JP2001301405A - Support structure of caster - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve shielding ability from an external environment, load capacity, buffering ability, and maintenance ability in a support structure of a caster. SOLUTION: This support structure 1 of a caster comprises a slide shaft 7 that is fixed to the caster 3 and slides vertically with the caster 3, a support easing 9 that is fixed to a mounting part 5 of the caster 3 and allows sliding of the slide shaft 7 in a certain range, buffering mechanism 11 that is disposed between the slide shaft 7 and the support casing 9 and absorbs vibration and impact in the sliding direction to the slide shaft 7, and a sealing means that is provided in or near a sliding part between the slide shaft 7 and the support casing 9 and shields flow-in and flow-out of material between the inside and outside of the mounting part 5 of the caster 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a caster mounting support member provided between a caster and a caster mounting portion, and more particularly to a caster for a measuring instrument or the like which requires tightness and cushioning. The present invention relates to a caster support structure suitable for mounting of a caster.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Casters consist of various carts, shelves for transportation,
As a means of supporting the movement of desks, chairs, machine tools and copiers,
It is widely used regardless of the size of the loading weight or the place of use such as outdoors, factories, offices, shops, and homes. There are also many types, such as those made of different materials such as metal, rubber, and hard plastic, fixed casters, free casters with or without restrictions on the moving direction, and those with stoppers. Shapes and structures have been devised.

However, at present, there is almost no caster suitable for a member such as a measuring instrument, which is required to have an effect of shielding the external environment, suppressing the transmission of vibration from the outside, or absorbing shock. In some casters, the support bracket of the caster is extended somewhat horizontally in the form of an arm, and its base end is used as a pivot point, and the spring provided at the free end on which the wheels are provided is an expanding and contracting action. Attempts have been made to absorb the impact, but the structure is inferior in load-carrying capacity, and the working length of the spring cannot be long. Furthermore, due to the caster body and the shock absorbing part being an integral structure, even if a part of the caster is damaged, the whole body must be replaced, so that it is not necessarily satisfactory in terms of maintainability. Was not turned.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made fully aware of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and fundamentally revises the conventional caster support structure to replace it. By constructing a new breakthrough structure, it is possible to improve the shielding performance against the external environment, load resistance, cushioning, and maintainability that could not be achieved conventionally, thereby solving the problems of the conventional technology described above. An object of the present invention is to provide a new and useful caster support structure that can be avoided.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a caster mounting support member provided between a caster and a caster mounting portion, wherein the support member is provided on the caster. A slide shaft that is fixed to the caster and slides in the vertical direction together with the caster; a support casing that is fixed to a mounting portion of the caster and that allows the slide shaft to slide within a certain range; And a buffer mechanism for absorbing vibration and shock in the sliding direction applied to the slide shaft, and a sliding contact portion between the slide shaft and the support casing or in the vicinity thereof, and an object between the inside and outside of the caster mounting portion. And sealing means for blocking the inflow and outflow of water.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the caster support structure according to the first aspect, the slide shaft is provided such that a center axis of the slide shaft coincides with or is located near the axle of the caster. It is characterized by the following.

[0007] The invention described in claim 3 is claim 1 or 2.
In the support structure for a caster described in (1), the buffer mechanism is a compression coil spring contracted between the flange of the slide shaft and the upper bearing in the support casing.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the caster support structure according to any one of the first to third aspects, the sealing means is fixed inside the support casing, and the upper part is fitted and slidably in contact with the sliding portion of the slide shaft. A side bearing and a lower side bearing, an upper holding plate and a mounting base for closing an upper opening and a lower opening of the supporting casing, and a seal member sandwiched between the upper holding plate and the upper surface of the supporting casing and between the mounting base and the lower surface of the supporting casing. And characterized in that:

[0009]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a caster supporting structure according to the present invention. The caster support structure 1 of the present invention is provided between the caster 3 and a mounting portion 5 of the caster 3, for example, a bottom plate of a cabinet, and includes a slide shaft 7, a support casing 9, a buffer mechanism 11, and a sealing unit 13. Are basically configured. Among them, the slide shaft 7 is a round bar-shaped member having a flange portion 15 formed slightly below the center, and upper and lower portions of the flange portion 15 are used as sliding portions 17, and are fitted with upper and lower bearings 19 and 21, which will be described later. Sliding contact makes it possible to slide up and down.

A female screw portion 23 is formed inside the sliding portion 17 below the flange portion 15 from the lower surface side, and the mounting bolt 27 and the screw are raised upward from the upper surface of the support bracket 25 of the caster 3. Casters 3
Fixed against. Sliding part 17 above flange part 15
At the upper end of the mounting female screw part 2 of the slide shaft 7
An engaging head 29 for receiving a tightening tool used for screwing the mounting bolt 27 of the caster 3 with the mounting bolt 27 is provided.

