JP2000225804A - Caster - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a caster which can be easily assembled, with less parts. SOLUTION: A caster has a plastic main body 1 with an upwardly protruding rotational shaft 2 and a downwardly extending wall body 4. The wall body 4 has a circular notched groove 5 with a downward opening 6 which has a width less than a diameter of the circular notched groove 5. A wheel 10 has double plastic wheel members 11, 12 fixed to each other through a plastic rotational shaft 13 having a diameter which is less than that of the circular notched groove 5 and larger than the width of the opening 6. The wheel 10 is rotationally held on the main body 1 with the rotational shaft 13 pressure-fitted and passed through the circular notched groove 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a caster used for moving various kinds of furniture and furniture.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Casters which hold wheels rotatably with respect to a caster body having a rotating shaft for an object to be mounted are widely used. As this type of caster, there is a caster in which a rotating shaft of a wheel is bridged between a pair of wall holes vertically suspended with a gap below the caster body, and a wall shaft vertically suspended below the caster body. There are two types that allow the rotating shaft of a twin wheel to penetrate.

[0003] As a material of the caster, a metal is generally used, and plastic or rubber is used as an auxiliary material.

[0004]

However, in the former caster, the rotating shaft must be bridged over the shaft hole while the wheels are positioned between the pair of walls, and in the latter caster, the rotating shaft is vertically provided. The rotating shaft must be passed through the shaft hole of the wall body, and the wheels must be fixed to the rotating shaft, and the assembly is complicated. In other words, the caster has at least the wheel and the rotating shaft as separate members in addition to the caster body, so that these three types of members must be assembled and time and labor for managing these parts have arisen. Further, in the prior art casters, metal parts are used for the rotating shaft with respect to the mounted body and the rotating shaft of the wheel, and different processes of resin molding and metal working are required in manufacturing, and work efficiency is poor.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and has as its object to provide a caster which can be manufactured efficiently and at low cost. Then, the following two inventions are disclosed.

That is, the caster of the first invention is a circular cutout groove with a lower end of the wall being open on a wall vertically extending below a caster body made of plastic having a rotation shaft projecting upward. And the width of the notch groove on the open side is set to be smaller than the diameter of the circle forming the groove, and the rotation of the plastic having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the circle of the notch groove and larger than the width of the open side is set. A double wheel made of plastic fixed by a shaft is press-fitted into and passed through the cutout groove by the rotating shaft, whereby the wheel is rotatably held on the caster body.

A caster according to a second aspect of the present invention is a circular cutout groove with a lower end of the wall being open on a wall vertically extending below a caster body made of plastic having a rotation shaft projecting upward. Provided, after inserting the rotating shaft of a plastic double wheel fixed by a plastic rotating shaft having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the notch groove circle into the notch groove,
The wheel is rotatably held on the caster body by making the open side of the notch groove narrower than the rotation axis of the wheel by heating.

The most important feature of the caster of the present invention is that the prior art that the rotating shaft of the wheel is passed through the shaft hole of the caster body is omitted. The casters of the present invention are intended for use in furniture and furniture. Normal,
These articles are lifted off the floor when being brought into the installation location, but are always located on the floor in the subsequent use. Therefore, in the shaft hole of the caster, a large load is always applied to the upper portion of the shaft hole from the rotating shaft, but there is no chance that the rotating shaft comes into contact with the lower portion as well as the load. That is, in the caster, unlike the shaft hole in the normal bearing, it is not necessary to consider the load from the rotating shaft in the 360-degree circumferential direction of the shaft hole, and it is sufficient to simply consider only the load on the upper portion. .

The inventor of the present application has focused on the above facts and extended the present invention, and the greatest feature of the present invention is that a shaft hole is employed for rotatably holding a rotating shaft of a wheel. The stop is replaced by a circular cutout groove. In this case, since the groove bottom side of the notch groove is directed upward of the caster, in the above-mentioned normal use situation where the wheels of the caster are in contact with the floor surface, there is no difference in operation from the conventional shaft hole. There is no. On the other hand, if the caster separates from the floor for any reason, it is only necessary to consider prevention of the wheel from falling off from the caster body.In the present invention, the width of the cutout groove on the open side is adjusted by the rotation of the wheel. Need to be narrower than the axis. In the first invention, a means for press-fitting and passing the rotating shaft into an open side where the rotating shaft is narrowed in advance is adopted. In the second invention, after the rotating shaft is inserted into the cutout groove, the open side is heated by heating. Means for narrowing is adopted.

