GB2413371A

GB2413371A - Hose supported internally by articulated conduit to prevent collapse

Info

Publication number: GB2413371A
Application number: GB0508018A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ronald Cowie
Original assignee: HYDRASUN Ltd
Current assignee: HYDRASUN Ltd
Priority date: 2004-04-22
Filing date: 2005-04-21
Publication date: 2005-10-26
Also published as: GB0408944D0; US20050242574A1; GB0508018D0

Abstract

A flexible tubing is supported by inserting a conduit 10 made from a plurality of members 12 which are articulated with respect to each other. The articulated inner pipe 10 prevents crushing or collapse of the outer flexible tube (38, figure 5) when used in an environment having an exterior pressure higher than the internal pressure, such as subsea environments. The articulated members 12 may each have a ball 20 and socket 22, and may each have a male 20 and female 22 end, or members with two male ends may alternate with members with two female ands (figure 3). The articulated pipe 10 may substantially prevent longitudinal movement (tension or compression) of the tube (38, figure 5).

Description

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241 337 1 1 "Support Apparatus and Method" 3 The present invention relates to support apparatus 4 and a method for supporting substantially flexible tubing or hose, more particularly but not 6 exclusively, relates to flexible hose support 7 apparatus for use deep subsea in the hydrocarbon 8 exploration and production industry.

In the hydrocarbon exploration and production 11 industry it is often necessary to provide fluid 12 communication and/or transfer fluids, for example 13 drilling fluid, hydraulic fluid, production fluid 14 etc. from one piece of subsea equipment to another piece of subsea equipment. This is typically 16 performed by connecting a length of flexible tubing 17 between fluid ports on each piece of subsea 18 equipment and transferring the fluid there along.

19 Using flexible tubing for this purpose is preferable to using rigid tubing since the flexibility of the 21 tubing allows it to be connected to each piece of 22 equipment relatively easily. In addition, when 1 attached at each end, each piece of equipment may 2 move with respect to one another without the need 3 for the tubing to be disconnected.

The flexibility of such tubing is obtained by 6 manufacturing the tubing from a relatively thin 7 walled suitable material such as an elastomeric 8 material although the tubing is usually reinforced 9 with integral helically coiled lengths of steel wire in order to provide some measure of strength to the 11 tubing. However, the requirement for the tubing to 12 be relatively lightweight and to have relatively 13 thin walls can often result in the tubing collapsing 14 due to the large hydrostatic pressure exerted on it by the large depth of water above it in typical 16 subsea operating conditions.

18 Though flexible tubing is generally manufactured 19 with the helically arranged reinforcing wires integrated into the tubing walls, this is limited to 21 being relatively thin so that it does not adversely 22 affect the flexibility of the tubing and is 23 therefore often not sufficiently rigid enough to 24 prevent the flexible tubing from collapsing under pressure.

27 According to the present invention there is provided 28 a method of supporting tubing, the method comprising 29 the steps of: inserting at least first and second 31 substantially rigid tubular members into the tubing,

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1 each substantially rigid member comprising a 2 throughbore; and 3 connecting the first and second tubular members 4 such that a moveable joint is provided between the first and second tubular members.

7 Typically, the method results in that collapse of 8 the tubing, which may be a relatively flexible hose, 9 is substantially prevented whereby an outer surface of the tubular members provides a support to an 11 inner surface of the flexible hose.

13 Typically, the method further comprises placing the 14 tubing in water in use of the tubing to provide a fluid communication path, and the method typically 16 further comprises the tubular members substantially 17 preventing collapse of the flexible hose when a 18 differential pressure is acting to attempt to 19 collapse the flexible hose.

21 According to the present invention there is also 22 provided support apparatus comprising: 23 at least first and second substantially rigid 24 tubular members each comprising a throughbore; and connection means for selectively connecting the 26 first and second tubular members such that a 27 moveable joint is provided between the first and 28 second tubular members.

