JPH06200912A - Pipe connecting tool - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] (Corrected) [Purpose] To provide a connecting tool that does not impair the aesthetics when connecting pipes and that allows the pipes to be easily attached and detached. [Structure] A diameter expansion which consists of three surfaces sharing one apex, is inserted into a pipe at approximately the center of the surface of at least one surface, and is operated by rotating a bolt from the rear surface side and vertically moved by the rotation of the bolt. A structure in which a pipe is connected to at least two surfaces of a cube formed by combining a lid provided with a pipe supporting portion having a mechanism and a bottom, the bottom being at least not provided with the pipe supporting portion. The one surface is provided with a through hole through which a fixing bolt for screwing the diameter increasing mechanism of the pipe supporting portion of the lid and fastening the bottom to the lid is inserted.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement of a connecting connector used when forming a frame such as a shelf with pipes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a pipe or the like is used to form a frame such as a shelf, a connecting tool is used to collectively connect the pipes to a concentrated portion. The connection tool is provided with pipe support portions for supporting the pipes in the directions of about 2 to 4 directions. Depending on the number of pipes and the direction in which the pipes are concentrated, the number of pipe supports is adapted to the number and the direction. A fitting provided with a section is used.

As the pipe supporting portion, in addition to a projection or a circular (square) cylindrical shape for fitting the pipe in or out,
For example, a U-shaped receiver for simply mounting and hanging the pipe. When fixing the pipe to the pipe support,
There are methods such as screwing a separate screw from the side while the pipe is connected to the support portion, or tapping the pipe into the support portion to fix it.

[0004]

However, the conventional connector has various drawbacks. For example, when the pipe is fixed to the pipe supporting portion with a screw or the like, this portion is exposed and the aesthetic appearance is spoiled. In the method of hammering in the pipe, the pipe may swell, and it is extremely difficult to remove the pipe, so it is difficult to omit or add the framework. Also, since the connecting device itself is an integral structure, connecting work of the pipe becomes difficult, and when omitting or adding a frame, disconnect all the connecting device and the pipe, and connect the pipe again with another connecting device. Had to make a connection.

Therefore, the present inventor has achieved the present invention as a result of earnest research in view of the above points, and is characterized in that at least one surface is composed of three surfaces sharing one vertex. It is formed by combining a lid and a bottom provided with a pipe support part having a diameter expansion mechanism that is inserted into a pipe at substantially the center part of the pipe and operates by rotating a bolt from the back side and moves up and down by the rotation of the bolt. A structure in which a pipe is connected to at least two surfaces of the cube, the bottom of which is screwed onto at least one surface of the lid which is not provided with the pipe expanding portion of the pipe supporting portion. A through hole was provided through which a fixing bolt for fastening the bottom to the lid was inserted.

[0006] Alternatively, at least the surface of at least one of the three surfaces sharing one apex is inserted into a pipe and is actuated by rotating the bolt from the back side to move up and down by the rotation of the bolt. A structure in which a pipe is connected to at least two surfaces of a cube formed by combining a lid provided with a pipe support portion having a diameter mechanism and a bottom, and the lid is not provided with the pipe support portion. A female screw portion on the surface, and the bottom is screwed on at least one surface on which the pipe support portion is not provided, by screwing it onto one of the diameter expansion mechanism of the pipe support portion of the lid and the female screw portion. There is a through hole through which a fixing bolt to be fastened to the lid is inserted.

As used herein, the term "pipe support portion" refers to a protrusion that supports the pipe by being inserted into the pipe. The pipe is a square pipe such as a square pipe in addition to a round pipe. The pipe supporting portion is not particularly limited in its shape and size, as long as it fits inside a round pipe or a square pipe and a part thereof contacts the inner surface.

The "diameter expanding mechanism" means a structure whose diameter can be increased by an external operation. The diameter in this case is the diameter of a circle, the length of a diagonal line or a side of a polygon, etc., and expanding the diameter partially or evenly is the diameter expansion. By providing the pipe expanding portion with the diameter expanding mechanism, after the pipe is fitted onto the supporting portion, the diameter expanding mechanism expands the diameter to press the inner surface of the pipe to fix the pipe to the pipe supporting portion. To do. Of course, the diameter expansion mechanism itself may be used as the pipe support portion.

