JPH09302823A - Screen - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To further reduce the number of part items constituting a screen. SOLUTION: A screen comprises a number of screen elements 1 arranged crosswise, the side edges of the adjacent screen elements 1 being connected together via a connection 2 in such a manner that they can rotate relative to each other so that the entire screen can be deformed. In this case, the connection 2 comprises a first engaging part 6 provided integrally with one side edge of each screen element 1 and a second engaging part 7 provided integrally with the other side edge of each screen element 1 and directly engaged with the first engaging part 6 in such a way as to be rotatable relative thereto.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a screen preferably used in offices and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a screen has been used as a means for easily partitioning an office space as needed. Among them, in recent screens, a large number of screen elements are arranged in the width direction, and side edges of adjacent screen elements are rotatably connected to each other via a connecting portion so that the entire planar shape can be deformed. There are a lot of things I do. The reason is that in recent offices, there are many cases where furniture that can be freely rearranged to improve the functionality of the office is arranged, and the screen is also elastic to change such office form. This is because it is necessary to have the flexibility to deal with each other.

[0003]

However, most of the existing screens use separate joint members for connecting the side edges of the screen elements to the connecting portion. For this reason, this joint member is a major factor that prevents reduction in the number of parts.

[0004]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention adopts a structure in which screen elements are connected to each other directly and relatively rotatably.

[0005]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION That is, in the screen of the present invention, a large number of screen elements are arranged in the width direction, and the side edges of adjacent screen elements are rotatably connected to each other via a connecting portion to deform the entire screen. In the one obtained, the connecting portion is integrally provided on one side edge of each screen element.
Second engaging portion of the screen element is integrally provided on the other side edge of each screen element, and the second engaging element directly engages the first engaging portion and is rotatable relative to the first engaging portion. And the engaging portion of

According to this structure, since the first and second engaging portions required for the structure of the connecting portion are integrally formed with the manufacturing of the screen element, at least the screen elements are connected to each other in the conventional manner. The separate joint member used for this purpose can be eliminated. Since such a conventional screen requires a number of joint members which is substantially equal to the total number of screen elements in order to manufacture one screen, the number of parts can be greatly reduced by eliminating the need for the joint members.

In order to facilitate the production of the screen element, an arbitrary cross-sectional shape of the screen element is made constant, and the first and second engaging portions are engaged in the height direction of the screen element. It is desirable to set it. As one specific embodiment, the first engaging portion is a partial casing having a large curved piece and a small curved piece and having an opening at the front, and the second engaging portion is , A partial casing having a large curved piece and a small curved piece and having an opening at the rear, wherein the small curved piece of one of the engaging portions passes through the opening and the large curved piece of the other engaging portion An example is a structure in which both engaging portions are engaged with each other so as to be rotatable relative to each other.

In order to eliminate an assembly error between the screen elements, it is effective to make each screen element a cross-sectional shape that is point-symmetric with respect to the center. In order to ensure effective self-sustainability with respect to the movement of the center of gravity when the screen is deformed, it is desirable to provide a groundable adjuster at the lower ends of some screen elements.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the screen shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a large number of elongated screen elements 1 are arranged in the width direction, and side edges of adjacent screen elements 1 are rotatably connected to each other via a connecting portion 2 to deform the entire screen. In addition to being obtained, the screen element 1 arranged at the end is supported by the left and right columns 3, 4.

More specifically, the screen element 1 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 6, a hollow body-like main body portion 5, a partial housing-like first engaging portion 6 integrally formed at one side edge of the main body portion 5, and the other side of the main body portion 5 An arbitrary cross section having a partial housing-shaped second engaging portion 7 integrally formed at the edge has a constant shape. For the sake of convenience, the following description will be given based on the front-rear, left-right positional relationship when the screen is viewed in the direction of the arrow X in FIG.

