JP6199625B2 - Ball joint for fluid - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a fluid ball joint suitable as, for example, a water drainage structure part of a vehicle among ball joints.

  As an application example, the target ball joint is used in a drain removing device for a roof panel as shown in Patent Document 1 or used in a multi-joint hose such as a bathtub hot water circulation purification device as shown in Patent Document 2. The In the former, it is incorporated in an insertion device attached to the drainage part of the water duct on the roof panel side. In this insertion device, a draining tube (corresponding to the male member of the present invention) is provided at the tip of the sleeve portion, whereas a tubular sleeve portion (corresponding to the female member of the present invention) is provided so as to project downward. An elastic clamp and a seal ring mounted on the inside are interposed so as to be swingable. In the latter, as a connection structure between hose units, one hose unit (corresponding to the female member of the present invention) having a spherically expanding outer shell (ball joint portion) on one end side and a predetermined inner surface of the outer shell Consists of the other hose unit (corresponding to the male member of the present invention) having a spherical head (movable part) that fits in a freely rotatable manner on one end side, and a slip-off prevention ring attached to the outer periphery of the outer shell Has been.

  Patent Document 3 is a prior application of the present applicant, and a fluid ball in which a male / female member can be relatively tilted at a predetermined angle in a state in which a spherical head of a male member is swingably fitted to a female member. In the joint (tube connector), the number of members is reduced to a two-point configuration as compared with Patent Documents 1 and 2, and more favorable rotation or tilt characteristics can be obtained. FIG. 7 shows the structure. This fluid ball joint (tube connector) 3 includes a support 1 corresponding to the female member of the present invention and a tube 2 corresponding to the male member of the present invention. The tube 2 includes a spherical head (bulging portion) 22 fitted to the support 1 so as to be swingable, and a male main body (hose connection portion) 20 connected to the head via a neck portion. The support body 1 includes a flange portion 10 provided around the upper side of the cylindrical portion 11 and abutting the attached member P, and an elastic locking claw 14 engaged with a hole portion P1 provided in the attached member. In addition, the holding portion 17 that fits and holds the head portion 22 has a substantially arcuate vertical cross section and a part of the outer surface of the arc is connected to the cylindrical portion 11 side.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-124442 JP-A-11-230434 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2012-240607

  The thing of the above-mentioned patent document 3 has few constituent members, can improve the tilting characteristics of the male member relative to the female member or the relative tilting characteristics of the male / female member, and can be easily mounted on the mounted member. it can. However, in this structure, since the holding portion that fits the head is arranged inside and outside the cylinder of the female member, there is a problem in appearance, or the holding portion has a substantially circular arc cross section, which corresponds to the equator in the spherical head. Because it abuts the maximum outer diameter part from above and below in the vertical direction, if excessive stress is applied in the direction in which the male and female members are separated or the male member is pulled out of the female member, the fitting is released or the watertightness or sealing performance is reduced. There is a risk of doing.

  The object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-described problems, and a male / female member that can be tilted at a predetermined angle relatively with a simple structure, for example, strong and more stable against a pulling load. It is to make it possible to maintain the sealing performance. Other purposes will be clarified in the following description.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a fluid ball joint in which the male / female member can be relatively tilted at a predetermined angle in a state in which the spherical head of the male member is swingably fitted to the female member. The male member includes a male main body connected to the head via a neck, and a contact piece protruding from the male main body and maintaining a distance from the head, and the female member is a cylinder. and Jo female body, wherein a flange that protrudes around the longitudinal middle of the female body, said projecting into one end periphery a male member side of the female body one end for inserting the head From the periphery of the maximum diameter that is inclined toward the other end side and the tip passes through the center of the head of the periphery of the head and intersects with a plane perpendicular to the vertical axis that is the central axis of the neck. A lip that abuts a small-diameter peripheral portion on the neck side, and the male / female member attaches the lip to the lip. Contact with the part, the contact piece is characterized in that it is connected in a state of contact with the flange.

