JP7531219B2 - Detachable device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an attachment/detachment device, for example, an attachment/detachment device suitable for removably attaching a toilet seat to a toilet bowl.

For example, Patent Document 1 describes an attachment/detachment mechanism that enables a toilet seat and a toilet lid to be attached and detached to a toilet bowl. This attachment/detachment mechanism is made up of a fixed part to be attached to the toilet bowl, and a removable part provided on a hinge device that is attached to the toilet seat and the toilet lid. The fixed part is provided with a pin that has a groove formed along the circumferential direction. Meanwhile, the removable part has a case, a shaft that is disposed within the case and is slidable relative to the case, a spring that biases the shaft in a predetermined direction, and a button that pushes the shaft against the biasing force of the spring. The case is also formed with an insertion hole into which the pin is inserted.

When attaching the toilet seat and lid to the toilet bowl, the pin of the fixing part is inserted through the insertion hole in the case. At this time, the force of pushing the pin causes the shaft to slide against the biasing force of the spring. Then, when the pin and shaft are in the specified positional relationship, the biasing force of the spring pushes the shaft back in its original direction, and part of the shaft fits into the groove formed in the pin. In this way, the pin inserted into the insertion hole is locked, and the fixing part and the detachable part are locked together.

On the other hand, when disconnecting the fixed part and the detachable part to remove the toilet seat and toilet lid from the toilet bowl, the button is pushed in against the spring force. This causes part of the shaft that is inserted into the pin groove to come out of the groove. This releases the locked state of the pin, making it possible to remove the pin from the insertion hole. In this way, the detachable part can be removed from the fixed part.

European Patent Publication No. 2324745

In the invention described in Patent Document 1, for example, to remove the toilet seat and toilet lid from the toilet bowl, it is necessary to remove the pin from the fixing part, but to do so, it is necessary to continue to press the unlocking button by hand against the spring force, and then lift the toilet seat and toilet lid to remove the pin from the fixing part. This poses the problem of poor workability.

Therefore, when it is necessary to remove the case from the pin of the fixing part, etc., a technical problem arises that must be solved to enable the removal operation to be performed without having to keep the unlocking button pressed by hand, and the present invention aims to solve this problem.

The present invention has been proposed to achieve the above object, and the invention described in claim 1 is an attachment/detachment device comprising a pin, a case, and an operation button, the pin having, in order from an insertion end side, a guide portion formed in a conical shape toward the insertion end side, and an annular lock groove formed on an outer peripheral surface of the pin, the case having an operation button insertion space formed in the case along an axis of the case from one end side to the other end side of the case, a pin insertion hole leading from the outer peripheral surface of the case into the operation button insertion space, and an unlocking engaging portion for releasably holding and fastening the operation button at a predetermined position, the operation button having a lock hole into which the pin can be inserted, and being disposed in the operation button insertion space across the pin insertion hole, the lock groove of the pin passing through the lock hole being engaged with the operation button insertion space, and an unlocked position in which the lock hole corresponds to the pin insertion hole and is disengaged from the lock groove; a button main body portion that is provided on one end side of the lock bar and at least a portion of which slides together with the lock bar along the axis within the operation button insertion space and can be pressed in from the outside; and a hook portion that is provided to be engageable with the unlocking engaging portion when the lock bar moves to the unlocking position and releasably locks the lock bar at the unlocking position , and the case further has a locking engaging portion that engages with the hook portion to releasably lock the lock bar at the locked position when the operation button moves to the locked position together with the lock bar .

According to this configuration, when the operation button is placed in the locked position and the lock bar is engaged with the lock groove, to release the engagement between the pin and the case to switch to the unlocked state, the button body is pushed in from the outside to move the operation button to the unlocked position, and the lock bar is moved to the unlocked position together with the button body. When the lock bar is moved to the unlocked position, it disengages from the lock groove of the pin and the pin is no longer constrained by the lock bar. At the same time, the hook portion of the operation button engages and locks with the unlocking locking portion of the case, and the lock bar can be held in the unlocked position. As a result, when it is necessary to release the engagement between the case and the pin, the removal work can be performed without having to continue to press the unlocking button body by hand.

Furthermore , when the operation button is moved to the lock position and the pin and the case are engaged, the hook portion simultaneously engages with the locking engaging portion, so that the lock bar can be held in the lock position together with the operation button.

The invention as set forth in claim 2 provides an attachment/detachment device as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the operation button has a spring portion provided on the other end side of the lock bar for biasing the movement of the operation button toward a lock position.

With this configuration, when the pressing force on the operation button is released to return it from the unlocked position to the locked position, the biasing force of the spring part is used as the return force of the operation button, providing an auto-lock function.

