GB2151737A

GB2151737A - Connector

Info

Publication number: GB2151737A
Application number: GB08432151A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Kurt Stoll
Original assignee: Festo SE and Co KG
Current assignee: Festo SE and Co KG
Priority date: 1983-12-21
Filing date: 1984-12-20
Publication date: 1985-07-24
Also published as: JPS60157591A; IT8424133A0; GB8432151D0; SE459117B; KR850004533A; IT1177461B; SE8406506L; FR2557256A1; SE8406506D0; DE3346141C1; ES291896U; ES291896Y; IT8424133A1; GB2151737B

Abstract

A connector for producing a compressed air joint between a compressed air main (1) and a line (16) to be joined thereto has a socket (4) that is fixed in a port (2) in the wall of the compressed air main (1). The socket has elastic lips (8) resting against each other to shut off the port (2). A compressed air line to be joined with the socket is inserted into a receiving opening (12) in the sleeve (4) so that the sealing lips (8) are splayed outwards. The sealing lips make close contact with the outer face of the compressed air line and they are moved so far apart that there is a free flow path for the air into the line. On retracting the line (16) from the socket the sealing lips close again as a check valve. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A connector The present invention relates to a connector for producing a plug-in connection between a compressed air line or male connection part and a compressed air main.

In the prior art connector units for compressed air piping have been proposed in the form of plugin connectors. They are composed of at least two parts, namely a female socket and a male element.

The structure of the male element and the socket is relatively complex. It is necessary to have specialpurpose seals in order to produce an effective sealing action between the male element and the socket in the connected condition, and it is furthermore imperative to have a mechanical gripping sleeve or the like to fix the male element on the pipe that is to be connected. The outcome of this is a multi-component system of complex design as found in most of the known plug-in connectors, that is responsible for high overall production costs.

It has furthermore been proposed to design plug-in connectors with a check valve function so that the compressed air line is automatically shut off as soon as the male element is withdrawn from the socket. To this end the male element has a check valve integrated into it with a valve member forming a separate component. The arrangement of such a check valve in the connector results in an even greater number of the separate components and in a correspondingly higher amount of complexity during manufacture and assembly of the plug-in connector.

One purpose of the present invention is to overcome these drawbacks.

A further aim of the invention is to design a substantially simplified connector unit for compressed air lines that may be produced at low price and furthermore may be universally used, said connector having a check valve function.

In order to attain these and other objects that will appear in the present account, a connector for producing a plug-in connection between a compressed air main and a line, comprises a socket adapted to be fitted in a port in a wall of the main, said socket having elastic lips making sealing contact with each other to obturate said port in said wall, said socket furthermore having an opening into which an end of said line may be placed and inserted so that said lips are splayed apart by said end. This makes it possible for the desired air connection to be established. If the line is retracted from the socket of the connector, the sealing lips will close again and the supply of air will be cut off.

The arrangement in accordance with the present invention enables the line itself, that is to be connected, to be used as the male element to be inserted into the socket. A special-purpose male element in the form of a ferrule or a termination is not required, something considerably simplifying the plug-in connector. The connection socket of the invention is made in one piece and it may be man ufactured at a low price from rubber or resin for example. Its elastic sealing lips represent a check valve for the compressed air main and perform a sealing function on the line to be joined thereto automatically. This twin function is produced in a single-piece construction with the connection socket produced at very low cost.Lastly, the con nector unit in keeping with the invention is such that it may be simply fitted to all possible forms of compressed air mains, a term which herein in cludes pressure vessels and lines carrying com pressed air alike, so that the applications are more or less universal.

Further possible forms of the invention will be seen from the claims.

In keeping with one such further development of the invention, the connection socket posseses a generally cylindrical sleeve member, whose one end is open and whose other end is adapted to be shut off by sealing lips that are formed on its a circumferential edge, such lips running towards the axial center of the socket. This makes for optimum sealing properties of the connector socket, the connector being able to tolerate substantial variations in the pressure of the air in the main. A further point is that the line to be plugged into the socket is securely and conveniently guided.

