Locking segment with logarithmic spiral surface

Abstract

A locking segment is disclosed herein for restraining an outer surface of a spigot of a first pipe to a bell of a second pipe. The locking segment may have a body with an upper surface for contacting the socket of the bell at a contact point, a lower surface with teeth for contacting the outer surface of the spigot, a juncture of the rear side and the lower surface defining a reference point, and a hole extending through a centroid of the body. The upper surface of the locking segment is a logarithmic spiral curved such that a line connecting the contact point to the reference point proximately intersects the centroid. An apparatus can include multiple of the locking segments disposed upon a ring passing through the hole in each of the segments, such that each segment may pivot about the ring.