Pipes which are transported in sections and then connected together to form a pipeline, e. g. for carrying fuel to forward air bases in times of war, require that the ends of the sections be protected during transport and storage in order that, on assembly, the ends of the pipes fit together accurately to prevent leakage.

Very often the ends of such pipes are protected by protectors which are individual to the pipe ends themselves and one such end protector is described in co-pending Application No. (Our File No. P96414GB) Another arrangement involves two hemi-tubular members which when placed together form a short tubular section of an internal diameter to fit in close proximity to the external diameter of the end of the tubing, together with a fastening member, e. g. in the form of a wire, to hold the two hemi-tubular parts together around the end of the tube, and an extra member, e. g. a piece of cloth is provided to cover the end of the short tubular member in order to prevent dirt and the like from entering the pipe.

It is however often of advantage to provide an additional protector or an alternative protector which jointly covers all of the ends of the pipes which are held together in stacking relationship for transport and/or storage. Currently such protectors comprise an open shallow wooden box-like member which fits over the end of the pipes, with or without individual protectors when stacked together.

According to the present invention there is provided a tray arranged to cover the ends of a plurality of pipe sections mounted together for storage and/or transport, the internal corners of the tray being shaped so as to be a complementary fit with the pipes (or their individual protectors) which are at the corners of the stack.

The tray is preferably formed from a plastics material and is preferably a single piece moulding in any suitable plastics material for example polyethylene or polycarbonate. Polyethylene is currently the preferred material.

Preferably the tray is formed by rotational moulding, although other methods e. g. vacuum moulding or injection moulding may be utilised.

The pipes are normally stacked in an arrangement so that their ends form an approximate rectangle and the tray-shaped protector member of the invention is therefore approximately rectangular shaped with the internal corners of the tray-shaped member being rounded. In one arrangement the internal corners of the tray are shaped to fit the profile of the 65/8 chamber pipes. The protector member may however be used in connection with pipes of any size or type e. g.

4"diameter pipe.

In a preferred embodiment, the tray-shaped member is arranged so as to form a snug fit with the protectors which are individually attached to the ends of the pipes forming the stack. The stack may be formed in any convenient manner but one particular form involves the use of a storage device as described in U. S. Patent No. 5,123,547.

The depth of the tray may be greater, equal to or less than the length of the protectors.

The device of the invention has the advantage of providing protection for pipe ends (preferably in addition to individual protectors on the ends of the pipes) and at the same time keeping the pipe ends together.

The arrangement of the invention may be used with any pipes threaded or unthreaded in connection with any kind of piping which is stored and transported in sections ready for connection to form a single pipeline. For example, the protectors may be used in connection with pipes which are of the order of 6 S/81 in diameter and which are used to carry fuel to forward airbases, or it may be used in connection with much larger pipes which are used in oil field installations.

The invention will now be further described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:- Fig. 1 shows a plastic tray-shaped member in accordance with the invention in place over a series of stacked pipes each having individual protectors; and Fig. 2 shows an end view of the arrangement shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a stack of pipes 10 each having individual protectors 12 disposed over their ends. A tray-shaped member 14 in accordance with the present invention is placed over the ends of the pipes having their individual protectors in place. The tray-shaped member comprises a base 20 and side walls 22. The tray is formed as a single molded plastic member and the internal corners 24 of the side walls 22 are rounded so as to form a complementary fit with the external surface of the individual protectors on the corner pipes.