JP2003320802A - Brake pedal of caster and caster - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve a brake pedal of a caster free from being bent or broken, even if any strong force is applied to the brake pedal. <P>SOLUTION: In this brake pedal, an upper part of a vertically extending metallic substrate is bent in series in a substantially horizontal direction to make a pair of front and rear operating piece parts of the brake pedal and a reinforcing piece part connected between the operating piece parts. A cutout to surround a middle position from a bent base end of the reinforcing piece part is provided, the cutout is cut and raised to rise from the bent base end, and an upper cam surface is formed. The lower cam surface part is formed at a lower end side of the vertically extending substrate. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement of a brake pedal and a caster provided with the brake pedal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a support yoke mounted on a mounting base for axially supporting a wheel, and a brake connected to the above-mentioned axle through a long hole so as to be slidable up and down along a side wall of the support yoke. An arm, a brake shoe attached to the brake arm for braking or releasing the wheel,
An upper sliding part and a lower sliding part attached to the brake arm, and a brake pedal pivotally attached to the axle and having a pair of front and rear operation piece parts for pivoting in the front-rear direction,
There is known a caster that is provided on the brake pedal and that includes a pair of upper and lower cam surface portions that abut against the upper sliding portion and the lower sliding portion to slide the brake arm up and down. The brake shoe of this caster is formed by bending a metal plate into a substantially linear shape, and bends both ends at right angles so that both ends become substantially horizontal to form an operating piece. Has a shaft hole and a pair of cam surface portions above and below the shaft hole.

When operating the casters to brake,
Since the pair of operation pieces are operated by pushing in with a foot or the like, a force may be applied more than necessary. However, the pair of upper and lower cam surface portions provided on the brake pedal are the upper and lower end sides of the metal plate as they are,
Since the shaft hole is provided between the cam surface parts, the strength near the central part of the brake pedal is poor, and there is a problem that if a strong force as described above acts, it will bend or break from this part. Was there. Therefore, in order to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, in JP-A-2002-2208, a pair of operation piece portions of the brake pedal are formed by bending both ends of a metal plate in an outer horizontal direction, and a pair of front and rear operation piece portions are provided. A reinforcing piece formed by bending a metal plate in the outer horizontal direction is continuously provided between, and a lower portion is directed inward from a notch S formed along the reinforcing piece with a distance from the reinforcing piece. A structure is known in which the upper and lower end sides of the punched-out portion are the upper and lower cam surface portions, respectively. However, in the above-mentioned configuration, the notched portion is punched inward, and the upper end side and the lower end side of this punched-out portion are the cam surface portions, so that the upper end and the lower end are flush with the substrate. It is necessary and troublesome to manufacture, and since the punched piece and the pedal body are separated by a gap, the cam surface portion of the punched portion may be deformed when a strong impact force is applied to the operation pedal toward the inside. There was

[0004]

The present invention was devised in view of the above circumstances, and its main problem is to
It is an object of the present invention to provide a caster brake pedal and caster having strength against external impacts without providing a gap in the width direction between the cam surface and the pedal body even if the reinforcing piece is provided.

[0005]

