JPS6241321B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a micrometer that measures dimensions such as length and thickness of an object by moving and displacing a spindle.

Conventionally, various types of micrometers have been developed, but the most common one is an inner sleeve fixed to the main body frame with a female thread machined with high precision. There is a so-called screw micrometer, in which a male thread of a spindle is screwed together, and a thimble integrally fixed to the spindle rotates the spindle to measure an object to be measured. This screw micrometer is highly dust-proof because the internal mechanism including the screw has a nearly sealed structure, and the spindle does not rotate freely due to the self-locking action of the screw even if the measurer removes his/her hand from the thimble. This has the advantage that the clamping state of the object to be measured is ensured.

On the other hand, since the pitch of the screw is generally minute, about 0.5 mm, the amount of screw penetration, in other words, the screw engagement position, changes depending on the operating force of the thimble when setting the zero point or when clamping the object to be measured. The disadvantage is that the measurement accuracy is unstable and that measurement requires skill. In addition, since the thread pitch is very fine as mentioned above, the spindle cannot move at high speed, and the efficiency of repeated measurement work is particularly poor. The measurement work is also complicated because the scale and vernier must be read. Furthermore, as mentioned above, not only is high-speed operation not possible, but since the spindle is directly threaded, the spindle rotates during measurement operations, and when measuring highly flexible materials such as soft plastic plates, etc. , it is unsuitable for measuring such materials because it causes wrinkles etc. in the object to be measured, and it is not suitable for one-handed operation because the thimble also rotates and moves in the axial direction of the spindle during the measurement operation. It is unsuitable for micrometer structure. Another drawback is that it is expensive because high-precision finishing is required for thread machining and scale machining.

By the way, in a micrometer with such a structure, in order to obtain high speed by roughening the thread pitch formed on the inner sleeve and spindle, and to maintain the same level of accuracy as before, it is necessary to The scale engraved on the circumference of the thimble must be made finer to compensate for the coarser thread pitch.For example, the thread pitch of conventional products is 0.5.
To read 0.01 mm, the scale engraved on the circumference of the thimble should be divided into 50 equal parts, but if the screw pitch is multiplied by 10, the scale on the thimble circumference will be 500.
Since the same accuracy could not be obtained without dividing it into equal parts, it was practically impossible to increase the speed.

Based on such a screw micrometer, various improvements have been made to provide various functions. A representative example of this type of micrometer is a screw-type linear micrometer in which the spindle does not rotate but moves in a straight line. This linear micrometer has an intermediate cylindrical body attached to the outer periphery of the spindle so that it can rotate freely but cannot be slid in the axial direction.
Because the structure is such that a precision screw carved on the outer periphery of this intermediate cylinder is screwed into the screw of the inner sleeve,
Although the straightness is improved compared to the general screw micrometer mentioned above, other drawbacks are not improved, and furthermore, the intermediate cylinder must be assembled and adjusted parallel and concentrically between the spindle and the inner sleeve. New production problems have arisen.

In addition, for the purpose of high-speed operation, a reciprocating knob provided directly on the spindle is reciprocated along the long groove of the main body frame, or a rack carved in the spindle is rotatably supported by the main body frame. A linear micrometer has been proposed in which a pinion of a rotary knob is engaged and the rotary knob is rotated to move at high speed.

Such a linear micrometer has the advantages of high speed and non-rotatable spindle. However, with conventional linear micrometers, if you release your hand while holding the object to be measured, the spindle naturally moves away from the object, so a separate position holding device is required to prevent the spindle from escaping. , it becomes necessary to provide a so-called locking device, and in connection with this, a constant pressure device must be provided because it is difficult to lock in a fixed position, and a means for releasing the locking device must also be added. Ta. Further, in the reciprocating knob method, a separate knob for repeated measurements must be provided, and the operating force is large because it must be performed against the spring force of the constant pressure device. As a result, the overall operability is poor and the structure is complicated.

As mentioned above, conventional linear micrometers, which were manufactured primarily for measuring thin objects and for high-speed operation, had a drawback in the knob lock method during measurement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a micrometer that is easy to operate at high speed and to lock or release.

The present invention has an operating knob that is rotatably supported on the main body frame to advance and retreat a spindle that is provided so as to be movable in the axial direction with respect to the main body frame, and the rotation of this operating knob is prevented to allow free movement of the spindle. A locking mechanism is provided to prevent the locking, and a locking knob for activating and releasing the locking mechanism is attached to the operating knob. It is installed so that it can move forward and backward in the direction orthogonal to the
An elastic member is provided that urges the drive rack to protrude in one of its forward and backward directions, and has a pinion that meshes with the drive rack, and as the pinion rotates, it moves in the direction of the rotation axis of the operating knob. A pinion stopper is disposed inside the operating knob in the direction of the rotational axis of the operating knob, and the pinion stopper comes into contact with or separates from the main body frame to prevent or release rotation of the operating knob.

