JP2021049909A - Caster and furniture with the same - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a compact caster which enables extension of an adjustment margin, and to provide furniture with casters.SOLUTION: A caster 6 includes: a wheel 30; a wheel support 40 which rotatably supports the wheel 30; a caster shaft 10 which connects the wheel support 40 to a furniture body; and an adjustment cylinder 20 which rotates around a center axis O relative to the caster shaft 10 to move vertically relative to the caster shaft 10. The caster shaft 10 has a male screw part 12, and the wheel support 40 is formed with a storage part 42 which stores a part of the male screw part 12.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to casters and fixtures with casters.

Patent Document 1 includes a wheel, a wheel support that supports the wheel, a caster shaft that connects the wheel support and a fixture body (legs, etc.), an adjusting cylinder attached to the caster shaft, and a caster. Is disclosed. The caster shaft and adjustment cylinder form a height adjustment mechanism that changes the vertical dimension from the lower end of the wheel to the fixture body. That is, by rotating the adjusting cylinder with respect to the caster shaft, the dimension from the fixture body to the lower end of the wheel can be adjusted. The size of the adjustable range (adjustment margin) by the height adjustment mechanism is determined by the vertical dimension of the male screw portion of the caster shaft.

Japanese Patent No. 5068470

In Patent Document 1, the entire male screw portion (large-diameter male screw portion) constituting the height adjusting mechanism is located above the wheel support. In this configuration, if the vertical dimension of the male screw part is increased in order to increase the adjustment margin, the vertical dimension from the fixture body to the wheel also increases, and the adjustment margin is adjusted while maintaining the compactness of the caster. There was room for improvement in making it larger.

The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide casters or fixtures with casters that are compact and can have a large adjustment margin.

In order to solve the above problems, the caster according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a wheel, a wheel support that rotatably supports the wheel, and a caster shaft that connects the wheel support to the fixture body. The caster shaft includes an adjusting cylinder that moves up and down with respect to the caster shaft by rotating around the central axis of the caster shaft, and the caster shaft has a male screw portion and the wheel. The support has an accommodating portion for accommodating a part of the male screw portion.

According to the above aspect, by accommodating a part of the male screw portion in the accommodating portion, it is possible to provide a caster that is compact and can have a large adjustment margin.

Here, the adjusting cylinder has a tubular portion extending in the vertical direction, and a nut screwed to the male screw portion may be fixed to the inside of the tubular portion.

In this case, for example, the robustness can be further improved as compared with the case where the adjusting cylinder is formed of resin and the female screw portion is directly formed on the inner peripheral surface of the adjusting cylinder. For example, the adjusting cylinder may be made of metal, and the female screw portion may be formed directly on the inner peripheral surface of the adjusting cylinder to improve the robustness.

Further, the adjusting cylinder may have a regulating portion protruding inward from the tubular portion, and the regulating portion may be located above the nut.

In this case, when the user lifts the fixture with casters, the nut can be restricted from moving upward with respect to the adjusting cylinder. Therefore, for example, it is possible to prevent the nut from falling off from the adjusting cylinder.

Further, a female screw portion is not formed on the inner surface of the accommodating portion, and a gap may be provided over the entire circumference between the inner surface of the accommodating portion and the outer peripheral surface of the male screw portion.

In this case, when the caster shaft moves up and down with respect to the wheel support, it is possible to prevent the inner surface of the accommodating portion from being scraped by the male screw portion.

Further, the caster shaft is located below the male screw portion and has a small diameter portion having an outer diameter smaller than that of the male screw portion. The small diameter portion is inserted through the wheel support and the small diameter portion is accommodated. An insertion hole having an inner diameter smaller than that of the portion may be formed.

In this case, the volume and strength of the wheel support can be ensured.

Further, the fixture with casters according to the second aspect of the present invention includes the casters of the above aspect and the fixture main body.

According to the above aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide casters or fixtures with casters that are compact and can have a large adjustment margin.

It is a perspective view of the fixture with casters of this embodiment. It is sectional drawing of the caster of FIG. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which moved the caster shaft of FIG. 2 upward.

