System and method of use for a refrigerant quick-connect coupling

Quick-connect coupling devices for joining two hoses together in a sealable manner are well known in the art. They are of relatively complex construction and include finely machined surfaces which are subject to wear, and generally comprise two pieces. A socket member is one piece, and a plug member is the other piece. The plug member is adapted to fit into the socket member in a male to female fashion. These members are formed of materials that wear after repeated use and are constructed in designs that inherently wear the sealing surfaces. The wear usually manifests in increased tolerances between sealing surfaces of the pressure boundary of the coupling. Ultimately, the coupling pressure boundary formed by the sealing surfaces fails resulting in system leakage.

In many fluid applications, leakage of the system fluid is unacceptable. In the refrigeration industry smaller refrigeration systems require lower leak rates. This is not only for a cleaner environment, but because the smaller system has less capacity to compensate for system refrigerant losses. Consequently, the smaller refrigeration systems that have a low refrigerant volume require system equipment with low leak rates. The couplings in these systems must also have fewer failure mechanisms that allow leakage from the fluid system. Accordingly, there exists a need for a high reliability self-sealing refrigerant coupling.

A method of use and apparatus for a quick connect coupling in a fluid system as disclosed herein. The quick connect coupling includes a female coupling assembly and a male coupling assembly. The female coupling assembly includes a female cone housing nestable with a female cone. At least one female flow hole is formed in each of the female cone housing and female cone. The male coupling assembly has a male cone housing nestable with a male cone. At least one male flow hole is formed in each of the male cone housing, and the male cone. The at least one female flow hole rotatably misaligns to seal in a manner that fluid is contained from leaking past the female coupling assembly. The at least one male flow hole rotatably misaligns to seal in a manner that fluid is contained from leaking past the male coupling assembly. The male coupling assembly is removably rotatably insertable into the female cone. The female coupling assembly and the male coupling assembly rotatably fluidly couple to create a fluid flow path through the quick connect coupling. The female coupling assembly and the male coupling assembly rotatably fluidly uncouple, thereby sealing the fluid flow path through the quick connect coupling. The male coupling assembly and the female coupling assembly are removably uncoupleable.

Referring now to the exemplary drawings wherein like elements are numbered alike in the several FIGURES:

FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of an exemplary diagram of a male coupling assembly;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional of an exemplary diagram of a female coupling assembly;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of an exemplary diagram of a quick connect coupling;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of an exemplary diagram of a quick connect coupling with a seal mechanism attached;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of an exemplary diagram of another embodiment of a female coupling member;

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of an exemplary diagram of another embodiment of a male coupling member;

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view of an exemplary diagram of a seal mechanism;

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view of an exemplary diagram of a quick connect coupling with an alternate embodiment of the seal mechanism attached.

