Abstract:
An expandable and contractible hose, the hose includes a segmented tubular wall circumscribing an interior. The segmented tubular wall is made up of a plurality of contiguous segments. Each contiguous segment expands along the length of the hose with the application of pressure from within. A bias holds the contiguous segments in a collapsed state when no pressure is applied from within the interior. A pressurized fluid passing within the interior overcomes the bias and causes the contiguous segments to expand into an expanded state.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/153,565, filed Apr. 28, 2015, which is herein incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD 
       [0002]    This patent application generally relates to a hose. More specifically, it relates to a hose that expands and contracts in response to the amount of fluid pressure that is applied from within. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Hard rubber watering hoses have been the standard for decades. They are heavy, not easy to handle and hard to store. More recently lighter weight expanding and contracting hoses have become popular as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,291,941 and 8,291,942 to Berardi. The present patent application aims to provide a novel expandable and contractible hose that is light-weight, durable, abrasion resistant and can endure high fluid pressure. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0004]    One aspect of the present patent application is a hose that contracts and expands under the influence of fluid pressure from within. The hose comprises a segmented tubular wall circumscribing an interior; the segmented tubular wall has a first end, a second end and length. The segmented tubular wall is a plurality of contiguous segments. Each contiguous segment has a circumscribing apex lying within a transverse plane and defining an outer radius, a first wall segment angled from the apex towards the interior at a first angle from the transverse plane, and a second wall segment angled from the apex towards the interior at a second angle from the transverse plane. The first and second wall segments of adjacent contiguous segments terminate in a circumscribing trough defining an inner radius. The first and second wall segments extend from the same side of the transverse plane in a contracted state and extend from opposites sides of the transverse plane in an expanded state. A bias is provided to keep said first wall segment and second wall segment on the same side of the transverse plane in a contracted state. The bias may be a memory force built into the segmented tubular wall, an external bias that is located outside of the segmented tubular wall, an internal bias that is located within the interior of the segmented tubular wall, or a combination of any thereof. 
         [0005]    Another aspect of the present patent application is a hose that contracts and expands under the influence of fluid pressure from within. The hose comprises a segmented tubular wall circumscribing an interior; the segmented tubular wall has a first end, a second end and length. The segmented tubular wall has a plurality of contiguous segments that each expand along the length of the segmented tubular wall with the application of pressure from within the interior. The hose further includes a bias to hold the continuous segments in a collapsed state when no pressure is applied from within said interior. The bias may be a memory force built into the segmented tubular wall, an external bias that is located outside of the segmented tubular wall, an internal bias that is located within the interior of the segmented tubular wall, or a combination of any thereof. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         [0006]    For the purposes of illustrating the invention, the drawings show aspects of one or more embodiments of the invention. However, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown in the drawings, wherein: 
           [0007]      FIG. 1 a    is a partial sectional, perspective view of a hose having a segmented tubular wall in the collapsed state as described in the present disclosure; 
           [0008]      FIG. 1 b    is an enlarged view of the dashed section  1   b  outlined in  FIG. 1   a;    
           [0009]      FIG. 1 c    is a partial sectional, perspective view of the hose in  FIG. 1 a    in the expanded state; 
           [0010]      FIG. 1 d    is an enlarged view of the dashed section  1   d  outlined in  FIG. 1   c;    
           [0011]      FIG. 2 a    is a partial sectional, perspective view of the hose in  FIG. 1 a    further including an internal elastic wall as an internal bias; 
