Water pipe joint

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6467816
  • Patent Number
    6,467,816
  • Date Filed
    Tuesday, August 21, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, October 22, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Nicholson; Eric K.
    • Dunwoody; Aaron
    Agents
    • Harrison & Egbert
Abstract
A water pipe joint includes a main body, a control sleeve, and an elastic element. The main body is provided with a plurality of expansion holes and receiving slots. The elastic element is disposed in a receiving gap of the main body. The control sleeve is provided with a plurality of retaining blocks and resilient pieces. The control sleeve is joined with the main body such that the retaining blocks of the control sleeve are slidably received in the receiving slots of the main body, and such that the retaining blocks of the control sleeve are acted on by the elastic element and the resilient piece to extend out of the expansion holes of the main body, so as to be detachably engaged with a water discharging connector.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates generally to a water pipe, and more particularly to a water pipe joint.




2. Description of Related Art




As shown in

FIG. 1

, a water pipe joint of the prior art comprises a hollow main body


10


which is provided at one end with a hose connector


101


and a locking nut


2


. The main body


10


is provided at other end with a spring


17


fitted thereover, walls


11


, and an expansion hole


12


. Located between two walls


11


is a guide slot


110


for receiving a driven piece


13


which is provided with a retaining block


130


. The retaining block


130


is extracted and retracted via the expansion hole


12


. The driven piece


13


is pushed by a driving piece


15


. The main body


10


is provided with a protruded edge


103


for stopping a stop piece


16


of a control sleeve


14


. The spring


17


is forced backward by the control sleeve


14


, so as to enable the retaining block


130


to retract into the expansion hole


12


. As a result, the water discharging connector


1


can be inserted into a through hole


102


of the main body


10


. As the control sleeve


14


is let go, the driven piece


13


is forced by the driving piece


15


, thereby causing the retaining block


130


to jut out of the expansion hole


12


. The main body


10


is thus joined with the water discharging connection


1


which can be connected with a hose or sprinkler.




Such a prior art water pipe joint as described above has several drawbacks. In the first place, it is rather complicated in construction and is therefore not cost-effective. In addition, the prior art water pipe joint is vulnerable to failure or clogging. In view of the fact that the control sleeve


14


and the main body


10


cannot be separated easily once they are joined together, the prior art water pipe-joint cannot be repaired or maintained with ease. Moreover, the control sleeve


14


and the retaining block


130


are made separately by injection molding, thereby resulting in a substantial increase in production cost.




BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a water pipe joint which is free of the drawbacks of the prior art water pipe described above.




The features, functions, and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood upon a thoughtful deliberation of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

shows an exploded view of a water pipe joint of the prior art.





FIG. 2

shows an exploded view of a first preferred embodiment of the present invention.





FIG. 3

shows a longitudinal sectional view of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention.





FIG. 4

shows a cross-sectional view of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention.





FIG. 5

shows an exploded view of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention.





FIG. 6

shows a longitudinal sectional view of the second preferred embodiment of the present invention.





FIG. 7

shows an enlarged view of a portion indicated by a circle “A” as shown in FIG.


6


.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION




As shown in

FIGS. 2-7

, a water pipe joint embodied in the present invention comprises a main body


20


, a control sleeve


30


, and an elastic element


40


.




The main body


20


has an outer cylindrical body


21


, an inner cylindrical body


22


, and a gap “H” located between the outer cylindrical body


21


and the inner cylindrical body


22


. The outer cylindrical body


21


is provided in the periphery with a plurality of slide slots


211


, whereas the inner cylindrical body


22


is provided with a plurality of expansion holes


23


, and a plurality of receiving slots


24


corresponding in location to the slide slots


211


of the outer cylindrical body


21


. The receiving slots


24


and the expansion holes


23


are provided at the juncture with a guide bevel


25


.




