United States Patent 1 Dearden et al. [54] PIPE CONNECTOR WITH VARIED THREAD- PITCH [73] Inventors: Geoffrey C. Dearden; Edward J. Speare, both of Bedford; Katsuo Ueno, Hertfordshire, all of England; Donald N. Jones, Aberdeenshire, Scotland [73] Assignees: Hunting Oilfield Services (UK) Limited, Aberdee, Scotland; Kawasaki Steel Corporation, Kobe, Japan [21] Appl. No: 645,048 [22] Filed: Aug. 28, 1984 - [30] Foreign Application Priority Data ‘Aug. 31, 1983 [GB] United Kingdom cocecnows 8323348 [51] Int, cL . FI6L 15/04 [2] Us.c. 285/175; 285/334; 285/300; 411/413; 411/263 [58] Field of Search 285/332.4, 333, 334, 285/334.4, 385, 390, 391, 175; 403/47, 411/413, 290, 263 156) References Cited US. PATENT DOCUMENTS ‘a0378 2/1903 Greenfield 2s/irs 3050318 §/1962 Van Der Wise 285/334 3210036 10/1965 Van Der Wissel 285/334 Sonusi6 11/1976 Fredd 285/178 23390 |5/1918 Mica 285/334 2121862 10/1978. Greet “ hes/a3s 434e500 '$/1982 Dailey 285/334 4423893 1/1984 Holmes 25/334 22 —— Than — Pa>Pab Pe Pst Ps Pt le 3 Sf 2 fi) [45] Patent Number: Date of Patent: 4,582,348 Apr. 15, 1986 FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS 48111 11/1981. United Kingdom Primary Examiner—Cornelivs J. Husar Assistant Examiner—Eric K. Nicholson Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Balogh, Osann, Kramer, Dvorak, Genova & Traub (7 ABSTRACT A connector, for example for connecting a tubular member such as a pipe, comprises a male member which has an external frusto-conical surface provided with a thread and a female member having an internal frusto- conical surface provided with a thread for engagement with the thread of the male member. The members are provided with sealing surfaces which are brought into sealing abutment under an axially directed compressive force when the members are fully engaged together, as a result of which one member is partly compressed and the other tensioned. To improve the load distribution along the threads of the members, the pitch of the thread is varied along the axial length of the threaded surfaces. Specifically the surfaces are divided into three portions, an intermediate portion in which the pitches of the threads of the members are the same, and end portions at either end of the intermediate portion, in ‘which the pitches of the threads differ. In the end por- tions closest to the sealing surfaces, the pitch of the thread of the one member, which is compressed during full engagement of the members, is greater than the pitch of the thread of the other member, and in the other end portion the pitch of the thread of the one member is smaller than the pitch of the thread of the 285/333, other member. 21 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures 2) —— Cale 3104 4e hPa “tps “hPa HP) HP) Pr re Lee 22 ~ 20 ——--- “fa se tg +2 + Zi KH ib 4a a al Pe ~PePs | 2!U.S. Patent Apr. 15, 1986 Sheetlof6 4,582,348 FIG. 1 PRIOR ART4,582,348 Sheet 2 of 6 U.S. Patent Apr. 15, 1986 FIG.2A a —+— 20 =o —2/ po07 A | | ——-l Seating 4 Surfaces