Typically, the support apparatus comprises a conduit 31 which is preferably adapted to be inserted into a 32 substantially flexible tubing or hose where the / 1 support apparatus is preferably adapted to prevent 2 crushing or collapse of the flexible tubing or hose 3 particularly where the flexible tubing or hose is 4 used in environments having a higher exterior pressure with respect to the interior pressure of 6 the flexible tubing or hose.

8 Preferably, the moveable joint provided by the 9 connection means permits articulated movement to occur between the first and second tubular members.

11 The articulated movement permitted typically 12 comprises movement of the first and second members 13 in a pivoting relationship which may be movement of 14 a longitudinal axis of the first tubular member with respect to a longitudinal axis of the second tubular 16 member within a cone projecting away from the end of 17 the second tubular member, the closest ends of the 18 pair of longitudinal axes preferably remaining 19 intersected at the same point whilst the first and second tubular members are connected. Most 21 preferably, the connection means comprises a ball 22 joint provided on one of the first and second 23 tubular members and a socket joint provided on the 24 other of the first and second tubular members.

26 Preferably, the connection means is adapted to 27 substantially prevent longitudinal movement of the 28 first tubular member with respect to the second 29 tubular member.

31 Preferably the connection means comprises a female 32 or socket connection portion on one of the first and 1 second tubular members and a male or ball connection 2 portion on the other of the first and second tubular 3 members. More preferably, the connection means 4 further comprises a retaining lip on the female connection portion adapted to be retained within a 6 lip retaining groove which is preferably provided 7 adjacent the male connection portion. Preferably, 8 the retaining lip is provided with a radius which 9 assists connection of the female connection portion to the male connection portion.

12 Typically, the first tubular member is provided with 13 a female connection portion and a male connection 14 portion, the latter of which may typically be connected to the female connection portion of the 16 second tubular member. This connection is typically 17 performed until the desired length of the apparatus 18 is achieved.

Alternatively, the first tubular member is provided 21 with first and second male connection portions which 22 may be connected to a second tubular member having 23 first and second female connection portions. Such 24 tubular members may be alternately connected until the desired length of apparatus is achieved.

27 Typically, a plurality of tubular members are 28 provided such that when the plurality of tubular 29 members are connected to one another, one end of the apparatus may be angularly displaced with respect to 31 the other without substantially tensioning or 32 compressing the tubular members. )

2 This provides a support apparatus which may be 3 formed from substantially rigid tubular members but 4 which allows the apparatus as a whole to flex.

6 Preferably, the support apparatus is provided with 7 at least a tubing connection socket which is adapted 8 to allow connection of a portion of the apparatus to 9 flexible tubing/hose. Preferably, the tubing connection socket is provided with a gripping 11 portion adapted to allow the flexible tubing to be 12 gripped on the tubing connection socket.

13 Preferably, the tubing connection socket is provided 14 with connection means having a male connecting portion adapted to engage with the female connection 16 portion of at least one tubular member.

17 Alternatively, the tubing connection socket is 18 provided with connection means having a female 19 connection portion adapted to engage with the male connection portion of at least one tubular member.

22 Preferably, the tubing connection socket is provided 23 with attachment means adapted to allow attachment of 24 the tubing connection socket to further discrete components. Preferably, the attachment means 26 comprises a joint which may comprise a thread formed 27 thereon.

29 Typically, a tubular connection member having first and second female connection portions may be 31 provided in order to provide connection between a 32 male connection portion of a tubular member and a \ 1 male connection portion of the tubing connection 2 socket.

4 Optionally and/or alternatively, the connection means may comprise further retaining means in order 6 to retain a portion of the first tubular member in 7 engagement with the second tubular member.

8 Optionally, the further retaining means comprises a 9 wire or other suitable member inserted between a portion of the first and second tubular members.

