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AssigneesHunting Oilfield Services (UK) Limited, Kawasaki Steel Corporation
InventorsGeoffrey C. Dearden, Edward J. Speare, Katsuo Ueno, Donald N. Jones
Estimating the term…
A connector, for example for connecting a tubular member such as a pipe, comprises a male member which has an external frusto-conical surface provided with a thread and a female member having an internal frusto-conical surface provided with a thread for engagement with the thread of the male member. The members are provided with sealing surfaces which are brought into sealing abutment under an axially directed compressive force when the members are fully engaged together, as a result of which one member is partly compressed and the other tensioned. To improve the load distribution along the threads of the members, the pitch of the thread is varied along the axial length of the threaded surfaces. Specifically the surfaces are divided into three portions, an intermediate portion in which the pitches of the threads of the members are the same, and end portions at either end of the intermediate portion, in which the pitches of the threads differ. In the end portions closest to the sealing surfaces, the pitch of the thread of the one member, which is compressed during full engagement of the members, is greater than the pitch of the thread of the other member, and in the other end portion the pitch of the thread of the one member is smaller than the pitch of the thread of the other member.
A pipe connector including a female member having an internal circumferential surface provided with a thread and a male member having an external circumferential surface provided with a thread for threaded engagement with the thread of the female member, the male member being provided adjacent one end of the threaded surface thereof with an annular sealing surface which lies in a plane substantially perpendicular to a central axis of a connection of the male and female members, when the male and female members are fully engaged together, and which is brought under an axially directed force into sealing abutment with an annular sealing surface associated with the female member, which lies in a plane substantially perpendicular to the central axis of the connection of the male and female members, when the members are fully engaged together, wherein in an intermediate portion of the threaded surfaces of the members intermediate the ends, the threads of the members have the same pitch, and in one end portion of the threaded surfaces of the male member and the corresponding one end portion of the threaded surface of the female member, said one end portions extending between the intermediate portions and the sealing surfaces, the pitch of the thread of one member differs from the pitch of the thread of the other member, such that, as the members are screwed together, on abutment of the sealing surfaces, a part of at least one flank of the thread of one member in the intermediate portion abuts the corresponding part of the corresponding one flank of the thread of the other member in the intermediate portion, and as the axial load on the sealing surfaces increases, the one flanks of the threads in the intermediate portion are progressively loaded and the one flanks of the threads of the members in the one end portion are progressively brought into abutment and loaded.
A pipe connector including a female member having an internal circumferential surface provided with a thread, and a male member having an external circumferential surface provided with a thread for threaded engagement with the thread of the female member, the male member being provided adjacent one end of the threaded surface thereof with an annular sealing surface which lies in a plane substantially perpendicular to a central axis of a connection of the male and female members, when the male and female members are fully engaged together, and which is brought into abutment with an annular sealing surface associated with the female member, which lies in a plane substantially perpendicular to the central axis of the connection between the male and female members, when the members are fully engaged together under an axially directed force which places part at least of one member in compression and part at least of the other member in tension, wherein in an intermediate portion of the threaded surfaces of the members intermediate the ends, the threads of the members have the same pitch, and in one end portion of the threaded surfaces extending between the intermediate portion and the sealing surfaces, the pitch of the thread of the one member is greater than the pitch of the thread of the other member.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.