The invention described in claim 3 provides an attachment/detachment device in the configuration described in claim 1 or claim 2 , wherein a stopper portion is provided between the operation button and the case to regulate the amount of depression of the operation button.

With this configuration, the stopper portion provided between the operation button and the case regulates the amount of depression of the operation button, preventing the operation button from being depressed more than necessary, and also keeps the spring charge of the spring portion constant.

The invention described in claim 4 provides an attachment/detachment device in the configuration described in any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the operation button abuts against the guide portion of the pin that passes through the lock hole, and control bars are provided on either side of the lock hole to urge the movement of the operation button toward the locked position.

With this configuration, when the pin is inserted into the case, the guide portion of the pin comes into contact with a pair of control bars, moving the operation button in the opposite direction to the pushing direction, i.e., toward the locked position, and when in the locked position, the hook portion can be engaged and held from the unlocking latch to the locking latch.

The invention described in claim 5 provides an attachment/detachment device in which, in the configuration described in any one of claims 1 to 4 , the locking engagement portions and the unlocking engagement portions are each provided in pairs at opposing positions across the operation button insertion space, and the hook portions are provided in pairs corresponding to the pair of locking engagement portions and the pair of unlocking engagement portions.

With this configuration, in the locking position and the unlocking position, a pair of hook portions engage with a pair of locking engaging portions or a pair of unlocking engaging portions, respectively, allowing for stable engagement.

According to this invention, when the engagement between the pin and the case is released, the button body is moved to the unlock position, and the lock bar is moved to the unlock position together with the button body, and at the same time the lock bar is released from the lock groove of the pin and the hook portion of the operation button is engaged and locked with the unlocking locking portion of the case, thereby holding the lock bar in the unlock position, so that the removal work can be easily performed without having to keep pressing the button body to release the lock with one's hand. This makes it possible to simplify the work.
Furthermore, the number of components is small and the device can be constructed from just three parts: a pin, a case, and an operation button, which reduces costs and allows the device to be provided at low cost.

1A and 1B show an example of an attachment/detachment device according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a toilet seat is attached to and detached from a fixing part that is fixed to a toilet bowl, in which (a) is a diagram showing the state before attachment, (b) is a diagram showing the state after attachment, and (c) is a partially enlarged view of (a). 1A shows the above-mentioned attachment/detachment device alone, where (a) is a top view of the attachment/detachment device, (b) is an external oblique view of the attachment/detachment device shown in a state in which the pin and the attachment/detachment part are connected to each other, and (c) is an external oblique view of the attachment/detachment device shown in a state in which the pin and the attachment/detachment part are released from the connection. FIG. 3A shows the case of the attachment/detachment device, where (a) is an external perspective view of the case, (b) is a perspective view taken along line A-A, and (c) is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A. FIG. 4A is a perspective view of the operation button of the attachment/detachment device, FIG. 4B is a view showing the insertion direction of the operation button, and FIG. 4C is a side view of the operation button. 1A is a diagram explaining the coupling operation of the attachment/detachment device, showing the state in which the operation button is pushed into the unlocked position, (a) is a top view of the attachment/detachment device, (b) is a cross-sectional view of the first guide space seen from the pin attachment direction, (c) is a diagram explaining the positional relationship between the pin insertion hole and the lock hole when the operation button is arranged in the unlocked position, (d) is a diagram explaining the positional relationship between the pin and the operation button when the operation button is arranged in the unlocked position, (e) is a diagram showing the state in which the pin has been removed from the case, (f) is a diagram explaining the positional relationship between the abutment portion of the pin and the control bar of the operation button when the operation button is arranged in the unlocked position, and (g) is a diagram explaining the state of the spring portion of the operation button when the operation button is arranged in the unlocked position. 1A and 1B are diagrams explaining the coupling operation of the above-mentioned attachment/detachment device, showing the state in which the operation button is placed in the locked position, where (a) is an oblique view showing the state in which the pin is attached to the case, (b) is a top view of (a), (c) is a diagram showing the state in which the lock bar is engaged and locked into the lock groove of the pin in the locked state after attachment, and (d) is a diagram showing the state in which the control bar is abutted against the outer peripheral surface of the pin in the locked state after attachment.