           [0012]      FIG. 2 b    is an enlarged view of the dashed section  2   b  outlined in  FIG. 2   a;    
           [0013]      FIG. 2 c    is a partial sectional, perspective view of the hose in  FIG. 2 a    in the expanded state; 
           [0014]      FIG. 2 d    is an enlarged view of the dashed section  2   d  outlined in  FIG. 2   c;    
           [0015]      FIG. 3 a    is a partial sectional, perspective view of the hose in  FIG. 1 a    further including an external elastic wall of a sleeve as an external bias; 
           [0016]      FIG. 3 b    is an enlarged view of the dashed section  3   b  outlined in  FIG. 3   a;    
           [0017]      FIG. 3 c    is a partial sectional, perspective view of the hose in  FIG. 3 a    in the expanded state; 
           [0018]      FIG. 3 d    is an enlarged view of the dashed section  3   d  outlined in  FIG. 3   c;    
           [0019]      FIG. 4 a    is a partial sectional, perspective view of the hose in  FIG. 1 a    further including an external elastic layer bonded to the segmented tubular wall, the external elastic layer acting as an external bias; 
           [0020]      FIG. 4 b    is an enlarged view of the dashed section  4   b  outlined in  FIG. 4   a;    
           [0021]      FIG. 4 c    is a partial sectional, perspective view of the hose in  FIG. 4 a    in the expanded state; 
           [0022]      FIG. 4 d    is an enlarged view of the dashed section  4   d  outlined in  FIG. 4   c;    
           [0023]      FIG. 5 a    is a side, sectional schematic view of two contiguous segments of the segmented tubular wall of  FIGS. 1 c , 2 c , 3 c  and 4 c    illustrating various elements of the segmented tubular wall in the expanded state; 
           [0024]      FIG. 5 b    is a side, sectional schematic view of two contiguous segments of the segmented tubular wall of in  FIGS. 1 a , 2 a , 3 a  and 4 a    illustrating various elements of the segmented tubular wall in the contracted state; 
           [0025]      FIG. 6 a    is a side view of a section of the segmented tubular wall of  FIGS. 1 a , 2 a , 3 a  and 4 a    in the contracted state; 
           [0026]      FIG. 6 b    is a side, sectional view of the segmented tubular wall shown in  FIG. 6   a;    
           [0027]      FIG. 7 a    is side view of a section of the segmented tubular wall of  FIGS. 1 c , 2 c , 3 c  and 4 c    in the expanded state; 
           [0028]      FIG. 7 b    is a side, sectional view of the segmented tubular wall shown in  FIG. 7   a;    
           [0029]      FIG. 8  is a side view of a section of the segmented tubular wall shown in  FIGS. 1 a -4 d    depicting one embodiment of how the contiguous segments of the hose may expand and contract; 
           [0030]      FIG. 9 a    is a side view of the segmented tubular wall in  FIG. 1 c   , showing one embodiment of the end structure of the hose; 
           [0031]      FIG. 9 b    is a side, sectional view of the segmented tubular wall in  FIG. 9   a;    
           [0032]      FIG. 10 a    is a side view showing an embodiment of the segmented tubular wall in  FIGS. 1 a , 2 a , 3 a  and 4 a    with several contiguous segments replaced with a straight element; 
           [0033]      FIG. 10 b    is a side, sectional view of the segmented tubular wall in  FIG. 10   a;    
           [0034]      FIG. 11 a    is a side, sectional view of a section of hose of  FIG. 2 a    in the contracted state showing both the segmented tubular wall and internal elastic tubular wall; 
           [0035]      FIG. 11 b    is a side, sectional view of the section of hose of  FIG. 11 a    in the expanded state; 
           [0036]      FIG. 12 a    is a side, sectional view of a section of hose of  FIG. 3 a    in the contracted state showing both the segmented tubular wall and external elastic tubular wall as a sleeve; 
           [0037]      FIG. 12 b    is a side, sectional view of the section of hose of  FIG. 12 a    in the expanded state; 
           [0038]      FIG. 13 a    is a side, sectional view of an alternative embodiment of a section of hose of  FIG. 3 a    in the contracted state showing both the segmented tubular wall and an external elastic wall as an elastic coating; 
           [0039]      FIG. 13 b    is a side, sectional view of the section of hose of  FIG. 13 a    in the expanded state; 
           [0040]      FIG. 14 a    is a side, sectional view of a section of hose of  FIG. 4 a    in the contracted state showing both the segmented tubular wall and an external elastic wall as a bonded layer; 
           [0041]      FIG. 14 b    is a side, sectional view of the section of hose of  FIG. 14 a    in the expanded state; 
