WO2009104141A1

WO2009104141A1 - Coupling for coupling a vacuum hose to a central vacuum source

Info

Publication number: WO2009104141A1
Application number: PCT/IB2009/050658
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jonas Hahne
Original assignee: Jonas Hahne
Priority date: 2008-02-22
Filing date: 2009-02-18
Publication date: 2009-08-27
Also published as: CN101969828A

Abstract

A coupling (1) for coupling a flexible vacuum hose (12) to a central vacuum source placed behind a partition (3) forms an annular port (6) through the partition (3), defining an axis (13), and comprises a valve (4) for opening and closing the port (6), and a tubular adapter (11) of the hose (12) fitting into the port (6). The valve (4) is divided up into a number of valve sections (5), each having an arm (14) for pivotally connecting the valve section (5) to a pivot (15) placed outside the port (6), and an elongated cam (19) for-during opening of the valve (4) -being engaged with a projection (28) which is formed on the adapter (11) and which loads the valve section (5) with a moment in the opening direction by partially turning the adapter (11) into the opposite direction. Using one hand only, the user can readily perform the coupling and decoupling of the flexible vacuum hose (12) to the central vacuum source.

Description

Coupling for coupling a vacuum hose to a vacuum source

The invention relates to a coupling for coupling a vacuum hose to a central vacuum source placed behind a partition, comprising an annular port through the partition, which port is defining an axis, a valve for opening and closing the port and a tubular adapter of the hose fitting into the port.

The invention also relates to a method for coupling and decoupling a flexible hose to and from a central vacuum source placed behind a partition by using the coupling of the invention .

Central vacuum sources are used in particular in larger buildings for avoiding the cumbersome and tiresome labour to carry a heavy vacuum cleaner from one place to be vacuum cleaned to another one along usually great distances and frequently under difficult conditions.

The central vacuum source allows advantageously that a light flexible hose with a nozzle at one end and a tubular adapter at the opposite end can be used instead of the heavy vacuum cleaner whereby the adapter is utilized for temporary coupling the flexible hose to any of more ports formed in interior partitions of the building.

The adapter is, after finishing of the vacuum cleaning operation, withdrawn from the port, which then manually or automatically is closed by means of a valve.

The port is debouching into channels in or behind the respective partition and connected all to a remote vacuum source located on an appropriate place in the building, e.g. in the basement of the building. More ports are usually spaced throughout a building employing a central vacuum source for allowing more operators to vacuum clean various rooms or areas of the building at the same time.

It is important that the adapter easily and quickly can be coupled to and from a port in the partition behind which a central vacuum source is located, and that the valve for closing the port is fast closing and air tight in closed position .

From the patent specification GB 449,815 is known a vacuum cleaning system with a central vacuum source placed behind a partition and a valve for opening and closing a port formed in the partition.

The valve of this installation functions with a laterally displaceable flap pivotally connected to a pivot placed outside the port. In closed position is the flap covering the mouth of the port and is pivoted crosswise the axis of the port for opening the port.

The flexible hose of this installation connects the hose to the vacuum source by means of an adapter to be inserted into the port .

The opening of this valve takes place by means of a short lug formed on the end of the adaptor for engaging a recess in the flap and swinging it aside against the action of a spring by partially turning the adapter about its axis.

During the opening is the force of reaction of the flap acting crosswise the axis of the adapter. It is therefore nearly impossible to hold and at the same time turn the adapter with one hand only owing to the fact that said force of reaction tends to move the adapter out of line with the port so that the adapter is not able to be inserted in the port. It is therefore necessary to hold the adapter with both hands for keeping the adapter in line with the axis of the port or turning the adapter with one hand and the flap with the other hand.

This known installation therefore is cumbersome to use and also time-consuming since the flap need to be swung all the way across the mouth of the port for opening this. The flap is by the same reason not either able to close the port as fast and secure as desired.

Suction air is moreover lost during the slow opening and closing operation of the known valve.

