JP2001208263A - Connector for flexible pipe - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the generality and cost performance by directly connecting a flexible pipe to a pipe joint, whose inside diameters are approximately accorded with each other, without using separate dedicated attachments even in the case of a connecting method inserting a connecting port of a pipe joint to the flexible pipe. SOLUTION: This connector is provided with the flexible pipe P formed with a plurality of cutouts Ps... from the tip in the axial direction; and a pipe joint 2 having a joint body 4 which is provided with a connecting port 3 having a tapered face 3t gradually becoming a smaller diameter towards the tip in the outer circumferential face, and a presser part 5 engaged with the joint body 4 and pressurizing the outer circumferential face Pf of the flexible pipe P to be stacked with the tapered face 3t, when inserting the connecting port 3 into the flexible pipe P.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a flexible pipe connecting apparatus for connecting a flexible pipe to a pipe joint by inserting a connection port of the pipe joint into the flexible pipe.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a cold region, a water drainage device is generally constructed by connecting a water drainage plug in the middle of a water pipe. At the time of water supply, by switching the water drainage plug to a water supply side, normal water supply from the water pipe is carried out. At times, the drain valve is switched to the drain side to stop the water upstream of the drain plug and discharge the tap water in the water pipe connected to the downstream side to prevent freezing in the water pipe. ing.

[0003] By the way, such a drainage device is based on a rigid water pipe such as a copper pipe, but recently, a flexible water pipe formed of a flexible material such as cross-linked polyethylene is also used. Has been done. As shown in FIG. 9, the water supply equipment using flexible water pipes is constructed such that only flexible water pipes P... It connects to the water supply equipment 52 provided with the headers 51 and 51h and the faucet 52o installed later using the flexibility. Therefore, such flexible water pipes P ..., P
When h is used, there is an advantage that construction work is facilitated, and that a joint and a special piping space on the way can be eliminated. In addition, in FIG. 9, 53 is a water heater, 5
1h, Ph ... indicate a header on the hot water supply side and a flexible water pipe.

However, as shown in FIG. 8, when the water drainage plug 20 is connected to the upstream side of the flexible water pipe P, a downward curved portion Pw is formed in the middle of the flexible water pipe P. During draining, there is a possibility that tap water Wr indicated by a virtual line may remain inside the curved portion Pw, and effective measures have been conventionally required.

Therefore, the present applicant has already proposed a flexible water pipe connected to the downstream side of a water drainage plug, and a movable water pipe that is movably accommodated inside the flexible water pipe at least in the direction of water drainage. A moving element that prevents water from flowing into the flexible water pipe, an upstream regulating section that regulates movement of the moving element by being provided upstream of the flexible water pipe, and a moving element that is provided downstream of the flexible water pipe. And a water supply permitting portion for permitting water supply when the movable element is regulated by the downstream restricting portion, thereby providing a flexible portion that may cause a curved portion in the middle. Even when a water tap is connected to the water pipe, the tapping water can be reliably drained without leaving the moving water by the moving element at the time of drainage, and the pipe liquid removal device (basic device) can be implemented extremely easily and at low cost. ) To Japanese Patent Application No. 11-118. It was proposed by No. 44.

[0006]

However, the above-described basic device still has the following points to be improved.

More specifically, the tip of a flexible water pipe is usually used by connecting it to a pipe joint. However, when the pipe joint to be used is a general pipe joint 61 having versatility as shown in FIG. Is the connection port 61s of the pipe joint 61 at the tip of the flexible water pipe P.
And connect. In the drawing, 62 is a seal ring interposed between the connection port 61s and the flexible water pipe P, 63 is a fixing ring attached to the outer peripheral surface of the flexible water pipe P, and 64 is an outer peripheral surface of the fixing ring 63. 3 shows the attached fixing band.
On the other hand, since the movable element 65 accommodated in the flexible water pipe P has a slightly smaller diameter than the inner diameter of the flexible water pipe P, the movable element 65 is connected to the connection port 61s at the time of water supply (drainage). The movement is blocked by locking to the tip. Therefore, the moving element 6
5 cannot enter into the fitting 61 and eventually
In the above-described basic device, there is a point to be improved in terms of versatility and cost, for example, a separate dedicated attachment must be used.

The present invention has been made in response to such a background. Even in a connection system in which a connection port of a pipe joint is inserted into a flexible pipe, the inside diameter of the flexible pipe can be reduced without using a special attachment. It is an object of the present invention to provide a flexible pipe connection device that enables direct connection between a matching flexible pipe and a pipe joint, thereby improving versatility and cost efficiency.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a flexible pipe P is connected to the pipe joint 2 by inserting the connection port 3 of the pipe joint 2 into the flexible pipe P. When configuring the connection device M for the pipe P, the connection apparatus includes a flexible pipe P having a plurality of cuts Ps... Formed in the axial direction from the tip, and a tapered surface 3t having a small tip at the outer peripheral surface. A joint body 4 provided with a port 3 and a press for engaging the joint body 4 and pressing the flexible pipe P overlapping the tapered surface 3t when the connection port 3 is inserted into the flexible pipe P. A pipe joint 2 having a tubular fixing member 6 provided with a portion 5 is provided.

