Garden Hose Connector Claw Layout for Easier Hose Mounting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing garden hose connectors face difficulties in mounting hoses with different wall thicknesses, often requiring users to struggle with feeding the hose onto the spigot and risk damaging the connector, and additional steps are needed to prepare the locking nut before mounting.
Innovation Solution
A garden hose connector design featuring a spigot with inwardly projecting claws and a skirt portion that includes an inspection window, allowing easier hose insertion and ensuring proper mounting, along with a locking nut and sleeve member arrangement that prevents claw rotation during tightening, facilitating secure hose connection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If traditional forward-facing deformable claws are used to clamp the hose, then the hose can be securely clamped between the claws and spigot, but it becomes difficult to feed the hose onto the spigot and users may damage the connector
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the traditional claw orientation by making them backward-facing instead of forward-facing. The claws now engage the hose from the rear, allowing the hose to be easily fed onto the spigot first, and then the locking nut is tightened to drive the claws into the hose. This reverses the sequence of operations and eliminates the difficulty of forcing the hose past forward-facing claws.
Solution Approach 2:
The hose is inserted onto the spigot before the locking nut is tightened, which is the preliminary action. This allows the hose to be in position and the claws to be driven into it subsequently, rather than trying to force the hose onto already-engaged claws. The connector is prepared with the hose in place before the final clamping action occurs.
2Ease of operation
If the locking nut is placed on the hose before mounting, then the nut is ready to be tightened, but this adds an extra step that users must remember
Solution Approach 1:
The locking nut is integrated with the connector body rather than being a separate component that needs to be pre-assembled onto the hose. The nut is fixed to the connector, and the hose is inserted through the connector, combining the nut and connector into a single assembly unit. This eliminates the separate step of placing the nut on the hose before mounting.
Solution Approach 2:
The connector design allows the hose to be inserted directly onto the spigot without requiring the user to pre-attach the locking nut. The system is designed to accommodate the hose in its natural insertion sequence, and the locking mechanism activates automatically when the hose is in place and the nut is tightened, making the process self-explanatory and intuitive.
3Adaptability or versatility
If claws are positioned at the outer circumference of the hose end, then they can engage the hose, but they cannot naturally splay outward for hoses of varying thickness
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of positioning claws at the outer circumference to engage the hose from the front, the patent positions them at the inner circumference facing backward. This inverted positioning allows the claws to splay outward naturally as the locking nut is tightened, accommodating hoses of varying thicknesses without requiring precise pre-positioning at the outer circumference.
Solution Approach 2:
The claws are designed to be deformable and dynamic rather than fixed in position. As the locking nut is tightened, the claws are driven into the hose and naturally splay outward to accommodate the specific thickness of the hose being used. This dynamic adjustment allows the same connector to work with hoses of different wall thicknesses without requiring manual adjustment or pre-positioning.
Data Source
AI summary
A garden hose connector arrangement comprising a hose connection portion 1 for accepting the end of a garden hose. The hose connection portion comprises a hose receiving portion 32 in which is disposed a spigot 33 for receiving the end of a length of hose and a clamping arrangement comprising a locking nut 41 and a plurality of deformable claws 52 which surround the spigot 33 and are arranged to be driven into contact with hose H carried on the spigot 33 under action of the locking nut 41. In some embodiments the claws 52 are arranged so that they extend axially inwardly into the hose receiving portion 32. In some embodiments a skirt portion S is provided around the spigot 33 so as to define a hose receiving region R between the skirt portion S and the spigot 33, and an inspection window W is provided in the skirt portion S to enable viewing of a hose end when introduced onto the spigot 33 and into the hose receiving region R.