A multi-tool for servicing a connector with a gripper and method of servicing a gripper

Abstract

The multi-tool 1 for servicing a connector (2, Figure 6) with a gripper includes tool heads arranged around a central hub 20. The heads include at least two heads selected from three. A first head 2

Description

The present disclosure relates to a multi-tool for servicing a connector with a gripper and method of servicing a gripper. Quick release connectors with grippers (e.g. collets or grab rings) generally have very long lifetimes as, in many cases, a connection is made which is not then undone in the lifetime of the pipework. However, in applications where the connector is part of a connection which is repeatedly connected and disconnected, for example, connectors used in flowlines from a keg, the connector may require replacement. The main reason for replacing the connector is that the O-ring in the connector is compression set in a particular shape and ceases to form an effective seal. When this happens, the current practice is to remove the connector and replace it with a new one. However, this is wasteful as often the only component which is no longer fit for purpose is the O-ring. It is not normal current practice to just replace the O-ring, as it is relatively difficult to access. This requires removal of the gripper and getting hold of the O-ring which is set against an interior wall on the connector some distance from the entrance to the connector. It is also not straightforward to insert a replacement O-ring into the connector and to ensure it is reliably seated in the connector. This requires fiddly manual manipulation which can result in contamination in the form of dirt, hair and the like. The present disclosure aims to address one or more of these issues. According to a first aspect of the disclosure there is provided a multi-tool for servicing a connector with a gripper, the multi-tool comprising: a plurality of tool heads arranged around a central hub, the heads including at least two selected from: a first head comprising a socket for insertion between a gripper ring and connector to prise the gripper from the connector, a second head comprising a hook to engage with and remove an O-ring from within the connector, and a third head comprising a pick for picking up an O-ring for insertion into the connector. The multi-tool is unique in providing a single tool has the ability to perform several functions, using heads conveniently located around a hub, in the process of refurbishing a connector with a gripper. By providing a multi-tool which is specifically designed for various of the processes involved in removing and replacing the gripper and the O-ring, the present disclosure makes the process easier. Further, by ensuring that engagement with the connector and its components is through the multi-tool, rather than the operator’s hands, the opportunity of introducing contamination in the form of dirt, hair and the like is significantly reduced. The first head may be a single socket. It may be used on one size of connector, or possibly on connectors which are very similar in size. Optionally the first head comprises at least two sockets arranged along a radius from the hub such that a smaller diameter socket is radially innermost, and a larger diameter socket is radially outermost. This allows a single tool to be used for connectors of different diameters as, when used on a smaller connector, the connector will pass through the larger diameter socket and enter the smaller diameter socket. When used with a larger connector, the larger diameter socket engages the connector Optionally the first head has three sockets arranged along a radius from the hub such that a smaller diameter socket is radially innermost, a larger diameter socket is radially outermost, and a socket of intermediate diameter is radially between the smaller and larger diameter sockets. This tool can be used with three sizes of connector. Further sockets can be added on the first head, or on a separate head if necessary. The socket optionally has an inwardly projecting flange around its inner periphery with a depth less than the depth of the socket, the flange being configured to engage with the gripper ring, in use. This fits between the connector body and the gripper ring and allows the gripper to be readily lifted from the connector. The depth of the flange optionally v is smallest adjacent to a mouth of the flange. This creates a wedge shape which helps the socket to initially engage between the gripper and connector and then to gradually push them apart. The hook optionally has a non-sharp end. A sharp end is best for engaging with the O ring. However, as the hook is likely to contact the inner plastic wall of the connector, a non-sharp end (e.g. flat or rounded) prevents or reduces scratching on the wall. The third head optionally comprises a shoulder which is wider than and radially inward of the pick. This can be used to press the new O-ring into place once it has been inserted by the pick. The multi tool is optionally plastic. It is optionally a one piece moulded component. This is a cost effective way of creating the complex tool shape. The heads are optionally spaced substantially equally around the hub. A central part of the hub is optionally concave on at least one side. Optionally, no part of the tool extends radially more than 5cm (optionally no more than 4.8 cm, and optionally no more than 4.6cm) from the centre of the hub. These provide good ergonomics as the user can readily