The support casing 9 is a hollow cylindrical member whose upper and lower surfaces are open, and is provided outside the slide shaft 7 so as to cover the side peripheral portion of the slide shaft 7. At the center of the support casing 9, a receiving hole 31 having an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the flange portion 15 of the slide shaft 7 is formed in a penetrating state, and the upper opening and the lower opening are formed with a larger diameter near the opening. The upper bearing 19 and the lower bearing 21 constitute a holding step 33.
Outside the housing holes 31 on the upper and lower surfaces of the support casing 9, an upper holding plate 35 and a screw hole 39 for mounting the mounting base 37, which are a part of the sealing means 13, are formed.

An upper bearing 19 and a lower bearing 21 which are part of the sealing means 13 are press-fitted into a holding step 33 provided near the upper opening and the lower opening of the accommodation hole 31. The slide shaft 7 is vertically slidably supported by the upper bearing 19 and the lower bearing 21. As the upper side bearing 19 and the lower side bearing 21, for example, a metal sliding bearing can be applied, and the inner diameter thereof is configured to substantially match the outer diameter of the sliding portion 17 of the slide shaft 7.

The inner peripheral surface of the receiving hole 31 in the support casing 9 and the upper sliding portion 17 of the slide shaft 7
A space defined by the outer peripheral surface of the upper surface, the annular upper end surface of the flange portion 15 and the lower end surface of the upper bearing 19 is referred to as a buffer chamber, and a buffer mechanism 11 is provided for the buffer chamber. As an example, a compression coil spring can be used as the buffering mechanism 11. The compression mechanism is applied between the upper bearing 19 and the flange 15 of the slide shaft 7, and functions to absorb the impact of the slide shaft 7 in the sliding direction. To play.

The support casing 9 is fixed to the mounting portion 5 by appropriately using fixing screws 41 or the like, using a mounting base 37 applied from below so as to sandwich the mounting portion 5. The mounting base 37 is, for example, a rectangular flat plate-shaped member. The mounting base 37 has a receiving hole 43 in the center for receiving the lower sliding portion 17 of the slide shaft 7, and a screw hole on the lower surface side of the support casing 9 outside thereof. Mounting hole 4 that matches 39
5 is provided. As an example, a seal member 47 having substantially the same shape as the mounting base 37 is provided between the mounting portion 5 and the mounting base 37 as a main element of the sealing means 13. As an example of the seal member 47 having high airtightness, a packing made of a polytetrafluoroethylene resin can be used, and it is more preferable that the seal member 47 has excellent weather resistance and chemical resistance.

The upper opening of the accommodation hole 31 in the support casing 9 is closed by an upper holding plate 35 with a seal member 47 interposed therebetween, and is fixed using a fixing screw 41 or the like as appropriate. The upper holding plate 35 is a disk-shaped member having substantially the same diameter as the outer diameter of the support casing 9, and has a receiving hole 49 at the center thereof for receiving the upper sliding portion 17 of the slide shaft 7. On the other hand, a mounting hole 51 that matches the screw hole 39 on the upper surface side of the support casing 9 is provided. Further, as the seal member 47, a member having the same configuration as the seal member 47 on the mounting base 37 side can be used, but the shape is a disk shape according to the shape of the upper holding plate 33.

Next, the procedure for mounting the caster support structure 1 according to the present invention thus constructed and the manner of operation will be described. First, the temporarily fixed fixing screw 41 is loosened, and the mounting base 37 and the lower sealing member 47 are removed from the support casing 9. Next, the lower sliding portion 17 of the slide shaft 7 is fitted into the hole for receiving the sliding portion 17 formed in advance with respect to the mounting portion 5 by holding the support casing 9 from above. Then, the support casing 9 is positioned on the mounting portion 5. And mounting base 3 from below
7 and the sealing member 47, and the support casing 9
To be fixed.

Next, the mounting bolt 27 of the caster 3 is applied to the mounting female screw portion 23 of the slide shaft 7, and an appropriate tightening tool is engaged with the engaging head 25, thereby screwing the two together. Reference numeral 53 in the drawing denotes a lock nut for preventing loosening, which is used as necessary. The working height of the casters 3 can be adjusted by appropriately changing the screwing position between the mounting bolt 27 and the mounting female screw portion 23. When replacing the caster 3 and the caster support structure 1 of the present invention with a new one due to damage or the like, remove the damaged caster 3 or the like in the reverse procedure to the above, and replace the new caster 3 or the like according to the above procedure. Install it.

