CA1270278A - Convertible flare/braze fitting - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A convertible fitting capable of selectively achieving a brazed, soldered or flared connection to a conduit. The fitting includes an interior passage and an exterior thread. The passage receives smooth wall conduit, such as tubing, for a braze or soldered connection, and an insert receivable within the fit-ting includes a conduit flare engaging surface and a seal cooperable with the fitting wherein the tightening of a conventional flare nut simultaneously seals the conduit flare to the insert and the insert to the fit-ting.

Description

1. Fittings ernployed at the end of conduits take a

2. variety of forms, such as adapters, tees, elbows, etc.,

3. and smooth wall conduits such as copper pipe, may be

4. attached to the fittings by several systems, such as

5. by brazing or soldering, flares, upset or flared ends,

6. compression rings, or the like. Each type of intercon-

7. nection between the conduit and fitting requires a parti-

8. cular fitting configuration, and with some modes of con-~. nection, the conduit end must be worked, such as flared lQ. or upset. Except for the brazed or soldered connections, ll. a rotatable nut is usually mounted upon the conduit for 12. attachment to fitting threads.
13. In view of the variety of connection systems available 14. suppliers of OE~l equipment such as refrigeration units, 15. air conditioners, and the like, must decide which type of 16. fitting to employ without knowing the type of conduit con-17. nections preferred by -their customers, or which will be 18. used with the equipment being sold. Thus, it is often l9. necessary for distributors, dealers~ installers, etc. to 2Q. maintain a large inventory of various types of fittings 21. to accommodate the particular installation desired. While 22. convertible or mul-ti-purpose conduit fitting connections 23. are known/ such known fittings are too costly, or compli-24. cated, to enjoy commercial success, or do not lend them-25. selves to diverse installationO
26. It is an object of the invention to provide a con-27. vertible fitting usable with conduit or tubing to selec-28. tively produce either a brazed, soldered or flared connec-29. -tion thereby substantially reducing inventory requirements.
3Q. Another object of the invention is to provide a fit-`;~

~2~ 78 1. ting for conduit or tube wherein either a ~ra7ed, sol-2. dered or flared connection may be used, and when utilizing 3. a flared connection an inexpensive inser-t is employed, 4. the insert construction being such that tiyhteniny of 5. the flare nut simultaneously seals the conduit flare to 6. the insert and seals the insert to the fi-tting with a 7. metal-to-metal seal.
8. In the practice of the invention the fit-ting includes

9. an internal passage which is provided with a concentric

10. counterbore intersecting an end surEace. Externally,

11. the fitting is provided with threads concentric to the pas-

12. sage adjacent the fitting end. The cylindrical counter-

13. bore permits the end of a cylindrical conduit or tube,

14. such as copper tube, or the like, to be inserted thereinto,

15. and connected to the fitting by conventional brazing or

16. soldering techniques.

17. If a flare is formed upon the end of the conduit, an 13. annular insert is located within the fitting counterbore 19. and the insert includes a head haviny a conventional coni-2Q. cal surface for cooperation with the conduit flare. The 21. insert head is also provided with a homogeneous ridge in 22. axial alignment with the fitting end, the ridge having a 23. sharpened apex wherein tightening of a standard flare nut 24. upon the fitting threads forces the conduit flare upon the 25. insert conical surface, and simultaneously axially displaces 26. the insert into the fitting counterbore to slightly embed 27. the insert ridge into the fitting end producing a fluid 28. tight metal-to-metal seal between the insert and fitting, 29. as well as pxoduce a fluid tigh-t seal between the insert 30. and flare.

l. The manufacture of fittings in accord with the 2. invention requires no unusual machining techniques, 3. may be economically achieved, and the insert is also 4. a low cost high production part which may be economi-5. cally discarded if a flare connection is not desired.
6. The aforementioned objects and advantayes of the 7. invention will be appreciated from the following des-8. cription and accompanying drawings wherein:
9. Fig. 1 is an elevational view, partially sectioned, 10. illustrating a fitting in accord with the invention uti-ll. lizing a brazed or soldered connection to a conduit, 12. Fig. 2 is an elevational view, partially sectioned, 13. of a fitting in accord with the invention as connected 14. to a flared conduit, illustrating the insert in the opera-15. tive sealed relationship to the fitting, 16. Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the insert, per 17. se,

18. Fig. 4 is an elevational, sectional view taken through

19. the insert along Section IV-IV of Fig. 3, and

20. Fig. 5 is an enlarged, sectional, detail view of the

21. fitting counterbore and insert prior to the insert being

22. embedded therein.

