JPH0334551B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a lock for attaching to a shutter, sliding door, or other door.

Various conventional locks of this type have been provided in which the lock is locked in the locked position by sliding a locking lever or rod linearly against the force of a spring.

For example, in the lock of Utility Model Publication No. 47-12153, the lockshaft, which is urged in the unlocking direction by a spring, is restrained by a locking plate which is biased in an inclined position, and the lockshaft is restrained at an arbitrary position. is disclosed.

However, in the above configuration, the locking plate is restrained by obliquely abutting against the lockshaft, so a force in the bending direction is applied to the lockshaft.
Plate-shaped lock levers used for locks on shutters and the like have thin walls, so there is a risk of bending and damaging them.

On the other hand, hold a bar etc. from both sides using a ball,
A structure in which the balls are rolled on a tapered cam surface to narrow the distance between the balls and to clamp and restrain a bar or the like from both sides is also known, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 12153/1983.

In the above configuration, since the bar is restrained by the ball,
It is necessary to form an axially extending arcuate groove on both sides of the bar, which guides the rotation of the freely rotatable ball, causing it to roll along the axial direction of the bar. be able to.

However, a thin plate-shaped lock lever has the disadvantage that forming an arcuate groove weakens the strength of the lock lever.

This invention was made in view of the above circumstances,
The main purpose of this is that when a ball is used to compress the lock lever in a lock that uses a plate-shaped lock lever, the ball is placed along the width of the lock lever perpendicularly to the extending direction of the lock lever without forming a groove on the wide surface of the lock lever. To provide a lock in which a plurality of balls are arranged so as to be able to roll, and the lock lever can be compressed with a simple structure without forming a groove on the wide surface of the lock lever.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a plate-shaped locking plate that slidably passes through a lock body made of a hollow casing in the longitudinal direction, protrudes outward at both ends, and has a tip end serving as a locking protrusion. A lock lever is provided, the lock lever is built into the lock body, the lock lever is fitted onto the outside, and the lock lever is compressably interposed between the inner wall on the distal end side of the lock body and a locking part formed at an intermediate position of the lock lever. A first coil spring is provided on the proximal end side of the lock body to sandwich the lock lever from both sides with its wide side, and the spacing thereof is set to gradually become narrower toward the proximal end. forming a tapered surface, rolling a plurality of balls along the width on both sides of the wide surface of the lock lever, each perpendicular to the extending direction of the lock lever, between the tapered surface and the lock lever inserted through the center thereof; A pair of ball through-holes, in which the balls are rotatably fitted, are provided at opposing positions on both side walls of the groove, and the bottom wall of the groove has a rectangular shape through which the lock lever is inserted. A retainer is provided inside the lock body, which includes a lever insertion hole of the same shape as the above, and a release piece whose tip is bent in a direction away from the lock lever. The first coil spring is externally fitted and built in, and the retainer is biased toward the narrow side of the tapered surface so as to be compressible between the inner wall on the distal end side of the lock body and the distal end surface of the bottom wall of the groove portion of the retainer. The following technical measures have been taken: interposing a second coil spring to prevent the lock lever from coming off, and providing a lever retaining protrusion that protrudes at a midway position of the lock lever and abuts against the tip of the retainer.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the lock of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

First, in the lock shown in FIG. 1 showing the first embodiment of the present invention, the lock main body 1 consists of a box-shaped casing in cross section with one side open, and the inside of the upper end (base end) is screwed or welded. It has a stopper member 2 fixed by means such as the like.

A lock lever 3 for locking that also passes through the stopper member 2 is slidably provided on the lock body 1.

This lock lever 3 has a stepped portion 3a approximately in the middle and is narrow on the locking side, and is always unlocked by a spring 4 interposed between the stepped portion 3a and the inner end wall of the lock body 1 on the locking side. biased in the direction.

The stopper member 2 has a substantially groove-shaped cross section, as shown in more detail in FIGS. 2 and 3, and has a tapered surface 2a on its inner wall that faces the lock lever 3 at a distance therebetween. 2b
is formed.

These tapered surfaces 2a, 2b are formed so that the distance from the lock lever 3 gradually becomes narrower toward the unlocking direction of the lock lever, that is, toward the biasing direction of the spring 4.

Between the tapered surfaces 2a, 2b and the lock lever 3, a plurality of balls 6 (two balls 6 in the illustrated example) are interposed on both sides via a retainer 5.

These balls 6 are urged by a spring 7 via a retainer 5 toward the narrow side of the tapered surface.

The retainer 5 has a release means 8 for pushing the balls 6 against a spring 7.

That is, the retainer 5 of this embodiment has a cross-sectional groove shape, as shown in more detail in FIG.
and a lever insertion hole 5c (see Fig. 3) bored in the bottom wall of the groove, which is integrally formed in the center of one side wall of the groove and extends along the lock lever 3 to the outside of the lock body 1. The release means 8 is the angle piece extending from the front.

