JPH08159759A - Inclinometer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an inclinometer, in which the graduation interval of eacgh inclination display dial can be made wider, the indication and the reading of the small-angle inclination can be performed readily, the setting space of the display dial can be reduced regardless of the inclination-angle display method using two inclination display dials, and which can achieve the compact configuration. CONSTITUTION: A display dial 24 for front and rear inclination and a display dial 26 for right and left inclination are arranged at the front and rear positions in the mutually intersecting pattern at a right angle. The driving parts of both dials 24 and 26 have weights 43 and 60 and are constituted of driving gears and transmission gears, which are rotatably arranged at an attaching plate 23, respectively. The rotary-angle expanding mechanism of the display dial is constituted based on the gear ratio of the driving gear 40 and the transmission gear 41. Thus, the inclination angle is displayed while being magnified.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an inclinometer which uses gravity to indicate forward and backward inclination and lateral inclination.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various inclinometers of this type, which are installed near the driver's seat of general passenger cars, work vehicles, etc. and indicate the inclination of the vehicle in the front-rear and left-right directions, have been conventionally proposed.
When classified by the display method of the tilt angle, two types, a single-lens type and a twin-lens type, are known. The single-lens type displays the tilt in the front-back and left-right directions with one display dial, and has an advantage that the display area including the exterior is small and it is excellent in versatility compared to the twin-lens type in which two display dials are arranged in parallel. Have.

As a conventional example of the single-lens type inclinometer, one disclosed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 57-155411 is known. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, this inclinometer includes a rotatable front-rear tilting shaft 2 and a left-right tilting shaft 3 which are orthogonal to each other, and particularly rotates in conjunction with the rotation of the left-right tilting shaft 3. Graduation plate 1 for front and rear tilts with a pointer 8 for left and right tilts
5 and the left and right tilt scale plate 16 for indicating the left and right tilt in relation to the left and right tilt pointer 8, the arm portion 12 fixed to the front and rear tilt shaft 2 and having the weight 13 at the lower end, and the front and rear tilt Pointer 1 for tilting back and forth that rotates in conjunction with the rotation of the shaft 2
4 and a scale graduated on the scale 15 for tilting the front and back in order to display the front and rear tilt in relation to the pointer 14. Reference numeral 10 is a frame body provided with the front-rear tilting shaft 2 and the left-right tilting shaft 3, and 11 is a container.

In such a structure, since the arm 12 is always exerted downward force by the weight of the weight 13,
It always acts vertically below. Therefore, when the front-back inclination occurs, the arm portion 12 rotates around the front-back inclination shaft 2 to return to the vertical position, and the pointer 8 also returns to the pre-inclination position in conjunction with this rotation. However, since the container 11 remains tilted, the pointer 8 indicates a scale different from that before tilting. For example, in the case of the upward inclination, it becomes as shown in FIG. 9A, and the forward and backward inclination is instructed. On the other hand, when tilting in the left-right direction occurs, the arm portion 12 returns to the vertical position due to the weight of the weight 13, and the frame body 10 accordingly returns to the horizontal position. A part of the graduation is attached to the frame 10 with a scale plate 15 for front and rear tilting, which also serves as a pointer for tilting to the left and right. Since the scale plate 15 performs interlocking movements, the scale plate 15 for front and rear tilting also returns to the position before tilting. . However, since the container 11 is inclined, the left and right inclining pointer, which is a part of the scale of the front and rear inclining scale plate 15, indicates a different scale from that before the inclination. In this case, since the observer is inclined at the same angle as the container 11,
The relative position of the left and right tilt scale plate 15 attached to the container 11 and the observer does not change, and only the front and back tilt scale plate 15 appears to rotate in the direction opposite to the tilt direction. For example,
When an upward tilt is given, it is displayed as shown in FIG. 9 (b). In this way, the horizontal inclination is the scale plate 15 for front and rear inclination.
Since the tilt is displayed by the rotation and the forward / backward tilt is displayed by the vertical movement of the pointer 8, even if the forward / backward tilt and the left / right tilt occur simultaneously, both tilts can be reliably displayed.

