JPH085843Y2 - Castor lock display - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lock display device for displaying a locked state and a unlocked state of casters.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Patent Publication No. 55-13922 discloses a caster in which a frame for supporting a wheel is provided with a push button, and the wheel is locked and unlocked depending on the pushed position of the push button. In the case of this device, whether or not the wheels are locked is determined by the amount of protrusion of the push button from the frame.

[0003]

However, it was difficult for a first-time operator to judge whether or not the wheels are locked based on the protrusion amount of the push button.

[0004]

[0005]

[0006]

In order to solve the above problems, a lock display device of the present invention is provided with a stopper device on a frame for supporting wheels, the stopper device includes a push button, and the push button is locked. Is movable in the radial direction of the wheel between the operating position and the unlocked operating position,
In a caster in which the stopper device locks the wheels when the push button is in the lock operation position, and the stopper device unlocks the wheels when the push button is in the unlock operation position, in the internal space of the frame, At a position close to the push button and close to the frame,
A rotating body that rotates around an axis orthogonal to the moving direction of the push button is arranged, and a rack gear formed on the side surface of the push button and a gear formed on the rotating body mesh with each other to push these push buttons. The button and the rotating body are linked, and on the outer peripheral surface of this rotating body, a display showing that it is in a locked state and a display showing that it is in an unlocked state,
The windows are formed so as to be deviated from each other in the circumferential direction, and a window is formed in the frame so as to face the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body, and at the rotating position of the rotating body corresponding to the lock operation position of the push button, The display of the locked state faces the window of the frame, and the display of the unlocked state faces the window at the rotational position of the rotating body corresponding to the unlocking operation position of the push button.

[0007]

In the above apparatus, the meshing of the rack gear and the gear causes the rotating body to rotate according to the movement of the push button, and the display corresponding to the operation position of the push button appears on the window of the frame. As a result, the operator can easily and accurately recognize whether the stopper device is in the state in which the wheels are locked or unlocked.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1A is a side sectional view showing the overall structure of a caster incorporating the lock display device of the embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. In these figures, reference numeral 10 is a frame. The frame 10 includes a frame main body 11 fixed to a device and a pair of side plates 12 and 12 connected to both ends of the frame main body 11 in the width direction.
It has a U-shaped cross section. A boss 14 for attachment to a device is formed at one end of the frame body 11 in the length direction, and a vertical attachment rod 16 is rotatably attached to the boss 14 via a bearing 15. The rod 16 is attached to the device using the threaded portion.

As shown in FIG. 2, a predetermined space is secured between the side plates 12 and 12, and the wheel 50 is located there.
Is inserted. A boss portion is formed at the center of each of the side plates 12 and 12, and a horizontal axle 5 is formed on the boss portion.
Both ends of 1 are fixed. The wheel 50 is rotatably attached to the axle 51 via a bearing 52. The wheel 50 includes an outer ring portion 53 that rolls on the floor surface, a boss portion 54 into which the bearing 52 is fitted, and a disc-shaped rim portion 55 that connects the outer ring portion 53 and the boss portion 54. The outer peripheral end of the rim portion 55 is connected to the widthwise center of the portion 53. On the inner periphery of the outer ring portion 53 on both sides of the rim portion 55, as shown in FIG.
6 are formed at a constant pitch in the circumferential direction.

As shown in FIG. 1A, most of the upper surface 17 of the frame body 11 is formed of a flat horizontal surface, and the end opposite to the mounting boss 14 is about 45 horizontal. It is cut at an angle of degrees. The cut surface is a button mounting surface 18, and a button mounting hole 19 is formed in the button mounting surface 18 toward the center of the wheel 50. The inner peripheral surface (lower surface) of the frame main body 11 is formed in an arc shape corresponding to the outer shape of the wheel 50, and the button mounting hole 19 penetrates through the arc-shaped inner peripheral surface. There is. A push button 30 for locking and unlocking the wheel 50 is slidably inserted in the button mounting hole 19 along the radial direction of the wheel 50. The push button 30 is inserted into the button mounting hole 19 from the inner surface side of the frame body 11 and is provided with a stopper 30a [see FIG.
(See (a)], so that the button attachment surface 18 is prevented from protruding beyond a predetermined amount.

