US 12,332,142 B2
Protective bellows having an electrical circuit and covering for a mechanical joint
Manuel Fendler, Grenoble (FR)
Assigned to COMMISSARIAT À L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES, Paris (FR)
Appl. No. 18/002,759
Filed by COMMISSARIAT À L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES, Paris (FR)
PCT Filed Jun. 21, 2021, PCT No. PCT/EP2021/066884
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Dec. 21, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/259879, PCT Pub. Date Dec. 30, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. 2006627 (FR), filed on Jun. 24, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0243714 A1, Aug. 3, 2023
Int. Cl. G01M 3/40 (2006.01); F16J 3/04 (2006.01); F16J 15/52 (2006.01); G01M 3/16 (2006.01)
CPC G01M 3/165 (2013.01) [F16J 3/041 (2013.01); F16J 15/52 (2013.01)] 12 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A bellows, intended to cover a mechanical joint, the bellows comprising a cylindrical and corrugated side wall, extending about a longitudinal axis, the side wall comprising:
an alternation of crests and of troughs, forming corrugations, each corrugation being formed by two crests extending on either side of one and the same trough, the crests being closer to the longitudinal axis than the trough;
flanks, each flank extending between a crest and a trough, each corrugation comprising a first flank and a second flank that are opposite, separated by a same trough;
wherein the side wall is flexible, such that two adjacent crests and/or two adjacent troughs can converge or move apart from one another, in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis;
wherein the bellows comprises an elementary electrical circuit associated with a corrugation, or a plurality of elementary electrical circuits, respectively associated with different corrugations, the or each elementary electrical circuit comprising:
a first conductive element extending along either the first flank or the second flank along an inner face of the side wall, a second conductive element extending along either the first flank or the second flank along the inner face of the side wall, the first conductive element being separated from the second conductive element;
a first conductive track and a second conductive track, linked respectively to the first conductive element and to the second conductive element;
the or each elementary electrical circuit being such that:
the first conductive track and the second conductive track are connected, or configured to be connected, to a detector of closure of the elementary electrical circuit, such that when an electrically conductive liquid extends from the first conductive element to the second conductive element, the closure of the elementary electrical circuit is detected.