CA1143278A - Tubing clamping apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

What is disclosed is an improvement in a tubing clamping apparatus in which a hose carrying a fluid is to be connected in fluid tight relationship with an ap-pliance; such as, a welding torch, pressure regulator or the like; the improvement being characterized by a hose barb sealingly connected at one end with the appliance and having an outwardly extending free end having an en-larged inverted frusto-conical section thereon for sealingly receiving the hose inserted thereover, a hose inserted over the nose barb, a thermoplastic clamping means dis-posed about the hose and encompassing the hose between the clamping means and the hose barb to hold the hose sealingly and frictionally in place, and a retainer means for retaining the clamping means in clamping relationship with the hose and the hose barb; the retain-ing means being forced toward the appliance so as to apply a radially inwardly biasing force on the clamping means.

Description

~1~3Z78 BACKG~OUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to tubing clamping ap-paratus such as is employed to connect a welding torch or the like with pressure regulator, the hose carrying oxygen or fuel gas.

2. Description of the Prior Art The prior art has seen a wide variety of dif-ferent types of clamping apparatus for clamping the hoses onto regulators for oxygen and fuel, such as acetylene;
torches; and the like. In what is generally conceded to be the best method of the prior art, metal bands are crimped into place about the hose to hold them on serrated hose barbs.
This involves careful placement of each metal band and pain-staking care in crimping the metal band and to exert exactlythe force to hold the hose in place against the serrated barb.
Thus, a wide variety of different clamps, and metal bands had to be stocked and used carefully; otherwise the seal was not ef-fective completely around the hose. ~oreover, it is fre-quently desirable in the minature type torches to employSiamese-type hoses for unitary traversal intermediate the torch and the source of fuel and oxygen, such as the reg-ulators on the high pressure bottles. Interconnecting these hoses with the torch and with their respective regula-tors proved a problem with the prior art type crimping, or the other approaches used in the ?rior art. ~lso, frequently the fabric covering raveled when the metal bands were employed.

1~

11~3'~7~

SU~RY OF THE II~ENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a tubing clamping apparatus that obviates the disadvantages of requiring the clamping and crimping of metal bands in place by clamping apparatus; yet effect a ; complete sealing engagement of the tubing, or hose, with the hose barb.
It is another object of this invention to ac-complish the foregoing ob~ject and facilitate assembly even by unskilled workmen, alleviating problems with raveling of the fabric around hoses and the like.
These and other objects will become apparent from the following descriptive matterj particularly when taken in conjunction with the appended drawings.
In accordance with this invention there is pro-vided an improvement in a tubing clamping apparatus in which a hose carrying a fluid is to be connected in fluid tight relationship with an appliance such as a welding torch, pressure regulator, or the like. The improvement comprises:
a. a hose barb sealingly connected at one end with the appliance and having an outwardly extending free end that has an enlarged inverted frusto-conical section at the end for inserting the hose thereover and retaining it in place;
b. the hose having an end that is inserted over the hose barb;
c. thermoplastic clamping means or clamping the hose and disposed about the hose and encompas-sing the hose between the clamping means and the 11~3278 hose barb to hold the hose sealingly and frict-` ionally in place;
d. retainer means for retaining the clamp-ing means in clamping relationship with the hose and the hose barb; the retaining means being forced toward the appliance so as to apply a radially inwardly biasing force on the clamping means.
In the preferred emboidiment this invention embodies two such tubing clamping apparatus, one fo~ each end of the hose. Specifically, at the end of the hose next to the regulator, there is provided a hose barb connected with a sealing end for being held sealing onto the regulator.
At the other end, a pair of Siamese-type hoses may be connected to the body of the torch by a thermoplastic clamp that is compressed radially inwardly by a handle that screws onto the body of the torch.

