AU2006100401A4

AU2006100401A4 - Currugatged tube connector

Info

Publication number: AU2006100401A4
Application number: AU2006100401A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Teh-Tsung Chiu
Original assignee: AVC Industrial Corp
Current assignee: AVC Industrial Corp
Priority date: 2006-05-16
Filing date: 2006-05-16
Publication date: 2006-07-20
Anticipated expiration: 2014-05-16

Description

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AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 INNOVATION PATENT

SPECIFICATION

TITLE: CORRUGATED TUBE CONNECTOR Dated: 8 May 2006 Applicant: AVC Industrial Corp Inventor The Tsung CHIU The following statement is a certified translation of a full description of this invention, including the best methods of performing known to me: CORRUGATED TUBE CONNECTOR

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates a cable connector and more particularly, to a corrugated tube connector that locks the installed corrugated tube against 0 disconnection and seals the installed corrugated tube against water, vermin, and dust.

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C2. Description of the Related Art During installation of a cable, a protective tube is usually used to protect the

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cable against water, vermin and dust. A protective tube for this purpose is generally a corrugated tube having annular grooves and annular ribs alternatively arranged around the periphery. When fixing the cable with the protective corrugated tube to a fixed object, a corrugated tube connector shall be used. Various similar corrugated tube connector designs are known. Exemplars are seen in Taiwan Patent Publication No.

295317, entitled "Cable Protective Tube and Connector Joining Structure"; No. 511816, entitled "Connector for Cable Protective Tube"; No. 449169, entitled "Quick Connector for Cable Protective Tube".

According to Taiwan Patent Publication No. 295317, the mounting member of the connector is sleeved onto the protective tube, and then a limiter is fastened to the rear end of the protective tube, and then the connector body of the connector is fastened to the mounting member to hold down the limiter. The limiter is a hollow annular member having a sloping angle at the top side and a plurality of movable stop strips. The movable stop strips each have a barbed portion at the top of the inside wall and a sloping projection at the top of the outer wall. The protective tube, the limiter and the connector are fastened together, achieving an enclosed, waterproof and 1 oil-proof effects. The limiter simply uses the barbed portions to hook the recessed

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C portions of the protective tube. Because no means is provided to hold down the limiter, Cl, the protective tube may be disconnected when the limiter is stretched accidentally.

Further, this design uses only one sealing member in the contact area between the limiter and the connector body, it cannot protect the protective tube against water and _vermin.

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1According to Taiwan Patent Publication No. 511816, the design comprises a Ccable protective tube having a spirally threaded outside wall, a flange pipe, and a male O retaining member. The flange pipe has a flange, and a plurality of hook holes spaced around the periphery. The make retaining member has a gap corresponding to the hook holes of the flange pipe, and a hook head suspending in the gap and sloping inwards.

The hook head has a substantially <-shaped profile for engaging the spirally threaded outside wall of the cable protective tube. This design is functional, however it cannot protect the cable against water, vermin, or dust.

According to Taiwan Publication No. 449169, the design comprises a connector and a protective tube. The protective tube has a plurality of grooves equiangularly spaced on the head thereof. The connector is made in integrity, having a mounting body fixedly provided at one end, two press blocks respectively connected to the top and bottom ends, a plurality of pivot pins respectively provided at two sides corresponding to each press block, and two openings respectively disposed adjacent to the press blocks. According to this design, the press blocks are separately made and then mounted in the connector. The installation of the press blocks complicates the fabrication of the connector. This design of connector tends to be pressed to release the protective tube accidentally. Further, this structure of connector cannot seal the protective tube against water.

0Therefore, it is desirable to provide a corrugated tube connector that

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C eliminates the aforesaid drawbacks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is the main object of the present invention to provide a corrugated tube connector that locks the inserted corrugated tube against disconnection and seals the

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installed corrugated tube against water.

