Corrugated Hose Weld End With Clean Leak-Tight Fluid Path
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Solution Overview
Problem
Flexible metal hoses with welded end connections often generate contaminants and entrapment areas due to welds on corrugations and sheath braiding, which can be undesirable in fluid systems, and existing solutions fail to effectively eliminate these issues while ensuring leak-tight connections.
Innovation Solution
A hose assembly design featuring a corrugated metal tube with an outer cuff portion extending radially outward from the endmost corrugation, a nose portion of the end connection inserted into the cuff, and a collar surrounding both, which are welded together to form a leak-tight connection without entrapment areas, allowing for autogenous welding and reduced weld times and skill requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If welds are performed on corrugations and sheath braiding to create end connections, then leak-tight connections are achieved, but entrapment areas and contaminants are generated within the hose
Solution Approach 1:
The hose assembly is segmented into distinct zones: a smooth bore section for fluid flow, a transition zone with the outer cuff, and a welded zone. The weld collar creates a physical separation that confines welding contaminants to the external collar area while maintaining a clean internal fluid path, thus resolving the contradiction between achieving leak-tight welds and preventing contaminant generation in the fluid stream.
Solution Approach 2:
The harmful welding entrapment areas and contaminants are extracted from the internal fluid path and relocated to the external collar structure. The weld collar acts as a containment structure that isolates welding byproducts from the fluid flow, allowing welds to be performed for leak-tight connections without compromising fluid cleanliness.
2Reliability
If manual welding is used to join end connections to corrugated tubes, then leak-tight connections are achieved, but weld times are long and skill requirements are high
Solution Approach 1:
The outer cuff portion is pre-formed on the corrugated tube before welding, creating a prepared receptacle that guides and positions the end connection nose portion. This preliminary preparation establishes precise alignment and geometry, enabling subsequent automated orbital welding without requiring manual positioning skills or extensive adjustment time, thus reducing both weld time and skill requirements while maintaining connection reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
Manual welding operations are replaced with automated orbital welding technology. The standardized geometry created by the outer cuff and weld collar configuration allows automated welding systems to perform leak-tight joins without human intervention, significantly reducing weld times and eliminating the need for highly skilled manual welders.
3Reliability
If complex welding procedures are used to ensure leak-tight connections, then connection reliability is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The welding parameters are standardized through the geometric constraints provided by the outer cuff and weld collar. The fixed dimensions, angles, and positions created during hose assembly preparation establish optimal welding parameters that can be programmed into automated systems, simplifying the welding procedure from a complex manual process to a standardized automated operation while ensuring consistent leak-tight connections.
Solution Approach 2:
All complex preparation work is performed in advance during hose assembly: the outer cuff is formed, the nose portion is inserted and positioned, and the collar is placed. This preliminary action creates a pre-configured assembly that requires only a simple automated welding step, dramatically reducing manufacturing complexity while maintaining high connection reliability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution eliminates entrapment areas and contaminants within the hose, enabling automatic orbital welding, reducing weld times, and ensuring improved leak-tightness and cleanliness of the fluid path, while accommodating various core tube types and maintaining braided sheath integrity.
Implementation Method 1
The collar, the outer cuff portion, and the nose portion are welded together
Data Source
AI summary
A hose assembly includes a corrugated metal tube having a plurality of corrugations and an outer cuff portion extending from an endmost one of the plurality of corrugations, radially outward of an inner diameter of the endmost corrugation, an end connection having an outer end defining a fluid connector and an inner end defining a nose portion received in the outer cuff portion of the corrugated metal tube, and a collar surrounding the outer cuff portion of the corrugated metal tube and the nose portion of the end connection. The collar, the outer cuff portion, and the nose portion are welded together.