JPS6027876B2 - pipe fittings - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a pipe joint, and particularly to a pipe joint used for testing and piping of cooling and other general air conditioning equipment.

For example, Samurai Kosho 43-1 is used for pipe fittings used for air conditioning piping.
There is a pipe joint as detailed in Japanese Patent No. 548.

This pipe joint is equipped with a metal seal ring having a triangular cross section for fluid-tight sealing, and seals between the male and female members by biting the sealing edges of the metal seal ring into the end faces of the female member and the male member. However, if air gets mixed into the air conditioning piping or if there is a shortage of refrigerant gas, the cooling capacity will decrease, so testing of air conditioning equipment and the fluorocarbon gas filling process at the production factory are necessary. If the male and female members are connected and separated even once in the process, the metal seal ring will bite into the ring and cause damage, making it impossible to achieve a perfect seal during the installation process. Therefore, in production factories, measures are taken to prevent damage even when pipe joints are repeatedly attached and detached during operations such as pressure leak testing, evacuation, and fluorocarbon gas filling of air conditioning equipment. Figure 1 shows an example of this.A female member is provided on the gas cylinder or pump side to release and restrain the locking ball by operating an operating ring that moves in all directions, and a metal seal ring is attached to the end face on the unit side. and a male part having a male thread on the outer periphery, and the female member is provided with a male member at one end that is compatible with the male member and has an endless groove on the outer periphery so as to be engaged with each other,
The male member is connected to the male member through an intermediate connecting device having a female member at the other end having a union nut for coupling with the male thread.

However, according to this example, there are only two connection points, which makes the connection and separation work cumbersome, and the metal seal ring causes scratches on the seal end surface as before the improvement.
During vacuum work, pressure test or gas filling,
There are many problems that need to be improved, such as air intrusion and gas leakage through the locking ball connection mechanism. For this reason, there has been a desire in the industry for a pipe joint that can be easily attached and detached without the use of intermediate subsequent equipment, but it is considered difficult to suppress the influence of the metal seal ring with a simple mechanism. Ta.

In view of the fact that conventional pipe joints could not meet the above requirements, the present invention eliminates the need for intermediate connecting devices, eliminates the need to pay special attention to production processes such as testing, and provides general The purpose is to provide a pipe joint that can be used in the same way as conventional pipe joints for installation work in homes, etc., and is usually used with a union nut that has a union nut in place of the male fittings that are pre-installed on the inside and outside units. The present invention is characterized in that it has been improved so that it can be commonly connected to both a female member with a locking ball and a female member with a locking ball. It has a metal seal ring sealed female member with a union nut iron-bonded to the outer periphery of the main cylinder, and a fluid sealing surface on the front of the main cylinder, and the inner diameter is slightly larger than the female thread root diameter of the union nut. A plurality of tapered holes are formed in the circumferential direction of the front cylinder body formed in the same diameter, a locking ball is placed in the taper holes, and an operating ring for restraining or releasing the locking ball is iron-coupled on the outer periphery of the front cylinder body. It is possible to selectively pair both of the locking ball coupling type female members, having an endless groove on the outer periphery that engages and disengages the locking ball, and an internal female thread that is the same as the female thread of the union nut. A male member is provided with a metal seal ring protective cap on the periphery that can be removably screwed onto the outer periphery of the tip, and a male member that has a hard metal seal ring on the front end that is in pressure contact with the sealing surface of the female member, The fluid passages penetrating the male and female members are each provided with a sliding valve that presses against each other to open when connected, and according to the present invention, for one male member, Since the female member of the locking ball connection type and the female member of the metal seal ring seal type can be used for connection, it is possible to connect the female member of the locking ball type and the metal seal ring type. If this locking ball combination type is used for piping, even if a male member of the metal seal ring sealing type is fixed to the air conditioning equipment unit from the beginning, when the male and female members are connected, the metal seal ring will be attached to both the male and female parts. No damage to the seal end face of the member.

Therefore, after these tests and gas filling, the male parts on the unit side can be used for on-site mounting and installation work under exactly the same conditions as those used in the field.
The effect is that air can be vented and gas filled from the cold soot piping in the same way, and after these operations are completed, when the unit and the piping are permanently connected, the metal seal ring must be placed on the seal end face of both the male and female parts for the first time. According to the present invention, it is possible to connect a male member to two types of female members, since it is possible to easily complete a permanent seal between the two members by biting.
There is no need to use intermediate connecting devices as in the past, and this can greatly help improve work efficiency in the production process, testing process, and even installation work. Moreover, after the male and female members are connected, the fluid passages are made to pass through each other, and the two members are separated after the fluid passage is closed, so there is no needless intake of air during the vacuuming process, and the joint is removed after gas filling. No leakage will occur even if this is done, and it will greatly contribute to improving the working environment. Moreover, as mentioned above, since a cap with an inorganic groove (locking groove) is removably screwed onto the female member of the locking ball combination type, the length of the front cylinder body including the locking ball in all directions This has the effect of making it possible to shorten the length, and also to eliminate the disadvantage of having a long rabbit angle in the case of a dual-purpose type.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the pipe joint according to the present invention will be described based on the accompanying drawings.