12 Embodiments of the present invention will now be 13 described, by way of example only, with reference to 14 the following drawings, in which: 16 Fig. 1 is a cross sectional view of the 17 apparatus in accordance with the present 18 invention showing one link of the apparatus in a 19 flexed position; Fig. 2 is a detailed cross sectional view of a 21 male-female link of the apparatus of Fig. li 22 Fig. 3 is a detailed cross sectional view of a 23 female-female link to be used in conjunction 24 with the apparatus of Fig. It Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a tail piece to 26 be used in conjunction with the apparatus of 27 Fig. 1; 28 Fig. 5 is a schematic cross sectional diagram 29 illustrating the attachment of the tail piece of Fig. 4 to a flexible hose to be supported; \ 1 Fig. 6a is a partial cross sectional view of a 2 less preferred but alternative embodiment of the 3 present invention; and 4 Fig. 6b is a partial cross sectional view of a less preferred but further alternative 6 embodiment of the present invention.

8 In the following description it should be noted that 9 the term "flexible tubing" should be regarded as a hose or tubing which has a greater degree of 11 flexibility than a substantially rigid member. In 12 other words, though flexible, the hose or tubing 13 possesses a, not insignificant, degree of rigidity.

14 Also, in the following description the reader should note that the term "male-female" member should be 16 regarded as a member having a male connection at one 17 end and a female connection at the other end, and 18 appropriate permutations of this term used in the

19 following description should be regarded

accordingly.

22 Support apparatus 10 comprises a series of 23 substantially tubular links 12 each having a male 24 end 14 and a female end 16.

26 The male end 14 of each link 12 has a surface 18 27 which is curved by a radius Rm (Fig. 2) with respect 28 to the link 12 longitudinal axis, and extends around 29 the circumference of the male end 14 of the link 12.

A groove 20 is formed inwardly of curved surface 18, 31 around the outer circumference of a portion of the 32 link 12 adjacent the male end 14 and is curved by a 1 radius Rg. A shoulder 52 comprising an angled or 2 radiused face is provided between the curved surface 3 18 and the groove 20, where the angled or radiused 4 face of the shoulder matches the angle or radius of a bead 24 having a curved surface as will be 6 described subsequently. A second shoulder 54 also 7 comprises a face lying in a direction substantially 8 perpendicular to the longitudinal axis is provided 9 at the other (innermost) end of the groove 20.

11 The female end 16 of each link 12 has an internal 12 curved surface 22 which tapers by a radius Rf from 13 the throughbore 56 of the tubular link 12 toward an 14 inwardly projecting bead 24. The bead 24 extends around the inner circumference of the female end 16 16 and is provided with a curved surface, the purpose 17 of which will be described subsequently.

19 In this embodiment the radius Rm of the curved surface 18 of the male end 14 is manufactured to be 21 the same as the radius Rf of female end 16. Typical 22 radii for each of Rf and Rm in this embodiment would 23 be defined by an arc swept through an angle, the 24 radius of the arc being related to the diameter of the insert links 12, 26. For instance, the radius 26 of the arc may be around 1.9 inches (approximately 27 48mm) from the longitudinal axis of the link 12 when 28 the outer diameter of the link 12 is in the region 29 of 3.95 inches. The reason for the similarity in radii, Rf and Rm, will be described subsequently.

1 It should also be noted that the outer diameter of 2 the links 12 is manufactured to be at least a 3 sliding fit with the internal diameter of the 4 flexible hose 38 into which the apparatus 10 is to be inserted, as will be subsequently described.

7 Referring to Fig. 3, a female-female link 26 having 8 a pair of female ends 16 is also provided.

The female-female link 26 is substantially the same 11 as the link 12 previously described with the 12 important difference that it has a female end 16 in 13 place of the male end 14 present on the link 12.

Referring to Fig. 4, a tail piece connector 28 is 16 provided. The tail piece connector 28 comprises a 17 substantially tubular member having a male 18 connection socket 30, a serrated grip 32, and a 19 connection collar 34.

21 The male connection socket 30 is similar to the male 22 end 14 of each link 12 and therefore no further

23 description of it 30 is necessary.

