Patent Publication Number: US-2023145449-A1

Title: Garden hose with metal sheath and fabric cover

Description:
FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The subject technology relates to garden hoses for residential and commercial use. Garden hoses having a flexible outer sheath of spirally wound metal are known from, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 10,591,098 for “Garden Hose with Metal Sheath,” which is assigned to the assignee of the present application and is incorporated by reference for all purposes. 
     The present inventor has discovered that garden hoses with a bare metal sheath may scratch surfaces of furniture and other objects in the environment when in use, and may also develop a slippery surface especially when wet. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to an aspect of the subject technology, a garden hose with a metal sheath, for example a garden hose as described in U.S. Pat. No. 10,591,098, is provided with a fabric outer sheath over the metal sheath, along the length of the metal sheath. The fabric hose is retained in place by a constricting band applied around the fabric sheath at or near, at least, each end of the fabric sheath. In an embodiment, each band is disposed adjacent to a shoulder-like feature of the underlying steel sheath having a larger diameter than the constricting band. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a view of the end portions of a garden hose according to a non-limiting embodiment of the subject technology. 
         FIG.  2    is a view of an end portion of the garden hose of  FIG.  1    with the end grip removed to show the attachment of a constricting band. 
         FIG.  3    is a view of an end portion of the garden hose of  FIG.  2    with the constricting band removed and fabric sheath sliced open to show the underlying structure of the metal sheath. 
         FIG.  4    is a perspective view of a garden hose with metal sheath from prior-art U.S. Pat. No. 10,591,098. 
         FIG.  5    is a section view of the ends of the prior-art hose of  FIG.  4   . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     According to a non-limiting embodiment of the subject technology, as shown in  FIGS.  1 - 3   , hose  100  is a garden hose with a steel sheath which may be constructed, for example, as in U.S. Pat. No. 10,591,098. Other constructions of a garden hose with steel sheath may be improved by the subject technology. In  FIGS.  1 - 3   , only the respective ends of the hose  100  are shown, but it should be understood that hose  100  is a continuous garden hose. Hose  100  may have any suitable length for a garden hose, for example, 25 feet, 50 feet, 75 feet, or 100 feet. Sheath  114  may be in the form of spirally wound turns of sheet metal, with each turn interlinked with a next turn along the hose body to form a flexible metal sheath. 
     According to an embodiment of the subject technology, as best shown in  FIGS.  1 - 3   , woven fabric sheath  102  is disposed over steel sheath  114 . Fabric sheath  102  may be a continuous seamless tube of fabric material or may be formed as a sheet of fabric material with opposite edges joined at a seam running the length of the sheath to result in a tube of fabric material. The fabric material may be natural fabric, or synthetic fabric, or a natural-synthetic fabric blend. The fabric material may be, for example, cotton, wool, linen, silk, nylon, acrylic, polyester, polyolefin, Kevlar®, aramid, or blends of the foregoing. The fabric may comprise a hydrophobic coating on its outer surface, inner surface, or both. The fabric may comprise two or more layers of fabric bonded together to form a composite fabric. The two or more layers may be the same fabric, or different fabrics, and may have a hydrophobic coating on a surface. In an embodiment the fabric is 1250 denier polyester. In an embodiment the fabric is 1500 denier polyester. In an embodiment the fabric is DAC-5 fiber fabric. 
     Constricting band  103  is disposed on the outside of fabric sheath  102  and is tightly fitted to pin fabric sheath  102  against sheath  114  and in place on hose  100 . Constricting band  103  is disposed adjacent to a shoulder  104  of steel sheath  114  the shoulder having a larger diameter at its largest extent than band  103 . Any suitable shoulder-like feature of steel sheath  114  disposed near ends of the steel sheath  114  may be used for this purpose. 