A similar central vacuum system is known from US Pat. No. 5,111,841. The construction of this system is however complicated and expensive to manufacture.

The above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art vacuum cleaning system are according to the invention remedied by,

in a first aspect of the present invention providing a coupling of the type mentioned in the opening paragraph with a valve which readily can be opened manually,

in a second aspect of the present invention providing a coupling of the type mentioned in the opening paragraph with a valve which is very fast to open,

in a third aspect of the present invention providing a coupling of the type mentioned in the opening paragraph with a valve which automatically closes very fast,

in a fourth aspect of the present invention providing a coupling of the type mentioned in the opening paragraph which automatically is keeping the axis of the adapter in line with the axis of the port during the coupling operation,

in a fifth aspect of the present invention providing a coupling of the type mentioned in the opening paragraph which without problems can be opened by using one hand only,

in a sixth aspect of the present invention providing a coupling of the type mentioned in the opening paragraph which has a simple and inexpensive construction,

in a seventh aspect of the present invention providing a method of the type mentioned in the opening paragraph for coupling and decoupling a flexible hose to and from a central vacuum source placed behind a partition by using the coupling of the type mentioned in the opening paragraph.

Other aspects of the invention will be apparent during the course of the following description where the novel and unique features of the invention consists in the fact that the valve is divided into a number of valve sections having each an arm for pivotally connecting the valve section to a pivot and an elongated cam for during opening of the valve being engaged with a projection which is formed on the adapter and is loading the section with a moment turning into the opening direction by partially turning the adapter into the opposite direction.

This coupling has a simple and inexpensive construction which advantageously implies that the opening of the valve of the coupling according to the invention readily can be carried out by using one hand only, during which the axis of the adapter automatically is kept in line with the axis of the port such that the adapter is allowed to be pushed into the port in the immediate continuance of the turning of the adapter. Also the valve opens and closes very fast with the advantageous effect that loss of generated suction air is minimized.

For effectively air tightening the entrance to the port by closing the valve one of the edges on a valve sections can according to the invention be formed with a slot while the edge on an adjacent valve section can be formed with a corresponding key fitting into the slot for thereby blocking for passage of air between said edges.

In an improvement of the coupling of the invention the key of each valve section can terminate in a flap stretching across the axis of the port in the closed position of the valve so that the center region of the closed valve also is effectively blocked for passage of air.

Each of the projections on the end of the adapter can according to the invention be a pin, a tap or a rotateable roller whereby the following side of the cam is extending along a line intersecting the axis of the port in the closed position of the valve or is extending along a line forming an acute angle with said line for thereby allowing the projection to act upon the cam under an angle which allows the valve section to be turned and the valve thereby to be opened by using a minimum of effort.

The invention will be explained in greater details below, giving further advantageous features and technical effects and describing exemplary embodiments with reference to the drawing, in which

Fig. 1 is, seen in perspective, an exploded view of the coupling according to the invention,

Fig. 2 is an axial cross section of the coupling in assembled state, Fig. 3 shows, seen in perspective in a larger scale, a valve of the coupling with some of the parts removed,

Fig. 4 shows in still a larger scale a detail of the central area of the coupling shown in fig. 3,

Fig. 5 shows, seen from above a valve section of the valve seen in fig. 3,

Fig. 6 shows the same valve section seen in perspective from one point,

Fig. 7 shows the same valve section seen in perspective from another point,

Fig. 8 is a plane view of the valve of the coupling in closed position,

Fig. 9 is a plane view of the valve of the coupling in open position,

Fig. 10 shows schematically in an enlarged scale seen from above a fragment of the central area of another embodiment of the valve according to the invention in closed position, and

Fig. 11 shows a section taken along the line XI - XI in fig. X.

The coupling of the invention shown in the figures is as an example intended to be used for coupling a flexible vacuum hose with a nozzle for vacuum cleaning areas in a building to a central vacuum source placed behind a partition, such as a wall, in the building.

