Abstract:
A flexible hose for establishing a fluid connection between remote components of a fluid line system includes an integral housing formed directly in at least one end. Male member portions of the system components are received and retained in the integral housing. The hose housing includes a radial wall which engages an upset formed on the male member to prevent retraction of the male member from the hose. Sealing means in the form of O-rings may be disposed inside of the hose.

Description:
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S patent application Ser. No. 08/687,776, filed Jul. 31, 1996 now abandoned. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to fluid line systems in which flexible hose is utilized to establish fluid connections between remote components or conduits, and more particularly, to a flexible hose which can be coupled to a system component or conduit without use of an external attachment or coupling device. 
     In automotive and other fields, flexible hose is utilized to provide fluid connections between remote components or conduits. Typically, external attachment or coupling devices are used to attach or couple the hose to the system components and provide reliable seals therebetween. Coupling devices which have been used for this purpose include metal or plastic clamps and quick connector fittings. 
     FIG. 1 depicts a typical prior art fluid line system  10 . A hose  12  is utilized to establish a fluid connection between fuel filter  14  and steel fuel line  16 . Fuel filter  14  includes a male member portion  18  having an enlarged upset  20 , and fuel line  16  includes a male member portion  22  having an enlarged upset  24 . 
     Quick connectors  26  and  28  are employed to couple hose ends  30  and  32  to, respectively, fuel line  16  and fuel filter  14 . Hose ends  30  and  32  are expanded over and retained on stem portions  34  and  36  of the connectors. Stem portions  34  and  36  may include barbs or bumps to enhance gripping of the hose. Housing portions  38  and  40  of the connectors receive the male member portions of fuel filter  16  and fuel line  14 . Housing portions  38  and  40  include retainers or other locking means which engage upsets  20  and  24  to secure the male member portions inside of the connectors. In this manner, a fluid connection is established between fuel filter  14  and fuel line  16 . 
     Use of external coupling devices, such as the quick connectors illustrated in FIG. 1, gives rise to various problems. External coupling devices add length to the fluid line and may conflict with geometrical constraints. Barbed-type fittings which engage the hose internal diameter may create undesirable internal line restriction. Additional potential leak paths are created through use of external coupling devices. Finally, production and installation of separate coupling devices leads to increased costs. 
     The present invention addresses these problems by providing a flexible hose having integral connector housings formed directly in its ends. These integral housings integrate the sealing and latching mechanisms necessary for coupling of the hose to a mating system component. The present invention is useful for low to medium pressure fluid applications and minimizes the problems noted in connection with use of external coupling devices. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A flexible hose for forming a fluid connection between components of a fluid line system includes an integral connector housing formed directly in at least one end. Male member portions of system components to be connected are insertable into the integral housing. The connector housing includes locking means for engaging upsets formed on the male member portions to prevent retraction of the male member from the hose. The locking means may be a radial wall defined in the integral housing. Alternatively, it may be a latch having locking beams extending through slots formed in the housing. Sealing means in the form of O-rings may be disposed inside of the hose or about the outer diameter of the male member. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a side view of a typical prior art fluid line system which utilizes external coupling devices to couple a hose to system components; 
     FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view of a first embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view of a second embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view of a third embodiment of the present invention; and 
     FIG. 5 is a side view of a fluid line system utilizing a hose according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 6 is a side view of a fluid line system which utilizes end coupling devices of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     A first embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG.  2 . One end of a tubular hose  50  is shown and is formed into an integral connector housing  52 . Connector housing  52  has an expanded diameter relative to the remainder of hose  50 . A radial shoulder  54  is defined inside of housing  52 . A seal package in the form of an O-ring seal  56  positioned between spacers  58  is press-fit into hose  50  against shoulder  54 . Notches or slots  60  formed through the sidewall of hose  50  define radial locking walls  62 . 
     Hose  50  may be formed from any material capable of being shaped at its ends into a functional and permanent connector body. Suitable materials include thermoplastics, elastomers, fluoropolymers, or combinations thereof which are capable of being formed into a housing. Nylon 6, 6/6, 11 or 12 (or combinations thereof) are preferred thermoplastics. Where appropriate, flexible metallic hose materials such as corrugated, fully annealed metallic/non-metallic braided hose composites or soft metal alloys could be utilized. 
     Processes capable of forming ends of a hose into geometrical shapes may be utilized to form integral connector housings  52 . Examples include vacuum forming, cold forming, heat forming and in-line extrusion techniques. Notches  60  are formed by simple notching, cutting or piercing processes which may be integral or non-integral with the forming process. 
