JPS5817155Y2 - Tightener - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] This invention relates to tighteners, especially chains, flat belts,
So-called winding, which transmits driving force through linear or band-shaped transmission elements such as flat belts, timing belts, and wire ropes, is applied to transmission devices.

Wrapping is a transmission device, and tightener is an element for transmitting driving force, such as a chain, a flat belt, a flat belt,
When a timing belt, wire rope, etc. becomes slack due to overload or fatigue such as wear and elongation, this slack is absorbed and the transmission element is always run under a substantially constant tension state.

Conventionally, this type of tightener is applied to a chain, for example, by engaging an idler sprocket with a chain running under tension, and biasing the idler sprocket against the chain by a spring in a direction perpendicular to the running direction of the chain. Thus, when the chain becomes slack, some sprockets are elastically brought laterally to provide a nearly constant tension on the chain.

However, in this case, since a sprocket is used as the element that engages with the chain, it is necessary to configure the rotation support mechanism to be movable using a spring.
It is inevitable that the configuration becomes complicated and the number of parts increases.

Furthermore, conventional idler sprockets are configured to rotate in one direction, making it difficult to use them for both forward and reverse rotation.

Taking the above points into consideration, the present invention proposes a tightener that can solve all of these conventional problems at once.In particular, it is a simple and easy method to check whether the tightener is properly performing its original slack-absorbing action. By making it possible to reliably identify the tightener, it is possible to obtain a tightener that always operates efficiently.

An embodiment in which an example of the present invention is applied to a case where a chain is used as a driving force transmission element will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the tightener 1 includes a guide portion 2 that engages with a running chain, a case portion 3 that slidably holds the guide portion 2, and a structure between the case portion 3 and the guide portion 2. It has a spring part 4 attached thereto.

The guide portion 2 includes a guide plate 13 (for example, made of solidur made of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene) having a partially circumferential surface 12 with a single chain guide groove 11 on the upper surface.
The lower end surface thereof partially faces the circumferential surface 12 and extends in the left and right horizontal directions.

Locking grooves 14A and 14B extending in the left-right direction are bored in the lower front and rear surfaces of the guide plate 13, and the locking grooves 14A
and 14B, a cross-sectional []-shaped fixture 15 is fixed to the spring by 16.

A flat rectangular prism-shaped sliding plate 21 made of solidur, for example, is fixed to the lower surface of the fixture 15 by three screws 22.

Note that the sliding plate 21 may be directly fixed to the guide plate 13 with the screws 16 without using the fixture 15.

The case part 3 has a rectangular cylindrical case 25 that holds the sliding plate 21 slidably in the vertical direction. A substrate 26 is fixed to the lower end surface of the case 25 so as to close it, and the fixing hole 2 is fixed to the lower end surface of the case 25.
The tightener 1 can be fixed to a fixed part of a chain mechanism via a fixing bolt (not shown) via a fixing bolt (not shown).

The sliding plate 21 has three spring chambers 3 from its lower end surface side.
1, and a coil spring 33 having elastic movement inhibiting rings 32A and 32B provided at its upper and lower ends is disposed within this spring chamber 31.

When this spring 33 is elastically operated, it expands and the ring 3
2A and 32B are the upper surface of the spring chamber 31 and the substrate 2.
By biasing the pressing against the upper surface of the guide member 6, a suffbling force is applied to cause the sliding plate 21 and hence the guide plate 13 of the guide portion 2 to protrude upward.

On the other hand, in order to inhibit the elastic movement of the spring 32, a screw hole 34 communicating with the spring chamber 31 is bored in the base plate 26, and a lock screw 35 can be inserted from below through the screw hole 34.

On the other hand, a ring 32 B provided at the lower end of the spring 33
The inner diameter of the lock screw 35 is made sufficiently larger than the outer diameter of the lock screw 35,
On the other hand, the inner diameter of the ring 32A provided at the upper end of the spring 33 is approximately equal to the outer diameter of the lock screw 35, and a female thread 36 is cut on the inner surface.

Therefore, the lock screw 35 is rotatably extended within the spring 33 without engaging with the lower end ring 32B, and its tip can be screwed into or removed from the thread 36 on the inner surface of the upper end ring 32A. The extension operation of the spring 33 is prohibited, and in the released state, the spring 33 can freely extend.

By doing so, the guide portion 2 can adjust the magnitude of the elastic force applied to the chain slidingly in contact with the guide plate 13 by selectively locking or cutting off the three lock screws 35.

That is, if two of the three lock screws 35 on both sides are locked, the guide plate 13 can be locked by one spring 33 in the center.
When one lock screw 35 in the center is locked, the guide plate 13 comes into sliding contact with the chain due to the relatively weak elastic force exerted by the two springs 33 on both sides. If none of the screws 35 are locked, the relatively strong elastic force of the three springs 33 allows the chain to slide into contact.

