Tuned self-damping convoluted conduit

Claim 2

A tuned conduit for use in an automotive exhaust system, said conduit being tuned to greatly reduce vibration therein at specific frequencies which occur during operation of an automotive vehicle having said exhaust system, said conduit comprising at least one coaxial layer forming a conduit wall for carrying said exhaust, a stocking made of a flexible material loosely surrounding and in contact with the conduit, said stocking extending along a length of the conduit, and at least one tuning band surrounding said stocking for securing it to said conduit at a selected location, said selected location being where a loop naturally forms as a result of vibrations in said system at said specific frequencies.

Claim 3

The tuned conduit of claim 1 wherein there are a plurality of coaxial layers which are formed by successive layers of tape, to form a conduit said tape having a width and provided at selected locations on said conduit, the width and locations of said tape being such that a different number of layers is formed at adjacent locations, whereby there is a variable thickness of the conduit wall, said tape being laid down in the walls of said conduit so that naturally occurring nodes are made more flexible and naturally occurring loops are made stiffer.

Claim 4

The tuned conduit of claim 1 wherein said conduit has a length which is likely to form two loops, and there are two of said bands, one at each of said two loops.

Claim 5

The tuned conduit of claim 1 wherein said band tightly clamps said stocking to said conduit at a point where a loop naturally forms as a result of vibrations in said system.

Claim 6

The tuned conduit of claim 1 wherein said conduit has a length which is likely to form a plurality of said loops, and a plurality of said bands, each band being positioned to tightly clamp said stocking to said conduit at a point where one of said loops is likely to form.

Claim 7

The tuned conduit of claim 1 wherein said band loosely clamps said stocking to said conduit at a point where a loop naturally forms as a result of vibrations in said system.

Claim 8

The tuned conduit of claim 1 wherein said conduit has a length which is likely to form a plurality of said loops, and a plurality of said bands, each band being positioned to loosely clamp said stocking to said conduit at a point where one of said loops is likely to form.

Claim 9

An elongated tuned conduit having a length and having successive convolutions, said conduit having a mass and spring rate distributed along said length, said conduit being part of an automotive vehicle exhaust system and being exposed to an environment of vibrations when said vehicle operates, which environmental vibrations may set the conduit into sympathetic vibrations if no correction is provided to prevent said sympathetic vibration, said conduit naturally developing at least one loop responsive to said sympathetic vibrations if not prevented from doing so, tuning means comprising a stocking loosely surrounding said conduit for changing the mass and spring rate of said conduit, and tuning band means for clamping said stocking to said conduit in at least one location where said loop would otherwise form.

Claim 10

An elongated tuned conduit having a length and having successive convolutions, said conduit having a mass and spring rate distributed along said length, said conduit being part of an automotive vehicle exhaust system and being exposed to an environment of vibrations when said vehicle operates, which environmental vibrations may set the conduit into sympathetic vibrations if no correction is provided to prevent said sympathetic vibration, said conduit naturally developing at least one loop responsive to said sympathetic vibrations if not prevented from doing so, tuning means comprising a stocking loosely surrounding said conduit for changing the mass and spring rate of said conduit, and tuning band means for clamping said stocking to said conduit in at least one location where said loop would otherwise form.

Claim 11

The elongated tuned conduit of claim 8 wherein said conduit is made of multi-layered tape, said multi-layers being convoluted to unify said layers into a conduit wall, and said stocking is a metal braid.

Claim 12

The elongated tuned conduit of claim 8 wherein said conduit comprises a seamless cylindrical innertube having a tape wound at a bias angle around said innertube to increase a wall thickness of said innertube, said innertube and said tape being convoluted to form a unitary conduit wall.

Claim 13

The elongated tuned conduit of claim 8 wherein said conduit comprises a seamless innertube, an elongated ribbon wound axially and longitudinally on itself to form a cylindrical tube surrounding said seamless innertube, said innertube and said ribbon being convoluted for form a unitary conduit wall.

