JPH0833U - Caster device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] One stopper operating member can be used to control both left and right stoppers at one time so that it is particularly convenient for use in strollers, shopping cars, so-called elderly cars, and the like. A caster device is provided. [Structure] In a pair of caster devices used for a cart such as a stroller, both caster devices include a spring 8
Lock plates 64, 64 biased downward by 8, 88
And a caster holder 1 accommodating the lock plate
Caster rotating member 6 that can freely rotate with respect to 0 and 12
6 and 66 and caster front wheel bearings 118 and 118 having wheels 134 at one end connected to the caster rotating members 66 and 66, and the springs 88 and 8
A caster device comprising a wire 84 capable of biasing both lock plates 64, 64 upward simultaneously against the force of 8.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a caster device, and more particularly to a caster device that is particularly convenient for use in strollers, shopping cars, so-called elderly cars and the like.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 Up to now, many caster devices having similar applications have been announced. Almost all of them operate the stoppers provided on the wheels on the left and right casters respectively to prevent the casters from rotating freely when the caster effect is disabled if desired. This is because one caster wheel is provided with one stopper and one stopper operating member, and one stopper operating member acts only on one caster.

[0003]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 In the conventional technology, the stopper operating member and the casters correspond to each other in a one-to-one correspondence, and when the caster effect is disabled, the left and right casters of the pair of left and right casters are adjacent to each other. It was necessary to operate the operating members separately. For this reason, there were cases where the operation was time-consuming and the stopper operating member was not used at all. Furthermore, when both caster operating members are once disabled and the caster effect is disabled and the caster effect is required again, it is necessary to release the left and right stopper operating members separately as well. Some people felt uncomfortable. As a result, many people did not enjoy the effective operation even if they had the caster device. This is because the operation of the stopper operating member is required on both sides of the vehicle body, which is troublesome. The present invention solves such a point.

[0004]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is designed such that a pair of left and right stoppers are moved by a flexible wire so that both stoppers can be released at a time by one stopper operating member. Also, this stopper operating member can be attached to both the leg and the push rod, completely eliminating the difficulty of the operation so far.

[0005]

[Action]

 A pair of stoppers acting on a pair of casters are simultaneously actuated by one stopper operating member, so that the casters can be deactivated and deactivated easily.

[0006]

【Example】

 FIG. 1 shows a pair of caster holders 10 and 12 equipped with the caster device of the present invention. These caster holders 10 and 12 are fixed to the left and right leg portions 14 and 16 of the baby beaker by known means. The caster holders 10 and 12 are connected to each other by a horizontal bar 18 of the stroller. The horizontal bar 18 may be formed of a single member or a pair of members, one end of which is pivotally attached to each of the caster holders 10 and 12 and the other end of which is pivotally supported. It may be a horizontal bar. The pair of caster holders are generally symmetrical with each other and are preferably integrally molded of plastic, but more specifically, the holder 10 on the right side in FIG. 1 is equipped with a lever device described later. Therefore, its side surface is slightly different from the left holder 12, as will be described later.

FIG. 2 shows the right side surface of the caster holder 10 on the right side. As can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, the left and right caster holders 10 and 12 are composed of an upper portion 22 for receiving the legs 14 and 16, and a lower portion 22 for receiving a caster operating device, which will be described later. 10 further has a circular plate 24 formed on the upper portion 20 for mounting a wire winding device described later. A shaft 26 projects from the center of the circular plate 24, and a circular wall 28 stands up on the outer periphery of the shaft 26. A portion of the circular wall 28 is preferably provided with a notch 29 extending tangentially. The left caster holder 12 is not provided with such a circular plate.

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view of a caster holder 10 equipped with the caster device of the present invention. As described above, the lower portion of the leg portion 14 is received in and fixed to the upper portion 20 of the caster holder 10. On the other hand, the lower portion 22 accommodates a wire operation device described later. Inside the circular plate 24, a wire winding tool 30 having a substantially circular shape shown in FIG. 4 is mounted. On the inner surface of the wire winding tool 30, a circular convex portion 32 that is housed in the circular wall 28 of the circular disk 24 is formed. On the other hand, a long groove 36 (FIG. 6) is formed on the outer side surface 34. The long groove 36 extends almost tangentially to the outside of the convex portion 32 on the inner side surface, so that a part of the wire winding tool projects from the circular shape. The outer side surface 34 and the convex portion 32 are connected by a neck portion 38 (FIG. 5) having a diameter smaller than that of the convex portion 32. A hole 40 for receiving the shaft 26 of the circular plate 24 is provided at the center of the inner side surface. A recess 42 for receiving a wire end, which will be described later, is provided outside the hole 40, and the recess 42 has a groove 44 extending outwardly from the recess 42. A wire is accommodated in the groove 44. The wire winding tool 30 can be integrally molded of resin or the like.