The connector 28 shown in Fig. 4 has a neck A,B 26 which may be used during testing of the apparatus 27 10; however, in operation, when used to transfer 28 fluid between subsea components, the bore 58 through 29 the tail piece 28 will remain substantially constant from one end to the other. In this regard, the 31 reader should note that in operation the shaded 32 sections A and B (shown in Figs. 4 and 5) are 1 omitted. In addition, a joint 46 is provided in 2 order to allow connection of the apparatus 10 to 3 subsea equipment. The joint 46 may be threaded (as 4 shown in Fig. 4) or may be in the form of a flange (not shown) and may be a male joint 46 (as shown in 6 Fig. 4) or may be a female joint (not shown), 7 depending upon the connection required.

9 The serrated grip 32 has a number of angled protrusions which extend around the circumference of 11 the tail piece 28 and their purpose will be 12 described subsequently.

14 In use, a number of the links 12 are placed (for instance by sliding action) inside standard flexible 16 tubing 38 (Fig. 5) during installation of the 17 apparatus 10. For the sake of clarity, connection 18 of a first link 12 to a second link 12 will now be 19 described though the skilled reader will realise that the connection operation could be performed 21 using an installation machine (not shown) having a 22 magazine loaded with links 12. In such an automated 23 installation system the magazine elastically deforms 24 the female ends 16 of the links 12 and inserts the deformed female end 16 over the male end 14 (or 26 inserts the male end 14 into the deformed female end 27 16) of the uppermost link 12 and then progresses 28 each newly inserted link and hence the rest of the 29 apparatus 10 down the inside of the tubing 38.

31 Whilst installing the female end 16 on the male end 32 14, the female end 16 of a link 12 is urged against 1 the male end 14 of a further link 12 until the 2 innermost surface of the bead 24 of the female end 3 16 abuts against the curved surface 18 of the male 4 end 14. Further progression of the female end 16 and hence the bead 24 against the curved surface 18 6 causes the wall of the female end 16 and in 7 particular the bead 24 to be urged radially 8 outwardly due to the radius Rm of the curved surface 9 18. The curved surface of the bead 24 provides a minimum contact area between the bead 24 and the 11 curved surface 18 which eases insertion of the male 12 end 14 into the female end 16. The radially outward 13 movement of the female end 16 caused by progression 14 of the female end 16 onto the male end 14 continues until the bead 24 reaches the edge of the groove 20, 16 at which point the resilient properties of the 17 female end 16 (which is typically made of steel but 18 may be made from any other suitable material) snaps 19 the bead 24 into the groove 20, and the perpendicularly projecting shoulder 52 prevents the 21 bead 24 from moving back down the curved surface 18.

22 At this point the curved surface 18 of the male end 23 14 comes into contact with the internal curved 24 surface 22 of the female end 16 and the bead 24 resides within the groove 20. The first link 12 is 26 now securely and moveably connected to the second 27 link 12.

29 The above connection operation is repeated until a sufficient length of links 12 is created in order 31 that the apparatus 10 substantially resides within 32 the length of the flexible tubing 38.

2 Referring to Fig. 5, the female end 16 of the left 3 hand most end of the apparatus 10 as viewed in Fig. 4 1 may now be connected to the male end 30 of the tail piece 28 by forcing the female end 16 over the 6 male end 30 in a similar manner to that previously 7 described for connecting each link 12. The flexible 8 tubing 38 is then attached around the outer 9 circumference of the tail piece 28 by sliding it over the serrated grip 32. It should be noted that 11 the angled faces of the serrations allow the tubing 12 38 to slide onto the serrated grip 32 with relative 13 ease, whereas the opposing flat faced walls prevent 14 the tubing 38 from slipping off the serrated grip 32 by discouraging movement in the opposite direction.