Hereinafter, the casters and the fixtures with casters of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, the fixture with casters (hereinafter referred to as fixture 1) includes a top plate 2, a connector 3, a plurality of (two) legs 4, and a curtain plate 5. Two casters 6 are attached to each of the legs 4. In the present embodiment, the top plate 2 and the legs 4 form the fixture body. When the caster 6 rolls on the floor surface, the fixture 1 can move on the floor surface. The caster 6 has a height adjusting function as described later. The number of legs 4 and casters 6 can be changed as appropriate.

The type of furniture 1 can be changed as appropriate, and may be, for example, a movable shelf. The fixture body in this case is a shelf. Further, the furniture 1 does not have to be provided with the legs 4, and the casters 6 may be directly attached to the lower part of the furniture body.

As shown in FIG. 2, the caster 6 includes a caster shaft 10, an adjusting cylinder 20, wheels 30, and a wheel support 40. The caster shaft 10 connects the wheel 30 to the lower part of the fixture body (leg 4 in this embodiment). The wheels 30 are rotatably supported around the axle 50 by the wheel support 40. As shown in FIG. 3, in the present embodiment, the two wheels 30 are arranged so as to sandwich the wheel support 40 in between. The axle 50 is inserted into a through hole 41 formed in the wheel support 40, and the wheels 30 are fixed to both ends of the axle 50. A bearing member such as a bearing may be provided between the wheel 30 and the axle 50.

(Direction definition)
In the present embodiment, the direction along the central axis O of the caster shaft 10 is referred to as the vertical direction. The vertical direction is also the normal direction of the floor surface on which the fixture 1 is installed. In the vertical direction, the wheel 30 side is referred to as the lower side, and the fixture body side (leg 4 side) is referred to as the upper side. Further, in a plan view seen from the vertical direction, the direction that intersects the central axis O is referred to as the radial direction, and the direction that orbits around the central axis O is referred to as the circumferential direction. 2 and 4 are cross-sectional views (vertical cross-sectional views) along the central axis O of the caster 6.

The caster shaft 10 is made of a metal such as iron. The caster shaft 10 has a mounting portion 11, a male screw portion 12, a small diameter portion 13, and a protrusion portion 14. The mounting portion 11, the protruding portion 14, the male screw portion 12, and the small diameter portion 13 are provided side by side in this order from the upper side to the lower side. The lower part of the fixture body (leg 4 in this embodiment) is fixed to the mounting portion 11. For example, the mounting portion 11 may be press-fitted into the hole formed in the lower end surface of the leg portion 4. Alternatively, a male screw portion may be formed in the mounting portion 11, a female screw portion may be formed in a hole formed in the lower end surface of the leg portion 4, and these may be screwed.

The protrusion 14 is located between the mounting portion 11 and the male screw portion 12. The outer diameter of the protrusion 14 is larger than the outer diameter of the mounting portion 11 and the male screw portion 12. In other words, the protrusion 14 projects radially outward from the lower end of the mounting portion 11 (the upper end of the male screw portion 12). The small diameter portion 13 extends downward from the male screw portion 12. The outer diameter of the small diameter portion 13 is smaller than the outer diameter of the male screw portion 12. An annular groove portion 13a is formed at the lower end portion of the small diameter portion 13.

The wheel support 40 is made of, for example, resin. In addition to the above-mentioned through hole 41, the wheel support 40 is formed with an accommodating portion 42, an insertion hole 43, and an abutting portion 44. The accommodating portion 42 extends downward from the upper end of the wheel support 40. The insertion hole 43 extends further downward from the accommodating portion 42. The accommodating portion 42 and the insertion hole 43 are each formed in a circular shape in a plan view. The inner diameter of the insertion hole 43 is smaller than the inner diameter of the accommodating portion 42. The accommodating portion 42 and the insertion hole 43 are formed so that their central axes coincide with each other.

The contact portion 44 projects upward from the opening edge above the accommodating portion 42. The contact portion 44 is formed in an annular shape when viewed from above. The lower surface of the flange portion 81 of the nut 80 comes into contact with the upper surface of the contact portion 44, so that the wheel support 40 is restricted from moving upward with respect to the nut 80 and the adjusting cylinder 20.

