Mechanism for mounting fluid pressure member in equipment-mounting frame member

Abstract: The body 8 of a pipe joint 7 to be mounted in a frame member 1 has engaging locking portions 12 that are inserted into a mounting groove 2 and rotated through a specified angle in such a way as to be engagingly locked in the edges 4 of the groove opening. A detent member 20 acts as a lock mechanism and comprises a pair of junction pieces 21 of the same shape that are joined together so as to sandwich the body 8 of the pipe joint 7. The detent member 20 is slidable in the axial direction of the body 8. The junction pieces 21 are connected together at winged portions 21b and 21c protruding from their sides, and springs are accommodated inside the winged portions between the body 8 and the junction pieces 21.

Description: The present invention relates to a mounting mechanism for fluid pressure members such as pipe joints for piping connections, plugs used to occlude fluid holes that are no longer used, or pressure detectors, and in particular to a mechanism that allows easy installation or removal of such fluid pressure members in or from a frame member, the frame member providing two functions by operating (a) as a mounting member for a fluid pressure apparatus such as a solenoid valve or a cylinder, or a control apparatus mounted and (b) as a conduit for a pressurized fluid such as compressed air. A well-known mounting mechanism, as disclosed for example in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 9-100983 includes equipment-mounting grooves extending longitudinally in the outer surfaces of a frame member, the width of the interior of the grooves being greater than that of the groove opening. Adjacent the mounting grooves, the mechanism includes fluid channels penetrating the frame member in the same direction as the grooves. Various fluid pressure members, such as pipe joints for piping connections, plugs used to occlude fluid holes that are no longer used, or pressure detectors, are mounted on the frame member, at the opening of a connection hole drilled between the bottom of a mounting groove and a fluid channel. Each fluid pressure member mounted on the frame member has a mounting portion whose horizontal width is smaller than the width of the mounting groove opening and length is larger than the opening width, and includes engaging locking portions that are inserted into the mounting groove and rotated through a specified angle in such a way as to be engagingly locked against the edges of the mounting groove opening, and a seal member for sealing around the connection hole when the engaging locking portions are engagingly locked in the opening edges. When the engaging locking portions provided in the mounting portion are simply inserted into the mounting groove and rotated through the specified angle, the fluid pressure member may still slip due to vibrations after mounting. Therefore, a lock mechanism is provided that includes a detent member having a protruding portion that is elastically fitted between the opening edges to prevent any slipping of the locking portions. This lock mechanism must have a simple structure, be secure against slippage despite operational error, and be easy to operate. It is an object of this invention to provide a lock mechanism for locking the engaging locking portions of a mounting mechanism for a fluid pressure member, such as that described above, into the opening edges of a mounting groove, which has a simple structure and is easy to operate. This invention provides a mounting mechanism comprising a frame member with at least one equipment-mounting groove extending longitudinally in its outer surfaces and having an internal width greater than that of the groove opening, and at least one fluid channel extending through the interior of frame member in the same direction as the groove, the fluid pressure member being mounted on the frame member at the opening of a connection hole extending between the bottom of the mounting groove and the fluid channel, wherein the fluid pressure member comprises a body which has a mounting portion whose horizontal width is smaller than the width of the mounting groove opening and length is larger than the opening width, engaging locking portions that are inserted into the mounting groove and rotated through a specified angle in such a way as to be engagingly locked in the edges of the mounting groove opening and a seal member for sealing around the connection hole when the engaging locking portions are engagingly locked in the opening edges, wherein the fluid pressure member includes, as a lock mechanism, a detent member having a protruding portion that is elastically fitted between the edges of the mounting groove opening to prevent any slippage of the engaging locking portions, the detent member comprising a pair of junction pieces of the same shape that are joined together such