JP2020172754A - Fence connector and fence - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a fence connector and a fence capable of easily connecting and releasing fences while maintaining an appearance design.SOLUTION: A fence connector 10 connects fences each having a furring strip formed of a hollow shape material, and includes: a connector body 11 slidably insertable into an end of the furring strip; and a gear 21 for moving the connector body 11 in a sliding direction. The connector body 11 has rack teeth 18 along the sliding direction. The gear 21 is engaged with the rack teeth 18.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to a fence connector and a fence that connect the ends of the fence to each other.

Conventionally, a connecting tool for connecting a panel and a fence provided with a hollow shape material such as a cap tree or a lower chord material is known (see Patent Document 1). The connecting tool is bridged inside the left and right hollow profiles of the fence arranged side by side in the left-right direction, and is fixed to the left and right hollow profiles by fixing screws. A long hole is formed in one of the left and right hollow profiles along the longitudinal direction thereof, and a guide screw penetrates the long hole, and the guide screw is fixed to the connector.
This connector can be pulled into one of the left and right hollow profiles along the elongated hole by removing the fixing screw, and by pulling the connector into the hollow profile, the connector can be pulled into the left and right other hollow profiles. It can be extracted from the hollow profile. As a result, one of the fences arranged side by side in the left-right direction can be removed without the connector being caught.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2013-11306

By the way, in the connector described in Patent Document 1, the guide screw is fixed at a specific position so as not to move relative to the connector, and the guide screw moves by the length of the elongated hole. It is possible. For this reason, it is necessary to form a long hole with a length dimension corresponding to the moving distance required for pulling the connecting tool spanning the left and right hollow profiles into the inside of one of the left and right hollow profiles. If the length of the hole is too large, the appearance design may be impaired.

An object of the present invention is to provide a fence connecting tool and a fence capable of easily connecting and disconnecting fences while maintaining an appearance design.

The fence connecting tool of the present invention is a connecting tool for connecting fences having a furring strip formed of a hollow profile, and is connected to a connecting tool main body that can be slidably inserted into the end of the furring strip. A gear that moves the tool body in the sliding direction is provided, the connector body has rack teeth along the sliding direction, and the gear meshes with the rack teeth.
The fence of the present invention is a plurality of fences including a fence main body, a furring strip formed by a hollow profile attached to the fence main body, and the above-described connecting tool of the present invention for connecting the plurality of fences to each other. At least one end of the furring strip in the longitudinal direction is formed with a hole for rotating the connector with respect to the gear.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a fence connecting tool and a fence that can easily connect and disconnect fences while maintaining an appearance design.

The perspective view which shows the fence using the connecting tool which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The perspective view which shows the furring strip of the fence which accommodated the connector which concerns on the said embodiment. The perspective view which shows the connector which concerns on the said embodiment. Explanatory drawing which shows the connector which concerns on the said embodiment. The explanatory view which shows the replacement procedure with the fence which accommodated the connector which concerns on the said embodiment. The explanatory view which shows the connection procedure of the furring strip using the connecting tool which concerns on the said embodiment.

[First Embodiment]
Hereinafter, the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In FIG. 1, the connecting tool 10 according to the first embodiment connects adjacent fences 1 (1A to 1C) to each other.
In the following description, the left-right direction of the fence 1 is the X-axis direction, the vertical direction of the fence 1 is the Y-axis direction, and the expected direction of the fence 1 is the Z-axis direction. The connector 10 will be described based on the installation orientation of the fence 1 in the connected state. The X, Y, and Z axis directions are orthogonal to each other.

