Abstract: A clamp comprises a tubular support having a number of axially spaced sets of angularly spaced apertures for receiving spheres engageable with the exterior of a pipe and with tapered surfaces on a clamp body. A spring urges the support down in relation to the body to cause the spheres to grip the pipe. Rams can raise the support to release the clamp, whereupon the spheres can enter recesses in the body. The apertures may be axially elongated to accommodate a degree of pipe ovality and have diverging walls for the same purpose. A form of the clamp for gripping a pipe interior is also described. The clamp may have one or more seals for sealing against the pipe and two oppositely acting clamps may form a connector for two pipes.

Abstract: A connector for pipes has two tubular parts each with three angularly spaced inclined bores intersecting the inner surface of the parts and containing balls engaging inclined wedge surfaces and biassed axially by respective springs. In use the parts are drawn together by rotating nuts on studs and the balls grip the pipes and compress a seal, the balls gouging into the pipes. The recesses could be on the outer side of the parts for engaging an external pipe. The balls can move axially and radially in the recesses for accommodating local ovality and engage surfaces over an arc of circumference of the balls. The parts need not be tubular and one part could be closed off to provide an end cap for the pipe in the other to form a clamp.