JP6352868B2 - Casters - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to casters.

  Conventionally, having a vertical direction, a board, a wheel rotatably attached to the board, a lower position located below the lower end of the wheel, and an upper position located above the lower end of the wheel Casters that have movable legs and are attached to the bottom of articles such as vending machines are known.

  For example, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, a caster 90 disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a support shaft 92 having a screw 91 on the peripheral surface, and a fall prevention member (leg portion) that meshes with the screw 91 of the support shaft 92. ) 93, an operation rotating member 94 for moving the fall prevention member 93 in the vertical direction Z, a hexagonal head 95 attached to the lower end of the support shaft 92, and a wheel 96.

  In this caster, the overturn prevention member 93 is operated by operating the operation rotary member 94 with a tool such as a spanner, so that the fall prevention member 93 is positioned below the lower end 96a of the wheel 96 and above the lower end 96a of the wheel 96. It can be moved to an upper position.

JP 2013-147178 A

  However, in the caster 90 disclosed in Patent Document 1, in order to move the fall-preventing member 93 in the vertical direction Z, while the rotation of the hexagon head 95 is prevented with one tool, the other tool is used for operation. The rotating member 94 must be rotated. However, when the caster 90 is attached to the lower part of the vending machine, there is a possibility that the operation cannot be easily performed because the space for operating the tool is limited.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a caster that can be easily operated to move a leg portion in the vertical direction.

  The present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is directed to a board having a vertical direction and attached to a bottom surface of an article, a wheel rotatably attached to the board, and a lower end of the wheel. A caster having a lower position positioned below and a leg portion movable to an upper position positioned above the lower end of the wheel.

Feature of the invention, the rotating operation can be operated tool, the rotational operation of the operating member, possess a movement restricting mechanism composed of a conversion section for converting into movement of the vertical direction of said legs, The conversion unit includes a connecting unit connectable to the operation tool, a worm whose peripheral surface rotates when the operation tool is operated, and a worm wheel that meshes with the worm. The worm wheel rotates through a worm, the substrate includes a worm support portion having bearing portions located at both ends of the worm, and the worm support portion abuts against a tip of the operation tool. The worm has both end portions located at both ends in the length direction, and a hole extending in the length direction between the both end portions, and the connecting portion is the worm of the worm. It is the peripheral edge portion which is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the hole is extending in the direction a.

  According to the caster according to the present invention, since it has an operation tool that can be rotated, and a movement restricting mechanism that is composed of a conversion unit that converts the rotation operation of the operation tool into the vertical movement of the leg, Even if a plurality of operation tools are not used, the leg portion can be moved in the vertical direction by rotating the operation tools. Thereby, a leg part can be moved to an up-down direction easily.

The top view of the caster of 1st Embodiment which concerns on this invention. Sectional drawing which shows the arrow II-II line | wire cut surface of FIG. The side view of a caster. The top view in the state which removed the cover from the caster. The figure similar to FIG. 2 which shows the state which moved the leg part to the upper position. The top view of the caster of 2nd Embodiment which concerns on this invention. Sectional drawing which shows engagement with the engagement recessed part of an operation tool, and the engagement convex part of a connection part. The side view which shows the conventional caster. A partially enlarged view of a conventional caster.

  The details of the caster according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition to the indispensable requirements of the present invention, the following embodiments include requirements that can be selectively adopted and requirements that can be appropriately combined.

<First Embodiment>
1 is a plan view of a caster 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a side view of the caster. . In addition, double-headed arrows X, Y, and Z in FIGS.

  Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the caster 10 includes a substrate 20, a wheel part 30, a leg part 40, a movement restriction mechanism 50, and a connecting part 60, such as a vending machine. It is attached to the bottom surface of the article 11 via an attachment mechanism 11a. The board | substrate 20 is rectangular shape, for example, Comprising: While the peripheral part 21 is located below, the center part 22 is located upwards. In other words, the substrate 20 has a lower part 23 positioned below, an upper part 24 positioned above, and an intermediate part 25 positioned between the lower part and the upper part. A nut 26 is fixed to the lower surface side of the peripheral edge 21 of the substrate 20 by welding, for example.

