JP3365025B2 - Air spring mounting structure - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention mainly relates to an air spring mounting structure having a strong spring force.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An air spring is designed to exert a predetermined spring force against contraction (or extension) from a free length state, but in reality, there is a slight amount of play, and a mounting bracket is used. When attached between two members via
Since there is play between the mounting bracket and each member,
It is attached in a somewhat contracted (stretched) state. That is, the air spring is attached in a stretched state against the spring force. Therefore, conventionally, in this type of air spring mounting structure, when the air spring is mounted between the members, the air spring is contracted (expanded) to a predetermined mounting length by a dedicated jig, and both ends are respectively mounted on the members. It is designed to be fixed and attached to.

[0003]

In the conventional air spring mounting structure using such a dedicated jig, the work is complicated because the jig must be attached to and detached from the air spring when the air spring is attached. There was a problem that became. Also, when assembling or replacing the air spring, there is no particular problem in the work in the factory, but when working on the site where the product is installed, it is necessary to always carry the jig, which is very complicated. Was becoming.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an air spring mounting structure capable of easily mounting an air spring without using a jig. Has an aim.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has one end attached to one member in advance in a free length state and the other end attached in a biased state in which it is expanded and contracted from the free length state. The mounting structure of the air spring is such that it is attached to the other member via the metal fitting, and the mounting metal fitting is
Rotate the spindle attached to the material and the other end of the air spring.
It is configured so that it can be mounted freely and can be rotated around the spindle.
The other end of the air spring, which is movably supported and is in a free length state
At the mounting position for mounting the
Energized state with the attached air spring expanded and contracted
To the fixed position for
Operates to extend the bracket body and rotate the bracket body
The lever part and the metal fitting body located at the fixed position.
Fixing means for fixing to one member .

In this case, the fixing means is preferably a screw for fixing the metal fitting body to the other member.

In these cases, it is preferable that the support shaft is a screw screwed to the other member.

[0008]

According to the air spring mounting structure of the first aspect, the air spring is mounted between the one member and the other member.
When unwinding, first of all, one end of the free length air spring
To one member and position the other end to the mounting position.
Attach it to the mounting bracket body. Next, operate the lever part
Position the metal fitting body around the spindle.
Rotate to. This allows the air spray in the free length state.
The ring is in a stretched and biased state. And to the fixing means
Secures the metal fitting body located at the fixed position to the other member
To do. In this way, the air spring is expanded and contracted to the mounting length by applying the principle of leverage centering on the support shaft, and in this state, it is fixed to the other member by the fixing means, so it is attached to the mounting bracket. It can also function as a jig.

According to the air spring mounting structure of the second aspect, since the fixing means is the screw for fixing the metal fitting body to the other member, the spring force of the air spring can be sufficiently endured by a simple operation. In addition, the metal fitting body can be firmly fixed to the other member, and the fixing can be released by a simple operation.

According to the air spring mounting structure of the third aspect, since the support shaft is a screw screwed to the other member,
The support shaft acts as a rotating shaft for rotating the mounting member by loosening the supporting shaft, and as a fixing screw for fixing the mounting member to the other member by tightening the supporting shaft.
Therefore, without causing any hindrance to the rotation of the mounting bracket,
Combined with the fixing screw, the air spring to the other member,
It can be fixed more firmly.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A case where an air spring mounting structure according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied to an opening / closing portion of a loading door of a vending machine will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. This vending machine automatically sells canned beverages, and FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of the vending machine. As shown in the figure, the vending machine 1 is composed of a vending machine body 2 and a main door 3 that opens and closes the front surface of the vending machine body 2. Inside the vending machine body 2, a product storage (not shown) having a product insertion port 4 for loading a product is stored.

A loading door 5 is built in the upper part of the main door 3 so as to correspond to the product inlet 4.
The loading door 5 is opened / closed in the up / down direction separately from the main door 3 in the form of a hinged door, and is also opened / closed in the left / right direction in the hinged door type together with the main door 3 as a child door.

