JPH0449409B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Application of the Invention) The present invention relates to a torque reduction mechanism for a hinge shaft that is particularly suitable for use in an automatic opening/closing device for a toilet lid or a toilet seat of a Western-style toilet bowl.

(Prior Art) In another application filed on the same day, the inventor proposed an automatic opening/closing device for the toilet lid and seat in a Western-style toilet bowl that uses a drive motor in place of the conventional manual opening/closing device with a simple structure. did.

This automatic opening/closing device can open and close toilet seats, etc., reliably and quietly without using hands, so even young children and people with disabilities can easily open and close toilet seats, etc., and even healthy people can easily open and close toilet seats, etc., without using their hands. As a result, it had the advantage of helping to protect the heat-retaining equipment and cleaning equipment, but mainly due to the installation location, it was desirable to use a drive motor as small as possible, so even a small drive motor could be used. There was a need to devise a way to ensure that the toilet lid and seat open and close smoothly without overloading.

(Technical Problem) The technical problem of the present invention is to reduce the rotational torque of the hinge shaft fixed to the toilet seat, etc. in an automatic opening/closing device for the toilet lid or toilet seat of a Western-style toilet bowl that uses a drive motor. It is an object of the present invention to provide a torque reduction mechanism configured to allow smooth opening and closing without overloading the motor.

(Technical Means) In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention transmits driving force from a drive motor to a hinge shaft to which a toilet lid or a toilet seat is attached via a driving force transmission means,
In the automatic opening/closing device configured to automatically open and close the toilet lid or the toilet seat, a torsion spring for rotationally biasing the toilet seat, etc. in the opening direction is attached to the hinge shaft, and one end of the torsion spring is provided. The part is biased in one direction to be locked to a slidably provided locking member, and the biasing force of the locking member is applied only in a predetermined opening angle range of the toilet seat, etc., where the greatest load is applied to the hinge shaft. The torsion spring is configured to act in a direction that increases its torque, thereby reducing the rotational torque of the hinge shaft within a predetermined opening angle range of the toilet seat or the like.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the torque reduction mechanism for an automatic opening/closing device according to the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

A gear box 2 fixed to the left rear upper part of the toilet main body 1 includes a drive motor 3, a rotatably supported hinge shaft 4, and a number of reduction gears that link the hinge shaft 4 and the drive motor 3. A driving force transmission means 5 consisting of gears is attached, and a toilet seat 6, for example, is fixed to the hinge shaft 4. A torsion spring 7 is attached to the hinge shaft 4 to control the load of the toilet seat 6 attached thereto, and one end 7a of this torsion spring 7 is engaged with a rotary plate 13 fixed to the hinge shaft 4. The other end 7b is locked to a locking member 9 slidably attached to a frame 8 that attaches the hinge shaft 4 to the gearbox 2.

One end 9a of the locking member 9 is engaged with a locking pin 11 that is slidably inserted into a mounting plate 8a protruding from the frame 8. The locking member 9 is biased in the direction in which the torsion spring 7 is unwound by a compression coil spring 10 which is wound around and resiliently installed between the mounting plate 8a and the mounting plate 8a.

Therefore, the rotational driving force of the drive motor 3, which is rotated in the forward and reverse directions by a switch (not shown), is transmitted to the hinge shaft 4 via the driving force transmission means 5, and opens and closes the toilet seat 6. At an opening angle between 0° and 30° of the toilet seat 6 where the load torque is applied the most, the torsion spring 7 with the locking member 9 locked changes from the state shown in FIG. 1 to the state shown in FIG. The end portion 7b pulls the locking member 9 and moves in the direction of unwinding the torsion spring 7 together with the locking pin 11 against the elasticity of the compression coil spring 10. The hinge shaft 4 shown in FIG.
The rotational torque of the toilet seat 6 is reduced, and even the small drive motor 3 whose rotational torque is not very large can sufficiently open and close the toilet seat 6.

That is, if only the torsion spring 7 is used to reduce the rotational torque of the hinge shaft 4, it is necessary to use a torsion spring with a strong torque, and if this is done, the torque will be strong even at a predetermined opening angle or more. Since the remaining torque tends to spring up the toilet seat, etc., strain is placed on the drive motor. However, as in the above embodiment, the torsion spring 7 acts on the torsion spring 7 in the range of 0° to 30° where the load is most applied to the hinge shaft 4 at the opening angle of the toilet seat, etc., and cooperates to reduce the load applied to the hinge shaft 4. If the locking member 9 is provided with elasticity that functions to reduce the torque, it is not necessary to use a torsion spring 7 with a strong torque, so even if a small drive motor is used, there will be no excessive load. This allows the toilet seat, etc. to be opened and closed smoothly without any friction.

Although the above embodiment has been explained only for the case of a toilet seat, this automatic opening/closing device is attached to the left and right sides of the upper rear part of the toilet main body 1, and one device opens and closes the toilet seat, and the other device opens and closes the toilet lid. can do. In this case, as shown in Figure 2,
A toilet lid 12 is rotatably attached to the hinge shaft 4 to which the toilet seat is fixed, and conversely, although not shown, the toilet seat is rotatably attached to the hinge shaft on the side to which the toilet lid is fixed. I will let you do it.

Further, the locking pin 11 on which the compression coil spring 10 is applied to lock the one end portion 7b of the torsion spring 7 may be replaced with a tension coil spring. Therefore, the elastic member includes both of these.

Further, the protrusion 13a provided on the rotary plate 13 functions to control the opening angle of the hinge shaft 4, that is, the toilet seat 6.

(Effects) As explained in detail above, the torque reduction mechanism of the automatic opening/closing device for a toilet seat, etc. according to the present invention uses a torsion spring to reduce the rotational torque applied to the hinge shaft when opening/closing a toilet seat, etc. In addition, in the opening angle range (0° to 30°) that acts on this torsion spring and applies the most load,
We have added a locking member with elastic means that can reduce the rotational torque of the hinge shaft, so that no load is applied to the drive motor even if the torsion spring itself does not have a strong torque. Since it is possible to
A small-sized drive motor can be used, and even if a small-sized drive motor is used, smooth opening and closing operations of the toilet seat, etc. can be performed. As a result, it is possible to achieve the effects of lowering manufacturing costs and downsizing the entire device.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a right side view of an automatic opening/closing device embodying the present invention, Fig. 2 is a rear view thereof, Fig. 3 is a front view showing essential parts of the invention, and Fig. 4 is a side view showing the same operational relationship. , FIG. 5 is a torque curve diagram of the hinge shaft when the present invention is not implemented, and FIG. 6 is a torque curve diagram of the hinge shaft when the present invention is implemented. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Toilet main body, 2... Gear box, 3... Drive motor, 4... Hinge shaft, 5... Drive force transmission means, 6... Toilet seat, 7... Torsion spring, 9...
Locking member, 10... Compression coil spring, 11...
Locking pin, 12...Toilet lid.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an automatic opening/closing device configured to transmit driving force from a drive motor to a hinge shaft to which a toilet lid or a toilet seat is attached via a driving force transmission means to automatically open and close the toilet lid or toilet seat, the hinge shaft a torsion spring for rotationally biasing the toilet seat etc. in the opening direction, and one end of the torsion spring is biased in one direction and locked to a slidably provided locking member, The urging force of this locking member is configured to act in a direction that increases the torque of the torsion spring only in a predetermined opening angle range of the toilet seat, etc., where the load is most applied to the hinge shaft, and thereby A torque reduction mechanism for an automatic opening/closing device such as a toilet seat, characterized by reducing the rotational torque of a hinge shaft within an opening angle range.