Connecting element for connecting a pipe to a component of an air-conditioning system

Abstract

The invention pertains to a connecting element (1) for connecting a pipe end (2) to a component (3) of an air-conditioning system, wherein said connecting element comprises a base body (4) with a passage opening (5) for conveying through a refrigerant, a receptacle bore (6) for receiving the pipe end (2), wherein the receptacle bore (6) is arranged on a face side (7) of the base body (4) and corresponds to the passage bore (5), as well as a connection piece (8) that is arranged on the other face side (9) of the base body (4) and corresponds to the passage bore (5) on this side, wherein the connection piece (8) and the base body (4) consist of the same material and are realized in one piece, wherein at least one sealing element (12, 13) is arranged on the connection piece (8), and wherein the sealing element (12, 13) and the connection piece (8) are realized in one piece, as well as to a method for manufacturing such a connecting element.

Claims

1. A connecting element for connecting a pipe end to a component of an air-conditioning system, comprising a base body with a passage opening for conveying through a refrigerant, and a receptacle bore for receiving the pipe end, wherein the receptacle bore is arranged on a face side of the base body and corresponds to the passage bore, as well as a connection piece that is arranged on the other face side of the base body and corresponds to the passage bore on this side, wherein the connection piece and the base body consist of the same material and are realized in one piece, wherein two sealing elements are arranged on the connection piece, wherein the two sealing elements and the connection piece are realized in one piece, wherein the connection piece comprises a pipe section and a radial flange, wherein a first seal of the sealing elements is assigned to the pipe section, a second seal of the sealing elements is assigned to the radial flange, and the first and second seals are positioned in first and second grooves formed on the pipe section and radial flange, respectively, wherein the first groove faces radially and the second groove faces axially, and wherein an additional passage bore is arranged in a projection of the base body.

2. The connecting element according to claim 1, characterized in that the base body is provided with a fastening device for fastening the base body on the component through the additional passage bore.

3. The connecting element according to claim 1, characterized in that the pipe end is integrally connected to the base body.

4. The connecting element according to claim 1, characterized in that the base body and the connection piece consist of an injection-mouldable plastic.

5. The connecting element according to claim 1, characterized in that the two sealing elements consists of an injection-mouldable elastomer.

6. The connecting element according to claim 1, characterized in that the two sealing elements are integrally connected to the connection piece.

7. The connecting element according to claim 1, characterized in that the first and second grooves and the first and second seals are sized and positioned relative to each other such that the first seal only compresses radially for radial sealing, and the second seal only compresses axially for axial sealing.

8. The connecting element according to claim 1, characterized in that the first and second sealing elements are injection molded into the first and second grooves such that the sealing elements and the connection piece are realized in one piece.

9. The connecting element according to claim 8, characterized in that the first and second sealing elements are molded to completely fill the first and second grooves.

10. The connecting element according to claim 1, characterized in that the second sealing element is located radially outwardly of the first sealing element.

11. A connecting element for connecting a pipe end to a component of an air-conditioning system, comprising a base body with a passage opening for conveying through a refrigerant, and a receptacle bore for receiving the pipe end, wherein the receptacle bore is arranged on a face side of the base body and corresponds to the passage bore, as well as a connection piece that is arranged on the other face side of the base body and corresponds to the passage bore on this side, wherein the connection piece and the base body are formed as a same material and are realized in one piece as an injection-moldable plastic, and wherein two sealing elements as an injection-moldable elastomer are integrally formed on the connection piece including the base body such that the two sealing elements and the connection piece including the base body are realized in one piece.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) A few embodiments of the inventive connecting element are described in greater detail below with reference to the figures. In these schematic figures:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a section through a connecting element;

(3) FIG. 2 shows a three-dimensional view of the connecting element;

(4) FIG. 3 shows a detail of the sealing region of the connecting element illustrated in FIG. 1, and

(5) FIG. 4 shows an arrangement with a pipe, a connecting element and a component of an air-conditioning system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS

(6) FIGS. 1 to 3 show a connecting element 1 for connecting a pipe end 2 to a component 3 of an air-conditioning system. The connecting element 1 comprises a base body 4 with a passage opening 5 for conveying through a refrigerant and a receptacle bore 6 for receiving the pipe end 2, wherein the receptacle bore 6 is arranged on a face side 7 of the base body 4 and corresponds to the passage bore 5. The passage bore 5 and the receptacle bore 6 are arranged concentric to one another.

(7) The connecting element 1 furthermore features a connection piece 8 that is arranged on the other face side 9 of the base body 4 and corresponds to the passage bore 5 on this side, wherein the connection piece 8 and the base body 4 consist of the same material and are realized in one piece. The connection piece 8 and the passage bore 5 are arranged concentric to one another. The connection piece 8 comprises a pipe section 10 and a radial flange 11.

(8) Two sealing elements 12, 13 are arranged on the connection piece 8 and realized integrally with the connection piece 8. In this case, a first seal 12 is assigned to the pipe section and a second seal is assigned to the radial flange 13.

(9) The base body 4 is provided with a fastening device 14 for fastening the base body 4 on the component 3.

(10) The base body 4 and the connection piece 8 consist of an injection-mouldable plastic and the two sealing elements 12, 13 consist of an injection-mouldable elastomer. The sealing elements 12, 13 are integrally connected to the connection piece 8 in this case.

(11) FIG. 4 shows an arrangement with the above-described connecting element 1 that produces a connection between a pipe 15, in this case a plastic pipe of polyamide, preferably an extruded multi-layer polyamide pipe, and a component 3 of an air-conditioning system such as, for example, the condenser.

(12) In this case, the pipe end 2 of the pipe 15 is integrally connected to the base body 4 of the connecting element 1. For this purpose, the pipe 15 may be fixed on the base body 4, for example, by means of friction welding or rotary friction welding.

(13) The component 3 of the air-conditioning system features an opening for receiving the connection piece 8 of the connecting element 1. The respective sealing elements 12, 13 tightly adjoin the inner wall of the opening and the outer wall of the component in this case. The connecting element 1 is rigidly connected to the component 3 by means of the fastening device 14. The fastening device features an additional passage bore 16 that is arranged in a projection 17 of the base body 4. A fastening means, preferably a screw, is inserted through the passage bore 16 and fastened in the component 3. In this way, the connecting element 1 with the pipe 15 is reliably and rigidly fixed on the component 3.

(14) In the inventive method for manufacturing a connecting element 1 for connecting a pipe end 2 to a component 3 of an air-conditioning system, an injection-mouldable plastic for manufacturing a base body 4 with connection piece 8 is in a first step fed to an injection moulding device and an injection-mouldable elastomer for manufacturing at least one sealing element 12, 13 integrally formed on the base body 4 is subsequently fed to the injection moulding device prior to the removal of the base body 4 from the injection moulding device. A connecting element 1 with sealing elements 12, 13 integrally formed on its base body 4 is thereby manufactured.