JP3465893B2 - Caster with rotation angle switching device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a caster mounted on a wheelbarrow such as an aged car, a stroller, a walking aid, etc., and more particularly to a caster provided with a rotation angle switching device. About casters. 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, hand carts such as elderly cars, strollers, walking aids, and the like have been provided with casters capable of freely changing directions to front wheels or rear wheels in order to improve operability. [0003] However, if the rotation angle of the casters is freely 360 degrees (that is, if the direction of the wheels is freely 360 degrees), the traveling direction of the wheelbarrow is simple. And there was a risk that the pusher could lose balance or fall. There is also a hand truck in which the rotation angle of the caster is controlled within a certain range. In the case of such a hand truck, there is little inconvenience when the pusher is used in a form in which the pusher moves forward. When used in such a form, the casters rotate in an unexpected direction, and there is a disadvantage that the handcart is turned in an unexpected direction. In other words, when the pusher moves forward, the caster is oriented in the traveling direction because of the weight of the pusher, but when the pusher moves backward, the weight is not applied. Therefore, the caster is turned in an unexpected direction due to unevenness of the ground or the like, that is, the handcart is turned in an unexpected direction. In view of the above, the present invention provides a caster provided with a turning angle switching device capable of switching the turning angle of the caster to a plurality of stages with a simple device, and the turning angle of the caster is fixed within a certain range. Is controlled to
It is an object of the present invention to provide a caster having a restoring force for directing the caster in a linear direction. [0006] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the caster according to the present invention employs the following means. A caster retaining member is fixed to a front leg pipe or a rear leg pipe of a hand truck. A caster body equipped with wheels is rotatably supported by a caster retaining member. [0009] A rotation angle limiting member is interposed between the caster retaining member and the caster main body so as to be rotatable within a certain range of angle. A turning angle switching lever and a small turning angle switching lever that can be accommodated in the turning angle switching lever are attached to the caster body so as to be able to be turned upside down. The caster main body is prevented from turning by fitting a concave portion provided on the rotation angle switching lever into a convex portion provided on the caster retaining member. A recess provided in a small rotation angle switching lever that can be accommodated in the rotation angle switching lever fits into a projection provided on the rotation angle limiting member to keep the rotation angle of the caster body constant. While controlling by the range,
By always applying a pulling force to the rotation angle limiting member in the linear direction, a restoring force is applied to the caster body in the linear direction, that is, in the direction in which the handcart advances straight. Hereinafter, how the above-mentioned solving means works to solve the problem will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a use state diagram showing a state in which the caster body does not rotate, FIG. 2 is a use state diagram showing a state in which the rotation of the caster body is controlled to a fixed angle, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a front view illustrating a state in which the caster body is not rotated, FIG. 5 is a plan view of the same, and FIG. 6 is a right side view of the same. FIG. 7 is a front view showing a state in which the rotation of the caster body is controlled to a fixed angle, and FIG. 8 is a plan view of the same. The caster according to the present invention is provided with a caster retaining member 20 on a front leg pipe or a rear leg pipe of a wheelbarrow.
The caster main body 10 equipped with wheels is rotatably supported by the caster retaining member 20. Thus, the caster can be rotated by 360 degrees, that is, the direction of the wheels can be changed by 360 degrees. The caster body 10 is provided with a turning angle switching lever 40 and a small turning angle switching lever 50 that can be accommodated in the turning angle switching lever 40. The rotation of the caster body 10 is controlled by fitting the recess 41 into the protrusion 21 provided on the caster retaining member 20 so that the caster body 1
0 is prevented from rotating. . That is, the caster retaining member 20 is fixed to the pipe 60 and cannot rotate. By fitting the concave portion 41 provided on the rotation angle switching lever 40 into the projection 21 provided on the caster retaining member 20, the caster main body 10 to which the rotation angle switching lever 40 is attached is attached. The rotation will be controlled. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 to 6, that is, the concave portion 41 provided on the rotation angle switching lever 40 is provided with the convex portion 21 provided on the caster retaining member 20.