The main body portion 5 has a pair of convex front walls 51 that gently swell in a front-back direction orthogonal to the left-right direction which is the connecting direction.
And the convex rear wall 52, the right side edges 51a and 52a of the convex front wall 51 and the convex rear wall 52, and the left side edges 51b and 52.
It is composed of a pair of concave side walls 53 and 54 which are depressed in a substantially semi-cylindrical shape and which connect b to each other. The first engaging portion 6 is
The convex rear wall 52 is arranged on the right side of the main body 5.
52c provided so as to project forward from the right side edge 52a of the
To the convex front wall 51, and the base end 61a is continuous to the convex front wall 51, and the tongue piece 52c is connected to the proximal end 62a to the front end 62b. And a small curved piece 62 having a partially cylindrical shape extending toward the 51 side, both of the curved pieces 61 and 62 being the tongue piece 5.
2c are arranged concentrically with respect to the concave side wall 53 of the main body 5 by changing the continuous position, and the diameter of the concave side wall 53, the large curved piece 61, and the small curved piece 62 decreases in this order. Is shaped like. Then, in the first engaging portion 6, between the right side edge 51a of the convex front wall 51 and the tip end 61b of the large bending piece 61, the opening portion 6 is directed forward.
a is formed, and the opening 6a is further formed with the concave side wall 5
3 and the small curved piece 62 and the large curved piece 61 and the small curved piece 62.

The second engaging portion 7 is arranged on the left side of the main body portion 5, and has a base end 71a on a tongue piece 51c provided so as to project rearward from the left side edge 51b of the convex front wall 51. A partially cylindrical large curved piece 71 in which a tip 71b is continuously extended to the convex rear wall 52 side, and a base end 72a is also provided on the tongue piece 51c.
It is provided with a partially cylindrical small curved piece 72 in which the tip 72b is continuously extended to the convex rear wall 52 side, and both the curved pieces 71, 72 are continuously connected to the tongue piece 51c. Are arranged concentrically with respect to the concave side wall 54 of the main body 5, and the concave side wall 54, the large curved piece 71,
The small curved pieces 72 are formed so that their diameters become smaller in order. Thus, the second engaging portion 7 has an opening 7a formed rearward between the left side edge 52b of the convex rear wall 52 and the tip 71b of the large curved piece 71. The portion 7a is further continuous to the gap between the concave side wall 54 and the small curved piece 72 and the gap between the large curved piece 71 and the small curved piece 72.

That is, the first engaging portion 6 and the second engaging portion 7 both have a completely point-symmetrical structure with respect to the center O of the main body portion 5 of the screen element 1. Therefore, even if the screen element 1 is rotated by 180 ° in a plan view, the screen element 1 appears in exactly the same shape. Prop 3
(4) is a disk-shaped base 3 as shown in FIGS.
1 (41) and a pole 32 (42) standing upright from the center of the base 31 (41). The pole 32 of the column 3 arranged on the left side is along a specific bus bar. The first engaging portion 33 (see FIGS. 3 and 4) having the same structure as the first engaging portion 6 is fixedly installed, and the pole 42 of the column 4 arranged on the right side has a specific bus bar. A second locking portion 43 having the same structure as the second engaging portion 7 is formed along the above. I mean these poles 3
2 and 42 also have exactly the same shape when they are rotated by 180 °, and are actually used by simply changing the directions of the columns 3 or 4 having the same structure.

Next, the procedure for assembling the screen will be described. Since each screen element 1 has the same arbitrary cross-sectional shape as described above and the upper end 1a and the lower end 1b are open, it is arranged on the right side of the upper end 1a of the screen element 1 arranged on the left side. Bottom edge 1 of screen element 1
b as shown in FIG. 6 by the arrow,
The engaging portion 6 and the latter second engaging portion 7 are engaged with each other as shown in FIG. 4 to form the connecting portion 2. That is, the latter large curved piece 71 is positioned on the inner circumference of the former concave side wall 53, the former large curved piece 61 is positioned on the inner circumference of the latter concave side wall 54, and the inner circumference of the former large curved piece 61 is positioned. Further, the latter small curved piece 72 is inserted, and the former small curved piece 62 is further inserted into the inner circumference of the latter large curved piece 71, so that they cannot be pulled out from each other. Tongue pieces 52c, 51
At this time, c is located in the corresponding openings 7a, 6a and cantileveredly maintains the supporting state for the engaging portions 6, 7. Therefore, in this embodiment, in this state, as shown in FIG. 4, the tip 61b of the former large curved piece 61 and the tongue piece 51c of the latter are provided.
And between the tip 72b of the small curved piece 72 of the latter and the tongue piece 52c of the former, there are gaps G1 and G2, respectively. Within the gaps G1 and G2, the gap of the latter is set. The second engaging portion 7 can be rotated counterclockwise relative to the former first engaging portion 6 as shown in FIG. Similarly, in the present embodiment, a gap G3, between the tip 71b of the latter large curved piece 71 and the former tongue piece 52c, and between the tip 62b of the former small curved piece 62 and the latter tongue piece 51c, respectively. G4 is set to exist, and the second engaging portion 7 of the latter is rotated clockwise relative to the first engaging portion 6 of the former within the range of the gaps G3 and G4. I am trying to get it. Further, the second engaging portion 7 of the screen element 1 arranged at the left end is engaged with the first engaging portion 33 of the column 3 arranged on the left side by the procedure similar to the above work and by the same procedure. The first engaging portion 6 of the screen element 1 arranged at the right end is engaged with the second engaging portion 43 of the column 4 arranged on the right side.

