SAFETY LOCK FOR QUICK FIT CONNECTOR

Field of the Invention

The present invention is directed to providing quick fit connections for joining fluid conduits such as hosepipes and the like; in particular, to providing improvements to lockable quick fit connections to prevent the locking thereof, unless the male and female component are properly coupled. Background

There are a number of connectors on the market that are typically used for applications such as coupling hoses to taps, for joining hose pipes together, and the like.

In general, such connectors consist of a male component which mates with a female component. The male component is coupled to or integral with a plumbing or irrigation element, such as a hose, manifold, nipple or faucet, for example. The female component is also coupled to a plumbing or irrigation element. When the male component is fitted into the female component, a water tight join is formed, with a rubber washer typically providing the seal. Water or other fluid can then flow across the connector without leaking.

The male and female components of prior art connectors sometimes screw together, or fit with bayonet clips, and the like. One type of connector that is very popular for applications requiring easy and repeated connection and disconnection, such as for attaching garden hoses to taps, and the like, is the so-called quick fit connector.

With reference to generic Figs. 1 and 2, a quick fit connection is shown. The prior art female component 10 quick connects and latches onto a male component 4 that may be a utility plumbing component such as a simple connector with a screw thread for fixing onto various plumbing or irrigation elements, such as taps, nipples, pipes, and the like, or may be integral to a plumbing irrigation element. For purpose of illustration only, the male component 4 shown is integral to a variable jet irrigation nozzle 6.

In general, the hoses, taps and other elements are screwed onto or otherwise fitted to the male and female components of the quick fit connections, in a more permanent manner, or, in some cases, may be integral terminations to such elements. The male component clips into the female component with relative ease, and is latched therein by a latching means, which might include a groove 5 around the external circumference of the male section, and teeth, ball bearings, or the like that protrude from around the inner circumference of the female section 10. The protrusions on the internal

circumference of the female component latchingly engage a groove 5 on the external circumference of the male component, keeping the male and female components latched together. Typically, a washer 7 provides a water tight seal between the male and female components. Some quick fit connections are snap fitting, wherein the male component 4 can be pushed into the female component 10 and the latching protusions are retracted against some counter-force, such as the potential energy stored in a spring within the female component 10, by the pressure thereagainst from the male component 4. Once the male componentt is pushed home, the counter force snaps the protrusions back into place into the groove 5, latching onto the male element 4 and providing the snap fitting.

To unlatch the male component 4 so that it can be withdrawn from the female component 10 to uncouple the connector, i.e., disconnect, it is necessary to retract the protrusions on the female component 10. The protrusions may be coupled to a sleeve around the body of the female component 10, and the retraction of the protrusions may be achieved by displacing the sleeve with respect to the body, by pulling it backards, for example.

In some quick fit connections, not having the snap fitting, such a sleeve must also be displaced to retract the protrusions, to allow the male component 4 to be pushed into the female component 10 to connect the two sections, and not just to release the male component 4 when disconnecting the connection. Often this type of female component 10 includes teeth that are fixed to the sleeve, or ball bearings in a seating with the female component 10.

Referring now to Figs. 3a and Fig. 3b, a prior art female component 30 that includes one type of known latching means for latching onto the male component 4 (Fig. 1) is shown, in longitudinal side view and longitudinal, axial cross section respectively.

The known latching means includes retractable protrusions, that, as illustrated herein may be teeth 3 A, 3B, 3C that engage a narrowing 5 (Fig. 1) on the male component 4. Sliding a sleeve 32 with respect to the body 34 of the female component 30 allows teeth 3A, 3B, 3C to be retracted, for releasing the male component 4. In some prior art latchable female components, such as in female component 30 illustrated, the teeth 3A, 3B, 3C are able to move downwards to allow insertion of male component 4 and longitudinal displacement of the sleeve 32 from its rest position is only required to retract teeth 3 A, 3B, 3C when disconnecting the male component 4 from the female component 20. A spring 36 is provided to keep sleeve 32 in its rest position where teeth 3A, 3B, 3C may securely

engage a male component 4 inserted therein (Fig. 1). A flange, henceforth lip 48 is provided around opening 50 to body 34. Inward leaning crenellations 56 that extend from the sleeve 32 are pressed against the Hp 48 by the spring 36. The lip 48 stops upwards movement of crenellations 56 and thereby prevents removal of the sleeve 32 from the body 34.

