Patent Application
20230358348
The disclosure relates to a joint, more particularly to a pipe joint.
As shown in
To assemble such conventional pipe joints, it is required to first sleeve the washer 5 on the small diameter tube portion 402 of the second joint member 4. Then, the small diameter tube portion 402 is brought to extend through the through hole 104 of the nut 1, so as to allow the externally threaded segment 407 to threadedly engage the internally threaded segment 302 of the first joint member 3, in such a manner that the washer 5 is clamped between the shoulder portion 403 and an end surface of the first joint member 3 facing the second joint member 4. When the conventional pipe joint is to be connected to the pipeline 6, another leak-proof washer 7 is disposed in the threaded hole 103 of the first nut 1. The first nut 1 is brought to threadedly engage the pipeline 6 such that the leak-proof washer 7 is clamped between the flange portion 404 and an end surface of the pipeline 6 facing the flange portion 404.
However, since the joint assembly 2 of the conventional pipe joint includes the first joint member 3 and the second joint member 4 which are threadedly connected to each other, leaking of the conventional pipe joint can be expected. In order to prevent leakage, the washer 5 is clamped in a junction between the first joint member 3 and the second joint member 4. However, such designs increase the manufacturing cost. In addition, since the second inner hole 405 of the second joint member 4 communicates with the first inner hole 301 of the first joint member 3 through the communicating hole 406 of the second joint member 4 that has a diameter smaller than that of the first inner hole 301 of the first joint member 3 and that of the second inner hole 405 of the second joint member 4, a pressure of the fluid flowing through a flow path from either one of the second inner hole 405 or the inner hole 301 into the communicating hole 406 is increased, which may also lead to leakage between the first joint member 3 and the second joint member 4.
Therefore, an object of the disclosure is to provide a pipe joint device capable of alleviating at least one of the drawbacks of the conventional pipe joint.
According to an aspect of the disclosure, a pipe joint device includes a nut, and a joint assembly. The nut includes a surrounding wall surrounding an axis and defining a threaded hole that extends along the axis, and an inward flange wall extending radially and inwardly from one end of the surrounding wall. The inward flange wall surrounds the axis, defines a connecting through hole in spatial communication with the threaded hole, and has an annular shoulder surface facing the threaded hole. The connecting through hole has a diameter smaller than that of the threaded hole. The joint assembly is connected detachably to the nut and includes a joint tube body that surrounds the axis and that defines a joint inner hole extending along the axis, and an annular stopper sleeved detachably on the joint tube body. The joint tube body has an inner end portion that extends through the connecting through hole, and an outer end portion opposite to the inner end portion along the axis. The inner end portion has an inner end surface and an outer peripheral surface that is connected to the inner end surface, and that is formed with an external thread. The external thread of the outer peripheral surface of the inner end portion of the joint tube body is adjacent to the inner end surface. The annular stopper has a first abutment surface, a second abutment surface opposite to the first abutment surface along the axis, and an inner surface connected between the first abutment surface and the second abutment surface. The inner surface is formed with an internal thread threadedly engaging the external thread. The inner end portion further extends through the annular stopper, such that the second abutment surface faces and abuts against the annular shoulder surface of the inward flange wall. The first abutment surface of the annular stopper is disposed not farther away from the outer end portion of the joint tube body than the inner end surface along the axis.
Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
Referring to
The nut 10 includes a surrounding wall 11 surrounding an axis (X) and defining a threaded hole 111 extending along the axis (X), and an inward flange wall 12 extending radially and inwardly from one end of the surrounding wall 11.
The inward flange wall 12 surrounds the axis (X), defines a connecting through hole 122 in spatial communication with the threaded hole 111, and has an annular shoulder surface 121 facing the threaded hole 111. A diameter of the connecting through hole 122 is smaller than that of the threaded hole 111.
The joint assembly 20 is detachably connected to the nut 10, and includes a joint tube body 30 that surrounds the axis (X) and that defines a joint inner hole 33, and an annular stopper 40 that is sleeved detachably on the joint tube body 30.
The joint tube body 30 has an inner end portion 31 extending through the connecting through hole 122, and an outer end portion 32 opposite to the inner end portion 31 along the axis (X). The inner end portion 31 has an inner end surface 311, and an outer peripheral surface 312 connected to the inner end surface 311 and formed with an external thread 313.
In this embodiment, the external thread 313 is adjacent to the inner end surface 311 and has a length (L) along the axis (X).
The annular stopper 40 has a first abutment surface 41, a second abutment surface 42 opposite to the first abutment surface 41, and an inner surface 43 connected between the first abutment surface 41 and the second abutment surface 42. The inner surface 43 is formed with an internal thread 431.
In this embodiment, the annular stopper 40 has a thickness (T) along the axis (X) smaller than the length (L) of the external thread (313).
The inner end portion 31 further extends through the annular stopper 40 such that the second abutment surface 42 faces and abuts against the annular shoulder surface 121 of the inward flange wall 12. Note that the first abutment surface 41 of the annular stopper 40 is not farther away from the outer end portion 32 of the joint tube body 30 than the inner end surface along the axis (X). In this embodiment, only a portion of the external thread 313 threadedly engages the internal thread 431, and the first abutment surface 41 of the annular stopper 40 may be flush with the inner end surface 311 of the inner end portion 31 of the joint tube body 30 along the axial direction (X).
As shown in
As described above, the advantages of the present disclosure can be summarized as follows:
First, since the annular stopper 40 of the joint assembly 20 of the pipe joint device 100 of the present disclosure is sleeved on and threadedly engages the outer peripheral surface 312 of the joint tube body 30, a diameter of the joint inner hole 33 of the joint tube body 30 is not affected after the annular stopper 40 is connected to the joint tube body 30. By virtue of the structure of the joint tube body 30 and the annular stopper 40, the joint assembly 20 of the present disclosure can effectively reduce the possibility of leakage with only one washer 300. Thus, as compared to the conventional pipe joint, a leak-proof washer such as the leak-proof washer 5 described in the background section is not required to be mounted between the joint tube body 30 and the annular stopper 40 for preventing leakage therebetween and the manufacturing cost of the present disclosure can be reduced.
Second, in comparison with the prior art, the annular stopper 40 of the joint assembly 20 of the pipe joint device 100 of the present disclosure that threadedly engages the outer peripheral surface 312 of the joint tube body 30 would not block or affect the fluid flowing through a flow path defined by the pipe joint device 100 and the pipeline 200. As such, smooth flow of the fluid through the joint tube body 30 and the pipeline 200 can be ensured.
It is worth mentioning that, as shown in
In summary, the pipe joint device 100 of the present disclosure is not prone to cause leakage and the number of the leak-proof washer used can be reduced to thereby reduce the manufacturing cost. Further, the fluid flowing through the flow path defined by the joint inner hole 33 of the joint tube body 30 and the pipeline 200 would not be blocked and can thus flowing smoothly. Therefore, the object of the present disclosure is indeed achieved.
In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more other embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details. It should also be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number and so forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic may be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be further appreciated that in the description, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of various inventive aspects, and that one or more features or specific details from one embodiment may be practiced together with one or more features or specific details from another embodiment, where appropriate, in the practice of the disclosure.
While the disclosure has been described in connection with what is considered the exemplary embodiment, it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.
