Patent ID: 6883550
Filing Date: 2005-04-26
Classification: F16L

Abstract:
1. A flexible pipe joint joining, in a bendable manner, a first pipe member provided with a partially spherical outer circumferential surface that protrudes outward in a radial direction and a second pipe member provided with a partially spherical inner surface that can slide along the partially spherical outer circumferential surface, wherein said first pipe member and said second pipe member are supported within the joint to be movable relative to each other along a pipe axis direction; a sleeve of a synthetic resin is inserted and fitted in a state of contact, bridging the inner circumferential surfaces of the two pipe members, the sleeve having a length that covers a cavity portion that opens inward in a radial direction at a location where the two pipe members are joined together along an entire telescopic range of the two pipe members, and being elastically deformed while substantially maintaining its circular tube shape when following a flexure of the two pipe members; and wherein one of the first pipe member and the second pipe member is slidably mounted within the joint to permit relative motion in the pipe axis direction between the pipe members.