JP4418444B2 - Connecting mechanism and display unit - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a coupling mechanism and a display unit, and more particularly to a coupling mechanism for coupling a display unit including a plurality of display elements and a display unit including the coupling mechanism.

  As you often see, multiple display elements such as LEDs (light-emitting diodes) are placed on indoor and outdoor stadiums, various event venues, and the outer wall (building board) of buildings facing downtown areas. A video display device constituting a display screen (display) is installed.

  These video display devices are either permanently installed in the stadium or building itself, or assembled and used each time at event venues, or are portablely mounted on the platform of large vehicles. Or used.

  This type of video display device performs so-called full-color display by controlling lighting of R (red), G (green), and B (blue), and displays advertising advertisements, guidance displays for customers, or television for viewers such as spectators. An image is displayed, and a plurality of display units are connected vertically and horizontally (for example, refer to Patent Document 1).

As a connection mechanism for connecting the display unit and the display unit in the vertical direction, Patent Document 1 discloses a connection pin provided at the upper edge of the display unit casing and a lower edge of the display unit casing. A mechanism comprising a locking portion is disclosed. The locking part has a locking piece formed with a locking hole that is locked in a groove formed in the connecting pin, and a cam that moves the locking piece.
JP 2004-354570 A

  However, in the connection mechanism disclosed in the aforementioned patent publication, the following points are not considered.

  In this connection mechanism, the mechanism of the locking portion including the locking piece and the cam is complicated, and the manufacturing cost is increased. As a result, the manufacturing cost of the display unit having such a complicated mechanism engaging portion is also increased.

  Further, in this coupling mechanism, the coupling pin and the latching portion are coupled by sliding the latching piece and engaging the latching hole of the latching piece with the groove formed in the coupling pin. However, the housing of the display unit expands or contracts due to dimensional errors or temperature changes that occur during manufacturing, so that the groove of the connecting pin and the locking hole of the locking piece are displaced in the vertical direction and smoothly engaged. A situation occurs that cannot be stopped. In particular, when the locking hole of the locking piece is positioned above the groove of the connecting pin and is displaced, it is difficult to engage the groove and the locking hole.

  If the width dimension in the thickness direction of the groove formed on the connecting pin is increased, the groove of the connecting pin and the locking piece can be locked even if the housing expands or contracts due to a dimensional error during manufacturing or a temperature change. It is possible to easily engage with the hole. However, in that case, since there is play in the engaging portion between the groove of the connecting pin and the locking hole of the locking piece, when the connected display unit is suspended, it is between the upper and lower display units. A gap is generated, and the quality of the video displayed by the video display device configured by connecting a plurality of display units is lowered. Further, since there is play in the engaging portion between the groove of the connecting pin and the locking hole of the locking piece, it is easy for the connected display units to swing individually due to the influence of wind, etc. The quality of the image displayed by the image display device configured by connecting the images decreases.

  The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and its purpose is that the structure is simple and inexpensive, and even if expansion and contraction due to a dimensional error during manufacturing or a temperature change occur, the connection is ensured. It is also possible to provide a connection mechanism capable of connecting members such as a display unit to be connected without generating a gap, and a display unit including the connection mechanism.

  A first feature according to an embodiment of the present invention is that, in the connection mechanism, the engagement mechanism has an engagement portion having a diameter larger than the insertion hole formed in one of the members to be connected and a screw portion having a diameter smaller than the insertion hole. The engagement portion is formed with an engagement hole located in a plane orthogonal to the axis of the screw portion, and the screw portion is screwed into the screw portion and is tightened with the connection pin inserted into the insertion hole. A fixing nut that fixes the connecting pin to the member by being tightened to the attachment position, and is fitted to the fixing nut and attached, and the rotation direction of the fixing nut can be switched between a tightening direction and a loosening direction. A clutch-type turning operation tool, and a rod-like pin that is provided on the other member to be connected and is movable between an insertion position to be inserted into the engagement hole and an insertion release position to be released from the engagement hole; It is to provide.

