JP2005024076A - Gas plug - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a gas plug composed: of a plug body 10 including a gas passage, a plug storing part 11 connected to the gas passage and opened thereto, and a cylindrical part 12 connected to the open end; a plug 20 rotatably stored in the plug storing part 11; an energizing means 40 energizing the plug 20 to be pressed to the base side of the plug storing part 11 at one end thereof; and an operating knob 1 externally fitted to the cylindrical part 12 to be relatively turned, thereby turning the plug 20, facilitating the structure and assembling by decreasing the number of parts. <P>SOLUTION: The inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical part 12 is provided with a locking part 15 for locking the other end part of the energizing means 40, and the energizing means 40 is engaged and held between the plug 20 and the locking part 15 in the state of keeping the energizing force. The operating knob 1 is mounted in the stopped state on the cylindrical part 12, and connected to the plug 20 to be inhibited from rotating relatively. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a gas stopper, and more particularly, to a gas stopper of a type that opens and closes a gas flow path by turning an operation knob of a shell accommodated in a stopper body.

As this seed gas stopper, one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-310344 has been proposed (see Patent Document).
As shown in the exploded perspective view of the gas stopper in FIG. 7, the preceding example is a stopper body comprising a thread accommodating portion (11) communicating with a gas flow path and a cylindrical portion (12) continuous above the portion. (10), a spiral (20) that is rotatably accommodated in the thread accommodating part (11), and is accommodated in the cylindrical part (12) and is relative to the thread (20) via a spring (4). The drive shaft (31) connected to the rotation prevention state, the operation knob (30) connected to the drive shaft (31) relative to the rotation prevention state, and the operation knob (30) are connected to the drive shaft (30). 31) a fastening bolt (33) to be fixed to the drive shaft (31) and a spring pin (32) as a stopper to be fixed to the cylindrical portion (12) in order to limit the rotation of the drive shaft (31) to 90 degrees Has been.

The operation knob (30) is connected to the drive shaft (31) in a state of preventing relative rotation, and the drive shaft (31) is in a state where the rotation is restricted within a range of 90 degrees by the spring pin (32). Since it is connected to the screw (20) in a state that prevents relative rotation, turning the operation knob (30) causes the screw (20) to be moved via the drive shaft (31). ) Within the range of 90 degrees in the same direction as the rotation direction.
JP 2000-310344 A

  As described above, in the gas plug having the conventional configuration, the screw (20) is housed in the stopper main body (10) in a non-removable state and is rotated within a predetermined rotation range by the rotation operation of the operation knob (33). In addition to these minimum required components, a drive shaft (31), a spring pin (32), and a tightening bolt (33) are required to make this possible. There is an inconvenience that it is complicated.

The present invention includes: a plug body including a gas flow channel, a thread accommodating portion that communicates with the gas flow channel and opens to one side, and a cylindrical portion continuous to an open end of the thread accommodating portion;
A gas passage hole that is rotatably accommodated in the thread accommodating portion and communicates with the gas flow path passes therethrough,
A biasing means for biasing the thread at one end in a direction of pressing the thread against the bottom of the thread housing part;
In the gas stopper comprising an operation knob that is externally fitted to the cylindrical portion and is capable of rotating the screw, the number of parts is reduced, the manufacturing cost is reduced, and the assembly is facilitated. Is an issue.

The solving means of the present invention taken to solve the above-mentioned problem is as follows: `` A locking portion for locking the other end portion of the urging means is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion,
The urging means is engaged and held in a state where the urging force is maintained between the thread and the locking portion,
The operation knob is attached to the cylindrical portion in a retaining state and is connected to the screw in a relative rotation preventing state.
After the thread is housed in the thread housing portion of the plug body, the biasing means is disposed in such a manner that one end is locked to the thread and the other end is locked to the locking portion. As a result, the thread is housed in a state of being pushed to the bottom side in the thread housing part by the biasing force of the biasing means, so that the thread does not float up from the thread housing part to the cylindrical part side, It will be rotatably fixed in the spiral housing part. The operation knob for rotating the screw is directly attached to the cylindrical body so as to be relatively rotatable, and is also directly connected to the screw in a relative rotation blocking state. Can be rotated in the same direction angle, and the gas channel can be opened and closed.

  The locking portion may be a “projection provided on the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion” as in the invention of claim 2, or the “locking portion of the cylindrical portion as in the invention of claim 3. It can also be adopted as `` a concave portion provided on the inner peripheral surface '', and in the invention of claim 2, the other end portion of the urging means is locked on the lower surface of the convex portion, According to a third aspect of the present invention, the other end portion of the urging means is housed in the recess and is locked to the upper side surface thereof.