The present invention provides an attachment/detachment device that allows removal of a case from a pin of a fixed part or the like without manually pressing a button for releasing the lock, and is intended to provide such an attachment/detachment device that is made up of a pin, a case, and an operation button, and the pin has, in order from the insertion end side, a guide portion that is conically formed toward the insertion end side, and an annular lock groove that is formed on the outer circumferential surface of the pin, and the case has an operation button insertion space that is formed within the case along the axis of the case from one end side to the other end side of the case, a pin insertion hole that leads from the outer circumferential surface of the case into the operation button insertion space, and an unlocking locking portion that releasably holds the operation button in a predetermined position, and the operation button has a lock into which the pin can be inserted. This is achieved by having a configuration in which the lock bar has a lock hole and is arranged in the operation button insertion space of the case across the pin insertion hole, and is movable between a locked position where it engages with the lock groove of the pin that passes through the lock hole to prevent the pin from coming out and an unlocked position where the lock hole corresponds to the pin insertion hole and the pin is released from the lock groove, a button main body portion that is provided on one end of the lock bar and at least a part of which slides together with the lock bar along the axis of the case in the operation button insertion space and can be pressed in from the outside, and a hook portion that is provided to be engageable with the unlocking stopper portion when the lock bar moves to the unlock position and releasably locks the lock bar in the unlock position.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following embodiment, when the number, numerical value, amount, range, etc. of components is mentioned, the number is not limited to the specific number, and may be more or less than the specific number, unless otherwise specified or when it is clearly limited to a specific number in principle.

In addition, when referring to the shape or positional relationship of components, etc., this includes things that are substantially similar or similar to that shape, etc., unless otherwise specified or considered in principle to be clearly different.

In addition, drawings may exaggerate characteristic parts to make the features easier to understand, and the dimensional ratios of components may not be the same as in reality. In addition, in cross-sectional views, hatching of some components may be omitted to make the cross-sectional structure of the components easier to understand.

In the following description, expressions indicating directions such as up/down and left/right are not absolute, but are appropriate when each part of the attachment/detachment device of the present invention is in the depicted position, but if the position changes, they should be interpreted differently depending on the change in position. Also, the same elements are given the same symbols throughout the description of the embodiments. Note that the position of the symbol L shown in Figures 6 and 7 indicates the position of the touch operation unit 13bb when the operation button 13 described below is placed in the "locked position," and the position of the symbol U indicates the position of the touch operation unit 13bb when the operation button 13 described below is placed in the "unlocked position."

Figure 1 shows an example of an attachment/detachment device 10 according to the present invention, in which a toilet seat is attached to and detached from a fixing part that is fixed to a toilet bowl, where (a) shows the state before attachment, (b) shows the state after attachment, and (c) is a partially enlarged view of (a).

1, the attachment/detachment device 10 is fixed to a fixed part 101 to be attached to a toilet bowl (not shown) and comprises a pin 11 protruding from the fixed part 101, and a detachable part 12 attached to a toilet seat 102 by rotating a hinge mechanism (not shown). As shown in (a) and (c) of FIG. 1, the detachable part 12 attached to the toilet seat 102 can be attached to the fixed part 101 (toilet bowl side) by inserting the pin 11 into the detachable part 12 through the pin insertion hole 14 with the operation button 13 placed in the unlocked position described below, whereby the pin 11 and the detachable part 12 are engaged and locked with each other, and the toilet seat 102 can be attached to the fixed part 101 (toilet bowl side) as shown in (b). Conversely, when removing the toilet seat 102 from the fixed part 101, the operation button 13 provided on the detachable part 12 is pushed into the unlocked position described below, and the toilet seat 102 side is lifted, for example, and the pin 11 is removed from the detachable part 12, allowing the toilet seat to be removed from the fixed part 101.

Next, a detailed description will be given of the structure of the attachment/detachment device 10. Fig. 2 shows the attachment/detachment device 10 alone, (a) is a top view of the attachment/detachment device, (b) is an external perspective view of the attachment/detachment device 10 showing the pin 11 and the attachment/detachment part 12 connected to each other, (c) is an external perspective view of the attachment/detachment device 10 showing the pin 11 and the attachment/detachment part 12 released from the connection, and Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the attachment/detachment device 10.

In Figures 2 and 3, the attachment/detachment device 10 consists of a pin 11 and an attachment/detachment part 12. The attachment/detachment part 12 also includes a case 15 and an operation button 13.

The pin 11 is a cylindrical member with a circular horizontal cross section, and is made of metal or resin material. The pin 11 has a so-called conical guide portion 11a whose outer dimensions gradually decrease from the insertion end that is inserted into the case 15 of the detachable portion 12 toward the insertion end, a cylindrical abutment portion 11b, and an annular lock groove 11c formed around the outer periphery of the pin 11. The diameter of the cylindrical abutment portion 11b is equal to or slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the base end of the pin 11.

The operation button 13 is made of a resin material, and is also shown separately in Figure 5. The structure of the operation button 13 will be explained in more detail with reference to Figure 5. The operation button 13 integrally comprises a lock bar 13a, a button body 13b, a spring portion 13c, a stopper projection 13d, a control bar 13e, and a hook piece 13f.

