JP2008138709A - Pipe fitting - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a pipe fitting which easily joins a plug and socket even when residual pressure exists in piping, and prevents fluid leakage from the plug and socket in joining. <P>SOLUTION: The pipe fitting is characterized in that: a plug 1 is inserted into a socket 9; before opening passages 7, 16, a first locking ball 20a held by a third body 20 of an outer sleeve 17 is fit in a first ball groove 6a of periphery of a plug body 2; an inner sleeve 11 inside a socket body 10 and inner peripheral surfaces of the plug body 2 and the socket body 10 are closely contacted through seal rings S1, S2; and when the passages 7, 16 are opened to communicate with each other in such a way that the plug 1 is drawn to socket 9 side through the outer sleeve 17 by rotating a drill chuck handle 21, the inner sleeve 11 is engaged with the plug body 2 with a second locking ball 12 of the inner sleeve 11 fit in a second ball groove 6b of the periphery of the plug body 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a pipe joint, and more particularly, a pipe that can easily connect a plug and a socket even when there is residual pressure inside the pipe, and can prevent fluid leakage from the plug and socket in the middle of the connection. It relates to joints.

  Each of the plug and socket has a slide valve that is biased by a spring, and when connecting each other, the respective slide valve is slid against the biasing force of the spring and the flow path inside the plug and socket A pipe joint that opens and communicates is known. In such pipe joints, various structures for preventing fluid from leaking from the pipe joints during the connection or separation of the plug and the socket have been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

However, since the conventional structure pays attention to fluid leakage, it increases the seal ring diameter inside the plug and socket, or increases the biasing force of the spring that biases the slide valve. Has a problem that it requires a great force and cannot be easily coupled. When there is residual pressure in the piping, it was difficult to connect the plug and the socket without a greater force.
JP 2004-251446 A

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a pipe joint that can easily connect a plug and a socket even when there is residual pressure inside the pipe, and can prevent fluid leakage from the plug and socket in the middle of the connection. is there.

  In order to achieve the above object, the pipe joint of the present invention has a slide valve that is energized by a spring inside the plug to close the flow path formed inside the plug, and is energized by the spring inside the socket. A slide valve for closing a flow path formed inside the socket, and when the plug and the socket are coupled, the slide valve inside the plug is connected to the socket, and the slide valve inside the socket is connected to the spring by the plug. In a pipe joint that is retreated against the urging force to open and communicate with each flow path, it is inserted into the socket and screwed into a thread groove formed on the outer peripheral surface of the socket to advance and retract in the axial direction of the socket. A movable outer sleeve is provided, and the outer sleeve is rotated along the outer periphery of the socket so as to move forward and backward in the axial direction of the socket. A first locking ball formed on the outer peripheral surface of the plug is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the plug. The first locking ball is held by the outer sleeve before the internal flow path is opened when the plug and the socket are joined. The slide valve inside the socket is configured to be in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the plug and the socket, and when the flow path inside the plug and the socket is opened and communicated, While the internal slide valve is in intimate contact with the inner peripheral surface of the plug and socket, the second locking ball held by the slide valve is fitted into a second ball groove formed on the outer peripheral surface of the plug so that the slide valve Is configured to be locked to the plug.

  According to the pipe joint of the present invention, it has a slide valve that closes the flow path formed inside the plug by being urged by the spring inside the plug, and is formed inside the socket by being urged by the spring inside the socket. When the plug and the socket are connected, the slide valve inside the plug is connected to the socket, and the slide valve inside the socket is applied to the biasing force of each spring by the plug. An outer sleeve that is retracted against each other and opens and communicates with each flow path, and is externally inserted into the socket, screwed into a thread groove formed on the outer peripheral surface of the socket, and moved forward and backward in the axial direction of the socket And rotating the outer sleeve along the outer periphery of the socket to move the outer sleeve forward and backward in the axial direction of the socket. A first locking ball that is held by the outer sleeve before the internal flow path is opened when the plug and the socket are coupled to each other in the first ball groove formed on the outer peripheral surface of the plug; Since it is fitted, the plug and the outer sleeve are integrated by fitting the first locking ball and the first ball groove with a small force without being affected by the residual pressure inside the pipe. The socket can be temporarily connected. At the same time, since the slide valve inside the socket is configured to be in close contact with the inner peripheral surfaces of the plug and the socket, the flow path of the plug and the socket can be sealed in the middle of the coupling by the slide valve.