           [0042]      FIG. 15 a    is a side, sectional view of one embodiment of a coupler that may be added to an end of the hose in  FIGS. 1 a    and  1   c;    
           [0043]      FIG. 15 b    is a side, sectional view of one embodiment of a coupler that may be added to the hose in  FIGS. 2 a    and  2   c;    
           [0044]      FIG. 15 c    is a side, sectional view of one embodiment of a coupler that may be added to the hose in  FIGS. 3 a    and  3   c;    
           [0045]      FIG. 15 d    is a side, sectional view of one embodiment of a coupler that may be added to the hose having both an internal and external bias; 
           [0046]      FIG. 15 e    is a side, sectional view of one embodiment of a coupler that may be added to the hose in  FIGS. 4 a    and  4   c;    
           [0047]      FIG. 16  is a perspective view illustrating one embodiment of tooling used to process a segmented tubular hose structure that is a precursor to the segmented tubular wall shown in  FIGS. 1 a -4 d  and 13 a   - 13   b;    
           [0048]      FIG. 17  is a perspective view of a mold block used in conjunction with the tooling illustrated in  FIG. 16 ; 
           [0049]      FIG. 18 a    is a sectional schematic diagram of a co-extrusion head that may be used to process the elastic tubular wall on the interior or exterior of segmented tubular wall of  FIGS. 2 a   - 4   d;    
           [0050]      FIG. 18 b    is sectional view of the co-extrusion head of  FIG. 18 a    along line  18   b - 18   b;    
           [0051]      FIG. 18 c    is a sectional view of the co-extrusion head of  FIG. 18 b    along line  18   c - 18   c;    
           [0052]      FIG. 19 a    is a table listing various materials and processing parameters that may be used to form the expanding and contracting segmented tubular wall shown in  FIGS. 1 a -4 d  and 13 a   - 13   b;    
           [0053]      FIG. 19 b    is a table listing various elastic materials that may be used to form the internal and external biasing elements; 
           [0054]      FIG. 20 a    is a side view showing a first step involved for adding an inherent bias during an embodiment of fabricating the segmented tubular wall in  FIGS. 1 a -4 d  and 13 a   - 13   b;    
           [0055]      FIG. 20 b    is a side view showing a second step involved for adding an inherent bias during an embodiment of fabricating the segmented tubular wall in  FIGS. 1 a -4 d  and 13 a   - 13   b;    
           [0056]      FIG. 20 c    is a side view showing a third step involved for adding an inherent bias during an embodiment of fabricating the segmented tubular wall in  FIGS. 1 a -4 d  and 13 a   - 13   b;    
           [0057]      FIG. 20 d    is a side view showing a fourth step involved for adding an inherent bias during an embodiment of fabricating the segmented tubular wall in  FIGS. 1 a -4 d  and 13 a   - 13   b;    
           [0058]      FIG. 21  is a process flow chart illustrating the general process flow for making the hose structures shown in  FIGS. 1 a -4 d  and 13 a   - 13   b;    
           [0059]      FIG. 22 a    is a side view illustrating the contracted state of the hose shown in  FIGS. 1 a   - 1   d;    
           [0060]      FIG. 22 b    is a side, sectional view when pressurized fluid fills the hose shown in  FIG. 22   a;    
           [0061]      FIG. 22 c    is a side, sectional view when unpressurized fluid fills the hose shown in  FIG. 22   a;    
           [0062]      FIG. 23 a    is a side view illustrating the contracted state of the hose shown in  FIGS. 2 a   - 2   d;    
           [0063]      FIG. 23 b    is a side, sectional view when pressurized fluid fills the hose shown in  FIG. 23   a;    
           [0064]      FIG. 23 c    is a side, sectional view when unpressurized fluid fills the hose shown in  FIG. 23   a;    
           [0065]      FIG. 24 a    is a side view illustrating the contracted state of the hose shown in  FIGS. 3 a   - 3   d;    
           [0066]      FIG. 43 b    is a side, sectional view when pressurized fluid fills the hose shown in  FIG. 24   a;    
           [0067]      FIG. 24 c    is a side, sectional view when unpressurized fluid fills the hose shown in  FIG. 24   a;    
           [0068]      FIG. 25 a    is a side view illustrating the contracted state of the hose shown in  FIGS. 4 a   - 4   d;    
           [0069]      FIG. 25 b    is a side, sectional view when pressurized fluid fills the hose shown in  FIG. 25 a   ; and 
           [0070]      FIG. 25 c    is a side, sectional view when unpressurized fluid fills the hose shown in  FIG. 25   a.    
