JP7634834B2 - Flange plate mounting structure for gas valve - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an attachment structure for attaching a flange plate to a gas valve, and in particular to an attachment structure for attaching a flange plate attached to a wall panel to a hexagonal tubular pipe connection part of the gas valve.

In order to fix the gas valve (3), to which a flexible pipe (44) serving as a gas pipe housed in the wall panel (4) is connected via a joint (41), to the surface of the wall panel (4), a metal flange plate (33) is provided so as to protrude radially outward from the open end of the hexagonal cylindrical pipe connection portion (31) of the gas valve (3) (see FIG. 5).
The pipe connection portion (31) is formed with a tapered female thread portion (32), and the joint (41) is formed with a tapered male thread cylindrical portion (42) that can be screwed thereto.

The flange plate in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2-74679 (Patent Document 1) is an annular plate with a central hole, and discloses an attachment structure in which the peripheral area of the central hole is directly fixed to the open end face of the pipe connection part by screwing, and a structure in which the open end of the hexagonal cylindrical pipe connection part is fitted into a hexagonal fitting part that protrudes so as to surround the circular central hole, forming a single unit. In the latter structure, as shown in Figure 5, with the tightening nut (43) screwed in, the tapered male threaded cylindrical part (42) of the fitting (41) is screwed into the tapered female threaded part (32) of the pipe connection part (31) that is fitted into the hexagonal fitting part (34), and then tightened until it reaches the final tightening position. Then, when the tightening nut (43) is tightened, the peripheral portion of the central hole (30) of the flange plate (33) is pressed by the tightening nut (43) and firmly pressed against the open end face of the pipe connection part (31), so that the flange plate (33) is securely attached to the pipe connection part (31) in a non-removable state.

The flange plate (33) has multiple screw insertion holes (35), and the flange plate (33) attached to the pipe connection part (31) of the gas valve (3) in the above manner is attached to the surface of the wall plate (4), the mounting bracket (5) is attached to the back surface of the wall plate (4), and the mounting screws (51) inserted into the screw insertion holes (35) of the flange plate (33) are screwed into the screw holes (55) of the mounting bracket (5) and tightened. As a result, the periphery of the opening (40) of the wall plate (4) is clamped between the flange plate (33) and the mounting bracket (5), and the gas valve (3) is fixed to the surface of the wall plate (4).

Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 2-74679

However, in the former of the above conventional examples, it is necessary to manufacture a dedicated gas valve with a screw hole on the open end face of the pipe connection, which cannot be handled at the construction site and is costly. In the latter, the flange plate (33) can be attached to the pipe connection part (31) of a normal gas valve (3) at the construction site by screwing the tapered male screw tube part (42) of the joint (41) into the tapered female screw part (32) of the gas valve (3) in a state in which the pipe connection part (31) is fitted into the hexagonal fitting part (34) provided on the flange plate (33) and then tightening the tightening nut (43). However, it is difficult to tighten the tightening nut (43) provided in the small gap between the flange plate (33) provided on the gas valve (3) and the base end of the tapered male screw tube part (42) of the joint (41) screwed into the pipe connection part (31), making the installation of the flange plate difficult. Furthermore, if the tightening force of the tightening nut (43) is weak, the pipe connection part (31) will rattle inside the hexagonal fitting part (34).

The present invention was made in consideration of these points, and its objective is to provide a flange plate mounting structure for a gas valve that allows a flange plate for fixing the gas valve to the surface of a wall plate to be easily and securely attached to the hexagonal cylindrical pipe connection part of the gas valve.

