JPH0972478A - Coupler for connecting line - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent mixture of a foreign matter in a ball to lock engagement between a socket and a plug and the periphery of a ball holding hole and to perform repeated operation to fit in connection and separate between the socket and the plug. SOLUTION: A sleeve 23 is slidably arranged at the cylinder part 4 of a socket body 5 and movably contains a ball 7 to lock a fit-in between a socket 22 and a plug 3. When the sleeve 23 is moved to the base end side of a socket body 5, a space 24 from which the ball 7 is moved away is formed at the periphery of the cylindrical art 4 and a cylindrical extension 25 to prevent exposure of the ball 7 and a ball holding hole 6 is arranged at the tip part of the sleeve 23.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pipe line connecting coupler that can be easily and quickly disconnected.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIGS. 7 and 8 show a conventional pipe line connecting coupler which is constructed so that pipe lines can be connected and disconnected easily and quickly. As shown in the drawing, the pipe line connecting coupler 1 shown here has a socket 2 whose base end is attached to the end of one pipe line, and a base end is attached to the end of the other pipe line. At the same time, the tip portion is composed of a plug 3 provided so as to be fitted into the socket 2.

The socket 2 has the plug 3
A socket body 5 having a tubular portion 4 into which the tip is fitted;
A ball 7 for fixing a plug, which is movably supported in a ball holding hole 6 penetratingly formed in the tubular portion 4, a sleeve 8 slidably fitted on the outer periphery of the tubular portion 4, The retaining ring 9 is fitted to the tip of the tubular portion 4 to prevent the sleeve 8 from falling off the tubular portion 4. The sleeve 8 is constantly urged toward the tip side of the socket body 5 by a compression spring 12 housed and held between the sleeve 8 and the socket body 5.

Although not shown, the socket body 5 has a built-in automatic opening / closing valve that opens the flow path of one of the conduits when the plug 3 is fitted in the tubular portion 4. It In addition, a seal ring 15 that is closely fitted to the distal end cylinder portion 10 of the plug 3 and prevents leakage of the fluid flowing through the pipe line is provided inside the cylindrical portion 4 in an internally fitted state.

Further, when the sleeve 8 moves to the base end side of the socket body 5 against the spring urging force on the outer periphery of the tubular portion 4, the ball 8 is moved as shown by an arrow (a) in FIG. The ball 7 is allowed to retreat to the outer peripheral side of the tubular portion 4, and when the socket 7 is moved to the tip side of the socket body 5, the ball 7 is projected into the tubular portion 4 as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, the plug 3 is provided around the outer periphery of the distal end cylindrical portion 10 of the plug body 13 fitted in the socket body 5, and has a locking groove 11 with which the ball 7 engages, and the socket body 5 And an automatic open / close valve (not shown) that opens the flow path of the other pipeline when fitted together.

In order to fit and connect the socket 2 and the plug 3 in the above-mentioned pipeline connecting coupler 1, as shown in FIG. 7, the socket 2 resists the urging of the compression spring 12 from the sleeve 8 of the socket 2. To the base end side of the socket body 5 to allow the ball 7 to move radially outward (outer peripheral side) of the tubular portion 4. Then, in this state, the distal end tubular portion 10 of the plug 3 is fitted into the tubular portion 4, and then the sleeve 8 is moved toward the distal end side of the socket body 5 by the urging force of the compression spring 12. As a result, the ball 7 is pushed into the cylindrical portion 4 by the sleeve 8 and is further engaged in the locking groove 11 of the plug 3. In the state where the sleeve 8 is moved to the tip end side of the socket body 5 in this way, as shown in FIG. 8, the ball 7 is restrained from moving to the outer peripheral side of the tubular portion 4 and is inserted into the locking groove 11. The socket 2 and the plug 3 are maintained in the engaged state and are fitted in the locked state. On the other hand, when the fitting between the socket 2 and the plug 3 is released, the sleeve 8 is moved to the base end side of the socket body 5 from the state shown in FIG. The socket 2 and the plug 3 may be pulled in a direction in which they are separated from each other.