~` 1143278 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF T~IE DR~WINGS

Fig. 1 is a partial isometric view of one embodiment of this invention employed on both ends of a pair of Siamese-type hoses connected with a small welding torch, such as employed by jewelers, dentists, electronic technicians and hobbyists.
Fig. 2 îs a partial isometric exploded view of the embodiment of the invention interconnecting the hoses with the body of the-torch.
Fig. 3 is a partial isometric exploded view of an embodiment of the invention connecting the other end of the hose to a sealing end for,being attached to a pressure regulator or the like.
Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of a sealing end and hose barb in accordance with the embodiment of Fig. 3.
Fig. 5 is a side elevational view, partly in ' section of the hose barb for being connected with the body of a torch in accordance with the embodiment of Fig. 2.
Fig. 6a is an end view of a clamp in accordance with the embodiment of the invention of Fig. 2.
Fig. 6b is a cross sectional view taken along the line 6b-6b of Fig. 6a.
Fig. 7a is an end view of a clamp button in accordance with the embodiment of Fig. 3.
Fig. 7b is a cross sectional view taken alon~
the line 7b-7b of Fig. 7a.

~1~3~J78 Fig. 8a is an end view of the clamp sleeve of the embodiment of Fig. 3.
Fig. 8b is a cross sectional view taken along the line 8b-8b of Fig. 8a.

~143~78 DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED ~MBODIMENTS
.
P~eferring to Fig. 1, there is illustrated a torch assembly 11 com~rising the torch 13 and the hose assembly 15. The torch 13 includes the major elements and assemblies of the torch tip 17, elbGw assembly 19, head, or body 21; and barrel, or handle, 23.
The hose assembly 15 includes the tubing clamping apparatus 25 and 27 ~or affixing to a pres-sure regulator or the like.
Referring to Fig. 2, the body 21 has a threaded end 29 for matingly and threadedly receiving the handle 23. In addition, the body 21 has respective control knobs 31 and 33 for controlling the fuel and oxygen; as well as the threaded and interconnected end and elbow nut 35 for holding the elbow assembly 19 and the tip 17 at the de-sired angle.
Referring to Fig. 2, the body 21 has sealingly - connected thereto the hose barbs 37, 39. The hose barbs may be affi~ed to the body by any of the conventional methods: such as being screwed in place, bonded, c~emically or thermally; shrink fit; welding; or silver soldering. As can be seen more clearly in Fig. 5, the hose barbs, such as hose barb 39 has a smooth base 41 that is bonded into a mating pas-sageway in the body 21. If both the body and hose barb are of brass or the like, the bonding may be by a soldering technique. On the other hand, in the small torches where the heat requirements are not great, the bonding may be with a thermosetting resin such as is a catalyzed noly-114~;~78 epoxide resin.
The hose barb 39 has an enlarged portion 43, Fig.5,that serves to limit its travel into the passageway in the base 21 as well as limit the travel of the hose onto the hose barb from the other side. The hose barb 3g has an enlarged inverted frusto-conical section 45 to facil-itate insertion of a hose thereover and to serve to grip the hose to retain it in place when the hose is compressed thereagainst. By inverted frusto-conical section is meant that the smaller portion of the frustum is directed outwardly so as to be the first to receive the hose and facilitate the insertion of the hose there-over.
The respective hose barbs are formed of any material that will withstand the heat, that can be af-fixed by the method employed and that has adequate structural strength to resist breaking from the forces exerted by the hose and the welder during use.
As illustrated, there are two hose barbs for the respective fuel and oxygen passageways so as to hold in place the respective hoses when they are clamped by clamping means.
The clamping means 47, Figs. 2 and 6a-6b, com-prises a thermoplastic clamp that has two apertures 49, 51 penetrating longitudinally therethrough for receiving the hoses. The clamp 47 has a split skirt 53 in which the split 55 is designed to close substantially completely when the clamp is compressed about the hoses on the hose barbs 37, 39. Each of the apertures has an interiorly _9_ 11~3;~8 protruding shoulder comprising ring segments 57, 59, Figs. 6a, 6b, that are moved radially inwardly to compress the hose onto the hose barb.
The clamp 47 may be formed of any thermoplastic material having the requisite modulus in compression to compressingly and sealingly hold the hoses in place on the hose barbs. As illustrated, polypropylene that has been molded is employed. If desired other suitable mat-erial such as Delrin, Nylon, Orlon, rigidified polyethyl-ene, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene copolymer (ABS)or other such thermoplastic materials can be employed.
In any event, the clamp 47 must be able to clamp in place on the hose barbs the respective hoses making up the hose assembly 15.
The hose assembly 15 comprises respective hoses 63, 65, which may be color coded; for example, green for oxygen and red for fuel gas. The hoses are the conven-tional hoses employed and include a rubber tubing 67 on the interior and a fabric covering 69 on the exterior. The term "rubber tubing" is employed to mean any of the types of tubing such as tubing formed of ~leoprene, polyethylene, or the like, regardless of whether it is truly rubber. The fabric covering may be any of the usual high strength fibers that are woven into suitable covering for the tubing.
One of the difficulties of the prior art has been raveling o~ this fabric covering. As illustrated, the tubing 63 and 65 are formed together in a Siamese-type hose and held thusly by a band 71, Fig. 1.

