GB2319058A

GB2319058A - Rotary lever with a means for preventing detachment

Info

Publication number: GB2319058A
Application number: GB9723436A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Yoshikazu Hamada
Original assignee: Mitsui Mining and Smelting Co Ltd
Current assignee: Mitsui Mining and Smelting Co Ltd
Priority date: 1996-11-06
Filing date: 1997-11-05
Publication date: 1998-05-13
Anticipated expiration: 2017-11-05
Also published as: GB2319058B; JPH10141336A; DE19748904A1; GB9723436D0

Abstract

A rotary lever comprises a lever base (2) having a supporting shaft (4) provided on a first surface and having at a tip end thereof an outwardly facing hook (13). An elongated space (7) is formed inside of the shaft (4) and a slit (11) is formed in an annular wall (10) of the supporting shaft (4) to permit the tip end of the shaft to be deformed inwardly. A pin (5) can be inserted into the elongated space (7). The lever base, the supporting shaft and the pin are integrally formed in one piece from a resilient material.

Description

2319058 ROTARY LEVER WITH A MEANS FOR PREVENTING DETACHMENT The present

invention relates to a rotary lever, preferably of synthetic plastics material with a means for preventing detachment of the lever from its pivot.

FIG. 1 to FIG. 3 show conventional arrangements for rotatably mounting a rotary lever to a bracket or base plate.

According to the arrangement shown in FIG. 1, a rotary lever A is rotatably mounted to a bracket B with use of a rivet shaft C independent of the rotary lever A. This arrangement has the advantage of enhancina the mounting strength between the rotary lever A and the bracket B. However, it has the disadvantages of increasing the number of components and increasing assembly cost because the rivet shaft C is independent of the rotary lever A and a head D must be formed at a tip end of the rivet shaft C by rivetting. Moreover, the prior art arrangement also has the disadvantage that it is very difficult to detach the rotary lever A from the bracket B.

A rotary lever A' shown in FIG. 2 is formed out of a material such as a synthetic resin having sufficient flexibility, and has a supporting shaft C' integrally formed in one piece therewith. The rotary lever A' is rotatably mounted to the bracket B by forcibly inserting a head or hook D' of the shaft C' into a hole E formed in the bracket B. Such an arrangement has the advantage of reducing the component cost because the supporting shaft C' is formed integrally with the rotary lever X. However, the arrangement has the disadvantage that mounting the rotary lever A' to the bracket B and detaching the former from the latter is difficult.

A rotary lever X' shown in FIG. 3 has a supporting shaft C" having a slit F. A head or hook W formed at the tip end of the supporting shaft C" is inserted into the hole E of the bracket B against a spring action of the shaft C". This arrangement has the advantage that mounting the lever A" to the bracket B is easier. However, the arrangement is not applicable to a transfer path for transmitting a strong force because of lack of strength of the mounting between the lever A" and the bracket B. Therefore,the range of application of this arrangement is limited.

Taking such circumstances into consideration, an object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive rotary lever which is capable of being very easily and firmly mounted to a bracket or similar mountina Further, another object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive rotary lever which is capable of being relatively easy detached from such a bracket.

The invention acordingly provides an arrangement as claimed in claim 1.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 to FIG. 3 are cross sectional views to explain conventional arrangements for mounting a rotary lever to a bracket; FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are cross sectional views showing a rotary lever and a bracket according to a first embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are cross sectional views showing a rotary lever and a bracket according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIG. 4 to FIG. 7.

A rotary lever according to the present invention is formed out of a material such as a synthetic resin having a sufficient flexibility. The rotary lever 1 comprises a lever base 2, a supporting shaft 4 which is provided on one side 3 of the base lever 2, a pin 5, and a connector section 6 which connects the pin 5 to the lever base 2. The aforesaid components of the rotary lever 1 can be forTned from any resilient material but should be formed or molded in one piece from the same material. One example of the rotary lever 1 is a locking lever installed in a vehicle door latch device.

Inside of the supporting shaft 4 is formed a cylindrically elongated space 7 which extends along an axial direction of the supporting shaft 4. The elongated space 7 has one end which is opened to the outside at a tip end portion 8 of the supporting shaft 4 and the other end which is opened to the outside at the other side 9 of the lever base 2. An annular wall 10 of the supporting shaft 4 is formed with one or more slits 11 so that the tip end 8 of the shaft 4 can be easily deformed toward the inside thereof. An outwardly facing head or hook 13 having an inclined surface 12 is formed at the tip end 8 of the supporting shaft 4.