In order to solve the above problems, in the invention of claim 1, one of the operation pieces of the brake pedal is pushed in to tilt the brake pedal to one side,
Locked state in which the upper and lower sliding parts of the brake arm are slid along the upper and lower cam surface parts provided on the brake pedal to lower the brake arm as a whole and bring the brake shoe into contact with the wheels. In the caster that is in the braking release state by pushing the other operation piece of the brake pedal to tilt the brake pedal to the other side and returning to the original state where the brake shoes are separated,
By bending the upper portion of the vertically extending metal substrate in a substantially horizontal series, a pair of front and rear operation pieces of the brake pedal,
There is no reinforcing piece connected between them, and a notch surrounding a middle position from the bending base end of the reinforcing piece is provided and cut and raised so as to rise from the bending base end to form an upper cam surface portion, which extends vertically. The technical means of forming the lower cam surface portion on the lower end side of the substrate is taken.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a supporting yoke mounted on a mounting base for axially supporting a wheel and a supporting yoke connected to the axle through a long hole are slidable up and down along a side wall of the supporting yoke. A brake arm attached to the brake arm, a brake shoe attached to the brake arm for braking or releasing a wheel, an upper sliding portion and a lower sliding portion attached to the brake arm, and a pivot shaft attached to the axle. A brake pedal which is attached and has a pair of operation pieces on the front and rear sides and pivots in the front and rear direction, and a brake which is provided on the brake pedal and abuts against the upper sliding portion and the lower sliding portion, respectively. In a caster composed of a pair of upper and lower cam surface parts for sliding an arm up and down, a brake pedal bends an upper portion of a vertically extending metal base plate in a substantially horizontal series to form a brake. A pair of front and rear operation pieces of the dull, and a reinforcing piece connected between them are provided, and a notch surrounding a middle position from the bending base end of the reinforcing piece is provided to cut and raise so as to stand up from the bending base end. A technical means is provided in which a cam surface portion is formed and the lower cam surface portion is formed on the lower end side of the vertically extending substrate.

According to the inventions of claims 3 and 4, in the casters corresponding to claims 1 and 2,
The brake pedal has a vertically extending upper portion of a metal base plate that is bent substantially horizontally in series to form a pair of front and rear operation pieces of the brake pedal, and a reinforcement piece connected between them.
Technical means of forming a long hole below the reinforcing piece, forming a lower edge of the hole as an upper cam surface, and forming the lower cam surface on a lower end side of the vertically extending substrate. Are taking.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of the brake pedal and casters of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 show a caster according to the first embodiment, which comprises a support yoke 1, a wheel 2, a brake arm 3 and a brake pedal 4.

The support yoke 1 is rotatably mounted below the mounting base 5, shaft holes 6 are provided in the lower portions of the left and right side walls, and a guide hole 7 made of an elongated hole is formed on the wall surface on the side where the brake pedal 4 is mounted. It is provided. An upper sliding portion 10, which will be described later, can penetrate through the guide hole 7 from the inner side to the outer side.

Next, the wheel 2 has a hole (not shown) for the axle 17, and is axially supported by the support yoke 1 by the axle 17. In the case of the present embodiment, the brake arm 3 is formed by bending a metal plate into a substantially inverted L-shaped cross section, has a brake shoe 8 in the upper portion, and has an upper sliding portion in the middle of the side wall. 10 is provided in a protruding manner, a vertically elongated hole 12 is provided at a position corresponding to the axle 2, and a lower sliding portion 11 is provided in a protruding manner at the lower end.

Here, the upper sliding portion 10 is cut and raised downward in an angled cross-section, and a portion of the tip end which comes into contact with the upper cam surface 15a has a substantially semicircular shape. Further, the lower sliding surface 11 has a channel shape in which the lower end is bent and projected in an upward cross-section angle shape,
The groove bottom of the channel comes into contact with the lower cam surface 15b.

The brake pedal 4 is formed by bending a metal plate so that it can be seen more clearly in FIGS. 3 and 4. That is, the brake pedal 4 has a metal base plate 4a that is formed in a substantially linear shape and extends vertically.
3b, a shaft hole 14 bored in the center part for pivotally attaching to the axle 17, and a pair of upper and lower cam surface parts 15a, 15b respectively formed at the upper end of the substantially center and the lower end of the substantially center. There is.

The operation pieces 13a and 13b are formed by bending both ends of a metal plate in an outer horizontal direction. And between these operation piece parts 13a and 13b, this operation piece part 13a,
A reinforcing piece portion 16 formed by bending a metal plate in the outer horizontal direction is provided in series with 13b.

Then, as shown in FIG. 4 (a), a notch S is provided along the side surface shape of the upper cam surface so as to surround the intermediate position from the bent base end of the reinforcing piece 16, and the notch S part The inner side is cut and raised along with to rise from the bent base end to form an upper cam surface portion 15a protruding upward.

