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CN-121977125-A - Fluid coupling

CN121977125ACN 121977125 ACN121977125 ACN 121977125ACN-121977125-A

Abstract

The invention provides a fluid coupler, which comprises a body, a valve assembly, a switch piece and an interlocking mechanism. The body defines a fluid passage with a docking platform at one end for docking with another fluid coupling. The valve assembly comprises a ball core arranged in the fluid channel and a valve shaft component which is interlocked with the ball core and can be operated by the switch component to control the blocking or communication of the fluid channel. The switch piece is arranged on the body and is linked with the valve component, and the interlocking mechanism is arranged on the body. The interlocking mechanism comprises an actuating bolt, an elastic piece, a ball and a blocking piece, wherein the actuating bolt is arranged in an axial channel of the body, the actuating bolt can move along the axial direction, so that the ball can be selectively embedded into a groove of the switch piece or a groove part of the actuating bolt, when the abutting joint positioning is not finished, the ball is embedded into the groove of the switch piece to limit the rotation of the switch piece, after the abutting joint positioning is finished, the groove part of the actuating bolt and the ball form alignment, and the ball can be embedded into the groove part when the switch piece is operated, so that misoperation before the abutting joint is not finished is avoided.

Inventors

  • CHEN BAIHONG
  • JIANG BAIYI

Assignees

  • 富世达股份有限公司

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20260212

Claims (7)

  1. 1. A fluid coupling, comprising: A body defining a fluid channel, and having a docking platform at one end; a valve assembly including a ball core disposed in the fluid passage and a valve shaft member coupled to the ball core; A switch member disposed on the body and coupled with the valve assembly, one end of the switch member having a groove, and The interlocking mechanism is arranged on the body and is characterized in that: The interlocking mechanism comprises an actuating bolt, an elastic piece, a ball and a blocking piece; The body defines an axial channel extending along the axial direction and penetrating the butt joint platform, an actuating bolt hole is formed at the butt joint platform, and a radial hole for accommodating the ball is formed in the inner wall of the axial channel; The actuating bolt is arranged in the axial channel and can move along the axial direction, the actuating bolt is provided with a first end and a second end, the first end can protrude out of the butt joint platform and is configured to form positioning fit with the other fluid coupler, and the periphery of the actuating bolt is provided with a groove part; The elastic piece is arranged in the axial channel and is abutted against the second end of the actuating bolt so as to apply elastic acting force to the actuating bolt; The ball is accommodated in the radial hole and is configured to be matched with the groove part of the actuating bolt and the groove of the switch piece, and The blocking piece is arranged on the actuating bolt or in a blocking piece hole and used for limiting the actuating bolt to axially separate from the axial channel.
  2. 2. The fluid coupling of claim 1, wherein the docking station further comprises a locating hole configured to allow an end of an actuating pin of another fluid coupling to enter in a docked state, and wherein the blocking member is positioned on an inner wall of the axial passage and is disposed orthogonally to the axial passage.
  3. 3. The fluid coupling of claim 1, further comprising a constriction selectively disposed on an outer periphery of the actuating pin or on an inner wall of the axial passage, the constriction configured to form a corresponding engagement with the blocking member during axial movement of the actuating pin to limit axial disengagement of the actuating pin from the axial passage.
  4. 4. The fluid coupling of claim 1, wherein the actuating pin is maintained in a first axial position under the force of the resilient member when the fluid coupling is in a state in which the fluid coupling is not docked with another fluid coupling, wherein the first end of the actuating pin protrudes out of the actuating pin hole of the docking station, and wherein the ball is pushed by the outer circumferential surface of the actuating pin to engage the groove of the switching member to limit the rotation of the switching member.
  5. 5. The fluid coupling of claim 4, wherein when the fluid coupling is in a docked state with another fluid coupling and the docked position is not yet achieved, the actuating pin is urged by the docking platform of the other fluid coupling to move from the first axial position to a second axial position in which the first end of the actuating pin abuts the docking platform surface of the other fluid coupling and the ball is still urged by the outer peripheral surface of the actuating pin to engage the recess of the switch member to limit rotation of the switch member.
  6. 6. The fluid coupling of claim 5, wherein upon completion of the mating positioning of the fluid coupling with another fluid coupling, the actuating pin moves from the second axial position to a third axial position in which the first end of the actuating pin enters the positioning hole in the mating platform of the other fluid coupling and the ball is releasable from the groove of the switch member and engages the groove of the actuating pin to allow the switch member to be released from the restriction.
  7. 7. The fluid coupling of claim 1, wherein the outer periphery of the first end of the actuating pin is provided with a limiting structure configured to form an abutting engagement with an outer edge of the locating hole after the actuating pin enters the locating hole of the other fluid coupling to limit axial movement of the actuating pin and define an axial position of the actuating pin in the docked state.

