JPH10220671A - Tube joint - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent partial wear of an insert side shoulder part of a socket so as to prolong the service life of a tube joint by arranging a ring, formed of high wear resistant material, on the insert side shoulder part of the socket in a U-shape groove formed at the outer peripheral surface of a socket connecting part in a plug, in the circumferential direction of the plug. SOLUTION: A plug 2 constituting a tube joint 1 is provided with a ball valve 7 in a passage 6 in a socket connecting part 4, and this ball valve is closed by moving onto the insert side. A U-shape groove 11 is formed at the outer peripheral surface of the socket connecting part 4, but in this case, a ring fit-in groove 12 is formed at an insert side shoulder part of the U-shape groove 11 over the whole periphery of the plug 2, and a ring 13 is fitted into this ring fitting groove 12. This ring 13 is formed in ring shape using high wear resistant material such as hard metallic material. In the fitted state, a part 13a of the outer peripheral surface of the shear face of the ring 13 is exposed to a lacking part 12a and positioned almost on the extended face of the U-shape groove 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a pipe joint.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a pipe joint for connecting one pipe to the other pipe has a plug attached to one pipe and a socket attached to the other pipe. In some cases, both sockets are automatically opened by connecting a socket, and both sockets are automatically closed by separation.

As an example of use of such a pipe joint, as shown in FIG. 8, in a boat 101 on which an outboard motor 100 is mounted, a pipe 1 is connected to a fuel supply pipe 102 of the outboard motor 100.
A plug 104 of No. 03 is attached, and a socket 107 is attached to a fuel supply hose 106 of a fuel tank 105 so as to be connected and disconnected by operating a connector 108.

FIG. 7 shows a conventional structure of such a pipe joint 103, which is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 60-91.
No. 881. This conventional structure will be outlined.

A U-shaped groove 109 is formed on an outer peripheral surface of a metal plug 104 attached to one pipe (hose) 102 on the insertion side.
And a ball valve 11 is provided in a passage 110 formed in the body.
1 is constantly pressed to the right in FIG. 7 by a spring 112, and a valve seat 113 made of an O-ring is provided at the tip of the passage 110.
Further, a valve body 115 is always provided in the passage 114 of the metal socket 107 by pressing the valve body 115 leftward in FIG.
7, and the plug 104 is inserted into the socket 107, so that a metal locking ball 118 provided in the socket 107 is formed in the U-shaped groove 109 formed in the plug 104.
, Which is held by a connector 108 to connect the plug 104 and the socket 107 and to connect the ball valve 1
The valve 11 and the valve body 115 are automatically opened to communicate with each other.

Further, by separating the plug 104 and the socket 107, the ball valve 111
The valve body 115 is brought into close contact with the valve seat 117 by the biasing force of the spring 116, and the valves 111 and 115 are automatically closed.

[0007]

In the pipe joint having the above structure, in the connected state, the ball valve 111 and the valve element 115 abut as shown in FIG. 7, and these are pressed by the springs 112 and 116. Therefore, the plug 104 and the socket 107 are urged in the separating direction from each other, and the metal locking ball 118 contacts the shoulder 119 on the insertion side in the U-shaped groove 109.

In such a connection state, when vibration of the engine is applied to the pipe joint 103 during operation of the engine, the vibration causes the locking ball 118 itself to change its contact surface with the shoulder portion 119 on the insertion side. , The insertion-side shoulder 119 is provided with the locking ball 118 at the same position.
Hits.

In this case, since the plug 104 and the locking ball 118 of the pipe joint in the conventional structure are formed of inexpensive brass which is easy to manufacture and process, the locking ball 11
Even if no uneven wear occurs due to the rotation of the valve 8, the shoulder 119 on the insertion side is unevenly worn, and the locking position of the plug 104 and the locking ball 118 is displaced toward the insertion side, and both valves 111 and 115 are rotated. Is displaced in the valve closing direction.

[0010] Therefore, there is a problem that the valve is closed in a connected state after a long-term use, resulting in poor durability. According to the experiment, the pipe joint in the connected state was continuously vibrated by the accelerated vibration test, and as a result, the valve was closed in 4 to 6 hours.

Therefore, the present invention provides a pipe joint which is connected to a U-shaped groove and a locking ball as described above, by preventing uneven wear of the shoulder on the insertion side and using a plug or socket made of the same material as the conventional one. The purpose is to extend the life of the pipe joint.