A second feature of the present invention is that the constituent members of the caster including the rotating shaft of the wheel are made of plastic. In the present invention, the selection of the material causes not only the unifying operation such as the unification of the manufacturing process and the easiness of the forming process but also the following combined operation. First, due to the characteristics of plastic that can be expected to have a certain degree of elasticity, it is possible to press-fit and pass the rotating shaft to the open side of the cutout groove in the first invention. Secondly, due to the characteristics of the plastic having thermoplasticity, the open side of the notch groove in the second invention is heated to enable deformation in the narrow direction due to softening or melting.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, a specific embodiment of a caster of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure 1 shows the first
It is a figure which shows the Example of the caster of this invention. Symbol 1 in the figure
Is a caster body, and a rotating shaft 2 above the caster body 1 for being inserted into a shaft hole or the like of an attached body.
Is formed integrally, and a wall 4 is integrally formed below the wheel via a wheel cover 3 for covering the outer shape of the wheel. A notch groove 5 is provided. In this embodiment, the caster body 1 is integrally formed of polycarbonate in consideration of strength. Reference numeral 7 in the figure denotes a sleeve prepared for the rotating shaft 2 so as to correspond to the shaft hole diameters of a plurality of types of attached bodies.

Next, reference numeral 10 in the figure denotes a double wheel.
The wheel 10 has a configuration in which a pair of wheels 11 and 12 are connected by a rotating shaft 13. And the said caster main body 1
The diameter of the circle of the notch groove 5 is larger than the diameter of the rotating shaft 13 of the wheel 10, and the width of the open side 6 of the notch groove is smaller than the diameter of the rotating shaft. In this embodiment, the wheel 10 is integrally formed of polypropylene in consideration of elasticity. The wheel 10 may be, for example, a wheel in which the wheel 11 is joined to or fitted to the wheel 12 and the rotating shaft 13 integrally formed.

In the caster of the above embodiment, only two members are a caster body 1 integrally formed and a wheel 10 integrally formed or assembled.
When assembling, if the rotating shaft 13 of the wheel 10 is press-fitted into the notch groove 5 of the caster body 1 from the open side 6, the rotating shaft passes through the open side due to deformation of both, and is loosely fitted and held in the notch groove. Will be done.

On the other hand, the caster embodiment of the second invention is the same as the previous embodiment except that the width of the open side 6 of the cutout groove 5 of the caster body 1 is larger than the diameter of the rotating shaft 13 of the wheel 10. I do. And in the case of the second invention,
After inserting the rotating shaft of the wheel into the notch groove, the open side of the notch groove is heated and softened or melted to narrow the width, so that the rotating shaft passes through the open side and loosely fits into the notch groove. Will be retained.

[0015]

The present invention having the above configuration has the following specific effects. Since it is possible to assemble the caster with only the caster body and the two members of the wheel, the assembling process becomes more efficient and the parts management becomes easier. As described above, since it has a configuration suitable for manufacturing from plastic, it is excellent in moldability, and it is possible to realize a low-cost caster in combination with the above-described ease of assembly efficiency.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a caster according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a front view, partially cut away, of the above.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Caster main body 2 Rotation axis 4 Wall body 5 Notch groove 6 Open side of (notch groove) 10 Wheel 13 Rotation axis

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A circular cut-out groove having a lower end of a wall opened on a wall vertically extending below a caster body made of plastic having a rotating shaft protruding upward, and the cut-out groove is provided with a notch. The width of the open side is set to be smaller than the diameter of the circle constituting the groove, and the plastic is fixed by a plastic rotating shaft having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the notch groove and larger than the open side width. A caster characterized in that a twin wheel is rotatably held on a caster body by press-fitting and passing a rotating shaft of the two wheels into the notch groove. 2. A circular cut-out groove having a lower end of the wall opened on a wall vertically extending below a caster body made of plastic having a rotating shaft protruding upward, and a circle of the cut-out groove is provided. After inserting the rotating shaft of a plastic double wheel fixed by a plastic rotating shaft having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the notch groove into the notch groove, the open side of the notch groove is heated to a width wider than the rotation shaft of the wheel. A caster characterized in that the wheels are rotatably held on the caster body by being narrow.