The fence 1 is a fence main body 2 composed of various lattices and panels, a furring strip attached to the upper and lower edges of the fence main body 2 along the X-axis direction, and in the present embodiment, an upper furring strip 3 and a lower furring strip. An edge 4 is provided, and each upper furring strip 3 and each lower furring strip 4 are attached to columns (not shown). For convenience of explanation, the fences 1A and 1C are existing fences, the fence 1B is a new fence replaced with the existing fence, and each connector 10 has upper furring strips 3 and lower furring strips 4 of fences 1A and 1B. The upper furring strips 3 and the lower furring strips 4 of the fences 1B and 1C are connected to each other. An end cap 5 is attached to the right end of the upper furring strip 3 and the lower furring strip 4 of the fence 1A in FIG. 1 and the left end of the upper furring strip 3 and the lower furring strip 4 of the fence 1C in FIG.
The upper furring strip 3 and the lower furring strip 4 are each composed of a hollow profile formed of an extruded aluminum profile. As shown in FIG. 2, the upper furring strip 3 has an upper piece portion 31, a lower piece portion 32, and a pair of side piece portions 33, and is formed in a tubular shape. In the upper furring strip 3 of the fence 1B, holes 35 (fixing holes) for fixing and holes 36 (operation holes) for rotating the gear 21, which will be described later, are formed at both ends of the side piece 33. Further, in the upper furring strips 3 of the fences 1A and 1C, fixing holes 35 through which fixing screws 6 are inserted are formed at both ends of the side piece 33 (see FIGS. 5 and 6). Since the lower furring strip 4 is formed substantially in the same manner as the upper furring strip 3 and is arranged upside down, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Although the connector 10 is made of synthetic resin in this embodiment, it may be made of various materials such as die-cast, or may be an extruded shape member. The connecting tool 10 includes a connecting tool 10A that connects the left and right upper furring strips 3 to each other and a connecting tool 10B that connects the left and right lower furring strips 4 as shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. The couplers 10A and 10B are similarly formed and arranged upside down. Hereinafter, the connecting tool 10A will be described in detail, and the connecting tool 10B will be appropriately designated by the same reference numerals in the drawings.
As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the connecting tool 10A slides the connecting tool main body 11 which can be slidably inserted into the end of the upper furring strip 3 along the X-axis direction and the connecting tool 10A. It is provided with a gear 21 (pinion gear) that moves in a direction (X-axis direction).
The connector main body 11 has a pair of side pieces 12 along the X-axis direction, an upper piece 13 continuous with the upper ends of the pair of side pieces 12, and a pair of side pieces at a position below the upper piece 13. The portion 12 has a continuous lower piece portion 14. At the center position of the upper piece portion 13 in the X-axis direction, a positioning recess 15 into which the positioning convex portion 9A of the cover piece 9 described later is inserted is formed. The upper part of the pair of side piece portions 12 is thicker than the lower part, and the elongated holes 16 along the X-axis direction and the pair of fixed holes 16 arranged on both ends in the X-axis direction are arranged in the upper portion. A hole 17 is formed. The elongated holes 16 are continuous with the lower meshing surface 161 along the X-axis direction, the upper meshing holding surface 162 along the X-axis direction, and both ends of the meshing surface 161 and the meshing holding surface 162 in the X-axis direction. It is formed by the end surface 163, and the rack teeth 18 along the X-axis direction are formed on the meshing surface 161. As shown in FIG. 4, the meshing surface 161 and the meshing holding surface 162 face each other with a gap in the Y-axis direction, and the dimension W between the tooth tip surface and the meshing holding surface 162 of the rack teeth 18 of the meshing surface 161. Is smaller than the diameter dimension R1 of the tooth tip circle of the gear 21 and larger than the diameter dimension R2 of the tooth bottom circle of the gear 21.
As shown in FIG. 3A, the gear 21 has a rotating shaft 22 along the Z-axis direction and a plurality of teeth 23 formed along the peripheral surface of the rotating shaft 22. At the end of the rotating shaft 22 in the Z-axis direction, a support shaft portion 24 having a diameter dimension smaller than the diameter dimension R1 is formed. A groove-shaped engaging portion 241 is formed on the support shaft portion 24 to which a tool 99 such as a screwdriver (see FIG. 6A) is engaged. The support shaft portion 24 protrudes slightly in the Z-axis direction from the side piece portion 12. As shown in FIG. 3B, the gear 21 is inserted into the elongated hole 16 of the connector main body 11 and arranged between the meshing surface 161 and the meshing holding surface 162, and the tooth 23 is provided on the rack tooth 18. To mesh. This meshing state is maintained by the upward displacement of the gear 21 being regulated by the meshing holding surface 162.

