| 主权项 |
1. A female member for a hydraulic line connector comprising:
a) a body portion having a body passage, said body portion adapted to be connected to a hydraulic component; b) a cylindrical wall portion extending from the body portion and defining a bore, said bore selectively in fluid communication with the body passage by an opening and wherein the female member further includes a frusto-conical surface surrounding the opening, said frusto-conical surface adapted to engage an O-ring of a male member positioned within the bore; c) a first slit and a second slit formed through the cylindrical wall and opposing each other, said first slit having a first pair of opposing end portions and said second slit having a second pair of opposing end portions; d) a spring clip constructed entirely from a strip of metal material having a first leg featuring a first arcuate portion and a first angled end, a second leg featuring a second arcuate portion and a second angled end, where the first and second angled ends are angled away from each other, and a closed end portion positioned between and attached to the first and second legs, said first and second legs and closed end portion generally forming a U-shape and positioned entirely in a common plane; e) said spring clip featuring a constant rectangular cross section throughout wherein a width of the spring clip defined as being perpendicular to the common plane is greater than a thickness of the spring clip defined as being parallel to the common plane; f) said first and second legs being removably received by the first and second slits of the cylindrical wall, respectively, and the first and second slits configured so that the first angled end of the first leg continuously traverses the first slit between the first pair of opposing end portions and the second angled end of the second leg continuously traverses the second slit between the second pair of opposing end portions as the clip is installed; and g) said bore of the cylindrical wall being adapted to receive the male member, the male member having a shoulder that is engaged by the first and second arcuate portions of the first and second legs when the male member is removably received within the bore, wherein a gap is formed between an exterior surface of the cylindrical wall and the closed end portion of the spring clip, with the common plane of the spring clip intersecting the cylinder wall, when the male member is removably received within said bore of the female member and the spring clip is removably received within the first and second slits of the cylindrical wall of the female member with the first and second angled ends extending out of the first and second slits. |
