Crimping processes for hose assemblies and hose assemblies produced thereby

Abstract

Processes for securing a fitting to a hose end, and a hose assembly produced thereby. The fitting has an interior portion, exterior portion, and cavity therebetween. An end of the hose is located within the cavity and compressed between the interior and exterior portions. The exterior portion of the fitting has at least first and second circumferential crimped portions axially spaced apart along the fitting length, and first and second portions of the hose are compressed within the first and second circumferential crimped portions. The exterior portion of the fitting has an annular-shaped bubble portion between the first and second circumferential crimped portions. The bubble portion has a diameter larger than diameters of the first and second circumferential crimped portions, and the hose has a portion radially expanded into an annular-shaped cavity surrounded by the bubble portion as the hose is compressed at the first and second portions thereof.

Claims

1. A process of securing a fitting to an end of a hose, the fitting having an axial extent, the process comprising: crimping a first circumferential portion of the fitting from an initial diameter to a final crimping diameter to thereby define a first crimp; and, in a next cycle, crimping a second circumferential portion of the fitting axially spaced apart from the first circumferential portion, the second circumferential portion being crimped from an initial diameter to a final crimping diameter to thereby define a second crimp; and, performing at least a third crimping operation cycle on a third circumferential portion of the fitting from an initial diameter to a final crimping diameter, wherein the third circumferential portion is axially spaced apart from the first and second circumferential portions; wherein the third circumferential portion is located at an axial location such that once the third circumferential portion is crimped an uncrimped circumferential portion of the fitting remains between the second crimp and the third crimp, the uncrimped circumferential portion defining a bubble portion of the fitting after crimping the second circumferential portion; and, whereby the fitting is secured to the hose by the crimps.

2. The process of claim 1, further comprising locating the second circumferential portion at an axial location such that once the second circumferential portion is crimped an uncrimped circumferential portion of the fitting remains between the first crimp and the second crimp, the uncrimped circumferential portion defining a bubble portion of the fitting after crimping the second circumferential portion.

3. The process of claim 2, wherein the hose has a portion radially expanded into an annular-shaped cavity surrounded by the bubble portion due to first and second portions of the hose being compressed at the first and second circumferential portions of the fitting.

4. The process of claim 1, wherein the hose is not skived prior to crimping the first circumferential portion.

5. The hose assembly produced by the process of claim 1.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 shows an example of a hose assembly comprising a hose fitting attached to an end of a hose.

(2) FIG. 2 shows an example of a hydraulic swaging machine of a type capable of producing the hose assembly of FIG. 1.

(3) FIGS. 3 and 4 depict portions of two hose assemblies in which a fitting has been swaged onto the end of a hose, and the swaged portion defines a single contiguous surface area or continuous segment of the fitting.

(4) FIG. 5 shows an example of a hose assembly comprising a hose fitting attached by a crimping operation to an end of a hose in accordance with a nonlimiting embodiment of the invention.

(5) FIG. 6 shows an example of a crimping machine of a type capable of producing the hose assembly of FIG. 5.

(6) FIG. 7 represents a set of crimp dies capable of being used with the crimping machine of FIG. 6.

(7) FIG. 8 represents another set of crimp dies capable of being used with the crimping machine of FIG. 6.

(8) FIG. 9 shows another example of a crimping machine of a type capable of producing the hose assembly of FIG. 5.

(9) FIG. 10 represents an example of a hose assembly comprising a hose fitting attached by a crimping operation to an end of a hose in accordance with another nonlimiting embodiment of the invention.

(10) FIGS. 11 and 12 represent an example of a non-skived hose and a skived hose, respectively.

(11) FIG. 13 represents a cross section of a hose assembly comprising a hose fitting attached by a crimping operation to an end of a hose in accordance with a nonlimiting embodiment of the invention.

