A. Tubular members of definite or indefinite length including wall structure of the tubular members, the end structure of the tubular members of definite length, if not elsewhere classifiable.
B. Fluid pressure compensators (e.g., accumulators or cushioning devices), flow regulators, or baffles not restricted by structure to use with any particular art.
C. Devices for thawing frozen fluid in pipes, for preventing the fluid in the pipes from freezing and for preventing the pipe from bursting if the fluid freezes.
D. Pipes with closures and plugs where tied with the structure of the pipe or limited by structure to use with a pipe.
E. Methods and apparatus for repairing pipes where not
elsewhere classifiable.
LINES WITH OTHER CLASSES
For articles embracing a short length of a tube having some added feature which makes them into a shot shell, box, can or other article, the proper article class should be searched. This class (138) includes conveyor pipes comprising the mere tube. If the device is an open chute, is more than a mere pipe, or is otherwise limited to use as a conveyor, it is classified elsewhere. See References to Other Classes, below for the conveyor classes.
For tubular textile fabric for use in making hose, see Class 66, Textiles: Knitting, subclasses 169+, Class 87, Textiles: Braiding, Netting, and Lace Making, subclasses 6 and 9, Class 57, Textiles: Spinning, Twisting, and Twining, appropriate subclasses, and Class 139, Textiles: Weaving, subclasses 387+.
For pipe joints and couplings, see Class 285, Pipe Joints or Couplings. The combination of pipe wall structure and a coupling is classified in Class 285.
Methods of, and apparatus for, manufacturing tubes are not classifiable in this class but are found in the various manufacturing classes. See References to Other Classes, below.
REFERENCES TO OTHER CLASSES
SEE OR SEARCH CLASS
15, Brushing, Scrubbing, and General Cleaning,
104.03+, for pipe cleaning.
29, Metal Working,
890.03+, for processes of making metal tubes, subclasses 700+ for apparatus for applying tubes to and removing tubes from the device with which they are associated, subclass 435 for processes of making flexible tubing, subclass 455.1 for processes of making tubular elements having concentric walls spaced from each other. See subclasses 700+ for a residual apparatus not elsewhere classified which assembles component parts into a tube by means other than welding them.
37, Excavating,
335+, for pipe supports and couplings for dredgers. 52, Static Structures (e.g., Buildings), appropriate subclasses for buildings with internal passages or conduits or hollow structures which are more than a mere tubular structure capable of use as a pipe or conduit and see the
reference to Class 138 in the class definition of Class 52.
52, Static Structures (e.g., Buildings),
11+, for a roof with an eave or valley gutter, subclasses 220.1+ for a service duct within a building barrier, subclasses 245+ for buildings with a curved barrier, subclasses 716.1+ for an in situ attached type channel or trim strip, subclass 722.1 for a stone-like conduit, and subclass 731 for load-bearing members forming a hollow column or beam and see the reference to Class 138 in the class definition of Class 52.
57, Textiles: Spinning, Twisting, and Twining, (See Lines With Other Classes and Within This Class, above).
65, Glass Manufacturing, appropriate subclasses for a process of, or apparatus for making, reshaping or treating glass tubular stock.
66, Textiles: Knitting,
169+, (See Lines With Other Classes and Within This Class, above).
72, Metal Deforming, and particularly
367.1+, for a method or a means for making a metal tube by plastically deforming the metal.
83, Cutting, appropriate subclasses and particularly
54, and 178+ for tube punching methods and apparatus. 87, Textiles: Braiding, Netting, and Lace Making,
6, and 9 (See, above).
110, Furnaces,
184, for furnace smokestacks.
114, Ships,
187, for ship's smokestacks.
122, Liquid Heaters and Vaporizers,
511, for tubes and connections limited by structure to use with liquid vaporizers.
126, Stoves and Furnaces,
307+, for pipes limited by structure to use as stove pipes.
137, Fluid Handling, appropriate subclass for pipes and conduits combined with other fluid handling features, and 317+, for apparatus and processes for tapping pressurized containers or mains.
139, Textiles: Weaving,
387,. (Also see Lines With Other Classes and Within This Class and Within This Class, above).
