EP3078457B1

EP3078457B1 - Pipe pressing device

Info

Publication number: EP3078457B1
Application number: EP15163062.1A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Wu-Sheng Huang
Original assignee: Yung Chi Industry Co Ltd
Current assignee: Yung Chi Industry Co Ltd
Priority date: 2015-04-09
Filing date: 2015-04-09
Publication date: 2017-09-13
Anticipated expiration: 2035-04-09
Also published as: EP3078457A1

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a pipe pressing device, and more particularly to a pipe pressing device according to the preamble of claim 1 for pressing a locking fastener onto a pipe.
Such a pipe pressing device is known by FR 2 868 719 A1 .

Description of the Prior Art

Pipes can be connected together or connected to other components by pipe locking fasteners. The pipe locking fasteners normally include L-shaped, T-shaped or Y-shaped fasteners, and pipe fixing rings for connecting a pipe to the end of another pipe. A pipe pressing device 10 as shown in Fig. 1 is used to fix the locking fastener firmly to the pipe, and comprises a holding portion 11 on which the pipe and the locking fastener are to be placed. On the holding portion 11 is provided a clamp consisting of a stationary member 12 and a movable member 13 for holding of the pipe and locking fastener. Below the holding portion 11 are provided a stationary handle 14, a movable handle 15 and a rack control member 16. In the holding portion 11 is provided a rack 17 for driving the movable member 13 and the movable handle 15 to move.
The pipe and the locking fastener which have been put together but not yet been pressed with each other are placed between the stationary member 12 and the movable member 13. Repeatedly pressing the movable handle 15 can push the pipe fixing ring of the locking fastener towards the stationary member 12 via the engagement of the rack 17 with the movable member 13, so that the pipe fixing ring can be pushed onto the pipe to fix the pipe and the locking fastener. Finally, pressing the rack control member 16 can move the rack 17, and push the movable member 13 to move away from the stationary member 12, so as to take out the pipe and the locking fastener which have been pressed together.
It is to be noted that the rack control member 16 and the stationary handle 14 of the conventional pipe pressing device 10 are disposed at two sides of the movable handle 15. The user has to operate the pipe pressing device 10 in the same way as pulling a trigger, namely, gripping the stationary handle 14 with one hand, and pressing the movable handle 15 with the middle, the leech and the little fingers, so that the index finger is then able to pull the rack control member 16 to release the movable member 13 without difficulties. However, when the pipe is relatively large and requires the user to grip the stationary and movable handles 14, 15 with two hands, respectively, the fingers of the hand which grips the movable handle 15 will be located between the movable and stationary handles 15, 14, which makes it inconvenient for the fingers to pull the rack control member 16 which is located in a direction opposite to these fingers. Especially, when the size and the weight of the large pipe are also large, the user has to release the handle from the movable handle 15 in order to press the rack control member 16, and only has one hand gripping the stationary handle 14, the heavy pipe pressing device is likely to cause injury.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a pipe pressing device according to claim 1 for pressing a locking fastener onto a pipe. The pipe pressing device includes a body, a clamp assembly and a rack disposed on the upper portion of the body, and a movable handle, a rack control member and a stationary handle disposed at the lower portion of the body. The rack control member below the body is disposed between the stationary and movable handles and located adjacent to the stationary handle, which allows the user to push the movable handle while gripping the movable and stationary handles with both hands, so that the user's finger can press the rack control member easily to make the rack move or positioned quickly and smoothly, which makes the pipe pressing device convenient to use and operate.
To achieve the above objective, a pipe pressing device comprising: a body with a front end, a rear end, and an upper portion and a lower portion between the front and rear ends, the upper portion of the body being provided with a clamp assembly for holding and pressing a pipe and a locking fastener, and a rack, the clamp assembly including a stationary member disposed at the front end of the body and a movable member fixed to the rack, at the lower portion of the body being provided a movable handle, a rack control member and a stationary handle, the movable handle and the rack control member being engaged with the rack to make the movable member move or fixed between the stationary member and the rear end of the body. The movable handle is elastically pivoted to the front end of the body and capable of being pushed back to its original position, the stationary handle is fixed to the rear end of the body, the rack control member is located adjacent to the stationary handle and disposed between the movable and stationary handles and capable of being pushed back to its original position.
The cross section of the insertion hole of the body is square-shaped, the rack is also square-shaped in cross section to fit in the insertion hole, the ratchet surface of the rack is engaged with a pull member of the movable handle and a push member of the rack control member, so as to prevent the idle rotation of the rack caused by back and forth movement of the movable handle. Furthermore, the square-shaped cross section can maintain the movement direction and improve the engagement of the rack.
The clamp assembly is replaceably disposed on the assembling portion of the body and the mounting seat of the rack and fixed therein by restricting members. The pipe pressing device of the present invention can be provided with different clamp assemblies for different sized pipes, so as to make the pipe pressing device of the present invention more useful and practical.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a side view of a conventional pipe pressing device;
Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a pipe pressing device in accordance with the present invention;
Fig. 3A is an exploded view of the pipe pressing device in accordance with the present invention;
Fig. 3B is an enlarged exploded view of a part of the pipe pressing device in accordance with the present invention;
Fig. 4A is a cross sectional view of the pipe pressing device in accordance with the present invention;
Fig. 4B is a partial cross sectional view of the pipe pressing device in accordance with the present invention;
Fig. 5A is a cross sectional view of the pipe pressing device in accordance with the present invention, wherein the movable handle is pressed down;
Fig. 5B is a partial cross sectional view of the pipe pressing device in accordance with the present invention, wherein the movable handle is pressed down;
Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing that is a cross sectional view of the pipe pressing device in accordance with the present invention; and

