Patent ID: 9347610
Filing Date: 2016-05-24
CPC Classification: B29C,B29D,F16L,F17C

Claim Text:
1. A seamless and liner-less pressure vessel made as a single-piece structure of composite material in accordance with a method comprising the steps of: forming multiple hollow mandrel segments of a material that hardens into a solid but is soluble in a selected liquid, the mandrel segments including mandrel body segments and two mandrel end segments; forming one or more circularly symmetrical structural support elements of the same material as the mandrel segments, each structural support element being sized to fit internally within the mandrel segments and to loin and support two adjacent mandrel segments; assembling the mandrel segments and structural support elements on a shaft, to form a hollow mandrel of desired shape and size; laying up multiple layers of a composite fabric material over selected areas of the mandrel and then over-wrapping the mandrel with additional multiple layers of a composite material, leaving at least one opening for installation of a coupling component; curing the composite material to form a hollow pressure vessel; and removing the mandrel by washing it from the pressure vessel; and wherein the structural support elements are generally circular discs, each having an outside diameter sized to fit within two adjacent mandrel segments to provide structural support during the assembling and over-wrapping steps.