Patent ID: 7748751

Claim:
A gapless pipe connection comprising: a female flange having an inward-facing conically tapered sealing surface; a male flange having an outward-facing conically tapered sealing surface; and a seal ring having an outward-facing conically tapered surface complementary to the sealing surface of the female flange and an inward-facing conically tapered surface complementary to the sealing surface of the male flange; wherein the seal ring is positioned between the male and female flanges with the conically tapered surfaces of the seal ring in contact with the complementary sealing surfaces of the male and female flanges and the male and female flanges are coupled together to form a pipe connection having a conduit therethrough; wherein a conduit wall formed by the connection is substantially free of gaps between the male flange and the female flange, and wherein a nose portion of the male flange is configured to be deformed by contact pressure from the seal ring in the assembled connection, wherein the nose portion of the male flange is configured to have a first inner diameter when the connection is not assembled and a second inner diameter which is less than the first inner diameter when the connection is assembled.