JP4576164B2 - Adjuster and caster device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an adjuster and caster device that is attached to an object to be attached such as various devices, furniture, display fixtures, etc., and includes both a wheel that facilitates movement of the object to be attached and a mechanism that adjusts the height. .

  As an example of a conventional adjuster and caster device of this type, there is one described in FIG. In this conventional adjuster and caster device, a wheel support is supported by a base body attached to an attachment so as to be rotatable about an axis extending in the vertical direction, and the wheel is rotatably supported by the wheel support. ing. Further, on the lower side of the base body, an elevating shaft extending in the vertical direction is supported so as to be rotatable about its own axis and not movable in the axial direction in a state concentric with the rotational axis of the wheel support relative to the base body. The rotary shaft has a generally disk-shaped rotation operation unit fixed to the lifting shaft. The lower end side of the elevating shaft is screwed to the floor contact body, and the floor contact body can be moved up and down with respect to the wheel support and cannot rotate.

  And in the state which attached the base | substrate to the to-be-attached object, a flooring body can be raised / lowered with respect to a raising / lowering axis | shaft, a base | substrate, a wheel support body, and a wheel by rotating a raising / lowering axis | shaft through a rotation operation part. As a result, if the bottom of the floor contact body is pulled upward from the lowermost part of the wheel, the floor contact body is lifted from the floor surface, and the wheel is brought into contact with the floor surface to roll on the floor surface. The attached object can be easily moved above. Also, if the bottom of the floor contact body is lowered below the lowermost part of the wheel, the floor contact body comes into contact with the floor surface, and the wheel is lifted from the floor surface. The height of the attached object relative to the surface can be adjusted.

Since this adjuster and caster device can make the rotation shaft of the wheel support relative to the base and the screwing shaft of the lift shaft relative to the base concentric, the overall size can be made relatively small.
Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2001-0025833 Specification

  However, the conventional adjuster and caster device has the following problems.

(A) In order to make the floor contact body non-rotatable with respect to the wheel support body, the wheel support body needs to be shaped so as to surround the rotation operation section and the floor contact body, and the opening portion provided in the wheel support body Since the rotation operation unit must be rotated through, it is difficult to rotate the rotation operation unit, and therefore it is difficult to adjust the height.
(B) As described in the previous section, the wheel support body needs to have a shape surrounding the rotary operation unit and the floor contact body, so that the wheel support body becomes relatively large and the manufacturing cost increases.
(C) since the wheel support and the Seyyuka body is impossible rotated to one another, it is not possible to rotate the wheel support relative to the substrate in a state where the contact bed is in contact with the floor surface For this reason, even if the wheel support comes to an obstructing position, it cannot be rotated to an unobstructed position.

  In addition, the adjuster and caster device described in FIGS. 2 to 6 of Patent Document 1 is configured to rotate the rotation operation unit via the ratchet mechanism in order to solve the problem (a). This complicates the configuration, increases the overall size of the apparatus, and increases the manufacturing cost.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional situation, and one object of the present invention is an adjuster that can easily operate the rotary operation unit with a simple configuration and can easily adjust the height. An object is to provide a caster device.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide an adjuster and caster device capable of reducing the manufacturing cost while reducing the size of the wheel support.

  Another object of the present invention is to allow the wheel support to rotate with respect to the base body even when the floor-contacting body is in contact with the floor surface. It is an object of the present invention to provide an adjuster and caster device that can be rotated to a position that does not become the same.

  Another object of the present invention is to reliably and easily perform an operation for bringing the flooring body into a state where the flooring body is sufficiently pulled up from the floor surface and an operation for lowering the flooring body from a state where the flooring body is pulled up sufficiently large and contacting the floor surface. It is another object of the present invention to provide an adjuster and caster device that can be performed quickly.

  Still other objects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description.

The adjuster and caster device according to the present invention is
A base to be attached to the attachment;
A cylindrical portion provided in the base body and extending in the vertical direction;
A screw hole provided in the cylindrical portion and extending in the vertical direction;
A wheel support body that has a boss portion and is supported on the base body so as to be rotatable about an axis extending in the vertical direction by being fitted to the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion at the boss portion ;
A wheel rotatably supported by the wheel support;
A male screw portion is provided on the outer periphery, and is movable in the axial direction within a predetermined range with respect to the base body in a state where the axial direction is directed in the vertical direction, and at least of the movable range in the axial direction. In a partial range, an elevating shaft that is in a state where the male screw portion is screwed to a female screw portion provided on the inner periphery of the screw hole ,
A rotation operation unit that rotates together with the lifting shaft;
A floor-attached body rotatably attached to the lower end portion of the elevating shaft ;
The boss portion is screwed in the radial direction of the boss portion, and is tightened and the tip is pressed against the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion, so that the rotational position of the wheel support relative to the base body is set to a desired position. A set screw that can be fixed ,
The range in which the lifting shaft can move in the axial direction with respect to the base body is a position where the bottom of the floor contact body is lowered from the lowermost portion of the wheel and a position where the bottom is raised from the lowermost portion of the wheel. It's in the meantime.

