1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to tube couplings for connection of a tube (whether plastics or metal) to a component, a body member or to another tube.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.K. Patent Specification No. 1 520 742 describes and illustrates a tube coupling comprising a hollow body having an opening to recieve a tube to be coupled therewith, a collet having an annular portion and resilient arms extending from the annular portion into the hollow body, a cam member in the body and having an internal tapered cam surface reducing in a direction extending out of the body and with which the resilient arms of the collet are engageable to be compressed thereby into engagement with the tube in the collet to clamp the collet in the body. Couplings of that type have been widely used and are entirely satisfactory in most applications. However such couplings do have a limited range over which the resilient arms can be compressed by engagement with the cam and may not therefore be entirely satisfactory for gripping very soft tubing where extra inward movement of the resilient arms is required to take up the deflection of the soft wall of the tube and also in the case where the tube external diameter differs considerably from the nominal value for which the coupling was intended.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds