Claims
- 1. A quick connect assembly, comprising:
- a female component having an axial opening adapted to matingly receive a male member;
- an indicator member received generally within said female component opening and having a nesting feature that cooperates with a corresponding feature on said female component to maintain said indicator member in a first axial position relative to said female component; and
- means for cooperating with said male member to thereby eject said indicator member from said female component opening upon reaching a preselected engagement position between said female component and the male member.
- 2. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said indicator member comprises a generally annular ring and said axial opening is generally annular.
- 3. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said indicator nesting feature and said corresponding feature on said female component respectively comprise a radially extending projection and a groove.
- 4. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said nesting feature comprises a groove and said corresponding feature comprises a radially extending projection.
- 5. The assembly of claim 8, wherein said corresponding feature is provided on said sleeve.
- 6. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said indicator member is snappingly ejected out of said female component when said preselected engagement position is effected.
- 7. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said first axial position comprises said indicator member being substantially within said female component and wherein said indicator member is snappingly ejected out of said female component in an axial direction upon reaching said preselected engagement position between said female component and said male member.
- 8. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said female component further comprises a housing and a sleeve positioned at least partially within said housing.
- 9. A quick connect assembly, comprising:
- a female component having an axial opening adapted to matingly receive a male member;
- an indicator device received within said axial opening, said indicator device accommodating a relative axial movement between a leading edge on said male member and said indicator, said indicator visually indicating a proper coupling between said male member and said component;
- means for maintaining said indicator device in a first axial position relative to said component; and
- means for ejecting at least a portion of said indicator device from said component, said ejecting means cooperating with axial movement of said male member relative to said component to thereby indicate that a proper coupling of said male member and said component has been effected.
- 10. The assembly of claim 9, wherein said maintaining means comprises a radially extending projection on said indicator device cooperating with a groove on said component.
- 11. The assembly of claim 9, wherein said maintaining means comprises a radially extending projection on said female component cooperating with a notch on said indicator device.
- 12. The assembly of claim 9, wherein said maintaining means comprises a radially extending projection on said indicator device and a cooperating notch on said female component.
- 13. The assembly of claim 8, wherein one of said radially extending projection or said groove is disposed on said sleeve.
- 14. The assembly of claim 9, wherein said portion of said indicator device is snappingly ejected from said female component upon said proper coupling.
- 15. The assembly of claim 9, wherein said indicator comprises a generally annular ring and wherein said ring is said removed portion.
- 16. The assembly of claim 9, wherein said female component further comprises a housing and a sleeve positioned at least partially within said housing.
- 17. A quick connect assembly, comprising:
- a female component having an axial opening adapted to matingly receive a male member;
- an indicator device including a largest diameter portion is operatively received within said axial opening, said indicator device visually indicating a proper coupling between said male member and said female component;
- a first nesting surface on said indicator device and a second nesting surface on said female component, said first and second nesting surfaces cooperating to maintain said indicator device in a first axial position relative to said female component; and
- wherein said male member has a flange for causing at least a portion of said indicator device to be ejected from said female component during axial movement of said male member relative to said female component to thereby indicate that a proper coupling of said male member and said female component has been effected.
- 18. The assembly of claim 17, wherein said indicator device is made from a material having at least a small degree of resiliency and said resiliency aids in ejecting said portion of said indicator device from said female component.
CROSS-REFERENCE
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/126,280, filed on Sep. 24, 1993, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,556 which has common assignee of interest with this application.
This invention is related to U.S. application Ser. No. 07/809,826, filed Dec. 18, 1991, entitled "Retainer for Pop Top Indicator" having the same assignee of interest as this application. This invention is also related to U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,424, issued Jan. 12, 1993, entitled "Pop-Off Quick Connect Indicator" having the same inventor and assignee of interest as this application. U.S. Ser. No. 07/724,225 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,424 are hereby incorporated within this specification by reference.
US Referenced Citations (18)
Foreign Referenced Citations (4)
Number |
Date |
Country |
0505930 |
Mar 1992 |
EPX |
4003461 |
Aug 1990 |
DEX |
1148191 |
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JPX |
2216213 |
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GBX |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
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Parent |
126280 |
Aug 1993 |
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