Abstract: A high pressure (up to 8000 psi service) hose assembly has an inner core made of "Teflon" PTFE, covered by a "Kevlar" aramid reinforcing braid. The PTFE can, but the aramid cannot, withstand the attack of oils and other fluids which may be conveyed through the hose. Therefore, the aramid is covered by PTFE tape and the end of the hose is sealed inside an end fitting. In one embodiment, when the end fitting is swaged or otherwise manipulated to capture the hose, the PTFE inner core extrudes to complete the sealing of the hose end.

Abstract: A tuned, convoluted, stainless steel conduit assembly is especially well adapted for use in hostile environments subject to vibrations which bring on fatigue failures. To prevent the conduit from having a uniform resonance throughout its length, the convolutions have a variable wall thickness. One way this variable wall thickness may be achieved is by forming the conduit walls by wrapping stainless steel tape in successive layers to form a multiple layered wall. The width of the tape may be such that some convolutions have more layers than other neighboring convolutions. A stainless steel sleeve or stocking loosely fits over the conduit and is clamped by one or more tuning bands onto the conduit to prevent vibration of the conduit at that clamped location.

Abstract: A tuned convoluted conduit assembly is especially well adapted for use in hostile environments subject to vibrations which bring on fatigue failures. To prevent the conduit from having a uniform resonance throughout its length, the convolutions have a variable wall thickness. One way this variable wall thickness may be achieved is by forming the conduit walls by wrapping tape in successive layers to form a multiple layered wall. The width of the tape may be such that each alternate convolution has more layers than its two adjacent neighboring convolutions. A sleeve or stocking loosely fits over the conduit and is clamped by a band onto the conduit to prevent vibration of the conduit at that clamped location.

Abstract: A quick connect/disconnect end fitting has two telescoping parts which are locked together by a wire loop which fits through diametrically opposed slots in an outer one of the parts and into a groove in the inner one of the parts. When opposing tips at the end of the loop are squeezed together, the wire loop leaves the groove to enable the two telescoping parts to be separated. An O-ring seals the space between the telescoping parts.

Abstract: A convoluted conduit is especially well adapted for use in hostile environments subject to vibrations which bring on fatigue failures. To prevent the conduit from having a uniform resonance throughout its length, the convolutions have a variable wall thickness. One way this variable wall thickness may be achieved is by forming the conduit walls by wrapping tape in successive layers to form a multiple layered wall. The width of the tape may be such that each alternate convolution has more layers than its two adjacent neighboring convolutions. Another way of making the conduit is to provide a plurality of coaxially nesting tubes which cooperate to form a wall thickness. Brazing or packing material may be positioned between adjacent layers of tape to seal the conduit and to make the wall behave at that point as a single layer.

Abstract: Twin seals are provided between an end fitting and a convoluted hose connected thereto. The end fitting has two parts, one of which terminates in an elongated member having large and coarse threads on the outside thereof. As the elongated member is turned into the end of the hose, convolutions at the end of the hose are either scrunched and squeezed together or stretched over a ramp section. One of the seals is along the surface of the large threads and the other is a result of the end thrust either the scrunching and squeezing or the stretching of the end convolutions. A pilot end of braid on the hose pulls it to increase the end thrust. In some embodiments, a third seal is made between the outside surface of the hose and a gland surrounding the hose.

Abstract: A conduit is adapted for use in an environment where it is subjected to excessive vibration. An example of such an environment is the exhaust system on an engine. To preclude material fatigue responsive to such vibration, successive convolutions are varied in height, thickness, slope, spacing, or a combination thereof. Hence, each incremental length of the conduit has a different resonant frequency as compared to the resonance frequency of its adjacent neighboring incremental lengths so that there is no overall high amplitude resonance along the entire length of the conduit, taken as a whole. On the other hand, once the resonance is sufficient to provide self-damping, efforts should be made to maximize the uniformity of vibration response so that bending forces will not be concentrated in one area of the conduit.

Abstract: A hose (such as an airplane fuel line hose) is made from a material which forms ablative particles in the presence of fire. Normally, these particles flake away from the hose. According to the invention, an encapsulating basket weave, braid or cage of stainless steel wire surrounds the hose to capture and retain ablative particles, so that they continue to provide an insulating quality for the hose and, therefore, to prolong the life of the hose.