156, Adhesive Bonding and Miscellaneous Chemical Manufacture, appropriate subclasses for methods and apparatus for manufacturing pipes and tubular conduits by a laminating operation.
165, Heat Exchange,
177+, for a tube limited by structure to heat exchange.
166, Wells,
75.11+, for well heads or closures having some fluid handling feature, subclass 91.1 for well head structure with flow resisters, subclasses 192+ and subclass there noted for plugs inserted into a prepositioned well conduit, and subclasses 242.1+ for conduit wall structure specialized to use in wells.
174, Electricity: Conductors and Insulators, particularly
8+, and 68.1+ for conduits limited to electrical use. Conduits disclosed for electrical use even though the tube is made of or lined with insulating material, unless there are claimed features in addition to the conduit structure which limit the same to electrical use, such as junction boxes, the contained electrical conductors, grounds, etc., are in this Class (138).
181, Acoustics, for speaking-tubes, mufflers, and sound filters.
193, Conveyors, Chutes, Skids, Guides, and Ways Also see Lines With Other Classes, above. 198, Conveyors: Power-Driven. Also see Lines With Other Classes and Within This Class, above.
219, Electric Heating,
59.1+, for methods of an apparatus for welding tubes, which involve significant electric heating.
220, Receptacles,
200+, for pipes with closures and plugs when not tied with the structure of the pipe or not limited by structure to use with a pipe.
222, Dispensing, particularly
92+, for containers having collapsible walls of a particular character. Structures disclosed as dispensing containers and having collapsible walls are classified in Class 222, collapsibility per se being a dispensing feature. On the other hand, mere tubular collapsible members not disclosed or claimed as containers or receptacles are classified in this class (138).
228, Metal Fusion Bonding,
126+, for the process of encasing a rod or tube with a separate tube or sheath and bonding the parts together.
229, Envelopes, Wrappers, and Paperboard Boxes,
4.5, for a cylindrical paperboard container having an open end, and subclass 93 for a paperboard tube intended for mailing drawings or similar articles, which tube may have an open end or ends. 239, Fluid Sprinkling, Spraying, and Diffusing,
33, for portable drinking tubes and straws; subclass 145 for porous hose or pipe; and subclasses 266+ for sprinkler pipes.
248, Supports,
49+, for pipe supports.
264, Plastic and Nonmetallic Article Shaping or Treating: Processes, appropriate subclasses for processes within the class definition, for molding and shaping plastic substances.
285, Pipe Joints or Couplings. See Lines With Other Classes and Within This Class and Within This Class, above.
291, Track Sanders,
41+, for sand delivery pipes for track sanders limited by structure to that use.
333, Wave Transmission Lines and Networks,
239+, for wave guides which claim significant wave propagation characteristics, and subclasses 1+ for plural channel systems of such guides.
404, Road Structure, Process, or Apparatus
2+, for road drain or gutter structure. 405, Hydraulic and Earth Engineering,
43+, for porous or apertured pipes, flumes, or tile ways for drainage or irrigation; subclasses 119+ for a flume or attachment; and subclasses 124+ for culverts.
406, Conveyors: Fluid Current,
191+, for conveyor conduits. Also see Lines With Other Classes and Within This Class, above.
425, Plastic Article or Earthenware Shaping or Treating: Apparatus, appropriate subclasses for apparatus for shaping or reshaping nonmetallic pipe, especially
131+, for extrusion shaping means fed from plural sources to form a composite pipe; subclass 380 for an extrusion shaping apparatus, subclasses 392+ for a tubular preform reshaping means; and subclass 414 for a plunger-mold press shaping apparatus including means to insert or remove a core.
427, Coating Processes, for coating processes of general application and note especially
230+, for coating the interior of hollow articles.
428, Stock Material or Miscellaneous Articles, appropriate subclasses for a stock material product in the form of a single or plural layer web or sheet, and
586, for a metallic workpiece for making tubular stock, which has a longitudinal passageway or stop weld material, and subclass 598 for metallic stock material having a T- or X-type cross section.
454, Ventilation, 1+, for ventilating chimneys.
473, Amusement Devices: Games,
316+, for tubular golf club shafts.
493, Manufacturing Container or Tube From Paper; or Other Manufacturing From a Sheet or Web,
269+, for making a tube from a nonmetal sheet or web.