JP2002331802A - Caster auxiliary device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a caster auxiliary device capable of mounting a substituting caster in place of a broken and damaged caster on a bottom surface of equipment. SOLUTION: When any of the casters 13 mounted on the equipment 12 becomes unusable due to breakage and damage, this caster auxiliary device mounts the substituting caster 4 on the bottom surface of the equipment 12 without removing the damaged caster 13. The device has the substituting caster 4, a mounting mechanism on a bottom part of the equipment 12 and an elevating mechanism for elevating/lowering the mounting mechanism. The elevating mechanism has a pedal 2 mounting a longitudinal direction intermediate portion rotatably on a shaft of the substituting caster 4 and a guide roller 5 provided on the tip side of the pedal 2. The mounting mechanism constituted of a magnet 10 is mounted on an upper part of the substituting caster 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device equipped with casters for moving and transporting, which is used as a substitute for a caster when any of the casters cannot be used for moving or transporting due to breakage or damage. The present invention relates to a caster assisting device suitable for:

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years,
The recycling of equipment and the effective use of resources have been widely talked about.However, if the casters to make it easier to move or transport unnecessary equipment are damaged or damaged, move the equipment smoothly. In some cases, the processing company or the like treats the equipment violently, damaging recyclable equipment, making it impossible to regenerate, and requiring disposal as waste.

In order to cope with this, it is conceivable to mount a substitute caster on the bottom of the device in place of a damaged or damaged caster. It is needless to say that when a caster is to be mounted on the bottom surface of a damaged or damaged device, it is desirable to mount the caster at the original mounting position of the caster, in most cases, at the four corners of the bottom surface of the device (see, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 6-62574). ), Generally, it is not easy to remove broken or damaged casters. For example, in Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. Hei 5-74905 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 11-59432, the caster mounting member is devised to facilitate mounting on the device body, but it is premised on recycling. Casters cannot be easily replaced. Therefore, it is necessary to mount the alternative caster avoiding the mounting position of the existing caster. For this reason, it is necessary to flatten the mounting surface of the alternative caster to the bottom surface of the device so that the caster can be mounted at an arbitrary position on the bottom surface of the device.

[0004] Further, depending on the size and weight of the equipment, it is necessary to disperse the withstand load applied to the casters. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt a system capable of mounting a plurality of casters.

[0005] Further, when the intervals between the casters of the equipment are wide, it is necessary to move the plurality of casters so that the distance between the casters can be adjusted to ensure the stability of the equipment during transportation, and to move the equipment damaged by the casters. It is necessary for the operator to be able to easily do this.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus, wherein at least one of casters mounted on a device is damaged or damaged and cannot be used. A caster auxiliary device that can be used as a substitute caster without removing the caster when the caster is detached, a replacement caster, a mounting mechanism for mounting the replacement caster on the bottom of the device, and a lifting mechanism that moves the mounting mechanism up and down The lifting mechanism has a pedal rotatably mounted on the shaft of the replacement caster with a middle part in the longitudinal direction, and a guide roller provided on the distal end side of the pedal. It is characterized in that it is attached to the upper part of the alternative caster.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, in the caster assisting device according to the first aspect, the top of the mounting mechanism is flat and can be mounted at an arbitrary position on the bottom of the equipment. And