When a force in the sliding direction acts on the slide shaft 7 due to external vibration, impact, or the like, the caster support structure 1 of the present invention attached in this manner, the flange portion 15 of the slide shaft 7 is moved. Rise,
A compression coil spring, which is an example of the buffer mechanism 11, is contracted. Therefore, the vibration and shock from the outside are absorbed by the elastic deformation of the compression coil spring, and the transmission of vibration and shock to the mounting portion 5 side is prevented. Further, the inflow and outflow of the object between the inside and outside of the mounting portion 5 of the caster 3 is blocked by the action of the sealing means 13, so that, for example, a measurement result of a measuring device or the like provided inside the mounting portion 5 is adversely affected. Such a thing does not occur.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and there is a change in design without departing from the gist of the present invention. Are also included in the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the sliding method of the slide shaft 7 is a fitting method using the upper bearing 19 and the lower bearing 21. However, the slider and the guide rail that engages with the slider are used. The engagement method used may be used. When the caster 3 of the type in which the axle of the caster 3 and the mounting bolt 27 coincide with each other is selected, the center axis of the slide shaft 7 can completely match the axle of the caster 3.

Further, a rubber-like elastic body made of synthetic rubber, silicon rubber, or the like, an air damper, an oil damper, or the like can be used as the buffer mechanism 11, and the sealing member 47 in the sealing means 13 is annular. It is also possible to use an O-ring or an oil seal. In addition, in a case where a fixed type caster is used as the caster 3 and it is not desired to rotate the slide shaft 7, it is of course possible to appropriately provide a detent means such as a key or a spline.

[0021]

The present invention has the above-described structure, and the following effects can be exerted by having such a structure. First, by providing the sealing means 13, the airtightness of the caster support structure 1 is improved, and foreign matters such as gas, liquid, and dust are prevented from flowing into the mounting portion 5 of the caster 3. In addition, the outflow of the substance from a measuring instrument or the like that treats the substance having a bad influence on the environment and the human body is also prevented.

In addition, the provision of the slide shaft 7 and the buffer mechanism 11 for absorbing vibrations and shocks in the sliding direction applied to the slide shaft 7 provides a relatively large amplitude,
Stroke vibrations and shocks can be dealt with, and the cushioning and the load resistance can be improved. Further, when the center axis of the slide shaft 7 is provided so as to coincide with or be close to the axle of the caster 3, external vibrations and shocks received by the caster 3 are directly transmitted to the buffer mechanism 11. Also, there is no problem such as deformation and breakage of the support bracket 25 seen in the caster 3 of a large eccentricity type.

Further, when the buffer mechanism 11 is formed of a compression coil spring, it is relatively easily available, inexpensive, has a wide variety of types, and has a desired wire diameter, coil diameter and working length according to the purpose. It can be selected and the replacement work becomes easy.
Also, as the casters 3 attached to the slide shaft 7, existing casters can be used as they are,
In addition to contributing to product cost reduction, individual replacement and combination are also possible, improving convenience of use. In addition, by combining the upper bearing 19, the lower bearing 21, the upper holding plate 35, the mounting base 37, and the seal member 47, the airtightness of the sealing means 13 is further improved. As these effects act synergistically, the caster 3 can be used as a moving means for members that are required to have a shielding property against the external environment, a suppression of external vibration transmission, or a shock absorbing effect, such as measuring instruments. It is possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a caster support structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional side view showing a caster support structure according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 caster support structure 3 caster 5 mounting portion 7 slide shaft 9 support casing 11 buffer mechanism 13 sealing means 15 flange 17 sliding portion 19 upper bearing 21 lower bearing 23 mounting female screw 25 support bracket 27 mounting bolt 29 Joint head 31 Housing hole 33 Holding step 35 Upper holding plate 37 Mounting base 39 Screw hole 41 Fixing screw 43 Receiving hole 45 Mounting hole 47 Sealing member 49 Receiving hole 51 Mounting hole 53 Lock nut

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A caster mounting support member provided between a caster and a caster mounting portion, wherein the support member is fixed to the caster and slides up and down with the caster; A support casing that is fixed to the mounting portion and allows the slide shaft to slide within a certain range; and a buffer that is provided between the slide shaft and the support casing and that absorbs vibration and shock in the sliding direction applied to the slide shaft. A caster, comprising: a mechanism portion; and a sealing means provided at or near a sliding contact portion between the slide shaft and the support casing, for blocking inflow and outflow of an object between the inside and outside of the caster mounting portion. Support structure. 2. The caster supporting structure according to claim 1, wherein the slide shaft is provided such that a center axis of the slide shaft coincides with or is located near an axle of the caster. Support structure. 3. The support structure for a caster according to claim 1, wherein the buffer mechanism is a compression coil spring that is contracted between a flange of a slide shaft and an upper bearing in a support casing. A caster support structure, characterized in that: 4. The caster support structure according to claim 1, wherein said sealing means is fixed inside a support casing, and said upper and lower bearings are fitted and slidably contact with a sliding portion of a slide shaft. And an upper holding plate and a mounting base for closing the upper opening and the lower opening of the support casing, and a seal member sandwiched between the upper holding plate, the upper surface of the support casing, and the mounting base and the lower surface of the support casing. Caster support structure.