As in the invention of claim 4, in each of the inventions of claims 1 to 3, “the annular knob is provided in the operation knob so that the cylindrical portion is rotatably fitted,
One engaging convex part protrudes at a predetermined position in the annular concave groove,
The open end surface of the tubular portion is provided with first and second rotation prevention surfaces that are in contact with the engagement convex portion so as to be parallel and perpendicular to the gas flow path, respectively.
When the operation knob having the cylindrical portion fitted in the annular concave groove is mounted, the engagement convex portion is positioned within a range of 90 degrees between the first and second rotation prevention surfaces. The first and second rotation preventing surfaces are provided in parallel and at right angles to the gas flow path, so that the angle formed between both surfaces is 90 degrees or 270 degrees. It is. Among these, the cylindrical body is fitted into the annular groove of the operation knob so that the engaging convex portion is positioned within a range of 90 degrees. The operation knob is connected to the screw in a state of preventing relative rotation, and the screw is set to rotate in the same direction as the operation knob rotates. If it is provided so as to be positioned in parallel with the gas passage hole, when the engaging convex part comes into contact with the first rotation prevention surface arranged parallel to the flow path, It will be located in parallel with the flow path, and the flow path will be open. From this state, when the operation knob is rotated until the engaging convex portion comes into contact with the second rotation prevention surface disposed at a right angle to the flow path, the gas passage hole of the spiral also moves to the flow path. Therefore, the gas flow path is closed.

  Further, in each of the above claims, as in the invention of claim 5, “the urging means is a conical coil spring whose diameter increases toward the locking portion of the cylindrical portion, and at least the large diameter of the conical coil spring. In the case where the end portion is configured as a closed end '', for example, in the case where the locking portion is a convex portion as in the invention of claim 2, the diameter of the large-diameter end portion of the conical coil spring is: Since it is configured to have a larger diameter than the protruding end of the convex portion, it is only necessary to squeeze below the convex portion while rotating the spring. Further, in the case where the locking portion is constituted by a concave portion as in the third aspect of the invention, it is only necessary to insert the large diameter end portion of the upper end of the spring into the concave portion while reducing the diameter. In addition, since the large-diameter end portion is configured as a closed end, the large-diameter end portion is engaged with the engaging portion even if the coil spring rotates inadvertently while being engaged with the engaging portion. Does not come off the stop.

  In the present invention, the gas plug can be configured with only the minimum necessary parts such as the plug main body, the screw, the operation knob, and the biasing means, and the drive shaft and the spring pin used in the conventional gas plug, Since a tightening bolt or the like for fixing the operation knob is not required, the number of parts of the gas stopper can be reduced, and accordingly, the manufacturing cost can be reduced and the assembling operation can be simplified. Further, if the operation knob is removable from the cylindrical body, the gas stopper can be easily disassembled, and there is no trouble in repairing and checking the gas stopper. Further, the urging means for pushing the thread toward the bottom of the thread housing part is engaged and held by the locking part provided in the cylindrical part of the plug body, and is configured independently of the operation knob. No force other than the urging force by the urging means is applied to the operation knob when a pushing force or a pulling force is applied to the operation knob or during a turning operation. Therefore, the pushing force acting on the thread is always kept constant.

  According to the second and third aspects, since the locking portion is a convex portion or a concave portion provided in the cylindrical portion, there is an effect that the urging means can be reliably locked in the cylindrical portion.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, only the engagement convex portion is provided in the annular groove and the first and second rotation prevention surfaces are provided on the open end surface of the cylindrical portion, so that the rotation of the spiral is restricted to a range of 90 degrees. Therefore, there is an effect that it is not necessary to separately provide a special part for restricting the rotation of the thread.

  Further, the present invention has an effect that the conical coil spring as the urging means can be reliably provided in a stable state.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a gas stopper according to an embodiment of the present invention in an assembled state.

  The gas stopper of this embodiment has a configuration in which the gas inflow cylinder (13) and the gas outflow cylinder (14) are connected to the stopper main body (10) so as to be coaxially arranged. 10) accommodates a pipe (20) through which a gas passage hole (23) communicating with the gas flow path from the gas inflow cylinder (13) to the gas outflow cylinder (14) passes. The thread (20) can be rotated in accordance with the rotation of the operation knob (1) fitted to the open end of the plug body (10).