[0005]

The above-described conventional inclinometer has an advantage that it is possible to reliably indicate the inclination in both directions even when the inclinations in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction occur at the same time. Since the scale plates 14 and 15 are provided on the two tilting shafts 2 and 3, respectively, in other words, the rotation angle of the tilting shafts 2 and 3 and the scale plate 1 are different.
The rotation angles of the tilting shafts 4 and 15 are the same, and the rotations of the tilting shafts 2 and 3 cannot be enlarged and transmitted to the scale plates 14 and 15. Therefore, the scale interval is narrow, and the tilting and reading of a small angle are performed. There was a problem that it was difficult. Further, the front-back tilt scale plate 15 appears to rotate in the direction opposite to the tilt direction, which is not preferable.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to widen the scale interval of the tilt display dial and to indicate a tilt of a small angle. It is an object of the present invention to provide an inclinometer in which the reading can be easily performed and the display dial can be rotated in the same direction as the tilt direction. Further, the present invention provides an inclinometer in which the installation space of the display dial can be halved and the size can be reduced in spite of the twin-lens type inclination angle display system using two inclination display dials. Especially.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a case corresponding to the display dials for tilting forward and backward and the display dials for tilting left and right, and the scales of these display dials, which are arranged in the case. A pointer for indicating the tilt angle in the front-rear and left-right directions, a front-rear tilt drive unit that transmits the front-rear tilt to the front-rear tilt display dial and rotates the display dial in the tilt direction, and a left-right tilt drive unit. A left / right tilt drive unit that transmits the tilt to the left / right tilt display dial and rotates the display dial in the tilt direction, and the front / rear tilt display dial and the left / right tilt display dial are arranged in front of and behind each other. It is characterized by being. According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the first aspect, the front-rear tilt drive section and the left-right tilt drive section each have a drive gear that has a weight and is rotatably disposed on a mounting plate, And a transmission gear which is provided on the bearing portion of the corresponding tilt display dial and meshes with the drive gear. A third aspect of the invention is characterized in that, in the second aspect of the invention, the drive gear and the transmission gear constitute a rotation angle enlarging mechanism of the display dial according to a gear ratio thereof.

[0008]

In the present invention, since the front and rear tilt display dials and the left and right tilt display dials are arranged in front of and behind each other, only one dial space is required. The front-rear tilt drive unit rotates in the front-rear direction due to the front-rear tilt, and this rotational torque is transmitted to the front-rear tilt display dial, which causes the display dial to rotate in the tilt direction and the pointer to have a scale different from that before tilting. Instruct. The left / right tilt drive unit rotates in the left / right direction by tilting in the left / right direction, and this rotational torque is transmitted to the display dial for left / right tilt, which causes the display dial to rotate in the tilt direction and the pointer to have a scale different from that before tilting. Instruct. The tilt drive unit includes a drive gear and a transmission gear, and the gear ratio thereof constitutes a rotation angle enlarging mechanism of the display dial. For example, if the gear ratio between the drive gear and the transmission gear is 2: 1, the rotation angle of the transmission gear is twice as large as that of the drive gear, so the scale interval of the display dial can be increased and a small angle tilt instruction can be given. Easy to read.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an inclinometer according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of the inclinometer, FIG. 3 is a side view of the inclinometer, FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 2, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the front-back tilt display dial and the front-back tilt drive section, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the transmission arm and the left-right tilt drive section. In these drawings, an inclinometer 20 includes a resin case 21 arranged on a meter panel of an automobile, and inside the case 21, a front glass 22 serving as an exterior serving as an index, a mounting plate 23,
A dial 24 that is rotatable in the front-rear direction and displays the front-rear inclination angle of the vehicle body, a dial 26 that includes the transmission arm 25 and displays the left-right inclination angle of the vehicle body, and a front-rear inclination display dial that indicates the front-rear inclination of the vehicle body. A front-rear tilt drive unit 27 for transmitting to the vehicle 24, a left-right tilt drive unit 28 for transmitting the left-right tilt of the vehicle body to the left-right tilt display dial 26 via the transmission arm 25, and the like are housed. By forming the case 21 in two parts, it is composed of a front case 21A and a rear case 21B, and the two tilt display dials 24, 26 can be visually recognized through the front glass 22 in the front center part of the front case 21A. A circular opening 30 is formed.

