JPH0654882A - Locking device for supporting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To lock and release an object to be supported. CONSTITUTION:The locking device is constituted so that a slit 4 is provided in a housing 1 having fitting-in holes 2, 3 into which objects 32, 34 to be supported are fitted in and fixed, an end part of this slit 4 is formed so as to reach the fitting-in holes 2, 3, and the slit 4 is enlarged by an operation of a push solenoid 16 provided in the housing 1. In such a way, the object is usually in a lock state, and its release is executed, when the push solenoid is operated and force is applied from the outside, therefore, the time of a load applied to each member is short, and durability is improved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a support locking device that can easily lock and unlock a support.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Support device locking devices of this type are widely used for supporting headrests in medical and medical chairs and barber chairs, as well as for supporting rotating arms of various machine tools and robots. The conventional technique will be described by taking the support of the headrest in a chair for medical treatment such as otolaryngology or dentistry as an example. As shown in FIG. 6, as shown in FIG. Between the prior art locking device 5
4 are provided so as to intervene.

As shown in FIG. 7, the basic structure of the main part of the lock device 54 is generally slit 55 as a whole.
Has a so-called slit structure having a central portion in the longitudinal direction, and in the vicinity of both ends of the locking device 54, a tubular support portion 56 on the upper portion of the backrest 51 is rotatably inserted in contact with the inner periphery thereof. Insertion hole 57 and support pillar 5 of headrest 52
An insertion hole 59 into which the tubular support portion 58 of No. 3 contacts the inner circumference thereof and is rotatably inserted is provided. Further, the first main body 54a and the second main body 5 which are formed with the slit 55 as a boundary.
4b are provided with protrusions 59 and 60, respectively, and a long hole 62 located near the lower end of a lever 61 for gripping with a hand is engaged with the protrusion 59, and at the lower end of the lever 61, one end thereof is provided. The other end of the link member 63, which is rotatably provided, is rotatably provided on the protrusion 60.

The unlocked state of the locking device 54 is when the lever 61 is jumping up as shown in FIG. 7, and at this time, the first main body 54a and the second main body 54a.
No force is applied to the main body 54b, so that the tubular support portions 56, 58 originally rotatably inserted into the insertion holes 57, 59 have the insertion holes 57, 5
As a result, the support column 53 of the headrest 52 and the locking device 54 can be freely rotated as shown by the arrow in FIG. The position and angle of the headrest 52 with respect to the backrest 51 can be freely changed according to the medical treatment posture.

When locking at a desired position,
If the lever 61 is pushed down in the direction indicated by the thin arrow in FIG. 7, the mechanism such as the link member 63 causes the first main body 54a and the second main body 54b to be indicated by the thick arrow in the same figure under the principle of leverage. Force is applied, and as a result, the above insertion hole 5
The diameter of 7, 59 contracts, thereby causing each tubular support 5
The 6, 58 were to be locked.

[0006]

However, no matter how the lever principle is used, the force required to lock the tubular support portions 56 and 58 is large in the above-mentioned structure, and the existing structure is not available. The actual machine needs about 30 kg of force. In addition, lever 6 with such a large force
In order to push down 1, the lever 61 must be held with one hand and the supporting column 53 and the upper portion of the backrest 51 must be held with the other hand to take the reaction force. Sometimes it was moved by.

On the contrary, when the lever 61 is flipped up to release the locked state, a large force is exerted at the time of starting.

Further, when such a great force is repeatedly applied, an excessive load is applied to the link material 63 and the like,
In some cases, "play" was gradually generated in the link material 63, and a satisfactory locked state could not be obtained. In fact, when this type of locking device is used for a long time, the so-called "lock becomes loose"
It is empirically known. Therefore, it lacked in durability and reliability.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points and has a simple structure. The object to be supported can be easily locked and unlocked, and it is operated in the locked state. The present invention aims to solve the above problems by providing a new locking device that does not burden the mechanism or the like. For this reason, the present invention provides a locking device that is different from the conventional one in that the external force is not applied in the locked state, and the external force is applied only in the released state.