In FIGS. 2 and 5, 1 is a male member, 50 is a metal seal ring sealed female member, 80 is a locking ball type female member, and the male member 10 and metal seal ring sealed female part 50 are for heating and cooling. The female member 80, which adopts a locking bulb and is attached to an indoor/outdoor unit such as a device or is fixed to its connecting conduit, can be used for a nitrogen gas cylinder for pressure resistance testing, a vacuum pump, or a fluorocarbon gas cylinder for gas filling. Each is fixed.

In the following description, the side where the male and female members are connected to each other will be referred to as the "front side", "front part", "front end", or "front", etc.
The opposite side is called the "rear side,""rearend,""rear end J," or "posterior side."

First of all, the outer periphery of the main cylinder 12 has a front end mating surface 14 and a male thread 16 from the front.
A cap 20 having an inorganic locking groove (hereinafter referred to as an inorganic groove) 18 on the outer periphery for locking a locking ball 96 is removably screwed into the parts 14 and 16.

The main cylindrical body 12 has a connecting portion 22 for a conduit (not shown) at the rear thereof. The fluid passage 3 formed inside the male head 10 is provided with a slide valve 26 that moves in all directions axially against the conical seat surface 24 of the vice principal, and is pressed by a compression spring 28 to abut against the conical seat surface 24 of the vice principal. to block the fluid passage.

Inside the front end 34 of the main cylindrical body 12, a vice principal conical sealing surface 32 as shown in FIG.
, 38 on the diagonal line, the metal seal ring 4 has a substantially rectangular cross section.
0 is iron-bonded, and the hardness of this seal ring 40 is greater than that of the main cylinder 12 and the main cylinder 52 described below. Note that the male member 1 is located at the inner part of the conical seat surface 24 of the vice principal.
An annular protrusion 44 is provided facing the fluid passage 30' of 0, and the front side of the annular protrusion 44 is provided with a sliding valve 66, 1, which will be described later, of the female portion 50, 80.
18 toward the rear, forming an annular shoulder 42 that opens the valves 66, 118. Next, the female member 50 will be explained.

As shown in FIG. 2, a union nut 56 having a female thread 54 that engages the male thread 16 of the male section 10 is rotatably attached to the front outer periphery of the main cylinder 52. It has a conduit connecting portion 58 (not shown) at the rear. A truncated conical sealing surface 60 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the main cylinder 52 facing forward, and forms a biting surface for the front sealing edge 38 of the metal seal ring 40 to seal the fluid female member 50 side. It has become.

A valve rod 64 having a valve head 62 at the front end is fixed to the fluid passage 72 of the main cylinder body 52, and the loss-operating valve 64 is oriented axially inside the main cylinder body.
The front end sealing surface 68 of the valve 6 is brought into contact with the valve head 62 by the pressure of a compression spring 70, thereby blocking the fluid passage 72. To connect the male member 10 and the female member 50 formed as described above, the front sides of both members 10 and 50 are opposed to each other, and the union nut 56 of the female member 50 is screwed into the male thread 16 of the male member. do it.

When the female and female members 10 and 50 are connected, the annular shoulder 42 contacts the front end sealing surface 68 of the sliding valve 66 before the valve head 62 on the male member 10 contacts the valve body 26 on the female member 50. In order to support
Air is prevented from entering the inside and outside of the fluid passages 30 and 72 when connected. When the union nut 56 is further tightened, the valve body 26 is pressed by the valve shank 44 and retreats, as shown in the third figure.
The flow paths between the male and female members 10 and 50 communicate with each other. When the union nut 56 is fully tightened, the sealing edges 36, 38 of the metal seal 40 close to the male and female members 10, as shown in FIG.
, 50 are bitten into each other to provide metal-to-metal fluid sealing. In contrast to the female member 50, the female member 8 shown in FIG. 5 has a locking ball 96 instead of the union nut 56, and the male member 10 that is compatible with the female member 8 has a locking ball 96.
The cap 20 is provided with an endless groove 18 for locking the main cylinder body 12, and the cap 20 is removably screwed onto the male thread 16 and the front end iron surface 14 of the main cylinder body 12. A front cylindrical body 88 has an open part 86 with an inner peripheral surface 84 having an inner flange size into which a cap can be inserted, and a rear cylindrical body 92 has a conduit connection (not shown) for connecting a vacuum pump or gas cylinder. connected together.