(12) FIGS. 14A, 14B, and 15 depict portions of hose assemblies in which a fitting has been crimped onto the end of a hose, and the crimped portion defines a single contiguous surface area or continuous segment of the fitting.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(13) Preferred aspects of the present invention include the desire to simplify the process of attaching a fitting to a hose to produce a completed hose assembly, including relatively large-diameter, high-pressure hoses comparable to the types shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 4. The process entails producing what will be referred to as a bubble-style crimp, a nonlimiting example of which is depicted in FIG. 5. As shown in FIG. 5, a bubble-style crimped hose assembly 40 includes a fitting 42 secured to a hose 44. The fitting 42 includes multiple crimped portions 46 and uncrimped bubble portions 48 therebetween. The hose assembly 40 is created using a crimping machine, for example, of a type represented in FIG. 6, instead of a swaging machine, for example, of the type represented in FIG. 2.

(14) The crimping machine 50 represented in FIG. 6 is capable of crushing (compressing) a limited circumferential portion of a fitting, from its initial starting diameter to a final diameter desired for the portion of the fitting, in a single crimp cycle, i.e., a cycle during which crimping dies (for example, dies 54 and 56 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8) are caused to collapse radially inward to engage and crimp the fitting, and then expand radially outward to release the fitting.

(15) According to a preferred aspect of the invention, the hose assembly 40 is not produced by crushing the fitting 42 onto the hose 44 to produce one continuous deformed segment, as is the ordinary case with swaging machines of the type represented in FIG. 2. Instead, the hose assembly 40 is produced by operating a crimping machine to perform multiple crimp cycles on multiple different circumferential portions (separate locations) of the fitting 42 to yield the multiple circumferential crimped portions 46, with each crimping cycle crushing a different one of the circumferential portions from its starting diameter to its final diameter, preferably so that each crimped portion 46 is produced during a single cycle. As such, crimp cycles are performed as many times as needed to crimp different circumferential portions to yield the desired number of crimped portions 46 of the fitting 42, which are disposed and spaced along an axial extent of the fitting 42, as evident in FIGS. 5 and 10. For this purpose, after a crimp cycle is completed, the fitting 42 is axially moved to a new location in relation to the crimping dies, such that a different circumferential portion of the fitting 42 is disposed within the dies after which another crimp cycle is performed on that circumferential portion. By repeating this process, multiple circumferential portions of the fitting 42 are crimped with the result that the fitting 42 will have a bubble-type appearance, such as the nonlimiting example represented in FIG. 5. As such, it is preferred that the different circumferential portions are axially spaced apart relative to one another such that uncrimped circumferential portions of the fitting 42 remain between the crimped portions 46 to ultimately define the bubbles portions 48 of the fitting 42 after the crimping process has been completed.

(16) Bubble-type crimps are conventionally used in automotive brake lines, air hoses, and the like on hoses having diameters of about 1 inch (about 2.5 cm) or smaller. These crimps are generally formed in a single crimp cycle and the die set is configured to simultaneously create as many bubbles as intended for the final configuration of the crimp. In contrast, the present invention forms bubble-type crimps using a multi-cycle crimping process in which each successive crimped portion 46 (and a bubble portion 48 between each adjacent pair of crimped portions 46) is formed in a separate crimp cycle. Furthermore, the crimping process can be performed on hoses having diameters of at least 2 inches (5 cm) and more preferably between two to five inches (5-13 cm) without damaging the hose, for example, by distorting and damaging an exterior layer of the hose.

(17) Preferably, the crimp dies have a crimp length of about 4 inches (about 10 cm) or less per crimp cycle, and more preferably have a crimp length of about 2 inches (5 cm) or less. According to a preferred aspect of the invention, a relatively short crimp length is capable of compressing a circumferential portion of the fitting 42 of limited axial length to the required final diameter of the crimped portion 46 without damaging the integrity of an exterior layer of rubber (or other elastic or flexible material) commonly present on the hose 44. The crimp cycle is repeated on different locations of the fitting 42 creating the bubble appearance. An annular-shaped interior cavity defined and surrounded by each bubble portion 48 provides an area for the exterior layer to deform into during the crimp cycle, allowing the exterior layer to expand without damaging the integrity and strength of the hose 44. FIG. 13 shows a cross section of a crimped fitting 42 in accordance with aspects of the invention. As represented, the hose 44 is received through an opening into an annular-shaped cavity between annular-shaped exterior and interior portions 43 and 44 of the fitting 42, and is compressed within the cavity by the exterior portion 43 at locations 47 surrounded by crimped portions 46 of the exterior portion 43. As a result of the crimping process, it can be seen that as the crimped portions 46 are formed in the exterior portion 43 of the fitting 42, the exterior layer of the hose 44 has radially expanded into interior annular-shaped cavities 49 within the bubble portions 48 of the crimp.

