Patent Application
20100084036
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a composite pipe designed to transport, indiscriminately, a hydrocarbon fuel or a hydraulic fluid, particularly in the aeronautical field.
2. Description of the Related Art
At the present time, aircraft such as airplanes or helicopters comprise numerous lines for carrying fluid, whether these be fuels, such as hydrocarbons like kerosene, or a hydraulic fluid such as oil.
However, some of these lines are made of metal (stainless steel, aluminum, brass). There are therefore heavy, complicated and expensive to produce because of their sometimes complex shapes, and are difficult to install because they are fairly rigid.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to solve the aforementioned problems using a solution that is simple to implement, reliable and less expensive.
Thus, the subject of the present invention is a composite pipe designed to transport, indiscriminately, a hydrocarbon fuel or a hydraulic fluid, characterized in that it comprises a hollow central sheath made of a thermoformed thermoplastic and an external sheath consisting of several radially superposed layers comprising at least one layer of resin placed in direct contact with the central sheath and one layer of fibers covering the layer of resin.
According to some preferred embodiments, the pipe according to the present invention further comprises at least one of the following features:
The present invention also relates to a method for creating a composite pipe designed to transport, indiscriminately, a hydrocarbon fuel or a hydraulic fluid, characterized in that it consists in encapsulating a hollow central sheath made of a thermoplastic using an external sheath consisting of several radially superposed layers and comprising at least one layer of resin placed in direct contact with the central sheath and a layer of fibers covering the layer of resin.
Advantageously, the central sheath is thermoformed beforehand, by hot bending, in order to give it its final curvature, before it is covered with the external sheath.
The invention also relates to the use of the pipe as described hereinabove to carry, indiscriminately, a hydrocarbon such as fuel oil or kerosene, or a hydraulic fluid such as oil, particularly in the aeronautical industry.
The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to a particular embodiment which is given solely by way of illustration and depicted in the figures.
A pipe 1 for carrying fluid according to the present invention is depicted in
This pipe 1 comprises a hollow central sheath 10, or primary tube, made of thermoformed thermoplastic, and an external sheath 20 made up of several radially superposed layers.
More specifically, the external layer 20 consists of an alternation of layers of resin and of fibers, and at least of one layer of fibers 22 sandwiched between two layers of resin 24 one of which is closely associated with the central sheath.
As far as the choice of materials is concerned, the central sheath 10 is made of a thermoplastic chosen from the group consisting of polyamide (PA), polyoxy methylene (POM), polyether ether ketone (PEEK), polyester, polysulfone (PSU), polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), polyimide (PI), polyamide-imide (PAI) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and other fluorides.
Each layer of resin 24 is made of epoxy and each layer of fibers 22 is created on the basis of glass fiber, carbon fiber or Kevlar fiber.
In order to give it its finished shape, particularly its curvature, the invention also relates to the fact that during the method of producing the pipe, the central sheath 10 is thermoformed by hot bending to the desired shape before it is covered with the external sheath 20.
Couplings 30, for example of the “Y”, “T”, or “L” type, are connected to the ends 1a and 1b of the pipe 1, particularly around the central sheath 10. More specifically, as depicted in
Such a pipe 1 can thus be used, through its design, to carry, indiscriminately, a hydrocarbon such as fuel oil or kerosene or hydraulic fluid such as oil, particularly in the aeronautical industry.
A pipe such as this measures, for example, from 12 mm to 130 mm and operates in a temperature range extending from −55° C. to +125° C. at a pressure ranging from negative pressures to several thousand Psig.
It goes without saying that the detailed description of the subject matter of the invention, given purely by way of illustration, does not in any way constitute a restriction, technical equivalents also being included within the scope of the present invention.
Thus, other materials may be used for other uses. In particular, each layer of resin may be a polyester, phenolic or vinyl ester resin. Likewise, the layer of fibers may be based on carbon, Kevlar, flax or mixtures of these fibers.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 08 56772 | Oct 2008 | FR | national |