Accordingly, the present invention operates the lock knob when the operation knob is operated, and when the operation knob is operated, rotation of the operation knob is prevented or canceled via the drive rack, the elastic member, and the pinion stopper, and the lock operation is performed. The object of the present invention is to achieve the above object by simplifying the release operation.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

In Fig. 1, one end side of the main body frame 1 is U
The anvil 2 is fixed to the inner surface of one end of the U-shaped portion 1A on the opening side. The other end side of this main body frame 1 has a U-shaped portion 1
The other end on the opening side of A extends outward in a straight line, and a spindle 3 is slidably inserted through this straight part 1B. A carbide tip 4 that can come into contact with the anvil 2 is integrally fixed to one end of the spindle 3, and a precisely machined rack 3A is engraved on the intermediate circumferential surface over a predetermined range in the axial direction. There is. A pinion 5 is meshed with the rack 3A, and an operation knob 6 whose outer periphery is geared is meshed with the pinion 5. The operation knob 6 is attached to the main body frame 1 with a support pin 7.
A half-moon-shaped lock knob 8 is attached to a portion of the outer periphery.

On the other hand, a dial gauge 9 as a display device is provided in the linear portion 1B near the U-shaped portion 1A of the main body frame 1.
The pointer 10 is interlocked with the spindle 3 by a pinion (not shown).

2 and 3 show details of the mounting structure of the operation knob 6 and lock knob 8. In these FIGS. 2 and 3, a drive rack 11 is fixed to the lock knob 8, and this drive rack 11
The lock knob 8 can be freely moved in and out in the radial direction of the operation knob 6 using as a guide. An elastic member 12 made of a compression coil spring or the like is interposed between the operation knob 6 and the drive rack 11, and the lock knob 8 is always urged in the direction of pushing outward.

A pinion stopper 13 is embedded in the operation knob 6 in the same axis direction as the support pin 7, and a pinion portion 14 is located near the center of the pinion stopper 13.
is formed and meshed with the drive rack 11. Further, a guide portion 15 is formed at one end of the pinion stopper 13, and a threaded portion 16 is formed at the other end, which are respectively engaged with the guide portion and threaded portion on the operation knob 6 side. At this time, the threaded portion 16 is threaded in such a direction that when the drive rack 11 is raised, the pinion portion 14 is rotated and the tip of the threaded portion 16 protrudes from the side surface of the operating knob 6.

A lock mechanism 17 is constituted by a drive rack 11, an elastic member 12, and a pinion stopper 13, which are incorporated into the operation knob 6.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the side surfaces of the operation knob 6 are guided by the main body frame 1 with almost no gaps, and the pinion stopper 1
3 is rotated by the drive rack 11,
Since the threaded portion 16 is screwed into the threaded portion of the operating knob 6, it is rotated so as to protrude from the side surface of the operating knob 6, and the threaded portion 16 of the pinion stopper 13 is rotated so as to protrude from the side surface of the operating knob 6.
The operating knob 6 is so constructed that the tip thereof is always in contact with the inner surface of the side wall of the main body frame 1, thereby locking the operating knob 6.

Next, how to use this embodiment will be explained.

Hold the straight part 1B of the main body frame 1 with
Grip it with your fingers and palm, and hang the pad of your thumb on the lock knob 8 provided on the operation knob 6. The lock knob 8 is normally protruded outward by an elastic member 12, and the pinion stopper 13 protrudes from the side surface of the operation knob 6 and is in contact with the main body frame 1, so that it cannot be operated when the lock knob 8 is not operated. Knob 6 is in the locked state.

In such a state, the lock knob 8 is removed from the elastic member 1.
When pressed against the pressing force of 2, the drive rack 1
1 moves toward the center of the pin 7 and rotates the pinion stopper 13 that is engaged with the drive rack 11, thereby causing the operation knob 6 to rotate.
By retracting the tip of the threaded portion 16 that was protruding from the body frame 1 and in contact with the main body frame 1, the operating knob 6 and eventually the spindle 3 can be unlocked.

