Linking of three triangles in 3-space

Two triples of triangles having pairwise disjoint outlines in 3-space are called combinatorially isotopic if one triple can be obtained from the other by a continuous motion during which the outlines of the triangles remain pairwise disjoint. We conjecture that it can be algorithmically checked if an (ordered or unordered) triple of triangles is combinatorially isotopic to a triple of triangles having pairwise disjoint convex hulls. We also conjecture that any unordered triple of pairwise disjoint triangles in 3-space belongs to one of the 5 types of such triples listed in the paper. We present an elementary proof that triples of different types are not combinatorially isotopic.