JPS5848387B2 - Oritatami frame - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a folding frame that constitutes the chassis of an infant pushchair, folding chair, or shopping cart.

Modern life necessitates the use of household appliances that can be easily expanded into a usable state and folded into extremely small volumes in order to have space available for each person to move around. shall be.

The folding frame according to the present invention has been proposed to meet these requirements.

Although many types of folding frames have been known in the past, they all have complicated designs and have the disadvantage that folding and unfolding operations are complicated.

The object of the present invention is to provide a folding frame that can be folded and expanded from a three-dimensional shape to a two-dimensional shape with one hand in a minimum amount of time, in order to eliminate the drawbacks of the conventional ones as described above. It is.

The present invention relates to a folding frame comprising a pair of side frames of the same structure connected laterally to each other, the side frames being formed as a variable polygonal structure comprising at least four bars connected to each other; Among them, the lower end of the second main bar forms a support point to the ground, and the upper end is pivotally connected to the first auxiliary bar that intersects with these main bars. are connected by a second auxiliary bar that intersects them, and when the frame is expanded, the F ends of the first and second main bars expand, and the second end of the second main bar expands. Contacting the rear surface of the first auxiliary bar, the first and second main members and the second auxiliary member form a triangle, and the second main bar and the second auxiliary bar form a concave angle, thereby collapsing the frame. At times, the lower end of the second main bar is moved to near the middle of the first main bar, and the first and second auxiliary bars are also moved to positions adjacent to the first main bar, so that each The bars are almost all bundled together.

The embodiment shown in the drawings will be described below.

The folding frame has a pair of side frames 1 arranged in parallel, each side frame 1 being connected to each other by horizontal connecting members 2, 3, 4.

The side frame 1 includes a first main bar 6 and a second main bar 7, lower ends 6a and 7a of each main bar 6 and 7 constitute a ground support point,
Wheels 8 and 9 are attached to this lower end.

Parts of first and second auxiliary bars 10 and 11 are pivotally attached to the main bars 6 and 7.

The first auxiliary bar 10 has upper ends 6b of both main bars 6, 7,
7b is pivotally connected, and the second auxiliary bar member 11 is formed of bar members 5 and 12, whose end portions 5a and 12a are pivotally connected to each other.

One end 5b of the second auxiliary bar 11 is pivotally connected to the main bar 6, and the other end 12b is pivotally connected to the bar 7.

Mutual articulation between the rod members 5, 12 of the second auxiliary rod 11 is performed via a knuckle joint 13, thereby preventing the rolling members 8, 9 from expanding more than necessary.

As a member for holding the first auxiliary bar 10 when the frame is expanded, a holding member 14 is shown which is pivotally attached to the main bar 6 with a pivot 15 and has a notch 14a.

An elastic member 16 attached to this holding member 14 is in contact with the main bar 6.

Further, the holding member 14 has an operating handle 17 fixed thereto.
It is equipped with

In FIG. 1, the state in which the frame is folded is shown by solid lines.

Here, when the auxiliary bar 10 is turned in the direction of arrow A with respect to the main bar 6 while leaving the main bar 6 as it is, each bar 5, 6,
7, 10, and 12 are displaced as shown by 5c, 6, 7c, 10c, and 12c.

When the handle 17 is rotated in the direction of arrow B, the rotation of the holding member 14 with respect to the main bar 6 causes the handle 1
7 is displaced to position 17c, and the respective bars forming the side frame 1 of the frame are gathered into approximately one bundle.

FIG. 2 shows the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 in a downwardly extended state during use, and each member in this case is marked with the symbol d.

Furthermore, the broken lines show the state in which the seat 18 is fixed to each of the auxiliary bars 10 and 11 when the present invention is applied to a pushchair for infants.

Here, the upper end 7b of the main bar 7d is in contact with the rear surface of the main bar 6d.

The auxiliary bar 11d extends in a straight line, and forms a concave angle with the main bar 7d and the auxiliary bar 10d.

This extended position of the frame is a stable position.

When this frame constitutes the chassis of a push chair, the main load due to the infant's weight is applied in the direction indicated by arrow P in FIG.

This force is transmitted to each side at the fixed portion 18a of the seat 18 of the auxiliary bar 10d and the fixed portion 18b of the auxiliary bar 11d.

The load applied to the fixed part 18a acts to rotate the auxiliary bar 10d around the pivot point with the main bar 6d, and tries to strengthen the support of the upper end 7b of the main bar 7d to the main bar 6d. do.

This support limits the rotation of the auxiliary bar 10d.