The sealing lips may be concavely curved and they may be symmetrically arranged in a set of two to six lips.

The faces of the sealing lips that come into engagement with each other may be toothed and/or stepped to act like a labyrinth seal, such designs of the lips enhancing the sealing performance of the connector.

It is furthermore possible for the connector socket to be adapted to snap into the opening of the compressed air main, for example by its having one or more radial collars formed on the sleeve member. In addition, it is possible for the connector socket to be adapted to fit like a cap onto the end of a compressed air line. With such features a connector is then particularly simple to fit in place and is suitable for a large number of different applications.

The wall of the opening on the connector socket may have retaining means, as for example means in the form of molded-on teeth, that retain a line that has been inserted and keep it from slipping out of the socket. This represents a very simple way of causing self-iocking of a flexible pipe fitted into the socket so that it is secured and is not able to be pulled out of the socket unintentionally. This arrangement is particularly to be used when it comes to connecting up a number of pneumatic loads with normal flexible pipe.

Further useful effects of the invention will be gathered from the following account of two working examples thereof referring to the accompanying drawings in which the connectors are to be seen partly diagrammatically.

Figure 1 is a cross section through a first working example of the connector of the present invention taken on the line I-I of Figure 2.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the connector locking in the direction II as marked in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a plan view corresponding to that of Figure 2 looking down on a second embodiment of the connector of the invention.

Figure 1 diagrammatically shows a compressed air main 1, for example in the form of a hollow main rail or "bus bar", a pressure container or of some other form of pipe for the distribution of compressed air to loads. The compressed air main 1 represents some form of housing connected with a source of compressed air with which one or more compressed air-driven loads are to be powered. In this respect the design of the invention is such that the respective line (16) running to the respective compressed air-driven device is to be connected with the compressed air main 1 by way of a plugin connector. The necessary points of connection comprise ports 2 in a wall 3 of the compressed air main.

The port 2 to be seen in Figure 1 has a circular cross section. It receives a connection socket 4, which comprises a cylindrical sleeve member 5 fitting into the port 2. Two radial collars 6 are formed on the sleeve member 5, the axial distance between them equalling the thickness of the wall 3.

The connection socket 4 is made of an elastic material, as for example rubber or synthetic resin. It may be snap-fitted or locked into the port 2 so that once put in place its natural elasticity will keep in position in the wall 3 of the compressed air main.

Part of the length of the socket 4 fits into the inside 7 of the compressed air main 1. This inner part of the connection socket 4 is designed with a number of sealing lips 8, that shut off the port 2 air-tightly. The sealing lips 8 are made integrally with the circumferential part of the sleeve member 5. They run inwards towards the axis 9 of the socket 4 to a point within the inside 7 spaced from the wall. At the axial center the sealing lips rest against each other and make surface contact. Their area 10 of contact forms the sealing face. More specially the parts of the sealing lips 8 coming into contact may be smooth; however it is furthermore possible for the faces in question to be toothed and/or stepped like a labyrinth seal.The sealing lips 8 are manufactured so that they are pressed together by their own elasticity to make a sealing contact in the closed position. As a result the port 2 in the wall 3 of the compressed air main 1 is nor mally closed.

In the illustrated working example of the invention the sealing lips are concavely curved, i.e.

curved in an inward direction with radial align ment. For this reason they present a curved active surface 11 to the operating pressure obtaining in the inside 7 of the compressed air main 1. When the system is put under pressure the gauge pres sure takes effect on the active or exposed face 11 and the sealing lips 8 are pressed inwards with a radial component of motion while deforming elast ically. The sealing lips are so sized that they re main in sealing engagement; in particular they are so stiff that they do not splay outwards of their own accord. The concave form of the sealing lips 8 means that the pneumatic operating pressure exerts a force that presses the sealing lips 8 together and causes them to seal against each other or enhances such sealing phenomenon.

