JP7183220B2 - Lowering window opening and closing aid - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a window opening/closing mechanism for a railway vehicle, and more particularly to a descending window opening/closing aid for facilitating the opening/closing operation of a side descending window in a suburban vehicle suitable for commuting.

2. Description of the Related Art There are mainly two types of balancers (balancing devices) that are used for a lifting mechanism for a lowering window of a railway vehicle.

One is a swing arm type (also called Schlieren type) balancer using a swing arm that biases the downward window in the closing direction (upward), and the other is a spiral balancer. The spiral type can only be used for lightweight windows (single glass structure), but the swing arm type can also be used for elevating windows that have a larger mass than the spiral type.

A swing arm type balancer is configured using a link mechanism and a plurality of springs. By the way, the mass of a 1000 mm wide window with a double glazing structure is about 30 kg, which cannot be easily lifted by passengers without assistance. If this heavy window is supported by a swing arm type balancer, 20 to 24 springs are required. The swing arm type mechanism has a structure in which the number of springs required for assistance can be changed in consideration of the mass of the window and the operating force. The configuration of such a swing arm type balancer is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-200012.

On the other hand, the spiral balancer has a structure that assists the opening and closing operation of the window by a repulsive force generated according to the twist amount of two spiral springs installed on both sides of the window. The configuration of such a spiral balancer is disclosed in Patent Document 2.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 33-017450 JP 2008-057653 A

In recent years, aluminum alloy structures with a double-skin structure have become mainstream, and in many cases, the space below the window is narrower than the structure with a single-skin structure using conventional stainless steel. On the other hand, the swing arm type balancer uses a plurality of springs and a complicated link mechanism, which increases the thickness of the device. Therefore, for example, in a double-skin structure, it is necessary to cut out part of the side structure in order to secure a certain cabin space. Depending on the case, there are some vehicle models that cannot be applied because sufficient installation space cannot be secured. In addition, countermeasures such as reinforcement are required for the side structure that is partially notched. Furthermore, a complicated link structure with a large number of springs requires a long maintenance time and increases the weight of the device.

In addition, since the spiral balancer has a relatively small repulsive force of the spring, it can be applied only to lightweight windows as described above. In addition, two people are required to perform the adjustment at the time of installation for one window at the same time. In the readjustment after installation, it is necessary to remove the curtain kise that houses the curtain and the curtain groove island in which the groove for guiding the horizontal bar at the lower end of the curtain is formed, so restoration takes time.

In both the rocking arm type balancer and the spiral type balancer described above, a large difference occurs in the resistance force of the spring between the closed state and the fully open state, making it difficult to perform the opening/closing operation smoothly.

Therefore, the present invention enables smooth opening and closing operations and facilitates installation by reducing the sudden increase in load due to the repulsive force of the spring that occurs from the closed state to the fully opened state while having a compact structure. It is an object of the present invention to provide a descending window opening/closing aid that

In order to achieve the above object, a descending window opening/closing aid of the present invention is a descending window opening/closing aid for assisting an opening/closing operation of a descending window of a railway vehicle, the descending window opening/closing aid comprising: a main body arranged below the descending window; An arm having one end pivotally supported by the main body so that the other end can be turned up and down below the descending window, a conversion section for converting the rotational motion of turning the arm into a reciprocating motion, and the descending window. An urging spring that urges the reciprocating motion of the converting portion so as to rotate the arm in a lifting direction, and a stopper that is arranged in series with the urging spring and holds the built-in spring material in a compressed state in the compression direction. and a spring unit that is movable only in the opposite direction.

Further, in the descending window opening/closing aid of the present invention, in addition to the above configuration, the conversion unit includes a gear attached to the pivot center of the arm, and a rack that converts rotational motion of the gear into reciprocating motion. characterized by

Further, in the descending window opening/closing aid of the present invention, in addition to the above configuration, the conversion unit includes an intermediate gear between the gear and the rack for reducing rotation of the gear. do.