Furthermore, the child's weight P tends to spread the wheels 8a, 9a and rotate the main bars 6d, 7d about their support points, but this tendency is resisted by the auxiliary bar 11d.

Therefore, the force P applied to the frame keeps the frame in the extended position stable, and the greater the force, the greater the stability.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the upper portions of the two side frames, more specifically, the respective auxiliary bars 10 are connected by a connecting member 4 constituting a push handle.

This connecting member 4 can be positioned at any height above the fixing part 18a shown in FIG. 2, and in this embodiment, it is provided at the upper end of the auxiliary bar 10.

A force pushing the frame acts on this connecting member 4 in the direction indicated by arrow Q in FIG.

If the wheelchair hits an obstacle on the ground, such as a curb stone, an undesirable force Q' is generated on the wheel 8d.

These two forces Q, Q' act as a couple on the frame and tend to fold it.

If the wheel 8d is fixed and a force Q is applied to the push handle of the pushchair, and this force is strong enough to overcome the action of the force P on the main bars 6d, 7d, the auxiliary bar 10d will be Under force Q, the main bar 6d rotates around the pivot point and the first
As shown in the figure, the pivot point between the auxiliary bar 10d and the main bar 7d tends to gradually decrease inward until it assumes a shape that protrudes outward.

If a force Q is exerted on the weight P before the pivot points are extended, the frame returns to its extended position again.

On the other hand, after the frame is protruded, the influence of the body weight P takes the direction of folding the frame.

In order to eliminate this concern, a concave corner characteristic is given to the corner formed by the auxiliary bar 10d and the main bar 7d during expansion.

In order to satisfy this condition, the auxiliary bar 10 and the main bar 7 are
It is designed to maintain a fixed state when it reaches the 0d and 7d positions.

For this purpose, the retaining member 14 described in connection with FIG. 1 is used, which can also be seen in FIG.
As clearly shown in the figure.

In Figure 3, the main rods 6, 7 and the auxiliary rods 10 are each 6
This shows the state at positions a, 7a, and 10a.

20 represents the axis of the main bar 7 and the auxiliary bar 10.

This pivot 20 is designed to maintain sufficient room between these two bars 7, 100 so that the holding member 14, which is pivoted to the main bar 6 by the pivot 15, can be easily fitted between them. .

The pivot 20 is located within the notch 14a of the retaining member 14.

The concave angle formed by the auxiliary bar 10d and the main bar 7d is completely maintained, and the pivot 20 is on the one hand connected to the main bar 6d.
Due to the locking of the upper end 7b of the main bar 7d on the one hand, the displacement of the pivot 20 by the elastic member 16 for returning the holding member 14 (the displacement of the auxiliary bar around the pivot relative to the main bar 6d in the direction of arrow C) Notch 1 resisting rotation of material 10d)
1-, which is immovable by the edge of 4a, to disengage this pivot 20, turn the operating handle 17 to D.
The holding member 14 may be rotated about its pivot 15 to press the elastic member 16 fixed to the holding member 14 by the pivot 21 against its elasticity.

When the frame is extended, the engagement of the pivot 20 with the retaining member 14 occurs automatically.

When the auxiliary bar 10d rotates in the direction opposite to the arrow C, when the pivot 20 passes through the holding member 14, it presses the elastic member 16 and maintains this pressing action via the slope 14b.

When the pivot 20 engages the notch 14a, the compression of the resilient member 16 is released and the retaining member 14 immovably engages the pivot 20 within the notch 14a.

Both handles 17 are connected by a connecting member 22 which can be seen in FIGS.

This connecting member 22 also constitutes a handle for moving each holding member 14 simultaneously.

FIG. 4 is a detailed view of a portion of another embodiment of the invention.

The rod member 12 of the auxiliary rod 11 is attached to the pivot 2 with respect to the main rod 7.
3 prevents it from rotating.

The end portion 12b of the rod member 12 is a bent member 24 wound around the connecting member 3.

By doing so, rotation of the bar member 12 with respect to the main bar member 7 is prevented, and the main bar member 7 and the bar member 12 have an apex angle that is kept constant no matter how the form of the frame changes. It will have S.

The advantage of this is that when the frame is folded, the auxiliary bar 10 acts in the direction of arrow A (Fig. 1) and the knuckle joint 13 is folded, thereby causing the main bar 7 to reach 70. 6.

In other words, by fixing the pivot 23, in this embodiment the main bar 6 is fixed, as in the device of FIGS.
There is no need to go through two steps: folding of the auxiliary bar 10 in direction A into the main bar 6 and folding of the main bar 7 into the main bar 6 by the snap action of the pivots 13 of the bar members 5, 12.