The button body 13b is disposed at one end (rear end) of the lock bar 13a at a substantially right angle to the lock bar 13a, and is formed in a substantially circular plate shape with the lock bar 13a at its center. The button body 13b has a sliding part 13ba that is directly connected to the rear end of the lock bar 13a, and a touch operation part 13bb that is formed integrally with the sliding part 13ba on the opposite side to the lock bar 13a. The outer diameter of the sliding part 13ba is substantially equal to the inner diameter of the operation button insertion space 15a of the case 15 described later, and is disposed slidably within the operation button insertion space 15a. On the other hand, the outer diameter of the touch operation part 13bb is larger than the inner diameter of the operation button insertion space 15a, and is formed substantially equal to the outer diameter of the case 15.

The lock bar 13a is formed in a roughly plate-like shape with a width smaller than the width of the inner diameter of the button body 13b, and is formed to protrude horizontally from the inner surface of the button body 13b at a roughly right angle toward the operation button insertion space 15a. In addition, an oval lock hole 16 is formed in the center of the lock bar 13a, penetrating vertically, through which the pin 11 can pass. At the tip side of the lock bar 13a, i.e., the tip opposite the button body 13b, a spring portion 13c and a stopper protrusion 13d are provided side by side.

More specifically, as shown in Figures 3 and 5, the stopper projection 13d is formed to protrude straight forward from the right end of the lock bar 13a. On the other hand, the spring portion 13c is formed to protrude forward from the left end of the lock bar 13a in an arc that approaches the stopper projection 13d as it moves forward.

The tip of the spring portion 13c protrudes forward from the stopper projection 13d, but the tip is stopped at a position just before the extension line of the stopper projection 13d, without intersecting with it. In addition, the spring portion 13c is made elastic, and when the tip of the spring portion 13c abuts against the pressure contact portion 15b of the case 15 (described later) and is pressed strongly, the entire spring portion 13c bends and flexes due to elastic deformation, accumulating a force (spring charge) that pushes the button main body portion 13b outward from the operation button insertion space 15a, i.e., toward the rear of the case 15.

On the other hand, when the button body 13b is pushed into the case 15 to a position where the spring portion 13c abuts against the pressure contact portion 15b and the spring portion 13c is bent a predetermined amount, the tip portion of the stopper protrusion 13d abuts against the pressure contact portion 15b via the spring portion 13c, preventing the button body 13b from being pushed further into the case 15.

As shown in Figures 3 and 5, the control bar 13e is provided on the opposite side to the direction in which the pin 11 is inserted (on the upper side of the lock bar 13a in Figures 3 and 5) from the inner surface of the sliding part 13ba of the operation button 13 toward the front, approximately parallel to the upper surface of the lock bar 13a, and separated into a pair on the left and right sides of the lock hole 16, so that each tip part 13ea overlaps a part of the lock hole 16 in the vertical direction. The control bar 13e is also formed to be elastically deformable in the left and right directions. In addition, the spacing between the tip parts 13ea of the control bar 13e is formed smaller than the outer diameter of the abutment part 11b of the pin 11. The shape of the tip part 13ea of the control bar 13e is a tapered inclined surface with a thin wall thickness at the most tip and a thick wall thickness on the sliding part 13ba side of the operation button 13. In addition, the vertical positions of the pair of control bars 13e are set so that when the pin 11 passes through the lock hole 16 of the lock bar 13a and the lock groove 11c corresponds to the lock bar 13a, the shape of the guide portion 11a causes the pair of control bars 13e to be pushed outward (to both the left and right sides), and the peripheral surface of the abutment portion 11b of the pin 11 is positioned between the tip portions 13ea of the pair of control bars 13e, allowing the peripheral surface of the abutment portion 11b of the pin 11 to be clamped from both the left and right sides.

As shown in Figures 3 and 5, a pair of hook pieces 13f are provided at approximately the middle of a pair of control bars 13e, at upper and lower positions sandwiching the lock bar 13a, from the front of the outer periphery of the sliding part 13ba of the operation button 13 toward the insertion direction. The hook pieces 13f are also formed to be elastically deformable in the vertical direction. At the tip of the hook pieces 13f, a locking claw 17 is provided facing outward. Each locking claw 17 protrudes slightly outward from the outer periphery of the sliding part 13ba of the operation button 13, and the claw shape is semi-cylindrical, with a gentle roundness when cross-sectionally viewed in the direction of movement of the operation button 13. This is to make it easier to disengage the locking claws 17 engaged with the locking locking part 19a and the unlocking locking part 19b of the case 15, which will be described later.

