Abstract:
An improved fluid connector for garden use includes a tube body, a resilient retainer and a sleeve associated therewith. The tube body includes a plurality of holes for accommodation of a locking hook respectively and the resilient retainer is peripherally equipped with several pairs of vertical flexible ribs with an expansion space defined therebetween. On an inner wall of the sleeve, a plurality of push protrusions is disposed and is positioned in relationship with the vertical flexible ribs respectively so that, as the sleeve is pushed downwardly, the flexible ribs may be forced to deform and produce an reactive force that can instantly push the push protrusions of the sleeve back to their original place when the sleeve is free of an external force.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to an improved fluid connector for garden use which is made up of a tube body, a resilient retainer and sleeve. The tube body is provided with a plurality of holes for accommodation of a locking hook respectively and the resilient retainer is peripherally equipped with several pairs of vertical flexible ribs with an expansion space defined therebetween. On the inner wall of the sleeve are disposed a plurality of push protrusions that are positioned in relationship with the vertical flexible ribs respectively so that as the sleeve is pushed downwardly, the flexible ribs can be forced to deform and store an reactive force that can instantly push the push protrusions of the sleeve back to their original place when the sleeve is free of an external force, making the operation of the sleeve smoother and easier without causing the resilient retainer of the conventional fluid connector to get stuck when the sleeve is pushed downwardly as a result of deformation and fatigue in operation. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the perspective diagram shows the exploded components of the prior art cited by the present inventor. It includes a tube body  10 , a locking collar  20 , a sleeve  30  and a resilient retainer  40  wherein the tube body  10  is has a tubular passage from end to end with a connection tube  11  extended from one end of the tube body  10  to form a flanged section. The other end of the connection tube  11  extends to the end of the tube body  10  with a plurality of fastening dents  12  disposed thereat and a support flange  13  defined at the middle of the tube body  10  and having a limiting projection  131  placed on the periphery thereof. There are a plurality of axially extended and equally spaced guide ditches  14  defined on the front section of the tube body  10  and each having a pair of uprising guard ribs  141 ,  142 . A through hole  15  is disposed on each guide ditch  14  and a sealing flange  16  is defined at the front end of the tube body  10 . The locking collar  20  having a terminal end defined in a tapered form is engaged with the end of the tube body  10  by threaded sections so that the tapered end  21  of the locking collar  20  can force the tightening dents  12  to clamp an inserted hose or pipe in place. Moreover, the sleeve  30  has a plurality of abutment blocks  31  disposed on the inner wall thereof in alignment with the through holes  15  of the tube body  10   
     Such a prior art structure of the fluid connector has the following disadvantages in practice:
     1. the elastic component  43  of the resilient retainer  40  is made in an arc shape and can be easily deformed under pressure as shown in  FIG. 2  when the sleeve  30  is actuated by a user, resulting in the decreasing of the elasticity and the loss of the limiting function of the abutment blocks  31 . Thus, the integral operation life span of the fluid connector is unavoidably shortened;   2. the elastic components  43  of the resilient retainer  40  is of an arc shape, the locking unit  42  is easily stuck as a result of the uneven application of force when the sleeve  30  is actuated, making the push and pull of the sleeve  30  unsmooth and inconvenient;   3. the coupling pipe A can get easily loose from the engagement of the locking unit  42  as long as the sleeve  30  is pushed downwardly and the coupling pipe A can accidentally fly off under a great water pressure in a sprinkling process. Thus, the person in operation of the sprinkler will be splashed and gets wet by accident.   

     Moreover, the fluid connector illustrated in another published prior art disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,021,669 is equipped with a number of insert bodies  5  and compression springs  3  housed in the coupling part  1 . Such a structure is relatively complicated and is provided with relatively too many components, making the assembly thereof difficult and time consuming in one aspect and the production cost and processing 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Therefore, the primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved fluid connector for garden use wherein the sleeve is equipped with a plurality of push protrusions on the inner wall thereof that cooperate with several pair of vertical flexible ribs disposed on the periphery of a resilient retainer so that the expansion space of each pair of flexible ribs can provide a reactive force to push each inserted push protrusion backwardly so that the sleeve relieved from external force will instantly resume to its original position. Such a structure can prevent a traditional resilient retainer from being stuck due to deformation and operational fatigue when the sleeve is forced downwardly. Thus, the operation of the fluid connector become smoother in one aspect and the production and assembly cost of the fluid connector can be effectively cut down in consideration of economy of production and competition of marketing in another aspect. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved fluid connector for garden use wherein the resilient retainer makes use of the inner wall cavity sections of its support wall sections and stop faces and registration cavities of restraint posts to abut against the support blocks and the engagement blocks of the tube body so as to offer double build-up support to the resilient retainer to make it stronger and more durable even under great pressure produced by the sleeve pushed downwardly. 