A pin 48 of a lever 46 shown in FIG. 7 is fitted in a long groove 36 provided on the outer surface 34 of the wire winding tool 30 whose inner surface is housed in the circular plate 24. That is, the lever 46 includes an operating piece 50 for operating the lever 46 and a bent portion 56 that is bent at a substantially right angle from the operating piece 50. The bent portion 56 is provided with a pin receiving hole 54 for rotatably attaching the lever 46 to the leg portion 14 through the attaching hole 52 at the upper end of the upper portion 20 of the caster holder 10. In addition, a part having the pin 48 is formed in a part of the bent part 56 behind the surface having the pin receiving hole 54. This is to prevent the lever 46 from colliding with the wire winding tool 30 when the lever 46 is operated. The lever 46 is thus free to rotate with respect to the leg 14 around the pin 58 provided in the pin receiving hole 54 in FIG. Along with this rotation, the wire winder 30 rotates about the shaft 26 provided on the circular plate 24 of the leg 14 in the direction of arrow 60 (FIG. 3) via the pin 48 of the lever 46 and the long groove 36. it can. Thus, the wire winding tool 30 and the lever 46 form a wire operating means.

The lower parts 22, 22 of the caster holders 10, 12 accommodate pivot members 62, 62 in the center and lock plates 64, 64 on the sides thereof, respectively. For the sake of simplicity, only one caster holder 10 will be described below, but the other caster holder 12 also has the same structure. The pivot member 62 comprises a tubular member as shown in FIG. 10, for example. As shown in FIG. 3, the tubular member 62 has an upper part housed in the caster holder 10 and a lower part housed in the caster rotating member 66.

As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the lock plate 64 usually comprises a single plate-shaped member. The member is composed of a central guide portion 68, a spring guide portion 70 extending upward from the center of the guide portion 68, a lock portion 72 extending downward, and a wire inner portion 74 on the back surface of the guide portion 68. . The spring guide portion 70 is formed by cutting out a part of the central guide portion 68 depending on the spring size (see FIG. 11).

FIG. 13 is a partially cutaway sectional view of FIG. 3 seen from the right. This drawing shows in detail the attachment state of the lock plate 64 to the caster holder 10. The lock plate 64 is housed in a space 76 provided in the center of the caster holder 10 and in a space 78 provided on the side of the portion housing the pivot member 62. The width of the void 78 is substantially equal to the width of the lock plate 64, and the thickness thereof is approximately equal to the thickness of the lock plate 64, so that the lock plate 64 can move up and down in the void 78. It cannot move to the left or right. A pair of holes 80, 82 penetrating upward of the lower portion 22 are formed at the left and right upper ends of the cavity 78. One end of a wire 84 passes through one side 80 of this hole, and a known wire holder 86 is attached to the one end. One end of the wire 84 further extends upward from the wire holder 86 (see FIG. 3) and reaches the recess 42 (FIG. 4) through the groove 44 of the wire winder 30. A well-known retainer 92 is provided at one end of the wire 84, and the retainer 92 is housed in the recess 42 and holds the end of the wire therein as outlined by a broken line in FIG. The wire 84 passes through the wire guide portion 74 having the circular component of the lock plate 64 from the end portion thereof to the other hole 82, and further, through the hole provided in the other caster holder 12, a similar void 78 is formed. Through the wire guide portion 74 of the lock plate 64 accommodated in the caster holder 12. Similarly, the other end of the wire 84 is also retained so that even if one end of the wire is pulled, the other end of the wire is not pulled into the caster holder 12. As is apparent from FIGS. 3 and 13, the lock plate 64 is downwardly moved by a spring 88 pressing one end to the caster holders 10 and 12 and the other end to the lock plates 64 and 64 via the spring guide portion 70. Being energized.