16 In order to attach the tubing 38 to the tail piece 17 28 more securely and to provide a fluid-tight seal, 18 a ferrule 42 having serrations 44 is crimped (by a 19 suitable crimping tool (not shown)) around the tubing 38 such that the tubing 38 is gripped between 21 the tail piece serrations 32 and the ferrule 22 serrations 44. The ferrule 42 also grips around the 23 collar 34 of the tail piece 28 in order to prevent 24 longitudinal movement of the tail piece 28 in relation to the ferrule 42.

27 It will be understood by the skilled reader that in 28 this embodiment the apparatus 10 will only normally 29 have one female end 16 which may attach to the male end 30 of a tail piece 28; however by attaching the 31 female-female link 26 to the previously redundant 32 male end 14 of the apparatus 10 it is then possible 1 to connect both ends of the apparatus 10 to a tail 2 piece 28 having a male end 30. This is done by 3 sliding a female end 16 of the female-female link 26 4 onto the male end 14 of the right hand most end link 12 as seen in Fig. 1 and then sliding the other 6 female end 16 onto the male connector 30 in a 7 similar fashion to that previously described for 8 connection of the links 12.

The apparatus 10 and flexible tubing 38 can then be 11 connected between suitable fluid ports of subsea 12 equipment in order to provide fluid communication 13 and/or transfer fluids there between.

With the tubing 38 and the apparatus 10 now 16 connected between the subsea equipment (not shown), 17 when the ambient pressure surrounding the tubing 38 18 (due to, for example, the hydrostatic head caused by 19 large depth of water above the apparatus 10) overcomes the structural rigidity of the tubing 38, 21 the tubing 38 will tend to collapse. Leaving the 22 possibility of damaging the tubing 38 aside, this is 23 clearly undesirable since fluid flowing through the 24 tubing 38 will be restricted by any collapsed portion. However, in the present invention, the 26 presence of the links 12 within the tubing 38 27 provides a non collapsible (under the maximum subsea 28 pressure likely to be experienced) structure 10 upon 29 which the tubing 38 may rest. Thus, in the event that the surrounding pressure causes the tubing 38 31 to collapse, the diameter of the throughbore 56 of 32 the apparatus 10 will not decrease due to the 1 structural integrity provided by the links 12 upon 2 which the partially collapsed tubing 38 will rest.

3 It should be noted that it is not necessary for the 4 connections between the links 12 to be fluid tight since any fluid escaping between the male end 14 and 6 female end 16 of the links 12 will remain inside the 7 fluid tight tubing 38.

9 During installation of the apparatus 10 and tubing 38 between the subsea equipment (not shown) and 11 indeed once installed on the subsea equipment, the 12 flexibility of the tubing 38 and the apparatus 10 is 13 desirable since, during installation, a degree of 14 flexibility assists in positioning each end of the apparatus 10 on the subsea equipment. The provision 16 of flexibility by the apparatus 10 will now be 17 described.

19 When a bending moment is applied to the apparatus 10 (by, for example, installation equipment or due to 21 movement of the equipment to which the apparatus 10 22 is connected) the apparatus 10 is able to articulate 23 or flex (best shown in Fig. 1) due to the curved 24 surfaces on the male 14 and female 16 ends of each link 12. As one link 12 is tilted away from the 26 other, the bead 24 on one side of the link 12 will 27 slide along the radius Rg of the groove 20 toward 28 the limit of the groove 20 nearest the male end 14 29 of the link 12 until it is arrested by shoulder 52, and the bead 24 on the opposite side of the link 12 31 will slide along the groove 20 toward the limit of 32 the groove 20 nearest the female end 16 of the link 1 12 until it is arrested by shoulder 54. In other 2 words, the forces exerted on the apparatus 10 by the 3 bending moment are absorbed by the extension of the 4 apparatus 10 on one side (by sliding the bead 24 toward the male end 14) and the contraction of the 6 apparatus 10 on the other side (by sliding the bead 7 24 toward the female end 16). In this way the 8 closely fitting surfaces of the male 14 and female 9 16 ends can be considered to be similar to that of a ball socket in that movement (typically around 6 11 degrees though more may be possible if required) of 12 one link 12 with respect to another link 12 is 13 possible in every angular direction. Moreover, the 14 movement is stable movement due to the large surface area of constant contact between sliding surfaces 18 16 and 22.

