JP2013151287A - Universal caster - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a universal caster without risk of causing a hindrance to free turning of the respective universal casters even if a fair heavy load is applied to the respective universal casters in a carrier for stacking and transferring the heavy load, and particularly, without a hindrance to travel of a narrow place since there is no lateral run-out in advancing and retreating.SOLUTION: A universal caster includes pivoting parts of upper-lower two stages, a lower stage pivoting part 5 is freely turned to an upper stage pivoting part 5 by being installed on a pivot 3 of the upper stage pivoting part 2, and the lower stage pivoting part has a universal metal fitting 7 freely turning by being installed on a pivot 6 of the lower stage pivoting part and journaling a wheel 8. The pivot of the lower stage pivoting part is deviatively arranged from the pivot of the upper stage pivoting part, and is deviatively arranged from a vertical line of passing through a wheel shaft of the universal metal fitting, and is set so as to become equal between a distance of deviating the pivot of the lower stage pivoting part from the pivot of the upper stage pivoting part and a distance of deviating the pivot of the lower stage pivoting part from the vertical line of passing through the wheel shaft of the universal metal fitting.

Description

  The present invention relates to a free caster, and more particularly, is suitable for use in a traveling body such as a cart, a shopping cart, and a chair, particularly a traveling body used for transferring heavy objects, and when the traveling body is pushed. A swivel caster that turns smoothly in response to the traveling direction of the traveling body in both cases (at the time of forward movement) and at the time of pulling (at the time of backward movement and towing), thereby enabling the traveling body to travel smoothly. It is about.

  Swivel casters are installed on the legs of traveling bodies such as carts, shopping carts, chairs, etc., to facilitate the forward and backward movement of the traveling bodies, and by freely turning in response to changes in the orientation of the traveling bodies, The function of enabling smooth running by changing the direction of the running body is achieved. In general, a universal caster includes a fixed plate fixed to a bottom surface of a carriage or the like, a universal bracket installed on the fixed plate via a bearing device, and a wheel pivotally supported by the universal bracket. In many cases, the pivot supported by the bearing device is shifted from the vertical line passing through the wheel support shaft of the universal bracket.

  In the traveling bodies such as general carts, shopping carts, chairs, etc., there is no particular problem with the conventional free casters. However, for example, in the case of a cart that loads and transports heavy objects, such as a cart in a vehicle assembly factory or ironworks, a considerable weight load is applied to each universal caster, and the load applied to each universal caster is equal. Not necessarily. Therefore, the free caster is likely to be partially distorted. As a result, there is a possibility that the free caster may turn freely.

JP 2000-135901 A Utility Model Registration No. 31213337

  As described above, conventionally, in carts and the like for loading and transferring heavy objects, a considerable weight load is applied to each free caster, and the load applied to each free caster is not necessarily equal. As a result, there is a risk that the free caster may turn freely. The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and in a cart or the like for loading and transferring heavy objects, even if a considerable weight load is applied to each free caster, the free swiveling of each free caster is hindered. It is an object of the present invention to provide a free caster that has no fear and in particular has no side shake during forward and backward movements, and thus has no hindrance to traveling in narrow spaces.

  The invention according to claim 1 for solving the above-described problem is provided with a two-stage upper and lower pivot section, and the lower stage pivot section is attached to the pivot of the upper stage pivot section so that the upper stage pivot section is supported. A swivel caster characterized in that it has a universal bracket for pivotally supporting a wheel, which is pivotable, and wherein the lower stage pivot part pivots freely by being attached to a pivot of the lower stage pivot part. It is.

  In one embodiment, the upper stage pivot part eccentrically connects a fixed plate fixed to the bottom surface of the traveling body, an upper stage bearing device installed on the fixed plate, and a pivot supported by the upper stage bearing device. The lower stage pivoting portion is composed of a lower stage bearing device installed on the back surface of the pivoting plate, and a universal bracket pivotally supported by the lower stage bearing device, The wheel is pivotally supported in the universal bracket.

  In one embodiment, the pivot axis of the lower stage pivot part is arranged offset from the pivot axis of the upper stage pivot part, and is arranged offset from a vertical line passing through the wheel axis of the universal bracket. The distance by which the pivot of the pivot part is shifted from the pivot of the upper pivot part is made equal to the distance by which the pivot of the lower pivot part is displaced from the vertical line passing through the wheel axis of the universal bracket.

The present invention is as described above, and the universal caster according to the present invention includes two upper and lower pivot portions, and the lower pivot portion is attached to the pivot of the upper pivot portion, thereby being connected to the upper pivot portion. The lower pivot part is configured to have a universal bracket for pivotally supporting the wheel, which is freely pivoted by being attached to the pivot of the lower pivot part. Even if a heavy load is applied to each free caster in a truck that loads and transports objects, the free swivel operation is performed independently in two steps up and down during traveling and turning. There is an effect that there is no possibility of causing trouble.

  In particular, in the case of the invention according to claim 4, since it becomes easy for each wheel to change the direction instantaneously during traveling, the traveling body equipped with the caster is less likely to be shaken at the time of forward movement and backward movement. There is an effect that it becomes possible to travel without any trouble.

It is a perspective view of one embodiment of a universal caster according to the present invention. It is a partial cutaway figure of one Embodiment of the universal caster which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the effect | action of the universal caster which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the effect | action of the universal caster which concerns on this invention.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration example of a universal caster according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a partial cutaway view thereof. As shown therein, the universal caster according to the present invention has two upper and lower pivots. It has the parts A and B, It is arrange | positioned so that the pivots 3 and 6 of the upper stage pivot part A and the lower stage pivot part B may shift | deviate.

