JP2556788Y2 - Casters - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a caster capable of turning in a straight direction, and more particularly to an improved caster capable of operating a lock mechanism in front of wheels.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a caster capable of moving straight by providing a stopper, as shown in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 63-197704,
A pin hole is opened in a substantially rectangular shape on the side surface of the stopper in an arc shape centered on the stopper axis serving as the pivot axis, and both ends of the pin together with the pin hole are fitted into the pin support hole formed in the fork of the support yoke. A configuration is known in which a coil spring is wound around the pin and a spring hooking pin protruding from the side wall of the stopper on both outer sides of the side wall of the stopper to urge the pin in the axial direction for the stopper.

In the above configuration, a horizontal plate having a receiving hole is fixed below the turning shaft, and the engaging projection of the stopper is immersed in the receiving hole and locked. The receiving hole must be set on the rear side of the vehicle so that a large space can be provided between the receiving hole and the wheel, and the stopper is also arranged to extend rearward on the wheel. Therefore, when the operation of the stopper is performed behind the supported member of the caster, it is necessary to turn the wheels. That is, when the wheels of the casters are advanced, the wheels are 18
In the above configuration, the stopper is located forward in the traveling direction when the vehicle travels forward, since the vehicle travels in a state of turning around 0 ° and turning back and forth. Therefore, it is preferable that the mounting position of the stopper is located on the front side of the wheel. However, since the gap between the stopper and the wheel is narrow, it is necessary to mount the stopper on the front outside and the size cannot be avoided.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Further, in the universal wheel turning lock device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 64-2604, the turning lock device is arranged so as to be forward when the caster goes straight, and there is a drawback that the wheel is obstructed when the wheels travel. there were. On the other hand, Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 57-103206 discloses a configuration in which the locking lever is arranged rearward when the caster moves straight, but the tip of the locking lever always contacts the annular locking body during locking. Has the disadvantage that it is easily worn. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its main problem is that the operating body is mounted so that the pedal portion extends forward on the wheels so that the operating body faces rearward when the caster advances. It is another object of the present invention to provide a caster in which a locking guide portion having a receiving portion below the mounting portion is fixed, and the turning is locked while being guided by the guide surface of the locking guide portion when locking. .

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention solves the above-mentioned problem by providing a mounting portion to be mounted on a body to be mounted, a turning portion rotatably mounted below the mounting portion, and a downward direction from the turning portion. A caster comprising a pair of left and right support yokes protruded, a wheel rotatably attached to the lower end of the support yoke, and a lock mechanism for fixing the turning of the turning portion. One side edge of the mounting portion is fixed downward at a position where it becomes rearward when the caster moves straight, and its bottom surface is formed at a raised portion extending along both sides in the turning direction, and is received at a position halfway in the turning direction of the raised portion. A guide formed on the bottom surface of the hook guide portion on both sides in the turning direction of the receiving portion, the guide surface comprising an inclined surface gradually descending toward the receiving portion and continuing to the receiving portion. Provide a surface, inside the support yoke It is fitted and pivotally attached to a pivot suspended between the support yokes, extends on the wheels in a direction facing rearward when the caster moves straight, and abuts on the guide surface when pivoted upward to abut against the guide surface. An actuating body which has an engaging projection which is urged in the intrusion direction and projects into the receiving portion at a position aligned with the receiving portion and has an end serving as an operation pedal is provided. A lock shaft movably mounted, a spring member interposed between the pivot shaft and the lock shaft and urged in the approaching direction, and a lock shaft formed on the operating body for displacing the lock shaft and moving the lock shaft up and down. The technical means of providing a cam surface for restraining the lock shaft is provided.

[0006]