Further, in the vertically extending substrate 4a, the lower end of the central portion is formed with a lower cam surface portion 15b having stepped portions at both ends and having a substantially V-shaped central portion (FIG. 4 (b)).
reference). Therefore, the upper cam surface portion 15a and the lower cam surface portion 15b are formed by forming the end portions on the surface of the substrate 4a into cam surfaces.

In the caster using the brake pedal according to the present invention, the brake shoe 8 of the brake arm 3 is arranged above the wheel 2, and the brake arm 3 is provided in the guide hole 7 of the support yoke 1 arranged outside thereof. The sliding portion 10 on the upper side of the above is inserted to project the tip of the sliding portion 10 to the outside.

The brake arm 3 is brought into contact with the inside of the support yoke 1, and the shaft holes 6 in the lower portions of both sides of the support yoke 1, the holes of the wheel 2, the vertically elongated hole 12 of the brake arm 3 and the shaft hole 14 of the brake pedal 4 are connected to the axle. The wheel 2 is rotatably attached to the brake pedal 4 so that the upper cam surface portion 15a of the brake pedal 4 is in contact with the upper sliding portion 10 and the lower cam surface portion 15b is in contact with the lower sliding portion 11. Are arranged as follows.

The operation of the caster using the brake pedal will be described below. First, in the state shown in FIG. 1, the brake pedal 4 is stepped to the OFF side, the brake shoe 8 of the brake arm 3 is separated from the wheel 2, and the brake is released. Therefore, by depressing the operation piece portion 13a at one end of the brake pedal 4 with the foot from this braking released state, the brake pedal 4 is pivoted counterclockwise in the figure to the ON state shown in FIG.

That is, by the above-mentioned pivoting movement, the upper sliding portion 10 and the lower sliding portion 11 of the brake arm 3 slide along the displacements of the cam surface portions 15a and 15b of the brake pedal 4, respectively, so that the brake is applied. The arm 3 is lowered. Then, the brake shoe 8 of the brake arm 3
Comes into contact with the wheel 2, so that the caster is locked.

Next, in order to change from the braking state of FIGS. 2 and 3 to the braking releasing state, the operation piece portion 13b at the other end of the brake pedal 4 is stepped on with a foot, so that the brake pedal 4 is timed. It may be pivoted in the direction to return to the original state shown in FIG.

Next, FIG. 5 to FIG. 8 show the brake pedal 4
6A and 6B show casters of different examples. In this embodiment, the support yoke 1, the wheel 2, and the mounting base 5 are the same as those in the above embodiment.
In the case of this embodiment, the brake arm 3 has a substantially inverted section L
The brake shoe 8 is formed in a character shape and has a brake shoe 8 on the upper portion, but the side wall is arranged outside the support yoke 1 and is connected to the axle 17 through a vertically elongated hole. That is,
As shown in FIG. 7, the brake arm 3 is provided with a bridge 3a at a position where the brake shoe 8 is bent to the side wall, and is bent from the inside of the side wall of the support yoke 1 to the outside and hangs down along the outside of the side wall of the support yoke 1. ing.

The side wall 3b of the brake arm 3 has a U-shaped notch 3c in the upper part, and the guide protrusion 21 formed on the side wall of the support yoke 1 is fitted therein. As a result, when the brake arm 3 is displaced up and down, the notch 3c is guided by the guide protrusion 21 and moves up and down, so that the brake arm 3 can be moved up and down on a vertical line.

The side wall 3b of the brake arm 3
A column-shaped upper sliding portion 10 is projected at a midway position, and a lower end is bent to have an L-shaped cross section and a lower sliding portion 1 is provided.
1 is projected. Here, the upper sliding portion 10 may be one in which a pin is caulked and fixed to the side wall of the support yoke 1, or one in which the side wall of the support yoke 1 is cut and raised to form a protrusion, or one that is squeezed to form a convex portion. In other words, the cam surface portion 1 which will be described later protrudes from the side wall of the support yoke 1.
It suffices if it has a configuration capable of contacting 5a.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the brake pedal 4 includes a pair of front and rear operation piece portions of the brake pedal 4, which are formed by bending an upper portion of a vertically extending metal base plate 4a in a substantially horizontal manner. It has 13a, 13b and the reinforcing piece part 16 connected between them.

