GB2370336A

GB2370336A - Composite hose with hollow inner spiral coil

Info

Publication number: GB2370336A
Application number: GB0127126A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Fujita Susumu
Original assignee: MEIJIFLEX CO Ltd
Current assignee: MEIJIFLEX CO Ltd
Priority date: 2000-12-20
Filing date: 2001-11-12
Publication date: 2002-06-26
Also published as: GB0127126D0; JP2002188761A

Abstract

A synthetic resin film is wound around the outside of a hollow inner spiral loop 1 provided as a core material at a predetermined thickness to form a lamination body 5. An outer spiral loop 7 may be wound around the outside of the lamination body 5. The hollow member has a sectional shape including a linear portion on the inside, and the inside of the inner spiral loop 1 is placed to be flush with the inner surface of a portion of the lamination body 5. As a result, the entire inner peripheral surface of the composite hose 10 is made flat. The inner spiral loop 1 may have a triangular cross-section (as shown) or may have a D-shaped cross section (figures 5-7). The inner spiral loop 1 may also have a corrosion-resistant coating (figures 9 and 10).

Description

COMPOSITE HOSE This present invention relates to a composite hose, which is composed of an inner spiral loop used as a core material, a lamination body formed around an outer surface of the core material and an outer spiral loop wound around an outer surface of the lamination body, and is mainly applied to flow a fluid.

A description will now be given of a summary of a composite hose registered as Japanese Utility Model No.

2546519, which was developed by the present applicant, with reference to Fig. 11, as one of composite hoses of the prior art.

A composite hose 10'has a structure as follows. (1) An inner cloth 3'is wound around an outer surface of an inner spiral loop 1', (2) a synthetic resin film is wound around an outer surface of the inner cloth 3'at a predetermined thickness to form a lamination body 5', (3) an outer cloth 4'is wound around an outer surface of the lamination body 5', and (4) an outer spiral loop 2'is wound around an outer surface of the outer cloth 4'.

As shown in Fig. 11, a spiraled solid member having a cross section of a triangular shape is applied to the inner spiral loop 1', and a portion corresponding to the base of a sectional triangular shape of the solid member forms a flat inner peripheral surface (a fluid contact surface 6') of the composite hose, together with an inner surface of the lamination body

portion 5', which is flush with the portion corresponding to the base of the above sectional triangular shape and is located between mutually adjacent portions of the inner spiral loop 1'.

The inner spiral loop l'and the outer spiral loop 2'are generally formed by winding spirally a solid metallic rod-shaped member into a cylindrical or prismatic shape as a whole, providing a quite heavy composite hose 10'. In addition, the smaller a spiral pitch of the spiral loop l'or 2'is made, the spiral loop becomes heavier, resulting in an increase in weight per unit length of the composite hose 10'and also in difficulties in handling the composite hose 10'.

Moreover, a fluid flowing through the composite hose 10' makes direct contact with the inner spiral loop 1'made of the metallic material, resulting in a problem in that the fluid may corrode the inner spiral loop 1'.

To solve the above problems relating to the composite hose, an object of the present invention is to reduce the weight of an inner spiral loop (in its turn, a composite hose) by using a hollow member for the inner spiral loop forming the composite hose. Further, a cross section of the hollow member is limited to a shape including a linear portion on the inside, for instance, a triangular shape whose inside forms a base and a semi-circular shape whose inside forms a linear portion. A flat portion corresponding to the linear portion of the inner spiral loop (the hollow member) forms the flat inner peripheral surface of the composite hose, together with an inner surface of a lamination body portion, which is flush with the above flat portion and is located between mutually adjacent portions of the inner spiral loop.

Since the composite hose according to the present invention has the inner spiral loop formed by winding spirally the hollow member, total weight can be relatively small even if the inner spiral loop is made of the metallic material. Further, the inner portion of the inner spiral loop is formed in the shape of a flat surface enough to be flush with the inner surface of the lamination body portion located between the mutually adjacent portions of the inner spiral loop, and as a result, defines the inner peripheral surface of the composite hose, together with the inner surface of the lamination body portion.

Accordingly, the inner peripheral surface of the composite hose is free from unevenness, and the fluid flowing through the inside of the composite hose makes contact with the inner peripheral surface of the composite hose without suffering a high resistance, and further, the laminar flow state is not put out of order.