     One further object of the present invention is to provide an improved fluid connector for garden use wherein the sleeve is equipped with a plurality of guide posts peripherally disposed on the inner wall thereof which are in cooperation with guide openings, slide slopes, stop posts and restraint posts of the resilient retainer so as to permit each guide post of the sleeve to slide from each restraint post along the slide slope to the stop post respectively and to be limited in place thereat without going downwardly any further. In that manner the sleeve can be firmly limited in place and a coupling pipe will not instantly get disengaged under water pressure from the fluid connector when the sleeve is accidentally pressed down, causing sprinkled water to splash all over to get people around wet. 
     One furthermore object of the present invention is to provide an improved fluid connector for garden use wherein the engagement blocks of the tube body are used to just engage with the registration cavities of the stop posts and the restraint posts of the resilient retainer respectively whereby the resilient retainer can be prevented from rotation along with the sleeve, making the control of the positioning of the sleeve in a more precise manner. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram showing a prior art related to the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a diagram showing the resilient retainer of  FIG. 1  in engagement when the sleeve is pushed downwardly; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective diagram showing the exploded components of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective sectional diagram showing a partial portion of the sleeve of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective diagram showing the assembly of the resilient retainer and the tube body of the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is one of the sectional diagrams showing the present invention; 
         FIG. 7  is a diagram showing the sleeve of  FIG. 6  being pushed downwardly; 
         FIG. 8  is another sectional view of the assembly of the present invention; 
         FIG. 9  is a diagram showing the sleeve in  FIG. 8  being pushed downwardly; 
         FIG. 10  is another perspective diagram showing the exploded components of the present invention; 
         FIG. 11  is a perspective diagram showing the exploded components of the enlarged diagram of  FIG. 10 ; 
         FIG. 12  is a sectional diagram showing the sleeve, the resilient retainer and the tube body of the  FIG. 11 ; 
         FIG. 13  is a perspective sectional diagram of the resilient retainer of  FIG. 11 ; 
         FIG. 14  is a perspective diagram showing the assembly of the resilient retainer and the tube body shown in  FIG. 11 ; 
         FIG. 15  is a first sectional diagram showing the assembly of the sleeve and the resilient retainer of  FIG. 11 ; 
         FIG. 16  is a second sectional diagram of the assembly of  FIG. 11 ; 
         FIG. 17  is a third sectional diagram of the assembly of  FIG. 11 ; 
         FIG. 18  is a diagram showing the sleeve in  FIG. 11  being pushed downwardly; 
         FIG. 19  is another diagram showing the sleeve in  FIG. 11  being pushed downwardly; 
         FIG. 20  is a diagram showing the guide posts of  FIG. 11  sliding along the slide slopes of the resilient retainer; 
         FIG. 21  is a diagram showing the guide posts of the sleeve in  FIG. 11  sliding along slide slopes of the resilient retainer and being stopped in place; 
         FIG. 22  is a fourth sectional diagram of  FIG. 11 ; 
         FIG. 23  is a diagram showing the sleeve of  FIG. 22  being pushed downwardly. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The best preferred embodiments of the present invention are hereinafter described in company with the drawings of the present invention. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , which is the perspective diagram of the exploded components of the present invention, in company with  FIG. 4  at the same time, it is comprised of a tube body  50 , a tightening ring  60 , resilient retainer  70  and a sleeve  80 . The tube body  50  has an open ended flow passage  51  for flow to run through. At the end of the tube body  50  is disposed an externally threaded section with a plurality of axially extended and peripherally disposed flexible clamping dents  52  disposed next thereto so that the tightening ring  60  having an internally defined tapered section  61  can work in cooperation to clamp a tube in place. At the top end of the tube body  50  are peripherally disposed a number of sealing flanges  53 . The middle of the tube body  50  is disposed a flat support periphery  54  above which are positioned a plurality of holes  55  with a vertical limiting rib  551  defined at each side thereof. Between every two holes  55  is disposed a horizontal abutment rib  552 . 