As shown in FIG. 2, the loading door 5 is a door main body 5 which constitutes the appearance of the loading door 5.
a and an adiabatic door 5b that is attached to the inside of the door body 5a and that directly opens and closes the product slot 4, and is attached to the door frame 3a of the main door 3 via the opening / closing mechanism 6 so as to be openable and closable. ing. A pair of left and right stays 7, 7 are fixed to the door frame 3a along the door frame 3a, and the opening / closing mechanism 6 is attached to the door frame 3a via the stays 7, 7. A pair of left and right air springs 8 and 8 are provided between each stay 7 and the opening / closing mechanism 6.
The air springs 8 and 8 can complement the opening / closing force of the loading door 5.

The opening / closing mechanism 6 is composed of an upper arm 9 and a lower arm 10 which are respectively arranged at the upper and lower sides. The upper and lower arms 9 and 10 are respectively made of steel round bars, and the door body 5 is provided.
It is formed by bending it into a "U" shape so as to fit inside a. The left and right ends of the upper arm 9 are rotatably attached to the stays 7 of the door frame 3a via the connection plates 11 for attaching the air springs 8, and the middle portion is inside the pocket of the door body 5a. It is rotatably attached. Similarly, both ends of the lower frame 10 are rotatably attached to the stays 7 of the door frame 3a, and the middle portion is rotatably attached to the pocket of the door body 5a. As a result, the loading door 5 is held between the closed position, which is the upper moving end position, and the open position, which is the lower moving end position, while maintaining the vertical posture.
It is opened and closed.

The air spring 8 is, as shown in FIG.
It is composed of an upper cylinder 8a and a lower piston rod 8b, and has an upper end rotatably attached to a connecting plate 11 fixed to an upper arm 9, and a lower end attached to a stay 7 via a mounting bracket 12. It is installed. In this case, the air spring 8 has a spring force that opposes the own weight of the loading door 5 so that the loading operator can open and close the loading door 5 without feeling the weight of the loading door 5. Has become.

As shown in FIG. 4, the fitting 12 has a fitting main body 21 to which the lower end (the other end) of the air spring 8 is rotatably attached, and a lever portion 22 extending downward from the fitting main body 21. And an upper fixing screw 23 (fixing means) and a lower fixing screw 24 (support ) for fastening the metal fitting body 21 to the stay 7.
Axis) and. Fitting body 21, along with removing the upper fixing screw 23, by loosening the lower fixing screws 24, it is rotated about the lower fixing screws 24, as shown in FIG. 4, the angle 30 degrees, times counterclockwise The air spring 8 in the free length state can be attached at the moved position (attachment position). And from this mounting position,
After holding the lever portion 22 and rotating the metal fitting body 21 clockwise to a position (fixed position) where the burrs hole for the upper fixing screw and the screw hole formed in the stay 7 match, the upper fixing screw is rotated. By screwing 23, the mounting member 12 is fixedly fixed to the stay 7, and the air spring 8 is mounted in a state in which the air spring 8 is slightly contracted from the free length state.

In this case, when the metal fitting body 21 is rotated to the fixed position, the end (right end in the drawing) of the metal fitting body 21 is in contact with the rib portion 7a of the stay 7, and the metal fitting body 21 rotates clockwise. Movement is regulated. On the other hand, the upper fixing screw 23 at the fixed position is arranged substantially on the axis of the air spring 8, and the lower fixing screw 24 is arranged slightly offset from the axis of the air spring 8 to the left side in the drawing. . As a result, the air spring 8 is centered around the lower fixing screw 24.
When the metal fitting body 21 to which is attached is rotated from the mounting position, the metal fitting body 2 is pressed against the spring force of the air spring 8.
1 reaches the fixed position as it crosses the dead point.

That is, the component force of the spring force of the air spring 8 acting on the metal fitting body 21 is between the mounting position and the dead center position where the lower fixing screw 24 is located on the axis of the air spring 8. 21 acts to rotate in the counterclockwise direction, between a fixed position and the dead point position, acts to rotate the fitting body 21 in a clockwise direction. Therefore, even if the mounting member 12 rotated to the fixed position hits the rib portion 7a of the stay 7 and releases the hand from the lever portion 22, it remains stationary. In this case, the lower fixing screw 24 may be arranged substantially on the axis of the air spring 8 and the upper fixing screw 23 may be arranged slightly offset from the axis on the right side of the drawing.