  When the flow path inside the plug and socket is opened and communicated, the second locking ball held by the slide valve while the slide valve inside the socket is in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the plug and socket Since the slide valve is engaged with the second ball groove formed on the outer peripheral surface of the plug so that the slide valve is locked to the plug, the residual pressure inside the pipe causes a force on the slide valve inside the socket. Even if it acts, since this slide valve is fixed to the plug via the second locking ball, the movement in the axial direction is restricted and the sealed state of each flow path can be maintained. Moreover, even when a separating force for separating the plug and the socket is applied when the plug and the socket are connected due to the residual pressure inside the pipe, the outer sleeve rotating means is used to move the outer sleeve through the outer sleeve with a small force. The plug can be pulled toward the socket to complete the connection.

Hereinafter, a pipe joint of the present invention is explained based on an embodiment shown in a figure.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the pipe joint of the present invention includes a plug 1 and a socket 9 that are coupled and separated from each other at a coupling end. Pipes are connected to the ends opposite to the connecting ends of the plug 1 and the socket 9, respectively.

  The plug 1 has a slide valve 3 that moves forward and backward with respect to the coupling end inside a cylindrical plug body 2, and a flow path 7 between the outer peripheral surface of the slide valve 3 and the inner peripheral surface of the plug body 2. Is formed. The slide valve 3 is urged toward the coupling end by the plug-side spring 4, and a valve seat in which the diameter-expanded tip of the slide valve 3 is formed on the coupling end side of the inner peripheral surface of the plug body 2. The channel 7 is in contact with the portion 5 and is closed on the coupling end side. A seal ring S <b> 1 is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the plug body 2 closer to the coupling end than the valve seat 5.

  The outer peripheral surface of the plug body 2 has a stepped portion 8 by reducing the diameter of the coupling end side, and a first ball groove 6 a is formed on the side opposite to the coupling end portion from the stepped portion 8. Also, a second ball groove 6b is formed on the coupling end side. The first ball groove 6a and the second ball groove 6b are circular in cross section and formed in an annular shape along the outer periphery.

  In the socket 9, a projecting body 14 whose diameter is expanded on the coupling end side is fixed inside a cylindrical socket body 10, and the space between the outer peripheral surface of the projecting body 14 and the inner peripheral surface of the socket body 10 is fixed. A flow path 16 is formed in the bottom. An inner sleeve 11 that moves forward and backward with respect to the coupling end and functions as a slide valve is provided between the inner circumferential surface of the socket body 10 on the coupling end side and the outer circumferential surface of the protruding body 14. The inner sleeve 11 is configured by connecting an inner cylindrical portion and an outer cylindrical portion with a space therebetween in the radial direction, and the outer cylindrical portion holds the second locking ball 12. The inner sleeve 11 is urged toward the coupling end portion by the socket-side spring 13, and the tip of the inner cylindrical portion thereof is attached to the valve seat portion 15 provided on the back surface of the enlarged diameter portion of the protruding body 14. At the same time, the outer peripheral surface of the inner cylindrical portion is in close contact with the reel ring S2 provided in the inner peripheral surface of the socket body 10, and the flow path 16 is closed on the coupling end side.

  An outer sleeve 17 is provided on the socket body 10 so as to be extrapolated. The outer sleeve 17 is configured by sequentially connecting the first body 18, the second body 19, and the third body 20 toward the coupling end side. The first body 18 has a gear 18b formed along the outer periphery of the socket body 10 at one end, and a third ball groove 18a is formed on the outer peripheral surface. A handle shaft fitting hole 10 b is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the socket body 10 in the vicinity of one end of the first body 18.

  The second body 19 is screwed into a thread groove formed on the outer peripheral surface of the socket body 10, one end overlaps the outer peripheral surface of the first body 18, and the other end is on the outer peripheral surface of the third body 20. They are arranged to overlap. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the second body 19 and the first body 18 are connected by a pin 18c so as to be relatively movable only in the axial direction. The second body 19 holds the third locking ball 19a, has a sleeve spring 19b, and has an engaging portion 19c at the other end. The engaging portion 19 c is engaged with the engaging portion 20 c at one end of the third body 20. The third body 20 holds the first locking ball 20a on the other end side and has a sleeve spring 20b provided therein.

