This application claims priority to United States provisional application serial number 60/ 583,266 filed on June 24, 2004.

1. Field of the Invention This invention generally relates to a coupling between two conduits. More particularly, this invention relates to a self-aligning coupling for maintaining a position of a one conduit relative to the coupling and another conduit until completion of the connection.

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional pipe coupling includes a semi-spherical surface on a first pipe that contacts a concave surface on a second pipe. A nut is utilized to complete the connection and maintain the semi-spherical and concave surface in sealing contact. Such connections are commonly employed in high pressure circuit applications. The nut is typically loosely maintained on one of the first or second pipes. The two pipes are then held in sealing contact and alignment until the nut is secured to a sufficient degree so as to hold the desired alignment. Disadvantageously, in some assembly operations, the desired alignment is important to other assembly operations and the manual dexterity required to both maintain proper alignment and tighten the nut can cause inconsistencies in the pipe connection. Further, proper relative alignment between the pipe and the nut is required to complete the connection. Maintaining alignment and tightening the nut requires both hands during assembly, thereby complicating and making assembly tedious and time consuming. Accordingly, it is desirable to design and develop a pipe connection that eases assembly and maintains a desired alignment during completion of a coupling between pipes. SUMMARY QF THE INVENTION In general terms, this invention is a coupling assembly for a joint between two conduits that maintains a desired alignment between a threaded fastener and between conduits comprising the coupling. One example coupling assembly designed according to this invention includes a first conduit, a second conduit and a nut assembled over the first conduit. The second conduit includes a retainer that extends upwardly. The first conduit is inserted into the retainer during assembly of the inventive coupling assembly. The retainer engages the first conduit about shoulder portions to hold the first conduit in a desired alignment relative to the second conduit and the nut. The retainer fits within this nut once the nut is threaded onto the second conduit and the connection is complete. Another example coupling assembly according to this invention includes a retainer with a capture portion and a mount portion. The capture portion extends radially inward toward the first conduit. The first conduit in this example includes a substantially spherical sealing surface that is inserted into the retainer. The retainer receives the first conduit and captures the sealing surface to maintain a desired alignment between the first conduit and the second conduit. Once the nut is threaded onto the second conduit, the retainer is enclosed therein such that no part of the retainer extends outside of the nut and thereby the coupling connection. Another example coupling assembly according to this invention includes a biasing member that urges contact of the first conduit with the second conduit, once the nut is initially threaded onto the second conduit. The second conduit includes threads that mate with the threads of the nut. A spring is disposed between the nut and shoulder portions of the pipe flare. The spring provides a biasing force pushing the first conduit, and thereby the sealing surface away from the nut. When the nut is initially threaded onto the second conduit, the spring pushes the sealing surface of the pipe flare against the concave profile and into sealing contact. The alignment between the first conduit and the second conduit is thereby maintained even though the nut is not yet completely threaded onto the threads. Another example coupling assembly according to this invention is shown and includes a nut with retaining members disposed within an opening between the nut and the first conduit. The friction and resilient biasing of the retaining members hold the first conduit in a desired relative position with the nut Another example coupling assembly according to this invention includes a sleeve disposed within the opening and around the first conduit. The sleeve includes a flange that rests on a top surface of the nut. The sleeve also includes a tube portion that extends into the opening of the nut and around the first conduit. The sleeve comprises an elastic material that grips the first conduit within the nut. The retention provided by the sleeve holds the first conduit in a desired relationship with the nut. Accordingly, the example coupling assemblies of this invention maintain a relative desired alignment during assembly to ease and quicken assembly without complicating the assembly procedure or adding substantial additional material costs. The various features and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the currently preferred embodiments. The drawings that accompany the detailed description can be briefly described as follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of a connection assembly according to this invention. Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of part of another connection assembly according to this invention. Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of a completed connection according to this invention. Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of another conduit connection assembly according to this invention. Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of another conduit connection assembly according to this invention. Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of a variation of the conduit connection assembly of Figure 5. Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view of a conduit connection assembly including a sleeve. Figure 8 is cross-sectional view of another sleeve for the conduit connection assembly according to this invention. Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view of a sleeve for the conduit connection assembly of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION QF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Figure 1 schematically shows a coupling assembly 10 that includes a first conduit 12 that is to be attached to a second conduit 14. A nut 20 is assembled over the first conduit 12. The first conduit 12 includes a pipe flare 16 that comprises a substantially spherical sealing surface 28. The pipe flare 16 includes shoulder portions 26 that extend outwardly from the pipe flare 16. The first and second conduits 12, 14, define a passage 24 through which fluid, gas or other material will flow. The second conduit includes a concave profile 18 that includes a sealing surface 30 that mates and is secured in sealing contact with the sealing surface 28 of the first conduit 12. The spherical shaped pipe flare 16 and the concave profile 18 of the second conduit 14 are typical to pipe connections known in the art, and it should be understood that other profiles and shapes that provide a sealing connection between separate conduits are within the contemplation of this invention. The second conduit 14 includes a retainer 22 that extends upwardly past the concave profile 18. The example retainer 22 is an elastic tube into which the first conduit 12 is inserted during assembly of the inventive coupling assembly 10. The retainer 22 engages the first conduit 12 about the shoulder portions 26. The bias nature of the retainer 22 exerts a bias radially inwardly to hold the first conduit 12 in a desired alignment relative to the second conduit 14 and the nut 20. During assembly of the coupling assembly 10, the first conduit 12 is inserted into the retainer 22. The retainer 22 grips the first conduit 12 about the shoulder portions 26 to maintain alignment relative to an axis 36 and relative to the second conduit 14. The elastic nature of the retainer 22 provides the desired friction and elastic retention to maintain the position of the first conduit 12 until such time as the nut 20 can be attached and securely threaded to complete the connection. Referring to Figures 2 and 3 another example coupling assembly 38 according to this invention includes a retainer 40 with a capture portion 42 and a mount portion 44. The mount portion 44 is attached to the second conduit 14 by mechanical means such as an adhesive, insert molding or by the elastic nature of the retainer itself when inserted into grooves concentric about the passage 24. The example retainer 40 includes the capture portion 42 that extends radially inward toward the axis 36. The first conduit 12 in this example includes a substantially spherical sealing surface 28 that is inserted into the retainer 40. The retainer 40 receives the first conduit 12 and captures the sealing surface 28 to maintain a desired alignment between the first conduit 12 and the second conduit 14. The capture portion 42 provides a downward bias on the first conduit 12 such that the sealing surfaces 28 and 30 are maintained in an adjacent position. The downward retention provided by the capture portion 42 also provides for alignment between the first conduit 12 and the second conduit 14 to be set and held prior to installation of the nut 20. Referring to Figure 3, once the nut 20 is threaded onto the second conduit 14, the retainer 40 is enclosed therein such that no part of the retainer 40 extends outside of the nut 20 and thereby the coupling assembly 10. The nut 20 contacts the sealing conduit at an upper most portion to force the sealing surfaces 28, 30 into sealing contact. Once the nut 20 is assembled, the retainer 40 remains and can serve as a protective covering to protect against intrusion of contamination or moisture into the completed coupling. Referring to Figure 4, another coupling assembly 50 according to this invention includes a biasing member 52 that urges contact of the first conduit 12 into contact with the second conduit 14, once the nut 20 is initially threaded onto the second conduit 14. The second conduit 14 includes threads 34 that mate with