Cam and Groove Couplings

What is a Camlock Fitting?

Camlock fittings, also called a cam and groove couplings, are used to connect two hoses and or pipes together in a variety of industries, so that a commodity from one can be transferred to the other. They’re easy to use, requiring no tools to connect and disconnect the two halves of the couplings and they replace the traditional time-consuming methods of some other types of hose or pipe connections. This, together with their cost effectiveness makes them the most popular coupling in the world.

You typically find camlocks in use in every industry, such as manufacturing, agriculture, oil, gas, chemical, pharmaceutical and within military applications. They’re an extremely versatile product, and because there are no threads when connecting the coupling halves together, there are no issues with them becoming damaged or dirty. This means camlock couplings are very suitable for dirty environments. The system is especially well suited to a situation where frequent changes of hoses are required, such as for petroleum, and industrial chemical trucks.

How Does a Camlock Work?

The assembly consists of a male groove adapter and female coupler. To connect and disconnect:

Extend the handles on the coupler outwards and place the correct size male adapter into the female coupler

Close both handles at the same time until the two halves are firmly fixed together

Closing both handles at the same time insures that the grooved adapter is pulled down consistently onto the seal making a leak proof assembly for the safe transfer of liquids

Reverse the process to disconnect the fitting making sure before doing so that the hose assembly has been de-pressurised.

To What Standard Are Camlocks Manufactured?

The standard for cam & groove couplings is based on the US military specification Mil-C-27487 now superseded by A-A-59326D. The original specification was replaced by the new standard, but still guaranteed the interchangeability of couplings designed to the same specification. The Mil-C-27487 specified the casting methods, materials, dimensions, tolerances, pressure ratings, and inspection procedures.

European Standard

The European standard EN 14420-7 was approved by CEN in September 2004 and was applied to cam & groove couplings manufactured to the American military standard as outlined above. This American standard does not apply to the hose connection side, but only to the coupling side.

What are the parts of the camlock fittings?

PART A - Adaptor with Female Thread

PART B - Coupler with Male Thread

PART C - Coupler with Hose Tail

PART D - Coupler with Female Thread

PART E - Adaptor with Hose Tail

PART F - Adaptor with Male Thread

PART DC - Dust Cap for Adapters

PART DP - Dust Plug for Couplers