The present invention as described above is more preferably embodied as specified in claims 2-5.
(A) The female member has a latching portion that is provided around the flange and one end of the female main body and is fitted with the abutting piece to receive a pulling or pulling load. (Claim 2).
(A) The male member has a step provided in a small-diameter peripheral part on the tip side that exceeds the maximum-diameter peripheral part in the periphery of the head , and the lip is applied when tilted by the maximum angle. In this configuration, the tilting is regulated in contact (claim 3).

(C) A plurality of the abutting pieces are provided across the head (claim 4).
(D) The male main body and the female main body are provided with a different one of a hose fastening part capable of conducting fluid and a fixing part to the attached member (Claim 5).

The invention of claim 1 is the same as the structure of Patent Document 3 in that it has a two-point configuration of a male member and a female member. However, as shown in FIG. It is the tip abuts the lip configuration to the small diameter periphery portion of the neck side of the maximum diameter periphery of the head, and the configuration of the male member side contact piece to regulate the movement in contact with the female member flange, male -When receiving stress F2 in the direction in which the female member is separated or the male member is pulled out from the female member, the sealing force between the spherical head and the lip can be increased and maintained securely, and the retaining load can be increased. , Thereby improving quality and reliability.

  In the invention of claim 2, the female member is provided around the flange and one end side as shown in FIG. 3 (a) and is fitted with the contact piece on the male member side to apply the pulling or pulling load. Since it has the latching part which can be received, even if it receives the stress F2 of the extraction | drawer direction, it will become still stronger and can prevent more reliably that a male / female member separates or a male member will remove | deviate from a female member.

In the invention of claim 3, the male member has a step provided in the small-diameter peripheral portion on the distal end side exceeding the maximum-diameter peripheral portion in the periphery of the head as shown in the enlarged view of FIG. Since the lip abuts when the angle is tilted and the tilt is regulated, the male member is reliably regulated not to tilt beyond the designed maximum tilt angle even if the male member receives stress F3 in an excessive tilt direction.

  In the invention of claim 4, since a plurality of contact pieces on the male member side are provided across the head as shown in FIG. 3A, the direction in which the male and female members approach or the male member is the female member. Even if the stress F1 in the direction of approaching is received, excessive sealing is prevented, so that the sealing force between the spherical head and the lip can be maintained stably and evenly.

  In the invention of claim 5, the fact that the male main body and the female main body have different ones of the hose fastening portion capable of conducting fluid as a general configuration and the fixing portion to the attached member has been identified. it makes sense.

The ball joint for fluids of a form example is shown in a use mode, (a) is a top view seen from the male member side, and (b) is a front view. It is the side view which looked at the ball joint for fluids from the right side of Drawing 1 (b). (A) is the sectional view on the AA line of FIG. 1, and is the BB sectional view of FIG. 3 (a). (A) is explanatory drawing in the state in which the male member of FIG.3 (b) inclined the maximum angle to the left side with respect to the female member. The male member single article is shown, (a) is a plan view, (b) is a front view, and (c) is a half sectional view along CC of (a). The female member single article is shown, (a) is a front view, (b) is a bottom view, and (c) is a half sectional view taken along the line DD of (a). The structure of patent document 1 is shown, (a) and (b) are a front view and sectional drawing.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this description, the structure and operation of the ball joint will be clarified after clarifying the structure of the ball joint.

(Structure) The fluid ball joint 3 is composed of a male member 1 and a female member 2 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and the spherical head 12 of the male member 1 is fitted to the female member 2 so as to be swingable. Thus, the male / female members 1 and 2 can be relatively tilted at a predetermined angle. Although the use is not particularly limited, for example, it is suitable as a water drainage structural part exemplified in Patent Document 1 and the like, and a structural part of a multi-joint hose exemplified in Patent Document 2 and the like. The male member 1 and the female member 2 are both resin molded products as can be seen from the manufacturing method described later.

  Among the two members, the male member 1 includes a male main body 10 connected to the head 12 via the neck 11 as shown in FIG. 5, and plate portions 14 and 14 projecting from the outer periphery of the male main body 10. A plurality of contact pieces 16 provided in a state in which the protruding ends of the respective plate portions 14 are bent and spaced from the head 12, and a passage formed in the axial direction from the male main body 10 to the head 12. 18 is provided.

