JP6334306B2 - caster - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a caster used for facilitating movement of an installation such as furniture, furniture, a piano, and a copy machine, and more particularly to a caster having a seismic isolation function.

  Conventionally, it is attached to the bottom and legs of furniture, furniture, pianos, photocopiers, etc., and facilitates movement of the installation by rotating the wheel. A caster with a stopper that can be locked to restrict movement of an installed object is known. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a twin-wheel caster with a stopper that can simultaneously stop and release rotation of a tire and turning of a caster head by a single depression of a stop pedal or a release pedal. According to the two-wheel caster with a stopper, when the installation object is moved, the release pedal is depressed to allow the tire to rotate and the caster head to turn, thereby facilitating the movement of the installation object to which the caster is attached. After installation of the installation object, the movement of the installation object to which the caster is attached can be regulated by depressing the stop pedal to stop the rotation of the tire and the turning of the caster head.

JP2013-249001A

  In the conventional caster with a stopper, when the rotation of the wheel is locked and the movement of the installation is restricted, the following problem has occurred. In other words, since the installation object is fixed to the installation site via the caster with a stopper, the shaking of the installation site due to an earthquake or the like is transmitted to the installation object via the caster with a stopper. For this reason, in furniture, furniture, etc., things such as tableware and exhibits may fall down or fall from furniture, furniture, etc. In addition, the installation itself could fall over due to a large shake.

  This invention is made | formed in view of the said situation, and it is providing the caster provided with the seismic isolation function.

  In order to solve the above problems, in the caster of the present invention, the length of the axle is made larger than the length of the axle holding hole of the wheel into which the axle is inserted, and at least the outer peripheral surface of the axle has a different friction coefficient. Two sliding surfaces are formed side by side in the axial direction of the axle. Then, by moving the axle inserted in the axle holding hole in the axial direction of the axle and switching the sliding surface of the axle that is in sliding contact with the inner peripheral surface of the axle holding hole, the rotational torque of the wheel can be made variable. did.

For example, the caster of the present invention is
A wheel having an axle retaining hole;
An axle that has a length that is greater than the length of the wheel holding hole, and that is inserted into the axle holding hole and rotatably holds the wheel;
The axle is
The outer peripheral surface of the axle has at least two sliding surfaces with different friction coefficients arranged in the axial direction of the axle;
By moving in the axial direction of the axle, the sliding surface that is in sliding contact with the inner peripheral surface of the axle holding hole can be switched.

  When the installation object to which the caster according to the present invention is attached is moved, the axle is moved in the axial direction, and the sliding surface provided on the outer circumferential surface of the axle is provided with a small friction coefficient on the inner circumferential surface of the axle holding hole of the wheel. By making a sliding contact with the wheel, the rotational torque of the wheel can be reduced and the installation can be easily moved. In addition, after installing the installation to which the caster according to the present invention is installed, the axle is moved in the axial direction, and the sliding surface having a large friction coefficient provided on the outer peripheral surface of the axle is placed in the axle holding hole of the wheel. By making sliding contact with the peripheral surface, the rotational torque of the wheel is increased so that the installed object does not easily move from the installation location, and the wheel rotates when torque exceeding this rotational torque is applied to the wheel. By doing so, the shaking of the installation place due to an earthquake or the like can be attenuated when it is transmitted to the installation. Therefore, according to this invention, the caster provided with the seismic isolation function can be provided.

1A and 1B are a front view and a side view of a caster 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1C is a view of the caster 1 shown in FIG. It is AA sectional drawing. 2 (A) and 2 (B) are a front view and a rear view of the wheel 2, and FIG. 2 (C) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB of the wheel 2 shown in FIG. 2 (A). FIG. 3 is a front view of the axle 3.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  1 (A) and 1 (B) are a front view and a side view of caster 1 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 1 (C) is an AA view of caster 1 shown in FIG. 1 (A). It is sectional drawing.

  As shown in the figure, a caster 1 according to the present embodiment includes a pair of wheels 2a and 2b (hereinafter also simply referred to as wheels 2), an axle 3 that rotatably holds these wheels 2a and 2b, and an axle 3 Is provided so as to be movable in the direction of the axis O, and a retaining ring 5.

  The pair of wheels 2 a and 2 b are disposed so as to sandwich the holding portion 4 from both sides in the direction of the axis O, and are rotatably held by the axle 3.

