Fluid coupling plug

• US 20040169372A1
• Filed: 03/05/2004
• Published: 09/02/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 02/21/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Parker Intangibles LLC (Parker-Hannifin Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Blaine Glodowski, Paul Edward Lemay, Troy Eugene Hackett
• Inventors: LeMay, Paul Edward, Glodowski, Blaine, Hackett, Troy Eugene
• Granted Patent: US 6,969,093 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 285/321
• CPC Class Codes: F16L 2201/00 Special arrangements for pipe couplings
• CPC Class Codes: F16L 2201/10 Indicators for correct coupling
• CPC Class Codes: F16L 37/0887 with an axially movable separate member for releasing the coupling
• CPC Class Codes: F16L 37/0982 with a separate member for releasing the coupling
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 285/914 Irreversible

Abstract

A fluid coupling includes various features. One feature is a disconnect tool that may expand a lock ring from engagement with a lock shoulder to permit the male half and female half to be separated. Another feature is to utilize geometry and structure whereby a leak would occur to indicate the condition of wear within the coupling while the coupling halves remain mechanically coupled. A further feature is to provide connection verification structure to assure that a complete connection of the male and female halves has been made. A still further feature is to provide an anti-rotational sleeve which would selectively prevent and permit relative rotation between the male half and the female half.

Claims

1. A fluid coupling comprising a female half and a male half, said female half having a longitudinal bore extending completely therethrough for the passage of fluid through said female half, a sealing ring peripherally mounted at the inner surface of said bore of said female half, an expandable annular locking member biased to a contracted condition mounted in a peripheral groove in said inner surface of said bore of said female half longitudinally displaced from said sealing ring, said male half including a longitudinal bore extending completely therethrough in flow communication with said female half bore when said female half and said male half are coupled together, said male half having a nipple at its forward end for insertion into said bore of said female half, said nipple having an outer surface, a peripheral portion of said outer surface being a sealing surface for being peripherally contacted by said sealing ring when said female half and said male half are coupled together, an outwardly extending barb on said outer surface of said nipple, a tapered forward ramp at one end of said barb for expanding said locking member when said nipple is inserted into said bore of said female half to permit said locking member to ride up said forward ramp and over said barb during insertion movement of said nipple into said female half, said barb having a locking shoulder remote from said locking ramp for engagement by said locking member when said locking member has passed over said barb to lock said male half to said female half, said barb having an outer surface between said ramp and said locking shoulder, said outer surface having an initial longitudinal length sufficiently long to maintain locking engagement of said barb with said locking member during conditions of wear which reduces the length of said outer surface of said barb until the seal between said sealing ring and said sealing surface is broken thereby permitting leakage of the fluid to provide an indicator of wear while said female half and said male half remain coupled together with said locking member still engaged with said barb.

2. The coupling of claim 1 including a disconnect tool slidably mounted on said male half, said disconnect tool comprising an inner member and a radially spaced outer member connected to said inner member for joint sliding motion, and said inner member having a lead end disposed for contacting said locking member to expand said locking member to a sufficient size to permit said locking member to move back over said barb and thereby disconnect said female half and said male half from each other.

3. The coupling of claim 2 wherein said locking shoulder is tapered, and said lead end of said inner member being of a complementary taper.

4. The coupling of claim 3 said lead end of said inner sleeve merges into a uniform thickness portion of said inner sleeve, and said uniform thickness portion being flush with the outer surface of said barb to create a continuous surface.

5. The coupling of claim 4 wherein said outer member is in the form of an outer sleeve spaced from a forward edge of said female half before said female half and said male half are coupled together to create a gap which provides a visual indication of partial connection.

6. The coupling of claim 5 wherein the forward end of said female half has a peripheral recess, said outer sleeve being seated in said recess when said female half and said male half are fully connected, said inner sleeve being made of a metal material, and said outer sleeve being made of a resilient material.

7. The coupling of claim 6 wherein said locking member is a split ring.

8. The coupling of claim 2 wherein said outer member is in the form of an outer sleeve spaced from a forward edge of said female half before said female half and said male half are coupled together to create a gap which provides a visual indication of partial connection.