In this embodiment, each screen element 1
The upper end 1a and the lower end 1b of the above are capped with caps 8 and 9 shown in FIGS. Cap 8
Is a main body lid 81 having a planar shape substantially corresponding to the cross section of the main body 5 of the screen element 1 and having an underside of an engaging piece 81a fitted to the inner circumference of the main body 5, It is inserted into the inner circumference of the small curved pieces 62, 72 of both engaging portions 6, 7 which have a planar shape substantially corresponding to the cross section of the first engaging portion 6 of the screen element 1 and which are in engagement with the lower surface. For the first engaging portion lid portion 82 in which the shaft portion 82a is hung, and for the second engaging portion having a planar shape substantially corresponding to the cross section of the second engaging portion 7 of the screen element 1. It is composed of a lid portion 83. In order to mount the cap 8 on each screen element 1 in the connected state, the first engaging portion lid portion 82 of the cap 8 arranged on the left side and the second engaging portion lid portion 82 of the cap 8 arranged on the right side are arranged. It is necessary to suitably overlap the engaging portion lid portion 83, but in this embodiment, the lower surface of the former is raised to make the latter thin as shown in FIG. 8, and the latter is attached to the lower surface of the former. It is set so as to go under, and the shaft portion 82a has a shaft insertion hole 83 provided in the latter.
After inserting a, it is inserted into the inner circumferences of the small curved pieces 62 and 72. The cap 9 also has a similar configuration. Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an adjuster 10 is screwed from the lower end side to the cap 9 attached to a part of the screen element 1, and the lower surface of the adjuster 10 is on the floor when the screen is in use. It is adjusted to ground on the surface.

In the screen having the above-mentioned structure, the screen elements 1 arranged in a large number are connected to each other, and the left and right columns 3, 4 are connected via the screen elements 1 arranged at the ends. It is supported by and becomes independent as a whole. And each screen element 1
9 can be relatively rotated with respect to each other via the connecting portion 2 composed of the first engaging portion 6 and the second engaging portion 7, so that FIG.
The planar shape can be freely changed as shown in (A) to (C). Therefore, it can be functionally used when applied to a place where furniture is rearranged relatively frequently as seen in a recent office.

In addition, the screen of this embodiment has the first and the second components necessary for constructing the connecting portion 2 when the screen element 1 is manufactured.
Since the second engaging portions 6 and 7 are integrally formed, it is possible to completely eliminate at least the separate joint member used to connect the screen elements 1 to each other. Conventionally, since a number of joint members that are approximately equal to the total number of screen elements are required to make one screen, eliminating the need for joint members leads to a drastic reduction in the number of parts. In this embodiment, the screen element 1 is provided with the separate caps 8 and 9. However, since these caps are not required to have strength as compared with the conventional joint member and need not be highly accurate, It does not impose a heavy burden on the screen production.

Moreover, in this embodiment, the screen element 1 including the first and second engaging portions 6 and 7 has a constant arbitrary cross-sectional shape, so that a large number of screen elements 1 are extruded. It can be manufactured all at once by the process. Therefore, the manufacturing process of the screen element 1 can be simplified to the utmost limit. Furthermore, the first engaging portion 6 is a partial casing having a large bending piece 61 and a small bending piece 62 and having an opening 6a in the front, and the second engaging portion 7 has a large bending portion. It is a partial casing having a piece 71 and a small curved piece 72 and having an opening 7a at the rear, and the small curved piece 62 (72) of one engaging portion 6 (7) is the other engaging portion. It is configured to be inserted into the inner periphery of the large curved piece 71 (61) of 7 (6) at the same time so that the engaging portions 6 and 7 are engaged with each other so as to be rotatable relative to each other. It is possible to obtain a connected state and a stable rotation operation, and at the same time, it is possible to freely change the rotation range depending on the settings of the gaps G1 to G4 described above.