In this state, the rotation of the caster main body 10 is controlled (that is, it is impossible to rotate), that is, the traveling direction of the wheel 61 is limited to one direction. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the turning angle switching lever 40 is tilted to release the fitting of the concave portion 41 to the convex portion 21 provided on the caster retaining member 20, and further, the turning angle switching lever The rotation angle limiting member of the concave portion 51 provided in the small rotation angle switching lever 50 that can be accommodated in the small rotation angle switching lever 50 that can be accommodated in the rotation angle switching lever 50 is tilted down. The protrusion 31 provided on 30
When the fitting to the caster is released, the caster main body 10 is in a rotatable state. This is because there is no longer any restriction on the rotation angle by the rotation angle switching lever. In this state, the wheels 61 mounted on the caster body 10 are also rotatable 360 degrees. Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 7, the turning angle switching lever 40 is tilted to release the fitting of the concave portion 41 to the convex portion 21 and can be accommodated in the turning angle switching lever 40. By fitting the concave portion 51 provided on the turning angle switching lever 50 into the convex portion 31 provided on the turning angle limiting member 30, the turning angle of the caster main body 10 falls within a certain range as shown in FIG. Will be limited. This is because the rotation angle limiting member 30 is provided so as to be rotatable within a certain angle. Thus, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a caster provided with a rotation angle switching device capable of switching the rotation angle of the caster to a plurality of stages with a simple device. As shown in FIG. 7, a tension spring 62 is stretched over a spring hook 24 provided on the caster retaining member 20 and a spring hook 32 provided on the rotation angle limiting member 30. Due to the tensile force of the tension spring 62, a restoring force that is always directed in a linear direction is applied to the rotation angle limiting member 30 and the caster body 10 as shown in FIG. That is, the turning angle switching lever 40 is tilted to release the fitting of the concave portion 41 to the convex portion 21 and is provided on the small turning angle switching lever 50 that can be accommodated in the turning angle switching lever 40. The caster main body 1 is fitted by fitting the formed concave portion 51 into the convex portion 31 provided on the rotation angle limiting member 30.
When the turning angle of 0 is limited to a certain range, the turning angle limiting member 30 and the caster main body 10 are linked to each other, so that a restoring force is applied to the turning angle limiting member 30. At the same time, the caster body 10 is provided with a restoring force. Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 9A is a left side view of the caster body, FIG. 9B is a front view thereof, FIG. 10 is a plan view thereof, FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along the line AA ′, and FIG. 13A is a front view of the caster retaining member piece A, FIG. 13B is a rear view thereof, FIG. 14 is a perspective view thereof, and FIG. 15A is a front view of the caster retaining member piece B. 15b is a rear view, FIG. 16 is a perspective view, FIG. 17a is a front view of a rotation angle limiting member C, FIG. 17b is a right side view, and FIG. 18B is a front view, FIG. 18C is a right side view, FIG. 19 is a sectional view along AA ′, and FIG. 20 is a bottom view of the caster retaining member piece B. FIG. 2
1 is a perspective view showing a state in which a caster retaining member is about to be joined, FIG. 22a is a left side view of a rotation angle switching lever, FIG. 22b is a front view thereof, and FIG. 23 is a perspective view thereof. FIG. 24A is a left side view of a small rotation angle switching lever that can be accommodated in the rotation angle switching lever.
4b is a front view, and FIG. 25 is a perspective view. As shown in FIG. 4, a caster according to the present invention comprises a pipe 60 which constitutes a front leg rod or a rear leg rod of a pusher.
The main components are a caster retaining member 20, a rotation angle limiting member 30, and a caster body 10. The caster retaining member 20 is fixed to the pipe 60 by a pin 22.
The structure itself does not rotate. As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the caster main body 10 has a cylindrical projection 11 on its upper part, and a flange 12 is formed at the edge of the cylindrical projection 11. Concave portions 23a, 23b provided on the caster retaining member 20
Thus, the caster body 10 is rotatably supported. Here, the concave portion 23a is provided in FIG. 13A and FIG.
As shown in the figure, the caster retaining member 20 is one of the members constituting the caster retaining member 20, and is provided in an arc shape. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 15B, the concave portion 23b is provided on a caster retaining member piece B which is one of the members constituting the caster retaining member 20. Here recess 2
3b is provided in an arc shape in parallel with the peripheral surface of the caster retaining member piece B. The turning angle limiting member 30 is rotatably interposed between the caster retaining member 20 and the caster body 10. Here, as shown in FIG. 21, the turning angle limiting member 30 is constituted by a turning angle limiting member piece C having a semi-arc shape and a turning angle limiting member piece D having the same semi-arc shape. . The rotation angle limiting member D is provided with a spring hook 32 as shown in FIGS. On the other hand, the caster retaining member piece A is also provided with a spring hook 24 as shown in FIGS. 13A to 14. As shown in FIG. 7, a tension spring 62 is stretched over the spring hook 32 and the spring hook 24. As shown in FIG. 8, a restoring force in which the rotation angle limiting member 30 always faces in a straight line direction is applied by the tension force of the tension spring 62. FIG. 1 shows the bottom of the caster retaining member piece A.
