Pipe joints or couplings – With indicator – alarm or inspection means
Patent
1997-02-21
1998-11-03
Arola, Dave W.
Pipe joints or couplings
With indicator, alarm or inspection means
285321, 285921, F16L 3500
Patent
active
058297928
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to an arrangement comprising male and female pipe coupling parts for detachably securing said parts to each other in a predetermined locking position.
In the case of such arrangements of known type the construction is often such that a snap-in sound is produced when the male and female parts reach the predetermined locking position. However, this snap-in sound is frequently masked by another, disturbing noise produced, for example, when a given product is subsequently mounted, or the other sound gives the impression that it was the snap-in sound which was heard. In both cases there is a risk of the coupling leaking and of the male and female parts separating from each other when pressure is applied. An especial disadvantage is the fact that an incorrect connection of the male and female parts cannot simply be observed but the coupling has to be subjected to a thorough and expensive check.
Indicator rings are also known which are adapted to indicate a locking position between a male and female part in that, under the effect of the one or other of said parts, they momentarily indicate an earlier starting position. If the pipe coupling and the associated pipeline extend substantially horizontally, the indicator ring is caught and no damage occurs but in another case the ring, extending along the pipeline, can reach a position in which it cannot be seen and possibly impedes the mobility between the two parts.
The object of the present invention is to provide an arrangement of the initially mentioned type which gives a clear, visible and repeated indication of the correct locking/sealing position between the male and female parts and thereby avoids the above-mentioned disadvantages associated with solutions known hitherto. This object is achieved in that the arrangement firstly comprises a substantially tubular body which can be operatively connected to the male part and which is formed with a slit aperture having longitudinal slit edges which can be moved close to one another by the resilient compression of the pipe, and which slit aperture is covered by a strip of a non-transparent, flexible material which is extended when the body is not actuated and, in the extended state, displays a transparent window or a through-hole which is adapted to be rendered invisible by means of the fold in the strip when the body is compressed, and which body, at its one end which is to face the female part, is formed with a radially projecting flange which is interrupted by the slit aperture and which is adapted so that, when the body springs back, this flange engages behind a radially inwardly directed flange on the female part such that this engagement defines the locking position; the arrangement secondly comprises an indicator member which is disposed in the body so as to be axially displaceable and which is adapted such that, under the effect of a spring member, it is displaced by the female part so that, in the locking position, a symbol on the indicator member, which symbol marks this position, is visible in the window or in the through-hole in the strip which is extended in the locking position.
In the following, the invention will be explained in greater detail with reference to the enclosed drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 shows schematically and partially in section a female part and an embodiment of an arrangement according to the invention mounted on a male coupling part;
FIG. 2 shows the arrangement with the male part introduced into a female part but with the parts not yet in the locking position; and
FIG. 3 shows the male part in the correct locking position in the female part, as indicated by the arrangement according to the invention.
In the drawings, 1, 2 generally designate a female part and a male part, respectively, which are to be connected and, in the embodiment shown in the drawings, are formed by cold-shaping at the ends of two pipes which are to be coupled together, as is explained in greater detail in SE-AO-9402834-7. However, the arrangement according to the invention, which
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patent: 4881760 (1989-11-01), Runkles
patent: 4895396 (1990-01-01), Washizu
patent: 4925217 (1990-05-01), Ketcham
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Arola Dave W.
Hycop AB
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