JPH07293772A - Pipe joint - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable smooth locking and unlocking operation by forming deep and shallow groove parts on the inner peripheral surface of a lock ring and interlocking the deep and shallow groove parts through a groove while providing an engaging projection for locking alternately the deep and shallow groove parts on the outer peripheral surface of a socket body. CONSTITUTION:A socket body 3 consists of a small diameter front part 8 and large diameter rear part 9 defining the boundary of a step 7 part provided in the axially nearly central part on the circumference therebetween. The small diameter front part 8 is provided with a locking mechanism 12 for locking a plug. A locking ring 20 is fitted slidably in a step part 7 of the socket body 3 to span the front part 8 and the rear part. The small diameter front part 8 of the socket body 3 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of small diameter front part 8 with an engaging projection part near the step part 7. The locking ring front part 22 is formed on the inner peripheral surface with the deep and shallow groove parts alternately and both grooves 44, 45 are formed to be interconnected continuously with angle grooves 46.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pipe joint provided with a lock ring as a safety device for a locking mechanism.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a safety device of a locking mechanism for slidingly operating a sleeve to engage and disengage a lock ball or other engaging member, various types are known. For example, the applicant of the present application provides a slave sleeve for locking the main sleeve behind the main sleeve for locking the lock ball, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 52-29311. A pipe joint was proposed. According to this invention, there is no risk that the pipe joint will come off even if an unexpected external force acts on the main sleeve.

Further, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 59-51293, a sleeve having a lock slit and an unlock slit at its rear end is rotatably mounted on the outer peripheral surface of a socket body, and is forwardly mounted by a spring. Disclosed is a pipe joint in which a lock pin protruding from a lock ring pressed by the lock slit can be locked in the lock slit and the unlock slit, and a device for reliably restricting the retracted position of the sleeve by the lock ring is described. Has been done.

[0004]

However, in the invention using the sleeve having the lock slit and the unlock slit, the step between the lock slit and the unlock slit is large, and the lock and unlock operations can be smoothly performed. It has the drawback of not being. Furthermore, when visually confirming the locked position or the unlocked position, it is difficult for the operator of the pipe joint to instantly distinguish which position, and therefore, it is difficult to perform the locking operation, and as a result, as a safety device of the locking mechanism, There was an inconvenience that the original function was not fully exhibited.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a pipe joint which eliminates such inconveniences of the prior art, enables smooth locking and unlocking operations, and facilitates visual confirmation of the locked position.

[0006]

To achieve this object, according to the present invention, a sleeve constituting a locking mechanism and a lock ring for restricting a retracted position of the sleeve are slidably fitted on an outer peripheral surface of a socket body. A pipe joint formed by forming a deep groove portion and a shallow groove portion on the inner peripheral surface of the lock ring, and connecting the deep groove portion and the shallow groove portion with a groove, On the outer peripheral surface of the socket body, there is adopted a configuration in which engaging projections which are alternately engaged with the deep groove portion and the shallow groove portion are provided. It is preferable to form a mountain-shaped groove between the deep groove portion and the shallow groove portion.

According to the present invention, a display portion for displaying the lock position of the sleeve is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the lock ring, and when the lock ring is rotated, the display portion is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the socket body. It is preferable to adopt a configuration in which a lock confirmation display unit that matches the display unit is provided.

[0008]

When the socket and the plug are connected and locked by operating the sleeve, the engaging projection of the socket body is locked in the deep groove of the lock ring. Therefore, the lock position display portion of the lock ring and the lock confirmation display portion of the socket body are out of phase. In this state, the lock confirmation display portion is configured to be invisible by the lock ring.

Then, when the lock ring is rotated, the engaging projection is guided from the deep groove portion along the inclined surface of the groove, and the lock ring slides forward on the outer peripheral surface of the socket body. Further, when the lock ring is further rotated, the engaging protrusion is guided from the deep groove portion to the shallow groove portion along the inclined surface, and finally the engaging protrusion engages with the shallow groove portion. In this state, the rear end of the sleeve is close to the lock ring and the sleeve is completely locked. Further, since the engagement protrusion and the shallow groove are locked, the phases of the lock position display portion of the lock ring and the lock confirmation display portion of the socket body match. At this time, since the lock ring is in the forward position, the display portion and the lock confirmation display portion can be visually observed.

