Patent Document

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a Hose-In-Hose, and, more particularly, to a Hose-In-Hose secondary coupler. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     It is known that Hose-In-Hoses have been used to transport liquid waste, such as nuclear waste, to a place away from the source. 
     A problem with current Hose-In-Hose configurations is that once the outer hose is disconnected via a coupler, the separated ends must be physically pulled apart to allow access to the inner hose. Although on shorter lengths of hose this may not present much of a problem, as the length of the hose increases the difficulty in providing adequate force to pull apart the disconnected ends also increases. The ability to adequately separate the disconnected ends of the outer hose to a significant distance thereby allowing access to the inner hose relies on strength of the end user. Furthermore, longer hoses may not be able to be separated at the coupler due to the weight of the individual hose ends. 
     What is needed is a device which allows access to the inner hose without the need to substantially move the two disconnected ends of the outer hose. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a Hose-In-Hose which can allow access to the inner hose without substantially moving the two disconnected ends of the outer hose. 
     The Hose-In-Hose of this invention includes an inner or primary hose assembly which has a first hose casing, a second hose casing, and a primary coupler, and an outer or secondary hose assembly. The primary coupler connects the first hose casing and the second hose casing of the primary hose assembly. The secondary hose assembly provides a third hose casing, a fourth hose casing, and a secondary coupler. The secondary hose assembly encloses the primary hose assembly. The secondary coupler of the outer hose assembly includes slideable sleeve parts having a joined position connecting the third hose casing and the fourth hose casing. The slideable sleeve parts have an open position which exposes the primary hose assembly. 
     Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide for an improved way for accessing the primary hose in a Hose-In-Hose assembly. 
     Another object of this invention is to provide a way to connect the secondary assembly over the primary assembly in a confined space. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of this invention, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and the invention will be better understood by reference to the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the present invention showing the primary and secondary hose assemblies connected with FIGS. 1A and 1B showing detailed components and FIG. 1C being an end view A. 
     FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the Hose-In-Hose showing the secondary coupler in an open position. 
     FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the Hose-In-Hose showing the primary and secondary hose assemblies in open positions. 
     FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the secondary hose assembly connected, with FIGS. 4A and 4B showing detailed components and FIG. 4C being an end view A. 
     FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the secondary hose assembly shown in an open position. 
     FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of one secondary coupler part of the secondary hose assembly. 
    
