WO1998005898A1

WO1998005898A1 - Rotary passage

Info

Publication number: WO1998005898A1
Application number: PCT/EP1997/004206
Authority: WO
Inventors: Wolfgang Weh; Erwin Weh
Original assignee: Weh Gmbh, Verbindungstechnik
Priority date: 1996-08-01
Filing date: 1997-08-01
Publication date: 1998-02-12
Also published as: DE29613134U1

Abstract

In order to simplify the design of a rotary passage for transferring gaseous and/or liquid fluids, in particular for filling vehicle fuel tanks, with a housing part and a rotary sleeve (24) which is mounted so as to rotate relative to the housing part, is connected to a first fluid line (12') and has at least one passage (24c) to a pressure-equalizing chamber (44), a second line (42), which is aligned at least substantially parallel to the rotary sleeve (24), is connected to the housing part (11') of the rotary passage (10).

Description

Description of rotating union

The invention relates to a rotary union for the transmission of gaseous and / or liquid fluids, in particular for filling vehicle gas tanks.

With such rotary unions, a secure and quickly connectable transmission of a fluid from a pressure source, for example from a refueling system, to a vehicle is to be achieved. The simple, problem-free usability is particularly important here, so that even under unfavorable conditions, such as high refueling and connection pressures of 200 bar and more, problem-free handling is made possible, in particular in cooperation with quick-connect couplings.

Such a quick-connect coupling is described in the applicant's EP-A-0 340 879, the quick-connect coupling having a housing with a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet, and a plurality of valves being provided in order to ensure a secure seal of the quick-connect coupling until the connection is completely established .

Although this creates a particularly secure connection option, the connection of this coupling can be relatively force-consuming in the case of large passage cross-sections (e.g. bus refueling) due to twisting (twisting) of the connecting hose. In addition, the control lever can be in an unfavorable position, for. B. reach downward, so that one-handed operation is hardly possible.

To compensate for this twisting of a fluid line, in particular a connecting hose, a swivel joint with compensation of the axial forces is already known from DE-U-92 17 444. For automatic compensation of twisted hose lines, especially high pressure hoses in cleaning technology a similar swivel joint is described in DD 229 760 AI. Here, the swivel joint or the rotary feedthrough is provided with hydraulic force compensation, the pressure medium generating an axial force by penetrating a butt joint of the two coupling halves. At the same time, a compensation space is formed in a coupling half with a radial collar, which generates an equally large force in the opposite direction. As a result, the two coupling halves are floatingly supported in the pressure fluid, since the two faces of the two coupling halves face each other and are rotatable relative to one another. However, the rotatable pipe coupling proposed here is only interposed in a line, with corresponding connections, such as union nuts and the like, having to be provided on the swivel joint and on the hose side.

Accordingly, the invention has for its object to provide a rotary leadthrough, in particular for use in a quick connector coupling of the type mentioned, which enables safe and particularly simple handling with a simple structure.

This object is achieved by a rotary feedthrough according to the features of claim 1. Preferred developments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.

The proposed rotary leadthrough is particularly suitable for use with a quick-connect coupling, which results in a particularly simple construction since the rotary leadthrough is integrated in the quick-connect coupling. In particular for the preferred embodiment for filling vehicle gas tanks, when connecting or disconnecting the

Quick connection coupling prevents twisting of the connecting hose and a gas return line that is preferably provided. The latter is particularly important for reasons of environmental protection, since in the case of the connection couplings which are in use today every filling process a considerable volume of gas is lost, which can escape when coupling or uncoupling.

In particular, the simple, force-free attachment in the torsion direction also prevents the counter-connection or the locking elements and associated seals from being damaged by excessive force application or "crooked" attachment. It should be noted that the proposed rotary union is suitable for various couplings or connections. In particular, as a retrofit part, the rotating union can also be designed as a separate component.

The rotary sleeve, which is preferably integrated in a quick-connect coupling and has at least one passage to a pressure compensation chamber, thus achieves complete mobility of the quick-connect coupling relative to the connecting hose at any pressure level, so that twisting of the connecting hose and the line parallel to it, preferably a gas return line, is avoided. This ensures that they can be rotated relative to one another, so that the quick-connect coupling can be connected in the same position in each case. The pressure compensation space is preferably dimensioned such that an exact axial force compensation occurs, that is to say the effective end face of the pressure compensation space corresponds to an opposite end face of the rotating sleeve. This also avoids pressing the contact surfaces of the axial bearing of the rotating sleeve. This axial bearing is generally formed by low-friction plastic washers, so that pressure relief or force compensation should take place to avoid excessive wear, especially at high pressures.