spin the tool in their hand to effectively choose between the heads. Reference to a hub is simply to indicate that there is a central portion from which the heads extend. There is no need for any relative rotation of a central component of the tool given that the intention that the tool is a single one-piece moulding. However, it would be possible to have a two-piece tool in which a main body of the tool is rotatable about a central circular part. A second aspect of the present disclosure extends to a method of servicing a collet using a multi tool according to the first aspect of the disclosure, the method comprising doing at least two selected from: inserting a socket of the first head between a collet ring and a connector body and pulling the gripper out of the connector body; inserting the hook of the second head to engage with an O-ring in the connector body and removing the O-ring on the hook; and picking up a replacement O-ring in the pick of the third head and inserting the pick into the connector body to place the replacement O-ring into the connector body. The method optionally further comprises rotating the tool between the use of each head. The method optionally further comprises the step of pressing the replacement O-ring into place using the shoulder. The method can be used with any of the optional features of the first aspect of the disclosure as necessary. An example of a multi-tool and head in accordance with the present disclosure will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a plan view of the tool from above; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the tool from below; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the tool with the first head engaging with a connector; Fig. 4 is a detailed plan view of the first head; Fig. 5 is a side view of an example of connector to which the tool is designed to be applied; Fig. 6 is a cross-section of the connector of Fig. 5; Figs. 7A-7C are a series of side views showing the tool and connector in various stages of the collet removal operation; Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing detail of the second head; Fig. 9 is an end view of the second head; Figs. 10A-10C are a series of side views showing the tool and connector in various stages of the O-ring removal operation; Fig. 11 is a perspective view of part of the connector showing the third head inserted into the connector; Figs. 12A-12E are a series of views showing the various stages of the pick-up and insertion of the O-ring into the connector; Figs. 13A and 13B are cross-sections through an end of the connector showing stages of insertion of the new O-ring; Figs. 14A and 14B are a series of views showing a further operation of the third head; Fig 15 is a detailed side view of the third head; Fig. 16 is a detailed perspective view of the third head; Fig. 17 is a cross-section through the tool; Fig. 17A shows the detail in circle A in Fig. 17; and Figs. 18A and 18B show the tool and a user’s hand illustrating how the user manipulates the tool to switch between heads. The multi-tool 1 of the present disclosure is designed for use with a quick-release connector 2. Such a connector is illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6. This has a hollow connector body 3 with a throughway 4 and is designed to receive a tube at each end of the connector body 3. Each end comprises an O-ring 5 and a collet 6 fitted into a cap 7 which is fixed to the connector body 3 usually by welding. In use, a tube (not shown) is inserted into the open end of the connector and the O-ring 5 seals on the outer diameter of the tube while the collet 6 grips the tube to prevent it from being released. Any attempt to pull the tube out of the connector causes collet heads 8 to be forced against a cap angle 9 on the cap 7 thereby causing the collet teeth 10 and the collect head 8 to grip the tube thereby preventing its release. To release the tube, the collet has to be held down by pressing on the collet ring. This prevents axial movement of the collet 6 thereby preventing the heads 8 engaging with the cap angle 9. The present disclosure is applicable to any such connector with a collet in which a collet ring 11 protrudes from the connector body 3. In addition, the collet could be replaced by a grab ring. Grab rings which have a sleeve with a ring similar to the collet ring 11 protruding from the connector are well known in the art. The sleeve is depressed to push teeth of the grab ring away from the pipe to allow it to be released. The example, in Figs. 5 and 6 is a double-ended straight connector. However, the connector can be any shape, such as an elbow or T. The collet type connection may only be provided at any one place within the connector with other connections used elsewhere on the connector. The collet-based connector may alternatively be part of a larger device. At present, if the connector has failed because of an inadequate seal, the usual practice is to replace the whole connector. However, it is likely that the only component which needs to be replaced is the O-ring 5. The tool 1 is designed for this purpose. The tool is produced as a one-piece plastic moulding. It has a central hub 20 from which first 21, second 22 and third 23 heads extend radially outwardly. As shown in the drawings, the heads 21-23 are spaced equiangularly around the hub 20 and there is essentially 120° between the centre of each head measured from the centre of the hub 20. Depending on the desired functionality, only two of the three heads may be