JPH0674262A - Rotary damper - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a rotary damper capable of changing torque periodically during one rotation besides obtaining desired torque easily and easy to assemble/ disassemble with durability and simple structure without the lowering of torque. CONSTITUTION:A flange part 32 at the tip of a shaft part 31 is positioned and accommodated in a casing 11 formed of a bottomed cylinder body 12 and a circular lid 13, and the shaft part 31 is protruded outside. Damping mechanism for imparting resistance to the relative rotation of the casing 11 and shaft member 31 is formed by disposing plural elastic rolling elements 5 in bearing space 6, formed between the bottom face of the casing 11 and the flange part 32, in such a way as to roll in the pressure contact state. Radial bulge parts 32a are formed at the bottom face of the casing 11 and/or the pressure contact face of the flange part 32, and the grade of rotational torque is periodically changed through the bulge parts 32a on the basis of the compressive deformation of the rolling elements 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rotary damper which is applied to a rotating portion and a direct acting portion of various open / close lids, drawers of storages, wind direction adjusting devices of temperature control equipment and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A rotary damper resists unidirectional urging of a spring or the like acting on the rotating portion and the linear moving portion.
It has a function of applying braking to the movement and slowly operating the rotating portion and the linear movement portion.

Examples of such rotary dampers are, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 57-8604 and Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 61-133134.
It is disclosed in the publication. The structure is such that grease is interposed in the bearing space formed by loosely fitting the protrusion on the side of the rotating shaft into the recess on the side of the holding member. This is to generate torque in the member.

[0004]

However, the rotary damper described above has various problems as described below. Generally, it is not convenient and easy to handle during assembly and disassembly. High processing precision is required because the mating surface precision is required to eliminate grease leakage. The holding member and the rotary shaft member have complicated shapes, and it is difficult to obtain the required processing accuracy. Grease-resistant materials have to be used as materials for the holding member and the rotary shaft member, which is expensive. It is difficult to obtain the set torque. Torque reduction occurs due to deterioration of grease.

In particular, the torque cannot be changed during one rotation of the rotary damper. In the viscous type braking mechanism, the viscosity decreases as the temperature rises, so that the device itself must be increased in size in order to obtain a desired torque even at a high temperature.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve all the problems described above, and it is easy to handle, desired torque can be easily obtained, and the torque is periodically changed during one rotation of the rotary damper. Further, the present invention provides a rotary damper which has a durability and a simple structure which can be easily assembled and disassembled.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a holding member having a casing composed of a cylindrical body with a bottom and a circular lid, and a shaft having one end inserted and supported in the casing of the holding member. A rotary damper having a braking mechanism for imparting resistance to relative rotation between the holding member and the shaft member, wherein the braking mechanism is provided at the casing of the holding member and the tip of the insertion portion of the shaft member. It is arranged in a bearing space formed between the formed flange portion and is formed of a plurality of rolling elements that are elastically brought into pressure contact between the casing and the flange portion and rolls. The swelling portion that swells in the direction in which the rolling element is pressed is formed on both or either of the pressing surfaces as a basic configuration.

As a method for elastically pressure-contacting, the rolling element itself may be made of an elastic material, or the rolling element may be made of a hard material and the elastic material is fixed to the pressure-contacting surfaces of the casing and the flange portion. Can be mentioned. Also,
According to a preferred embodiment, the central portion of the surface of the flange portion opposite to the shaft portion is positioned and rotatably supported by the lid portion of the casing. Further, as another aspect, there is also a case where the rolling elements are supported so as to roll while maintaining a mutual positional relationship on the same plane, and further for adjusting the axial direction position of the flange portion in the casing. The position adjusting means may be provided.

[0009]

The rotary damper according to the present invention comprises the casing of the holding member, the shaft portion of the shaft member and the rolling elements. The holding member in the present invention means a member that holds the shaft member, and may have, for example, a sliding plate (not shown) in addition to the above casing, and the shaft member in the present invention means the casing of the shaft portion. There may be a gear or the like (not shown) at one end extending outward. Therefore, one of the holding member and the shaft member may rotate and the other may not rotate, or both of them may rotate.

As an example of the present invention, the rotary damper in the case where the casing and the flange portion are made of a hard material and the radial bulging portion is formed on one of the pressure contact surfaces of the casing and the spherical rolling element is made of an elastic material. To describe the operation of the example, when the holding member and the shaft member rotate relatively, the plurality of elastic bodies are compressed and deformed by a predetermined amount even in a portion other than the bulging portion between the bottom portion of the casing and the flange portion of the shaft portion. However, a desired torque is generated to roll, and when the vehicle passes over the bulging portion, a larger torque is generated while continuing to roll while being compressed by the compression deformation or more. Based on this cyclic compression deformation, a braking torque having a desired magnitude and cycle is generated between the holding member and the shaft member.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be specifically described below based on illustrated embodiments. 1 to 3 show a rotary damper according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is an exploded view of the damper, FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the damper, and FIG. 3 is a generated torque characteristic diagram of the damper. .

