Patent Publication Number: US-2023137312-A1

Title: Single-handedly operated inflatable air nozzle connector

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of Invention 
     The invention relates to an inflator for bicycles, and more particularly to an inflatable air nozzle connector connected to an inflator to inflate a tire. 
     Related Art 
     One way to inflate the tire of a bicycle is to inflate with an inflator. The inflator connects to the air nozzle of the tire through an inflation connector, and air is injected into the tire through the inflator. 
     Taiwan utility model patent No. M585854 discloses an inflator connector for use with an inflator. As shown in FIG. 10 of M585854, a clamping structure 20 and an airtight component 30 a  are provided in an air nozzle body 10 a.  The airtight component 30 a  comprises a sealing washer 31 a  and a clamping washer 32 a;  a sliding sleeve 40 a  can be axially movably sleeved on the clamping structure 20, and a connecting member 13 a  of the nozzle body 10 a  is connected to the inflator. 
     When inflating a tire, as shown in FIG. 11 of the above utility model patent, the air nozzle body 10 a  of the inflator connector is sleeved on an air nozzle 50 of a tire. Then, the user pushes the sliding sleeve 40 a  to slide downward with one hand to make the sliding sleeve 40 a  press clamping plates 22 of the clamping structure 20, causing the clamping plates 22 to contract inward and compress the clamping washer 32 a , so that the clamping washer 32 a  airtightly sleeves on the tire air nozzle 50, thereby the inflator can inject air into the tire from the tire air nozzle 50. 
     After inflation is completed, the user has to hold the air nozzle body 10 a  with one hand, and push the sliding sleeve 40 a  upward with another hand, so that the sliding sleeve 40 a  no longer presses the clamping plates 22 of the clamping structure 20. The clamping plates 22 are stretched outwardly, and the clamping washer 32 a  is no longer compressed, so that the inflator connector can be separated from the air nozzle 50 of the tire. 
     The inflator connector of the above patent must be operated with two hands during inflation operation, that is, holding the air nozzle body 10 a  with one hand and pushing the sliding sleeve 40 a  to displace upward and downward with the other hand, and therefore the operation is not convenient. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention aims to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, and its main object is to provide an inflatable air nozzle connector for use with an inflator, and the inflatable air nozzle connector can be conveniently operated by a user single-handedly. 
     The inflatable air nozzle connector that can be operated single-handedly provided by the invention comprises: 
     a clamping component having an air passage; a plurality of clamping jaws are disposed around a bottom end of the clamping component, an annular chamber is formed between the clamping jaws and communicates with the air passage; the clamping jaws are capable of closing inwardly or stretching outwardly; 
     an airtight ring installed in the chamber of the clamping component, the airtight ring has a through hole communicating with the air passage; and 
     a shell sleeve having a hollow sleeve body, a bottom end of the sleeve body is an open end, and a top end of the sleeve body is a closed end; an accommodating space is formed in the sleeve body; a connector portion is disposed on the closed end of the sleeve body, a perforation of the connector portion communicates with the accommodating space of the shell sleeve; 
     the sleeve body of the shell sleeve is sleeved on an outer periphery of the clamping component and capable of displacing relative to the clamping component, when the shell sleeve displaces downward to a pressing position, the clamping jaws of the clamping component are pressed to close inwardly, so that the clamping jaws compress the airtight ring; when the shell sleeve displaces upward to a releasing position, the clamping jaws are not pressed, and the clamping jaws stretch outwardly to stop compressing the airtight ring. 
     Thereby, when a user pushes or pulls the shell sleeve single-handedly, the inflatable air nozzle connector is capable of airtightly sleeving on an air nozzle of a tire, or separating from the air nozzle of the tire, making operation of inflating tire more convenient and fast. 
     In one preferred implementation, an inner peripheral surface of the sleeve body is provided with a snap portion; an outer peripheral surface of the clamping component is provided with a fasten portion, when the shell sleeve is located at the releasing position, the snap portion contacts the fasten portion, and when in the releasing position, the clamping component does not press the clamping jaws. By means of a contact relationship between the snap portion and the fasten portion, when the shell sleeve moves in a direction away from the open end, the clamping component is driven to move together. Therefore, the user can easily separate the inflatable air nozzle connector from the air nozzle of the tire by pulling the shell sleeve with the sleeve body or the connector portion. 
