Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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This invention is in the field of couplings for hose and
pipe.
It is well known to have male and female coupling members
removably locked together by a peripheral groove in one member and
a pair of pivoted cam members on the other member adapted to engage
the peripheral groove. The desirability of holding the cam members
in the locking position is recognized by the prior art. Reference
may be made for example to United States Patent 3,976,313 in which
detents are employed to hold levers on such cam members in closed
position against inadvertent rotation. In United States Patent
3,124,374 a similar structure is disclosed in which rotation of a
lever on a cam member is prevented by a pin having an axis parallel
to the axis of the coupling and mounted in a spring biased plunger
with an axis perpendicular to the axis of the pin in such a manner
that depressing the plunger clears the pin away from the cam
member lever to permit its rotation. The use of a detent as in
United 5tates Patent 3,976,313 is risky since a relatively small
force can pop the cam member free of the detent and thus permit
the unlocking of the coupling. The structure of United States
Patent 3,124,374 is relatively expensive and is subject to mal-
functioning incident to being invaded by dirt. These disadvantages
have been overcome by providing in the present invention a locking
device in which all the parts are integral with the coupling except
for a removable wire pin which holds the cam lever securely since
the only way the cam lever can come loose is to shear the pin.
The device of the invention is simple, inexpensive and effective.
The only loose part is the pin which is very cheap and can be
replaced at little cost if lost.
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The invention provides a quick-disconnect cam locking
safety coupling comprising: a hollow male plug having an external
peripheral groove, a socket receiving said male plug and having a
pair of opposed side openings opposite said peripheral groove, a
gasket for sealing between the maIe plug and the socket, a pair of
cam members each having a lever with an opening and lying adjacent
the socket and a cam portion passing through one of said side open-
ings and engaging said peripheral groove and each being pivotally
connected to the socket for outward movement of the levers away
: 10 from the socket to disengage the cam portions from the said
peripheral groove, a lug on the socket adjacent each cam member
lever and extending through the opening in the lever, the exterior
of each of said levers having a recessed portion adjacent the open-
ing in the lever to minimize the distance the lug must protrude
from the body of the socket, each lug having an opening there-
through lying substantially in a plane perpendicular to the axis
of the coupling, and a wire pin clipped to the lug with a straight
arm of the pin passing through each lug opening and accommodated
in the recessed portion of the adjacent lever to hold the adjacent
cam member in the groove engaging position, and a bent arm of the
pin outside the lug and having a bent portion on each side of the
lug to center and lock the pin onto the lug.
The invention also provides a quick-disconnect cam lock-
ing safety coupling comprising: a hollow male plug having an
external peripheral groove, a socket receiving said male plug and
: having a pair of opposed side openings opposite said peripheral
groove, a gasket for sealing between the male plug and the socket,
a pair of cam members each having a lever lying adjacent the socket
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and a cam portion passing through one of said side openings and
engaging said peripheral groove and each being pivotally connected
to the socket for outward movement of the levers away from the
socket to disengage the cam portions from the said peripheral
groove, and locking means for locking each cam member in the groove
engaging position including a pair of lugs with one of said lugs
positioned on the socket on each side of each cam member lever,
each lug having an opening, a removable wire pin passing through
said lug openings and engaging the exterior of the cam member lever
to limit the outward movement of said lever, said cam member lever
having a recess to accommodate the removable wire to minimize the
distance the lugs must protrude from the body of the socket, said
wire pin clipped to the lugs with a straight arm of the pin passing
through each lug opening and seated in the recessed portion of the
lever to lock the cam member in groove engaging position, and a
bent arm of the pin positioned outside the lugs, said bent arm
having a pair of bent portions with one of said bent portions being
positioned on each side of the pair of lugs to center and lock the
pin onto the lugs.
