Pipe joints or couplings – Essential catch
Reexamination Certificate
2002-04-12
2003-11-25
Bochna, David (Department: 3679)
Pipe joints or couplings
Essential catch
C285S308000, C285S319000, C285S321000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06652007
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a connector of a fuel pipe for vehicle, and more particularly, to a connector of a fuel pipe for vehicle, in which an insertion hole formed between guide members of a latch are extended or narrowed in a perfect round shape, thereby smoothly mounting and separating a pipe.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In general, a fuel system, which provides an engine with necessary fuel in all operation condition to be easily burned, is an important apparatus which influences a performance, especially output, and economization of the engine. A fuel injection system, which is a principal part of the fuel system, provides the engine with fuel properly.
A fuel feed apparatus comprises a fuel tank for storing fuel, a fuel filter for removing foreign matters from the fuel, a fuel pump for delivering the fuel, and a canister for preventing gasoline vapor from being discharged in the air when the engine is stopped. The components are connected to each other through fuel pipes.
FIG. 1
is a flow chart showing a general flow of fuel. As shown in
FIG. 1
, a fuel feed pipe
10
connects a fuel pump
16
, which forcedly delivers the fuel stored in a fuel tank
12
toward an engine
14
, to a fuel injection rail
20
through a fuel filter
18
. The fuel feed pipe
10
supplies all injectors (not shown) with equal pressure and amount from the fuel. A fuel recovery pipe
22
returns the remainder of fuel from the fuel injection rail
20
into the fuel tank
12
. That is, although the fuel pump
16
delivers a predetermined amount of fuel toward the engine
14
, the fuel system remains a small amount of fuel, as maintaining the pressure of about 3 kg/cm3. Therefore, the remainder of fuel is returned into the fuel tank
12
through the fuel recovery pipe
22
.
When the engine is stopped, evaporative fuel gas to be vaporized in the fuel tank
12
is collected and stored into a canister
24
. The canister
24
is connected to the engine
14
and the fuel tank
12
through evaporative fuel gas connecting pipes
26
. The diameter of the pipe is about 8 to 10 mm. Connectors
28
are disposed on joint portions of the pipes. As the connectors
28
are required on joint portions of the steel pipes and plastic pipes.
However, the conventional steel tube made of metal is very heavy and can be corroded. The rubber tube is light, but must be coated with fluoride film not to be melted with gasoline, thereby causing a rise of manufacturing cost. Furthermore, because a large volume of hydrocarbon existing in gasoline goes through the inner wall of the rubber tube and is discharged in the air, thereby causing environmental pollution.
To solve the above problems, various kinds of tubes which are made of special plastics in place of steel or rubber are proposed, and recently, technique related to the connector for easily connecting and separating the plastic tube is being lively developed.
Meanwhile, a connector made of plastic tube for connecting fuel pipes of vehicle is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,374,088. As shown in
FIGS. 2 and 3
, a latch
30
is inserted into a side of a connector housing (not shown) and fixed jaws
32
are formed on the latch
30
for latching a bead
42
formed on the peripheral surface of a pipe
40
. Push members
34
are elastically connected to the opposite sides of the fixed jaws
32
by resilient members
36
to elastically extend and narrow a space between the fixed jaws
32
.
In the conventional connector of the fuel pipe, when the pipe
40
is inserted into the space between the fixed jaws
32
of the latch
30
and the bead
42
of the pipe
40
is contacted to the fixed jaws
32
, the space between the fixed jaws
32
is extended over a powerful elastic force of the resilient members
36
. At this time, the pipe
40
is inserted into the connector housing as well as the bead
42
of the pipe
40
is caught to the inner portion of the fixed jaws
32
of the latch
30
, so that the pipe
40
is fastened to the connector housing.
However, the elastic force of the resilient members
36
are weak, thereby the pipe
40
is easily separated from a little external power.
To separate the pipe
40
from the space between the fixed jaws
32
of the latch
30
, when the fixed jaws
32
are extended outward after pressing the push members
34
formed on the opposite sides of the latch
30
, the pipe
40
.is separated from the connector.
When the push members
34
of the latch
30
are pressed, the fixed jaws
32
connected to the resilient members
36
are extended outward, thereby separating the pipe
40
from the space between the fixed jaws
32
. However, the fixed jaws
32
are extended not in a perfect round but in a distorted round, thereby the bead
42
of the pipe
40
is not smoothly separated from the fixed jaws
32
. That is, when the push members
34
are pressed, the pressure must be evenly transferred to the fixed jaws
32
through the medium of the resilient members
36
to maintain its round shape. However, the conventional fixed jaws
32
are distorted when extending, thereby the bead
42
is caught to a portion of the fixed jaws
32
when the pipe
40
is separated from the connector.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a connector of a fuel pipe for vehicle, which allows a pipe to be simply mounted and detached by adjusting a latch.
To accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a connector of a fuel pipe for vehicle, comprising a connector housing installed to a fuel feed pipe, a fuel recovery pipe and an evaporative fuel gas connecting pipe and a latch connected into the connector housing, wherein the latch includes: guide members oppositely located at a prescribed interval, each guide member having a curved inner surface, a slant surface on a front portion thereof for guiding an insertion of the pipe, a fixed jaw on a rear portion thereof for retaining a bead formed on the peripheral surface of the pipe, and a guide groove formed in the center portion thereof; push members vertically located away from the opposite sides of the guide members; and two pair waved resilient members elastically disposed on the upper and lower portions of the guide members, the two pair waved resilient members connecting the push members and the guide members to provide a powerful elastic force to the rear portion of the two pair waved resilient members, so that the guide members are extended outward when the push members are pressed. The guide grooves are combined with a guide rail formed inside the connector housing, thereby extending the guide members in a perfect round shape.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5090747 (1992-02-01), Kotake
patent: 5201552 (1993-04-01), Hohmann et al.
patent: 5374088 (1994-12-01), Moretti et al.
patent: 5941577 (1999-08-01), Musellec
patent: 6082779 (2000-07-01), Lesser et al.
patent: 6086119 (2000-07-01), Hansel
patent: 6142537 (2000-11-01), Shimada et al.
patent: 6318764 (2001-11-01), Trede et al.
Bochna David
Pokotylo John C.
Straub & Pokotylo
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