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0071]      FIGS. 1 a -25 c    illustrate various aspects of expandable and contractible hose  30  having multiple embodiments  30   a ,  30   b ,  30   c ,  30   d ,  30   e  and  30   f . Hose  30  comprises a segmented tubular wall  31  circumscribing an interior  32 . Segmented tubular wall  31  has a first end  33 , a second end  34  and length. Segmented tubular wall  31  is a plurality of contiguous segments  35 . Each contiguous segment  35  has a circumscribing apex  36  lying within a transverse plane  37  and defining an outer radius  38 , a first wall segment  39  angled from apex  36  towards interior  32  at a first angle θ 1  from transverse plane  37 , and a second wall segment  40  angled from apex  36  towards interior  32  at a second angle θ 2  from transverse plane  37 . Transverse plane  37  is generally perpendicular to the length of the hose. First wall and second wall segments of adjacent contiguous segments terminate in a circumscribing trough  42  defining an inner radius  44 . First wall segment  39  and second wall segment  40  extend from the same side of transverse plane  37  in a contracted state ( FIG. 5 b   ) and extend from opposites sides of the transverse plane in an expanded state ( FIG. 5 a   ). 
         [0072]    First wall segments  39  and second wall segments  40  are each generally sections of a conical surface. Each pair of wall segments ( 39 ,  40 ), making up a contiguous segment  35 , is generally equally spaced in the contracted state or in the expanded state. Also, each contiguous segment  35  is preferably identically shaped so they can collapse and stack tightly together in the collapsed state. 
         [0073]    The ability of hose  30  to expand and contract is a property of second angle θ 2  being less than first angle θ 1  in both the expanded and contracted states. Second wall segment  40  can flip back and forth across transverse plane  37  to create a shorter length hose in the contracted state and a longer length hose in the expanded state. Application of pressure from within interior  32  in conjunction with bias  50  work together to cause second angle θ 2  to transition from one side to the other side of transverse plane  37 . First angle θ 1  and second angle θ 2  combine to form an expansion angle having a magnitude of close to zero in the collapsed state and greater than 30-degrees in the expanded state. Segmented tubular wall  31  generally has an elongation ratio, the length in the expanded state to the length in the contracted state, that is generally greater than 2:1 and preferably in the range of 3:1 to 10:1. The expansion ratio is a function of the angle of each segment relative to transverse plane  37  and the length of each wall segment ( 39 ,  40 ). First angle θ 1  and second angle θ 2  may retain relatively low angles to retain a significantly grooved structure or expand all the way to 90-degrees to give a generally smooth segmented tubular wall depending on the material, wall thickness and pressure within said segmented tubular wall. Contiguous segments  35  may expand and contract independently of other contiguous segments, as depicted in  FIG. 8 , so that the length of hose  30  increases in discrete increments. Alternatively, contiguous segments  35  may expand and contract equally to have the length of hose  30  increase or decrease continuously. 