First, the male main body 10 is configured as a hose fastening portion and has a substantially cylindrical shape with a predetermined length. The one end portion 10a is provided with a locking step portion in which a part of the outer periphery is enlarged in diameter. The other end portion 10b is provided so that the diameter gradually decreases toward the neck portion 11 on both the outer periphery and the inner periphery. A hose 6 as shown in FIG. 1B is connected to the one end portion 10a through a locking step portion of the one end portion 10a .

  The head 12 has a substantially perfect spherical shape except for the upper end connected to the neck 11 and the lower end just below the upper end. On the outer surface of the head 12, there is a step 13 provided on a lower side or a small-diameter peripheral part on the tip side beyond the peripheral part of the maximum diameter corresponding to the equator of the spherical head. That is, the step 13 is provided such that the radius from the center of the spherical head 12 is larger in the spherical portion below the step than the spherical portion above the step.

  Each plate portion 14 protrudes in a bowl shape on both sides around the lower side of the upper and lower middle of the male main body 10, and forms a contact piece 16 by bending each protruding end substantially at a right angle. Each contact piece 16 is opposed to be substantially parallel across the head 12. Each plate portion 14 and the contact piece 16 are reinforced by a connecting plate 19 provided on the inner surface side and ribs 15 and 17 provided on each outer surface. The ribs 15 and 17 protrude in the middle of the width of the plate portion 14 and the contact piece 16 and are continuous as shown in FIG.

  Each contact piece 16 has a protrusion 16a provided on the inner surface on the front end side, and the front end of the contact piece is attached to the flange 21 in a state where the protrusion 16a is fitted to a latching portion 23 of the female member 2 described later. The length is in contact. In addition, the contact piece 16 with the board part 14 and the protrusion 16a is not restricted to two, You may comprise by three or more.

  The passage 18 is formed such that the diameters of the passage portions 18b and 18c on the side of the neck portion 11 and the head 12 are smaller than the passage portion 18a of the male main body 10 excluding the other end portion 10b. This configuration, for example, allows a fluid such as water to be discharged without resistance to the downstream side, which is the male main body 10 side, so that a good outflow mode is maintained.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, the female member 2 includes a cylindrical female main body 20, a flange 21 projecting around the middle of the female main body 20 in the length direction, a flange 21, and one end side of the female main body 20. A latching portion 23 provided in the periphery, a generally small tube or bowl-shaped lip 24 projecting on the inner periphery of one end of the female main body 20 (side on which the head 12 is inserted), and the female main body 20 And a locking claw 27 provided around the lower side of the flange 21.

  The female body 20 is formed in a taper having a small diameter at the tip 20a, and can be easily mounted in the hole 5a of the attached member 5 as shown in FIG. The flange 21 is formed in an umbrella shape on the outer peripheral side, and can be press-contacted on the outer peripheral side of the umbrella shape with the female main body 20 inserted into the hole 5a with respect to the attached member 5. In this case, the packing 4 is preferably interposed between the mounted member 5 and the flange 21 so that watertightness can be reliably obtained.

  The latching portion 23 has a shape in which the periphery of the female main body 20 is formed in a small-diameter groove shape. The protrusion 16a of each contact piece 16 is fitted to the male member 1 with respect to the female member 2, or the male / female member 1, It is possible to receive the pulling or separating load of 2. Reference numeral 22 denotes an outer periphery on one end side of the female main body 20 positioned above the latching portion 23.

  The lip 24 has a proximal end projecting obliquely downward from the inner circumference of one end of the female main body 20, and the distal end has a smaller diameter on the neck 11 side than the maximum diameter circumference corresponding to the equator of the head 12 as shown in FIG. 3. It abuts on the periphery so that it can be sealed. Each locking claw 27 is defined by a substantially U-shaped slit 26 provided in the female main body 20, that is, a pair of vertical slits 26a and a horizontal slit 26b connecting the vertical slits 26a, and a cylindrical diameter with the lower end as a fulcrum. Elastic displacement is possible in the direction. In addition, the code | symbol 27a is a part lacking from the lower middle connected to the female main body 20 to the front of the upper end in each locking claw 27.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the male / female members 1 and 2 have the lip 24 in contact with the head 12 or the head 12 in contact with the lip 24 in a state of being prevented from coming off, and at the same time, each contact piece 16 is projected. In a state where 16a is fitted to the latching portion 23 and is in contact with the flange 21, they are connected to each other so as to be able to tilt by a predetermined angle. Usually, the male / female members 1 and 2 are connected in such a manner to be provided as a ball joint 3 in an integrated state.