When the caster is turned, when the operating pedal of the operating body biased by the spring member is depressed from the top to the bottom, the operating body rotates and operates at the standby position where the locking piece does not contact the engaging portion. The cam surface of the body and the lock shaft are restrained. As a result, the restraint of the turning portion is released, and the turning portion can be turned freely. When the caster is moved straight, the operating pedal of the operating body is pushed upward from the bottom to rotate the operating body to push the engaging projection into the receiving portion, and the cam surface at the engaging position. And the lock shaft are restrained. If the receiving portion is not aligned with the engaging protrusion when the engaging protrusion rises, the turning portion is turned to abut the engaging protrusion with the hook guide portion and engage along the guide surface. The guide is guided to the receiving part while pushing down the stop piece, and is pushed into the receiving part. As a result, the turning of the turning portion on which the operating body is mounted is restricted, so that the wheels can move straight.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of the caster 1 of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIGS. 1 to 4, reference numeral 2 denotes a mounting portion for mounting a caster to a mounted body, which is formed of a substantially square plate having a flat surface, and has a shaft portion 4 at the center thereof.
Is fixed. A revolving portion 5 is disposed outside the mounting portion 2 and the shaft portion 4, and ball bearings 3 a, 3 b are vertically arranged between the revolving portion 5 and the mounting portion 2 and the shaft portion 4.
Are formed respectively, and the revolving part 5 is rotatably mounted. A support yoke made up of a pair of support leg pieces 6 is integrally protruded downward from the lower surface of the turning portion 5. The axle P supported between the lower end portions of the pair of support leg pieces 6
The wheel 7 has a known structure in which the wheel 7 is rotatably supported via the wheel 1.

The caster 1 is provided with the lock mechanism of the present embodiment. That is, at a position on one side edge of the mounting portion 2 which is rearward when the caster moves straight, a substantially channel-shaped hooking guide portion 8 is integrally protruded downward. As is clear from FIGS. 2, 3 and 5, the hook guide portion 8 is configured such that the left and right side wall surfaces 9 are gradually widened toward the rear (the center of the mounting portion 2), and gradually downward toward the center. And a guide surface 9 'inclined toward. The bottom wall surface 10 of the hook guide portion 8 is formed of a surface that is gradually inclined downward toward the rear, and a rectangular hole serving as the receiving portion 11 is formed in the center thereof. It can communicate with the hollow part formed by.

On the other hand, an operating body 20 extending on the wheel in a direction facing rearward when the caster is straight ahead is pivotally fitted into the support yoke 6. This actuating body 20 is connected to the front of the pair of side wall pieces 22 by a horizontal portion 23, a pedal portion 21 is provided in front of the horizontal portion 23, and an engagement capable of protruding into the receiving portion 11 behind. A protrusion 24 is provided. The pedal portion 21 is disposed so as to protrude substantially horizontally on the front side of the wheel 7, and the engaging protrusion 24 is disposed substantially vertically.

A pivot P2 penetrates through a middle portion of the pair of side wall pieces 22, and both ends of the pivot are fixed to the support yoke 6. The rear end of each side wall piece 22 is a cam surface 25 having the same shape. As shown in FIG. 6, two concave portions 26 and 28 are formed at the top and bottom, and a projection 27 is provided at the center. It is composed. In this embodiment, the cam surface 25 is used.
Is an end surface, but the cam surface may be formed as an inner peripheral surface of the hole.

On the other hand, a pair of long holes 12 are formed in the support yoke 6 at opposing positions, and a lock shaft P3 is slidably fitted therein. The lock shaft P3 is connected to the cam surface 25.
The coil spring 13 is hung between the pivot P2 and the pivot P2, and is constantly urged toward the pivot P2, so that the lock shaft P3 constantly abuts the cam surface 25. In the same manner, the elongated hole 12 is also
3 is set to a size that can slide along the displacement of the cam surface 25.

Next, the operation of the lock mechanism for straight traveling in the caster 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and FIGS. 5 and 6. The operating body 20 shown in FIG. 5A is restrained at the lock position by the coil spring 13, and the engagement protrusion 24 is at the lock position immersed in the receiving portion 11. Then, by pressing down the pedal portion 21 against the urging force of the coil spring 13, the cam surface 25 is displaced, and the lock shaft P3 locked in the upper concave portion 26 is shown in FIG. Ride on the protrusion 27. Further, when the operating body 20 is pushed down, the lock shaft P3 is fitted into the lower concave portion 28 as shown in FIG. 5C and is restrained at the unlocked position by the urging force of the coil spring 13. Thereby, the turning portion 5 and the mounting portion 2 are disengaged from each other, so that the wheels 7 can turn freely.