  In this adjuster and caster device, the floor contact body can be lifted and lowered with respect to the base body, the wheel support body and the wheel by lifting and lowering the lifting shaft with respect to the base body. Therefore, in a state where the base body is attached to the object to be attached and the lifting shaft is screwed to the base body, the lifting shaft is rotated through the rotation operation unit to raise the lifting shaft, and the bottom of the flooring body is placed at the bottom of the wheel. If the floor is pulled up further, the floor contact body is lifted from the floor surface, and the wheel is brought into contact with the floor surface to roll on the floor surface, so that the object to be attached can be easily moved on the floor surface. Further, in a state where the lifting shaft is screwed to the base body, if the lifting shaft is rotated through the rotation operation unit to lower the lifting shaft, and the bottom of the flooring body is moved downward from the lowermost part of the wheel, The floor-contacting body comes into contact with the floor surface, and the wheels are lifted from the floor surface, and the height of the attached object with respect to the floor surface can be adjusted in accordance with the lifting shaft and the amount of lifting of the floor-contacting body. In addition, since the floor contact body is rotatable with respect to the lifting shaft, even if the floor contact body contacts the floor surface, the rotation of the lifting shaft is not hindered.

  In this adjuster and caster device, the rotating shaft of the wheel support relative to the base and the screwing shaft of the lifting shaft relative to the base can be concentric or close to each other, so that the size can be reduced.

  In addition, since the floor contact body and the wheel support body are rotatable with respect to each other, it is not necessary to make the wheel support body have a shape surrounding the rotation operation unit and the floor contact body. Therefore, since the rotation operation unit can be completely exposed or largely exposed from the wheel support, the rotation operation unit can be easily operated with a simple configuration, and the height can be easily adjusted.

In addition, as described above, the wheel support body does not need to have a shape surrounding the rotation operation unit and the floor contact body, so that the wheel support body can be reduced in size and the manufacturing cost can be reduced. Since the support body is rotatable with respect to each other, the wheel support body can be rotated with respect to the base body even when the floor contact body is in contact with the floor surface. If it is in the correct position, it can be rotated to an unobstructed position.

The adjuster and caster device of the present invention is
(A) Easy operation of the rotary operation unit with a simple configuration and easy height adjustment.
(B) The wheel support can be reduced in size and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.
(C) Even when the floor-contacting body is in contact with the floor surface, the wheel support can be rotated with respect to the base, and when the wheel support is in an obstructive position, the wheel support is rotated to an unobstructed position. Can be
Such excellent effects can be obtained.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on embodiments shown in the drawings.

  1 to 6 show Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In this embodiment, the base body 2 of the adjuster / caster device 1 is made of a metal such as steel, and a circular base portion 2a and a regular hexagonal tool fitting protruding from the base portion 2a concentrically with the base portion 2a. The part 2b, the mounting screw shaft 2c rising upward from the center of the tool fitting part 2b, and the cylindrical part 2d (see FIGS. 5 and 6) extending downward from the base part 2a are integrally provided. Yes. A male screw portion 3 is provided on the outer periphery of the mounting screw shaft 2c. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the cylindrical portion 2d is concentric with the mounting screw shaft 2c and is provided with a screw hole 4 along the center line thereof. The screw hole 4 opens at the lower end of the cylindrical portion 2d. A female screw portion 5 is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the screw hole 4 over almost the entire length thereof.

  The wheel support 6 is made of a plastic such as polyacetal resin or a metal such as steel, and integrally includes a boss portion 6a and an arm portion 6b. A flange portion 6c is integrally provided on the upper portion of the boss portion 6a. The wheel support 6 is rotatably fitted to the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion 2d at the boss portion 6a. Thereby, the wheel support body 6 is supported by the base 2 so as to be rotatable about an axis extending in the vertical direction. Near the lower end portion of the cylindrical portion 2d is projected from the boss portion 6a, and the wheel support 6 is prevented from coming off from the boss portion 6a by fitting the retaining ring 7 to the projected portion, and It cannot move in the vertical direction with respect to the base 2. A bearing 8 is interposed between the upper surface of the boss portion 6 a and the lower surface of the base portion 2 a of the base body 2 so that the wheel support 6 rotates smoothly with respect to the base body 2. The arm portion 6b of the wheel support 6 extends obliquely downward from the boss portion 6a, and a roller-like wheel 9 is supported at the lower end of the arm portion 6b so as to be rotatable about a rotating shaft 10 extending in the lateral direction. Has been.

