Coupling device
AssigneeRaychem Corporation
InventorMichael Kapgan
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A device for coupling to an object such as a pipe, particularly for joining pipes together, comprising a tubular sleeve of which at least one end portion has positioned on it a collar of dimensionally heat-recoverable polymeric material, and a shape memory alloy driver. Recovery of the driver is arranged to deform one or both of the sleeve and the object into contact with one another. Recovery of the collar is arranged to fill at least partially the radial space between the sleeve and the object so as to provide relief from transverse strain imposed on the joint between the object and the device.
Claims10
A device for coupling to an object, comprising:
- (a) a tubular sleeve;
- (b) a shape memory alloy driver for deforming at least one of a portion of the sleeve remote from one end thereof, and an object to which the device is to be coupled, into contact with one another;
- (c) a collar of a dimensionally heat-recoverable polymeric material located on a principal surface of the sleeve towards the said end thereof, the collar expanding radially when heated so as to reduce the radial space between the collar and an object to which the device is to be coupled.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.