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 is a diagram of a cross section of an embodiment of a male coupling assembly 1 . The male coupling assembly 1 or (plug member) is typically attached to a conduit, pipe, hose or tubing of a fluid system (not shown). In a preferred embodiment the male coupling assembly 1 is attached to a refrigerant system conduit. The male coupling assembly 1 is attached so that it has a male coupling assembly tip 41 unattached and distal from the system conduit and the male cone housing cavity 53 in communication or fluidly coupled to and proximate to the system conduit (not shown). The male coupling assembly 1 has a male cone housing 5 . The male cone housing 5 is formed to be receivably inserted or nested into a female coupling 3 , such as the one embodied in FIG. 2 . The male cone housing 5 , in the embodiment of FIG. 1, is substantially a right circular cylinder shape. The male cone housing 5 is not limited to a right circular cylinder shape. The male cone housing cavity 53 is formed by the male cone housing 5 . A male seal ring 15 is formed or disposed on the male cone housing 5 . The male seal ring 15 is formed such that it can receivably mate or seal with a male cone housing seal 17 . The male seal ring is also formed in order to couple with a seal mechanism 43 (see FIG. 4 and FIG. 8 ). The male seal ring 15 is made of a material that has a surface hardness less than the second washer 55 of the seal mechanism 43 (see FIG. 7 ). With a soft surface hardness, the male seal ring 15 can deform around the second washer 55 to form part of a high reliability seal 51 to be discussed in more detail below (see FIG. 4 ). The male cone housing seal 17 is disposed on the male cone housing 5 to receivably seal the pressure boundary of the coupled male coupling assembly 1 and the coupled female coupling assembly 3 (see FIG. 3 ). The male cone housing seal 17 can be made of materials that are suitable for sealing fluids at the desired temperatures and pressures and material composition of the working fluid. Disposed through the male cone housing 5 are male flow holes 11 or orifices or passages or slots. The male flow holes are formed in the male cone housing 5 in any manner suitable. There can be one male flow hole 11 or a plurality of male flow holes 11 disposed in a variety of configurations or shapes in the male cone housing 5 to provide a plurality of fluid flow characteristics. A male cone 9 is receivably disposed in the male cone housing 5 . The male cone 9 may also be nestable with the male cone housing 5 . The male cone 9 is substantially conical in shape in the embodiment depicted in the figures. The male cone 9 is not limited to a conical shape. In an other embodiment the male cone 9 may be cylindrical in shape. Disposed through the male cone 9 is a male flow hole 11 or slot or passage or orifice. There may be a plurality of male flow holes 11 disposed through the male cone 9 . In the embodiment in the figures a plurality of male flow holes 11 are shown. In a preferred embodiment, the male coupling assembly tip 41 has a coupling means such as holes or indents disposed within to facilitate coupling with cone alignment pins 27 (see FIG. 2 ). The male cone 9 is rotatably received by the male cone housing 5 . The male cone 9 rotates relative to the male cone housing 5 . The male cone 9 rotatably aligns, so that the plurality of male flow holes 11 disposed in the male cone 9 align with the plurality of male flow holes 11 disposed in the male cone housing 5 . In other words, the male cone 9 rotates in one direction such that the male flow holes fluidly couple and the male cone 9 rotates in another (opposite) direction to fluidly uncouple. The male cone 9 rotatably misaligns, so that the plurality of male flow holes 11 disposed in the male cone 9 do not align with the plurality of male flow holes 11 disposed in the male cone housing 5 . A male cone seal 7 is disposed around the male cone 9 to seal between the male cone 9 inserted into the male cone housing 5 . The male cone seal 7 may be attached to the male cone 9 or to the male cone housing 5 . The male cone seal 7 , in some embodiments, can be glued or pined to the male cone 9 . The male cone seal 7 has a plurality of male flow holes 11 disposed throughout. The male cone 9 , the male cone seal 7 , and the male cone housing 5 rotatably align to allow the male flow holes 11 disposed on each of the male cone 9 , the male cone seal 7 , and the male cone housing 5 to align, thus allowing fluid to pass through (fluidly coupling) the coupled components. A working fluid such as in the preferred embodiment, refrigerant, may flow through the male cone 9 , the male cone seal 7 , and the male cone housing 5 when the male flow holes 11 are aligned and the male coupling assembly 1 is attached to a pressurized refrigerant system. When the male coupling assembly 1 is pressurized by a fluid system and the male flow holes 11 are out of alignment or misaligned such that the fluid in the system is sealed and cannot flow (fluidly uncoupled), the male cone 9 is forced by fluid pressure against the male cone seal 7 and the male cone housing 5 . This force wedges the male cone 9 into the male cone seal 7 and into the male cone housing 5 . The male cone seal 7 is compressed by the fluid pressure wedging the male cone 9 into the male cone housing 5 . A male cone retention clip 13 is attached to the male cone housing 5 and to the male cone 9 . The male cone retention clip 13 acts to retain the coupled members together. FIG. 1 and FIG. 6 show different embodiments of the male cone retention clip 13 . The male cone retention clip 13 holds the male cone 9 inside the male cone housing 5 while maintaining freedom of rotation between the male cone 9 and the male cone housing 5 .