     The hose  50  formed with integral connector housings  52  will be of a minimum length of 100 mm. This minimum length accommodates the hose length required for forming each hose end into integral connector housings  52  and allows sufficient hose length remaining between the integral connector housings  52  to allow for adequate bend flexibility. 
     The hose  50  will be used in situations where the installer would need to bend the hose  50  for installation with the mating male portion  64 . The need for manually bending the hose  50  is necessitated by the lack of precise tolerance of the location of the male portion  64  and the inability to have a consistent clearance area between the opposite male portions  64  due to variations of the packaging of other components. To allow the installer to install the hose, the degree of flexibility of the hose must be such that when the angular direction of the installation area differs from the angle of the hose form, the hose  50  can be flexed easily by hand to conform to the angle required to make the final installation of the flexible hose to the mating male member portion  64 . To allow the installer to bend the flexible hose easily by hand, the force required to bend the flexible hose should be 5 newtons or less. 
     Tubular male member portion  64  of a fluid line system component is received in integral connector housing  52  of hose  50 . Male member portion  64  includes a radially enlarged upset  66  which defines an abutment wall  68  formed substantially perpendicular to the outside surface of male member  64 , and a sloped wall  70  facing open end  72 . Sealing surface  74  extends between upset  66  and open end  72 . 
     Male member portion  64  is inserted into hose  50  until upset  66  is aligned with notches  60  and abutment wall  68  has passed radial wall  62 . Temporary expansion of hose  50  is necessary to move radially enlarged upset  66  into notch  60 . Expansion is facilitated by sloped surface  70  of upset  66 . Once upset  66  has moved beyond radial wall  62 , abutment wall  68  bears against radial wall  62  to prevent retraction of male member  64  from hose  50 . O-ring seal  56  contacts sealing surface  74  to establish a fluid seal between male member  64  and hose  50 . 
     A second embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.  3 . Again, a flexible hose  80  is formed with an integral connector housing  82 . Notches  84  define radial locking walls  86 . Instead of including a seal package inside of hose  80 , as in FIG. 2, an O-ring seal  88  is disposed between upset  92  and open end  94  of male member  90 . A groove may be formed in the exterior surface of male member  90  to better secure O-ring  88  around male member  90 . 
     A third embodiment of the invention is depicted in FIG.  4  and FIG.  5 . Flexible hose  100  is formed with integral connector housing  102 . An O-ring  104  is held between spacers  106  which are press-fit into hose  100  against radial shoulder  108 . A latch  110  is attached to hose  100 . Latch  110  includes locking beams  112  (one shown) which extend through slots formed in hose  100  into the interior of hose  100 . Locking beams  112  define a radial locking wall  114 . 
     Tubular male member portion  116  of a fluid line system component is received in integral connector housing  102  of hose  100 . Male member portion  116  includes a radially enlarged upset  118  which defines an abutment wall  120  formed substantially perpendicular to the outside surface of male member  116 . Sealing surface  122  extends between upset  118  and open end  124 . 
     Male member portion  116  is inserted into hose  100  until upset  118  contacts locking beams  112  of latch  110 . Continued insertion of male member  116  causes beams  112  to spread to permit passage of upset  118 . Locking beams  112  may include sloped or canned surfaces to facilitate passage of upset  118 . Once upset  118  has moved beyond beams  112 , abutment wall  120  bears against radial wall  114  to prevent retraction of male member  116  from hose  100 . O-ring seal  104  contacts sealing surface  122  to establish a fluid seal between male member  116  and hose  100 . 
     FIG. 6 shows use of the present invention in a fluid line system. Hose  130  is formed with integral connector housings  132  at its ends. Latches  134 , as described with reference to FIG. 4, are attached to hose  130 . Seal packages (not shown) are disposed inside of hose  130 . It is noted that though the embodiment of FIG. 4 is illustrated, the embodiments of FIGS. 2 and 3 could also be utilized. 
     Integral connector housings  132  receive male member portions of remote system components. A fuel line  136  and fuel filter  138  are illustrated. Visual comparison of the arrangement of FIG. 5 to the prior art arrangement of FIG. 1 is indicative of the reduced complexity of the present invention. External connector housings or fittings are eliminated. This reduces the number of potential leak paths and the length of the fluid line. Installation is accomplished in one step: insertion of a male member into a hose; rather than in two steps: expansion of a hose around a connector body stem and insertion of a male member into a connector body housing. 
     The present invention is usefull in applications where low to medium pressure fluid is involved, that is, where significant pull-apart forces are not encountered. 
     Various features of this invention have been explained with reference to the embodiments shown and described. Modification may be made to the described embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as represented by the following claims.