0 CTo achieve this and other objects of the present invention, the corrugated O tube connector is mounted in a hole on a fixed object to hold a corrugated tube, 0 comprising a connector body, a flexible water sealing member, a split collar, and a chuck. The connector body has a first coupling portion disposed at a first side thereof and fastened to the hole of the fixed object, and a second coupling portion disposed at a second side thereof. The flexible water sealing member is inserted into the second side of the connector body, having a receptacle head disposed at one end and stopped outside the connector body and a tapered center through hole for receiving one end of a corrugated tube. The tapered center through hole has a diameter gradually reducing in direction from the second side of the connector body toward the first side of the connector body. The split collar is fastened to the receptacle head of the flexible water sealing member, having a longitudinal crevice cut through two distal ends thereof and a plurality of springy hook strips equiangularly spaced around an inside wall thereof for engaging the periphery of the corrugated tube that is inserted into the tapered center through hole of the water sealing member. The chuck is for fastening to the second coupling portion of the connector body to compress the split collar radially inwardly against the periphery of the corrugated tube that is inserted into the tapered center through hole of the flexible water sealing member and to squeeze the flexible water sealing member against the connector body. The chuck has a receiving side through

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C which the corrugated tube is inserted into the tapered center through hole of the flexible water sealing member, and a tapered inside pressure wall pressed on the periphery of the split collar.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS _FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a corrugated tube connector according to the

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1present invention.

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CFIG. 2 is a sectional view of a part of the present invention, showing the O structure of the water sealing device set.

0 FIG. 3 is an end plain view of the collar of the water sealing device set according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a part of the present invention, showing the water sealing device set installed in the connector body.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the present invention, showing the corrugated tube installed in the corrugated tube connector.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to FIG. 1, a corrugated tube connector 10 in accordance with the present invention is shown comprised of a connector body 20, a water sealing device set 30, and a chuck 40, and adapted to connect a corrugated tube 50 to a fixed object (not shown).

Referring to FIGS. 2-4 and FIG. 1 again, the connector body 20 is a hollow, cylindrical, stepped member having an externally threaded first coupling portion 22, an externally threaded second coupling portion 23, a polygonal stop flange 21 extending around the periphery between the externally threaded first coupling portion 22 and the externally threaded second coupling portion 23, and an inside annular flange 24 extending around the inside wall thereof on the middle for stopping against the water C sealing device set 30. A gasket ring 60 is sleeved onto the externally threaded first coupling portion 22 and supported on one side of the polygonal stop flange 21. A locknut 25 is threaded onto the externally threaded first coupling portion 22 to lock the connector body 20 to a fixed object, for example, a partition plate or wall.

The water sealing device set 30 comprises a flexible water sealing member 31 that is molded from rubber, and a collar 35 that is made of nylon. The flexible water C sealing member 31 is inserted into the inside of the externally threaded second portion 23 of the connector body 20 and stopped against the inside annular 24 of the connector body 20, having a tapered center through hole 33, a receptacle head 32 disposed at one end and stopped outside the connector body 20, a chamfered edge 330 extending around one end of the tapered center through hole 33 adjacent to the receptacle head 32, and a lip 34 extending around the inside wall thereof at the other end of the tapered center through hole 33 for stopping the corrugated tube 50 inside the tapered center through hole 33. The inner diameter of the tapered center through hole 33 reduces gradually in direction from the receptacle head 32 toward the lip 34. The collar 35 is a split collar fastened to the receptacle head 32 of the flexible water sealing member 31, having a longitudinal crevice 38 axially cut through the two distal ends thereof, and a plurality of springy hook strips 36 equiangularly spaced around the inside wall and suspending in the flexible water sealing member 31 and kept spaced from the receptacle head 32 of the flexible water sealing member 31 at a gap 39. The springy hook strips 36 each have the respective free end terminating in a hooked portion 37 for engaging the corrugated periphery of the corrugated tube The chuck 40 has a receiving side 41 through which the corrugated tube 50 is O inserted into the collar 35 and the tapered center through hole 33 of the flexible water

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C sealing member 31, an inner thread 42 threaded onto the externally threaded second coupling portion 23 of the connector body 20, and a tapered inside pressure wall 43 pressed on the periphery of the collar Referring to FIG 5 and FIG 1 again, the externally threaded first coupling portion 22 of the connector body 20 is inserted through a hole (not shown) on the fixed

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object (partition plate or wall) and the gasket ring 60, and then the locknut 25 is