As the diameter expanding mechanism, for example, a slope is formed at the top of the pipe supporting portion, a separate diameter expanding member is provided in this portion, and the diameter expanding member is lowered along the slope to support the pipe. This is a structure in which the width is increased by the pipe supporting portion and the diameter-expanding member by protruding from the range of the peripheral surface of the portion. In this case, a screw hole is provided in the diameter expanding member, and a bolt is inserted from the pipe supporting portion to be screwed into the screw hole, whereby the bolt is rotated from the rear surface side of the pipe supporting portion to expand the diameter expanding member. Move up and down along the slope. Further, a cylindrical member having a taper on the inner peripheral surface is divided into comb-like shapes along the peripheral surface,
A structure may be adopted in which, when the diameter-expanding member is moved up and down along the inner peripheral surface, the diameter-expanding member spreads out the comb-shaped portion and presses the outer peripheral surface of the comb-shaped portion against the inner surface of the pipe. Furthermore, the diameter may be expanded by compressing an elastic member such as an O-ring. In short, as long as the bolt is rotated from the back side of the pipe support and the member screwed to the bolt is moved up and down, at least a part of the peripheral surface of the pipe support is projected. Good.

The term "lid" refers to a cube formed by three faces sharing one apex. This lid is
Similarly, a cube is formed by combining with a bottom formed by three faces sharing one apex of the cube, but the individual faces are not limited to the square. In other words, the dividing portion of the lid and the bottom is not limited to the ridgeline of the cube, but may be divided so that the surfaces thereof erode.
Thus, in this case, the lid and bottom surfaces will form a square with the sides of the mating surface.

The lid is provided with a pipe support portion having a diameter expansion mechanism on at least one of the three surfaces, and a female screw portion is provided on the surface where the pipe support portion is not provided. Good. That is, in the present invention, at least one of the bolts for operating the diameter expansion mechanism is a fixing bolt for fixing the lid and the bottom to fix the pipe and the lid and the bottom at the same time. Depending on the combination mode of the bottom and the bottom, there is a pipe support part having a diameter expansion mechanism on the bottom surface facing the pipe support part provided on the lid, and conversely, the bottom surface faces the surface provided with the through hole. This is because there are cases where the pipe support portion having the diameter expansion mechanism does not exist on the surface of the lid, and in such a case, the fixing bolt is screwed into the female screw portion to fix the lid and the bottom. Of course, when the female screw portion is provided, the fixing bolt may be screwed to the female screw portion side regardless of the presence of the diameter expansion mechanism. The female screw portion is preferably provided on the back surface side so as not to penetrate the front surface of the lid.

The "bottom" refers to a cube formed by three faces sharing one apex. The concept of the bottom is the same as that of the lid described above. There is no particular relationship between the lid and the bottom, and the size of the shape does not matter. However, unlike the lid, at least one surface of the bottom is provided with a through hole for inserting the fixing bolt, and the bottom of the lid is where the head of the fixing bolt is located. The through hole provided on the bottom surface may be a simple hole, but is preferably a stepped hole so that the head of the fixing bolt is hidden. Also, regarding the concept of a cube formed by the lid and the bottom, the basic shape formed by combining is a cube, and the surface side of each surface of the lid and the bottom is raised or depressed, or a picture or pattern is drawn. Alternatively, a geometrical shape may be provided.

In the case where the pipe support is located on the bottom surface facing the surface of the lid provided with the pipe support having the diameter expansion mechanism, one of the bottom side pipe supports is provided with a through hole. In the case where the pipe supporting portion is used and the fixing bolt is inserted through the through hole to fix the lid and the bottom, the side where the pipe supporting portion having the through hole is provided is the bottom. The fixing of the pipe supporting portion having the through hole formed therein and the pipe may be performed in the same manner as the conventional method. However, the conventional fixing method has various drawbacks, and the connecting direction of a pipe which requires a pipe supporting portion having a through hole is, for example, a planar connection or a pipe connecting in all six directions. Since it is used very rarely when connecting, and since the main part of the framework can be configured only with the connecting tool provided with only the pipe support part having the diameter expansion mechanism, this part can be fixed lightly through the pipe Things are enough.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a pipe connecting tool 1 according to the present invention, in which a pipe supporting portion 3 having a diameter expanding mechanism 2 is provided.
Is combined with a lid 4 provided on one surface and a bottom 5 provided with a pipe support portion 3 having a diameter expansion mechanism 2 on one surface, and the lid 4 and the bottom 5 are fixed with a fixing bolt 6. It was done. This pipe connector 1 is an L-shaped one in which the diameter expansion mechanism 2 on the bottom 5 side is operated by the diameter expansion bolt 7 and the diameter expansion mechanism 2 on the lid 4 side is operated by the fixing bolt 6. is there. As a method of connecting the pipe 8, first, the pipe 8 is inserted into the pipe support portion 3 on the bottom 5 side and the diametrical expansion bolt 7 is rotated and fixed, and then the pipe 8 is inserted into the pipe support portion 3 on the lid 4 side. Then, the lid 4 and the bottom 5 are combined, the fixing bolt 6 is inserted through the through hole 9 provided on one surface of the bottom 5, and the fixing bolt 6 is rotated to rotate the pipe 8 and the lid 4 on the lid 4 side. And the bottom 5 will be fixed respectively.

