FR2963653A1 - Flexible sprinkler hose, has wall comprising outer face on which smooth bands and roughness forming bands are alternately distributed in circumferential manner, where bands extend parallel to one another along longitudinal direction of hose - Google Patents

Abstract

The hose (1e) has a cylindrical outer wall (2e) comprising a cylindrical outer face (3e) on which sliding and smooth bands (4e') and roughness forming bands (5e') are alternately distributed in a circumferential manner. The sliding and smooth bands and the roughness forming bands extend parallel to one another along a longitudinal direction of the hose. The roughness forming bands constitute reliefs with respect to the sliding and smooth bands. The cylindrical wall is formed from a unique flexible material such as plastic or rubber material.

Description

The invention relates to a flexible garden hose made of a flexible material such as rubber, plastic or the like. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Known garden hoses generally have a smooth and slippery external surface to reduce their friction on the ground so as to make them easier to handle by the user. In practice, this smooth and slippery external face penalizes the holding in hand of the pipe by the user: the pipe slides easily along the ground, but in fact, it also has a tendency to slip from the user's hands. This sliding outer face is also penalizing when storing the pipe, when the user wants to wind this pipe without inner coil, for example by coiling it to hang on a support or to store it on the floor. Specifically, the pipe portions slide against each other, and they slip from the user's hands, so that it is almost impossible to properly lover the pipe. It is the same when the user wants to store the pipe in crown on the ground, that is to say by winding it flat and spiral on the ground, without inner coil. OBJECT OF THE INVENTION The object of the invention is to propose a solution to overcome these disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To this end, the invention relates to a garden hose whose outer face has an alternating circumferential distribution of smooth and slippery bands and roughness bands, these different bands extending parallel to each other. others in a longitudinal direction of the pipe. With this arrangement, the smooth and slippery strips facilitate the sliding of the pipe to the ground effortlessly, but the roughness bands ensure the user an effective grip, so that the pipe does not tend to slip hands. In the same way, the roughness bands limit the sliding of pipe sections relative to each other to facilitate the storage of the pipe by coiling or spiraling it on the ground. The subject of the invention is also a pipe as defined above, in which the roughness bands constitute reliefs with respect to the sliding smooth strips.

The invention also relates to a pipe as defined above, in which the roughness bands are recessed relative to the sliding smooth strips. The invention also relates to a pipe as defined above, comprising a generally cylindrical wall made of a single material on the outer face of which are formed the different bands. The invention also relates to a pipe as defined above, comprising a cylindrical wall formed of two materials comprising on the one hand a smooth outer surface material in which are formed the smooth sliding strips and on the other hand a material with an adhering external surface to form the roughness bands.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES FIG. 1 is a sectional and perspective view of a first embodiment of the pipe according to the invention in which the roughness bands constitute hollow portions of the outer face of the pipe; Figure 2 is a sectional view in perspective of a second embodiment of the pipe according to the invention wherein the roughness bands are raised portions of the outer face of the pipe; Figure 3 is a sectional and perspective view of a third embodiment of the pipe according to the invention wherein the roughness strips are made of a material different from the rest of the pipe; Figure 4 is a sectional view of a fourth embodiment of the pipe according to the invention in which the sliding smooth strips and the roughness bands are formed in two different materials which cover an inner cylindrical wall of the pipe; FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a fifth embodiment of the pipe according to the invention in which the bands forming roughnesses form depressions on the external face of this pipe while being made of a material different from that constituting the strips; slippery smooth; Figure 6 is a sectional view of a sixth embodiment of the pipe according to the invention having roughness bands which are embossed while being made of a material different from that in which the smooth sliding strips are made; Figure 7 is a sectional view showing two portions of pipe according to the fifth embodiment of the invention which bear against each other when the pipe is wound; Figure 8 is a sectional view showing two portions of pipe according to the sixth embodiment of the invention which bear against each other when the pipe is wound.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The idea underlying the invention is a garden hose whose outer face is formed of a circumferential alternation of smooth and slippery longitudinal strips and longitudinal strips forming roughness. In a first embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the pipe marked by la has a generally cylindrical outer wall 2a, formed of a single material. But the outer face 3a of this wall 2a comprises an alternation of smooth sliding strips marked by 4a ', 4a "and 4a"', and bands forming roughness, identified by 5a ', 5a "and 5a"', the bands forming roughnesses constituting hollows with respect to slippery portions.