This latter folding, in terms of the degree of freedom of the axis 23,
It is not pushed by folding in the direction.

5 and 6 show still another embodiment of the present invention, in which the second main bar 27 is connected to the first main bar by two auxiliary bars 10 and 11.
It is connected to the main rod 6.

The bars 27, 10, 6, 11 form this quadrilateral 25 and are shown in the folded state in broken lines in this figure.

The folding and unfolding movement of this embodiment is the same as the frame movement according to the previous embodiment.

In FIG. 6, the frame is shown in solid line form;
Various curved portions are formed on the bar so that it can be folded as flatly as possible.

In the folded position, the main bar 27 is bent inward of the frame so that it does not come into contact with the holding member 14 on one side and the end 6a of the main bar 6 on the other hand.

However, the upper end 27b is adapted to move within the same plane so as to come into contact with the main bar 6 during expansion.

Similarly, the auxiliary bar 11 has a curved portion at its pivot point with the main bar 27 to allow it to rotate freely and to prevent contact with the main bar 27 from interfering with the folding or complete extension of the frame. have.

The first advantage of this folding frame is that it is easy to manufacture.

Furthermore, since this invention is made up of a assembled body of a small number of rods, it can be made extremely lightweight by selecting a light alloy as the rods.

The second advantage is that the frame can be easily folded or expanded.

In fact, to extend the frame, use the connecting members to open the main bar around the pivot axis and place it on the ground, and to fold the frame, operate the first auxiliary bar to open the upper end of the second main bar. It can be easily folded by removing it from the rear surface of the first main bar and making sure that the concave angles formed by the first auxiliary bar and the second main bar are facing in opposite directions, and all the above operations can be done with one hand. It has been found to be practical, particularly when the invention is applied to infant pushchairs, where the user often carries a child in one arm.

The third advantage is that when expanded, the lower ends of the first and second main bars expand within a limited range by the second auxiliary bar, and the upper end of the second main bar comes into contact with the rear surface of the first main bar. However, when a load is applied to the second auxiliary bar, a force corresponding to the load is applied to the contact surface,
Since the contact between the upper ends of the first main bar and the second main bar is strengthened, the state of each side edge tends to be maintained as it is, preventing it from folding unnecessarily, and furthermore, the contact surface Since a force corresponding to the load is applied and the expanded state is maintained, a force corresponding to the load is not applied to the pivot joint between the I main bar and the first auxiliary bar, and therefore There is no risk of the pivot joint being damaged by a force corresponding to the load.

The fourth advantage is that when folded, the lower end of the second main rod moves closer to the middle of the first main rod, and the first and second auxiliary rods move closer to the first main rod. There is no risk that the overall volume will increase due to movement of wheels to the lower end, for example, or when they are laterally adjacent to each other when folded.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 is a front view of the first embodiment of the present invention in the semi-extended position, FIG. 2 is a front view of the same embodiment in the extended position, FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 2, and FIG. The figure shows the second part of this invention.
FIG. 5 is a front view of the third embodiment of the present invention in the semi-expanded position, and FIG. 6 is a right side view of the same. 1... Side frame, 2, 3, 4, 22... Connecting member, 6... First main bar, 7... Second main bar Material, 10...l auxiliary bar material, 11...
...Second auxiliary bar material, 12...Bar material, 13...
...Knuckle joint, 14...Holding member, 1
4a...Notsuchi, 15, 20, 21, 23...
...Pivot, 16...Elastic member, 17...
...Operation handle, 27...Second main bar.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A folding frame comprising a pair of side frames interconnected by a connecting member, each side frame having a first side frame located in the same vertical plane, the lower end of each side frame forming a support point with respect to the ground. , comprises two main bars, the upper end of the first main bar is pivotally connected to the lower end of the first auxiliary bar, and the upper end of the second main bar is pivoted to the lower end of the first auxiliary bar. The first and second main bars are pivotally attached to the lower end, and the first and second main bars are connected by a second auxiliary bar between the upper and lower ends, and when the side frame is extended, the F of the first and second main bars is A joint between the first and second auxiliary bars, the end of which expands within a limited range by the second auxiliary bar, and the upper end of the second main bar being pivotally connected to the first main bar. The first main bar is in contact with the rear of the first main bar, and the first and second main bars and the second auxiliary bar form a triangle, and the second main bar and the first auxiliary bar form a triangular shape. The corners form concave corners, and when the frame is folded, the lower end of the second main bar moves to a position close to the middle part of the first main bar, and the first and second auxiliary bars move toward the middle of the first main bar. A folding frame characterized by being moved to a position close to a bar.