JPH1113244A - Double-articulated universal joint for handrail - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To ensure easy construction at a site and require less cost for machining. SOLUTION: A universal joint with two articulations C has a coccon-shaped connection block 4, sockets 3 jointed to the connection block 4 via spherical seats 20 and caps 2 fixed to handrail rods 1 to pivotally support the sockets 3 in a rotatable manner. The socket 3 and the connection block 4 are connected to each other via a shaft 5. A screw 27 is provided between the shaft 5 and the socket 3. When the socket 3 is screwed, the cap 2 and the handrail rod 1 are pulled to the side of the connection block 4 to allow the connection block 4 connected and fixed to the socket 3 in proper connection attitude.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a two-joint type universal joint for connecting handrails whose axes intersect each other.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H8-7439 discloses a universal joint for handrails.
No. 7 publication. This universal joint has one joint. There is a two-joint type universal joint having two joints (JP-A-9-96075). In this case, as shown in FIG. 8, a universal joint is constituted by a socket 41 fixed to an end of each adjacent handrail bar 40 and a cocoon-shaped connection block 42 connecting the sockets 41 together. Each socket 41
And the connecting block 42 are in contact with each other via a spherical seat 43, and a shaft portion 44 projecting from the center of the concave spherical surface 43 a of the socket 41 is connected by a pin 45 driven into the connecting block 42 to form a joint portion. doing. A V-shaped escape groove 46 for receiving the shaft portion 44 is formed in the connection block 42.
Since the shaft portion 44 swings about the pin 45 within the range of the groove 46, it is possible to cope with a change in the intersection angle of each handrail bar 40 within a certain range.

[0003]

In the above universal joint, since the shaft portion 44 is integrally provided at the center of the inside of the concave spherical surface 43a of the socket 41, it is difficult to finish the concave spherical surface 43a by, for example, turning. , It is difficult to obtain sufficient surface accuracy.
When the socket 41 is formed by the precision casting method, a certain degree of surface accuracy can be ensured, but smooth sliding of the socket 41 cannot be guaranteed. There is also a disadvantage that the manufacturing cost of the socket 41 is high.

There is also a problem in the ease of assembling the universal joint to the adjacent handrail bar 40. The socket 41 has a shaft portion 44 provided at the outer end thereof fitted into the inner surface of the handrail bar 40 to be integrated with the handrail bar 40. However, since there are two joints, when the shaft portion 44 is fitted, The joints are shaky and cannot transmit enough power. Further, if the socket 41 is simply connected to the handrail bar 40, the center plane of the connecting block 42 passing through the center of the escape groove 46 in the thickness direction is shifted to the front or rear from the reference plane passing through the axis of each handrail bar 40 simultaneously. In many cases, the correction work for matching the center plane to the reference plane requires much labor.

An object of the present invention is to provide a two-joint type universal joint that can be used in common even when the crossing angle between the axes of adjacent handrail bars varies over a wide angle range. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to enable a universal joint to be connected to a handrail bar in an appropriate posture only by simply screwing a socket into a shaft body, and to particularly efficiently assemble a handrail at a construction site. It is in.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive universal joint that can be smoothly formed in a state in which the socket can slide smoothly in a state in which it is in close contact with the connecting block, and therefore has an excellent appearance.

[0006]

The universal joint according to the present invention comprises:
A pair of cap bodies 2 fixed to the rod ends of the adjacent handrail rods 1, a pair of sockets 3 rotatably supported by the cap body 2 around the axis of the handrail rod 1, and both sockets 3
And a cocoon-shaped connecting block 4 for connecting. The connection block 4 and each socket 3 are joined via a spherical seat 20 and two joints C so as to be relatively displaceable. The connecting block 4 is inserted into the clearance groove 14 opened facing the side end of the spherical seat 20.
And a shaft body 5 connecting the sockets 3 with each other. One end of the shaft 5 passes through the center of the spherical surface of the spherical seat 20 and is pivotally supported by a pin 24 orthogonal to the axis of each handrail bar 1 to form a joint C. The connecting block 4 and each socket 3 are
-Connection is made via a screw 27 provided between any one of the shaft members 5 and the shaft member 5.

As shown in FIG. 1, the spherical seat 20 comprises a convex spherical surface 13 provided on the connecting block 4 and a concave spherical surface 16 provided on the socket 3. The shaft body 5 is supported by pins 24 provided on the connection block 4, and a female screw 19 meshing with a male screw 22 provided on the shaft body 5 is provided on the socket 3.