The pipe la extends in a longitudinal direction AX, and each sliding smooth strip 4a ', 4a "and 4a"' is an angular sector of the same cylinder centered on the axis AX, it extends parallel to this axis AX.

The three strips 4a ', 4a "and 4a"' are disposed at a hundred and twenty degrees relative to each other about the axis AX. These smooth and slippery bands have identical widths, that is to say that they extend over angular intervals of the same values around the axis AX. In order to be sufficiently slippery, these outer strips 4a ', 4a "and 4a"' are the smoothest possible surfaces. The roughness bands 5a ', 5a' and 5a '' also extend parallel to the direction AX, and they are also arranged at one hundred twenty degrees relative to each other about the axis AX. These three roughness bands also have the same widths, that is to say that they extend over angular sectors of the same value around the axis AX.

Thus, the outer face of the pipe is constituted by a regular alternation of sliding smooth longitudinal strips and longitudinal strips forming roughness. As seen in FIG. 1, the strips 5a ', 5a "and 5a"' form hollow shapes with respect to the nominal diameter of the pipe which is defined by the sliding strips 4a ', 4a "and 4a"'. In the example of FIG. 1, each roughness band corresponds to an angular sector of a cylinder whose axis is parallel to the axis AX while being situated outside the outer face 3a of the wall 2a. . In this first embodiment, the junction of each sliding smooth strip with a roughness band is constituted by a projecting edge, two of these edges being visible in Figure 1 and being both marked there by 6a. In general, the strips 5a ', 5a "and 5a"' with the longitudinal protruding edges which they define constitute in themselves roughness circumferentially around the pipe, whereas they are neutral with respect to longitudinal sliding. pipe on the floor. Thus, the pipe slips easily on the ground thanks to the sliding strips 4a ', 4a "and 4a"', but it does not slip from the hand of the user who grips it thanks to the circumferential roughnesses formed by the hollow strips 5 a ', 5a "and 5a"'. The hollow strips may be generally smooth surfaces, but they may also be provided as ribbed, serrated or like surfaces so as to have increased adhesion to the user's hand gripping the surface. pipe. In a second embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the pipe according to the invention which is marked by 1 b comprises, as in the case of FIG. 1, a main external wall 2 b made of a single material delimiting a generally cylindrical outer face. 3b. This outer face 3b also comprises three longitudinal smooth sliding strips 4b ', 4b' and 4b '', in the form of cylinder sectors centered on the longitudinal axis AX of the pipe, these sliding smooth strips being again of the same widths and distributed at a hundred and twenty degrees around the AX axis.

This pipe also comprises three longitudinal strips forming roughnesses, marked by 5b ', 5b "and 5b"', of the same widths, and distributed at a hundred and twenty degrees around the axis AX. The outer face 3b thus also consists of an alternation of sliding smooth longitudinal strips and rough longitudinal strips. In this second embodiment, the strips 5a ', 5a "and 5a"' are raised relative to the nominal diameter of the tube defined by the smooth and slippery longitudinal strips. In the example of FIG. 2, the surface formed by each roughness band corresponds to a cylinder sector centered on an axis which is parallel to the axis AX but situated radially between this axis AX and the external face 3b.