11~32'^~8 The hoses are inserted through the apertures 4g, 51 of the clamp 47 and over the frusto conical sections 45 of the respective hose barbs 37, 39. Thereafter, the clamp 47 is slid into place to hold the tubing when it is clamped by the handle 23.
The handle 23 has an interiorly threaded section 73 that matingly engages the threaded end 29 to pull forwardly and compress the split skirt radially inwardly to clamp the hoses in place. ~he handle 23 may be formed of any of the conventional materials having adequate strength, such as metals like aluminum, steel or plastic materials such as the ABS plastic, polypropyl-ene, or the like.
At the other end of the tubing assembly 15, the respective hoses 63, 65 are connected onto respective seal-ing ends 75, Figs. 3 and 4. The sealing ends 75 are connect-able with the conventional sealing seat by way of threaded nuts 77, 79 of the tubing clamping apparatus 25, 27, Figs.
1 and 3. As can be seen in Figs. 3 and 4, the sealing end 75 has a resilient seal such as o-ring 81 for sealing against the seat in the regulator. The sealing end 75, in-cluding the o-ring 81 as well as the seating seat in the regulator, are conventional and need not be described in great detall herein. As noted hereinbefore, the hose barb 83 is sealingly connected with the sealing end 75. The hose barb may be formed integrally with the sealing end or may be screwed into a passageway penetrating through the sealing end similarly as described hereinbefore with respect to the passageway in the body 21, Fig. 2. As illustrated in Fig.

3~ 4, the hose barb and sealing end are integrally formed ~o-1143'~ 8 gether. As described hereinbefore, the hose barb has an enlarged portion 85, similar to the enlarged portion 43 of the hose barb of Fig. 5, to limit the travel of the hose onto the hose barb. The hose barb 83, similarly, has an enlarged, inverted frusto conical section 87 to facilitate the insertion of the hose thereover and to augment with the enlarged inner end the frictional force with which the hose is clamped in place. By the term en-larged in both the frusto conical sections, is meant that it has a larger diameter than the e]ongate portion of the hose barb so as to afford a physical shoulder against which to clamp the hose when the respective clamping means are moved radially inward to clamp in position the hose.
The clamping means for this end of the hose is illustrated in Figs. 3 and 7a-7b ~y the clamp button 89.
The clamp button 89 has a split skirt gl. The split skirt 91 is split in three equal segments by the splits 93. This is in contradistinction to the split skirt 53 which had two splits on each side of each of the apertures 49, 51. The clamp button 89 has a single aperture 95 penetrating longi-tudinally therethrough for receiving a single hose. The respective splits 93 are designed to be closed when the skirt segments 91 are compressed radially interiorly to clamp the hose about the hose barb 83. ~ach of the segments of the split skirt has a radially interiorly protruding shoulder formed hy the ring segments 45 that serve to clamp the hose longitudinally interiorly and onto the frusto conical section 87.