In other prior art female components for quick fit connections, such as where ball bearings are providing instead of teeth 3A, 3B, 3C, the male component can only be inserted into the female component when the sleeve is longitudinal displaced from its rest position. The female component 30 shown includes a double cylindrical section consisting of an inner cylinder 38 and an outer radial array of tines 40 with a cylindrical socket 42 therebetween, into which a hose pipe (2 Fig. 1) may be inserted. A nut 44 with an internal (female) thread is screwable onto a male thread on the outer surface of array of tines 40. Screwing nut 44 closed, presses the radial array of tines 40 against the hose 2. This securely clamps the hose 2 between the inner cylinder 38 and the outer radial array of tines 40. A flexible extension 46 to the nut 44 is shown. The flexible extension 46 extends below the nut 44 and helps guide the hose 2 (Fig. 1) into place, and prevents the inadvertent application of sideways forces on the end of hose 2 that could otherwise unwittingly disconnect the nut 44 from the hose 2. Other methods of attaching female components 10, 30 to hoses 2, pipes and the like are known, and the appropriate choice is influenced by diameter, pressure, materials, the nature of the fluid that is to pass through the conduit, how long the pipe and the female component are expected to remain coupled together and the expected operating life of the system. It sometimes happens that the male and female components of a quick fit connection are sometimes misaligned or not pushed together fully. In such instances, when a tap is opened, causing water to flow within the connector, water may spurt out of the connection. Furthermore, the water pressure may cause the male and female components to disconnect, possibly with great force. In connectors having a latching means, such as sleeve 32, and protrusions for latching onto the male component such as teeth 3A, 3B, 3C, a locking mechanism may be provided to prevent the accidental retraction of the teeth 3A, 3B, 3C thereby unlatching them from the groove 5 in male connector 4 (Fig. 1). The locking mechanism serves to prevent the accidental uncoupling of the quick fit connection, which can be inconvenient or

even dangerous since it is likely to occur as a result of water flowing at a high pressure through the improperly connected connection.

In one type of locking mechanism, the sleeve 32 itself may have quarter threads on underside thereof that engage corresponding quarter threads on the body 34 of the connector 10 thereunder. Rotation of the sleeve 34 through an angle locks the sleeve, preventing its displacement. Rotating the sleeve back through the same angle releases the latching means, and allows its displacement.

With reference now to Fig. 4a, a side view of the body 134 of a female component 100 (Figs. 5, 6) that is rotatingly lockable is now shown. Body 134 includes a lip 48 provided around opening 59 to body 134 and sleeve 132 includes inward leaning crenellations 56 extending from the sleeve 132 that are pressed against the lip 48 by the spring 36 as described with respect to latchable female component 30 shown in Fig. 3 a and 3b, mutates mutandis.

Additionally, lockable female component includes a locking means consisting of a pair of tongues 46 A, 46B, protruding from the outer surface of body 134 thereof.

