JP3126920B2 - Locking device for lid hinge of liquid container - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a locking device for a hinge of a lid in a liquid container such as an electric water heater.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a liquid container in which a lid is attached to a container body by a hinge so that the lid can be freely opened and closed, it has been conventionally possible to freely remove the lid from the convenience of discharging the internal liquid and cleaning. However, such a structure has a problem that the lid may be loosened during opening and closing, or may be accidentally detached during drainage or the like. For this reason, it has been conventionally performed to provide a lock device at the lid hinge portion (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-354911).

[0003] As shown in FIG. 7 (a), a lid 4 is provided in a hinge groove 3 of a hinge receiving portion 2 of a container body 1.
The hinge pin 5 is rotatably fitted, and the base 7 of the lock member 6 is locked in the hinge receiving portion 2. As shown in FIGS. 7B to 7D, the lock member 6 is provided with a lock piece 9 on a base 7 via a pair of left and right S-shaped spring pieces 8 so as to be vertically movable. At the lower end, a finger-hanging step 10 protruding rearward of the container body 1 is provided, and the front surface of the hinge groove 3 is covered by the lock piece 9.

In a normal state, the hinge pin 5 is blocked by the lock piece 9 and does not come off from the hinge groove 3. However, when the user puts the fingertip a on the finger hanging step 10 and pushes it down (FIG. Arrow), the spring piece 8 contracts and the lock piece 9 moves below the hinge groove 3, so that the hinge pin 5 and the lid 4 integrated therewith can be removed from the container body 1.

In the above-described conventional lock member 6, a pair of left and right S-shaped spring pieces 8 supporting the lock pieces 9 are formed by the S-shaped spring pieces.
The character surfaces (side surfaces of the spring pieces 8) are juxtaposed so as to belong to different parallel vertical surfaces.

[0006]

In the case of using the S-shaped spring piece 8 as described above, if a force is applied to the fingertip a to push down the finger-hanging step 10, depending on the direction of the pushing, the spring piece 8 may be used. 8 tends to tilt in the front-rear direction (see arrow A in FIG. 7B) with its lower end 8a as a fulcrum. For this reason, since the lock piece 9 also inclines according to the spring piece 8, there is a problem that the vertical movement of the lock piece 9 in the guide hole of the hinge receiving portion 2 lacks smoothness (hereinafter, referred to as a first problem). .

Further, as shown in FIG. 7A, the above-mentioned spring piece 8 has a vertical relationship in which the curved portion 8b closer to the finger hook step 10 is higher than the curved portion 8c closer to the base 7. When a large depressing force exceeding a certain level is applied, the upper curved portion 8b as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG.
Interferes with a part of the lower curved portion 8c (near the fulcrum 8a), so that it is impossible to further depress it, and there is also a disadvantage that a large depressing stroke cannot be obtained (hereinafter referred to as a second problem and Name).

Further, when the lock member 6 is operated to release the lock of the hinge pin 5 and the lid 4 is to be removed, the fingertip a of one hand (right hand) is extended from the rear of the container main body 1 so that the finger hanging step is performed. The cover 4 is lifted and removed with the other hand (left hand) while being hung down on the part 10. Therefore, the one hand (right hand) cannot grip the lid 4 and the lid 4 is removed only with the other hand (left hand). Was sometimes unstable. In addition, since the fingertip a to be hung on the finger hanging step 10 must be extended from the rear of the container body 1, the usability may be poor (hereinafter, referred to as a third problem).

Therefore, the invention according to claim 1 solves the first problem, and the invention according to claim 2 solves the second problem.
It is an object of the present invention to solve the third problem and to solve the third problem.

[0010]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a hinge pin of a lid is rotatably fitted in a hinge groove of a hinge receiving portion of a container body, and a base of a lock member is fitted to the hinge receiving portion. Along with fixing, a lock piece is provided on the base thereof via a pair of left and right S-shaped or continuous S-shaped spring pieces so as to be vertically movable. In the locking device for a lid hinge portion of a liquid container which covers a hinge groove, the spring piece is configured to be symmetrical in the left-right direction and the respective S-shaped surfaces are set in the same vertical plane. .

According to the above construction, when a downward pressing force acts on the lock piece, the pair of left and right S-shaped spring pieces drop straight down in a vertical plane to which both belong in common. Rise straight. If the above-mentioned spring piece is used alone, when a pressing force is applied, the spring piece is inclined left and right with its lower end as a fulcrum. In the case of the present invention, the pair of left and right spring pieces is arranged symmetrically. Then, the inclinations in the left and right directions are canceled each other, and only the lowering movement (only the upward movement when the pressing force is lost) is performed, and the airplane falls straight down and rises up.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, each of the spring pieces has at least two curved portions of an inner bulged curved portion and an outer bulged curved portion formed sequentially from the lock piece. Further, the apex of the inner bulge is lower than the apex of the outer bulge and located inside the lower end of the spring piece.