On the other hand, in order to separate the socket and the plug, the lock ring is rotated in the opposite direction to the above operation, so that the engaging projection is locked in the deep groove portion from the shallow groove portion through the inclined surface of the groove. Then, the lock of the sleeve is released to make the sleeve slidable, and then the sleeve is retracted, whereby the locking mechanism is released and the both can be easily separated.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a socket 2 that constitutes a pipe joint.
FIG. 4 is a vertical half side view showing a state of a single body of FIG.
It is called the front end, etc., and the opposite side is the rear, rear, rear end, etc.

The socket 2 has a rear end portion slightly larger than the front portion in the rear end portion of the socket body 3 and an adapter 6 having a nipple 4 for inserting a hose (not shown) and a nut 5 for fixing the hose. A fluid flow path 10 is formed inside the socket body 3 and the adapter 6.

The socket body 3 comprises a small-diameter front portion 8 and a large-diameter rear portion 9 with a stepped portion 7 provided in a circumferential shape at a substantially central portion in the axial direction as a boundary. The small-diameter front portion 8 locks a plug. A locking mechanism 12 is provided for this purpose. Reference numeral 14
Are through holes formed at two positions in the front portion 8 of the socket body 3 in the diametrical direction near the front end portion.
Arc-shaped locking members 15 and 15 are respectively inserted in the unit 14.

A sleeve 16 is slidably fitted to the outer peripheral surface of the small-diameter front portion 8 behind the through hole 14, and the central portion of the sleeve 16 has a slightly thicker wall and the central portion on the inner peripheral surface side. Is the locking surface 17 of the locking member 15, and the thin portion in front of it is the lock release portion 18. In addition, this locking mechanism 1
Needless to say, 2 may be a well-known ball lock type or needle pin type in which balls are loosely fitted into several tapered holes formed on the same circumference in front of the small diameter front portion 8.

A lock ring 20 is slidably fitted on the step portion 7 of the socket body 3 so as to extend over the front portion 8 and the rear portion 9. The lock ring 20 has a crank-shaped cross section in which a front portion 22 is slightly smaller in diameter than a rear portion 23 with a central step portion 21 as a boundary, and a thin rear portion 19 of the sleeve 16 is fitted on the outer peripheral surface of the front portion 22. The sleeve spring 25 is elastically mounted between the front end of the lock ring front portion 22 and the rear end of the locking surface 17 of the sleeve 16 so as to elastically urge the both in a direction of separating from each other. The retracted position of the lock ring 20 is regulated by the step 7 of the socket body 3.

Inside the socket body 3, valve means 30 is provided.
Is provided. The valve means 30 comprises a front adapter 4
Valve seat cylinder 32 fitted to the inner peripheral surface of the valve body, a valve body 34 having a flow hole 33, a valve spring 35 mounted elastically between the valve body 34 and the valve seat cylinder 32, and an outer peripheral surface of the valve body 34. An O-ring 36 that is fitted to the valve seat cylinder 32 and can be seated on the valve seat cylinder 32; a packing 37 that is provided on the front end surface of the valve body 34 to seal the front end surface of the plug; and various other seal rings. .
Reference numeral 38 is a cylindrical holder for projecting the locking member 15 from the outer peripheral surface of the socket body 3 and for holding the sleeve 16 in the retracted position by the locking member 15.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the socket body 3. An engagement protrusion 40 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the small diameter front portion 8 near the step 7. In the present embodiment, the engagement protrusion 40 is provided in the fluid flow path 10
The rectangular shape elongated in the direction of is a shape that is slightly raised from the outer peripheral surface of the socket body 3, but is not limited to this, and can be engaged with an engagement groove formed on the inner peripheral surface of the lock ring 20 described later. Any shape may be used as long as it is a protrusion. Further, on the outer peripheral surface of the large-diameter rear portion 9, a lock confirmation display portion 42 having a hemispherical shape is formed adjacent to the engaging projection 40 and near the step 7.
Is provided. The lock confirmation display portion 42 does not necessarily have to have a hemispherical shape, and may be displayed with a seal member or paint.