As described above, the rotary damper according to the present invention has the casing 11 of the holding member 1 and the shaft portion 31 of the shaft member 3.
And the three members of the rolling element 5 are the main constituent members. Therefore, in the following description of the embodiment, the holding member 1
11 which is one of the constituent elements of the shaft member 3 and the shaft member 3
The description will be centered on the shaft portion 31, which is one of the components.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 11 is a casing made of hard synthetic resin, which is one of the components of the holding member 1 consisting of a bottomed cylindrical body 12 and a circular lid 13. A shaft insertion hole 14 is provided at the center of the bottom of the body 12.
Are formed. In addition, a conical positioning hole 1 is formed at the center of the surface of the circular lid 13 that faces the inside of the casing.
5 is formed. Reference numeral 31 is a shaft portion made of a hard synthetic resin, which is one of the constituent elements of the shaft member 3, and a flange portion 32 is formed at one end of the shaft portion 31, and the flange portion 32 has a shaft portion side. Four bulging portions 32a having a predetermined protruding height are radially formed on the surface of the circular lid 13 and a positioning hole for the circular lid 13 is formed at the center of the surface of the flange portion 32 opposite to the shaft portion 31. A conical positioning protrusion 33 that fits in 15 is formed. The rolling element 5 is an elastically deformable cylindrical elastic roller made of an elastic material such as rubber, silicon, urethane foam, or thermoplastic elastomer.

As shown in FIG. 1, firstly, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of (four in the illustrated example) rolling elements 5, 5, ... Are housed inside a bottomed cylindrical body 12 with their axes arranged radially. Next, the shaft portion 31 of the shaft member 3 is inserted into the shaft portion insertion hole 14 formed in the center of the bottom portion of the bottomed cylindrical body 12 through the rolling elements 5, 5 ,. At this time, the rolling elements 5, 5, ... Are arranged between the bulging portions 32a of the flange portion 32. Subsequently, the circular lid 13 of the casing 11 is fitted to the positioning hole 15 formed at the center of the circular lid 13 by fitting the positioning protrusion 33 formed on the flange surface of the shaft portion 31 to the open edge surface of the casing 11, for example, an adhesive. Etc. Thus, the rolling elements 5, which are annularly arranged in the bearing space 6 formed between the casing 11 and the shaft portion 31, are formed.
5, ... Are set to diameters that receive a predetermined compressive force between the bottom of the casing 11 and the flange 32 of the shaft 31 and cause a predetermined amount of compressive deformation in the axial direction of the shaft 31.

In the rotary damper according to this embodiment having such a structure, when the holding member 1 and the shaft member 3 rotate relative to each other, the elastic rolling elements 5, 5, ... Expand the bottom of the casing 11 and the flange 32. A desired amount of braking torque is generated by compressing and deforming between the protrusions 32a as well, and when the rolling elements 5, 5, ... Ride over the bulging portion 32a, they are further compressed and deformed to exert a braking force larger than the torque. Generate torque. Thus, according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3, while a predetermined braking torque is generated between the holding member 1 and the shaft member 3 during one rotation of the rotary damper, a larger braking torque is periodically generated. Like

4 to 6 show another embodiment of the present invention,
4 is an exploded view of the rotary damper, FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same, and FIG.
Is a plan view of the same. In this example, three spherical elastic bodies are adopted as the rolling elements 5, 5, ... And a ring member 25 is newly added as a constituent member thereof in addition to the above-mentioned example. Three rod-shaped support members 26 are formed to project toward the other side, and on the other hand, a support member insertion hole 51 through which the rod-shaped support member 26 is inserted is formed on the rolling axis of the rolling element 5 so as to penetrate therethrough. When the rotary damper is assembled, the support members 25 are attached to the rolling elements 5 respectively.
5 and 6, each of the rolling elements 5, 5, 5 maintains a mutual positional relationship during rolling, and the rolling element 5 is rolled. The moving surface is kept constant so that the relative rotation of the holding member 1 and the shaft member 3 is not hindered.

Further, in this embodiment, the positioning means for the circular lid 13 and the flange portion 32 are provided in the opposite manner to the above-mentioned example. That is, a conical positioning protrusion is formed at the center of the circular lid 13.
In addition to forming 15 ', a conical positioning hole 33' is also formed in the center of one flange portion 32. Of course,
Also in this embodiment, three bulging portions 32a are radially formed on the rolling element compression surface of the flange portion 32. Although three spherical rolling elements 5 are used in this example, the number is not limited to three.

