JP4050494B2 - Socket plug and socket - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a socket plug having a seal structure that can be used in various technical fields including the air conditioner field, and a socket usable for such a socket plug.
[0002]
[Prior art]
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing one of two sockets 5 for connecting a drain hose integrally formed with a main body of a drain pan for an air conditioner (indoor unit) that is conventionally used. Since the drain pan itself is very well known, the whole figure is omitted.
[0003]
The socket 5 has a substantially cylindrical shape, and an outer peripheral portion thereof includes a hose fixing portion 51a formed of a cylindrical surface having a constant diameter, and a tip portion 51b extending from the hose fixing portion to the tip surface 52. The diameter of the tip 51b is larger than the diameter of the hose fixing portion so that a hose fixing device (not shown) is not detached from the socket 5 at the location 53 on the hose fixing portion 51a side. In order to facilitate this, the tip 52 becomes smaller as it goes. Furthermore, the socket 5 has a hole 55 that gradually becomes thinner from the tip to the back.
[0004]
By the way, in actual use, the drain hose is connected to only one of the two sockets 5 formed in the drain pan, and the remaining socket 5 not connected to the drain hose has a hole 55 so that the drain does not leak. The plug is inserted into the plug. FIG. 6 shows a state where the plug 6 is inserted into the socket 5 of FIG. FIG. 6 (b) is an enlarged view of a portion b surrounded by a circle in FIG. 6 (a).
[0005]
As shown in FIG. 6, the plug 6 includes a main body 61 having a substantially frustoconical outer shape. On the outer periphery of the main body 61 of the plug, two annular seal portions 63 are formed near the front end 62, and a seat 65 is formed near the rear end 64. The plug 6 is attached to the socket 5 by being pushed into a hole (hereinafter referred to as a plug hole) 55 of the socket 5, and is removed from the socket 5 by being pulled out with the seat 65.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
There are mainly two problems with the socket 5 shown in FIG.
[0007]
The first problem is a problem when the plug is attached. In order to improve the sealing performance at the time of mounting, the plug 6 needs to be pushed into a plug hole portion having a diameter smaller than the outer diameter of the seal portion 63. However, because of the narrow shape of the plug hole 55, the portion at the back of the plug hole 55 is considerably narrow, so that the plug 6 has a predetermined position in the socket 5 (a narrow enough to ensure a sealing property). The plug hole position is not fully inserted. Even if it can be inserted to a predetermined position, as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 6 (b), the plug is pushed back to the socket tip side by the frictional force acting in the direction opposite to the plug insertion direction (arrow direction). In some cases, it does not fit in a predetermined position, and sufficient sealing performance cannot be secured. Further, the seal portion 63 is deformed by this frictional force and tends to be inserted in a twisted state. When the seal part 63 is deformed, good sealing performance cannot be obtained, and there is a possibility that the drain leaks from the gap G between the socket front end surface 52 and the seat 65 of the plug 6.
[0008]
The second problem is a problem when manufacturing a drain pan having the socket 5. Although the drain pan is manufactured using a mold, since the plug hole 55 of the socket 5 has a narrow shape, as shown in FIG. 4B, the mold is the base of the socket (socket and drain pan body D). The inner mold 73 and the outer mold 74 are divided at a boundary portion). That is, the outer mold 74 includes a truncated cone-shaped protrusion 74 a corresponding to the plug hole 55. Therefore, in order to pull out the outer mold 74 completely, the outer mold 74 must be slid in the direction of the white arrow by a distance d2 corresponding to the length of the plug hole 55 as shown in FIG. If the slide amount of the outer mold 74 is large, the entire structure of the mold apparatus is increased.
[0009]
Accordingly, a main object of the present invention is to provide a socket / plug in which a plug can be inserted into a plug hole without difficulty and a good sealing property can be secured, and a socket capable of reducing the sliding amount of an outer mold.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention]
In order to achieve the above object, the socket plug according to claim 1,
A socket having a plug hole that is formed integrally with the drain pan main body and has a deepened plug hole whose diameter gradually increases as it approaches the drain pan main body from the tip surface ;
An elastic body having a main body, a blind hole that opens in a rear end surface of the main body, extends in the axial direction in the main body, and a seal portion that is formed on the outer periphery of the main body and pressed against the peripheral surface of the plug hole. and a manufacturing plug,
The elastic plug fitted into the deeply plug hole of the socket is prevented from being detached by the deeply plug hole .