In this case, according to a preferred embodiment, the inner diameter Da of the flexible pipe P and the inner diameter Db of the connection port 3 are made substantially the same. Further, the fixing member 6 is engaged with the cylindrical pressing ring 11 having the pressing portion 5 at the intermediate portion, and the pressing ring 11,
And a fixing ring 12 screwed to the pipe joint 2, between the flexible pipe P and the pressure ring 11, and between the pipe joint 2 and the pressure ring 1.
.., 14s are interposed between them. In addition, a movable member 15 for extracting liquid that can move inside the flexible pipe P and the pipe joint 2 is provided, and a restricting portion 16 that controls the movement of the mover 15 is provided inside the pipe joint 2. The moving element 15 is the regulating section 16
The liquid supply permitting portion 17 that permits the supply of the liquid W when regulated by the above can be provided.

Thus, even in a connection system in which the connection port 3 of the pipe joint 2 is inserted into the flexible pipe P, the flexible pipe P and the pipe joint 2 can be connected without using a separate dedicated attachment.
Can be directly connected, and the flexible pipe P having substantially the same inner diameter and the connection port 3 can be connected. Therefore, even when the movable element 15 is accommodated inside the flexible pipe P, the movable element 15 is connected. It is possible to smoothly enter the inside of the pipe joint 2 without being blocked by the opening 3.

[0012]

Next, preferred embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

First, the configuration of a drainage device 1 including a connection device M according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

In the water drainage device 1 shown in FIG. 8, reference numeral 20 denotes a water drainage plug which is connected to the middle of the water pipe. The port is connected to a flexible water pipe (flexible pipe) P serving as a downstream water pipe according to the present invention.
The drain plug 20 is buried in the ground E except for a part of the upper part. The water drainage plug 20 has an operation handle 20c at the upper end. The operation handle 20c can be switched to the drain side by turning the operation handle 20c to one side, and can be switched to the water supply side by turning the operation handle 20c to the other side. Then, the downstream connection port Po (FIG. 3) of the flexible water pipe P is connected to the pipe joint 2 by the connection device M according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG.

Next, a connection device M according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the connection device M includes a flexible water pipe P and a pipe joint 2, and the pipe joint 2 further includes a joint body 4 and a fixing member 6.
Is provided. The joint body 4 integrally has an upstream connecting portion 21, a downstream connecting portion 22, and a curved tube portion 23 provided between the upstream connecting portion 21 and the downstream connecting portion 22. The opening directions of the connection portions 22 differ by 90 degrees. The upstream connection part 21 includes a cylindrical connection port 3 that can be inserted into the downstream connection port Po of the flexible water pipe P, a screw part 24 formed with a larger diameter than the connection port 3, A ring groove 25 formed between the screw portion 24 and the connection port 3;
Accommodates a sealing member (seal ring) 14s. On the outer peripheral surface of the connection port 3, the tip side gradually becomes smaller in diameter,
In addition to forming a tapered surface 3t having an uneven surface, the inside diameter Db of the connection port 3 is the inside diameter Da of the flexible water pipe P.
Approximately match. On the other hand, the downstream connection portion 22 has a connection port 28 having a screw portion on the outer periphery, and a seal ring 29 attached to the outer periphery of the connection port 28. Further, the bending tube section 2
Reference numeral 3 denotes an enlarged water passage portion 30 (liquid supply permitting portion 17) formed with an inner diameter larger than the inside diameter of the connection port 3, and a ring groove portion 31 formed on the inner peripheral surface of the downstream end of the enlarged water passage portion 30. The ring groove 31 has a stopper 32 shown in FIG.
To accommodate. The stopper 32 constitutes a downstream regulation portion 16 provided on the downstream side of the pipe joint 2.

On the other hand, the fixing member 6 includes a pressing ring 11 and a fixing ring 12. The pressing ring 11 is formed in a cylindrical shape as a whole, and is parallel to the tapered surface 3t which presses the flexible water pipe P overlapping the tapered surface 3t when the connection port 3 is inserted into the flexible water pipe P. And a pressing portion 5 having a tapered concave surface 5t having an uneven surface in the middle portion, and on one side of the pressing portion 5, a cylindrical first seal portion whose inner peripheral surface is pressed against the sealing member 14s. 33 is formed integrally, and the other side of the pressing portion 5 is integrally formed with a second seal portion 35 having two ring grooves 34 on the inner peripheral surface. The ring members 34 accommodate the sealing members 13s. The fixing ring 12 is also formed in a cylindrical shape as a whole, and has a nut portion 36 whose inner peripheral surface is screwed with the thread portion 24 of the joint body 4.
And a locking portion 37 that locks the lock.

