PIGTAIL HOSE WITH ELBOW FITTING

Abstract

A pigtail hose is described for connecting a gas canister to a gas regulator. The pigtail hose includes a gas hose having an inlet end and an outlet end; and an elbow fitting connected to the inlet end of the gas hose. The elbow fitting has a bore which turns the gas supply through 90° at a convenient point of the gas supply assembly to assist with the connection of the canister in a confined storage space.

Claims

1. A pigtail hose for connecting a gas canister to a gas regulator, the pigtail hose comprising: a gas hose having an inlet end and an outlet end; and an elbow fitting connected to the inlet end of the gas hose.

2. The pigtail hose as claimed in claim 1, wherein the elbow fitting, comprises: a body; an inlet port comprising an inlet port axis that extends in a first direction; and an outlet port comprising an outlet port axis that extends in a second direction, wherein the first direction is at an angle of between 45° and 135° to the second direction.

3. The pigtail hose as claimed in claim 2, wherein the body of the elbow fitting comprises a machined block of metal.

4. The pigtail hose as claimed in claim 3, wherein the body comprises a cuboid block of metal.

5. The pigtail hose as claimed in claim 4, wherein the inlet port of the elbow fitting is provided in a side of the block and the outlet port is provided in an end of the block.

6. The pigtail hose as claimed in claim 5, wherein the body is provided with a main bore which extends within the body from the outlet port along the outlet port axis, past an intersection from a side bore extending from the inlet port along the inlet port axis, the main bore connecting with the side bore at the intersection.

7. The pigtail hose as claimed in claim 6, wherein the first direction is at an angle of between 80° and 100° to the second direction.

8. The pigtail hose as claimed in claim 1, wherein the elbow fitting is provided with a QCC-1 connector.

9. The pigtail hose as claimed in claim 8, wherein the QCC-1 connector comprises a male screw thread and is joined to the elbow fitting by a threaded connection with a female screw thread provided in the elbow fitting.

10. The pigtail hose as claimed in claim 1, wherein the outlet end of the gas hose is provided with a male threaded connector for connection to the gas regulator.

11. The pigtail hose as claimed in claim 1, wherein the gas hose is of a length between 9 and 30 inches.

12. A gas supply assembly comprising a gas canister, a pigtail hose as claimed in claim 1 connected via the elbow fitting to the gas canister, and a gas regulator connected to the outlet end of the gas hose of the pigtail hose.

13. The gas supply assembly as claimed in claim 12 comprising a gas safety valve, wherein the gas safety valve is connected to the gas canister and the gas hose of the pigtail hose is connected to the gas safety valve via the elbow fitting.

14. The gas supply assembly as claimed in claim 13, wherein the gas safety valve is configured to prevent a flow of gas passing from an inlet bore of the gas safety valve to an outlet bore of the gas safety valve when a pressure difference between the inlet bore and outlet bore exceeds an allowable level.

15. The gas supply assembly as claimed in claim 14, wherein the gas safety valve comprises a stem and a pressure gauge, the pressure gauge being mounted to a distal end of the stem displaying a gas pressure, wherein the gas safety valve can be reset after a pressure difference between the inlet bore and the outlet bore has exceeded the allowable level by depressing the stem.

16. The gas supply assembly as claimed in claim 13, wherein the gas safety valve has a length corresponding substantially to an external radius of the gas canister, such that the elbow fitting positions the inlet end of the gas hose approximately radially-level with a circumferential outer surface of the gas canister.

17. The gas supply assembly as claimed in claim 16, wherein the pigtail hose extends in an approximately tangential direction from the circumferential outer surface of the gas canister towards the gas regulator.

18. The gas supply assembly as claimed in claim 12, further comprising a supply line downstream of the gas regulator and an appliance at a downstream end of the supply line, wherein the appliance is any one of a gas barbeque, gas stove, gas heater, gas light, or electrical generator.

19. A method of connecting a gas canister to a gas regulator with a pigtail hose, the pigtail hose comprising a gas hose having an inlet end and an outlet end and an elbow fitting connected to the inlet end of the gas hose, comprising the steps of attaching the pigtail hose to the gas regulator by screwing an outlet end of the gas hose into a port of the gas regulator, and attaching the pigtail hose to the gas canister by screwing a connector provided on the elbow fitting onto a connector of the gas canister.