In addition to the configuration described above, the lowering window opening/closing aid of the present invention is characterized in that the biasing spring of the converting portion is a compression spring that biases the reciprocating motion of the rack.

Further, in the descending window opening/closing assist tool of the present invention, in addition to the above configuration, the converting section includes a gear attached to the center of rotation of the arm, and the rotational force of the gear is transferred to the spring unit via the connecting rod. and a crank portion that converts the movement into reciprocating motion along the direction of extension and contraction of the body.

As described above, according to the present invention, the arm is rotatably supported on the main body arranged below the descending window, so that the rotating arm can lift the descending window from below.

Rotational motion due to the turning of the arm is converted into reciprocating motion by the converting portion. In this reciprocating motion, the arm is biased to lift the descending window, so that the weight of the descending window is reduced in the opening and closing operation by the amount of the force based on this bias.

The spring unit arranged in series with the urging spring retains the built-in spring material in a compressed state. Since the stopper holding this spring member is movable only in the compression direction, when the force of the biasing spring exceeds the force of the built-in spring, the biasing spring and the built-in spring act as a combined spring in series. That is, the overall spring constant decreases as the force acting on the arm transitions from the biasing spring alone to the composite spring. As a result, changes in the force due to the urging are mitigated, and a smooth operational feeling is obtained.

Further, according to the present invention, in addition to the above effects, since the conversion section is configured using gears and racks, a smooth operational feeling can be obtained, and the main body including the conversion section is formed thin. can do.

Further, according to the present invention, in addition to the above effects, the rotation of the gear is decelerated and transmitted to the rack, so that the reciprocating motion of the rack can be set within a small range with respect to the movement of the arm. As a result, it is possible to effectively utilize even a narrow range of the gradual change area among the force characteristics of the urging spring and the spring unit.

Moreover, according to the present invention, in addition to the above effects, the use of a compression spring facilitates a highly durable design with a simple configuration.

Further, according to the present invention, in addition to the above effects, the conversion section is configured by the crank mechanism, so that the impact in the reciprocating motion can be reduced as compared with a configuration using only gears. In addition, it is possible to adjust the change in load with respect to the opening/closing position of the lowering window by utilizing the change in force in relation to the phase of the connecting rod of the crank portion and the position of the spring unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 shows a descending window opening/closing aid according to a first embodiment of the present invention, where (a) is an overall perspective view and (b) is a partially cutaway perspective view of a main body. FIG. 2 is a front view showing a usage state of the downward window opening/closing aid of FIG. 1 ; It is a figure showing the operation|movement inside a main body, (a) shows the closed state of a descending window, (b) shows an open state. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the characteristics of a compression spring used in the main body; It is a figure which shows the downward window opening-and-closing aid which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the modification of the downward window opening-and-closing aid of FIG.

A descending window opening/closing aid according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 shows a descending window opening/closing aid 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1(a) is an overall perspective view, and FIG. 1(b) is a partially broken perspective view of a main body 2, which will be described later, so that the internal structure can be confirmed.

As shown in FIG. 1, the lowering window opening/closing aid 1 includes a main body 2 and an arm 4 pivotally supported at one end of the main body 2 so as to be rotatable. A roller 4a is rotatably provided at the tip of the arm 4. As shown in FIG. A pivot axis of the arm 4 is connected to a gear 12 inside the main body 2 . Power based on the rotational force of this gear 12 is configured to be transmitted to the rack 14 via the intermediate gear 16 . The intermediate gear 16 is a reduction gear that receives the movement of the gear 12 side with the lower gear 16b, reduces the speed, and transmits it to the upper gear 16a. The power of the intermediate gear 16 is transmitted to the rack 14 arranged so as to extend in the horizontal direction. In the configuration according to this embodiment, the intermediate gear 16 can halve the motion caused by the rotation of the gear 12 and transmit the motion to the rack 14 .

