Hose coupling

Claim 1

A coupler for extremely long flexible hoses that are subjected to very high end pulls comprising a hollow main body section, the interior wall of which tapers from a maximum diameter at one end to a minimum diameter at its other end, a tubular hose-entering chamber at the minimum diameter end of said body section, said chamber including a sleeve member and a concentrically disposed wedge member, each member being movable axially within said tapered hollow main body section and adapted to embrace a hose jacket that enters said chamber, and is gripped between said members one of said members being doubly tapered with the apex edge of said double taper being in direct contact with said hose jacket when said jacket is gripped by said members, both the angles of said double taper being no greater than approximately 4 degrees, said wedge member having a tapered external surface adapted to engage the tapered interior wall of the main body section, a larger gripping area of said tapered member being in contact with said hose jacket when said members are moved axially within the tapered hollow main body section, whereby the gripping action takes place at the ridge of the taper at low water pressures and low end pulls but is automatically distributed over a larger area at high water pressures and at high end pulls.