According to the above configuration, when a pressing force is applied to the spring piece, the inner bulging curved portion does not interfere with a part of the outer bulging curved portion, so that a large pressing stroke can be obtained. .

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a push button which engages with the operating portion of the lock piece and exerts a downward force on the lock piece is provided on the hinge receiving portion and provided on a base portion of the lock member. The push button is biased in a direction away from the operation unit by a holding spring.

According to the above configuration, the user can release the lock by operating the push button.
Further, since the push button is always separated from the operating portion of the lock piece by the biasing force of the pressing spring, the pressing force does not reach the spring piece supporting the lock piece. For this reason, the fatigue of the spring piece can be reduced.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the operating portion of the lock piece is formed by an upwardly inclined surface provided on one surface of the lock piece, and the push button is moved in a horizontal direction along the surface of the lock piece. The push button is slidably inserted, and the push button is provided with a downward inclined surface facing the inclined surface of the lock piece.

According to the above arrangement, the container body is stabilized by gripping the hinge portion with the thumb and the index finger of one hand, and the lock is released by pressing the push button with the thumb, while the other hand is also attached to the lid. The lid can be removed with both hands.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b) show the appearance of an electric water heater, in which a shoulder member 2 of a container body 21 is shown.
FIG. 2 shows a state in which the lid 23 is attached to the hinge 23 so as to be freely opened and closed.

As shown in FIG. 2, the hinge 24 is
A hinge receiving portion 25 provided at a rear upper end of the shoulder member 22;
Hinge pin 26 provided at the rear end of lid 23, lock member 27 incorporated in hinge receiving portion 25, and push button 28
It consists of.

The hinge receiving portion 25 has a case shape in which the inner peripheral surface side and the bottom surface of the shoulder member 22 are open, and a horizontal hinge groove 31 is formed in the inner surface of the projecting portion 29 at the upper end.
2 open to the inside.

At the rear end of the lid 23, a pin support 32 is provided.
6 is fixed, and its hinge pin 26
1 is rotatably fitted.

The lock member 27 is inserted from the bottom of the hinge receiving portion 25 into the inside thereof and fixed by screws 34. The push button 28 is inserted through a button hole 35 on one side of the hinge receiving portion 25.

As shown in detail in FIGS. 3A to 3E, the lock member 27 is provided integrally with a base 36 fitted on the bottom surface of the hinge receiving portion 25 and on the upper surface of the base 36. Pair of left and right S-shaped spring pieces 37 and their spring pieces 3
7 and a lock piece 38 integrally provided at the upper end.

A stopper 39 is provided at a central portion of the base 36 at a predetermined interval from the lower end of the lock piece 38 to limit the pressing stroke of the lock piece 38. The mounting hole 4 is provided behind the stopper 39.
1 is provided, through which the screw 34 penetrates.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the spring piece 37 is symmetrical with respect to the vertical center line passing through the stopper 39. That is, the spring piece 37
Is to bend a strip of a certain width into an S-shape,
2 is integrated with the base 36, and the upper end 43 is integrated with the lower end of the lock piece 38. The lower end 42 and the upper end 43 are substantially on the same vertical line.

As shown in FIG. 3D, each of the spring pieces 37 includes an upper straight portion 44 inclined inward from an upper end portion 43,
It has an intermediate straight part 45 parallel to this, and a lower straight part 46 parallel to these, and the lower end of the lower straight part 46 is
It is 2. An inner bulging curved portion 47 is provided between the upper straight portion 44 and the middle straight portion 45, and the middle straight portion 45 is provided.
An outer bulge portion 48 is provided between the lower straight portion 46 and the lower straight portion 46. The height H of the vertex of the inner bulge 47 with respect to the base 36 is lower than the height H ′ of the vertex of the outer bulge 48, and the height H of the inner bulge 47 is lower. The vertex is located inside the lower end 42 by the distance L.

As shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 3 (e), the normal S-shaped spring piece 37 'has an inner bulging curved portion 47' having a vertex higher than an outer bulging curved portion 48 '. Although it is at a high position, in the case of the present invention, the vertical positional relationship is reversed as shown by the solid line in FIG. Therefore, the spring pieces 37, 3
Assuming that the overall length of 7 ′ is the same, the width on the left and right is
7 (width W ') is smaller than the spring piece 37' (width W '), and the spring piece 37 of the present invention can be made more compact. Further, assuming that the widths W and W 'are the same, the spring piece 37 of the present invention has a longer overall length, thereby increasing the durability.

