Apparatus for rehabilitating an underground water conduit and detecting and drilling a service entrance in the conduit
View Patent ↗An apparatus for rehabilitating an underground water conduit having at least one service entrance including a plug having a light emitter which is responsive to the presence of an electromagnetic field, wherein the at least one service entrance is plugged with the plug and a semi-transparent membrane lining the internal surface of the underground water conduit thereby covering the plug. A drilling head is disposed on a body moveable within the underground water conduit, the drill head having a drill bit and a coil inductor concentric with the drill bit. The coil inductor is adapted to generate an electromagnetic field near the drilling head, wherein the light emitter of the plug is adapted to be turned on by the electromagnetic field emitted by the coil inductor to allow visual alignment of the drill bit with the light emitted by the light emitter through the semi-transparent membrane. The plug is drilled with the drill bit through the semi-transparent membrane in order to reopen the at least one service entrance.
1. A service entrance plug for use in rehabilitating an underground water conduit as defined comprising:
a body having first and second ends, wherein the first end is adapted for insertion into a service entrance and the second end is adapted to be visually seen within the underground water conduit;
a light emitter disposed on the second end; and
at least one antenna coil connected to the light emitter, the antenna coil being adapted to generate an electrical current when subjected to an electromagnetic field that will turn on the light emitter.
2. The service entrance plug of claim 1 further wherein the body is a conical hollowed body surrounded by a plurality of spaced flexible winglets.
3. The service entrance plug of claim 2 , wherein the light emitter is located in the center of the second end of the plug.
4. The service entrance plug of claim 3 , wherein a first one of said plurality of spaced flexible winglets is disposed at the second end of the plug, and wherein the first one of the plurality of spaced flexible winglets has a larger diameter than other spaced flexible winglets.
5. The service entrance plug of claim 4 , wherein the first one of the plurality of spaced flexible winglets is thicker than other spaced flexible winglets.
6. The service entrance plug of claim 2 , wherein the second end of said body is formed as a cap, into which is embedded the antenna coil connected to the light emitter.
7. The service entrance plug of claim 6 , wherein the second end of the body comprises a receptacle winglet adapted to mate with an internal groove provided in the cap.
8. The service entrance plug of claim 7 , wherein the cap is snapped into the second end of the body.