The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 02, 2003
Filed:
Sep. 04, 2001
Kenneth M. Knapp, Houston, TX (US);
Other;
Abstract
A method of forming a pipeline pig in two or more steps is provided. Selected disks and/or cups, of selected size and hardness, are first formed. These disks and/or cups may include scraper disks, seal disks, flower petal disks, and/or cups in various sizes and hardnesses, in any desired permutation of these characteristics. The preformed pig components are then arranged with a plurality of mold pieces placed between the various disks and/or cups and then a second molding step is performed. The pig components which are formed in the first step preferably include a large central hole through which polyurethane will flow in the second molding step to form the mandrel. The pig components also preferably include a plurality of smaller holes radially spaced around the large central hole. The smaller holes serve to form a mechanically robust coupling between the pre-formed pig components and the polyurethane mandrel. Thus, the various pig components may be combined in any desired permutation of characteristics, so that a pig with desired working properties may be tailored to a specific task.