The front glass 22 is the front case 21.
Integrally having a hemispherical convex portion 31 that covers the opening 30 of A,
The front case 21 has four corners by the set screws 32.
It is fixed to the front surface of the mounting plate 23 together with A. The convex portion 31 is provided to prevent the front portion of the front-rear tilting display dial 24 from hitting the front glass 22, and the front-rear tilting display dial 24 and the left-right tilting portion are provided at the center and the periphery of the convex portion 31. Since the portion corresponding to the display dial 26 is formed transparent, the display portion 22a having the inclination angle,
22b is formed. The display portion 22a that is inclined in the front-rear direction is formed in a strip shape that is long in the up-down direction, and the display portion 22b that is inclined in the left-right direction is formed in an annular shape. Then, a horizontal indicator line 33 is engraved at the center of the display portions 22a and 22b as a pointer for reading the scales of the display dials 24 and 26,
It is displayed by printing, etc.

The mounting plate 23 is integrally formed by resin injection molding or the like, and the front plates 23a are orthogonal to each other.
And a rear plate 23b, the front plate 23a is of a size that can be fitted into the opening of the rear case 21B, and the rear plate 23b is slightly on one side (right) from the center of the rear surface of the front plate 23a as shown in FIG. It is provided near the door. Further, a transmission arm 25, a left / right tilt display dial 26 and a drive unit 28 thereof are rotatably arranged on the front plate 23a, and a front / back tilt display dial 24 and a drive unit 27 thereof are rotatably mounted on the rear plate 23b. It is arranged.

The front-back tilt display dial 24 is shown in FIG.
The cylindrical portion 24a with the peripheral surface on the rear end side cut out as shown in FIG.
A bearing portion 24b, and a connecting plate portion 24c for connecting the open portion of the cylindrical portion 24a and the bearing portion 24b. The bearing portion 24b is located at the rear of the left / right tilt display dial 26 and orthogonal thereto. 24b is rotatably supported by a front-rear tilting shaft 35 projecting from the rear plate 23b, and is prevented from coming off by a retaining ring 36. The surface of the cylindrical portion 24a has a scale 37 and a numeral 38 indicating the inclination angle in the front-rear direction.
Is displayed, and the scale 37 and the numeral 38 are visually recognized from the front of the case 21 through the display portion 22a of the front glass 22.

A support shaft 39 is provided on the rear plate 23b so as to project rearward and downward of the front-rear tilt shaft 35. The front-rear tilt indication is displayed on the support shaft 39. A front-rear tilt drive unit 27 that transmits to the dial 24 is rotatably arranged. The front-rear tilt drive section 27 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the drive gear 40 rotatably supported by the support shaft 39 and the bearing section 24b of the front-rear tilt display dial 24, and is a transmission gear meshing with the drive gear 40. 41 and a weight 43 provided on an arm portion 42 extending on the lower peripheral surface of the drive gear 40. The weight 43 is inserted into an arc-shaped elongated hole 44 formed near the lower portion of the rear plate 23b. The elongated hole 44 is a rotation angle of the drive gear 40, in other words, a front / back tilt display dial 24. The maximum tilt angle in the front-back direction is regulated. The drive gear 40 and the transmission gear 41 have a gear ratio set to be larger than 1, for example, the gear ratio of the drive gear 40 and the transmission gear 41 is set to 1.5: 1. It constitutes the angle enlarging mechanism. This is achieved by transmitting the rotation of the drive gear 40 to the transmission gear 41 in an enlarged manner, so that the scale 37,
This is for increasing the interval between the numbers 38 and facilitating the reading and reading of a small-angle tilt.