The technical means of the present invention to solve the above problem is a flange plate mounting structure for a gas valve, which mounts a flange plate for fixing the gas valve to the surface of a wall plate on the open end of a hexagonal tubular pipe connection part of the gas valve,
The flange plate is
a flange main body including a small annular plate portion having a central hole, an annular tapered portion extending from a periphery of the small annular plate portion while expanding in diameter, and a large annular plate portion extending radially outward from a maximum expanded end portion of the annular tapered portion;
a hexagonal frame body consisting of six component walls into which the pipe connection portion of the gas cock can be fitted, the adjacent component walls being connected to each other only at one open end portion, and a hexagonal fastener being fitted into the annular tapered portion from the one open end portion via the maximum diameter expansion end portion;
a guide plate which is joined to the large annular plate portion of the flange main body and has a hexagonal hole through which the other open end of the hexagonal fastener faces while holding the hexagonal fastener in a non-removable state,
a claw portion is provided at a predetermined position on an outer surface of each of the component walls of the hexagonal fastener , and a protruding piece is provided at a connecting portion of the one open end portion, the protruding piece protruding inwardly at a substantially right angle to the component wall,
As the hexagonal fastener is inserted into the annular tapered portion of the flange main body and pushed toward the small annular plate portion, the claw portion is pushed inward in accordance with the inclination of the annular tapered portion while in contact with the annular tapered portion, and accordingly, each of the component walls swings in a direction in which it falls inward with the one open end as a base end,
When the piping connection portion of the gas valve is inserted into the other open end of the hexagonal fastener, each corner of the piping connection portion is set to abut against each of the protruding pieces.

The above technical means operates as follows.
To assemble the flange plate, first, insert the hexagonal fastener into the maximum diameter expansion end of the annular tapered portion of the flange main body from the side of the one open end where the constituent walls are connected to each other. Then, the claws of the hexagonal fastener protruding from the outer surfaces of the constituent walls abut the annular tapered portion, and the other open end of the hexagonal fastener protrudes from the maximum diameter expansion end of the annular tapered portion. When the guide plate is joined onto the large annular plate portion while the other open end is inserted into the hexagonal hole, the flange plate is completed with the flange main body, the hexagonal fastener, and the guide plate assembled together. At this time, the claws of the hexagonal fastener are caught from the inside on the periphery of the hexagonal hole of the guide plate, so that the hexagonal fastener is set in a non-removable state.

To attach this flange plate to the pipe connection of the gas valve, the pipe connection of the gas valve is inserted into the other open end of the hexagonal fastener protruding from the hexagonal hole of the guide plate and pushed inward. Then, the protruding piece protruding inward at a right angle to the component walls at the connecting portion of the one open end is pushed by each corner of the pipe connection, so that the hexagonal fastener is pushed inward together with the pipe connection of the gas valve. In addition, since the six component walls are connected to each other only at one open end on the far side, each component wall can swing inward and outward with the one open end as its base end.
As the hexagonal fastener, together with the gas valve's pipe connection, is pushed into the annular tapered portion of the flange main body toward the small annular plate portion, the claws abutting the annular tapered portion are pushed inward in accordance with the inclination of the annular tapered portion, and the walls swing inwardly with the one open end as the base end. As a result, the gas valve's pipe connection is pushed evenly from all sides by the walls that have fallen inward, and is held in the hexagonal fastener without rattling.

In the flange plate mounting structure for the gas valve, it is preferable that "an inclined surface that slopes outward is provided on the other open end side of each of the component walls."

The hexagonal fastener has an inclined surface that inclines outward on the other open end side of each of the walls, so that the other open end is shaped to have an expanded diameter, making it easy to insert the pipe connection part of the gas valve into the hexagonal fastener. Also, when the hexagonal fastener is pushed into the back side of the annular tapered part together with the pipe connection part of the gas valve, as described above, the claw part is pushed inward by the annular tapered part, and each of the walls swings in a direction that tilts inward, so that the inclined surface of each of the walls abuts against the periphery of the hexagonal hole and is pushed in as it is. As a result, no gap is generated between the walls and the periphery of the hexagonal hole, and the hexagonal fastener is held without rattling against the guide plate.
By swinging each of the constituent walls that make up the hexagonal fastener in an inward direction, no rattle is generated between the pipe connection part of the gas tap and the hexagonal fastener, and further between the hexagonal fastener and the hexagonal hole of the guide plate. This means that the gas tap is securely fixed to the flange plate, and the gas tap can be used safely without any discomfort such as rattling when operated.

