Device for coupling hose or the like

A hose coupling device comprises a first thrust surface formed on one end of an objective member having a tubular connecting portion to which a hose is to be coupled, the first thrust surface extends radially outwardly around the base portion of the tubular connecting portion; a second thrust surface formed on the end surface of an annular thrusting member adjacent to the objective member, the annular thrusting member being disposed around and coaxially with the tubular connecting portion with an annular gap therebetween and movable axially relatively to the tubular connecting portion, the second thrust surface opposing to the first thrust surface such that the space defined between the thrust surfaces is converged radially outwardly; a radially contractable and expandable annular tightening member contacted at its both sides by the first thrust surface and the second thrust surface, respectively, and disposed coaxially with the tubular connecting portion, the annular tightening member including a circular core wire ring, a plurality of short sleeves having bores loosely receiving the core wire ring, and a plurality of compressive tubular resilient members having bores loosely receiving the core wire ring, the short sleeves and the compressive tubular resilient members being arranged alternatingly along the circumference of the core wire ring so that each compressive tubular resilient member resiliently urges the adjacent short sleeves away from each other; and a driving means for axially driving the annular thrusting member axially towards and away from the objective member.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a device for coupling a hose, tube or the 
like to a member such as valve, cock or the like. 
Hitherto, various types of device have been proposed and used for coupling 
a hose, tube or the like (referred to simply as "hose", hereinunder) to a 
member such as a valve, cock or the like (referred to simply as "objective 
member", hereinunder). One of these known devices employs a plurality of 
rolling elements such as balls adapted to press radially inwardly the hose 
end fitting around a tubular portion of the objective member so as to 
cause a plastic deformation of the hose thereby to fix and couple the hose 
to the objective member. This type of coupling device, however, encounters 
the following problems. Namely, it is rather difficult to effect stable 
fastening and smooth disconnection of the hose to and from the objective 
member. In addition, a cage holding the rolling elements tends to be 
distorted or damaged during repeated use to disable the device to effect a 
uniform tightening of the hose onto the objective member. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a device for 
fastening and fixing hoses of various sizes and materials, e.g. rubber 
hoses for household use, high-pressure hoses of large diameters, 
polyethylene pipes, plastic tubes and so forth, to an objective member 
such as a valve, cock or the like uniformly and reliably by a simple 
operation, thereby to overcome the above-described problems of the prior 
art. 
To this end, according to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a 
hose coupling device comprising: a first thrust surface formed on one end 
of an objective member having a tubular connecting portion to which a hose 
is to be coupled, the first thrust surface extending radially outwardly 
around the base portion of the tubular connecting portion; a second thrust 
surface formed on the end surface of an annular thrusting member adjacent 
to the objective member, the annular thrusting member being disposed 
around and coaxialy with the tubular connecting portion with an annular 
gap therebetween and movable axially relatively to the tubular connecting 
portion, the second thrust surface opposing to the first thrust surface 
such that the space defined between the thrust surface is converged 
radially outwardly; a radially contractable and expandable annular 
tightening member contacted at its both sides by the first thrust surface 
and the second thrust surface, respectively, and disposed coaxially with 
the tubular connecting portion, the annular tightening member including a 
circular core wire ring, a plurality of short sleeves having bores loosely 
receiving the core wire ring, and a plurality of compressive tubular 
resilient members havihg bores loosely receiving the core wire ring, the 
short sleeves and the compressive tubular resilient members being arranged 
alternatingly along the circumference of the core wire ring so that each 
compressive tubular resilient member resiliently urges the adjacent short 
sleeves away from each other; and a driving means for driving the annular 
thrusting member axially towards and away from the objective member; 
whereby, when the annular thrusting member is driven by the driving means 
towards the objective member, the short sleeves of the annular tightening 
member are clamped between the thrust surfaces and urged radially 
inwardly, thereby to fasten and tighten strongly the hose around the 
tubular connecting portion of the objective member. 
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become clear 
from the following description of the preferred embodiments taken in 
conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring first to FIGS. 1 through 6 showing a first embodiment of the 
invention, an objective member 1 to which a hose is to be coupled by means 
of a device of the invention is provided with an outer peripheral flange 3 
having a flat thrust surface 3a. The flange 3 is externally threaded as at 
3b. The objective member 1 is provided also with a tubular connecting 
portion 2 projecting axially forwardly from the central portion thereof. 
The flat thrust surface 3a is annularly recessed at its portion around the 
base portion of the tubular connecting portion 2 so as to provide an 
annular groove 3c for receiving the end of the hose which is designated at 
a numeral 12. The objective member 1 which is diagrammatically shown in 
these Figures may be any type of members such as valves and cocks 
including water faucet, pipes, pipe joints and so forth. 