The lower portion of the pivot member 62 is housed in a hole 90 (FIG. 14) in the caster rotating member 66. As shown in FIGS. 14, 15, 16 and 17, the caster rotating member 66 is preferably made of an integrally molded product and has a flange portion 94 at the upper portion and a body portion 96 at the lower portion thereof. The caster rotation member 66 has a hole 90 extending from the flange portion 94 to the main body portion 96 in the central portion. A hexagonal nut receiving hole 98 is provided in communication below the hole 90, and a round hole 100 is provided below the hole 98. The round hole 100 penetrates to the lower part of the main body portion. ing.

The caster rotating member 66 can freely rotate around the pivot member 62, and the caster holders 10 and 12 are fixed with the retaining fittings 102 by screws 106 as shown in FIG. The lower end 104 of the retaining metal 102 is bent inward and supports the lower surface of the circular flange portion 94 of the caster rotating member 66. As a result, the caster rotating member 66 can rotate with respect to the caster holders 10 and 12, but is prevented from separating from the caster holders 10 and 12. The flange portion 94 is preferably provided with a pair of rectangular openings 108, 110 opposite each other in the radial direction. The lock portion 72 of the lock plate 64 can be fitted into this opening. The pair of openings is provided so that the caster effect can be quickly lost when the lock portion 72 goes straight regardless of the position of the wheel 134.

A nut 112 is fitted in a hexagonal nut receiving hole 98 formed in the main body portion 96 of the caster rotating member 66. A transverse hole 114 is provided across the hole 90. A pin 116 is received in the lateral hole 114. Both ends of the pin 116 extend to the front hole 120 of the caster front wheel bearing 118 through the lateral hole 114. As shown in FIG. 19, the caster front bearing 118 comprises a pair of plate members 122 and 124 sandwiching the caster rotating member 66 from both sides, and upper and lower bridging members 126 and 128 connecting these members. In addition to the front hole 120, these plate members 122 and 124 have rear holes 130 and 130 behind them. Pins 132 are inserted into the rear holes 130, 130, and wheels 134 are pivotally attached to both ends of the pins by known means.

The caster rotating member 66 has flat surfaces 136 on both sides thereof for receiving the plate members 122 and 124 of the caster front wheel bearing 118. Further, a recess 138 is formed on the lower surface of the member 66 as shown in FIGS. A cushion plate 140 as shown in FIG. 20 is received in the recess 138. One end 142 of the cushion plate 140 is bent upward along a curved wall portion 144 that is bent upward from the concave portion 138, and is suspended above the pin 132 that receives the wheel 134 to provide a cushion for the vehicle body and the wheel. It has characteristics. The cushion plate 140 is fixed by a screw 148 which is screwed into the nut 112 of the nut receiving hole 98 through the hole 146 and the round hole 100.

Next, the operation will be described.

When the lever 46 is in the solid line position in FIG. 3, the pin 48 of the lever 46 is in the lower position (see FIG. 6) of the long groove 36 of the wire winding tool 30. At this time, one end of the wire 84 is in the position of FIG. 4 and the wire 84 is in the extended position. Therefore, the lock plates 64, 64 are pressed downward by the springs 88, 88, and the lock portions 72, 72 of the lock plates 64, 64 are in positions where they are press-fitted into the openings 108, 110 of the caster rotating member 66. That is, when the wheels 134 are oriented in the straight traveling direction, the lock portions 72, 72 are inserted into one of the openings 108, 110, and the caster effect disappears. This is because the caster rotating member 66 is integrated with the lock plate 64 and the caster rotating member 66 cannot rotate. At this time, the wheels 134 can only go straight.

If the lever 46 is rotated around the pin 58 to the position indicated by the broken line in FIG. 3, the pin 48 of the lever 46 moves to the upper position in the long groove 36 of the wire winder 30. Along with this, the wire winding tool 30 rotates around the shaft 26 in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. Therefore, the wire 84 is pulled upward in FIG. Therefore, the lock plates 64, 64 are pulled upward against the force of the springs 88, 88, and the lock portions 72, 72 are pulled out from the openings 108, 110. Therefore, the caster rotating members 66, 66 can freely rotate again with respect to the caster holders 10, 12, and the caster effect is generated.