[About the configuration of the plug body (10)]
As shown in FIG. 1, the stopper main body (10) is opened upward and accommodates an inverted frustoconical thread (20), and a cylindrical part (11) continuous to the upper open end. 12), and the gas inflow tube portion (13) and the gas outflow tube portion (14) are coaxially connected to both sides of the thread accommodating portion (11).
A joint (not shown) for connecting a flexible pipe is connected to the gas inflow cylinder (13), and the gas outflow cylinder (14) is connected to a gas inlet (not shown) such as a water heater. It is configured to be connected.

At a predetermined position on the inner wall of the cylindrical portion (12), an annular convex portion (15) as a locking portion for receiving one end of a coil spring (40) described later is provided so as to protrude inward. At the same time, as shown in FIG. 2, about three-quarters of the open end face of the cylindrical portion (12) is higher than the remaining one-quarter portion of the high wall portion (2). It has become. The high wall portions (2) are arranged so that both end faces thereof are perpendicular to and parallel to the gas flow path composed of the gas inflow tube portion (13) and the outflow tube portion (14), respectively ( The location of 2) is set, and the surface on the side perpendicular to the gas flow path is the first rotation prevention surface (21), and the other side is parallel to the gas flow path. The surface on the side to be positioned is defined as a second rotation prevention surface (22).
The inner diameter of the annular convex portion (15) is set larger than the maximum diameter of the upper end of the thread (20).

[About Sen (20)]
The thread (20) is an inverted frustoconical body that expands upward in a size that is just accommodated in the thread accommodating part (11), and includes a gas inflow cylinder part (13) and a gas outflow cylinder part (14). A gas passage hole (23) that allows the two to communicate with each other passes through a position corresponding to the gas flow path.

  Further, on the upper surface of the screw (20), a substantially rectangular parallelepiped angular shaft portion (24) for connecting to an operation knob (1) described later in a state of preventing relative rotation is parallel to the gas passage hole (23). An annular groove portion (25) for receiving the other end of the coil spring (40) is formed concentrically with the rotation shaft so as to surround the base end portion thereof.

[About coil spring (40)]
As described above, since the annular convex portion (15) is set larger than the maximum diameter of the upper end of the thread (20), the diameter of the annular groove portion (25) is the annular convex portion. The diameter is inevitably smaller than (15). The coil spring (40) is a conical coil spring having a large diameter at one end and a small diameter at the other end, and the large diameter end portion is configured as a closed end, and the diameter thereof is set larger than the inner diameter of the annular convex portion (15). Has been. The small-diameter end is set to have a diameter that is just accommodated in the annular groove (25). The height of the coil spring (40) in the free state is set to be larger than the distance from the bottom of the annular groove (25) to the lower surface of the annular protrusion (15).

  Further, the portions of both ends of the coil spring (40) that are in contact with the bottom of the annular groove (25) and the lower surface of the annular projection (15) are cut into a flat shape as shown in FIG. These flat portions (41) are set so as to be in surface contact with the bottom of the annular groove (25) and the lower surface of the annular projection (15).

  Since the coil spring (40) has the above-described configuration, both ends thereof are attached in a stable attachment state without being inadvertently detached from the annular groove (25) and the annular protrusion (15). In particular, since the large-diameter end at the upper end is configured as a closed end, even if the coil spring (40) is rotated by the turning operation of the operation knob (1) after being mounted, it is disengaged from the annular convex portion (15). There is no.

  As described above, the free height of the coil spring (40) is set to be larger than the distance from the bottom of the annular groove (25) to the lower surface of the annular protrusion (15). In the state of being interposed between the annular groove portion (25) and the annular convex portion (15), the elastic return force will function, and the thread (20) is constantly pressed to the bottom side of the thread housing portion (11). It becomes the mode to be.

[About the control knob (1)]
The operation knob (1) is a substantially cylindrical body that opens downward, and a knob portion (1a) projects along one of the diameter lines on the upper surface of the operation knob (1). A corner recess (16) for fitting the portion (24) is formed in parallel with the knob portion (1a).

An annular groove (17) for accommodating the cylindrical portion (12) is formed in a downward open state along the periphery of the lower open end of the operation knob (1). The height of the outer wall portion (17a) of the annular groove (17) is the height of the cylindrical portion (12) in a state where the angular shaft portion (24) is fitted into the angular recess portion (16). The height of the inner wall portion (17b) of the annular groove (17) is set so that the lower wall portion (3) in which the wall portion (2) is not formed is also able to cover a predetermined range from the upper end thereof. Is set higher than the distance from the top surface of the high wall portion (2) to the annular convex portion (15). An engagement protrusion that is engaged in a one-way engagement with the lower end of the annular projection (15) when the operation knob (1) is fitted to the cylindrical portion (12) at the lower end of the inner wall (17b). (18) is formed.
An engaging convex portion (5) is provided in the annular concave groove (17) so as to be positioned in parallel with the knob portion (1a).

