Double point supported locking lever for a hose coupling assembly

The present invention entails a hose coupling assembly having a pivotally mounted locking lever for engaging and locking against a cam lock. The hose clamping assembly including a pair of rotating and mating locking collars with each locking collar having a series of circumferentially spaced lugs formed about the outer surface thereof. The locking lever referred to above is integrally formed with a selected lug on each locking collar. The mounting lug includes a transverse cavity formed through the lug and mounted within the lug cavity is a pivot pin that is supported about opposite ends by the lug structure itself. The locking lever is in turn pivotally mounted on the pivot pin and is spring biased to assume a locked position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Hose coupling assemblies are utilized to couple two ends of a hose, such as 
a fire hose. These hose couplings must be strong and rugged because they 
must create and hold a tight seal and must be able to withstand impact and 
abuses of all types while still maintaining a tight and secure seal. 
Conventionally, these hose coupling assemblies have been of various 
designs. But one particular design that has been utilized widely is the 
so-called non-threaded type. Many non-threaded type hose couplings include 
a pair of rotating collars where each rotating collar includes an 
externally actuated locking mechanism. One particular design for a 
latching or locking mechanism for a hose coupling assembly of this type 
includes a pivotally mounted lever-type locking arm that is externally 
actuated but includes a locking head that projects downwardly through the 
associated collar to engage and lock against a cam latch or lock. This 
lever-type locking arm in past designs has been pivotally mounted on a 
cantilevered pivot pin and because of that, has been very susceptible to 
breakage and failure. Since the pivot pin for the latch arm is only 
supported at one end any substantial impact against the free or 
unsupported end of the pivot pin may break or fracture the pivot pin and 
accordingly, this can cause the entire coupling assembly to fail. 
Therefore, there is and continues to be a need for a strong and sturdy 
external latch assembly for a non-threaded hose coupling assembly. 
SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention entails a non-threaded hose coupling assembly that 
includes an external lever-type latch arm that is integrally formed with 
an external lug on a respective rotating collar that forms a part of the 
hose coupling assembly. In particular, the hose coupling assembly of the 
present invention includes two freely rotating locking collars that are 
designed to mate together and close tightly against each other to 
effectively close or secure the coupling assembly. Each rotating collar 
includes a series of circumferentially spaced lugs formed around the 
exterior surface of the collar. Each locking collar includes at least one 
lug that has a transverse cavity opening formed therein and the lever-type 
latch for the hose coupling extends through this cavity formed in the lug 
and a pivot pin is supported at both ends across the lug cavity. Thus, the 
latch arm can be rotated about the double point supported pivot pin and 
the lug itself has the effect of protecting the pin at both ends from 
substantial impact. 
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved 
support structure for supporting one or more latches that form a part of a 
non-threaded hose coupling. 
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a 
non-threaded hose coupling that affords better protection against "snap" 
breakage. 
Another object of the present invention resides in the provision of a 
non-threaded hose coupling assembly that includes one or more lever-type 
latches that provide for double shear points on the pivot pin supporting 
the lever-type latch. 
Still a further object of the present invention resides in the provision of 
a non-threaded hose coupling assembly wherein the latch of the coupling 
assembly is integral with a lug that is formed on the outside of the 
coupling assembly. 
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent 
and obvious from a study of the following description and the accompanying 
drawings which are merely illustrative of such invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
With further reference to the drawings, the hose clamping assembly of the 
present invention is shown therein and indicated generally by the numeral 
10. As seen in the drawings, the hose clamping assembly 10 is designed to 
fit about two ends 21 of a hose and to couple the hose together to form a 
tight and sealed coupled relationship. 
Viewing the coupling assembly 10 in more detail, it is seen that the same 
includes a pair of inner flanges 12 and 14, each inner flange being 
inserted within the open end of a hose 21 and projecting outwardly 
therefrom. Each inner flange 12 and 14 includes a face seal 16 and wherein 
the respective face seals 16 abut each other and form a tight seal 
connection between the two inner flanges 12 and 14 when the hose coupling 
assembly 10 assumes a coupled mode. 
To secure the inner flanges 12 and 14 within the hose ends 21, there is 
provided a stationing collar 18 and 20 about the exterior of each hose end 
21. Each stationing collar 18 and 20 is tightly secured down on the 
exterior of the hose 21 and accordingly forms a tight securement about the 
hose 21 and effectively sandwiches the hose 21 between a respective inner 
flange 12 or 14 and a respective stationing collar 18 or 20. It is thusly 
appreciated that the stationing collars 18 and 20 tightly secure the inner 
flanges 12 and 14 within the respective hose ends 21. 
Rotatively mounted between the stationing collars 18 and 20 and the outer 
sides of the inner flanges 12 and 14 is a locking collar 22, 24. Each 
locking collar 22 and 24 is freely rotatable about a respective inner 
flange 12 and 14. As will be appreciated from subsequent portions of this 
disclosure, the coupling assembly 10 will effectively pull the respective 
locking collars 22 and 24 tightly adjacent the other and will effectively 
lock the locking collars 22 and 24 in a close and tight coupled 
relationship. The locking collars 22 and 24 will in turn pull the face 
seal 16 of the inner flanges 12 and 14 closely together and form a sealed 
relationship between the inner flanges 12 and 14. 
