Tube fitting

• US 5,551,735 A
• Filed: 06/14/1994
• Issued: 09/03/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 06/14/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha AOI, Tokai Rubber Industries Limited
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha AOI, Tokai Rubber Industries Limited
• Inventors: Hosoya, Kinji, Kumagai, Toshihiro, Takayanagi, Akira
• Primary Examiner(s): Melius, Terry Lee
• Assistant Examiner(s): Shackelford, Heather Chun
• Application Number:
  US08/261,060
• Time in Patent Office: 812 Days
• Field of Search: 285/340, 285/341, 285/243, 285/322, 285/323, 285/39
• US Class Current: 285/323
• CPC Class Codes: F16L 33/22 with means not mentioned in the preceding groups for gripping the hose between inner and outer parts
• CPC Class Codes: F16L 37/091 by means of a ring provided with teeth or fingers
• CPC Class Codes: F16L 37/0925 with rings which bite into the wall of the pipe
• CPC Class Codes: F16L 37/0926 with an inner support sleeve arranged within the pipe

Abstract

A tube fitting includes a tubular body, an annular clamping member, a tubular inner pipe, a releasing member, and a sealing ring. The clamping member is disposed axially movably in an axial bore of the body, and includes a claw and an outer peripheral portion. The claw has an inclined surface projecting in a centripetal direction as the inclined surface extends away from an opening of the body, and engages with an outer peripheral surface of a tube fitted into the axial bore via the opening. The outer peripheral portion contacts with a regulatory surface of the body, and is pressed in a centripetal direction thereby, and accordingly presses the claw onto the outer peripheral surface of the tube. The inner pipe is disposed in the tube coaxially with an inner peripheral surface of the tube at an end of the tube. The releasing member includes a tubular base and a leading end. The base is disposed axially movably in the axial bore on an outer side with respect to the regulatory surface. The leading end extends from the base over the regulatory surface to an inner side of the axial bore, and goes between the inclined surface of the claw and the outer peripheral surface of the tube. The sealing ring seals between an inner peripheral surface of the axial bore and an outer peripheral surface of the tube fixed in the axial bore.

Claims

1. A tube fitting, comprising:

a tubular body including an opening disposed at an end, an axial bore into which a tube is fitted via the opening, and an inner peripheral surface having a tapered regulatory surface;

an annular clamping member disposed in said axial bore on said regulatory surface, held movably in an axial direction of said axial bore, and including two claws and an outer peripheral portion, each of said two claws being disposed at axially opposite ends of said clamping member, each of said two claws having an inclined surface projecting in a radial direction and engaging with an outer peripheral surface of said tube fitted into said axial bore via said opening, the outer peripheral portion contacting with said regulatory surface and being pressed in a radial direction by said regulatory surface so as to press said two claws onto the outer peripheral surface of said tube;

a releasing mechanism including a tubular base and a leading end, the tubular base disposed in said axial bore on said regulatory surface and held movably in an axial direction of said axial bore, the leading end extending from the base to an inner side of said axial bore and extending between said inclined surfaces of said claws and said outer peripheral surfaces of said tube; and

a sealing ring disposed so as to seal between an inner peripheral surface of said axial bore and an outer peripheral surface of said tube fixed in said axial bore.

2. The tube fitting according to claim 1, wherein said clamping member is constructed so as to be substantially symmetrical with respect to a cross-sectional plane which contains a center of said clamping member in an axial direction thereof.

3. The tube fitting according to claim 1, wherein said body includes an inclined surface which tapers toward said opening.

4. The tube fitting according to claim 1, wherein said clamping member is made by drawing a plate blank to a tubular preform and thereafter by bending the tubular preform in a centripetal direction at an end.

5. A tube fitting, comprising:

a tubular body including an opening disposed at an end, an axial bore into which a tube is fitted via the opening, and an inner peripheral surface having a tapered regulatory surface;

an annular clamping member disposed in said axial bore on said regulatory surface, held movably in an axial direction of said axial bore, and including two claws and an outer peripheral portion, each of said two claws being disposed at axially opposite ends of said clamping member, each of said two claws having an inclined surface projecting in a radial direction and engaging with an outer peripheral surface of said tube fitted into said axial bore via said opening, the outer peripheral portion contacting with said regulatory surface and being pressed in a radial direction by said regulatory surface so as to press said two claws onto the outer peripheral surface of said tube;

a tubular inner pipe disposed in said tube, fitted into said axial bore via said opening, coaxially with an inner peripheral surface of said tube at an end of said tube;

a releasing mechanism including tubular base and a leading end, the tubular base disposed in said axial bore on said regulatory surface and held movably in an axial direction of said axial bore, the leading end extending from the base to an inner side of said axial bore and extending between said inclined surfaces of said two claws and said outer peripheral surface of said tube; and

a sealing ring disposed so as to seal between an inner peripheral surface of said axial bore and an outer peripheral surface of said tube fixed in said axial bore.

6. The tube fitting according to claim 5, wherein said clamping member is constructed so as to be substantially symmetrical with respect to a cross-sectional plane which contains a center of said clamping member in an axial direction thereof.