Technical Design Solutions for Theatre

Richard Mone

The Internal Expansion Pipe Splice

 

Although theatrical rigging often requires that multiple pipes be spliced together in order to form a continuous batten, the most common techniques for achieving such splices are either dangerously ineffective or unnecessarily involved. Threaded couplings are too weak to be used for structural splices, and internal cylindrical sleeves are difficult to fit and secure properly. The Channon Corporation (now Chanco, Ltd.) recognized these problems, and, in the sixties, developed the internal expansion splice (IES) as a fast, neat, and effective means of splicing pipe.

The IES consists of two adjacent steel bars that are held in alignment by roll pins and fitted with set screws that determine the ...