Furthermore, since the screen element 1 of this embodiment, including the engaging portions 6 and 7, has a plane shape that is point-symmetric with respect to the center O, when the screen elements 1 are assembled with each other. There is no need to confuse right and left, and it is possible to complete the assembly of the screen surely even with relatively inconsistent work. In addition to the above effects,
In this embodiment, not only the screen elements 1 arranged at the ends are supported by the left and right columns 3 and 4, but also the lower ends of some of the screen elements 1 are grounded to the floor via the adjuster 10. As shown in FIGS. 9A to 9C, even if the center of gravity moves due to the deformation of the screen, the independence of the screen can be maintained and the fall can be effectively prevented.

When it is necessary to arrange the completed screens in a continuous manner, one pole of the columns supporting the screens is left floating in the air without being supported by the base, and the poles are supported. It is advisable to secure it to the poles of the columns that support the corresponding ends of adjacent screens. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the base from becoming bulky and realize a close connection state.
Further, if the first and second engaging portions are formed on the poles of the support at the same time, it becomes possible to share the entire support.

In addition, the specific construction of each part is not limited to the illustrated embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, if the extruded material is cut so that the screen element is gradually increased in height from the end to the center, the upper end of the screen is curved in an arched state in the assembled state, and thus a unique design aesthetic is provided. Moreover, it is possible to make a slight difference in height due to an assembly error or a manufacturing error inconspicuous.

[0022]

The present invention is embodied in the form described above and has the following effects. That is, the screen of the present invention is integrally provided with an engaging portion that rotatably engages one side edge and the other side edge of the screen element in order to directly and relatively rotatably connect the screen element. It is provided. Therefore, it is possible to connect the screen elements to each other without using a separate joint member, and it is possible to achieve a great reduction in the number of parts corresponding to the total number of joint members as compared with the conventional case.

Further, if such a screen element including both engaging portions has a uniform cross-sectional shape, a large number of screen elements can be manufactured all at once through the extrusion molding process. Further, if each of the engaging portions has a structure including a large bending piece and a small bending piece, a smooth rotation operation can be ensured in the connecting portion, and a rotation range can be easily set. .

Furthermore, when the screen element has a structure which is point-symmetrical with respect to the center of the screen element, it is possible to eliminate the mistake of the mounting procedure such that the screen elements are mounted by mistakenly, so that the assembling work is more efficient. It can be good. In addition to the above, at the bottom of some screen elements,
If an adjuster capable of grounding is provided on the floor surface, it is possible to maintain the self-supporting property which is effective with respect to the movement of the center of gravity when the screen is deformed, and to prevent the fall.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the same.

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged end view taken along line IV-IV in FIG.

FIG. 5 is an exploded view corresponding to FIG.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view partially corresponding to FIG.

FIG. 7 is an end view corresponding to FIG. 4 for explaining the operation of the same embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the cap of the same embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a use state of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Screen element 2 ... Connection part 6 ... 1st engaging part 7 ... 2nd engaging part 10 ... Adjuster 61 ... Large curved piece 62 ... Small curved piece 71 ... Large curved piece 72 ... Small curved piece

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A structure in which a large number of screen elements are arranged in the width direction and side edges of adjacent screen elements are rotatably connected to each other via a connecting portion so that the whole can be deformed. The first engaging portion integrally provided on one side edge of each screen element and the first engaging portion integrally provided on the other side edge of each screen element to directly engage with the first engaging portion. A screen comprising a second engaging portion that is rotatable relative to the first engaging portion. 2. The screen element has an arbitrary cross-sectional shape that is constant, and the first and second engaging portions engage with each other in the height direction of the screen element. The screen according to 1. 3. The first engaging portion is a partial casing having a large curved piece and a small curved piece and having an opening at the front,
The second engagement portion is a partial casing having a large curved piece and a small curved piece and having an opening at the rear, and the small curved piece of one of the engagement portions passes through the opening and the other. The screen according to claim 2, wherein the engaging portions are simultaneously inserted into the inner periphery of the large curved piece so that the engaging portions are engaged with each other so as to be rotatable relative to each other. 4. The screen according to claim 2, wherein the screen element has a cross-sectional shape that is point-symmetric with respect to the center of the screen element. 5. A groundable adjuster is provided at a lower end of some of the screen elements.
The screen according to 2, 3, or 4.