The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 16, 1978
Filed:
Apr. 25, 1977
Gary A Fellers, Montrose, SC;
HydroTech International, Inc., Houston, TX (US);
Abstract
Apparatus and method for connecting by welding two axially spaced apart pipes which may be misaligned relative to each other, including butt welding between the pipe ends a pair of coupling members, each coupling member having a tubular portion and an end portion having a face which lies on a plane which intersects the axis of the tubular portion at a nonperpendicular angle and which describes the circle upon the plane. The faces of the end portions may be abutted, rotated, and welded together such that the axes of the tubular portions thereof intersect at various angles. In one embodiment of the invention, the coupling members are mounted in combination with a pair of tubes, each of the tubes has a radially enlarged ring near one end thereof, which end is butt welded to one of the pipe ends. The coupling members are slidingly mounted over the tubes in telescopic fashion, and fixed upon the tubes by fitting a split sleave over the tube between the ring thereon and the end of the tubular portion of the coupling member, which is then butt welded in place. In an alternate embodiment of the invention, the coupling members are mounted between the pipe ends by butt welding the tubular portions directly to the pipe ends. The apparatus and method of this invention are particularly useful for use in an underwater environment.