In the working example to be seen in the Figures 1 and 2 there are two sealing lips which meet along a longitudinal plane of the connection socket 4. However as may be seen from the Figure 3 it is also possible to have a greate radial extents about the center line of the connector socket 4. In the working example of the invention to be seen in the Figure 3 there are three sealing lips 8, although it would be possible to have a greater number of them, preferably six. The sealing lips 8 are concavely curved as in the first working example of the invention and are adapted to splay outwards.

The sleeve member 5 of the connection socket 4 has an axial plug-in port 12, into which the end of a line that is to be connected may be inserted. The port 12 has a circular cross section and is therefore adapted to receive a cylindrical pipe or hose end.

This line 16 to be connected with the socket is the male part of the connector of the present invention. On being inserted into the socket opening, it strikes against the sealing lips 8, that are thus splayed outwards elastically and makes sealing contact with and around the line. If the line is pushed inwards sufficiently, the ends of the sealing lips 8 are moved apart so that their sealing action is overridden and its is possible for air to flow through the line 16. The desired fluid connection will then have been produced.

In keeping with the preferred form of the invention, it is possible to furnish the inner face of the port 12 with sutable retaining means in order to arrest or grip an inserted line 16 and to keep it from being tugged out of the socket unintentionally. Figure 1 in this respect shows a serration 13 formed on the connection socket 4, such teeth or serrations being adapted to bite into the outer face of an elastic line or hose. The serration 13 has a conical flank 15 tapering in the direction of insertion of the hose, such flank being joined with the radial ledge or step continuing radially outwards as far as the inner face 14 of the port 12. This flank 15 offers comparatively little resistance to an elastic line when it is being pushed in, whereas movement in the opposite direction is opposed to a very much greater extent.

On retracting the line out of the connection socket 4 the sealing lips 8 spring back into their starting positions in which they make sealing engagement with each other. The port 2 is therefore shut off again and the supply of compressed air cut off. It will be seen that the sealing lips 8 at the same time perform the function of a check valve, that cuts off the compressed air flow when the line is pulled out. This arrangement makes the connector of the invention easy to use and economizes in the consumption of compressed air.

As noted already, the connection socket 4 is preferably force-locked and fitted in the wall 3 of a compressed air main 1. However there are other ways in which the connector socket 4 may be attached, to which end it may be changed in its out line. In particular the connection socket 4 may be in the form of a cap or stopper so that it may be fixed on the end of a compressed air line or the like.

Claims

1. A connector for producing a connection between a compressed air main and a line, the connector comprising a socket adapted to be fitted in a port in a wall of the main, the socket having resilient lips making sealing contact with one another so as to obturate the port in the wall, and having an opening into which an end of said line may be placed and inserted so that the lips are splayed apart by said end.

2. A connector according to claim 1, wherein the socket comprises a substantially cylindrical sleeve, one end of which is open and the other end of which has a limit on which the lips are provided, the lips extending towards an axis of the socket.

3. A connector according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the lips are concave towards the inside of the main.

4. A connector according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the lips are arranged symmetrically in the form of petals and between two and six lips are provided.

5. A connector according to any of the preced ing claims, wherein contacting faces of the lips are interlockingly shaped like a labyrinth seal.

6. A connector according to any of the preced ing claims, wherein the socket is adapted to be plugged into the port of the main.

7. A connector according to claim 6, wherein the socket has at least one collar thereon for locking in said port.

8. A connector according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the socket is adapted to be fitted in the form of a cap on the end of a pipe carrying compressed air.

9. A connector according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the lips are adapted to make sealing contact with an outer face of said line.

10. A connector according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the socket has retaining means thereon to retain said line within the socket when acted upon by an outwardly directed pulling force.

11. A connector for producing a connection between a compressed air main and a line substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.