  In this example, the female member 2 is fixed to the attached member 5 and is attached to the hole 5a of the attached member 5 by the respective locking claws 27, and the male member 1 is the female member. 2 is connected to the right and left in FIGS. 3B and 4 so as to be tiltable by a predetermined angle (θ), in a direction intersecting the direction in which the contact piece 16 is provided. This angle (θ) is configured such that the step 13 of the head is restricted by hitting the lip 24.

(Manufacturing method) Next, a method for one-shot molding of the above-described ball joint 3 suitable for mass production will be briefly described. Of course, depending on the number of mass production, the male member 1 and the female member 2 can be individually manufactured and then assembled and integrated.

  As an example of the molding die, a slider that is slidable in the horizontal direction, a fixed-side core pin and a movable-side core pin that are arranged vertically with respect to the slider, and a movable-side mounting plate that supports the movable-side core pin A sleeve pin that is provided on the movable side mounting plate and is controlled to move up and down with the movable side core pin penetrating through the cylinder, and a movable side core pin and a sleep pin supported on the movable side mounting plate via a spacer block A movable receiving plate penetrating from the bottom to the upper side, and a movable insert arranged in a concave portion on the center side of the movable receiving plate are provided.

  In the molding die described above, the cavity A for the female member is defined by the lower corresponding space of the slider, the middle part of the movable core pin, and the upper end of the sleep pin. The male member cavity B is defined by the upper corresponding space of the slider, the upper part of the movable core pin, and the lower part of the fixed core pin. Molten resin, which is a raw material, is supplied to each of the cavities A and B through a pin gate provided on the slider and a branched flow path connected to the pin gate.

  Thereafter, when the slider is retracted from the molding position, the female member formed by the cavity A and the male member formed by the cavity B are both supported by the movable core pin. The female member is also received by a sleep pin arranged around the movable core pin. From this state, the female member is moved upward by the rise of the sleep pin, and accordingly, the lip is pulled out from the corresponding convex portion of the core pin while being elastically deformed, and then fitted to the spherical head of the male member. The female member and the male member are integrated with each other, that is, a target ball joint. When the sleeve pin is further raised from this state, the ball joint which is a molded product is released.

(Operation) The above-described ball joint is particularly excellent in terms of operation characteristics as follows.
(A) In this ball joint 3, the female body 20 protrudes from the inner circumference on one end side, and the tip is an equator of the head 12 on the male member side (through the center of the sphere, the vertical axis or a plane perpendicular to the sphere axis). The lip configuration that makes contact with the small-diameter peripheral portion on the neck side from the maximum-diameter peripheral portion corresponding to the line that intersects the spherical surface), and the contact piece 16 on the male member side contacts the flange on the female member side to restrict movement. 3B, not only the stress F2 in the direction in which the male / female members 1 and 2 are separated from each other or the pull-out direction of the male member 1 with respect to the female member 2 as shown in FIG. Thus, when the male / female members 1 and 2 are subjected to the stress F1 in the approaching direction of the male member 1 with respect to the female member 2, the sealing force between the spherical head 12 and the lip 24 is reliably maintained. It is possible to increase the retaining load. Of course, in this structure, since the lip 24 is inside the female main body 20, it looks good and is excellent in that it is not easily damaged by an external member or the like.

(A) Further, in this structure, the female member 2 is provided around the flange 21 and one end side as shown in FIG. Since it has a latching portion 23 that can be fitted and can receive a pulling or pulling load, it will become stronger even if it receives stress F2 in the pulling direction, and the male / female member will be separated or the male member will be a female member. It is possible to more reliably prevent the risk of coming off.

