JP2017116133A - Connector and panel structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate disassembly in a panel structure for preventing oil splash and the like during cooking.SOLUTION: A connector 20 for connecting panels 10 of a panel structure 1 is constituted by a hinge part 22, and a pair of connection parts 21 provided on both ends of the hinge part 22. The hinge part 22 and the pair of connection parts 21 are formed integrally by a material having elasticity. The thickness of hinge part 22 is smaller than that of the connection part 21, and the hinge part is formed to be easily bendable. Each of the connection parts 21 has a pair of opposing holding pieces 21b, and they connect by elastically inserting a peripheral edge part of the panel 10 between the holding pieces 21b. By pulling the panel 10, the panel peripheral edge part can be easily pulled out from between the holding pieces 21b.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector having a hinge structure capable of connecting a plurality of panels so that the angle can be freely adjusted, and a panel structure in which a plurality of panels are connected by the connector.

A panel structure consisting of a plurality of panels around the cooking device in order to prevent oil and other dirt from scattering during cooking using a cooking device such as a gas range or an electromagnetic cooking device. Surrounding with is often done.
As this type of panel structure, a structure in which the angles of a plurality of panels can be freely adjusted so as to cope with differences in the structure of various kitchens is preferred.
For example, in the panel structure of Patent Document 1, the angle can be adjusted by connecting a plurality of panels with hinges.
Moreover, in the panel structure body of patent document 2, it is integrally molded from metal foils, such as aluminum foil, and angle adjustment is enabled by bending the location between panels.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-243829 JP 2000-205578 A

By the way, such a panel structure needs to be washed frequently in view of hygiene and the like because a large amount of dirt such as oil adheres during use.
However, in the panel structure of Patent Document 1, since the hinge is firmly fixed to the panel by means such as screwing, it is not easy to disassemble the panel and the hinge, and the hinge is integrally formed from a metal foil. Naturally, it was impossible to disassemble the panel structure.
For this reason, it was necessary to wash | clean in the state of a panel structure with a big dimension, and the washing | cleaning operation | work was not easy.
In addition, such a panel structure needs to bend repeatedly between the panels when the angle between the panels is adjusted or when the panel structure is folded and stored when not in use.
For this reason, in the panel structure integrally formed from the metal foil of Patent Document 2, the metal foil is cracked due to repeated bending, and there is a risk of damaging the fingers.

  Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is that the panel structure for preventing oil splashing during cooking does not hurt fingers due to ease of disassembly and cracking of the bent portion of the panel structure. Is to do so.

In order to solve the above-described problems, in the present invention, as a coupling tool for coupling the panels of the panel structure, a pair connected to the hinge portion and the plurality of panels provided at both ends of the hinge portion, respectively. The connecting portion is provided.
The hinge portion and the pair of connection portions are integrally formed of an elastic material, and the hinge portion is formed with a smaller thickness than the pair of connection portions and is easily bent, and the pair of connection portions Each has a pair of opposing sandwiching pieces, and the peripheral portions of the plurality of panels are elastically sandwiched between the sandwiching pieces to enable connection.

In the connector according to the present invention, it is preferable that the hinge portion is integrated with the connection portion at a central portion in the parallel direction of the sandwiching pieces, and the hinge portion is longer in length than the connection portion. The length of the hinge portion (distance in the parallel direction of the connecting portion) is preferably 1.5 times or more and 12.5 times or less of the length of the connecting portion, and preferably 2 mm or more and 100 mm or less. In particular, it is preferably 15 mm or more and 50 mm or less.
In the connector according to the present invention, the hinge part and the connection part are made of materials having different kinds of elasticity, and the hardness of the material constituting the connection part is larger than the hardness of the material constituting the hinge part. be able to.
In the connector according to the present invention, the elastic material is preferably a resin, and more preferably a silicone resin.

