AU2020103612A4

AU2020103612A4 - Frame folding and fixing structure

Info

Publication number: AU2020103612A4
Application number: AU2020103612A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Jui-Feng Hsu
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2020-11-23
Filing date: 2020-11-23
Publication date: 2021-02-04
Anticipated expiration: 2028-11-23

Abstract

OF THE DISCLOSURE A frame folding and fixing structure includes: a main body; a plurality of positioning grooves, configured on different sides of the main body; a plurality of support foot stands, coupled pivotally to the main body; and a plurality of 5 positioning assemblies, each configured on one of the support foot stand and including a operation portion, a positioning element configured one side of the operation portion and correspondingly coupled to the positioning groove, and an elastic element configured on one side of the operation portion. With the above structure, the positioning assemblies can be used to fold and fix to store 10 or move the support foot stands, and the operation assemblies are operated to automatically fix the positioning elements in the corresponding positioning grooves with the elastic elements. 1 12 121 122 2 21 22 311 23 33 32 31 3 FIG.1I

Description

1 12 121 122

2

21

22 311 23

33 32 31 3 FIG.1I

TITLE: FRAME FOLDING AND FIXING STRUCTURE

(a) Technical Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a frame folding and fixing structure that

can easily perform the folding action of a frame, thereby allowing the

operation to be convenient, and the fixing structure to be simple.

(b) Description of the Prior Art

The number of common foot stands is three, commonly known as tripods,

and the main fixing manner of the tripods has the following ones: the first one

is to respectively fix the both ends of the cross support on the foot tube and

middle tube, where the foot tube and middle tube are on the same side of cross

support; a hole is respectively opened on the foot tube and middle tube of such

kind of foot stand, and screws or rivets are used to fix the bolts to make the

cross support be directly fixed to the holes of the foot tube and middle tube.

This fixation manner is apt to reduce the structural strength because of holes,

and in order to adjust the fixed bolt, a person must bend or squat down

because the tripod is usually used at a low height, and the fixing bolt must be

aligned with the hole position to carry out fixation, which is quite inconvenient

in operation. The second manner is to respectively connect the both ends of

the cross support with the foot tube an middle tube through extraordinary parts,

and a connecting element is respectively provided on the foot tube and middle tube of such kind of foot stand, and respectively connected with the both end s of the cross support through extraordinary parts; it has a better stability, but the extraordinary parts make the storage volume of the tripod increase and the production and maintenance costs higher.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main object of the present invention is to provide a frame folding and

fixing structure, utilizing elastic positioning assemblies to allow users to easily

unlock, quickly fold and automatically fix support foot stands through

operation portions.

To achieve the above object, the present invention proposes a frame

folding and fixing structure, comprising: a main body; a plurality of

positioning grooves, configured on different sides of the main body; a plurality

of support foot stands, coupled pivotally to the main body; and a plurality of

positioning assemblies, each configured on one of the support foot stand and

comprising a operation portion, a positioning element configured one side of

the operation portion and correspondingly coupled to the positioning groove,

and an elastic element configured on one side of the operation portion.

When a user uses the present invention to fold and fix a frame, they only

need to pull the operation portion of each positioning assembly to cause the

positioning element to be separated from the positioning groove, and then

rotate the support foot stand to cause the support foot stand to be stored on one

side of the main body. When the support foot stand is rotated to a folding

position, the positioning assembly automatically pushes the positioning

element into the positioning groove through the elastic force of the elastic element without needing to manually operate any part to achieve automatic fixation. Therefore, the user only needs to pull the operation portions and rotate the support foot stands, the frame can then be folded and fixed, having the advantage of simple and quick operations.

With the above structure, the present invention can overcome the

problems of conventional support foot stand such as inconvenient folding of

the support foot stand, insufficient structural strength, the complicated fixing

structure, and larger folded volume.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG 1 is a perspective view of the present invention;

FIGS. 2 to 4 respectively are a schematic view of the present invention in

an action state; and

FIGS. 5 to 7 respectively are a perspective view of another preferred

embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG 1, a frame folding and fixing structure of the present

invention includes a main body 1, a plurality of support foot stands 2, and a

plurality of positioning assemblies 3.