  A male screw portion 12 provided on the outer periphery of a lifting shaft 11 made of a metal such as steel is screwed into the female screw portion 5 of the screw hole 4 of the base 2. Therefore, the rotating shaft of the wheel support 6 with respect to the base 2 and the screwing shaft of the elevating shaft 11 with respect to the base 2 are concentric. The total length of the male screw portion 12 is greater than or equal to the total length of the female screw portion 5. A circular knob-like rotary operation portion 13 made of plastic such as polyacetal resin is fixed to a portion of the lift shaft 11 that protrudes below the cylindrical portion 2d, and rotates integrally with the lift shaft 11. It is supposed to be. The rotation operation unit 13 may be formed integrally with the lifting shaft 11. The lower end portion of the elevating shaft 11 is lightly squeezed at the lower end portion, so that a substantially disc-shaped floor contact body 15 made of plastic such as polyacetal resin is rotatable with respect to the elevating shaft 11 and axially ( It is attached so that it cannot move in the vertical direction. A set screw 14 is screwed into the boss portion 6a in the radial direction. In this embodiment, the set screw 14 constitutes a wheel support rotational position fixing means. If the set screw 14 is tightened and the tip of the set screw 14 is pressed against the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion 2d, the base body The rotation position of the wheel support 6 with respect to 2 can be fixed at a desired position.

Next, the usage method and operation of the present embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 5, the male thread portion 3 of the mounting screw shaft 2 c is screwed into the screw hole 17 provided in the bottom portion of the attachment object 16 until the tool fitting portion 2 b comes into contact with the bottom portion of the attachment object 16. Thus, the base 2 is attached to the attachment 16. When the mounting screw shaft 2c is screwed into the screw hole 4 in this way, it can be performed by fitting a tool such as a wrench into the regular hexagonal tool fitting portion 2b and rotating the base 2. (Of course, you can screw it in if you can). Usually, the adjuster and caster device 1 is attached to each of the four corners of the bottom of one attachment 16 (a total of four adjusters are attached).

  In the state where the base body 2 is attached to the attachment 16 as described above, when the lifting shaft 11 is rotated together with the rotation operation unit 13, the lifting shaft 11 is moved together with the floor contact body 15 to the base body 2 and the wheel support body 6. And the vehicle can move up and down with respect to the wheel 9. Thus, if the bottom of the floor contact body 15 is pulled upward from the lowermost part of the wheel 9 as shown in FIG. 5, the floor contact body 15 is lifted from the floor surface 18, and the wheel 9 is brought into contact with the floor surface 18. As shown by the arrow A, the object 16 can be easily moved on the floor surface 18 by rolling on the floor surface 18.

  If the bottom of the floor contact body 15 is moved downward from the lowermost part of the wheel 9 as shown in FIG. 6, the floor contact body 15 comes into contact with the floor surface 18, and the wheel 9 is lifted from the floor surface 18. As shown in FIG. 6, the height of the attachment 16 with respect to the floor surface 18 can be adjusted according to the lifting / lowering shaft 11 and the raising / lowering amount of the floor contact body 15. Since the floor contact body 15 is rotatable with respect to the lift shaft 11, even if the floor contact body 15 contacts the floor surface 18, the rotation of the lift shaft 11 is not hindered.

  In this adjuster and caster device 1, the rotation shaft of the wheel support 6 with respect to the base 2 and the screwing shaft of the elevating shaft 11 with respect to the base 2 are concentric.

  Further, since the floor contact body 15 and the wheel support body 6 are rotatable with respect to each other, the wheel support body 6 does not need to have a shape surrounding the rotation operation unit 13 and the floor contact body 15. Therefore, since the rotation operation part 13 can be exposed completely or largely from the wheel support body 6, it is easy to operate the rotation operation part 13 with a simple configuration, and the height can be adjusted easily.