[0011]
In this configuration, when the rod-shaped member is inserted into the blind hole of the plug and the tip of the rod-shaped member is pressed against the bottom of the blind hole while pressing the vicinity of the rear end of the plug, the plug material is an elastic body. The main body extends in the axial direction, and the diameter of the plug including the seal portion is reduced. When the plug is pushed into the plug hole of the socket in such a stretched state, the plug can be inserted with the seal portion hardly contacting the inner peripheral surface (surface forming the plug hole) of the socket. At this time, in addition to the extension of the plug, the plug hole has a taper shape that spreads out to facilitate the smooth insertion of the plug. When the rod-shaped member is pulled out from the plug after the plug is inserted into a predetermined position, a restoring force acts on the plug and the plug returns to the original length. As a result, the seal portion expands in the radial direction and is pressed against the inner peripheral surface of the socket, so that the socket is sealed. According to the present invention, since the plug seal portion is not inserted in a twisted state, good sealing performance can be obtained.
[0012]
Here, as the elastic material of the plug, synthetic rubber, natural rubber, elastomer or the like can be used.
[0013]
In addition, since the plug hole of the socket is widened, when manufacturing the socket, the mold part protruding in the shape of a truncated cone used for forming the plug hole is the same as that of the conventional socket shown in FIG. Unlike the case, it is pulled out from the socket by sliding it toward the back of the plug hole. Socket constituting the socket plug of the invention can be formed into de consecutive down integrally, but this time, frustoconical mold part used to form a plug hole of the socket, deeper plug hole Since it is pulled out from the socket by sliding toward the end, it can be included in the inner mold for forming the drain pan .
[0014]
The socket plug according to claim 2 is characterized in that the main body of the plug is narrowed toward the tip.
[0015]
In this case, both the plug hole and the plug body have a tapered shape, but the taper direction of the plug hole is opposite to the taper direction of the plug body. Therefore, the portion with the smallest inner diameter at the tip of the plug hole can be brought into contact with the portion with a large outer diameter near the rear end of the plug body. In this case, the taper direction of the plug hole and the taper direction of the plug body are the same, and even if there is vibration or the like, the plug is in contact with the plug hole only at the plug seal part. There is an advantage that is difficult to fall off. Incidentally, the force for pulling out the plug has conventionally required about 2 kg, whereas the example of the socket plug having the configuration of claim 2 requires a force of about 3 kg.
[0016]
The socket plug according to claim 3 is characterized in that a hook-shaped seat having a surface capable of abutting against the front end surface of the socket is provided on the rear end side of the main body of the plug.
[0017]
In this configuration, when the plug is inserted so that the seat comes into contact with the front end surface of the socket, the seat is fixed by the socket. Therefore, the restoring force of the elastic body is exclusively used in the direction in which the seal moves to the front end side of the socket. it can. Therefore, the plug seal portion can be easily positioned at a narrower plug hole position having good sealing performance in the socket.
[0018]
The seat may be made of the same elastic body as the plug body, or may be another member having no elasticity. If the seat is made of the same elastic body as the plug body, the seat and the plug body can be manufactured integrally, so that the manufacturing cost can be reduced as compared with the case where the seat is made of separate members.
[0019]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a socket / plug in which the plug hole of the socket is formed by the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical body, and the cylindrical body has a portion whose outer diameter is larger than the outer diameter of the other portion on the tip side. It is characterized by having.
[0020]
The socket of claim 5 is:
A socket formed integrally with the drain pan body,
It has a cylindrical body that forms a hole that spreads out by the inner peripheral surface,
The tubular body is the outer diameter than the outer diameter of the other portions on the tip side have a portion of larger diameter,
It said hole has a diameter is characterized by progressively larger Do Rukoto as approaching to the drain pan body from the distal end surface.
[0021]
The socket constituting a part of the socket / plug according to claim 4 and the socket according to claim 5 both have a deep hole (plug hole) formed by the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical body. The cylindrical body includes a portion (referred to as a large diameter portion) whose outer diameter is larger than the outer diameter of the other portion on the distal end side.
[0022]
In order to form such a socket, an outer mold for forming an outer peripheral portion of the socket from the large diameter portion to the tip surface is necessary. Conventionally, since the outer mold includes a protruding portion for forming a hole (plug hole), the outer mold is removed from the socket unless it is slid by the length of the protruding portion, that is, the length of the socket. However, according to the present invention, since the hole (plug hole) has a taper shape that spreads out, the protruding portion for forming this hole (plug hole) is not included in the outer mold. Therefore, the outer gold side can be removed from the socket by sliding the outer gold side by a distance from the large diameter portion of the cylindrical body to the tip surface. That is, the sliding amount of the outer mold can be reduced as compared with the conventional art.
[0023]
Moreover, the drain pan provided in the air conditioner according to claim 6 is characterized by including the socket plug according to any one of claims 1 to 4 or the socket according to claim 5. . Therefore, this drain pan has the operations and effects described above with reference to claims 1 to 5.
[0024]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments.
[0025]
FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a drain hose connection socket 1 formed integrally with a drain pan body of an indoor air conditioner. As explained in the prior art, two such sockets 1 are usually formed in the drain pan, but only one is shown here. Further, since the drain pan itself in which the socket is integrally formed is well known in the field of air conditioners, a drawing showing the entire drain pan is omitted here.