Subsequently, the lock ring 2 will be described with reference to FIG.
0 will be described in detail. 3A is a side view of a longitudinal section of the lock ring 20, and FIG. 3B is a development view of the outer peripheral surface of the rear portion 23. FIG. 3C is a development of the inner peripheral surface of the front portion 22. It is a figure.

On the inner peripheral surface of the lock ring front portion 22, 90
The deep groove portions 44 and the shallow groove portions 45 are alternately formed at intervals of one degree, and the deep groove portions 44 and the shallow groove portions 45 are connected by mountain-shaped grooves 46. The deep groove portion 44 and the shallow groove portion 45 are
The lock ring 20 may be provided at axially symmetrical positions with respect to the axial center of the lock ring 20, and may be provided at, for example, three locations instead of two at each location as in the present embodiment. Note that, in FIG. 3C, the mountain-shaped groove 46 has a trough shape because the vertical position of the lock ring 20 is opposite. Further, on the outer peripheral surface of the lock ring rear portion 23, lock position display portions 48 are provided at positions corresponding to the shallow groove portions 45. The display portion 48 is displayed by unevenness, a sticker, paint or the like.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. To connect the plug to the socket 2 in the separated state shown in FIG.
The front end of the plug is inserted into the socket body 3. As shown in FIG. 4, the front end portion 52 of the plug 50 is guided by the holder 38 on the socket 2 side to advance inside the fluid flow path 10 of the socket 2, and the valve body 34 resists the elastic force of the valve spring 35. And the holder 38, the O-ring 36 is separated from the valve seat cylinder 32, and the valve body 34
The through hole 33 of is opened.

On the other hand, the locking member 15 constrained by the outer peripheral surface of the holder 38 and the sleeve 16 constrained by the locking member 15 are released, and are urged forward by the elastic force of the sleeve spring 25. As a result, the locking member 1
5 is moved in the centripetal direction in the through hole 14 by the inner peripheral tapered surface of the sleeve 16 to engage with the circumferential groove 54 of the plug 50, and the locking member 15 is moved in the outer radial direction by the locking surface 17 of the sleeve 16. Prevent it from sticking out.

In this way, the socket 2 and the plug 50
Are connected to each other, the plug front end portion 52 contacts the packing 37 located on the front end surface of the valve body 34, and the socket 2 and the plug 50 are sealed.

However, in this state, the lock ring 2
Since the central step portion 21 of 0 is in the final retracted position by contacting the step portion 7 of the socket body 3, the locking mechanism 12 can be released by manually retracting the sleeve 16.
Alternatively, the sleeve 16 may be retracted due to an unexpected external force or the like acting on the sleeve 16, and the locking mechanism 12 may not be accidentally released. Therefore, it is necessary to advance the lock ring 20 to lock the backward movement of the sleeve 16.

In the state shown in FIG. 4, the engagement protrusion 40 of the socket body 3 is locked in the deep groove portion 44 of the lock ring 20. Therefore, the lock position display portion 48 of the lock ring 20 and the lock confirmation display portion 42 of the socket body 3 are
At the same time as the phases are shifted by 90 degrees, the lock confirmation display portion 42 is completely covered by the rear portion 23 of the lock ring 20.

Then, when the lock ring 20 is rotated toward the front in the drawing, the engaging projection 40 of the socket body 3 is guided from the deep groove portion 44 along the inclined surface of the mountain groove 46 shown in FIG. The ring 20 slides forward on the outer peripheral surface of the socket body 3 against the elastic force of the sleeve spring 25.
FIG. 5 shows the most advanced position of the lock ring 20. At this time, the engagement protrusion 40 is in contact with the apex 47 of the mountain groove 46. The valve means 30 is not shown in FIG.