In each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the rolling element 5 is made of a compressible elastic material. In the following examples, however, the rolling element 5 is made of a hard material such as hard rubber, hard synthetic resin or metal. A spherical body is used, and the bottom surface and the flange portion 3 of the bottomed cylindrical body 12 made of the same hard material are used.
Elastic discs 7 are attached to and integrated with the surface of the shaft 2 side. The elastic disc 7 is made of an elastic material such as rubber, silicon, urethane foam, or thermoplastic elastomer that is elastically deformable, and has a shaft portion insertion hole 71 at the center, and coaxial portions are inserted on the opposite surfaces thereof. Four bulging portions 72 radially extending from the hole 71 are formed.

That is, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the casing 11 is made of hard synthetic resin, and the shaft portion insertion hole 14 is formed in the bottom center of the bottomed cylindrical body 12. The bottom surface of the bottomed cylindrical body 12 has four radial bulging portions 71 on the surface thereof, and the elastic disk 7 having the shaft portion insertion hole 14b at the center thereof has the bulging portion 71 as the surface. It is fixed by adhesion with an adhesive or the like. On the other hand, a flange portion 32 is formed at one end of the shaft portion 31 made of hard synthetic resin as in the above example, and the shaft portion side surface of the flange portion 32 has the same structure as the elastic disk 7. The disk 7 is adhesively fixed with the bulging portion 71 as the surface. Further, a conical positioning protrusion 33 is formed at the center of the surface of the flange 32 opposite to the shaft side, and a conical positioning hole 15 is also formed at the center of the flange facing surface of the circular lid 13. ing.

In the assembly, first, the hard rolling elements 5, 5, ... Are respectively housed between the four bulging portions 71 of the elastic disk 7 fixed to the bottom surface of the bottomed cylindrical body 12, and then the bottomed cylinder. Body 1
The shaft portion 31 is inserted into the shaft portion insertion hole 14 formed at the center of the bottom portion of the second rolling member 2, and the rolling element is provided between the bulging portions 71 of the elastic disc 7 fixedly provided on the back surface of the flange portion 32 at the tip of the coaxial portion. 5,
Abut on 5, ... Next, the circular lid 13 of the casing 11
The positioning hole 15 formed in the center of the shaft portion 3
The positioning projection 33 formed on the surface of the flange 1 is fixed to the open edge surface of the bottomed cylindrical body 12 by, for example, an adhesive or the like. Thus, the rolling elements 5,
5, ... Are annularly arranged in a bearing space 6 formed between the casing 11 and the shaft portion 31, and at the same time, elastic members 7 fixed to the bottom portion of the casing 11 and the flange portion 32 of the shaft portion 31, respectively. , 7 are clamped.

In the rotary damper according to the present embodiment assembled in this manner, when the holding member 1 and the shaft member 3 rotate relatively, the hard rolling elements 5, 5, ... Include the bottom portion of the casing 11 and the flange portion of the shaft portion 31. It is pinched between the elastic discs 7, 7 fixed to both of them and the elastic discs 7, 7 roll while rolling while compressing and deforming the elastic discs 7, 7, and a desired braking force is applied between the holding member 1 and the shaft member 3. Generate torque. In the rotary damper according to this example, since the bulging portion 71 is formed on the two elastic discs 7, 7 facing each other, when the hard rolling element 5 gets over the bulging portion 7, the elastic resistance increases, In the bulged portion 71, the braking torque at the time of relative rotation of the holding member 1 and the shaft member 3 increases.

9 and 10 show still another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 9 is an exploded view of the rotary damper, and FIG. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same. This example is a modified example of the above-described embodiment, in which a ring member 21 is added as a new constituent member as in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, and at the same time, the above-mentioned two elastic disks 7 are used. Bulge 71 from one elastic disk 7 of
Is eliminated to form a flat surface. Further, as a means for positioning the flange 32 by the circular lid 13, in this embodiment, a positioning projection 15 'is projected on the circular lid 13 and a positioning hole 33' is formed in the flange portion 32.

Three ring-shaped support members 22 are formed on the ring member 21 so as to extend toward the center thereof, and three hard rolling elements 5 are penetrated by support member insertion holes 51 through which the rod-shaped support members 22 are inserted. Is formed. When the rotary damper is assembled, the support members 22 are inserted into the respective rolling elements 5, and as is clear from FIGS. 9 and 10, the respective rolling elements 5, 5 and 5 have a mutual positional relationship during rolling. While maintaining the same, the rolling surface of the rolling element 5 is made constant so that the relative rotation of the holding member 1 and the shaft member 3 is not hindered.