provided if the functionality of one of the heads is not required for a particular circumstance. Similarly, if further functionality is required, this could either be accommodated within an existing head, or one or more further heads can be added to the tool. The functionality of the three heads is described in greater detail below. The first head 21 is shown in Figs. 3-7C. The illustrated head is provided with three sockets in the form of an outer socket 24, a middle socket 25 and an inner socket 26 as best shown in Fig 4. The outer socket 24 is the widest, with the inner socket 26 being the narrowest, and the middle socket 25 having an intermediate width. There may be only one of the three sockets if the tool is designed for use with a single size of connector. Optionally, there may be more than three sockets to be used with a greater number of connectors. In this case, the sockets would be arranged with the widest one outermost, and the narrowest one innermost as described here. The three sockets are designed to engage with the three most common sizes of connector: (1 / 4-inch, 3 / 8-inch and 1 / 2-inch) or their equivalent, (6mm, 10mm and 12mm). In practice, it may be possible to use the sockets for more than one size of connector provided that the connectors are close in diameter, and that the user was prepared to accept the suboptimal performance of the tool on a connector for which is has not been explicitly designed. A peripheral lip 27 runs around the inner surface of all three sockets 24-26 as shown in Fig. 3. The lip 27 is thinner close to the mouth 28 of the head 21 designated by reference numeral 27A, and increases in thickness towards the inner socket 26 as designated by reference numeral 27B. Lip 27 therefore has a shallow wedge-like configuration. The first stage of the collet refurbishment is the removal of the collet 6. The tool 1 is held with the first head 21 extending forwardly from the user’s hand H as shown in Fig. 18A. The first head 21 is then inserted between the collet ring 11 and the cap 7 by moving it in the direction of arrow 29 as shown in Fig. 7A. If a grab ring is used instead of a collet, the tool is similarly inserted between the protruding ring of the grab ring and connector. The wedge-shape nature of the lip 27 forces the collet ring 11 upwardly away from the cap 7. The user then moves the tool 1 upwardly in the direction of arrow 30 in Fig. 7B thereby lifting the collet 6 out of the connector 7 as shown in Fig. 7C. As this is done without the tube in the connector, the collet heads 8 are readily deflected inwardly by the cap angle 9 as the collet 6 is lifted. In most cases, the collet 6 is undamaged and therefore will be reusable. However, if necessary, the collet 6 may be replaced by a new one once the steps described below have been completed. The Figures show the outer socket 24 engaging a connector which is the largest size that the tool is designed to operate with. The operation with a middle size connector is the same, but engagement is with the middle socket 25. The operation with a small connector is the same, but engagement is with the inner socket 26. The second head 22 is shown in Figs. 8-10C. In the second head 22 is a hook 35, the distal end 36 of which extends transversely. The end 37 of the hook is relatively wide and is curved to match the curvature of the O-ring. As is apparent from Figs. 8 and 10A, the end 37 does not come to a sharp point but is slightly rounded. The rounding is designed to ensure that the end 37 can still engage behind the O-ring 5 in order to readily lift it from its position within the connector body 3. As shown in Figs. 10A-10C, with the second head 22 facing forwards, the tool 1 is inserted in the direction of arrow 38 in Fig. 10A into the connector 2. Once inserted, the tool 1 is rotated in the direction of arrow 39 to engage the hook 35 with the O-ring 5. Once engaged, the tool 1 is moved in the direction of arrow 40 in Fig. 10C in order to pull the O-ring 5 out of the connector 2. The O-ring 5 is then discarded. The third head 23 will now be described with reference to Figs. 11-16. Figs. 11-12E show a first operation in the form of the insertion of the O-ring 5, while Figs. 13A -14B show how the O-ring is pushed into the correct place. Before describing these, the structure of the third head 23 is shown in Figs. 15 and 16. The third head 23 has a distal protuberance 45 which has a gripper 46 formed at its distal end. The gripper 46 has a part circular opening 47 which extends circumferentially through an angle slightly larger than a semi-circle. At the mouth of the opening 47 are a pair of inwardly extending teeth 48. As is apparent from Fig. 16, these do not extend for the full depth of the protuberance 45 but occupy only the central portion of this thickness. Further, as can be seen in Fig. 15, the protuberance 45 extends slightly further down on one side (left-hand side in Fig. 15) than the other such that the mouth of the opening 47 is effectively offset at a slight angle. The purpose of these features will become apparent from the description below of the operation of the third head 23. The third head 23 is also provided with a cylindrical boss 50 providing a circular shoulder 51. Recesses 52 are provided to reduce the plastic requirement of the tool and to facilitate the moulding process. The shoulder 51 has a diameter which is small enough to fit within the cap 7 of the smallest of the connectors with which the tool is designed to operate. This function is described in greater