Continuous onsite-manufactured pipe

Abstract

Method and article of manufacture are disclosed for onsite-manufacturing of any length, any shape, size, and any thickness pipe. Sheets of fabrics saturated with resin may be wrapped around desired shape mandrels, cured, and removed to form such pipes onsite. Cured laminated sheets of resin-saturated fabrics may be wrapped around to also form onsite manufactured pipes. Disclosed pipes eliminate almost all weaknesses of plastic, metal and concrete pipes and noticeably reduce costs of transportation as well as manufacturing. One of the advantages of the disclosed pipes is that they have few joints, limiting the leakage and other problems associated with joints in ordinary pipes.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of manufacturing a pipe of any length, the method comprising:
 wrapping a first desired number of resin-saturated fabric layers around a mandrel;   placing at least one spacer layer over the first wrapped layers;   wrapping a second desired number of resin-saturated fabric layers over the at least one spacer layer;   curing, at least partially, the resin-saturated first or second wrapped layers, or both wrapped layers, to form a pipe segment;   removing the pipe segment from the mandrel; and   connecting two or more removed pipe segments to each other end to end.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising wrapping a layer of bond-inhibiting material over the mandrel before wrapping the resin-saturated fabric layers around the mandrel. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising partly removing the pipe segment from the mandrel such that a portion of a wrapped fabric remains on the mandrel to be joined with another pipe segment subsequently made on the mandrel. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the resin is applied to the fabric before and/or after the fabric is wound. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the Spacer layer is not made of fiber-based material. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the fabric is a fiber-reinforced material. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the fabric is a Fiber Reinforced Polymer. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the method is at least partially performed by a robot. 
     
     
         9 . A method of manufacturing a pipe section, the method comprising:
 wrapping a first resin-saturated fabric layer around a mandrel;   wrapping a spacer sheet over the first resin-saturated fabric layer;   wrapping a second resin-saturated fabric layer over the spacer sheet;   curing, at least partially, the resin-saturated fabric to form a pipe section; and   removing, at least partially, the pipe section from the mandrel.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising wrapping a layer of bond-inhibiting material over the mandrel before wrapping the resin-saturated fabric layers around the mandrel. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising removing the at least partially cured pipe section from the mandrel such that a portion of the pipe section remains on the mandrel to be joined with another pipe section subsequently made on the mandrel. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the Resin is applied to the fabric before and/or after the fabric is wound. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the first and the second layers are designed to carry all or most of stresses caused by an external load on the pipe section and wherein the Spacer sheet may experience some radial stress. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the fabric is a fiber-reinforced material, a Fiber Reinforced Polymer, or a multi-directional woven fabric. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the Spacer sheet has properties different from the resin-saturated fabric layers. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein curing is done with light, heat, a liquid, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         17 . A method of manufacturing a pipe section, the method comprising:
 spreading any desired number of resin-saturated fabric layers on top of each other on a preferred surface to form a first laminated composite sheet;   spreading any desired number of resin-saturated fabric layers on top of each other on the same or another preferred surface to form a second laminated composite sheet;   curing, at least partially, the first and the second laminated composite sheets;   wrapping-around the first laminated composite sheet to bring two edges of the first laminated composite sheet together;   butt-jointing or overlapping the two edges of the first laminated composite sheet and permanently attaching the two edges together;   placing a spacer layer over the first wrapped composite sheet;   wrapping-around the second laminated composite sheet over the spacer layer to bring two edges of the second laminated composite sheet together;   butt-jointing or overlapping the two edges of the second laminated composite sheet and permanently attaching the two edges together to complete the pipe section.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the laminated composite sheets are manufactured offsite and the rest of the process is performed onsite. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the preferred surface is a flat or a curved surface. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the butt-joint is covered with one or more straps of resin-saturated fabric.