  2 (A) and 2 (B) are a front view and a rear view of the wheel 2, and FIG. 2 (C) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB of the wheel 2 shown in FIG. 2 (A). As shown in the figure, the wheel 2 includes an annular wheel body 20 and a bearing bush 21 that is mounted on the inner peripheral surface 200 of the wheel body 20 and into which the axle 3 is inserted.

  FIG. 3 is a front view of the axle 3. As shown in the figure, the axle 3 is formed at a columnar axle body 30, a flange 33 formed integrally with one end 31 of the axle body 30, and the other end 32 of the axle body 30. And an annular groove 34 for mounting the retaining ring 5. Here, the diameter of the flange 33 is formed larger than the inner diameter of the bearing bush 21 of the wheel 2. Similarly, the outer diameter of the retaining ring 5 mounted in the annular groove 34 of the axle body 30 is formed larger than the inner diameter of the bearing bush 21 of the wheel 2.

  The axle body 30 has a length L1 from the stepped surface 38 of the connecting portion between the axle body 30 and the flange 33 to the annular groove 34 of the axle body 30 that is three times the thickness L2 of the wheel 2 in the axis O direction. And the length L3 of the holding portion 4 in the axis O direction is longer than the total value (L1> 3 × L2 + L3).

  Further, on the outer peripheral surface 35 of the axle body 30, the axle 3 is moved in the direction of the axis O (the + direction in FIG. 1C) until the retaining ring 5 mounted in the annular groove 34 of the axle body 30 contacts the wheel 2a. Two first sliding surfaces 36 that are in sliding contact with the inner peripheral surface 210 of the bearing bush 21 of each of the wheels 2a and 2b when the wheel 33 is moved to the axle 2 and until the flange 33 contacts the wheel 2b, the axle 3 Are moved in the direction of the axis O (the negative direction in FIG. 1C), two second sliding surfaces 37 are formed which are in sliding contact with the inner peripheral surface 210 of the bearing bush 21 of each wheel 2a, 2b. Has been.

  The first sliding surface 36 and the second sliding surface 37 have different friction coefficients. For example, one of the first sliding surface 36 and the second sliding surface 37 is roughly processed by knurling, embossing, or the like, and the other is processed smoothly to provide the first sliding surface 36 and the second sliding surface 37. By changing the surface roughness of the two, the friction coefficient of both is made different. Alternatively, the clearance between one of the first sliding surface 36 and the second sliding surface 37 and the inner peripheral surface 210 of the bearing bush 21 of the wheel 2 is reduced, so that the first sliding surface 36 and the second sliding surface 37 The clearance between the other and the inner peripheral surface 210 of the bearing bush 21 of the wheel 2 is increased, and the first sliding surface 36 and the second sliding surface 37 and the inner peripheral surface 210 of the bearing bush 21 of the wheel 2 are increased. By changing the clearance, the friction coefficient of both is made different. Alternatively, one of the first sliding surface 36 and the second sliding surface 37 is coated with a material having excellent sliding characteristics such as fluorine, and the other of the first sliding surface 36 and the second sliding surface 37 is made of rubber or the like. By coating the material having the inferior sliding characteristics and changing the materials of the first sliding surface 36 and the second sliding surface 37, the friction coefficients of both are made different. Alternatively, the friction coefficients of the first sliding surface 36 and the second sliding surface 37 are made different by combining them. In the present embodiment, the friction coefficient of the first sliding surface 36 is reduced and the friction coefficient of the second sliding surface 37 is increased.

  The holding part 4 includes a holding part main body 40 and an attachment part 41. The holding part main body 40 is disposed between the pair of wheels 2a and 2b, and has a through hole 42 for holding the axle 3 so as to be movable in the direction of the axis O. The attachment portion 41 is for attaching the caster 1 to the bottom surface, legs, etc. of an installation such as furniture, furniture, piano, copy machine or the like. Here, as the attachment portion 41, a screw that is screwed into a screw hole provided in a bottom surface, a leg portion, or the like of the installation object is provided. However, the mounting portion 41 can be changed as appropriate according to the mounting structure of the installation object. Moreover, you may make the holding | maintenance part main body 40 rotatable with respect to the attachment part 41 by attaching the attaching part 41 to the holding | maintenance part main body 40 via a bearing.