Moreover, in order to solve the above-mentioned subject, in this invention, the panel structure was comprised from the said coupling tool and the several panel connected to the said coupling tool.
In the panel structure of the present invention, the panel is preferably made of polycarbonate.

Since the coupling tool is configured as described above, the panel connected to the coupling tool is only elastically sandwiched and held between the pair of sandwiching pieces, so that the panel is pulled out and extracted from between the sandwiching pieces. Thus, the connection can be easily released.
Therefore, the panel structure can be easily disassembled, and the cleaning operation can be performed without delay. Moreover, after washing | cleaning, it can reconnect by inserting the peripheral part of a panel between the clamping pieces of a coupling tool, and attachment or detachment with respect to the panel of a coupling tool is easy.

When the panels are connected with hinges, a gap is easily formed between the panels, and dirt such as oil may be scattered outside from the gap. However, in the present invention, the connecting portion of the connecting tool is greatly bent and curved. By doing so, it is possible to bring the adjacent panels into close contact with each other, thereby making it possible to make the gap between the panels very small.
Further, in the present invention, in particular, when a plurality of panels are connected by setting the size of the connector so that the entire side of the panel can be sandwiched, the hinge portion of the connector is appropriately bent, The gap can be almost completely eliminated.
In this way, oil or the like can be reliably prevented from scattering to the outside.

  When the panel structure is integrally molded with metal foil, bending the portion between the panels repeatedly may cause cracks in the metal foil and damage the fingers, but in the present invention, the hinge portion of the connector is elastic. Since it is made of a material, it does not cause cracks even when it is repeatedly bent, and even if cracks occur, it is safe because it does not easily damage the fingers.

Perspective view of panel structure Upper enlarged perspective view of panel structure Lower enlarged perspective view of panel structure (A) of the coupler is a perspective view, (b) is a side view, (c) is a sectional view, and (d) and (e) are sectional views in a bent state. Sectional drawing which shows the other example of a coupling tool The perspective view which shows the other example of a panel structure The perspective view which shows the other example of a panel structure

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the panel structure 1 according to the embodiment includes a plurality of panels 10 and a connector 20 that connects the panels 10.
In the panel structure 1 of the embodiment, when cooking with a heating cooker such as a gas range or an electromagnetic cooker, the connector 20 is appropriately bent, and the heating cooker is installed so as to be surrounded by the panel 10, thereby providing oil or the like. This prevents the dirt from splashing outside.

  The panel 10 receives dirt such as oil scattered from the heating cooker on its wall surface. The shape and dimensions are not particularly limited, but are preferably rectangular as shown in FIG. 1 and have a size that can sufficiently receive dirt.

The material of the panel 10 is not particularly limited, but if it is made of glass or resin, when used in an easily visible kitchen such as an island kitchen or a counter kitchen, the design is in harmony with the design of the kitchen. Can be formed into one.
Moreover, it is preferable to use polycarbonate as the resin because it is lightweight and easy to handle, and also has heat resistance that is difficult to be denatured by the heat of the heating cooker.
The color of the panel 10 is not particularly limited and may be colorless and transparent, and may be printed or the like in order to have a design property and a blinding effect in the kitchen.
The presence or absence of surface processing of the panel 10 is not particularly limited, and a matting process may be performed to provide a blinding effect in the kitchen.
In addition, the thickness of the panel 10 is uniform in FIG. 1, but may be non-uniform. The thickness of the panel 10 is increased only at the bottom of the panel 10 that is in contact with the floor, so that the panel 10 can easily stand on its own. Also good.

As shown in FIG. 3, an auxiliary tool 11 for assisting the self-standing state of the panel 10 may be attached to an appropriate position below the panel 10.
The shape of the auxiliary tool 11 is not particularly limited, such as a polygonal column shape, as long as the bottom surface is flat and the slit 11a for inserting the lower portion of the panel 10 is formed. The whole has a semi-cylindrical shape.

