JP7748071B2 - Base member and support device including same - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a base member and a support device equipped with the same.

Tension-type supports installed between the floor and ceiling are well known. These include an extendable support, a ceiling support member attached to the top end of the support and in contact with the ceiling, and a base member attached to the bottom end of the support and in contact with the floor (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Also known is a tension device with a similar configuration to such supports that is installed between the ceiling and furniture, for example, to increase the earthquake resistance of furniture (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

When installing the above-mentioned supports, if the floor or the top of the furniture is not parallel to the ceiling, the ceiling support member at the top of the support or the base member at the bottom of the support will not be in line with the ceiling or floor, respectively, as both are fixed to the support, making installation impossible.

One possible solution to these drawbacks of conventional supports is the mechanism disclosed in Patent Document 3. This mechanism involves providing a recess in the base member, and fitting the lower end of the support into this recess with looseness, allowing it to be inserted, removed, and swing.

Patent No. 6222871 Registered Utility Model No. 3016905 Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 8-308664

However, the mechanism disclosed in Patent Document 3 is primarily designed to prevent the support column from collapsing by absorbing the resulting shaking when a lateral external force is applied to the column due to an earthquake or other event, and is not designed to be used on sloped floors. Furthermore, because the lower end of the support column is loosely fitted into a recess in the base member so that it can be inserted and removed, the support column easily comes off the base member when it is lifted. This means that the support column and base member tend to come apart when attempting to change the column's installation position, making the change difficult.

The present invention was made to solve the above problems, and its purpose is to provide a base member and a support device equipped with the same that can easily adapt to the slope of the floor and always maintain a connection with the support.

To solve the above-mentioned problems, the base member disclosed in the present application is a base member that receives a support column having at least a cylindrical lower end, and includes a base plate that contacts the floor surface, a recessed portion provided on the base plate into which the lower end of the support column fits, and an anchor portion that stands in the center of the recessed portion and is inserted into the lower end of the support column. The inner circumferential surface of the recessed portion is tapered upward, and the outer circumferential surface of the anchor portion is frustoconical, narrowing toward the upper end. Furthermore, at the upper end of the anchor portion, above the upper opening of the recessed portion, an insertion hole for a connecting/fixing bolt that passes through the lower end of the support column is formed, large enough to allow the bolt to swing up, down, left, and right.

In the above-mentioned base member, the insertion hole may have a bolt receiving portion on its inner upper surface that can receive the shank of the connecting/fixing bolt.

In addition, an axis marker indicating the direction of the axis of the insertion hole may be provided on the upper surface of the base plate, the outer peripheral surface of the recessed portion, or a position extending from the upper surface of the base plate to the outer peripheral surface of the recessed portion.

The support device disclosed in this application is characterized by comprising a support having at least a cylindrical lower end and any of the base members described above.

This invention provides a base member and a support device equipped with the base member that can easily adapt to floor inclinations and always maintain a connection with the support.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an embodiment of a base member disclosed herein. FIG. 2 is a front view of the base member shown in FIG. 1 . FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III shown in FIG. 2. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the relationship between the base member and the support column shown in FIG. 1 as viewed from the side. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view seen from the front showing the relationship between the base member and the support column shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged front view illustrating a bolt receiving portion in an insertion hole of the base member shown in FIG. 1 . FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the base member shown in FIG. 1 as viewed from the side, showing a usage state thereof. FIG. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a state immediately before a support column is connected to the base member shown in FIG. 1 . 1 is a partially cutaway front view showing one embodiment of a support device disclosed herein.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that each of the following embodiments is an example of an embodiment that embodies the present invention and is not intended to limit the technical scope of the present invention. Furthermore, common components in the following description and drawings are designated by the same reference numerals.

<Embodiment of Base Member>
The base member 1 disclosed in the present application is adapted to receive a support column S (see Figures 4, 5, and 7) having at least a cylindrical lower end Sb, and can follow the slope of the floor surface F (see Figure 7) on which it is installed.

This base member 1 comprises a base plate 10 that contacts the floor surface F, a recessed portion 20 provided on this base plate 10 into which the lower end portion Sb of the support column S fits, and an anchor portion 30 erected in the center of this recessed portion 20 and inserted into the lower end portion Sb of the support column S. Each portion will be described in detail below.