The button mounting hole 19 is formed as a square hole, and the push button 30 is formed in a square column shape correspondingly. The push button 30 has a hollow inside,
As shown in FIG. 2, both end walls in the width direction of the wheel 50 have side plates 1
It extends toward the center of the wheel 50 along the inner surfaces of the wheels 2 and 12. These extending walls 31, 31 are the outer ring portion 5 of the wheel 50.
3, and is guided along shallow guide grooves (not shown) formed on the inner surfaces of the side plates 12, 12. A tip 32 of the extension wall 31 (an end portion on the inner peripheral side in the radial direction of the wheel 50) is formed in an arc as shown in FIG. The center of curvature of this arc is when the push button 30 is in the outer position, that is, when the push button 30 is in the stopper 30a.
It is set so that it exactly coincides with the center of the wheel 50 when it is in the protrusion limit regulated by. The inner peripheral end 32 of the extending wall 31 formed in the arc shape is in contact with the outer peripheral end 67 of the slide member 60 assembled to the side plate 12.

The slide member 60 and the side plate 12 are constructed as shown in FIG. That is, as shown in FIG. 4A, the slide member 60 is provided on the side plate 12 with the wheel 50.
Square slide hole 61 for sliding in the radial direction of
Are formed. The slide hole 61 is formed on the outer surface of the side plate 12 at a position near the outer periphery of the slide hole 61 in the radial direction.
A shallow guide groove 62 is formed along the side edge of the groove [see FIG. 4 (c)].

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4B, the slide member 60 has a rectangular plate-shaped main body portion 63 and a pair of blade-shaped collar portions 64 formed on one side surface in the thickness direction of the main body portion 63. ,
64 and a semicylindrical convex portion (stopper portion) 65 formed on the other side surface in the thickness direction of the main body portion 63. FIG.
As shown in (c), the slide member 60 includes a body portion 63.
Is fitted in the slide hole 61, and the collar portions 64, 64 are fitted in the guide grooves 62, 62, and are assembled to the side plate 12, thereby stably sliding along the radial direction of the wheel 50. Is ready to go. The slide member 60 is held by a holding plate 66 arranged on the outer surface of the side plate 12 so as not to fall off.

The slide member 60 thus has the side plate 12
In the assembled state, the main body portion 63 projects inward from the inner surface of the side plate 12, and the outer circumferential end 67 of the projecting portion has the inner circumferential end 32 of the extending wall 31 of the push button 30 described above. Abutting. Here, the slide member 60
The outer peripheral end 67 of the is formed of an arcuate surface having the same curvature as the inner peripheral end 32 of the push button 30 side.

A semi-cylindrical convex portion (stopper portion) 65 provided on the inner surface of the slide member 60 extends from the inner peripheral end of the slide member 60 along the outer side in the radial direction of the wheel 50, and the tip thereof is the main body. It stops before the outer peripheral edge 67 of the portion 63. The tip of the convex portion 65 in the longitudinal direction is rounded into a semicircular shape. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the convex portion 65 enters the inside of the outer ring portion 53 of the wheel 50, and when the slide member 60 moves outward as shown in FIG. It enters into the engaging recess 56 [shown by a chain double-dashed line in FIG. 1 (a)]. Then, the wheel 50 is locked by engaging with the recess 56. When the slide member 60 moves inward as shown in FIG.
5 comes out of the recessed portion 56 on the side of the wheel 50, and is in the disengaged state with the recessed portion 56 [shown by the solid line in FIG.

On the convex portion 65 side of the slide member 60,
A blind hole 68 is formed from the inner peripheral end of the slide member 60 along the longitudinal direction of the convex portion 65, and one end of a return spring 69 is inserted into the hole 68. The other end of the return spring 69 is received by a spring receiver 70 which is fixed to the outer periphery of the axle shaft 51 so as not to rotate, and urges the slide member 60 outward in the radial direction of the wheel 50. The push button 30 is urged outward by the return spring 69 in the radial direction of the wheel 50 through the slide member 60. Therefore, when there is no restraint to the inward position, the push button 30 is
It protrudes from the button mounting surface 18 to a position regulated by a. Note that the side plate 12 has the slide member 6 as described above.
The outer surface is covered with a cover 71 in a state where 0 is assembled [see FIGS. 2 and 3].

Next, the holding mechanism 40 of the push button 30 will be described. The push button holding mechanism 40 cooperates with the return spring 69 by repeating the pushing operation of the push button 30, so that the push button 30 is moved to the inward position [Fig.
(Position indicated by the solid line in (a)] or returned to the outer position [position indicated by the two-dot chain line],
It is configured as follows.

Inside the push button 30, an extension wall 31,
Partition walls 33, 33 are formed inside the both end walls forming 31 and parallel to the both end walls. And
A guide wall 36 of a push button mounting member 35, which will be described later, is inserted into the space between the partition walls 33.

As shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 6 (b), the push button mounting member 35 has a flange portion 37 screwed and fixed to the mounting seat 20 on the inner peripheral surface of the frame body 11.
And a guide wall 36 protruding from the center of the flange portion 37. The guide wall 36 is fixed to the frame main body portion 11 while being inserted into the push button 30. As shown in FIG. 2, a cam hole 38 penetrating in the width direction of the wheel 50 is formed in the guide wall 36, and a rotor 39 penetrates the cam hole 38. Circular holes are formed in both end walls of the push button 30 and the partition wall 33, and both ends of the rotor 39 are rotatably supported in these circular holes. The rotor 39 is locked on the outside of the partition wall so as not to shift in the axial direction.

The cam hole 38 has a groove shape which is long in the radial direction of the wheel 50, and the rotor 39 has a central portion located in the cam hole 38 whose cross section is X-shaped as shown in FIG. It is formed in a polygonal shape. Since the rotor 39 is attached to the push button 30, it moves relative to the cam hole 38 when the push button 30 is moved in the radial direction of the wheel 50. During the movement, the profile of the hole wall of the cam hole 38 causes a predetermined rotation, and the rotation posture and the engaging action of the hole wall of the cam hole 38 hold the cam hole 38 at a predetermined inner position, The holding is released. Since this operation is similar to that of Japanese Patent Publication No. 38681/1989, its detailed description is omitted. The difference from the mechanism described in the publication is that the rotor 39 side moves and the cam hole 38 side is fixed.

The push button holding mechanism 40 is composed of the cam hole 38 and the rotor 39 as described above, and is incorporated in the push button 30 provided in the frame body 11. Therefore, no extra space for separately providing the holding mechanism 40 is required. There are various push-button holding mechanisms of this type other than those exemplified here. Therefore, as long as the button holding mechanism is provided inside the frame body 11, it may be changed to another one.

The above-described wheel engagement recess 56, push button 30, holding mechanism 40, slide member 60, return spring 69, etc. constitute a stopper device for locking and unlocking the wheel 50. Next, wheel 5
Regarding the lock display device 80 that displays whether 0 is in the locked state or the unlocked state (unlocked state),
This will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 5 and 6. As described above, the push button 30 is provided on the upper surface 17 of the frame body 11.
On the other hand, the roller-shaped rotating body 81 is arranged obliquely at an inclination of about 45 degrees, and the roller-shaped rotating body 81 is arranged in the vicinity of the side surface that is obliquely upward. The roller-shaped rotating body 81 is arranged with its axis parallel to the axle 51 (that is, orthogonal to the moving direction of the push button 30) and is rotatable at its both ends to brackets 82, 82 formed on the push button mounting member 35. Supported by.

The rotary body 81 is arranged in a space 83 formed between the push button 30 and the upper surface 17 of the frame main body portion, and the rotary body 81 is located directly above the upper surface 17 of the frame main body portion. A window 84 with a transparent plate is open so that the outer peripheral surface can be seen. Further, a rack gear 85 is formed on the upper side surface of the push button 30, and a gear 86 that meshes with the rack gear 85 is formed on the rotating body 81. The rotating body 81 rotates as the push button 30 moves.

The push button 30 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 81.
When the button is in the inward position (lock release operation position), "FREE", that is, the display 87 indicating that it can be freely rotated is provided in the portion located on the window 84 side, and the push button 30 is in the outward position (lock operation position). The display 88 indicating "LOCK", that is, the lock state, is provided at the portion located on the window 84 side when it is in the state.

Next, the operation of the apparatus having the above structure will be described.
First, in order to freely rotate the wheel 50, the push button 30 protruding outward is pushed against the force of the return spring 69. Push button 3
0 is held in the inward position by the action of the push button holding mechanism 40 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 1A. At this time, the slide member 60 is pushed to the inward position by being pushed by the push button 30, and the convex portion (stopper portion) 65 of the slide member 60 comes out of the engaging concave portion 56 of the wheel 50. And wheels 5
The lock of 0 is released, and the wheel 50 can freely rotate.

At this time, the rotating body 81 of the lock display mechanism 80 rotates as the push button 30 moves to the inward position, and the display 87 "FREE" is displayed on the upper surface of the frame as shown in FIG. 1B. Appears in the window 84 of 17. Therefore, by seeing this display 87 from directly above through the window 84, the operator definitely knows that the wheel 50 is unlocked. In this case, since the display 87 is directed right above, it is very easy for the operator to see.

Next, when the wheel 50 is to be locked, the push button 30 in the inner position is further pushed and operated. Then, the operation releases the holding of the push button holding mechanism 40, and the push button 30 moves outward by the action of the return spring 69 as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIGS. 3 and 1A. The return of the push button 30 to the outer position also causes the slide member 60 to move outward.
Then, by this, the convex portion (stopper portion) 65 of the slide member 60 engages with the engaging concave portion 56 of the wheel 50 and the wheel 50
Is locked. In this case, the wheels 50 are locked on both sides, so that they are securely and firmly stopped from rotating.