The above-mentioned spring piece 37 may have a shape in which two S-shapes are vertically continuous, that is, a continuous S-shape.
In this case, the inner bulging curved portion 47 is formed at two locations, and the outer bulging curved portion 48 is formed at two locations.

Next, the upper half of the lock piece 38 becomes a closing part 51 for closing the front opening part of the hinge groove 31 (see FIG. 5C), and the lower half is operated by the push button 28. Operation unit 52 to be operated. On the rear surface of the operation section 52, an upward inclined surface 53 of about 45 ° is formed. Guide ribs 50 are formed on both sides of the operation unit 52.

As shown in FIGS. 3B and 3C,
A holding spring 54 bent toward the spring piece 37 is provided at an end of the base 36 on the left side of the one spring piece 37 on the base 36 (the one on the left side when viewed from behind). The upper end of 54 is a free end. The presser spring 54 has a free end which is a push button 28 as described later.
And exerts an urging force.

A button guide 55 of the push button 28 projects from an end opposite to the holding spring 54.

As shown in FIGS. 4A to 4D, the push button 28 has a button operating portion 56 at the rear end.
On one side surface of the intermediate portion, a downward inclined surface 57 having an angle coinciding with the upward inclined surface 53 of the lock piece 38 is formed. Further, in the intermediate portion, a property of bending the push button 28 in a direction perpendicular to the advance / retreat direction of the push button 28 is provided. Locking spring piece 58 is provided, and the locking claw 59 of the locking spring piece 58 is
6 and at a certain interval. The distal end 61 of the push button 28 extends forward from the downward inclined surface 57.

FIG. 5 shows a state in which the lock member 27 and the push button 28 are incorporated in the hinge receiving portion 25 to constitute a lock device.

The base 36 of the lock member 27 is fixed by the screw 34 as described above, and the lock piece 38 passes through the guide hole 63 of the intermediate wall 62 of the hinge receiving portion 25 and protrudes above the intermediate wall 62. Then, the front surface of the hinge groove 31 is covered and the hinge pin 26 is locked. Guide rib 50
Are fitted in the guide grooves 60 of the intermediate wall 62, and the lock pieces 38
To prevent it from coming out upward.

The push button 28 inserted through the button hole 35 (see FIG. 2) on the side surface of the hinge receiving portion 25 is in a state where the rear end of the button operation portion 56 projects outside the button hole 35. However, inside the hinge receiving portion 25, the downward inclined surface 57 approaches and faces the upward inclined surface 53 of the lock piece 38. Further, the free portion of the pressing spring 54 comes into contact with the inner surface of the button operating portion 56, and exerts a biasing force on the push button 28 in the backward direction.

On the other hand, the locking claw 59 of the locking spring piece 58
Engages with the protrusion 64 on the inner surface of the hinge receiving portion 25 (FIG. 5).
(See (a)) to prevent the push button 28 from coming out.
As described above, the push button 28 is urged in the retreating direction by the urging force of the press spring 54, and the locking claw 59 is
In the state engaged with 4, there is a slight gap between the two inclined surfaces 53, 57. Thus, unnecessary load is not applied to each spring piece 37.

The tip 61 of the push button 28 is connected to the guide surface 65 of the button guide 55 (see FIG. 5B).
, Thereby being guided in the forward and backward directions.

The locking device for the hinge portion of the lid according to the embodiment is as described above. In a normal state, FIG.
As shown in (b), the closing portion 51 of the lock piece 38 covers the front surface of the hinge groove 31 to prevent the hinge pin 26 from coming off in the hinge groove 31, that is, the locked state. Therefore, the lid 23 can be freely opened and closed, but cannot be removed from the container body 21.

On the other hand, if necessary, when the user presses the button operating portion 56 of the push button 28 in the horizontal direction with the fingertip against the urging force of the presser spring 54, FIGS. 6C and 6D.
As shown in FIG.
Engages with the upwardly inclined surface 53 of the lock piece 38 and lowers the lock piece 38 while pressing and shrinking both the spring pieces 37. As a result, the front surface of the hinge groove 31 is opened (that is, the lock is released), so that the hinge pin 26 can come out freely (FIG. 6D), and the lid 23 can be removed from the container body 21. .

The button operating section 56 of the push button 28
When the finger is released, the spring piece 37 is restored, so that the lock piece 38 moves up to the original position, and the push button 28 also returns to the original position.

In a series of operations as described above, the spring piece 37 expands and contracts only in the vertical direction, so that the lock piece 38 moves up and down straight. The lower end 42 (FIG. 3)
(See (b) and (d).) This is because the two spring pieces 37 cancel each other out of the tilting motion with the fulcrum as the fulcrum. For this reason, the lock piece 38 is guided by the guide hole 63 of the hinge receiving portion 25.
(See FIG. 5B).

