AU2011322281A1

AU2011322281A1 - Demountable connecting device

Info

Publication number: AU2011322281A1
Application number: AU2011322281A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Derrick Ernest Hilton; John Norris Mitchell
Original assignee: Linde GmbH
Current assignee: Linde GmbH
Priority date: 2010-10-27
Filing date: 2011-10-26
Publication date: 2013-03-21
Also published as: WO2012056199A1; CA2809917A1; GB201018167D0; EP2633225A1

Abstract

A demountable connecting device for connecting an article to a support member comprises clips (202) and (204) both having a pair of opposed prongs (210) that fit around the support member. A first, outer, hollow coupling member (206) locates the prongs in slots (212) and engages a second, complementary, outer, hollow coupling member (208). The second coupling member has a configuration enabling it to engage the first coupling member (206) and hold the clips (202) and (204) firmly in position. The second coupling member is connectible to or integral with the article to be connected to the support member. In one example, the support member is a handle on a lightweight gas cylinder and the article is a telescopic handle extension.

Description

WO 2012/056199 PCT/GB20111/001535 -1 - P1OB417WO DEMOUNTABLE CONNECTING DEVICE This invention relates to a demountable connecting device for connecting an 5 article to a support member. Although the demountable connecting device is of general applicability it is particularly intended for connecting an article to a handle of a light weight pressure vessel for the storage and transport of a gaseous product under pressure. Such pressure vessels are often referred to as "gas cylinders" but need not be of cylindrical shape. 10 A gas cylinder typically comprises a thick-walled steel pressure vessel. Such a gas cylinder is heavy and cumbersome. Lighter weight gas cylinders have been introduced in which the pressure vessel is wound with strengthening fibres, thus enabling its walls to be much thinner. In order to protect the 15 vessel, or "liner" as it is sometimes called, and its winding from damage, the vessel is located in an external plastics jacket. The external plastics jacket may be provided with a lid which may have handles that can be employed when manually lifting the gas cylinder. The cylinder may also be provided with a wheel base so that it can be wheeled rather than carried between 20 locations. We believe it would be desirable to attach various articles to one or both of the handles. To this end the invention provides a demountable connecting device which is of general applicability, not just to gas cylinders. 25 According to the present invention there is provided a demountable connecting device for connecting an article to a support member, comprising at least one clip having at least one pair of opposed prongs, the said at least one clip having a configuration for gripping the support member; and a first, 30 outer, hollow coupling member adapted to receive and locate the said prongs through one of its ends and to receive a second complementary, inner coupling member through an opposite end thereof, wherein the second WO 2012/056199 PCT/GB2011/001535 -2- P1OB417 WO coupling member has a configuration enabling it to engage the first coupling member and hold the said at least one clip firmly in position, the second coupling member being connectible to or integral with the said article. 5 In a preferred embodiment, the second coupling member has a resilient wall portion, and the first coupling member has an aperture through which the said resilient wall position can be subjected to finger pressure so as to flex the said resilient wall portion away from the aperture and thereby to enable the coupling members to be separated from one another. 10 The first coupling member typically has an endless wall containing slots for receiving the said prongs. The second coupling member typically has an endless wall complementary to 15 the endless wall of the first coupling member, the endless wall of the second coupling member having a plurality of slots in its outer surface configured so as to engage the prongs when the two coupling members are coupled together. 20 The resilient wall portion may have an integral raised area to act as a finger press. The endless wall of the second coupling member may be integral with a cuff. The cuff may be provided with a flange for connection to a chosen article. 25 There may be a single clip with two spaced-apart pairs of opposed prongs. Alternatively there may be separate clips. The support may be a handle of lightweight gas cylinder. 30 WO 2012/056199 PCT/GB2011/001535 -3- P1OB417 WO In one example, two connecting devices according to the invention are used to connect a table or other horizontal work surface to the handles of a lightweight gas cylinder. 5 In another example, a single connecting device according to the invention is used to connect a telescopic handle extension to one handle of a wheeled lightweight gas cylinder. In such an arrangement, the cylinder may be tilted on its wheels and wheeled in the manner of a wheeled travelling case. 10 The coupling members and at least one clip are conveniently made, typically as mouldings, from a resilient plastics material. A connecting device according to the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 15 Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a lightweight gas cylinder having handles to which a demountable connecting device according to the invention can be attached. 20 Figure 2 is a schematic exploded perspective view of a first demountable connecting device according to the invention; Figure 3 is a schematic perspective view of the demountable connecting device shown in Figure 2. 25 Figure 4 is a schematic section through the line A-A in Figure 2; Figure 5 is a schematic section through the line C-C in Figure 3; 30 Figure 6 is a schematic section through the line B-B in Figure 3, WO 2012/056199 PCT/GB2011/001535 -4- P1OB417 WO Figure 7 is a schematic exploded perspective view of a second coupling device according to the invention; and Figure 8 is a schematic perspective view of a cylinder of the kind shown in 5 Figure 1 being coupled to a travelling handle extension by a device of the kind shown in Figures 2 to 5, or Figure 7. The drawings are not to scale. 10 Like parts in two or more drawings are indicated by the same reference numerals. Referring to Figure 1, a pressure vessel I (or "gas cylinder") comprises a cylindrical outer protective jacket 3 having an open end and a closed end 15 within which is contained a fibre wound inner pressure vessel (or "liner") (not visible in Figure 1). The inner pressure vessel receives a valve assembly 7 enabling the contents of the inner pressure valve to be controllably discharged. 20 The protective jacket 3 is mounted on a wheel base 9 which comprises a main body 11 and a pair of wheels 13 attached to an axle (not shown). A lid 17 which comprises a handle assembly is attached to the open end of the protective jacket 3 remote from the wheel base 9. 25 The protective jacket 3 is mounted on the wheel base 9. The handle assembly on the lid 17 provides a pair of handles 21 which enables the entire pressure vessel 1 to be moved from location to location by being tipped and then pulled to a new position using the handles 21 while the wheels 13 on the wheel base 9 rotate about the axle 15. Additionally, the handles 21 protrude 30 above the valve assembly 7 thereby protecting the valve assembly 7 from being knocked and damaged.