As shown in FIG. 3a to FIG.
1a is provided, and a rotation angle limiting projection 201b is provided on the bottom of the caster retaining member B as shown in FIGS. The rotation angle limiting projection 201a and the rotation angle limiting projection 201b form one projection when the caster retaining member A and the caster retaining member B are joined. And
This projection is the groove 35 shown in FIGS. 17a, 17b and 21.
And the rotation angle is limited. That is, the rotation angle limiting projections 201a and the rotation angle limiting projections 201b abut against both end walls of the groove 35 provided on the upper portion of the rotation angle limiting member C, thereby turning the rotation angle limiting member 3
The rotation of zero is controlled. The rotation angle switching lever 40 and a small rotation angle switching lever 5 that can be accommodated in the rotation angle switching lever 40
2 is rotatably supported by a rotation angle switching lever support member 13 provided on the caster body 10 as shown in FIGS. The rotatable support method is based on a pin 14 as shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, a tension spring 63 is stretched over a spring hook 42 provided on the rotation angle switching lever 40 and a spring hook 15 provided on the caster body 10. I have. The tension spring 63 applies a pulling force to the rotation angle switching lever 40 in the lock direction and the release direction. As shown in FIG. 23, the turning angle switching lever 40 has a concave portion 41 at the upper portion thereof for fitting the convex portion 21 provided on the caster retaining member 20, and the turning angle switching lever extends over the lower portion. Depressed portion 4 for accommodating a small rotation angle switching lever 50 that can be accommodated in lever 40
5 The small rotation angle switching lever 50 that can be accommodated in the rotation angle switching lever 40 is housed in the depression 45 in the form shown in FIG. Legs 43 are provided at both lower ends. Here, as shown in FIGS. 22A to 23, the leg 43 is provided with a hole 44 for loosely inserting the pin 14. As shown in FIG. 25, the rotation angle switching lever 4
The small rotation angle switching lever 50 that can be accommodated in the inside 0 has a concave portion 51 at the center thereof for fitting the convex portion 31 provided on the rotation angle limiting member 30. As shown in FIGS. 24A to 25, a hole 53 for loosely inserting the pin 14 is formed in the leg 52 of the small rotation angle switching lever 50 that can be accommodated in the rotation angle switching lever 40. Is provided. The caster body 10 has a cylindrical projection 11 on a substantially rectangular parallelepiped portion 16 as shown in FIG. 12, and a rotation angle switching lever support member 1 on the side surface of the substantially rectangular parallelepiped portion 16.
3 are provided. The rotation angle switching lever support member 13 is 2
It is made up of individual projection pieces. The portion from the cylindrical projection 11 to the substantially rectangular parallelepiped portion 16 is hollow as shown in FIG. A pipe 60 constituting a front leg rod or a rear leg rod of the hand truck body is loosely inserted into this hollow portion. As shown in FIGS. 9A to 10, a spring hook 15 is provided on the front side and the back side of the substantially rectangular parallelepiped-shaped portion 16. An axle insertion hole 17 is provided from the front side to the rear side of the substantially rectangular parallelepiped-shaped portion 16. An axle equipped with wheels is inserted into the axle insertion hole 17. The caster retaining member 20 comprises a caster retaining member A shown in FIG. 14 and a caster retaining member B shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 13A and 14, the caster retaining member A has a bar-shaped projection 25 and a rod-shaped projection insertion hole 26 at the joint surface with the caster retaining member B. On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 15B and 16, the caster retaining member piece B has a bar-shaped projection 27 and a rod-shaped projection insertion hole 28 on the joint surface with the caster retaining member piece A. The caster retaining member 20 is formed by inserting the rod-shaped projection 25 into the rod-shaped projection insertion hole 28 and inserting the rod-shaped projection 27 into the rod-shaped projection insertion hole 26 to thereby remove the caster retaining member piece A.
And the caster retaining member B. The caster retaining member piece A is provided with a spring hooking portion 24 on the left side thereof, and a convex portion 21 on the right side thereof. A pin 22 for fixing the caster retaining member 20 to the pipe 60 is provided at the center thereof.
