IL46488A - Quickly attachable and detachable spring-clamp and pipe coupling including same - Google Patents

Abstract

1506962 Pipe latch coupling PLASSON MAAGAN MICHAEL INDUSTRIES Ltd 8 Jan 1976 [22 Jan 1975] 00655/76 Heading E2A [Also in Division F2] A pipe coupling comprises a hook shaped pivoted arm 20 sprung loaded by integral resilient plastics member 34 and fixed to the first pipe by bracket 22. The hook end 30 of the arm 20 is so shaped that it cooperates with bevelled surface 32a on flange 32 of the second pipe, when sliding the first pipe into the second, such that arm 20 moves against action of member 34 until the hook 30 snaps behind flange 32. Release of the pipes is effected by compressing member 34 to unlock the hook. [GB1506962A]

Description

QUICKLY ATTACHABLE AND DETACHABLE SPRING CLAMP AND PIPE COUPLING SAME The present invention relates to a quickly attachable and detachable and also to a coupling including the novel spring The invention is particularly useful for coupling a pipe within a cylindrical such as a valve and is therefore described with respect to such an but it will be appreciated that the invention could advantageously used in other applications as More the application described herein for the invention is one in which a pipe is in a quickly attachable and detachable within a cylindrical valve One form of coupling now in current use in this type of application includes a pin and arrangement for coupling the Such an arrangement however is not entirely satisfactory for several attaching or detaching the pipe from the housing requires either the pipe or the housing to be rotated with respect to the which is not always convenient in a particular the known arrangement is quite expensive and has heretofore been used mostly for metal pipes metal An object of the present invention is to provide a quickly attachable and detachable of construction which may be produced at low cost in mass and particularly one which may be used in the above application for coupling a pipe within a valve Another object of the invention is to provide a pipe coupling including the novel According to one aspect of the present there is provided a quickly attachable and detachable for clamping a first member to comprising a bracket to be fixed to the first a clamp body of resilient plastic and a pivot mounting the clamp body to the bracket for pivotable movement from a closed position to an open the pivot being along an axis extending transversely of the clamp body and intermediate its one end of the clamp bod being formed with a hook engageable with the second member when the clamp body in its closed the other end of the clamp body being formed with a resilient portion over towards the pivot axis of the body and engageable with the first when the bracket is fixed for urging the clamp body to its closed position with the hook in clamping engagement with the second said resilient portion being deformable under to permit pivoting the clamp body to its open position releasing hook from engagement with the second According to another feature of the the end of the clamp hook is formed with a cam surface cooperable a bevelled surface on the second member to pivot clamp to its open position upon the application of the first member to the second According to a still further the bracket includes a ledge engageable with space the hook end from the first member distance such that the cam surface of the hook end is engaged by the bevelled surface of the second member when one member is moved into clamping engagement with the other According to a still further the resilient end portion of the clamp body is in the form of a flap joined to the clamp body by a curved juncture to make the flap said flap being curved between said juncture and its end such that its end engages the first member but slides therealong towards the clamp pivotal axis upon pressing the clamp body to its open According to another aspect of the there is provided a pipe coupling including the described above for coupling a pipe within a cylindrical the housing including a circular flange formed with an annular bevelled edge engageable with the cam surface of the clamp hook for pivoting same to its open the circular flange being further formed an annular shoulder engaged by the clamp hook when in its closed According to a the end face of the circular flange having the bevelled edge is flat and engages the ledge of the bracket on the pipe to limit the axial movement of the pipe within the housing when applied It will thus be seen that the of the present being made mostly of a plastic can be produced in volume and at for the clamp body may be made of polycstal or other suitable plastic having high resiliency and fatigue when used in the pipe coupling described the pipe may be attached or detached from the cylindrical housing in a quick and simple manner which does not require the rotation of one member with respect to the other Additional features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description The invention is herein by way of example with reference to a preferred embodiment illustrated in the accompanying 1 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating a quickly attachable and detachable pipe coupling including the novel of the present and 2 is an end elevational view of the pipe coupling of The device illustrated in 1 includes a pipe 2 coupled and by rubber seal within a cylindrical valve housing 4 such that the lower end 2a of the pipe engages the head 6 of a valve member 8 to depress same against the action of a spring 10 and thereby to open the When the valve is thus the water may flow from inlet 12 of the valve housing between ribs 14 of the valve member through valve seat 16 of pipe and out through the opposite end 2b of the The latter pipe may carry or be connected a water which is thus automatically coupled to the water supply line through the valve within housing 4 when the pipe is attached to the the valve within the housing being automatically by 18 seating against valve seat 16 by spring when the pipe is The pipe coupling for a insofar as described is already known and therefore further details of the construction of the valve within the or its manner of is not deemed As indicated one of the pipe couplings of the type in current use includes a pin and for quickly attaching and detaching the pipe with respect to the valve but this requires the pipe or the valve housing to be rotated with respect to the when either attaching or detaching the and this is not always convenient in a particular such known arrangements are expensive to According to the present the pipe 2 carries a simple and inexpensive generally designated which the pipe to be quickly attached and detached from the valve housing 20 includes a bracket 22 fixed to pipe 2 and including a pair of parallel legs 22a joined by a web The clamp body 24 is of a partially resilient plastic member plvotably mounted between legs 22a of bracket 22 by means of a pin 26 expending transversely of the body 24 intermediate its Pin 26 is preferably formed as a separate member of plastic material and is disposed within aligned openings in legs 22a of the bracket and within the central portion 24a of the clamp body The clamp body 24 formed at one end with a hook 30 engageable with a circular flange 32 of the valve housing 4 for securely holding the 2 ailally within the valve The other end of the Λ clamp body 24 is formed a resilient portion or flap 34 towards pivot pin 26 and bearing against the outer surface of pipe 2 for urging the hook 30 into secure engagement with the valve housing Flap 34 is joiaed to the intermediate portion of the clamp body 24 by a eurved juncture 36 to make the flap In flap 34 is preferably provided with a as shown in such that the 34a of the flap bears against the outer surface of pipe 2 and smoothly slides along the pipe towards the pivotal pin 26 upon pressing the clamp to its open or The hook end 30 of the clamp is formed with a curved or cam surface 30a which is cooperable with a bevelled surfase 32a on the circularflange 32 of the valve such that when the pipe is to be inserted within the valve cam surface 30a of the clamp hook first engages the bevelled portion 32a of the circular flange 32 to pivot the clamp into the position against the action of the clamp resilient flap As pipe 2 is further inserted within the housing the clamp 30 passes over the circular flange 32 and snaps under the flat annular shoulder 32b formed on the opposite side of the circular During the insertion of the pipe within the valve the front face 32c of the circular flange enclosed by the annular bevelled edge engages web 22b of the bracket 22 mounting the clamp to pipe Web 22b thus serves as a limit for the axial movement of the pipe within valve In web 22b is of shorter height than the bracket walls so that its upper surface forms a ledge which is engageable by the underside of the clamp body 24 to space the latter from pipe when the pipe is detached from the valve The latter spacing is such that during the insertion of the cam surface 30a of hook 30 is first engaged by the bevelled surface 32a of the circular flange 32 on the valve housing to open the hook in the manner described The manner of using the device illustrated in the drawings will be apparent from the above when it is desired to coupled pipe 2 to valve housing it is only necessary to move the axially with respect to the valve housing until face 32c of the circular flange 32 carried by the valve housing engages ledge 22b of bracket During this cam surface 30a of the clamp hook 30 first engages and as soon as the hook passes the circular flange it snaps into position under shoulder 32b of the this snapping action being effected by resilient flap 34 of the Circular flange 32 of the valve housing is thus securely held against axial movement between web 22b of bracket 22 fixed to pipe and clamp hook pivotably mounted to the bracket by pivot pin To remove the pipe 2 from the valve housing it is only necessary to end 36 of the clamp towards pipe which will cause flap 34 to be flexed and hook 30 to be pivoted to the open position with respect to circular flange thereby enabling the pipe to be withdrawn from the valve As soon as the withdrawal is the resilient flap 34 pivots hook back until the clamp body 24 engages ledge 22b of the This spaces hook 30 at such distance from the pipe to enable the pipe to be quickly reinserted within the housing by bringing cam surface 30a into engagement with bevelled surface 32a of the circular as described In the described pivot pin 26 is slightly inwardly fif the edge of hook when the latter is in its so that any force applied between the pipe and valve housing tending to the pipe from the valve will apply a shear stress to pivot pin 26 rather than a significant turning movement tending to open the The pivot 26 for the clamp is preferably in the form of a separate pivot pin as so that if the pin another one can be quickly or a metal pin can be substituted if Pipe 2 valve housing 4 may be made of metal If the pipe is of bracket 22 may also be of plastic moulded as a part or the other modifications and applications of the illustrated embodiment will be insufficientOCRQuality

