Patent ID: 7905321

Claim:
A flexible insert for an engine exhaust system, the system having at least one exhaust pipe defining an inner diameter and possessing at least one curved portion therealong, the insert comprising: a first flexible frustoconical section comprising a porous interlacement of flat rovings helically wound about an axis of the insert and having an open large diameter end and an open small diameter end opposite the large diameter; a second flexible frustoconical section comprising a porous interlacement of flat rovings helically wound about an axis of the insert and having an open large diameter end and an open small diameter end opposite the large diameter, the small diameter ends of the first and second flexible frustoconical sections of rovings being interlaced together in a continuous length, whereby the entire insert is sufficiently flexible to bend and flex through a curved portion of an exhaust pipe; a first open attachment ring component secured to the large diameter end of the first frustoconical section; and a second open attachment ring component secured to the large diameter end of the second frustoconical section, the first attachment ring component being disposed opposite the second attachment ring component, each of the attachment rings having an outer diameter conforming closely to the inner diameter of the exhaust pipe.