In another joint state, the spherical seat 20 has a convex spherical surface 13 provided on each socket 3 as shown in FIG.
And a concave spherical surface 16 provided on the connecting block 4. The shaft 5 is supported by pins 24 provided on the socket 3, and a female screw 19 that engages with the shaft 5 is provided on the connection block 4.

A circumferential groove 18 is provided on a shaft 17 projecting from one end of the socket 3, and the shaft 17 is provided on the outer end of the cap body 2.
Are provided to rotatably support. A stopper (8) is provided on the cap body (2) so as to engage with the circumferential groove (18) to hold and retain the socket (3).

[0010]

The handrail bar 1 and the connecting block 4 are connected via the cap 2 and the socket 3 and the shaft 5.
By screwing the socket 3, the socket 3
And the connection block 4 can be integrally fixed. At this time, each socket 3 is previously connected to each handrail bar 1 via the cap body 2, the axial center position is defined by the handrail bar 1, and the socket 3 is spherically connected to the connection block 4. It is tightly joined via the seat 20. Therefore, as the socket 3 is screwed in, the centering action can be exerted on the spherical seat 20. Even if the connecting block 4 swings forward or backward, the connecting block can be simply operated by screwing the socket 3. 4 can be corrected to a proper posture.

A relief groove 14 pointing in a different direction is provided on the connecting block 4 side, and each shaft body 5 is supported so as to be able to swing within the range of the relief groove 14. Can respond widely to changes in Since the shaft body 5 is formed as an independent part, the concave spherical surface 16 of the spherical seat 20 can be easily finished by turning, and the concave spherical surface 16 and the convex spherical surface 13 are formed.
A universal joint that can smoothly slide relative to each other can be formed at lower cost.

[0012]

1 to 4 show an embodiment of a two-joint type universal joint according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, a universal joint comprises a pair of cap bodies 2 fixed to bar ends of adjacent handrail bars 1.
And a pair of sockets 3 rotatably supported around the axis of the handrail bar 1 by the cap body 2, a cocoon-shaped connection block 4 connecting the sockets 3, and a pair of shaft bodies 5.

In FIG. 2, the cap body 2 is formed of a round plate-shaped metal ring whose peripheral surface is rounded so as to bulge outwardly, and has a shallow concave portion 6a externally fitted to the handrail bar 1 on the outer surface of its end wall.
A hole 7 for pivotally supporting the socket 3 is formed on the inner surface of the end wall, and a shallow recess 6b which is fitted to the outer peripheral surface of the socket 3 is formed. A stopper 8 for preventing the socket 3 from coming off is provided at one location of the peripheral wall surrounding the hole 7. The stopper 8 is formed of a hexagon socket head bolt having a tapered engagement portion 9 tapered at one end, and is screwed into a screw hole 10 provided in the cap body 2. As shown in FIG. 1, the cap body 2 is fastened and fixed to the handrail bar 1 with three screws 11 inserted into the end wall from the hole 7 side.

The connecting block 4 is made of a cocoon-shaped metal block having convex spherical surfaces 13 formed at both ends, and has concave grooves 14 formed in the center of the side ends of the left and right convex spherical surfaces 13, respectively. A pin hole 15 orthogonal to 14 is formed inside the groove. The pin hole 15 is formed along the front-rear axis passing through the center of the spherical surface of the convex spherical surface 13. The relief groove 14 is formed in a fan shape along a vertical plane passing through the center of the connecting block 4 in the front-rear direction, and has a rectangular cross section that is long in the vertical direction (see FIG. 4). The left and right clearance grooves 14 are arranged in an inverted C-shape in a state of being bent in the same direction as the downwardly projecting curved surface of the connecting block 4 that curves in a cocoon shape when viewed from the front.

The socket 3 is formed of a round shaft-shaped metal block. A concave spherical surface 16 is formed on one end of the socket 3 so as to be in close contact with the convex spherical surface 13. The other end of the socket 3 is supported by a hole 7 of the cap body 2. The shaft 17 is provided. A circumferential groove 18 having a V-shaped cross section is formed on the peripheral surface of the shaft portion 17. The groove 18 is received by the engaging portion 9 of the stopper 8, so that the socket 3 is retained in a freely rotatable state. it can. A female screw 19 is formed in the axial center of the socket 3 so as to penetrate the socket 3 in the left and right direction. The spherical seat 20 is constituted by the above-mentioned uneven spherical seats 16 and 13.