Claim 14

The elongated tuned conduit of claim 8 wherein said conduit comprises a combination of a seamless tube and a wrapped tape which are convoluted to unify the tube and tape to form a conduit wall.

Claim 15

The elongated tuned conduit of claim 8 wherein said conduit comprises an elongated ribbon wound longitudinally upon itself to build up a wall having a plurality of plies, said ribbon being convoluted to form a unitary conduit wall.

Claim 16

The elongated tuned conduit of claim 13 wherein said wound ribbon is placed inside a thin walled tube.

Claim 17

A tuned conduit extending between two anchor points at opposite ends of said conduit, said conduit being exposed to automotive caused vibrations, said conduit having at least one layer, a stocking made of a flexible metallic wire material surrounding said conduit and extending between said two anchor points, said stocking also being exposed to said automotive caused vibrations, and at least one tuning band surrounding said stocking for modifying said conduit response to the automotive caused vibrations of said conduit and stocking, the location of said band relative to said two anchor points being selected to provide different resonant characteristics in different areas of said conduit, said resonant characteristics opposing said vibrations to provide self-damping within said conduit.

Claim 18

A tuned conduit extending between two anchor points at opposite ends of said conduit, said conduit being exposed to automotive caused vibrations, said conduit having at least one layer, a stocking made of a flexible metallic wire material surrounding said conduit and extending between said two anchor points, said stocking also being exposed to said automotive caused vibrations, and at least one tuning band surrounding said stocking for modifying said conduit response to the automotive caused vibrations of said conduit and stocking, the location of said band relative to said two anchor points being selected to provide different resonant characteristics in different areas of said conduit, said resonant characteristics opposing said vibrations to provide self-damping within said conduit.

Claim 19

The tuned conduit of claim 15 wherein said conduit comprises a plurality of coaxial layers formed by wrapping successive layers of tape to form a conduit wall, said tape having a width and provided at selected locations on said conduit, said coaxial layers being convoluted to form a unitary conduit wall, the width and locations of said tape being such that layers overlap in at least some locations so that a number of layers are formed in at least said some locations which is different from the number of layers formed in other locations, whereby there is a variable thickness of the conduit wall, said tape being wrapped to form the walls of said conduit so that at the frequencies of the automotive caused vibrations naturally occurring nodes are made more flexible and naturally occurring loops are made stiffer in order to make the conduit self-damping with respect to said vibrations.

Claim 20

The tuned conduit of claim 16 wherein said band is positioned at a location where a loop naturally forms as a result of automotive caused vibrations.

Claim 21

The tuned conduit of claim 15 wherein said conduit has a length which is likely to form two loops, and there are two of said bands, one at each of said two loops.

Claim 22

The tuned conduit of claim 15 wherein said band tightly clamps said stocking to said conduit at a point where a loop naturally forms as a result of vibrations in said system.

Claim 23

A tuned conduit having a length and comprising at least one layer forming a conduit wall; a stocking made of a flexible material loosely surrounding, in contact with, and extending along the length of said conduit; the flexible material of said stocking being integrally formed to provide at least one unitary tuning ring located at a loop in a naturally occurring vibration pattern of said conduit, said tuning ring having an internal diameter which secures said stocking to said conduit.

Claim 24

A tuned conduit having a length and comprising at least one layer forming a conduit wall; a stocking made of a flexible material loosely surrounding, in contact with, and extending along the length of said conduit; the flexible material of said stocking being integrally formed to provide at least one unitary tuning ring located at a loop in a naturally occurring vibration pattern of said conduit, said tuning ring having an internal diameter which secures said stocking to said conduit.

Claim 25

The tuned conduit of claim 20 wherein said conduit has a length which is likely to form two loops, and there are two of said tuning rings, one at each of said two loops.

Claim 26

The tuned conduit of claim 20 wherein said conduit has a length which is likely to form a plurality of said loops, and a plurality of said tuning rings, each tuning ring being positioned to tightly clamp said stocking to said conduit at a point where one of said loops is likely to form.

