Connecting structure of pipe and pipe joint and method of connecting the pipe to the pipe joint

• US 20040041396A1
• Filed: 09/02/2003
• Published: 03/04/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/03/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: Yoshino, Makoto
• Granted Patent: US 7,007,981 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 285/179
• CPC Class Codes: B21D 39/06 of tubes in openings, e.g. rolling-in
• CPC Class Codes: F16L 41/086 fixed with screws

Abstract

In a connecting structure of a pipe of an air conditioning unit and a pipe joint for supporting the pipe, an insertion hole through which the pipe is inserted is formed within the pipe joint. The insertion hole has substantially a L-shaped cross-section and includes a first portion for receiving an end portion of the pipe and a second portion for receiving a flat portion of the pipe. The second portion is elliptical-shaped. In connecting the pipe to the pipe joint, the pipe is pressed into the insertion hole by a pressing punch. As a result, the pipe is bent and shaped along the elliptical shape of the second portion in the pipe joint, thereby forming the flat portion in the bend of the pipe. At the same time that the flat portion is formed, the pipe is clamped in the pipe joint.

Claims

1. A connecting structure comprising:

a pipe connecting to a device; and

a pipe joint fixed to a fixing base portion for supporting the pipe,

wherein the pipe includes a flat portion, a dimension of which is smaller than a dimension of the pipe other than the flat portion in a direction substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the pipe, and the pipe joint forms a housing portion therein,

wherein the pipe is connected to the pipe joint such that the flat portion is housed in the housing portion.

2. The connecting structure according to claim 1, wherein the pipe is bent toward the fixing base portion and the flat portion is formed in the bend of the pipe.

3. The connecting structure according to claim 1, wherein the housing portion forms an elliptical-shaped groove.

4. The connecting structure according to claim 3, wherein the elliptical-shaped groove is intersected by an opening so that the housing portion has an open side that is parallel to a major axis of the ellipse.

5. The connecting structure according to claim 3, wherein the flat portion has an elliptical-shaped cross-section and a major axis of the ellipse is greater than the dimension of the pipe other than the flat portion.

6. The connecting structure according to claim 1, wherein the flat portion has a flow area substantially same as that of the pipe other than the flat portion.

7. The connecting structure according to claim 1,

wherein the device is included in an air conditioning unit and the fixing base portion is provided as a part of the device.

8. The connecting structure according to claim 1, wherein the pipe has an end portion that extends from the flat portion substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the pipe and connects to the device.

9. A method of connecting a pipe of an air conditioning unit to a pipe joint for supporting the pipe, the method comprising:

inserting the pipe into a housing portion formed within the pipe joint; and

forming a flat portion in the pipe,

wherein the flat portion is formed at the same time that the pipe is inserted in the housing portion.

10. The method according to claim 9, further comprising:

bending the pipe, wherein the pipe is bent at the same time that the flat portion is formed.

11. The method according to claim 9, wherein the housing portion forms an elliptical-shaped groove one side of which is intersected by an opening, wherein the flat portion is formed along the groove.

12. A method for connecting a pipe of an air conditioning unit to a pipe joint for supporting the pipe, the method comprising:

inserting the pipe having a flat portion, a dimension of which is reduced in a predetermined direction of the pipe, into the pipe joint so that the flat portion is housed in a housing portion formed within the pipe joint; and

clamping the pipe in the pipe joint.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the pipe is clamped at the same time that the pipe is inserted.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein the pipe is clamped by press-fitting the flat portion into the housing portion of the pipe joint.

15. The method according to claim 12, wherein the pipe is clamped in the pipe joint by pressing the pipe joint after the inserting.

16. A method for connecting a pipe of an air conditioning unit to a pipe joint for supporting the pipe, the method comprising:

inserting the pipe into an insertion hole formed within the pipe joint, wherein the insertion hole is an elliptical-shaped and is intersected by an opening so that the insertion hole has an open side; and

shaping a portion of the pipe in the pipe joint along the elliptical shape of the insertion hole.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the portion of the pipe inserted in the pipe joint is pressed by a pressing device through the opening.

18. The method according to claim 16, wherein the pipe is fixed in the insertion hole by walls of the pipe joint that define the opening.