         [0074]    Hose  30  comprises some type of bias  50  that is required to keep first wall segment  39  and second wall segment  40  on the same side of transverse plane  37  in the contracted state, but allow the first wall segment and second wall segment to lie on opposite sides of the transverse plane when in an expanded state. Bias  50  may be an inherent bias that is inherently built into segmented tubular wall  31  such as a material memory force built into the segmented tubular wall. A hose  30   a  based on such an inherent bias is shown in  FIGS. 1 a -1 d  and 22 a   - 22   c.    
         [0075]    Bias  50  may be an internal bias from an internal biasing element  52 . Internal biasing element  52  may be any internal biasing element such as a spring, an elastic strip, an elastic coating, an elastic tube or other elastic material structure having an elastic wall, etc. A hose  30   b  based on one such internal bias, specifically an internal elastic tube having an internal elastic wall, is shown in  FIGS. 2 a -2 d , 11 a -11 b  and 23 a   - 23   c.    
         [0076]    Bias  50  may be an external bias from an external biasing element  53 . External biasing element  53  may be any external biasing element such as a spring, an elastic coating, an elastic layer, co-extruded elastic layer, a dipped or sprayed elastic coating or layer, an elastic material having an elastic wall, etc. External biasing element  53  may be a sleeve that freely moves independently over segmented tubular wall  31 . External biasing element  53  may be partially bonded to some or all of the contiguous segments. External biasing element  53  may also be bonded everywhere to segmented tubular wall  31 . A hose  30   c  based on one type of external bias, an external elastic sleeve having an external elastic wall, is shown in  FIGS. 3 a -3 d  and 12 a -12 b  and 24 a -24 b   . A hose  30   e  based on another type of external bias, an external elastic layer at least partially bonded to segmented tubular wall  31 , is shown in  FIGS. 4 a - d ,13 a -14 b  and 25 a -25 c   . The external elastic layer may be integrally bonded to the entire segmented tubular wall or partially bonded with some air gaps. The external elastic layer may be porous to allow air to easily flow to create air gaps or the external elastic layer may be nonporous. It is noted that hose  30  ( 30   a ,  30   b ,  30   c ,  30   d ,  30   e ,  30   f ) all include a segmented tubular wall  31  that may or may not have an inherently built-in bias that may then work in conjunction with an additional internal or external bias to help expand and contract the hose. Therefore hose  30  may have any combination of an inherent bias, an internal bias and an external bias. 
         [0077]    In order to use hose  30  for different applications, the hose may include a first coupler  60  on first end  33  and a second coupler  62  on said second end  34 . Hose  30  may include a wide variety of couplers and not those just shown in  FIGS. 15 a -15 e   . To aid in attaching couplers ( 60 ,  62 ) to hose  30 , the hose may be produced with straight sections  64  as shown in  FIGS. 10 a  and 10 b    where the straight sections are at specified lengths along the length of the fabricated hose. Straight sections  64  are then cut at the midpoint of the straight section. This produces a straight section  64  at both ends of hose  30  as shown in  FIGS. 9 a  and 9 b   .  FIGS. 15 a -15 e    show five embodiments of how couplers ( 60 ,  62 ) may be integrated with hose  30 . In  FIG. 15 a   , straight section  64  of hose  30   a  is slipped over the coupler and secured with adhesive, thermal bonding or a compression fitting  66 . In the embodiment of hose  30   b  where an internal elastic tube is used as the internal biasing element  52 , elastic tube may be fitted over the coupler and straight section  64  of the hose fitted over the internal elastic tube,  FIG. 15 b   . Again the straight section  64  and internal elastic tube may be secured to couplers ( 60 ,  62 ) with adhesive, thermal bonding, a compression fitting  66  or a barbed/ribbed fitting. In the embodiment of hose  30   c  where an external elastic tube is used as the external biasing element  53 , the external elastic tube may be fitted over the coupler and straight section  64  of the hose,  FIG. 15 c   . The straight section  64  and external elastic tube  53  may be secured to couplers ( 60 ,  62 ) with adhesive, thermal bonding, a compression fitting  66  or a barbed/ribbed fitting. In the embodiment of hose,  30   e , where an external elastic layer is used as the external biasing element  53 , the external elastic layer may be fitted over the coupler and straight section  64  of the hose,  FIG. 15 e   . Again the straight section  64  and external elastic layer  53  may be secured to couplers ( 60 ,  62 ) with adhesive, thermal bonding, a compression fitting  66  or a barbed/ribbed fitting.  