EASILY UNLATCHABLE CAM-LOCK ACTUATING DEVICE FOR USE IN A LOCKING COUPLING ASSEMBLY THAT COUPLES TWO TUBULAR MEMBERS
An easily unlatchable cam-lock actuating device for use in a locking coupling assembly that couples two tubular members, includes a cam arm pivotally mounted or a female tubular coupler and extending thereinto for locking a male tubular end of one of the tubular members, a spring-loaded latch bolt movably mounted in the cam arm to engage a cavity of the coupler so as to lock the cam arm at a locking position, and a releasing lever pivotally mounted on the cam arm and coupled to the latch bolt such that, when the releasing lever is turned from a latched position to an unlatched position, the latch bolt is retracted and disengaged from the cavity.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a locking coupling assembly that couples two tubular members, more particularly to an easily unlatchable cam-lock actuating device for use in a locking coupling assembly which is operable to quickly connect and disconnect two tubular members.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to
However, since the pull ring 136 includes a plurality of resilient loops to be hooked on the lock bolt 133, tensile deformation of the loops may occur after numerous times of use. Moreover, gripping and pulling of the pull ring 136 is uncomfortable for the user since the pull ring 136 has a relatively small surface area.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAn object of the present invention is to provide an easily unlatchable cam-lock actuating device for use in a locking coupling assembly, which can be conveniently and comfortably operated to quickly connect and disconnect two tubular members.
According to this invention, the easily unlatchable cam-lock actuating device includes a cam arm, a spring-loaded latch bolt unit, and a releasing lever.
The cam arm has a cam-surfaced head that is disposed to extend into a fitting bore in a female tubular coupler of a locking coupling assembly, and an arm body that is disposed opposite to the cam-surfaced head. The cam arm is pivotally mounted on a lug unit of the female tubular coupler such that, when the arm body is turned to a locking position, the cam-surfaced head is moved to depress a male tubular end of a tubular member to thereby lock the male tubular end in the fitting bore.
The spring-loaded latch bolt unit is disposed on the arm body, and includes a latch bolt and a spring. The latch bolt has a latch end and a latch shank extending from the latch end along a lengthwise line. The latch bolt is movable relative to the arm body along the lengthwise line to permit the latch end to engage a cavity of the female tubular coupler when the arm body is displaced to the locking position, thereby preventing the arm body from moving away from the locking position. The spring is disposed to bias the latch end toward the cavity.
The releasing lever has weight and power ends opposite to each other, and is pivotally mounted on the arm body about a fulcrum axis such that the power end is turnable about the fulcrum axis between a latched position, where the power end is close to the lengthwise line, and an unlatched position, where the power end is remote from the lengthwise line. The weight end is coupled to the latch shank such that, when the power end is turned from the latched position to the unlatched position, the latch end is retracted and disengaged from the cavity against the biasing action of the spring.
Since the latch bolt is moved by operating the releasing lever, the locking and unlocking operations of the locking coupling assembly can be effortlessly and conveniently performed.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Before the present invention is described in greater detail, it should be noted that same reference numerals have been used to denote like elements throughout the specification.
Referring to
The cam arm 20 has a cam-surfaced head 201 that is disposed to extend into the fitting bore 104, and an arm body 202 that is disposed opposite to the cam-surfaced head 201, and is pivotally mounted on the lug unit 101 about a pivot axis 21. Thus, when the arm body 202 is turned to a locking position, the cam-surfaced head 201 is moved to depress the male tubular end of the respective tubular member to thereby lock the male tubular end in the fitting bore 105. The arm body 202 has a receiving bore 22 extending along a lengthwise line, and a pivot portion 23 extending to terminate at a joint surface 231.
The spring-loaded latch bolt unit 40 is disposed in the receiving bore 22, and includes a latch bolt 41, a spring 42, and a positioning ring 43. The latch bolt 41 has a latch end 411 and a latch shank 412 extending from the latch end 411 along the lengthwise line, and is movable along the receiving bore 22 to permit the latch end 411 to engage the cavity 103 when the arm body 202 is displaced to the locking position, thereby preventing the arm body 202 from moving away from the locking position. The positioning ring 43 is press-fitted into the receiving bore 22. The spring 42 is disposed to abut against the positioning ring 43 and the latch bolt 41 so as to bias the latch end 411 toward the cavity 103. The latch end 411 has a tapered shape to facilitate engagement with the cavity 103. The latch shank 412 has a slotted keyway 4121 extending along the lengthwise line to terminate at proximate and distal regions 4123, 4124 relative to the cavity 103, and a docking port 4122 extending transversely from the distal region 4124 and defined by a docking shoulder 4125.
The releasing lever 30 has weight and power ends 31,33 disposed opposite to each other, and a fulcrum portion 35 pivotally mounted on the lug portion 23 by a pivot pin 32 about a fulcrum axis parallel to the pivot axis 21. Thus, the power end 33 is turnable about the fulcrum axis 32 between a latched position, as shown in
The joint surface 231 is disposed to angularly surround the fulcrum axis 32. A friction wall 36 is disposed on the releasing lever 30 between the fulcrum axis 32 and the power end 33, and is in slidable friction engagement with the joint surface 231. In addition, a key 34 is disposed to extend through a hole 311 in the weight end 31 and is slidable in the slotted keyway 4121. The joint surface 231, the friction wall 36, the docking shoulder 4125, and the key 34 cooperatively serve as a counter-force generating mechanism.
