JPH0318378Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Purpose of the invention] (Field of industrial application) The present invention is directed to a pipe joint used in an automobile air conditioner, for example, when transferring various equipment of the automobile air conditioner. This invention relates to a cap for fixing pipe fitting parts, such as an O-ring, a nut, etc., which are the constituent parts of a pipe.

(Prior Art) A general union pipe joint is constructed as shown in FIG.

First, the configuration will be described. In the figure, 31 and 32 are a first pipe and a second pipe, which correspond to, for example, the middle of a refrigerant conduit in a cooling cycle. 1st pipe 3
A bead portion 33 (annular convex portion) is annularly protruded on the outer circumference near one end of the first pipe 31, and a nut 34 is loosely fitted on the outer circumference of the bead portion 33 on the opposite end side of the first pipe 31. . The nut 34 is configured such that the bottom of the female threaded portion 35 comes into contact with one end surface of the bead portion 33. A male threaded member 37 having a male threaded portion 36 that is screwed into the female threaded portion 35 of the nut is fixed to one end of the second pipe 32, and the center portion of the male threaded member 37 is fitted to the outer periphery of the tip of the first pipe 31. It's becoming like that.

Next, to explain the operation, after inserting the O-ring 38 on the outer periphery of the tip of the first pipe 31, the nut 3
4 and the male threaded member 37, the nut 34
contacts the bead portion 33 and draws the first pipe 31, so the O-ring 38 is sandwiched between the bead portion 33 and the end surface of the male threaded member 37 to form a sealed state, and the first pipe 31 and the second pipe 31 are The pipe 32 is connected to the pipe 32 by threading the nut 34 and the male threaded member 37 under this sealed state. In addition, 3
9 and 40 are tool contact surfaces, respectively.

By the way, evaporators, compressors, condensers, and the like are disassembled and carried into the interior and engine room of an automobile and installed therein.

In this case, the first pipe 31 and the second pipe 32
The O-ring 38 inserted into the first pipe 31 and the first pipe are separated by releasing the threaded engagement between the nut 34 and the male threaded member 37. There is a risk that the nut 34, which is loosely fitted into the nut 31, will separate from the predetermined position and fall off. Further, there is a risk that dust may adhere to the seal portion and the threaded portion, impairing the sealing performance, and furthermore, there is a fear that moisture may enter the pipe and impair the operation of the cooling cycle.

Therefore, in order to prevent O-rings etc. from falling off during movement and to prevent foreign objects from entering the pipe,
A cap is attached to one end of the tube.

As a conventional cap for fixing pipe joint parts, for example, those shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 are known.

What is shown in FIG. 2 is the female threaded portion 3 of the nut 34.
A cylindrical cap body 41 having an outer diameter approximately equal to the inner diameter of 5, one end surface being open and the other end surface being closed.
and a fitting part 42 that protrudes from the inner wall of the closed surface and fits into the tip opening of the first pipe 31,
The main body 41 is inserted into the female threaded part 35 of the nut, and the fitting part 42
are respectively press-fitted into the openings at the ends of the first pipe 31 and attached to the ends of the pipes 31, thereby fixing the nuts 34 in place.

On the other hand, the one shown in FIG. 3 includes a main body 43 having a conical cylindrical shape with the top cut off, and a flange 44 annularly protruding outward from the periphery of the large diameter opening of the main body 43. and the O-ring 38 is abutted and supported on the inner circumferential surface of the main body 43 while attached to one end of the pipe 31, and the outer circumferential edge of the collar portion 44 is fitted into a part of the female threaded portion 35 of the nut. This allows an O-ring 38 and a nut 34 to be placed at one end of the pipe 31.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) However, in the case of such conventional caps for fixing pipe fitting parts, although the former is easy to attach and detach, the caps tend to come off due to vibrations during movement, and the fixation function is limited. In the latter case, although the stationary function was perfect, there was a problem that attaching and detaching the cap was troublesome.

Furthermore, when the latter cap is removed, the flange 44 expands and contracts in the radial direction according to the shape of the peaks and valleys of the female thread 35, but the main body 43 also expands and contracts accordingly. O on the circumference
Since the ring 38 is abutted and supported, as a result,
The cap had to be pulled out while the O-ring 38 was being held, and this caused the problem that the O-ring 38 would fall off from the pipe 31.