The shaft body 5 is composed of a screw shaft having a male screw 22 formed on the peripheral surface thereof, and a flat wall provided at one end thereof has a hole 23 perpendicular to the screw shaft center provided therein. After the shaft end on the side of the hole 23 is inserted into the escape groove 14, the pin hole 1 is inserted as shown in FIG.
By pivotally supporting the hole 23 with the pin 24 driven into the shaft 5, the shaft 5 can freely swing and displace around the pin 24 within the sectoral groove area of the escape groove 14. The two joints C of the universal joint are composed of the shaft 5 and the pin 24. The screw 27 is constituted by the male and female screws 19 and 22 described above.

Next, an example of assembling the universal joint will be described.
First, a pair of cap bodies 2 of the universal joint are separated from the sockets 3 and screwed to the bar ends of the adjacent handrail bars 1. As shown in FIG. 3, the pair of handrail bars 1 are supported by brackets 25 and temporarily fixed. In this state, each socket 3 is connected to the cap body 2 and is supported by the stopper 8 to prevent it from falling off.

In the above temporary assembly state, each socket 3 and the connecting block 4 are adjacent to each other with a small gap remaining in the spherical seat 20, and the horizontal handrail bar 1 and the slanting handrail bar 1 , Are supported by the brackets 25 so that they can slide only in the axial direction. In this state, for example, the socket 3 on the side of the horizontal handrail bar 1 is screwed in and operated.
The connecting block 4 is pulled toward the socket 3. During the screwing operation, since the socket 3 is supported by the handrail bar 1 via the cap body 2, the screwing operation can be performed smoothly without shaking. Actually, since the slanted handrail bar 1 cannot slide in the horizontal direction, the socket 3 and the horizontal handrail bar 1 are drawn toward the connection block 4 and the spherical seat 20 is brought into close contact with no gap. Similarly, the other socket 3 is screwed in, and the socket 3 and the slanted handrail bar 1 are drawn toward the connection block 4 to bring the spherical seat 20 into close contact. Finally, a screw 26 is screwed into the bracket 25 to fix each handrail bar 1.

As described above, each handrail bar 1 is attached to the bracket 25.
In the state where the universal joints are temporarily assembled between them, the center of the left and right pins 24 is the axis of the two handrail bars 1 even if the amount of facing gap between each socket 3 and the connection block 4 is different. Positioned on the center, the connecting block 4 is held in the final tightening position. Accordingly, by simply screwing each socket 3, both sockets 3 and the connection block 4 can be properly connected, and the connection block 4 is rotated in the screwing direction by the centering action of the spherical seat 20. Can be blocked.

A pair of clearance grooves 14 are provided in an inverted C-shape, and each clearance groove 14 is formed in a sector shape to support each shaft body 5 so as to be able to swing within a certain angle range. Even when the angle of intersection of the axes changes greatly, it is possible to cope with only one kind of universal joint. By the way, the universal joint shown in the above embodiment can widely cope with the angle between the axes of the adjacent handrail bars 1 up to 165 ° at the maximum value and up to 85 ° at the minimum value.

Since the shaft 5 is formed as an independent component separate from the socket 3 and a screw 27 is formed between the two 3 and 5,
The finishing of the concave spherical surface 16 can be easily performed. That is, a normal casting using a sand mold can be used as the primary blank such as the socket 3 and the connecting block 4, and the manufacturing cost of the universal joint can be reduced due to the small number of parts.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment in which the fastening structure between the socket 3 and the connecting block 4 is changed. Here, the shaft body 5 is formed by a round shaft having one end rounded, and a female screw 19 is provided in the shaft.
To form In addition, along the axis of the socket 3, the insertion hole 2
9 and an operation hole 30 having a hexagonal cross section, a hexagon bolt 31 is assembled to the socket 3 from the operation hole 30 side, and the shaft end thereof is screwed into the female screw 19. Hex bolt 3
Since the operation head 1 engages with the operation hole 30, the socket 3
Can be transmitted to the hexagon bolt 31. The other parts are the same as those of the above-described embodiment. The same applies to the following embodiments.