Abstract: An end fitting provides a coupling for a pair of parts which may be misaligned. One of the possibly misaligned parts is a nut having a bore therein. The other part is a ferrule fitting in the bore and, preferably having a lip seal thereon. A pair of confronting annular U-shaped slots are formed in the two parts, with a pin wire ring resting in the slots in order to join the two parts. The cross-sections of the two U-shaped slots are skewed with respect to a perpendicular to the bore, by an angle in the range of 6-degrees to 45-degrees, with the preferred angle being 15-degrees. The pin wire ring rides up and down the resulting tapered walls of the slots to compensate for any misalignment.

Abstract: The invention provides a hose that withstands a vacuum which is considered to be approximately two to three times greater than the vacuum withstood by the best known previously available pliable convoluted semirigid plastic hoses of comparable designs. To fabricate the hose, a bobbin of wire stock is unwound, with the wire preferably being pulled off the end of the bobbin. The wire is then looped around a spool to form it into a spiral or coil having a preset diameter which is proportionately smaller than the diameter of a preformed, semirigid convoluted plastic hose. While the pulled wire is still substantially extended, it is taken up by being rolled upon the plastic hose, thereby snapping the preset formed wire spiral into the spiral convolutions formed in the surface of the hose. If desired, the spiral or coil might be pulled off the end of the samller diameter spool to impart a twist thereto.

Abstract: A braided-wire sheathing for high pressure hose or the like composed of interwoven bundles of high tensile strength wire. Within each bundle, the longer wires are twisted helically about the shorter wires such that all of the wires are under substantially equal tension. The interwoven bundles are grouped in pairs in a two-over, two-under pattern, the two bundles in each pair being twisted in opposing rotational directions.

Abstract: A gas-tight fitting which is an improvement over the lip-seal fitting shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,672,704 (Roger D. Christianson, inventor). The fitting includes three parts which are a nut, a sleeve, and a threaded nipple. The sleeve ends in an annular flange having an arched cross section which rests upon a seat on said nipple when said nut is tightened into position. Between the flange and the sleeve proper, there is a neck which terminates at its top in a spherically arcuate section which is complementary to a similar section in the nut. Together, the spherical sections form a swivel joint to accommodate axial misalignments.

Abstract: A chafe or fire sleeve for a hose is an integral coaxial structure having an inner layer of silicone and an outer layer of urethane in the range of 80%-20% urethane and 20%-80% silicone, respectively. The inner hose structure preferably comprises an elastomeric hose covered by braid, with the silicone bonded onto the braid. Five examples of materials are given, ranging from pure urethane to pure silicone and including three exemplary mixtures thereof. Pure urethane provides excellent antichafe, but not fire retardant, qualities; and pure silicone provides excellent fire retardant, but not necessarily as good antichafe, qualities. This particular invention is primarily directed to the fire retardant or fire resisting qualities of silicone, which is an ablative material that forms a refractory ash. The fire sleeve is an ablative material which tends to flake off the hose as it burns. This flaking is a disintegration of the hose which is one of the primary causes of the ultimate hose failure.

Abstract: The invention provides a hose that withstands a vacuum which is considered to be approximately two to three times greater than the vacuum withstood by the best known previously available pliable convoluted semirigid plastic hoses of comparable designs. To fabricate the hose, a bobbin of wire stock is unwound, with the wire preferably being pulled off the end of the bobbin. The wire is then looped around a spool to form it into a spiral or coil having a preset diameter which is proportionately smaller than the diameter of a preformed, semirigid convoluted plastic hose. While the pulled wire is still substantially extended, it is taken up by being rolled upon the plastic hose, thereby snapping the preset formed wire spiral into the spiral convolutions formed in the surface of the hose. If desired, the spiral or coil might be pulled off the end of the smaller diameter spool to impart a twist thereto.

Abstract: A chafe or fire sleeve for a hose is an integral coaxial structure having an inner layer of silicone and an outer layer of urethane in the range of 80%-20% urethane and 20%-80% silicone, respectively. The inner hose structure preferably comprises an elastomeric hose covered by braid, with the silicone bonded onto the braid.

Abstract: Apparatus for interweaving bundles of wire strands over the surface of a tubular core to form a braided sheath. Each multi-strand bundle is wound on a supply bobbin which forms part of a bobbin-carrier. The bobbin-carriers are driven in opposing directions around the tubular core along sinuous paths as the core is drawn longitudinally with respect to the carriers. Each bundle of wire strands is passed through an elongated slot in a twisting member which, when rotated, wraps those strands under less tension about those strands under greater tension, continually equalizing length and tension among the bundled strands during the braiding operation.