An elongated hole formed in a substantially V shape is formed below the reinforcing piece portion 16, and the upper sliding portion 10 is fitted therein. The lower edge portion of the elongated hole is the upper cam surface portion 15a that contacts the upper sliding portion 10. Further, the lower sliding portion 11 formed at the lower end of the brake arm 3 is in contact with the lower cam surface portion 15b, which is drawn at the center lower end of the brake pedal.

The operation of the caster using the brake pedal will be described below. First, in the state shown in FIG. 5, the brake pedal 4 is stepped to the OFF side, the brake shoe 8 of the brake arm 3 is separated from the wheel 2, and the brake is released. Therefore, from this braking release state, the brake pedal 4 is pivoted counterclockwise in the figure to the ON state shown in FIG. 6 by stepping on the operation piece portion 13a at one end of the brake pedal 4 with a foot.

That is, the pivotal movement causes the upper sliding portion 10 and the lower sliding portion 11 of the brake arm 3 to slide in accordance with the displacement of the cam surface portions 15a and 15b of the brake pedal 4, respectively, and the brake arm 3 Can be lowered. At this time, since the notch 3c of the brake arm 3 is guided by the guide protrusion 21 and moves down, and the brake shoe 8 of the brake arm 3 contacts the wheel 2, the casters are locked.

Next, in order to change the braking state from the braking state shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 to the braking releasing state, the operation piece portion 13b at the other end of the brake pedal 4 is stepped on with a foot so that the cam surface portion 15a of the brake pedal 4 is released. , 15b are displaced in the opposite direction, and the sliding portions 1 above the brake arm 3 are respectively moved accordingly.
0 and the lower sliding portion 11 slide to raise the brake arm 3.

In this case as well, the notch 3c of the brake arm 3 is guided by the guide projection 21 and goes up right above,
Since the brake shoes 8 of the brake arm 3 are separated from the wheels 2, the wheels of the casters are released from braking. In this embodiment, when the brake arm is inside the side wall of the support arm (first embodiment) and outside the brake arm (second embodiment).
However, it may slide up and down along either the inside or the outside.

When the upper sliding portion 10 is fitted in the guide hole 7 and also serves as a guide means as a means for guiding the vertical movement of the brake arm with respect to the side wall of the support yoke (first embodiment). Example) and a case where a pair of guide means (a guide convex portion and a cutout portion in the above-described embodiment) are provided separately from the sliding portion on the side wall of the support yoke and the side wall of the brake arm (second embodiment). However, as described above, the guide means may be provided integrally with or separately from the structure of the sliding portion.

Further, in the second embodiment, the brake arm is provided with the notch and the supporting yoke is provided with the convex portion. However, the brake arm is provided with the convex portion projecting inward, and the supporting yoke is provided with the convex portion. A configuration may be adopted in which an elongated guide hole that locks and guides is provided. In other words, it goes without saying that various design changes can be made without changing the gist of the present invention.

[0032]

Since the caster brake pedal of the present invention is constructed as described above, the brake pedal can be reinforced without increasing the weight, and a strong force acts on the brake pedal. However, it will not bend or break. Further, since the sliding portions are formed at the upper and lower ends of the operation pedal on the same surface with respect to the substrate, there is no risk of deformation even when an external impact is applied.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a caster having a brake pedal according to a first embodiment when braking is released.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the caster of the first embodiment during braking.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the caster of the first embodiment during braking.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a brake pedal of the first embodiment, (a) is a plan view and (b) is a side view.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the caster having the brake pedal according to the second embodiment when braking is released.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the caster of the second embodiment during braking.