In the above-mentioned flange plate mounting structure for a gas cock, preferably, "a flexible pipe is connected to the pipe connection portion via a joint,
The joint is formed with a tapered male threaded cylindrical portion, and the pipe connection portion is formed with a tapered female threaded portion into which the tapered male threaded cylindrical portion can be screwed,
A fastening fitting having an elastic cylindrical body having elasticity in a fastening direction is fitted onto the base end of the tapered male thread cylindrical portion,
When the tapered male threaded cylindrical portion is tightened against the tapered female threaded portion until it reaches a final tightening state, the flange plate is configured so as to be elastically pushed toward the gas valve by the elastic cylindrical body of the fixing bracket.

With a fixing bracket equipped with an elastic cylindrical body that is elastic in the tightening direction fitted onto the tapered male threaded cylindrical portion of the joint, the tapered male threaded cylindrical portion is screwed into the tapered female threaded portion of the piping connection portion and tightened until the final tightening state is reached. The fixing bracket is then pressed towards the flange plate by the tightening force, but the flange plate is elastically pressed against the gas valve by the elastic force of the elastic cylindrical body equipped on the fixing bracket, adjusting the degree of tightening. This allows the gas valve to be attached to the flange plate even more firmly with the piping connection portion fitted into the hexagonal fixture of the flange plate.

By simply inserting the pipe connection of the gas valve into the annular tapered portion of the flange body and pushing it inwards, the walls that make up the hexagonal fixture collapse inward and evenly press against the periphery of the pipe connection, so that the pipe connection of the gas valve can be securely held in a tightly fitted state without rattling within the hexagonal fixture. This makes it easy and reliable to attach the flange plate to the pipe connection of the gas valve.

1 is an exploded perspective view showing a state in which a gas valve is attached using a flange plate adopted in a flange plate attachment structure for a gas valve according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a flange plate used in a flange plate mounting structure for a gas valve according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view (cross-sectional view taken along the line XX in FIG. 1 ) of a flange plate used in a flange plate mounting structure for a gas valve according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main portion of a flange plate mounting structure for a gas cock according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional structure for attaching a flange plate to a gas cock.

Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a state in which a gas valve is attached using a flange plate (1) according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the flange plate (1).

As shown in Figure 1, the flange plate (1) of the embodiment of the present invention is an integral assembly of an annular flange main body (100), a hexagonal fastener (2) that is fitted into the center of the flange main body (100), and a guide plate (15) that is joined to the flange main body (100) and holds the hexagonal fastener (2) in a non-removable state. The flange main body (100), hexagonal fastener (2), and guide plate (15) are all made of metal plates.

As shown in Figure 2, the flange main body (100) is composed of a small annular plate portion (11) having a central hole (10a), an annular tapered portion (12) extending from the periphery of the small annular plate portion (11) while expanding in diameter, and a large annular plate portion (13) extending radially outward from the maximum expanded diameter end portion (12a) of the annular tapered portion (12). Thus, the flange main body (100) is shaped with a tapered recess (10) with the small annular plate portion (11) as the bottom and the annular tapered portion (12) as the peripheral wall, and an annular packing (17) with a hole of the same diameter as the central hole (10a) is placed on the small annular plate portion (11). In addition, an annular back packing (18) is attached to the periphery of the back surface of the large annular plate portion (13), and at each position symmetrical with respect to the maximum diameter expansion end portion (12a), there are screw insertion holes (19) through which mounting screws (51) can be inserted to screw into the mounting bracket (not shown) located on the back side of the wall plate.

The hexagonal fixture (2) is a hexagonal frame consisting of six component walls (21) and large enough to fit inside the tapered recess (10). Each component wall (21) is formed in a roughly U-shape that opens to one side, from a rectangular plate (211) and a pair of legs (212) that extend from both ends of one long side of the rectangular plate (211). Adjacent component walls (21) are connected to each other only at the tips (one end) of the adjacent legs (212), and are otherwise discontinuous. This allows each component wall (21) to swing inward and outward with the connecting portion at the tip of the leg (212) acting as the base end.