The case 15 is made of a resin material, and is also shown separately in Figure 4. The structure of the case 15 will be explained in more detail with the addition of Figure 4. Inside the case 15, an operation button insertion space 15a is formed along the longitudinal direction (direction along the axis of the case 15) from one end side of the case 15 (the side where the operation button 13 is inserted) to the other end side of the case 15, and one end side is open. The case 15 also has a pin insertion hole 14 that leads from the outer peripheral surface into the operation button insertion space 15a, a locking engagement part 19a that releasably locks the operation button 13 in a locked position described later, and an unlocking engagement part 19b that releasably locks the operation button 13 in an unlocked position.

In more detail, the operation button insertion space 15a is provided with a sliding part storage space 18, which is a circular space that stores the sliding part 13ba of the operation button 13 so that it can slide in the longitudinal direction of the case 15, i.e., the front-to-rear direction; a first guide space 20 for guiding the lock bar 13a, the spring part 13c, and the stopper protrusion piece 13d in the front-to-rear direction of the case 15 when the operation button 13 slides; and a second guide space 21 for guiding the control bar 13e in the front-to-rear direction of the case 15 when the operation button 13 slides. The first guide space 20 and the second guide space 21 are provided continuously from within the sliding part storage space 18.

The locking and unlocking locking portions 19a and 19b correspond to the locking claws 17 provided on the hook pieces 13f of the sliding portion 13ba of the operation button 13, and are formed at a predetermined interval from the opening end side (rear end side) of the case 15 along the longitudinal direction in which the locking claws 17 of the hook pieces 13f move together with the sliding portion 13ba within the operation button insertion space 15a. In this embodiment, the locking and unlocking locking portions 19a and 19b are formed as through holes that extend from the outer circumferential surface of the case 15 to the inside of the operation button insertion space 15a, but they may be grooves or the like instead of through holes.

When the sliding portion 13ba of the operation button 13 is placed in the "locked position" described below, the locking engagement portion 19a and the unlocking engagement portion 19b are configured so that the elastic force of the hook piece 13f causes the engagement claw 17 of the hook piece 13f to fall into the locking engagement portion 19a and engage with it, and when the sliding portion 13ba of the operation button 13 is placed in the "unlocked position" described below, the elastic force of the hook piece 13f causes the engagement claw 17 of the hook piece 13f to fall into the unlocking engagement portion 19b and engage with it. Furthermore, when the operation button 13 is moved quickly, or in other words, when the operation button 13 is moved with a different acceleration, the hook piece 13f is elastically deformed toward the operation button insertion space 15a and disengaged from the locking locking portion 19a or the unlocking locking portion 19b, switching the state of engagement and locking from the locking locking portion 19a to the unlocking locking portion 19b, or from the unlocking locking portion 19b to the locking locking portion 19a.

The first guide space 20 guides the movement of the lock bar 13a, spring portion 13c, and stopper projection 13d of the operation button 13 within the case 15, and its left-right width is formed to be approximately equal to the left-right width of the lock bar 13a. The distance from the opening to the pressure contact portion 15b, which forms the back wall of the first guide space 20, is such that if the locking claw 17 of the operation button 13 slightly exceeds the position where it is engaged and locked with the unlocking locking portion 19b, the stopper projection 13d abuts and cannot be pushed any further. When the locking claw 17 of the operation button 13 is positioned to be engaged and locked with the locking locking portion 19a, the tip of the spring portion 13c slightly abuts the pressure contact portion 15b. In addition, when the latch 17 of the operating button 13 is moved from the lock latch 19a to the unlock latch 19b, the spring 13c is elastically curved as it moves, gradually starting to spring charge, and when the latch 17 is positioned to engage with the unlock latch 19b, it is spring charged to approximately its maximum.

The second guide space 21 guides the movement of the pair of control bars 13e, and its left-right width is slightly larger than the left-right outer width of the pair of control bars 13e, ensuring a space in which the control bars 13e can elastically deform in the left-right direction and the abutment portion 11b of the pin 11 can be positioned between the pair of control bars 13e.

The pin insertion hole 14 is a hole having an inner diameter that allows the pin 11 to be inserted, and is provided at a position that corresponds vertically to the lock hole 16 of the lock bar 13a when the lock bar 13a of the operation button 13 is placed in the "unlock position", that is, when the lock bar 13a is placed in a position where the locking claw 17 of the operation button 13 is engaged and locked with the unlocking locking portion 19b. When the lock bar 13a is placed in a position where the locking claw 17 of the operation button 13 is engaged and locked with the locking locking portion 19a, the lock hole 16 is shifted toward the "lock position" side with respect to the pin insertion hole 14.