The shape of the rolling element 5 is not limited to the above-mentioned example, but may be, for example, a truncated cone shape, and the bottom surface of the casing 11 and the surface of the flange portion 32 on the shaft portion side are arranged along the outer peripheral surface thereof. It is also possible to use an umbrella-shaped surface having radial bulges.

FIG. 11 shows another embodiment of the present invention, in which the shaft portion 31 is moved back and forth in the casing 11 in the axial direction so that the compression force of the elastic body 5 by the flange portion 32 can be adjusted. In the illustrated example, an outer screw 18 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the circular lid 13 having a rotation operation groove 17 at the center of the outer surface, and an inner screw 19 is formed on the inner surface of the open end of the bottomed cylindrical body 12.
Is formed to allow the circular lid 13 to move back and forth in the axial direction of the bottomed cylindrical body 12, and the circular lid 13 is moved back and forth with respect to the bottomed cylindrical body 12 using an operation tool (not shown). The compressive force applied to the elastic body 5 by the flange portion 32 is adjusted, and the magnitude of the relative rotational torque between the holding member 1 and the shaft member 3 is adjusted. It should be noted that the screw fitting of the bottomed cylindrical body 12 and the circular lid 13 is performed in the circular lid 13 contrary to the illustrated example.
And a bottomed cylindrical body 1
It is also possible to form an external thread on the screw 2 and screw-fit it so that the circular lid 13 covers the bottomed cylindrical body 12.

12 and 13 show one fixing mode in which the dish-shaped circular lid 13 is fitted and fixed to the bottomed cylindrical body 12, and in the example of FIG. 12, it is from the outer periphery of the circular lid 13 in the axial direction. A plurality of engaging arms 21 having engaging claws 20 are provided at the ends extending in parallel with the engaging grooves 2 on the outer peripheral surface of the bottomed cylindrical body 12 at positions corresponding to the engaging claws 20, 20 ,.
, 22 are formed, and in the example of FIG. 13, an annular protrusion 23 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the open end portion of the bottomed cylindrical body 12, and the protrusion 23 is fitted on the inner peripheral surface of the circular lid 13. An annular groove 24 for wearing is formed. With this configuration, the circular lid 13 can be fitted and fixed to the bottomed cylindrical body 12 by one-touch operation.

[0027]

According to the present invention, the following excellent effects, which cannot be expected in the conventional rotary damper using grease or governor, are exhibited.

The braking torque can be changed in a desired cycle during one rotation of the rotary damper.

Since all are made up of solid parts having a simple structure, handling during assembly and disassembly is easy. Since there is no need to worry about fluid leakage, high processing accuracy is not required. Both the holding member and the rotary shaft member are simple in shape,
Easy to process. As for the material of the holding member and the rotary shaft member, it is sufficient to consider only the strength, so that the cost can be reduced. Easy to obtain set torque. Since the elastic body is simply rolled in a deformed state, there is no torque reduction and durability is high. The generated torque is always stable even at high and low temperatures.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a rotary damper showing a typical embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the rotary damper.

FIG. 3 is a torque characteristic diagram of the rotary damper.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view showing another embodiment of the rotary damper of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the rotary damper.

6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG.

FIG. 7 is an exploded view showing still another embodiment of the rotary damper of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the rotary damper.

FIG. 9 is an exploded view of a rotary damper showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a vertical sectional view of the rotary damper.

FIG. 11 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a modified example of the casing.

FIG. 12 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing another modified example of the casing.

FIG. 13 is a structural explanatory view showing still another modified example of the casing.

[Explanation of Codes] 1 Holding member 11 Casing 12 Bottomed cylindrical body 13 Circular groove 14 Shaft insertion hole 15, 33 'Positioning hole 15', 33 Positioning protrusion 17 Rotating operation groove 18 External screw 19 Inner screw 20 Engaging claw 21 Engagement arm 22 Engagement groove 23 Annular protrusion 24 Annular groove 25 Ring member 26 Rod-shaped support member 3 Shaft member 31 Shaft portion 32 Flange portion 32a Bulging portion 5 Rolling element 51 Rod-shaped support member insertion hole 6 Bearing space 7 Elastic disk 71 Bulge

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A holding member having a casing composed of a bottomed cylindrical body and a circular lid, and a shaft member having one end inserted and supported in the casing of the holding member, and between the holding member and the shaft member. A rotary damper including a braking mechanism that imparts resistance to relative rotation, wherein the braking mechanism is a bearing space formed between a casing of the holding member and a flange portion formed at a tip of an insertion portion of the shaft member. And a plurality of rolling elements that are elastically pressed against each other between the casing and the flange to roll, and the rolling contact is made on either or both of the pressure contact surfaces of the casing and the flange. A rotary damper comprising a bulging portion that bulges in a direction in which a moving body is pressed.