The invention relates to a coupler for a pipe or hose section.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,407,532 discloses a coupler with a hose section having a coupling body with a coupling piece integrally formed therewith and a pressing sleeve which can be pre-assembled to the coupling body. When using this coupler, a connectable hose end is introduced in an annular gap between the coupling piece and the pressing sleeve and connected by concentrically pressing the pressing sleeve together with the coupler.
The desired pre-assembly between the coupling body and the pressing sleeve is achieved with known couplers by inserting the pressing sleeve with its front end over the area of the coupling body adjacent to the coupling piece and pressing a stop projection projecting inwardly from the pressing sleeve through a plastic deformation in an annular stop groove in the coupling body. Since the inside diameter of the stop projection of the pressing sleeve is larger than the outside diameter of the annular projection, in order to be able to insert the same over the annular projection formed between the stop groove and the coupling piece, prior to achieving the pre-assembly, substantial pressure must be applied to the plastic deformation to achieve the pre-assembly and a special tool is required for this. The rejection rate with couplers is relatively high in the production of such pre-assembly. The above-mentioned pre-assembly between the coupling body and the pressing sleeve is not suitable for the use of coupling bodies made of plastic since they would not withstand the pressures exerted upon them when producing the pre-assembly. The use of coupling bodies of plastic is, however, advantageous with regard to use for coupling for pipes or hoses carrying water.
The invention therefore relates to a generic coupling in which the coupling body and the pressing sleeve can be pre-assembled in a simple manner that is favorable in terms of production costs.
Through the use of a locking or interlocking connection, the pre-assembly of the coupling body and pressing sleeve can be achieved rapidly and simply without tools and without risk of damage.
When selecting a locking connection, it is preferable that the front end be designed in an elastically deformable manner with the pressing sleeve where the front end of the pressing sleeve preferably locks with the coupling body upon spring-back.
The inventive coupler is advantageously suited for the use of plastic, particularly polymers such as polysulfone or polyphenylene sulfone, as the material of the coupling body where the pressing sleeve can consist of stainless steel.
With such a coupler, pipe or hose sections can be connected with as many additional connections as desirable such as additional pipe or hose sections. Other arrangements such as Ts, reducers, elbows, transitions to sections with internal or external threads or similar types are possible with the inventive coupler. Further advantages and details of the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings. In the Figures: