JPH06109188A - Quick coupling - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten the necessary stroke of the valve body of a quick coupling and to improve its operating ability and durability by separately forming the valve body which moves backward to open a passage and a hollow member to operate a lockball, and severally providing them so that they may move independently in an axial direction. CONSTITUTION:When a quick coupling is connected, a valve center 23 is pushed by a spring 29 to advance until an 0-ring 27 abuts against the small diameter part 20a of a main body 20 for closing a communicating hole 25. In addition, a collar 31 is also set at an advanced position by a spring 33, and a lock ball 32 is pushed outward by the large diameter part of a collar 32. In this state, when the connecting member 38 of a cylindrical lock is inserted to move the collar 31 back, the lock balls 32, 34 go back toward the inner periphery of the main body 20 to unfasten the locking of a locking sleeve 35 for advancing the sleeve 35. The lock ball 34 engages with the large diameter part of the connecting member 38 to connect the connecting member 38, and the valve center 23 is simultaneously moved back by a sealing face to make the connecting member 38 communicate with the valve center 23.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a joint for connecting members forming fluid passages such as hoses and pipes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The most common type of joint is a type in which two pipes are connected via a nut, and a type in which a rubber hose is fitted into a metal nozzle. When it is necessary to perform it frequently and quickly, a joint called a quick coupling may be used. One example is shown in FIG. 3, and the joint shown here uses a pipe for connecting a rubber hose as a mating member. That is, the main body portion 1 has a cylindrical shape, and a hose nipple 2 for connecting a hose (not shown) is attached to the rear end portion (right end portion in FIG. 3) of the main body portion 1. The valve center 3 is fitted so as to be slidable in the axial direction. As shown in FIG. 3, a collar 13 is integrally attached to the valve center 3 by a snap ring or the like, and a flow passage 4 having a predetermined depth is formed along the central axis from the tip of the collar 13. A communication hole 5 that opens to the outer peripheral surface is formed at the end of the flow path 4. The inner peripheral surface of the body portion 1 into which the valve center 3 which is a hollow shaft-shaped member is inserted is
Are formed of a small diameter portion that closely fits and a large diameter portion located on the rear end side thereof. Therefore, the communication hole 5
If the valve center 3 is in the forward position so that the opening of the valve is in close contact with the small-diameter inner peripheral surface of the main body, the flow path 4 is closed with respect to the hose nipple 2, and the valve center 3 is retracted When the opening of the communication hole 5 is located on the large-diameter inner peripheral surface side of the main body portion 1, the flow path 4 opens to the hose nipple 2 via the communication hole 5. A spring 6 is interposed between the rear end of the valve center 3 and the hose nipple 2, and when not connected, the valve center 3 is advanced to maintain the valve closed state. Reference numerals 7 and 8 are seal rings provided on both sides in the axial direction with the communication hole 5 interposed therebetween. Reference numeral 9 is a gasket, which is provided on the tip end surface of the valve center 3.

Further, a lock sleeve 10 is fitted to the outer periphery of the body portion 1 on the front end side so as to be movable back and forth. This is for allowing the lock ball 11 held by the main body portion 1 to project to the inner peripheral side or to allow the projecting to the outer peripheral side, and the inner diameter is expanded to two locations corresponding to the lock ball 11. A recess is formed and is pushed toward the tip side by the spring 12.

The connecting member 38 connected by the above-mentioned quick coupling is constructed as shown in FIG. That is, the connecting member 38 has a cylindrical shape as a whole, and a large-diameter portion 39 having an outer diameter slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the main body 20 is formed on the outer periphery of the distal end side of the connecting member 38. A tapered surface 42 is formed on the side. The inner peripheral portion of the connecting member 38 on the tip end side is a hollow portion having a diameter substantially equal to the outer diameter of the valve center 3.
A seal surface 40 that abuts the gasket 30 is formed in the center of the inner part of the inner surface. Reference numeral 41 in FIG. 2 denotes a pipe integrated with the connecting member 38.

Therefore, in the joint described above, as shown in the lower half of FIG. 3, when the connecting member 38 is not fitted,
As the valve center 3 is pushed forward by the spring 6, the lock ball 11 is pushed by the collar 13 integrally attached to the valve center 3 so as to project to the outer peripheral side of the body portion 1. As a result, the lock sleeve 10 in the retracted position is held by the lock ball 11 in the retracted position so as not to advance. In this state, the connecting member 38 is inserted into the inside of the main body portion 1, the sealing surface 40 is pressed against the gasket 9, the connecting member 38 is further pushed in to retract the valve center 3, and the large diameter portion 39 of the connecting member 38 is When the rear end reaches the position of the lock ball 11 on the right side in FIG.
Since 1 enters the inner peripheral side of the main body portion 1, the locking sleeve 10 is disengaged and advances. This state is shown in the upper half of FIG. 3, and the lock ball 11 is held by the locking sleeve 10 in a state of protruding toward the inner peripheral side of the main body portion 1, and at the same time engaged with the rear end side of the large diameter portion 39. Then, the connection member 38 is prevented from coming off. Since the valve center 3 is held in the retracted position, the communication hole 5 opens to the inner peripheral side of the main body portion 1, and the flow path 4 thereof communicates with the hose nipple 2.