In addition, as described above, the wheel support 6 does not need to have a shape surrounding the rotation operation unit 13 and the floor contact body 15, so that the wheel support 6 can be reduced in size and the manufacturing cost can be reduced. Since the floor 15 and the wheel support 6 are rotatable with respect to each other, the wheel support 6 can be rotated with respect to the base body 2 even when the floor contact 15 is in contact with the floor 18. Therefore, when the wheel support 6 is in an obstructive position, it can be rotated as shown by an arrow D in FIG. If the set screw 14 is tightened after rotating the wheel support 6 to an appropriate position, the rotation position of the wheel support 6 relative to the base body 2 can be fixed at that position.

  FIG. 7 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the mounting screw shaft 2c is longer than that in the first embodiment, and a lock nut 19 is screwed into the male thread portion 3 of the mounting screw shaft 2c. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment.

  In the present embodiment, not only can the height be adjusted by rotating the elevating shaft 11 together with the rotation operation unit 13 as in the case of the first embodiment, but also the screw hole 17 of the attachment 16. The height can also be adjusted by adjusting the screwing depth of the mounting screw shaft 2c. For this reason, the maximum possible range of height adjustment can be enlarged as a whole. After the height adjustment by adjusting the screwing depth of the mounting screw shaft 2c with respect to the screw hole 17 of the attachment 16 is completed, the lock nut 19 is tightened as shown by the arrow B in FIG. The height can be locked.

  FIG. 8 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the base body 2 is not provided with the tool fitting portion 2b and the mounting screw shaft 2c, and the base portion 2a is wider than in the case of the first embodiment. 16 can be attached. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment.

  Also in the present embodiment, the same operation and effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained except that the attachment method to the attachment 16 is different from that in the first embodiment.

  The floor surface 18 is not necessarily flat. If the floor surface 18 is not flat, the flooring body 18 intended to be lifted from the floor surface 18 will move to the wheels 9 unless the flooring body 15 is raised sufficiently high when the attachment 16 is moved. There is a risk that the floor surface 18 may come into contact with the floor surface 18 in the process of rolling on the floor surface 18.

  However, in each of the embodiments, in order to raise the floor contact 15 sufficiently large, the elevating shaft 11 must be rotated many times. Further, the height adjustment is performed so that the flooring body 15 is raised sufficiently large for the movement of the attachment 16 to reach the installation place of the attachment 18 and the attachment 18 is installed at that position. In order to perform the operation, the elevating shaft 11 must be rotated many times to be lowered. The conventional adjuster and caster device described in Patent Document 1 has the same problem.

  The fourth embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 9 to 11 solves such a problem. FIG. 9 shows a state in which the elevating shaft 11 is extracted from the screw hole 4 in this embodiment. As well shown in the figure, in this embodiment, the screw hole 4 of the base body 2 is provided with a female screw portion 5 only in the vicinity of the lower end portion thereof. On the other hand, the elevating shaft 11 is provided with a male screw portion 12 only in the vicinity of the upper end portion. Accordingly, when the elevating shaft 11 does not rise above a certain level with respect to the base body 2 and is on the lower side, the male screw portion 12 is screwed with the female screw portion 5 as shown in FIG. When the elevating shaft 11 is raised above the base 2 by rotating the elevating shaft 11, the male screw portion 12 is disengaged from the screwed state with the female screw portion 5.

  Unlike the embodiments described above, the mounting screw shaft 2c is separate from the base 2 and is fixed to the base 2 by being screwed to the base 2 (however, each of the above-described embodiments). Similarly to the example, the mounting screw shaft 2c may be provided integrally with the base 2). Between the mounting screw shaft 2 c and the lifting shaft 11, an urging means 21 including a tension coil spring for urging the lifting shaft 11 upward with respect to the base 2 is interposed. Other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  In this embodiment, when the male screw portion 12 and the female screw portion 5 are disengaged, the lifting shaft 11 is lifted upward by the restoring force of the urging means 21 as shown in FIG. It goes up. Therefore, even if the floor surface 18 is not flat, when the wheel 9 rolls on the floor surface 18 to move the attachment 16, the floor contact body 15 comes into contact with the floor surface 18 against the intention. Fear can be prevented.

  Next, when reaching the installation location and adjusting the height to install the attached object 18 there, the rotary operation unit 13 is pinched and the lifting shaft 11 is moved against the biasing means 21. By pulling down, the lifting shaft 11 can be greatly lowered at once, and when the male screw portion 12 and the female screw portion 5 come into contact with each other, the lifting shaft 11 is rotated so that the male screw portion 12 and the female screw portion 5 are screwed together. If the elevating shaft 11 is lowered, the height can be adjusted in the state shown in FIG. 11 as in the case of the above embodiments.