  Between the upper part 24 of the board | substrate 20 and the wheel part 30, it has the axis | shaft 27a which has the axial center 27x extended in the up-down direction Z, and the bearing 27b, and can turn the wheel part 30 around the axial center 27x. The attachment part 27 attached to the board | substrate 20 in the aspect is formed. At four corners of the lower portion 23 of the substrate 20, attachment holes (attachment portions) 28 for attaching the casters to the article 11 are formed. The attachment mechanism 11a has a bolt 11b and a nut 11c. The article is passed through the attachment mechanism 11a by passing the tip of the bolt 11b through the attachment hole 28 and fastening the nut 11c to the tip of the bolt 11b. A caster 10 is attached to 11.

  The wheel unit 30 includes a wheel 31 and a support unit 32 that supports the wheel 31 so as to be rotatable about the axis 27x. The wheel 31 is attached to the support portion 32 in a rotatable manner.

  The leg portion 40 is attached to the lower end of a shaft portion 42 having a screw 41 on the peripheral surface in a manner that can swing with respect to the horizontal installation surface 12. The screw 41 of the shaft portion 42 meshes with the inner peripheral surface of the nut 26, and when the shaft portion 42 is rotated with respect to the nut 26, the shaft portion 42 and the leg portion 40 move in the vertical direction Z with respect to the substrate 20. .

  The movement restricting mechanism 50 includes an operation tool 70 that can be rotated around an axis 70x, and a conversion unit 73 that converts the rotation operation of the operation tool 70 into movement in the vertical direction Z of the leg. The conversion portion 73 includes a connecting portion 60 (see FIG. 3) that can be connected to the operation tool 70, a worm 51 whose peripheral surface rotates when the operation tool 70 is operated, and a worm wheel 52 that meshes with the worm 51.

  Between the shaft portion 42 and the worm wheel 52, there is an engaging portion 43 and an engaged portion 53 that engages with the engaging portion 43, and the shaft portion 42 in the vertical direction Z with respect to the substrate 20. It has the engagement mechanism 14 which engages the shaft part 42 and the worm wheel 52 while allowing the movement (see FIG. 4).

  As shown in FIG. 4, the engaging portion 43 has a pair of straight portions 43a facing each other and a pair of curved portions 43b connecting both ends of the straight portion 43a. The engaging portion 43 includes a first portion 53a that faces the straight portion 43a and a second portion 53b that faces the curved portion 43b in a state of being engaged with the engaged portion 53.

  The shaft portion 42 and the worm wheel 52 are arranged so that the axial center 42x of the shaft portion 42 and the axial center 52x of the worm wheel 52 are aligned in the longitudinal direction Y and the lateral direction X.

  The operation tool 70 is, for example, a hexagon wrench. The connecting portion 60 is a peripheral portion of a hole formed in the inner peripheral surface of the worm 51 so as to engage with a peripheral surface of a hexagon wrench that is the operation tool 70. When the operating tool 70 and the connecting part 60 are detachable and the leg part 40 is not moved in the vertical direction Z, the operating tool 70 is removed from the connecting part 60 while the leg part 40 is moved in the vertical direction Z. For this, the operating tool 70 is connected to the connecting portion 60.

  The worm 51 extends in the length direction (in this example, the lateral direction X) and has both end portions 51a and 51b located at both ends in the length direction. The substrate 20 includes bearing portions 81 a and 81 b located at both end portions 51 a and 51 b of the worm 51, and includes a cover (worm support portion) 80 that covers the worm 51 and the worm wheel 52. The worm 51 is attached to the substrate 20 via the cover 80 in such a manner that the worm 51 can rotate around the shaft center 51x by the bearing portions 81a and 81b.

  The cover 80 is bent with respect to the upper portion 82 covering the worm 51 and the worm wheel 52, the side portions 83a, 83b, 83c, 83d covering the sides of the worm 51 and the worm wheel 52, and the side portions 83b, 83d. The bent portions 84a and 84b and the abutting portion 85 that abuts the tip of the operation tool 70 are provided. The bent portions 84a and 84b are formed with through holes 86a and 86b (see FIG. 1), the substrate 20 is formed with a screw hole 29 (see FIG. 4), and the through holes 86a and 86b are formed in the through holes 86a and 86b. The cover 80 is attached to the substrate 20 by fastening the hexagon bolts 13 (see FIG. 1) passed through the tips into the screw holes 29.