The control sleeve


30


has a connection ring


31


and a plurality of projections


32


, with each having two track slots


33


corresponding in location to the slide slots


211


of the main body


20


. The projections


32


are provided in the underside with an expansion slot


34


and a resilient piece


35


extending slantingly from the expansion slot


34


and having at the free end thereof a retaining block


36


.




The elastic element


40


is received in the gap “H” between the outer cylindrical body


21


and the inner cylindrical body


22


such that one end of the elastic element


40


urges the control sleeve


30


, and that other end of the elastic element


40


urges the main body


20


, thereby enabling the control sleeve


30


and the main body


20


to slide smoothly. As a result, a water discharging connector


1


can be securely retained by the retaining blocks


36


of the control sleeve


30


.




In combination, the control sleeve


30


is joined with the main body


20


in conjunction with the elastic element


40


such that the track slots


33


of the projections


32


are joined with the position confining edges


212


of the outer cylindrical body


21


, such that the retaining blocks


36


of the control sleeve


30


can be displaced in the receiving slots


24


of the inner cylindrical body


22


, and such that the retaining blocks


36


of the control sleeve


30


can be acted on by the elastic element


40


and the resilient pieces


35


of the control sleeve


30


to jut out of the expansion holes


23


of the main body


20


to retain the water discharging connector


1


. The retaining blocks


36


of the control sleeve


30


can be retracted into the receiving slots


24


of the inner cylindrical body


22


, so as to become disengaged with the water discharging connector


1


.




In using the water pipe joint of the present invention, a water admitting connector


201


of the main body


20


is connected to a water pipe in conjunction with a fastening nut


2


.




The present invention described above is to be regarded in all respects as being merely illustrative and not restrictive. Accordingly, the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without deviating from the spirit thereof. The present invention is therefore to be limited only by the scope of the following claim.



Claims
  • 1. A water pipe joint comprising:a main body having an outer cylindrical body and an inner cylindrical body, said outer cylindrical body and said inner cylindrical body defining a gap therebetween, said outer cylindrical body having a plurality of slide slots formed in a periphery thereof, said inner cylindrical body having a plurality of expansion holes formed through a wall thereof, said inner cylindrical body having a plurality of receiving slots corresponding respectively in location to said plurality of slide slots of said outer cylindrical body, said main body having a plurality of guide bevels positioned at junctures of said plurality of receiving slots of said inner cylindrical body and respective expansion holes of said plurality of expansion holes of said inner cylindrical body; a control sleeve having a connection ring and a plurality of projections, each of said plurality of projections having a pair of track slots slidably cooperative with respective slide slots of said plurality of slide slots on said outer cylindrical body, each of said plurality of projections having an expansion slot formed in an inner surface thereof and a resilient piece extending from said expansion slot, said resilient piece having a retaining block formed at a free end thereof; and an elastic element received in said gap of said main body said that one end of said elastic element exerts a resilient force against said control sleeve and an opposite end of said elastic element exerts a resilient force against said main body, said control sleeve being joined to said main body such that said pair of track slots of each of said plurality of projections are joined with a plurality of projections are joined with a plurality of position confining edges of said outer cylindrical body, the retaining blocks of said control sleeve being displaced in respective receiving slots of said plurality of receiving slots of said inner cylindrical body, the retaining blocks retained entirely interior of the expansion holes and being cooperative with said elastic element and the resilient pieces of said control sleeve so as to jut out of respective expansion holes of said plurality of expansion holes of said main body so as to retain a water discharging connector therein, the retaining blocks of said control sleeve being retractable into respective receiving slots of said inner cylindrical body so as to enable disengagement from said water discharging connector.
US Referenced Citations (8)
Number Name Date Kind
3873062 Johnson et al. Mar 1975 A
4660803 Johnston et al. Apr 1987 A
4903942 Licciardello et al. Feb 1990 A
5209528 Weh et al. May 1993 A
5884943 Katzer et al. Mar 1999 A
5927683 Weh et al. Jul 1999 A
6199913 Wang Mar 2001 B1
6283443 Taneya Sep 2001 B1