JPH0234472B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (a) Technical Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a top cover of a casing that opens and closes vertically;
In particular, the moment generated by the top cover's own weight, which is fixed on a fulcrum at one end, prevails, and in the fully opened state, the moment generated by the spring mechanism dominates, and the moment generated by the spring mechanism and its own weight, except in the vicinity of the closed and fully opened states, This invention relates to an improved support structure for opening and closing the top cover of a casing in order to realize a so-called auto-hinge cover, which is constructed so as to substantially balance the moment caused by the movement of the cover, thereby making it possible to stop at any position during opening and closing.

(b) Prior Art and Background Conventionally, the vertical opening/closing cover, which can be balanced and stopped at any position in the middle except near the open and closed states, has been operated when opening/closing a relatively large cover is required. It is often used to improve user-friendliness. One reason for this is that when lifting the cover, it is too heavy for humans to ignore due to its large size, and the other is that the links that are folded in the closed state and in a straight line in the open state, which have been commonly used in the past. For structures that support the cover by extending it near the fulcrum of the link, or for structures that support the moment due to the cover's own weight when the cover is open by locking the bar in its extended state, the cover should be stopped midway. If you do not open the cover completely, or if you do an incomplete operation that does not allow it to open completely, the cover may fall without stopping in the open position, and the cover may fall and hit the operator's head or pinch his or her hand. This is because there remains a risk that the

Therefore, one structure that does not have these drawbacks is the so-called auto-hinge cover, which is excellent in terms of improving operability when the operator opens and closes it, but it has a somewhat complicated structure and is rather large. structure, which occupies a non-negligible amount of space on the sides of the casing, making it difficult to downsize the entire device, including the casing, because the space between the sides of the device and the casing is occupied in the width direction. There was a problem.

The structure of such a conventional auto-hinge cover is, for example, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in which a casing 1 in which a device 10 is mounted and a hinge 3 are connected to an upper cover 2 with a pivot point at the tip. Arm 4 with
There is also a shaft support point 6 on the casing side, and a spring means is built inside between the two shaft support points 5 and 6 so that it is biased in the direction of extension, and between a predetermined minimum length and a predetermined maximum length. connects an intermediary link spring 7 that can be expanded and contracted by an external force, and uses the force in the extension direction of the intermediary link spring 7 to support and offset the force in the cover closing direction (force generated by moment) generated by the cover's movement. When the cover is half-closed, which is an intermediate state, the force in the closing direction due to its own weight and the force in the opening direction due to the intermediary link spring 7 are balanced, and the force on the open side dominates near the open state, and the force on the open side dominates near the closed state. The pivot point 3 of the housing 1 and upper cover 2 is set so that the force on the closing side is stronger.
, the relationship between the pair of intermediary link spring shaft fulcrums 5 of the arm of the upper cover and the pair of intermediate link spring shaft fulcrums 6 of the housing 1 side, and the relationship of the upper cover with respect to the above-mentioned upper cover shaft fulcrum in the cover open state and closed state. This value is achieved by calculating the magnitude of the extension force of the intermediate link spring 7 at a predetermined length by taking into consideration the position of the center of gravity and the weight (the direction of the center of gravity and the magnitude of the moment as seen from the above-mentioned shaft fulcrum). This determines the spring characteristics of the intermediate link spring 7.

In addition, in this configuration, the shock absorber that is applied to the stopper when the cover is open must basically be held on the side of the intermediate link spring 7, and since it is a telescopic structure, it inevitably becomes thick to some extent. Since the pivot point 6 is on the front side of the casing, and the intermediate link spring 7 swings around the pivot point on the casing side, a relatively large side space is required both in the width direction and in the front-rear direction, and the structure is It was quite complicated.