The left / right tilt display dial 26 is formed of a ring-shaped disc, and a scale 50 and a numeral 51 indicating the tilt angle in the left / right direction are displayed on the surface thereof and fixed to the front surface of the transmission arm 25 by a pair of screws 52. Has been done. The scale 50 and the numeral 51 are visually recognized from the front of the case 21 through the display portion 22b of the front glass 22. The transmission arm 25 is rotatably supported by a support shaft 53 provided at the center of the front surface of the front plate 23a, and is prevented from coming off by a retaining ring 54. In this case, the front half of the front-rear tilting display dial 24 is inserted into the center hole 56 of the left-right tilting display dial 26 so as to project forward from the notch opening 55 formed in the front plate 23a. By arranging the display dial 24 for tilting forward and backward and the display dial 26 for tilting left and right so as to be orthogonal to each other and to be overlapped in the front and rear, the installation space of the dial is half, and the single-lens type is used in spite of the twin-lens type. A tilt angle can be displayed. The transmission arm 25 includes a display dial 2 for tilting forward and backward.
4 into the open portion 57 (FIG. 5).

As shown in FIG. 6, the driving portion 28 of the left / right tilting display dial 26 has a driving gear 61 integrally having a weight 60 and a transmission gear formed on the outer peripheral surface of the bearing portion 25A of the transmitting arm 25. 62 and the drive gear 61
Is rotatably supported by a support shaft 63 protruding from the front plate 23a and meshes with the transmission gear 62. Weight 60
Is inserted in an arc-shaped long hole 64 formed in the lower part of one side of the front plate 23a, and the long hole 64 and the display dial 24 for tilting forward and backward make the rotation of the drive gear 61 within a certain angle. Regulated to. The drive gear 61 and the transmission gear 62 are
The gear ratio is 1 as in the case of the front-rear tilt drive unit 27 described above.
By setting a larger value, for example, by setting the gear ratio of the drive gear 61 and the transmission gear 62 to 1.5: 1, a rotation angle enlarging mechanism of the display dial 26 for tilting left and right is configured.
As a result, the rotation of the drive gear 61 is enlargedly transmitted to the transmission gear 62, the interval between the scale 50 and the numeral 51 is increased, and it is easy to instruct and read the inclination at a small angle.

Next, the operation of the inclinometer 20 having the above structure will be described. Drive gears 40 and 61 are weights 43 and 60
Since the downward force is always exerted by the weight of, it always acts in the vertical direction. Transmission gear 4 of display dial 24 for tilting forward and backward and display dial 26 for tilting left and right
1, 62 are meshed with the drive gears 40, 61 while maintaining rotational balance. Therefore, when the case 21 is not tilted in either the front-rear direction or the left-right direction, the display portions of the front-rear tilt display dial 24 and the left-right tilt display dial 26 have the numbers 38, 51 of "0". It coincides with the instruction line 33 on the front glass 22 and indicates that the front and rear and left and right inclination angles are zero.

When tilting in the front-back direction occurs from this state, for example, when tilting clockwise in FIG. 3, the drive gear 40
Is rotated counterclockwise (in the direction of arrow B) about the support shaft 39 by the function of the weight 43 and returns to the vertical position. Therefore, the transmission gear 41 and the front-back tilt display dial 24 rotate in the clockwise direction, whereby the instruction line 33 indicates a scale value different from that before tilting. FIG. 7A is a diagram showing an instruction of the front-back inclination at this time. In the present invention, the gear ratio between the drive gear 40 and the transmission gear 41 is, for example, 1.
Since the rotation angle expansion mechanism of the front-rear tilt display dial 24 is set to 5: 1, the rotation angle of the transmission gear 41, in other words, the front-rear tilt display dial 24 is larger than the rotation angle of the drive gear 40 ( (1.5 times), the intervals between the scale 37 and the numeral 38 can be increased, so that it is easy to instruct and read a small-angle tilt. Further, since the tilt direction and the rotation direction of the front-back tilt display dial 24 are the same, the tilt direction can be instantly recognized.