The material of the auxiliary tool 11 is not particularly limited as long as it has a rigidity that can assist the self-supporting of the panel 10, but a silicone resin can be exemplified.
Further, the inner surface of the slit 11a may be appropriately subjected to anti-slip processing for preventing the inserted panel from slipping. The number of auxiliary tools 11 is not particularly limited.

As shown in FIG. 4, the connector 20 that connects the panels 10 includes a hinge portion 22 and connection portions 21 provided at both ends of the hinge portion 22.
The connection part 21 and the hinge part 22 are integrally formed of a material having elasticity. Although the method of this integral molding is not specifically limited, Injection molding can be illustrated.

The type of the material having elasticity is not particularly limited, such as rubber, thermoplastic elastomer, thermosetting elastomer and the like. For example, chloroprene rubber, nitrile rubber, styrene / butadiene rubber, natural rubber for rubber, polyurethane elastomer, olefin elastomer, styrene elastomer, polyester elastomer, vinyl chloride elastomer, thermosetting for thermoplastic elastomer Examples of elastomers include urethane elastomers and silicone resins. Among them, in particular, a silicone resin having high heat resistance can be suitably used for a heating cooker such as a gas range where the surroundings are at a high temperature.
The hardness of the material having such elasticity is not particularly limited, but examples of the connector 20 having an appropriate flexibility include those having a durometer hardness of 10 to 90 by a type AM durometer in accordance with JIS K6253. The thing of 60-80 is preferable.
In addition, when this inventor produced the coupling tool 20 of embodiment about the silicone resin whose durometer hardness is 40, 50, 70, the hinge part 22 is equipped with moderate flexibility suitable for bending performance. It was confirmed that
The color of the connector 20 and the presence or absence of surface processing are not particularly limited.

  A groove 21a extending in the width direction of the connection portion 21 (a direction orthogonal to the parallel direction of the connection portion 21) is formed on the outer surface of the pair of connection portions 21, and thereby a pair of sandwiched portions facing each other with the groove 21a therebetween A piece 21b is formed. The groove 21a terminates in the middle of the connecting portion 21 in the width direction, and both end faces of the connecting portion 21 are closed.

Here, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), the interval t between the opposing clamping pieces 21b is slightly smaller than the panel thickness t '.
Therefore, as shown by the arrows in FIG. 2, when the peripheral portion of the panel 10 is pushed between the sandwiching pieces 21b, the panel 10 is elastically sandwiched by the sandwiching pieces from the front and back surfaces due to the contraction force of the elastic material. It will be. Thereby, the panel 10 and the coupling tool 20 are connected. As shown in FIG. 1, almost the entire side of the panel 10 is connected to a connector. In the present invention, the case where the distance t and the thickness t ′ are the same or the case where the thickness t ′ is larger than the distance t is not excluded. Even in these cases, various means for improving the panel holding performance of the connector 20 to be described later can be elastically sandwiched.
In addition, in this invention, it is not limited to when the hinge part 22 and the connection part 21 of a coupling tool are comprised with the same raw material which has elasticity, The hinge part 22 and the connection part 21 are different types of elasticity. You may be comprised with the raw material. When the hinge portion 22 and the connection portion 21 are made of different materials, for example, when the coupling tool is made of silicone resin, the hardness of the connection portion 21 (for example, durometer hardness) is set to the hinge portion 22. If the hardness is higher than the hardness, the hinge portion 22 can be made highly flexible while increasing the force for sandwiching the panel of the connecting portion 21, and the stability and handling of the bent state when the panel structure 1 is made. It is possible to prevent the connector 20 and the panel 10 from being easily detached while maintaining the properties.
Further, if the length of the groove 21a (width direction of the connecting portion 21) is made smaller than the length of one side of the panel 10, the contraction force of the elastic material when the peripheral portion of the panel 10 is pushed between the sandwiching pieces 21b. Thus, since the panel is elastically held between both end faces of the connection portion 21, the panel holding performance of the coupler 20 is further improved.

