Threaded joint for steel pipes

1. A threaded joint for steel pipes comprising a pin and a box,

the pin having a male thread, a metal sealing surface, and a shoulder surface,

the box having a female thread, a metal sealing surface, and a shoulder surface,

the male thread being interengaged with the female thread, the metal sealing surface of the pin radially interfering with the corresponding metal sealing surface of the box to form a metal to metal seal, and the shoulder surface of the pin being in axial abutment with the corresponding shoulder surface of the box, characterized in that

(i) the shoulder surface of the pin in axial abutment is provided at an end face of a nose portion of the pin,

(ii) the metal sealing surface of the pin is located on a pipe end side and between the male thread and the nose portion, a distance between a center of the metal sealing surface of the pin and an onset of the male thread is less than a distance between the center of the metal sealing surface of the pin and the shoulder surface of the pin, and

wherein the nose portion extends from the metal sealing surface and to the end face, and further wherein an outside peripheral surface of said nose portion extending between the metal sealing surface and the end face does not contact the portion of the box facing the outside peripheral surface of the nose portion of the pin and the outside peripheral surface of the nose portion is not in prolongation of the metal sealing surface of the pin so that a thickness of the nose portion is increased over its length so that sealability with respect to external pressure and resistance to compression are improved; and further wherein a shape of the metal sealing surface of each of the pin and the box is independently selected from (i) a tapered surface resulting from rotation around a joint axis of a straight line inclined relative to the axis, wherein a taper of the metal sealing surface of the in is not less than 5 degrees, (ii) a bulged surface resulting from rotation around the joint axis of a curve, and a torical surface if the curve is a circular arc, and (iii) a torico-conical surface resulting from rotation around the joint axis of a combined line of said inclined straight line and said circular arc.

2. A threaded joint for steel pipes according to claim 1 characterized in that the nose portion has an outer surface which is cylindrical.

3. A threaded joint for steel pipes according to claim 1 characterized in that the axial length of the nose is between 4 mm and 20 mm for pipes having an outer diameter between 50 and 550 mm.

4. A threaded joint for steel pipes according to claim 1 characterized in that the threaded joint comprises means for allowing a portion of the male thread located adjacent to the metal sealing surface to escape from engaging with a female thread.

5. A threaded joint for steel pipes according to claim 4 characterized in that said means are a circumferential groove provided on the inner surface of the box between the female thread and the metal sealing surface of the box.

6. A threaded joint for steel pipes according to claim 5 characterized in that the axial length of the circumferential groove measured between the female thread and the metal sealing surface of the box is between 1.5 to 3.5 pitches of thread.

7. A threaded joint for steel pipes according to claim 1 characterized in that the metal sealing surface of the pin is located at a distance to the male thread which is no more than one pitch of thread.

8. A threaded joint for steel pipes according to claim 1 characterized in that the male and female threads are tapered threads and the male thread features a run-in portion where the envelope of the male thread roots has a reduced taper compared to that of the thread taper.

9. A threaded joint for steel pipes according to claim 8 characterized in that said envelope of the male thread roots in the run-in portion is a cylindrical surface.

10. A threaded joint for steel pipes according to claim 1 characterized in that the shoulder surfaces of the pin and the box are plane surfaces perpendicular to the joint axis.

11. A threaded joint for steel pipes according to claim 1 characterized in that the shoulder surfaces of the pin and the box are tapered and make an angle less than 16 degrees with the perpendicular to the joint axis so that the shoulder surface of the pin is hooked by that of the box.

12. A threaded joint for steel pipes according to claim 1 characterized in that the metal sealing surface of one of the pin and the box is a tapered surface while the metal sealing surface of the other one of the pin and the box is either a torical surface or a torico-conical surface, the tapered portion of the torico-conical metal sealing surface being on the nose side and having substantially the same taper than the tapered metal sealing surface.

13. A threaded joint for steel pipes according to claim 1 characterized in that the taper of a metal sealing surface is between 5 to 25 degrees.

14. A threaded joint for steel pipes according to claim 1 characterized in that the inner surface of the pin near the shoulder surface is chamfered so that the inner edge of the pin shoulder forms a circle which is concentric to the joint axis.

15. A threaded joint for steel pipes according to claim 1 characterized in that the inner surface of the box near the shoulder surface is chamfered.