In Fig. 4b, the inside surface 133 of the corresponding sleeve 132 is shown. Inside surface 133 of sleeve 132 includes a thickened inner upper section 50 with a slot 52A therein having a cut away section 54A leaving a horizontal stop 55A alongside that slot 52A. When assembled, tongue 46A on body 134 rests in slot 52A and the lip 48 stops the forward movement of inward leaning crenellations 56 around upper end of sleeve 132, which are pressed thereagainst by a compressed spring 36 (Fig. 3a, 3b). To unlatch a male component 4 from the assembled lockable female component 100, the sleeve 132 can be longitudinally slid downwards with respect to the body 134 with the tongue 46A sliding in slot 52A and tongue 46B sliding in a corresponding slot (not shown). This releases pressure on teeth 3A, 3B, 3C, allowing them to disengage the male component 4 therefrom. To prevent this sliding movement, thereby preventing the inadvertent disconnection of the male 4 and female components 100, a locking means is provided. Locking means consists of the tongue 46A and the horizontal stop 55A over cut-away section 54A removed from thickened inner upper section 50. Rotating the sleeve 132 with respect to the body 134 moves tongue 46A out of alignment from slot 52A and into cut away section 54A such that horizontal stop 55A contacts tongue 46A and prevents the sleeve from moving longitudinally.

It will be appreciated that equivalent rotating locking means may be contracted with protrusions from the inner surface of the sleeve engaging sockets and slots on the outer surface of the body therebeneath. For example, bayonet type catches and partial threads are other typical, known locking means that may serve the same purpose. Although a locking mechanism of this sort can effectively prevent the accidental disconnection of a quick fit connection, in practice it has been found to have its drawbacks. One recurring problem is that because the locking mechanism has to be fully unlocked in order to allow the latching means to be displaced, it sometimes happens that a quick fit connection of this type is not properly connected, with the partially released locking means preventing the latching means from retracting the protrusions and preventing a male component from being fully inserted. Such a situation may go unnoticed until water pressure is turned on, resulting in personnel and objects in the vicinity of the connection becoming inadvertently wetted, which is generally a waste of water, and an inconvenience, and may cause damage. Worse, it is possible that the improperly connected male and female components can disconnect, and the irrigation or plumbing elements on one or both sides of the disconnected quick fit connection thus released may become violently out of control, particularly under a water pressure, of say, 4 atmospheres, which can result in the quick fit connection disconnecting and the irrigation or plumbing elements on one or both sides of the disconnected connection, such as hose 2 (Fig. 1) may become violently out of control. This sometimes results in breakages and / or injury to personnel.

It is also not immediately apparent if lockable quick fit connection 100 is locked or not.

There is thus a need for a lockable type quick fit connection that overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art, and the present invention addresses this need.

Summary of the Invention

It is an aim of the invention to provide a lockable quick fit connector that can only be locked if properly latched. It is a further aim of the invention to provide visual indication of whether the quick fit connection is locked or not. According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a female component of a quick fit connection for coupling to a first aid conducting element and for connecting to a male component; the female component comprising: a body having a mouth for accepting the male component; a coupling means to couple the first fluid element to the body; a latching means coupled to retractable protrusions for latchingly engaging a narrowing around the male component to connect the male component to the female component when male component is inserted into the mouth of the body; a locking means variably movable between a locked state and an unlocked state, for locking the latching means and for preventing inadvertent retraction and unlatching of the protrusions to inadvertent disconnect the male component from the female component, and a safety mechanism for preventing the locking of the unless the male component is fully inserted into the female component.

Optionally, the narrowing is a circumferential groove on the outside of the male component and the retractable protrusions retractably protrude from the inner circumference of the body of the female component.

Typically, the male component comprises a tubular conduit with an open end for inserting into the female component, the narrowing has a smaller diameter than the diameter of the open end, and the male component further comprises a washer around the tubular conduit between the narrowing and the open end.

In one embodiment, the latching means is a sprung loaded sleeve around the female component that is axially moveable with respect to the body of the female component and allows retraction of the protrusions if displaced from its rest position.

Typically, a lip is provided around the mouth of the body of the female component, and the sleeve comprises inward leaning crenellations extending therefrom that are pressed against the lip by the spring.

Typically the retractable protrusions are selected from the list of teeth and ball bearings.

Typically, the locking means is movable between a first position and a second position, such that in the first position, the locking means prevents movement of the latching means.