  The second feature according to the embodiment of the present invention is that in the display unit, a housing that holds a plurality of display elements, and a support portion that is provided on one side of the outer peripheral side of the housing and has an insertion hole. And an engagement hole located in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the screw portion is formed in the engagement portion. The engagement hole has a larger diameter engagement portion than the insertion hole and a screw portion smaller in diameter than the insertion hole. A connection pin through which the screw portion is inserted into the insertion hole, a fixing nut that is screwed into the screw portion and is tightened to a tightening position to fix the connection pin to the support portion, A clutch-type turning operation tool that is fitted to a fixing nut and that can be switched between a tightening direction and a loosening direction, and is provided on the other outer side of the casing; Insertion position to be inserted into the joint hole and insertion to be released from the engagement hole And the rod-shaped pin which is movable in the release position, is to comprise a.

  According to the present invention, the structure is simple and can be manufactured at low cost, and can be reliably connected even if expansion and contraction occur due to dimensional error or temperature change at the time of manufacture. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of a gap and the connected members and members swinging individually due to the influence of wind or the like.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the display unit 1, which is a member to be connected, has a housing 3 having four legs 2. A plurality of display panels 4 are detachably attached to the front surface of the housing 3. In each display panel 4, a plurality of display elements 4a such as LEDs are arranged.

  A plurality of display units 1 are connected in the necessary directions of the up and down direction and the left and right direction, and the plurality of connected display units 1 constitute an image display device.

  The display unit 1 and the display unit 1 are connected to each other in the left-right direction on the concave connection fitting 5 a provided on one side of the outer periphery of the housing 3 and on the other side of the outer periphery of the housing 3. This is performed by engaging the convex connecting metal fitting 5b.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the vertical connection between the display unit 1 that is one member to be connected and the display unit 1 that is the other member to be connected is the upper end on the outer peripheral side of the housing 3. The connecting mechanism 8 includes a pair of connecting pins 6 provided on the outer periphery of the housing 3 and a pair of rod-shaped pins 7 provided on the lower end of the housing 3. The connection mechanism 8 includes a support portion 9, a fixing nut 10, and a clutch-type turning operation tool 11 in addition to the connection pin 6 and the rod-shaped pin 7 described above.

  When the display unit 1 is positioned so as to be connected in the up-down direction, the support unit 9 is horizontally supported at the upper end side peripheral wall 3a of the housing 3 and the support plate fixed to the inner side surface of the upper end side peripheral wall 3a. The support portion 9 is formed with an insertion hole 13 for insertion in the vertical direction. The threaded portion 6 b of the connecting pin 6 is inserted through the insertion hole 13.

  The connecting pin 6 has an engagement portion 6a having a larger diameter than the insertion hole 13 and a screw portion 6b having a smaller diameter than the insertion hole 13, and the engagement portion 6a is positioned upward and the screw portion 6b is positioned downward. The screw portion 6 b is inserted into the insertion hole 13 and the engagement portion 6 a is in contact with the edge of the insertion hole 13. The screw portion 6 b is inserted through the insertion hole 13 and protrudes downward from the insertion hole 13. The engaging portion 6a is formed with an engaging hole 6c located in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the screw portion 6b. The inner diameter dimension of the engagement hole 6 c is set slightly larger than the outer diameter dimension of the rod-shaped pin 7.

  A fixing nut 10 is screwed into a portion protruding downward from the insertion hole 13 in the screw portion 6b through a plain washer 14 and a spring washer 15. The fixing nut 10 has a cylindrical portion 10a whose outer peripheral surface shape is a columnar shape, and a rectangular tube portion 10b whose outer peripheral surface shape is a hexagonal column shape. A clutch-type turning operation tool 11 is fitted to the rectangular tube portion 10b via a resin spacer 16 formed in a ring shape.

  The clutch-type turning operation tool 11 has an outer ring part 11a and an inner ring part 11b, and a clutch mechanism (not shown) capable of switching the starting direction is provided between the outer ring part 11a and the inner ring part 11b. By switching the switching operation part 11c attached to the outer ring part 11a, the starting direction of the clutch mechanism can be switched between forward and reverse. The inner ring portion 11b is fitted to the outer periphery of the rectangular tube portion 10b, and an operation handle mounting portion 11d is integrally formed with the outer ring portion 11a. When the clutch-type turning operation tool 11 having the inner ring portion 11b fitted to the rectangular tube portion 10b is turned, and the turning operation is performed, the switching operation portion 11c is switched in a necessary direction to tighten the fixing nut 10. The fixing nut 10 can be loosened.

