JP2005230287A - Length adjustment mechanism and walking stick having length adjustment mechanism attached - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a length adjustment mechanism or a walking stick having a length adjustment mechanism, which is lightweight, enables multistage length adjustment in comparably short steps, and achieves a sufficient fixing strength after the adjustment. <P>SOLUTION: The length adjustment mechanism comprises a casing having a plurality of positioning holes and a female screw inside, and a rod to be inserted to the casing. The rod have a bearing holder provided with a male screw in an upper part, and a stopper in a lower part. The walking stick comprises a handle, a plurality of shafts, and the length adjustment mechanism which is built in an uppermost shaft so as to be connected to one of the other shafts by the stopper of the rod. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a mechanism for adjusting the overall length of a cane used for mountain climbing, trekking, and daily life, and a cane characterized in that the length can be adjusted.

Conventionally, when a rod-shaped member that can be expanded and contracted by combining a plurality of shafts or the like, there are mainly two methods for adjusting the length thereof. One is called a slide type, and the other is called a ratchet type as shown in registered utility model No. 305226.
Registered Utility Model No. 3050226

  In the slide type, the shaft is twisted to widen the indenter, and the friction of the inner wall of the shaft is used to fix the position of the multiple shafts. It was not obtained.

  In the ratchet type, a hole is provided in a part of the shaft, and positioning is performed by fitting a pin attached to another shaft into the hole, so that a sufficient fixing strength can be obtained in terms of structure. However, since the strength of the shaft is insufficient, a large number of holes cannot be provided, and the length adjustment step is large. In addition, it is difficult to employ a material such as FRP that is easily damaged from a hole formed in the shaft, and the weight cannot be reduced.

  In order to solve such a problem, the present invention is a length adjustment mechanism that is lightweight, can be adjusted in multiple stages in a relatively short step, and can obtain a sufficient fixing strength after adjustment, or a length adjustment mechanism The object is to provide a cane having

  In one aspect, the cane according to the present invention includes a handle, a plurality of shafts, and a length adjusting mechanism, and the length adjusting mechanism is built in the uppermost shaft. Or one.

  The uppermost shaft refers to the shaft positioned at the highest position during normal use, and a length adjusting mechanism is incorporated inside and fixed by adhesion or the like.

  In one aspect, the length adjusting mechanism according to the present invention includes a casing having a plurality of positioning holes provided with an internal thread inside, and a rod inserted into the casing, and an external thread is provided above the rod. In the bearing holder, a stopper is provided at the lower part of the rod, a receiving hole is provided in the male screw portion of the bearing holder, and a spring and at least one bearing are disposed in the receiving hole.

  The positioning holes are a group of holes provided so as to correspond to the positions of the receiving holes of the bearing holder.

  By using such a length adjustment mechanism, it is not necessary to provide a hole that causes stress concentration in the outer shell of the shaft, and the cane uses an FRP material because the shaft is not used to obtain a fixed strength. Can be reduced in weight. In addition, since a large number of positioning holes can be provided, multi-stage length adjustment can be performed. Furthermore, sufficient fixation and firmness can be obtained using screws.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

  The cane of the present invention is composed of at least a handle 2, a plurality of shafts 4, and a length adjusting mechanism 6. The length adjusting mechanism is built in the uppermost shaft 3, and a stopper 8 of the rod 7 is used to connect another shaft. It is connected to one of the four.

  The uppermost shaft 3 and the other shafts 4 are required to be lightweight while being required to be strong. In order to satisfy such a purpose, it is desirable to use FRP, particularly CFRP, in addition to the titanium alloy and the aluminum alloy. Although the preferred thickness of the shaft varies depending on the material used and the outer diameter, when the most suitable CFRP is used, it is desirable that the outer diameter is 16 mm or more and 20 mm or less and the thickness is 1 mm or more.

  The length adjusting mechanism 6 is inserted until the upper end 13 of the casing hits the uppermost shaft 3 and is fixed to the inner wall of the uppermost shaft by bonding or the like. On the other hand, the stopper 8 of the rod 7 is connected to the other shaft 4. The material of the length adjusting mechanism 6 is required to have a shear strength of the screw portion, wear resistance that can withstand repeated use, and a low specific gravity for weight reduction. For this reason, it is desirable to use engineering plastics such as nylon and polyacetal, titanium alloys, aluminum alloys and the like. The handle 2 can be applied in various materials and shapes depending on the purpose of use.

  The rod 7 includes a stopper 8 and a bearing holder 9. As shown in FIG. 6, the bearing holder 9 is provided with a receiving hole 10, and the spring 16 and the bearing 15 are disposed in the receiving hole 10. The bearing 15 is pushed by the spring 16 and tends to be more convex than the thread surface of the bearing holder 9. Positioning is performed by fitting the bearing 15 into a positioning hole 15 provided in the casing 12.