  Next, when it is desired to move the attachment 16, if the elevating shaft 11 is rotated and raised through the rotation operation unit 13 to the position where the male screw part 12 is disengaged from the female screw part 5, thereafter, the biasing means 21. Due to the restoring force, the elevating shaft 11 is pulled upward at once, and is greatly raised together with the floor contact body 15 as shown in FIG.

  In this way, in this embodiment, the operation for setting the floor contact body 15 to a state where the floor contact body 15 is sufficiently lifted from the floor surface 18, and conversely, the floor contact body 15 is lowered from the state where the floor contact body 15 is sufficiently lifted to contact the floor surface 18. The operation can be performed reliably, easily and quickly.

  FIG. 12 shows a fifth embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a ring-shaped lower bearing receiving portion 22 is fitted in the vicinity of the lower end portion of the cylindrical portion 2d of the base 2. Further, a flange portion 6 d is integrally provided at the lower end portion of the boss portion 6 a of the wheel support 6. And the bearing 8 is interposed not only between the upper surface of the boss | hub part 6a and the lower surface of the base part 2a of the base | substrate 2, but between the lower surface of the boss | hub part 6a and the upper surface of the lower bearing receiving part 22. FIG. . Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment.

In this embodiment, in addition to the same effects as those of the first embodiment, the bearing 8 is interposed in two stages above and below the wheel support 6 so that it can withstand high loads. is there.

In each of the above embodiments, the wheel 9 is in the form of a roller, but the wheel may be spherical.

  In each of the above embodiments, the rotation operation unit 13 always rotates integrally with the lifting shaft 11. For example, a ratchet mechanism is interposed between the rotation operation unit 13 and the lifting shaft 11. The rotation operation unit 13 and the lifting shaft 11 may be configured to rotate integrally only when necessary.

  As described above, the adjuster and caster device according to the present invention is useful as a device that is attached to an object to be attached such as various equipment, furniture, display fixtures, etc. to facilitate the movement of the object to be attached and to adjust the height. is there.

It is a perspective view which shows Example 1 of the adjuster and caster apparatus by this invention. It is a front view which shows the said Example 1. FIG. It is a side view which shows the said Example 1. FIG. It is a top view which shows the said Example 1. FIG. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the state which moves a to-be-attached object in the said Example 1 (a cross-sectional position is equivalent to the VV line of FIG. 4). It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the state which performs height adjustment in the said Example 1. FIG. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows Example 2 of the adjuster and caster apparatus by this invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows Example 3 of the adjuster and caster apparatus by this invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows Example 4 of the adjuster and caster apparatus by this invention in the state which extracted the raising / lowering shaft from the screw hole of the base | substrate. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the state which moves a to-be-attached object in the said Example 4. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the state which performs height adjustment in the said Example 4. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows Example 5 of the adjuster and caster apparatus by this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Adjuster and caster device 2 Base body 4 Screw hole 5 Female thread part 6 Wheel support 9 Wheel 10 Wheel rotation shaft 11 Lifting shaft 12 Male screw part 13 Rotation operation part 14 Set screw (wheel support rotation position fixing means)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 Flooring body 16 Attachment object 18 Floor surface 21 Energizing means

Claims (2)

A base to be attached to the attachment;
A cylindrical portion provided in the base body and extending in the vertical direction;
A screw hole provided in the cylindrical portion and extending in the vertical direction;
A wheel support body that has a boss portion and is supported on the base body so as to be rotatable about an axis extending in the vertical direction by being fitted to the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion at the boss portion ;
A wheel rotatably supported by the wheel support;
A male screw portion is provided on the outer periphery, and is movable in the axial direction within a predetermined range with respect to the base body in a state where the axial direction is directed in the vertical direction, and at least of the movable range in the axial direction. In a partial range, an elevating shaft that is in a state where the male screw portion is screwed to a female screw portion provided on the inner periphery of the screw hole ,
A rotation operation unit that rotates together with the lifting shaft;
A floor-attached body rotatably attached to the lower end portion of the elevating shaft ;
It is screwed to the boss portion in the radial direction of the boss portion, and is tightened so that the tip is pressed against the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion, so that the rotational position of the wheel support relative to the base body is set to a desired position. A set screw that can be fixed ,
The range in which the lifting shaft can move in the axial direction with respect to the base body is a position where the bottom of the floor contact body is lowered from the lowermost portion of the wheel and a position where the bottom is raised from the lowermost portion of the wheel. The adjuster and caster device in between. Claim is concentric to the screwing axis of the external thread portion provided in the elevator shaft with respect to the threaded hole provided in the cylindrical portion of the rotary shaft and the base of the wheel support relative to the base 1 The adjuster and caster device described in 1.

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