In the attachment/detachment device 10 configured in this manner, the operation button 13 is inserted into the attachment/detachment part 12 from the opening side of the case 15. At this time, the spring part 13c, the stopper projection piece 13d, and the lock bar 13a are arranged in the first guide space 20, while a pair of control bars 13e are arranged in the second guide space 21, and the sliding part 13ba is arranged in the sliding part storage space 18.

The state in which the locking claw 17 of the operation button 13 is engaged with the locking claw 19a in the sliding part storage space 18, i.e., the state in which a part of the sliding part 13ba of the operation button 13 protrudes largely outward from one end of the case 15 together with the touch operation part 13bb as shown in Fig. 7, is the state in which the operation button 13 is disposed in the "locked position". On the other hand, the state in which the locking claw 17 of the operation button 13 is engaged with the unlocking claw 19b in the sliding part storage space 18, i.e., the state in which the sliding part 13ba of the operation button 13 shown in Fig. 6 is pressed into the case 15 so that the button body part 13b is in almost intimate contact with one end of the case 15 and the pin insertion hole 14 and the lock hole 16 correspond vertically, is the state in which the operation button 13 is disposed in the "unlocked position".

Next, the operation of the attachment/detachment device 10 configured in this manner will be explained using Figures 6 and 7.

When connecting the pin 11 and the detachable portion 12:
When the pin 11 and the detachable part 12 are to be coupled together, the operation button 13 is pushed into the case 15, and the operation button 13 is placed in a position in the sliding part storage space 18 where the locking claw 17 of the operation button 13 is engaged and locked with the unlocking locking part 19b, i.e., the "unlocked position." Fig. 6 shows the state where the operation button 13 is placed in this "unlocked position," i.e., where the touch operation part 13bb is placed at a position corresponding to the symbol U shown in Fig. 6(a).

When the operation button 13 is in the "unlocked position", the spring portion 13c is elastically deformed and curved, and a spring force that pushes the operation button 13 back toward the "locked position" is accumulated. However, this spring force is held in an accumulated state without pushing the operation button 13 back due to the engagement and locking between the locking claw 17 of the hook piece 13f and the unlocking locking portion 19b of the case 15. Also, when the operation button 13 is in the "unlocked position", as shown in FIG. 6(c), the tip portions 13ea of the pair of control bars 13e protrude to the left and right positions within the insertion path of the pin 11 inserted through the pin insertion hole 14 above the pin insertion hole 14. Also, the stopper protrusion piece 13d hits the pressure contact portion 15b, which becomes the stopper portion, via the tip portion of the spring portion 13c, as shown in FIG. 6(b).

In this way, when the operation button 13 is in the "unlock position," the pin 11 is inserted into the case 15 through the pin insertion hole 14 from the guide portion 11a side, and when the guide portion 11a finishes passing through the lock hole 16 of the lock bar 13a, the guide portion 11a hits the lower edge of the tip portion 13ea of the pair of control bars 13e. When the guide portion 11a hits the lower edge of the tip portion 13ea of the pair of control bars 13e, the guide portion 11a pushes the tip portions 13ea of the pair of control bars 13e upward (in the direction of movement of the guide portion 11a), and at the same time, pushes the pair of control bars 13e outward in the left-right direction, and the abutment portion 11b enters while wedging between the pair of control bars 13e. In addition, when the guide portion 11a passes between the pair of control bars 13e, the abutment portion 11b of the pin 11 enters between the pair of control bars 13e, and the lock groove 11c corresponds to the lock bar 13a. In this state, the tip of the pin 11 hits the wall inside the case 15, preventing further insertion.

On the other hand, on the operation button 13 side, the guide portion 11a of the pin 11 pushes up the pair of control bars 13e, causing the hook piece 13f to bend toward the lock bar 13a. At this time, the spring force charged in the spring portion 13c acts to move the operation button 13 toward the "lock position", and when the guide portion 11a of the pin 11 pushes the pair of control bars 13e open to the left and right, a force is generated in the control bar 13e that moves the operation button 13 toward the "lock position", and the force from the control bar 13e is added to the force of the spring portion 13c, and the forces from the spring portion 13c and the control bar 13e act as a force that slides the operation button 13 from the "unlock position" to the "lock position". As a result, the locking claw 17 of the hook piece 13f comes out of the unlocking locking portion 19b, and the operation button 13 slides from the "unlock position" to the "lock position". Then, as shown in FIG. 7(c), the lock bar 13a fits into the lock groove 11c with the edge of the lock hole 16, and the pin 11 and the edge of the lock hole 16 collide with each other in the lock groove 11c to be engaged and locked. This engagement between the lock bar 13a and the pin 11 prevents the pin 11 from coming out of the case 15, i.e., the lock bar 13a engages and locks the pin 11. The entire operation button 13 also moves in a direction to come out of the case 15, and the locking claw 17 of the hook piece 13f falls into the locking engagement portion 19a of the case 15 to be engaged and locked, i.e., automatically locked. In this locked state, as shown in FIG. 7, the sliding portion 13ba of the operation button 13 protrudes from the case 15 together with the touch operation portion 13bb, i.e., the touch operation portion 13bb is positioned at the position corresponding to the symbol L shown in FIG. 7(b).