[Assembly of gas stopper]
To assemble this gas stopper, first, the thread (20) is accommodated in the thread accommodating part (11) of the stopper body (10), and the small-diameter end of the coil spring (40) is accommodated in the annular groove (25). As described above, the coil spring (40) is inserted into the cylindrical portion (12) while being rotated, and the large-diameter end portion is protruded from the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion (12). Engage with the lower surface of the. As a result, the coil spring (40) is fitted between the thread (2) and the annular convex part (15) of the cylindrical part (12) in a state of being elastically deformed and in a retaining state.

  Next, the cylindrical portion (12) of the plug body (10) is made to correspond to the annular groove (17) of the operation knob (1), and the operation knob (1) is fitted on the plug body (10). At this time, in the state where the engagement convex portion (5) provided in the annular groove (17) is located above the low wall portion (3) of the cylindrical portion (12), the cylindrical portion (12 ) Is fitted into the annular groove (17), and the angular shaft portion (24) of the thread (20) is fitted into the angular recess (16). At this time, by strongly pressing the operation knob (1) in the fitting direction, the engagement protrusion (18) provided on the inner wall portion (17b) of the annular groove (17) is formed on the annular protrusion (15). One-way engagement is established, and the operation knob (1) is attached to the tubular portion (12) of the plug body (10) in a retaining state.

  As a result, the engagement convex portion (5) is moved above the low wall portion (3), that is, the first rotation prevention surface (21) and the second rotation prevention surface (22) of the high wall portion (2). The control knob (1) is mounted so as to be relatively rotatable with respect to the cylindrical part (12) and is connected to the screw (20) in a state of preventing relative rotation. It becomes the composition. The thread (20) is pressed downward with an equal force by the elastic return force of the coil spring (40), and the thread (20) is housed in the thread housing part (11) in a stable posture. It becomes.

  As described above, the operation knob (1) is rotatable with respect to the plug body (10). The rotation range of the operation knob (1) is the first rotation prevention surface (21) with which the engaging projection (5) abuts. And the second rotation preventing surface (22).

  In particular, in this embodiment, the knob (1a) is provided in parallel with the engaging protrusion (5) as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. Since it is set to be parallel to the gas passage hole (23) of the thread (20) when it is attached to the plug body (10), the direction of the engaging projection (5) is the gas passage. The relationship coincides with the direction of the hole (23). In this case, for example, as shown in the figure, in the state where the engaging convex portion (5) is in contact with the first rotation preventing surface (21), the gas passage hole (23) of the thread (20) is formed. In other words, the so-called gas stopper is closed, which is orthogonal to the gas inflow cylinder (13) and the gas outflow cylinder (14). From this state, holding the knob (1a) and turning the operation knob (1) in the direction of the arrow (counterclockwise) in the figure, the engagement projection (5) indicated by the two-dot chain line Thus, it abuts against the second rotation preventing surface (22) and cannot be rotated any further. The space between the first rotation prevention surface (21) and the second rotation prevention surface (22) is set to 90 degrees, which is the rotation range of the operation knob (1), and the engagement convex portion (5) By rotating the operation knob (1) until the abutment comes into contact with the second rotation prevention surface (22), the thread (20) is rotated 90 degrees. As a result, the gas passage hole (23) of the thread (20) is parallel to the gas inflow tube portion (13) and the gas outflow tube portion (14), and the gas plug is opened.

  As described above, the gas plug of the above embodiment is composed of the minimum required plug body (10), thread (20), and operation knob (1), and the thread (20) is formed on the cylindrical portion (12). When the operating knob (1) is rotated, the coil spring (40) interposed between the annular protrusion (15) and the annular groove (25) of the thread (20) is fixed in a retaining state. The screw (20) can be directly rotated, and the rotation range is such that the engaging projection (5) moves between the first rotation blocking surface (21) and the second rotation blocking surface (22). Since the gas stopper having the same function as the conventional one is reduced in the number of parts compared to the conventional one, the entire structure is simplified. At the same time, simplification of the assembly associated therewith can be realized.