In this second embodiment, and in a similar manner to the first embodiment, the strips 5a ', 5a' and 5a '' constitute roughness or asperities circumferentially around the axis AX of the pipe to promote adhesion to a hand enclosing the pipe. But these longitudinal strips forming a roughness are neutral vis-à-vis the sliding of the pipe to the ground, in particular because they extend in the longitudinal direction of the pipe. As in the first embodiment, the surface formed by the curved strips 5a ', 5a' and 5a '' may be generally smooth, but may also be ridged, notched or otherwise to increase adhesion it provides. In a third embodiment shown in FIG. 3, indicated by 1c, the pipe is provided with a generally cylindrical outer wall 2c whose outer face 3c is entirely cylindrical. In this third embodiment, the outer face 3c comprises smooth sliding strips 4c ', 4c "and 4c"' of the same morphology as in the previous embodiments and arranged in the same manner at one hundred twenty degrees, and three the roughness bands, marked by 5c ', 5c "and 5c"' and also arranged at one hundred twenty degrees from each other about the axis AX. Here, each band 5c ', 5c "and 5c"' forming roughness is constituted by a ribbon 7c ', 7c "and 7c"' made of a material different from that constituting the body of the main outer wall 2c. The material of the strips 5c ', 5c "and 5c"' has in particular a much greater adhesion to the human skin than the material of the remainder of the main wall 2c forming the smooth sliding strips 4c ', 4c "and 4c"' and which is for this purpose very little rough and very little adherent.

Due to the use of an adhesive material to form the strips 5c ', 5c' 'and 5c' ', these strips do not necessarily need to be recessed or raised relative to the sliding smooth strips. The adhesion of the material constituting these strips 5c ', 5c ", and 5c"' is sufficient in itself to form asperities preventing the pipe from slipping from the user's hands, without significantly penalizing the sliding of the pipe along the ground. In general, different solutions can be implemented to form the outer cylindrical wall of the pipe. For example, in the case of the fourth embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, the outer cylindrical wall 2d is carried by the peripheral face of a base tube 8d formed in a first material. Concretely the outer wall 2d is then formed by different ribbons carried by the peripheral face of the base tube 8d. These tapes include on the one hand three tapes 9d ', 9d "and 9d"' made in a second material to form the sliding smooth longitudinal strips 4d ', 4d "and 4d"' and on the other hand three ribbons 7d ', 7d "and 7d" 'made in a third material to form the longitudinal strips 5d', 5d "and 5d" 'forming roughnesses.

As will be understood, the second material has a smooth and slippery external surface, and the third material on the contrary offers a relatively high adhesion, particularly with respect to human skin.

Thus, the outer face 3d of the pipe according to the fourth embodiment is identical to the outer face of the pipe according to the third embodiment. According to the fifth embodiment which is represented in FIG. 5, the pipe comprises a main wall 2e formed in a material whose external face is generally smooth and slippery, and comprises three longitudinal channels disposed at one hundred and twenty degrees and in which are reported three ribbons in adhering material.

As in the previous embodiments, the outer face 3e here comprises sliding smooth longitudinal strips 4 ', 4 "and 4" "disposed at one hundred twenty degrees and having the same shapes as in the previously described embodiments.

The ribbons reported, marked 7th, 7th and 7th are made of an adherent material and each have a half-moon shaped section. Each ribbon 7e ', 7e "and 7e"' is thus rigidly secured to the channel in which it is fixed. Each ribbon delimits, by its external face, an adhesive longitudinal strip which is hollow relative to the nominal diameter of the external face 3e of the pipe defined by the sliding smooth strips, these hollow adhesive strips being marked by 5 ', 5 "and 5" .

In this fifth embodiment, the outer face of the pipe has the same shape as in the case of the first embodiment. Similarly, in the sixth embodiment, the pipe 1f comprises a main wall 2f also having three longitudinal channels to a hundred and twenty degrees and formed in a material whose outer face is smooth and slippery. As in the previous embodiments, the outer face 3f here comprises sliding smooth longitudinal strips 4f ', 4f "and 4f"' disposed at one hundred twenty degrees and having the same shapes as in the previously described embodiments. The ribbons marked with 7f ', 7f "and 7f"' are here also made of an adherent material, as opposed to the main material of the outer wall 2f. But these ribbons here have a convex section such that they delimit each an adhesive longitudinal strip 5f ', 5f "and 5f"' which is in relief relative to the nominal diameter of the pipe, as defined by the smooth sliding longitudinal strips 4f ' , 4f "and 4f" '. Thus, in this sixth embodiment, the outer face of the pipe has the same shape or morphology as the outer face of the pipe according to the second embodiment.