More specifically, the first aspect is claim 1.
In the invention, a slit is provided in a housing having a fitting hole into which an object to be supported is fitted and fixed, and at least one end of the slit reaches the fitting hole, and an appropriate pressing mechanism provided in the housing. The slit is enlarged by pressing.

Further, in the lock device having such a structure, a push cam swinging about a fulcrum provided in the housing is provided in the housing, and the pressing point of the pressing mechanism is set at one end of the push cam, and the slit is formed. A lock device for a support can be also proposed as claim 2, characterized in that the action point at the time of enlarging is set at the other end of the push cam and the position between the fulcrum and the pressing point.

[0012]

According to the first aspect, the state in which the object to be supported is fitted and fixed is the locked state. When the pressing mechanism is operated to expand the slit by the pressing, the slit reaches the fitting hole, so that the inner diameter of the fitting hole increases. Then, the object to be supported, which has been in the fitted and fixed state in the fitting hole until now, can be freely rotated in the fitting hole. That is, the locked state is released.

In order to return to the locked state again, if the pressing is released, the elasticity of the housing itself returns the slit to its original state, and the inner diameter of the fitting hole is also contracted accordingly, and the object to be supported. Is again in the fitted and fixed state.

In the second aspect, the push cam corresponds to the lever in the principle of lever, and the pressing force of the pressing mechanism required to realize the above-mentioned locked state requires a small force.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 1 and 2 show the front and right sides of the housing, respectively. The housing 1 used has fitting holes 2 and 3 for fitting and fixing an object to be supported such as a pipe material near the upper and lower ends. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the upper and lower ends of the housing 1 are split into two, and the recesses 2a and 3a are respectively broken.
Is formed.

Slits 4 and 4 for realizing the slit structure are provided between the fitting holes 2 and 3. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, the left side portion 5 and the right side portion 6 of the housing 1, which are divided into the left and right by the slit 4, are slightly bent due to the existence of the slit 4.
When the left side portion 5 and the right side portion 6 are urged outward in the direction in which the slit 4 is enlarged, the diameters of the fitting holes 2 and 3 are enlarged.

As shown in FIG. 2, a window portion 7 having a through opening is formed in the right side portion 6 of the housing 1, while a recess portion 8 corresponding to the shape of the window portion 7 is formed in the left side portion 5. The opening surface is formed to face the window portion 7. Further, on the front surface and the back surface of the right side portion 6, a suitable number of screw holes 9 for fixing a pressing mechanism described later to the right side portion 6 are provided,
Further, a number of screw holes 10 for fixing a pressing plate, which will be described later, are appropriately drilled in the periphery of the right side window portion 7 of the right side portion 6. On the other hand, a screw hole 11 is formed in the side wall of the recess 8 in the left side portion 5, and a hole 12 having a diameter larger than the diameter of the screw hole 11 is formed outside the screw hole 11. A hole 13 is formed below the screw hole 11 to penetrate the side wall of the recess 8.

A pressing mechanism and the like are incorporated in the housing 1 having the above structure. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, first, the shaft 14 is passed between the front wall and the rear wall of the window portion 7 in the right side portion 6 of the housing 1, and the push cam 15 centers the shaft 14 on the shaft 14. It is provided so that it can swing freely. The push cam 15 has a shape in which a substantially central portion is bent to the right so as to form a trapezoid, and the shaft 14 is loosely inserted near the lower end of the bent portion. A push solenoid 16, which is a pressing mechanism, is fixed above the window 7 in the right side portion 6 of the housing 1, and the pressing portion 17 is in contact with the right side surface of the upper end of the push cam 15. The rating of the push solenoid 16 used in this embodiment is as follows. Continuous rating is 9w, pressing force is 8kg, maximum rating is 90w, pressing force is 22kg, current capacity is 0.8V at 10VDC.
2A, and the stroke length of the pressing portion 17 is 1.8 mm.