As shown in FIG. 2, the diameter-expanding mechanism 2 has a pipe-supporting portion 3 having a sloping top and a bottom-shaped sloping bottom. It is a combination to do. The diameter expanding member 10 is moved up and down along the slope to move the diameter expanding member 10 into the pipe support portion 3.
By fixing the pipe 8 so that it projects from the peripheral surface of the pipe 8, the inner surface of the pipe 8 is pressed.
Is fixed. As shown in the figure, the vertical movement of the diameter expansion member 10 causes the diameter expansion bolt 7 (fixing bolt 6
But it's okay. ) Is inserted from the back side of the pipe support portion 3,
It is carried out by screwing it into a screw hole provided in the diameter expanding member 10 and rotating the diameter expanding bolt 7. For this reason, the through hole for inserting the diameter expansion bolt 7 provided in the pipe support portion 3 is made larger than the diameter of the diameter expansion bolt 7 so that the movement of the diameter expansion member 10 can be followed. . In this example, the pipe support portion 3 and the diameter-expanding member 10 have a quadrangular cross section, but the same applies to a circular cross section or a polygonal cross section. Of course, the cross-sectional shape of the pipe connected to this can also be fixed, for example, by inserting a round pipe into the pipe support portion shown in this figure. In addition, a groove, a protrusion, or the like may be provided on the sloped portion for positioning.

As shown in FIG. 3, the diametrical expansion mechanism 2 is provided with a plurality of slits 11 in the axial direction of the peripheral surface of the upper portion of the pipe supporting portion 3 and the inner peripheral surface of this portion is tapered. The conical diameter expanding member 10 may be moved up and down on the inner peripheral surface to widen the portion where the slit 11 is provided. In this case, the slit 11 may be provided as a separate part, which may be fixed to the top of the pipe support 3.

Regarding the number and direction of the pipe supporting portions 3 provided in the pipe connector 1, in addition to the above-described embodiment,
As shown in FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C, there are three directions, four directions, and five directions. These are basically based on the bottom 5 having a pipe support 3 having two diameter expansion mechanisms 2 and one through-hole 9, and a pipe support 3 having one to three diameter expansion mechanisms 2 provided therein. The lid 4 provided with is combined. The pipe connector 1 shown in these is
It is most often used in a frame to be assembled, and has a structure in which the lid 4 and the bottom 5 are fixed while fixing the pipe 8 by operating the diameter expansion mechanism 2 of the lid 4 with the fixing bolt 6.

Further, in the case of 2 directions to 4 directions, as shown in FIGS. 5 (a), 5 (b) and 5 (c), the bottom 5 has one
The pipe support portion 3 having the two diameter expansion mechanisms 2 and the two through holes 9 may be provided, and the lid 4 provided with the pipe support portions 3 having the one to three diameter expansion mechanisms 2 may be combined therewith. . As described above, providing the two through holes 9 has an advantage that the degree of freedom in combining the bottom 5 with the lid 4 can be increased. When two through holes 9 are provided, one through hole 9 is not used. Therefore, as shown in the drawing, a separate sealing tool 13 may be fitted into the through hole 9 to cover it. . Sealing tool 1
3 may be attached to the through hole 9 through which the fixing bolt 6 is inserted, as well as the through hole 9 through which the fixing bolt 6 is not inserted. In this case, in addition to the through hole 9, for example, the fixing bolt 6 may be fitted and fixed in a hexagonal hole. The sealing tool 13 may cover not only the through hole 9 portion but also the entire surface provided with the through hole 9 as shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 shows another example of the present invention.
The female screw portion 14 is provided on the back surface of the surface on which the pipe support portion 3 is not provided. This is such that, when the lid 4 and the bottom 5 are combined, no matter how the surface of the lid 4 facing the through hole 9 of the bottom 5 is combined, it can be fixed with the fixing bolt 6. That is, the through hole 9 in the bottom 5
When the pipe support portion 3 having the diameter expansion mechanism 2 is provided on the surface of the lid 4 facing to, the pipe 8 is fixed by the fixing bolt 6 and the lid 4 and the bottom 5 are fixed at the same time. When the portion 3 does not exist, the fixing pipe 6 is screwed into the female screw portion 14 provided instead of the portion 3 so as to be fixed. Therefore, since it can be fixed to all the surfaces (back surface) of the lid 4, 5 from 2 directions
It becomes possible to set it as the connection tool 1 which provided the pipe support part 3 in every direction to the direction.