The invention will now be described in greater detail
with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a coupling in accordance
with the invention;
Figure 2 is a vertical section taken on the plane indi-
cated by the line 2-2 in Figure l;
Figure 3 is a top-plan view of the coupling of Figure l;
Figure 4 is a side elevation of an alternative coupling
in accordance with the invention, partially broken away;
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Figure 5 is a vertical section taken on the plane
indicated by the line 5-5 in Figure 4, partially broken away;
Figure 6 is a side elevation of an alternative coupling
in accordance
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with the invention, partially broken away;
Figure 7 is a vertical section taken on a plane indicated by the line
7-7 in Figure 6, partially broken away;
Figure 8 is an elevational view of one of the cam members of the
coupling o Figure 1.
As seen in Figure 1, a preferred coupling 2 in accordance with the in-
vention has a hollow male plug 4 having external threads 6 at one end ant a
peripheral locking groove 8 ~Figure 2) adjacent the other end. Male plug 4 has
an octagonal portion 10 adapted to be engaget by a wrench. Male plug 4 is tele-
scopet into one end of a socket 12 which is internally threaded at its other
end as indicated at 14 ~Figure 2). Socket 12 has an octagonal portion 15. A
gasket 16 seals between plug 4 ant socket 12. Socket 12 has opposet side open-
ings 18 ~Figures 1 and 2) opposite the peripheral groove 8 ln plug 4. Associat-
; ed with each opening 18 i5 a cam member 22 which is pivotally mounted on a
hollow pin 24 fixedly secured to a pair of ears 26 ~igure 1) integral with
socket 12. Each cam member 22 has a cam portion 30 in engagement with locking
groove 8 ant has an integral locking lever 34.
Each lever 34 has an opening 35 ~Figures 1 and 2) receiving a lug 36
integral with socket 12. ~ach lug 36 has an opening 38 which receives a straightportion 42 of a wire locking pin 40. Lever 34 has a recessed portion 44 receiv-
ing the portion 42 of pin 40 to minimize the tistance the lug 36 must protrude
from the body of socket 12. Pin 40 is clippet to lug 36 by an arm 46 running
generally paralled to portion 42 ant having inwardly bent portions 50 and 52
which are adapted to engage lug 36 to keep the wire pin centeret ant prevent its: inadvertent removal from lug 36. Each lever 34 has an opening 56 receiving a
multi-turn wire ring 58 for manipulating lever 34.
To assemble the coupling, male plug 4 i~ telescoped into socket 12
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against gasket 16 with cam members 22 in the elevated position shown in phantom
in Figure 2. When the plug 4 is seated on gasket 16, cam member levers 34 are
rotated on pins 24 to carry each cam portion 30 into engagement with locking
groove 8 to lock plug 4 and socket 12 together. On reachin~ the locking pos-
ition, each opening 35 receives its associated lug 36. The portion 42 of pin 40
is then inserted into opening 38 of lug 36 to lock the lever 34 in position.
An alternative coupling socket 60 which can be substituted for socket
12 is shown in Figures 4 and 5. Socket 60 is essentially the same as socket 12
with the exception that it has a modified cam member 62 mounted on pin 24. Cam
member 62 has a cam portion 64 in engagement with peripheral groove 8 of male
plug 4 and an integral lever 66 having an opening 58 for the reception of a
multi-turn wire ring 70. As best seen in Figure 4, a pair of lugs 74, 74 in-
tegral with socket 60 lie on each side of lever 66 and each has an opening 76
in which is mounted the straight portion 78 of a wire-locking pin 80. Portion
78 of pin 80 is received in a recessed portion 84 of lever 66. Pin 80 has bent
portions 85 and 86 on arm 88 which are adapted to engage lugs 74, 74 to center
pin 80 and prevent its inadvertent removal. The operation of this embodiment
will be obvious from the description of the operation of coupling 2.
A further alternative socket 100 in accordance with the invention is
shown in F;gures 6 and 7. Socket 100 is the same as socket 60 with the e~-
ception that it employs a modified cam member 102 having a cam portion 104 in
engagement with locking groove 8 of a plug 4 and pivotally mounted on a pin 24.
Cam member 102 has an integral lever 106 with an opening 108 for the reception
of a multi-turn wire ring 110. kever 106 lies between lugs 74, 74 and has a
bore 114 or the recept;on of the straight portion 78 of a wire-locking pin 80.
The op~ration o thi~ embodiment will be obvious from the description of the
operation of co~pling 2.
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