that they sandwich the body of the fluid pressure member, and are slidable in the axial direction of the body but fixed against rotation, wherein the junction pieces are connected together at protruding winged portions, and wherein springs are accommodated inside the winged portions between the body and the junction pieces in such a way as to urge the junction pieces toward the mounting groove in the frame member. Preferably spring seats are provided in the body of the fluid pressure member and the winged portions of the junction pieces, to receive the ends of the springs that urges the junction pieces toward the mounting groove in the frame member, and the spring seats provided on the body of the fluid pressure member are fitted in grooves formed in the junction pieces to disable relative rotation between the body and the detent member. The fluid pressure member may often be a pipe joint but could be any-one of various fluid pressure members suitable for mounting in the frame member at the connection hole in the bottom of the mounting groove. In a mounting mechanism of the above configuration, when the mounting portion of the body of the fluid pressure member, such as a pipe joint, is inserted into the mounting grooves at the opening of the connection hole formed in the bottom of each groove in the frame member and the body of the fluid pressure member is pushed in against the spring force while rotating the detent member to rotate the body through a required angle, the fluid pressure member is mounted in the frame member in such a way that the engaging locking portions protruding from the respective sides of the mounting portion are engagingly locked in the opening edges of the mounting groove opening and the seal member seals the circumference of the opening of the connection hole. Once the body has been rotated through the required angle, the spring forces causes the protruding portions provided on the pair of junction pieces constituting the detent member to advance elastically into the mounting groove to prevent further rotation of the body of the fluid pressure member, thereby locking the body in position mounted in the mounting grooves. This configuration prevents the fluid pressure member from slipping out from the mounting groove due to vibrations after installation. To remove the fluid pressure member mounted in the frame member, the detent member is seized and pulled outwardly whilst rotating it, thereby detaching the protruding portions of the junction pieces from the mounting groove and rotating the body of the fluid pressure member with the detent member. The engaging locking portions protruding from the respective sides of the mounting portion are brought in line with the mounting groove to unlock the engaging locking portions from the edges of the mounting groove opening, thereby enabling the fluid pressure member to be removed from the mounting groove in the frame member. The fluid pressure member can take various forms, including a pipe joint for piping connection, a plug used to occlude a fluid hole that is no longer used, or the connection portion of a pressure detector. In this mounting mechanism for fluid pressure members, the lock mechanism for engagingly locking the body of the fluid pressure member is constructed by joining together a pair of junction pieces of the same shape, with the junction pieces being connected together at winged portions on their sides, and springs being accommodated inside the winged portions. Thus, this mechanism has a simple structure, allows the winged members to be effectively used to rotate the detent member of the fluid pressure member and the body, and is easy to operate. In addition, the fluid pressure member when mounted cannot be removed unless the detent member is pulled whilst it is rotated through the specified angle, thereby minimizing the possibility of operational error or any detachment of the fluid pressure member due to unintentional contact. The invention will now be further described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a pipe joint according to this embodiment. FIG. 3 is a partly broken perspective view of the pipe joint. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the structure of junction pieces of a detent member in the pipe joint. FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view showing the pipe joint mounted in a frame member. FIG. 6 is a horizontal sectional view showing the pipe joint mounted in the frame member. FIG. 7 is a front view of the pipe joint. The drawings show an embodiment of a mounting mechanism for fluid pressure members according to this invention. According to this embodiment, a frame member 1, when assembled like a supporting frame, can be configured to operate both as a structure in which a fluid pressure apparatus such as a solenoid valve or a cylinder or its control apparatus is mounted and as a conduit used to guide a