Flexible pressure-confining conduit assembly
AssigneeProprietary Technology, Inc.
InventorDonald D. Bartholomew
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A tubular conduit assembly for confining or conveying a pressurized fluid including a flexible, thin-walled inner tube coaxially disposed within a flexible armor or outer tube. The outer tube is preferably constructed from one or more helically-wound members corresponding with, and engaging, helical corrugations on the inner tube. The inner tube deforms in response to the pressure and/or temperature of the fluid in order to form an internal sealing layer or sleeve-type coating for the outer tube. A shrink fitting assembly is also disclosed, which is adapted for compressingly urging the conduit assembly into an anchored, sealing relationship with a nipple member or other connection device inserted within an open end of the conduit assembly.
Claims10
A tubular conduit assembly for conveying a pressurized fluid, comprising:
- a flexible, thin-walled inner tube for conveying said pressurized fluid therethrough, said inner tube being helically corrugated and having an apex at each corrugated;
- a flexible outer tube disposed coaxially around said inner tube, said outer tube being constructed from at least one helically-wound member corresponding with and engaging the helical corrugation of said inner tube so that the apex of the helical corrugation of said inner tube nest inside the helical corrugation of said outer tube;
- said plastic inner tube being sufficiently flexible and thin-walled to deform in response to the pressure of said pressurized fluid such that said corrugations in said thin-walled inner tube substantially expand to form a substantially non-corrugated sealing layer on the interior of said outer tube and said inner tube returning to said corrugated configuration when said pressurized fluid ceases to flow through said conduit.
In a tubular fluid conduit assembly adapted to be connected to a nipple member, said conduit assembly having an outer tube constructed from a corrugated helically-wound member and a flexible inner tube coaxially disposed in said inner tube, the improvement comprising:
- shrink fitting means for connecting said conduit assembly to said nipple member in a sealing relationship therewith, said shrink fitting means including a collar coaxially disposed around said outer tube and threadably engaging said helically-wound member the collar including members that threadably engage the corrugations of said helically-wound outer tube;
- and
- a compression sleeve coaxially disposed between said outer and inner tubes adjacent an end of said conduit assembly, and end portion of said inner tube being coaxially disposed between said compression sleeve and said nipple member;
- said compression sleeve and said end portion of said inner tube being radially compressed when said collar is threadably moved into a circumscribing relationship with said compression sleeve and with said end portion of said inner tube, thereby sealingly urging said end portion of said inner tube against said nipple member.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.