20. The method as claimed in claim 19, wherein the elbow fitting of the pigtail hose guides the gas hose of the pigtail hose in a direction which is substantially perpendicular to a gas-flow direction through an outlet of the gas canister.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] Certain embodiments of the disclosure will now be described in greater detail by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0034] FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of a gas supply assembly of the prior art;

[0035] FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of a pigtail hose comprising an elbow fitting and gas hose;

[0036] FIG. 3 shows a cross-section of the elbow fitting of FIG. 2;

[0037] FIG. 4 shows an exploded view of the pigtail hose of FIG. 2;

[0038] FIG. 5 shows an alternative exploded view of the pigtail hose of FIG. 2;

[0039] FIG. 6 shows a gas supply assembly comprising the pigtail hose of FIG. 2; and

[0040] FIG. 7 shows another perspective of the gas supply assembly of FIG. 6, with the gas canister shown.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0041] FIG. 1 shows a gas supply assembly according to the prior art, which may be used to supply gas to appliances in a vehicle, such as a trailer, a motorhome or a boat. The gas supply assembly comprises one or more gas canisters (not shown in this figure) with a gas canister outlet 2, a gas safety valve 4 (optional), a QCC-1 connector 6, a hose 8 and a gas regulator 10, which may then be connected to a vehicle port or a gas supply manifold (not shown).

[0042] The QCC-1 connector 6 and the hose 8 together provide a “pigtail hose” for the gas supply assembly.

[0043] Thus the gas canister is connected to the gas regulator 10 via the gas safety valve 4 and the pigtail hose (comprising the QCC-1 connector 6 and the hose 8). The gas canister represents an upstream end of the gas supply and the gas regulator 10 represents a downstream end and any references herein to “upstream” or “downstream” are with respect to the direction of gas flow between these components.

[0044] The gas supply assembly is usually located within a confined enclosure or storage locker, such as a metal box or moulded plastics storage box, which is typically a rigid box with a hinged lid. The storage locker may be sized to be a relatively close fit around the gas supply assembly. With the introduction of gas safety shut-off valves in such gas supply assemblies, it may become difficult to manipulate the components to connect them up with the gas safety valve in place due to the space constraints. As a result the user may decide to omit the gas safety shut-off valve for ease of convenience in connecting up the assembly. More seriously, the constraints of the storage space may cause wear to occur to the gas hose 8, e.g., through contact rubbing with the wall of the storage space, leading to the potential for gas leaks, or it may result in couplings not being connected properly as a result of the limited space in which to manoeuvre the components.

[0045] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a pigtail hose 20 of the present disclosure. The pigtail hose 20 is configured to connect a gas canister to a gas regulator (not shown in FIG. 2), and comprises an elbow fitting 22 and a gas hose 24. The gas hose 24 may be a high-pressure hose and/or may be a rubber gas hose. The gas hose 24 may be relatively short, and may be, for example, between 9 and 30 inches (23 and 76 cm) long, more particularly between 10 and 25 inches (25 and 64 cm) long, and more particularly of around 12 or 18 inches (30 or 46 cm) long. The pigtail hose 20 may further comprise a QCC-1 connector 26, e.g., as shown, for connecting an inlet of the pigtail hose 20 to an outlet of a gas canister. The QCC-1 connector 26 may be supplied pre-secured in a gas-tight manner to the remainder of the pigtail hose 20, e.g., using an adhesive to lock the connection between the sub-parts of the pigtail hose 20.

[0046] As can be seen from FIG. 2, the pigtail hose 20 provides an angled connection between the gas canister and the gas regulator, in this case a 90° connection. An angled connection has been found to be helpful to accommodate the components of the gas supply assembly more easily within the constraints of storage spaces when a gas safety shut-off valve is used. The pigtail hose 20 shown in FIG. 2 provides such an angled connection through the elbow fitting 22.

[0047] FIG. 3 shows a cross-section through the elbow fitting 22 of FIG. 2. The elbow fitting may comprise a body 26, an inlet port 28 and an outlet port 30. The body 26 may be a machined block of brass, though it will be appreciated that the body 26 may comprise any suitable metal or gas-tight, machinable material. The elbow fitting 22 may comprise a first face 32 and a second face 34. The first face 32 may be considered to be a first side of the elbow fitting 22, and the second face 34 may be considered to be a second side or an end of the elbow fitting 22. In a rectangular, cuboid block of material as shown, the inlet port 28 may be provided in one side 32 and the outlet port 30 may be provided in the end 34. The first face 32 and/or the second face 34 may be planar, such that other fittings can be tightly attached to the ports 28, 30. As an example, in the elbow fitting 22 shown in FIG. 3, the body 26 may comprise a cuboid block of brass that has been machined to provide the inlet and outlet ports 28, 30.