pressurized fluid such as compressed air. The frame member is a long material having a substantially rectangular cross section and formed by extrusion molding of a material such as aluminum alloy, having sufficient strength and rigidity for the structure. The frame member 1 has mounting grooves 2 provided on its respective outer sides in a longitudinal direction in which various apparatuses are mounted, with fluid channels 3 located inside the mounting grooves 2 and penetrating the frame member in the same direction as the grooves to guide a pressurized fluid. The mounting groove 2 need not be provided in each of the outer sides of the frame member 1, but a plurality of mounting grooves may be provided on one surface. In addition, although the figure shows two fluid channels 3 in the frame member, at least one fluid channel 3 may be provided. The mounting groove 2 has an internal width greater than its opening, and within this opening is formed a pair of opening edges in which a pipe joint for piping connection, a plug used to occlude a fluid hole that is no longer used, or the connection portion of a pressure detector is engagingly locked, as described below. A connection hole 5 is drilled between the inner bottom of the mounting groove 2 and the fluid channel 3 as required to allow the fluid pressure member to be mounted. The illustrated embodiment shows a pipe joint 7 as a general example of the fluid pressure member. Thus, piping such as tubes can be connected to the pipe joint 7 to supply and exhaust compressed air to and from various apparatuses through the fluid channels 3 in the frame member 1 via the connection holes 5 and the pipe joint 7 and further through this piping. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 6 designates the joints used to supply and exhaust a pressurized fluid between an adjacent frame member and the fluid channels 3. The pipe joint 7 mounted in the frame member 1 at the opening position of the connection hole 5 in the mounting groove 2 has a mounting portion 10 that is mounted in the frame member 1, formed at one end of a cylindrical body 8 of synthetic resin including a through-hole 9 inside, while also having a piping connection member (a quick-handling pipe joint) 11 to which a piping tube is connected, installed at the other end. The mounting portion 10 has a width smaller than the opening width of the mounting groove 2 and a length larger than the opening width, and includes engaging locking portions 12 that are engagingly locked in a pair of opening edges 4 of the respective sides of the mounting groove when rotationally moved inside the mounting groove 2; a seal member 13 that seals the circumference of the connection hole 5 when the engaging locking portions 12 are engagingly locked in the opening edges 4 of the mounting groove; and a bush 14 that is fitted in the connection hole 5 to guide the installation of the pipe joint 7. Thus, by using as a guide the bush 14 inserted into the connection hole 5 to insert the pair of engaging locking portions 12 of the mounting portion 10 into the mounting groove 2 and to rotate the engaging locking portions 12 through a specified angle (90 ° ) in order to direct the engaging locking portions 12 perpendicularly to the mounting groove 2, the engaging locking portions 12 can be engagingly locked in the opening edges 4 of the mounting groove 2, thereby enabling the body 8 of the pipe joint 7 to be mounted in the mounting groove 2 while allowing the seal member 13 to pressure-contact the groove bottom to seal the circumference of the connection hole 5. The piping connection member 11 is configured as a well-known, one-touch pipe joint having a claw 15 that is engagingly locked in a tube when it is inserted in the member 11 and releasing the tube engagingly locked by the claw 15 when the release bush 16 is pressed. The configuration of the piping connection member 11 is not limited to this aspect; another means may be used to connect the tube to the member 11. In this figure, 17 is a packing in the piping connection member 11. In addition, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the engaging locking portions 12 of the pipe joint 7 each have an abutting surface 18 abutting the opening edges 4 of the mounting groove 2 wherein half of the abutting surface 18 in the direction of the horizontal width, that is, half of the side that is first engagingly locked in the opening edges 4 due to rotation, is cut in the form of a circular arc or a slope to form a slanted portion 18a. This configuration enables the end of the abutting surface 18 to ride easily on the opening edge 4 when the pipe joint 7 is rotated to abut and engage the engaging locking portions 12 with the inner surfaces of the opening edges 4. At the same time, as a lock mechanism, the body 8 includes a detent member 20 having a protruding portion that is elastically fitted between the pair of opening edges 4 