Crimping Fitting Indicator Ring for Tube Insertion Verification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Ensuring proper insertion of tubes into fittings in piping systems is challenging due to working conditions like poor light and repetitive steps, which can lead to incomplete or improper crimping, potentially causing safety issues, especially in gas piping systems.
Innovation Solution
A crimp fitting with an inner ring that moves between a rest and abutment position, visible through a window, is used to indicate proper tube insertion, featuring flexible tabs and a contrasting color for easy visualization, ensuring the ring returns to a visible rest position if the tube is not fully inserted.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If no indicator is provided, then the fitting structure remains simple, but it becomes difficult to verify proper tube insertion under poor lighting or repetitive working conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The indicator ring uses color contrast (different color from the fitting body) to provide visual indication of proper tube insertion. The ring's color change or visibility state allows workers to quickly verify insertion quality under various lighting conditions without adding complex mechanical verification systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The indicator ring acts as an intermediary element between the tube insertion state and the worker's verification process. It translates the mechanical state of insertion into a visible signal that can be easily observed, bridging the gap between the fitting's internal state and external verification.
2Ease of operation
If the indicator ring is always visible, then insertion verification is easy, but the ring cannot indicate the inserted state when the tube is properly inserted
Solution Approach 1:
The indicator ring is designed to be movable rather than fixed, allowing it to change position based on the tube insertion state. When the tube is properly inserted, the ring moves to a hidden position; when insertion is improper, the ring remains visible. This dynamic behavior provides clear state indication while maintaining ease of verification.
Solution Approach 2:
The indicator ring provides visual feedback about the insertion state. Its visibility or invisibility serves as direct feedback to the worker about whether the tube is properly inserted, eliminating the need for separate verification steps and reducing information loss.
3Device complexity
If the indicator ring is made of rigid material, then its structure is simple, but it cannot return to rest position if pushed by the tube during crimping
Solution Approach 1:
The indicator ring incorporates flexible elements (such as a flexible membrane or elastic sections) that allow it to deform under tube pressure during crimping and then return to its original rest position. This flexibility ensures the ring reliably indicates the insertion state without requiring complex spring mechanisms or rigid structural supports.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides a visual confirmation of proper tube insertion, enhancing the reliability of connections and ensuring mechanical strength and leak-tightness in piping systems by clearly indicating incomplete or improper insertions.
Implementation Method 1
The inner ring includes at least one substantially flexible tabs bearing against the inner support
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
AI summary
Fitting, including: a fitting body (1) with an end wall (10) and an inner support (2) on which a tube end (3) can be inserted/fitted, a sleeve (4), which surrounds the inner support, for attaching the tube end to the inner support, the sleeve including at least one window, an inner ring (7), placed over the inner support, configured to be placed between the end wall (10) and the tube end, with the inner ring being movable between a rest position (PO) and an abutment position in which the inner ring substantially bears against the end wall of the fitting body, and biasing means (72) for biasing the inner ring to the rest position where the inner ring is visible through at least one window (41), with the biasing means formed, at least in part, by a part other than the inner ring.