9. The coupling of claim 1 wherein said locking member is a split ring.

10. The coupling of claim 1 wherein at least one hole is in said female half in radial communication with said groove for said locking member, an indicator member mounted in said hole, said indicator member being in contact with said locking member, said indicator member being urged by said locking member to extend partially beyond an outer surface portion of said female half when said locking member is located at the outer surface of said barb, said indicator member extending no further than said outer surface portion of said female half when said locking member is against said locking shoulder in a locking condition, a verification sleeve slidably mounted on said female half, said indicator member being selectively in the path of motion of said verification sleeve whereby said indicator member acts as a stop for said verification sleeve when said indicator member partially extends beyond said outer surface portion of said female half to indicate that said female half and said male half are not coupled together, and said indicator member permitting said verification sleeve to pass over said indicator member when said locking member is in its locking condition with said indicator member not extending beyond said outer surface portion of said female half to indicate that said female half and said male half are coupled together.

11. The coupling of claim 10 wherein a plurality of said holes are in said female half, an indicator member being in each of said holes, and said indicator members being in the form of spherical balls.

12. The coupling of claim 1 wherein one of said female half and said male half has a non-circular outer surface, an anti-rotational sleeve being mounted to the other of said female half and said male half, said anti-rotational sleeve having an inner surface portion which acts as stop structure when said anti-rotational sleeve is moved to a position where said inner surface portion is disposed around said non-circular outer surface to prevent relative rotation of said female half and said male half with respect to each other, and said anti-rotational sleeve being slidable to a disengagement position which permits relative rotation between said female half and said male half.

13. The coupling of claim 12 wherein said anti-rotational sleeve is mounted on said male half,. said anti-rotational sleeve being of closed form, and said inner portion surface portion having a complementary shape to said non-circular outer surface of said female half.

14. The coupling of claim 13 wherein said anti-rotational sleeve is mounted on said male half, said anti-rotational sleeve being of closed form, said inner portion surface portion having a complementary shape to said non-circular outer surface of said female half, said male half having a non-circular outer surface, said anti-rotational sleeve having a further inner surface portion disposed around and having a complementary shape to said non-circular outer surface of said male half, an O-ring mounted in a reduced diameter portion of the lead end of said female half, said anti-rotational sleeve having an intermediate inner surface portion in sealing contact with said O-ring, and said inner surface portions of said anti-rotational sleeve being of stepped configuration to accommodate the different sizes of said non-circular outer surface of said female half and said reduced diameter portion of said female half and said non-circular portion of said male half.

15. A method of detecting a wear condition in a fluid coupling including inserting a male half into a female half, coupling the male half to the female half by an expandable annular locking member disposed in a peripheral groove on an inner surface of the female half and disposed against a shoulder of a barb on the outer surface of the male half, creating a fluid tight seal between the male half and the female half by a sealing ring disposed against the inner surface of the female half and the outer surface of the male half, the longitudinal length of the barb decreasing during use of the coupling, longitudinally shifting the position of the male half and female half with respect to each other at the location of the fluid tight seal as the barb wears, providing as the barb a barb of sufficient initial longitudinal length so that the annular locking member remains disposed against the shoulder of the barb at least until the fluid tight seal begins to break to cause the coupling to leak while the male half and female half remain coupled together, and utilizing the existence of the leak as a physical indication that there has been significant wear of the barb before there has been an actual failure of the coupling condition of the male half and female half to each other.