WO 2012/056199 PCT/GB2011/001535 -5- P1OB417WO The lid 17 is attached to the protective jacket 3 using a retaining ring 19 which prevents the lid 17 from being removed accidentally but permits the lid 17 to be dismantled when the contents of the inner pressure vessel 5 has been exhausted enabling the inner pressure vessel to be removed from the 5 protective jacket 3 and replaced or refilled. The demountable connecting device according to the invention enables an article to be connected to one or both of the handles 21. 10 Referring to Figures 2 and 3, a demountable connecting device 200 comprises four components, all formed of a resilient plastics material such as nylon, namely first and second clips 202 and 204, a first coupling member 206 and a second coupling member 208 (complementary to the first coupling member 206). The first and second clips fit around a chosen one of the 15 handles 21 of the pressure vessel shown in Figure 1 and enter first coupling member 206 from its lower end (as shown in Figure 2). Both clips 202 and 204 have opposed pairs of prongs 210. Each prong 210 is received in a complementary slot 212 formed in an endless wall 214 of the first coupling member 206 so as to locate the clips 202 and 204. The arrangement of a clip 20 204 and slots 212 is also shown in Figure 4. The second coupling member 208 has an integral endless wall portion 218 with an external surface complementary to the internal surface of the endless wall 214 of the first coupling member 216. The endless wall portion 218 has 25 slots 220 formed therein which are able to slide over the prongs 210 when the two coupling members 206 and 208 are connected together. The act of coupling the members 206 and 208 together secures the two parts together and locks or holds firmly the clips 202 and 204 in position about the handle 21 (see Figure 1) or other support member. Figures 3, 5 and 6 show the 30 members 206 and 208 coupled together. If an axial force is applied to decouple the members 206 and 208, they will not separate. Similarly applying an axial force to either one or both of the clips 202 or 204 will not dislodge WO 2012/056199 PCT/GB2011/001535 -6- P1OB417 WO them The connecting device 200 is thus able to secure a chosen article firmly to the handle of the pressure vessel. In order to disassemble the device 200, finger pressure is applied to a raised 5 surface 222 on the outer side of the endless wall portion 218 of the second coupling member 208, an aperture 224 being formed in the endless wall 214 of the first coupling member 206 to allow access to the surface 222. Because the wall portion 218 is of resilient material, the application of finger pressure to the required surface 222 causes it to flex away from the aperture 224, 10 allowing the second coupling member 208 to be slid out of the first coupling member 206 by an operator using their other hand than the one applying the finger pressure. The raised surface 222 normally protrudes into the aperture 224 and it can be appreciated that a simple attempt to separate the coupling member 206 and 208 by application of an axial force above could be resisted 15 by the raised surface 222 not clearing the aperture 224. The endless wall portion 218 of the second coupling member 208 is integral with an attachment cuff 226. The cuff 226 may in turn be integral with an article which is to be connected to the handle 2 of the pressure vessel. 20 In Figure 7, there is shown a variant of the connecting device shown in Figures 2 to 6. Instead of two separate clips 202 and 204, a single clip device 700 is illustrated with two spaced apart pairs of opposed prongs 210. The single clip 700 facilitates assembly of the connecting device according to the 25 invention. Another difference between the connecting device shown in Figure 7 and that in Figures 2 to 6 is that the device in Figure 7 is provided with a flange 702 integral with the cuff 226 to enable the connecting device to be secured (e.g. by bolts or screws (not shown)) to an article to be coupled to the cylinder handle 21 (not shown in Figure 7). For example this article may be a 30 table top 704. Two such connecting devices would typically be used to secure the table top to the opposite handles of the pressure vessel.