Is provided with a pin hole 29a for loosely inserting. As shown in FIGS. 15A to 16, the caster retaining member B has a pin hole 29b for loosely inserting the pin 22 for fixing the caster retaining member 20 to the pipe 60. It is provided in. As shown in FIG. 21, the rotation angle limiting member 30 comprises a rotation angle limiting member C and a rotation angle limiting member D. As shown in FIGS. 17A and 17B, the turning angle limiting member C has insertion members 33 at both ends of a semicircular member. At the tip of the insertion member 33, a locking portion 33a is provided. In addition, the convex part 3 is on the left end.
1 is provided. The turning angle limiting member D is a semi-circular member as shown in FIG.
2 As shown in FIG. 18a, the inner peripheral surface of the turning angle limiting member D is hollow, and has a shape into which the insertion portion 33 of the turning angle limiting member C is inserted.
Locking holes 34 as shown in FIGS. 19 and 21 are provided on the flat side and the bottom side of the peripheral portion of the rotation angle limiting member D.
By locking the locking portion 33a provided on the insertion member 33 of the rotation angle limiting member C into the locking hole 34, the rotation angle limiting member C and the rotation angle limiting member D are joined. The rotation angle limiting member 30 is formed. As described above, according to the present invention, a caster provided with a rotation angle switching device capable of switching the rotation angle of the caster to a plurality of stages with a simple device. It can be provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a use state diagram showing a state where a caster main body does not rotate. FIG. 2 is a use state diagram showing a state in which the rotation of the caster body is controlled to a fixed angle. FIG. 3 is a use state diagram showing a state in which a caster body is rotatable. FIG. 4 is a front view showing a state in which the caster main body does not rotate. FIG. 5 is a plan view of the same. FIG. 6 is a right side view of the same. FIG. 7 is a front view showing a state in which the rotation of the caster body is controlled to a fixed angle. FIG. 8 is a plan view of the same. FIG. 9A is a left side view of the caster body. b Same, front view. FIG. 10 is a plan view of the same. FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along the line AA ′ of FIG. FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the same. 13A is a front view of a caster retaining member piece A. FIG. b Same, rear view. FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the same. 15A is a front view of a caster retaining member B. FIG. b Same, rear view. FIG. 16 is a perspective view of the same. 17A is a front view of a rotation angle limiting member C. FIG. b Same, right side view. 18A is a left side view of the caster retaining member piece B. FIG. b Same, front view. c Same, right side view. FIG. 19 is a sectional view taken along the line AA ′ of FIG. FIG. 20 is a bottom view of the same. FIG. 21 is a perspective view showing a state in which the caster retaining member is used for joining. FIG. 22A is a left side view of the rotation angle switching lever. b Same, front view. FIG. 23 is a perspective view of the same. 24A is a left side view of a small rotation angle switching lever that can be accommodated in the rotation angle switching lever. FIG. b Same, front view. FIG. 25 is a perspective view of the same. [Description of Signs] 10 Caster body 20 Caster retaining member 21 Convex part 30 Rotation angle limiting member 31 Convex part 40 Rotation angle switching lever 41 Concavity 50 Small rotation angle switching lever 51 that can be accommodated in the rotation angle switching lever.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-11-105503 (JP, A) JP-A-63-61601 (JP, A) JP-A-63-93602 (JP, A) 86604 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Hei 3-78604 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Utility Model No. 4-60702 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60B 33/00

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims 1] A caster retaining member 20 is fixed to a front leg pipe or a rear leg pipe of a hand truck, and the caster body 10 equipped with wheels is rotated by the caster retaining member 20. That the caster retaining member 20 and the caster main body 10 are interposed rotatably within a certain range of angle between the caster retaining member 20 and the caster main body 10; The switching lever 40 and a small rotation angle switching lever 50 that can be accommodated in the rotation angle switching lever 40 are mounted so as to be able to be turned upside down, and the recess 41 provided in the rotation angle switching lever 40 has a caster retaining member. The caster main body 10 is prevented from rotating by being fitted into the convex portion 21 provided on the base 20. A small rotation angle that can be accommodated in the rotation angle switching lever 40. The concave portion 51 provided on the switching lever 50 is fitted into the convex portion 31 provided on the rotational angle limiting member 30 to control the rotational angle of the caster body 10 within a certain range, By always applying a pulling force to the limiting member 30 in the linear direction, thereby applying a restoring force in the linear direction, that is, the direction in which the handcart travels straight, to the caster body 10. Caster.