JPH10281138A - Hinge mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To inhibit a function of a way stop position of a second member for a long period by fixing an inner end of a spiral plate spring to a first member directly or indirectly while inserting the plate spring into a rotatable cylinder material together with the second member. SOLUTION: A bearing 6 is integratedly joined to a cylindrical material 4, and a second member 2 is fixed to the bearing 6. The diameter of a plate spring 5 whose inner end 5a is fixed to a spindle 3 is enlarged, and thereby, an inner surface of the cylindrical material 4 is push-pressed by the outer end 5b side of the plate spring 5. When the diameter thereof is contracted, push-press on its inner surface is released. When an original stand cover is closed and the second member 2 is rotated toward a broken line position 2X in an arrow T direction interlocking therewith, the diameter of the plate spring 5 is enlarged, the inner surface of the cylindrical material 4 is push-pressed. At the time of an inversed case, it is contracted, and push-press on the inner surface is released. When frictional force is more than falling force by a self weight of the cover applied on the second member 2, the cover is stopped on a position of the way where the cover is closed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hinge mechanism for supporting a second member rotatably in any direction with respect to a first member and stopping the second member at an arbitrary angle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Of a hinge mechanism for swingably connecting a cover member such as a platen cover of a copying machine to a main body side member so that the cover member can be opened and closed, the cover member is stopped at an arbitrary open position. A simple and compact hinge mechanism configured to hold the posture is proposed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 5-77614. This hinge mechanism will be described with reference to FIG. 6 and FIG.
The member 11 has a support shaft 13 protruding therefrom and a locking portion 11a for fixing a spring end. Outside the support shaft 13,
A cylindrical member 14 having a cut 14a formed along the axial direction is fitted therein, and the cylindrical member 14 is configured to be freely expandable and contractible.
A bearing 16 is integrally provided on the opposite side of the fitting of the cylindrical member 14. The second member 12 is fixed to the bearing 16, and the bearing 16 and the cylindrical member 14 are joined in a body in the axial direction through a slit 14 b that is discontinuous in the circumferential direction. No axially extending slit is formed in the bearing 16. A coil spring 15 is wound around the outside of the cylindrical member 14, and the coil spring 15 expands and contracts in the diametrical direction, so that the cylindrical member 14 can be tightened or released. That is, one end 15 </ b> A of the coil spring 15 is fixedly connected to the locking portion 11 a of the first member 11, and the other end 15 </ b> B is included so as to press against the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical member 14.

[0003] The coil spring 15 is such that the second member 12 has an arrow T
When swinging in the direction (from the solid line position to the broken line position 12X), the diameter is reduced toward the center, and conversely, in the direction of the arrow S (broken line position 12X).
(Solid line position from) to the direction in which the diameter increases in the radial direction when swinging.

In the above-described conventional hinge mechanism, when the first member 11 is fixed and the second member 12 is movable and swings in the direction of arrow S, the coil spring 15 behaves so as to expand in the radially expanding direction. The two members 12 can swing freely.
Conversely, when the second member 12 is swung in the direction of the arrow T, the other end 15B of the coil spring 15 moves with the rotation of the cylindrical member 14 and consequently behaves in a direction of reducing the diameter.
Numeral 4 is tightened by a coil spring 15 to reduce the diameter of the support shaft 13 so as to enclose the support shaft 13 and increase the frictional force between the support shaft 13 and the cylindrical member 14, whereby the swinging movement of the second member 12 is stopped. You.

That is, the first member 11 is a main body member,
When the second member 12 is a lid member, the fall of the lid member due to its own weight can be stopped by reducing the diameter of the coil spring 15. At this time, the relationship between the frictional force and the dropping force of the lid member is set so that frictional force> dropping force.