Further, as the lock ring 20 is further rotated, the engaging projection 40 of the socket body 3 is guided from the apex 47 of the mountain groove 46 to the shallow groove portion 45 along the inclined surface. As shown in FIG. 6, 20 is slightly retracted from the position shown in FIG. Similar to FIG. 5, FIG. 6 shows a state in which the valve means 30 is omitted and the sleeve 16 is pulled toward the lock ring 20, and the engagement protrusion 40 is engaged with the shallow groove portion 45. The rear end portion of the thin rear portion 19 of the sleeve 16 is the central step portion 2 of the lock ring 20.
Close to 1, the sleeve 16 is fully locked.

In this state, the engagement protrusion 40 and the shallow groove 45 are engaged with each other, so that the lock position display portion 48 of the lock ring 20 and the lock confirmation display portion 42 of the socket body 3 are locked.
Since the lock confirmation display portion 42 is exposed to about half from the lock ring rear portion 23, the operator can easily confirm the lock of the pipe joint. In the embodiment, the lock confirmation display section 42 is exposed to about half, but it may be completely exposed.

On the other hand, in order to separate the socket 2 from the plug 50, first, the locking ring 20 is rotated in the opposite direction to the above operation, so that the engaging protrusion 40 of the socket body 3 is rotated.
Is locked from the shallow groove portion 45 of the lock ring 20 to the deep groove portion 44 through the mountain groove 46 to unlock the sleeve 16. By this operation, the sleeve 16 becomes slidable as shown in FIG. 4, so if the sleeve 16 is manually retracted here, the locking mechanism 12 is released and the socket 2 and the plug 50 are released. Can be easily separated.

[0029]

In the pipe joint according to the present invention, the deep groove portion, the shallow groove portion and the groove connecting the both are formed on the inner peripheral surface of the lock ring, so that the ring can be axially moved only by rotating the lock ring. Since the lock operation can be performed by advancing and retreating to the front, the operability by the lock ring can be significantly improved unlike the conventional pipe joint.

Further, due to the function of the groove, a smooth and easy lock operation can be performed without the risk that the lock ring will stop at the middle position of the lock operation.

Further, by the collation operation by the lock position display portion provided on the outer peripheral surface of the lock ring and the lock confirmation display portion provided on the outer peripheral surface of the socket body, it is extremely easy to visually confirm the lock position of the lock ring. Thus, the present invention has the effect of being extremely useful as a safety device for the locking mechanism.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional side view of a half of a socket in a single state.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a socket body.

FIG. 3 (a) is a side view of a longitudinal section of a lock ring in a four-half section, FIG. 3 (b) is a development view of a rear outer peripheral surface, and FIG. 3 (c).
FIG. 4 is a development view of a front inner peripheral surface.

FIG. 4 is a vertical half side view showing a connection state of the socket and the plug (however, the lock ring is in an unlocked state).

FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional side view of the upper half of the socket, showing an intermediate process of the lock operation by the lock ring.

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional side view of the upper half of the socket in which the locking mechanism is completely locked by the lock ring.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Socket Main Body 12 Locking Mechanism 16 Sleeve 20 Lock Ring 40 Engagement Protrusion 42 Lock Confirmation Display 44 Deep Groove 45 Shallow Groove 46 Groove 48 Lock Position Display 50 Plug

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A pipe joint in which a sleeve that constitutes a locking mechanism and a lock ring that regulates a retracted position of the sleeve are slidably fitted to an outer peripheral surface of a socket body, and A deep groove portion and a shallow groove portion are formed on the peripheral surface, and the deep groove portion and the shallow groove portion are connected by a groove, and the deep groove portion and the shallow groove portion are alternately formed on the outer peripheral surface of the socket body. A pipe joint, characterized in that an engagement protrusion is provided for locking to. 2. A display unit for displaying a lock position of the sleeve is provided on an outer peripheral surface of the lock ring, and the display unit is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the socket body when the lock ring is rotated. The pipe joint according to claim 1, further comprising a lock confirmation display portion that matches the lock confirmation display portion.