The present invention will now be described by way of embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which : Fig. 1 is a front view of an inner spiral loop used for forming a composite hose in a first embodiment according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on line I-I of the inner spiral loop of Fig. 1 : Fig. 3 is a partially cross-sectional view showing the composite hose in the first embodiment according to the present invention; Fig. 4 is a partially cross-sectional view showing a connecting joint mounted to the composite hose for the purpose of using the composite hose of Fig. 3 for transfer of a fluid; Fig. 5 is a front view of an inner spiral loop used for forming a composite hose in a second embodiment according to the present invention; Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on line II-II of the inner spiral loop of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a partially cross-sectional view of the composite hose in the second embodiment according to the present invention; Fig. 8 is a partially cross-sectional view showing a connecting joint mounted to the composite hose for the purpose of using the composite hose of Fig. 7 for transfer of a fluid; Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a modification of the inner spiral loop of Fig. 1 (and Fig. 2), in which an outer surface thereof is coated with a corrosion-resistant layer ; Fig. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a modification of the inner spiral loop of Fig. 5 (and Fig. 6), in which an outer surface thereof is coated with a corrosion-resistant layer; and Fig. 11 is a partially enlarged-scale view showing a composite hose of the prior art.

A description will now be given of a composite hose in a first embodiment according to the present invention with reference to Figs. 1 to 4.

Fig. 1 shows an inner spiral loop 1 provided as one of constituents of a composite hose 10 (See Fig. 3). The inner spiral loop 1 is formed by winding spirally a hollow member 11 having a cross section of a triangular (more specifically, an isosceles triangular) shape as shown in Fig. 2 at a certain pitch P into a cylindrical or prismatic shape as a whole. The hollow member 11 is made of a corrosion-resistant metallic material.

Incidentally, a reference numeral 12 in Fig. 2 denotes a closed space having a cross section of a triangular shape and formed in the hollow member 11 forming the inner spiral loop 1.

Fig. 3 shows the composite hose 10 formed by using the inner spiral loop 1 shown in Fig. 1. A description will now be given of a process of forming the composite hose 10 by using the inner spiral loop 1.

(1) An inner cloth 4 is wound around the entire outer surface of the inner spiral loop 1 (See Fig. 1) provided as a core material. (2) A synthetic resin continuous film is wound around an outer surface of the inner cloth 4 at a predetermined thickness to form a film layer (a lamination body 5). (3) An outer cloth 6 is wound around an outer surface of the lamination body 5. (4) An outer spiral loop 7 is wound around an outer surface of the outer cloth 6. According to the above process, the composite hose 10 as shown in Fig. 3 is formed.

As shown in Fig. 4, there is a need for a connecting joint 9 mounted to one end of the composite hose 10 for the purpose of using the composite hose 10 shown in Fig. 3 for transfer of a fluid. The joint 9 includes a nipple 91, a sleeve 92 and a connecting collar 93. An end of the composite hose 10 is fixed between the sleeve 92 and the nipple 91.

As described above, the inner spiral loop 1 has the cross section of a triangular shape, and a portion corresponding to the base of the sectional triangular shape of the inner spiral loop is formed in the shape of a flat surface. The flat surface of the inner spiral loop 1, which is placed to be flush with the inner surface of the lamination body portion 5 located between the mutually adjacent portions of the inner spiral loop 1, constitutes the inner peripheral surface of the composite hose 10 together with the inner surface of the lamination body portion 5. Further, since two of three sides of the sectional triangular shape of the inner spiral loop 1, other than the base, bite into the lamination body 5, permitting the inner spiral loop 1 to have a function of bringing the lamination body 5 into close contact with the outside of the inner spiral loop 1.

Furthermore, since the hollow member is used for the inner spiral loop 1, the inner spiral loop requires less weight, while ensuring a predetermined strength.

A description will now be given of a composite hose in a second embodiment according to the present invention with reference to Figs. 5 to 8.

Fig. 5 shows an inner spiral loop 2 provided as one of constituents of the composite hose 10 (See Fig. 7). The inner spiral loop 2 is formed by winding spirally a hollow member 21 having a cross section of a semi-circular shape as shown in Fig.

6 at a certain pitch P (See Fig. 5) into a cylindrical or prismatic shape as a whole. The hollow member 21 is made of a corrosion-resistant metallic material. Incidentally, a reference numeral 22 in Fig. 6 denotes a closed space having a cross section of a semi-circular shape and formed in the hollow member 21 forming the inner spiral loop 2.

Fig. 7 shows the composite hose 10 formed by using the inner spiral loop 2 shown in Fig. 5. A description will now be given of a process of forming the composite hose 10 by using the inner spiral loop 2.

(1) An inner cloth 4 is wound around an outer surface of the inner spiral loop 2 provided as a core material. (2) A synthetic resin continuous film is wound around an outer surface of the inner cloth 4 at a predetermined thickness to form a film layer (a lamination body 5). (3) An outer cloth 6 is wound around an outer surface of the lamination body 5. (4) An outer spiral loop 7 is wound around an outer surface of the outer cloth 6. According to the above process, the composite hose 10 as shown in Fig. 7 is formed.