Claims (9)

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A quickly attachable and detachable spring-clamp for clamping 4 n a first member to a second member, comprising: a bracket to be fixed to the first member; a one-piece clamp body of resilient plastic material; and a pivot mounting the clamp body to the bracket for pivotable movement from a closed position to an open position, the pivot being along an axis extending transversely of the clamp body and intermediate its length; one end of the clamp body being formed/with a hook engageable with the second member when the clamp body is in its closed position; the other end of the clamp body being formed/with a resilient portion bent-over towards the pivot axis of the clampwbody and engageable with the first member, when the 6racket is fixed thereto, for urging the clamp body to its closed position with the hook in clamping engagement with the second member; said bent-over resilient portion being deformable under hand-pressure to permit pivoting the clamp body to its open position releasing the hook from engagement with the second member.

2. A clamp according to Claim 1, wherein the end of the clamp hook is formed with a cam surface cooperable with a bevelled surface <*on the second member to pivot the clamp body to its open position upon the application of the first member to the second member.

3. A clamp according to Claim 2, wherein the bracket includes a ledge engageable with the body clamp to space the hook end from the first member a distance such that the cam surface of the hook end is engaged by the bevelled surface of the second member when one member is amo ed into clapping engagement with the other member.

4. A clamp according to any one of Claims 1-3, wherein the resilient end portion of the clamp body is in the form of a flap joined to the clamp body by a curved Junetii?e to make the flap resilient, said flap being curved between said juncture and its end such that its end engages the first member but slides therealong towards the clamp pivotal axis upon pressing the clamp body to its open position.

5. A clamp according to any one of Claims 1-4, wherein the pivot of the clamp is formed b§>. a separate pivot pin passing through aligned apertures in the bracket and clamp body.

6. A pipe coupling including a spring-clamp according to Claim 3 attached to a pipe for coupling the pipe within a cylindrical housing, the housing including a circular flange formed with an annular bevelled edge engageable with the cam surface of the clamp hook for pivoting same to its open position, the circular flange being further formed with an annular shoulder engaged by the clamp hook when in its closed position.

7. A pipe coupling according to Claim 6, wherein the end face of the circular flange having the bevelled edge is flat and engages the ledge of the bracket on the pipe to limit the axial movement of the pipe within the housing when applied thereto.

8. A quickly attachable and detachable spring-damp substantially as described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

9. A quickly attachable and detachable pipe coupling substantially as described with referenced to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. ADVOCATE, PATENT ATTOR; P. ©.EL 3 253 TEl-AViV, JS A