At this time, the rotating body 81 of the lock display mechanism 80 rotates as the push button 30 moves to the outer position, and the display 88 "LOCK" appears in the window 84 of the upper surface 17 of the frame 10. Therefore, by seeing this display 88 from directly above through the window 84, the operator definitely knows that the wheels 50 are in the locked state. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the wheels 50 from being forcibly rotated by mistake. In the device of this embodiment, the convex portion (stopper portion)
Since the slide member 60 having 65 and the push button 30 are configured as separate bodies, even if the wheel 50 is forcibly rotated by mistake, the force is transmitted only to the slide member 60, and the push button 30 is forced to rotate. Does not reach. Therefore, no excessive force is applied to the push button 30, and there is no possibility of damaging the push button 30 or its holding mechanism 40.

As described above, according to the stopper device of the above embodiment, the wheels 50 are locked from both sides, so that a reliable and firm locked state can be obtained. Further, since the pair of push buttons 30 and the holding mechanism 40 provided in the frame main body 11 lock and unlock both sides of the wheel 50, the mechanisms do not overlap and the structure is simple. Further, since only the slide member 60 and the return spring 69 are arranged on the side plate 12 as means for locking, it is not necessary to increase the thickness of the side plate 12 when the stopper device is incorporated, and the width dimension of the caster is increased. Can be suppressed.

Further, in the apparatus of the above embodiment, the lock display mechanism 80 using the rotating body 81 is provided above the push button 30, so that the push button 30 is arranged obliquely. The indications 87, 88 of whether or not locked can be seen from the window 84 of the horizontal frame upper surface 17 right above. Moreover, the rotating body 8
Through 1, the displays 87, 88 can be brought close to the horizontal window 84 and can be clearly seen from the outside.

Although the push button 30 and the slide member 60 are constructed as separate parts in the above embodiment,
Both may be configured as an integral part. However, in that case, the advantage of using separate parts is lost. Further, in that case, the position of the return spring 69 can be arranged in the push button 30, for example.

[0032]

As described above, according to the lock display device for a caster according to the present invention, the locked state or the unlocked state can be easily and accurately known from the display on the window of the frame. Moreover, this display device has a rotating body,
The structure is simple because it is composed only of rack gears and gears for linking this rotating body to the push button. Further, the gear meshing can surely maintain the interlocking relationship between the rotating body and the push button.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A and 1B are explanatory views of an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a side sectional view showing the entire structure in an unlocked state, and FIG. 1B is a view showing the structure of a lock display section at the outside. It is the top view seen.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view similar to FIG. 2 in a locked state.

4A and 4B show a configuration of a mounting portion of a slide member 60 in the same embodiment, FIG. 4A is a view of a side plate 12 of a frame as viewed from the front, and FIG.
Is a perspective view showing a state in which the slide member 60 is incorporated, and FIG. 11C is a transverse cross-sectional view showing a state in which the slide member 60 is assembled to the side plate 12.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an assembled state of the push button 30, the push button mounting member 35, and the lock display mechanism 80 in the embodiment.

6 is an exploded view of the mechanism shown in FIG. 5, where (a) is a front view and (b) is a side view.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 ... Frame 30 ... Push button 50 ... Wheel 80 ... Lock display device 81 ... Rotating body 83 ... Space 84 ... Window 85 ... Rack gear 86 ... Gear 87 ... "FREE" display 88 ... "LOCK" display

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A stopper device is provided on a frame for supporting a wheel, and the stopper device includes a push button, and the push button is movable in a radial direction of the wheel between a locking operation position and an unlocking operation position. Yes, in the caster in which the stopper device locks the wheels when the push button is in the lock operation position, and the stopper device unlocks the wheels when the push button is in the lock release operation position, in the internal space of the frame. At a position close to the push button and close to the frame, a rotating body that rotates about an axis orthogonal to the moving direction of the push button is provided, and a rack gear formed on a side surface of the push button. The push button and the rotary body cooperate with each other by meshing with the gear formed on the rotary body. The display indicating the state and the display indicating the unlocked state are deviated from each other in the circumferential direction, and a window is formed in the frame so as to face the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body. At the rotational position of the rotary body corresponding to the lock operation position of the push button, the display of the locked state faces the window of the frame, and the rotational position of the rotary body corresponding to the unlock operation position of the push button. Then, a lock display device for casters, characterized in that the display of the unlocked state faces the window.