-~143Z'~8 The clamp button S9 is formed of thermoplastic material such as polypropylene or other suitable thermo-plastics. Other suitable thermoplastics include Nylon, Delrin, Orlon, rigidified polyethylene or the ABS copolymer.
It is imperative, however, that the clamp button have suf-ficient modulus of compressibility to apply the requisite holding force on the hose when compressed into position by the ring 97 serving as the retainer means for retaining the compression means in clamping relationshin with the hose.
The retainer ring 97, ~igs. 1, 3 and 8a and 8b, is formed of a material having a sufficiently high modulus in tension and compression that it can be ~ushed longitudinally of the clamp button sufficiently to compress the ring segments 95 radially interiorly to clamp the hose onto the hose barb. As illustrated, the ring 97 is formed of a metal such as aluminum, stainless steel, brass, or the like. If a suf-ficiently high modulus of strength in tension is obtainable from thermoplastic materials, the thermoplastic materials can be employed, but there is a danger of cold flow of the plastic materials when employed in this retainer means.
In operation, the respective hose barbs 37, 39 and 83 are affixed, respectively to the body 21 and to res-pective sealing end 75. Thereafter, the hoses are inserted through the respective clamping means; the clamp 47 at the torch and the clamp buttons 89 adjacent the reg~llator connection. The hoses are thereafter inserted over the in-verted frusto conical sections ~5 and 87 of the hose barbs and the respective clamping means pushed longitudinally of 1~L3~8 the hoses into position such that the respective rings 57, 59 and 95 will clamp the hoses onto the respective hose barbs when the retainer means are emplaced. ~hereafter, the handle 23 is screwed onto the threaded section 29 to move it longitudinally of and compress radially interiorly the split skirt of the clamp 47. This causes the shoulders 57, 59 to clampingly engage the exterior of the hose 63, 65 and force the hose against the hose barbs 37, 39 longitudi-nally interiorly of the inverted frusto conical enlarged section 45. Thus the hose is held in place with a force that is sufficiently great to prevent its being pulled from the hose barbs. In like manner, the respective hose ends adjacent the regulator are inserted over the hose barbs through the clamp buttons 89 and the rings 97 are moved longitudinally into position. The rings 97 can be moved by any means, but movement is made easy with special pliers or the like. This forces the ring segments 95 radially interiorly to clamp the respective hoses 63, 65 over the respective hose barbs longitudinally interiorly of the inverted frusto conical enlarged section 87. Sufficient force is again maintained to prevent the hoses from being pulled longitudinally off the hose barbs.
Of course, the respective threaded nuts 77, 79 will have been emplaced over the shoulder of the sealing end 75 to pull it into position on the regulator or the like. Thus the hose may be readily attached by a relatively unskilled workman without caus;ng frazzling, or raveling, of the exterior covering and prevents the fraying of 1~3;2'78 either the covering or the interior t~lbing while holding it in place.
From the foregoing, it can be seen that the respective elements of the brief description of the invention are shown by the respective embodiments at each ends of the hoses. Preferably, both of the tubing clamping ap~aratuses are employed at both ends of the hoses to facilitate assem-bly of a complete torch and hose assembly.
From the foregoing, it can be seen that this invention effect the objects delineated hereinbeEore.
Although the invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure is made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of ~arts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention; reference being had to the appended claims for the latter purpose.

Claims (7)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. In tubing clamping apparatus in which a hose carrying a fluid is to be connected in fluid-tight relationship with an appliance such as a welding torch or pressure regulator the improvement comprising:
a. a hose barb sealingly connected at one end with said appliance and having an outwardly extending free end having an enlarged inverted frusto-conical section; said inverted frusto-conical section having a maximum diameter greater than said hosebarb for grippingly receiving the hose and having its smaller end extending away from said appliance to facilitate insertion of said hose thereover;
b. said hose having an end that is inserted over said hose barb;
c. thermoplastic clamping means disposed about said hose and encompassing said hose between said clamping means and said hose barb to hold said hose sealingly and frictionally in place;
d. retainer means for retaining said clamping means in clamping relationship with said hose and said hose barb; said retainer means being forced toward said appliance so as to apply an inwardly biasing force on said clamping means and clamp said hose in place.