(C) Moreover, in this ball joint 3, the male member 1 has a step 13 provided in the small-diameter peripheral portion on the tip side exceeding the maximum-diameter peripheral portion corresponding to the equator of the head 12 as shown in FIG. However, when the maximum angle of tilting is performed, the lip 24 contacts and the tilting is restricted. For this reason, in this structure, even if the male member 1 receives an excessive stress F3 in the tilting direction, it can be surely controlled so as not to tilt beyond the maximum tilting angle on the design, thereby causing troubles such as seal leakage and detachment. Can be avoided.

(D) Further, in this structure, a plurality of contact pieces 16 on the male member side are provided across the head 12 as shown in FIG. Even if the direction or the stress F1 in which the male member 1 approaches the female member 2 is strongly received, excessive sealing is prevented so that the sealing force between the head 12 and the lip 24 is maintained stably and evenly. it can.

(E) In the above embodiment, the configuration in which the male member 2 fastens the hose 6 to the male main body 20 and the female member 2 is engaged and fixed to the hole 5a of the attached member 5 via the locking claw 27 is shown. . However, it is not limited to this technically. For example, the male member 1 may be provided with a locking claw of the female member 2 or a similar means to the male main body 10 as a fixing portion to the attached member 5 instead of the hose fastening portion. In that case, a hose fastening portion is provided on the female member 2 side.

(F) In the above embodiment, the structure in which the flange 21 of the female member is formed in an approximately umbrella shape or is in contact with the attached member 5 through the packing 4 is shown. It is an example of a structure to raise. However, these can be appropriately changed according to the use, required characteristics, cost, and the like.

  The fluid ball joint of the present invention only needs to have the configuration specified in the claims, and the details can be changed or developed with reference to the embodiment. For example, although the male body, the neck and the head have different diameters for the passage diameter of the male member, they may be formed to have the same diameter. As the locking claw, other claw shapes may be used, or two or more claws may be provided. As a member to be attached, for example, an insertion device as disclosed in Patent Document 1, a member similar thereto, a tank, a container similar to them, or the like can be cited.

1 ... Male member (10 is male body, 11 is neck, 28 is passage)
2 ... Female member (20 is female body, 21 is flange)
3 ... Ball joint 4 ... Packing 5 ... Mounted member (5a is a hole)
6 ... Hose 12 ... Head (13 is a step)
16: Contact piece (16a is a protrusion)
23 ... Hanging part 24 ... Lip 27 ... Locking claw (26 is a slit)

Claims (5)

In the fluid ball joint in which the male / female member can be tilted at a predetermined angle relatively with the spherical head of the male member fitted to the female member in a swingable manner,
The male member includes a male main body connected to the head via a neck, and a contact piece protruding from the male main body and maintaining a distance from the head,
The female member protrudes into a cylindrical female main body, a flange projecting around the length of the female main body in the length direction, and an inner circumference on one end side that is a male member side of the female main body into which the head is inserted. The maximum tilted from one end side to the other end side, and the tip passes through the center of the head of the periphery of the head and intersects with a plane perpendicular to the vertical axis that is the central axis of the neck A lip that comes into contact with the small-diameter peripheral part on the neck side from the radial peripheral part, and the male / female member connects the lip with the head and the contact piece abuts with the flange. A ball joint for fluid. The female member has a latching portion which is provided around the flange and one end of the female main body and is fitted with the abutting piece to receive a pulling or pulling load. The fluid ball joint according to claim 1 .   The male member has a step provided in a small-diameter peripheral portion on the tip side that exceeds the maximum-diameter peripheral portion of the periphery of the head, and when the maximum-tilt tilts, the lip abuts and tilt control is performed. The fluid ball joint according to claim 1, wherein the fluid ball joint is provided.   4. The fluid ball joint according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the contact pieces are provided across the head. 5.   5. The male main body and the female main body are provided with different ones of a hose fastening part capable of conducting fluid and a fixing part to a member to be attached, respectively. Ball joint for fluid.

Images