  When the plug 1 and the socket 9 are coupled, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the coupling end side of the plug 1 enters the coupling end side of the socket 9, and the first locking ball 20a is inserted into the first ball. Fit into the groove 6a. Thereby, the plug body 2 and the outer sleeve 17 are integrated. The tip of the plug 2 on the coupling end side enters between the inner cylindrical portion and the outer cylindrical portion of the inner sleeve 11, and the seal ring S1 is in close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the inner cylindrical portion. The plug-side spring 4 does not contract until the slide valve 3 and the projecting body 14 contact each other, and the socket-side spring 13 does not contract until the inner sleeve 11 and the axial end surface of the plug body 2 contact each other. The flow paths 7 and 16 are closed and do not communicate with each other. Therefore, even if there is a residual pressure inside the pipe, the first locking ball 20a is easily fitted into the first ball groove 6a with a small force without being affected by the residual pressure. The socket 9 can be temporarily connected.

  Next, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the fitting shaft 21 a of the drill chuck handle 21 is fitted into a handle shaft fitting hole 10 b formed in the socket body 10, and the gear 18 b of the first body 18 is fitted to the gear 18 b. And the gear 21b of the cross axis are meshed. Thereafter, when the drill chuck handle 21 is rotated with the fitting shaft 21a as the rotation shaft, the first body 18 is rotated along the outer periphery of the socket body 10 by the gear mechanism of the gears 21b and 18b that are engaged with each other.

  Accordingly, the second body 19 connected to the first body 18 with a pin or the like rotates integrally with the first body 18, and is guided by a screw groove formed on the outer peripheral surface of the socket body 10. It moves so as to approach the first body 18 in the axial direction. By the movement of the second body 19, the engaged third body 20 is also moved to the first body 18 side, and the plug body 2 integrated with the third body 20 is drawn toward the socket 9 side.

  When the plug body 2 is pulled, the slide valve 3 is pushed by the projecting body 14 and the plug-side spring 4 contracts, and the inner sleeve 11 is pressed by the step portion 8 of the plug body 2 and the socket-side spring 13 contracts. As a result, the flow paths 7 and 16 are opened to communicate with each other. At this time, the inner peripheral surface of the plug body 2, the inner peripheral surface of the socket body 10, and the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion inside the inner sleeve 11 are sealed by the seal rings S1 and S2, respectively. The fluid flowing through 7 and 16 does not leak to the outside.

  Here, if there is residual pressure in the piping on the plug 1 side, the inner sleeve 11 is pushed by the residual pressure due to the opening of the flow paths 7 and 16 and tries to move to the socket 9 side. 12 is engaged with the second ball groove 6b and is caught by the ball escape groove 10a, so that the inner sleeve 11 is locked to the plug body 2 and the movement in the axial direction is restricted and the flow paths 7, 16 are restricted. The sealed state is maintained. Further, if there is a residual pressure, a separating force for separating the plug 1 and the socket 9 is generated, and the separating force increases as the residual pressure increases. In the present invention, even if a large separating force is generated, the drill chuck The plug 1 can be moved to the socket 9 via the outer sleeve 17 with a small force for rotating the handle 21.

  When the drill chuck handle 21 is further rotated, the plug body 2 moves with the second locking ball 12 fitted in the second ball groove 6b, and the plug 1 is inserted via the inner sleeve 11 as illustrated in FIG. And until the socket 9 is completely connected. In this state, the third locking ball 19a held by the second body 19 moved to the first body 18 side is fitted into the third ball groove 18a, and the outer sleeve 17 is fixed. 1 and the socket 9 are connected. After the connecting operation between the plug 1 and the socket 9 is completed, the drill chuck handle 21 is removed from the socket body 10.

  When the plug 1 and the socket 9 are separated from each other, a procedure opposite to that of the coupling may be performed. The second sleeve 19 is opposed to the urging force of the sleeve spring 19b of the second body 19 while pulling the outer sleeve 17 in the coupling direction. The first body 18 and the second body 19 are released from the locked state by sliding the outer peripheral portion of the body 19 in the connecting direction to remove the third locking ball 19a from the third ball groove 18a. In this state, the drill chuck handle 21 is rotated in a direction opposite to that when the plug 1 and the socket 9 are coupled to retract the third body 20 toward the plug 1 by a predetermined length, and the first locking ball 20a is moved to the first lock ball 20a. The outer sleeve 17 and the plug 1 are released from the ball groove 6a. Next, the plug 1 and the socket 9 are separated by pulling the plug 1 in a free state from the socket 9.

  Thus, in the present invention, when the plug 1 and the socket 9 are coupled, the first locking ball 20a and the first ball formed on the outer peripheral surface of the plug body 2 before the mutual flow paths 7 and 16 are opened. Since the groove 6a is fitted, even if there is a residual pressure inside the pipe, the plug 1 and the socket 9 can be temporarily joined via the outer sleeve 17 with a small force without being affected by the residual pressure. be able to. Even if the residual pressure is large, the temporarily coupled plug 1 can be moved in the axial direction together with the outer sleeve 17 with a small force using the drill chuck handle 21, and the coupling operation between the plug 1 and the socket 9 can be performed. It can be easily performed. With such a structure, even if the biasing force of the plug-side spring 4 and the socket-side spring 13 is large, the plug 1 and the socket 9 can be easily coupled with a small force.

