Patent ID: 7303213

Claim:
A pipe structure comprising a flexible pipe connected to an end fitting, the flexible pipe comprising an armour layer and an underlying pipe layer to said armour layer, said underlying pipe layer having an outer surface around which armouring wires of an armouring layer are wound, the flexible pipe having a longitudinal axis, wherein said end fitting comprises: one or more anchoring elements adapted for anchoring at least one of said armouring wires, and a support unit arranged coaxially around said underlying pipe layer; at least one of said armouring wires comprising a conforming-wire-pipe-section forming a helical path and conforming to the outer surface of said underlying pipe layer of said flexible pipe at least over a part of its length, and a wire-end-fitting-section; said two wire sections extending in opposite directions from a wire-pipe-exit-point where said armouring wire separates tangentially away from said underlying pipe layer; and said wire follows an essentially straight line of a length L free between said wire-pipe-exit-point and a straight-line-end-point on said support unit, said essentially straight line part of the wire being defined as the straight-line-section, and said straight-line part is essentially unsupported between said wire-pipe-exit-point and said straight-line-end-point on said support unit.