A part of the male screw portion 12 of the caster shaft 10 is accommodated in the accommodating portion 42. A small diameter portion 13 of the caster shaft 10 is inserted into the insertion hole 43. In this way, the caster shaft 10 is arranged so as to penetrate the wheel support 40 up and down. Further, a retaining member 60 (retaining ring) is fitted in the groove portion 13a of the small diameter portion 13. The retaining member 60 regulates the upward movement of the caster shaft 10 with respect to the wheel support 40 by a predetermined amount or more.

A stopper 70 is attached to the wheel support 40. The stopper 70 can swing around the swing center 71. Although detailed description will be omitted, by operating the stopper 70, it is possible to switch between a state in which the rotation of the wheel 30 is restricted and a state in which the rotation of the wheel 30 is permitted. The caster 6 does not have to be provided with the stopper 70.

The adjusting cylinder 20 has a tubular portion 21, a fitting portion 22, a flange accommodating portion 23, and a regulating portion 24. The tubular portion 21 is formed in a cylindrical shape extending in the vertical direction. The fitting portion 22 is formed inside the tubular portion 21. Although not shown, the fitting portion 22 is formed in a non-circular shape (polygonal shape, etc.) when viewed from the vertical direction. A nut 80 is fitted inside the fitting portion 22. The nut 80 is also formed in a non-circular shape (polygonal shape, etc.) when viewed from the vertical direction, and the relative rotation of the nut 80 and the adjusting cylinder 20 around the central axis O is restricted. A female screw portion is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the nut 80, and this female screw portion is screwed to the male screw portion 12 of the caster shaft 10.

A flange portion 81 protruding outward in the radial direction is formed at the lower end of the nut 80. The flange portion 81 is housed inside the flange accommodating portion 23 of the adjusting cylinder 20. The flange accommodating portion 23 is located below the fitting portion 22 and opens downward. The regulating portion 24 is located above the fitting portion 22. The regulating portion 24 projects radially inward from the tubular portion 21 and is formed in an annular shape in a plan view. The inner diameter of the regulating portion 24 is smaller than the inner diameter of the fitting portion 22 and larger than the outer diameter of the male screw portion 12 of the caster shaft 10.

The caster shaft 10 is inserted from above with respect to the adjusting cylinder 20. The protrusion 14 and the mounting portion 11 of the caster shaft 10 are located above the regulating portion 24. The male screw portion 12 of the caster shaft 10 extends below the adjusting cylinder 20 through the regulating portion 24, the fitting portion 22, and the flange accommodating portion 23.

The regulating portion 24 is located below the protrusion 14 and above the nut 80. The regulating portion 24 is in contact with the nut 80 from above. As shown in FIG. 2, at the position where the adjusting cylinder 20 is most raised with respect to the caster shaft 10 (the position where the height of the top plate 2 is the lowest), the regulating portion 24 is in contact with the protrusion 14 from below. There is. As shown in FIG. 4, when the adjusting cylinder 20 descends with respect to the caster shaft 10, the regulating portion 24 is separated downward from the protruding portion 14.

The caster shaft 10, the adjusting cylinder 20, the nut 80, and the wheel support 40 constitute the adjusting mechanism M. The adjustment mechanism M makes the distance from the contact portion 44 to the mounting portion 11 variable in the vertical direction. That is, the position of the leg portion 4 fixed to the mounting portion 11 in the vertical direction from the wheel 30 is variable by the adjusting mechanism M.

Next, the operation of the caster 6 configured as described above will be described.

When adjusting the height of the leg 4 to which the caster 6 is attached, the adjusting cylinder 20 is rotated about the central axis O with respect to the caster shaft 10. Specifically, the leg portion 4 to which the caster shaft 10 is fixed and the adjusting cylinder 20 may be gripped and rotated with each other. At this time, since the nut 80 is fixed to the adjusting cylinder 20, the nut 80 also rotates with respect to the caster shaft 10. Then, the female threaded portion of the nut 80 and the male threaded portion 12 of the caster shaft 10 are screwed together, so that the nut 80 and the caster shaft 10 move up and down relatively.