As will be best seen from FIG. 5, a radially expandable and contractable 
annular tightening member 4 is composed of a circular core wire ring 5 on 
which alternatingly and losely mounted are short sleeves 6 and compressive 
tubular resilient members 7. FIGS. 11a and 11b show examples of the core 
wire ring 5. More specifically, FIG. 11a shows an example in which the 
core wire ring 5 is cut at its intermediate portion 5a, while the core 
wire ring 5 shown in FIG. 11b is constituted by a doubly wound wire. For 
assembling the annular tightening member 4, the short sleeves 6 and the 
compressive tubular resilient members 7, which are in this case coiled 
compression springs, are fitted alternatingly around the core wire ring 5 
through the cut out 5a when the core wire ring 5 shown in FIG. 11a is 
used, whereas, when the core wire ring 5 shown in FIG. 11b is used, the 
short sleeves 6 and the compressive tubular resilient members are fitted 
from one end of the continuous wire. In the assembled state of the annular 
tightening member, the compressive tubular resilient members 7 produce a 
resilient force which urge the short sleeves 6, as well as the members 7 
themselves, radially outwardly to make the short sleeves 6 be pressed at 
radially inner portions of their bore walls to the core wire ring 5, so 
that the short sleeves 6 and the compressive tubular resilient members 7 
in combination constitute a circular form of the annular tightening member 
4 as shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 5. It will be understood that this annular 
tightening member 4 can be contracted radially inwardly while compressing 
resilient members 7 and expanded radially outwardly to the original state 
by resetting force of the resilient members 7. Needless to say, the short 
sleeves 6 and the compressive tubular resilient member can move radially 
inwardly and outwardly with respect to the core wire ring 5 for the 
contraction and expansion of the annular tightening member. Although the 
first embodiment employs cylindrical straight short sleeves 6, the short 
sleeves may have other suitable shapes such as a barrel-shape with 
expanded intermediate portion as shown in FIG. 7a, a form with a 
contracted intermediate portion as shown in FIG. 7b and a curvilinear 
cylinderical form as shown in FIG. 7c. It is also possible to use a 
cylindrical compressive member made of resilient material, such as rubber, 
shown in FIG. 8 in place of the coiled spring as the compressive tubular 
resilient member 7. Preferably, the short sleeve 6 has high strength and 
hardness. 
The hose coupling device of the invention further has an annular thrusting 
member 8 which has a conical surface constituting a thrust surface 8a 
adapted to contact the other side of the annular tightening member 4. A 
multiplicity of steel balls 10 are interposed between the annular 
thrusting member 8 and a seat race member 9 so that the annular thrusting 
member can rotate relatively to the seat race member 9. Thus, the annular 
thrusting member 8, steel balls 10 and the seat race member 9 in 
cooperation constitute a kind of thrust bearing. The hose coupling device 
further has an outer sleeve 11 having an internal screw thread 11b for 
engagement with the external thread 3b on the flange 3 of the objective 
member 1. The outer sleeve 11 is provided with an inner flange 11a at its 
base end portion. 
For assembling the hose coupling device of this embodiment, the thrust 
bearing constituted by the seat race member 9, steel balls 10 and the 
annular thrusting member 8 is placed in the outer sleeve 11 and then the 
annular tightening member 4 is placed in the same. 
In operation, the hose 12 to be coupled to the objective member 1 is fitted 
at its end on the tubular connecting portion 2 of the objective member 
until the hose end is received by the annular groove 3c, through the bore 
in the inner flange 11a of the outer sleeve 11 and through the bores in 
the annular thrusting member 8 and the annular tightening member 4, as 
shown by chain line in FIG. 2. Subsequently, the outer sleeve 11 is 
screwed onto the objective member 1 through the screwing engagement 
between the threads 3b and 11b until one side surface of the annular 
tightening member 4 contacts the flat thrust surface 3a of the objective 
number 1 as shown in FIG. 2. Then, as the outer sleeve 11 is further 
screwed to receive the objective member 1 deeper, the conical thrust 
surface 8a makes a wedging action on the annular tightening member 4 as a 
result of the axial movement of the annular thrusting member 8, so that 
the short sleeves 6 are moved radially inwardly. In consequence, the hose 
12 is tightened and fastened strongly onto the tubular connecting portion 
2 of the objective member 1 by the contracting action of the annular 
tightening member 4 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6. 
For disconnecting the hose 12, the annular thrusting member 8 is relieved 
from the axial thrusting force to allow the annular fastening member 4 to 
expand by the resetting force produced by the compressive tubular 
resilient members 7, simply by unscrewing of the outer sleeve 11, as shown 
in FIGS. 1 to 3. In this state, the hose 12 is freed from the tightening 
force so that it can be withdrawn from the tubular connecting portion 2 of 
the objective member 1. 