  When the installation object to which the caster 1 having the above structure is attached moves, the axle 3 is moved in the direction of the axis O (FIG. 1) until the retaining ring 5 attached to the annular groove 34 of the axle body 30 of the axle 3 contacts the wheel 2a. (C) + direction) and the two first sliding surfaces 36 having a small friction coefficient formed on the outer peripheral surface 35 of the axle body 30 of the axle 3 are moved to the inner periphery of the bearing bush 21 of the wheels 2a and 2b. By making sliding contact with each of the surfaces 210, the rotational torque of the wheel 2 can be reduced, and the installation can be easily moved.

  In addition, after installing the installation to which the caster 1 having the above-described configuration is installed, the axle 3 is moved in the direction of the axis O (the minus direction in FIG. 1C) until the flange 33 of the axle 3 comes into contact with the wheel 2b. The two second sliding surfaces 37 having a large friction coefficient formed on the outer peripheral surface 35 of the axle body 30 of the axle 3 are brought into sliding contact with the inner peripheral surface 210 of the bearing bush 21 of the wheels 2a and 2b, respectively. The rotational torque of the wheel 2 is increased so that the installed object does not easily move from the installation location, and when a torque greater than the rotational torque is applied to the wheel 2, the wheel 2 rotates, thereby causing an earthquake or the like. This vibration can be attenuated when the vibration of the installation location is transmitted to the installation. Therefore, according to this Embodiment, the caster 1 provided with the seismic isolation function can be provided.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to said embodiment, Many deformation | transformation are possible within the range of the summary.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the bearing bush 21 is attached to the inner peripheral surface 200 of the wheel body 20, and the inner peripheral surface 210 of the bearing bush 21 is formed on the outer peripheral surface 35 of the axle 3. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The bearing bush 21 may be omitted, and the inner peripheral surface 200 of the wheel body 20 may be brought into sliding contact with the first sliding surface 36 or the second sliding surface 37 formed on the outer peripheral surface 35 of the axle 3.

  In the above-described embodiment, the description has been given by taking the twin-wheel type caster 1 having a pair of wheels 2 as an example. However, the present invention can also be applied to a single-wheel type caster having only one wheel 2. In this case, the length L1 from the stepped surface 38 of the connecting portion between the axle body 30 and the flange 33 to the annular groove 34 of the axle body 30 is equal to the thickness L2 of the wheel 2 in the axis O direction and the axis O of the holding portion 4. It is sufficient that the length is longer than the total value with the length L3 in the direction (L1> L2 + L3), and preferably twice the thickness L2 in the direction of the axis O of the wheel 2 and the axis O of the holding portion 4. It only needs to be formed longer than the total value with the direction length L3 (L1> 2 × L2 + L3).

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1: Caster, 2, 2a, 2b: Wheel, 3: Axle, 4: Holding part, 5: Retaining ring, 20: Wheel main body, 21: Bearing bush, 30: Axle main body, 31, 32: End of axle main body 30 33: flange, 34: annular groove, 35: outer peripheral surface of axle body, 36: first sliding surface, 37: second sliding surface, 38: step surface, 40: holding body, 41: mounting portion 42: Through hole of the holding body 40, 200: Inner peripheral surface of the wheel body 20, 210: Inner peripheral surface of the bearing bush 21

Claims (6)

A wheel having an axle retaining hole;
An axle that has a length that is greater than the length of the wheel holding hole, and that is inserted into the axle holding hole and rotatably holds the wheel;
The axle is
The outer peripheral surface of the axle has at least two sliding surfaces with different friction coefficients arranged in the axial direction of the axle;
The caster, wherein the sliding surface that is in sliding contact with the inner peripheral surface of the axle holding hole can be switched by moving in the axial direction of the axle. The caster according to claim 1,
The caster, wherein at least two sliding surfaces arranged on an outer peripheral surface of the axle have different surface roughness. The caster according to claim 1 or 2,
A caster characterized in that at least two sliding surfaces arranged on the outer peripheral surface of the axle have different clearances from the inner peripheral surface of the axle holding hole. A caster according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The caster according to claim 1, wherein at least two sliding surfaces arranged on an outer peripheral surface of the axle are made of different materials. The caster according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The wheel is
An annular wheel body;
Bearing bush mounted on the wheel body,
The caster, wherein the axle holding hole is provided in the bearing bush. The caster according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
Holding means for holding the axle movably in the axial direction of the axle;
The wheel is
One each arranged on both sides in the axial direction of the axle of the holding means,
The axle is
A caster having a length larger than a total value of three times the length of the axle holding hole of the wheel and the axial direction of the axle of the holding means.

Images