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:
Mar. 24, 1998
Filed:
Oct. 11, 1996
Mark D Kalman, Panama City, FL (US);
Bin Chen, Houston, TX (US);
Wellstream, Inc., Panama City, FL (US);
Abstract
A flexible conduit formed by a helically wound band of metal that resists burst pressure. The band has a leading edge hook and a trailing edge hook that engage and interlock. The cross-section of the band has a radially asymmetrical Z-shaped profile. When the band is helically wound, the downstream hook of one turn of the band is received in the upstream valley of the previous turn of the band so that the downstream and upstream hooks form an interlock holding the windings together. In the wound configuration, the thickness of the profile between the upstream valley and the internal surface of the tube is greater than the thickness of the profile between the downstream valley and the external surface of the tube to provide greater material thickness to reduce contact stress at the hook and valley interface and to reduce alternating stresses in the valley corners. The outer surface of the profile tapers towards the center of the tube to direct externally applied radial compression forces toward the thickest section of the profile. A multilayer conduit employing the band may include a central, helically wound collapse-resistant layer disposed within a flexible fluid barrier that in turn is disposed within the tube formed by the band. The conduit may be wrapped with one or more tensile strength layers, anti-wear layers, and additional fluid barriers.