When separating the pin 11 and the detachable portion 12:
When the pin 11 and the detachable part 12 are to be separated, in the locked state shown in Fig. 7, the touch operation part 13bb protruding from the case 15 is strongly pressed toward the case 15. Then, the tip part 13ea of the pair of control bars 13e abuts against the abutment part 11b of the pin 11. Then, the abutment part 11b of the pin 11 enters between the pair of control bars 13e, so that the pair of control bars 13e are pushed outward from each other as shown in Fig. 6(f), and the entire operation button 13, which was in the "locked position", moves to the "unlocked position" side as shown in Fig. 6. During this movement, the locking claw 17 of the hook piece 13f, which had fallen into and engaged in the locking engagement part 19a, comes out of the locking engagement part 19a while bending the hook piece 13f inward, and the engagement and engagement at the "locked position" is forcibly released. The amount by which the control bar 13e is pushed outward at this time is regulated by being clamped between the clamping surface 21a of the case 15 and the abutment portion 11b of the pin 11, as shown in Fig. 6(f). In this way, the operation button 13 advances from the "locked position" shown in Fig. 7 to the "unlocked position" shown in Fig. 6 while bending the spring portion 13c and spring-charging it, and when the stopper projection piece 13d abuts against the pressure contact portion 15b via the tip of the spring portion 13c and is moved to a position where further movement is prevented, that is, to the "unlocked position" shown in Fig. 6, the locking claw 17 of the hook piece 13f drops into the unlocking locking portion 19b, and the operation button 13 is held in the "unlocked position".

When the operation button 13 is in the "unlocked position", as shown in FIG. 6(b), the position of the lock hole 16 of the lock bar 13a in the operation button 13 and the position of the pin insertion hole 14 in the case 15 correspond to each other vertically, and the edge of the lock hole 16 in the lock bar 13a comes out of the lock groove 11c of the pin 11, releasing the lock of the lock bar 13a to the pin 11. As a result, when the operation button 13 is held in the "unlocked position", by moving the pin 11 or the detachable part 12 in the axial direction of the pin 11 and in the direction of pulling it away, the pin 11 can be easily pulled out of the pin insertion hole 14, and the pin 11 and the detachable part 12 can be separated.

Therefore, with the attachment/detachment device 10 configured in this embodiment, when the pin 11 is to be coupled to the case 15, which is the attachment/detachment part 12, the operation button 13, which is the button main body, is in the "unlocked position," and the pin 11 is inserted into the pin insertion hole 14 of the case 15 to a predetermined position, the lock bar 13a is automatically moved to the "locked position" together with the operation button 13 and engages with the lock groove 11c, preventing the pin 11 from coming out. As a result, when coupling, the pin 11 can be attached and locked simply by inserting it into the pin insertion hole 14 of the case 15, even if the operation button 13 is not being operated by hand, simplifying the work.

On the other hand, when the pin 11 is disengaged from the case 15, which is the detachable part 12, the operation button 13, which is the button body part 13b, is pushed into the inside of the case 15 to move it to the "unlocked position", and the lock bar 13a is moved to the unlocked position together with the operation button 13. When the lock bar 13a is moved to the "unlocked position", the lock bar 13a is disengaged from the lock groove 11c of the pin 11. At the same time, the locking claw 17 of the hook piece 13f, which is the hook part of the operation button 13, is engaged and locked with the unlocking locking part 19b of the case 15, and the lock bar 13a can be held in the "unlocked position". Therefore, when it is necessary to remove the case 15 and the pin 11, the removal work can be performed without continuing to press the operation button 13, which releases the lock, by hand, and the work can be simplified.

In addition, when the operation button 13 is placed in the "unlocked position", a spring portion 13c is provided that biases the operation button 13 in the direction opposite to the direction in which it is pressed, i.e., toward the "locked position", so that when the operation button 13 is returned from the "unlocked position" to the "locked position", the force charged by the spring portion 13c can be used as the return force of the operation button 13. This makes it possible to reliably and easily return the operation button 13 from the "unlocked position" to the "locked position".

In addition, a pressure contact portion 15b is provided between the operation button 13 and the case 15 as a stopper portion that regulates the amount of depression of the operation button 13. This regulates the amount of depression of the operation button 13, preventing the operation button 13 from being depressed more than necessary, and also keeps the spring charge of the spring portion 13c constant.