the threads 32 of the nut 20. A spring 52 is disposed between the nut 20 and shoulder portions 26 of the pipe flare 16. The spring 52 provides a biasing force pushing the first conduit 12, and thereby the sealing surface 28 away from the nut 20. When the nut 20 is initially threaded onto the second conduit 14, the spring 52 pushes the sealing surface 28 of the pipe flare 16 against the concave profile 30 and into sealing contact. The alignment between the first conduit 12 and the second conduit 14 is thereby maintained even though the nut 20 is not yet completely threaded onto the threads 34. The spring 52 illustrated is a compression spring that encircles the first conduit 12 and rests between the nut 20 and the shoulder portions 26. Other spring configurations known in the art are within the contemplation of this invention. Referring to Figures 5 and 6, another coupling assembly 60 according to this invention is shown and includes the nut 20 with retaining members disposed within an opening 21 between nut 20 and the first conduit 12. The retaining member is an o-ring 62 that biases outward against the opening 21 and the outer diameter of the first conduit 12. The friction and resilient biasing of the o-ring 62 hold the first conduit 12 in a desired relative position to the nut 20. As appreciated, if the first conduit 12 is not in a desired or proper alignment, assembly of the nut 20 to the second conduit 14 can be difficult or undesirably misaligned. Accordingly, the friction and relative position between the nut 20 and the first conduit 12 is maintained by the o-ring 62. Referring to Figure 6, the coupling assembly 60 includes two o-rings 62 for maintaining the relative position between the first conduit 12 and the nut 20. The additional o-ring 62 provides additional stability for specific applications. As appreciated, any numbers of o-rings 62 as are required to maintain desired stability are within the contemplation of this invention. Referring to Figure 7, another example coupling assembly 68 according to this invention is shown and includes a sleeve 70 disposed within the opening 21 and around the first conduit 12. The sleeve 70 includes a flange 74 that rests on a top surface of the nut 20. The sleeve 70 also includes a tube portion 72 that extends into the opening 21 of the nut 20 and around the first conduit 12. The sleeve 70 is an elastic material to provide a grip and retention of the first conduit 12 within the nut 20. The retention provided by the sleeve 70 holds the first conduit 12 in a desired relationship with the nut 20. In the example illustration the desired relationship is one in which the first conduit 12 is held substantially transverse to the top surface of the nut 20. The flange 74 of the sleeve 70 provides support for maintaining the transverse alignment between first conduit 12 and the nut 20. Referring to Figure 8, another example sleeve 80 includes a flange 82 that abuts the top surface of the nut 20 and a sleeve portion 84 that extends upward from the flange 82. The sleeve portion 84 encircles and is in elastic contact with the first conduit 12. The frictional elastic contact between the sleeve portion 84 and the first conduit 12 maintains a desired alignment with the nut by maintaining a transverse alignment. The flange 82 contacting the top surface of the nut 20 maintains the transverse alignment with the sleeve portion 84 and thereby the first conduit 12 and the nut 20. Referring to Figure 9, another example sleeve 90 includes two contact tabs that abut the first conduit 12. The contact tabs 96 are spaced apart a distance to provide the desired alignment with the nut 20. The sleeve 90 also includes a flange portion 92 that abuts the top surface of the nut 20 to maintain and hold the conduit 12 in relative position. The sleeve 90 is fabricated from an elastic material that will bend with forced movement of the first conduit 12 away from the desired alignment. As soon as the external force is withdrawn the elastic material of the sleeve 90 will move the first conduit 12 back toward the desired position with the nut 20. The separation of the contact tabs 96 provides desired alignment and ease of installation. As appreciated, a continuous sleeve may in some applications be difficult to install due to the large frictional contact surfaces. The contact tabs 96 reduce the overall area contacting the first conduit, and thereby reduce the frictional forces that can resist assembly onto the first conduit 12. Accordingly, the example coupling assemblies illustrated and described in this specification maintain a relative desired alignment during assembly to ease and quicken assembly without complicating the assembly procedure or adding substantial additional material costs. The preceding description is exemplary rather than limiting in nature. Variations and modifications to the disclosed examples may become apparent to those skilled in the art that do not necessarily depart from the essence of this invention. The scope of legal protection given to this invention can only be determined by studying the following claims.