[0012]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a plug and a socket are provided with built-in valve portions, and the plug and the socket are connected to each other. Each valve section opens and separates, thereby closing each valve section, forming a U-shaped groove on the outer peripheral surface of the socket connection section of the plug, and fitting into the U-shaped groove at the plug connection section of the socket. A ring (13) made of a material having high wear resistance is provided on a shoulder of the U-shaped groove (11) on the insertion side of the socket (14). , Arranged in the circumferential direction of the plug (2).

In the present invention, when the plug (2) and the socket (14) are connected to each other, vibration is applied to the plug (2) and the socket (14) in the axial direction, and the plug (2) and the socket (14) relatively move in the separating direction. The locking ball (24) comes into contact with the surface of the U-shaped groove (11) on the insertion side. When the surface on the insertion side begins to wear due to this contact, the locking ball (24) comes into contact with the ring (13).

Since the ring (13) is formed of a material having high wear resistance, the wear of the ring (13) and the U-shaped groove (11) due to the contact of the locking ball (24) become slow. When the locking ball (24) is made of a material softer than the ring (13), the locking ball (24) is worn, but the locking ball (24) is used for an engine or the like. The surface of the locking ball (24) is uniformly worn without uneven wear because it comes into contact with the ring (13) while rolling by vibration. Therefore, the wear of the ring (13) and the locking ball (24) in the pressing direction becomes slow, and the displacement of the locking ball (24) toward the insertion side due to the wear becomes slow.

Therefore, the period during which the plug (2) and the socket (14) move relative to each other until the valve portion closes due to wear can be made extremely long as compared with the conventional one.
Further, it is possible to lengthen the period until a large backlash occurs due to wear between the plug (2) and the socket (14).

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, a ring fitting groove (1) having a substantially rectangular cross section is formed in a shoulder of the U-shaped groove (11) on the insertion side of the socket.
2) is formed in the circumferential direction, a ring (13) is fitted in the ring fitting groove (12), and the ring fitting groove (1) is formed.
The upper part on the U-shaped groove (11) side in 2) is the U-shaped groove (1).
The ring is cut off on the extension surface of 1), and a part of the outer periphery in the line cross section of the ring is located in the cutout portion (12a).

In the second invention, the U-shaped groove (11)
Since the locking ball (24) comes into contact with the ring (13) at the initial stage when the wear of the plug (2) occurs, the relative movement between the plug (2) and the socket (14) due to the above-mentioned wear is prevented from an early stage. Prevention of rattling during these periods is prevented.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the ring (13) is formed of a stainless steel wire or a piano wire plated with a wire. It is.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the above operation can be exhibited by forming the ring with an inexpensive material.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described based on an embodiment shown in FIGS. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a connected state of a pipe joint. A plug 2 constituting the pipe joint 1 has a pipe connection portion 3 made of a metal material, for example, a brass material.
And the socket connection part 4 are integrally formed, and the pipe connection part 3 is formed.
A first passage 5 is formed through the socket connection portion 4.
A second passage 6 having a diameter larger than that of the first passage 5 is formed in the inside thereof, and these two passages 5 and 6 communicate with each other.

A ball valve 7 is provided in the second passage 6 so as to be movable in the axial direction while leaving a flow passage around the ball valve 7. 1 left). Further, a first valve seat 9 made of an O-ring is provided on a peripheral surface of the second passage 6 located on the insertion side of the ball valve 7 with a concave portion 10.
When the ball valve 7 moves from the position in FIG. 1 to the insertion side, the ball valve 7 comes into close contact with the first valve seat 9 and closes. ing.

On the outer peripheral surface of the socket connecting portion 4, a U-shaped groove 11 in which the axial cross section of the plug 2 is formed in a U shape, more specifically, an arc shape, is formed on the entire circumference of the socket connecting portion 4. Is formed across.

At the shoulder on the insertion side of the U-shaped groove 11,
A ring fitting groove 12 having a substantially rectangular cross-sectional shape (cross-sectional shape) in the axial direction of the plug 2 is formed over the entire circumference of the plug 2. The position where the ring fitting groove 12 is formed is such that, in the axial section of the plug 2 shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 3, the extension surface of the outer peripheral surface 4 a of the socket connection portion 4 on the insertion side from the U-shaped groove 11 and the U-shape. The portion where the extension surfaces of the grooves 11 intersect is located at the ring fitting groove 12, that is,
An upper surface of the ring fitting groove 12 on the U-shaped groove 11 side is formed at a position where a notched portion 12 a is formed by an extended surface of the U-shaped groove 11.