When the lever 46 is in the position shown by the broken line in FIG. 3, the pin 48 receives the force for pulling back the lever 46 by the springs 88, 88 in the long groove 36. Since it reaches the other end of the long groove 36 beyond the dead center where the return force is applied, the lever 46 is stationary by the engagement between the pin 48 and the long groove 36. The lever 46 can be easily moved beyond its dead center by applying a counterclockwise force to its upper end.

[0021]

[Effect of device]

 The length of the wire 84 is constant, and while the lever 46 is in the position shown in FIG. 3, the wire 84 holds the lock plates 64, 64 in the lower position by the springs 88, 88, and the caster effect is prevented. However, when the lever 46 is operated to the broken line position in FIG. 3, the wire 84 is pulled and the pair of lock plates 64 and 64 are simultaneously pulled up from the caster rotating member 66 against the force of the springs 88 and 88. In this way, by operating the single lever 46, the caster effect of both wheels can be easily controlled simultaneously.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing a pair of caster holders equipped with a caster device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a right side surface of a caster holder on the right side.

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view of a caster holder equipped with the caster device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an inner side view of the wire winder.

FIG. 5 is a lateral side view of the wire winder.

FIG. 6 is an outer side view of the wire winder.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a lever.

FIG. 8 is a front view of the lever.

FIG. 9 is a right side view of the lever.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a pivot member.

FIG. 11 is a plan view of a lock plate.

FIG. 12 is a side view of FIG. 11.

FIG. 13 is a partial cross-sectional view of the caster device of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a sectional view of a caster rotating member.

FIG. 15 is a side view of a caster rotating member.

16 is a top view of FIG.

FIG. 17 is a bottom view of FIG.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of a cushion plate.

FIG. 19 is a plan view of a caster front axle bearing.

[Explanation of symbols]

10, 12: Caster holder 14, 16: Leg 26: Shaft 30: Wire winding tool 36: Long groove 46: Lever 48: Pin 62: Pivot member 64: Lock plate 66: Caster rotating member 72: Lock part 84: Wire 88 : Spring 108, 11
0: Opening 118: Caster front axle bearing 134: Wheel 140: Cushion plate

Claims (5)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A pair of caster devices used for a cart of a stroller or the like, wherein a lock plate 6 is biased in one direction by springs 88, 88.
4, 64, caster holders 10 and 12 accommodating the lock plates 64 and 64, caster front axle bearings 118 and 118 having front wheels 134 attached to one end thereof, and caster front axle bearings 118. , 118 on which the other ends of the caster rotating members 66 and 66 are mounted, and having openings capable of receiving the lock plates 64 and 64 biased in one direction by the elastic force of the springs 88 and 88. The caster rotating members 66, 66 that are rotating, one end is supported by the caster holders 10, 12, and the other end is supported by the caster rotating members 66, 66.
As a result, the pivot members 62, 62 that rotatably mount the caster rotating members 66, 66 on the caster holders 10, 12 and one end thereof are fixed to one side portion of the one caster holder 12, and the spring 88 After receiving the elastic force of the one lock plate 64 which is urged by the elastic force of the one, it passes through the other side part of the one caster holder 12 and then enters the one side part of the other caster holder 10 in the same manner. The other lock plate 64 to which the elastic force of the spring 88 is urged
A single wire 84 extending through the other side of the other caster holder 10 after receiving the elastic force of
And wire operating means 30 and 46 movably holding the other end of the wire 84. By operating the wire operating means 30 and 46, the wire 84 is moved to the front springs 88 and 88. The left and right lock plates 64, 64 are simultaneously operated against the force,
A caster device characterized in that the engagement between 64 and the caster rotating members 66, 66 can be freely selected. 2. A wire operating means is rotatably provided on one of the caster holders 10, and a wire 84 is provided.
2. The caster device according to claim 1, further comprising: a wire winding tool 30 that holds the other end of the wire winding tool; and a lever 46 that rotates the wire winding tool 30 with respect to the caster holder 10. 3. Casters rotating members 66,66 have openings 108,110 for receiving lock plates 64,64.
The caster device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a plurality of casters. 4. The lock plate is lifted up from below in order to lift the pair of front lock plates 64, 64 in a direction in which the wire 84 opposes the elastic force of the front springs 88, 88. Castor device. 5. The caster device according to claim 1, wherein the caster rotating member 66 and the axle 134 are elastically connected by a cushion plate 140.