  Further, even when the inner sleeve 11 is subjected to the residual pressure inside the pipe during the connection between the plug 1 and the socket 9, the inner sleeve 11 is plugged via the second locking ball 12 fitted in the second ball groove 6b. Since the inner sleeve 11 and the plug body 2 are locked to the body 2 and the relative movement in the axial direction is restricted, the state in which the flow paths 7 and 16 are sealed by the inner sleeve 11 is maintained, and fluid leakage does not occur. .

  In the embodiment, the drill chuck handle 21 is used to rotate the first body 18 and the second body 19 of the outer sleeve 17 along the outer periphery of the socket body 10, but other outer sleeve rotating means is used. You can also. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, an annular rotation assist ring 22 that can be attached to and detached from the outer peripheral surface of the first body 18 can be used.

  For example, the rotation assist ring 22 is configured to connect a semi-annular body obtained by dividing the annular body into two parts to form an annular body. It fixes to the 1st body 18 by connecting and making it cyclic | annular. Next, the annular rotation auxiliary ring 22 is easily coupled and separated between the plug 1 and the socket 9 by rotating along the outer periphery of the socket body 10 in a direction corresponding to the coupling and separation of the plug 1 and the socket 9. Can do. As the outer diameter of the rotation assisting ring 22 is increased, the force for rotating the rotation assisting ring 22 can be reduced when the plug 1 and the socket 9 are joined and separated.

It is a half section side view which illustrates the pipe joint of the present invention before joining a plug and a socket. It is AA sectional drawing of FIG. It is a half section side view which illustrates the pipe joint of the present invention in the middle of connecting a plug and a socket. It is a half section side view of the pipe joint of the present invention in the middle of connecting the plug and socket which shows the next state of Drawing 3. It is a half section side view which illustrates the pipe joint of the present invention in the state where a plug and a socket were combined. It is a half section side view which illustrates another embodiment of the pipe joint of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Plug 2 Plug body 3 Slide valve 4 Plug side spring 5 Valve seat part 6a 1st ball groove 6b 2nd ball groove 7 Flow path 8 Step part 9 Socket 10 Socket body 10a Ball escape groove 10b Handle shaft fitting hole 11 Inner sleeve 12 Second locking ball 13 Socket side spring 14 Projection body 15 Valve seat 16 Flow path 17 Outer sleeve 18 First body 18a Third ball groove 18b Gear 18c Pin 19 Second body 19a Third locking ball 19b Sleeve spring 19c Engagement part 20 3rd body 20a First locking ball 20b Sleeve spring 20c Engagement part 21 Drill chuck handle 21a Fitting shaft 21b Gear 22 Rotation assist ring S1, S2 Seal ring

Claims (3)

  A slide valve that closes the flow path formed inside the plug by being energized by a spring inside the plug and closes the flow path formed inside the socket by being energized by the spring inside the socket When the plug and the socket are coupled, the slide valve inside the plug is moved back by the socket, and the slide valve inside the socket is moved back by the plug against the urging force of each spring. In a pipe joint that opens and communicates with a path, an outer sleeve is provided that is externally inserted into the socket, screwed into a screw groove formed on the outer peripheral surface of the socket, and moved forward and backward in the axial direction of the socket. An outer sleeve rotating means for rotating along the outer periphery of the socket to advance and retreat in the axial direction of the socket; A first locking ball held by the outer sleeve fits into a first ball groove formed on the outer peripheral surface of the plug before each internal flow path is opened when the socket is coupled, and the socket The slide valve inside the socket is in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the plug and socket, and when the flow path inside the plug and socket is opened and communicated, the slide valve inside the socket is inside the plug and socket. The slide valve is engaged with the second ball groove formed on the outer peripheral surface of the plug so that the slide valve is engaged with the plug while being in close contact with the peripheral surface. Pipe fittings.   The pipe joint according to claim 1, wherein the outer sleeve rotating means is a drill chuck handle having a cross-shaft gear meshing with a gear provided along an outer periphery of the socket at one axial end portion of the outer sleeve.   The pipe joint according to claim 1, wherein the outer sleeve rotating means is a detachable rotation assist ring that is externally fitted to the outer sleeve.

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