The base plate 10 comprises a disk-shaped base portion 11 with a smooth bottom surface 11a, and a receiving seat portion 12 formed as a raised bulge in the center of the base portion 11. The top surface 12a of the receiving seat portion 12 is a smooth surface parallel to the bottom surface 11a. The upper surface of the base portion 11 has recessed portions 13 in multiple locations in the area between its outer edge and the base of the receiving seat portion 12. Between each of these recessed portions 13 are ribs 14 whose upper surfaces are concavely curved and smoothly connect to the outer surface of the receiving seat portion 12.

The recess 20 is located in the center of the seat 12 and has a circular horizontal cross-sectional shape. As shown in Figure 3, the inner surface 21 of this recess 20 is a tapered surface that widens from the bottom 22 toward the upper end opening surface 23. The taper angle of this inner surface 21 is determined by the maximum allowable tilt angle of the support column S. Note that the maximum allowable tilt angle of the support column S is arbitrary. The depth of the recess 20 is also arbitrary.

The anchor portion 30 has a truncated cone shape with its outer surface 31 narrowing toward the upper end. In other words, the outer surface 31 of the anchor portion 30 is also tapered. The taper angle of the outer surface 31, like that of the inner surface 21 of the recessed portion 20, is determined by the maximum allowable inclination angle of the support column S.

At the upper end of the anchor portion 30, a through-hole 32 for the connecting/fixing bolt B is formed above the upper opening surface 23 of the recess 20, and passes through the lower end Sb of the support S. This through-hole 32 is sufficiently larger than the outer diameter of the shank Ba of the connecting/fixing bolt B, allowing the connecting/fixing bolt B to swing up, down, left, and right, as shown in Figure 5. In Figure 5, the connecting/fixing bolt B is offset to the left of the through-hole 32 because the support S is tilted to the left in the drawing. This is shown by a solid line, while a position other than this is shown by a dashed line. As a result, the connecting/fixing bolt B is allowed to swing in response to the tilt of the support S, allowing the support S to tilt within the recess 20 within the swing range of the connecting/fixing bolt B. In other words, the base member 1 is tiltable within the swing range of the connecting/fixing bolt B. This allows the base member 1 to easily follow the inclination of the floor surface F, as shown in Figure 7. Note that the symbol N in the figure indicates a nut threaded onto the shank Ba of the connecting and fixing bolt B.

The above-mentioned insertion hole 32 may have a horizontal long axis with the upper and lower inner surfaces parallel to each other. However, if the connecting and fixing bolt B is displaced toward the end of the long axis or if the axis Ba of the connecting and fixing bolt B is oblique to the axis of the insertion hole 32, the axis of the connecting and fixing bolt B will no longer coincide with the normal direction of the circular base plate 10. As a result, the range of vertical swing of the connecting and fixing bolt B within the insertion hole 32 will be narrower than when the connecting and fixing bolt B is positioned in the center of the long axis. As a result, the ability of the base member 1 to follow the slope of the floor surface F (indicated by θ in Figure 7) will be reduced.

Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6 , a bolt receiving portion 33 capable of receiving the shank Ba of the connecting/fixing bolt B is provided on the inner upper surface of the insertion hole 32. When the support column S is pulled upward to completely separate the base plate 10 from the floor F, the weight of the base member 1 guides the shank Ba of the connecting/fixing bolt B into the bolt receiving portion 33. The connecting/fixing bolt B is naturally positioned at the center of its longitudinal axis, and the axis of the connecting/fixing bolt B is aligned with the normal direction of the circular base plate 10. As a result, the connecting/fixing bolt B can swing up and down within the insertion hole 32 at a maximum range H. Note that the symbol h in the figure indicates the range of vertical swing when the connecting/fixing bolt B is displaced toward the end of the longitudinal axis of the insertion hole 32. To ensure smooth guidance of the connecting/fixing bolt B into the bolt receiving portion 33, the bolt receiving portion 33 preferably has a dome-shaped cross section, although the shape is not limited to this.

Here, the position of the connecting and fixing bolt B relative to the insertion hole 32 cannot be visually observed because the anchor portion 30 is covered by the lower end portion Sb of the support column S. As a result, when attempting to align the axis of the connecting and fixing bolt B with the axis of the insertion hole 32 and fit the shank Ba of the connecting and fixing bolt B throughout the bolt receiving portion 33, there is a concern that it may be impossible to confirm whether this has been achieved.