     In one preferred implementation, the air passage passes through a top end and the bottom end of the clamping component. 
     In one preferred implementation, a main body of the clamping component is provided with an air hole passing through a bottom end of the main body; at least one flow channel is radially provided in the main body and communicates with the air hole, at least one end of the flow channel passes through a peripheral surface of the main body and communicates with the accommodating space; the air hole and the at least one flow channel form the air passage. 
     In the above-mentioned implementation, the peripheral surface of the main body is recessed with an annular air groove; at least one end of the flow channel communicates with the air groove, so that air flows from the air groove into the flow channel and flows into the air hole of the main body. 
     In the above-mentioned implementation, a top surface of the main body is provided with at least one guide groove, and at least one end of the guide groove communicates with the air groove. 
     In one preferred implementation, the shell sleeve is composed of the sleeve body and an end member, the end member is disposed at one end of the sleeve body to form the closed end; and the connector portion and the perforation are disposed on the end member. 
     In one preferred implementation, the clamping component is composed of a main body and a connecting member, a top end of the connecting member is connected to the main body; the air passage is disposed in the main body; and the clamping jaws are disposed around a bottom end of the connecting member. 
     In one preferred implementation, the inner peripheral surface of the sleeve body is provided with a snap portion; the outer peripheral surface of a bottom side of the clamping component is provided with a positioning portion, and when the shell sleeve is located at the pressing position, the snap portion contacts the positioning portion. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The objects, features, and achieved efficacies of the invention can be understood from the description and drawings of the following preferred embodiments, in which: 
         FIG.  1    is a top perspective view of an inflatable air nozzle connector of a first preferred embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG.  2    is a bottom perspective view of the inflatable air nozzle connector of the first preferred embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG.  3    is an exploded perspective view of  FIG.  1   . 
         FIG.  4    is an exploded perspective view of  FIG.  2   . 
         FIG.  5    is a cross-sectional view of the inflatable air nozzle connector of  FIG.  1    in the top-bottom direction. 
         FIG.  6    and  FIG.  7    show a state of using the inflatable air nozzle connector of the invention to inflate a tire. 
         FIG.  8    shows an operating state of separating the inflatable air nozzle connector from an air nozzle of a tire after inflation is completed. 
         FIG.  9    is a top perspective view of the inflatable air nozzle connector of a second preferred embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG.  10    is a top exploded perspective view of  FIG.  9   . 
         FIG.  11    is a bottom exploded perspective view of  FIG.  9   . 
         FIG.  12    is a cross-sectional view of the inflatable air nozzle connector of  FIG.  9    in the top-bottom direction. 
         FIG.  13    is a state of using the inflatable air nozzle connector of  FIG.  9    of the invention to inflate a tire. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Please refer to  FIGS.  1  to  4    for an inflatable air nozzle connector  10  provided by a first preferred embodiment of the invention, which is connected to an inflator to inflate a tire with the inflator. The inflator can be a manually operated device or a powered device. The inflatable air nozzle connector  10  comprises a clamping component  20 , an airtight ring  40  and a shell sleeve  50 . 
     Please refer to  FIG.  5    in conjunction with  FIGS.  1  to  4   . The clamping component  20  has a top end and a bottom end, and a direction from the top end to the bottom end is an axial direction thereof; an air passage  21  disposed in the clamping component  20  and passing through the top and bottom ends of the clamping component  20  along the axial direction of the clamping component  20 , so that air is capable of flowing through the clamping component  20 ; a plurality of clamping jaws  22  disposed around the bottom end of the clamping component  20  in the form of a circle, and the clamping jaws  22  have swingable elasticity, and thus are capable of closing inwardly or stretching outwardly in a radial direction of the clamping component  20 . An outer peripheral surface of a top side of each of the clamping jaws  22  is recessed inwardly to form a fasten portion  24 . The outer peripheral surface of each of the clamping jaws  22  is a convex surface that gradually protrudes downward from the fasten portion  24 . Therefore, a diameter formed by the top side of the outer peripheral surface of each of the clamping jaws  22  is smaller than a diameter formed by a bottom side of the outer peripheral surface of each of the clamping jaws  22 . An annular chamber  26  is formed between the clamping jaws  22  and communicates with the air passage  21 . 