  The coil spring (40) is provided between the screw (20) and the annular convex portion (15) projecting from the cylindrical portion (12) of the plug body (10) so that the operation knob (1 ) So that no force other than the elastic force of the coil spring (40) is applied to the screw (20) even if an external force is applied to the control knob (1). . Therefore, the thread (20) is maintained in a stable state in which the thread (20) is always pressed with a constant force while being housed in the thread housing portion (11). The annular convex portion (15) does not need to be a continuous annular body, and can project on the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion (12) as long as the large-diameter end portion of the coil spring (40) can be locked and held. It is good also as a structure which provides the some convex part made to project in substantially cyclic | annular form.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the convex portion (15) is provided as the locking portion. However, as shown in FIG. 4, the inner circumferential surface of the cylindrical portion (12) has a concave groove ( 35) may be formed, and the upper end surface of the groove (35) may function as a locking portion. In this case, the coil spring (40) may be inserted below the upper end face of the groove (35) while forcibly reducing the diameter of the large diameter end at the upper end.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the engagement protrusion (18) provided at the lower end of the inner wall portion (17b) of the annular groove (17) of the operation knob (1) is provided with the annular protrusion of the tubular portion (12). The operation knob (1) is configured to be attached to the stopper body (10) in a retaining state by engaging with the portion (15). However, as shown in FIG. 5, the outer wall portion of the annular groove (17) is provided. An engagement protrusion (18) may be provided at the lower end of (17a), and a protrusion (19) with which this one-way engages may be provided on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion (12).

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 6, the outer wall portion (17a) of the annular groove (17) of the operation knob (1) and the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion (12) opposed to the outer wall portion (17a) are respectively positioned in the circumferential direction. Concave grooves (26) and (27) may be formed along the grooves, and a C-shaped ring (42) may be interposed between the concave grooves (26) and (27) to prevent the grooves from being removed.

Sectional drawing of the assembly state of the gas stopper in 1st Embodiment of this invention. XX sectional drawing of FIG. The principal part expanded sectional view which shows the mode of the coil spring employ | adopted as the gas stopper in 1st Embodiment of this invention. The principal part expanded sectional view which shows the gas stopper in 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The principal part expanded sectional view which shows the other example which attaches an operation knob to the cylindrical part of a stopper main body in the retaining state. The principal part expanded sectional view which shows the further another example which attaches an operation knob to the cylindrical part of a stopper main body in the retaining state. The exploded perspective view of the conventional gas stopper.

Explanation of symbols

(1) ..... Control knob
(10) ......... The plug body
(11) ....
(12) ... Cylindrical part
(15) ... Projection
(20) ...
(23) ... Gas passage hole
(30) ..... Control knob
(40) ..... Coil spring (biasing means)

Claims (5)

A plug body provided with a gas flow path, a thread accommodating portion that communicates with the gas flow path and opens to one side, and a cylindrical portion that is continuous with an open end of the thread accommodating section;
A gas passage hole that is rotatably accommodated in the thread accommodating portion and communicates with the gas flow path passes therethrough,
A biasing means for biasing the thread at one end in a direction of pressing the thread against the bottom of the thread housing part;
In the gas stopper comprising an operation knob that is externally fitted to the cylindrical portion so as to be relatively rotatable and that rotates the screw.
A locking portion for locking the other end of the urging means is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion,
The urging means is engaged and held in a state where the urging force is maintained between the thread and the locking portion,
The gas stopper according to claim 1, wherein the operation knob is attached to the cylindrical portion in a state of preventing the operation knob from being detached and connected to the screw in a state of preventing relative rotation.   The gas plug according to claim 1, wherein the locking portion is a convex portion provided on an inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion.   The gas stopper according to claim 1, wherein the locking portion is a recess provided on an inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion. The gas stopper according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the operation knob is provided with an annular groove into which the cylindrical portion is rotatably fitted.
One engaging convex part protrudes at a predetermined position in the annular concave groove,
The open end surface of the tubular portion is provided with first and second rotation prevention surfaces that are in contact with the engagement convex portion so as to be parallel and perpendicular to the gas flow path, respectively.
When the operation knob having the cylindrical portion fitted in the annular concave groove is mounted, the engagement convex portion is positioned within a range of 90 degrees between the first and second rotation prevention surfaces. A gas stopper characterized by being set as follows. The gas stopper according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the biasing means is a conical coil spring whose diameter increases toward the locking portion of the cylindrical portion,
A gas stopper in which at least the large-diameter end portion of the conical coil spring has a closed end.

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