of the mounting groove 2 to inhibit the detachment of the engaging locking portions 12 due to rotation, when the engaging locking portions 12 are engagingly locked in the pair of opening edges 4 of the mounting groove 2. The detent member 20 is composed of a pair of junction pieces 21 of the same shape formed of synthetic resin and joined together in such a way as to sandwich the body 8 of the pipe joint 7. FIG. 4 clearly shows the shape of the junction pieces 21. The junction piece 21 comprises a half cylindrical portion 21a for mounting surrounding the circumference of the body 8 of the pipe joint 7; winged portions 21b and 21c located on the respective sides of the half cylindrical portion 21a and formed to protrude from the respective sides of the body 8; and a protruding portion 21d that is connected to the half cylindrical portion 21a and that is fitted and engagingly locked between the pair of opening edges 4 of the mounting groove 2 to inhibit the rotation of the engaging locking portions 12. One of the winged portions 21b is connected to the inserting half of the pipe joint in the axial direction and possesses a bottomed fitting hole 22a in which a junction pin 23 is fitted; it also is equipped with a spring seat 25 and a recessed portion 26a acting as a spring accommodating groove, both of which serve to receive one end of a spring 24 urging the junction pieces 21 toward the mounting groove 2 in the frame member 1. The other winged portion 21c is connected to the opposite half of the half cylindrical portion 21a in the axial direction, and possesses both a fitting hole 22b in which the junction pin 23 is fitted and a recessed portion 26b acting as a spring accommodating groove in which the spring 24 and spring seats 19 protruding from the circumference of the body 8 are fitted. The spring seats 19 on the body 8 are fitted into the spring accommodating grooves formed by the recessed portions 26a and 26b in the junction pieces 21, to disable any relative rotation between the body 8 and the detent member 20. A protrusion 30 provided on the inner surface of the half cylindrical portion 21a of the junction piece 21 and a recess 31 provided in the outer surface of the body 8 at the corresponding position are fitted together to restrain the axial range of motion of the body 8 and the detent member 20. As seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the pair of junction pieces 21 are joined together, the winged portions 21b and 21c of the pair of opposed junction pieces 21 are respectively overlapped together in such as way as to align with the fitting holes 22a and 22b for the junction pins 23, respectively, the junction pins 23 are inserted into the fitting holes 22a and 22b in the winged portions, and the mouths of the fitting holes 22b are caulked to connect and fix the pair of junction pieces 21 together. Based on this configuration, the body 8 and the detent member 20 can slide in the axial direction within the range of motion of the protrusion 30 and the recess 31, and the spring seats 19 on the body 8 are fitted in the spring-accommodating grooves formed by the recessed portions 26a and 26b in the junction pieces 21, thereby joining the pieces together so as to eliminate any rotation. In addition, in joining the pair of junction pieces 21 together, the spring 24 is accommodated inside the winged portions 21b and 21c between the spring seat 19 of the body 8 and the spring seat 25 of the junction piece 21 to constantly urge the junction pieces 21 toward the mounting groove 2 in the frame member 1. In the mounting mechanism for the pipe joint 7 having the above configuration, the mounting portion 10 of the body 8 of the pipe joint 7 is inserted into the mounting groove 2 at the opening position of the connection hole 5, located in the inner bottom of the mounting groove 2 in the frame member 1, and the body 8 of the pipe joint 7 is pushed in against the urging force of the spring 24 while rotating the detent member 20 to rotate the body 8 through a required angle of rotation (90° Then, the pipe joint 7 is mounted in the frame member 1 in such a way that the engaging locking portions 12 protruding from the respective side of the mounting portion 10 are engagingly locked in the opening edges 4 of the mounting groove 2 and that the seal member 13 seals the opening circumference of the connection hole 5. When the detent member 20 is used to rotate the body 8 through the required 90° , the protruding portion 21d provided on the pair of junction pieces 21 constituting the detent member 20 elastically advances into the mounting groove 2, due to the urging force of the spring 24, to inhibit the rotation of the body 8 of the pipe joint 7 in order to lock the body in the mounting groove 2 in such a way that the body is mounted therein. Thus, the pipe joint 7 is prevented from slipping out from the mounting groove 2 due to vibrations after mounting. In