The present invention was developed in view of the problems of the conventional technology, and is easy to attach and detach, reliably prevents foreign matter from entering the pipe, and furthermore prevents the seal member from falling off when removed. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a cap for fixing pipe fittings.

[Structure of the invention] (Means for solving the problem) The present invention for achieving the above object includes a pipe that is connected to another pipe and guides a fluid inside;
A pipe joint comprising a nut loosely fitted into the pipe, a sealing member for sealing a connection between the pipe and another pipe, and an annular protrusion that contacts the nut near the end of the pipe. A cap attached to a component, which has a truncated conical shape capable of covering one end of the pipe, and has an inner diameter such that the inclined inner peripheral surface comes into contact with the sealing member or bead portion, and has a small diameter. A main body having a closed surface portion on the side, and a collar projecting outward from the closed surface portion of the main body in a flat annular shape, and having a diameter of its outer periphery approximately equal to a diameter of the female threaded portion of the nut. A cap for fixing pipe joint parts, characterized in that the cap has a radial direction and an appropriate number of notches formed in the radial direction of the flange.

(Function) In the present invention configured as described above, when the main body is attached to cover one end of the pipe and the collar is engaged with the female thread of the nut from this state,
Since a suitable number of notches are formed in the flange, its rigidity is relaxed and the cap can be easily attached and detached. Moreover, since the collar engages with the female thread when the cap is attached to the pipe, there is no risk of the cap falling off.

Furthermore, when removing the cap,
Since the flange is formed on the closed surface on the small diameter side of the main body, the expansion and contraction of the flange will not be transmitted to the inclined inner circumferential surface that comes into contact with the sealing member, making it possible to prevent the sealing member from falling off. can.

(Example) Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 4 to 8 are diagrams showing an embodiment of the present invention.

First, to explain the structure, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, this cap 51 has a truncated conical cylindrical cap body 53 and a closed surface portion 57 that closes the small diameter opening of the main body 53. It is provided with a collar portion 54 that projects in an annular shape.

The main body 53 has a cylindrical length L shorter than the depth of the hole in the female threaded portion 35 of the nut 34, and has a large diameter opening 55.
The inner diameter D _L of the pipe 31 is larger than the outer diameter of the bead portion 33, and the inner diameter D _S of the small diameter opening is larger than the outer diameter of the bead portion 33 of the pipe 31.
The slanted inner circumferential surface 56 of the main body 53 comes into contact with the O-ring 38 inserted on the outer circumference of the pipe 31 or the bead portion 33. There is.

The outer diameter D _F of the flange portion 54 is set to be approximately equal to the root diameter of the female threaded portion 35 of the nut 34, and an appropriate number of notches 58 are formed in the flange portion 54 in a triangular shape from the outer circumferential edge to the inner circumferential edge. There is. The adjacent notches 58, 58 each form a blade piece 59, so that the collar 54 is substantially formed by a group of 59 blade pieces.

Next, the usage and operation of the cap of this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8.

First, when installing the cap for fixing the pipe joint parts of this example, as shown in Fig. 6, tighten the nut 3.
4 is released from the bead portion 33, the cap body 53 covers the O-ring 38 and the end of the pipe 31. Next, while maintaining this state, when the nut 34 is pushed out in the direction of the arrow in FIG.
The blade pieces 59 forming the nut are separated by the notches 58 and their rigidity is relaxed, so that they fall down to easily allow the threads of the female threaded portion 35 of the nut to pass through. Therefore, the work of attaching the cap 51 to the nut 34 can be carried out extremely easily.

When the nut 34 reaches the point where it engages with the bead portion 33, stop pushing out the nut 34, and rotate or rock the nut 34 slightly. As shown in FIG. The piece 59 fits into the thread groove of the female threaded portion 35, rises up, and bites into the thread groove.