For example, when the caster shaft 10 moves upward with respect to the nut 80 from the state shown in FIG. 2, the state shown in FIG. 4 is obtained. At this time, since the flange portion 81 of the nut 80 is in contact with the contact portion 44 of the wheel support 40, the caster shaft 10 moves upward with respect to the wheel support 40 and the wheel 30, so that the leg portion 4 is also It will move upward with respect to the wheel 30. On the contrary, when the caster shaft 10 moves downward with respect to the nut 80, the leg portion 4 also moves downward with respect to the wheel 30. In this way, the height of the leg 4 with respect to the wheel 30 can be adjusted by rotating the adjusting cylinder 20 with respect to the caster shaft 10.

Here, the size (adjustment margin) of the adjustable range by the adjusting mechanism M is determined by the dimensions of the male screw portion 12 in the vertical direction and the like. For example, the larger the vertical dimension of the male screw portion 12, the larger the adjustment margin. On the other hand, for example, if the entire male screw portion 12 is exposed upward from the wheel support 40, the larger the adjustment margin, the larger the dimension from the contact portion 44 to the mounting portion 11. That is, the size of the entire caster 6 in the vertical direction becomes large. Therefore, in the present embodiment, by accommodating a part of the male screw portion 12 in the accommodating portion 42, it is possible to keep the dimension from the abutting portion 44 to the mounting portion 11 small while increasing the adjustment margin.

As described above, the caster 6 of the present embodiment is a caster that connects the wheel 30, the wheel support 40 that rotatably supports the wheel 30, and the wheel support 40 to the fixture body (for example, the leg 4). It includes a shaft 10 and an adjusting cylinder 20 that moves up and down with respect to the caster shaft 10 by rotating around the central axis O with respect to the caster shaft 10. The caster shaft 10 has a male screw portion 12, and the wheel support 40 is formed with an accommodating portion 42 for accommodating a part of the male screw portion 12. With such a configuration, it is possible to provide a caster 6 and a fixture with casters 1 which are compact and can have a large adjustment margin.

Further, the adjusting cylinder 20 has a tubular portion 21 extending in the vertical direction, and a nut 80 screwed to the male screw portion 12 is fixed to the inside of the tubular portion 21. According to this configuration, for example, the robustness can be further improved as compared with the case where the adjusting cylinder 20 is formed of resin and the female screw portion is directly formed on the inner peripheral surface of the adjusting cylinder 20. For example, the adjusting cylinder 20 may be formed of metal, and a female screw portion may be formed directly on the inner peripheral surface of the adjusting cylinder 20.

Further, the adjusting cylinder 20 has a regulating portion 24 protruding inward in the radial direction from the tubular portion 21, and the regulating portion 24 is located above the nut 80. According to this configuration, when the user lifts the fixture 1, the nut 80 can be restricted from moving upward with respect to the adjusting cylinder 20. Therefore, for example, it is possible to prevent the adjusting cylinder 20 from falling off from the caster shaft 10 integrated with the nut 80 due to the screwing of the male screw portion 12 and the nut 80.

Further, the caster shaft 10 of the present embodiment has a protrusion 14, and a male screw portion 12 is formed below the protrusion 14. Here, since the male screw portion 12 is often formed by cutting, it is difficult to form the male screw portion 12 in the vicinity of the protrusion 14. For example, an incomplete threaded portion may be formed adjacent to the protrusion 14. If the nut 80 rises to the vicinity of the protrusion 14, the female threaded portion of the nut 80 may reach the incomplete threaded portion, and the nut 80 may be locked. Therefore, in the present embodiment, a regulating portion 24 is provided between the protruding portion 14 and the nut 80, and the nut 80 is restricted from rising by a predetermined amount or more with respect to the caster shaft 10. The regulating unit 24 can suppress the phenomenon that the nut 80 is locked as described above.