WO 2012/056199 PCT/GB2011/001535 -7- P10B417 WO Referring to Figure 8, a pressure vessel 800 of the kind shown in Figure 1 is provided with a telescopic travelling handle extension 802. The pressure vessel has a lid 804 which itself is provided with two spaced-apart handles 806. The extension 802 has two telescopic arms 808 and 810. Both of the 5 arms 808 and 810 are connected to one of the handles 806 by means of respective connecting devices 812 of the kind shown in Figures 2 to 6. In the embodiment shown in Figure 8, the devices 812 have a second coupling member which is integral with a sleeve 816 that engages a respective arm 808 or 810 of the extension 802.

Claims

1. A demountable connecting device for connecting an article to a support member, comprising at least one clip having at least one 5 pair of opposed prongs, the said at least one clip having a configuration for gripping the support member; and a first, outer, hollow coupling member adapted to receive and locate the said prongs through one of its ends and to receive a second complementary, inner coupling member through an opposite end 10 thereof, wherein the second coupling member has a configuration enabling it to engage the first coupling member and hold the said at least one clip firmly in position, the second coupling member being connectible to or integral with the said article. 15

2. A demountable connecting device according to claim 1, wherein the second coupling member has a resilient wall portion, and the first coupling member has an aperture through which the said resilient wall portion can be subjected to finger pressure so as to flex the said resilient wall portion away from the aperture and 20 thereby to enable the coupling members to be separated from one another.

3. A demountable connecting device according to claim 2, wherein the flexible wall portion has an integral raised area to act as a finger 25 press.

4. A demountable connecting device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first coupling member has an endless wall containing slots for receiving the said prongs. 30

5. A demountable connecting device according to claim 4, wherein the second coupling member has an endless wall complementary to the WO 2012/056199 PCT/GB2011/001535 -9- P1OB417 WO endless wall of the first coupling member, the endless wall of the second coupling member having a plurality of slots in its outer surface configured so as to engage the prongs when the two coupling members are coupled together. 5

6. A demountable connecting device according to claim 5, wherein the endless wall of the second coupling member is integral with a cuff which is provided with a flange for connection to a chosen article. 10

7. A demountable connecting device according to claim 6, wherein the cuff is provided with a flange for connection to a chosen article.

8. A demountable connecting device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein there is a single clip with two spaced 15 apart pairs of opposed prongs.

9. A demountable connecting device according to any one of claims 1 7, wherein there is a plurality of separate clips. 20

10. A demountable connecting device according to any one of the preceding claims that connects an article to a support, wherein the support is a handle of lightweight gas cylinder. 25 30