EP0056071B1 - High-pressure connection - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an attachable high-pressure connection for a container valve on a liquid gas container.

Conventional tank valves according to the plug-on system have a check valve that serves as a filling and removal valve and works in combination with a plug-on pressure regulator part as a control valve. The reduction of the tank pressure to consumption pressure, which is usually 500 mm water pressure, corresponding to just under 50 mbar, takes place in the tank valve. The sealing element, generally a rubber ring, arranged between the container valve and the pressure regulator part is therefore only subjected to low pressure. Even when the regulator is switched on, the pressure regulator part can be attached to the tank valve with the help of a ball coupling; When the check valve is opened, only low pressure is present, which can be easily overcome by hand during the coupling process.

However, consumer devices are increasingly coming, mainly for industrial purposes - e.g. B. burners, camping stoves, lights - for use, which can only be operated at high pressure and make a high-pressure tapping device (adapter) also necessary for plug-on container valves.

There are already high-pressure connections for plug-on container valves which, in addition to the usual ball coupling, also have a screw connection for a consumer with a longitudinally movable valve actuating plunger. This is moved in the direction of the container valve when a consumer is screwed on, whereby the check valve in the plug-on container valve opens. With this arrangement, the high-pressure connection must first be coupled to the tank valve under all circumstances and then the consumer must be connected. If the procedure were reversed, the container valve would be open before the ball coupling reaches its end position. This would have the consequence that high pressure would immediately occur, which would counteract the removal device (adapter) which has not yet engaged. Depending on the pressure in the container, coupling would then be difficult or impossible. In addition, the seal would be lost and gas that had already escaped would reach the atmosphere or the installation room of the system. Attaching such a high-pressure connection (adapter) can even be problematic in the correct order if it is uncoupled from the container valve when the consumer is screwed in. In this case, the high pressure prevailing between the container valve and the high-pressure connection throws the gas, which still escapes from the container during the uncoupling process, towards the handling person's high-pressure connection.

To overcome these difficulties, a push-on high-pressure connection has been proposed in DE-U-7224987, which has a spring-loaded plug-in ball coupling and a longitudinally displaceably guided actuating member which is arranged centrally in the threaded connector of a housing and acts on the tappet of the container valve. This arrangement has proven itself in practice because it ensures the necessary security. However, the previously known connection has a greater overall height and requires a relatively large amount of construction, assembly and production. There is therefore a need for a simplified removal device.

It is an important object of the invention, while overcoming the disadvantages of the prior art, to provide an improved high-pressure connection (adapter) for container valves which is of simple construction and meets all safety requirements with any handling; it should be particularly suitable for convenient use with smaller consumers and outdoors, for example with burners, stoves, lights, etc. used during camping.

According to claim 1 is provided with a connection of the type mentioned that a sleeve is longitudinally displaceable on the housing, the position of which determines the operability of the ball coupling. This ensures in a surprisingly simple manner that the correct actuation sequence is observed. If a consumer device is screwed onto the high-pressure connection (adapter), the sleeve blocks the ball coupling clamping ring and the entire unit cannot be attached to the container valve of a liquid gas container. So you have to do the other way round and first plug in (connect) the high pressure connection for yourself, whereupon the consumer can be screwed into the threaded connector of the housing. A sealing element takes over the sealing from the atmosphere, and when screwing in further, the actuating element presses on the tappet of the container valve, so that it opens. This means that high pressure is pending up to the shut-off device of the consumer or gas device. Conversely, this has to be removed first, so that the container valve closes and the high-pressure connection can only be removed from the container after the sleeve has released the ball coupling clamping ring.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention are the subject of claims 2 to 7. In claims 2 and 3 further developments are specified, according to which the spring loading the clamping ring of the ball coupling can simultaneously act on the lower part of the sleeve. In the unactuated state, this projects beyond the threaded connector of the housing, along which it is moved downwards as soon as a consumer is screwed in.

For this purpose, the sleeve can have a cylindrical neck guided on the threaded connector.

It is very advantageous if the sleeve according to claims 5 to 7 has a number of fingers which penetrate a collar of the housing and can support the compression spring of the ball coupling clamping ring with its underside. Four such fingers, regularly distributed over the circumference, have proven to be particularly favorable in practice.

Further features, details and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of an embodiment with reference to the drawing. The only figure shows an axial sectional view of a high-pressure connection according to the invention, the right half representing the unactuated state, the left half representing the actuated state.

The high pressure connection, generally designated 10, has a cap 12 which is positively connected to a housing 14. Its lower part forms the inner ring of a ball coupling 16, with which an outer clamping ring 18 cooperates, which is supported by a compression spring 20 against a collar 22 of the housing 14. The collar 22 has a peripheral rib 24, on which - after the other parts have been assembled - a bead 30 of the cap 12 engages.