Hereinafter, a replacement procedure for replacing the fence 1F of one of the existing fences arranged side by side on the left and right will be described.
In FIG. 5A, the fence 1F to be replaced is connected to the left and right fences 1A and 1C by a general-purpose connector 100. Each of the connecting tools 100 is cut at the position indicated by the arrow 8 by a cutter or the like, and the connection between the fence 1F and the fences 1A and 1C is released by cutting.
Next, as shown in FIG. 5B, the fence 1F is removed from between the fences 1A and 1C, and the remaining portion of the connector 100 is removed from the fences 1A and 1C. In FIG. 5B, the remaining portion of the connector 100 is also removed from the fence 1F, but it does not have to be removed.
Next, as shown in FIG. 5C, a new fence 1B is arranged between the fences 1A and 1B. In FIG. 5C, connecting tools 10 are housed at both ends of the upper furring strip 3 of the fence 1B. Although not shown, the connecting tools 10 are also housed at both ends of the lower furring strip 4. Further, the side piece portion 12 of the connector main body 11 is in contact with the lower piece portion 14 of the upper furring strip 3, whereby the vertical position of the connector main body 11 with respect to the upper furring strip 3 is positioned. Further, the support shaft portion 24 of the gear 21 is fitted in the operation hole 36 as shown in FIG. 2, whereby the gear 21 is positioned with respect to the upper furring strip 3.

Next, each connecting tool 10 is slid and moved to connect the fence 1B to the fences 1A and 1C. FIG. 6 shows a procedure for connecting the upper furring strip 3 of the fence 1B to the upper furring strip 3 of the fence 1A. The procedure for connecting the upper furring strips 3 to each other is as follows.
First, as shown in FIG. 6A, the tool 99 is engaged with the engaging portion 241 located at the end of the gear 21 to rotate the gear 21, and the connector main body 11 is slid and moved in the X-axis direction. The connector main body 11 is inserted into the end of the upper furring strip 3 adjacent to the upper furring strip 3 and the connector main body 11 is brought into a predetermined connecting position. Deploy. At this time, the positioning recesses 15 of the connector 10 are arranged between the upper furring strips 3 adjacent to each other. In this embodiment, the connector main body 11 is slid by about 30 mm.
Next, as shown in FIG. 6B, the fixing screws 6 are inserted into the fixing holes 35 of the adjacent upper furring strips 3 and screwed and fixed into the fixing holes 17 of the connector 10.
Next, as shown in FIG. 6C, the cover piece 9 is attached to the connector 10 between the upper furring strips 3. At this time, the positioning convex portion 9A is inserted into the positioning concave portion 15. By attaching the cover piece 9 as shown in FIG. 6D, the upper furring strips 3 are connected to each other.
The lower furring strips 4 are also connected to each other by the same connecting procedure as the connecting procedure between the upper furring strips 3 described above.
In this way, the fence 1F can be easily replaced with the fence 1B without moving the fences 1A and 1C in the X-axis direction.

When removing the fence 1B, the fixing screw 6 is removed from each connecting tool 10, and the gear 21 is rotated in the reverse direction by the tool 99 to accommodate the connecting tool 10 at the end of the upper furring strip 3. By doing so, the fence 1B can be removed without moving the fences 1A and 1C in the X-axis direction.

