The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 27, 2003
Filed:
Jun. 01, 2001
Pascal Le Clinche, Rennes, FR;
Legris SA, Rennes, FR;
Abstract
A ball coupling comprising a male tubular endpiece ( ) provided with an outer annular collar ( ), a female tubular endpiece ( ) having a ball-retaining cage fixed axially thereon, the cage having slots ( ) for receiving balls ( ), and a thimble ( ) disposed coaxially about the cage ( ) and mounted thereon via guide means ( ) for guiding the thimble to turn about the longitudinal axis ( ) of the coupling so as to enable the thimble to turn through a turn angle (&agr;) relative to the cage between a first position and a second position, the thimble having for each ball, a first recess ( ) extending in register with the corresponding slot for the first position of the thimble to form an abutment for holding the corresponding ball in a position in which it projects into the inside of the cage, and a second recess ( ) connected to the first recess via a sloping wall ( ) and offset relative to the first recess by an angle corresponding to the turn angle (&agr;) so as to receive the corresponding ball in a position in which it is retracted from its projecting position when the thimble is in its second position.