In one embodiment, the locking means comprises at least a first mating component on outer surface of the body of the female component and at least a second mating component on inside surface of the sleeve of the latching means, such that rotation of the sleeve with respect to the body caused the at least a first mating component to move between an unlocked position wherein the sleeve can be axially retracted with respect to the body of the female component and a locked position wherein the sleeve cannot be axially retracted with respect to the body of the female component.

In one embodiment, the at least a first mating component on the outer surface of the body of the female component is at least a first tongue protruding thereout, and the second mating component on the inside surface of the sleeve of the latching means comprises at least a first longitudinal slot and at least a first stop, such that the rotation of the sleeve to the unlocked position with respect to the body causes the at least a first tongue to align and matingly engage the at least a first longitudinal slot such that the at least a first tongue can axially slide within the at least a first slot allowing the sleeve to be axially retracted with respect to the body of the female component, and rotation of the sleeve to the locked position brings said at least a first tongue under the said at least a first stop, and said at least a first tongue thereby prevents axial retraction of the sleeve with respect to the body of the female component.

In a preferred embodiment, the locking means comprises two or more tongues protruding from the body, and two or more corresponding slots and stops protruding from the sleeve.

In an alternative embodiment, the latching means is a sleeve that may be slid back and forth along the body of the female component and the locking means comprises partial screw threads on inner surface of the sleeve and corresponding partial screw threads on outer surface of the body of the female component thereunder, such that rotation of the sleeve causes the screw threads on the sleeve to engage the corresponding screw threads on the body to prevent axial sliding of the sleeve along the body.

In another embodiment, the latching means is a sleeve that may be slid back and forth along the body of the female component and locking means comprises pins protruding from outer surface of the body of the female component and L shaped slots on inner surface of the sleeve having an axial component and a lateral component such that rotation of the sleeve moves the pins between an unlocked position where the pins can move axially and the sleeve can be retracted axially with respect to the body, and a locked

position where the pins have lateral freedom of movement but no axial freedom of movement and prevent axial movement of the sleeve along the body.

In preferred embodiments, the female component further comprises an indicator for indicating whether the locking means is in the locked state or the unlocked state. Optionally the indicator comprises markings that are selectively viewable through a window in the locking means.

Typically, the locking mechanism can be alternatively configured as fully locked or fully unlocked.

Optionally, the safety mechanism comprises at least a first pivoting for safety obstruction that is pivotably movable between an obstructing position and a non- obstructing position, such that when the at least a first pivoting safety obstruction is in the obstructing position it prevents the male locking mechanism from assuming a locked position, but when the at least a first pivoting obstruction is in the non-obstructing position it allows the locking mechanism to assume the locked position. Preferably, the latching means comprises a sleeve and the safety mechanism comprises a rocker, an spring clip, an upper slot in the sleeve and a lower slot in the sleeve; the rocker having a head, a tail and a pivot; the upper slot for receiving the head of the rocker, and the lower slot for receiving the tail of the rocker and the spring clip for holding the rocker to the body of the female component; such that when a male component is fully latched into the female component, the rocker is disengaged the upper and lower slots and the sleeve an be rotated into the locked position, otherwise the rocker prevent s rotation of the sleeve.

According to a second aspect, the present invention is directed to providing a female component of a quick fit connection for coupling to a first fluid conducting element and for connecting to a male component; the female component comprising: a body having a mouth for accepting the male component; a coupling means to couple the first fluid element to the body; a latching means coupled to retractable protrusions for latchingly engaging a narrowing around the male component to connect the male component to the female component when male component is inserted into the mouth of the body; a locking means variably movable between a locked state and an unlocked state, for locking the latching means and for preventing inadvertent retraction and unlatching of the protrusions to prevent inadvertent disconnection of the male component, and a visual indication for indicating whether the female component is locked or unlocked.

Although for purpose of description, irrigation applications are described, with hose pipes for water, it will be appreciated that the connection described herein can be used for coupling fluid conduits and equipment serving other purposes.

Brief Description of the Figures

For a better understanding of the invention and to show how it may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, purely by way of example, to the accompanying drawings.