The automatic opening / closing valves built in the socket body 5 and the plug body 13 are the automatic opening / closing valves that have closed the flow paths when the socket body 5 and the plug body 13 are fitted to each other. The valve bodies abut each other to displace the other valve bodies in the direction in which the flow passage opens, and when the socket body 5 and the plug body 13 are disengaged, the respective valve bodies are urged. A spring returns the flow path to its closed state. Therefore, when the pipeline connecting coupler 1 having the above-described configuration is used, when connecting and disconnecting the pipelines, the operation of tightening the original valve of each pipeline becomes unnecessary, and at the same time, work can be performed without tools. This makes it possible to connect and disconnect the pipelines easily and quickly.

[0009]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional conduit connecting coupler, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, when the sleeve is moved to the base end side of the socket body, the fitting is performed. Since the ball and the ball holding hole for locking the machine are exposed to the outside, foreign matter such as cutting chips and dust easily come into the exposed area in the factory, and the malfunction of the ball and sleeve due to the mixed foreign matter As a result, the fitting connection between the socket and the plug is incomplete, which causes inconvenience such as fluid leakage. Also, the mating connection between the socket and plug
There was a problem that the detachment operation could not be performed smoothly.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances,
We provide a coupler for pipe line connection that prevents foreign matter from entering and adhering around the ball and the ball holding hole to lock the fitting between the socket and the plug, so that mating connection and disconnection operations can be performed repeatedly and stably. With the goal.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, the structure of a conduit connecting coupler according to the present invention is a socket whose base end is attached to an end of one conduit, and a base end. Is attached to the end of the other conduit and the tip of the plug is fittable into the socket, and the mutual connection and disconnection of the conduits are performed by fitting and disconnecting the socket and the plug. A coupler for pipe line connection, wherein the socket comprises a ball for fixing a plug movably supported in a ball holding hole formed through a cylindrical portion of a socket body into which the plug is fitted, and the cylindrical portion. Is slidably fitted to the outer circumference of the socket body, and is moved to the base end side of the socket body to allow the ball to exit to the outer circumference side of the tubular portion, and is moved to the tip end side of the socket body to A sleeve for projecting a ball into the tubular portion A spring means for urging the sleeve toward the tip side of the socket body; and a retaining ring fitted to the tip portion of the tubular portion to prevent the sleeve from falling off the tubular portion, The plug is provided with a locking groove that is provided around a distal end tube portion of the plug body that fits into the socket body and that engages with the ball, and the sleeve communicates with the ball holding hole when moving toward the socket body proximal end side. A space is formed, and a cylindrical extension that prevents the ball and the ball holding hole from being exposed is provided on the tip side.

Alternatively, in the above-mentioned conduit connecting coupler, the tip of the cylindrical extension of the sleeve contacts the outer peripheral surface of the socket body or the plug body when the sleeve moves toward the tip side of the socket body. It can also be characterized in that a reduced diameter portion that is in contact is formed.

Alternatively, in the above-mentioned pipe line connecting coupler, the coupler is accommodated in the space formed in the tubular extension,
When the sleeve moves toward the socket body proximal end side and the ball moves into the space, it elastically deforms to allow the ball to exit, and when the sleeve moves toward the socket body distal end side, O that adheres to the outer peripheral surface
It can also be characterized as equipped with a ring.

Even when the sleeve is moved to the base end side of the socket body, the balls and the ball holding holes are covered by the cylindrical extension of the sleeve and are not exposed to the outside. Therefore, it is possible to prevent foreign matter from entering or adhering to the periphery of the ball or the ball holding hole for locking the fitting of the socket and the plug.

Further, the tip of the cylindrical extension of the sleeve covering the balls and the ball holding hole is provided with the outer peripheral surface of the socket body or the plug body when the sleeve moves toward the tip side of the socket body. If the structure is equipped with a reduced diameter portion that narrows the gap between them, foreign matter is prevented from entering the periphery of the ball and the ball holding hole from the gap between the plug and the sleeve during use, and It is possible to further enhance the effect of preventing contamination.

Further, in the tubular extension of the sleeve, the ball is allowed to retreat by elastic deformation when the sleeve moves to the base end side of the socket body in a groove portion which provides a space for the ball to retreat. In the case of a structure equipped with an O-ring that closes the gap between the sleeve and the plug body by closely contacting the outer peripheral surface of the plug body when the sleeve moves to the tip side of the socket body, a ball or a ball holding hole is provided. In addition to further enhancing the effect of preventing foreign matter from entering the area around the plug, the reliability of the sealing performance between the plug body and the sleeve can be enhanced to further prevent fluid leakage at the socket-plug connection. it can.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of a pipe line connecting coupler according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.
1 and 2 show a first embodiment of a pipe connecting coupler according to the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a side view showing a detached state of the pipeline connecting coupler, and FIG. 2 is a side view showing a fitted and coupled state of the pipeline connecting coupler. The pipeline connection coupler 21 of the first embodiment has a socket 22 whose base end is attached to an end of one pipeline, and a base end is attached to an end of the other pipeline. The tip portion is composed of the plug 3 which can be fitted into the socket 22. The plug 3
Has the same structure as the conventional example shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, and therefore, the same reference numerals are given and the description thereof is omitted.

On the other hand, the socket 22 corresponds to the plug 3
A socket body 5 having a tubular portion 4 into which the distal end portion of the socket fits, and a ball holding hole 6 penetratingly formed in the tubular portion 4 of the socket body 5 so as to be movably supported. A ball 7 for fixing a plug, which is provided so as to project inside the cylindrical portion 4, a sleeve 23 slidably fitted on the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion 4, and the sleeve 23 falls off from the cylindrical portion 4. In order to prevent this, a retaining ring 9 fitted to the tip of the tubular portion 4 is provided, and parts and portions other than the sleeve 23 have the same structure as the conventional one shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. is there.

Although not shown, the socket main body 5 and the plug main body 13 of the pipe line connecting coupler 21 of this embodiment are provided with an automatic opening / closing valve for opening and closing the flow paths of the pipe lines connected to the socket main body 5 and the plug main body 13, respectively. However, the structure of the automatic open / close valve and the mechanism for opening / closing the flow path are exactly the same as those of the conventional structure. In addition, at the inner back portion of the tubular portion 4 of the socket body 5, a seal is provided between the distal end tubular portion 10 of the plug 3 fitted in the tubular portion 4 and the tubular portion 4 to form a pipeline. A seal ring 15 for preventing the flowing fluid from leaking is provided by being fitted therein, and this seal ring 15 is also the same as the conventional one.

The sleeve 23 allows the ball 7 to be withdrawn to the outer peripheral side of the tubular portion 4 when the sleeve 7 moves on the tubular portion 4 to the proximal end side of the socket body 5, while the distal end of the socket body 5 is moved. When the ball 7 is moved to the side, as shown in FIG. 2, the ball 7 is pushed into the tubular portion 4 and kept in a state of being projected into the tubular portion 4. The sleeve 23 having the above configuration is constantly urged toward the tip side of the socket body 5 by the compression spring 12 housed and held between the sleeve 23 and the socket body 5.

A space 24 is formed in the sleeve 23 so as to communicate with the ball holding hole 6 and to withdraw the ball 7 to the outer peripheral side of the tubular portion 4 when the sleeve 23 moves to the base end side of the socket body 5. Is formed around the cylindrical portion 4 and prevents the ball 7 from being exposed to the outside.
Is integrally formed on the tip side of the sleeve 23. further,
When the sleeve 23 is moved to the tip side of the socket body 5, the gap between the tip end of the cylindrical extension portion 25 and the outer peripheral surface of the plug body 13 is narrowed as shown in FIG. A collar-shaped reduced diameter portion 26 is provided.

When the sleeve 23 is moved to the base end side of the socket body 5, as shown in FIG. 1, the distal end of the reduced diameter portion 26 is cylindrically extended so as not to prevent the retaining ring 9 from being exposed. The length of the portion 25 in the axial direction is set. Such setting of the length of the tubular extension 25 is necessary for disassembly work in which the retaining ring 9 is removed and the sleeve 23 is pulled out from the socket body 5.