  The clutch-type turning operation tool 11 fitted to the outer periphery of the rectangular tube portion 10 b of the fixing nut 10 is fixed by a resin spacer 17 formed in a ring shape, a holding plate 18 and a holding bolt 19. It is supported by the nut 10.

  When the display unit 1 is positioned so as to be connected in the vertical direction at the lower end portion on the outer peripheral side of the housing 3, the lower end side peripheral wall 3 b that is horizontally oriented, and upward from the end portion of the lower end side peripheral wall 3 b And a rising peripheral wall 3c rising up. A holder 21 is fixed to the lower peripheral wall 3b by a plurality of bolts 20, and a rod-like pin 7 is supported in the holder 21 so as to be slidable in the axial direction. Furthermore, in the lower end side peripheral wall 3b, the insertion hole 22 into which the engaging portion 6a of the connecting pin 6 is removably inserted and a direction along the sliding direction of the rod-shaped pin 7 and sandwiching the insertion hole 22 are located. A pair of support plates 23 are fixed. The support plate 23 is formed with an insertion hole 24 into which the rod-shaped pin 7 is removably inserted. The rising peripheral wall 3c is formed with a relief hole 25 through which the rear end side of the rod-like pin 7 can slide out.

  The rod-shaped pin 7 is slidable between the insertion position shown in FIG. 5A and the insertion release position shown in FIG. 5B, and the rod-shaped pin 7 is urged toward the insertion position in the holder 21. A spring (not shown) is provided. The rod-shaped pin 7 is provided with an operation lever 26 that is gripped when the rod-shaped pin 7 is slid from the insertion position to the insertion release position and slides integrally with the rod-shaped pin 7. The holder 21 is formed with a guide groove 27 that guides the operation lever 26 when the rod-shaped pin 7 slides between the insertion position and the insertion release position. At one end portion of the guide groove 27, a holding groove 27a for holding the rod-shaped pin 7 at the insertion release position is formed. When the rod-shaped pin 7 is located at the insertion release position, the rear end side of the rod-shaped pin 7 protrudes outward from the escape hole 25.

  The positional relationship between the rod-shaped pin 7 and the insertion hole 22 is such that when the rod-shaped pin 7 is located at the insertion position, the distal end side of the rod-shaped pin 7 is located above the insertion hole 22 and the rod-shaped pin 7 is located at the insertion release position. Further, the distal end side of the rod-shaped pin 7 is located at a position where it is retracted from the position above the insertion hole 22.

  An operation handle 28 that is detachably attached to the operation handle attachment portion 11d of the clutch type turning operation tool 11 is provided. The operation handle 28 includes a cylinder portion 28a fitted to the operation handle attachment portion 11d, and an axial center of the screw portion 6b when the cylinder portion 28a is fixed to the cylinder portion 28a and fitted to the operation handle attachment portion 11d. And a handle portion 28b extending in a separating direction.

  An operation procedure in the case where two display units 1 are connected in the vertical direction in such a configuration will be described.

  First, when one of the display units 1 positioned on the lower side is connected in the vertical direction, the clutch-type turning operation tool 11 is operated, the fixing nut 10 is tightened, and the connecting pin 6 is fixed to the support portion 9. . Further, in the other display unit 1 positioned on the upper side when being connected in the vertical direction, the bar-shaped pin 7 is slid by grasping the operation lever 26, and the bar-shaped pin 7 is released from insertion as shown in FIG. Hold in position. When the rod-shaped pin 7 is held at the insertion release position, the operation lever 26 located at the position shown in FIG. 5A is moved along the guide groove 27 to the end on the side where the holding groove 27a is formed. By sliding, the operation lever 26 is engaged with the holding groove 27 a by rotating in the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the guide groove 27.