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, the caster assisting device according to the first or second aspect is provided with a plurality of alternative casters and a plurality of the mounting mechanisms.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, in the caster assisting device of the third aspect, the positions of the plurality of alternative casters are variable.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, in the caster assisting device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, a tow rope can be attached to the pedal.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following, portions common to the related art are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of the caster assisting device according to the present invention. The caster assisting device 1 of the present embodiment includes a pedal 2 having a planar shape of a U-shape and a side shape curved in a V-shape, and a bent portion (hereinafter referred to as a rising / falling fulcrum portion) 2b of a side member 2a of the pedal 2. A caster 4 for fixing the axle 3 with fastening screws 6 and 6, a side member 2a of the pedal
Guide roller 5 which is fixed to the end of the shaft with fastening screws 7, 7
It is constituted by. The caster 4 is formed by fixing a magnet 10 to a bearing member 11 with a fastening screw on the upper surface as is well known. The magnet 10 has a magnetized surface having no convex portion on its top surface, has a wide effective range of a surface that can be magnetically attracted to the bottom surface of the device 12, and can be mounted at any position on the bottom of the device 12. I do.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C are side views showing the used state of the apparatus of FIG. In using the caster assisting device 1, the insertion guide roller 5 is inserted into a space formed by the caster 13 below the bottom surface of the device 12 with the insertion guide roller 5 lowered (A). Usually 4
Since the casters 13 are provided at the four corners of the bottom surface of the device 12, the casters 13 are inserted between the two casters 13 on the front side. Then, the insertion guide roller 5 is raised by, for example, stepping on the pedal portion 2c of the pedal 2 to hit the bottom surface of the device 12 (B). Further, the device 12 is slightly pushed up, and the insertion guide roller 5 is placed on the bottom surface of the device 12. The caster assisting device 1 is made to appropriately enter the bottom of the device 12 by using the casters 4 while rotating while hitting. When the guide has been moved to the desired position, the insertion guide roller 5 is lowered (if the pedal 2 is depressed, the foot is released), the magnet 10 is attracted to the bottom surface of the device 12, and the caster assisting device 1 is mounted on the device 12. , And set to a transportable state (C).

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of the transport state of the device 12 in the transportable state as described above. A rope 8 is hung on the pedal 2 and an operator 9 carries the device 12 by pulling the rope. Of course, other modes of transport, such as the operator directly pushing and pulling the device 12, are also possible.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing another embodiment of the caster assisting device according to the present invention. The caster assisting device 20 of the present embodiment is a so-called double cast type in which the casters 4 are doubled. Since the basic configuration is the same as that of the previous embodiment, the same reference numerals are given. However, in this embodiment, the pedal 21 is divided into two parts, and the pedal portions 21c of the pair of side members 21a, 21a are formed.
21c was fixed with fastening screws 22 and 22, and two casters 4 and 4 were attached to an ascending and descending fulcrum 21b of a side member 21a via an axle 24 with a stopper 23, and further a supporting shaft 25 was attached. Guide roller 5 to side member 2
1a.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an example of a state of transporting the device 12 by the caster assisting device 20 of the embodiment of FIG. The device 21 is of a large size and has two caster assisting devices 2 between the two casters 13 on the front side.
The magnet 10 is transported in a state of being attracted. When the device 12 is very large, the position of the two casters 4 in the direction along the axle 24 can be changed by changing the position of the stopper 23, so that the two casters 4 can be set to the optimum position in accordance with the device 12.

FIG. 6 is a side view (A), an enlarged side view (B), and an enlarged perspective view of a magnet showing an example of a mechanism for mounting the above-mentioned caster assisting device on the bottom of the equipment. The magnet 30 has a known magnet magnetization mechanism, and the magnetized surface 3
1 can be switched on and off. In the figure, 32 is a switching lever, and 33 is an end of a switching mechanism. When the lever 32 is twisted, the magnetic force generation on the magnetized surface 31 is turned on and off. Further, a link lever 35 is bridged between the end portion 33 of the switching mechanism and the side member 2a of the pedal 2,
The link lever 35 has an arc-shaped groove 36 for driving and guiding the end 33 of the switching mechanism. The upper end of the groove 36 is magnetized off, and the lower end is the magnetized on position.

