Patent ID: 8656940

Claim:
A safety system for a fluid conduit comprising: a flexible conduit having first and second ends: a housing at each end of the conduit defining a valve seat, each valve seat normally being a first predetermined distance from the other, and being movable away from the other when the conduit fails, the housing including a generally cylindrical portion and a generally tapered portion defining the valve seat, the cylindrical portion and the tapered portion meeting at a generally transverse plane; a valve body disposed within each housing, the valve seats being disposed between the valve bodies, the valve bodies and the valve seats cooperating to define valves; a connector connected to each of the valve bodies and holding the valve bodies apart a second distance which is greater than the first distance so that each valve body resides general in the cylindrical portion of the corresponding housing such that the tapered portion of the valve body is spaced from the generally transverse plane until the conduit fails; wherein the connector comprising a generally helical spring residing within the conduit and sized to be in substantially complete contact with an interior wall of the conduit so that the spring provides structural strength to the conduit: and a retainer disposed within each housing and cooperating with the connector to retain the valve bodies against movement to permit fluid to flow through the conduit until the conduit fails, the connector being operative when the conduit fails and the valve seats move away from each other to retain the valve bodies at the second distance so that the valve seats move toward the valve bodies and close the valves, or if the distance between the valve seats does not change, to permit the valve bodies to move toward each other so that the valve bodies move toward the valve seats to close the valves, each valve body moving a third distance into contact with and past the plane and into the tapered portion of the corresponding housing to close the corresponding valve when the conduit fails, the third distance corresponding to the compression zone between the valve body and the corresponding valve seat and being sufficiently large to reduce heat generated in the compression zone from adiabatic compression of the fluid flowing through the compression zone.