Patent ID: 8397754

Claim:
A female or male coupling element for a coupling for releasably connecting together pipes conveying a fluid under pressure, said female or male element being suitable for being coupled with a corresponding male or female coupling element, said female or male element including a pusher and a shutter valve suitable for sliding axially relative to the pusher during coupling of said element, said female or male element further including at least one sealing O-ring received in a peripheral groove of a first part selected from the pusher and the valve and suitable for co-operating in leak tight manner with a first portion of a second part selected from the pusher and the valve in the uncoupled configuration of said element, whereas, in the coupled configuration of said element, a protection part for protecting the O-ring and forming a portion of said element is radially interposed between the O-ring and a main fluid flow in said element, the protection part being a second portion of the second part, the first and second portions of the second part having radial dimensions that are different, and the radial thickness available for the O-ring in the coupled configuration of said element being greater than the radial thickness available for the O-ring in the uncoupled configuration of said element, the first and second portions of the second part being connected to each other by connection tabs, wherein each connection tab is of cross-section that is constant along its entire length.