JPH0245597Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a retaining ring for pipe fittings, and more specifically, the present invention relates to a retaining ring for pipe fittings. This invention relates to a retaining ring for a pipe joint used to prevent a pipe from falling off from the pipe joint when connected.

[Conventional technology]

When connecting a pipe used for transporting pressurized gas or liquid to a pressure source or equipment, it is common to use a pipe fitting attached to the equipment. Conventionally, cap nuts have been mostly used as this type of pipe joint.

However, in recent years, low-pressure pipe fittings with a working pressure of 10 kg/cm ² or less have been replaced with conventional cap nuts for convenience, and are now equipped with claws made of spring material to prevent the inserted pipe from coming out. Pipe joints using rings have been used. This pipe joint utilizes the elasticity and restoring force of the claw-equipped retaining ring to allow connection by simply inserting the pipe. This retaining ring must allow easy insertion and removal of the tube during connection.
Moreover, it must be possible to hold the tube so that it does not easily fall off due to vibrations during use.

In response to the above demands, a retaining ring 21 as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 has now appeared. This known retaining ring 21 is made of an annular body made of a thin plate-like spring material, and has a flat structure as a whole. A hole 27 is provided in the center of the ring 21, and radial notches 22 extending outward from an inner edge 28 are formed at regular intervals.
Further, between the notches 22, notches 23 radiating inward from the outer edge 29 are similarly formed. Therefore, the notches 22 and 23 are arranged alternately in the ring 21 in the circumferential direction.

The top 22a of the inside notch 22 is located outside the top 23a of the outside notch 23, and conversely, the top 23a of the outside notch 23 is located outside the top 23a of the outside notch 23.
It is located inside the top part 22a of the. Therefore, the area B sandwiched between the two circles formed by connecting the tops 22a and 23a of both cuts 22 and 23, respectively, is divided into a plurality of parts b by the cuts 22 and 23. , the portions b are arranged at regular intervals in the circumferential direction.

The ring 21 is held in the joint body by inserting its outer edge 29 into an annular groove formed inside the joint body, and a pipe is inserted into the central hole 27.

When the tube is inserted into the central hole 27, as shown in FIG. 7, the portion 25 inside the region B is pushed and displaced approximately in an arc shape as shown by the dotted line with the outer edge 29 as a fulcrum. At this time, the area B is the notch 22, as described above.
23, and has lower rigidity than the portion 16 outside region B and the portion 25 inside, so the ring 11 bends the most in region B.

[The problem that the idea aims to solve]

In this way, in the retaining ring 21, the springiness is provided almost only by the region B, and the other parts hardly contribute. Therefore, the springiness of the ring 21 is determined by the strength of region B, and in order to have good springiness and enable large displacement, the width of region B (radial direction It is necessary to increase the length of However, in this case, it becomes necessary to increase the outer diameter of the ring 21 itself, which in turn requires increasing the size of the pipe joint itself.

Furthermore, since the retaining ring 11 has a flat plate shape as a whole and is deformed only by coming into contact with the pipe, the area of the portion pressed by the pipe changes due to an error in the diameter of the pipe. As a result, the angle of engagement with the outer wall of the pipe may change, and the locking action of the ring 11 on the pipe may become insufficient.

The present invention was devised in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to obtain good springiness without increasing the overall size, and to reduce the error in the outer diameter of the inserted tube. An object of the present invention is to provide a retaining ring for a pipe joint that can securely lock a pipe even when there is a problem.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a retaining ring for a pipe joint that allows pipes to be connected and removed very easily.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, this invention consists of bending an annular body along concentric fold lines 4, so that the inner circumferential portion 5 and the outer circumferential portion 6 are both perpendicular to the plane perpendicular to the axis thereof. It is bent in the insertion direction of the tube T, and the inner circumferential portion 5 and the outer circumferential portion 6 form an obtuse angle with each other, and the crease line 4 is formed at the top 2 of the cut 2 formed from the inner edge 8.
It is characterized by passing through a region B between two circles formed by connecting the top part 3a of the cut 3 formed from the outer edge 9 and the outer edge 9.

[Effect]

Next, the operation of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

First, the outer edge 9 is inserted into the annular groove inside the pipe joint 11 to hold the retaining ring 1, and when the tube T is inserted into the central hole 7, the inner peripheral portion 5 is pushed open by the tube T. At this time, ring 1 is at crease line 4.
Because the area around it is bent and has high rigidity, it can hardly flex here, and as shown in Figure 2,
The entire ring 1 rotates around the outer edge 9 as a fulcrum while maintaining almost the initial bending angle θ. Said displacement of the ring 1 is thus taken up by the outer peripheral part 6, which has a shape similar to the side surface of a truncated cone.

