Titeflex Corporation

Kenneth E Lefebvre

James M Lalikos

Harold K Waite

Arthur J Bessette

Mark B Goebel

An end of a convoluted metal hose is connected to an adaptor having an end surface which is rounded to complement a contour of an endmost convolution. A straight section of the convoluted hose extends unbonded some distance through a bore in the adaptor, where it is welded in place. This way any flexing is by a section of the wrapping over the rounded end, the wrapping section being remote from any heat damage which may result from the welding. The internal transition between the bores of the hose and adaptor is straight and smooth, free of any crevice.

Means for and methods of attaching metal hoses to end fittings

A reusable end fitting may be attached quickly and easily to a hose without requiring production machinery. The end fitting has a first part with a collar which grips the hose against a second part with a barbed end. When two wrenches are used to turn one part onto the other part, a pilot end of a hose is gripped and pulled onto the barbed end. One embodiment provides a collar with springlike qualities that compress the hose against the barbed end. Another embodiment has threads inside the collar to propel the hose onto the barbed end.

Reusable end fitting

The invention provides a hose that withstands a vacuum which is considered to be approximately two to three times greater than the vacuum withstood by the best known previously available pliable convoluted semirigid plastic hoses of comparable designs. To fabricate the hose, a bobbin of wire stock is unwound, with the wire preferably being pulled off the end of the bobbin. The wire is then looped around a spool to form it into a spiral or coil having a preset diameter which is proportionately smaller than the diameter of a preformed, semirigid convoluted plastic hose. While the pulled wire is still substantially extended, it is taken up by being rolled upon the plastic hose, thereby snapping the preset formed wire spiral into the spiral convolutions formed in the surface of the hose. If desired, the spiral or coil might be pulled off the end of the samller diameter spool to impart a twist thereto.

Method of making a preformed semirigid plastic hose wrapped with a wire

A gas-tight fitting which is an improvement over the lip-seal fitting shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,672,704 (Roger D. Christianson, inventor). The fitting includes three parts which are a nut, a sleeve, and a threaded nipple. The sleeve ends in an annular flange having an arched cross section which rests upon a seat on said nipple when said nut is tightened into position. Between the flange and the sleeve proper, there is a neck which terminates at its top in a spherically arcuate section which is complementary to a similar section in the nut. Together, the spherical sections form a swivel joint to accommodate axial misalignments.

Self-aligning tube fitting

The invention provides a hose that withstands a vacuum which is considered to be approximately two to three times greater than the vacuum withstood by the best known previously available pliable convoluted semirigid plastic hoses of comparable designs. To fabricate the hose, a bobbin of wire stock is unwound, with the wire preferably being pulled off the end of the bobbin. The wire is then looped around a spool to form it into a spiral or coil having a preset diameter which is proportionately smaller than the diameter of a preformed, semirigid convoluted plastic hose. While the pulled wire is still substantially extended, it is taken up by being rolled upon the plastic hose, thereby snapping the preset formed wire spiral into the spiral convolutions formed in the surface of the hose. If desired, the spiral or coil might be pulled off the end of the smaller diameter spool to impart a twist thereto.

Growing community of inventors

Hampden, MA, United States of America

Kenneth E Lefebvre