Importance

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Abstract

A pipeline safety joint to provide a controlled weakness in a pipeline in which a pair of tubular mandrels are connectable to first and second pipe-ends. A portion of the first mandrel of a pair is insertable in a part of the other and a latch mechanism is provided on said portion engageable with the part of the other mandrel of the pair to hold the mandrels against axial separation. A retaining shoulder on the first mandrel retains the latch mechanism in engagement and a tubular sealing is positioned to seal the two mandrels. A fluid-tight pressure compensation chamber surrounds said portion of the first mandrel and is engageable directly or indirectly on said one mandrel and said other mandrel of the pair. A fluid passage provides communication between the interior of the mandrel and its associated pressure compensation chamber, the seal and its associated compensation chamber being dimensioned whereby forces produced to separate the mandrels of a pair are substantially equalized by the fluid pressure appearing in the fluid compensation chamber. Frangible securing means, such as a bolt, normally holds the two mandrels in interengagement but break when a predetermined stress is applied, the pressure compensation chamber being axially crushable when the frangible means break, thereby allowing limited axial movement between the mandrels, sufficiently to permit the retaining shoulder to move axially to release the latch mechanism, thereby to allow the mandrels to disengage from one another.

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First Claim