Since the crease line 4 passes through the region B, the outer circumferential portion 6 has sufficient elasticity, so that the outer circumferential portion 6 is moved along the circumferential direction due to the displacement as shown in FIG. Can be curved. If the crease line 4 passes outside the region B, the rigidity of the bent portion becomes too high, making it impossible to obtain sufficient springiness of the ring 1.

In this way, a large stress is not generated in the area B, and most of the stress is generated in the outer circumferential portion 6 outside of the area B.

Here, the region B is composed of a plurality of parts b between adjacent cuts 2 and 3, and the area of each part b is small, whereas the outer peripheral part 6 is formed by a plurality of cuts from the adjacent outer edge 9. The area of this part is considerably larger than each component part b of region B. Therefore, the stress generated in the outer circumferential portion 6 is dispersed to each portion, allowing greater elastic deformation.

Next, in the present invention, since both the inner circumferential portion 5 and the outer circumferential portion 6 are bent in the tube insertion direction, it is possible to change the conventional flat ring 21 or a ring in which only the outer circumferential side of the ring 21 is bent at a constant width. In comparison, the amount of displacement (rotation) of the outer peripheral portion 6 in the axial direction when the tube T is inserted is smaller. Therefore, even if the ring 1 is largely displaced, there is no risk that the outer peripheral portion 6 will lose its restorability.

In addition, since the inner peripheral portion 5 is bent in the tube insertion direction, the amount of displacement in the axial direction is small, and the change in the angle of penetration of the inner edge 8 into the tube T is reduced, thus achieving ideal penetration. This means that the angle can be maintained over a wide range.

Thirdly, since both the inner and outer circumferential portions 5 and 6 form an obtuse angle, if the angle of the inner circumferential portion 5 with respect to the axis (the angle before the tube is inserted) is set to a value suitable for biting (around 45°). , the angle of the outer peripheral portion 6 with respect to the axis is set to be larger, and the outward displacement of the outer edge 9 when the ring 1 is deformed by the tube T can be reduced. Therefore, even if the diameter of the inner edge 8 increases due to the insertion of the tube T, the amount of displacement of the outer edge 9 can be kept small, so that the restoring force of the ring 1 as a whole is not lost.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of this invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIGS. 1 to 4, reference numeral 1 denotes a retaining ring for a pipe joint according to this invention, which is made by punching a thin annular plate of springy stainless steel with a thickness of about 0.2 mm. This ring 1 has an inner edge 8 in the circumferential direction.
Radial cuts 2 extending from the outer edge 9 toward the inner edge 9 and radial cuts 3 conversely extending from the outer edge 9 toward the inner edge 8 are provided alternately. In this embodiment, 18 incisions 2 and 3 are formed at intervals of 20 degrees at a center angle. The top 2a of the cut 2 reaches further outward than the top 3a of the cut 3, and conversely, the top 3a of the cut 3 reaches the top 2 of the cut 2.
Because it reaches inward from a, both cuts 2 and 3
Cuts 2 and 3 are arranged alternately in the circumferential direction in a region B sandwiched between two circles formed by connecting the top portions 2a and 3a of. Region B is constituted by a plurality of portions b defined by respective cuts 2, 3 and two circles.

As clearly shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the ring 1 has its inner circumferential portion 5 and outer circumferential portion 6 aligned along a fold line 4 formed concentrically with the circular inner edge 8 and outer edge 9. It is bent in the direction (tube insertion direction) and has a mountain-shaped cross section. That is, the inner circumferential portion 5 on the inside of the crease line 4 and the outer circumferential portion 6 on the outer side of the crease line 4 are bent in the same direction with respect to a plane perpendicular to the central axis of the ring 1, with the crease line 4 as a border.
The angle θ formed by both parts 5 and 6 is made to be an obtuse angle. In this embodiment, the angle θ between the two parts 5 and 6 is approximately 133°.

The angle of the inner circumferential portion 5 with respect to the central axis is appropriately determined in consideration of the optimal biting angle, and the angle of the inner circumferential portion 5 with respect to the central axis
The angle is arbitrarily determined in consideration of the strength of the bent portion, etc.

The fold line 4 passes through the region B, that is, each portion b, at a position close to the top 2a of the cut 2 from the inner edge 8. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, region B is provided across both the inner circumferential portion 5 and the outer circumferential portion 6. In addition, crease line 4
is the area B (including the area on the two circles that are the boundaries)
It is sufficient if it has passed.

The outer edge 9 holds the ring 1,
It is inserted into an annular groove provided inside the joint body. The inner edge 8 acts as a locking end for the tube T inserted into the central hole 7 of the ring 1, and bites into the outer wall of the tube T to hold it.