[0006]

Therefore, in the conventional quick coupling described above, the connecting member 38 can be connected by inserting the connecting member 38 into the inside of the main body portion and retracting the valve center 3 by a predetermined dimension, and also for locking. If the sleeve 10 is retracted so that the lock ball 11 is projected to the outer peripheral side of the main body portion 1, the connecting member 38 can be extracted and removed, and quick and simple attachment / detachment is possible.

However, the sealing surface 40 of the connecting member 38
The valve center 3 is provided with a gasket 9 for contacting with the valve center 3, and the collar 13 integrally attached to the valve center 3 has a function of pushing the lock ball 11 to the outer peripheral side of the main body portion 1. 3 requires a moving amount to act the lock ball 11, and the valve center 3
Since the required stroke becomes longer and the operability is deteriorated, and the long stroll is pushed against the spring force, the gasket surface is significantly damaged and there is a problem in durability.
Further, if the tip portion of the valve center 3 is projected from the main body portion in order to prevent the above inconvenience, the tip portion may be easily damaged.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a quick coupling having good operability and durability.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a hollow shaft inside a cylindrical main body which opens a flow path by using a tip end surface as a connecting contact surface and retracting. -Shaped valve body is accommodated so as to elastically move back and forth, and a hollow member having a small-diameter portion at the tip outer peripheral portion is arranged on the outer peripheral side of the valve body and inside the main body so as to elastically move back and forth. A portion of the main body where a locking sleeve having a large diameter portion on the inner peripheral side is elastically moved back and forth, and the locking sleeve is fitted in the main body. A lock ball that engages with the small diameter portion of the hollow member by protruding toward the inner peripheral side to prevent forward movement of the hollow member, and protrudes toward the outer peripheral side to prevent forward and backward movement of the locking sleeve; Selective inner side of body by locking sleeve A second lock ball to be projected is disposed, and a sealing surface that abuts the connection abutting surface is formed in the inner rear portion of the tubular portion that abuts the hollow member, and the tip of the tubular portion is formed. It is characterized in that it has a connecting member provided with a large diameter portion on the outer peripheral portion for engaging with the second lock ball and preventing it from coming off.

[0010]

In the quick coupling of the present invention,
If the hollow shaft-shaped valve body and the hollow member are advanced, the lock ball is projected to the outer peripheral side of the main body, so that the lock sleeve is engaged with the lock ball to prevent the advance, and The body is in the forward position, thereby closing the flow path. When the connecting member is inserted into the main body in this state, the tip end surface of the tubular portion abuts against the hollow member and pushes it, and the sealing surface formed inside the tubular portion is
The valve is in contact with the connecting contact surface formed on the valve body. When the connecting member is further inserted, the hollow member is retracted and the lock ball is allowed to enter the inside of the main body, so that the locking sleeve moves and the second lock ball is projected to the inside of the main body. The second lock ball is held, and the protrusion of the connecting member is engaged with the second lock ball to prevent the second lock ball from coming off. Further, the lock ball prevents the hollow member from advancing. At the same time, the valve body is pushed by the connecting contact surface of the connecting member and retracts, so that the valve is opened. If you move the locking sleeve in the opposite direction to the above,
Since the lock ball can project to the outer peripheral side of the main body, the lock of the connecting member by the lock ball is released, and the connecting member can be pulled out.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the present invention, in which the upper half shows a connected state and the lower half does not connect. The state is shown. The body 20 of the quick coupling shown here has a small-diameter portion 20 having a small inner diameter in the central portion in the axial direction.
1 is formed into a tubular shape as a whole, and a hose nipple 21 having a flow path 21a formed along the central axis is attached to an end portion on the right side of FIG. The space is sealed by an O-ring 22. At the center of the main body 20, a valve center 23
Is inserted so as to move in the axial direction. The valve center 23 opens backward to open the flow path and communicates with the flow path 21a of the hose nipple 21. The valve center 23 is closely fitted to the small-diameter portion 20a of the main body 20. A flow path 24 is formed from the front end surface of 23 to a predetermined size, and a communication hole 25 is formed from the flow path 24 to the outer peripheral surface that closely fits the small diameter portion 20a of the main body 20. The O-rings 26, 27 are provided on both front and rear sides in the axial direction across the opening of the communication hole 25.
When the valve center 23 is in the forward position, the opening of the communication hole 25 is closed by the inner peripheral surface of the small-diameter portion 20a of the main body 20, and the valve center 23 is retracted, so that the communication hole The opening of 25 is separated from the small diameter portion 20a and opens to the hose nipple 21. A retainer 28 is attached to the rear end (right end in FIG. 1) of the valve center 23, and the end of the retainer 28 is fitted in the hose nipple 21 so as to be movable back and forth.
A spring 29 is arranged between the flange portion of the valve and the end surface of the hose nipple 21, and the valve center 23 is constantly pressed forward (to the left in FIG. 1) by the spring 29. The O provided on the outer peripheral portion of the valve center 23
Of the rings 26 and 27, the O-ring 27 on the right side of FIG. 1 is
The O-ring 27 is sandwiched between the valve center 23 and the retainer 28, and the O-ring 27 comes into contact with the inner surface of the main body 20 when the valve center 23 is in the forward movement position.
A seal is provided between 3 and the main body 20. In other words, the O-ring 27 contacts the inner surface of the main body 20 to restrict the forward movement of the valve center 23. Further, an annular gas cacket 30 is attached to the front end surface of the valve center 23.