(c) Objectives and Features In view of the above-mentioned disadvantages, the present invention provides an improved support structure for opening and closing the top cover of the casing that overcomes these disadvantages. A slider, which is a fixed structure, is fitted in a housing, a top lid that is supported on a fulcrum so that it can be opened and closed, and a support structure for the top lid that has a spring mechanism that offsets the moment in the closing direction generated by the weight of the top lid. A plate-shaped guide having a long hole for guiding the slider, and a hook portion for hooking one end of a tension spring positioned above the plate-shaped guide are attached to the side of the housing. and an arm having an intermediate link shaft support is provided on the upper lid, and a portion of the arm is pivotally supported by the shaft support of the arm, a portion of the slider is pivoted at the other end, and the other end of the tension spring is provided at one end. It has an intermediary link having a hooking part and a slider, one end of the intermediary link with the slider mounted thereon is attached to the shaft support of the arm, and the slider mounted on the other end side is fitted into the elongated hole. In addition, the other end of the tension spring is hooked, and further, the upper hole formed in the guide is a daruma hole having an enlarged part at the upper part of the elongated hole, and the enlarged part is It is characterized in that the slider can be mounted through the slider, and a grommet-like rubber is mounted in the enlarged portion to fit in a groove.

(d) Embodiment FIG. 3 is a general explanatory diagram including a conventional example, and is a conceptual diagram of a casing and a top lid that is supported on the casing. FIG. The side view of FIG. 5, FIG. 6, and FIG. 7 are supplementary views of FIG. 4 and show a sketch of the structure of the shell.

In the figure, the casing 1, top cover 2, and hinge 3 are the same as in Figure 1, and the arm 4 is the arm 4' and the pivot support 5 is 5', which are similar. are also different.

That is, the intermediate lever 11, which is simply a lever of a fixed length having support shafts at both ends, is supported by the pivot support 5', and the intermediate lever 11 is engaged with the pivot support 5' by one support shaft. , a slider 12 having a perforated cylindrical shape and a groove formed on the outer diameter (the groove bottom is a concentric cylinder and may be rotated, but it is called a slider) is mounted on one side end of the other support shaft. A roller 13 for hooking a tension spring is mounted on the other side end. On the other hand, a guide plate 15 having a vertical guide groove 14 that engages with the slider 12 and guides the slider is formed on the side of the casing in parallel with the side surface. The uppermost part has a part 14a enlarged enough to allow the outer diameter of the slider 12 to pass through, forming a so-called daruma hole, and during assembly, the slider 12 is fitted into the guide groove 14 by passing through this part 14a. It is configured so that it can be installed.

A hook portion 17 for a tension spring 16 is formed above the guide plate 15 on the side of the housing 1 . Also, the enlarged portion 14 of the guide groove
The outer periphery of a perforated rubber cylinder for attachment to the groove a has a groove bottom constricted to an outer diameter that fits with the enlarged portion 14a, and can hold the guide plate in the groove width direction. Rubber 18 in a so-called grommet state with grooves formed therein is easily formed.

In such a configuration, the intermediate lever 11 with the slider 12 and the roller 13 mounted on the upper lid 2 via the arm 4' is mounted on the casing 1 via the hinge 3, and the upper lid is opened normally. Open it beyond the limit, align the slider 12 with the enlarged part of the guide groove, insert it into the guide groove from the side, and hook one end of the tension spring 16 with the hook part 17 and the other end with the roller 13. The assembly is completed by attaching the rubber 18 to the portion 14a while elastically deforming the cover with the cover partially closed. It doubles as a stopper and a shock absorber.

In addition, actuator 19 and micro switch 2
0 is for detecting the closed state of the top cover, and the actuator 19 is guided by a guide formed in the casing structure and is shifted upward, so that when the cover is closed, the actuator 19 comes into contact with the intermediate lever. When pressed down, the microswitch 20 is activated to detect the closed state. If the device housed in the housing generates noise, such as a printing device, it is necessary to interlock with such a signal. It is prepared for.

