Tool for Adjustably Aligning Pipe Flanges and Structural Members

Tool for selectively angularly aligning an apertured flange so that the flange can be fixed to a pipe at a selected angularity relative to bends in the pipe. Improved device for attaching the level to the flange are shown, and the level can further be provided with means enabling it readily to be used also to set the grade of a pipe or of a structural member.

Tool for selectively angularly aligning an apertured flange so that the flange can be fixed to a pipe at a selected angularity relative to bends in the pipe. Improved device for attaching the level to the flange are shown, and the level can further be provided with means enabling it readily to be used also to set the grade of a pipe or of a structural member.

In the fitting up and laying of large-diameter pipe, where apertured pipe flanges are welded to respective lengths of pipe, and then adjacent pipe flanges are bolted together, the correct angular alignment of the pipe flanges is essential or theycannot be joined by bolts. This represents no particular problem when two straight unbent lengths of pipe are to be joined, because the entire length of one pipe can be rotated so the apertures in the pipe flanges line up, and then the flange at theother end can be welded on, and the process repeated. It is not so simple, however, when one of the pipes has a joint in it that forms an angle, or when both of them do.

It is extremely inconvenient to weld a pipe flange onto a pipe with the pipe already installed in its ultimate installed position. It is better practice to lay the jointed pipe flat on the floor, and do the job in a shop. Or, if the job is donein the field, it is better practice to perform the task at ground level. However, there is a more complicated angular relationship, when the pipe is bent than when it is straight, because when the jointed pipe is erected, the pipe flange will haverotated. Accordingly, when a pipe flange is attached to a length of bent pipe, allowance must be made for the change in spatial alignment which will result when the pipe is erected in its ultimate position.

An object of this invention is to provide a tool for angularly aligning a pipe flange relative to a pipe which is easy to use, and accurate in its results.

The task of aligning pipe flanges is not a new one, and tools have been designed to accomplish this function. An example is the "Dial-Angle-flange-Level" distributed by Contour Sales Corporation, 6515 East Compton Blvd., Paramount, Calif. 90723, shown in its publication Form S-300. This device has a bar which is attachable to a pipe flange at two apertures thereon, and an angularly adjustable protractor dial bubble level. Two cylindrical pins are attached to the bar and projecttherefrom. Their spacing apart is adjustable. In use, the pins are inserted into holes in the flanges. The accuracy of the alignment depends in part on how closely these pins fit in the flange holes, or if they are loose in the flange holes, howsimilar is their position in the holes. In the same publication there is shown a "Pro-Mag Level" which has magnets to hold a body in axial alignment with a pipe, and an angularly adjustable bubble level.

The tool according to this invention comprises a body, a protractor dial bubble level adjustably rotatably attached to said body, and a pair of attachment means aligned with one another along a datum line related to the bubble level. Eachattachment means includes a pair of self-centering members, one of which is movable toward the other, so as to clamp the body to the flange. The self-centering members are proportioned to enter the apertures so as to center themselves and thereby alignthe body with the apertures. A movable one of the members is threadedly attached to a bolt which is coaxial with both of the members.

According to a preferred but optional feature of the invention, edges of the body are parallel to a datum line drawn through the centers of the self-centering members so those edges are related to the bubble level when the device is used to setthe grade of a pipe or structural member.

The bubble level is mounted to the body via a protractor dial, the bubble level being fixed to the dial, and the dial being rotatable, and provided with means to restrain it ina selected angular position.

At least one of the attachment means is attached to the body in a slot aligned with the datum line so the body can be attached at apertures which have various spacingsapart, one of the self centering members being threaded onto the bolt so as to hold the attachment means at a selected position.

The body can be provided with magnet means to hold it in axial alignment on a pipe or structural member or the like, to enable the grade to be set, and thereby to increase the number ofuseful functions the tool can perform.

It will further be noted that this tool is applicable to a wide range of aperture separations simply by loosening one or both of the attachment means relative to the body, and sliding the bolts along the slots to the correct position and thentightening them. The first self-centering members make a tight clamping fit to establish the separation of the attachment members, and the other self-centering members are tightened down to hold the tool to the flange. The device thereby constitutes areadily manufacturable, convenient to use, device which facilitates its intended functions.