Method and apparatus for making a joint for steel tubes

Claim 1

Process for manufacturing a pipe joint comprising one male element with an external conical threading and a torque limitative shoulder at its end and one female element with a corresponding internal conical threading and an inside correponding torque limitative shoulder consisting of: pre-machining the male and the female elements; final machining the threadings of the male and of the female elements; providing a male thread gauge corresponding to the threading of the female element and a female thread gauge corresponding to the threading of the male element, each of said gauges being provided with an index disposed on a generatrix, the position of said indexes being such that when the male and the female gauges are screwed together by hand, said indexes are located on the same generatrix; engaging by hand said male thread gauge on the female element and noting a mark on the female element on the same generatrix as the index of said male thread gauge; engaging by hand said female thread gauge on the male element and noting a mark on the male element on the same generatrix as the index of said female thread gauge; providing a male threaded mandrel made of a steel with high mechanical characteristics having on its end the shape that the external torque limitative shoulder of the male element must have after its machining is completed, said male threaded mandrel being provided with an index located on the same generatrix as the index of said female gauge when said female gauge is screwed by hand onto said male threaded mandrel; providing a female threaded mandrel made of a steel with high mechanical characteristics having the internal shape that the internal torque limitative shoulder of the female element must have after its machining is completed, said female threaded mandrel being provided with an index located on the same generatrix as the index of said male gauge when said male gauge is screwed by hand into said female threaded mandrel; screwing said male threaded mandrel into the female element until the generatrix of the index of the male threaded mandrel is positioned at a predetermined distance beyond the generatrix of the index of the female element and disengaging the male threaded mandrel from the female element; screwing said female threaded mandrel onto the male element until the generatrix of said index of the female threaded mandrel is positioned at a predetermined distance beyond the generatrix of the index of the male element and disengaging the female mandrel from the male element.