Next, by rotating the operation knob 6 in a predetermined direction,
The rotation is transmitted to the pinion 5, and the spindle 3 is moved away from the anvil 2 via the rack 3A meshed with the pinion 5. Next, after placing the object to be measured between the anvil 2 and the carbide tip 4 attached to the tip of the spindle 3, the operating knob 6 is turned in the opposite direction. As a result, the spindle 3 approaches the anvil 2 and comes into contact with the object to be measured. At this time, when you release your thumb from the lock knob 8 while controlling the rotational force of the operating knob 6 so that a constant contact pressure is maintained, the rotation of the operating knob 6 is locked by the action of the lock mechanism 17 described above, and the spindle 3 is also fixed. be done.

That is, the lock mechanism 17 operates as follows. When the thumb leaves the lock knob 8, the elastic member 1
The drive rack 11 is projected outward by the force of 2,
The integrally attached lock knob 8 is also moved upward in the figure. As the drive rack 11 moves, the pinion stopper 13 that is engaged with the drive rack 11 is rotated, and the threaded portion 1 formed at the tip thereof is rotated.
6 has a tip protruding from the side surface of the operating knob 6. The tip of the pinion stopper 13 is connected to the operation knob 6.
When protruded from the side surface, it comes into contact with the main body case 1 and restricts rotation of the operation knob 6.

If the dial gauge 9 is read in this state, the measurement is completed. When reading the dial gauge 9, it is possible to hold the object to be measured while it is being held, and even if it is removed from the micrometer, the indicated value does not change.

When the measurement of one object to be measured is completed, the lock knob 8 is held down and the operation knob 6 is rotated to open the spindle 3, and the next object to be measured is installed between the anvil 2 and the spindle 3 in the same manner as described above. . Thereafter, measurements are sequentially and quickly performed by repeating the above-described operations.

As described above, this embodiment has the following effects.

That is, the rack 3 formed on the spindle 3
By combining A with the pinion 5 and the operating knob 6, the spindle 3 can be moved forward and backward quickly, and the lock mechanism 17 can always provide stable accuracy without requiring any skill. In addition, this locking mechanism 17 does not require two-handed operation as in the past, and can be operated with one hand while adjusting the contact pressure to the object to be measured by moving the spindle 3, making it extremely easy to operate. is good.
Further, since the operation knob 6 can be locked while applying a constant measuring pressure with a finger, a special constant pressure device is not required.

In addition, in this embodiment, the lock knob 8 of the operation knob 6
The lock mechanism 17 is designed to operate when the lock knob 8 is released, but the screw direction of the threaded portion 16 at the end of the pinion stopper 13 is reverse-threaded so that the lock mechanism operates when the lock knob 8 is pressed. You can also. In this case, since it is not necessary to hold down the lock knob 8 when rotating the operating knob 6, the operability of moving the spindle 3 is improved.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3, in this embodiment, the outer periphery of the operating knob 6 itself is machined with gears.
A separate gear may be provided on the side from which the pinion stopper 13 does not protrude and meshed with the pinion 5. In this case, the outer periphery of the operation knob 6 can be knurled, etc., and the operability is further improved.

Furthermore, the display device is not limited to a dial gauge, but may be of other configurations such as a mechanical or electrical digital counter.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a micrometer that can be easily operated at high speed and can be easily locked with one hand.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of the micrometer according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the - line in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is an installation of the operation knob shown in Figs. 1 and 2. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing details of the portion. 1...Body frame, 3...Spindle, 3A
...Rack, 5...Pinion, 6...Operation knob,
8... Lock knob, 11... Drive rack, 12...
...Elastic member, 13... Pinion stopper, 14...
...Pinion part, 15...Guide part, 16...Screw part, 17...Lock mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A spindle that is provided to be movable in the axial direction with respect to the main body frame, an operation knob that is rotatably supported by the main body frame and that moves the spindle forward and backward in accordance with the rotation; The lock mechanism includes a lock mechanism that prevents the rotation of the operating knob to prevent free movement of the spindle, and a lock knob that operates and releases the lock mechanism. a drive rack that is movable forward and backward in a direction perpendicular to the rotational axis and to which the lock knob is fixed; an elastic member that urges the drive rack to protrude in one of the forward and backward directions; A pinion is disposed within the operation knob in the direction of the rotation axis of the operation knob and is meshed with the drive rack, and as the pinion rotates, the pinion is moved in the direction of the rotation axis of the operation knob and comes into contact with the main body frame. A micrometer comprising a pinion stopper that separates from the pinion stopper to prevent or cancel rotation of the operating knob. 2. The micrometer according to claim 1, characterized in that the lock mechanism is configured to be released when the lock knob is pressed against the operation knob.