In the upper part, the housing 14 has a centrally arranged threaded connector 32 and a guide bush 34 for a head pin 36, which is secured or captively arranged by a grooved ring.

On the outside, a sleeve 38 with its cylindrical neck 40 is guided loosely longitudinally on the threaded connector 32. Starting from the neck 40, the sleeve 38 widens so that it reaches with fingers 42 over the cylindrical part of the housing 14/16, the collar 22 of the housing 14 being penetrated in recesses 44. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, four such recesses 44 and fingers 42 are distributed over the circumference. The latter have a lower stop 46, which can cooperate with the upper edge 48 of the ball coupling clamping ring 18. The fingers 42 may be flat on the underside radially inward or, as drawn, have a projection 50 which engages over the upper part of the compression spring 20.

In the rest position (right half of the drawing), the connection 10 can be plugged onto a (not shown) container valve on a liquid gas container. For this purpose, the clamping ring 18 is raised against the compression spring 20, which is possible up to the stop at the connection point 30/24, so that the balls are pressed outwards by the shaft of the container valve until they fall into a circumferential groove in which they are released Clamping ring 18 locked. During this process, the sleeve 38 remains in its unactuated position, since the compression spring 20 loads the underside of the fingers 42, so that the neck 40 projects upwards out of the housing 14 and over the cover cap 12.

It is now possible to attach a device connection G. For this purpose, the screw connection S is screwed into the threaded connection 32 of the housing 14, the collar B coming into abutment on the end face on the neck 40 of the sleeve 38. At the same time, the head pin 36, which had been moved upwards from the tappet when the high-pressure connection 10 was coupled onto the container valve, is pressed downward by the pressing surface P, while the seals D of the device connection G are already effective in or on the threaded connector 32 are. If the screw socket S is screwed in completely, the head pin 36, as the actuating element, has pressed the plunger of the container valve downward and thus opened it. As a result, high pressure is applied via the gas supply bore Z to the shut-off device (not shown) of the device connection.

The collar 40 and its fingers 42 have thus reached the actuation position through the collar B (left half of the drawing). The lower stop 46 of the fingers 42 now prevents, by abutting the upper edge 48 of the clamping ring 18, that the latter can be lifted and thus the high-pressure connection 10 removed as long as the device connection G as described with the adapter (high-pressure connection) 10 connected is. The risks mentioned at the beginning of conventional removal devices are therefore completely eliminated by the invention with very little effort.

In addition, the invention ensures manufacturing advantages. As can be seen, the high-pressure connection 10 consists of only a few parts, which can be produced inexpensively and assembled easily, without having to provide or observe particularly close tolerances. The cap 12 and the clamping ring 18 are preferably made of plastic, while the housing body 14/16/22 and the sleeve body 38/40/42 each consist in one piece of metal parts. Post-processing or adjustment is not necessary.

Claims (7)

1. Slip-on high-pressure attachment (10) for a container valve at a liquid gas container, including a spring-loaded slip-on ball coupling (16, 18) and an actuating member (36) that is centrically arranged in a screw neck (32) of a casing (14) and is longitudinally displaceable for acting on the plunger of the container valve, characterized in that a sleeve (38) is seated for longitudinal displacement on the casing (14), its position governing the applicability of the slip-on ball coupling (16,18).

2. High-pressure attachment according to claim 1, wherein the spring (20) arranged between casing (14) and clamping ring (18) of the slip-on ball coupling (16) is engaged to portions (42) of sleeve (18) extending below the casing (14).

3. High-pressure attachment according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the spring (20) acts on the lower portion of sleeve (38) the upper portion of which is supported or topped by the casing (14), in particular by a cap (12) matchingly connected to the latter.

4. High-pressure attachment according to any one of claims 1 to 3, for connection to an equipment junction (G) having a screw connection piece (S) adapted to be screwed into screw neck (32) of casing (14) such that a pressure survace (P) engages the head of the actuating member (36), wherein sleeve (38) comprises an extension (40) which is guided in screw neck (32) and outwardly extends beyond screw neck (32) when the sleeve (38) is inoperative, a shoulder (B) of the equipment junction (G) being adapted to be pressed onto the face of said extension during the screwing-in operation.

5. High-pressure attachment according to at least one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the sleeve (38) has a plurality of fingers (42) extending into or through recesses (44) at a collar (22) of casing (14) which collar forms the back-up for spring (20) of slip-on ball coupling (16, 18) when the sleeve (38) is inoperative.

6. High-pressure attachment according to claim 5, wherein the fingers (42) reach over the upper portion of spring (20), for example by means of projections (50).

7. High-pressure attachment according to claim 5 or claim 6, wherein each finger (42) includes a lower stop (46) engaging the upper rim (48) of the clamping ring (16) of the slip-on ball coupling when sleeve (38) is moved down relative to the casing (14) against the force of spring (20).

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