Claim 27

The tuned conduit of claim 20 wherein said conduit has a length which is likely to form a plurality of said loops, and a plurality of said tuning rings, each tuning ring being positioned to loosely clamp said stocking to said conduit at a point where one of said loops is likely to form.

Claim 28

A tuned conduit having successive convolutions for carrying fluids, a stocking made of flexible metallic material loosely surrounding said conduit and being in direct contact with the conduit, said conduit being exposed to an environment having vibrations, said flexible metallic material being formed so that said stocking itself is integrally formed to provide at least one unitary tuning ring in at least one location where the conduit might otherwise form a loop in response to said environmental vibrations.

Claim 29

A tuned conduit having successive convolutions for carrying fluids, a stocking made of flexible metallic material loosely surrounding said conduit and being in direct contact with the conduit, said conduit being exposed to an environment having vibrations, said flexible metallic material being formed so that said stocking itself is integrally formed to provide at least one unitary tuning ring in at least one location where the conduit might otherwise form a loop in response to said environmental vibrations.

Claim 30

A tuned convoluted conduit for use in an automotive vehicle exhaust system, said vehicle having a characteristic vibrational pattern, said conduit comprising a ribbon of tape which is axially and longitudinally wound upon itself to form a tube, said tape having opposing longitudinal edges angularly positioned relative to each other in order to provide a stiffened strip of selected width extending along a length of the conduit, said angular position being taken relative to an axis of said tube, said conduit being convoluted in a manner which cooperates with said stiffened strip to detune said conduit at said vibration pattern.

Claim 31

A tuned convoluted conduit for use in an automotive vehicle exhaust system, said vehicle having a characteristic vibrational pattern, said conduit comprising a ribbon of tape which is axially and longitudinally wound upon itself to form a tube, said tape having opposing longitudinal edges angularly positioned relative to each other in order to provide a stiffened strip of selected width extending along a length of the conduit, said angular position being taken relative to an axis of said tube, said conduit being convoluted in a manner which cooperates with said stiffened strip to detune said conduit at said vibration pattern.

Claim 32

The conduit of claim 25 wherein the opposing edges are radially separated from each other by 180° whereby said stiffened strip has a semi-cylindrical size.

Claim 33

The conduit of claim 25 wherein the opposing edges are substantially aligned with each other whereby said stiffened strip has a minimum width.

Claim 34

The conduit of claim 25 wherein the opposing edges are offset from each other by a radial angle in the range of 0°-180°.

Claim 35

The conduit of claim 25 and a stocking made of a flexible material surrounding and extending along the length of said conduit.

Claim 36

The conduit of claim 29 and at least one tuning ring surrounding said stocking means for modifying the vibrational characteristics of said conduit.

Claim 37

The tuned conduit of claim 25 wherein convolutions are symmetrical between themselves and along the length of said conduit but are radially unsymmetrical owing to an added layer of said tape within said stiffened strip between said angularly positioned longitudinal edges of said tape.

Claim 38

A conduit for use in an exhaust system for an internal combustion engine, said exhaust system experiencing a pattern of vibrational frequencies, said conduit having a length and being formed by multiple layers of tape wrapped upon themselves, said conduit further being convoluted to form a unitary conduit wall with individual convolutions having a variable geometry relative to other convolutions, said conduit wall having a mass and a spring rate distributed along the length thereof, said variable geometries being distributed along said conduit in a manner which detunes said conduit in at least one frequency of said vibrational pattern, and a stocking made of braided metallic wire material surrounding said conduit and producing a vibrational response characteristic which cooperates with said convoluted geometry to further detune said conduit in at least said one frequency, said convolutions and the braid characteristics cooperating to control and vary the mass and the spring rate of the conduit to change its natural vibrational response.