With specific reference now to the drawings in detail, it is stressed that the particulars shown are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of a preferred embodiment of the present invention only, and are presented in the cause of providing what is believed to be the most useful and readily understood description of the principles and conceptual aspects of the invention. In this regard, no attempt is made to show structural details of the invention in more detail than is necessary for a fundamental understanding of the invention; the description taken with the drawings making apparent to those skilled in the art how the several forms of the invention may be embodied in practice. In the accompanying drawings: Fig. 1 is an exploded schematic illustration of a female component of a lockable quick fit connector of the prior art for terminating a hose and a corresponding male component integral to an irrigation component, in this case, a nozzle;

Fig. 2 shows the female and male components of the lockable quick fit connector of fig. 1 connected together, such that the nozzle and female component combine to make a handle for the nozzle; Fig. 3a is a side view and Fig. 3b is a longitudinal, axial cross section through a prior art latchable female component;

Fig. 4a is a side view of a prior art female component that is rotatingly lockable, having a tongue protruding from outer surface thereof;

Fig. 4b is a section through the sleeve of the rotatingly lockable female component of the prior art having a slot and stop for engaging the tongue;

Fig. 5 is a side view of an assembled, lockable female component having a visual indication of its locked / unlocked status in the locked position;

Fig. 6 is a side view of an assembled, lockable female component of Fig. 5, in the unlocked position;

Fig. 7 is a side view of an assembled, lockable female component of Figs. 5, and 6 with a male component incompletely inserted therein but nevertheless appearing to be in the locked position;

Fig. 8a is an exploded isometric projection of the female component of the present invention which is a lockable female component of a quick fit connection that includes a safety mechanism for preventing the locking of the locking means unless a male component is fully inserted into the female component;

Fig. 8 b is an exploded side view of the elements of the female component shown in Fig. 8a; Fig. 9 is an end view of the mouth of the female component, showing the protrusions of the latching means and the head of the rocker of safety mechanism of the present invention in the fully unlocked position, such that the tail thereof is engaged within a slot there-behind, thereby preventing the rotation of the sleeve and the locking of the locking means; Fig. 10 is a side view of the rocker of the safety mechanism;

Fig. 10b is a top view of the rocker of Fig. 16a and Fig. 10c is an isometric projection of the rocker of Fig. 16a and 16b

Fig. 11 to 16 are cross section views through the assembled female component of the invention illustrating the functioning of the safety mechanism; The same parts are annotated with the same numbering throughout.

Description of the Preferred Embodiments

The present invention relates to an improved female component of a quick fit connection as used for irrigation purposes and the like.

The improved female component includes prior art latching means and locking means, such as described hereinabove with reference to Figs. 3a, 3b, 4a, and 4b. One improvement provided by a preferred embodiment of the invention, fully described hereinbelow, relates to an indicator that visually indicates whether the quick locking mechanism is locked or unlocked.

With reference to Figs. 5 and 6, an embodiment of improved female component 200 of a quick fit connection is shown, that includes an indicator of the locking status of the locking means. Indicator may consist of markings 204, 206 that are attached to the body 234 (Fig. 8) of the quick fit connector 200 and viewable through a window 202 in the sleeve 232. The markings 204 / 206 are preferably clearly intelligible to the illiterate and preferably graphic icons rather than letters to be understood across cultures and language barriers. As shown, a closed padlock 204 and an open padlock 206 might be used to indicate that the quick fit connector is locked or unlocked respectively.

As shown in Fig. 7, a male component 4 may be positioned within the female component 200 but not fully pushed home. A locking indicator, if provided, might give an ambiguous reading such as showing part of the padlock 204 in window 202, indicating that the quick fit connection is only partially locked.

It will be appreciated that in prior art quick fit connections that include locking means and are thus lockable, no visual indication of the status thereof (i.e. locked / unlocked) is generally provided. A locked, but improper latched quick fit connection may go unnoticed until the water pressure is turned on. This may result in personnel and objects in the vicinity of the connector becoming inadvertently wetted, or damaged.