For example, on the front side surface of the sliding plate 21 of the guide portion 2, a scale 41 extending in the vertical direction is provided.

The scale 41 has, for example, a structure in which scale lines 42 are arranged at equal intervals in the vertical direction.

Therefore, depending on the position of the upper edge of the case 25 of the case 3 with respect to the scale 41, the extent to which the guide portion 2 protrudes upward from the case 3 is displayed.

A sliding range regulating groove 45 is provided between the guide part 2 and the case part 3.
A sliding range selection section 47 is provided which is comprised of a plurality of sliding range selection screws 46 that engage with this groove.

In this embodiment, two sliding range regulating grooves 45A and 45B are provided on the side surface of the sliding plate 21, and these regulating grooves 45A and 45B are formed to a constant depth in the vertical direction. .

On the other hand, a plurality of sliding range selection screws 46 A, 46 B, 46 C, 46 D, 46 E, 46 are provided on the side plate portions of the case 25 facing the regulating grooves 45A and 45 B, respectively. F is provided.

These screws 46A to 46C and 46D to 46E are screwed into female screws 48 welded to the outside of the case 25 facing six windows 47 provided in the case 25, and thus the screws 46A to 46C and 46 The tips of D to 46F protrude laterally into the regulating grooves 45A and 45B, so that when the guide portion 2 slides upward or downward, the screws 46
A to 46C or 46D to 46F come into contact with the upper or lower end of the restriction groove 45A or 45B to restrict further sliding of the guide portion 2.

In FIGS. 1 to 4, a relatively narrow (for example, narrower than 180°) inner peripheral shaped surface 1 is used as the guide portion 2.
Although the guide plate 13 having a diameter of 2 is used, instead of this, a guide plate 13X having a relatively wide circumferential surface (for example, wider than 180°) may be used as shown in FIG.

In this case, the connection between the guide plate 13X and the sliding plate 21 is
The screw 16 is directly screwed into the guide plate 13X without using the fixture 15 as in the case of FIGS.

In the above configuration, the tightener 1 is used as shown in FIG.

First, as shown in FIG. 6A, the tightener 1 is provided so as to be in sliding contact with the outlet side of a chain 53 suspended between a driving sprocket 51 that drives in one direction and a driven sprocket 52.

Second, as shown in FIG. 6B, first and second tighteners 1A and 1B are provided so as to be in sliding contact with both chains 56 between a driving sprocket 54 and a driven sprocket 55 that drive in two directions.

In these cases, since the tightener is brought into sliding contact with the chains 53, 56 moving straight, the guide plate 13 shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, which has a relatively narrow guide surface, is used.

Thirdly, as shown in FIG.
The chain 58 is run around D in an approximately 90° direction.

Fourthly, as shown in the sixth diagram, the drive side sprocket 5
Tightener 1E in place of the driven sprocket for 9
You can also use

In these cases, since the chains 58, 60 are wound over a relatively wide guide surface, the guide plate 13 shown in FIG. 5, which has a relatively wide guide surface, is used.

In this way, if the load coupled to the driven side becomes overloaded, the inlet chain of the driving sprocket will stretch and the outlet chain will slacken.

At this time, the tightener operates so that a constant tension is applied to the outlet chain by causing the guide portion 2 to protrude due to the spring 33.

By the way, the sliding amount of the guide part 2 in this state is 4 on the scale.
You can understand it correctly by looking at 1.

Furthermore, if the scale 41 is made up of a reference scale, a scale that represents the normal operating range, and a scale that represents the abnormal operating range, it will be easier to make adjustments when installing the tightener and to discover the occurrence of abnormalities. obtain.

In addition, when the tightener 1 protrudes, the maximum stroke may be restricted depending on the surrounding conditions, or
If it is desired to operate within a certain stroke range, the sliding range selection screws 46A to 46F may be removed as necessary.

In other words, if all the screws 46A to 46F are left attached, the guide part 2 can protrude upward until the screw 46F at the lowest position comes into contact with the lower end of the adjustment groove 45B, whereas Although the position screw 46A can be pulled downward until it comes into contact with the upper end of the adjustment groove 45, its sliding range is the narrowest.

On the other hand, the screws 46F and 46E in the lower position...
By successively removing ., the guide portion 2 expands its protruding range upward over six stages.

In addition, in FIGS. 1 and 5, the screw 46 in the upper position
Although the structure is such that the guide part 2 cannot be slid downward even if parts A, 46B, etc. are removed in sequence, holding the sliding plate 21 upward increases the length and allows the case 25 to be By making it longer and expanding the sliding range of the guide part 2,
By removing the screws 46A, 46B, etc., the movable range of the guide portion 2 can be selected more precisely.