2. The improved tubing clamping apparatus of claim 1 in which said hose barb is sealingly connected with a sealing end that is connectable with a sealing seat with a threaded nut; said thermoplastic clamping means comprising a clamp button; said clamp button having a slit skirt with interiorly protruding shoulders for clamping said hose;
said slit skirt being moved interiorly radially to clamp said hose against said hose barb in operation; said retainer means comprises a clamp sleeve that is forced longitudinally of said clamp button to effect the desired clamping retention of said hose sealingly on said hose barb.

3. The improved tubing clamping apparatus of claim 2 wherein said shoulder comprise radially interior protruding segments of a ring; said skirt of said clamp button is slit in three places and it is adapted to close said slit sufficiently to clamp said shoulders against said hose on said hose barb sealingly throughout 360°.

4. The tubing clamping apparatus of claim 2 wherein said threaded nut is disposed over said hose barb and clamps against said sealing end to draw it sealingly into position; said clamp sleeve is disposed adjacent said threaded nut; said that clamp button is disposed about said hose over said hose barb and is disposed radially interiorly of said clamp sleeve.

5. The improved tubing clamping apparatus of claim 1 wherein said appliance is a torch having a body that has two respective fuel and oxygen passageways pen-etrating therethrough, two respective said hose barbs are sealingly connected with said body in fluid communication with said respective pasaageways; two respective said hoses are connected respectively with respective said hose barbs by being inserted thereover; said thermoplastic clamping means comprises a thermoplastic clamp having two apertures penetrating longitudinally therethrough and having a split skirt with radially interiorly protruding shoulders for clamping said hoses; said hoses penetrating longitudinally through respective said apertures in said clamping means;
said split skirt being moved radially interiorly to clamp said hoses with its said shoulders against respective said hose barbs; said retention means comprises a handle that screws onto mating threads on said body of said torch and compres-singly engages said clamp, forcing said clamp into clamping engagement with said hoses on respective said hose barbs.

6. The improved tubing clamping apparatus of claim 5 wherein said shoulders comprise respective interior-ly protruding segments of a ring in each aperture; said skirt is slit in two places about each hose and longitud-inally along each aperture; said skirt is adapted to close said slit sufficiently to clamp said hose with said shoulders;
a groove is disposed adjacent the base of said split skirt.
7. The improved tubing clamping apparatus of claim 1 wherein one said appliance is a torch having a body that has two respective fuel and oxygen passageways penetra-ting therethrough, two respective said hose barbs are seal-ingly connected with said body in fluid communication with said respective passageways; two respective said hoses are connected respectively with respective said hose barbs by being inserted thereover; said thermoplastic clamping means

Claim 7 cont.

Comprises a thermoplastic clamp having two apertures pen-etrating longitudinally therethrough and having a split skirt with interiorly protruding shoulders for clamping said hoses; said hoses penetrating longitudinally through respective said apertures in said clamping means; said.
split skirt being moved radially interiorly to clamp said hoses with its said shoulders against respective said hose barbs; said retention means comprises a handle that screws-onto mating threads on said body of said torch and compres-singly engages said clamp, forcing said clamp into clamping engagement with said hoses on respective said hose barbs;
and another said appliance are two respective sealing ends that are connectable with respective sealing seats in a pressure regulator with respective threaded nuts; said thermoplastic clamping means comprises a clamp button;
for each hose; each said clamp button having a slit skirt with interiorly protruding shoulders; each said slit skirt being moved radially interiorly to clamp each said respective hose against its respective said hose barb in operation;
each said retainer means comprises a clamp sleeve that is forced longitudinally of its respective clamp button to effect the desired clamping retention of each said respec-tive hose sealingly on each respective hose barb.