Fig. 1 shows in an exploded view that the coupling 1 comprises a pipe stub 2 extending through the partition 3 (not shown in fig. 1), a valve 4 having, in this case, eight pivotally arranged valve sections 5 for opening and closing the port 6 in the pipe stub, an abutment ring 7 with abutments 8 for returning springs 9 (not shown in fig. 1) acting on the sections in the opposite direction of the opening direction of the valve, a cap 10 for covering the valve, and a tubular adapter 11 which is attached to a flexible vacuum hose 12 and fits into the port in the pipe stub.

Fig. 2 shows in axial cross section the coupling 1 in assembled state in which the pipe stub 2 is passed through the partition 3, the valve 4 has been opened and the adapter 11 has been pushed axially into the port 6 of the pipe stub 2 via an opening 32 in the cap 10. The port is defining an axis 13.

Also seen in fig. 2 is the abutment ring 7 with the abutments 8 for the returning springs 9 (not seen in fig. 2) .

Fig. 5 shows one of the valve section 5 of the valve 4 seen from above, fig. 6 in perspective from one point and fig. 7 in perspective from another point.

The valve section 5 is by means of an arm 14 pivotally connected to a pivot 15, which, as seen best in fig. 2, is placed outside the port 6 of the pipe stub 2.

The valve section is mainly triangular with a following edge 17 and a leading edge 16 forming a V with apex 18 placed in the axis 13 of the coupling 1 in the closed position of the valve.

On top of the valve section is placed an elongated cam 19 and an abutment 20 for the returning spring 9.

On the following edge 17 of the valve section is formed a key 21 co-operating with a slot 22 formed in the leading edge of the adjacent previous valve section. A flap 23 on the key 21 is stretching across the axis 13 of the port 6.

By the mutual engagement of the key and slot are provided an air tight connection between the separate valve sections in the closed position of the valve and also a bond bringing the valve sections to function as a solid unity eliminating the tendency of the separate valve sections to be sucked inwards by the power of the vacuum acting on the valve sections.

Fig. 3 shows partly in section the valve 4 of the invention seen in perspective. Two of the valve sections are removed for illustrative reasons.

Each of the returning springs 9 is mounted on a pivot 15 and is abutting on the abutment 20 on a valve section 5 with one leg 24 while the other leg 25 of the spring is abutting the abutment 8 on the abutment ring 7 (not shown in fig.3) .

Fig. 3 also shows the cam 19 on top of the valve section 5, the key 21 with the flap 23 on the leading edge 16 of the valve section and the slot 22 in the following edge of a previous valve section.

Fig. 4 shows in an enlarged scale the encircled detail of the central area of the valve shown in fig. 3. A row of flaps 23 is placed at top of each other in an axially extending central cavity 26 cut out of the tips of the valve sections, seen in the closed position of the valve.

The row of flaps shows that the keys 21 on the leading edge 16 of the valve sections 5 are offset the thickness of a flap and thereby the thickness of a key in relation to each other.

The valve comprises in this case eight valve sections 5 and thereby eight flaps of which only six can be seen in fig. 3 and 4 since two of the valve sections are removed as previously mentioned.

The valve sections extend above the central cavity 26 all the way to the axis 13 of the port 6, seen in the closed position of the valve, whereby they all together form a cover 27 over said cavity.

The height of the cavity is chosen such that the upper surface of the total row of flaps in the cavity is abutting the lower surface of the cover.

The co-operating keys and slots of the valve sections are in the closed position of the valve air tightening the valve in these regions while the row of flaps and the cover simultaneously are air tightening the central region of the valve so that a complete tightening of the closed valve effectively is achieved.

As seen in fig. 1 and 2 the pipe stub is equipped with a flange 31 for securing the pipe stub to the partition 3. The lower side of the arms 14 of the valve sections is slidingly bearing on the outer surface of said flange so that an effective air tightening between the valve sections and the pipe stub is provided.

Fig. 1 and 2 shows that the end face of the tubular adapter 11 is equipped with eight taps 28 and fig. 5, 6 and 7 shows that the cam 19 of each valve section has a leading side 29 and a following side 30.