Further, a female screw portion is not formed on the inner surface of the accommodating portion 42, and a gap is provided over the entire circumference between the inner surface of the accommodating portion 42 and the outer peripheral surface of the male screw portion 12. With this configuration, when the caster shaft 10 moves up and down with respect to the wheel support 40, it is possible to prevent the inner surface of the accommodating portion 42 from being scraped by the male screw portion 12.

Further, the caster shaft 10 has a small diameter portion 13 located below the male screw portion 12 and having an outer diameter smaller than that of the male screw portion 12. A small diameter portion 13 is inserted into the wheel support 40, and an insertion hole 43 having an inner diameter smaller than that of the accommodating portion 42 is formed. According to this configuration, the volume and strength of the wheel support 40 can be secured.

The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

For example, in the above embodiment, the nut 80 is fixed to the inside of the adjusting cylinder 20, but the adjusting cylinder 20 itself has a female screw portion, and the male screw portion 12 of the caster shaft 10 is screwed into the female screw portion. You may be wearing it. Also in this case, the same effect as that of the embodiment can be obtained. When the female screw portion is formed on the adjusting cylinder 20 itself, the adjusting cylinder 20 may be formed of metal to enhance the robustness.

Further, in the above embodiment, the inner diameter of the insertion hole 43 is smaller than the inner diameter of the accommodating portion 42, but the inner diameter of the accommodating portion 42 and the insertion hole 43 may be the same.
Further, in the above-described embodiment, the protruding portion 14 is integrally formed with other portions (mounting portion 11, male screw portion 12, etc.) of the caster shaft 10. However, the protrusion 14 may be formed separately from the caster shaft 10. For example, the annular member may be fitted to the boundary portion between the mounting portion 11 and the male screw portion 12, and the annular member may be used as the protrusion 14.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the regulating unit 24 regulates the dropping of the adjusting cylinder 20 from the caster shaft 10 and the nut 80. Instead of this, the flange portion 81 of the nut 80 may be brought into contact with the lower end of the adjusting cylinder 20 to prevent the adjusting cylinder 20 from falling off.
Further, instead of the groove portion 13a and the retaining member 60, for example, a protrusion protruding outward in the radial direction may be formed at the lower end portion of the caster shaft 10. In this case, the protrusion can regulate the upward movement of the caster shaft 10 with respect to the wheel support 40 by a predetermined amount or more.

In addition, it is possible to replace the constituent elements in the above-described embodiment with well-known constituent elements as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and the above-described embodiments and modifications may be appropriately combined.

1 ... Fixtures (Furniture with casters) 6 ... Caster 10 ... Caster shaft 12 ... Male threaded part 13 ... Small diameter part 20 ... Adjusting cylinder 21 ... Cylindrical part 24 ... Regulatory part 30 ... Wheel 40 ... Wheel support 42 ... Accommodating part 43 ... Insertion hole 80 ... Nut O ... Central axis

Claims (6)

With wheels
A wheel support that rotatably supports the wheel and
A caster shaft that connects the wheel support to the fixture body,
A adjusting cylinder that moves up and down with respect to the caster shaft by rotating around the central axis of the caster shaft is provided.
The caster shaft has a male screw portion that moves the adjusting cylinder up and down.
A caster in which a housing portion for accommodating a part of the male screw portion is formed on the wheel support. The adjusting cylinder has a tubular portion extending in the vertical direction.
The caster according to claim 1, wherein a nut screwed to the male screw portion is fixed to the inside of the tubular portion. The adjusting cylinder has a regulating portion that projects inward from the tubular portion.
The caster according to claim 2, wherein the regulating portion is located above the nut. A female screw portion is not formed on the inner surface of the accommodating portion, and the female screw portion is not formed.
The caster according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a gap is provided over the entire circumference between the inner surface of the accommodating portion and the outer peripheral surface of the male screw portion. The caster shaft is located below the male threaded portion and has a small diameter portion having an outer diameter smaller than that of the male threaded portion.
The caster according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the wheel support has an insertion hole through which the small diameter portion is inserted and the inner diameter is smaller than that of the accommodating portion. The caster according to any one of claims 1 to 5 and
A fixture with casters that includes the fixture body.

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