FIG. 6 shows still another embodiment in which the spherical seat 20 is modified. There, a convex spherical surface 13 was formed on the side end of the socket 3 and a concave spherical surface 16 was provided on the side of the connecting block 4. Along with this structural change, a relief groove 14 was formed on the side of the socket 3 and the shaft 5 was disposed therein. In addition, a female screw 19 is formed at the center inside the concave spherical surface 16 of the connecting block 4.
As can be understood from this embodiment, the convex spherical surface 13 and the concave spherical surface 16 can be provided on either side of the socket 3 and the connecting block 4.
May be provided with a convex spherical surface 13 on one side and a concave spherical surface 16 on the other side. However, the shaft body 5 is supported on the side where the convex spherical surface 13 is provided.

FIG. 7 shows another embodiment in which the support structure of the socket 3 and the cap body 2 is changed. There, a shaft 17 was provided on the side of the cap body 2 and a circumferential groove 18 was provided on the peripheral surface thereof. In addition, a hole 7 that is fitted to the shaft 17 on the side of the socket 3.
And a stopper 8. In this case,
Since it is inevitable that the screw length of the female screw 19 becomes short, a relief hole 32 having a diameter larger than the screw diameter of the female screw 19 is provided along the axis of the cap body 2.

In addition to the above embodiment, the stopper 8 can use a spring pin, a screw, or the like. The cap body 2, the socket 3, and the connection block 4 can be formed of a plastic molded product or a woodwork.

[0026]

According to the universal joint of the present invention, the socket 3 is rotatably supported by the cap body 2 fixed to the handrail bar 1, and the socket 3 and the connecting block 4 are joined via the spherical seat 20, and both are joined. Shaft 5 and screw 27 provided between 3.4
, The socket 3 can be connected and fixed to the connection block 4. Therefore, the universal joint can be connected to the handrail bar 1 in an appropriate posture only by screwing the socket 3, and anyone can efficiently assemble the handrail at the construction site. Since the shaft body 5 is formed as an independent part,
The finishing process of the concave spherical surface 16 can be easily performed, thereby preventing a gap from being formed in the spherical seat 20 in the assembled state, and a two-joint type universal joint excellent in appearance appearance can be provided at lower cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional front view of a universal joint.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway front view showing a state where constituent parts of a universal joint are separated.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of assembling a handrail.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view showing another embodiment of the universal joint.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view showing still another embodiment of the universal joint.

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view showing still another embodiment of the universal joint.

FIG. 8 is a vertical sectional front view of a conventional universal joint.

[Description of sign]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Handrail bar 2 Cap body 3 Socket 4 Connecting block 5 Shaft 14 Escape groove 20 Spherical seat 24 Pin 27 Screw C Joint

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A pair of cap bodies 2 fixed to bar ends of adjacent handrail bars 1, respectively.
A pair of sockets 3 rotatably supported about the axis of the socket 3
And a cocoon-shaped connecting block 4 for connecting both sockets 3. The connecting block 4 and each socket 3 are joined via a spherical seat 20 and two joints C so as to be relatively displaceable. A shaft body 5 that connects the connection block 4 and each socket 3 is provided in a clearance groove 14 that opens toward the side end of the spherical seat 20. One end of the shaft body 5 is A joint 24 is pivotably supported by a pin 24 passing through the center of the spherical surface and orthogonal to the axis of each handrail bar 1 to form a joint C. The connecting block 4 and each socket 3 A two-joint type handrail universal joint connected via a screw 27 provided between any one of the shaft members 5. 2. The spherical seat 20 is composed of a convex spherical surface 13 provided on the connecting block 4 and a concave spherical surface 16 provided on the socket 3. The shaft 5 is pivoted by a pin 24 provided on the connecting block 4. 2. The two-joint type handrail universal joint according to claim 1, wherein a female screw 19 that is supported and meshes with a male screw 22 provided on the shaft 5 is provided on the socket 3. 3. The spherical seat 20 is composed of a convex spherical surface 13 provided on each socket 3 and a concave spherical surface 16 provided on the connection block 4. The shaft 5 is pivoted by a pin 24 provided on the socket 3. 2. The two-joint handrail universal joint according to claim 1, wherein a female screw 19 that is supported and meshes with the shaft body 5 is provided on the connecting block 4. 4. A shaft 17 projecting from one end of the socket 3.
Is provided with a hole 7 for rotatably supporting the shaft portion 17 at the outer end of the cap body 2, and is engaged with the groove 18 to prevent the socket 3 from coming off and holding. A two-joint type handrail universal joint in which a stopper 8 is provided on the cap body 2.