As shown in FIG. 6C, when the lock piece 38 is pushed down to the lowermost end, the inner bulging curved portion 47 of the spring piece 37 is not obstructed by the lower linear portion 46. , To the base 36, and a large pressing stroke is obtained. This stroke is regulated to an appropriate size by the stopper 39.

In the above-described embodiment, the push button 28 is pushed in the horizontal direction when the lock is released, so that the hinge 24 (see FIG. 1) of the lid 23 is attached to the thumb and index finger of one hand. The lock can be released by pressing the push button 28 with the thumb and at the same time, the other hand can be attached to the lid 23 and the lid 23 can be removed with both hands. This can be performed reliably, and the container body 21 is also stable, so that it is safe.

[0044]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the spring piece supporting the lock piece expands and contracts only in the vertical direction, there is an effect that the vertical movement of the lock piece becomes smooth. According to the second aspect of the present invention, when a pressing force is applied, the inner bulging curved portion does not interfere with a part of the outer bulging curved portion, so that a large pressing stroke can be obtained. Thus, the degree of freedom in designing the lock member is increased. Further, compared to the conventional example in which the length of the spring piece is the same, compactness can be achieved.

In both the third and fourth aspects of the present invention, the lock can be released by operating the push button, so that the operability is improved. Furthermore, the invention according to claim 3 can reduce the fatigue of the S-shaped spring piece and extend its life.
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the lock can be released by the operation of the thumb of the hand gripping the hinge portion of the lid, and the lid can be removed in cooperation with the other hand. There is no need to worry about dropping the container, and the container body is also stable, so safety is increased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a partially omitted plan view of a liquid container according to an embodiment. FIG.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the lock device.

FIG. 3 (a) is a plan view of the same locking member. FIG. 3 (b) is a front view of the same locking member. FIG. 3 (c) is a perspective view of the same locking member. Other explanatory drawing of a piece

FIG. 4A is a front view of the same push button. FIG. 4B is a bottom view of the same push button. FIG. 4C is a rear view of the same push button.

5A is a cross-sectional plan view of the lock device of the above embodiment. FIG. 5B is a longitudinal sectional front view of the lock device of the embodiment.

6 (a) is an explanatory view of the operation of the lock device according to the first embodiment; FIG. 6 (b) is a partial cross-sectional view of FIG.

7A is a partial cross-sectional view of a lock device of a conventional example. FIG. 7B is a side view of the lock member. FIG. 7C is a front view of the lock member.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 21 Container main body 22 Shoulder member 23 Lid 24 Hinge part 25 Hinge receiving part 26 Hinge pin 27 Lock member 28 Push button 29 Projection part 31 Hinge groove 32 Pin support part 34 Screw 35 Button hole 36 Base 37 Spring piece 38 Lock piece 39 Stopper 41 Mounting Hole 42 Lower end portion 43 Upper end portion 44 Upper straight portion 45 Middle straight portion 46 Lower straight portion 47 Inner bulging curved portion 48 Outer bulging curved portion 50 Guide rib 51 Closing portion 52 Operating portion 53 Upward inclined surface 54 Pressing spring 55 Button Guide 56 Button operation unit 57 Downward inclined surface 58 Locking spring piece 59 Locking claw 60 Guide groove 61 Tip 62 Intermediate wall 63 Guide hole 64 Projection 65 Guide surface

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A47J 41/00

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A hinge pin of a lid is rotatably fitted in a hinge groove of a hinge receiving portion of a container body, and a base of a lock member is fixed to the hinge receiving portion, and a pair of left and right S-shapes are provided on the base. Alternatively, a lock hinge is provided so as to be vertically movable via a continuous S-shaped spring piece, and the lock piece is provided with an external operation unit, and the lock hinge covers the hinge groove. The lock device for a lid hinge part of a liquid container according to claim 1, wherein the spring pieces are symmetrical with respect to each other, and their S-shaped surfaces are set in the same vertical plane. 2. Each of the spring pieces has at least two curved portions, an inner bulged curved portion and an outer bulged curved portion formed sequentially from a lock piece as a starting point. 2. The lock according to claim 1, wherein the apex of the bent portion is lower than the apex of the bent portion and is located inside the lower end of the spring piece. apparatus. 3. A push button which is engaged with an operating portion of the lock piece and exerts a downward force on the lock piece is provided on the hinge receiving portion, and the push button is provided by a press spring provided on a base of the lock member. The locking device for a hinge part of a lid of a liquid container according to claim 1, wherein the lid is urged in a direction away from the operation part. 4. An operation portion of the lock piece is formed by an upwardly inclined surface provided on one surface of the lock piece, and the push button is slidably inserted in a horizontal direction along the surface of the lock piece. 4. The locking device according to claim 3, wherein the push button is provided with a downward inclined surface facing the inclined surface of the lock piece.