Description

Fluid coupling Technical Field The present invention relates to a fluid coupling, and more particularly, to a fluid coupling having a ball valve structure. Background The fluid coupler is used in pipeline system for fluid conveying, and is used mainly in fast connecting and separating two pipeline sections and controlling the on-off state of fluid. In some existing designs, the valve operating mechanism may still be operated when the two fluid couplings have not yet been docked in position, which may cause fluid leakage under certain circumstances. To reduce this, some fluid couplings are additionally provided with locking mechanisms to limit valve operation, but relatively increase the number of operating steps. In addition, there are design types that can still perform joint separation when the valve is not fully closed, and fluid leakage or equipment damage may occur during joint separation. To prevent such accidents, some fluid couplings employ additional manual locking mechanisms that are cumbersome to operate and are susceptible to inadvertent user interaction, which in turn reduces the overall operational safety of the system. In addition, the conventional fluid coupling is also designed to avoid the situation that the joint is separated when the valve is not closed, and the coupling is separated by mistake when the valve is still in the open state, so that the leakage of the fluid or the damage to equipment is easily caused. Please refer to fig. 1A and fig. 1B. FIG. 1A is a schematic side view of a prior art fluid coupling, and FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram of an interlock system of the fluid coupling of FIG. 1A. As shown in fig. 1A and 1B, the prior art discloses a fluid coupling with a function of preventing the valve from opening when the valve is not properly docked, and preventing the valve from being detached when the valve is not closed. The interlocking mechanism is mainly realized by the cooperation of a plurality of components such as the handle part 6, the gear part 11, the pin 12, the roller 14, the key pin 18 and the like. Specifically, the gear portion 11 is disposed between the handle portion 6 and the key pin 18, and is configured in a gear transmission manner, and is responsible for converting a rotational motion generated by a user operating the handle portion 6 into a linear translational motion of the key pin 18, so that the key pin 18 can be switched between an extended position and a retracted position. In a mechanism that prevents the valve from being opened when improperly docked, the pin 12 is maintained in a protruding position under spring bias and into the path of movement of the roller 14, either radially or transversely, when the fluid coupling is in an undocked state, thereby physically restricting movement of the roller 14. The limited roller 14 further limits the moving path of the key pin 18, so that the key pin 18 cannot translate along the axial direction of the key pin, and the gear part 11 linked with the key pin is kept in a non-rotatable state, thereby preventing the handle part 6 from driving the valve to rotate from the closed position to the open position. Furthermore, in the mechanism preventing disengagement in the non-closed condition, when the valve is in the open condition, the key pin 18 extends with the operation of the handle portion 6 and is at least partially inserted into a corresponding hole or restraining slot of the complementary fluid coupling in abutment, thereby creating a mechanical interlock preventing relative rotation or accidental disengagement of the two couplings. Only when the handle portion 6 is rotated to the valve full-closing position, the gear portion 11 is caused to reversely drive the key pin 18 to retract to the retracted position, which can release the locked state and allow separation. However, the interlocking structure of the conventional fluid coupling needs to rely on multiple sets of gears, pin members and connecting rod members to perform motion conversion, so that the overall structure is relatively complex and has a large volume, not only increases the difficulty in manufacturing and assembling, but also makes the actuation process achieve the expected interlocking effect by matching with the operation sequence of a user, and may influence the smoothness and reliability in operation due to excessive number of members. In view of this, how to automatically generate the effect of limiting or releasing the limit according to the actual abutting state of the fluid coupler by the interlocking mechanism without adding manual operation steps, and to simplify the structural configuration of the interlocking mechanism at the same time, is an important issue to be solved in the related art. Disclosure of Invention In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an objective of the present invention is to provide a fluid coupling, which uses the axial displacement of the fluid coupling naturally generated during the docking