[0026]
As shown in FIG. 1, the socket 1 is composed of a cylindrical body 11 having a substantially cylindrical shape extending in a diagonally downward direction from a drain pan main body (only a part is shown) D. The cylindrical body 11 has a cylindrical surface whose outer peripheral portion has a constant diameter. Hose fixing portion 11a and a tip portion 11b extending from the hose fixing portion 11a to the tip surface 12. The outer diameter of the tip portion 11b is larger than the outer diameter of the hose fixing portion 11a in the portion 13 on the hose fixing portion 11a side so that the hose fixing device is not detached from the socket when the hose fixing device is fixed to the hose fixing portion 11a. Although it is larger, it is smaller as it goes to the tip 12 in order to facilitate loading and unloading of the hose.
[0027]
The socket 1 has a plug hole 15 inside. The plug hole 15 is formed by the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 11, and its diameter gradually increases from the socket front end surface 12 toward the drain pan body D side. That is, the plug hole 15 has a taper shape that spreads out.
[0028]
When the drain hose is not connected to the socket 1 of FIG. 1, the plug 2 made of an elastomer as an elastic material is inserted into the plug hole 15 of the socket 1 as shown in FIG. 2. The plug 2 is substantially the same as that used in the prior art shown in FIG. 6 and includes a main body 21 having a substantially frustoconical outer shape. On the outer periphery of the plug main body 21, two annular seal portions 23 are formed in a portion close to the tip 22, while a bowl-shaped seat 25 having a surface 25 a that can contact the socket tip surface 12 near the rear end 24. Is formed. Further, a blind hole 26 opened in the rear end surface 24 extends in the axial direction at the center of the plug body. In this embodiment, the seat 25 is integrally formed of the same elastic material as that of the plug body 21, but may be a separate body. Further, the plug body 21 does not necessarily have a substantially truncated cone shape, that is, a tapered shape, and may have the same outer diameter throughout the entire length.
[0029]
Next, a method of attaching the plug to the drain pan socket 1 will be described. First, the rod-shaped member 3 such as a hexagon wrench is inserted into the blind hole 26 of the plug 2, and the tip of the rod-shaped member 3 is pressed against the bottom of the blind hole 26 while pressing the vicinity of the rear end of the plug 2 (for example, the seat 25). Since the plug material is an elastomer, the plug body 21 extends in the longitudinal direction. As a result, the dimension A from the seat 25 to the tip 22 of the plug 2 is increased, while the outer diameters B and B ′ of the seal portions 23 and 23 are decreased (see FIG. 2). That is, the plug shape is longer than the original shape (the plug 2 shown in FIG. 2 is in an expanded state). In this state, the plug 2 is inserted into the plug hole 15 of the socket 1 until the surface 25a of the plug seat 25 abuts or almost abuts against the front end surface 12 of the socket. At this time, since the diameter of the plug is so thin that the seal portion 23 of the plug 2 can be inserted with almost no contact with the inner circumferential surface of the socket 1, the plug can be smoothly inserted to a predetermined position. FIG. 3A shows a state immediately after the plug is inserted. From this figure, it can be seen that there is a gap G between the socket 1 and the seal portion 23 due to the plug hole 15 having a taper that extends outward and the diameter of the plug 2 being reduced. .
[0030]
Once the plug 2 is inserted into the plug hole 15 of the socket 1, the rod-shaped member 3 is removed from the plug. As a result, the restoring force of the plug 2 returns to its original shape. At this time, since the seat body 25 or the plug body portion in the vicinity thereof is fixed by the socket, the restoring force of the elastic body constituting the plug 2 acts in the direction in which the seal portion 23 moves to the tip side of the socket. As a result, the seal portion 23 is pressed against the inner peripheral surface of the socket, the gap G shown in FIG. 3A is closed, and the socket is sealed. The state at this time is shown in FIG. In the socket / plug structure thus obtained, the taper direction of the plug hole 15 of the socket 1 is opposite to the taper direction of the main body 21 of the plug 2, and the portion with the smallest inner diameter at the tip of the plug hole 15 is the plug 2. Since it is in contact with a portion having a large outer diameter near the seat 25 of the main body 21, there is an advantage that the plug 2 is difficult to come off.
[0031]
In order to remove the plug 2 from the socket 1, it is only necessary to hold the seat 25 and pull it out.