     The resilient retainer  70  is integrally made of plastics having a circular ring seat  71  from which upwardly extend a plurality of centrally pointed locking hooks  711  in correspondence to the holes  55  of the tube body  50 . A pair of vertical flexible ribs  712  having a expansion space  713  defined therebetween is disposed next to each locking hooks  711  or in an alternating manner. Each locking hook  711  is downwardly in connection to an arc shaped dodge section  714  and a support section  715 . 
     The sleeve  80  is peripherally provided with a plurality of abutment blocks  81  and retaining dents  82  respectively in connection to a push protrusion  83  opposite to the space  713  and having an arc shaped guide face  831 , on the inner wall thereof in correspondence to the holes  55  and the sealing flange  53  of the tube body  50 . The Y-shaped push protrusion  83  has a pair of prongs provided with the smooth guide face  831  respectively. 
     In assembly, as shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the locking hooks  711  of the resilient retainer  70  are first pointed and pushed to engage with the holes  55  from one end of the tube body  50  all the way down till the circular ring  71  in abutment against the support periphery  54 , causing the locking hooks  711  just to register with the holes  55  and confined between the vertical limiting ribs  551  respectively in such a manner that the vertical flexible ribs  712  just comes into abutment against the horizontal abutment ribs  552 . 
     Then the abutment blocks  81  of the sleeve  80  are placed in line with the holes  55  so as to permit the sleeve  80  to accommodate the tube body  50  therein with the retaining dents  82  flexibly come into registration with the inner side of the sealing flanges  53  so that the push protrusions  83  just abut against the tips of the flexible ribs  712  and opposite to the expansion space  713 . The locking hooks  711  subject to the abutment of the abutment blocks  81  stick into the flow passage  51  to clamp a connecting pipe (not shown in the drawing) in position. 
     When the sleeve  80  is pushed downwardly, as shown in  FIG. 7 , the guide face  831  of the push protrusions  83  will automatically urge the vertical flexible ribs  712  to move aside along the horizontal abutment ribs  552  and fall into registration with the expansion space  713 . At the same time the abutment blocks  81  move downwardly into the concave dodge section  714  so as to make the locking hooks  711  free from the abutment of the abutment blocks  81 . In the meanwhile, a connecting pipe (not shown) can selectively be removed from or engaged with the flow passage  51  of the tube body  50 . Once the sleeve  80  is free of any push, the vertical flexible ribs  712  free of the abutment of the push protrusions  83  will resume their flexibility along the guide face  831  to instantly push the sleeve  80  upwardly to resume its position. This makes the operation easier and smoother and can prevent the elastic parts of the conventional connector from getting stuck due to deformation and elastic fatigue when the sleeve is subject to a pressing force. It makes the operation constantly in an ideal status and saves the cost of using and installation of springs, causing the production of the connects better from an economic stand point and making the product more competitive in the consumer&#39;s market. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 8 and 9 , in another modified embodiment, the push protrusions  83 ′ of the sleeve  80  is provided with an arch shaped guide face  831 ′ getting narrower from bottom to top so that when the sleeve  80  is pushed downwardly the two flexible ribs  712  will move along the abutment ribs  552  and also under the limit of the guide face  831 ′ and are forced to bend toward the expansion space  713  and are restrained by the guide face  831 ′. As soon as the sleeve  80  is free of being pressed, the flexible ribs  712  are released from the bondage of the guide face  831 ′ and will bounce back outwardly and instantly push the sleeve  80  upwardly into another operation mode. 
     Referring to  FIG. 10 , the perspective diagram of the exploded components of another embodiment of the present invention are illustrated, and also referring to  FIG. 11  to  FIG. 13 , the tube body  50  is equipped with a plurality of support blocks  56  in linear alignment with the holes  55  disposed right thereabove. At each side of the support block  56  is disposed an engagement block  561  and a stop block disposed at each side of the hole  55  is positioned just between one support block  56  and one engagement block  551  respectively. Under each dodge section  714  of the resilient retainer  70  is disposed a support wall  72  on the inner side of which is defined a cavity section  721  positioned in registration with one support block  56  respectively. At the right side of the support wall  72  extends upwardly a stop post  722  defined in a reverse L shape and at the left side is disposed a spaced restraint post  73  so as to form a guide opening  74 . The stop post  722  and restraint post  73  are flush with each other and are provided with a registration cavity  7221  and  731  respectively. A slide slope  723  starting from the stop post  722  toward the guide opening  74  is defined at a lower level on the support wall  72 . The dodge section  714  of the locking hook  711  starts from the inner side of the slide slope and extends upwardly. 