Claim 39

A conduit for use in an exhaust system for an internal combustion engine, said exhaust system experiencing a pattern of vibrational frequencies, said conduit having a length and being formed by multiple layers of tape wrapped upon themselves, said conduit further being convoluted to form a unitary conduit wall with individual convolutions having a variable geometry relative to other convolutions, said conduit wall having a mass and a spring rate distributed along the length thereof, said variable geometries being distributed along said conduit in a manner which detunes said conduit in at least one frequency of said vibrational pattern, and a stocking made of braided metallic wire material surrounding said conduit and producing a vibrational response characteristic which cooperates with said convoluted geometry to further detune said conduit in at least said one frequency, said convolutions and the braid characteristics cooperating to control and vary the mass and the spring rate of the conduit to change its natural vibrational response.

Claim 40

The conduit of claim 32 wherein said conduit is formed by helically wrapped layers of tape.

Claim 41

The conduit of claim 32 wherein said conduit is formed by axially wrapped layers of tape.

Claim 42

The conduit of claim 32 wherein said conduit is formed by a combination of helically wrapped layers of tape and axially wrapped layers of tape.

Claim 43

The conduit of claim 32 wherein said stocking is tightly fitted around said conduit.

Claim 44

The conduit of claim 32 wherein said stocking is loosely fitted around said conduit.

Claim 45

An elongated conduit for use in an automotive exhaust system, said conduit having a length with a mass and a spring rate distributed along the length thereof, said conduit being formed by a plurality of layers of tape wound upon themselves and convoluted to form a unitary conduit wall with alternate peaks and valleys distributed along the length of said conduit, the configuration of said peaks and valleys being selected to vary the mass and spring rate of said conduit in a manner which detunes vibrational resonance of said conduit at selected frequencies, a stocking made of metallic wire surrounding said conduit and producing vibrational responses relative to said conduit which further controls said resonance, mechanical anchoring means attached to said conduit and stocking at opposite ends thereof for joining them together, said anchoring means being adapted to attach said conduit and stocking into said exhaust system, and tuning rings surrounding said stocking for securing said stocking to said conduit at locations along the length of said conduit where loops might otherwise be formed by said detuned resonant vibrations.

Claim 46

An elongated conduit for use in an automotive exhaust system, said conduit having a length with a mass and a spring rate distributed along the length thereof, said conduit being formed by a plurality of layers of tape wound upon themselves and convoluted to form a unitary conduit wall with alternate peaks and valleys distributed along the length of said conduit, the configuration of said peaks and valleys being selected to vary the mass and spring rate of said conduit in a manner which detunes vibrational resonance of said conduit at selected frequencies, a stocking made of metallic wire surrounding said conduit and producing vibrational responses relative to said conduit which further controls said resonance, mechanical anchoring means attached to said conduit and stocking at opposite ends thereof for joining them together, said anchoring means being adapted to attach said conduit and stocking into said exhaust system, and tuning rings surrounding said stocking for securing said stocking to said conduit at locations along the length of said conduit where loops might otherwise be formed by said detuned resonant vibrations.

Claim 47

A convoluted conduit comprising at least two co-axial layers of axially wrapped tape which have intimate contact between said layers forming a multi-layer conduit, said conduit being convoluted after being wrapped in order to form a unified conduit wall, a stocking made of flexible metallic braid loosely surrounding said conduit, and said metallic braid stocking being integrally formed to provide at least one tuning ring located at a loop in a naturally occurring vibrational pattern of said conduit and said tuning ring securing said stocking to said conduit.

Claim 48

A convoluted conduit comprising at least two co-axial layers of axially wrapped tape which have intimate contact between said layers forming a multi-layer conduit, said conduit being convoluted after being wrapped in order to form a unified conduit wall, a stocking made of flexible metallic braid loosely surrounding said conduit, and said metallic braid stocking being integrally formed to provide at least one tuning ring located at a loop in a naturally occurring vibrational pattern of said conduit and said tuning ring securing said stocking to said conduit.