The retaining ring 1 having the above structure is applied to a pipe joint as shown in FIG.

This pipe joint 11 includes a sealing material 13, a back ring 14 that presses and holds the sealing material 13, and a pipe T that locks and prevents the pipe T from coming off, in order from a stepped portion 12a formed inside the joint body 12 toward the opening. It is composed of the retaining ring 1 having the above-mentioned structure to prevent it from coming off, a collar 15 fixed to the joint body 12 holding the back ring 14, and a release ring 16 supported movably along the collar 15. . The retaining ring 1 is held by inserting its outer edge 9 into an annular groove formed by a back ring 14 and a collar 15, with its inner edge 8 and outer edge 9 facing away from the opening. Since the step 16a of the release ring 16 abuts against the step 15a of the collar 15, there is no risk of it coming off.

Note that Z is the central axis of the pipe joint 11, and the centers of the respective members are aligned with the axis Z.

Before the tube T is inserted into the joint body 12, the retaining ring 1 is in the state shown in FIG. 5a.

When the tube T is inserted into the joint body 12, the inner circumferential portion 5 of the retaining ring 1 is pushed open as shown in FIG.
As shown, the inner edge 8 bites into the outer wall of the tube T.
The bite angle at this time is about 45 degrees, and the tube T can be effectively locked. In this way, the tube T
is prevented from coming off.

When pulling out the tube T, the release ring 16 can be pushed in. Then, as shown in FIG. 5c, the tip presses the inner circumferential portion 5 of the ring 1, and the engagement with the outer wall of the tube T is released. If the tube T is pulled in this state, it can be easily pulled out.

[Effect of idea]

The present invention has the above-described configuration and has the following excellent effects.

Since the outer circumferential portion 6 having high elasticity absorbs stress during deformation, good springiness can be obtained without increasing the size of the ring 1 as a whole.

Even if the diameter of the inner edge 8 increases due to the insertion of the tube T, the amount of displacement of the outer edge 9 can be kept small, so good springiness can be obtained without losing the restoring force of the ring 1 as a whole. .

Even when the tube T is inserted and the inner edge 8, which is the locking end of the tube T, expands in the radial direction, the inner edge 8 of the tube T
Since there is little change in the biting angle, even if there is an error in the outer diameter of the tube T to be inserted, the tube T can be satisfactorily locked in a preset state.

The entire ring 1 has good spring properties and does not lose its restoring force even if it is greatly bent, and the locking state of the pipe T is maintained almost constant, making connection and removal of pipes extremely easy and reliable. It can be carried out.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 4 show an embodiment of the retaining ring for a pipe joint according to the present invention, FIG. 1 is a partially omitted plan view, and FIG. 2 is a -X
3 is an explanatory cross-sectional view taken along line Y--Y in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged central cross-sectional view. FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view of a pipe joint using the above-mentioned retaining ring, FIG. 5 a shows the state before the pipe is inserted, FIG. 5 b shows the state with the pipe locked,
FIG. 5c shows the state in which the tube is pulled out. 6 and 7 show a conventional retaining ring for a pipe joint, FIG. 6 is a partially omitted plan view, and FIG. 7 is an explanatory cross-sectional view taken along the line X-X in FIG. 6. . 1... Retaining ring for pipe joint, 2, 3... Notch, 2a, 3a... Top, 4... Crease line, 5...
...Inner circumference part, 6...Outer circumference part, 7...Central hole, 8
...Inner edge, 9...Outer edge, 11...Pipe joint, 12...
...Joint body, 13...Seal material, 14...Back ring, 15...Collar, 16...Release ring,
B...area, b...part, T...tube.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] Consisting of an annular body formed of a spring plate material, a plurality of radial cuts are alternately formed from each of the inner and outer edges, and the inner edge is used to connect a pipe inserted into a pipe joint. The outer edge is configured to be inserted into and held in an annular groove provided in the joint body, and the top of the notch formed from the inner edge is a locking end that locks the outer wall of the joint body. In the retaining ring for a pipe fitting located outward from the top of the notch formed from the outer edge, the annular body is bent along a concentric crease line, and the inner and outer circumferential portions of the ring are bent along concentric fold lines. Both are bent in the insertion direction of the tube with respect to a plane perpendicular to the axis thereof, and the inner circumferential portion and the outer circumferential portion form an obtuse angle with each other, and the fold line is formed from the inner edge. A retaining ring for a pipe joint, characterized in that the ring passes through an area sandwiched between two circles formed by connecting the top of the cut and the top of the cut formed from the outer edge.