23. The configuration of the fitting in accord with the

24. invention is apparent from Figs. 1 and 2. The fitting in-

25. cludes a metal body 10, often formed of copper or brass,

26. and includes an axial passage 12 intersecting the ends

27. 14 and 16. The passage includes a concentric cylindrical

28. counterbore 18 intersecting end 14 to which a conduit,

29. not shown, may be brazed or soldered, as known, and the

30. passage also includes the concentric cylindrical counter-2~3 1. bore or recess 20 intersecting end 16. A beveled surface 2. may be defined at 22 intersecting end 16 and counterbore 3. 20 to aid in the insertion of a conduit into the counter-4. bore, and to facilitate the brazing or soldering opera-5. tion, if used. The fitting body 10 also includes the 6. usual wrench engaging flats 24, and is externally threaded 7. at 26.
8. If the fitting body is to be connected to a conduit 9. 28 by brazing or soldering, the counterbore 20 and the end 10. of the conduit are prepared in the usual manner by cleaning 11. and fluxing, and the conduit is inserted into the counter-12. bore and soldered or brazed therein in the known manner.
13. If it is desired to connect a flared conduit, such as 14. shown at 30 in Fig. 2 having a conical flare 32 to the fit-15. ting body 10, the insert 34, Fig. 3, is used in conjunction 16. with the fitting. The insert 34 is of a generally cylin-17. drical configuration having an external cylindrical surface 18. at 36, and is provided with a cylindrical bore 38. An en-19. larged diameter head 40 is defined upon the insert and the 20. head includes a standard conical surface 42 of 45 for co-21. operation with a conventional conduit flare. Also, the 22. head 40 includes a radial shoulder 44 lying in a plane per-23. pendicular to the axis of the insert, and this shoulder 24. includes an annular axially extending ridge or projection 25. 46 ha~ing a sharp apex 48. The diameter of the insert 34 26. is slightly less than the diameter of the fitting counter-27. hore 20 wherein the surfaces readily telescope as apparent 28. in Figs. 2 and 5 for assembly of the insert into the coun-29. terbore in the illustrated manner.
30. After inserting the insert into the counterbore 20 ~2~ 8 1. the conduit flare 32 is brought into enyagement with 2. the insert surface 42, and the flare nut 50 rotatably 3. mounted upon the conduit or tube 30 in the known manner 4. is rotated to thread the nut upon the fitting threads 26.
5. As the nut ls threaded upon the fitting the conical nut 6. surface 52 engages the flare 32 forcing the flare into 7. firm engagement with the insert surface 42. As the nut 8. 50 is further threaded upon the fitting the flare will 9. force the ridge 46 against the fitting end 16, and final 10. tigl~tening of the nut will embed the ridge apex 48 slightly 11. into the fitting end 16. Thus, a fluid tight metal-to-12. metal seal is achieved between the fitting body 10 and 13. insert 34 by -the ridge 46, and simultaneously a fluid 14. tight metal-to-me-tal engagement will exist between the 15. insert and the conduit flare 32.
16. The construction of the insert 34 permits the nut 50 17. to be unloosened and removed from the fitting and the re-18. assembly of the conduit 30 upon the insert may occur a 19. number of times without affecting the efficiency of the 20. sealed relationship.
21. The fitting body 10 and the insert 34 may be formed 22. of the same material or the material of the insert may 23. be slightly harder than the fitting body material.
24. As the insert 34 is easily manufactured on automatic 25. turning machines the cost of producing the insert is 26. small, permitting the insert to be provided with each 27. fitting body regardless of whether a brazed or soldered 28. connection, or flared connection, is to be used. The 29. fitting of t'ne invention reduces inventories due to its 30. multi-mode use, and it is appreciated that various modi-~LZ70;2~

1. fications to the inventive concepts may be apparent 2. to those skilled in the art without departing from 3. the spirit and scope of the invention.

i~ 6.

Claims (2)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. In combination, a fitting comprising a body having a cylindrical passage, a passage axis, a flat planar end intersected by said passage perpendicular thereto, and threads defined upon the body adjacent said end and coaxial with said passage, a cylindrical counterbore defined in said body concentric to said passage and forming a portion thereof, said counterbore directly intersecting said body end and comprising an inner cylindrical surface of uniform diameter throughouts its length, a tubular insert within said counterbore having an external cylindrical surface of a diameter slightly less than the diameter of said counterbore inner surface whereby said insert is axially displaceable within said counterbore, said insert including a radially extending flange substantially perpendicularly disposed to said body passage axis located adjacent said body end exteriorly of said counterbore and having a periphery having a diameter greater than the diameter of said insert cylindrical surface and less than the minimum diameter of said threads, an outer conical sealing surface defined on said insert flange converging toward said passage axis in a direction away from said body end adapted to be engaged by a conduit flare, said flange outer conical sealing surface intersecting said flange periphery, an inner annular radial shoulder defined on said flange in axial opposed relation to said body end, an annular ridge homogeneously defined upon said inner flange shoulder concentric to said insert cylindrical surface and radially spaced outwardly therefrom radially located between said insert external cylindrical surface and said flange periphery, said ridge having a sharp apex to facilitate embedding of said ridge into said body end, and an annular nut threaded upon said body threads adapted to circumscribe the flared end of a conduit located upon said conical sealing surface and axially displace said insert into said counterbore to embed said ridge apex into said body end.

2. In a combination as in claim 1, said insert and ridge being of a harder material than the material of said body.