Although the thickness of the connecting portion 21 is not particularly limited, it depends on the type of material having elasticity that constitutes the connector 20, but it is assumed that the holding piece 21b has a sufficient elastic holding force when the panel 10 is sandwiched. It is preferable that the thickness is greater than 1 mm by 1 mm or more.
Although the shape of the connecting portion 21 is a prismatic shape with rounded corners in the drawing, it is not limited as long as the panel 10 can be sandwiched, and may be a cylindrical shape, an elliptical column shape, or the like.

  The hinge portion 22 has a thickness smaller than that of the connecting portion 21 and is formed in a sheet shape. By being formed of an elastic material, the hinge portion 22 is flexible and can be bent freely as shown in FIG. Further, as shown in FIG. 4 (e), the panel structure 1 can be made compact in a small thickness state by bending the connection portions 21 so as not to interfere with each other so that the thick connection portions 21 do not interfere with each other. Can be folded.

By bending the hinge portion 22, the angle between the panels 10 connected to the connector 20 can be freely adjusted. Moreover, it is also possible to narrow the space | interval between the panels 10 by bending the hinge part 22 and making the connection parts 21 approach.
The thickness of the hinge part 22 is not limited as long as it is smaller than that of the connection part 21, and depending on the type of the material having elasticity that constitutes the connector 20, moderate flexibility occurs and sufficient strength is obtained. As for it, it is preferable that it is 0.5 mm or more.

  Although the connection part (namely, connection part of the connection part 21 and the hinge part 22) in the inner surface of the connection part 21 of the hinge part 22 is not specifically limited, as shown in the figure, the center of the parallel direction of a pair of clamping piece 21b It is preferable that it is connected by the part. As a result, the deformation amount when the hinge portion 22 is bent and deformed is equal between the front surface side and the back surface side of the panel 10, and an excessive load is prevented from being applied to the hinge portion 22.

The length of the hinge portion 22 (dimension in the parallel direction of the connecting portion 21) is not particularly limited, but is preferably larger than the length of the connecting portion 21, preferably 2 mm or more, and particularly preferably 15 mm or more. preferable. By setting the hinge part 22 to a sufficient length, the bent state of the hinge part 22 is stabilized, and the angle between the panels 10 is prevented from changing due to the elasticity of the material of the connector 20.
Moreover, since the handleability of the panel structure 1 will fall when the length of the hinge part 22 is too long, it is preferable that it is 100 mm or less, and it is especially preferable that it is 50 mm or less.
The width of the hinge part 22 is not particularly limited as long as it is the same as or smaller than the width of the connection part 21.
Moreover, it is preferable that the length of the hinge part 22 is 1.5 times or more and 12.5 times or less of the length of the connection part 21. In this case, the bent state of the panel structure body in which the panel and the connector are connected is stabilized.

  It should be considered that the embodiments disclosed herein are illustrative and non-restrictive in every respect. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, and is intended to include any modifications and variations within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

In the embodiment, the panel structure 1 including the two panels 10 and the single connector 20, which can be bent in a dogleg shape and can prevent scattering of dirt in two directions, is shown. Further, the number of the connecting tools 20 is not limited to this.
For example, a panel structure that can be folded into a U-shape and that can prevent scattering of dirt in three directions may be configured from the three panels 10 and the two couplers 20 that connect the panels. Moreover, you may comprise the panel structure body which can be bend | folded in a W shape from the four coupling devices 20 which connect between the four panels 10 and panels.
In the embodiment, the connector 20 is a connector that sandwiches one entire side of the panel 10, but is not limited thereto. For example, multiple panels that are smaller than the panel, such as connecting only to a portion of one side of the panel, may be used to connect multiple panels. It is also possible to adopt a mode in which a connector that can be attached to the whole is used, and a small connector is used for the upper half of the panel with less oil scattering. In this case, the amount of material used for the connector can be reduced.