  As described above, after fixing the connecting pin 6 and holding the rod-shaped pin 7 at the insertion release position, the connecting pin 6 is aligned with the position where it is inserted into the insertion hole 22, and the two display units 1 are moved vertically. Overlapping.

  By overlapping the two display units 1 in the vertical direction, the engaging portion 6 a of the connecting pin 6 is inserted into the insertion hole 22. When the engaging portion 6a is inserted into the insertion hole 22, the engaging hole 6c formed in the engaging portion 6a faces the tip of the rod-like pin 7 held at the insertion release position.

  Therefore, the operation lever 26 of the rod-shaped pin 7 held at the insertion release position is operated to rotate the operation lever 26 to a position where the holding by the holding groove 27a is released. As a result, the rod-shaped pin 7 slides toward the insertion position shown in FIG. 5A by the urging force of a spring (not shown). Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the rod-shaped pin 7 slid toward the insertion position is inserted into the insertion hole 24 of the support plate 23 and the engagement hole 6 c formed in the engagement portion 6 a of the connection pin 6. And the operation of connecting the two display units 1 in the vertical direction is completed.

  As described above, when the two display units 1 are stacked in the vertical direction, the position of the rod-shaped pin 7 and the position of the engagement hole 6c of the connecting pin 6 may be displaced in the vertical direction. Such misalignment occurs due to a dimensional error during manufacture or attachment of the connecting pin 6 or the rod-shaped pin 7 and expansion and contraction of the housing 3 due to a temperature change.

  When the position of the rod-shaped pin 7 and the position of the engagement hole 6c of the connecting pin 6 are displaced and the displacement direction is such that the position of the rod-shaped pin 7 is below the position of the engagement hole 6c, the upper side The display unit 1 is lifted, the position of the rod-shaped pin 7 is aligned with the position of the engagement hole 6c, and the rod-shaped pin 7 is engaged with the engagement hole 6c. In this case, a gap is generated between the upper end side peripheral wall 3 a of the lower display unit 1 and the lower end side peripheral wall 3 b of the upper display unit 1. However, the inner diameter dimension of the engagement hole 6c is set slightly larger than the outer diameter dimension of the rod-shaped pin 7, and there is no play in the engagement portion between the rod-shaped pin 7 and the engagement hole 6c. It does not happen that 1 swings individually due to the influence of the wind. For this reason, the quality of the video displayed by the video display device configured by connecting a plurality of display units 1 does not deteriorate due to the individual display units 1 shaking. .

  On the other hand, when the position shift direction between the position of the rod-shaped pin 7 and the position of the engagement hole 6c of the connecting pin 6 is above the position of the engagement hole 6c, the clutch-type turning operation tool As shown in FIG. 4, the operation handle 28 is attached to the 11 operation handle attachment portion 11 d and the clutch-type turning operation tool 11 is turned to loosen the fixing nut 10. In this case, the switching operation unit 11c is switched to a loosening position.

  When the fixing nut 10 is loosened by turning the clutch-type turning operation tool 11, the clutch-type turning operation tool 11 and the fixing nut 10 are turned clockwise and counterclockwise when the fixing nut 10 changes from a tightened state to a fixed state. It comes to rotate integrally in both directions. Accordingly, when the clutch-type turning operation tool 11 is turned to loosen the fixing nut 10, the fixing nut 10 is prevented from rotating to a position where it is dropped from the screw portion 6 b, and the fixing nut 10 is prevented from dropping off due to an erroneous operation. it can.

  By turning the clutch-type turning operation tool 11 to loosen the fixing nut 10, a gap is generated between the support portion 9 and the fixing nut 10, and the connecting pin 6 can be moved upward. Therefore, the connecting pin 6 is moved upward, and the engaging hole 6c of the connecting pin 6 is positioned at a position facing the tip of the sticking pin 7, so that the sticking pin 7 is engaged with the engaging hole 6c. it can.

  When the fixing nut 10 is loosened and the connecting pin 6 is moved upward to engage the rod-shaped pin 7 in the engagement hole 6c, the operation handle is attached to the operation handle mounting portion 11d after the engagement operation is completed. 28 is attached, the clutch-type turning operation tool 11 is turned, and the fixing nut 10 is tightened. In this case, the switching operation unit 11c is switched to the tightening position. By this tightening operation, the lower end side peripheral wall 3b of the upper display unit 1 to which the rod-shaped pin 7 is attached is pressed against the upper end side peripheral wall 3a of the lower display unit 1, and the gap between the upper and lower display units 1 is reduced. Occurrence is suppressed.