FIG. 15 d    alternatively shows a hose structure  30   f  having both an internal bias element  52  and an external bias element  53  joined to a coupler ( 60 ,  62 ). For all hoses  30   b - 30   f  it is also possible to have each internal bias element  52  and external bias element  53  directly joined to segmented tubular wall  31  and the segmented tubular wall by itself joined to couplers ( 60 ,  62 ). Alternatively, each internal bias element  52 , external bias element  53  and segmented tubular wall  31  may each be joined separately to couplers ( 60 ,  62 ). 
         [0078]    Hose  20  may be fabricated using corrugated extrusion techniques as shown in  FIG. 16 . In this embodiment segmented tubular wall  31  (a.k.a. corrugated hose structure) is formed by having two tracks  72  holding mold blocks  74  ( FIG. 17 ) rotate along the length of the extruder  76 . Heated extrusion material is fed at the feed end and pressurized from within by air. The extrusion material is expanded and forced against the inner sides of mold blocks  74 . The material cools as it moves along the length of extruder  76  and exits having corrugated hose structure  70  having segmented tubular wall  31 . 
         [0079]    To produce a hose  30  with a material memory force built into segmented tubular wall  31 , additional processing is performed once the segmented tubular wall has been created. The as extruded segmented tubular wall  31 ,  FIG. 20 a   , is first collapsed by applying pressure to the corrugated hose structure,  FIG. 20 b   . The compressed structure is then annealed, under temperature and pressure, for the molecules to gain a memory position within the collapsed structure,  FIG. 20 c   . Once cooled, the molecules making up segmented tubular wall  31  now remember their position so that after any extension, the hose will return to the collapsed state whenever any extension forces are removed,  FIG. 20 d   . This process produces an inherent bias in segmented tubular wall  31 . Segmented tubular wall  31  may be fabricated from a wide variety of raw corrugating materials (thermosets and thermoplastics) that have properties of being flexible or semi-rigid. Some of these materials are listed in  FIG. 19 a    along with exemplary thermal processing needed to produce the material memory force. Alternatively, shorter anneal times of only minutes may be achieved by dipping the heated materials into water or putting them through a high-speed cooler. Depending on the material, anneal temperatures may also be broader than those listed in  FIG. 19 a    and in a range of 50° C. to 450° C. 
         [0080]    In the embodiment where an internal bias element  52 , such as an internal elastic tube is used to form hose  30   b , segmented tubular wall  31  is cut to a selected length, then the elastic tube is threaded through the segmented tubular wall and couplers ( 60 ,  62 ) added to both ends. 
         [0081]    In the embodiment where an external bias element  53  such as an external elastic tube or external elastic layer is used to form hose  30   c , co-extrusion may be used. Co-extrusion uses a co-extruder  78  where the elastic bias is created in a separate step by fabricating an elastic tube or layer around segmented tubular wall  31 . The compressed segmented tubular wall  31  is fed into the co-extruder head and the elastic material is extruded around the segmented tubular wall,  FIGS. 18 a - c   . The elastic material may make a uniform layer around segmented tubular wall  31 . The elastic layer becomes external bias element  53 . The elastic layer may conform during expansion or create air gaps between the elastic layer and the segmented tubular wall  31 . Elastic materials and processing temperatures are listed in  FIG. 19 b   . In other embodiment, elastic layer may be created by a spray or dip process. 