A plurality of guides 11 are configured on the main body 1, and a guide

arc is formed on each of the guides 11.

A plurality of positioning grooves 12 are configured on the different sides

of the main body 1, and the positioning grooves 12 is configured on each of

the guides 11.

A folding positioning portion 121 is formed on the positioning groove 12

and positioned on each of the guide arcs 111.

A unfolding positioning portion 122 is formed on the positioning groove

12 and positioned on another end of each of the guide arcs 111.

The plurality of support foot stands 2 are pivotally coupled to the main

body, and each of them 2 has at least one movable wheel 21.

An accommodation space 22 is defined inside each of the support foot

stands 2.

The positioning assembly 3 is configured on each of the support foot

stands 2 and includes an operation portion 31, a positioning element 32

configured on one side of the operation portion 31 and correspondingly coupled to the positioning groove 12, and an elastic element 33 configured on one side of the operation portion 31 and positioned inside the accommodation space 22.

A limit hole 311 formed on the operation portion 31, and the support foot

stand 2 has a limit element 23 passed through the limit hole 311.

Referring to FIG 1 to 4, the main body 1 is a central column, and the

upper end thereof can be docked with various appliances or equipment that

need the support of the support foot stands 2; the guide 11 approximately is a

fan-shaped piece fixed on the main body 1, so it defines a guide arc 111; the

guide 11 has two indented positioning grooves 12, one of them is the folding

positioning portion 121 positioned on one end of the guide 11 close to the

main body 1, and another one is the unfolding positioning portion 122

positioned on another end of the guide 11 away from the main body 1. If the

fan-shaped center of the guide 11 is used as the reference, the phase angle

difference between the folding positioning portion 121 and the unfolding

positioning portion 122 is 90 degrees; the support foot stand 2 is a hollow

column and has the accommodation space 22, and the support foot stands 2

are evenly distributed around the main body 1; the operation portion 31 is an

L-shaped piece, where the short side thereof protrudes on the surface of the

support foot stand 2 for the user to grasp or push against, and the long side thereof is flat on the surface of the support foot stand 2 and the end thereof is connected to the positioning element 32 of a columnar structure; the elastic element 33 is implemented as a tension spring, one end thereof is connected to an axial center 24 of the support foot stand 2, and another end thereof an extension coupling portion 321 of the positioning element 32, where the elastic element 33 is configured inside the accommodation space 22, thereby providing a simple protection through the support foot stand 2 to reduce the loss of the elastic element 33 and improve external appearance. The corresponding type of the above-mentioned elements is only an example of a preferred embodiment. Any type with the same function belongs to the scope of the present invention and is not limited to the above example.

Taking a folding action as an example, each of the support foot stands 2 is

originally perpendicular to the main body 1, and the movable wheel 21 on the

end thereof is used to touch the floor to provide a support point farther from

the main body 1. After the support effect is achieved, the wheel 21 can also

be moved on the floor. As FIG 2 shows, a user only needs to grasp and

move the operation portion 31 away from the positioning element 32, a force

can then be exerted to resist the elastic force of the elastic element 33 to cause

the positioning element 32 to be released from the unfolding positioning

portion 122. Thereafter, also referring to FIG 3, the axial center 24 of the support foot stand 2 is used to rotate the support foot stand 2. At this time, the user does not need to grasp the operation portion 31, and the positioning element 32 is allowed to slide on the guide arc 111. In principle, the distance between every point of the guide arc 111 and axial center 24 is the same so as to reduce the resist force upon the rotation of the support foot stand 2, so that the rotation can be more effortlessly. Finally, referring to FIG 4, after the support foot stand 2 rotated to be vertical, the shrink elasticity of the elastic element 33 can be used to fix the positioning element 32 inside the folding positioning portion 21 because the positioning element 32 is positioned right above the folding positioning portion 121 without needing manual fixation so as to automatically complete the positioning of the support foot stand 2. In addition, the long limit hole 311 and the limit element 23 passed through the limit hole 311, in the process of the action of the positioning assembly 3, are used to control the sliding range of the positioning assembly 3 to reduce the burden on the elastic element 33 and prevent over pulling to cause the operation portion 31 to be released from the support foot stand 2. Afterall the support foot stands 2 are folded, they all are parallel to the main body 1 side by side. Since there are no other fixing brackets, the volume after storage is small. In the same way, the unfolding action only needs to rotate the support foot stand 2 in the opposite direction, and the rest of the action logic is the same, allowing the present invention to be convenient in operation and simple in structural fixation.