    
     Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The preferred embodiment herein described is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. It is chosen and described to explain the principles of the invention and its application and practical use to enable others skilled in the art to utilize the invention. 
     Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. 1, reference character  10  generally designates a Hose-In-Hose constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Hose-In-Hose  10  includes two distinct components, namely, a primary or inner hose assembly  12  and an secondary or outer hose assembly  14 . 
     As depicted, secondary hose assembly  14  completely encases the primary hose assembly  12  thereby creating a containment space  16  between the outer surface of the primary hose assembly  12  and the inner surface of the secondary hose assembly  14  for containing any liquids leaking from the primary hose assembly  12  due to a break or tear in the primary hose assembly. The primary hose assembly  12  may be used to transmit and contain liquids, for example and without the intention to limit, such as nuclear waste, hazardous liquid waste, or contaminated water. 
     FIG. 1 shows Hose-In-Hose  10  as a closed system, meaning both the primary and secondary hose assemblies  12 ,  14  are each sealed. View A, FIG. 1C, is an end view of Hose-In-Hose  10 . Primary hose assembly  12  includes a hose casing  18 , a hose casing  20 , and a primary inner coupler  22 . Inner coupler  22  connects hose casing  18  and hose casing  20  in such a manner as to create a sealed closed system. Coupler  22  includes a female coupling part  24  and a male coupler part  26 , each of which is attached to one of hose casings  18 ,  20  by means of swaged ferrule  32 . Female coupling part  24  includes an outturned flanged retainer  28  which carries a rotatable nut  30 . Male coupler part  26  is externally threaded and preferably tapered to fit into retainer  28  where it is secured by nut  30 . 
     Secondary hose assembly  14  includes a hose casing  34 , a hose casing  36 , and a secondary or outer coupler  38 . Outer coupler  38  provides for connecting hose casings  34 ,  36  to create a sealed closed system about primary hose assembly  12 . Coupler  38  includes slideable sleeve parts  40 , shanks  44  and collars  46 . Each shank  44  is attached to its hose casing  34 ,  36  by a swaged ferrule  49 . Sleeve parts  40  are separable having an extended position as shown in FIG. 1 and a retracted position as shown in FIG.  2 . Each sleeve part  40  is provided with an in-turned annular flange  42  at one end and an outturned annular flange  43  at the opposite end. Sleeve parts  40  are mounted so as to slide longitudinally along shanks  44 . In this manner, the sleeve parts  40  of outer coupler  38  can shift inward and outwardly relative to each other between their retracted position and extended position. Each shank  44  is provided with an outturned flange  45  so that as its supported sleeve part  40  slides outwardly over the shank, flange  42  of the sleeve part contacts and abuts flange  45  of the shank, thus restricting any further outward movement, retaining the sleeve part in its extended position as best seen in FIGS. 1A and 4A. 
     As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 4, when sleeve parts  40  are in their extended position flanges  43  are aligned in a face to face orientation, with, preferably, an annular gasket  54  located between. The flanges  43  are joined and secured by annularly spaced bolts  50  and nuts  51 . 
     Sleeve parts  40  are secured in their extended position upon shanks  44  by collars  46 . Each collar is formed of two semi-circular parts  47  (see FIG. 6) joined by screws  58 . Once sleeve parts  40  are extended, parts  47  of collars  46  are placed round shanks  44  and joined by screws  58  with an annular rib  62  carried by each collar fitting restrictively in an annular groove  66  in each shank  44  so as to fixedly position each collar next to the end face  48  of the adjacent sleeve. 
     Within each collar  46  and arranged peripherally about the collar are threaded bores  59 . Securement screws  60  are turned through each collar in bores  59  into contact with the adjacent sleeve end face  48  to urge sleeve flange  42  toward shank flange  45 , compressing an annular seal  64  to form a complete liquid seal between each shank and sleeve. Rib  62  may be in the form of an insulator envisioned to work in conjunction with non-conductive hose to allow for the use of a leak detector. 
     Referring now to FIGS. 2,  3 , and  5 , sleeve parts  40  are shown in their retracted position thereby opening secondary or outer coupler  38  of secondary hose assembly  14 . This may be accomplished by removing collars  46  by loosening securement screws  60  and the removal of screws  58  so the two halves or parts  47  of each collar can be separated and removed from engagement with its associated shank  44 . Then disconnecting flanges  43  by removing bolts  50  and nuts  51  frees sleeve parts  40  from their secured extended position and allows for outer coupler  38  to be opened by retracting and sliding sleeve parts  40  longitudinally along shanks  44 . Although collars  46  are shown completely removed, they could be simply slid along the sleeve parts  40  by sufficiently loosening bolts  58  to allow the collar parts  47  to be spread apart. 
     When sleeve parts  40  are secured in their extended position, outer, coupler  38  is in a joined position connecting hose casings  34 ,  36  in a sealed position (FIGS.  1  and  4 ). When sleeve parts  40  are in their retracted position, outer coupler  38  is in an open position (FIGS. 2 and 3) thereby exposing primary hose assembly  12  and its coupler  22  to allow it to be opened or repaired. 
     Hose-In-Hose  10  will contain liquids which may leak from a rupture of primary hose assembly  12  and prevent such potentially hazardous liquids from causing damage to the environment or injury to the end user. Secondary or outer coupler  38  provides the advantage of allowing access to the primary hose assembly  12  via the use of slideable sleeve parts  40  without needing to further separate hose casings  34 ,  36 . This is a significant improvement upon the prior art. Further, the use of insulated materials would allow use of a signal or an alarm device, which may be present on or around the assembly, thereby notifying the end user of leakage from the primary hose. 
     While this invention has been described as having a preferred design, the present invention can be further modified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains and which fall within the limits of the appended claims.

Technology Category: 2