A particular feature of the preferred embodiment of the inventioni is the provision of a safety mechanism in the lockable female component of the quick fit connection for preventing the locking of the locking means unless a male component 4 is fully inserted into the female component 200 With reference to Fig. 8a and Fig. 8b an exploded isometric projection and an exploded side view of the elements of the female component 200 of a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown. The preferred female component 200 is constructed from a body 234, a sleeve 232, teeth 3A, 3B, 3C a spring 32, an insert 250 a rocker 260, a clip 270, and a nut 44.

Preferred female component 200 features the latching means of prior art female component 30 shown in Fig. 3a and 3b mutatis mutandis, and the locking means of prior art female component 100 as described hereinabove and shown in Figs. 4a and 4b mutatis mutandis. Thus a locking muchanism is provided such that rotation of sleeve 232 with respect to the body 234 of the female component 200 thereunder, prevents retraction of the sleeve 232 with respect to the body 234 thereunder, and disengagement of teeth 3A, 3B, 3C, from a male component 4 therein, thus preventing inadvertent disconnection of the male component 4 from the female component 200. Locking means may assume a locked state and an unlocked state. Sleeve 232 slips over body 234 and is kept in place by a row of inward leaning crenellations 56 provided around distal end of sleeve 232 that are restrained by a flange or lip 48 around the distal end of body 234, and prevents removal of the sleeve 232.

The sleeve 232 is configured to be longitudinally retractable with respect to body 234 against the opposing force of spring 36. Teeth 3 A, 3B, 3C are configured to latchingly engage a groove 5 (Fig. 1) around a male component 4, as known. Retraction of sleeve 232 allows teeth 3A, 3B, 3C to retract to disengage from male component 4, as described hereinabove with respect to Figs. 3a and 3b, mutatis mutandis.

The inside surface of sleeve 232 is similar to that of inside surface 133 of prior art sleeve 132 shown in Fig. 4b, mutatis mutandis. Inside surface (not shown) of sleeve 232 includes a similar thickened inner upper section 50 with a slot 52A therein having a cut away section 54A leaving a horizontal stop 55A alongside the slot 52A.

When assembled, tongue 46A rests in slot 52A, and the lip 48 on body 234 stops the forward movement of inward leaning crenellations 56 around upper end of sleeve 232, which are pressed thereagainst by the compressed spring 32. The sleeve 232 can be longitudinally slid with respect to the body 234 with the tongue 46A sliding in slot 52A and tongue 46B sliding in a corresponding slot (not shown) to release teeth 3A, 3B, 3C and allow removal of a male component 4 therefrom. To prevent this sliding movement, thereby preventing inadvertent disconnection of the male 4 and female components 200, a locking means is provided. Locking means consists of the tongue 46A and the horizontal stop 55 A over cut-away section 54Aremoved from thickened inner upper section 50. Rotating the sleeve 232 with respect to the body 234 moves tongue 46A out of alignment

from slot 52A and into cut away section 54A such that 46A prevents horizontal stop 55A moving downwards, and prevents the sleeve from moving longitudinally.

Sleeve 232 also features a window 202 for allowing the viewing of locked 204 and unlocked 206 indications on insert 250 thereunder, to show whether the locking mechanism is locked or unlocked. The indications may vary. For example they can be letters such as C and O for Closed and Open or L and U for Locked and Unlocked. The indicators may also be varied for different markets where different languages are spoken or different conventions are used. In the example shown, a padlock in the open position 206 may indicate that the locking means is unlocked, and an icon of a locked padlock 204 may indicate that the locking means is locked.

In addition to the prior art latching and locking features which are more fully described hereinabove with respect to Figs. 3a, 3b, 4a, and 4b, a feature of the present invention is that the female component 200 includes a safety mechanism that prevents the locking of the locking means, i.e. rotation of the sleeve 232 with respect to the body 234 thereunder, unless a male component 4 is fully inserted and correctly latched into the female component 200.