FIG. 7A is a front view of the caster of the second embodiment during braking, and FIG. 7B is a partial front view of a support yoke.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a brake pedal of the second embodiment, (a) is a plan view and (b) is a side view.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Support yoke Two wheels 3 brake arm 4 brake pedal 5 Mounting board 8 brake shoes 10 Upper sliding part 11 Lower sliding part 12 Vertical holes 15a Upper cam surface 15b Lower cam surface 17 axles

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An upper sliding portion and a lower sliding portion of a brake arm are respectively imitated by pushing one operation piece of the brake pedal to tilt the brake pedal to one side and following upper and lower cam surface portions provided on the brake pedal. Sliding the moving part, lowering the brake arm as a whole to bring the brake shoe into contact with the wheel, and lock the brake shoe by pushing the other operating piece of the brake pedal and tilting the brake pedal to the other side. In a brake pedal of a caster that is brought into a braking release state by returning to the original state, the brake pedal is a pair of front and rear operation pieces of the brake pedal, which is formed by bending an upper portion of a vertically extending metal substrate in a substantially horizontal series. And a reinforcing piece connected between them, and a notch surrounding a middle position from the bent base end of the reinforcing piece The caster brake pedal is characterized in that the upper cam surface is formed by cutting and raising so as to rise from the bent base end, and the lower cam surface is formed on a lower end side of the vertically extending substrate. 2. A support yoke mounted on a mounting base for axially supporting a wheel, and a brake arm which is connected to the axle via a long hole and is slidably mounted vertically along a side wall of the support yoke. A brake shoe attached to the brake arm for braking or releasing a wheel, an upper sliding portion and a lower sliding portion attached to the brake arm, and a pair of front and rear pivotally attached to the axle. A brake pedal that has an operation piece portion and pivots in the front-rear direction, and a brake pedal that is provided on the brake pedal and abuts against the upper sliding portion and the lower sliding portion, respectively, to slide the brake arm up and down. In a caster composed of a pair of upper and lower cam surface parts, a brake pedal is a pair of front and rear operation pieces of the brake pedal, which is formed by bending a vertically extending upper part of a metal base plate substantially horizontally in series. A portion and a reinforcing piece portion connected between them, forming a notch surrounding a midway position from the bending base end of the reinforcing piece portion to cut and raise so as to stand up from the bending base end to form an upper cam surface portion, A caster characterized in that the lower cam surface portion is formed on a lower end side of a substrate extending vertically. 3. A pair of upper and lower cam surfaces provided on the brake pedal are slid above and below the brake arm, respectively, by pushing one operation piece of the brake pedal to tilt the brake pedal to one side. Slide the part to lower the brake arm as a whole to bring the brake shoe into contact with the wheel, and push the other operating piece of the brake pedal to tilt the brake pedal to the other side, and the brake shoe separates. In the brake pedal of the caster that is brought into the braking release state by returning to the original state, the upper part of the vertically extending metal substrate is bent substantially horizontally in series, and a pair of front and rear operation pieces of the brake pedal,
There is no reinforcing piece connected between them, a long hole is formed below the reinforcing piece, and a lower edge portion of the elongated hole is an upper cam surface portion, and the lower cam surface portion is provided on a lower end side of the vertically extending substrate. Brake pedal for casters, characterized in that 4. A support yoke mounted on a mounting base for axially supporting a wheel, and a brake arm connected to the axle via a long hole and slidably mounted vertically along a side wall of the support yoke. A brake shoe attached to the brake arm for braking or releasing a wheel, an upper sliding portion and a lower sliding portion attached to the brake arm, and a pair of front and rear pivotally attached to the axle. A brake pedal that has an operation piece portion and pivots in the front-rear direction, and a brake pedal that is provided on the brake pedal and abuts against the upper sliding portion and the lower sliding portion, respectively, to slide the brake arm up and down. In a caster composed of a pair of upper and lower cam surface portions, the brake pedal is a pair of front and rear operation of the brake pedal, which is formed by bending a vertically extending upper part of a metal base plate substantially horizontally in series. A piece and a reinforcing piece connected between them; a long hole is formed on the base plate below the reinforcement piece, and its lower edge is an upper cam surface part; and a lower end of the vertically extending base plate. A caster characterized in that the lower cam surface portion is formed on a side.