Turning now to FIG. 2, an embodiment of a female coupling assembly 3 is shown. The female coupling assembly 3 or (socket member) is adapted to attach to a fluid system conduit, such as a tube, hose or pipe (not shown). The female coupling assembly 3 attaches to a conduit so that the female shell cavity 39 is proximate to the conduit and the female cone cavity 37 is distal from the conduit and free to receive the male coupling assembly 1 . The female shell cavity 39 is formed in the female shell 19 or in some embodiments the female shell cavity is formed in a female cone housing 20 . The female cone cavity 37 is formed in the female cone 21 . The female shell 19 is disposed around a female socket 2 . The female shell 19 in the preferred embodiment is cylindrical in shape although in other embodiments it is not limited to a cylindrical shape. The female socket 2 and female shell 19 in one embodiment may be formed from a common member called a female cone housing 20 (also see FIG. 5 ). The female cone housing 20 is formed to be an alternative to the combined female shell 19 and female socket 2 . In the preferred embodiment, the female shell 19 is disposed around the female socket 2 and forms a female flow cavity 57 for allowing fluid to flow through the two elements. In this embodiment, the two elements forming the female flow cavity 57 are sealed together such that fluid flows through the female flow cavity 57 and does not leak past the common seams where the female shell 19 and the female socket 2 are joined. The female cone housing 20 (or female socket 2 ) has orifices, slots or passages or female flow holes 23 disposed throughout for allowing fluid flow. The female flow holes 23 communicate with the female flow cavity 57 . The female flow holes 23 are formed in the female cone housing 20 (or female socket 2 ) in any manner suitable. There can be one female flow hole 23 or a plurality of female flow holes 23 disposed throughout the female cone housing 20 in a variety of shapes or configurations to provide a plurality of fluid flow characteristics. A female cone 21 is receivably disposed in the female cone housing 20 or alternatively the female socket 2 . The female cone 21 is nestable within the female cone housing 20 or in an alternative embodiment the female socket 2 . The female cone 21 is substantially conical in shape in the embodiment depicted in the figures. The female cone 21 is not limited to a conical shape. In another embodiment, the female cone 21 is cylindrical in shape. Disposed through the female cone 21 are female flow holes 23 . There may be one or a plurality of female flow holes 23 disposed throughout the female cone 21 . In the embodiment in the figures, a plurality of female flow holes 23 are shown. In a preferred embodiment, the female cone 21 has a coupling means or cone alignment pins 27 disposed within to facilitate coupling with a coupling means disposed in the male coupling assembly tip 41 (see FIG. 1 ). There may be one or a plurality of cone alignment pins 27 . The female cone 21 is rotatably received by the female cone housing 20 . The female cone 21 rotates relative to the female cone housing 20 . The female cone 21 rotatably aligns, so that the plurality of female flow holes 23 disposed in the female cone 21 align with the plurality of female flow holes 23 disposed in the female cone housing 20 . The female cone 21 rotatably misaligns, so that the plurality of female flow holes 23 disposed in the female cone 21 do not align with the plurality of female flow holes 23 disposed in the female cone housing 20 . In other words, rotation of the female cone 21 in one direction fluidly couples the female flow holes 23 and rotation in another (opposite) direction fluidly uncouples the female flow holes 23 . In some embodiments, a female cone seal 35 is disposed around the female cone 21 to seal between the female cone 21 inserted into the female cone housing 20 . The female cone seal 35 may be attached to the female cone 21 . The female cone seal 35 , in some embodiments, can be glued or pined to the female cone 21 or to the female cone housing 20 or the female socket 2 . The female cone seal 35 has a plurality of female flow holes 23 disposed throughout. The female cone 21 , the female cone seal 35 , and the female cone housing 20 rotatably align to allow the female flow holes 23 , disposed on each of the female cone 21 , the female cone seal 35 , and the female cone housing 20 , to align thus allowing fluid to pass through (fluidly coupling) the coupled components. A working fluid such as in the preferred embodiment, refrigerant, may flow through the female cone 21 , the female cone seal 35 , and the female cone housing 20 when the female flow holes 23 are aligned and the female coupling assembly 3 is attached to a pressurized refrigerant system. When the female coupling assembly 3 is pressurized by a fluid system and the female flow holes 23 are out of alignment or misaligned such that the fluid in the system is sealed and cannot flow (fluidly uncoupled), the female cone 21 is forced by fluid pressure against the female cone seal 35 and the female cone housing 20 . This force wedges the female cone 21 into the female cone seal 35 and into the female cone housing 20 . The female cone seal 35 is compressed by the fluid pressure wedging the female cone 21 into the female cone housing 20 . A female cone retention clip 29 is attached to the female cone housing 20 and to the female cone 21 . The female cone retention clip 29 acts to retain the coupled members together. FIG. 2 and FIG. 5 show different embodiments of the female cone retention clip 29 . The female cone retention clip 29 holds the female cone 21 inside the female cone housing 20 while maintaining freedom of rotation between the female cone 21 and the female cone housing 20 . A female seat 31 is disposed on the female cone 21 to couple with the male cone housing seal 17 . In the preferred embodiment, the female seat 31 is located distal from the cone alignment pins. The female seat 31 is proximate to the male seal ring 15 when the male coupling assembly 1 is inserted into the female coupling assembly 3 . The female seat 31 and the male seal ring 15 with the male cone housing seal 17 disposed between, form a pressure boundary that inhibits fluid leakage past the coupled male coupling assembly 1 and female coupling assembly 3 . A female soft seat 33 is disposed on the female cone housing 20 or in an alternative, on the female shell 19 . The female soft seat 33 couples to the seal mechanism 43 to form part of the high reliability seal 51 (see FIG. 3 ). The female soft seat, in a preferred embodiment, is made of a soft metal material that has a surface hardness that is less than the hardness of the first washer 45 . The soft surface will deform under the pressure load of the harder first washer. This union, the first washer 45 and the female soft seat 33 , form a pressure boundary to inhibit fluid leakage from the coupled male coupling assembly 1 and the female coupling assembly 3 .