  The upper stage pivoting part A eccentrically fixes the fixed plate 1 fixed to the bottom surface of the traveling body 10 such as a carriage, the upper stage bearing device 2 installed on the fixed plate 1, and the pivot 3 pivotally supported by the upper stage bearing device 2. And a revolving plate 4 provided at a target position. The lower-stage pivot part B includes a lower-stage bearing device 5 installed on the back surface of the swivel plate 4 and a universal bracket 7 that is pivotably attached to the lower-stage bearing device 5 via a pivot 6. It is pivotally supported at the lower end of the universal bracket 7.

In one embodiment, the pivot 6 of the lower pivot B is positioned a distance D ₂ away from the pivot 3 of the upper pivot A and is a distance D ₁ from the vertical line through the wheel axis 9 of the universal bracket 7. Arranged in a staggered manner. Then, in this case, it is preferable that the distance D ₁ and the distance D ₂ is made equal. As will be described later, in such a case, the direction change following the traveling of the traveling body of the universal bracket 7 that pivotally supports the wheel 8 becomes the smoothest.

  In the case of the free caster having the above-described configuration, the lower pivot portion B freely pivots with respect to the upper pivot portion A via the pivot 3, and the universal bracket 7 that pivotally supports the wheel 8 is free via the pivot 6. Turn to. Therefore, when this free caster is used for a traveling body such as a carriage for loading and transferring heavy objects, even if a considerable weight load is applied to each free caster, it freely turns in each of the upper and lower stages, and the wheel 8 is moved. Since the direction of the pivotable metal fitting 7 can be changed in the moving direction of the traveling body without any difficulty, there is no problem in traveling and turning of the traveling body.

In particular, if you set as the above distance D ₁ and the distance D ₂ are equal, for each wheel 8 during running becomes easy to change the direction instantly, the running body 10 having this caster, During forward and backward movements, vibrations are less likely to occur, and it is possible to travel in narrow spaces without hindrance. This point will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 3 and FIG.

  FIG. 3 shows the case where the wheels 8 attached to the four corners of the traveling body 10 are positioned on the direction of travel indicated by the arrows. In this case, the centers of the pivot 3, the pivot 6, and the wheel shaft 9 are shown. And are on a straight line. When the traveling body 10 is advanced in the direction indicated by the arrow from this state, each wheel 8 is tilted in one direction (this direction depends on the difference in force applied to the left side and the right side of the traveling body 10), and the pivot 6 is rotated. The wheel 8 is displaced in the direction opposite to the tilt direction (FIGS. 4a and 4b). As the pivot 6 is displaced, the wheel 8 retreats relative to the traveling body 10 on the straight line.

Then, when the traveling body 10 is further advanced, the wheel 8 is turned sideways, the center of the wheel shaft 9 coincides with the pivot 3 (FIG. 4c), and then the wheel 8 further rotates and is located at a position behind the pivot 3. (FIG. 4d). When the wheel 8 is further moved forward, the wheel 8 rotates 180 degrees, and the centers of the pivot shaft 3, the pivot shaft 6, and the wheel shaft 9 are arranged in a straight line in this order (FIG. 4e). Further, when the traveling body 10 is moved backward from the state, the wheel 8 and the pivot 6 are operated (displaced) in the opposite direction to the forward movement, and immediately return to the state shown in FIG. 4a.

  As is clear from FIG. 4, the center of the wheel shaft 9 always moves back and forth on a straight line corresponding to the direction of the traveling body 10 when the traveling body 10 moves forward and backward. This means that the traveling body 10 does not swing sideways when moving forward and backward. Therefore, the traveling body 10 including the universal caster can travel in a narrow space without any trouble.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Fixed plate 2 Upper stage bearing device 3 Pivot 4 Rotating plate 5 Lower stage bearing device 6 Pivot 7 Swivel bracket 8 Wheel
9 Wheel shaft 10 Traveling body A Upper pivot part B Lower pivot part

Claims (4)

  It is provided with two upper and lower pivots, and the lower pivot is pivotable with respect to the upper pivot by being attached to the pivot of the upper pivot, and the lower pivot is pivoted to the lower pivot A universal caster characterized by having a universal bracket for pivotally supporting a wheel that is freely pivoted by being attached to the pivot of the unit.   The upper stage pivot part includes a fixed plate fixed to the bottom surface of the traveling body, an upper stage bearing device installed on the fixed plate, and a pivot plate provided with an eccentric position pivotally supported by the upper stage bearing device, The lower pivot portion is composed of a lower bearing device installed on the back surface of the swivel plate, and a universal bracket pivotally supported on the lower bearing device, wherein the wheel is mounted on the universal bracket. The universal caster according to claim 1, which is pivotally supported.   3. The universal shaft according to claim 1, wherein the pivot axis of the lower stage pivot part is arranged to be shifted from the pivot axis of the upper stage pivot part, and is arranged to be offset from a vertical line passing through the wheel axis of the universal bracket. caster.   The distance by which the pivot of the lower stage pivot part is displaced from the pivot of the upper stage pivot part is equal to the distance by which the pivot of the lower stage pivot part is displaced from the vertical line passing through the wheel axis of the universal bracket. The universal caster according to claim 3.

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