16. A fluid coupling comprising a female half and a male half, said female half having a longitudinal bore extending completely therethrough for the passage of fluid through said female half, a sealing ring peripherally mounted at the inner surface of said bore of said female half, an expandable annular locking member biased toward a contracted condition mounted in a peripheral groove in said inner surface of said bore of said female half longitudinally displaced from said sealing ring, said male half including a longitudinal bore extending completely therethrough in flow communication with said female half bore when said female half and said male half are coupled together, said male half having a nipple at its forward end for insertion into said bore of said female half, said nipple having an outer surface, a peripheral portion of said outer surface being a sealing surface for being peripherally contacted by said sealing ring when said female half and said male half are coupled together, an outwardly extending barb on said outer surface of said nipple, a tapered forward ramp at one end of said barb for expanding said locking member when said nipple is inserted into said bore of said female half to permit said locking member to ride up said forward ramp and over said barb during insertion movement of said nipple into said female half, said barb having a locking shoulder remote from said forward ramp for engagement by said locking member when said locking member has passed over said barb to lock said male half to said female half, a disconnect tool slidably mounted on said male half, said disconnect tool including an inner member slidably mounted on said male half, said inner member having a lead end disposed for contacting said locking member to expand said locking member to a sufficient size to permit said locking member to move back over said barb and thereby disconnect said female half and said male half from each other, said locking shoulder being tapered, and said lead end of said inner sleeve being of a complementary taper.

17. The coupling of claim 16 wherein said lead end of said inner sleeve merges into a uniform thickness portion of said inner sleeve, and said uniform thickness portion being flush with the outer surface of said barb to create a continuous surface.

18. The coupling of claim 17 wherein a radially spaced outer member is connected to said inner member for joint sliding motion, and said outer member being in the form of an outer sleeve spaced from a forward edge of said female half before said female half and said male half are coupled together to create a gap which provides a visual indication of partial connection.

19. The coupling of claim 18 wherein the forward end of said female half has a peripheral recess, said outer sleeve being seated in said recess when said female half and said male half are fully connected, said inner sleeve being made of a metal material, and said outer sleeve being made of a resilient material.

20. The coupling of claim 16 wherein a radially spaced outer member is connected to said inner member for joint sliding motion, and said outer member being in the form of an outer sleeve spaced from a forward edge of said female half before said female half and said male half are coupled together to create a gap which provides a visual indication of partial connection.

21. The coupling of claim 16 wherein said locking member is a split ring.

22. A fluid coupling comprising a female half and a male half, said female half having a longitudinal bore extending completely therethrough for the passage of fluid through said female half, said female half having an inner surface at said longitudinal bore, sealing structure at said inner surface of said female half, locking structure at said inner surface of said female half, said male half having a longitudinal bore extending completely therethrough in flow communication with said longitudinal bore of said female half when said female half and said male half are coupled together, said male half having a nipple on its lead end for insertion into said longitudinal bore of said female half, complementary sealing structure on said nipple for engagement with said sealing structure of said female half when said female half and said male half are coupled together to create a fluid tight seal between said female half and said male half, complementary locking structure on said nipple for interaction with said locking structure of said female half to maintain said female half and said male half coupled together, an anti-rotational sleeve slidably mounted on one of said female half and said male half, the other of said female half and said male half having a non-circular outer surface, said sleeve having an inner surface portion of a shape which acts as a stop structure to abut against said non-circular outer surface and prevent relative rotation of said female half and said male half when said sleeve is slid to a position where said sleeve inner surface portion is around said non-circular outer surface, and said sleeve being slidable to a position where said non-circular outer surface is free of said sleeve inner surface portion to thereby permit relative rotation.

23. The coupling of claim 22 wherein said anti-rotational sleeve is mounted on said male half, said anti-rotational sleeve being of closed form, and said inner portion surface portion having a complementary shape to said non-circular outer surface of said female half.

24. The coupling of claim 23 wherein said anti-rotational sleeve is mounted on said male half, said anti-rotational sleeve being of closed form, said inner portion surface portion having a complementary shape to said non-circular outer surface of said female half, said male half having a non-circular outer surface, said anti-rotational sleeve having a further inner surface portion disposed around and having a complementary shape to said non-circular outer surface of said male half, an O-ring mounted in a reduced diameter portion of the lead end of said female half, said anti-rotational sleeve having an intermediate inner surface portion in sealing contact with said O-ring, and said inner surface portions of said anti-rotational sleeve being of stepped configuration to accommodate the different sizes of said non-circular outer surface of said female half and said reduced diameter portion of said female half and said non-circular portion of said male half.