18 It should be understood that the apparatus 10 may be 19 used to transfer any fluid, for example drilling fluid, hydraulic fluid, production fluid, cooling 21 fluid etc. The outer diameter of the links 12, 26 22 is typically slightly less than the internal 23 diameter of the flexible tubing/hose 38 it is 24 intended to support. For example, if the internal diameter of the flexible hose is 4", the external 26 diameter of the links 12, 26 may be 3.95". A 27 preferred length of link 12, 26 is in the region of 28 3.5" but the links 12, 26 could be longer or shorter 29 than this as required. A suitable number of links 12, 26 will be used for the particular flexible hose 31 38 to be supported) typically, such flexible hoses

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1 could be in the region of a few metres in length but 2 could be longer than this if required.

4 The apparatus 10 therefore provides a flexible tubing system which allows transfer of fluid there 6 along and which cannot collapse due to the pressure 7 of its surrounding environment.

9 Referring to Figs. 6a and 6b, alternative but less preferred embodiments of the apparatus will now be 11 described.

13 Apparatus 110 (Fig. 6a) has tubular links 112 which 14 fit into one another via male 114 and female 116 connection sockets. This embodiment provides the 16 rigidity required for the presently described 17 application; however, the nature of the connection 18 provided by the male 114 and female 116 connection 19 sockets does not as easily allow angular displacement of one end of the apparatus 110 with 21 respect to the other as required in order to 22 maintain the flexibility of the system. Therefore 23 this embodiment is less preferable to that 24 previously described.

26 Apparatus 1110 (Fig. 6b) is a further alternative 27 but less preferred embodiment and has tubular links 28 1112 which fit into one another via male 1114 and 29 female 1116 connection sockets. Once the male socket 1114 is inserted into the female socket 1116, 31 a wire W is inserted into the gap between the male 32 1114 and female 1116 sockets via a wire insertion \ 1 hole 50. When inserted, the wire W extends around 2 the circumference of the link 1112 and prevents the 3 male 1114 socket from being withdrawn from the 4 female 1116 socket. When disconnection of the links 1112 is desired, the wire W is removed via the hole 6 50 and the female socket 1116 may then be retracted 7 from the female socket 1114. As for the apparatus 8 110 shown in Fig. 6a, this embodiment provides the 9 rigidity required for the presently described application; however, the nature of the connection 11 provided by the male 1114, female 1116 connection 12 sockets and wire W does not as easily allow angular 13 displacement of one end of the apparatus 1110 with 14 respect to the other as required in order to maintain the flexibility of the system. Therefore 16 this embodiment is less preferable.

18 Modifications and improvements may be made to the 19 embodiments hereinbefore described without departing from the scope of the invention, for example: 22 The preferred embodiment described includes a number 23 of male-female links 12 along the majority of the 24 length of the apparatus 10 which are then connected to tail pieces 28 via female-female links 26 for 26 subsequent connection to a separate components.

27 However, it would be possible to alternately arrange 28 female-female links 26 with male-male links (not 29 shown). This has the advantage that a similar quantity of male-male and female-female links 26 31 would be required in order to construct the

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1 apparatus 10 and there may be manufacturing 2 advantages in providing such a system.

Claims

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1 CLAIMS: 3 1. A support apparatus comprising: 4 at least first and second substantially rigid tubular members each comprising a throughbore; and 6 connection mechanism for selectively connecting 7 the first and second tubular members such that a 8 moveable joint is provided between the first and 9 second tubular members.

11 2. Support apparatus according to claim 1, 12 comprising a conduit adapted to be inserted into a 13 substantially flexible tubing, wherein the support 14 apparatus is adapted to prevent crushing or collapse of the flexible tubing in environments having a 16 higher exterior pressure with respect to the 17 interior pressure of the flexible tubing.