  In the caster 10, in the state shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the leg portion 40 is positioned below the lower end 31 a of the wheel 31, so that the wheel 31 can be separated from the installation surface 12 to restrict the movement of the article 11. it can. In other words, the movement restriction mechanism 50 can restrict the movement of the article 11 in the horizontal direction X and the vertical direction Y.

  From this state, when the distal end of the operation tool 70 that is a hexagon wrench is inserted into the connecting portion 60 and the peripheral surface of the operating tool 70 and the peripheral surface of the connecting portion 60 are engaged, the axis 70x of the operating tool 70 is obtained. And the axial center 51x of the worm 51 coincide. Thereafter, if the operation tool 70 is rotated in one direction around the shaft center 70x, the worm 51 rotates around the shaft center 51x, and the worm wheel 52 meshing with the worm 51 rotates around the shaft center 52x. As the worm wheel 52 rotates, the shaft portion 42 rotates about the shaft center 42x. When the shaft portion 42 rotates about the shaft center 42 x, the leg portion 40 moves upward with respect to the substrate 20 and the wheel 31 by the nut 26 that meshes with the screw 41 of the shaft portion 42. For this reason, if the leg 40 is moved upward by the rotation operation of the operation tool 70 and the leg 40 is moved to an upper position located above the lower end 31a of the wheel 31, as shown in FIG. The wheel 31 comes into contact with the installation surface 12 and moves the article 11 along the horizontal direction X, the vertical direction Y, and an inclination direction (horizontal direction with respect to the installation surface 12) inclined with respect to the horizontal direction X and the vertical direction Y. It becomes possible. On the other hand, if the operation tool 70 is rotated about the axis 51x in the other direction, which is the opposite direction to the one direction, the leg 40 can be moved to a lower position located below the lower end 31a of the wheel 31. .

  According to the caster 10 according to this embodiment, a movement restriction composed of an operation tool 70 that can be rotated and a conversion unit 73 that converts the rotation operation of the operation tool 70 into movement in the vertical direction Z of the leg. Since the mechanism 50 is provided, the leg portion 40 can be moved in the vertical direction Z by operating the operation tool 70 without using a plurality of operation tools 70. Thereby, the leg part 40 can be moved to the up-down direction Z easily.

Second Embodiment
FIG. 6 is a plan view of the caster 10 according to the second embodiment. In addition, in order to avoid duplication of description, only a different part from the caster 10 of 1st Embodiment is demonstrated. In the caster 10 of this embodiment, a worm substrate (worm support portion) 87 is attached to the substrate 20 instead of the cover 80 in the caster 10 of the first embodiment.

  The worm substrate 87 has bearing portions 87 a and 87 b located at both end portions 51 a and 51 b of the worm 51. The worm 51 is attached to the substrate 20 via the worm substrate 87 in such a manner that the worm 51 can rotate around the axis 51x by the bearing portions 87a and 87b.

  Through holes 89a and 89b are formed in both end portions 88a and 88b in the vertical direction Y of the worm substrate 87, and screw holes 29 similar to those in the first embodiment are formed in the substrate 20. The worm board 87 is attached to the board 20 by fastening the hexagon bolts 13 having their tips passed through 89a and 89b to the screw holes 29, respectively.

The connecting portion 60 extends from one end portion 51a in the length direction of the worm 51 (lateral direction X in the present embodiment) and protrudes outward from one bearing portion 87a. The connecting portion 60 of the caster 10 further extends from the inside of the substrate 20 to the outside, and extends outward beyond the peripheral edge 21 of the substrate 20 in plan view.

  The operation tool 70 includes a plate-shaped gripping portion 71 and a rod-shaped shaft portion 72. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view orthogonal to the length direction of the worm 51 in a state where the connecting portion 60 and the operation tool 70 are connected. The connecting portion 60 has an engaging convex portion 63 that engages with the engaging concave portion 75 of the operation tool 70. The engagement convex part 63 has a pair of straight part 63a which mutually opposes, and a pair of curved part 63b which connects the both ends of the straight part 63a. The engagement recess 75 includes a first portion 76a that faces the straight portion 63a and a second portion 76b that faces the curved portion 63b in a state of being engaged with the engagement protrusion 63.