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_threaded onto the externally threaded first coupling portion 22 to lock the connector 0 body 20 to the fixed object, and then the flexible water sealing member 31 is inserted into the inside of the externally threaded second coupling portion 23 of the connector body 20, and then the collar 35 is fastened to the receptacle head 32 of the flexible water sealing member 31, and then the corrugated tube 50 is inserted through the chuck 40 into the collar 35 and the flexible water sealing member 31, and then the chuck 40 is threaded onto the externally threaded second coupling portion 23 of the connector body When threading the chuck 40 onto the externally threaded second coupling portion 23 of the connector body 20, the tapered inside pressure wall 43 is pressed on the periphery of the collar 35 to compress the collar 35 radially inwards and the springy hook strips 36 are moved over the chambered edge 330 to force the respective hooked portions 37 into engagement with one peripheral groove 52 between two annular ribs 51 on the outside wall of the corrugated tube 50. When fastened up the chuck 40, the hooked portions 37 of the springy hook strips 36 are kept engaged with the peripheral groove 52 of the corrugated tube 50 firmly, and at the same time the flexible water sealing member 31 is deformed and tightly wrapped about the periphery of the corrugated tube 30 to seal the gap between the inside wall of the connector body 020 and the periphery of the corrugated tube 50. Therefore, the invention seals the

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C corrugated tube 50 against water, dust, and vermin.

tCl When wishing to dismount the corrugated tube 50, unfasten the chuck 40 to release the pressure from the collar 35 and the flexible water sealing member 31. By means of the gap 39 and the longitudinal crevice 38 and the springy material property of the springy hook strips 36, the hooked portions 37 of the springy hook strips 36 are

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disengaged from the corrugated tube 50, and the user can remove the corrugated tube

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from the corrugated tube connector easily.

1 Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A corrugated tube connector mounted in a hole on a fixed object to hold a corrugated tube, comprising: a connector body, said connector body having a first coupling portion disposed at a first side thereof and fastened to said hole of said fixed object and a second coupling portion disposed at a second side thereof, a flexible water sealing member inserted into the second side of said connector body, said flexible water sealing member having a receptacle head disposed at one end thereof and stopped outside said connector body and a tapered center through hole extending through two distal ends thereof for receiving one end of a corrugated tube, said tapered center through hole having a diameter gradually reducing in direction from the second side of said connector body toward the first side of said connector body; a split collar fastened to the receptacle head of said flexible water sealing member, said split collar having a longitudinal crevice cut through two distal ends thereof and a plurality of springy hook strips equiangularly spaced around an inside wall thereof for engaging the periphery of the corrugated tube that is inserted into said tapered center through hole of said water sealing member; and a chuck for fastening to the second coupling portion of said connector body to compress said split collar radially inwardly against the periphery of the corrugated tube that is inserted into said tapered center through hole of said flexible water sealing member and to squeeze said flexible water sealing member against said connector body, said chuck having a receiving side through which the corrugated tube is inserted into the tapered center through hole of said flexible water sealing member, and a tapered inside pressure wall pressed on the periphery of said split collar.

2. The corrugated tube connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first coupling portion and said second coupling portion of said connector body are respectively externally threaded; said chuck has an inner thread threaded onto the externally threaded second coupling portion of said connector body.

3. The corrugated tube connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein said connector body has an inside stop flange for stopping against one end of said flexible water sealing member.

4. The corrugated tube connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein said flexible water sealing member is molded from rubber; said split collar is made of nylon.

The corrugated tube connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein said flexible water sealing member has an annular lip extending around one end of said tapered center through hole for stopping against the corrugated tube that is inserted into said tapered center through hole.

6. The corrugated tube connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein said flexible water sealing member has a chamfered edge disposed at one end near said receptacle head for stopping against said springy hook strips of said split collar to force said springy hook strips against the corrugated tube that is inserted into said tapered center through hole of said flexible water sealing member.

7. The corrugated tube connector as claimed in claim 6, wherein said springy hook strips each have fixed end fixedly connected to an inside wall of said split collar and a free end terminating in a hooked portion for hooking on the periphery of the corrugated tube that is inserted into said tapered center through hole of said flexible water sealing member. M

8. The corrugated tube connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein said springy hook strips of said split collar are kept spaced from the receptacle head of said flexible water sealing member at a gap. Dated: 8 May 2006 Applicant AVC Industrial Corp Inventor Teh Tsung CHIU