Fig. 8 is a plane view of the valve in closed position and fig. 9 in open position showing that the valve is opened by bringing the taps 28 into engagement with the following side 30 of the cams 19 on the valve sections 5 and turning the valve sections against the clock into the direction of the arrow 33 by turning the adapter into the direction of the arrow 34, that is clockwise .

The adapter is brought into engagement with the valve section by being pushed through an opening 32 in the cap 10 until meeting with the valve sections is stopping further axial motion of the adapter.

During the opening operation the adapter is automatically centred because the taps are slidingly engaging all eight cams at the same time so that the adapter is kept in balance and the axis of the adapter is flushing with the axis in the port in the pipe stub. That implies advantageously that the adapter readily can be pushed further into the now opened port of the pipe stub.

This situation is seen in fig. 2 where the flexible vacuum hose 12 seen in fig. 1 now is connected to the central vacuum source and the vacuum cleaning of an area of the building can take place.

The removed dust and dirt from the vacuum cleaned area of the building is during this operation flowing through the coupling into the direction of the arrow shown in fig. 2.

The connection between the central vacuum source and the flexible vacuum hose is, after finishing the cleaning operation, interrupted by simply pulling the adapter out of the port in the pipe stub after which the now tightened return springs automatically close the valve since one of the legs 25 of a return spring 9 is abutting the abutment 8 on the abutment ring 7 of the abutment ring 8 while the other leg 24 of the return spring is abutting the abutment 20 on the valve section.

The cam 19 on top of the valve section 5 does according to the invention not extend all the way to the apex of the V-formed valve sections whereby an exit 35 for the taps 28 on the adapter 11 is formed between the leading side 29 of the cam 19 and the following side 30 of the cam on the adjacent preceding valve section.

That feature implies advantageously that the taps on the adapter via these exits are allowed to be turned fully out of engagement with the valve sections and during this fully open the valve 4 so that the adapter 11 can be pushed into the port 6 in the valve stub 2 and thereby connect the flexible vacuum hose to the central vacuum source.

The following side 30 of the cam is moreover merging into the leading side 29 of said cam along a curve with a tangent, which at least in the main is parallel with the leading side of the cam on the adjacent previous valve section for thereby making it easier for the taps to pass through the exit.

The cross section of each of the taps can be circular in cross section as shown in the figure or mainly rectangular (not shown) with opposite sides turned into the same direction as the tangent to said curve.

Fig. 10 and 11 shows schematically in an enlarged scale the central area of another embodiment of the valve 36 according to the invention in closed position.

In a window 37 cut out of the valve is seen a fragment of a cross section 38 of the valve 4 showing that the upper surface of the key 39 is flushing with the upper surface of the valve section 41 and that the corresponding slot 40 is open upwards.

The eight valve sections are, in the case shown, all identical. The tip of the valve sections is relatively vulnerable for being damaged and is therefore cut off such that an opening 42 is formed through the valve. Air tightness of the valve being in closed position is secured by means of the overlapping keys and slots and in the middle furthermore by means of a flap 43, which is overlapping the upper surface of all eight valve sections plus the opening 42 and is attached to one of the valve sections.

The flap may be attached to the respective valve section by means of a connection member, (not shown) .

In fig. 10 is the flap shown in dotted line for being able to see the portions of the valve sections below the flap and also the opening between the valve sections.

The invention is above described and on the drawing shown by means of embodiments having eight sections. The valve may however, within the scope of the invention, have more or fewer sections, e.g. two sections.

Claims

1. A coupling for coupling a vacuum hose (12) to a central vacuum source placed behind a partition (3), comprising an annular port (6) through the partition (3) defining an axis (13), a valve (4) for opening and closing the port (6) and a tubular adapter (11) of the hose (12) fitting into the port (6), characterized in that the valve (4) is divided into a number of valve sections (5) each having an arm (14) for pivotally connecting the valve section (5) to a pivot (15) and an elongated cam (19) for during opening of the valve (4) being engaged with a projection (28) which is formed on the adapter (11) and is loading the valve section (5) with a moment turning into the opening direction by partially turning the adapter (11) into the opposite direction.

