Gas service unit

Our invention pertains to a gas outlet device that is adapted to be installed in a wall and a connector tube that is designed to engage and disengage the gas outlet device. More particularly, our invention pertains to a gas outlet device and a connector tube that can be engaged and disengaged by simply pushing and pulling the connector tube and which eliminates the necessity for rotating the connector tube in order to engage it with the gas outlet device.

BACKGROUND 
A number of devices are known for connecting gas from a supply area to the 
place where the gas to to be utilized. One example of this is the device 
installed in the walls of hospitals to deliver gases such as oxygen and 
nitrogen from tanks outside of the hospital to equipment in the rooms of a 
hospital. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,742,052; 3,563,267 and 3,931,829 discolse 
devices of this sort. The connector tube or adapter used with these wall 
units has usually required some sort of rotation in order to effect 
engagement. 
THE PRESENT INVENTION 
Our invention involves both a wall gas outlet of new construction and a 
connector tube of new construction. Our connector tube does not have to be 
twisted or rotated in order to effect engagement with the wall gas outlet, 
thus minimizing the possibility of defective engagement because of 
improper or insufficient rotation. However, our new wall gas outlet can 
accommodate both our new connector tube and most of the connector tubes 
heretofore in use.

THE INVENTION IN DETAIL 
FIG. 1 shows a unit that generally comprises a valve housing A, an inlet 
section B and a connector tube C. The housing A and inlet section B have 
many features that are similar to those shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,931,829 
and the disclosure of this patent is therefore incorporated herein by 
reference. More particularly, valve housing A mainly consists of a 
generally cylindrical metallic body 114 that has one end provided with an 
oxygen supply pipe 115 (e.g. by welding). The intermediate portion of the 
body 114 houses valves 109 and 112 that are normally biased to the closed 
position by springs 108 and 113. Valves 109 and 112 are designed to work 
in sequence and are seated against washer 107 and "O" ring 111 
respectively, which are in turn maintained in the desired position by seat 
retainer section 106 and "O" ring retainer bushing 110. The inlet section 
B is composed of a member 106, member 108 and member 110. Member 106 is 
preferably made of plastic and, as is shown in FIGS. 1 and 9, does not 
have a constant diameter. The right end portion 120 holds the washer 107 
in place. Pins 122 are designed to fit into holes in the end of body 114 
and thus lock member 106 in place so that relative rotation is not 
possible. It should be noted that these pins are in different relative 
locations for different gases and are used to provide 
noninterchangeability. Member 108 is designed to fit against member 106, 
as is shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, and both members 106 and 108 are fastened to 
the body 114 by means of a bolt or screw 101 that passes through holes 124 
and 126 of members 106 and 108 and hole 103 in body 114. Member 110 fits 
around the protruding portion 130 of member 106 and against member 108 and 
is secured in place by bolts or screws that pass through holes 134 of 
member 110, through holes 131 and 132 of member 108 and into aligned holes 
in body 114. 
Member 108 has some features that are the same as those shown in U.S. Pat. 
No. 3,931,829 and some features that are different. A similar feature is 
that it has a one-piece spring biased door member 45a, 45b, 45c (compare 
FIGS. 2 and 4 of U.S. Pat. No. 3,931,829 and FIGS. 1, 6 and 7 of the 
present application). Another similar feature is that the backside of 
member 108 has hemispherical cam surfaces 50a and 50b (see FIG. 7) that 
are substantially the same as those shown in FIGS. 2, 3A and 3B of U.S. 
Pat. No. 3,931,829. These hemispherical surfaces will permit our device to 
be used with what can be designated as the "old style" connector tubes and 
which have pins such as the pins shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B of U.S. Pat. No. 
3,931,829. In this connection members 108 and 110 are shaped at 140 and 
142 to accomodate the insertion of an "old style" connector that has 
radially extending pins that are diametrically opposed to each other. 
Our device is different from that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,931,829 in that 
it is constructed so that it can also receive and hold a connector tube 
that is different from the ones heretofore known and used. More 
particularly, our device is adapted to receive and hold a connector tube 
which is constructed according to the present drawings, and which engages 
by pushing or pulling rather than by rotating. Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, 
it will be seen that connector tube C is generally composed of a shaft 
that has an outer end portion 30 that may be threaded and an inner end 
portion 32 that is adapted to pass through members 110, 108 and 106 until 
the tip of end portion 32 has pressed against the right end 105 of valve 
109 and moved it to the right, which in turn moves valve 112 to the right, 
thus permitting gas to flow from gas inlet pipe 115 through the housing A, 
and then out through the interior of connector tube C to whatever unit has 
been attached to the outer end portion 30 of the connector tube. 
The portion of the shaft intermediate the ends 30 and 32 is provided with 
radially extending ridges. In the embodiment shown in the drawings the 
shaft is provided with two diametrically opposed and radially extending 
ridges 34 that extend longitudinally along a substantial portion of the 
shaft. When the connector tube C is moved from the position shown in FIG. 
1 to an "inserted" position as shown in FIG. 2, the ridges 34 first pass 
through U-shaped slots 142 of member 110 (see FIG. 10) and then through 
the U-shaped slots of member 108 (see FIG. 6), such U-shaped slots serving 