To fit and connect the socket 22 and the plug 3 in the above-described pipe line connecting coupler 21, as shown in FIG. 1, the sleeve 23 resists the biasing force of the compression spring 12 and the socket body 5 is pushed. The ball 7 is moved toward the outer peripheral side of the tubular portion 4 by moving the ball 7 toward the base end side. Plug 3 in this state
After fitting the distal end tubular portion 10 into the tubular portion 4, the sleeve 23 is released so that the sleeve 23 is moved to the distal end side of the socket body 5 by the urging force of the compression spring 12. When the sleeve 23 is moved to the tip end side of the socket body 5, as shown in FIG. 2, the sleeve 23 restrains the movement of the ball 7 to the outer peripheral side of the tubular portion 4, so that the ball 7 is locked in the locking groove. The engagement between the socket 22 and the plug 3 is maintained, and the fitting between the socket 22 and the plug 3 is locked. When the socket 22 and the plug 3 are disengaged from each other, the sleeve 23 is moved to the base end side of the socket body 5 from the state shown in FIG. 2, and the ball 7 is moved to the outer peripheral side of the tubular portion 4. If so, the socket 22 and the plug 3 may be pulled in a direction in which they are separated from each other.

In the pipe line connecting coupler 21, as shown in FIG. 1, even when the sleeve 23 is moved to the base end side of the socket body 5, the ball 7 for locking the fitting of the socket 22 and the plug 3 together. The ball holding hole 6 is covered by the cylindrical extension 25 of the sleeve 23 and is not exposed to the outside. Therefore, it is possible to prevent foreign matter from entering and adhering to the periphery of the ball 7 and the ball holding hole 6, hindering the operation of fitting and disconnecting the socket 22 and the plug 3, and entering foreign matter such as fluid leakage. It is possible to prevent the inconvenience caused by

The reduced diameter portion 26 formed at the tip of the cylindrical extension portion 25 of the sleeve 23 is located between the outer peripheral surface of the plug body 13 when the sleeve 23 is moved to the tip side of the socket body 5. Since the gap is narrowed, foreign matter is prevented from entering the ball 7 side through the gap between the tip side of the sleeve 23 and the plug 3, and the foreign matter is mixed around the ball 7 and the ball holding hole 6. Further enhance the prevention effect.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show a second embodiment of the pipeline connecting coupler according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a side view showing a detached state of the pipeline connecting coupler, and FIG. It is a side view which shows the fitting connection state of the coupler for pipeline connection of FIG. The conduit connecting coupler 28 of the second embodiment is the same as the first embodiment.
The cylindrical portion 4 of the socket body 5 shown in the embodiment is improved, and the configuration of the sleeve 23 slidably fitted in the cylindrical portion 4 is exactly the same as that of the first embodiment. .

The tubular portion 4 is improved by a distance L between the ball holding hole 6 for accommodating the ball 7 and the installation position of the retaining ring 9.
As shown in FIG. 4, the reduced diameter portion 26 of the tubular extension 25 of the sleeve 23 exposes the retaining ring 9 even when the sleeve 23 moves to the tip end side of the socket body 5 as shown in FIG. It is arranged so that it is placed at a different position. Therefore, the inner diameter of the reduced diameter portion 26 is set so that the gap between the sleeve 23 and the tubular portion 4 is narrow enough to suppress the entry of foreign matter. The structure is the same as that of the first embodiment except that the length of the tubular portion 4 is improved.

In the second embodiment, in addition to the actions and effects of the first embodiment, the plug body 13 and the socket body 5 are
The inner diameter of the reduced diameter portion 26 can be set without considering the fitting error between the reduced diameter portion 26 and the tubular portion 4, and the narrowing of the gap between the reduced diameter portion 26 and the tubular portion 4 can be realized with higher accuracy. .

FIGS. 5 and 6 show a third embodiment of the pipe line connecting coupler according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is a side view showing a detached state of the pipe line connecting coupler, and FIG. It is a side view which shows the fitting connection state of the coupler for pipeline connection of FIG. The pipe line connecting coupler 28 of the third embodiment is the same as the first
The sleeve 23 shown in the above embodiment is further improved, and is otherwise the same as the first embodiment.

In the third embodiment, the sleeve 2
In the cylindrical extension 25 of 3, the O-ring 33 is housed in the groove 32 that provides the space 24 in which the ball 7 is retracted.
When the sleeve 23 moves to the tip end side of the socket body 5, the sleeve 7 closely contacts the outer peripheral surface of the plug body 13 and elastically deforms when the ball 23 moves to the base end side of the sleeve 23. The gap with the plug body 13 is closed.

Therefore, in the third embodiment, in addition to the operation and effect of the first embodiment, the reliability of the sealing performance between the plug body 13 and the sleeve 23 is improved, and the socket 22 and It is possible to more thoroughly prevent fluid leakage at the connection portion with the plug 3.