A collar 31 is fitted to the outer periphery of the valve center 23 closer to the tip than the portion fitted to the small diameter portion 20a of the main body 20 so as to be movable back and forth. This collar 31 is for operating a lock ball 32, which will be described later, and the outer diameter on the front end side is smaller than the outer diameter on the rear end side to form a small diameter portion. A spring 33 arranged between the small diameter portion 20a of the main body 20 and the side wall of the main body 20 constantly presses it in the forward direction. The collar 31 is prevented from coming off by forming a step portion that engages with each other on the inner peripheral surface of the collar 31 and the outer peripheral surface of the valve center 23.

Lock balls 32 and 34 are held at two positions of the body 20 on the front end side of the peripheral wall portion in front of and behind each other in the axial direction. These lock balls 32 and 34 are the main body 2
It has a diameter larger than the wall thickness of the peripheral wall portion of 0, and selectively protrudes on the inner peripheral side and the outer peripheral side of the main body 20.

Further, a lock sleeve 35 is fitted in the outer peripheral portion of the main body 20 on the front end side so as to be movable back and forth. The locking sleeve 35 allows the lock balls 32 and 34 to project to the outer peripheral side of the main body 20 when in the retracted position, and allows the lock balls 32 and 34 to move inside the main body 20 when in the advanced position. The lock sleeve 35 is maintained in a state of being projected to the circumferential side, and recesses 35a and 35b are formed at two positions in the front and rear of the inner peripheral surface of the locking sleeve 35 so as to correspond to the lock balls 32 and 34, respectively. Further, the locking sleeve 35 is constantly pressed in the forward direction by a coil spring 36 interposed between the locking sleeve 35 and the main body 20 on the inner peripheral side thereof, and a slit 35c formed on the rear end side along the axial direction is formed in the main body 20. It engages with the attached stopper pin 37. The slit 35c is bent in an L-shape including a portion extending along the axial direction and a portion extending along the circumferential direction, and the stopper pin 37 is engaged with the portion extending along the circumferential direction to lock due to an erroneous operation. The movement of the sleeve 35 is restricted.

The connecting member 38 connected by the above-mentioned quick coupling is constructed as shown in FIG. 2 described above. The operation of the above-mentioned quick coupling when using this will be described below. As shown in the half, in the unconnected state, the valve center 23 is pushed by the spring 29 and the O-ring 27 causes the small-diameter portion 20 of the main body 20.
It has advanced to the state of contacting a, and therefore the communication hole 25 is closed by the inner surface of the small diameter portion of the main body 20. The collar 31 is also pushed forward by the spring 33, so that the lock ball 32 is pushed outward by the outer peripheral surface of the large diameter portion of the collar 31, and the locking sleeve 35 compresses the coil spring 36 and retracts. Since the recesses 35a and 35b on the inner surface are located at positions corresponding to the lock balls 32 and 34, the lock balls 32 and 34 project to the outer peripheral side of the main body 20. Therefore, the lock sleeve 35 is held in the retracted position by engaging the lock balls 32 and 34 and preventing the forward movement.