2. A coupling according to claim 1, characterized in that each of the cams (19) on the valve sections (5) has, seen in the opening direction of the valve (4), a following side (30) and a leading side (29) and that the projection (28) on the adapter (11) slidingly is engaging the following side (30) of the cam (19) during opening of the valve (4) .

3. A coupling according to claim 2, characterized in that the following side (30) of the cam (19) on each valve section (5) is extending along a line intersecting the axis (13) of the port (6) in the closed position of the valve (4) or along a line forming an acute angle with said line.

4. A coupling according to claim 2 or 3 characterized in that the cam (19) on top of each valve section (5) is not extending all the way to the apex of said V-formed valve section .

5. A coupling according to claim 2, 3 or 4, characterized in that the leading side (29) of the cam (19) on a valve section (5) is merging into the following side (30) of said cam (19) along a curve with a tangent, which at least in the main is parallel with the following side (30) of the cam (19) on the adjacent previous valve section (5) .

6. A coupling according to any of the claims 1 - 5, characterized in that each valve section (5) has, seen in the opening direction of the valve (4), a following edge (17) and a leading edge (16) whereby the leading edge (16) slidingly is engaging the following edge (17) of the adjacent previous valve section (5) during opening of the valve (4) .

7. A coupling according to claim 6, characterized in that the following edge (17) and the leading edge (16) of each section forms a V with apex placed in the axis (13) of the port (6) in the closed position of the valve (4) .

8. A coupling according claim 6 or 7, characterized in that a key (21) is formed on the leading edge (16) of each valve section (5) while a corresponding slot (22) is formed in the following edge (17) of the adjacent previous valve section (5) .

9. A coupling according to claim 8, characterized in that the key (21) on each valve section (5) is axially offset in relation to the key (21) on the adjacent previous valve section (5) a distance corresponding to the thickness of the key (21) on the previous valve section (5) .

10. A coupling according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the key (21) of each valve section (5) is terminating in a flap (23) stretching across the axis (13) of the port (6) in the closed position of the valve (4) .

11. A coupling according to any of the claims 1 - 10, characterized in according to the invention that each of the projections (28) of the adapter (11) are a pin, a tap or a rotateable roller extending from the end of the adapter (11) into a direction, which preferable is parallel with the axis (13) of the port (6) .

12. A coupling according to any of the claims 1 - 11, characterized in that a returning spring (9) is acting upon each valve section (5) into the opposite direction of the opening direction.

13. A coupling according to any of the claims 1 - 12, characterized in that the port (6) is the opening (6) in a pipe stub (2) which is passed through the partition (3) of the central vacuum source and attached to the outside of the partition (3) of the central vacuum by means of a flange (31) .

14. A method for coupling a flexible hose (12) to a central vacuum source placed behind a partition (3) by using the coupling according to any of the preceding claims 1 - 13, characterized in that the method comprises the stages, - pushing the adapter (11) of the flexible hose (12) against the valve (4), turning the adapter (11) into the opposite direction of the opening direction of the valve (4) until the following edges (17) of the valve sections (5) are turned around their pivots 15 to or past the periphery of the port (6) in the partition (3) of the central vacuum source against the spring power of the returning springs (9), and pushing the adapter (11) into the opened port (6) .

15. A method for decoupling a flexible hose (12) from a central vacuum source placed behind a partition (3) by using the coupling according to any of the preceding claims 1 - 13, characterized in that the method comprising the stages, - pulling the adapter (11) of the flexible hose (12) out from the port (6) in the partition (3) behind which the central vacuum source is located, allowing the valve sections (5) to be turned around their pivots (15) into the opposite direction of the opening direction of the valve (4) to their closed positions influenced by the spring power of the returning springs (9), and removing the adapter (11) from the opening (32) in the cap (10) .