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will be clearer from the following description when viewed together with the accompanying drawings, which show, for purpose of illustrations only, the preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention.
Referring to Figs. 2-6, a pipe pressing device in accordance with the present invention comprises a body 20, a clamp assembly 30, a rack 40, a movable handle 50, a rack control member 60 and a stationary handle 70. The body 20 includes a front end 201, a rear end 202, and an upper portion 203 and a lower portion 204 which are located between the front and rear ends 201, 202. A direction extending between the front and rear ends 201, 202 is defined as a direction X, a direction extending between the upper and lower portions 203, 204 is defined as a direction Y, and a direction Z is perpendicular to the directions X and Y.
Referring then to Figs. 3A-4B, the upper portion 203 of the body 20 is provided with an insertion hole 21 running through the front and rear ends 201, 202 of the body 20, an assembling portion 22 located at the front end 201, and a slit 23 which extends from the middle of the body 20 to the rear end 202 and is in communication with the insertion hole 21. The lower portion 204 of the body 20 is provided with a pivot groove 24 located at the front rend 201, an assembling groove 25 located at the rear end 202, and a middle groove 26 which is located adjacent to and in communication with the assembling groove 25. The pivot groove 24 and the middle groove 26 are in communication with the insertion hole 21.
The rack 40 is inserted in the insertion hole 21 and provided with a mounting seat 41 located toward the upper portion 203 of the body 20, and a ratchet surface 42 which is located toward the lower portion 204 of the body 20 and exposed to the pivot and middle grooves 24, 26. In this embodiment, the Y-Z cross section of the insertion hole 21 of the body 20 is square-shaped, and the rack 40 is also square-shaped in cross section to fit in the insertion hole 21, so that the rack 40 is able to slide in the insertion hole 21 in a non-rotatable manner.
The clamp assembly 30 is disposed on the upper portion 203 of the body 20 to hold and press a pipe B and locking fasteners (as shown in Fig. 6), and includes a stationary member 31 disposed on the assembling portion 22 of the body 20 and a movable member 32 disposed at the mounting seat 41 of the rack 40, as shown in Figs. 3B and 4A. The Y-Z cross sections of the assembling portion 22 of the body 20 and the mounting seat 41 of the rack 40 are T-shaped, and in the assembling portion 22 and the mounting seat 41 is inserted a restricting member 221, 411, respectively. The stationary and movable members 31, 32 of the clamp assembly 30 are each formed with a T- shaped groove 311, 321 for insertion of the T-shaped cross section of the assembling portion 22 and the mounting seat 41. The stationary and movable members 31, 32 are engaged in the assembling portion 22 of the body 20 and the mounting seat 41 of the rack 40, and fixed therein by the restricting members 221, 411, respectively.
In this embodiment, the stationary and movable members 31, 32 are replaceable structures and fixed by the restricting members 221, 411. The restricting members 221, 411 can be magnetic members or complementary structures for complementary tongue-and-groove engagement with the stationary and movable members 31, 32.
The movable handle 50 includes a handle portion 51, a cavity 511 formed at one end of the handle portion 51, and a compression spring 52 and a pull member 53 which are disposed in the cavity 511. The pull member 53 includes a slot 533 formed in the middle portion thereof, and has one end pressed against the compression spring 52. Another end of the pull member is formed with an engaging tooth 532 for meshing with the ratchet surface 42 of the rack 40. The handle portion 51 and the pull member 53 are pivoted to the pivot groove 24 of the body 20 by a pivot 54 inserted along the direction Z through the cavity 511 and the slot 533. At one side of the one end of the handle portion 51 toward the front end 201 of the body 20 is formed a first pivot point P1, in the pivot groove 24 is formed a second pivot point P2, and then a stretch spring 55 has two ends pivoted to the first and second pivot points P1, P2 to provide an elastic force for pushing the handle portion 51 back to its original position.