detail below. With reference to Figs. 12A-12E, the process of picking and placing the O-ring 5 will first be described. As shown in Fig. 12A, the O-ring is picked up by moving the gripper 46 onto the O-ring 5 in the vertical direction as designated by the arrow 55 such that the O-ring 5 enters the opening 47 and is held in place by the teeth 48. The tool 1 is then lifted and the opening 47 is large enough to allow the O-ring 5 to swing under gravity to a vertical position as shown in Fig. 12B. The end of the tool is then inserted in the direction of arrow 56 in Fig. 12B into the connector 2. The O-ring has an outer diameter which is larger than the inner diameter of the cap 7, so the O-ring is deflected slightly as it is inserted into connector 2. This causes the O-ring 5 to rotate from the vertical position to the position shown in Fig. 12C in which the non-gripped side of the O-ring 5 rises above the end which is being forced down by the gripper 46. Further insertion of the tool 1 causes the O-ring 5 to be pushed fully within connector 2 as shown in Fig. 12D. The offset nature of the mouth of the protuberance 44 improves the O-ring insertion into the edge of the throughway 4 by allowing for less angling of the tool within the connector 2. The reason why the teeth 48 do not extend for the full depth of the opening 47 is to ensure that the force with which the O-ring 5 is gripped is as small as possible while allowing the tool 1 to support the weight of the O-ring 5 as shown in Fig. 12B. At the point with the O-ring 5 part-wedged within the connector 2, the tool 1 is withdrawn in the direction of arrow 57 shown in Fig. 12E. The friction between the O-ring and the connector body 3 is enough to cause the O-ring to be pulled out of the opening 47 past the teeth 48 leaving the O-ring in place. Once this operation is complete, the O-ring 5 is likely to be in the skewed position shown in Fig. 13A (this is a view from the opposite side of the connector from Fig 12C). It could then be pushed down into the fully engaged position as shown in Fig. 13B by the protuberance 45. However, the shoulder 51 is designed to do this. This is done by inserting tool 1 in the direction of arrow 58 in Fig. 14A. This needs to be done with the tool positioned centrally with respect to the connector 2 so that the protuberance 45 passes down through the O-ring 5 allowing the shoulder 51 to contact the uppermost part of the O-ring 5 in the position shown in Fig. 13A. For the smallest size of connector, the shoulder 51 is slightly narrower than the narrowest inner diameter of the cap 7 such that it is effectively self-centring and will automatically push the highest part of the O-ring 5 downwardly. For the larger connectors, the tool will have to be offset slightly towards the upper part of the O-ring 5 to ensure that the shoulder 51 pushes the upper part of the O-ring 5 downwardly into the position shown in Fig. 13B. The manner in which the tool 1 is moved between various positions will now be described with reference to Figs. 17 to 18B. The hub 20 is provided with dish-like recesses 60 on a central portion of its top and bottom surfaces. These are designed to be gripped between the thumb and forefinger of a user’s hand as shown in Figs. 18A and 18B. The tool is initially gripped in the position shown in Fig. 18A with the first head 21 extending forwards. Once the first operation is complete, the tool 1 can simply be spun in the user’s hand for example by the user pressing on the third head 23, using their middle finger thereby rotating the tool as shown in Fig. 18B to the position shown in Fig. 10A. Similarly, once the second operation is complete, the user can rotate the tool pressing on the first head 21 with their middle finger in order to rotate the tool to the position shown in Fig. 12A. Because the third heads 21-23 are spaced by approximately 120°, in the position in which one tool is selected, there is effectively a gap of 120° between the remaining tools in the region facing towards the user’s hand so that these unused tools do not interfere with the user’s hand at this time. As will be appreciated from the above, in order to refurbish a collet, there is a need only to carry a single, small, tool which can cope with most of the connectors are likely to be encountered in practice. Also, only the first head has been designed for particular connector sizes. Therefore, the second and third heads can still provide a useful tool to remove and replace the O-ring even in connectors that the tool is not specifically designed for, once the collet is prised off in some other way. In order to carry out the refurbishment, a user applies the first head to pull out the collet, spins the tool in their hand to hook out and discard the old O-ring 5 with the second head, before rotating the tool again and picking up and inserting a new O-ring 5 and pushing it into place with gripper 46 and shoulder 52. The whole process can be concluded in a matter of seconds and it is done without the user manually handling the new O-ring or the inside of the connector, thereby reducing the risk of introducing debris into the connector. Once the O-ring is in place, the collet 6, which may be the previously removed collet, or a new one, is simply pushed into the end of the connector and refurbishment is complete. By making the refurbishment process quick and convenient, the tool tips the balance of convenience in favour of refurbishing rather than replacing the connector thereby saving cost for an operator, and reducing waste.