[0006]

In the conventional hinge mechanism described above, in order to generate a frictional force between the cylindrical member 14 and the support shaft 13, an axial cut 14a is formed in the cylindrical member 14. Although it is necessary to reduce the diameter of the cylindrical member 14 by tightening from the coil spring 15, the coil spring 15 has one end 15A fixedly connected to the locking portion 11a of the first member 11, but the other end 15B simply has Since it is merely included so as to be pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical member 14, the force at which the other end 15 </ b> B of the coil spring 15 moves together with the cylindrical member 14 when the second member 2 swings in the arrow T direction. Is extremely small, the other end 15B slips on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical member 14, and the cylindrical member 14 simply runs idle and does not contract in one direction. As a result, there is a possibility that the frictional force does not occur. is there. Of course, if no frictional force is generated, the second member 2
Cannot be stopped at the halfway stop position.

Further, since the coil spring 15 has a spirally long structure wound in a direction perpendicular to the swinging direction of the second member 2, the diameter of the coil spring 15 is reduced and the diameter thereof is increased in the direction of the spiral axis. Is difficult to uniformly occur, and therefore, it is easy to occur that the spring force is reduced due to partial extension in many cases.
Therefore, there is a very high possibility that the cylindrical member 14 will not be able to exhibit the long-term tightening action.

Further, the operation of fixing one end 15A of the coil spring 15, the operation of assembling the coil spring 15 on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical member 14, and the forming of the coil spring 15 so that the outer diameter of the cylindrical member 14 and the inner diameter of the coil spring 15 coincide. In addition, the work of assembling them and the work of forming and assembling them so that the inner diameter of the cylindrical material 14 matches the outer diameter of the support shaft 13 are difficult and costly.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the second member is rotatably supported in any direction with respect to the first member, and the second member is stopped at an arbitrary angle. In a hinge mechanism for holding the first and second members, a spiral leaf spring is inserted into a cylindrical member rotatable together with the second member, and an inner end of the leaf spring is directly or indirectly fixed to the first member. This solves the above-mentioned problem.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a hinge for supporting the second member on the support shaft of the first member so as to be rotatable in any direction and stopping the second member at an arbitrary angle is provided. In the mechanism, a spiral leaf spring is inserted into a tubular member rotatable together with the second member, and the leaf spring has an outer end directly or indirectly fixed to the tubular member and an inner end attached to the second member. The above problem is solved by being included in the support shaft of the member.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the hinge mechanism supports the second member rotatably in any direction with respect to the first member and stops the second member at an arbitrary angle. In the above, the S-shaped leaf spring is inserted into a cylindrical member rotatable together with the second member, and the central portion of the leaf spring is directly or indirectly fixed to the first member, whereby The problem has been solved.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a hinge mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an entire hinge mechanism according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a main part of FIG. 1 from another angle. With reference to these drawings, for example, an L-shaped first member 1 attached and fixed to the original table side of the copying machine main body and, for example, an arrow S direction (the original table cover together with the original table cover of the copying machine) A second pivotally fixed in the opening direction) or the T direction (the direction of closing the platen cover).
The members 2 are provided corresponding to the respective predetermined positions. The first member 1 is provided with a support shaft 3 protruding in a cylindrical shape in the direction of the second member 2. The support shaft 3 is provided with a notch 3a at a predetermined depth from the center of the front end face. The leaf spring 5 is formed by spirally winding a single plate. The leaf spring 5 is fixed to the first member 1 via the support shaft 3 by fitting the inner end 5 a on one end side into the cut 3 a of the support shaft 3. Leaf spring 5
The outer end 5 b side is pressed against the inner surface of the cylindrical member 4 by being inserted into the cylindrical member 4. At this time, the leaf spring 5 is sufficiently spirally wound and reduced in diameter, and the outer diameter thereof is made smaller than the inner diameter of the tubular material 4 and inserted into the tubular material 4, so that the leaf spring 5 becomes a tubular material. 4 are arranged in a state of being pressed against the inner surface.