FIG. 9 shows a second embodiment of the hose coupling device of the 
invention. 
In this second embodiment, the objective member 1' has a flange 3' of a 
substantial radial length, while an annular thrusting member 8' provided 
with a conical thrust surface 8'a has a flange 13 of a radial length 
substantially corresponding to that of the flange 3'. In operation, the 
hose 12 is fitted to the tubular connecting portion 2' of the objective 
member 1' through the annular thrusting member 8' and the annular 
tightening member 4 as in the first embodiment. Then, the annular 
thrusting member 8' is forcibly urged towards the objective member 1 as 
nuts 15 are screwed deeper to a plurality of bolts 14 which are passed 
through bolt holes formed in the flange 13 of the annular pressing member 
8 and the flange 3' of the objective member 1. Consequently, the annular 
tightening member 4 is forcibly contracted radially inwardly by the 
wedging action of the conical thrust surface 8'a of the annular thrusting 
member 8, thereby to tighten and fasten the hose 12 onto the tubular 
connecting portion 2' of the objective member 1'. 
FIG. 10 shows a third embodiment of the hose coupling device of the 
invention. In this embodiment, an objective member 1" has a flange 3" 
which is inserted into an outer sleeve 11" through a bore formed in a 
flange 11"a of the outer sleeve 11". The annular tightening member 4 is 
adapted to contact at its one side with the thrust surface 3"a of the 
objective member 1". An annular thrusting member 8" has a conical thrust 
surface 8"a adapted to contact with the other side of the annular 
tightening member 4. The annular thrusting member 8", a plurality of steel 
balls 10" and a seat race member 9" are received by the outer sleeve 11" 
so as to form a kind of thrust bearing. A screw cylinder 16 is screwed 
into the outer sleeve 11". In operation, the hose 12 is fitted onto the 
tubular connecting portion 2" of the objective member 1" through the screw 
sleeve 16, the seat race 9", the annular thrusting member 8" and the 
annular tightening member 4. Then, the screw cylinder 16 is screwed deeper 
into the outer sleeve 11" to enforce the annular thrusting member 8" to 
move axially so that the conical thrust surface 8"a causes an wedging 
action on the annular tightening member 4 thereby to tighten and fasten 
the hose end onto the tubular connecting portion 2" of the objective 
member 1". 
As has been described, the hose coupling device of the invention has a 
radially contractable and expandable annular tightening member composed of 
a core wire ring on which loosely and alternatingly mounted are 
compressive tubular resilient members and short sleeves, an objective 
member having a flat thrust surface adapted to be contacted by one side of 
the annular tightening member, and an annular thrusting member having a 
conical thrust surface for contact with the other side of the annular 
tightening member. The hose fitted on the objective member is tightened 
and fastened by radially inward force exerted by the tubular fastening 
member due to the wedging action of the conical thrust sufface of the 
annular thrusting member as a result of an axial movement of the latter 
towards the objective member. Therefore, unstability or looseness of hose 
on the objective member, often experienced with the conventional hose 
coupling device, is eliminated advantageously. 
In addition, since the short sleeves of the annular tightening member are 
equally moved radially inwardly to embrace and tighten the hose uniformly, 
it is possible to fasten the hose uniformly, strongly and securely. 
Furthermore, in the annular fastening member employed by the hose coupling 
device of the invention, the distance between adjacent short sleeves, 
which are spaced from each other by the compressive tubular resilient 
member, can be increased and decreased freely over a wide range so that 
the hose coupling device of the invention can have a wide adaptability to 
various wall thicknesses, outside diameters and materials of the hoses, 
while assuring uniform and close fit of the hose on the objective member 
without encountering any local resistance. It is also to be noted that the 
hose coupling device of the invention permits an easy disconnection of the 
hose through relieving the radially inward tightening force, without 
causing any damage on the hose. The hose coupling device of the invention 
having simple and rigid construction can stand repetitional use while 
exhibiting constant hose coupling performance, without suffering from any 
deterioration of the tightening function. 
Although the invention has been described through specific terms, it is to 
be understood that the described embodiment is not exclusive and various 
changes and modifications may be imparted thereto. For instance, although 
in the described embodiments the conical thrust surface, is formed on the 
thrusting member while the flat thrust surface is formed on the objective 
member, it is possible to make the thrusting member and the objective 
member have a flat thrust surface and a conical thrust surface, 
respectively, or even to make both of them have conical thrust surfaces. 
Other changes and modifications are still possible without departing from 
the scope of the invention which is limited solely by the appended claims.