  The rod 7 may comprise an intermediate portion with a connecting rod 11 thinner than the bearing holder 9 for weight reduction. Further, the arrangement is not particularly limited as long as it is not a ball bearing but the exposed portion has a shape or material that does not promote wear of the cylinder.

  Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 1 shows a cane 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. After the bearing holder 9 and the connecting rod 11 are integrally formed, the spring 16 and the bearing 15 are disposed in the receiving hole 10 provided in the bearing holder 9. Next, the bearing holder 9 is screwed so that the connecting rod 11 comes first from the upper end 13 of the casing, and the connecting rod 11 is exposed from the lower end 14 of the casing. Next, the exposed connecting rod 11 and the stopper 8 are integrated by brazing or the like, and the length adjusting mechanism 6 is completed. The shaft 4 is fixed to the stopper 8 by adhesion, and the length adjusting mechanism 6 is inserted together with the shaft 4 from the upper part of the uppermost shaft 3 to the casing upper end 13, and the handle 2 is further inserted to complete the cane 1. .

  FIG. 2 is an assembly diagram of the length adjusting mechanism 6 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. A spring and a bearing are disposed in the receiving hole 10 of the bearing holder 9, but it does not have a bearing fall prevention mechanism. Providing a drop prevention mechanism in such a minute portion increases the cost of the parts and leads to an increase in the mass of the bearing holder. For this reason, the central portion of the rod 7 is constituted by the connecting rod 11 having a diameter smaller than that of the bearing holder 9 and the stopper 8 at the central portion of the rod 7. A large hole was provided in the bearing holder 9 so that the bearing holder 9 did not come off the casing 12.

  FIG. 3 is a component diagram of the casing 12 of the length adjusting mechanism 6. The outer diameter of the casing 12 was 15.9 mm so that it could be inserted into the uppermost shaft 3 having an inner diameter of 16 mm. The outer diameter of the casing upper end 13 is 18 mm and is locked at the end of the uppermost shaft 3. On the upper end side of the casing, a female screw of M10 was provided to the lower end side through a portion without a female screw for inserting a handle. Six sets of positioning holes 15 were provided in the casing 12 at a pitch of 10 mm in the female screw portion. Moreover, the hole of diameter 8mm is provided in the lower end part so that the connecting rod 11 of outer diameter 7mm can slide.

  FIG. 4 is a component diagram of the rod 7 of the length adjusting mechanism 6. The bearing holder 9 and the connecting rod 11 are integrally formed by turning, and the stopper 8 is formed separately. The connecting rod 11 and the bearing holder 9 are inserted in this order from the casing upper end 13 side, and the stopper 8 is fixedly integrated with the connecting rod 11 exposed from the lower end of the casing. As the fixing method, screwing, welding, brazing or the like can be used alone or in combination.

  FIG. 5 shows the usage state of the length adjusting mechanism 6. (A) shows a state in which the rod 7 is housed in the casing 12 so as to be the shortest. (B) indicates the state in which the longest is set.

  With this configuration, the bearing holder 9 of the length adjusting mechanism 6 according to the present embodiment does not go out of the casing 12, so there is no need to provide a bearing fall prevention mechanism.

  The present invention can be widely applied to rod-shaped articles that require length adjustment, such as canes and walking sticks.

It is a cane of the present invention. It is an assembly drawing of the length adjustment mechanism of this invention. It is a casing components figure of a length adjustment mechanism. It is a rod parts figure of a length adjustment mechanism. It is a figure which shows the use condition of the length adjustment mechanism of this invention. (A) indicates the shortest storage time, and (B) indicates the longest extension time. It is a bearing holder component drawing.

Explanation of symbols

1 cane, 2 handle, 3 uppermost shaft, 4 shaft, 5 stone thrust, 6 length adjustment mechanism, 7 rod, 8 stopper, 9 bearing holder, 10 receiving hole, 11 connecting rod, 12 casing, 13 upper end of casing, 14 Bottom of casing, 15 positioning hole, 16 spring, 17 bearing

Claims (2)

A cane (1) comprising at least a handle (2), a plurality of shafts (4), and a length adjusting mechanism (6), the length adjusting mechanism being built in the uppermost shaft (3) The cane (1) is characterized in that the length can be adjusted by being connected to any one of the other shafts (4) by the stopper (8) of the rod (7). A bearing (12) having a plurality of positioning holes (15) provided with an internal thread and a rod (7) inserted into the casing, and a bearing provided with an external thread on the top of the rod The holder (9) is provided with a stopper (8) at the bottom, and a receiving hole (10) is provided in the male thread portion of the bearing holder (9). The receiving hole (10) has at least a spring (16) and at least A length adjusting mechanism (6), wherein one bearing (17) is arranged.

Images