[0048] The inlet port 28 may be connected to a gas cylinder and the outlet port 30 may be connected to the gas hose 24. The inlet port 28 may comprise an inlet port axis A extending in a first direction Y and the outlet port 30 may comprise an outlet port axis B extending in a second direction X. The inlet port axis A may be at a non-180° angle α to outlet port axis B. Angle α may be between 45° and 135°, more particularly between 60° and 120°, and more particularly between 80° and 100°. The inlet port axis A may be perpendicular to the outlet port axis B, such that angle α may be 90°.

[0049] The body 26 may be provided with a main bore 36 and a side bore 38. The main bore 36 and the side bore 38 may extend through the body and may be substantially cylindrical in shape. The main bore 36 may be aligned with the outlet port 30 and the outlet port axis B, and the side bore 38 may be aligned with the inlet port 28 and the inlet port axis A. As such, the main bore 36 may intersect the side bore 38 at the angle α at an intersection point of the two axes. Gas passing through the elbow fitting 22 may, in sequence, pass through the inlet port 28, the side bore 38, the main bore 36 and the outlet port 30.

[0050] The inlet port 28 may comprise a female screw thread 40, and/or the outlet port 30 may comprise a female screw thread 42. The female screw threads 40, 42 may be left-handed screw threads. Hence, the elbow fitting 22 may connect to the gas hose 24 and the gas cylinder via male threaded connectors, which may be right-handed screw threads. For example, and as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, gas hose 24 may comprise a male threaded connector 44 at an inlet end 45, which may be configured to connect to the female screw thread 42 of the elbow fitting 22 (see FIG. 5), and may comprise a male or female threaded connector for connection to the gas regulator at the outlet end 47. The connectors 44 of the gas hose 24 may be built-in connectors.

[0051] An outlet of a gas canister may have a male threaded connector for connection with the female screw thread 40 of the elbow fitting 22. Additionally or alternatively, the pigtail hose 20 may comprise at least one QCC-1 connector 26, which may be considered to be an ACME QCC-1 connector, and the at least one QCC-1 connector 26 may comprise a male threaded connector 46 for connection with either or both of the female screw thread 40 and the female screw thread 42 of the elbow fitting 22. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the QCC-1 connector 26 may comprise a male threaded connector 46 configured to connect to the female screw thread 40 of the inlet port 28. The female screw threads 40, 42 may be provided with an adhesive, which may comprise any one of epoxy resin, acrylic adhesive, polyethylene adhesive or similar gas-tight adhesive. The adhesive may additionally or alternatively be provided on the male threaded connector 46 of the QCC-1 connector 26 and/or the male threaded connector 44 of the gas hose 24. The adhesive may securely lock any fittings external to the elbow fitting 22 to the elbow fitting 22, e.g., through locking the screw threads and preventing accidental unscrewing of the components.

[0052] FIG. 6 shows a gas supply assembly 48 comprising the pigtail hose 20 of FIG. 2.

[0053] The gas supply assembly 48 may comprise a gas canister outlet 50, a gas safety valve 52, the pigtail hose 20 and a gas regulator 54. In FIG. 6, the pigtail hose 20 comprises a QCC-1 connector 26, an elbow fitting 22 and a gas hose 24. In FIG. 6, the pigtail hose 20, the gas safety valve 52 and the gas canister outlet 50 are not connected, but it will be understood that these components will be connected to one another during operation.

[0054] The gas safety valve 52 may be configured to stop a flow of gas passing through the valve when a pressure difference between an outlet and an inlet of the gas safety valve 52 exceeds a threshold. The gas safety valve 52 may comprise a pressure gauge for displaying the pressure difference between the outlet and the inlet of the gas safety valve 52. The gas safety valve 52 therefore may act to detect and shut-off downstream gas leakages, thereby preventing gas build-up.

