Tubular section member, in particular for use as a fluid flow du

Details Tubular section member, in particular for use as a fluid flow du Tubular section member, in particular for use as a fluid flow du

1996-02-05

1999-07-20

Brinson, Patrick

Pipes and tubular conduits

Flexible

Corrugated

138115, 138117, 138118, 138129, F16L 1112

Patent

active

059244569

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to tubular section members intended in particular for use as fluid flow ducts, or as admission or exhaust silencers in the car industry field, in building, or in the machines and engine industry, for example.
When it is necessary to attenuate transmission of sound in fluids flowing along tubes, it is general practice to use sound absorbing materials which are disposed inside the tubes and/or inside resonators tuned to the frequencies or frequency bands to be attenuated and which are connected in series or in parallel with the fluid flow tubes. Implementing such known means so that they are genuinely effective, turns out in general to be difficult and expensive.
In general, it is already known to form reinforced-wall tubes or pipes, by spiral-winding an extruded tubular section member, the turns touching one another and being bonded together (see for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,698 and EPO 0 418 760). It is also known, e.g. from patent DE 3 930 528, to form a pipe having a reinforced wall by spiral-winding an extruded tube, and then spiral-winding reinforcement between the turns of the tube. However, that known technique serves only to manufacture reinforced-wall tubes which are generally of large diameter, and which cannot serve as silencers.
A particular object of the invention is to provide a solution to these problems that is simple, effective, and cheap.


SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides a tubular section member equally suitable for use as a flexible fluid flow hose or as a silencer, e.g. for the admission or the exhaust of an engine, and which, on manufacture, presents intrinsic qualities of sound attenuation and of conserving initial shape on being curved or bent.
To this end, the invention provides a tubular section member, in particular for use as a fluid flow hose, characterized in that it also constitutes a silencer and includes means for preventing sound pressure waves from propagating directly along the inside of the section member, the said means comprising substantially radial internal partitions or ribs wound helically around the longitudinal axis of the section member.
Such a section member gives very good results when it is used as a silencer or as a fluid flow hose, the presence of helically wound internal radial ribs or partitions effectively attenuating sound, by preventing sound pressure waves from propagating directly.
In addition, the helically wound internal partitions or ribs limit radial collapse of the section member while it is being curved or bent, enabling the section member to retain a shape that is substantially constant along its entire length.
The section member of the invention may be made, at least in part, out of cellular or expanded material, so as to enhance attenuation of sound.
In a variant, the section member may be made out of two materials of different natures and/or hardnesses.
It is preferably made by extruding elastomer or thermoplastic materials. It may also be made by molding.


BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be better understood and other characteristics, details, and advantages thereof will appear more clearly on reading the following description made by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a fragmentary diagrammatic section and perspective view of a tubular section member of the invention;
FIGS. 2 to 8 are diagrammatic fragmentary section views of variant embodiments of the section member; and
FIGS. 9 to 13 are diagrams showing various ways in which the section member of the invention can be used.


DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference is made initially to FIG. 1 in which reference 10 designates a tubular section member of the invention which is generally in the form of a cylinder of circular cross-section and which can be made by extruding a flexible or semi-rigid elastomer, for example.
The section member 10 includes a plurality of internal partitions or ribs 12 which are substantially radial, extending between i

REFERENCES:
patent: 4310259 (1982-01-01), Ito et al.
patent: 4795439 (1989-01-01), Guest
patent: 4906496 (1990-03-01), Hosono et al.
patent: 5060698 (1991-10-01), Anastassakis et al.

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