A spring unit 8 is arranged on one end side of the rack 14 . The spring unit 8 incorporates a compression spring 8b as a spring material. One end of the compression spring 8b is sealed by a stopper 8a in a compressed state. A bolt-shaped guide 8c is disposed through the inside of the compression spring 8b, and a stopper 8a is provided slidably along the guide 8c. The stopper 8a is regulated by the head of the guide 8c and prevents the extension of the compression spring 8b. The tip of the guide 8c is screwed into the rack 14, and the degree of compression of the compression spring 8b is adjusted by the screwing amount of the guide 8c. Compression spring 8b housed in a compressed state
When a force exceeding the repulsive force is applied to the stopper 8a from the outside, the stopper 8a is pushed toward the rack 14 side.

The compression spring 6 is arranged in series with (the compression spring 8b of) the spring unit 8 so that one end thereof abuts against the stopper 8a. The other end side of the compression spring 6 is sealed with an adjusting portion 20 . The adjustment portion 20 has a fixed wall 22 and a movable wall 24 . A bolt-shaped adjusting shaft 26 having a head on the side of the compression spring 6 is arranged to pass through the fixed wall 22 and the movable wall 24 . When the end of the adjusting shaft 26 protruding outside the main body 2 is gripped and turned, the head of the adjusting shaft 26 slides along with the movable wall 24 with the position of the fixed wall 22 as a reference. Thereby, the degree of compression of the compression spring 6 can be adjusted. The adjusted adjustment shaft 26 is fixed by an outer fixing nut 28 .

FIG. 2 is a front view showing how the lowering window opening/closing aid 1 is used. The descending window opening/closing aid 1 shown in FIG. 1 is provided in the space below the descending window 101 of the side structure 100 . A roller 4 a is provided at the tip of the rotating arm 4 , and the roller 4 a is lifted so as to contact the lower end of the descending window 101 to support the descending window 101 . A force is applied from the arm 4 in a direction to lift the descending window 101, and the weight of the descending window 101 is reduced.

The main body 2 has a simple thin structure in which the gears are simply surrounded by a case as shown in FIG. The intermediate gear 16 also has a structure in which teeth with different gear ratios are integrally formed, which contributes to a reduction in thickness. As a result, it can be accommodated in a limited space in an aluminum alloy structure having a double-skin structure in recent years without forming a notch in the structure.

FIG. 3 shows the internal operation of the main body 2. As shown in FIG. FIG. 3(a) shows the closed state of the descending window, and FIG. 3(b) shows the open state. The illustration of the tip side of the arm 4 including the roller is omitted for convenience of explanation.

First, with reference to FIG. 3(a), the movement of each component will be seen while following the force transmission path. The direction in which the arm 4 turns upward (close direction) is indicated by an arrow A1 in the figure. The rotation direction of the gear 12 when the arm 4 turns upward is the direction of the arrow A2. Furthermore, at this time, the direction of rotation of the intermediate gear 16 that transmits the rotation of the gear 12 is the direction of arrow A3. As a result, the rack 14 performs linear motion in the direction of arrow A4. Similarly, in FIG. 3(b) the movement of each component in the opening direction is represented by arrows B1 to B4 (respectively opposite to arrows A1 to A4).

As can be seen by comparing FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b), in the closed state of FIG. 3(a), the stopper 8a of the spring unit 8 is positioned at the left end of the guide 8c. In the open state of b), the stopper 8a is separated from the left end of the guide 8c and pushed toward the rack 14 side. When the state shown in FIG. 3(a) changes to the state shown in FIG. 3(b), the amount of movement of the rack 14 in the opening direction is a distance D1. At this time, the left end of the guide 8c of the spring unit 8 is separated from the stopper 8a by a distance D2.