The preferably provided gas return line is connected on the inlet side to the plug-in coupling on a cover connected to the rotating sleeve, so that when the quick-connect coupling is twisted, the connecting hose for the pressure medium and the gas return line are always parallel stay with each other, thus cannot twist against each other even with several revolutions of the fluid line.

An exemplary embodiment is explained and described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawing. Herein shows:

Figure 1 is a side view of a quick connector with an integrated rotary union, the quick connector is shown in longitudinal half-section and in the connected position to a connecting nipple. and

Fig. 2 is a separate rotary union with additional outer seal.

In Fig. 1, a preferred embodiment of a rotary union 10 for use together with a quick connector 1 is shown, which is coupled to a connection nipple 30 indicated here on the left. The quick-connect coupling 1 has a tubular housing 11 with a plurality of housing parts 11 ', 11 "and 11'" which are screwed together, the right front end serving as inlet 12 and the left front end serving as outlet 13 for the forwarding of the fluid to be transmitted to the connection nipple 30. The inlet area 12 to the housing 11 has a connection adapter 14 which is screwed onto the right housing part 11 ′ and is sealed via seals 24a against a rotating sleeve 24 of a rotating union 10. The rotating sleeve 24 has at its right end a thread 24b to which a fluid line 12 'for supplying the fluid to be transferred can be connected. The connection adapter 14 with the inserted rotary sleeve 24 can be designed accordingly in adaptation to the fluid to be transferred, in particular to the respectively desired supply pressure values, passage cross sections, etc.

On the outlet 13 opposite the connection adapter 14, a plurality of elongated collets 15 arranged in tubular form are provided. The collets 15 are at their right end here suspended on an annular groove 11a of the housing part 11 "^# and thereby pretensioned by an annular spring 16, so that the collets 15 can be expanded radially outwards Connection profile of the connection nipple 30 formed positive engagement profiles 17.

Around the collets 15 there is an outer sliding sleeve 18 tapering towards the connecting nipple, which is guided on the cylindrical outer jacket of the middle housing part 11 "here and is biased with a compression spring 19 in the direction away from the connecting nipple 30. The compression spring 19 is supported here to a support ring 20 and a gradation of the housing part 11 ″ and thus pushes the sliding sleeve 18 to a control or actuation lever 50 with an eccentric shaft 51. Their structure is described in more detail in the prior art mentioned at the outset, so that further explanation can be dispensed with here. It should only be mentioned that a sealing piston 22 is guided on the inner circumferential surface of the housing part 11 "toward the outlet 13, which has a conical sealing surface 23 on its front end face for contact with a sealing ring of the connecting nipple 30, so that the essentially gaseous and / or liquid fluid flowing along the central axis of the quick coupling 1 cannot escape to the outside.

Furthermore, an outlet valve 25 is provided on the sealing piston 22, which seals against the sealing piston 22 in the closed position by means of a sealing ring as a valve seat 26. This outlet valve 25 is acted upon by a compression spring 28 which is guided by means of an insert 27. Opposite the outlet valve 25 there is an annular piston 29 which cooperates with the insert 27 when the quick connector 1 is uncoupled from the connecting nipple 30, the latter being displaced along the connecting nipple axis during uncoupling and together with a gradation of the insert 27 forms a vent valve 35. The vent valve 35 is actuated by pivoting the control lever 50, since the eccentric shaft 51 engages in the annular piston 29.

By actuating (pivoting by approximately 180 °) the control lever 50 into the position shown here, the sliding sleeve 18 is pushed over the collets 15 and thus locked. The sliding sleeve 18 can be provided with a casing 18a made of rubber or plastic to avoid damage to adjacent vehicle parts. When pressure is applied (beginning of the refueling process), the engagement profile 17 has already engaged on the correspondingly designed connection profile of the connection nipple 30, the axial movement of the sliding sleeve 18 engaging over the radially outer ends of the collets 15, so that they engage in a form-fitting manner in their engagement position on the connection nipple 30 being held.

To release the quick connector 1 and thus return the connection position shown here to the open position, the sliding sleeve 18 is pushed back by the compression spring 19 after turning the control lever 50. Towards the inlet area 12, an inlet valve 45 with an associated valve seat 46 is also arranged centrally in the housing 11 or the housing part 11 'of the rotary union 10. The inlet valve 45 is also axially displaceable by the control lever 50 and its eccentric shaft 51 by the engagement in the annular piston 29. In the connection position shown, the annular piston 29 displaces a valve slide 47 into the open position, so that the fluid flowing in from the inlet area 12 can flow around a flow body surrounding the valve slide 47 to the outlet end 13.