The various embodiments illustrated in the figures can be combined with each other depending on manufacturing and other requirements. In particular, the pipes of Figures 1 to 3 and 5 to 8 may also have a general structure corresponding to that of Figure 5, that is to say having an inner tube to the outer face of which is reported one or more other materials to form slick smooth belts and roughness bands.

In other words, the invention relates to the outer wall of the garden hose, but this pipe may comprise different inner layers such as reinforcing layers, for example knitted or covered, which then bear the outer wall.

In general, the longitudinal strips forming roughness can improve the grip of the garden hose according to the invention, without penalizing its sliding along the ground. But these longitudinal strips forming roughness also improve the behavior of the pipe during winding or more generally during storage. Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 7, when two pipe sections according to the fifth embodiment are found parallel to each other and bear against each other, when this pipe is wound, one of the bands forming roughness of one of the pipe sections bears on a smooth strip of the other pipe section. This situation gives an adhesion of one section of pipe relative to the other, which facilitates its winding. In addition, the roughness bands participate in substantially guiding the pipe during winding to improve row-by-row alignment of the crown formed by the coiled pipe. In the example of Figure 7, this situation is illustrated for the case of a pipe according to the fifth embodiment, and in the example of Figure 8, this situation is illustrated for the case of a pipe according to the sixth embodiment. In the same way, the other embodiments of the pipe according to the invention also have these advantages. In particular the embodiments of Figures 1 and 2, wherein the pipe has the same outer shape as in the case of Figures 5 to 8, also facilitate the winding of the pipe.

In the various figures, there are shown pipes having three bands forming roughness distributed at one hundred and twenty degrees, but this number is not imperative, and the pipe may comprise at the extreme a single band forming roughness, and the other extreme a multitude of roughness bands uniformly distributed circumferentially to the outer face of the pipe. The actual manufacture of the pipe according to the invention is carried out by extrusion or coextrusion of polyvinyl chloride type materials. The material of the slippery smooth strips may be a polyvinyl chloride with an additional slip agent conferring a smooth appearance to its outer face. The material used for the ribbons constituting the roughness bands may be a polyvinyl chloride with a blowing agent giving on its external surface a rough or adhering appearance. In general, as regards the widths of the sliding smooth strips and the roughness bands, proportions are chosen such that the greater part of the external face of the pipe is constituted by smooth sliding material, the other part consisting of bands forming roughness.

Claims (5)

REVENDICATIONS1. Garden hose (la; lb; 1c; 1d; le; 1f) whose outer face (3a; 3b; 3c; 3d; 3e; 3f) has an alternating circumferential distribution of smooth and slippery strips (4a '; 4b' 4c '; 4d'; 4e '; 4f') and roughness bands (5a '; 5b'; 5c '; 5d'; 5e '; 5f'), these different bands extending parallel to each other according to a longitudinal direction of the pipe (la; lb; 1c; 1d; le; 1f). 2. Pipe (lb; 1f) according to claim 1, wherein the roughness bands (5b '; 5f') constitute reliefs with respect to slippery smooth strips (4b '; 4f'). 3. The pipe (la; le) according to claim 1, wherein the roughness bands (5a '; 5e') are recessed relative to the smooth sliding strips (4a '; 4e'). 4. Pipe (la, lb) according to claim 2 or 3, comprising a generally cylindrical wall (2a; 2b) made of a single material to the outer face of which are formed the various longitudinal strips (4a ', 5a'; 4b ', 5b'). 5. Pipe (1c; 1d; le; 1f) according to one of claims 1 to 3, comprising a cylindrical wall (2c; 2d; 2e; 2f) formed of two materials comprising on the one hand a smooth outer face material in which the smooth sliding strips (4c '; 4d'; 4e '; 4f') are formed and on the other hand an adherent outer surface material to form the roughness strips (5c '; 5d'; 5e '; 5f'; ).