In this embodiment as shown in Figs. 4A and 4B, a gap 512 is formed at the end of the handle portion 51 of the movable handle 50 and located toward the front end 201 of the body 20, a first pivot 513 is inserted along the direction Z into the gap 512 to form the first pivot point P1, and a second pivot 241 is inserted along the direction Z into the pivot groove 24 of the body 20 to form the second pivot point P2.
The rack control member 60 includes a rod body 61 and a push member 62. One end of the rod body 61 is pivotally fixed in the middle groove 26 by a pivot 63 which is inserted along the direction Z into the body 20. A connecting portion 611 is formed at the end of the rod body 61 and located toward the front end 201 of the body 20, and a connecting pivot 612 extends along the direction Z from the connecting portion 611 and is inserted in one end of the push member 62. Another end of the push member 62 is formed with a control tooth 621 form meshing with the ratchet surface 42 of the rack 40.
The stationary handle 70 has one end fixed in the assembling groove 25 of the body 20. At the middle portion of the stationary handle 70 and the rod body 61 of the rack control member 60 is formed a compression spring hole 613, 71 for accommodation of a compression spring 64 which provides an elastic force for pushing the rod body 61 back to its original position. In this embodiment, the stationary handle 70 and the body 20 are fixed to each other by a bolt 72 inserted through the assembling groove 25 of the body 20 and the end of the stationary handle 70.
What mentioned are the structural relations of the main components of the embodiment, and for a better understanding of the operation and function of the present invention, please refer to the following descriptions.
Referring then to Figs. 4A-6, pushing the movable handle 50 back and forth repeatedly can push the rack 40 which is engaged with the pull member 53 toward the front end 201 of the body 20 in unidirectional manner. The push member 62 of the rack control member 60 is meshed with the rack 40 to allow the rack 40 to be moved only in one direction. With repeated back and forth motion of the movable handle 50, the movable member 32 will move along with the rack 40 to push and press the pipe fixing ring A2 of the locking fastener A onto the end of the pipe B and the locking fastener A, so that the pipe B and the locking member A1 of the locking fastener A are firmly connected to each other. To take out the pipe B and the locking fastener A which have been finished being pressed together, the user just has to press the rack control member 60 to disengage the push member 62 from the ratchet surface 42 of the rack 40, so that the rack 40 is able to move freely within the insertion hole 21 to adjust the distance between the stationary member 31 and the movable member 32.
The rack control member 60 is disposed between the movable and stationary handles 50, 70, when the user operates the pipe pressing device of the present invention with two hands, the finger of the hand griping the stationary handle 70 can easily press the rack control member 60 to release the rack 40, which makes the pipe pressing device convenient to use and operate.
Since the pipe B and the locking fastener A varies in size, as shown in Figs. 2 and 6, the stationary and movable members 31, 32 are each provided with a clamp groove 312, 322 for holding of the locking fastener A and the pipe B. The pipe pressing device of the present invention can be provided with different clamp assemblies 30 with differently sized or shaped clamp grooves 312, 322, to make the pipe pressing device of the present invention more useful and practical. For example, the clamp assembly 30 as shown in Fig. 2 is used for small pipe, and the one as shown in Fig. 6 is used for large pipe.
While we have shown and described various embodiments in accordance with the present invention, it is clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