Referring to
Referring to
As illustrated, since the latch bolt 41 is moved by operating the releasing lever 30 instead of pulling of a pull ring as in the prior art, the locking and unlocking operations of the locking coupling assembly can be effortlessly and conveniently performed.
Referring to
Referring to
While the present invention has been described in connection with what are considered the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretations and equivalent arrangements.
Claims
1. An easily unlatchable cam-lock actuating device for use in a locking coupling assembly that couples two tubular members, the locking coupling assembly including a female tubular coupler which has an inner tubular surface defining a fitting bore for receiving a male tubular end of one of the tubular members, and an outer tubular surface having a radial opening that extends to be communicated with the fitting bore, a lug unit which is disposed on the outer tubular surface adjacent to the radial opening, and a ledge which is disposed on said outer tubular surface and adjacent to the radial opening, and which has a cavity, said cam-lock actuating device comprising:
- a cam arm which has a cam-surfaced head that is disposed to extend into the fitting bore, and an arm body that is opposite to said cam-surfaced head, and which is pivotally mounted on the lug unit about a pivot axis such that, when said arm body is turned to a locking position, said cam-surfaced head is moved to depress the male tubular end to thereby lock the male tubular end in the fitting bore;
- a spring-loaded latch bolt unit disposed on said arm body, and including a latch bolt which has a latch end and a latch shank that extends from said latch end along a lengthwise line, and which is movable relative to said arm body along the lengthwise line to permit said latch end to engage in the cavity when said arm body is displaced to the locking position, thereby preventing said arm body from moving away from the locking position, and a spring disposed to bias said latch end toward the cavity; and
- a releasing lever which has weight and power ends opposite to each other, and which is pivotally mounted on said arm body about a fulcrum axis parallel to the pivot axis such that said power end is turnable about the fulcrum axis between a latched position, where said power end is close to the lengthwise line, and an unlatched position, where said power end is remote from the lengthwise line, said weight end being coupled to said latch shank such that, when said power end is turned from the latched position to the unlatched position, said latch end is retracted to disengage from the cavity against the biasing action of said spring.
2. The cam-lock actuating device according to claim 1, further comprising a counter-force generating mechanism disposed to vest said weight end with a counter-force that is generated as a result of displacement of said power end to the unlatched position so as to counteract the biasing action of said spring for retaining said power end at the unlatched position.
3. The cam-lock actuating device according to claim 2, wherein said latch shank has a slotted keyway which extends along the lengthwise line to terminate at proximate and distal regions relative to the cavity, and a docking port which extends transversely from said distal region, said counter-force generating mechanism including a docking shoulder which is formed in said latch shank to define said docking port, and a key which is disposed on said weight end of said releasing lever and which is configured to be slidable in said slotted keyway so as to move from said proximate region to said distal region when said power end is turned from the latched position toward the unlatched position, and to be subsequently anchored on said docking shoulder when said power end reaches the unlatched position.
4. The cam-lock actuating device according to claim 3, wherein said counter-force generating mechanism further includes a joint surface which is disposed on said arm body and which angularly surrounds the fulcrum axis, and a friction wall which is disposed on said releasing lever between the fulcrum axis and said power end, and which is in slidable friction engagement with said joint surface such that, when said power end is displaced to the unlatched position, said friction wall counteracts the biasing action of said spring to guard against disengagement of said key from said docking shoulder.
5. The cam-lock actuating device according to claim 2, wherein said latch shank has a pressed wall which is spaced apart from said latch end along the lengthwise line by a space, said weight end of said releasing lever being configured to extend into said space to press said pressed wall so as to permit said latch end to be retracted to be disengaged from the cavity when said power end is turned to the unlatched position.
6. The cam-lock actuating device according to claim 5, wherein said counter-force generating mechanism includes a retaining wall which is disposed on said arm body and which is spaced apart from the fulcrum axis, and a friction region which is disposed on said releasing lever and which is angularly displaced from said weight end about the fulcrum axis such that, as a result of displacement of said power end to the unlatched position, said friction region is brought into frictional engagement with said retaining wall by a friction force serving as the counter-force.
7. The cam-lock actuating device according to claim 2, wherein said weight end of said releasing lever includes a friction segment and a pressing segment which is pivotably mounted on said friction segment about a turning axis parallel to the fulcrum axis, and which has a first cam surface, said latch shank having a second cam surface which mates with said first cam surface such that turning of said power end about the fulcrum axis toward the unlatched position results in transverse movement of said pressing segment relative to the lengthwise line to thereby permit said latch end to disengage from the cavity.
8. The cam-lock actuating device according to claim 7, wherein said counter-force generating mechanism includes a friction wall which is disposed on said friction segment between said turning axis and said fulcrum axis such that, as a result of displacement of said power end to the unlatched position, said friction wall is brought into frictional engagement with said pressing segment by a friction force serving as the counter-force.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 23, 2010
Publication Date: Dec 29, 2011
Inventor: Waterson CHEN (Taichung City)
Application Number: 12/821,542