[Modification example]
In the above embodiment, the rack teeth 18 are formed on both of the pair of side piece portions 12 of the connector 10, but may be formed only on one side piece portion 12. In this case, the other side piece portion 12 may be formed with a groove or the like in which the end portion of the gear 21 rotatably contacts. Further, the rack teeth 18 may be formed not at the side piece portion 12 but at the central portion of the connector main body 11 in the Z-axis direction, for example.
In the above embodiment, the fixing hole 17 is formed in the connecting tool 10, but when the fixing screw 6 is screwed into the connecting tool 10 while being threaded, the fixing hole 17 may not be formed in advance.
In the above embodiment, the meshing surface 161 is arranged on the lower side and the meshing holding surface 162 is arranged on the upper side. On the contrary, the meshing surface 161 is arranged on the upper side and the meshing holding surface 162 is arranged on the upper side. 162 may be placed on the lower side.
In the above embodiment, the connector main body 11 is inserted into the end of the upper furring strip 3 (lower furring strip 4) as described above, and the support shaft portion 24 of the gear 21 is fitted into the operation hole 36. Since the meshing state between the tooth 23 of the gear 21 and the rack tooth 18 is maintained, the dimension W between the tooth tip surface and the meshing holding surface 162 of the rack tooth 18 is the diameter dimension R1 of the tooth tip circle of the gear 21. It may be larger than the above, and the configuration of the meshing holding surface 162 may be omitted, and recesses opened upward and laterally may be configured instead of the elongated holes 16.
Further, since the gear 21 is arranged between the meshing surface 161 and the meshing holding surface 162, the meshing state of the teeth 23 and the rack teeth 18 is maintained, so that the configuration of the support shaft portion 24 of the gear 21 can be omitted. Good. In this case, the connector main body 11 can be slid and moved in the X-axis direction by rotating the end of the gear 21 while pressing it in the Z-axis direction with the tool 99.
In the above embodiment, the operation holes 36 are formed at both ends of the upper furring strip 3 and the lower furring strip 4 of the fence 1B. For example, when the fence 1 is newly installed, the upper furring strip 3 and the lower furring strip 4 are formed. A plurality of fences having an operation hole 36 formed at one end and no operation hole 36 formed at the other end may be arranged side by side and connected by a connecting tool 10.

[Summary of the present invention]
The fence connecting tool of the present invention is a connecting tool for connecting fences having a furring strip formed of a hollow profile, and is connected to a connecting tool main body that can be slidably inserted into the end of the furring strip. A gear that moves the tool body in the sliding direction is provided, the connector body has rack teeth along the sliding direction, and the gear meshes with the rack teeth.
According to the fence connector of the present invention, the connector body with the gears meshed with the rack teeth is slid-inserted into the end of the furring strip, and the position of the gear is aligned with the position of the hole formed in the furring strip. Then, the gear can be rotated, and the connector body can be slid by rotating the gear. By projecting the connector body from the end of the furring strip by sliding movement, the furring strips of adjacent fences can be connected to each other, while by sliding the connecting tool body in the opposite direction to the end of the furring strip. The furring strips of the fence can be disconnected from each other, and only the fence to be replaced can be easily removed.
Further, since the connector main body is slidably moved by rotating the gear, for example, a feed screw is passed through a long hole formed in the furring strip and screwed into the connector main body, and this feed screw is screwed into the long hole of the furring strip. Compared with the case of moving the gear in the sliding direction along the furring strip, it is not necessary to form an elongated hole along the furring strip in the furring strip, and it is only necessary to form a hole for rotating the gear with respect to the furring strip. Therefore, the opening area of the hole formed in the furring strip can be reduced, and the appearance design of the fence can be maintained.

In the fence connecting tool of the present invention, the connecting tool main body has a meshing surface on which the rack teeth are formed and a meshing holding surface facing the rack teeth at a distance in a direction orthogonal to the sliding direction. The gear is arranged between the meshing surface and the meshing holding surface.
The dimension between the tooth tip surface of the rack tooth and the meshing holding surface is smaller than the diameter dimension in the tooth tip circle of the gear.
According to the fence connector of the present invention, the dimension between the tooth tip surface and the meshing holding surface of the rack tooth is smaller than the diameter dimension in the tooth tip circle of the gear, so that the gear and the rack tooth can be separated from each other. While the meshing state is held by the meshing holding surface, the rotation of the gear can be transmitted to the connector body to slide.