On the other hand, FIG. 3 and FIG.
, A plurality of cuts Ps... Are formed in the axial direction from the tip. In this case, the cuts Ps are formed at four equally spaced locations in the circumferential direction of the flexible water pipe P, and the depth of the cuts Ps is substantially equal to the axial length of the tapered surface 3t. In addition, since the flexible water pipe P is formed of a flexible material such as cross-linked polyethylene, it can be curved as shown in FIG. 8 but has a property of maintaining a circular cross section.

Thus, in order to connect the flexible water pipe P to the pipe joint 3, the pressing ring 11 is inserted into the fixing ring 12, and the pressing ring 11 is locked by the locking portion 37 of the fixing ring 12. Then, the nut portion 36 of the fixing ring 12 is screwed into the screw portion 24 of the joint body 4. At this time, the fixing ring 12 is set at a loosened position, that is, at a position where the pressing ring 11 is separated from the connection port 3.

When the connection port Po of the flexible water pipe P is inserted into the pressing ring 11 in this state, the connection port 3 having the tapered surface 3t on the outer peripheral surface becomes flexible as shown in FIG. While being inserted into the water pipe P, the portion having the cuts Ps... In the flexible water pipe P opens outward. Therefore, if the fixing ring 12 is turned in the tightening direction, the pressing ring 11
Are drawn to the connection port 3 and the portion of the flexible water pipe P where the cuts Ps are provided is sandwiched between the tapered surface 3t and the tapered concave surface 5t and pressed by the pressing portion 5. The space between the flexible water pipe P and the pressing ring 11 is sealed by the sealing members 13s and 13s, and the space between the pipe joint 2 and the pressing ring 11 is sealed by the sealing member 14s.

Further, inside the flexible water pipe P, FIG.
The movable member 15 formed in a spherical shape shown in FIG. In this case, the movable element 15 can freely move inside the flexible water pipe P, and at least the drain direction Ho
To prevent water flow downstream. Therefore,
The outer diameter of the mover 15 is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the flexible water pipe P. The specific outer diameter can be selected based on experiments and the like. The material of the moving element 15 is not particularly limited. For example, a glass sphere or a synthetic resin sphere may be used, and no difference between them was experimentally observed.

Next, the function of the water draining device 1 including the connection device M according to the present embodiment and the method of draining water will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, at the time of water supply, the operation handle 20c of the water tap 20 is turned to switch to the water supply side. Thereby, the tap water (liquid) W supplied from the upstream water pipe Pu is
The water flows into the flexible water pipe P through the drain plug 20 and is supplied to the water supply equipment 52 shown in FIG. 9 connected to the distal end side through the flexible water pipe P and the pipe joint 2. At this time, the movable element 15 moves to the downstream side of the flexible water pipe P by the supplied tap water (water pressure), and the movable element 15 is locked by the stopper 32 and regulated as shown by a solid line in FIG. At the same time, the supply of water is permitted by the expanded water supply section 30.

On the other hand, at the time of draining, the operation handle 20c of the drain plug 20 is turned to switch to the drain side. As a result, the tap water supplied from the upstream water pipe Pu is stopped by the water tap 20, and the tap water W in the flexible water pipe P is discharged to the outside through the water tap 20. The drain direction at this time is indicated by Ho. As a result, freezing in the flexible water pipe P exposed to the ground in a cold region is achieved.
At this time, the moving element 15 moves to the upstream side of the flexible water pipe P together with the discharged tap water W as shown in FIG.
As a result, the tap water W existing in the curved portions Pw... Is also scraped off, as it were, by the moving movable element 15, so that the tap water W remaining in the flexible water pipe P is avoided. Then, the moving element 15 that has moved in the drainage direction Ho is
It is locked by a step (not shown) and regulated.

According to such a drainage device 1, even when the drainage plug 20 is connected to the flexible water pipe P,
The tap water W can be reliably drained without remaining, and the moving element 15 can be basically added, so that it can be implemented easily and at low cost. Moreover, since the connecting device M according to the present embodiment is provided, the flexible water pipe P and the pipe joint 2 can be directly connected without using a separate dedicated attachment, thereby improving versatility and cost efficiency. Can be.