A return push cam 18 is rotatably provided near the upper end of the bent portion of the push cam 15. This return push cam 18 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the push cam 15 is provided with the bent portion of the push cam 15 in the concave portion 21 of the cam portion 19, which is constituted by the planar substantially concave cam portion 19 and the screw portion 20 fixed to the cam portion 19. By allowing the shaft member 22 to freely penetrate through the bent portion of the push cam 15 and fixing both ends of the shaft member 22 to the cam portion 19, the above-described rotatability is realized. Further, the screw portion 20 of the return push cam 18 is screwed into the screw hole 11 formed in the left side portion 5 of the housing 1, and the screw portion 20
A nut member 23 is screwed onto the protruding end of the.

On the other hand, a screw member 24 is threaded through the lower end of the push cam 15, a nut member 25 is screwed on the left protruding portion thereof, and a flange 26 is formed on the right protruding portion of the screw member 24. Is provided free of rotation. The flange 26 is slidable along the inner side wall of a cylindrical body 27 fixed in the window 7, and a urethane material 28 is housed inside the cylindrical body 27. It is pressed from the outside of the right side portion 6 by a pressing plate 29 fixed by bolts or the like.

This embodiment is constructed as described above,
The operation will be described. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the tubular support portion 32 of the support column 31 of the footrest is inserted into the fitting hole 2 of the housing 1, and the tubular support portion 3 above the backrest 33.
4 are press-fitted into the fitting holes 3 to be fitted and fixed. In this embodiment, the inner diameter (diameter) of each of the fitting holes 2 and 3 is 25 mm-
For (3/100 to 5/100) mm, the outer diameter of each tubular support 32, 34 is 25 mm (plus or minus 1
Although an error of about / 100 mm is allowed), in general, about (3/100 to 5/100) mm, the outer diameter of each tubular support 32, 34 is the inner diameter of each fitting hole 2, 3. It is preferable to use a larger one. By press-fitting in this manner, the tubular support portions 32, 34 are locked and do not rotate. That is, in a state where the push solenoid 16 is not energized, that is, in a normal state, it is in a locked state.

Then, in order to release the locked state, the push solenoid 16 is energized, and as shown in FIG. 5, the pushing portion 17 is projected to push the upper end of the push cam 15, and accordingly, the push solenoid 15 is pushed. The push cam 15 swings around the shaft 14 and presses the return push cam 18 in the direction of the thick arrow in the figure, and at the same time, the flange 26 below the push cam 15 also moves in the direction of the thick arrow opposite thereto. Press.

Then, the screw portion 20 of the return push cam 18 is screwed to the left side portion 5 of the housing 1, while the end of the urethane material 28 pressed by the flange 26 is engaged with the right side portion 6 of the housing 1 by the pressing plate 29. Since it is stopped, the housing 1 is shaped to be spread to the left and right with the slit 4 as a boundary by the force in the directions of the thick arrows. At this time, the force in the direction of each thick arrow is applied to the shaft 14
Since it is obtained by the lever principle with the fulcrum as a fulcrum, a large force can be obtained even if the protrusion force of the pressing portion 17 of the push solenoid 16 is small. Furthermore, the force applied to the right side portion 6 of the housing 1 is obtained via the urethane material 28 housed in the tubular body 27, and thus the urethane material 28 is housed in the tubular body 27. As a result, the pressing force of the flange 26 does not escape to the outside and is efficiently applied to the right side portion 6 (holding plate 29).

When the housing 1 is pushed to the left and right at the slit 4 as described above, the fitting holes 2 and 3 are inserted.
The inner diameters of the tubular support portions 32 and 34, which have been press-fitted into the respective fitting holes 2 and 3 and locked until then, are rotatable and unlocked. Such an unlocked state continues while the push solenoid 16 is energized.

To return to the locked state, the energization of the push solenoid 16 may be stopped. Then, the pressing portion 17 of the push solenoid 16 retracts, the push cam 15 returns to its original state, and the left side portion 5 and the right side portion 6 of the housing 1 return to their original state due to their elasticity, and the respective fitting holes 2 and 3 are inserted. The inner diameter also shrinks. As a result, each tubular support 32, 34 is locked again.