addition, to remove the pipe joint 7 mounted in the frame member 1, the detect member 20 may be seized and pulled outward while rotating it, thereby detaching the protruding portion 21d of the junction pieces 21 from the mounting groove and rotating the body 8 of the pipe joint 7 with the detent member 20. Thus, the engaging locking portions 12 protruding from the respective sides of the mounting portion 10 can be directed toward the mounting groove 2 to unlock the engaging locking portions 12 from the opening edges 4 of the mounting groove 2, thereby enabling the pipe member 7 to be removed from the mounting groove 2 in the frame member 1. In this mounting mechanism for the pipe joint 7, the lock mechanism for engagingly locking the body of the pipe joint 7 is constructed by joining together a pair of junction pieces 21 of the same shape, with the junction pieces 21 connected together at the winged portions 21b and 21c on its respective sides, and the springs 24 accommodated inside the winged portions 21b and 21c. Thus, this mechanism has a simple structure, allows the wing members 21b and 21c to be effectively used to rotate the detent member 20 of the pipe joint 7 and the body 8, and is easy to operate. In addition, the pipe joint 7 mounted in the mounting groove 2 of the frame member 1 cannot be removed unless the detent member 20 is pulled while rotating it through the specified angle, thereby minimizing the possibility of operational error or any detachment of the pipe joint due to unintentional contact. According to the mounting mechanism of this invention described above, in a known mounting mechanism for fluid pressure members, a lock mechanism for engagingly locking the engaging locking portions that are engagingly locked in the mounting groove in the frame member in the opening edges of the mounting groove, can be-adapted so as to have a simple structure and be easy to operate.

Claims: A mounting mechanism for mounting a fluid pressure member in an equipment-mounting frame member, the monting mechanism comprising a frame member (1) with at least one equipment-mounting groove (2) extending longitudinally in its outer surfaces and having an internal width greater than that of the groove opening, and at least one fluid channel (3) extending through the interior of frame member (1) in the same direction as the groove (2), the fluid pressure member (7) being mounted on the frame member (1) at the opening of a connection hole (5) extending between the bottom of the mounting groove (2) and the fluid channel (3), wherein the fluid pressure member (7) comprises a body (8) which has a mounting portion (10) whose horizontal width is smaller than the width of the mounting groove opening and length is larger than the opening width, engaging locking portions (12) that are inserted into the mounting groove (2) and rotated through a specified angle in such a way as to be engagingly locked in the edges (4) of the mounting groove opening and a seal member (13) for sealing around the connection hole (5) when the engaging locking portions (12) are engagingly locked in the opening edges (4), wherein the fluid pressure member (7) includes, as a lock mechanism, a detent member (20) having a protruding portion (21d) that is elastically fitted between the edges (4) of the mounting groove opening to prevent any slippage of the engaging locking portions (12), characterized in that the detent member (20) comprises a pair of junction pieces (21) of the same shape that are joined together such that they sandwich the body (8) of the fluid pressure member (7), and are slidable in the axial direction of the body (8) but fixed against rotation, wherein the junction pieces (21) are connected together at protruding winged portions (21b,c), and wherein springs (24) are accommodated inside the winged portions between the body (8) and the junction pieces (21) in such a way as to urge the junction pieces (21) toward the mounting groove (2) in the frame member (1). A mounting mechanism as claimed in Claim 1 wherein spring seats (25) are provided on the body (8) of the fluid pressure member (7) and the winged portions (21b, 21c) of the junction pieces (21), the seats receiving the ends of the springs (24) that urge the junction pieces toward the mounting groove (2) in the frame member (1), and wherein the spring seats (25) provided on the body (8) of the fluid pressure member (7) are fitted in grooves (26a, 26b) formed in the junction pieces (21) to prevent any relative rotation between the body (8) and the detent member (20). A mounting mechanism as claimed in Claim 1 or 2 wherein the fluid pressure member (1) is a pipe joint.

Inventors: NAGAI SHIGEKAZU, SUGANO KOJI, NAGAI, SHIGEKAZU, SUGANO, KOJI, Nagai, Shigekazu, c/o SMC Corp., Sugano, Koji, c/o SMC Corp.
Applicants: SMC CORP, SMC CORPORATION
Application year: 1998
Main classification: F16B7
IPC codes: F16L41, F16L23, F16L37