     Constricting band  103  may be in the form of a band or bands, rope or ropes, or wire or wires, made of nylon, metal, or any other suitable material. In an embodiment, constricting band  103  is disposed between steel sheath  114  and grip  105 , so the band  103  is beneath the grip and thus not directly exposed to the environment of use. Preferably, band  103  is disposed on the side of shoulder  104  nearest the end of hose  100 , because in use, the forces imparted to hose  100  will tend to pull fabric sheath  102  down the length of hose  100  and away from the respective ends. It will be understood that each end of fabric sheath  102  is fixed in place at each respective end of hose  100  by a respective band  103 . 
     In an embodiment, fabric sheath  102  is not fixed or attached to metal sheath  114  except by the constricting bands  103 , so that it is free to slide and bunch somewhat along the length of hose  100  with respect to metal sheath  114 , between the bands  103 . This feature results in improved flexibility of hose  100 . 
     In an embodiment, there are no additional layers or sheathes of material between fabric sheath  102  and metal sheath  114 . 
     Within metal sheath  114 , an inner tube of flexible polymer material is inside the hose  100  and extends the length of the hose between couplers  118 ,  119 , for conveying water through the hose  100 . Metal sheath  114  also extends the length of the hose between couplers  118 ,  119  to protect the inner tube. In the embodiment shown in  FIGS.  1 - 3   , coupler  118  is a male coupler and coupler  119  is a female coupler. One of the couplers  118 ,  119  is adapted to threadedly connect to a conventional residential water faucet, the other of the couplers  118 ,  119  is adapted to threadedly connect to a conventional garden appliance such as a sprinkler, wand, sprayer, or the like. In an embodiment, polymer grips or sleeves  105  are provided at the ends of hose  100 , for example threadedly attached to couplers  118 ,  119  and extending from the respective coupler  118 ,  119  for a portion of the length of the hose  100 . (In  FIG.  1   , coupler  119  is not visible because it is disposed within the respective grip  105 .) 
     The inner tube may be made of made of a clear vinyl but other flexible, clear, translucent or opaque, colored or non-colored polymer tubing may be used, as long as it is waterproof and strong enough to withstand domestic, commercial or industrial water pressure (i.e, 45 psi-80 psi) from within. Preferably the inner tube is flexible and water-containing without perforations. The burst pressure of hose  100  may be above 80 p.s.i. In other embodiments, the burst pressure of hose  100  may be in the range of 180-320 p.s.i. 
     Preferably, hose  100  and its components, inner tube, metal sheath  114 , and fabric sheath  102  are not adapted to convey or contain high-pressure fluid, such as in a hydraulic system, where working pressures may be in the thousands of p.s.i. Such a robust construction is not required or even desirable for domestic, commercial or industrial water hoses such as garden hoses, due to the expense and complexity required to achieve high burst pressures. Preferably, the burst pressure of hose  100  is less than 1,000 p.s.i., less than 500 p.s.i., or less than 100 p.s.i. 
       FIGS.  4  and  5    show an embodiment of a garden hose with a steel sheath from U.S. Pat. No. 10,591,098, which is a non-limiting example of such a hose which may be protected by a fabric sheath of the subject technology. The garden hose comprises a hose body  12  of at least about 10 feet in length, but longer for practical use as a water hose in residential, commercial and/or industrial environments. A first coupler  18  is firmly connected to one end of the hose body for connecting the garden hose to a water source, typically a water faucet, and a second coupler  20  is firmly connected to the opposite end of the hose body for discharging water from the garden hose. Typically, in the United States, the first coupler  18  is a female threaded coupler that can be screwed onto the male threads of a male faucet connection and the second coupler  20  is typically a male threaded coupler that is the same as the faucet connection. Alternative couplers that are threaded or not threaded, and/or snap on and off a mating faucet, and may be male or female may be used within the invention, depending on the convention that is prevalent in the region of use. 
       FIG.  5    shows a cross-section of ends portion of the example garden hose with a metal sheath. The hose body comprises a metal sheath  14  which is made of spirally wound turns of sheet metal, with each turn interlinked with a next turn along the hose body so that the turns are capable of moving with respect to each other to render the hose body flexible. The material of sheath  14  may alternatively be another type of sufficiently flexible metal or even a hard but somewhat flexible plastic such as polycarbonate or the like. An inner tube  16  of flexible polymer material is inside the hose and extends the length of the hose between the couplers. Inner tube  16  may be made of made of a clear vinyl but other flexible, clear, translucent or opaque, colored or non-colored polymer tubing may be used, as long as it is waterproof and strong enough to withstand domestic, commercial or industrial water pressure from within. Couplers  18  and  20 , each made of metal or strong plastic, have a nipple  18   a  and  20   a , press fit into one respective end of the inner tube  16 . 