Various means for improving the panel holding performance of the connector 20 are possible.
For example, as shown in FIG. 5B, the groove 21a may be formed in a so-called dovetail shape so that the distance between the sandwiching pieces 21b decreases toward the tip. Thereby, the performance which holds the panel 10 of the clamping piece 21b improves.
As shown in FIG. 5C, the anti-slip portion 21c can be provided by applying a known anti-slip process to the opposing surface of the sandwiching piece 21b to prevent the panel 10 in the connected state from slipping out.
Further, as shown in FIG. 5 (d), the convex portion 21d is provided on the opposing surface of the sandwiching piece 21b, the concave portion 12 is provided on the peripheral portion of the panel 10, and the holding performance of the panel 10 is improved by fitting the concave and convex portions. Can do.
Further, as shown in FIG. 5E, a thick head 13 is provided at the peripheral edge of the panel 10, a neck 21e narrowed at the tip of the sandwiching piece 21b is provided, and the head 13 of the panel 10 is sandwiched. By pushing inward from the neck portion 21e of 21b, it is possible to prevent the panel 10 from falling off the connector 20.
As shown in FIG. 5 (f), the anti-slip part 14 may be provided by performing a known anti-slip process on the peripheral edge side of the panel 10.
Even if a concave or convex strip extending in the width direction of the connecting portion 21 is provided on the opposing surface of the sandwiching piece 21b of the connector 20, and a convex strip or concave that can be engaged with the peripheral portion of the panel 10 is provided. Good. Similarly, a recess or protrusion that extends in the length direction of the connecting portion 21 is provided on the opposing surface of the sandwiching piece 21b, and a protrusion or recess that can be fitted to the periphery of the panel 10 is provided. Good.

In the embodiment, the auxiliary tool 11 for supporting self-supporting is attached to the panel 10, but the auxiliary tool 11 can be omitted.
As shown in FIG. 6, if the width of the entire panel 10 is substantially the same as the width of the connector 20 and only the width of the peripheral edge of the panel 10 is substantially the same as the width of the groove 21 a of the connection portion 21 of the connector 20, Since the panel 10 contacts the ground plane, the self-standing state is stabilized.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, if the groove 21 a penetrates in the width direction of the connecting portion 21, the width of the panel 10 can be made larger than the width of the connector 20, and the panel 10 comes into contact with the ground plane. Therefore, the self-supporting state is stabilized.
Although not shown, the groove 21a may penetrate only one of the connecting portions 21 in the width direction. Even in this case, the panel 10 comes into contact with the ground plane in the same manner as in FIG. The independence state is stable.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Panel structure 10 Panel 11 Auxiliary tool 11a Slit 12 Recess 13 Head 14 Antiskid part 20 Connecting tool 21 Connection part 21a Groove 21b Nipping piece 21c Antiskid part 21d Convex part 21e Neck part 22 Hinge part t Distance between clamping parts t 'Panel Thickness

Claims (7)

A connector for connecting a plurality of panels,
A hinge part;
A pair of connection portions provided at both ends of the hinge portion and respectively connected to the plurality of panels;
The hinge part and the pair of connection parts are integrally formed of an elastic material,
The hinge part has a smaller thickness than the pair of connection parts and is formed easily,
Each of the pair of connection portions has a pair of opposed holding pieces, and can be connected by elastically holding the peripheral portions of the plurality of panels between the holding pieces. The hinge part is integrated with the connection part in the center part in the parallel direction of the sandwiching pieces,
The coupling tool according to claim 1, wherein the hinge part has a length larger than that of the connection part.   The connecting tool according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a length of the hinge portion is 2 mm or more and 100 mm or less.   The connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the elastic material is a resin.   The connector according to claim 4, wherein the resin is a silicone resin. At least one coupler according to any one of claims 1 to 5;
A panel structure comprising at least two panels connected to the connector.   The panel structure according to claim 6, wherein the panel is made of polycarbonate.

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