  According to the caster 10 which concerns on 2nd Embodiment, there exists the same effect | action and effect as the caster 10 of 1st Embodiment. In addition, since the connecting portion 60 extends outward from the inside of the substrate 20 and extends outward beyond the peripheral edge portion 21 of the substrate 20 in plan view, the connecting portion 60 and the operation tool 70. Are easily connected.

The present invention described so far can be organized at least as follows.
A substrate having a vertical direction and attached to the bottom surface of the article; a wheel rotatably attached to the substrate; a lower position located below the lower end of the wheel; and a position above the lower end of the wheel. In a caster having a leg portion that can be moved to an upper position, the caster includes an operation tool that can be rotated and a conversion unit that converts the rotation operation of the operation tool into the vertical movement of the leg portion. possess a movement restricting mechanisms, the conversion unit is used, the number and the connection part connectable to the operating member, and the worm is when operating the operation tool circumferential surface rotates, a worm wheel meshing with said worm Then, the worm wheel is rotated through the worm by the rotation operation of the operation tool, and the substrate includes a worm support portion having bearing portions positioned at both ends of the worm, The worm support portion has an abutting portion that abuts the tip of the operation tool, and the worm extends in the length direction between the both end portions located at both ends in the length direction and the both end portions. And the connecting part is a peripheral part formed on an inner peripheral surface of the hole extending in the length direction of the worm .

The present invention has at least the following embodiments.
(1) There is only one operation unit.
(2) The leg portion is attached to a lower portion of a shaft portion having a screw on a peripheral surface and extending in the vertical direction, and a nut that engages with the screw is attached to the substrate, By rotating the peripheral surface of the shaft portion, the shaft portion and the leg portion are moved in the vertical direction with respect to the substrate .
( 3 ) The substrate has an upper portion located above and a lower portion located below, and between the upper portion of the substrate and a wheel portion that rotatably holds the wheel, Yes forming a mounting portion for mounting pivotally said wheels, said lower portion has a mounted portion mounted to the object.

10 Casters 11 Articles 20 Substrate 21 Peripheral part 23 Lower part 24 Upper part 26 Nut 27 Attachment part 28 Attachment hole (attachment part)
31 Wheel 31a Lower end 40 Leg part 41 Screw 43 Engagement part 50 Movement control mechanism 51 Worm 51a End part 51b End part 52 Warm wheel 53 Engagement part 60 Connection part 70 Operation tool 73 Conversion part 80 Cover (worm support part)
81a Bearing part 81b Bearing part 85 Worm substrate (worm support part)
85a Bearing portion 85b Bearing portion X Horizontal direction Y Vertical direction Z Vertical direction

Claims (4)

A substrate having a vertical direction and attached to the bottom surface of the article; a wheel rotatably attached to the substrate; a lower position located below the lower end of the wheel; and a position above the lower end of the wheel. A caster having a leg portion movable to an upper position,
A movement restricting mechanism including an operation tool capable of rotating operation, and a conversion unit that converts the rotation operation of the operation tool into the vertical movement of the leg ,
The conversion unit includes a connecting unit connectable to the operation tool, a worm whose peripheral surface rotates when the operation tool is operated, and a worm wheel that meshes with the worm. The worm wheel rotates through the worm,
The substrate includes a worm support portion having bearing portions located at both ends of the worm,
The worm support part has an abutting part that abuts the tip of the operation tool,
The worm has the both end portions located at both ends in the length direction, and a hole extending in the length direction between the both end portions,
The caster according to claim 1, wherein the connecting portion is a peripheral portion formed on an inner peripheral surface of a hole extending in the length direction of the worm .   The caster according to claim 1, wherein there is only one operation tool. The leg portion has a screw on the peripheral surface and is attached to a lower portion of the shaft portion extending in the vertical direction,
A nut that engages with the screw is attached to the substrate, and the shaft and the leg are moved in the vertical direction with respect to the substrate by rotating the peripheral surface of the shaft relative to the nut. The caster according to claim 1 or 2. The substrate has an upper part located above and a lower part located below,
Between the upper part of the substrate and the wheel part that rotatably supports the wheel , an attachment part for rotatably mounting the wheel is formed,
The caster according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the lower portion has an attached portion attached to an object.

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