Devices and method to stop water inflow to an underground pipe laying work area

Claim 1

A sealing assembly for sealing a pipe pass through opening cut in an excavated hole liner so that piping can be propelled from within the excavated hole through the pipe pass through opening in a piping course, such sealing being to prevent water incursion to a liner enclosed work area from an underground water source exteriorly of the work area, said sealing assembly comprising a seal part having a hollow elongated main body with openings at opposite body ends, means for fixing the position of said main body end openings relative to said pass through opening when said main body has been inserted through the pass through opening with one of the body ends in communication with the work area and an opposite end in communication with the underground water source, and means carried on the main body extending radially relatively inwardly therefrom and operable to tightly conformably engage an external surface of a pipe passing through said seal part thereby to establish a sealing condition around said pipe external surface effective to obstruct a passage of any water present in said underground water source to said work area.

Claim 9

A method for sealing a pipe pass through opening cut in an excavated hole liner so that piping can be propelled from a liner enclosed work area through the pipe pass through opening in a piping course without there occurring water incursion to the work area from an underground water source exteriorly of the work area, said method comprising inserting a sleeve having a radially outwardly directed annular flange at a sleeve end and having a flange diameter greater than a largest pass through opening dimension, outwardly from the work area through the pass through opening until the annular flange engages liner surface portions adjacent the pass through opening, the sleeve further having a diametrically disposed barrier of flexible material blocking communication between the sleeve flange end and an opposite sleeve end, there being additionally a ring of a flexible waterproof packing material carried in the sleeve proximal said sleeve opposite end, the said packing material having a normal ring inner dimension of a predetermined value, watertightly fixedly securing the sleeve flange to the liner surface portions, cutting an opening in the flexible material barrier of a size slightly smaller than an external dimension of piping to be propelled through the liner opening so that when said piping passes through the said liner opening, the flexible material of the barrier tightly sealingly engages external surface of the piping to prevent any water passage from the water source to the liner space as, inserting a seal unit which includes a hollow cylindrical main body, a radially outwardly directed flange carried at an end of the body, and a tapered section at an opposite body end into the sleeve tapered section first and concentrically encircling piping present in the sleeve and until the flange on the seal unit body engages a stop on the sleeve, an external surface of the seal unit being tightly sealingly engaged by the packing material ring of the sleeve to effect a watertight sealing therebetween, the flexible material barrier cut opening having been further enlarged prior to seal unit insertion to allow such insertion of the seal unit in the sleeve to be effected, the seal unit carrying an internal packing ring of flexible material which tightly sealingly engages the external surface of the piping to effect watertight sealing therebetween, and watertightly fixedly securing the seal unit body flange to the said stop.