In order to connect the connecting member 38 to the quick coupling, the connecting member 38 is butted to the quick coupling so that the tip end inner peripheral portion of the connecting member 38 fits the tip end portion of the valve center 23. It When the connecting member 38 is pushed into the quick coupling from this state, the collar 31 retracts while compressing the spring 33, and the sealing surface 40 formed on the connecting member 38 is attached to the tip of the valve center 23. It abuts against a gasket 30 and comes into contact in a sealed state.
By pushing the connecting member 38 a little further, the collar 3
1 and the valve center 23 are retracted, and when the tip small diameter portion of the collar 31 reaches the position of the lock ball 32 on the right side in FIG. 1, the lock ball 32 retracts to the inner peripheral side of the main body 20, so that the locking sleeve The lock 35 is released, and the lock sleeve 35 is pushed by the coil spring 36 to move forward. At this point, the large-diameter portion 39 of the connecting member 38 has passed the position of the lock ball 34 on the left side in FIG. 1, and therefore, the lock sleeve 35 advances to lock these lock balls 32, 34. Sleeve 35
Is pushed into the inner peripheral side of the main body 20. And Figure 1
Since the lock ball 34 on the left side engages with the tapered surface 42 on the rear end side (the left side in the drawing) of the large diameter portion 39 of the connection member 38, the connection member 38 is maintained in the state fitted to the quick coupling. . Further, since the opening of the communication hole 25 of the valve center 23 is retracted to a position beyond the small diameter portion of the main body 20, the flow passage 24 is connected to the flow passage of the hose nipple 21.

To disconnect the connecting member 38, the locking sleeve 35 is retracted so as to compress the coil spring 36. As a result, when the recesses 35a, 35b reach the positions corresponding to the lock balls 32, 34, the lock balls 32, 34 can move to the outer peripheral side of the main body 20, so that the lock balls 32, 34 The locking of the connecting member 38 and the collar 35 is released, and the connecting member 38
And the collar 35 advances to maintain the lock ball 32 in a state of protruding toward the outer peripheral side. Therefore, the lock sleeve 35 engages with the lock ball 32 and is held in the retracted position. At the same time, the valve center 23 is pushed by the spring 29 to move forward, and the opening portion of the communication hole 25 closely fits the small diameter portion 20a of the main body 20, so that the flow path 24 is closed.

Therefore, in the above quick coupling, the connecting member 38 can be attached and detached by inserting the connecting member 38 or sliding the locking sleeve 35 in the axial direction, and also in the valve center 23.
Since the collar 31 for operating the lock ball 32 and the collar 31 for operating the lock ball 32 are separately configured to be slidable independently of each other, the slide length of the valve center 23 in the axial direction and the insertion length of the connecting member 38 are shortened. be able to.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but the structure of the valve center, the collar or the locking sleeve can be appropriately changed as necessary.

[0020]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the quick coupling of the present invention, the valve body for opening the flow passage by retreating and the hollow member for operating the lock ball are configured as separate members, Since each of them is configured to be movable in the axial direction independently of each other, even when the connecting member having a structure in which the connecting seal surface of the connecting member is retracted in the axial direction is targeted, Since the required stroke can be shortened, operability and durability can be improved. Further, along with this, a compact coupling having a short axial length can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a connecting member used in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an example of a conventional quick coupling.

[Explanation of symbols]

 20 Main body 23 Valve center 24 Flow path 25 Communication hole 30 Gasket 31 Collar 32, 34 Lock ball 35 Lock sleeve 35a, 35b Recess 38 Connection member 39 Large diameter part 40 Sealing surface

Front Page Continuation (72) Inventor Kuniyoshi Shishido 1 Toyota Town, Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yoshihisa Matsuda 168 Hikage Ward, Ina City, Nagano Prefecture Louver Co., Ltd. (72) Invention Person Toshio Hidano 4-40 Osu, Naka-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture Eizu Kogyo Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A hollow shaft-shaped valve body is housed inside a tubular body so as to elastically move back and forth by using a tip end surface as a contact surface for connection and retreating to open a flow path. On the outer peripheral side of the body and inside the main body, a hollow member having a small diameter portion formed on the outer peripheral portion of the tip is arranged so as to elastically move back and forth, and a part of the inner peripheral side is enlarged on the outer peripheral side of the main body. The locking sleeve, which is the diametrical part, is fitted so as to elastically move back and forth,
A portion of the main body in which the locking sleeve is fitted is projected to the inner peripheral side so as to engage with the small diameter portion of the hollow member to prevent forward movement of the hollow member and project to the outer peripheral side. And a second lock ball that is selectively protruded toward the inner peripheral side of the main body by the locking sleeve and that is in contact with the hollow member. A sealing surface that abuts against the connecting abutting surface is formed in the inner rear portion of the container, and a large-diameter portion that engages with the second lock ball and is prevented from coming off is provided on the outer peripheral portion of the distal end of the tubular portion thereof. A quick coupling characterized by having a connecting member.