| 摘要 |
A novel quick disconnect ball joint coupling which utilizes as a misalignment ball locking mechanism, a combination of a plurality of locking balls and a locking sleeve. The locking sleeve provides an annular race or groove for receiving the locking balls, thereby obviating the high stress point-to-point contact problem associated with prior art locking ball techniques, but still provides the advantage of high speed, low torque rotation available with the use of such locking balls. More specifically, in the present invention, the locking balls do not come in direct contact with the misalignment ball, but are instead positioned in an annular groove on the exterior surface of the locking sleeve between the locking sleeve and the quick disconnect releasing sleeve. The locking sleeve is preferably spring loaded so that upon rotation, the locking sleeve remains stable with respect to the misalignment ball, thereby gaining the benefits of the low friction of a ball and race configuration during rotation. On the other hand, because the locking balls do not directly interface with the misalignment ball, but instead indirectly interface through the much larger surface area of the locking sleeve, even extremely high fluid pressures will not produce the contact stress levels found in the prior art. Accordingly, the present invention provides a novel combination of locking balls and a locking sleeve which affords low point contact stress levels even at high fluid pressures and low torque requirements for rotation.
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