In order to alleviate such concerns, in this embodiment, as shown in Figures 1 and 6, an axis marker 15 indicating the direction of the axis of the insertion hole 32 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the recessed portion 20, i.e., the outer peripheral surface of the receiving seat 12. Note that this axis marker 15 may be provided in a position spanning from the upper surface of the base plate 10 to the outer peripheral surface of the receiving seat 12, or it may be provided only on the upper surface of the base plate 10. Furthermore, while the axis marker 15 is shown as a wide, shallow recess in the illustrated example, it is not limited to this and can take any form as long as it can indicate the direction of the axis of the insertion hole 32.

Figure 8 is an exploded perspective view showing the base member 1 just before connecting the support column S. The symbol C in the figure denotes a cover member that covers the entire base member 1, the lower end Sb of the support column S, and the connecting and fixing bolt B and nut N after connection. When using this cover member C, the support column S is inserted into the support column insertion hole Ca of the cover member C prior to connection, and the cover member C is pulled up from the lower end Sb of the support column S while the lower end Sb is connected and fixed to the base member 1. The cover member C is then pulled down to attach the cover member C to the base plate 10 of the base member 1. It is preferable that at least the bottom portion of the cover member C be made of an elastically deformable material such as synthetic resin or rubber. The symbol Sh in the figure denotes a bolt insertion hole.

<Embodiment of Support Device>
9 is a front view showing one embodiment of the support pole device disclosed herein. This support pole device 40 is installed in a tensioned state between a floor surface F and a ceiling R, and includes the base member 1, a support pole 41, and a ceiling contact portion 42.

The support 41 is composed of a lower cylindrical portion 41L and an upper cylindrical portion 41U with an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the lower cylindrical portion 41L, and the upper cylindrical portion 41U can be inserted into the upper end of the lower cylindrical portion 41L. Such a support 41 can be made, for example, of an aluminum or aluminum alloy pipe coated with a semi-rigid resin, or made of a metal such as stainless steel or a high-strength synthetic resin such as engineering plastic.

The upper end of the lower cylindrical portion 41L of the support 41 is provided with an extension/retraction mechanism 43 for adjusting the overall length of the support 41 by extending or retracting the support 41. The extension/retraction mechanism 43 switches between a fixed state in which the lower end of the upper cylindrical portion 41U is inserted into the upper end of the lower cylindrical portion 41L and the two portions 41L and 41U are fixed together, and a movable state in which the insertion depth of the upper cylindrical portion 41U relative to the lower cylindrical portion 41L can be changed. The detailed configuration can be that disclosed in, for example, JP 2014-51858 A, and therefore will not be described in detail here.

In this embodiment, the telescopic operating mechanism 43 can be placed in the fixed state by tilting the lever 43L so that it is close to the lower tubular portion 41L, while it can be placed in the movable state by lifting the lever 43L from the side of the lower tubular portion 41L to a horizontal position. Figure 9 shows the fixed state.

The ceiling contact portion 42 is attached to the upper end of the upper cylindrical portion 41U of the support 41 and contacts the ceiling R. The upper surface of this ceiling contact portion 42 is oval-shaped, consisting of parallel side edges and semicircular end portions, and the outer surface is tapered downward. The underside of this ceiling contact portion 42 has insertion holes 42H, into which the upper cylindrical portion 41U of the support 41 is inserted, at three locations: the center and both ends. The ceiling contact portion 42 may also be rotatable relative to the upper cylindrical portion 41U.

To erect this support device 40 between floor F and ceiling R, first insert the lower tubular portion 41L of the support 41 into the cover member C, then connect the base member 1 and the lower tubular portion 41L with a connecting bolt and nut (see Figure 8). Next, raise the lever 43L of the telescopic operating mechanism 43 to insert the upper tubular portion 41U into the lower tubular portion 41L from above. Once insertion is complete, pull down the lever 43L to temporarily lock the support 41 in place. In this state, when the support 41 is pulled upward to completely separate the base plate 10 of the base member 1 from floor F, the weight of the base member 1 guides the shank Ba of the connecting bolt B into the bolt receiving portion 33 (see Figure 6). This automatically positions the connecting bolt B at the center of its longitudinal axis, and the axis of the connecting bolt B is aligned with the normal to the circular base plate 10. As a result, the vertical swing range of the connecting and fixing bolt B within the insertion hole 32 reaches a maximum H. In this state, the base member 1 is placed on the floor F with the shaft portion Ba of the connecting and fixing bolt B aligned with the inclination of the floor F. Using the axis marker 15 as described above makes it easy to place the base member 1 on the floor F. Next, the lever 43L is raised to place the support 41 in a movable state, and the upper cylindrical portion 41U is then raised, causing the ceiling contact portion 42 to abut somewhat firmly against the ceiling R, tensioning the support 41 between the floor F and the ceiling R. Finally, the lever 43L is lowered to fix the support 41, and the cover member C is attached to the base member 1 to complete the erection work. Note that the support device 40 described above is merely an example and is not limited to this.