A bracket 14 to which the rotary lever 1 is rotatably mounted, is usually formed from sheet steel, and is formed with a through hole 15 having a diameter substantially equal to an outer diameter of the annular wall 10 of the supporting shaft 4. The rotary lever 1 is very easily mounted to the bracket 14 by inserting the hook 133 of the supporting shaft 4 into the through hole 15 of the bracket 14 against the spring action of the slit 11.

The pin 5 has no hollow inside and a diameter substantially equal to an inner diameter of the cylindrical space 7. The pin 5 is inserted into the cylindrical space 7 by bending the connector section 6 formed thinner than the lever base 2 after the hook 13 is snapped into the hole 15. Thereby the tip end 8 of the shaft 4 is precluded from being deformed inwardly, whereby the rotary lever 1 can be easily and firmly mounted to the bracket 14. Thus, the rotary lever 1 of the present invention - 3 is widely applicable to various fields.

The pin 5 has a groove 17, and the annular wall 10 of the shaft 4 has at its inner surface an annular protrusion 16 which engages with the groove 17 so as to prevent the pin 5 from coming off when the pin 5 is inserted into the space 7. The annular protrusion 16 is formed at the tip end 8 as shown in FIG. 4, so that a head 18 of the pin 5 inserted into the cylindrical space 7 projects beyond the tip end 8 of the shaft 4 and is exposed outside. In this case, the inserted pin 5 is relatively easily detached from the space 7 by manually pushing the head 18, thereby detachment of the lever 1 can readily be achieved by deforming the tip end 8 inwardly.

On the other hand, the annular protrusion 16 may be formed at a position separated from the tip end 8 as shown in FIG. 6, so that the head 18 inserted into the space 7 is hidden in the space 7 as shown in FIG. 7. In this case, during assemby of another component, the pin 5 can be prevented from making unintentional movement when another component abuts against the head 18 of the pin 5.

As is evident from the above description, the rotary lever 1 in accordance with the present invention can be very easily mounted to the bracket 14 by making use of the spring action imparted by the slit 11, and can be firmly mounted to the bracket 14 by inserting the pin 5 into the cylindrical space 7. Further, the pin 5 is formed integrally with the lever base 2, so that a loss or detachment of the pin 5 can be prevented. Also, the shaft 4 and the pin 5 are formed integrally with the lever base 2, so that the rotary lever 1 can be manufactured at low cost.

Claims

1. A rotary lever comprising: a lever base having a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface; a supporting shaft provided on the first surface of the lever base and having at an outer surface of a tip end thereof a hook which is to be inserted into and engaged with a through hole of a bracket; an elongated space formed inside of the supporting shaft and extending along an axial direction of the supporting shaft, one end of said elongated space being opened to an outside at the tip end of the supporting shaft, and the other end of said elongated space being opened to the outside at the second surface of the lever base; a slit formed in an annular wall of the supporting shaft to permit the tip end of the supporting shaft to be deformed inwardly; and a pin for insertion into the elongated space after the hook has been engaged with a said through hole; wherein said lever base and said supporting shaft are integrally formed in one piece from a resilient material.

2. A rotary lever according to claim 1, wherein said pin is integrally formed in one piece with the lever base.

3. A rotary lever according to claim 2, wherein a connector section for connecting the lever base and the pin is formed thinner than the lever base.

4. A rotary lever according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a groove formed on the pin, and an annular protrusion formed on an inner surface of the annular wall of the supporting shaft and engageable with the groove when the pin is inserted into the elongated space.

5. A rotary lever according to claim 4, wherein said annular protrusion is formed at the tip end of the supporting shaft so that a head of the pin inserted into the elongated space projects beyond the tip end and is exposed the outside.

6. A rotary lever according to claim 4, wherein said annular protrusion is formed at a position separated from the tip end of the supporting shaft so that a head of the pin inserted into the elongated - 5 space is hidden in the elongated space.

7. A rotary lever substantially as described herein with reference to Figs 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings.

8. A rotary lever substantially as described herein with reference to Figs 6 and 7 of the accompanying drawings.