The connecting portion at the tip of the leg piece (212) is bent inward to provide a projection piece (22) that projects at a substantially right angle to the structural wall (21).
Further, at the center of the one long side of the rectangular plate (211), an extension piece is bent outward to form a claw portion (20) that protrudes outward.

The other long side of the rectangular plate (211) is inclined outward to form an inclined surface (23). The inclination angle of the inclined surface (23) is set to be approximately equal to the inclination angle of the annular tapered portion (12) of the flange main body (100).

Since the hexagonal fastener (2) has the above-mentioned configuration, each corner of the hexagon is connected only at the one open end, and a protruding piece (22) is provided protruding inward, and the other open end has a shape that expands in diameter following the inclination of the inclined surface (23). When the hexagonal fastener (2) is fitted into the tapered recess (10) of the flange main body (100), as shown in Figure 3, the tip of the claw portion (20) is placed in contact with a predetermined position on the inner surface of the annular tapered portion (12), and the other open end protrudes from the annular tapered portion (12).

Then, while inserting the other open end of the hexagonal fastener (2) into the hexagonal hole (14) of the guide plate (15), the flange portion (16) that protrudes outward from the opposing position on the periphery is joined to a predetermined position on the large annular plate portion (13). This completes the flange plate (1) consisting of the flange main body (100), the hexagonal fastener (2), and the guide plate (15). In this state, the claw portion (20) of the hexagonal fastener (2) is located on the back side of the guide plate (15) and engages with the periphery of the hexagonal hole (14) from the inside, so that the hexagonal fastener (2) is fitted into the tapered recess (10) of the flange main body (100) and is held in a non-removable state by the guide plate (15) in an assembled state.

Next, a mounting structure for mounting the flange plate (1) to the pipe connection portion (31) of the gas cock (3) will be described.
The gas valve (3) and the joint (41) provided at the downstream end of the flexible pipe (44) may be the same as those in the conventional example shown in FIG.

The hexagonal tubular pipe connection part (31) located upstream of the gas valve (3) is fitted into the other open end of the hexagonal fixture (2) protruding from the guide plate (15). The other open end of the hexagonal fixture (2) is enlarged in diameter by the inclined surface (23) provided on each component wall (21), making it easy to fit the pipe connection part (31).

After fitting, when the pipe connection part (31) is pushed in, the protruding pieces (22) provided at one open end of each corner part of the hexagonal fixture (2) are pushed by each corner part of the hexagonal cylindrical pipe connection part (31) of the gas valve (3), and the hexagonal fixture (2) is pushed in together with the pipe connection part (31) of the gas valve (3). In addition, since a roughly triangular gap is formed between each corner part of the hexagonal fixture (2), which is a hexagonal frame body, and the arc-shaped outer periphery of the annular packing (17) placed on the small annular plate part (11), if the protruding pieces (22) are accommodated in this gap, the pipe connection part (31) can be pushed in until the open end of the pipe connection part (31) abuts against the annular packing (17) without the protruding pieces (22) getting in the way.

When the pipe connection part (31) is pushed in, the claw parts (20) protruding outward from each of the constituent walls (21) are pushed inward along the inner surface of the annular tapered part (12), causing each of the constituent walls (21) to swing in a direction in which it falls inward with the protruding pieces (22) as their base ends, as shown in Figure 4. As a result, the peripheral surface of the pipe connection part (31) of the gas valve (3) is evenly pressed by the inner surface of the rectangular plate (211) of each of the constituent walls (21).
At the same time, the inclined surfaces 23 of the walls 21 come into contact with the periphery of the hexagonal hole 14 of the guide plate 15 and are pushed in. This prevents a gap from being formed between the walls 21 and the periphery of the hexagonal hole 14.