Next, a modified embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 shows a modified example of the pipe joint 2, in particular, the joint body 4. The different point of the modified embodiment from the joint main body 4 shown in FIG.
In other words, the upstream connection portion 21 and the downstream connection portion 22 are directly connected without providing the third connection portion 3, and the opening directions of the upstream connection portion 21 and the downstream connection portion 22 are different by 180 degrees. The joint body 4 has an inner diameter D larger than the inner diameter Da of the connection port 3.
Since the enlarged water passage section 30 formed by b is not provided, the liquid supply permitting section 17 is provided as in Japanese Patent Application No. 11-118344.
It can be provided on the mover side. The other components are the same as those in FIG. Therefore, in FIG. 7, the same portions as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the configuration is clarified, and detailed description is omitted.

Although the embodiment (modified embodiment) has been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, but departs from the gist of the present invention in the detailed configuration, shape, material and the like. It can be changed, added or deleted arbitrarily as long as it is not performed. In particular, the embodiment is directed to a drainage device 1 for a water pipe.
However, the present invention can be similarly applied to a case where an arbitrary flexible pipe P for supplying an arbitrary liquid such as a solution or oil other than tap water W is connected to the pipe joint 2. In addition, the fixing member 6 includes a cylindrical pressing ring 11 having the pressing portion 5 at an intermediate portion.
And a fixing ring 12 that is locked to the pressing ring 11 and screwed to the pipe joint 2.
, The pressing ring 11 may be directly screwed into the pipe joint 2. Further, even when the inner diameter Db of the connection port 3 is larger than the inner diameter Da of the flexible pipe P, the present invention can be implemented.

[0027]

As described above, the connecting device for a flexible pipe according to the present invention includes the flexible pipe having a plurality of cut portions formed in the axial direction from the distal end, and has a small diameter on the outer peripheral surface. A joint body provided with a connection port having a tapered surface, and a press for engaging the joint body and pressing a flexible pipe overlapping the tapered surface when the connection port is inserted into the flexible pipe. To provide a pipe joint having a cylindrical fixing member provided with a portion,
It has the following remarkable effects.

(1) Even in the connection system in which the connection port of the pipe joint is inserted into the flexible pipe, the flexible pipe and the pipe joint having substantially the same inner diameter can be directly connected without using a special attachment. Connection becomes possible, and versatility and cost can be improved.

(2) According to a preferred embodiment, a movable element for extracting liquid that can move inside the flexible pipe and the pipe joint is accommodated, and the movement of the movable element is restricted inside the pipe joint. When applied to a draining device or the like provided with a liquid supply permitting part that permits the supply of liquid when the restricting part and the moving element are regulated by the restricting part, the tapping water does not remain by the moving element when draining. It can be reliably cut off, and can be implemented extremely easily and at low cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a flexible pipe connection device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of a stopper of the pipe joint in the connection device.

FIG. 3 is an exploded cross-sectional view of components of the connection device;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a joint body in the connection device.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a flexible pipe in the connection device,

FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of a flexible pipe in a drainage device that can use the connection device;

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a flexible pipe connection device according to a modified embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating the overall configuration of a drainage device that can use a connection device according to an embodiment (modified embodiment) of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a configuration example of a water supply facility using a flexible water pipe.

FIG. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a connection device for a flexible pipe according to the related art;

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 pipe joint 3 connection port 3t tapered surface 4 joint body 5 pressing part 6 fixing member 11 pressing ring 12 fixing ring 13s sealing member 14s sealing member 15 mover 16 regulation control part 17 liquid supply allowable part P flexible piping (possible Flexible water pipe) M Connecting device Ps ... Notch Da Inner diameter of flexible pipe Db Inner diameter of connection port Pf Outer peripheral surface of flexible pipe overlapping tapered surface W Liquid (tap water)

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A flexible pipe connection device for connecting a flexible pipe to a pipe joint by inserting a connection port of the pipe joint into the flexible pipe, wherein a plurality of cut portions are formed in an axial direction from a tip end. A joint body provided with a formed flexible pipe, and provided with a connection port having a tapered surface with a small diameter on the outer peripheral end.
A tubular fixing member provided with a pressing portion that engages with the joint body and presses the flexible pipe overlapping the tapered surface when the connection port is inserted into the flexible pipe. A flexible pipe connection device comprising a pipe joint. 2. The flexible pipe connection device according to claim 1, wherein an inner diameter of the flexible pipe and an inner diameter of the connection port substantially match each other. 3. The fixing member has a cylindrical pressing ring having the pressing portion at an intermediate portion, and is fixed to the pressing ring;
2. The flexible pipe connection device according to claim 1, further comprising a fixing ring screwed to the pipe joint. 4. The flexible pipe according to claim 1, wherein a sealing member is interposed between the flexible pipe and the pressing ring, and between the pipe joint and the pressing ring. Connection device. 5. A moving device for extracting liquid which can move inside the flexible pipe and the pipe joint, and
Inside the pipe joint, a regulating part that regulates the movement of the mover and a liquid supply permitting part that permits the supply of liquid when the mover is regulated by the restricting part are provided. The connecting device for a flexible pipe according to claim 1.