Patent ID: 6854769

Claim:
A bellows-type pipe junction for joining a first pipe end of a first pipe with a second pipe end of a second pipe having a spacing distance between the first pipe end and the second pipe end, said pipe junction comprising: a first sleeve section configured and dimensioned to be fitted onto the first pipe end; a second sleeve section configured and dimensioned to be fitted onto the second pipe end; a flexible offset section located and extending between said first and second sleeve sections, having a first end adjacent to said second sleeve section and a second end adjacent to said second sleeve section; a first flexible joint connecting said first end of said offset section with said first sleeve section; and a second flexible joint connecting said second end of said offset section with said second sleeve section; and further including at least one feature selected from the group consisting of: a first feature wherein said first flexible joint comprises three coaxial portions that have different diameters and overlap each other and are successively joined to one another to form a Z- or S-shaped cross-sectional configuration, having an externally open gap between an innermost one and a middle one of said coaxial portions, and having a gap adapted to receive a pipe wall of the first pipe end between an outermost one and said middle one of said coaxial portions, a second feature wherein said first end of said offset section includes a transition portion that has a conically tapering inner diameter and that is configured to be plugged into the first pipe end, a third feature wherein said second end of said offset section includes an annular lip seal configured and dimensioned to extend into the second pipe end, and a fourth feature wherein said second flexible joint comprises a conically flared portion extending and conically outwardly flaring from said second sleeve section, and an undulating bellows portion transitioning from a smaller diameter of said second end of said offset section to a larger diameter of said flared portion.