When fluid is supplied through the inlet area 12, pressure is applied to the end face 43 of the rotary sleeve 24 pointing here to the left, so that multiplied by the area of the end face 43 high pressure values would result in a considerable axial force on the rotating sleeve 24. Here, however, at least one passage 24c to a pressure equalization space 44 is provided within the rotary leadthrough 10 with rotary sleeve 24, which is preferably integrated in the quick connection coupling 1. The passage 24c is preferably designed as a radial bore, while the pressure compensation space 44 is designed as a shoulder-like collar between a gradation in this regard on the rotary sleeve 24 and the connection adapter 14. The pressure compensation chamber 44 is sealed by the two seals 24a. The pressure compensation space 44 has along its annular shoulder the same effective annular area as the end face 43 of the rotating sleeve 24. As a result, the rotating sleeve 24 is free of axial force at every pressure value. As a result, the axial bearings 48 required for axially fixing the rotary sleeve 24 are not pressed, it being possible for one of the axial bearing disks 48 to be arranged in the pressure compensation space 44 in a preferred manner.

As mentioned above, when uncoupling the

Quick connector 1, the vent valve 35 is opened by the eccentric shaft 51 and the annular piston 29. As a result, pressure medium still present flows via an annular space 36 to a ventilation hole 37 which runs parallel to the central fluid passage (through the valves 45, 35 and 25) along the housing part 11 'of the rotary union 10. The vent hole 37 leads to a second line 42 in an annular space 38 which is delimited by a cover 39. The cover 39 is connected to the rotating sleeve 24 with a transverse pin 40 (or transverse screw). The annular space 38 is sealed off from the housing 11 or the connection adapter 14 by means of two ring seals 41. A gas return line is connected as a second line 42 to the cover 39 which rotates with the rotating sleeve 24 and the adjacent stationary housing part 11 'of the rotary union 10, so that the gas return line 42 and the fluid line 12' connected to the thread 24b are always at least largely run parallel to each other and therefore cannot twist. As shown in FIG. 2 with the same reference numerals for corresponding components, the rotary feedthrough 10 integrated in FIG. 1 can also be designed as a separate component, in particular as a retrofit part for existing couplings. The rotary feedthrough 10 for the two lines 12 ′ and 42 ends approximately along the line DD in FIG. 1, the housing part 11 ′ opposite the rotary sleeve 24 being provided with a line connection similar to the connection thread 24b.

The lines 12 ', 37 and 42 are here, similar to the vent hole 37 in FIG. 1, routed parallel to one another along the housing part 11'. Compared to the embodiment in Fig. 1, the two ring seals 41 are also reinforced and arranged on the circumferential surface on both sides of the annular space 38 in order to achieve an improved seal to the outside.

Claims

claims

1. Rotary feedthrough for the transmission of gaseous and / or liquid fluids, in particular for filling vehicle gas tanks with a housing part and a rotating sleeve (24) rotatably mounted relative thereto, which is connected to a first fluid line (12 ') and at least one passage (24c) to a pressure equalization chamber (44), characterized in that a second line (42), which is at least largely parallel to the rotating sleeve (24), is connected to the housing part (11 ') of the rotating union (10).

2. Rotary feedthrough according to claim 1, characterized in that the passage (24c) in the rotary sleeve (24) is designed as a radial bore.

3. Rotary feedthrough according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the pressure compensation space (44) has the same effective area as an opposite end face (43) of the rotating sleeve (24).

4. Rotary feedthrough according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that in the pressure compensation chamber (44) at least one axial bearing disc (48) is arranged.

5. Rotary union according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the pressure compensation space (44) is delimited by two spaced seals (24a).

6. Rotary feedthrough according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the pressure equalization chamber (44) u on the start side of a Housing part (11 ') attached adapter (14) is bounded.

7. Rotary feedthrough according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that a cover (39) at the inlet region (12) of the rotating sleeve (24) is rotatably connected to the latter.

8. Rotary union according to claim 7, characterized in that the second line (42) is designed as a gas return line and is connected to the cover (39).

9. Rotary union according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the cover (39) encloses an annular space (38) which is in communication with a vent hole (37).

10. Rotary feedthrough according to one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that the cover (39) is connected to the rotary sleeve (24) by means of a cross pin (40).

11. Rotary feedthrough according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the rotary sleeve (24) in the inlet region (12) of a quick coupling (1) is arranged.