A ring 13 is fitted in the ring fitting groove 12.
Have been combined. The ring 13 is made of a hard metal material or the like which is resistant to wear.
Highly wearable material, for example, stainless steel (SUS304)
Is formed in a ring shape with a wire, the line cross section of which is circular,
The wire diameter φ is equal to that of the ring fitting groove 12 as shown in FIG.
Small gap d₁, For example, a gap d of 0.1 mm or less ₁
Is set to the fitting diameter with
The part 13a of the outer peripheral surface of the line section of the ring 13 is
Exposed on the notch 12a and substantially on the extension surface of the U-shaped groove 11
It is located.

The shape of the ring 13 is shown in FIG. In this figure, the ring 13 is formed a straight wire bent into a circle with ends shaped, its normal diameter D ₁ is set to be equal to the diameter D ₂ of the outer peripheral surface 4a of the socket connection portion 4 I have. In the embodiment, the wire diameter φ
There is formed in about 0.8 mm, the distance d ₂ of the both end portions is set to be no greater than about 0.5 mm.

The ring 13 may be made by applying a hard plating, for example, chrome plating, to the piano wire for rust prevention. In FIG. 1, a socket 1 constituting a pipe joint 1 is shown.
4 is a pipe connection portion 15 made of a metal material, for example, a brass material.
And the plug connection part 16 are integrally formed, and the pipe connection part 1 is formed.
A third passage 17 is formed through the inside of the plug 5, and a fourth passage 18 is formed through the plug connection portion 16. The two passages 17 and 18 communicate with each other.

In the fourth passage 18, the funnel-shaped valve 1 is provided.
9 is provided so as to be movable in the axial direction while leaving a flow path around the valve body 9, and the valve body 19 is constantly urged toward the insertion side (the right side in FIG. 1) by a spring 20. The valve element 1
9 has an opening 19a, and a rod-shaped head 19b is integrally formed at the tip.

A second valve seat 21 made of an O-ring is fitted and fixed in the concave portion 22 on the peripheral surface of the fourth passage 18 on the side of the valve body 19 inserted from the valve portion. By moving the valve body 19 to the right in FIG. 1, the valve portion of the valve body 19 comes into close contact with the second valve seat 21 and closes.

The plug connection part 1 of the socket 14
A locking ball holding hole 23 is formed in the front end of the holding ball 6 inward and outward, and a locking ball 24 is rotatably accommodated in the locking ball holding hole 23. This locking ball holding hole 23
Are formed at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and the locking balls 24 are fitted to these.

The locking ball 24 is formed of a metal material, for example, a brass material, and, as shown in FIG. 4, is formed with a radius such that its spherical surface and the circular arc surface of the U-shaped groove 11 substantially coincide with each other. In the fitted state, a part of the spherical surface comes into contact with a part 13 a of the ring 13.

The thickness of the plug connecting portion 16 at the portion where the locking ball holding hole 23 is formed is determined by the thickness of the locking ball 2.
4 and a cylindrical lock connector 25 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the plug connection portion 16 so as to be slidable in the axial direction. In the connection state of FIG.
As a result, the engagement of the locking ball 24 with the U-shaped groove 11 is locked, and the lock connector 25 is opposed to the spring 26 as shown in FIG.
To the left of the lock ball 2 and
The lock of the locking ball 24 is released by locating the locking ball 24 at the four positions.

The socket 14 is connected to one connection pipe, for example, a hose 27, and the plug 2 is connected to the other connection pipe.
For example, a hose 28 is connected. In addition, the above ring 1
6 is inserted into the ring fitting groove 12 in FIG.
6A, a frusto-conical adapter 29 is fitted to the tip of the socket connection portion 4 of the plug 2 and a ring 13 is fitted to the adapter 29. The ring 13 is shown in FIG. 6B. As shown in FIG. 6 (c), the diameter of the ring fitting groove 12 is increased by sliding toward the plug 2 side.
To fit inside. After this fitting, the adapter 29 is removed.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.
In the connection state of FIG. 1, the locking ball 24 is
1 is locked by being engaged with the plug 2 and the socket 14.
Are inseparably connected. Further, the ball valve 7 and the valve body 19
Is open, the plug 2 and the socket 14 are urged in the separating direction by the urging forces of the springs 8 and 20, and the locking ball 24 is pressed against the shoulder on the insertion side of the U-shaped groove 11. ing.