Now viewing the respective locking collars 22 and 24 in more detail, it is 
seen that each locking collar comprises an inner sleeve 26 that has a 
series of reinforcing lugs 28 circumferentially disposed about the outer 
surface of the inner sleeve 26. Disposed adjacent the inner sleeve 26 and 
lugs 28 is an outer rim 30. Projecting outwardly from the outer rim 30 on 
each locking collar 22 and 24 is a pair of spaced apart cam locks 34. As 
will be appreciated from subsequent portions of the disclosure, the 
respected cam locks 34 of one locking collar will project therefrom into 
the other locking collar and by selectively rotating the locking collars 
22 and 24 the cam locks will be engaged by locking or latching mechanism 
so as to securely lock the respective locking collars 22 and 24 together. 
Viewing each cam lock 34 in more detail and with particular reference to 
FIG. 4, it is seen that each cam lock 34 includes a leading cam edge 34a 
and a trailing locking edge 34b. In addition, disposed interiorly of the 
cam lock 34 is a cut-out 34c. The significance of the cut-out 34c will be 
more fully appreciated from subsequent portions of this disclosure. 
Formed about the outer exposed side of each locking collar 22 and 24 is an 
outer face 36. Outer face 36 in conjunction with the outer rim 30 forms a 
race or a recess 38 that extends around the outside of each locking collar 
22 and 24. Formed in the outer face 36 is a cam lock inlet 40. The cam 
lock inlet 40 permits a respective cam lock 34 to be inserted into the 
recess 38 of the other locking collar 22 or 24. It should be appreciated 
that the pair of cam locks 34 projecting from a certain locking collar 22 
or 24 can be projected into and through the cam lock inlets 40 formed in 
the other locking collar and thereafter the respective locking collars can 
be rotated such that the cam locks 34 move through the respective recesses 
38 formed around the locking collars 22 and 24. At selected points within 
each recess 38 there is provided a cam lock stop 42. The purpose of each 
cam lock stop 42 is to provide a stop that restricts the travel of the 
respective cam locks 34. 
It should be pointed out that in connecting two locking collars 22 and 24 
together that the respective cam locks 34 will be inserted into the 
respective recesses 38 and the locking collars will be rotated in counter 
directions such that each cam lock 34 is moved towards a respective stop 
42 formed in the recess. As the locking collars 22 and 24 are being 
rotated, the outer face 36 of each locking collar 22 and 24 will extend 
into the cut-out 34c of the respective cam locks 34. Thus, the respective 
cam locks 34 are guided through the recesses 38 by the cooperation of the 
outer face 36 with the cut-outs 34c formed in the cam locks. It should be 
appreciated that the respective outer face 36 of the locking-collars 22 
and 24 are slightly angled or cammed on the inside such that as the cam 
locks 34 are rotated within the locking collars 22 and 24 during a 
coupling operation that the respective locking collars 22 and 24 are drawn 
towards each other. As the locking collars 22 and 24 are drawn towards 
each other it is appreciated that they engage the adjacent sides of the 
inner flanges 12 and 14 and accordingly pull the inner flanges 12 and 14 
closely together such that the face seals 16 tightly abut each other and 
form a sealed relationship. 
To secure the locking collars 22 and 24 in a locked relationship, there is 
provided a latching or locking mechanism indicated generally by the 
numeral 50 with each locking collar 22 and 24. As will be appreciated, the 
latching mechanism 50 associated with each locking collar 22 and 24 will 
in a locked mode project downardly through the top of rim 30 and lock 
against the locking edge 34b of a respective cam lock 34. This will 
effectively lock a respective cam lock 34 of each locking collar between a 
stop 42 formed in the recess 38 and the latching mechanism 50 of a 
respective locking collar. 
Turning to a detailed discussion of the latching mechanism 50 of each 
locking collar 22 and 24, it is appreciated that each latching mechanism 
50 is associated with a selected lug 28 formed on the inner sleeve 26 of a 
respective locking collar 22 or 24. To achieve this, a selective lug 28 on 
each locking collar is formed so as to include a lug cavity or lug cut-out 
28a. See FIG. 2 for example. Spanning the lug cut-out 28a is a pivot pin 
52. It is appreciated that the pivot pin is supported at both opposed ends 
as contrasted to being supported in cantilever fashion. Pivotally mounted 
to the pivot pin 52 is a latching lever arm 54. The lever arm 54 includes 
a locking head 56 that in a locked mode extends downwardly through an 
opening 58 formed in the outer rim 30. The latching lever arm 54 is biased 
towards a locked position by a torsional spring 60 wound around the pivot 
pin 52 and held between the lever arm 54 and the outer rim 30 of a 
respective collar 22 or 24. As seen in FIG. 4, the cam lock 34 of one 
locking collar is securely locked in the recess 38 of another locking 
collar by the cooperative action of the locking head 56 and the adjacent 
stop 42. 
Of prime importance in the present invention is the construction of the 
latching mechanism 50 shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4. In this regard, the lever 
arm 54 is supported on the pivot pin 52 which is in turn supported at 
spaced and opposed points within the lug cavity of 28a. This permits the 
locking mechanism 50 to withstand substantial impact and abuse and still 
maintain the hose coupling assembly 10 in a sealed and locked relationship 
at all times. 
The present invention may, of course, be carried out in other specific ways 
than those herein set forth without parting from the spirit and essential 
characteristics of the invention.