The design means for configuring the auto-hinge described above for a cover with such a configuration has a slightly different mechanism, so the moment force around the hinge 3 that is generated in response to the weight of the top cover 2 that corresponds to the stroke and tension of the tension spring 16 is reduced to a lever. 4' is transmitted to the mediating lever 11 via the pivot point 5', and is further converted in the direction of the guide groove, so the number of targets increases by one, and therefore, the intersection angle of the links, which is a parameter of conversion, is compared to the conventional one. In addition, the design is such that the force generated by the weight of the upper cover at each position of the pipe is converted into the direction of the guide groove, and the tension generated by the tension spring at each stroke is in a predetermined relationship. They are similar in that respect.

However, with such a configuration having a slider and a guide groove, one extra design parameter is available for adjusting the force on the side that opposes the characteristics of the spring.
Furthermore, if the guide groove is removed by a shape press, the guide groove is not necessarily straight, but can be bent at a predetermined portion, and the design can be freely selected to adjust the force on the side that opposes the characteristics of the spring. Since the number of parameters is increased by one more, it is possible to finely match the force of the opposing side, which has non-fan-shaped characteristics in the intermediate opening state, with the force of the spring, which has fan-shaped characteristics, over a wider range of opening and closing angles.

In addition, in this configuration, the guide plate is fixed to the casing, and what moves is a very narrow intermediary link, and the above design parameters increase the degree of freedom in design, so the position of the guide plate can be adjusted within the casing. Since it can be moved freely to some extent, it is also possible to remove the side part of the device mounted inside the housing and set it, for example, in the innermost corner of the housing with the device removed, and the guide plate can also be used to form the rear surface. By folding back the board, it is also possible to use a part of the reinforcing structure of the casing to form the structure, and since these corners were areas that could not be used as functional structure mounting space, they were left unused. It also contributes to the miniaturization of the casing in that space can be utilized.

(e) Effects As explained above, according to the present invention, since the guide is fixed-side equipment and the spring is also fixed-side equipment, an extremely simple support structure can be realized, and there are relatively few restrictions on the setting position. It has the characteristic effect that a support structure with a small number of parts and that does not take up space can be realized at an extremely low cost.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 and 2 are explanatory diagrams of a conventional auto-hinge cover, explaining its typical configuration and characteristics, and Figure 3 is a general explanatory diagram common to the conventional example, showing the relationship between the casing, top cover, and hinge. The explanatory drawings, FIGS. 4 to 7, are explanatory views of one embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 4 is a side sectional view explaining the support structure, and FIGS. 5, 6, and 7 are respectively FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the structure of FIG. 4; In the figure, 1 is the housing, 2 is the top lid, 3 is the hinge, 4,
4' is an arm, 11 is an intermediary lever, 12 is a slider,
14 is a guide groove, 15 is a guide plate, 16 is a tension spring, 17 is a hook, and 18 is rubber.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A support structure for a top lid including a housing, a top lid supported on a fulcrum so as to be openable and closable by the housing, and a spring mechanism for offsetting a moment in the closing direction generated by the weight of the top lid, comprising: a fixed structure; A plate-shaped guide having a long hole into which a slider is fitted and guides the slider, and a hook portion for hooking one end of a tension spring positioned above the plate-shaped guide. An arm is formed on the side of the casing and has an intermediate link pivot on the top cover, and has a portion pivoted on the pivot of the arm at one end, and a portion pivoted on the slider at the other end. It has an intermediary link and a slider having a part for hooking the other end of the tension spring, one end of the intermediary link with the slider mounted thereon is attached to the shaft support of the arm, and the slider mounted on the other end side is attached to the arm. A support structure for opening and closing a top cover of a housing, characterized in that the support structure is fitted into the elongated hole and hooked on the other end of the tension spring. 2. The upper hole formed in the guide is a daruma hole having an enlarged part at the upper part of the elongated hole, and the slider can be attached through the enlarged part, and the enlarged part 2. The support structure for opening and closing the top cover of a casing according to claim 1, characterized in that the support structure is formed by mounting a grommet-like rubber that fits in a groove in the top cover of the casing.