Turning to FIG. 3, the male coupling assembly 1 and the female coupling assembly 3 are shown coupled or (plug and socket). The quick connect coupling 10 is made up of the coupled male coupling member 1 and the female coupling member 3 . The quick connect coupling 10 is capable of being adaptable for use with small diameter tubing. The quick connect coupling 10 can be scaled down for use with tubing as small as about ¼ inch diameter. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the two couplings have been rotatably aligned in order to provide fluid passage (fluidly coupled) through the quick connect coupling 10 . The cone alignment pins 27 received by the male coupling assembly tip 41 interlock the male cone 9 and the female cone 21 facilitating rotatable alignment of the male flow holes 11 and the female flow holes 23 . The male cone 9 and the female cone 21 are rotated in unison (interlocked) or fixed relative to each other so that there is minimal relative motion between the two members and as they are rotated relative to the female cone housing 20 (in an alternate embodiment the female shell 19 and female socket 2 ) which is fixed relative to the interlocked rotating female cone 21 and male cone 9 . The male cone housing 5 is also fixed relative to the interlocked rotating female cone 21 and male cone 9 . In one embodiment, the female cone 21 may be mechanically manipulated to rotate the interlocked male cone 9 and female cone 21 relative to the fixed male cone housing 5 and fixed female cone housing 20 (or stationary female socket 2 and female shell 19 ). In another embodiment, both of the female cone housing 20 and the male cone housing 5 are interlocked relative to each other. The alignment of the male flow holes 11 with the female flow holes 23 fluidly couples the male coupling assembly 1 and the female coupling assembly 3 . Conversely, the misalignment of the male flow holes 11 with the female flow holes 23 fluidly uncouples (seals) the male coupling assembly 1 and the female coupling assembly 3 . With both the male coupling assembly 1 and the female coupling assembly 3 coupled and system fluid pressurized, the quick connect coupling 10 is sealed by the male cone seal 7 , the male cone housing seal 17 , and the female cone seal 35 .