     The clamping component  20  can be a one-piece component. In this preferred embodiment, a main body  30  and a connecting member  35  are assembled to form the clamping component  20 , the main body  30  is a hollow cylindrical member, and an air hole  31  inside thereof constitutes a part of the air passage  21 . The connecting member  35  has a cylindrical portion  36 , and the clamping jaws  22  are disposed on a bottom end of the cylindrical portion  36 . The cylindrical portion  36  is screwed to a bottom end of the main body  30 , so that the connecting member  35  and the main body  30  are connected to form the clamping component  20 . 
     The airtight ring  40  is installed in the chamber  26  of the clamping component  20 , and is made of rubber material and can be deformed by force. A through hole  42  provided in a center of the airtight ring  40  communicates with the air passage  21 . A bottom end of the airtight ring  40  is supported by the clamping jaws  22  and will not fall out of the chamber  26 . 
     The shell sleeve  50  has a hollow sleeve body  52 , a bottom end  521  of the sleeve body  52  is an open end, a top end  522  of the sleeve body  52  is a closed end, an accommodating space  54  is formed in the sleeve body  52 ; and an annular snap portion  55  is provided on an inner peripheral surface of the sleeve body  52 . A connector portion  56  has a penetrated perforation  57 , the connector portion  56  is disposed on the closed end (the top end  522 ) of the sleeve body  52 , and the perforation  57  communicates with the accommodating space  54  of the shell sleeve  50 . 
     The shell sleeve  50  of this preferred embodiment is composed of the sleeve body  52  and a round end member  58 . The top end  522  of the sleeve body  52  is screwed to an outer periphery of the end member  58 , so that the top end  522  of the sleeve body  52  forms the closed end  522 , and airtightness between peripheral surfaces of the sleeve body  52  and the end member  58  is kept by a leak-proof element (O-ring)  59 . The connector portion  56  and the perforation  57  are disposed on the end member  58 . 
     The shell sleeve  50  is capable of slidably sleeving on an outer periphery of the clamping component  20  with the sleeve body  52 , and is capable of sliding downward to a pressing position (as shown in  FIG.  7   ) and sliding upward to a releasing position to control the clamping jaws  22  to close inwardly or stretch outwardly. The clamping component  20  is accommodated in the accommodating space  54  of the shell sleeve  50 , and the shell sleeve  50  and the clamping component  20  are capable of sliding relative to each other; since the connector portion  56  is connected to the closed end  522  of the sleeve body  52 , when the shell sleeve  50  is displaced to the pressing position or the releasing position, the connector portion  56  and the sleeve body  52  move together. A leak-proof element (O-ring)  38  is installed in a ring groove  32  of the main body  30  and engages with the inner peripheral surface of the sleeve body  52  to keep the shell sleeve  50  and the clamping component  20  airtight. The releasing position and the pressing position are respectively a top stop point and a bottom stop point of a displacement stroke of the shell sleeve  50 . 
       FIG.  5    shows that the shell sleeve  50  of the inflatable air nozzle connector  10  is located at the releasing position, and the snap portion  55  of the shell sleeve  50  snaps with the fasten portions  24  of the clamping jaws  22 . At this time, the clamping jaws  22  are stretched outwardly and the airtight ring  40  is not compressed so that an air nozzle  60  of a tire can be inserted into the through hole  42  of the airtight ring  40 . 