As described above, according to the present invention, at least three spring parts 4 are provided between the guide part 21 and the case part 3, so when the guide part 21 is pressed against the transmission element, force is selectively applied to the spring part 4. By locking or releasing the tightener, the guide part 2 can be locked or released as desired, and by providing the scale 41 on the guide part 2, it is easier to adjust the protruding position of the guide part 2 relative to the chain when installing the tightener. This also makes it easier to confirm that the chain is within its normal operating range and to detect overload or bending due to fatigue.

In addition, when the sliding range selection part 47 is provided between the guide part 2 and the case part 3 as in the case of the above-mentioned embodiment,
The selection of whether to remove or install the sliding screw can be made easier and more reliable.

As for the scale 41, in addition to using the scale lines 42 that are equally spaced as described above (that is, having a linear relationship), it is also possible to use scale line intervals that have other functional relationships.

In addition, the degree of protrusion of the guide portion 21 also determines the slack of the chain that is in sliding contact with it, so the standard scale and this standard scale indicate a normal operation range in which the degree of chain slack is small. The scale may be formed by a scale and an abnormal operation scale indicating that the chain has become abnormally slack beyond the normal operation scale.

In this way, the state of the guide portion 21, and therefore the state of the chain, can be set and determined even more easily and reliably.

Furthermore, in order to attach the scale 41 to the sliding plate 21, a sheet-like scale plate may be separately prepared and attached, or it may be attached directly to the sliding plate 21.
You can choose to have it engraved or whatever you like.

On the other hand, in the above description, the sliding range selection section 47 includes two sliding range regulating grooves 45A and 45B, and three sliding range selecting screws 46A to 46C and 4, respectively.
6D to 46F, but instead of this, either one of the sliding range regulating grooves 45A and 45B may be omitted, or a similar groove may be added.

Alternatively, one or more grooves may be provided, and one screw may be screwed into each groove at different vertical positions.

Furthermore, the lengths of the grooves and the ranges in which they are disposed may be made different from each other.

Furthermore, in the above, a long groove is provided on the sliding plate 21 side and a screw is fixed on the case 25 side, but instead of this, a long hole is provided on the case side to determine the sliding range, and the long hole is inserted through the hole. A screw may be fixed to the sliding plate.

Further, in the above description, the sliding range regulating grooves 45A and 45B provided in the sliding plate 21 have been described in which the bottom surface is flat, but instead of this, multiple stages with different vertical widths and different depths are used. The sliding range may be selected by selecting the screwing depth position of the screws 46A to 46F.

Further, in the above description, the guide plate 13 and the sliding plate 21 of the guide portion 2 are manufactured separately and integrated by screwing, but they may be manufactured integrally from the beginning.

Furthermore, in the above, the scale was provided on the sliding plate 21 side, but instead of this, a scale slit in the vertical direction is provided in the case 25, and the sliding plate 21 is located at a position facing this slit.
A mark may be provided on the top, and the amount of sliding of the guide portion 2 may be read from the movement of this mark.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an example of a tightener according to the present invention;
Figure 2 shows the detailed configuration of the sliding range selection section.
3 is a partially sectional front view showing the detailed structure of the guide section and spring section of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a side view of the tightener according to the present invention. 5 is a partially sectional plan view showing another example of the present invention, and FIGS. 6A to 6D are route diagrams showing a method of using the tightener according to the present invention. 1... Tightener, 2... Guide section,
3...Case part, 4...Spring part, 13...Guide plate, 15...Fixing tool, 21...Sliding plate , 25... Case,
26... Board, 31... Spring chamber, 32A, 32B... Elastic movement prohibition ring,
33...Spring, 35...Lock,
41...Scale, 42...Graduation line, 45
(45A, 45B)...Sliding range regulating groove,
46 (46A to 46F)... Sliding range selection screw, 47... Sliding range selection section.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] The tightener is configured to elastically engage with a linear or band-shaped transmission element to absorb slack, and includes a guide part that slides into contact with the transmission element, a case part that slidably holds the guide part, and a case part that slidably holds the guide part. Provided between the case part and the guide part, the guide part is held in an operating position in which the guide part is biased in a direction protruding from the case part and pressed against the transmission element, and the guide part is positioned within the case part. at least three spring parts that can be switched between an inoperative position and a non-operating position where the pressure on the transmission element is released; and a scale that is provided on the guide part and has scale lines arranged in the sliding direction of the guide part with respect to the case part. A tightener characterized by comprising: a scale portion having