JPH0789301A - Lock device for caster wheel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To contrive a simple and simultaneous lock on rolling of wheels around horizontal and vertical axes and rotation of a support shaft by selecting lock and release conditions of first and second lock members supported with an inner member so as to be locked/released freely on/from first and second internal gears on the wheel inside surface, at a touch. CONSTITUTION:A first lock mechanism 6 is formed so as to lock/release a lock pin 16 fitted in an inner case on/from a first internal gear 19 of an outer case 3 through a compression coil spring 17 and a release lever 18. A projection 24 of a lock lever 21 pivoted on a holder member 20 energized by a compression coil spring 22 and a second internal gear 23 formed on an inside surface of a rolling wheel 8, are made to be locked on and released from each other, and a second lock mechanism 9 is formed. When both lock mechanisms 6 and 9 are locked, and when a release button 26 is pushed in, engagement between both lock mechanisms 6 and 9 is released and held through release levers 18 and 21 and a center pin 27, and when the release button 26 is pushed in again, it is put in a lock condition. Thereby since wheels around horizontal and vertical shafts are locked simultaneously by a single operation, operability can be enhanced in a small type.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a locking device for caster wheels, and more particularly to a locking device for caster wheels which is improved so as to achieve both high operability and miniaturization.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A so-called caster wheel configured to rotatably support a wheel receiver, which supports a wheel so as to be rotatable about a horizontal axis, is rotatable about a vertical axis offset in the front-rear direction from the horizontal axis. It is widely used in the legs of furniture, measurement / control equipment, and audio / video equipment.

The performance required for the caster wheels is not only the smoothness of rolling when moving, but also the stability when stopped when the stationary state is the original use state such as a partition or a blackboard. Sex is also an important requirement.

In order to meet such demand, conventionally, a caster wheel of a type in which a lock device for preventing the wheel from rotating is incorporated in a wheel receiver, or a screw type jack-up device is separately provided, As a result, the caster wheels can be completely floated.

[0005]

However, the conventional locking device incorporated in the wheel receiver is generally only capable of locking the rolling of the wheel about the horizontal axis, and the rotation about the vertical axis. None of them could lock at the same time. Therefore, even if the wheel itself can be prevented from rolling, it cannot prevent the wheel from rotating around the vertical axis, and cannot completely prevent the wheel receiver from turning around the ground contact point of the wheel. It was Further, in the case of the screw type jack-up device, the action of the caster wheels can be completely canceled, but the operation is complicated and it is not suitable for a device that is moved frequently.

The present invention has been devised in order to eliminate such disadvantages of the prior art, and its main purpose is to:
It is an object of the present invention to provide a locking device for a caster wheel that can lock the rolling of a wheel about a horizontal axis and the rotation of a support shaft about a vertical axis simultaneously and easily.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided an inner member for rotatably supporting a wheel around a horizontal axis, and a vertical axis around which the inner member is offset from the horizontal axis. A locking device for a caster wheel having an outer member rotatably supported with respect to the first inner toothed gear formed on a surface of the outer member facing the inner member; A first lock member supported by the inner member so as to be disengageably attached to the internal gear, a second internal gear formed on a side surface of the wheel, and the inner member being disengageably attached to the second internal gear. By providing a lock device for caster wheels, the lock device having a second lock member supported by the first lock member and a selection means for selecting an engaged / disengaged state of the first and second lock members. It is made.

[0008]

With this structure, the outer member and the inner member are made to engage each other by engaging the first lock member supported by the inner member with the first internal gear formed on the outer member. Relative rotation is no longer possible, ie rotation about the vertical axis is locked. Then, the rolling of the wheel is locked by engaging the second lock member supported by the inner member with the second internal gear formed on the wheel.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The structure of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to specific embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

1 and 2 show a caster wheel with a locking device constructed according to the present invention. This caster wheel 1 is used by being fixedly attached to the bottom surface of a leg portion 2 such as a table or a chair, and has a relatively shallow bottomed outer case 3 having an open lower surface and an outer case 3. It has an inner case 5 which is rotatably combined with the outer case 3 via a large number of balls 4 arranged on the circumference of the outer peripheral portion of the inner surface of the bottom wall.

The inner case 5 is completely received inside the outer case 3, and a first lock mechanism 6 for disabling relative rotation between the outer case 3 and the inner case 5 is provided inside the inner case 5. , A pair of auxiliary wheels 7 for protecting the first lock mechanism 6, and a pair of rolling wheels 8
And a second lock mechanism 9 for disabling the rolling of the rolling wheels 8. Also, the outer case 3
A selection mechanism 10 for selecting the operating state and the released state of the first and second lock mechanisms 6 and 9 is provided on the upper surface of the.

The pair of rolling wheels 8 are mounted on a horizontal shaft 12 mounted on a bearing portion 11 formed at a position offset from the center axis of rotation of the inner case 5 relative to the outer case 3 and an appropriate axis line. It is pivotally attached at intervals.

As described above, the outer case 3 and the inner case 5 are relatively rotatably engaged with each other through the plurality of balls 4, but these are located at the center of the inner surface of the bottom wall of the outer case 3. The protruding bosses 13 are fitted into the center holes 14 of the inner case 5 to prevent them from coming off. The first locking mechanism 6 for locking around the vertical axis has the rolling wheels 8 with these central axes sandwiched therebetween.
It is provided at a position facing.