That is, when the pedal 2 is pushed down to raise the insertion guide roller 5 side, the end 33 of the switching mechanism is
The lever 32 is driven and the lever 32 is driven to turn on the magnetic force of the magnetized surface 31. When the pedal 2 is lowered, the magnetic force of the magnetized surface 31 is turned off by the reverse operation. Of course, the lever 32 may be twisted by hand.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing another example of the magnetizing on / off mechanism of the magnet 30 in the example of FIG. In this example, an eyeglass-shaped lever 40 is attached to the end 33 of the switching mechanism, a shaft 35a of a link lever 35 is fitted into one of the holes 41, 41 of the lever 40, and the lever 40 is directly moved by the movement of the link lever 35. Is to be driven.

Of course, not only the above-mentioned mechanism but also various other mechanisms can be employed for turning the magnet 30 on and off. In the above description, only the case corresponding to the mechanism of the embodiment of FIG. 1 has been described, but the same applies to the case of corresponding to the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of a mechanism for attaching the rope 8 to the pedal portion 2c of the pedal 2. Fix the bracket 50 to the pedal portion 2c with the fastening screw 51,
The shaft 5 of the slide lock bar 53 via the spring 52
4 and is stopped by a stopper 55.

[0021]

As described above, the caster assisting device according to the first aspect of the present invention uses a tool for lifting equipment in order to repair equipment that has been damaged (broken or damaged) on the caster. It is possible to easily carry out restoration and movement even without the above, and it is possible to reduce the burden on the operator.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, as described above, the caster assisting device can be easily mounted at an arbitrary position on the bottom of the device, and the working time and the working load can be reduced.

In the caster assisting device according to the third aspect, as described above, by selecting the number of alternative casters according to the shape and weight of the equipment, the burden on the operator can be further reduced and the safety can be further improved. There is an effect that it can be sufficiently secured.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, as described above, the distance between the alternative casters is increased to disperse the load resistance of the device, and to eliminate interference due to deformation of the device and deformation between components. Therefore, the performance of the device can be easily maintained.

As described above, the caster assisting device according to the fifth aspect has the effect that the operator can easily, safely and easily transport the equipment by using the tow rope. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing one embodiment of a caster assisting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a use state of the embodiment device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating an example of a transport state of the device in a transportable state.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing another embodiment of the caster assisting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an example of a state in which equipment is transported by the caster assisting device of the embodiment of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a side view (A), an enlarged side view (B), and an enlarged perspective view of a magnet showing an example of a mechanism for mounting the caster assisting device on the equipment bottom.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing another example of the magnetizing on / off mechanism of the magnet of the example of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of a mechanism for attaching a rope to a pedal.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 caster assisting device 2 pedal 2a side member 2b lifting / lowering fulcrum 2c pedal 4 caster 5 insertion guide roller 6,7 fastening screw 8 rope 9 worker 10 magnet 11 bearing member 12 equipment 13 caster 20 caster assisting device 21 pedal 21a Side member 21c Pedal part 22 Fastening screw 23 Stopper 24 Axle 30 Magnet 31 Magnetized surface 32 Switching lever 33 End of switching mechanism 35 Link lever 35a Shaft 36 Groove 40 Lever 41 Hole 50 Bracket 51 Fastening screw 52 Spring 53 Slide lock bar 54 Shaft 55 Stopper

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A caster assisting device that can be used as a substitute caster without removing the caster when any of the casters mounted on the device becomes unusable due to breakage, damage, or the like. A caster, a mechanism for mounting the replacement caster on the bottom of the device, and a lifting mechanism for moving the mounting mechanism up and down, the lifting mechanism being rotatable about a shaft of the replacement caster in a longitudinally intermediate portion. And a guide roller provided on a tip end side of the pedal, wherein the mounting mechanism is mounted on an upper portion of the alternative caster. 2. The caster assisting device according to claim 1,
A caster assisting device, wherein the top of the mounting mechanism is flat and can be mounted at any position on the bottom of the equipment. 3. The caster assist device according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of alternative casters and a plurality of the mounting mechanisms. 4. The caster assisting device according to claim 3,
A caster assisting device wherein the positions of the plurality of alternative casters are variable. 5. The caster assisting device according to claim 1, wherein a tow rope can be attached to the pedal.