JP7680066B2 - Coil spring holding structure and coil spring holding method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a coil spring holding structure and a coil spring holding method.

Conventionally, coil springs have been widely used as biasing members for biasing (for example, Patent Document 1). The coil spring described in Patent Document 1 is sandwiched between two members. As a result, the coil spring is held in a compressed state between the two members.

It has also been proposed to fix the coil spring to a clamping member that holds it. In this case, the coil spring is fixed to the clamping member by gluing or welding.

JP 2016-174438 A

When holding a coil spring by sandwiching it between two members, it is necessary to position and arrange the coil spring and the two members, and to apply pressure to the two members so that the coil spring is compressed. Therefore, in this case, the work involved in holding the coil spring becomes complicated.

Even if the coil spring is held in place by gluing or welding it to two components, the work required for gluing or welding makes the process of holding the coil spring more complicated.

Various aspects of the device for solving the above problems will now be described.
[Mode 1] A holding structure for holding a coil spring with a holding member, the coil spring comprising a diameter-changing portion constituting an end portion in an axial direction and a base portion constituting the portion other than the diameter-changing portion, the diameter-changing portion having a shape in which, in a free state not elastically deformed, the coil diameter gradually changes in one direction toward the extended end of the coil spring and has a shape that protrudes in the radial direction of the coil spring from the circumferential surface of the base portion, the holding member having a plurality of protrusions on a surface that holds the coil spring, and in a held state in which the coil spring is held by the holding member, the circumferential surface of each of the plurality of protrusions is pressed against the circumferential surface of the coil spring and the diameter-changing portion is pushed aside by at least one of the plurality of protrusions, so that the diameter-changing portion is elastically deformed in the radial direction of the coil spring.

According to the above configuration, in the held state, the restoring force of the elastically deformed variable diameter section can press the circumferential surface of the coil spring against the circumferential surfaces of the multiple protrusions. This pressing force can hold the coil spring in the multiple protrusions, i.e., the holding member. Therefore, the coil spring can be easily fixed and held in a position determined by the multiple protrusions, without having to join the coil spring to the holding member by adhesive or welding.

[Aspect 2] The coil spring holding structure described in [Aspect 1], in which the arrangement of the multiple protrusions on the holding member and the shape of the held portion, which is the part of the coil spring on the side of the holding member, are determined in a manner that allows the multiple protrusions and the coil spring to be combined such that the peripheral surfaces of the multiple protrusions and the peripheral surface of the held portion are in a positional relationship in which they face each other while the variable diameter section remains in the free state.

According to the above configuration, when holding the coil spring in the holding member, the coil spring can first be assembled to the holding member while keeping the diameter-changing portion of the coil spring in a free state and avoiding the multiple protrusions of the holding member. In this way, the task of assembling the coil spring to the holding member can be performed easily and smoothly. Then, by rotating the coil spring around the axis, the diameter-changing portion can be pushed aside by at least one of the multiple protrusions, causing elastic deformation of the diameter-changing portion. Therefore, according to the above configuration, the coil spring can be fixed and held to the holding member by the simple task of assembling the coil spring in a free state to the holding member and then rotating it.

[Aspect 3] The coil spring holding structure described in [Aspect 1] or [Aspect 2], in which the multiple protrusions are composed of three protrusions arranged on the same circle at intervals of less than 180 degrees.

According to the above-described configuration, the coil spring can be stably held by three-point support by the three protrusions provided on the holding member.
[Aspect 4] A coil spring holding structure described in any one of [Aspect 1] to [Aspect 3], wherein the protrusion is cylindrical and extends in the axial direction.

With the above configuration, the circumferential surface of the protrusion and the circumferential surface of the coil spring can both be made into an arc shape, making it possible to create a structure in which large localized forces are less likely to act on the contact area between the circumferential surface of the protrusion and the circumferential surface of the coil spring.

[Aspect 5] A method for holding a coil spring, which is applied to the coil spring holding structure described in any one of [Aspects 1] to 4, and holds the coil spring with the holding member, comprising: an assembly step of assembling the coil spring to the holding member such that the peripheral surface of the plurality of protrusions faces the peripheral surface of a held portion of the coil spring that is the portion of the coil spring that faces the holding member; and a rotation step of rotating the coil spring and the holding member relative to each other about the axis of the coil spring after the assembly step in a rotation direction in which the diameter-changing portion is pushed aside by at least one of the plurality of protrusions.