In this biting state, the inclined inner peripheral surface 56 of the main body 53 is in contact with the O-ring 38. Also, relatively, the nut 34 is connected to the pipe 3 by the cap 51.
1, and the O-ring 38 is supported and fixed on the inclined inner peripheral surface 56. In this stationary state, the inside of the cap 51 has an inclined inner circumferential surface 56.
Since the opening of the pipe 31 is sealed by the closing surface portion 57, dust is prevented from entering into the opening of the pipe 31. Further, since the O-ring 38 is pushed by the inclined inner circumferential surface 56 and inserted into the bead portion 33, it will not come off from the outer circumference of the pipe 31. Furthermore, although the cap according to this embodiment engages with the female threaded portion 35 of the nut 34, since the flange portion 54 is located near the opening of the nut 34, the pressing force upon insertion is also reduced. The minimum is sufficient and the installation work efficiency is improved.

Next, when removing the pipe joint component fixing cap of this embodiment from the pipe end, the nut 34 is pushed out in the direction away from the bead portion 33, as shown in FIG. Then, since each blade piece 59 forming the flange part 54 is separated and its rigidity is relaxed, it falls in the direction of extrusion, as shown in FIG. 8, and each thread of the female thread part 35 of the nut Allow easy passage. Therefore, cap 51
The nut 34 can be removed and removed very easily. Further, when the cap 51 is released from the nut 34, the cap 51 loses its holding power and can be easily removed from the tip of the pipe 31.

Moreover, at this time, although the O-ring 38 is in contact with the inclined inner circumferential surface 56 of the cap, the expansion and contraction of the collar portion 54 due to the peaks and valleys of the female threaded portion 35 is caused by this O-ring 38.
The ring 38 is not transmitted to the main body 53 with which it abuts, so there is no risk that the O-ring 38 will fall off when the cap is removed. Thereby, the above-mentioned coupling work to the second pipe 32 can be performed immediately.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications can be made without exceeding the gist of the present invention.

For example, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the case where the notch was formed in a large triangular shape was explained, but since the notch relieves the stiffness of the collar and makes it easier for the thread to pass through, the notch is simply a cut line. However, the number may be set appropriately. However, if it is too large, the rigidity will be excessively lost and the holding force of the nut will be weakened, so this should be taken into consideration.

[Effects of the invention] As explained above, according to the invention, it is extremely easy to attach and detach the cap, and when the cap is attached to the pipe, the cap is securely fixed, and when the cap is removed, In this case, it is possible to prevent the seal member from falling off. Furthermore, it is possible to reliably prevent dust from entering the seal portion and water from entering the pipe.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a partially cutaway side view showing an example of a conventional pipe joint, Fig. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing the installed state of each of the other conventional pipe joints, and Fig. 3 is a pipe joint according to an embodiment of the present invention. The cross-sectional views showing the cap for fixing parts, FIGS. 4 to 8, show one embodiment of the present invention.
5 and 5 are a front view and a partially cutaway side view showing the configuration, FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the device being installed, FIG. 7 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the installed state, and FIG. FIG. J... Pipe joint, 31... First pipe, 33...
Bead part, 34...nut, 35...female thread part,
38...O-ring, 51...Cap for fixing pipe joint parts, 53...Main body, 54...Brim portion, 56...
... Sloped inner peripheral surface, 57 ... Closed surface portion, 58 ... Notch portion, 59 ... Wing piece.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] A pipe 31 that is connected to another pipe 32 and guides fluid therein, a nut 34 that is loosely fitted to the pipe 31, and the pipe 31 and the other pipe 32.
a sealing member 38 for sealing a connection portion between the pipe 31 and the pipe 31; It has a truncated conical shape that can cover one end of the seal member 31, and has an inner diameter such that the inclined inner circumferential surface 56 comes into contact with the seal member 38 or the bead portion 33, and has a closed surface portion 57 on the small diameter side. A main body 53, which projects outward from the closed surface portion 57 of the main body 53 in a flat annular shape, and has a diameter of its outer periphery.
It is characterized by comprising a flange portion 54 formed so that the DF substantially matches the diameter of the female threaded portion 35 of the nut 34, and an appropriate number of notches 58 formed in the radial direction in the flange portion 54. Cap for fixing pipe fitting parts.