90 is a female thread for conduit connection.

A plurality of tapered holes 94 are bored in the front part of the front cylinder 88 in the radial direction, and locking balls 96 having a diameter larger than the wall thickness of the front cylinder are installed in the holes. A portion protrudes into the opening 86 and engages with the endless groove 18 on the outer periphery of the cap 20 screwed onto the male member 10. Further, on the outer periphery of the front cylinder body 88, there are a pressing part 98 that restrains the locking ball 96 from moving in the outer circumferential direction of the front cylinder body 88, and a releasing part 1 that allows the locking ball 96 to move in the radial direction.
00 and the compression spring 104.
The female member 80 is pressed forward by the female member 80.

Note that 106 is an air vent hole. Inside the rear cylinder body 92 of the female member 80, a valve holding body 114 for fixing a valve stem 112 having a valve head 110 is built in so as to be movable in the direction of the bell.

The front cylinder portion 8 is located between the valve holder 114 and the valve head 110.
A compression spring 1 1 is formed by a hole 108 formed in the axial center of
A sliding valve 118 is supported to move axially in all directions, and a front end sealing surface 120 of the sliding valve 118 is connected to the valve head 11.
The fluid passage 122 is blocked by contacting the river. The valve holder 114 has a fluid passage 124 in its axial center, and
A protrusion 132 of a protrusion D operating cam 130, which has a groove 126 on its outer periphery and is rotatably inserted into a pair of through holes 128 bored in the diameter direction of the rear cylinder body 92, is engaged with the groove. .

The eccentric operation cam 13 is fixed to the rotation center of an operation lever 134 which is pivotally connected to the outside of the rear cylinder body 92, and rotates together with the lever. This makes the holding body 114 emotional.

To connect this female member 80 to the male member 10 to which the cap 20 is screwed, the operating ring 102 is retracted against the elastic force of the compression spring 104, and the male member 10 and the female member 80 are connected to each other. At this time, the restraint by the holding inner circumferential surface 98 is released, so that the locking ball 96 is secured to the release part 100 of the operating ring.
When you release your hand from the operating ring 102, the operating ring 102, which returns to its original position by the elastic force of the compression spring 104, moves the locking ball 96 in the centripetal direction as shown in FIG. By pressing, the male member 10 engages with the screwed cap 20 and the endless groove 18, and the male member 10 having the cap 20 and the female member 80 are connected through the locking ball 96 as an intermediary.
In the state shown in FIG. 6, neither the valve body 26 of the male member 10 nor the sliding valve 118 of the female member 80 are open, but when the operating lever 134 is rotated, the deviation D
In order to rotate the operating cam 130, the eccentric protrusion 132 of the operating cam slides the valve holder 114 and the valve shank 112 combined with the valve holder forward, and at this time, the compression spring 11
6 slide the sliding valve 118 onto the machine,
As shown in FIG. 7, first the sliding valve 118 is attached to the male member 10
The annular shoulder 42 of the male member 10 and the female member 80 are connected in a fluid-tight state through the sliding valve, and fluid pressure is applied to the flow path on the male member 10 and female member 80 sides. Even when applied, the aforementioned fluid-tight condition is formed regardless of this fluid pressure. Further, when the operating lever 134 is rotated, the sliding valve 118 is moved to the annular shoulder 4 of the male part 10 as described above.
2 and does not move thereafter, the valve stem 112 moves forward together with the valve holder 114.

Remove the valve body 26 on the side of the valve head 11 and the valve member 10,
As shown in FIG. 8, the fluid passages between the male and female members are opened. Although the embodiments have been described above, the present invention has a slide valve in each of the fluid passages of the male member and the female member that presses against each other to open, and a union nut that is iron-fitted to the female member and the outer periphery. When the male and female members are connected by screwing together the male screw cut into the outer periphery of the male member, the sealing edge of the hard metal seal ring with a rectangular cross section that is iron-fitted to the front end of the male member connects the male and female members. The pipe joint is of a type in which the male member bites into the front end of the male member to form a seal between the two members, and after the seal ring completes the sealing, the sliding valves are moved back from each other to open a fluid passage. A cap with an endless groove on the outer periphery is removably screwed on, and the female member paired with the male member with the cap is equipped with a union nut that is attached to the female member, in addition to the female member that uses a metal seal ring. Instead, if the male member has an inner dimension that allows iron fitting, and the dimension from the drilling position of the taper hole provided near the closing part to the inner part, the cap size when ironing the male member is as above. Using a front cylinder whose length is set so that the cap does not touch the inner part, the front cylinder is connected to the female member main cylinder via an elastic seal ring, and the front cylinder has the above-mentioned taper hole. A locking ball is joined to the cylinder, and on the outer periphery of the cylinder, there is a pressing part of the locking ball in the centripetal direction and a releasing part that allows movement in the radial direction, and compression is used to position the pressing part outside the locking ball. Since the structure uses a locking ball type that is made up of an operating ring with a built-in spring, in contrast to the male member 1, there are a sealing female member of the locking ball type and a female member of the metal sealing ring type. For pressure testing, evacuation, gas filling, etc. of air conditioning equipment, if you use this type of locking bulb for piping on the pump side, gas cylinder side, etc., you can connect it to the air conditioning equipment unit side from the beginning. Even if the male member of the metal seal ring type is fixed, the metal seal ring will not damage the seal end surfaces of the male and female members when the male and female members are connected.