     In  FIG.  5   , a pair of coupler structures are provided, each for connecting one of the couplers  18  and  20 , to respective ends of the metal sheath  14 . For this purpose, each coupler structure comprises an inner metal shell  22 , preferably of metal such as stainless steel, having an inner hollow cylindrical body  22   a  engaged over one end of the inner tube  16 , the inner cylindrical body  22   a  having a flared end  22   b  press fit over the one end of the inner tube  16  into which the nipples  18   a  or  20   a  are inserted. The inner cylindrical body  22   a  also has an opposite unflared end  22   c  and includes an annular enlargement  22   d  between the ends thereof, with at least a portion of the inner cylindrical body  22   a  including the opposite unflared end  22   c , being inside one end of the metal sheath  14 . 
     In  FIG.  5   , each coupler structure also includes an outer metal shell  24  of metal, again preferably stainless steel, having an outer hollow cylindrical body  24   a  engaged over the inner cylindrical body  22   a . The outer hollow cylindrical body  24   a  having a flared end  24   b  adjacent to, but spaced outwardly of the flared end  22   b  of the inner cylindrical body  22   a . The outer hollow cylindrical body  24   a  has a large diameter portion  24   d  and an opposite unflared end  24   c  at the large diameter portion  24   d , the large diameter portion  24   d  being over the annular enlargement  22   d  of the inner hollow cylindrical body  22   a  and the portion of the inner cylindrical body that is inside the one end of the metal sheath  14 . 
     In  FIG.  5   , a fixing washer  26  is provided in the space between the flared ends  22   b  and  24   b  of the inner and outer cylindrical bodies  22   a ,  24   a . The large diameter portion  24   d  and unflared end  24   c  of the outer hollow cylindrical body  24   a  is press fit radially inwardly to the annular enlargement  22   d  and the unflared end  22   c  of the inner hollow cylindrical body  22   a  with the one end of the metal sheath  14  being between portions of the inner and outer shells  22  and  24 , for positively fixing the shells to the metal sheath  14 . To this end the end of the sheath  14  may even extend to the space between the large diameter portion  24   d  and the annular enlargement  22   d.    
     In  FIG.  5   , each coupler structure also includes hollow sleeve  28  having a body  28   a  extending around the outer metal shell  24  and one end  28   b  fixed to one of the couplers, the body  28   a  of the hollow sleeve  28  having a inner small diameter ring or step portion  28   c  engaged behind the fixing washer  26  for positively securing the shells  22  and  24 , and therefore the ends of inner and outer hose parts  14  and  16 , to the couplers  18  and  20 . To this end, the sleeve  28  has a female thread  28   b  that is securely threaded to a male threaded portion  18   d  and  20   c  of the respective coupler  18  and  20 . 
     The preferred first coupler  18  for use in the United States, is a female coupler with a fixed portion  18   b  connected to the first nipple  18   a , and a moveable, i.e. rotatable, portion  18   c  movably mounted to the fixed portion  18   b , and a water sealing washer  30 , made for example of soft polymer, engaged to the fixed portion for water sealing the first coupler to a source of water. The fixed and movable portions  18   b  and  18   c  each have interfering flanges  18   e  and  18   f  for trapping the movable portion  18   c  to the fixed portion  18   b  but allowing some axial and free rotational relative movement between these parts. Movable portion  18   c  of coupler  18  is internally threaded to be threadably connected to a water faucet. 
     While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the principles of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles. It will also be understood that the present invention includes any combination of the features and elements disclosed herein and any combination of equivalent features. The exemplary embodiments shown herein are presented for the purposes of illustration only and are not meant to limit the scope of the invention.