Importance

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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 portions 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 other member.

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First Claim