16. A threaded joint for steel pipes according to claim 1 characterized in that the male thread and the female thread have each a generally trapezoidal shape which comprises a load flank, a stabbing flank, a thread root and a thread crest, the angle of the stabbing flanks with the normal to the joint axis being not less than 3 degrees and not more than 36 degrees.

17. A threaded joint for steel pipes according to claim 16 characterized in that there is a contact between the load flanks, and an axial gap between the stabbing flanks of the male and female threads when the threaded joint is made up is not less than 10 μm and not more than 150 μm.

18. A threaded joint for steel pipes according to claim 1 characterized in that the threaded joint for steel pipes further provides one or both of a second series of shoulder surfaces and a second series of metal sealing surfaces at an end portion of the box.

19. A threaded joint for steel pipes according to claim 1 , wherein the metal sealing surface between the male thread and the shoulder surface of the pin forms a single and continuous seal with the sealing surface of the box.

20. A threaded joint for steel pipes comprising a pin and a box,

the pin having a male thread, a metal sealing surface, and a shoulder surface,

the box having a female thread, a metal sealing surface, and a shoulder surface,

the male thread being interengaged with the female thread,

the metal sealing surface of the pin radially interfering with the corresponding metal sealing surface of the box to form a metal to metal seal, and the shoulder surface of the pin being in axial abutment with the corresponding shoulder surface of the box, characterized in that

(i) the shoulder surface of the pin in axial abutment is provided at an end face of a nose portion of the pin,

(ii) the metal sealing surface of the pin is located on a pipe end side and between the male thread and the nose portion, a distance between a center of the metal sealing surface of the pin and an onset of the male thread is less than a distance between the center of the metal sealing surface of the pin and the shoulder surface of the pin, and

wherein the nose portion extends from the metal sealing surface and to the end face, and further wherein an outside peripheral surface of said nose portion extending between the sealing surface and the end face does not contact the portion of the box facing the outside peripheral surface of the nose portion of the pin and the outside peripheral surface of the nose portion is not in prolongation of the metal sealing surface of the pin so that a thickness of the nose portion is increased over its length so that sealability with respect to external pressure and resistance to compression are improved,

characterized in that the metal sealing surface of the pin is disposed radially inwards, as measured from the axis of the pin, of (i) the tangent to the crest of the male thread and the tip of the pin, and (ii) an extension line of the root of the male thread and further characterized in that a shape of the metal sealing surface of each of the pin and the box is independently selected from (i) a tapered surface resulting from rotation around a joint axis of a straight line inclined relative to the axis, wherein a taper of the metal sealing surface of the in is not less than 5 degrees, (ii) a bulged surface resulting from rotation around the joint axis of a curve, and a torical surface if the curve is a circular arc, and (iii) a torico-conical surface resulting from rotation around the joint axis of a combined line of said inclined straight line and said circular arc.

21. A threaded joint for steel pipes comprising a pin and a box,

the pin having a male thread, a metal sealing surface, and a primary shoulder surface,

the box having a female thread, a metal sealing surface, and a shoulder surface,

the male thread being interengaged with the female thread,

the metal sealing surface of the pin radially interfering with the corresponding metal sealing surface of the box to form a metal to metal seal, and the primary shoulder surface of the pin being in axial abutment with the corresponding shoulder surface of the box, characterized in that

(i) the primary shoulder surface of the pin in axial abutment is provided at an end face of a nose portion of the pin,

(ii) the metal sealing surface of the pin is located on a pipe end side and between the male thread and the nose portion, a distance between a center of the metal sealing surface of the pin and an onset of the male thread is less than a distance between the center of the metal sealing surface of the pin and the primary shoulder surface, and

wherein the nose portion extends from the metal sealing surface and to the end face, and further wherein an outside peripheral surface of said nose portion extending between the metal sealing surface and the end face does not contact the portion of the box facing the outside peripheral surface of the nose portion of the pin and the outside peripheral surface of the nose portion is not in prolongation of the metal sealing surface of the pin so that a thickness of the nose portion is increased over its length so that sealability with respect to external pressure and resistance to compression are improved; and

further wherein a shape of the metal sealing surface of each of the pin and the box is independently selected from (i) a tapered surface resulting from rotation around a joint axis of a straight line inclined relative to the axis, wherein a taper of the metal sealing surface of the pin is not less than 5 degrees (ii) a bulged surface resulting from rotation around the joint axis of a curve, and a torical surface if the curve is a circular arc, and (iii) a torico-conical surface resulting from rotation around the joint axis of a combined line of said inclined straight line and said circular arc.