[0032]
Next, a mold for molding a resin drain pan, particularly a mold part for molding the socket 1 part will be described. Since the plug hole 15 of the socket 1 has a shape that expands in depth, that is, a shape that becomes wider toward the boundary between the drain pan body D and the socket, the mold has a socket 1 as shown in FIG. Is divided into an inner mold 71 and an outer mold 72 at the front end surface. That is, the inner metal mold 71 includes a projection 71a for forming a plug hole. For this reason, the sliding amount of the outer mold 72 in the direction of the hollow arrow is the length d1 from the socket large-diameter portion 13 to the tip surface 12. Comparing FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B, the slide amount d1 of the socket molding outer mold 72 of the present embodiment is considerably smaller than the slide amount d2 of the conventional socket molding outer mold 74. Will be easily understood. By reducing the slide amount d1 of the outer mold 72, the overall structure of the drain pan molding mold apparatus can be made smaller than before. The reason is that in order to remove the projection 71a for forming the plug hole from the socket 1, the inner mold 71 must be moved in the direction of the black arrow by the length of the projection 71a. This is because the movement of the inner mold 71 for pulling out from the socket 1 is a movement toward the inner side of the drain pan body D, which is a kind of container, and therefore hardly affects the dimensions of the drain pan molding mold apparatus.
[0033]
As mentioned above, although the case where this invention was applied to the drain pan of an air conditioner was demonstrated, the socket plug and socket of this invention are not limited to a drain pan, It is easy to apply also to things other than a drain pan. I understand. For example, a container outlet for storing fluid, powder, etc., a socket part of a tube, and the like. Further, it can be easily understood that the technical field to which the present invention is applied is not limited to the air conditioning field but can be widely applied in various fields.
[0034]
In the socket 1 described above, the distal end portion 11b is tapered from the large diameter portion 13 to the distal end surface 12, but the entire distal end portion may be a large diameter portion. In short, it is only necessary to provide the large-diameter portion 13 so as to prevent the fixing bracket from sliding off.
[0035]
Further, the outer dimension of the socket 1 may be set according to the dimension of the hose attached thereto, and the dimension of the plug hole 15 may be set to an optimum value in consideration of the plug dimension.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a socket when the present invention is applied to a drain pan for an air conditioner.
FIG. 2 is a view showing a method for inserting a plug into the socket of FIG. 1;
3A is a view showing a state immediately after the plug of FIG. 2 is inserted into a plug hole using a rod-like member, and FIG. 3B is a view immediately after removing the rod-like member from the plug. FIG.
4A is a diagram schematically showing a mold for molding the socket of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4B is a diagram schematically showing a mold for molding the socket of FIG. 5; Yes, the black arrow and the white arrow represent the sliding directions of the inner mold and the outer mold, respectively.
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a structure of a conventional socket included in a conventional drain pan for an air conditioner.
6 is a view showing a state in which a plug is inserted into the socket of FIG. 5, and (b) is an enlarged view of a part b surrounded by a circle in (a).
[Explanation of symbols]
1,5 Socket 11 Tube 11a, 51a Hose fixing portion 11b, 51b Tip portion 12, 52 Tip surface 13, 53 Large diameter portion 15, 55 Plug hole 2, 6 Plug 21, 61 Plug body 22, 62 Plug tip 23, 63 Seal portion 24, 64 Rear end face of plug 25, 65 Seat 26 Blind hole 3 Bar-shaped member 71, 73 Inner mold 71a, 74a Projection part 72, 74 Outer mold G Gap D Drain pan body d1, d2 Slide amount of outer mold

Claims (6)

A socket (1) that is integrally formed with the drain pan body (D) and has a plug hole (15) that expands from the front end surface (12) toward the drain pan body (D) and has a diameter that gradually increases .
A body (21), and the body open to the rear end surface (21) (24), a blind hole extending in said body generally axially (26) formed on an outer periphery of the body (21), the plug An elastic plug (2) having a seal portion (23) pressed against the peripheral surface of the hole (15) ,
The socket plug, characterized in that the elastic plug (2) fitted into the plug hole (15) extending in the back of the socket (1) is retained by the plug hole (15) extending in the back. .   The socket plug according to claim 1, characterized in that the body (21) of the plug (2) is tapered towards the tip (22).   On the rear end side of the main body (21) of the plug (2), a bowl-shaped seat (25) having a surface (25a) capable of contacting the front end surface (12) of the socket (1) is provided. The socket plug according to claim 1.   The plug hole (15) of the socket (1) is formed by the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder (11), and the cylinder (11) has an outer diameter on the tip (12) side than the outer diameter of other parts. The socket plug according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it has a large-diameter part (13). A socket formed integrally with the drain pan body (D),
A cylindrical body (11) that forms a hole (15) that is widened by the inner peripheral surface,
The tubular body (11) has an outer diameter than the outer diameter of the other portions in the distal end surface (12) side have a portion of larger diameter (13),
It said holes (15), a socket, characterized in gradually increased Do Rukoto the radial toward the above drain pan body (D) from the distal end surface (12). An air conditioner comprising a drain pan comprising the socket plug (1, 2) according to any one of claims 1 to 4 or the socket (1) according to claim 5.

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