FIG. 8 shows still another example of the present invention, in which the pipe supporting portion 3 having a through hole 9 on one surface of the bottom 5 is formed.
Is provided. This is because when it is necessary to provide the pipe support portions 3 on all three surfaces of the bottom 5, the lid 4 and the bottom 5
A through hole 9 for fixing is provided in one of the pipe supporting portions 3. In this pipe supporting portion 3, a fixing bolt 6 is inserted into a through hole 9 provided in the pipe supporting portion 3 so that a lid 4 and a bottom 5
After fixing (in this case, the pipe 8 is fixed by the pipe support 3 having the diameter expansion mechanism 2 already provided on the lid 4 and the bottom 5 respectively), the pipe 8 is fixed to the pipe support 3. Insert and insert 8 to fix. The pipe supporting portion 3 having the through hole 9 formed therein and the pipe 8 may not be fixed so firmly as described above, but of course, the pipe 8 may be tapped and fixed, or An elastic member such as an O-ring may be fitted into the pipe support portion 3 to make it difficult for the pipe 8 to come off.

FIGS. 9 (a) and 9 (b) show other examples of the lid 4 and the bottom 5, respectively, in which the lid 4 and the bottom 5 are engaged with each other so that they are fixed more firmly. .

[0023]

As described above, in the pipe connecting device according to the present invention, the lid provided with the pipe supporting portion and the bottom have separate structures,
When assembling the pipe in a frame shape, the structure is such that the pipe is first connected to the lid and the bottom, and then the lid and the bottom are fixed, so that the assembly and connection are extremely simple. Also,
Since various forms of connectors can be made by combining the lid and bottom, the number of parts can be reduced, and since the pipe is fixed by the diameter expansion mechanism except in special cases, it does not damage the pipe. Moreover, the pipe can be securely connected without exposing the fixing structure,
It has a very beneficial effect of not impairing the aesthetics of the assembled framework.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a pipe connector according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a structure of a diameter expansion mechanism.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing another example of the diameter expansion mechanism.

4A is three directions, FIG. 4B is four directions, and FIG.
It is a perspective view showing a connection tool of directions respectively.

5 is a perspective view showing another example of the one shown in FIG. 4,
(A) is in two directions, (b) is in three directions, and (c) is in four directions.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing another example of the sealing tool.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the pipe connector according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing still another embodiment of the pipe connector according to the present invention.

9A is a perspective view showing another example of the lid, and FIG. 9B is a perspective view showing another example of the bottom combined with FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Pipe connection tool 2 Diameter expansion mechanism 3 Pipe support part 4 Lid 5 Bottom 6 Fixing bolt 7 Diameter expansion bolt 8 Pipe 9 Through hole 10 Diameter expansion member 11 Slit 12 Rubber 13 Sealing tool 14 Female screw part

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A pipe is inserted into a pipe at a substantially central portion of the surface of at least one surface which is composed of three surfaces sharing one apex, and is operated by rotating a bolt from the back surface side and vertically moved by the rotation of the bolt. A structure in which a pipe is connected to at least two surfaces of a cube formed by combining a lid and a bottom provided with a pipe support part having a diameter expansion mechanism, and the bottom is provided with the pipe support part. A pipe connection characterized in that at least one surface thereof is provided with a through hole through which a fixing bolt for screwing a diameter-expanding mechanism of the pipe supporting portion of the lid and fastening the bottom to the lid is inserted. Ingredient 2. A spreading member which is made up of three surfaces sharing one apex, is inserted into a pipe at a substantially central portion of the surface of at least one surface, and is operated by rotating a bolt from the rear surface side and vertically moved by the rotation of the bolt. A structure in which a pipe is connected to at least two surfaces of a cube formed by combining a lid provided with a pipe support portion having a diameter mechanism and a bottom, and the lid is not provided with the pipe support portion. A female screw portion on the surface, and the bottom is screwed on at least one surface on which the pipe support portion is not provided, by screwing it onto one of the diameter expansion mechanism of the pipe support portion of the lid and the female screw portion. A pipe connector provided with a through hole through which a fixing bolt to be fastened to the lid is inserted. 3. The bottom is provided with a pipe support portion having a diameter expansion mechanism on two surfaces and a pipe support portion having another through hole having a through hole through which a fixing bolt is inserted. The pipe connector according to claim 1 or 2.