[0055] The gas regulator 54 may be a bulkhead gas regulator, and may be, by way of example, direct-operated or pilot-operated.

[0056] As can be seen in FIG. 6, the inlet port 28 of the elbow fitting 22 may connect to an outlet of the gas safety valve 52 and an inlet of the gas safety valve 52 may connect to the gas canister outlet 50. On the other side, the outlet port 30 of the elbow fitting 22 may connect to an inlet end 45 of the gas hose 24 and an outlet end 47 of the gas hose 24 may connect to an inlet of the gas regulator 54.

[0057] As shown in FIG. 6, the gas safety valve 52 may extend radially outward from the gas canister outlet 50. The provision of a gas safety valve 52 in the gas supply assembly displaces the location of the coupling to the pigtail hose 20 by the axial length of the gas safety valve. With the pigtail hose of the present disclosure, where the gas safety valve couples to the elbow fitting 22 of the pigtail hose 20, the gas supply assembly changes direction by around 90°. This allows the input end of the gas hose 24 to extend tangentially to the cylindrical wall of the gas canister rather than radially. It also allows the gas hose 24 to bend gently, where necessary, within the confines of the storage space to follow the curvature of the gas canister. In this way, the components of the gas supply assembly can be connected up more easily in the space available and undesirable contact or wear with surfaces of the storage space can be avoided.

[0058] Although not shown in FIG. 6, the gas supply assembly would usually connect to a supply line downstream of the gas regulator, with connection to an appliance, such as a gas barbeque, a gas stove, a gas heater, a gas light or an electrical generator.

[0059] FIG. 7 shows a section of the gas supply assembly 28 when all of the components are connected together. FIG. 7 also shows a gas canister 58, which releases gas through gas canister outlet 50. This gas canister 58 may contain liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), such as butane and/or propane. The gas canister 58 may have a generally cylindrical shape, with an outer radius R, as shown in FIG. 7, which extends from the axial centre of the gas cylinder 58 to a circumferential outer surface 60 of the gas cylinder 58. The gas cylinder outlet 50, the gas safety valve 52, and the elbow fitting 22 (including the QCC-1 connector 26 in FIG. 7) may have a combined length L along the inlet port axis A when assembled in the gas supply assembly 28. In other words, the combined length L may be the combined length of the gas cylinder outlet 50, the gas safety valve 52, and the elbow fitting 22 in the first direction Y when assembled together. The combined length L may be approximately equal to the outer radius R, for example within 1 or 2 inches of the outer radius R. Additionally or alternatively, the combined length L may be less than the outer radius R, in order to stay within the footprint of the gas canister 58.

[0060] In such arrangements, the outlet port 30 of the elbow fitting 22, and consequently the upstream end of the gas hose 24, may extend in a direction that is approximately tangential to the circumferential outer surface 60 of the gas cylinder 58. That is, the inlet end 45 of the gas hose 24 may be approximately radially level with the circumferential outer surface 60 of the gas cylinder 58. In this way, it may be ensured that the gas supply assembly 48 is as compact as possible, and does not extend in the first direction Y any further than the outer radius R of the gas canister 58. There is also usually a void around the neck of the gas canister 58 that the gas hose 24 can then extend within, following a generally curved or helical path as necessary, without contacting the surfaces of the storage space or if touching, doing so with only a minimal contact force so as to avoid wear on the gas hose 24 (and in any event, reducing the contact force of any touching to significantly less than would be exerted if the gas hose 24 had exited the gas safety valve in a radial direction towards a surface of a storage space). The tangential extension of the gas hose 24 also helps a user to connect up and disconnect the gas supply assembly, for example when retrofitting a gas safety valve within an existing gas supply assembly and/or when replacing an empty gas canister 58 with a full one, because the gas hose 24 is not being forced against a wall or other surface of a storage space.

[0061] The pigtail hose 20 with the elbow fitting 22 is therefore configured to provide a simple and secure connection between a gas canister 58 and a gas regulator 54, which does not require the gas hose 24 to be bent significantly, and thus allows the gas supply assembly 48 to be as compact as possible through the tangential or approximately tangential take off. This is made possible through the elbow fitting 22, which provides the required bend in the supply without compromising the integrity of the gas hose 24. In this way, it can be ensured that the gas supply assembly 48 will comfortably and safely fit in the storage space of a vehicle, and thus, an improved pigtail hose is provided.