The first lock mechanism 6 has a lock pin 16 slidably fitted in a guide hole 15 provided in the inner case 5 in the radial direction, and elastically biases the lock pin 16 in the lock direction. For forming a compression coil spring 17, a lock lever 16, and a release lever 18 pivotally supported in a seesaw-like manner to give a displacement in the releasing direction. And a first internal gear 19. Then, by pushing the outer end of the lock pin 16 into the concave portion of the first internal gear 19,
The outer case 3 and the inner case 5 are prevented from rotating with respect to each other.

The second lock mechanism 9 is provided between the pair of rolling wheels 8. The second lock mechanism 9 includes a holder member 20 supported by the horizontal shaft 12 together with the rolling wheels 8.
And a lock lever 21 whose outer end is pivotally supported by the holder member 20 so as to be tiltable up and down, and an inner end of the lock lever 21 and a holder for constantly biasing the inner end of the lock lever 21 upward. It is composed of a compression coil spring 22 that is compressed between the member 20 and a second internal gear 23 that is formed on the axial end faces of the pair of rolling wheels 8 that face each other. Then, the projection 24 provided on the upper surface of the central portion of the lock lever 21 meshes with the concave portion of the second internal gear 23, so that the rolling wheel 8 is prevented from rotating.

The selection mechanism 10 provided on the upper surface of the outer case 3 is exposed from the upper surface of the leg portion 2 such as a table,
It can be operated from above. This selection mechanism 1
Reference numeral 0 denotes a lock button 25, a release button 26, a center pin 27 pushed down by the release button 26, and a compression coil spring 28 provided in the release button 26 so as to always elastically bias the release button 26 upward. Consists of a release lever 1
The center pin 27 is pushed up by the upward pushing force of both compression coil springs 17 and 22 acting on the inner ends of the two levers 8 and the lock lever 21, and the locked state is held. Also, the lock pin 16
When the outer end of the wheel contacts the peak of the first internal gear 19 of the outer case 3 and the protrusion 24 of the lock lever 21 contacts the peak of the second internal gear 23 of the rolling wheel 8, The pin 27 remains lowered, but at this time, the release button 26 is pushed up by the compression coil spring 28 provided in the release button 26.

Next, the operating procedure of the above embodiment will be described. When the release button 26 is pushed in the locked state shown in FIG. 1, the center pin 27 is pushed down and the two levers 1
The inner ends of 8 ・ 21 are pushed down together. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the lock pin 16 is pulled inward by the lever action of the release lever 18, and the engagement with the first internal gear 19 of the outer case 3 is released. At the same time, the engagement between the second internal gear 23 of the rolling wheel 8 and the protrusion 24 of the lock lever 21 is released. As a result, the rolling wheels 8 are allowed to roll, and at the same time, the outer case 3 and the inner case 5 are allowed to rotate relative to each other, so that the wheels can function as caster wheels. At this time, the release button 26
The lock button 2 on the claw 29 protruding from the side surface of the release button 26.
When the latch 30 provided on the 5 side is engaged, the pushed state is maintained. The latch 30 is made of a synthetic resin material having a high elasticity, and the lock button 25
Due to the action of the spring piece 31 extended so as to come into contact with the inner surface of the release button 26, the spring button 31 is always elastically biased in the direction in which it engages with the claw 29 of the release button 26.

When the lock button 25 is pushed in, the latch 30 is pushed away and the engagement with the claw 29 of the release button 26 is released. Then, since the downward holding force of the center pin 27 disappears, the lock lever 21 is pushed up by the elastic force of the compression coil spring 22, and at the same time, the lock pin 16 is pushed out by the elastic force of the compression coil spring 17. As a result, the first and second lock mechanisms 6 and 9 are brought into the operating state shown in FIG.

The small-diameter auxiliary wheel 7 prevents the release lever 18 of the first lock mechanism 6 from hitting a projection on the floor and allows the vehicle to smoothly get over a large step. Is equipped with.

Further, in the above embodiment, the selecting means 10 is divided into the lock button 25 and the release button 26. This is, for example, a known alternate latch which is push lock / push free by applying a heart cam. It is also possible to adopt the structure of the mechanism.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, the so-called one-touch operation can simultaneously perform the lock about the horizontal axis and the lock about the vertical axis, and the overall size does not increase. Moreover, by adopting the configuration shown in the above-mentioned embodiment, the upper surface can be operated, so that the operability is extremely higher than that of the conventional lock mechanism.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a locked state of a device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view showing the lock operation state of the device of the present invention by partially cutting away.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view similar to FIG. 1, showing an unlocked state of the device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Caster Wheel 2 Leg 3 Outer Case 4 Ball 5 Inner Case 6 First Lock Mechanism 7 Auxiliary Wheel 8 Rolling Wheel 9 Second Lock Mechanism 10 Selection Mechanism 11 Bearing 12 Horizontal Shaft 13 Boss 14 Center Hole 15 Guide Hole 16 Lock Pin 17 Compression coil spring 18 Release lever 19 First internal gear 20 Holder member 21 Lock lever 22 Compression coil spring 23 Second internal gear 24 Protrusion 25 Lock button 26 Release button 27 Center pin 28 Compression coil spring 29 Claw 30 Latch 31 Spring leaf

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A caster wheel having an inner member for supporting a wheel to be rotatable about a horizontal axis and an outer member for supporting the inner member to be rotatable about a vertical axis offset from the horizontal axis. And a first internal gear that is formed on a surface of the outer member that faces the inner member, and a first internal gear that is supported by the inner member so as to be disengageable from the first internal gear. 1 lock member, a second internal gear formed on a side surface of the wheel, a second lock member supported by the inner member so as to be detachable from the second internal gear, the first and second A locking device for a caster wheel, comprising: a selecting means for selecting an engaged / disengaged state of both locking members.