According to the above-mentioned holding method, by combining the coil spring with the holding member and then rotating it, the diameter-changing portion can be elastically deformed by pushing aside the diameter-changing portion with at least one of the multiple protrusions. The restoring force of the diameter-changing portion thus elastically deformed causes the circumferential surface of the coil spring to be pressed against the circumferential surfaces of the multiple protrusions. This pressing force allows the coil spring to be held by the multiple protrusions, i.e., the holding member. According to the above-mentioned holding method, the coil spring can be fixed and held by the holding member with the simple task of combining the coil spring with the holding member and then rotating it.

According to the present invention, the coil spring can be easily held in a predetermined position on the holding member.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a holding structure for a coil spring according to an embodiment; FIG. 4 is a plan view of the holding member of the embodiment. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the holding member taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the coil spring of the embodiment. FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a state in which the coil spring and the holding member are combined. FIG. 13 is a plan view showing a coil spring and a holding member during rotation. FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a state in which the coil spring is held by a holding member. FIG. FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a coil spring holding structure according to a modified example. 13 is a plan view showing a state in which the coil spring and the holding member of the modified example are combined. FIG.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a coil spring holding structure and a coil spring holding method will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1 , in the holding structure according to this embodiment, a coil spring 10 is held by a holding member 20 .

<Holding member>
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the holding member 20 has a flat base 21 and three protrusions 22 .

The three protrusions 22 protrude from the surface 211 of the base 21 that holds the coil spring 10 (Fig. 1). The three protrusions 22 are arranged at 120 degree intervals on the same circle with the point C1 (Fig. 2) at its center. Each protrusion 22 is cylindrical and extends in the direction in which the axis L1 of the coil spring 10 extends (hereinafter referred to as the axis L1 direction).

<Coil spring>
1, the coil spring 10 is a so-called coiled wave spring in which a corrugated spring wire (steel in this embodiment) that corrugates in the extension direction is spirally wound in a right-handed manner. The coil spring 10 is composed of an effective winding portion 101 that acts as a spring, and an end winding portion 102 provided at one end in the direction of the axis L1.

The coil spring 10 comprises a base portion 13 and a variable diameter portion 14 .
<Base part>
4 and 5, the base portion 13 extends in the direction of the axis L1 with the same coil diameter. The base portion 13 constitutes the portion of the coil spring 10 other than the variable diameter portion 14. In detail, the base portion 13 is constituted by the entire effective winding portion 101 (see FIG. 1) and a part of the end winding portion 102 (specifically, the portion on the effective winding portion 101 side).

<Variable diameter part>
The variable diameter portion 14 constitutes a portion of the end winding portion 102 (see FIG. 1 ) on the extended end 15 side. In a free state where it is not elastically deformed, the variable diameter portion 14 has a shape in which the coil diameter gradually changes in one direction (in this embodiment, the direction in which the coil diameter becomes smaller) toward the extended end 15. The variable diameter portion 14 has a shape that protrudes from the inner circumferential surface of the base portion 13 toward the radially inward direction of the coil spring 10.

Hereinafter, as shown in FIG. 4, the diameter of a circle tangent to the inner circumferential surface of the base portion 13 is referred to as the "coil inner diameter R1". In addition, the diameter of a circle centered on the axis L1 and tangent to the inner circumferential surface of the base end portion 16 of the diameter-changing portion 14 is referred to as the "base end diameter R2". In addition, the diameter of a circle centered on the axis L1 and tangent to the inner circumferential surface of the extended end 15 of the diameter-changing portion 14 is referred to as the "tip diameter R3". In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the diameter of a circle extending to surround the three convex portions 22 and tangent to the outer circumferential surfaces of the three convex portions 22 is referred to as the "convex portion diameter R4".

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 4, the arrangement of the three protrusions 22 on the retaining member 20 and the shape of each part of the coil spring 10 are determined to satisfy the following [Configuration A] to [Configuration C].

[Configuration A] The coil inner diameter R1 and the base end diameter R2 are approximately equal (R1=R2).
[Configuration B] The distal end diameter R3 is smaller than the proximal end diameter R2 (R3<R2).
[Configuration C] The convex portion diameter R4 is larger than the tip diameter R3 and smaller than the coil inner diameter R1 (R3<R4<R1).

Figure 6 shows an example of a state in which the coil spring 10 in a free state in which each part is not elastically deformed is combined with the holding member 20. As shown in Figure 6, the three protrusions 22 can be combined with the coil spring 10 so that the outer peripheral surfaces of the three protrusions 22 and the inner peripheral surface of the held portion 103 (see Figure 5) of the coil spring 10 face each other while the diameter-changing portion 14 is in a free state in which the diameter-changing portion 14 is not elastically deformed. In this embodiment, the arrangement of the three protrusions 22 on the holding member 20 and the shape of the held portion 103, which is the part of the coil spring 10 on the holding member 20 side, are determined so that such a configuration is realized. Note that, as shown in Figure 5, the held portion 103 includes the diameter-changing portion 14 and the part of the base portion 13 on the diameter-changing portion 14 side.

The procedure for holding the coil spring 10 of this embodiment on the holding member 20 will be described below.
<Combination process>
When the coil spring 10 is held by the holding member 20, an assembly step is first performed.

In the assembling process, the coil spring 10 is assembled to the holding member 20 so that the outer peripheral surfaces of the three protrusions 22 face the inner peripheral surface of the held portion 103 of the coil spring 10. Specifically, the coil spring 10 is first aligned with the holding member 20 so that the positional relationship between the coil spring 10 and the three protrusions 22 of the holding member 20 is as shown in FIG. 6. The coil spring 10 is then pushed into the holding member 20, whereby the coil spring 10 is assembled to the holding member 20.

According to this embodiment, through this operation, the coil spring 10 can be assembled to the holding member 20 while keeping the variable diameter portion 14 of the coil spring 10 in a free state and avoiding the three protruding portions 22 of the holding member 20. This makes it possible to easily and smoothly assemble the coil spring 10 to the holding member 20.

<Rotation process>
After the combining step, a rotating step is performed.
In the rotation process, the coil spring 10 and the retaining member 20 are rotated relative to each other around the axis L1 in a rotational direction (the direction indicated by arrow A in Figure 6) in which the variable diameter portion 14 is pushed aside by at least one of the three protrusions 22.

Specifically, as shown in Figures 6 to 8, the right-handed coil spring 10 is rotated counterclockwise relative to the retaining member 20. Then, the rotation of the coil spring 10 is stopped at a position before the protrusion 22 reaches the extended end 15 of the diameter-changing section 14 (the position shown in Figure 8).

In this rotation process, as the coil spring 10 rotates, the diameter change section 14 is pushed aside by the protrusions 22 in accordance with the shape of the inner peripheral surface of the diameter change section 14, as shown by arrow B in Figs. 7 and 8, so that the diameter change section 14 gradually elastically deforms radially outward. At this time, the restoring force of the elastically deformed diameter change section 14 generates a force that presses the inner peripheral surface of the coil spring 10 against the outer peripheral surfaces of the three protrusions 22, and this pressing force can be gradually increased. Then, by stopping the rotation of the coil spring 10 at a position before the protrusions 22 reach the extended end 15 of the diameter change section 14, the pressing force remains in a moderately large state. In this embodiment, this pressing force causes the coil spring 10 to be held by the three protrusions 22, i.e., the holding member 20.

According to this embodiment, the coil spring 10 can be easily fixed and held in a position determined by the three protrusions 22 by using the three protrusions 22, without bonding the coil spring 10 to the holding member 20 by adhesive or welding. Moreover, the holding structure that holds the coil spring 10 on the holding member 20 can be realized through the simple task of combining the coil spring 10 with the holding member 20 in a free state and then rotating it.

