Fluid conduit

Abstract

Disclosed is a fluid conduit (1) comprising a pipe (2) and a conduit connector (3) which is connected to the electrically conductive pipe (2). In order to be able to keep the risk associated with electricity being on the fluid line as low as possible with little effort, an electrical connecting element (9) which is electrically connected to the pipe (2) is provided in the region of the conduit connector (3).

Claims

1. A fluid conduit comprising: a pipe designed to be electrically conductive; a conduit connector connected to the pipe; and an electrical connecting element, which is electrically connected to the pipe, is provided in a region of the conduit connector, wherein the electrical connecting element has a ring which surrounds a connecting piece of the conduit connector and the ring has an interruption in the circumferential direction.

2. The fluid conduit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electrical connecting element has an outwardly guided electrical contact.

3. The fluid conduit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pipe is plugged onto the connecting piece, and wherein the electrical connecting element is arranged on the connecting piece.

4. The fluid conduit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ring has a nominal diameter which is smaller than an outside diameter of the connecting piece.

5. The fluid conduit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electrical connecting element is arranged at an end side of the pipe between the pipe and the conduit connector.

6. The fluid conduit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electrical connecting element has a flat plug.

7. The fluid conduit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ring takes the form of a hollow cylinder.

8. The fluid conduit as claimed in claim 7, wherein the hollow cylinder has a conical inner shape.

9. The fluid conduit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pipe is electrically conductive at least on its inner side and the electrical connecting element is electrically connected to the inner side.

10. The fluid conduit as claimed in claim 9, wherein an electrical connection extends between the electrical connecting element and the inner side of the pipe over the outer side of the conduit connector.

11. The fluid conduit as claimed in claim 9, wherein the pipe at least partially surrounds the electrical connecting element.

12. The fluid conduit as claimed in claim 11, wherein the electrical connecting element has a plug-on region whose outside diameter widens conically.

Description

(1) The invention will be described hereinbelow with reference to a preferred exemplary embodiment in conjunction with the drawing, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a schematic illustration of a detail of a fluid conduit,

(3) FIG. 2 shows a perspective illustration of a connecting element,

(4) FIG. 3 shows a section III-III according to FIG. 4, and

(5) FIG. 4 shows a front view of a connecting element.

(6) FIG. 1 shows a detail of a fluid conduit 1. The fluid conduit 1 has a pipe 2 and a conduit connector 3. The term pipe 2 is to be understood generally here. It can be a rigid pipe or a flexible pipe or a hose. Further designs are possible.

(7) The pipe 2 has an electrically conductive layer 4 on its inner side. As an alternative to this, the pipe 2 can also be electrically conductive overall.

(8) The conduit connector 3 has a connecting piece 5 with a fir tree profile 6 on its outer side. The pipe 2 is pushed onto the connecting piece 5. The pipe 2 is elastic to a certain extent, i.e. it can hug the fir tree profile 6 of the connecting piece 5 and then likewise forms a kind of fir tree profile on its radial outer side.

(9) The pipe 2 is pushed from one end 7 of the connecting piece 5 onto the connecting piece 5. A sealing ring 8 is arranged in the region of this end 7 in order to ensure reliable sealing between the connecting piece 5 and the pipe 2. Such a sealing ring is not required in all cases.

(10) An electrical connecting element 9 is placed on the connecting piece 5. The electrical connecting element is situated as far as possible away from the end 7 such that it butts against a housing part 10 of the conduit connector 3 and bears against the housing part 10.

(11) The connecting element 9 is illustrated with further details in FIGS. 2 to 4.

(12) The connecting element 9 has an outwardly guided electrical contact 11 in the form of a flat plug 12. The flat plug has a through-opening 13 which can be used to improve a fastening of a cable lug. The connecting element 9 is formed overall from an electrically conductive material, for example from a metal, such as copper or steel. The connecting element 9 is designed to be elastically flexible to a certain extent.

(13) The connecting element 9 has a ring 14 which has an interruption 15 in the circumferential direction. The ring 14 takes the form of a hollow cylinder 16 which, as can be seen in FIG. 3, has a conical inner shape 17, wherein the hollow cylinder 16 preferably has an axial length which is greater than its radial wall thickness. The inner shape 17 is tailored to an outer shape of the connecting piece 5 in the region where the connecting element 9 is arranged on the connecting piece 5. If the connecting piece 5 has the fir tree profile 6 illustrated, a slight conical widening of the outer side of the connecting piece 5 can then also be observed as a rule shortly ahead of the housing part 10.

(14) The ring 14 has on its radial outer side a plug-on region 18 which widens conically toward the housing part 10.

(15) As can be seen in FIG. 1, the pipe 2 is pushed onto the plug-on region 18, with the result that the electrically conductive layer 4 comes to lie on the outer side of the ring 14 in the region of the plug-on region 18. Here, the pipe 2 is somewhat widened at its end 19 which is adjacent to the housing part 10, with the result that the pipe 2 is arranged, in the region of the end 19, with a certain radial stress on the ring 14. This results in a relatively large contact pressure between the inner side of the pipe 2 and the connecting element 9 and thus an excellent electrical contact.

(16) In a manner which is not illustrated in further detail, it is also possible in any event for the conduit connector 3 to be made electrically conductive in the region of the connecting piece 5 such that electricity can pass over the outer side of the conduit connector from the pipe 2 to the connecting element 9. The electrical conductivity can be formed, for example, by an electrically conducting layer, such as a lacquer.

(17) The connecting element 9 is arranged between an end side 20 of the pipe 2 and the conduit connector 3, to be more precise the housing part 10 of the conduit connector 3. Consequently, the connecting element is additionally fixed in the axial direction, i.e. a direction parallel to the axis 21 of the connecting piece 5.

(18) The production of such a fluid conduit is relatively simple. Before the pipe 2 is pushed onto the connecting piece 5, the connecting element 9 is pushed by its ring 14 onto the connecting piece 5 until it reaches the housing part 10. The pipe 2 is then pushed onto the connecting piece 5 to such an extent that its end 19 passes over the plug-on region 18 and hugs the plug-on region 18 of the ring 14 with a certain internal stress. The conduit connector is thus basically completed. If required, it can be encapsulated with a sealing compound which is not illustrated in further detail, with it of course being necessary for the electrical connecting element 9 to project from the sealing compound.

(19) If required, the connecting element can also be mechanically interlocked with the connecting piece 5 or the housing part 10 or be positively connected in some other way in order to prevent twisting.