to both guide the ridges 34 and to prevent rotational movement of the 
connector tube. 
It will also be noted that the connector tube C has two other elongated 
ridges 36 that are spaced 90.degree. from ridges 34. Ridges 36 differ from 
ridges 34 in that ridges 36 contain a shallow longitudinal groove 35 which 
diverges in a downward direction. At one point along the ridge 35 and 
longitudinal groove 35 a transverse groove 37 is provided, which is 
disposed at right angles to longitudinal groove 35. If the shaft thus far 
described would be inserted into the inlet section B, the ridges 34 would 
pass through U-shaped slots 142 and 140, as previously described. However, 
ridges 36, which are 90.degree. from ridges 34, would encounter locking 
wires 71 and 72 (see FIG. 6). Wires 71 and 72 are not connected to 
anything at their upper ends but are fastened to member 108 at their lower 
ends by wire 73. These wires are normally spaced aprt (see FIG. 6) a 
distance which is slightly less than the distance between the 
diametrically opposed top surfaces of ridges 36. Thus, when the shaft of 
the connector tube C is pushed into the inlet section B, wires 71 and 72 
will first of all be pushed apart as they ride up the front inclined 
surfaces 39 of ridges 36, and remain in a diverged condition as they move 
along the top surface of ridges 36 until the transverse slot 37 is 
encountered. At this point the wires 71 and 72, which are resiliently 
biased toward the position shown in FIG. 6, but which have been pushed 
apart by the ridges 36, will snap down into the transverse slot 37 so that 
the shaft of the connector tube is locked against further inward 
longitudinal movement. Such locking in place is desirable during the time 
that gas is being used for equipment that is attached to end 30 of the 
shaft. 
When further gas flow is not desired the connector tube C must be removed 
from the inlet section B. This first of all requires that the locking 
wires 71 and 72 be disengaged from the slots 37. Such disengagement can be 
accomplished in a number of different ways. The way that we have found to 
be quite simple involves placing a disengager arrangement on the shaft 
adjacent the outer end portion. The heart of this disengager mechanism is 
a disengager member 70 that is adapted to slide back and forth within 
groove 35. It has a base that is wider than its top so that it will remain 
in slot 35. The top surface 75 of the disengager member 70 is preferably 
either level with the top surface of ridge 36 or even slightly higher (as 
shown in FIG. 4), but member 70 does contain one cut-out section therein 
defined by inclined surfaces 74 and 76 (see FIGS. 1, 4 and 5). FIGS. 2 and 
4 show the locking wire 71 locked in slot 37 and also in the aforesaid 
cut-out section of member 70. Locking wire 71 can be raised out of the 
slot 37 by moving member 70 longitudinally in slot 35. More specifically, 
if member 70 is moved outwardly (i.e. to the left in FIGS. 3 and 4) the 
inclined surface 74 will cause the wires 71 and 72 to be lifted upwardly 
and out of the slots 37, so that these wires will be raised to the phantom 
position shown in FIG. 4. Then, as the connector tube is pulled outward 
(i.e. to the left in FIG. 4) the wires will ride over to top surface of 
ridge 36, down inclined portion 39 and back to their original position (as 
shown in FIG. 6). 
Disengager member 70 can be caused to move back and forth within slot 35 by 
securing its outer (left) end (as is shown in FIG. 8) between end plate 80 
and spring plate 82 (member 70 preferably passes through a circular hole 
in end plate 80). End plate 80 is a fixed part of sliding cylindrical 
member 82 and will move to the left when pull member 83 is moved to the 
left. Spring retainer plate 84 is secured against movement to the left by 
lock washer 85 and will not move to the right because of spring 86, which 
is always urging plates 82 and 85 apart. Thus, when the connector tube C 
is locked into the inlet section because of wires 71 and 72 engaging slots 
37, the connector tube may be disengaged by simply pulling pull member 83 
to the left with manual pressure, since such a pull moves disengager 
member 70 to the left and inclined surface 74 will lift the wires 71 and 
72 out of the slots as explained above. 
It is thus seen that our new construction provides a very simple and 
reliable means for connecting and disconnecting gas sources to the gas 
using equipment. 
FIGS. 11-16 show six alternative possibilities for some of the components 
previously described. In each of these figures the upper item corresponds 
to member 106 of FIG. 1, the middle item is an end view of the shaft of a 
connector tube and the bottom item is a partial side view of the inner end 
of a shaft of a connector tube. It is contemplated that when a valve 
housing A and an inlet section B are initially installed, for instance in 
the wall of a hospital, the choice of the socket member (e.g. member 106) 
that is chosen to be placed in the inlet section will determine what sort 
of connector tube can be used. This will insure that equipment requiring 
one gas will not be inserted into a valve housing that is supplying a 
different gas. 
In conclusion, while the foregoing specification and drawing describe the 
construction, operation and use of one preferred embodiment of the instant 
invention, it is to be understood that we do not intend to limit ourselves 
to the precise constructions and arrangements herein disclosed, since the 
various details of construction, form and arrangement may obviously be 
varied to a considerable extent by anyone skilled in the art without 
really departing from the basic principles and novel teachings of this 
invention and without sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention, 
and accordingly it is intended to encompass all changes, variations, 
modifications and equivalents falling within the scope of the appended 
claims. For instance, no invention would be involved in having only one 
ridge on the shaft instead of a plurality of such projections, or more 
than the ridges shown.