<Action and effect>
According to this embodiment, the following advantageous effects can be obtained.
(1) Coil spring 10 is composed of diameter-changing portion 14 and base portion 13. In a free state where it is not elastically deformed, diameter-changing portion 14 has a shape in which the coil diameter gradually changes in one direction toward extended end 15 of coil spring 10, and protrudes from the inner peripheral surface of base portion 13 radially inward of coil spring 10. Three protrusions 22 are provided on surface 211 of holding member 20 on the side holding coil spring 10. In the held state (state shown in FIG. 8 ), the outer peripheral surfaces of the three protrusions 22 are pressed against the inner peripheral surface of coil spring 10, and diameter-changing portion 14 is pushed aside by protrusions 22, so that diameter-changing portion 14 is elastically deformed radially outward of coil spring 10. According to this embodiment, the coil spring 10 can be easily fixed and held in the position determined by the three protrusions 22 by utilizing the three protrusions 22, without joining the coil spring 10 to the holding member 20 by adhesive or welding.

(2) In this embodiment, it is possible to assemble the three protrusions 22 and the coil spring 10 so that the outer peripheral surfaces of the three protrusions 22 face the inner peripheral surface of the held portion 103 while the variable diameter portion 14 remains in a free state. This makes it possible to easily and smoothly assemble the coil spring 10 to the holding member 20.

(3) The three protrusions 22 are arranged on the same circle at 120 degree intervals. Therefore, the coil spring 10 can be stably held by three-point support provided by the three protrusions 22 on the holding member 20.

(4) The protrusion 22 has a cylindrical shape extending in the direction of the axis L1. This allows both the outer circumferential surface of the protrusion 22 and the inner circumferential surface of the coil spring 10 to be arc-shaped, making it possible to create a structure in which a large force is unlikely to act locally on the contact portion between the outer circumferential surface of the protrusion 22 and the inner circumferential surface of the coil spring 10.

(5) Through the assembling process and the rotating process, the coil spring 10 is held by the holding member 20. Therefore, the coil spring 10 can be fixed and held by the holding member 20 by the simple operation of assembling the coil spring 10 to the holding member 20 and then rotating it.

<Modification>
The above embodiment can be modified as follows: The above embodiment and the following modifications can be combined with each other to the extent that no technical contradiction occurs.

- In the combining process, the three protrusions 22 and the coil spring 10 may be combined so that the outer peripheral surfaces of the three protrusions 22 and the inner peripheral surface of the held portion 103 face each other when the variable diameter portion 14 is in an elastically deformed state. As long as such an operation is possible, the arrangement of the three protrusions 22 on the holding member 20 and the shape of the held portion 103 of the coil spring 10 may be changed as desired.

In this case, in the assembly process, the diameter-changing portion 14 needs to be elastically deformed, but the coil spring 10 can be assembled to the retaining member 20 by elastically deforming the diameter-changing portion 14 with a small force. Moreover, in the subsequent rotation process, the coil spring 10 is rotated relative to the retaining member 20, increasing the amount of elastic deformation of the diameter-changing portion 14 and appropriately increasing the pressing force that presses the inner circumferential surface of the coil spring 10 against the outer circumferential surfaces of the three protrusions 22.

The spacing between the three protrusions 22 is not limited to 120 degrees and can be changed as desired. The three protrusions 22 can be arranged on the same circle at intervals of less than 180 degrees.

The convex portion 22 may have any shape, such as an elliptical cylinder, a semicircular cylinder, or a rectangular cylinder.
The holding member 20 does not necessarily have to have three protrusions 22 , and may have two protrusions 22 or four or more protrusions 22 .

The shape of the surface 211 of the base 21 that holds the coil spring 10 is not limited to a flat surface, and may be changed as desired, such as a curved surface.
As shown in an example in Figures 9 and 10, a holding structure can be adopted in which the outer circumferential surface of the coil spring 30 is pressed against the outer circumferential surfaces of a plurality of protrusions 42, thereby holding the coil spring 30 with the holding member 20.

In this case, in a free state where it is not elastically deformed, the diameter-changing portion 34 has a shape in which the coil diameter gradually increases toward the extended end 35 of the coil spring 30. The diameter-changing portion 34 has a shape that protrudes radially outward from the outer circumferential surface of the base portion 33 of the coil spring 30. The three protrusions 42 are arranged to surround the periphery of the coil spring 30.