     The abutment blocks  81  of the sleeve  80  have a smoothly sloped surface extending downwardly in connection to an arc contact plane  811 . At the bottom of each abutment block  81  is disposed a vertical guide post  84  in alignment with the guiding opening  74  of the resilient retainer  70 . The push protrusion  83  has a pair of smoothly processed guide corners  831  at the bottom thereof. 
     Referring to Figures from  FIG. 14  to  FIG. 17 , the locking hooks  711  of the resilient retainer  70  are first placed in alignment with the holes  55  of the tube body  50  so that the resilient retainer  70  can be forced into engagement with the tube body  50  from one end thereof with the circular ring  71  lies in contact with the support periphery  54 . In such a manner, the locking hooks  711  are just in locking engagement with the holes  55  and confined in the two limiting ribs  551  at both sides thereof and the cavity section  721  at the inner side of each support wall  72  just leans against the support blocks  56  so as to build a reinforced support on purpose. In the meanwhile, the engagement block  561  at two sides, the stop post  722  and the registration cavity  7221  and the registration cavity  731  of each restraint post  73  are mutually engaged with one another so as to form a built up support, making the resilient retainer  70  actually work as a control and positioning component. Then, the abutment blocks  81  of the sleeve  80  are lined in alignment with the holes  55  so as to permit the tube body  50  to be forced into engagement with the sleeve  80  with the retaining dents  82  resiliently engaged with the inner side of the sealing flanges  53 . Thus the push protrusions  83  are just in abutment against the top end of the vertical flexible ribs  712  and in face to the expansion space  713  and the guide posts  84  are just opposite to the guide opening  74  and limited by the stop post  722 . The locking hooks  711  are subject to the abutment of the contact planes  811  of the abutment blocks  81  and stick into the flow passage  51  of the tube body  50  to clamp a connecting pipe (not shown in the diagrams) in place. 
     When the guide posts  84  of the sleeve  80  are forced downwardly along the guide opening  74  of the resilient retainer  70 , as shown in  FIG. 18  and  FIG. 19 , the guide corners  831  of the push protrusions  83  will push the vertical flexible ribs  712  aside and slide into the expansion spaces  713  respectively, and at the same time, the abutment blocks  81  are forced to move downwardly into the dodge section  714  so as to set the locking hooks  711  free of the abutment of the contact planes  811 . Now, a connecting pipe can be inserted into or removed from the flow passage  51  of the tube body  50 . Once the sleeve  80  is released from a push, the vertical flexible ribs  712  free of the abutments of the push protrusions  83  will produce a reactive force along the guide corners  831  to push the guide posts  84  and the abutment blocks  81  of the sleeve  80  upwardly to get them resumed of their original positions. Such a mechanism makes the operation smoother and easier. It can prevent the conventional resilient parts from getting stuck due to deformation and fatigue of resilience in operation when the sleeve is forced downwardly. Moreover, the resilient retainer  70  makes use of the inner cavity section  721  and the stop face  722  of each support wall  72  and the registration cavity  7221  and  731  of each restraint post  73  are respectively supported by the support block  56  and the engagement block  561  respectively so that reinforced supports are obtained when the sleeve  80  is subject to a downward push, making the resilient retainer  70  built up and durable and subject to greater force without easy damage. It can also cut the production cost by non use of spring components and saving the labor of assembly, making the product of present invention more competitive in markets. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 20 and 21 , when water is sprinkled, the guide post  84  moves from the restraint post  73  along the slide slope  723  to the stop face  722 , and then the sleeve  80  can not be pushed further downwardly and held in position with the help of the restraint of the guide post  84  and the stop face  722 . In such a manner, the sleeve  80  can not be pushed downwardly in operation by accident so as to prevent a connecting pip from instant disengagement by great water pressure, resulting in getting people around splashed wet. At the same time, the engagement blocks  561  of the tube body  50  are engaged with the registration cavity  7221  and  731  of each restraint post  73  so as to prevent the resilient retainer  70  from rotation along with the spinning of the sleeve  80 , making the control and fixing in a more accurate manner. 
     Referring to  FIG. 22  and  FIG. 23 , the sleeve  80  has an arch push protrusion  83 ′ having a guide face  831 ′ becoming narrower from the bottom to the top. When the sleeve  80  is pushed downwardly, the two vertical flexible ribs  712  will move along the guide face  831 ′ and are bent to fit into the expansion space  713  and are limited by the guide face  831 ′. Once the sleeve  80  is free of an exerted force, the two flexible ribs  712  confined in each expansion space  713  will produce an reactive force to expand outwardly to instantly push the sleeve upwardly to resume its another operation mode.