As described above, by simply fitting the piping connection part (31) of the gas valve (3) into the other open end of the hexagonal fastener (2) protruding from the hexagonal hole (14) of the guide plate (15) joined to the flange main body (100) and pushing it inward, the peripheral surface of the piping connection part (31) of the gas valve (3) is evenly pressed by the inner surfaces of the component walls (21) that are swung inwardly, so that the piping connection part (31) can be held in the hexagonal fastener (2) without rattling. In addition, by abutting the inclined surfaces (23) of the component walls (21) against the peripheral edge of the hexagonal hole (14) of the guide plate (15), the hexagonal fastener (2) does not rattle in the hexagonal hole (14) of the guide plate (15), so that the flange plate (1) can be easily attached and held to the gas valve (3) without rattling. Therefore, when the user operates the gas valve (3), the gas valve (3) does not rattle or otherwise cause any discomfort, and the user can use the gas valve with confidence.

The mounting structure for mounting the gas valve (3) equipped with the flange plate (1) to a wall plate in the above-mentioned manner will be described with reference to FIG.
A joint (41) is connected to a flexible pipe (44) serving as a gas pipe arranged on the back side of the wallboard. The joint (41) is pulled out together with the flexible pipe (44) from an opening provided in the wallboard into the room, and a fixing metal fitting (6) is fitted onto the tapered male threaded cylindrical portion (42) of the joint (41).
As shown in the figure, the fixing bracket (6) is formed by fitting an elastic cylindrical body (60) made of an elastic material, for example rubber, onto the inner peripheral edge of a metal ring (61) to form a single unit. The elastic cylindrical body (60) is fitted onto the tapered male threaded cylindrical portion (42) so that the upstream open end edge (62) abuts against the base end side end face (45) of the tapered male threaded cylindrical portion (42).

As described above, the tapered male threaded cylindrical portion (42) on which the fixing metal fitting (6) is fitted is screwed into the tapered female threaded portion (32) of the pipe connection portion (31) of the gas valve (3). This connects the flexible pipe (44) to the gas valve (3) via the joint (41).

Since the flange plate (1) is attached to the pipe connection part (31) of the gas valve (3) in the above manner beforehand, when the tapered male threaded cylinder part (42) is tightened to the tapered female threaded part (32) until it reaches the final tightening state, the upstream open end edge (62) of the elastic cylinder (60) is pressed by the base end side end face (45) of the joint (41), and the fixing metal fitting (6) presses the flange plate (1) from the back side toward the gas valve (3) by the elastic force. As a result, the pipe connection part (31) is fitted into the hexagonal fixing device (2) so that its open end edge is strongly pressed against the annular packing (17), and is firmly fixed in that state.

The flange plate (1) is attached to the periphery of the opening of the wall plate on the interior side via annular packing (18), and a mounting bracket (not shown) is attached to the periphery of the opening on the back side of the wall plate. The wall plate is sandwiched between this mounting bracket and the flange plate (1), and the mounting screw (51) inserted into the screw insertion hole (19) provided in the annular plate (11) of the flange plate (1) is screwed into the screw hole provided in the mounting bracket and tightened, so that the gas valve (3) is attached with the periphery of the opening of the wall plate being clamped between the flange plate (1) and the mounting bracket.

The front side of the flange plate (1) attached and fixed to the front side of the wall panel is covered from the left and right with a decorative washer (52) consisting of a pair of washer halves (52a) and (52b). This results in the gas valve (3) being fixed to the wall panel with the decorative washer (52) attached to the front side of the wall panel and the pipe connection part (31) protruding from the center.

