steel washers by application of the tool when the expansion plug is inserted in the inlet leg, to prevent gas from flowing through the gas service line and the inlet leg to the gas meter.
In another preferred embodiment, the opposite end of the tool is internally threaded for threadibly engaging the threads on the carriage bolt and removing the expansion plug from the gas service line. Referring initially to FIG. An inlet coupling nipple 32 projects from one side of the top of the meter housing 26 and an inlet swivel coupling 31 is threadibly attached to the threaded extending end of the inlet coupling nipple 32, in order to connect the inlet leg 35 of a gas service line 28 to the inlet coupling nipple A service valve 29 is provided in the inlet leg 35 and is designed to selectively block the flow of gas through the inlet leg 35, to prevent gas from flowing through the gas meter A lock 30 is inserted through an opening in the end of the plug valve 29 and through a lock flange 40, in order to lock the service valve 29 and prevent the unauthorized flow of gas through the gas inlet line 28 to the gas meter An outlet coupling nipple 38 projects from an opposite side of the top of the meter housing 26 and an outlet swivel coupling 37 is threadibly attached to the threaded extending end of the outlet coupling nipple 38, in order to attach a gas outlet line 36 to the outlet coupling nipple 38, as illustrated.
Accordingly, under ordinary circumstances when the service valve 29 is in the "open" configuration, gas flows in the direction of the arrows through the gas service line 28 into the meter housing 26 of the gas meter 25 and from the meter housing 26 through the gas outlet line 36, to a home or a commercial user.
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