In the fence connecting tool of the present invention, a support shaft portion having a diameter dimension smaller than the diameter dimension in the tooth tip circle of the gear may be formed at at least one end portion in the axial direction of the gear. ..
According to such a configuration, the support shaft portion of the gear can be rotatably fitted into the hole in the furring strip having a hole smaller than the first diameter dimension, whereby, for example, a driver or the like. Even if the position of the gear in the sliding direction is not held by the axial pressure welding of the tool to the gear, the position of the gear in the sliding direction can be easily maintained at a predetermined position, and the workability of connecting the fences can be improved.

In the fence connector of the present invention, the connector body has a pair of side pieces along the sliding direction, and the rack teeth are formed on both or one of the pair of side pieces. You may. When the rack teeth are formed on both of the pair of side pieces, the rotation of the gear is transmitted to the pair of side pieces of the connector body to slide and move, so that the rack teeth are on the pair of side pieces. Compared with the case where only one of the portions is formed, a moment is less likely to be generated in the connector, and the possibility that the slide resistance increases due to this moment can be reduced.
When the rack teeth are formed on only one of the pair of side pieces, one side piece of the pair of side pieces of the connector body is compared with the case where the rack teeth are formed on both sides. It is only necessary to form a hole for rotation operation only in the portion of the furring strip that fits only, and it is possible to eliminate the need to form a hole for rotation operation in the portion of the furring strip that fits only on the other side piece. Therefore, the number of holes formed in the furring strip can be reduced, and the appearance design of the fence can be maintained.

The fence of the present invention is a plurality of fences including a fence main body, a furring strip formed by a hollow profile attached to the fence main body, and the above-described connecting tool of the present invention for connecting the plurality of fences to each other. At least one end of the furring strip in the longitudinal direction is formed with a hole for rotating the connector with respect to the gear.
According to the fence of the present invention, it is possible to construct a fence capable of exerting the same action and effect as the action and effect of the connector of the present invention described above.

1,1A-1C, 1F ... Fence, 2 ... Fence body, 3 ... Upper furring strip (trunk edge), 4 ... Lower furring strip (trunk edge), 5 ... End cap, 6 ... Fixing screw, 8 ... Arrow, 9 ... Cover piece, 99 ... Tool, 9A ... Positioning convex part, 10 (10A, 10B), 100 ... Connecting tool, 11 ... Connecting tool body, 12, 33 ... Side piece part, 13, 31 ... Upper piece part, 14 , 32 ... lower piece, 15 ... positioning recess, 16 ... long hole, 161 ... meshing surface, 162 ... meshing holding surface, 163 ... end face, 17, 35 ... fixing hole, 18 ... rack tooth, 21 ... gear, 22 ... Rotating shaft, 23 ... teeth, 24 ... support shaft part, 241 ... engaging part, 36 ... operation hole, R1 ... diameter dimension, R2 ... diameter dimension, W ... dimension.

Claims (5)

A connecting tool that connects fences with furring strips formed by hollow profiles.
A connector body that can be slidably inserted into the end of the furring strip and a gear that moves the connector body in the sliding direction are provided.
The connector body has rack teeth along the sliding direction.
The gear is a fence connector characterized in that it meshes with the rack teeth. In the fence connector according to claim 1,
The connector body has a meshing surface on which the rack teeth are formed and a meshing holding surface that faces the rack teeth at intervals in a direction orthogonal to the slide direction.
The gear is arranged between the meshing surface and the meshing holding surface.
A fence connector characterized in that the dimension between the tooth tip surface of the rack tooth and the meshing holding surface is smaller than the diameter dimension in the tooth tip circle of the gear. In the fence connector according to claim 1 or 2.
A fence connector characterized in that at least one end of the gear in the axial direction is formed with a support shaft having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the tooth tip circle of the gear. In the fence connecting tool according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
The connector body has a pair of side pieces along the sliding direction.
A fence connector characterized in that the rack teeth are formed on both or one of the pair of side pieces. According to any one of claims 1 to 4, a plurality of fences including a fence body and a furring strip formed of a hollow profile attached to the fence body, and the plurality of fences are connected to each other. Equipped with the described connectors,
A fence characterized in that at least one end of the furring strip in the longitudinal direction is formed with a hole for rotating the connector with respect to the gear.

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