Next, when the wheels 7 are locked in a straight line, the pedal 21 is pushed up in the reverse order of the above procedure. At this time, if the receiving portion 11 is located at a position aligned with the engaging projection 24, the engaging projection can be immersed as it is, but otherwise, the engaging guide 8 guides the engaging projection. That is, the operating body 2
When the turning portion 5 is turned in a case where 0 is displaced to the lock position shown in FIG. 5A and the hook guide portion 8 is not at the alignment position, the tip of the engagement protrusion 24 is turned as shown in FIG. Abuts on a guide surface 9 ′ formed on the side wall surface 9 of the hook guide portion 8.

Then, when the operating body 20 is further turned,
As shown in FIG. 6B, the engagement projection 24 moves toward the bottom wall surface 10 while being pressed down against the urging force of the coil spring 13 by abutment with the guide surface 9 '. When the receiving portion 11 formed on the bottom wall 10 and the engaging protrusion 24 are aligned with each other, the engaging projecting portion 24 enters the receiving portion 11 by the repulsive force of the coil spring 13 as shown in FIG. , Be restrained. As a result, the support yoke 6 side on which the operating body 20 is provided and the mounting section side on which the hook guide portion 8 is formed are restrained in the turning direction,
Since the wheels 7 are fixed, the wheels 7 can travel straight. Here, since the operating body 20 is arranged and formed on the front side of the wheel, the operating body 20 is turned over when the vehicle is turned forward and displaced rearward.
Can be operated.

In the above embodiment, the mounting portion is formed separately from the mounting portion, and the mounting portion is integrally fixed by welding. However, in the present invention, one side portion of the mounting portion is bent and latched. It may be a guide part. In other words, it goes without saying that various design changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0016]

[Effect of the Invention] In the caster of the present invention, a locking guide portion is formed on the mounting portion as a locking mechanism, and an operating body is interposed between the mounting portion and the wheels, so that the locking mechanism is simplified without increasing the size. Thus, the operation of the operating body in front of the wheels can be enabled. In addition, since the above configuration is adopted, there is no need to make any special change to the caster turning mechanism, and the caster can be easily attached to the caster having an existing configuration, thereby facilitating machining and increasing industrial production. It is informative.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional side view of a main part of a caster according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the caster.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the caster.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the caster.

5A and 5B are side views showing the movement of the operating body, wherein FIG. 5A shows a locked position, FIG. 5B shows a neutral position, and FIG. 5C shows a unlocked position.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are front views showing the movement of the engagement between the operating body and the engaging guide, wherein FIG. 6A is a state in which the engaging projection is in contact with the engaging guide, and FIG. Shows a state where is guided by the guide surface, and (c) shows a state where the engaging protrusion is immersed in the receiving part.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Caster 2 Mounting part 5 Revolving part 6 Support yoke 7 Wheel 8 Hanging guide part 9 'Guide surface 11 Receiving part 13 Coil spring 20 Actuator 21 Pedal part 24 Engagement protrusion 25 Cam surface P1 Axle P2 Axis P3 Lock shaft

Claims (2)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A mounting part to be mounted on a body to be mounted, a turning part pivotally mounted below the mounting part, a pair of left and right support yokes projecting downward from the turning part, and the support A caster comprising: a vehicle rotatably attached to a lower end of a yoke; and a lock mechanism for fixing the turning of the turning portion. A hook guide portion fixed downwardly at a predetermined position, a bottom surface of which is formed in a raised portion extending along both sides in the turning direction, and a receiving portion formed at a position halfway in the turning direction of the raised portion; A guide surface formed on the bottom surface of the stop guide portion on both sides in the turning direction of the receiving portion and gradually descending as approaching the receiving portion and continuing to the receiving portion; and between the supporting yoke fitted in the support yoke. While being pivotally attached to an axis When the caster moves straight, it extends on the wheel in the direction facing backward, and when pivoted upward, it abuts against the guide surface and is urged in the receiving part entry direction to enter the receiving part at a position aligned with the receiving part. An actuating body having an engagement projection and having a tip serving as an operating pedal; a lock shaft slidably mounted on the support yoke behind and behind the pivot of the actuator; interposed between the pivot and the lock shaft A caster comprising: a spring member which is urged in the approaching direction; and a cam surface formed on the operating body for displacing the lock shaft and restraining the lock shaft at upper and lower positions. 2. A spring member comprising a coil spring interposed between a pivot and a lock shaft, and a cam surface of the operating body has a projection at the center for displacing the lock shaft rearward. The caster according to claim 1, wherein the caster has a waveform in which a concave portion for restraining a lock shaft is formed above and below the portion.