19 3. Support apparatus according to either of claims 1 or 2, wherein the moveable joint provided by the 21 connection mechanism permits articulated movement to 22 occur between the first and second tubular members.

24 4. Support apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the articulated movement comprises pivoting movement 26 between the first and second members.

28 5. Support apparatus according to claim 4, wherein 29 the pivoting relationship between the first and second members comprises movement of a longitudinal 31 axis of the first tubular member with respect to a 32 longitudinal axis of the second tubular member

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1 within a cone projecting away from the end of the 2 second tubular member, the closest ends of the pair 3 of longitudinal axes remaining intersected at the 4 same point whilst the first and second tubular members are connected.

7 6. Support apparatus according to any preceding 8 claim, wherein the connection mechanism comprises a 9 ball joint provided on one of the first and second tubular members and a socket joint provided on the 11 other of the first and second tubular members.

13 7. Support apparatus according to any preceding 14 claim, wherein the connection mechanism is adapted to substantially prevent longitudinal movement of 16 the first tubular member with respect to the second 17 tubular member.

19 8. Support apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the connection mechanism comprises a 21 socket connection portion on one of the first and 22 second tubular members and a ball connection portion 23 on the other of the first and second tubular 24 members.

26 9. Support apparatus according to claim 8, wherein 27 the connection mechanism further comprises a 28 retaining lip on the socket connection portion 29 adapted to be retained within a lip retaining groove provided adjacent the ball connection portion.

1 10. Support apparatus according to claim 9, wherein 2 the retaining lip is provided with a radius which 3 assists connection of the socket connection portion 4 to the ball connection portion.

6 11. Support apparatus according to any preceding 7 claim, wherein the first tubular member is provided 8 with a female connection portion and a male 9 connection portion, the latter of which is connected to a female connection portion of the second tubular 11 member.

13 12. Support apparatus according to any of claims 1 14 to 10, wherein the first tubular member is provided with first and second male connection portions, one 16 of which is connected to a second tubular member 17 having first and second female connection portions.

19 13. Support apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein a plurality of tubular members are 21 provided such that when the plurality of tubular 22 members are connected to one another, one end of the 23 apparatus may be angularly displaced with respect to 24 the other without substantially tensioning or compressing the tubular members.

27 14. Support apparatus according to claim 2 or to 28 any of claims 3 to 13 when dependent upon claim 2, 29 wherein the support apparatus is provided with at least one tubing connection socket which is adapted 31 to allow connection of a portion of the apparatus to 32 the flexible tubing.

2 15. Support apparatus according to claim 14, 3 wherein the tubing connection socket is provided 4 with a gripping portion adapted to allow the flexible tubing to be gripped on the tubing 6 connection socket.

8 16. Support apparatus according to either of claims 9 14 or 15, wherein the tubing connection socket is provided with an attachment mechanism adapted to 11 allow attachment of the tubing connection socket to 12 further discrete components.

14 17. Support apparatus according to any of claims 14 to 16, wherein a tubular connection member having 16 first and second female connection portions provides 17 connection between a male connection portion of a 18 tubular member and a male connection portion of the 19 tubing connection socket.

21 18. A method of supporting tubing, the method 22 comprising the steps of: 23 inserting at least first and second 24 substantially rigid tubular members into the tubing, each substantially rigid member comprising a 26 throughbore; and 27 connecting the first and second tubular members 28 such that a moveable joint is provided between the 29 first and second tubular members.

31 19. A method according to claim 18, wherein the 32 tubing is flexible and collapse of the flexible

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1 tubing is substantially prevented by an outer 2 surface of the tubular members providing a support 3 to an inner surface of the flexible tubing.

20. A method according to claim 19, wherein the 6 method further comprises placing the flexible tubing 7 in water in use of the flexible tubing to provide a 8 fluid communication path, such that the tubular 9 members substantially prevent collapse of the flexible tubing when a differential pressure is 11 acting to attempt to collapse the flexible tubing.