In the configuration according to this embodiment, the elastic repulsive force of the compression spring 8b of the spring unit 8 in the initial state is set to be greater than the elastic repulsive force of the compression spring 6 in the closed state. That is, until the stopper 8a leaves the left end of the guide 8c, substantially only the elastic repulsive force of the compression spring 6 acts as a force for turning the arm 4 in the closing direction of the lowering window 101 (see FIG. 2). working. However, when the turning angle in the opening direction of the arm 4 exceeds a certain range, the elastic repulsive force of the compression spring 6 exceeds the elastic repulsive force of the compression spring 8b of the spring unit 8, and the stopper 8a moves away from the left end of the guide 8c. At this time, the compression spring 6 and the compression spring 8b act as a combined spring combined in series. Therefore, the apparent spring constant changes from the spring constant K1 of the compression spring 6 to the spring constant K2 of the composite spring. In general, connecting springs in series reduces the spring constant. Therefore, the spring constant K2 of the composite spring is smaller than the spring constant K1 of the compression spring 6 alone. If it is set so that the opening/closing operation can be performed in the operation area where the composite spring acts, the change is gentler than that of the elastic repulsive force of the compression spring 6 alone, so that the user can perform the opening/closing operation with a smooth operational feeling. .

Here, the operation will be described with reference to the spring characteristics of the lowering window opening/closing aid 1. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the characteristics of the compression springs 6, 8b used in the main body 2. As shown in FIG. The vertical axis in FIG. 4 represents the spring reaction force (load), and the horizontal axis represents the amount of movement of the rack 14 in the opening direction that increases as the opening degree of the lowering window increases.

It can be seen that the slope of the straight line changes from a region where the movement amount of the rack 14 in the opening direction is small to a region where it is large. It can be seen that the greater the opening of the lowering window, the greater the spring reaction force. A region in which the amount of movement in the opening direction is small is a region in which only the compression spring 6 is biased, and only the characteristic of the spring constant K1 of the compression spring 6 appears. On the other hand, the region where the amount of movement in the opening direction is large is the region where the force of the synthetic spring described above with reference to FIG. 3 is acting. As shown in FIG. 3(b), this region corresponds to the state where the force of the compression spring 6 is increased to such an extent that the stopper 8a of the spring unit 8 is separated from the left end of the guide 8c. The spring constant of the composite spring is K2, which is smaller than the spring constant K1 of the compression spring 6. Therefore, in the region of the spring constant K2, the slope of the spring characteristic is also gentle.

The balanced position B is in the region of this spring constant K2, and is set so that the arm 4 is balanced when the turning position is substantially horizontal. Specifically, it is set so that a window with a mass of 30 kg can be closed with a force of about 7 kg.

By the way, in the configuration according to this embodiment, the motion of the gear 12 is decelerated by the intermediate gear 16 and transmitted to the rack 14 as described above. As a result, the movable range of the rack 14 with respect to the movement of the arm 4 is kept small. That is, if the range of motion R of the rack 14 is set to fall within a narrow range such as the amount of movement L1 to L2 in the opening direction of the rack 14 shown in FIG. . As a result, the user can perform smooth operation with little change in load regardless of the degree of opening.

As described above, in the descending window opening/closing aid of the present invention, a series-arranged synthetic spring including a pre-compressed spring unit is used as a spring mechanism that imparts a biasing force in a direction to close the descending window. By unitizing a part of the spring mechanism in this way, it is possible to handle the relatively long spring material in a shortened state, which has the advantage of facilitating assembly work and adjustment work during maintenance. . Therefore, it is easy to use a spring material with a relatively small spring constant in a state where the spring reaction force is high. That is, a compression spring 8b having a relatively small spring constant is used in the spring unit 8, and the compression spring 8b and the compression spring 6 are arranged in series to act as a composite spring, thereby further reducing the overall spring constant. can do. As a result, it is possible to obtain a sufficient force from a spring material having a small spring constant even in a space-saving manner.

In addition to this, an intermediate gear 16 is employed to reduce and transmit the motion due to the rotation of the arm 4 and keep the range of action of the compression springs 6 and 8b connected to the rack 14 small. Since it is configured in this way, it is possible to select and set a range in which the opening movement amount of the rack is relatively small in the overall spring characteristics (range of motion R in FIG. 4). That is, without using a complicated link mechanism such as a schlieren type structure, the operating range with less variation can be selected by the above-described adjusting section 20, so that the opening and closing operation of the lowering window can be performed smoothly. Furthermore, by utilizing the fact that the fluctuation of the spring reaction force can be moderately set, it is also possible to realize a state close to a free stop in which the descending window in the middle of opening and closing is stopped at an arbitrary position.