In the above-described support device, even if a lateral impact or load is applied to the support, it is hardly affected due to the unique structure of the base member of the present invention. This is because the connecting and fixing bolts are able to swing up, down, left, and right within their insertion holes. Therefore, when a lateral impact or load is applied to the support, the connecting and fixing bolts swing within the insertion holes of the base member, thereby absorbing the impact or load. Furthermore, unlike conventional support devices, even if the base member is displaced due to a lateral impact or load, the base member maintains surface contact with the floor, providing the frictional force necessary to maintain the support's position, preventing slippage on the floor. Therefore, the support device of the present invention allows the base member to follow the slope of the floor and can adapt to situations where the support is tilted from the vertical due to an impact or load. In this regard, with a conventional support device that uses a base member that is completely fixed to the support with connecting and fixing bolts, any impact the support receives is transmitted directly to the base member, causing the support to come loose from between the floor and ceiling. This is thought to be because, with conventional support devices, the base member cannot swing relative to the support, so when the base member is displaced by an impact or other factor, the contact area with the floor surface decreases, reducing frictional force.

The base member 1 described above can be attached not only to the support device 40 shown in FIG. 9, the tension support described in Patent Document 1, or the tension device described in Patent Document 2, but also to the lower end of a handrail support installed indoors or outdoors. When installing such a support on a floor F, the base member 1 is lifted off the floor F to free it, and then the support S is rotated around its axis so that the axis indicator 15 faces the slope of the floor F. The axis indicator 15 can be aligned with either the upward or downward slope of the floor F. Once the axis indicator 15 faces the slope of the floor F, the base member 1 is installed on the floor F. In this state, the shank Ba of the connecting/fixing bolt B fits into the bolt receiving portion 33 of the insertion hole 32, allowing the base member 1 to have the maximum swing range, as described above. Therefore, as long as the inclination angle θ of the floor surface F is within the maximum swing range of the base member 1, the base member 1 can be installed on the floor surface F without any problems, and the support column S can be supported vertically.

The present invention can be embodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. Therefore, the above-described embodiments are merely illustrative in all respects and should not be interpreted as limiting. The scope of the present invention is defined by the claims and is not limited in any way by the descriptions in the specification and drawings. Furthermore, all modifications and variations that fall within the equivalent scope of the claims are within the scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Base member 10 Base plate 11 Base portion 11a Bottom surface 12 Receptacle portion 12a Top surface 13 Recessed portion 14 Rib 15 Axis center marker 20 Recessed portion 21 Inner peripheral surface 22 Bottom portion 23 Upper end opening surface 30 Anchor portion 31 Outer peripheral surface 32 Insertion hole 33 Bolt receiving portion S Support column Sb Lower end portion B of support column Connection and fixing bolt Ba Shaft portion F Floor surface

Claims (4)

A base member for receiving a support pole, at least the lower end of which is cylindrical,
a base plate that contacts the floor surface;
a recess provided on the base plate and into which a lower end of the support column is fitted;
an anchor portion provided in a standing position at the center of the recessed portion and inserted into the lower end portion of the support column;
The recessed portion has an inner circumferential surface that is tapered and widens upward,
The anchor portion has an outer peripheral surface formed in a truncated cone shape that narrows toward the upper end, and an insertion hole for a connecting and fixing bolt that passes through the lower end of the support is formed at the upper end of the anchor portion, at a position above the upper opening surface of the recess, and is sized to allow the bolt to swing up and down and left and right. 2. The base member of claim 1,
The base member is characterized in that the insertion hole has a bolt receiving portion on its inner upper surface that is capable of receiving the shank of the connecting and fixing bolt. 3. The base member according to claim 2,
A base member characterized in that an axis marker indicating the direction of the axis of the insertion hole is provided on the upper surface of the base plate, the outer peripheral surface of the recessed portion, or a position extending from the upper surface of the base plate to the outer peripheral surface of the recessed portion. A support device comprising a support having at least a cylindrical lower end and a base member according to any one of claims 1 to 3.