Quick-Connect Fluid Adapter With Lock Buttons for Leak-Tight Joining
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional fluid system connectors are often difficult to attach, prone to damage, oxidation, and leakage, and may not be cost-effective or suitable for all situations, especially when requiring quick and reliable connections.
Innovation Solution
A quick-connect adapter with a cylindrical adapter body and lock buttons that include a contact element and a semi-circular arm, allowing for a snap-on and snap-off mechanism to securely attach and detach fluid conduits without specialized tools, ensuring a fluid-tight seal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional threaded connectors are used, then connections can be made between fluid components, but the connectors are difficult to attach, easily damaged, oxidized, and prone to leaks
Solution Approach 1:
The connector is divided into two separate components: a male connector with external threading and a female connector with internal threading. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently, with the male connector featuring a streamlined design that reduces oxidation surfaces and the female connector incorporating a robust sealing mechanism with a rubber grommet to prevent leaks, thereby simultaneously improving ease of attachment and leak resistance
Solution Approach 2:
A rubber grommet is introduced as an intermediary element between the male and female connector components. This grommet acts as a mediator that creates a flexible, durable seal at the interface between the two rigid plastic components, preventing leaks while allowing for easy assembly and disassembly without damaging the connectors themselves
2Productivity
If quick-connect adapters with ball lock, pin lock, or twist lock mechanisms are used, then connection speed is improved, but cost effectiveness decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The complex locking mechanisms (ball lock, pin lock, twist lock) are extracted and replaced with a simple threaded engagement system. The male connector features external threads that screw into the female connector's internal threads, eliminating the need for additional locking components and mechanisms, thereby reducing manufacturing costs while maintaining quick and easy connection capability
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using a locking mechanism that requires positive engagement and subsequent unlocking actions, the design inverts the approach by using a threaded engagement system where the locking action is integrated into the basic connection process itself, making the connector both simple to manufacture and quick to attach
3Ease of operation
If removable connectors are designed for easy attachment and detachment, then operation simplicity is improved, but connection strength may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The connector components are made from composite materials: the male and female connectors are constructed from durable plastic materials resistant to oxidation and degradation, while the sealing interface incorporates a rubber grommet. This composite construction provides both the strength needed for reliable fluid containment and the ease of removable connection, as the plastic threads provide structural integrity while the rubber grommet allows for flexible assembly and disassembly
Data Source
AI summary
An adapter for connecting components in a fluid system has an adapter body defining a cylindrical space and lock buttons which are biased into a locked position to secure the adapter to another component. The adapter body has a circular collar defining an inlet into the cylindrical space, a channel defining an outlet out of the cylindrical space, a support wall and a support flange defining one or more cutouts in an outer cylindrical side wall of the adapter body, and a slot defined between the collar and the support wall connecting the one or more cutouts to the cylindrical space. The lock buttons have a contact element positioned in one of the cutouts and an arm projecting positioned in the slot. The arms are partially in the cylindrical space in the locked position and are movable into an unlocked position when the contact elements are moved toward each other.