Referring to FIG 5, in another preferred embodiment, only a plurality

of first guide slots 25a corresponding to the positioning element 32a and a

second guide slot 26a corresponding to the operation portion 31a are

configured on the support foot stand 2a. In the present invention, the whole

positioning assembly 3a (including the operation portion 31a, positioning

element 32a and elastic element 33a) is hidden inside the accommodation

space 22a, where the positioning element 32a configured inside the support

foot stand 2a is only exposed with the both ends of the positioning element

32a on the first guide slots 25a, and the operation portion 31a is configured on

the inner top surface of the support foot stand 2a and only a part thereof for

user touch is exposed on the surface of the support foot stand 2a, where the

exposed part can be slid on the second guide slot 26a. In this state, there is

no need for the limit hole and the limiting element on the operating portion

31a. Whereby, the positioning assembly 3a is not allowed to be exposed out

of the support foot stand 2a, reducing the problem of unsatisfactory operation

caused by factors such as wind, rain, dust jam, etc.

Referring to FIG 6, in still another preferred embodiment, only at least

one telescopic rod 13b is movably configured on the main body 1b, and a bearing element 14b is configured on one side of the main body lb away from the support foot stands 2b. In this way, the present invention can be applied to lifting equipment, utilizing bearing element l4b to carry heavy objects and the telescopic rod 13b to lift the heavy objects. In addition, the movable wheels on the support foot stands 2b may be cancelled, allowing the main body lb to cooperate with the support foot stands 2b to contact the ground in a large area, and have a high degree of stability, thereby illustrating the variability in appearance and the universality of the application field of the present invention.

Referring to FIG 7, in a further preferred embodiment, only the type of

the main body l cis changed to a table top, and the support foot stands 2c are

configured under the main body ic. Ina use state, the positioning assemblies

3c are utilized to turn the support foot stands 2c 90 degrees to be used as table

legs. Vice versa, the positioning assemblies 3c are utilized to turn the support

foot stands 2c to be in parallel to the main bodyle to reduce the volume,

conducive to storage, thereby illustrating the variability in appearance and the

universality of the application field of the present invention.

Claims

I CLAIM:

1. A frame folding and fixing structure, comprising:

a main body;

a plurality of positioning grooves, configured on different sides of

said main body;

a plurality of support foot stands, coupled pivotally to said main body;

and

a plurality of positioning assemblies, each configured on one of said

support foot stand and comprising an operation portion, a positioning

element configured one side of said operation portion and

correspondingly coupled to said positioning groove, and an elastic

element configured on one side of said operation portion.

2. The structure according to claim 1, wherein an accommodation space

is defined inside said support foot stand, and said elastic element is

configured inside said accommodation space.

3. The structure according to claim 1, wherein said support foot stand

has a plurality of first guide slots corresponding to said positioning

element, and a second guide slot said operation portion.

4. The structure according to claim 1, wherein said main body has a

plurality of guides, said positioning grooves are configured on each of said guides, and said guide is formed with a guide arc for a moving route for guiding the movement route of said positioning element, and said positioning groove has a folding positioning portion formed on one end of said guide arc and a unfolding positioning portion formed on another end of said guide arc.

5. The structure according to claim 1, wherein said main body is

movably configured with at least one telescopic rod, and one side of

said main body away from said support foot stands has a bearing

element.