Metal Pipe Fitting with Radial Sealing Teeth for Torsion Tightness
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing metallic connections in piping systems, particularly in medical gas supply and high-pressure applications, face issues with reliability and mechanical strength due to insufficient tightness under mechanical stress, especially torsional stress, and reliance on complex axially acting pressing tools and soft seals.
Innovation Solution
A metallic seal is achieved by incorporating radially encircling and axially extending sealing teeth on a supporting body and press sleeve, allowing for a metallic seal without soft seals, with the supporting body being harder than the press sleeve to absorb mechanical loads and prevent leakage, and a cylindrical inner contour to prevent relative movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If axially acting pressing tools with conical inner contour are used to create metallic sealing connections, then the connection can be formed, but the tools are complex and do not take up much space, and the connection exhibits insufficient tightness under mechanical stress especially torsional stress
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using an axially acting pressing tool with conical inner contour that presses from the front, the invention uses a pressing tool with a radially acting pressing element that approaches the supporting body from the rear side (opposite direction). This inverted approach allows the pressing element to act radially on the supporting body, creating metallic seals through radial deformation rather than axial compression, thereby improving tightness under torsional stress while simplifying the tool design.
2Reliability
If soft seals such as polymer sealing materials are used in pipe connections, then the connection can be made, but in medical gas installations and other applications soft seals are prohibited
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces soft polymer sealing materials with a metallic sealing system consisting of a supporting body with sealing sections that create metallic seals through radial deformation. The sealing function is achieved through the interaction between the radially deformed supporting body and the pipe, eliminating the need for prohibited soft seals while maintaining sealing capability in medical gas installations and other applications where soft seals are not permitted.
3Reliability
If brazing or welding is used to connect pipe sections with fittings, then a permanent connection is created, but these connections are time-consuming and have great potential for error during manufacture and installation
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the connection process from thermal joining methods (brazing/welding) and replaces it with a mechanical pressing process. The supporting body is pressed into the pipe end using a radially acting pressing tool, creating a permanent metallic connection through radial deformation without requiring heat, filler materials, or complex positioning. This extraction of the thermal process element dramatically reduces installation time and eliminates the potential for manufacturing errors associated with brazing and welding.
4Strength
If the supporting body and pressing sleeve are made with similar material properties, then the connection can be formed, but the connection cannot effectively absorb mechanical loads and prevent leakage under stress
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies different material properties to different components of the connection system. The supporting body is made of a harder material (such as steel or stainless steel) compared to the pressing sleeve (such as brass or copper). This local differentiation in material quality allows the harder supporting body to effectively absorb mechanical loads and maintain sealing pressure under stress, while the softer pressing sleeve facilitates the pressing operation. The specific material pairing creates an optimal balance between installability and long-term mechanical strength.
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 provides a reliable and mechanically strong metallic connection that maintains tightness under load, preventing leakage and torsional movement, suitable for medical gas installations without soft seals, and allows for targeted pipe expansion to avoid pressure losses.
Implementation Method 1
the supporting body and the pressing sleeve are able to obtain by means of the sealing teeth a metallic seal with a metal pipe
Implementation Method 2
The at least two circumferential and outwardly projecting sealing teeth of the two sealing sections cut into the pipe during pressing
Implementation Method 3
which prevents, or at least reduces, relative movement between the pipe and the support body, especially in the case of torsional movement through positive and frictional locking
Data Source
AI summary
A metallic connection with a metal pipe, with a base body made of metal, with at least one supporting body made of metal and formed in one piece with the base body for insertion into a pipe end and with at least one pressing sleeve made of metal and connected to the base body for receiving the pipe end, the supporting body and the pressing sleeve being designed for radial pressing, the supporting body having a first sealing section arranged at the distal end with at least one radially encircling sealing tooth has a holding region adjoining the first sealing section in the axial direction, holding teeth which are distributed around the circumference and extend axially, and a second sealing section adjoining the holding region in the axial direction and having at least one radially extending sealing tooth.