[0032]

As described above, according to the pipe connecting coupler of the present invention, the ball for locking the fitting between the socket and the plug even when the sleeve is moved to the base end side of the socket body. The ball holding hole is covered by the cylindrical extension of the sleeve and is not exposed to the outside. Therefore, it is possible to prevent foreign matter from entering and adhering to the periphery of the ball and the ball holding hole for locking the fitting of the socket and the plug, and the fitting and disconnecting operability of the socket and the plug are impaired to prevent fluid leakage. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of inconvenience caused by the inclusion of foreign matter. In addition, the tip of the cylindrical extension of the sleeve that covers the periphery of the ball and the ball holding hole is located between the outer peripheral surface of the socket body or the plug body when the sleeve moves to the tip side of the socket body. If the structure is equipped with a reduced diameter part that narrows the gap of,
It is possible to prevent foreign matter from entering the periphery of the ball or the ball holding hole from the gap between the plug and the sleeve during use, and to further enhance the effect of preventing foreign matter from entering. Further, in the tubular extension of the sleeve, the groove that provides a space for the ball to retract allows the ball to retreat by elastic deformation when the sleeve moves to the base end side of the socket body, and In the case of a structure equipped with an O-ring that comes into close contact with the outer periphery of the plug body and closes the gap between the sleeve and the plug body when is moved to the tip end side of the socket body, the ball and the hole around the ball holding hole In addition to further enhancing the effect of preventing the entry of foreign matter, it is possible to further enhance the reliability of the sealing performance between the plug body and the sleeve, and further prevent fluid leakage at the connection portion between the socket and the plug.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a detached state of a pipeline connection coupler according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a fitting connection state of the pipeline connection coupler of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a detached state of a pipeline connection coupler according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a fitting connection state of the pipeline connection coupler of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a detached state of a pipe line connecting coupler according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a side view showing a fitting connection state of the pipeline connecting coupler of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a detached state of a conventional pipe line connecting coupler.

8 is a side view showing a fitting connection state of the conventional pipe line connecting coupler of FIG. 7. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Plug 4 Cylindrical part 5 Socket body 6 Ball holding hole 7 Ball 10 Tip cylinder part 11 Locking groove 12 Compression spring 13 Plug body 22 Socket 23 Sleeve 24 Space 25 Cylindrical extension part 26 Reduced diameter part 21, 28, 31 Tube Road coupler 32 Groove 33 O-ring

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A socket having a base end portion attached to an end portion of one conduit, and a plug having a base end portion attached to an end portion of the other conduit and a tip end thereof fitted into the socket. And a plug for connecting and disconnecting conduits by fitting and disconnecting the socket and the plug, wherein the socket is a tubular portion of a socket body into which the plug is fitted. A ball for fixing a plug, which is movably supported in a ball holding hole penetratingly formed in the ball, is slidably fitted to the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion, and moves to the base end side of the socket body to move the ball. And a sleeve for allowing the ball to protrude toward the outer peripheral side of the tubular portion and for moving the ball toward the distal end side of the socket body to project the ball into the tubular portion, and urging the sleeve toward the distal end side of the socket body. Spring means and the tip of the tubular portion And a retaining ring that fits into the socket body to prevent the sleeve from falling off the tubular portion, and the plug is provided around the distal end tubular portion of the plug body that fits into the socket body and the ball engages with the ball. The sleeve has a locking groove, and when the sleeve moves toward the base end side of the socket body, a space communicating with the ball holding hole is formed, and a cylindrical extension portion that prevents the ball and the ball holding hole from being exposed is provided on the tip side. A coupler for connecting pipelines characterized by being equipped. 2. The tip of the tubular extension of the sleeve is
2. The pipe line connecting coupler according to claim 1, wherein a reduced diameter portion is formed so as to come into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the socket body or the plug body when the sleeve moves toward the front end side of the socket body. 3. The ball is retracted when it is housed in the space formed in the cylindrical extension portion and the sleeve moves toward the base end side of the socket body and the ball moves into the space to elastically deform. The coupler for pipe line connection according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising an O-ring that allows the above-mentioned and that is brought into close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the plug body when the sleeve moves toward the tip side of the socket body.