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment with the addition of the seal mechanism 43 to the quick connect coupling 10 . The seal mechanism 43 is coupled to the female coupling assembly 3 and the male coupling assembly 1 . The seal mechanism 43 interlocks (fixes together relatively substantially in unison) the female coupling assembly 3 and the male coupling assembly 1 . The seal mechanism 43 minimizes fluid leakage from the quick connect coupling. With the seal mechanism 43 coupled to the male coupling assembly and the female coupling assembly 3 , a high reliability seal 51 is formed. The high reliability seal 51 , is formed at the interfaces of the seal mechanism 43 and the male coupling assembly 1 and the female coupling assembly 3 . In the preferred embodiment, the high reliability seal 51 provides the quick connect coupling 10 the capability to maintain very low leak rates on the order of less than 0.1 ounce per year (oz./yr.) for a working fluid such as refrigerant. As shown in FIG. 7, the seal mechanism 43 has a shroud body 47 . The shroud body is formed to receivably couple with the male coupling assembly 1 and the female coupling assembly 3 . A cam mechanism 49 is disposed on the shroud body 47 in a manner that it can couple with the female cone housing 20 (or female shell 19 ). In a preferred embodiment the cam mechanism 49 is a pin-in-slot cam design. The cam mechanism 49 may couple with the female cone housing 20 (or female shell 19 ) in any fashion depending on the materials used. As discussed above, the seal mechanism has a first washer 45 and a second washer 55 disposed between the shroud body 47 and the female coupling assembly 3 and the male coupling assembly 1 , respectively. In a preferred embodiment, the first washer 45 is (disposed) inserted between the shroud body 47 and the female soft seat 33 , and the second washer 55 is disposed between the shroud body 47 and the male seal ring 15 . The cam mechanism seats the seal mechanism 43 by driving the first washer 45 into the softer surfaces of the shroud body 47 and the female soft seat 33 , and by driving the second washer 55 into the softer surfaces of the shroud body 47 and the male seal ring 15 . In one embodiment, the first washer 45 and the second washer 55 form lozenge cross sections (diamond shape). The leak path for the working fluid is minimized by the seal mechanism 43 .

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 show alternate embodiments of the female coupling assembly 3 and the male coupling assembly 1 , respectively. The female cone retention clip 29 is shown in an alternate embodiment. The female cone retention clip 29 is shown as a continuous flexed member providing a bias to maintain the female cone 21 inserted into the female cone housing 20 (or female shell 2 ). In the FIG. 6, an alternate embodiment of the male cone retention clip 13 is shown. The male cone retention clip 13 is shown as a continuous flexed member providing a bias to maintain the male cone 9 inserted into the male cone housing 5 . In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, a coupling slot 59 is formed in the female cone 21 . The coupling slot 59 can be disposed about the circumference or a substantial length of the circumference of the female cone 21 . In a preferred embodiment the coupling slot 59 is formed in the shape of an “L” slot. The coupling slot 59 maintains the male coupling assembly 1 and the female coupling assembly 3 coupled. FIG. 6 shows an embodiment with a coupling pin 58 disposed or formed in the male cone housing 5 . The coupling pin 58 is receivably inserted into the coupling slot 59 to mechanically couple the quick connect coupling 10 . In another embodiment, the coupling slot 59 may removably receive the coupling pin 58 and interlock the male coupling assembly 1 and the female coupling assembly 3 by rotatably interlocking the coupling pin 58 into the coupling slot 59 . In a preferred embodiment, the “L” shaped coupling slot 59 removably receives the coupling pin 58 such that the coupling pin 58 receivably inserts into the “L” slot shape until it bottoms/abuts the corner of the “L” shape. At that location, the male coupling assembly tip 41 and the cone alignment pins 27 have docked and interlocked. Then, as the interlocked male cone 9 and female cone 21 are rotated, the coupling pin 58 slides, or moves in the coupling slot 59 along the short leg of the “L” shape in an arc of the circumference of the female cone 21 . The coupling pin 58 can rest/stop at the end of short leg of the “L” shape and provide a reference to indicate that the female flow holes 23 and the male flow holes 11 have aligned. The rotation may be accomplished, in one embodiment, by the use of a simple pin-in-hole tool that inserts into a hole or indent disposed in the female cone 21 and then is used as a lever to rotate the interlocked male cone 9 and female cone 21 . Another embodiment can be (similar to a drill chuck), a gear mechanism, with beveled gear teeth formed in the female cone 21 and mating beveled pinion gear on a shaft lever tool inserted into a hole formed in the female cone housing 20 (or female socket 2 ). Rotation of the pinion gear translates to rotation of the female cone 21 interlocked with the male cone 9 , relative to the female cone housing (or female socket 2 ).

FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of the quick connect coupling 10 with the seal mechanism 43 . The seal mechanism 43 in FIG. 8 has the same basic elements as the embodiment in the FIG. 7 seal mechanism 43 with the addition of interlocking aligning means. The seal mechanism 43 embodiment of FIG. 8 performs the same functions as the seal mechanism 43 of FIG. 7, with the addition of acting as a locator device to dock and align the male coupling assembly 1 and the female coupling assembly 3 . As shown in the FIG. 8 embodiment, the seal mechanism 43 uses a pin-in-hole or pin-in-slot arrangement to align and dock or couple the seal mechanism 43 and the female coupling assembly 3 and the male coupling assembly 1 . Any coupling means can be used to interlock or align in a particular fashion the seal mechanism 43 and the female coupling assembly 3 and the male coupling assembly 1 . In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the seal mechanism 43 has a shroud body 47 with one or more seal mechanism aperture 48 formed in the shroud body 47 . An pin 50 is disposed in or formed in the seal mechanism aperture 48 . A corresponding female interlock aperture 32 is formed in the female cone housing 20 (or alternatively female socket 2 ). A male interlock aperture 12 is formed in the male cone housing 5 . In another embodiment, the pins 50 could be formed or disposed in the female interlock aperture 32 and the male interlock aperture 12 . In another embodiment the pins 50 could be formed as part of the female cone housing 20 (or alternatively female socket 2 ) and formed as part of the male cone housing 5 .

The seal mechanism 43 interlocks and locates the male coupling assembly 1 with the female coupling assembly 3 . The male flow holes 11 disposed in the male cone housing 5 of the male coupling assembly 1 and the female flow holes 23 disposed in the female cone housing 20 (or in an alternative female socket 2 ) can be rotatably aligned and located with the seal mechanism 43 . The seal mechanism 43 also docks the female coupling assembly 3 and male coupling assembly 1 together, docking the male cone housing 9 with the female cone housing 20 , so that the male cone housing and the female cone housing are removably and rotatably interlocked so that the male cone housing and the female cone housing rotate substantially in unison, and remain stationary substantially in unison. The interlock mechanism also fixes the female cone housing 20 and the male cone housing 9 together so that the female cone housing 20 and the male cone housing 9 rotate or remain stationary (fixed) relative to the interlocked female cone 21 and male cone 9 . In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the male flow holes 11 of the male cone housing 5 and the female flow holes 23 of the female cone housing 20 are aligned and fixed relative to each other and in combination fixed (non rotatable) relative to the rotatably interlocked male cone 9 and female cone 21 .

While preferred embodiments have been shown and described, various modifications and substitutions may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the present invention has been described by way of illustration and not limitation.