According to the above configuration, in the held state, the outer circumferential surface of the coil spring 30 can be pressed against the outer circumferential surfaces of the multiple protrusions 42 by the restoring force of the elastically deformed diameter-changing portion 34. This pressing force allows the coil spring 30 to be held by the multiple protrusions 42, i.e., the holding member 40. Therefore, the coil spring 30 can be easily fixed and held in the position determined by the multiple protrusions 42 by using the multiple protrusions 42, without joining the coil spring 30 to the holding member 40 by adhesive or welding.

In the above configuration, when the coil spring 30 is held by the holding member 40, the coil spring 30 is assembled to the holding member 40 as shown in FIG. 10, and then the coil spring 30 is rotated around the axis L2 relative to the holding member 40 as shown in FIG. 9. This allows the variable diameter portion 34 to be elastically deformed by being pushed aside by the convex portion 42, so that the outer circumferential surface of the coil spring 30 is pressed against the outer circumferential surfaces of the multiple convex portions 42 by the restoring force of the variable diameter portion 34. This pressing force allows the coil spring 30 to be held by the multiple convex portions 42, i.e., the holding member 40.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 9, it is preferable that the multiple protrusions 42 and the coil spring 30 can be combined so that the outer peripheral surfaces of the multiple protrusions 42 and the outer peripheral surface of the coil spring 30 face each other while the variable diameter section 34 remains in a free state without elastic deformation.

With this configuration, the coil spring 30 can be fixed and held to the holding member 40 by the simple operation of assembling the coil spring 30 in a free state to the holding member 40 and then rotating it.

The coil spring holding structure and coil spring holding method according to the above embodiment can be applied not only to right-handed coil springs but also to left-handed coil springs. In this case, in the rotation process, the left-handed coil spring is rotated clockwise relative to the holding member.

The coil spring holding structure and coil spring holding method according to the above embodiment are not limited to application to coil springs that are coiled wave springs, but can also be applied to coil springs in which the spring wire is wound in a simple spiral shape.

The coil spring holding structure and coil spring holding method according to the above embodiment can be applied to coil springs made of metal materials such as hard steel wire, piano wire, and stainless steel wire, as well as coil springs made of resin materials.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 coil spring 101 effective winding portion 102 seat winding portion 103 held portion 13 base portion 14 diameter-changing portion 15 extended end 16 base end portion 20 holding member 21 base portion 211 surface 22 convex portion 30 coil spring 33 base portion 34 diameter-changing portion 35 extended end 40 holding member 42 convex portion

Claims (4)

A holding structure for holding a coil spring by a holding member,
The coil spring includes a variable diameter portion that constitutes an end portion in an axial direction, and a base portion that constitutes a portion other than the variable diameter portion,
the variable diameter portion has a shape in which, in a free state in which it is not elastically deformed, a coil diameter gradually changes in one direction toward an extension end of the coil spring, and has a shape that protrudes in a radial direction of the coil spring from a peripheral surface of the base portion;
the holding member is provided with a plurality of protrusions on a surface that holds the coil spring,
a relative position of the coil spring and the holding member includes a first position and a second position obtained by rotating the coil spring around an axis line from the first position,
In the first position, the coil spring is pushed toward the holding member while avoiding the plurality of protrusions, so that the coil spring is combined with the plurality of protrusions while remaining in the free state;
In the second position, the peripheral surface of each of the plurality of protrusions is pressed against the peripheral surface of the coil spring, and the diameter-changing portion is elastically deformed in the radial direction in a manner to be pushed aside by at least one of the plurality of protrusions.
Coil spring retention structure. The plurality of protrusions are configured by three protrusions arranged on the same circle at intervals of less than 180 degrees.
The coil spring holding structure according to claim 1 . The protrusion has a cylindrical shape extending in the axial direction .
3. A coil spring holding structure according to claim 1 or 2. A method for holding a coil spring, which is applied to the holding structure for a coil spring according to claim 1 or 2, and holds the coil spring by the holding member, comprising:
a combining step of pressing the coil spring toward the holding member while avoiding the plurality of protrusions, thereby combining the coil spring with the plurality of protrusions while maintaining the free state;
and a rotating step of rotating the coil spring and the holding member relatively around the axis of the coil spring in a rotation direction such that the diameter-changing portion is pushed aside by at least one of the plurality of protrusions after the assembling step.
How to hold a coil spring.

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