Here, the attachment of the air spring 8 will be briefly described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 by taking the case of replacing the air spring 8 as an example. From the fixed state shown by the solid lines in both figures, first, the upper fixing screw 23 is removed and the lower fixing screw 24 is loosened. Next, the mounting bracket 12 has a lever section 22, is rotated counterclockwise around the lower fixing screws 24. In this case, the mounting bracket 12 automatically rotates to the mounting position by the spring force of the air spring 8 when the dead center is crossed. Here, the air spring 8 is replaced, and this time, the mounting bracket 12 is rotated clockwise. Also in this case, when the dead point is crossed, the mounting member 12 automatically rotates to the fixed position. At this point, the upper fixing screw 23 is attached, the lower fixing screw 24 is tightened, and the work is completed by releasing the hand from the lever portion 22. If it is difficult to replace the air spring 8 due to space limitations, the lower fixing screw 24 may be temporarily removed and the replacement work of the air spring 8 may be performed.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the air spring 8 mounted on the mounting member 12 in the free length state.
Has a structure in which the mounting bracket 12 is rotated to contract to the mounting dimension, and the mounting bracket 12 is fixed in this state. Therefore, the contraction and fixing of the air spring 8 are performed using the mounting bracket 12. Can be done continuously. That is, the mounting member 12 can also serve as a jig for contracting the air spring 8, and the mounting or replacement of the air spring 8 can be performed easily and without a jig.

In addition, the lower fixing screw 24 of the mounting member 12,
It is designed to also serve as the rotation axis of the mounting bracket 12.
Thus , the air spring 8 can be firmly fixed to the stay 7 with the number of parts reduced as much as possible.

Further, the air spring 8 in a fixed state
Since the upper and lower fixing screws 23, 24 are disposed near the axis of the, the component force of the spring force of the air spring 8 received when rotating the mounting member 12 is reduced, and the force is comparatively small. The mounting bracket 12 can be rotated.
Moreover, since the fixing position of the mounting member 12 is the position immediately after the dead center is crossed and the mounting member 12 is in contact with the rib portion 7a of the stay 7, even if the upper fixing screw 23 is not screwed in, The mounting bracket 12 can be kept stationary at the fixed position, and the upper fixing screw 23 can be easily attached and detached.

In the present embodiment, the case where the air spring mounting structure is applied to the opening / closing portion of the loading door of the vending machine has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the air spring can be used to resist its spring force. It can be applied to all the structures that are attached. Also, in the example,
Although a compression type air spring has been described as an example, it is needless to say that it can be applied to a tension type air spring. Furthermore, a mounting bracket may be provided on the upper end of the air spring. Furthermore, instead of the upper fixing screw 23, a hook may be formed on the metal fitting body so that the mounting metal fitting is hooked on the stay.

[0024]

As described above, according to the air spring mounting structure of the present invention, since the mounting bracket also serves as a jig for expanding and contracting the air spring, a dedicated jig is required. Without, the air spring can be easily attached.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a vending machine to which an air spring mounting structure according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view around a loading door showing a mounting structure of an air spring.

FIG. 3 is a side view around an air spring showing an air spring mounting structure.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side view around a mounting bracket showing an air spring mounting procedure.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 vending machine 2 Vending machine body 3 Main door 5 loading door 7 stay 8 air springs 11 Connection plate 12 Mounting bracket 21 bracket body 22 Lever part 23 Upper fixing screw 24 Lower fixing screw

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An air spring in which one end is attached to one member in advance in a free length state and the other end is attached to the other member via a mounting member in a biased state in which the free length state is expanded and contracted. The mounting structure allows the mounting bracket to be rotatably mounted on the support shaft mounted on the other member and the other end of the air spring.
And is rotatably supported by the support shaft.
And attach the other end of the air spring in the free length state.
And the mounting position for
The air spring is expanded and contracted to make it urged.
For rotating the metal fitting body that is rotatable between the metal fitting body and the fixed position for rotating the metal fitting body.
A lever portion that is operated, the fitting main body positioned in the fixed position, the other parts
An attachment structure for an air spring , comprising: fixing means for fixing to a material . 2. The air spring mounting structure according to claim 1, wherein the fixing means is a screw that fixes the metal fitting body to the other member. 3. The air spring mounting structure according to claim 1, wherein the support shaft is a screw screwed into the other member.