     Please refer to  FIG.  6   , the connector portion  56  of the inflatable air nozzle connector  10  is connected to an air tube  15  of an inflator (not shown in the figure). When a tire is to be inflated, as shown in  FIG.  6   , the shell sleeve  50  of the inflatable air nozzle connector  10  is in the releasing position, and a user uses a bottom end of the inflatable air nozzle connector  10  to sleeve on the air nozzle  60  of the tire, the air nozzle  60  is inserted into the air passage  21  and the through hole  42  of the airtight ring  40 . Then, the user pushes the shell sleeve  50  downward, that is, moving toward the air nozzle  60 , and displacing to the pressing position shown in  FIG.  7   . At this time, the shell sleeve  50  is located at a bottom stop point of its sliding stroke, the bottom end  521  of the sleeve body  52  presses the bottom sides (the diameter of the bottom sides of the clamping jaws  22  is larger) of the clamping jaws  22  of the clamping component  20 , and the clamping jaws  22  close inwardly and compress the airtight ring  40  to cause the airtight ring  40  to deform and airtightly tighten the air nozzle  60  so that air in the air passage  21  cannot leak outside. Then, the inflator is activated to inject air into the air nozzle  60  of the tire from the air tube  15 , the perforation  57  of the connector portion  56 , and the air passage  21  to inflate the tire. In addition, when the shell sleeve  50  is located at the pressing position, the snap portion  55  of the sleeve body  52  snaps into a positioning portion  28  provided on the outer peripheral surface of each of the clamping jaws  22  for positioning. The positioning portion  28  forms a ring-shaped recess and is provided on the outer peripheral surfaces of the bottom sides of the clamping jaws  22 . 
     After inflation is completed, hold the shell sleeve  50  or the air tube  15  with one hand, and pull the shell sleeve  50  upward, that is, moving the shell sleeve  50  in a direction away from the air nozzle  60  (also a direction away from the open end  521 ), so that the shell sleeve  50  is returned to the releasing position, the bottom end  521  of the shell sleeve  50  is displaced to the top side with the smaller diameter of the clamping jaws  22 , and the clamping jaws  22  are free from being pressed. The clamping jaws  22  are then elastically stretched and the airtight ring  40  is no longer compressed, the airtight ring  40  is thus elastically restored, and the air nozzle  60  is no longer tightened, so that the inflatable air nozzle connector  10  can be separated from the air nozzle  60 . 
     In the releasing position, the snap portion  55  of the shell sleeve  50  snaps with the fasten portion  24  of the clamping component  20 , and a snapping and engaging relationship between the snap portion  55  and the fasten portion  24  makes the shell sleeve  50  capable of driving the clamping component  20  to move together. Therefore, when the user pulls the shell sleeve  50  upward with a force F, as shown in  FIG.  8   , the clamping component  20  is driven to move upward together, so that the entire inflatable air nozzle connector  10  can be separated from the air nozzle  60 . The user can pull or push the sleeve body  52  or the connector portion  56 , which is convenient for manipulating the shell sleeve  50  with one hand. 
     It can be known from the above description that the user pushes the inflatable air nozzle connector  10  toward the air nozzle  60  with one hand, as shown in  FIG.  7   , so that the inflatable air nozzle connector  10  can be sleeved on the air nozzle  60  airtightly for inflation. After inflation is completed, the user pulls the inflatable air nozzle connector  10  in a direction away from the air nozzle  60  to separate the inflatable air nozzle connector  10  from the air nozzle  60 , as shown in  FIG.  8   . Therefore, the design of the invention is convenient for the user to manipulate the inflatable air nozzle connector  10  with one hand to sleeve on the air nozzle  60  or separate from the air nozzle  60 . 
       FIGS.  9  to  12    are an inflatable air nozzle connector  10 ′ provided by a second preferred embodiment of the invention. The components that are the same as those in the first embodiment have the same reference numbers and thus will not be repeated. 
     The inflatable air nozzle connector  10 ′ also comprises: a clamping component  20 ′, an airtight ring  40 , and a shell sleeve  50 ′. The clamping component  20 ′ is installed in the accommodating space  54  of the shell sleeve  50 ′; and the airtight ring  40  is disposed in the chamber  26  of the clamping component  20 ′. 
     The shell sleeve  50 ′ is formed by a sleeve body  52 ′, and a top end of the sleeve body  52 ′ is a closed end for disposing the connector portion  56  and the perforation  57 . 
     In this embodiment, the clamping component  20 ′ is also formed by assembling a main body  30 ′ with a connecting member  35 , and a top end of the connecting member  35  is screwed to a bottom end of the main body  30 ′, wherein, an air hole  31 ′ inside the main body  30 ′ passes through the bottom end of the main body  30 ′, but does not pass through a top end of the main body  30 ′; at least one flow channel  33 , as shown in FIG. 