A pipe pressing device comprising: a body (20) with a front end (201), a rear end (202), and an upper portion (203) and a lower portion (204) between the front and rear ends (201, 202), the upper portion (203) of the body (20) being provided with a clamp assembly (30) for holding and pressing a pipe (B) and a locking fastener, and a rack (40), the clamp assembly (30) including a stationary member (31) disposed at the front end (201) of the body (20) and a movable member (32) fixed to the rack (40), at the lower portion (204) of the body (20) being provided a movable handle (50), a rack control member (60) and a stationary handle (70), the movable handle (50) and the rack control member (60) being engaged with the rack (40) to make the movable member (32) move or fixed between the stationary member (31) and the rear end (202) of the body (20); wherein the movable handle (50) is elastically pivoted to the front end (201) of the body (20) and capable of being pushed back to its original position, the stationary handle (70) is fixed to the rear end (202) of the body (20), the rack control member (60) is located adjacent to the stationary handle (70) and disposed between the movable and stationary handles (50, 70) and capable of being pushed back to its original position;
the upper portion (203) of the body (20) is provided with an insertion hole (21) running through the front and rear ends (201, 202) of the body (20), and an assembling portion (22) located at the front end (201),
characterized in that the pipe pressing device further comprises a slit (23) which extends from the middle of the body (20) to the rear end (202) and is in communication with the insertion hole (21), the lower portion (204) of the body (20) is provided with a pivot groove (24) located at the front rend (201), an assembling groove (25) located at the rear end (202), and a middle groove (26) which is located adjacent to and in communication with the assembling groove (25), the pivot groove (24) and the middle groove (26) are in communication with the insertion hole (21);
the rack (40) is inserted in the insertion hole (21) and provided with a ratchet surface (42) which is located toward the lower portion (204) of the body (20) and exposed to the pivot and middle grooves (24, 26);
the movable handle (50) includes a handle portion (51), a cavity (511) formed at one end of the handle portion (51), and a compression spring (52) and a pull member (53) which are disposed in the cavity (511), the pull member (53) includes a slot (533) formed in the middle portion thereof and has one end pressed against the compression spring (52), another end of the pull member is formed with an engaging tooth (532) for meshing with the ratchet surface (42) of the rack (40), the handle portion (51) and the pull member (53) are pivoted to the pivot groove (24) of the body (20) by a pivot (54) inserted through the cavity (511) and the slot (533), at one side of the one end of the handle portion (51) toward the front end (201) of the body (20) is formed a first pivot point (P1), in the pivot groove (24) is formed a second pivot point (P2), and a stretch spring (55) has two ends pivoted to the first and second pivot points (P1, P2) to provide an elastic force for pushing the handle portion (51) back to its original position;
the rack control member (60) includes a rod body (61) and a push member (62), one end of the rod body (61) is pivotally fixed in the middle groove (26) by a pivot (63) inserted into the body (20), a connecting portion (611) is formed at the one end of the rod body (61) and located toward the front end (201) of the body (20), and a connecting pivot (612) extends from the connecting portion (611) and is inserted in one end of the push member (62), another end of the push member (62) is formed with a control tooth (621) form meshing with the ratchet surface (42) of the rack (40);
the stationary handle (70) has one end fixed in the assembling groove (25) of the body (20), at a middle portion of the stationary handle (70) and the rod body (61) of the rack control member (60) is formed a compression spring hole (613, 71) for accommodation of a compression spring (64) which provides an elastic force for pushing the rod body (61) back to its original position;
pushing the movable handle (50) back and forth repeatedly makes the pull member (53) move within the insertion hole (21) in unidirectional manner, pressing the rack control member (60) makes the rack (40) move towards or away from the stationary handle (70), so that the rack (40) is caused to engaged with or disengage from the push member (62).
The pipe pressing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a gap (512) is formed at the end of the handle portion (51) of the movable handle (50) and located toward the front end (201) of the body (20), a first pivot (513) is inserted into the gap (512) to form the first pivot point (P1), and a second pivot (241) is inserted into the pivot groove (24) of the body (20) to form the second pivot point (P2).
The pipe pressing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rack (40) being inserted in the insertion hole (21) is further provided with a mounting seat (41) located toward the upper portion (203) of the body (20);
the stationary member (31) of the clamp assembly (30) is disposed on the assembling portion (22) of the body (20), and the movable member (32) is disposed at the mounting seat (41) of the rack (40).
The pipe pressing device as claimed in claim 3, wherein a direction extending between the front and rear ends (201, 202) is defined as a direction X, a direction extending between the upper and lower portions (203, 204) is defined as a direction Y, and a direction Z is perpendicular to the directions X and Y;
a Y-Z cross sections of the assembling portion (22) of the body (20) and the mounting seat (41) of the rack (40) are T-shaped, and in the assembling portion (22) and the mounting seat (41) is inserted a restricting member (221, 411), respectively, the stationary and movable members (31, 32) of the clamp assembly (30) are each formed with a T-shaped groove (311, 321) for insertion of the T-shaped cross section of the assembling portion (22) and the mounting seat (41), the stationary and movable members (31, 32) are engaged in the assembling portion (22) of the body (20) and the mounting seat (41) of the rack (40), and fixed therein by the restricting members (221, 411), respectively.
The pipe pressing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the stationary handle (70) and the body (20) are fixed to each other by a bolt (72) inserted through the assembling groove (25) of the body (20) and the end of the stationary handle (70).
The pipe pressing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a direction extending between the upper and lower portions (203, 204) is defined as a direction Y, and a direction Z is perpendicular to the direction Y, the upper portion (203) of the body (20) is provided with an insertion hole (21) running through the front and rear ends (201, 202) of the body (20), a Y-Z cross section of the insertion hole (21) of the body (20) is square-shaped, and the rack (40) is also square-shaped in cross section to fit in the insertion hole (21).