Hose coupling crimper and method of crimping

Claim 1

A crimping die assembly for radially compressing a sleeve against the exterior of a hose comprising a base plate having an opening for positioning said hose with said sleeve thereon, a die plate mounted on said base plate, said die plate having radial slots, crimping segments slidably mounted in said radial slots for movement into engagement with said sleeve, said die plate being split into two die plate halves, each of said halves being pivotally mounted on said base plate for swinging movement from an open position for positioning said hose and said sleeve to a closed position around said opening in said base plate, a restraining ring member positioned radially outward of said segments to restrain radial outward movement of said segments in said radial slots, said restraining ring member being split into two generally semicircular restraining ring halves, each of said die plate halves having a recess with a shoulder portion in which one of said restraining ring halves is positioned for preventing radial movement, a pressure ring having a tapered bore movable over tapered surfaces of said segments in said closed position of said die plates halves, power means for causing movement of said pressure ring into sliding engagement with tapered surfaces on said segments to move said segments into crimping engagement with said sleeve for compressing said sleeve around said hose and said die plate halves being pivotally movable independently of the movement of said pressure ring into said closed position for gripping said sleeve at a predetermined position by said segments prior to said sliding engagement of said tapered bore on said tapered surfaces of said segments.

Claim 14

A method of crimping a sleeve on a hose with a pair of die plate halves containing a plurality of radially movable clamping segments pivotally mounted on a base plate for swinging movement toward and away from a closed position of said segments around an opening in said base plate and with radial movement of said segments being restrained by restraining ring halves positioned in recesses with shoulder portions in each of said die plate halves to hold said sleeve and hose firmly in position comprising swinging said die plate halves away from said closed position into an open position, positioning said restraining ring halves on said die plate halves within said recesses, positioning a hose in said opening with the sleeve in a predetermined axial position, swinging said die plate halves into said closed position and toward said opening to urge said clamping segments into gripping engagement with said sleeve to retain said sleeve in said predetermined axial position, placing a pressure ring over said segments and depressing said pressure ring in the axial direction causing said segments to move only radially until said sleeve is crimped on said hose after said die plate halves are moved into said closed position and said clamping segments have been urged into gripping engagement with said sleeve, then removing said pressure ring and swinging said halves away from said sleeve in said opening to facilitate removal of said hose from said opening.

Claim 15

A method of crimping a sleeve on a hose with a pair of die plate halves containing a plurality of radially movable clamping segments pivotally mounted on a base plate for swinging movement toward and away from a closed position of said segments around an opening in said base plate and with radial movement of said segments being restrained by restraining ring halves positioned in recesses with shoulder portions in each of said die plate halves to hold said sleeve and hose firmly in position comprising swinging said die plate halves away from said closed position into an open position, positioning said restraining ring halves on said die plate halves within said recesses, positioning a hose in said opening with the sleeve in a predetermined axial position, swinging said die plate halves into said closed position and toward said opening to urge said clamping segments into gripping engagement with said sleeve to retain said sleeve in said predetermined axial position, placing a pressure ring over said segments and depressing said pressure ring in the axial direction causing said segments to move only radially until said sleeve is crimped on said hose after said die plate halves are moved into said closed position and said clamping segments have been urged into gripping engagement with said sleeve, then removing said pressure ring and swinging said halves away from said sleeve in said opening to facilitate removal of said hose from said opening.