         [0082]    In general a double wall hose  30  with a segmented tubular wall  31  and either an internal biasing layer or and external biasing layer will be stronger and can withstand more pressure from within. External biasing layers can also smooth ridges in the segmented tubular wall and make the hose more abrasion resistant. 
         [0083]      FIG. 21  illustrates a general process flow for fabricating hoses  30   a - 3   e . The process starts with providing raw corrugating materials  81  and raw elastic materials  82 . The raw corrugating material  81  is then processed by extrusion  84  into segmented tubular wall  31 . If an inherent bias is required, the segmented tubular wall is processed thermally  86  to induce an inherent bias. Internal bias element  52  and external bias element  53  are then added by internal and external bias introduction  88  as desired. The resulting structure is then processed by step  90  to form a hose  30  by cutting the structure to length and adding couplers ( 60 , 62 ). 
         [0084]      FIGS. 22 a -22 c    illustrate how fluid pressure from within hose  30   a  influences the expansion and contraction of the hose having a built-in bias. With no fluid within hose  30   a , the hose remains in a fully collapsed state,  FIG. 22 a   . When a pressurized fluid  80  fills interior  32 , contiguous segments  35  expand,  FIG. 22 b   . Pressurized fluid  80  may be any fluid, examples being water or compressed air. When pressurized fluid  80  is turned off, some residual fluid remains within interior  32 , but having no pressure to support the walls in an expanded state the memory forces collapse hose  30   a ,  FIG. 22   c.    
         [0085]      FIGS. 23 a -23 c    illustrate how fluid pressure from within hose  30   b  influences the expansion and contraction of the hose having an internal bias element  52  as an elastic tube. With no fluid within hose  30   b , the hose remains in a fully collapsed state,  FIG. 23 a   . When a pressurized fluid  80  fills interior  82  of internal elastic tube, both internal elastic tube and contiguous segments  35  expand,  FIG. 23 b   . Pressurized fluid  80  may be any fluid, examples being water or compressed air. When pressurized fluid  80  is turned off, some residual fluid remains within interior  32 , but having no pressure to support the walls in an expanded state the bias forces collapse hose  30   b ,  FIG. 23   c.    
         [0086]      FIGS. 24 a -24 c    illustrate how fluid pressure from within hose  30   c  influences the expansion and contraction of the hose having an external bias element  53  as an elastic sleeve. With no fluid within hose  30   c , the hose remains in a fully collapsed state,  FIG. 24 a   . When a pressurized fluid  80  fills interior  32 , contiguous segments  35  and elastic sleeve expand,  FIG. 24 b   . Pressurized fluid  80  may be any fluid, examples being water or compressed air. When pressurized fluid  80  is turned off, some residual fluid remains within interior  32 , but having no pressure to support the walls in an expanded state the bias forces collapse hose  30   c ,  FIG. 24   c.    
         [0087]      FIGS. 24 a -24 c    illustrate how fluid pressure from within hose  30   e  influences the expansion and contraction of the hose having an external bias element  53  as a bonded elastic layer. With no fluid within hose  30   e , the hose remains in a fully collapsed state,  FIG. 25 a   . When a pressurized fluid  80  fills interior  32 , contiguous segments  35  and bonded elastic layer expand,  FIG. 25 b   . Pressurized fluid  80  may be any fluid, examples being water or compressed air. When pressurized fluid  80  is turned off, some residual fluid remains within interior  32 , but having no pressure to support the walls in an expanded state the bias forces collapse hose  30   e ,  FIG. 25   c.    
         [0088]    While several embodiments of the invention, together with modifications thereof, have been described in detail herein and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it will be evident that various further modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the invention. The scope of the claims should not be limited by the preferred embodiments set forth in the examples, but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with the description as a whole.