subject: Corrugated Pipes [print this page] A joint (and method) connects synthetic resin corrugated pipes, each of the corrugated pipes including a pipe wall having sectionally rectangular wall portions and sectionally circular wall portions disposed alternately in a longitudinal direction of the corrugated pipe. The sectionally circular wall portions each include an annular-shaped protrusion projecting outwardly from the sectionally circular wall portions disposed substantially at a center of the sectionally circular wall portion between adjacent sectionally rectangular wall portions in the longitudinal direction. The joint includes a pair of semicircular-shaped joint main bodies coupled with each other by bolts, each having a recessed groove defined by both of its side edge portions in a width direction thereof and also having tightening bolt holes respectively formed at both peripheral end portions in a peripheral direction thereof, and a pair of watertight packings respectively formed of elastic material and respectively received in the recessed grooves of the semicircular-shaped joint main bodies, each of the watertight packings having a semicircular portion which includes two edge portions disposed at two end portions in a width direction thereof, and a projecting portion disposed between the two edge portions in the width direction and inwardly projected in a radial direction of the pipe.
Conventionally, there are known various types of synthetic resin corrugated pipes and also there are manufactured and used various types of connecting joints suitable for connection of the respective pipe structures of such synthetic resin corrugated pipes. These joints can be roughly classified into a synthetic resin corrugated pipe whose main body is formed in a cylindrical shape and a synthetic resin corrugated pipe which includes at least two main bodies formed as at least two split bodies. The present invention relates to the latter type of joint including at least two split main bodies.
Both of the conventional pipe joints of a cylindrical main body type and of at-least-two-split-main-body type have a diameter larger than the outer peripheral diameter of pipes to be connected together by the pipe joint or have a size larger than the outer peripheral shape of such pipes. That is, either of the conventional pipes joint has a shape which projects outwardly of the outer peripheries of the pipes to be connected together by the pipe joint.
Thus, after the two pipes are connected together by the joint, the connected portions of the pipes become larger in size. For this reason, it is rather considered as common knowledge that, at least in the portions of the pipes where the joint is present, a plurality of pipes cannot be arranged side by side or on top of one another in such a close contact manner as in the non-connected portions of the pipes.