The operation button 13 is provided with a pair of control bars 13e on either side of the lock hole 16. The control bars 13e come into contact with the guide portion 11a of the pin 11 that passes through the lock hole 16 of the lock bar 13a, and move the operation button 13 in the direction opposite to the pushing direction, i.e., toward the "locked position". As a result, when the pin 11 is inserted into the case 15, the guide portion 11a of the pin 11 comes into contact with the pair of control bars 13e, reliably moving the operation button 13 in the direction opposite to the pushing direction, i.e., from the "unlocked position" to the "locked position", and the engagement of the locking claw 17 of the hook piece 13f is switched from engagement with the unlocking locking portion 19b to engagement with the locking locking portion 19a, so that the button can be reliably held in the "locked position".

The operation button 13 is provided with a pair of locking and unlocking latches 19a and 19b for the case 15 at positions facing each other across the operation button insertion space 15a, i.e., at positions displaced by 180 degrees. Also, a pair of hook pieces 13f, which are hook portions having latching claws 17, are provided corresponding to the pair of locking and unlocking latches 19a and 19b, respectively, so that the latching claws 17 of the hook pieces 13f can be stably engaged and latched to the locking and unlocking latches 19a and 19b of the case 15.

In this embodiment, the connection between the pin 11 protruding from the fixed part 101 to be attached to the toilet bowl and the detachable part 12 attached to the toilet seat 102 via a hinge mechanism has been described as an example, but the invention is not limited to attachment and detachment between the toilet bowl and the toilet seat, and can be applied to various types of attachment and detachment devices.

In addition, in this embodiment, the spring portion 13c is integral with the lock bar 13a, but it may be provided separately from the lock bar 13a, or a coil spring or the like may be disposed between the case 15 and the lock bar 13a.

Furthermore, the present invention can be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it goes without saying that the present invention extends to such modifications.

10: Detachable device 11: Pin 11a: Guide portion 11b: Contact portion 11c: Lock groove 12: Detachable portion 13: Operation button 13a: Lock bar 13b: Button body 13ba: Slide portion 13bb: Touch operation portion 13c: Spring portion 13d: Stopper protrusion 13e: Control bar 13ea: Tip portion 13f: Hook piece 14: Pin insertion hole 15: Case 15a: Operation button insertion space 15b: Pressure contact portion 16: Lock hole 17: Locking claw 18: Slide portion storage space 19a: Locking locking portion 19b: Unlocking locking portion 20: First guide space 21: Second guide space 101: Fixing portion 102: Toilet seat

Claims (5)

A detachment device comprising a pin, a case, and an operation button,
The pin is
A guide portion formed in a cone shape toward the insertion end side, in this order from the insertion end side;
an annular lock groove formed on an outer circumferential surface of the pin;
The case is
an operation button insertion space formed in the case along an axis of the case from one end side to the other end side of the case;
a pin insertion hole that leads from an outer peripheral surface of the case into the operation button insertion space;
an unlocking locking portion that releasably holds the operation button at a predetermined position,
The operation button is
a lock bar having a lock hole into which the pin can be inserted, the lock bar being disposed in the operation button insertion space across the pin insertion hole, and movable between a locked position where the lock bar engages with the lock groove of the pin passing through the lock hole to prevent the pin from coming out, and an unlocked position where the lock bar corresponds to the pin insertion hole and comes out of the lock groove;
a button body portion provided on one end side of the lock bar, at least a portion of which slides together with the lock bar along the axis within the operation button insertion space and can be operated by being pressed from the outside;
a hook portion that is provided so as to be engageable with the unlocking engaging portion when the lock bar moves to the unlocking position, and that releasably locks the lock bar at the unlocking position ,
The case further includes a locking engaging portion that engages with the hook portion to releasably lock the lock bar at the lock position when the operation button moves to the lock position together with the lock bar.
A mounting and demounting device. 2. The attachment/detachment device according to claim 1 , wherein the operation button has a spring portion provided on the other end side of the lock bar for biasing the movement of the operation button toward the lock position. 3. The attachment / detachment device according to claim 1 , further comprising a stopper portion provided between the operation button and the case for restricting the amount of depression of the operation button. 4. The attachment/detachment device according to claim 1, wherein the operation button has a control bar provided on either side of the lock hole, the control bar contacting the guide portion of the pin passing through the lock hole and biasing the movement of the operation button toward the locked position. 5. The attachment/detachment device according to claim 1, wherein the locking engagement portion and the unlocking engagement portion are each provided in a pair at opposing positions across the operation button insertion space, and the hook portions are provided in a pair corresponding to the pair of locking engagement portions and the pair of unlocking engagement portions.

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