Patent ID: 7448414

Claim:
A rigid pipe of variable length ( 1 ), comprising a first elongated, articulated pipe-half joined to an opposing second elongated, articulated pipe-half, said elongated pipe-halves being individually wound on spools ( 5 ) in a housing ( 12 ) and are progressively connected to each other to form a pipe ( 1 ) of desired length, characterized in that each elongated, articulated pipe-half is formed as a chain of rigid, semi-cylindrical pipe sections ( 2 ) joined together in series at their opposing ends by hinges ( 3 ), and further characterized in that each rigid pipe section ( 2 ) from the first elongated pipe-half comprises a locking means ( 4 ) that is complimentary to a locking means ( 4 ) on the opposing rigid pipe section ( 2 ) from the second elongated pipe-half, such that the complimentary locking means lock the flexible pipe-halves together with their concave side directed towards each other forming an elongated rigid pipe of desired length.