As described above, the normal state, that is, the state in which the push solenoid 16 is not energized and no load is applied to the push cam 15, is the locked state. In this locked state, each tubular support is provided in the fitting holes 2 and 3. It is realized by originally press-fitting the parts 32 and 34. Since the push cam 15 and the like are energized only in the unlocked state to apply a load, the durability is high and the initial locked state can be maintained longer than in the conventional case. That is, generally, in this type of locking device, the time in the locked state is much longer than the time in the unlocked state, but as described above, the load is positively applied from the outside only in the unlocked state. Therefore, compared to the conventional configuration in which a load (locking force) is applied from the outside in the locked state, the load on each member is small and the durability is improved accordingly, resulting in high reliability.

Further, unlike the above-mentioned prior art, switching to the unlocked state is performed simply by energizing the push solenoid 16, so that the operation is extremely simple and the energization is stopped even when the push solenoid 16 is locked at a desired position. Work to
The footrest position can be changed and fixed very easily and accurately.

In the above embodiment, the stroke of the return push cam 18 can be easily adjusted by appropriately rotating the nut member 20 screwed to the screw portion 20. Correspondingly, the tension of the urethane material 28 can be easily adjusted by appropriately rotating the nut material 25 screwed to the screw material 24.

Although not shown in the drawings, the switch of the push solenoid 16 and the lead wires thereof may be appropriately provided in the housing 1 so as to be convenient according to the device to which the push solenoid 16 is applied. For example, as in this embodiment. When applied to support the footrest of the medical chair, the switch may be provided on the back surface of the push solenoid 16 or the end surface of the fitting hole 2. In this case, wires such as lead wires can be passed through the housing 1, and the power supply line can also be provided with a through hole on the inner wall of the fitting hole 3 so that the inside of the support column 33a of the backrest 33 can pass through the through hole. Above these wires are not exposed at all.

A push solenoid is used as the pressing mechanism in the above embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to this, and similar effects can be obtained by using an oil cylinder or a gear motor, and the type of the object to be supported or the installed equipment to be supported. It may be appropriately selected and adopted according to the above.

Further, the fitting holes of the other locking device are made common (overlapped) to connect the other locking device to form a so-called multi-joint arm, or the locking device is rotated by 90 degrees to be connected to the other locking device. As a result, it can be configured as a universal arm.

In the above embodiment, the invention is applied to the support of the footrest of the medical examination chair, but in view of its function and effect, it can also be applied to the support of rotary arms of various machine tools and machine robots.

[0033]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the state in which the object to be supported is fitted and fixed is the locked state, while the state in which the pressing mechanism is activated is the unlocked state. Considering that the device normally takes a much shorter time in the unlocked state, the durability is much improved as compared with the conventional device. Further, switching between the two states is extremely simple because the pressing mechanism is operated and released.

Further, according to the second aspect, since the lever principle is used, the pressing force of the pressing mechanism can be small.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a housing used in an example.

FIG. 2 is a right side view of the housing used in the example.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional front view of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a return push cam used in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts of the embodiment in an unlocked state.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a state where the lock device is used to support a footrest of a medical examination chair.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram of a lock device according to a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Housing 2 Fitting Hole 3 Fitting Hole 4 Slit 5 Left Side 6 Right Side 32 Tubular Support 34 Tubular Support

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A slit is provided in a housing having a fitting hole into which an object to be supported is fitted and fixed, and at least one end of the slit reaches the fitting hole, and an appropriate pressing mechanism provided in the housing is provided. A lock device for a support, characterized in that the slit is enlarged by pressing. 2. A push cam swinging around a fulcrum provided in the housing is provided in the housing, and a pressing point of a pressing mechanism is set at one end of the push cam, and a point of action when enlarging the slit is set. The support locking device according to claim 1, wherein the other end of the push cam and the position between the fulcrum and the pressing point are respectively set.