Therefore, after these tests and gas filling, the male member on the unit side can be used for on-site installation and hemming work under exactly the same conditions as an unused one.
This has the effect of allowing air to be removed from the refrigerant tube and gas filling in the same way.After completing these operations, when the unit and piping are permanently connected, the metal seal ring must be placed on the seal end face of both the male and female members for the first time. It can be easily pushed in to create a permanent seal between the two parts. in this way,
According to the present invention, since a male member can be connected to two types of female members, there is no need to use an intermediate connecting device as in the past, which improves work efficiency in the production process, testing process, and even installation work. It can be of great help for improvement.

Moreover, after the male and female members are connected, the fluid passages are made to pass through each other, and the two members are separated after the fluid passage is closed, so there is no needless intake of air during the vacuuming process, and the joint is removed after gas filling. No leakage will occur even if this is done, and it will greatly contribute to improving the working environment. Moreover, as mentioned above, since a cap with an endless groove (locking groove) is removably screwed onto the locking ball type female member, the length in the axial direction of the front cylinder body equipped with the locking ball is It is also possible to shorten the length, and it is also possible to eliminate the inconvenience of having a long rabbit angle in the case of a dual-purpose type.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the connection mode of conventional pipe joints in the production and testing process of air conditioning equipment, Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional side view showing the metal seal ring seal type, and Fig. 3 is the metal shown in Fig. 2. Seal ring: A quarter-half vertical cross-sectional side view showing the connection state between the sealed female member and the male member. Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view showing the sealing state between the male and female members by the metal seal ring. Fig. 5 is the main A longitudinal side view showing one embodiment of the pipe joint according to the invention, FIG.
Figure 7 is a 4-half vertical cross-sectional side view showing the initial state of connection between the locking ball joint type female member and the female member with the cap screwed on. FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional side view of the main part showing a state in which the male and female members are in pressure contact with each other, and FIG. 10...Male member, 12...Main cylinder, 1
4...11 end mating surface, 16...male thread, 18...endless groove, 20...cap,
26...Numa valve, 36...Sealing edge, 3
8... Sealing edge, 40... Hard metal seal ring, 42... Annular shoulder, 50... Metal seal ring sealed female member, 52...・・Main cylinder, 56
...Union nut, 66...Sliding valve, 8
0... Locking ball joint type female member, 88...
Front cylinder body, 92... Rear cylinder body, 94...7
Per hole, 96... Locking ball, 98...
Locking ball pressing part, 100... Locking ball releasing part, 10
2... Operating ring, 104... Compression spring,
118...Sliding valve, 130...Eccentric operation cam. Figure 1 Figure 4 Figure N Boat diagram Mountain boat diagram Ship Figure 7 Figure 8

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A metal seal ring seal type female member having a fluid sealing surface portion on the front side of the main cylinder, a union nut fitted to the outer periphery of the main cylinder, and a fluid sealing surface portion also on the front side of the main cylinder. , A plurality of tapered holes are formed in the circumferential direction in the front cylinder whose inner diameter is slightly larger than the female thread root diameter of the union nut, locking balls in the taper holes are fitted, and the same lock is attached to the outer periphery of the front cylinder. It is possible to selectively form a locking ball coupling type female member into which an operation ring for restraining or releasing the ball is fitted, and has an endless groove on the outer periphery for engaging and disengaging the locking ball. , a hard metal whose inner periphery has a female thread identical to the female thread of the union nut described above, which can be removably screwed onto the outer periphery of the tip, and whose front surface is in pressure contact with the sealing surface of the female member. A pipe joint comprising a male member having a seal ring at the tip thereof, and fluid passages extending through the shaft centers of both the male and female members are provided with slide valves that press against each other and open when connected.