The safety mechanism consists of a rocker 260 shown in Figs. 1OA, 1OB and 1OC, having a head 262, tail 264 and axis 266, that is held to the body 234 of the female component 200 by a spring clip 270 whose ends engage features on outer wall of body 234 provided for that purpose. When in the unlocked state, under pressure of clip 270, the head 262 of rocker 260 protrudes into the cavity of body 234, and tail 264 of the rocker 260 protrudes backwards into a slot 280 (best seen in Fig. 9) provided for that purpose, on the inside of the sleeve 232.

Fig. 9 is an end view of the mouth of the female component 200, showing teeth like protrusions 3A, 3B, 3C of the latching means and the head 262 of the rocker 260 safety mechanism of the present invention in the fully unlocked position, such that the tail 264 thereof is engaged within a slot 280 there-behind, preventing the rotation of the sleeve 232 with respect to the body 234, and the locking of the locking means thereby.

The geometry of the rocker 260 showing the head 262, tail 264 and pivot 266 thereof, is shown in Figs. 10a, 10b and 10c.

With further reference to Fig. 11 , when the female component 200 is in the unlatched orientation, under pressure of spring clip 270, head 262 of rocker 260 protrudes into cavity 250, and tail 264 of rocker 260 rests in a lower slot 282 on inner surface of sleeve 232 provided for that purpose. A corresponding upper slot 280 in the thickened

inner upper section 50 on inner side of sleeve (shown in Fig. 4b) is aligned with and positioned behind the head 262 of rocker 260.

Since the tail 264 of rocker 260 lies in a lower slot 282 of sleeve 232, it prevents rotation of sleeve 232 with respect to the body 234, and thus prevents the female component 200 being locked without a male component being fully inserted therein.

As shown in Fig. 12, as male component 4 is inserted into female component 200, it pushes on head 262 of rocker 260. The rocker rocks around pivot 266 and tail 264 is retracted out of the lower slot 282, disengaging sleeve 232. However, the head 262 of rocker 260 is forced backwards into the upper slot 280 of the thickened inner upper section 50 on the inner side of sleeve 232, and thereby prevents rotation of the sleeve 232 with respect to the body 234.

As shown in Fig. 13, if the male component 4 is pushed fully home into the cavity 250 of the female component 200, the head 262 of rocker is pushed forward by spring clip 170, and engages the groove 5 on the male component 4. In this position the head of the rocker lies fully in front of the upper slot 280 in the thickened inner upper section 150. The tail 264 is also fully retracted from the lower slot 282. The rocker 260 thus positioned does not prevent rotation of the sleeve 232 with respect to the body 234 of the female component 200, and thus the female component 200 can be locked.

Fig. 14 shows the sleeve 232 rotated with respect to the body 234, bringing thickened inner upper section 50 of sleeve into alignment behind the rocker 260.

The rocker 260 and clip 270 combination, together with the slot 280 in the sleeve 232 therearound, provide a pivoting safety mechanism. It will be appreciated that the safety mechanism is a functional element that might be embodied in other ways, and the single safety mechanism shown is by way of example only. For example, in other embodiments, the safety mechanism may include a plurality of such pivoting rockers 260 arranged circumferentially around the inside of the female component.

In preferred embodiments of the invention the safety mechanism is combined with an indicator 250 for indicating whether the locking means is in the open state or the closed state. Although described with reference to a preferred embodiment designed for coupling domestic irrigation components, with appropriate adaptation, the safety mechanism described herein that prevents actuation of a locking means for an improperly latched connection may find other applications, including coupling gas and / or liquid pipes in domestic, industrial and research applications, for example.Thus the scope of the present

invention is defined by the appended claims and includes both combinations and sub combinations of the various features described hereinabove as well as variations and modifications thereof, which would occur to persons skilled in the art upon reading the foregoing description.

In the claims, the word "comprise", and variations thereof such as "comprises", "comprising" and the like indicate that the components listed are included, but not generally to the exclusion of other components.