  Therefore, this connecting mechanism 8 has a structure that uses the connecting pin 6 and the rod-shaped pin 7, attaches the fixing nut 10 to the connecting pin 6, and tightens or loosens the fixing nut 10 with the clutch-type turning operation tool 11. A simple and inexpensive structure can be obtained. And even if the expansion | swelling and shrinkage | contraction by a dimensional error at the time of manufacture or a temperature change generate | occur | produce, the two display units 1 located in an up-down direction can be connected reliably. Furthermore, even if the inner diameter dimension of the engagement hole 6c is slightly larger than the outer diameter dimension of the rod-shaped pin 7, the engagement hole 6c and the rod-shaped pin 7 can be reliably engaged. And since there is no big play between the inner diameter of the engagement hole 6c and the outer diameter of the rod-shaped pin 7, there is a gap between the two display units 1 that are connected in the vertical direction due to the play. It can be prevented that the display unit 1 connected in the vertical direction is swayed individually by the influence of wind or the like. As a result, it is possible to prevent deterioration in the quality of the video displayed by the video display device configured by connecting the plurality of display units 1.

  In order to turn the clutch-type turning operation tool 11, a dedicated operation handle 28 is necessary, and this operation handle 28 is carried only by a worker who is in charge of the operation of connecting the display unit 1. Thereby, after the display unit 1 is connected, it is possible to prevent the fixing nut 10 from being loosened or removed due to mischief.

It is a perspective view which shows the display unit which employ | adopted the connection mechanism which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the display unit shown in FIG. 1 from the back side. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the connection mechanism containing a connection pin and a rod-shaped pin. It is a rear view which shows the connection pin side in a connection mechanism. It is a top view which shows the rod-shaped pin side in a connection mechanism. It is a side view which shows the connection mechanism with which the connection pin and the rod-shaped pin were connected.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Member, display unit 3 Housing | casing 4a Display element 6 Connection pin 6a Engagement part 6b Screw part 6c Engagement hole 7 Rod-shaped pin 9 Support part 10 Fixing nut 11 Clutch type rotation operation tool 11d Operation handle attachment part 13 Insertion hole 28 Operation handle

Claims (3)

An engagement portion having a larger diameter than an insertion hole formed in one of the members to be connected and a screw portion having a smaller diameter than the insertion hole, and the engagement portion is in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the screw portion. A connecting pin in which an engagement hole is formed, and the screw portion is inserted into the insertion hole;
A fixing nut that is screwed into the threaded portion and is tightened to a tightening position to fix the connecting pin to the member;
A clutch-type turning operation tool that is fitted to the fixing nut and is switchable in a tightening direction or a loosening direction.
A rod-like pin that is provided on the other member to be connected and is movable between an insertion position to be inserted into the engagement hole and an insertion release position to be released from the engagement hole;
A coupling mechanism comprising:   An operation handle mounting portion provided in the clutch-type turning operation tool, and an operation handle provided to be attachable to and detachable from the operation handle mounting portion and extending in a direction away from the axis of the screw portion when mounted. The connection mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising: A housing for holding a plurality of display elements;
A support portion that is provided on one side of the outer periphery of the housing and in which an insertion hole is formed;
An engagement portion having a larger diameter than the insertion hole and a screw portion having a smaller diameter than the insertion hole, and an engagement hole located in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the screw portion is formed in the engagement portion, A connecting pin through which the threaded portion is inserted into the insertion hole;
A fixing nut that is screwed into the screw portion and is fixed to the support portion by being tightened to a tightening position;
A clutch-type turning operation tool that is fitted to the fixing nut and is switchable in a tightening direction or a loosening direction.
A rod-like pin that is provided on the other outer peripheral side of the housing and is movable between an insertion position to be inserted into the engagement hole and an insertion release position to be released from the engagement hole;
A display unit comprising:

Images