As shown in Fig. 8, a connecting joint 9 is mounted to one end of the composite hose 10 so that the composite hose 10 shown in Fig. 7 may be used for transfer of a fluid. The joint 9 includes a nipple 91, a sleeve 92 and a connecting collar 93.

An end of the composite hose 10 is fixed between the sleeve 92 and the nipple 91.

As described above, the inner spiral loop 2 has the cross section of a semicircular shape having a linear portion combined with a part of a circle, and a portion corresponding to the linear portion is formed in the shape of a flat surface.

The flat surface of the inner spiral loop 2 is placed to be flush with the inner surface of the lamination body portion 5 located between the mutually adjacent portions of the inner spiral loop, providing the inner peripheral surface of the composite hose 10 together with the inner surface of the lamination body portion.

A description will now be given of different embodiments of the inner spiral loop used in the first and second embodiments of the composite hose according to the present invention with reference to Figs. 9 and 10.

Fig. 9 shows a modification of the inner spiral loop 1 (in the first embodiment) of Fig. 2. According to the modification, an outer surface of a stainless steel or like metallic hollow member 11 forming the inner spiral loop 1 is coated with a corrosion-resistant layer 8 made of fluorine resin, polypropylene or the like. As for the corrosion-resistant layer 8, since its portion corresponding to the base of the sectional triangular shape in Fig. 9 makes directly contact with a fluid flowing through the composite hose, a material meeting demands for properties of a fluid is selected for the corrosion-resistant layer 8.

Fig. 10 shows a modification of the inner spiral loop 2 (in the second embodiment) of Fig. 6. According to the modification, an outer surface of a stainless steel or like metallic hollow member 21 forming the inner spiral loop 2 is coated with a corrosion-resistant layer 8 made of fluorine resin, polypropylene or the like. As for the corrosion-resistant layer 8, since its portion corresponding to a flat portion of the base in Fig. 9 makes directly contact with a fluid flowing through the composite hose 10, a material meeting demands for properties of the fluid is selected for the corrosion-resistant layer 8.

Having described the embodiments of the use of the hollow member having the cross section of the regular triangular shape as shown in Fig. 2 (and Fig. 9) or the semi-circular shape having the single linear portion combined with the part of the circle as shown in Fig. 4 (and Fig. 10) for the inner spiral loop, it is to be understood that the sectional shape of the hollow member forming the inner spiral loop is not limited to the above two kinds of shapes.

Since the inner spiral loop 1 is formed of the hollow member such as a pipe, it is to be understood that the hollow member may take various sectional shapes if satisfying such requirements that its portion facing the center axis of the composite hose (that is, a portion directly making contact with the fluid flowing through the composite hose) is formed in the shape of a flat surface. It is also to be understood that the material of the hollow member is not limited to stainless steel or like rigid material.

Claims

CLAIMS: 1. A composite hose including a spiral loop used as a core material, a lamination boy of a synthetic resin film wound around the outside of the spiral loop in multiple layers, characterized in that: said spiral loop is formed of a hollow member having a sectional shape including a linear portion on the inside, so that a portion corresponding to said linear portion of the spiral loop defines a surface which, when seen in a plane which extends parallel to the axis of the hose, is substantially flat, and a portion of said surface of said spiral loop is placed to be substantially flush with an inner surface of a lamination body portion located between mutually adjacent portions of said spiral loop so that substantially the entire inner peripheral surface of the composite hose is substantially flat, when seen in a plane which extends parallel to the axis of the hose.
2. The composite hose according to claim 1, wherein the hollow member forming said spiral loop has a cross section of a semicircular shape having a linear portion combined with a part of a circle, and the linear portion of a sectional semi-circular shape of said hollow member defines the inner peripheral surface of the composite hose.
3. The composite hose according to any preceding claim, wherein the hollow member forming said spiral loop has a cross section of a triangular shape, and one side of a sectional triangular shape of said hollow portion defines the inner peripheral surface of the composite hose, while the other two sides bite into said lamination body.
4. The composite hose according to any preceding claim, wherein a cloth is disposed between said spiral loop and said lamination body, and the inner portion of said spiral loop is placed to be flush with the inner surface of a cloth portion located between the mutually adjacent portions of said spiral loop so that substantially the entire inner peripheral surface of the composite hose is substantially flat when seen in a plane which extends parallel to the axis of the hose.
5. The composite hose according to any preceding claim, wherein an additional spiral loop is wound around the outside of said lamination body.
6. The composite hose according to any preceding claim, wherein the surface of the hollow member forming said spiral loop is coated with a corrosion-resistant layer.
7. A composite hose, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.