(Second embodiment)
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a lowering window opening/closing aid 30 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Here, the same reference numerals are used to describe the same configuration as that of the descending window opening/closing aid 1 shown in the first embodiment. In addition, as in the explanation of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 shows a part of the front side by notching so that the internal structure of the main body 31 can be easily understood, and the structure of the tip of the arm 4 is omitted from the drawing. .

An external force based on the opening and closing of the descending window 101 (see FIG. 2) is input by the arm 4, and the turning force of the arm 4 is converted into a reciprocating motion and received by the compression spring 6. The configuration of the first embodiment is similar to that of the first embodiment. It is common with the descending window opening/closing aid 1 shown in FIG. However, the configuration of the conversion unit 33 that converts rotational force into reciprocating motion is different. The conversion unit 33 will be mainly described below.

Unlike the descending window opening/closing aid 1 of FIG. The crank portion 34 has an arcuate gear portion 36 that meshes with the gear 12 provided at the center of the arm 4 rotation. One end of the connecting rod 35 is connected to a position closer to the center of rotation of the crank portion 34 than the arcuate gear portion 36 . The other end of this connecting rod 35 is connected to a spring unit 32 corresponding to the spring unit 8 in FIG. With this configuration, the rotational force transmitted from the gear 12 is converted into reciprocating motion via the crank portion 34 and the connecting rod 35 and transmitted to the spring unit 32 . As described above, the circular gear portion 36 is provided at a position farther from the crankshaft 37 of the crank portion 34 than the connection position of the connecting rod 35, so that the rotational motion transmitted from the gear 12 is reduced. A decelerating effect occurs. That is, the deceleration action by the gear ratio of the intermediate gear 16 shown in the first embodiment can be adjusted by the mounting position of the connecting rod 35 .

The configuration of the spring unit 32 is substantially the same as that of the first embodiment, except that the connecting rod 35 is configured to be rotatably connected.

Rotational force is input by the arm 4 that rotates as the descending window 101 is opened, and the connecting rod 35 gradually pushes the spring unit 32 accordingly. As a result, when the force of the other compression spring 6 exceeds the strength of the compression spring 32b of the spring unit 32, both act as a composite spring.

When a crank mechanism is used as the conversion unit 33, unlike a conversion mechanism that uses a combination of gears and racks, the peak point is set on the reciprocating motion side by adjusting the connection position of the connecting rod 35 with respect to the phase of rotation. can do. As a result, it is possible to variously set the operation feeling associated with opening and closing the window.

<Modification>
FIG. 6 shows a lowering window opening/closing aid 40 that is a modification of the lowering window opening/closing aid 30 of FIG. As in the case of FIG. 5, the same reference numerals are used to describe the same components as the descending window opening/closing aid 1 shown in the first embodiment. Also, the illustrated form for making the structure inside the main body easy to understand is the same.

Compared to the first embodiment, the arm 4, gear 12 and compression spring 6 have the same configuration, but the configuration of the converting portion 43 is different. The converting portion 43 in FIG. 6 is configured by a cam mechanism.

A plate cam 44 is provided in the same plane as the gear 12 inside the main body 41 . An arc-shaped gear portion 46 similar to the arc-shaped gear portion 36 of the crank portion 34 of FIG. The driven joint 45 provided in the spring unit 42 is configured to abut on a position where the radius from the camshaft 47 changes and a cam action is obtained. With this configuration, the rotational force input by turning the arm 4 rotates the cam via the gear 12 and is converted into reciprocating motion of the spring unit 42 by the cam mechanism.