Next, when an inclination in the left-right direction occurs in addition to the inclination in the front-rear direction, for example, an inclination in the clockwise direction in FIG. 2, the drive gear 61 is moved around the support shaft 63 by the function of the weight 60. It turns counterclockwise and returns to the vertical position. For this reason,
The transmission gear 62, the transmission arm 25, and the left / right tilting display dial 26 rotate clockwise. In this case, the drive gear 61 and the transmission gear 62 constitute the rotation angle enlarging mechanism of the left / right tilting display dial 26 by setting the gear ratio to 1.5: 1 as described above, so that the transmission is performed. The rotation angle of the gear 62, in other words, the left / right tilt display dial 26 is larger than the rotation angle of the drive gear 61, so that the instruction line 33 indicates a scale value different from that before tilting. Moreover, since the tilt direction and the rotation direction of the left and right tilt display dial 26 are the same, the tilt direction can be instantly recognized. Furthermore, if the rotation of the drive gear 61 is transmitted to the transmission gear 62 in an enlarged manner, the interval between the scale 50 and the numeral 51 can be increased, so that it is easy to instruct and read a small angle of inclination. FIG. 7B is a diagram showing an instruction for the left-right inclination at this time. Even when the front-back tilt and the left-right tilt occur at the same time, both tilt display dials 24 and 26 rotate in the tilt direction as shown in FIG.
Indicate the tilt angle in the front / rear and left / right directions.

[0019]

As described above, the inclinometer according to the present invention corresponds to the front and rear tilt display dials and the left and right tilt display dials arranged in the case, and the scales of both of these display dials. And a front and rear tilt drive unit for transmitting the tilt in the front and rear direction to the front and rear tilt display dial for rotating the display dial in the tilt direction. A left and right tilt drive unit that transmits the tilt of the direction to the left and right tilt display dial and rotates the display dial in the tilt direction. The front and rear tilt display dial and the left and right tilt display dial are orthogonal to each other. Since it is arranged in the same manner, it is possible to perform a substantially single-lens type tilt angle display in spite of the twin-lens type, and the dial installation space is small, which enables downsizing. In addition, since the display dial has the same tilt direction and rotation direction, the tilt direction can be instantly recognized.

Further, according to the present invention, the drive portions of the display dial for tilting forward and backward and the display dial for tilting left and right are provided with a drive gear which has a weight and is rotatably arranged on the mounting plate, and the corresponding tilting display dial. The transmission gear is provided on the bearing portion and meshes with the drive gear. The rotation angle enlarging mechanism of the display dial is constituted by the gear ratio of the drive gear and the transmission gear to enlarge and display the tilt angle. Therefore, it is easy to instruct and read a small-angle tilt, and the visibility can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an inclinometer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the inclinometer.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the inclinometer.

4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a front-back tilt display dial and a front-back tilt drive section.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a transmission arm and a left / right tilt drive unit.

7 (a), (b), and (c) are diagrams showing display examples of an inclinometer.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a conventional example of an inclinometer.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display example of an inclinometer.

[Explanation of symbols]

20 ... inclinometer, 21 ... case, 22 ... front glass, 23 ...
Mounting plate, 24 ... Front / back tilt display dial, 25 ... Transmission arm, 26 ... Left / right tilt display dial, 27 ... Front / back tilt drive section, 28 ... Left / right tilt drive section, 33 ... Indication line, 40 ...
Drive gear, 41 ... Transmission gear, 43 ... Weight, 60 ... Weight,
61 ... Drive gear, 62 ... Transmission gear.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A display dial for tilting forward and backward and a display dial for tilting left and right, which are arranged in the case, and are provided on the case corresponding to the scales of these display dials, and indicate tilt angles in the front-back and left-right directions. The pointer and the front-back tilt are transmitted to the front-back tilt display dial, and the front-back tilt drive unit that rotates the display dial in the tilt direction, and the left-right tilt are transmitted to the left-right tilt display dial, and the same display is displayed. With a left and right tilt drive unit that rotates the dial in the tilt direction,
An inclinometer, wherein the front and rear tilt display dials and the left and right tilt display dials are arranged in front and rear directions orthogonal to each other. 2. The inclinometer according to claim 1, wherein the front-rear tilt drive section and the left-right tilt drive section each have a drive gear which has a weight and is rotatably disposed on a mounting plate, and a corresponding tilt display. An inclinometer, comprising: a transmission gear that is provided on a bearing portion of a dial and that meshes with the drive gear. 3. The inclinometer according to claim 2, wherein the drive gear and the transmission gear constitute a rotation angle enlarging mechanism of the display dial according to a gear ratio thereof.