Claims

1. A multi-tool for servicing a connector with a gripper, the multi-tool comprising:a plurality of tool heads arranged around a central hub, the heads including at least two selected from:a first head comprising a socket for insertion between a gripper ring and connector to prise the gripper from the connector,a second head comprising a hook to engage with and remove an O-ring from within the connector, anda third head comprising a pick for picking up an O-ring for insertion into the connector.

2. A multi-tool according to claim 1, wherein the first head comprises at least two sockets arranged along a radius from the hub such that a smaller diameter socket is radially innermost, and a larger diameter socket is radially outermost.

3. A multi-tool according to claim 1, wherein the first head has three sockets arranged along a radius from the hub such that a smaller diameter socket is radially innermost, a larger diameter socket is radially outermost, and a socket of intermediate diameter is radially between the smaller and larger diameter sockets.

4. A multi-tool according to any preceding claim, wherein the socket has an inwardly projecting flange around its inner periphery with a depth less than the depth of the socket, the flange being configured to engage with the gripper ring, in use.

5. A multi-tool according to claim 4, wherein the depth of the flange is smallest adjacent to a mouth of the flange.

6. A multi-tool according to any preceding claim, wherein the hook has a non-sharp end.

7. A multi-tool according to any preceding claim, wherein the third head comprises a shoulder which is wider than and radially inward of the pick.

8. A multi-tool according to any preceding claim, wherein the multi-tool is plastic.

9. A multi-tool according to any preceding claim, wherein the multi-tool is a one piece moulded component.

10. A multi-tool according to any preceding claim, wherein the heads are spaced substantially equally around the hub.

11. A multi-tool according to any preceding claim, wherein a central part of the hub is concave on at least one side.

12. A multi-tool according to any preceding claim, wherein no part of the tool extends radially more than 5cm from the centre of the hub.

13. A method of servicing a connector using a multi tool according to any preceding claim, the method comprising doing at least two selected from:inserting a socket of the first head between a gripper ring and a connector body and pulling the gripper out of the connector body;inserting the hook of the second head to engage with an O-ring in the connector body and removing the O-ring on the hook; andpicking up a replacement O-ring in the pick of the third head and inserting the pick into the connector body to place the replacement O-ring into the connector body.

14. A method according to claim 13, further comprising rotating the tool between the use of each head.

15. A method according to claim 13 or 14 when dependent on claim 6, further comprising the step of pressing the replacement O-ring into place using the shoulder.

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