The cam mechanism shown in FIG. 6 can also set the peak position of the reciprocating motion in the same manner as the converter 33 using the crank mechanism shown in FIG.

The configuration as described above is an example of the present invention, and the following modifications are also included.

(1) In the above-described first embodiment, an example in which the racks forming the conversion section are formed linearly was shown. However, an arc-shaped rack may be used as long as it is configured to allow smooth reciprocating motion.

(2) In the above-described first embodiment, the configuration in which the intermediate gear is provided between the gear and the rack is shown as an example. However, if the configuration can smoothly convert the rotary motion into the reciprocating motion, the intermediate gear may not be used.

(3) In the above-described first embodiment, an example is shown in which the intermediate gear that reduces the rotation of the gear is composed of one piece. However, an intermediate gear combining a plurality of gears may be used.

(4) In the above-described first embodiment, the configuration using the coil-shaped compression spring as the urging spring of the converting portion was shown as an example. However, it is also possible to replace it with an urging spring such as a leaf spring.

(5) In the above embodiment, the configuration in which the spring unit is directly connected to the conversion section is shown as an example. However, a configuration in which a compression spring is provided between the spring unit and the conversion section may also be used.

(6) In the above embodiment, an example of configuring the spring mechanism using one spring unit was shown. However, the spring unit can be replaced by multiple units, provided that it includes at least one series spring mechanism consisting of a compression spring and a spring unit. A parallel configuration including at least one spring mechanism in which a single or a plurality of spring units and a compression spring are combined in series may also be used.

The descending window opening/closing aid of the present invention has a compact design, but can operate a heavy descending window with a gentle change in force, so it can be used not only for railway vehicles but also for a wide range of vehicles. It is useful for elevating windows and opening and closing doors.

1 lowering window opening and closing aid 2 main body 4 arm 4a roller 6 compression spring (biasing spring)
8 spring unit 8a stopper 8b compression spring (spring material)
8c Guide 10 Converting part 12 Gear 14 Rack 16 Intermediate gear 16a Upper gear 16b Lower gear 20 Adjusting part 22 Fixed wall 24 Movable wall 26 Adjusting shaft 28 Fixed nut 30 Lowering window opening/closing aid 31 Main body 32 Spring unit 32a Stopper 32b Compression spring 32c Slider 32d Guide 33 Converter 34 Crank 35 Connecting rod 36 Circular gear 37 Crankshaft 40 Lowering window opening/closing aid 41 Body 42 Spring unit 42a Stopper 42b Compression spring 42c Slider 42d Guide 43 Converter 44 Plate cam 45 Follower 46 Circular gear portion 47 Camshaft 100 Side structure 101 Lowering window P Balanced position R Range of motion K1, K2 Spring constant

Claims (5)

A descending window opening/closing aid for assisting the opening and closing operation of a descending window of a railway vehicle,
a body positioned below the descending window;
an arm having one end pivotally supported on said body so that it can pivot up and down below said lowering window;
a conversion unit that converts a rotational motion for turning the arm into a reciprocating motion;
an urging spring that urges the reciprocating motion of the converting section so as to rotate the arm in a direction to lift the lowering window;
A descending window opening/closing aid comprising a spring unit disposed in series with the urging spring and having a stopper that holds an internal spring member in a compressed state and is movable only in a compression direction. The conversion unit
a gear attached to the center of rotation of the arm;
2. A descending window opening/closing aid according to claim 1, further comprising a rack for converting rotational motion of said gear into reciprocating motion. 3. The descending window opening/closing aid according to claim 2, wherein the converting portion includes an intermediate gear between the gear and the rack for reducing rotation of the gear. 4. The descending window opening/closing aid according to claim 2, wherein the biasing spring of the converting portion is a compression spring that biases the reciprocating motion of the rack. The conversion unit
a gear attached to the center of rotation of the arm;
2. A descending window opening/closing aid according to claim 1, further comprising a crank portion for converting the rotational force of said gear into a reciprocating motion along a direction of expansion and contraction of said spring unit via a connecting rod.

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