In such a retainer 5, the ball through hole 5
It goes without saying that the ball 6 is rotatably fitted into the holes a and 5b, and the lock lever 3 is inserted through the lever insertion hole 5c.

Next, to describe the operation of the first embodiment, when the lock lever 3 is at rest, each ball 6 is pushed into the narrow direction between the tapered surfaces 2a, 2b and the lock lever 3 by the biasing force of the spring 7. ing.

Therefore, the lock lever 3 is held under pressure by the ball 6.

When the lock lever 3 is slid in the locking direction against the spring 4 from this state, the balls 6 in pressure contact with the lock lever 3 are brought into contact with the tapered surfaces 2a and 2.
b slightly in the direction away from the lock lever 3.

Therefore, at the same time as the lock lever 3 starts sliding in the locking direction, the lock by the ball 6 is automatically released and the lock lever 3 smoothly slides to the locking position.

When the lock lever 3 stops sliding when it reaches the locking position, the ball 6 is moved by the spring 7 to the tapered surfaces 2a, 2b.
and the lock lever 3 in the narrow direction.

Therefore, the lock lever 3 is chucked by the wedge action of the ball 6 when the slide stops and is held in the locked state.

That is, when the lock lever 3 slides in the locking direction, the lock lever 3 is automatically unlocked by the ball 6, and when the lock lever 3 stops sliding, the lock lever 3 is automatically locked again by the ball 6.
This locking is smoothly performed at any stroke position of the locking lever 3 in the locking direction.

Since the lock lever 3 can be locked at any stroke position and the lock position (locked position) can be set steplessly, the lock body 1 has a lock receptacle (not shown) into which the tip of the lock lever 3 is inserted. Restrictions on setting the mounting distance to a so-called lock receiving element such as a tool are significantly relaxed.

When the release means 8 is pushed against the biasing spring 7 of the ball 6 while the lock lever 3 is locked in the locked position as described above,
The ball 6 passes through the retainer 5 to the tapered surface 2a,
2b and the lock lever 3 in the wide direction.

Therefore, the locking of the locking lever 3 by the ball 6 is released.

At the same time as the lock is released, the lock lever 3 in the locked position is moved back by the spring 4, thereby being unlocked.

In addition, the reference numeral 9 in FIGS. 1 to 3 is a pin for preventing the lever from coming off, which is provided on the lock lever 3 and is used to engage and disengage the inner end of the retainer 5.

As described above, according to the structure of the present invention, when the locking lever or rod is slid in the locking direction, the locking lever or rod can be automatically locked by an arbitrary stroke.

Furthermore, since this locking is smoothly and reliably performed by the wedge action of the spring-biased ball using the tapered surface, no noise such as metallic sounds is emitted when the lock is locked, and failures are unlikely to occur.

Furthermore, since a plurality of balls are arranged in the width direction of the wide surface of the lock lever, the balls roll along the wide surface of the lock lever, and the balls can roll from the wide surface of the lock lever without providing any guide means on the contact surface side of the lock lever. It can be rolled normally without coming out of contact or shifting to other parts.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a back view of the lock according to the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line -- in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the same main part, and FIG. FIG. 5, which is a perspective view, is a sectional view showing an application example of the lock, and FIG. 6 is a plan view of a ball retainer in the same application example. 1...Lock body, 2a, 2b, 2A...Tapered surface, 3...Lock lever, 4...Spring, 6
...Ball, 7...Spring, 8...Release means.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A lock lever in the form of a plate that slidably passes through a lock main body made of a hollow casing in the longitudinal direction, protrudes outward at both ends, and has a tip end serving as a locking protrusion; and a lock. The lock lever is built into the main body and externally fits the lock lever, and is compressably interposed between the inner wall on the distal end side of the lock main body and a locking part formed at an intermediate position of the lock lever to move the lock lever in the unlocking direction. a first coil spring for energizing; and a taper formed on the proximal end of the lock body so as to sandwich the lock lever from both sides on its wide side, and whose width gradually becomes narrower as the gap thereof approaches the proximal end. and a plurality of balls arranged on both sides of the wide surface of the lock lever so as to be able to roll along the width thereof so as to be perpendicular to the extending direction of the lock lever, between the tapered surface and the lock lever passing through the center thereof. and a rectangular lock lever having a cross-sectional groove shape and having a pair of opposing ball insertion holes in which the balls are rotatably fitted at opposing positions on both side walls of the groove, and a rectangular lock lever in which the lock lever is inserted in the bottom wall of the groove. a retainer having a release piece having a through-hole, extending one groove side wall to protrude outside the lock body, and having a tip bent in a direction away from the lock lever; A coil spring is externally fitted and built in, and is compressably interposed between the inner wall on the distal end side of the lock body and the distal end surface of the groove bottom wall of the retainer to bias the retainer toward the narrow side of the tapered surface. A lock comprising: a second coil spring, and a lever retaining protrusion that is protruded to a midway position of the lock lever and abuts against the tip of the retainer.