(18) A multi-cycle crimping operation performed to produce a bubble-type crimp of the type represented in FIGS. 5, 10 and 13 is capable of providing considerable time savings in comparison to a fitting swaged onto a hose, such as was discussed in reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. As an example, in one investigation leading to the present invention the time required to crimp a fitting onto a hose and produce a crimped fitting of the type represented in FIG. 5 was roughly two to three minutes, and the time required to complete the entire hose assembly (fittings crimped onto both ends of the hose) was about seven to eight minutes. At this rate, the crimping process can be capable of producing approximately ten or more hose assemblies in the same amount of time required to produce a single hose assembly using a swaging machine and the previously described swaging method.

(19) Another advantage is that the crimping dies do not have to be removed during the entire process of crimping a fitting to a hose. Crimping dies, for example, of the type shown in FIG. 7, can crush a portion of a fitting to its final diameter in a single crimp cycle. After the crimp cycle, the fitting is relocated within the crimping machine so that a different axial portion of the fitting is placed within the same set of dies, after which another crimp cycle can be performed that is essentially a repeat of the prior crimp cycle. As such, time is saved because the machine operator is not required to replace the dies, but instead merely repositions the fitting and hose within the dies prior to performing a subsequent crimp cycle.

(20) In addition to saving time, the crimping process described above can be performed to create a reliable crimp without the requirement to skive the end of a hose. The crimp dies can be sized such that each crimp cycle has enough applied power to compress (crush) the fitting to the desired final diameter with the exterior layer of the hose still attached. Although the end of the hose may optionally be skived or non-skived, the ability to eliminate the skiving process offers the opportunity to further reduce the time to finish a hose assembly.

(21) A variation that may exist is the number of crimp locations that are needed to secure a fitting to a hose. Though FIG. 5 show four circumferential crimp locations, anywhere from two to a much larger number of crimp locations can be formed. Generally, it is believed that the order in which the crimps are made does not matter. FIG. 10 indicates the fitting 42 was crimped in sequence starting at a location proximal to the hose 44 and ending at a location distal from the hose 44 in the order of crimped portions 46a, 46b, 46c, and then 46d. This order can be reversed or performed in any other order.

(22) Another variation that may exist is the number of locations that can be simultaneously crimped with a die set. Whereas the die set 54 shown in FIG. 7 is configured to form a single crimp on a circumferential portion of a fitting with the crimp surface 55, FIG. 8 shows a die set 56 capable of simultaneously forming two crimps on two separate and axially spaced circumferential portions of a fitting with crimp surfaces 57.

(23) Yet another variation that may exist is the number of die fingers within the die set being used. Whereas the crimping machine 50 in FIG. 6 and the die sets 54 and 56 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 comprise eight fingers 52, 58, and 60, respectively, FIG. 9 shows a crimping machine 70 in which a die set comprises four fingers 72. Die sets comprising fewer and greater numbers of die fingers are also within the scope of the invention.

(24) The aspects and features described above are believed to be applicable to essentially any hose size suitable for a rotary hose, vibration hose, choke and kill hose, super choke and kill hose, or Kelly hose. The aspects and features described above are also believed to be applicable to essentially any style and size of fitting that may be attached to such hoses. The aspects and features described above are believed to be particularly useful when crimping relatively large diameter hoses and fittings having crimp lengths in excess of about 4 inches (about 10 cm) long.

(25) While the invention has been described in terms of specific embodiments, it is apparent that other forms could be adopted by one skilled in the art. For example, the physical configuration of the crimping machines, fittings, and hose assemblies could differ in appearance and construction from that shown, and materials and processes/methods other than those noted could be used. Therefore, the scope of the invention is to be limited only by the following claims