In this connection state, the vibration of the pipe joint 1 causes the U-shaped groove 11 and the locking ball 24 to move relative to each other in the axial direction, and the locking ball 24 hits the insertion side surface 11 a of the U-shaped groove 11. Then, the wear of the side surface 11a starts. When the wear starts, a part of the locking ball 24 comes into contact with a part 13a of the ring 13 in the initial state as shown in FIG. In this contact state, the ring 13 is formed of a metal material having high wear resistance, so that the ring 13 is worn very slowly or does not wear. Therefore, even if the plug 2 is formed of a brass material that is easily worn, the side surface 11a of the U-shaped groove 11 is formed.
Wear is slow. The locking ball 24 is the ring 1
In the case of a material softer than 3, for example, brass as described above, the locking ball 24 is worn, but the locking ball 24 contacts the ring 13 while rolling by the vibration of the engine or the like. Therefore, the surface of the locking ball 24 is uniformly worn without uneven wear. Therefore, the wear of the ring 13 and the locking ball 24 in the pressing direction becomes slow, and the displacement of the locking ball 24 toward the insertion side due to the wear is performed slowly. Therefore, the period until the plug 2 and the socket 14 relatively move in the separating direction due to wear and reach the valve closing can be made much longer than the conventional one.

As a result of vibrating continuously by an accelerated vibration test using a stainless steel wire of φ0.8 for the ring 13,
The valve was closed in 8 to 10 hours. Ring 13 is plug 2
Is arranged over substantially the entire circumference of, also, since the distance d ₂ of the perforated end is very short than the diameter of the locking ball 24, at the time of connection, the plug 2 and socket 1
The locking ball 24 can be brought into contact with the ring 13 regardless of the circumferential positional relationship with the ring 4.

Next, in order to separate the plug 2 and the socket 14 from the above connection state, the lock connector 25 is pulled to the left from the position shown in FIG. And the plug 2 and the socket 14 are pulled in the separating direction in this state. Thereby, the locking ball 24 is released from the U-shaped groove 11, and the plug 2 and the socket 14 can be separated.

As a result of this separation, as shown in FIG. 2, the ball valve 7 of the plug 2 comes into close contact with the first valve seat 9 by the biasing force of the spring 8 and automatically closes. The valve element 19 is also brought into close contact with the second valve seat 21 by the urging force of the spring 20 and is automatically closed.

In the above-described embodiment, the ring fitting groove 12 is formed at a position where the notch 12a is formed in a part thereof.
May be provided in the vicinity of the U-shaped groove 11 in a state where is not formed.

Further, the pipe joint of the present invention can be used as a general pipe joint other than the connection between the fuel tank and the hose of the outboard motor shown in FIG.

[0040]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, even if the plug and the socket are formed of the same easy-to-process and inexpensive material as the conventional one, the plug and the socket are separated by abrasion. The period until the valve moves in the direction and closes the valve can be made extremely longer than the conventional one, and the period until a large backlash occurs due to wear can be made longer. Therefore, it is possible to extend the life of the pipe joint at a low cost with a simple structure.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a pipe joint which can prevent the relative movement and rattling of the plug and the socket due to the above-mentioned abrasion from an early stage and exhibit a more stable joint state.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, a ring exhibiting the above effects can be formed at low cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention and is a side sectional view of a connected state.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of a plug according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side sectional view showing a U-shaped groove and a ring portion in the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged partial side sectional view showing a contact relationship between a U-shaped groove, a locking ball, and a ring in the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a ring according to the present invention.

6 (a) to 6 (c) are side views showing steps of assembling a ring according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view showing a conventional pipe joint.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of use of a pipe joint.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 2 ... Plug 4 ... Socket connection part 7, 19 ... Valve part 11 ... U-shaped groove 12 ... Ring fitting groove 12a ... Missing part 13 ... Ring 14 ... Socket 16 ... Plug connection part 24 ... Locking ball

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A plug and a socket each having a built-in valve portion,
By connecting the plug and the socket, each of the valve portions is opened, and by separating, each of the valve portions is closed, and a U-shaped groove is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the socket connection portion of the plug. A connecting portion provided with a locking ball that fits into the U-shaped groove and locks a connection state; a ring made of a material having high wear resistance is provided on a shoulder portion of the U-shaped groove on the insertion side of the socket; Is arranged in the circumferential direction of the plug. 2. A ring fitting groove having a substantially rectangular cross section is formed in a circumferential direction on a shoulder portion of the U-shaped groove on the insertion side of the socket, and a ring is fitted into the ring fitting groove. 2. The pipe according to claim 1, wherein an upper portion of the ring fitting groove on the U-shaped groove side is cut off by an extension surface of the U-shaped groove, and a part of an outer circumference in a line cross section of the ring is located in the cutout portion. Fittings. 3. The pipe joint according to claim 1, wherein the ring is formed of a stainless steel wire or a plated wire of a piano wire.