By adopting the flange plate (1) of each of the above embodiments, the six component walls (21) of the metal hexagonal fixture (2) constituting the flange plate (1) are swung inwardly to evenly press the pipe connection part (31) of the gas valve (3) with the inner surface of each component wall (21), so that the pipe connection part (31) can be held in the hexagonal fixture (2) without rattling. Furthermore, the other open end side of each component wall (21) is provided with an inclined surface (23), and the inclined surface (23) is pushed in while abutting against the periphery of the hexagonal hole (14) of the guide plate (15), so that the hexagonal fixture (2) is held in the hexagonal hole (14) of the guide plate (15) without rattling. In this way, the flange plate (1) can be easily and reliably attached to the pipe connection part (31) of the gas valve (3) without rattling. In addition, by fitting the fixing bracket (6) to the tapered male threaded tubular portion (42) of the fitting (41) in the piping connection portion (31), when the tapered male threaded tubular portion (42) is screwed into the tapered female threaded portion (32) of the piping connection portion (31), the elastic force of the elastic tubular body (60) provided in the fixing bracket (6) presses the flange plate (1) more firmly against the piping connection portion (31) of the gas valve (3). This allows the flange plate (1) to be attached more reliably to the gas valve (3) without any awkwardness such as rattling.

(1) Flange plate
(2) ・・・・・・Hexagonal fixture
(3) Gas valve
(10a) ・・・・・・Central hole
(11) Small annular plate portion
(12) Annular tapered portion
(12a) ...... Maximum expanded diameter end
(13) Large annular plate portion
(14)・・・・・・Hexagonal hole
(15) Guide plate
(20) Claw part
(21) Component wall
(22)・・・・・・Protruding piece
(31) Piping connection
(100) ・・・・・・Flange main body

Claims (3)

A flange plate mounting structure for a gas valve, in which a flange plate for fixing the gas valve to a surface of a wall plate is attached to an open end of a hexagonal cylindrical pipe connection part of the gas valve,
The flange plate is
a flange main body including a small annular plate portion having a central hole, an annular tapered portion extending from a periphery of the small annular plate portion while expanding in diameter, and a large annular plate portion extending radially outward from a maximum expanded end portion of the annular tapered portion;
a hexagonal frame body consisting of six component walls into which the pipe connection portion of the gas cock can be fitted, the adjacent component walls being connected to each other only at one open end portion, and a hexagonal fastener being fitted into the annular tapered portion from the one open end portion via the maximum diameter expansion end portion;
a guide plate which is joined to the large annular plate portion of the flange main body and has a hexagonal hole through which the other open end of the hexagonal fastener faces while holding the hexagonal fastener in a non-removable state,
a claw portion is provided at a predetermined position on an outer surface of each of the component walls of the hexagonal fastener , and a protruding piece is provided at a connecting portion of the one open end portion, the protruding piece protruding inwardly at a substantially right angle to the component wall,
As the hexagonal fastener is inserted into the annular tapered portion of the flange main body and pushed toward the small annular plate portion, the claw portion is pushed inward in accordance with the inclination of the annular tapered portion while in contact with the annular tapered portion, and accordingly, each of the component walls swings in a direction in which it falls inward with the one open end as a base end,
A flange plate mounting structure for a gas tap in which, when the piping connection portion of the gas tap is inserted into the other open end of the hexagonal fastener, each corner of the piping connection portion abuts against each of the protruding pieces. 2. The structure for mounting a flange plate to a gas valve according to claim 1,
A flange plate mounting structure for a gas valve, in which an outwardly sloping surface is provided on the other open end side of each of the constituent walls. In the structure for mounting a flange plate to a gas valve according to claim 1 or 2,
A flexible pipe is connected to the pipe connection portion via a joint,
The joint is formed with a tapered male threaded cylindrical portion, and the pipe connection portion is formed with a tapered female threaded portion into which the tapered male threaded cylindrical portion can be screwed,
A fastening fitting having an elastic cylindrical body having elasticity in a fastening direction is fitted onto the base end of the tapered male thread cylindrical portion,
A flange plate mounting structure for a gas tap, in which when the tapered male threaded cylindrical portion is tightened to the tapered female threaded portion until it reaches a final tightening state, the flange plate is elastically pressed toward the gas tap by the elastic cylindrical body of the fixing bracket.