       12 , is radially provided in the main body  30 ′ and communicates with the air hole  31 ′, a position of the flow channel  33  is higher than that of the leak-proof element  38 , and at least one end or two ends of the flow channel  33  passes through or pass through a peripheral surface of the main body  30 ′, so that the flow channel  33  communicates with the accommodating space  54  of the shell sleeve  50 ′ to allow air to flow between the accommodating space  54  and the flow channel  33 . In addition, in this embodiment, an annular air groove  301  is further recessed on the peripheral surface of the main body  30 ′ at a position corresponding to the flow channel  33 , so that the end of the flow channel  33  communicates with the air groove  301 . A plurality of guide grooves  34 , such as the three guide grooves  34 , are provided on a top end face of the main body  30 ′ as shown in  FIG.  10   , and two ends of each of the guide grooves  34  communicate with the air groove  301  with a notch  341  respectively. The guide grooves  34  are located directly below the perforation  57  of the connector portion  56  to guide the air flowing in from the perforation  57 . Preferably, the guide grooves  34  are radially provided on a top surface of the main body  30 ′. 
       FIG.  12    shows that the shell sleeve  50 ′ of the inflatable air nozzle connector  10 ′ is located at the releasing position, at this time, the snap portion  55  of the shell sleeve  50 ′ snaps with the fasten portions  24  of the clamping jaws  22  of the clamping component  20 ′, the clamping jaws  22  are stretched outwardly and the airtight ring  40  is not compressed so that the air nozzle  60  of a tire can be inserted into the through hole  42  of the airtight ring  40 . 
       FIG.  13    shows that the inflatable air nozzle connector  10 ′ sleeves on the air nozzle  60  of a tire airtightly to inflate the tire. At this time, the shell sleeve  50 ′ is pushed toward the air nozzle  60  and displaced to the pressing position. The bottom sides of the clamping jaws  22  are pressed by the bottom end  521  of the shell sleeve  50 ′ to close inwardly, and compress the airtight ring  40  to deform the airtight ring  40  and to tighten the air nozzle  60  airtightly by the deformed airtight ring  40 . After the inflator is activated, air flows into the accommodating space  54  from the air tube  15  and diffuses outwardly to flow toward the annular air groove  301  through guiding of the guide grooves  34  of the clamping component  20 ′, and then flows into the air hole  31 ′ of the main body  30 ′ through the flow channel  33  and is injected into the air nozzle  60  to inflate the tire. The flow channel  33  and the air hole  31 ′ constitute an air passage  21 ′ of the clamping component  20 ′, allowing the inflated air to flow into the tire. The guide grooves  34  and the notches  341  can also be regarded as parts of the air passage  21 ′. 
     After inflation is completed, as shown in an operation of  FIG.  8   , hold the shell sleeve  50 ′ or the air tube  15  with one hand, and pull and move the shell sleeve  50 ′ upward in a direction away from the air nozzle  60  (also a direction away from the open end  521 ) to move the shell sleeve  50 ′ upward and return the shell sleeve  50 ′ to the releasing position. At this time, the snap portion  55  of the shell sleeve  50 ′ snaps with the fasten portion  24  of the clamping component  20 ′, the bottom end  521  of the shell sleeve  50 ′ no longer presses the clamping jaws  22 , the clamping jaws  22  are then elastically stretched, and the airtight ring  40  is free from being compressed. The airtight ring  40  is thus elastically restored, and the air nozzle  60  is no longer tightened by the airtight ring  40 . By means of a contact relationship and an abutting relationship between the snap portion  55  and the fasten portion  24 , a force exerted by an operator by pulling the shell sleeve  50 ′ upward and simultaneously pulling the clamping component  20 ′ upward together is capable of easily separating the inflatable air nozzle connector  10 ′ from the air nozzle  60 . 
     The inflatable air nozzle connectors  10 ,  10 ′ provided by the invention allow the user to operate single-handedly to be capable of sleeving the inflatable air nozzle connector on the tire air nozzle airtightly and separating the inflatable air nozzle connector from the tire air nozzle, making operation of inflating tire more convenient. 
     It is to be understood that the above description is only the embodiments of the invention and is not used to limit the present invention, and changes in accordance with the concepts of the present invention may be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the equivalent effects produced by various transformations, variations, modifications and applications made to the configurations or arrangements shall still fall within the scope covered by the appended claims of the present invention.