The spiral direction of the leaf spring 5 is clockwise as viewed from the inner end 5a, and the direction of rotation of the second member 2 is opposite to that of the arrow T. As a result, when the second member 2 rotates in the direction of arrow T, the leaf spring 5 expands in diameter and presses the inner surface of the tubular member 4, so that a frictional force can be generated between the leaf spring 5 and the tubular member 4. I have.

A bearing 6 is integrally joined to the cylindrical member 4. The second member 2 is fixed to the bearing 6. The leaf spring 5, whose inner end 5a is fixed to the support shaft 3, is capable of pressing the inner surface of the cylindrical member 4 at the outer end 5b side by expanding the diameter, and can release the pressing against the inner surface by reducing the diameter. Is configured. Therefore, when the platen cover is closed and the second member 2 rotates in the direction of the arrow T to the broken line position 2X in conjunction with this, the leaf spring 5 expands in diameter and presses the inner surface of the cylindrical member 4, and Sometimes, the diameter is reduced to release the pressing on the inner surface.

Therefore, in the hinge mechanism according to the first embodiment, when the cover of the document table is closed, the inner surface of the cylindrical member 4 is pressed by the outer end 5b side of the leaf spring 5 whose diameter is increased. When a frictional force is generated between the outer end 5b side and the inner surface of the cylindrical member 4 and the frictional force exceeds the drop force of the original plate cover applied to the second member 2 due to its own weight, the original platen The cover is stopped in the middle of closing.

In the hinge mechanism according to the first embodiment,
Unlike the conventional frictional force structure between the support shaft 3 and the cylindrical member 14 due to the diameter reduction of the coil spring 15, the frictional force structure between the outer end 5b side of the leaf spring 5 and the inner surface of the cylindrical member 4 causes the frictional force. In addition, the number of components for generating the diameter is reduced, and the diameter of the leaf spring 5 does not change even if the diameter is repeatedly reduced and expanded, so that the fluctuation of the frictional force is reduced as compared with the conventional case. As a result, the reliability of the hinge mechanism is improved.

Second Embodiment A hinge mechanism according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the entire hinge mechanism according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 3, parts corresponding to those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

In the hinge mechanism according to the second embodiment,
A notch 4a is formed in the inner surface of the cylindrical member 4. The outer end 5b of the leaf spring 5 is inserted and fixed in the notch 4a, and the inner end 5a of the leaf spring 5 projects from the first member 1. And wound around the support shaft 3. Other configurations of the hinge mechanism according to the second embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment.

In the second embodiment, when the second member 2 rotates in the direction of the arrow T or S, the leaf spring 5 reduces or expands the diameter in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and It can be tightened or released.

Third Embodiment A hinge mechanism according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 shows the third embodiment.
FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing the entire hinge mechanism of FIG.
Are cross-sectional views along the line AA in FIG. 4, and in these figures, parts corresponding to those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

In the hinge mechanism according to the third embodiment,
The leaf spring 5 has an S-shape instead of a spiral shape. The central portion of the leaf spring 5 is inserted and fixed in the notch 3 a of the support shaft 3 and is inserted into the cylindrical member 4. Other configurations of the hinge mechanism of the third embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment.

In the third embodiment, when the second member 2 rotates in the direction of the arrow T or S, the leaf spring 5 contracts or expands its diameter in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and The inner surface can be pressed or released.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and any one of the first member and the second member may be on the side of a cover member such as a document table cover. The opening direction may be either left rotation or right rotation, and the leaf spring may be fixed to either the first member or the second member directly or via another intervening component. Needless to say, the number of leaf springs may be plural instead of one.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention as described above, a spiral or S-shaped leaf spring is inserted into the tubular member, and the diameter of the leaf spring is increased by reducing the diameter of the leaf spring. Unlike the conventional coil spring, the leaf spring has a frictional force between the leaf spring and the inner surface of the cylinder even if the diameter of the leaf spring is repeatedly reduced and increased because the inner surface of the material is pressed or released. Change becomes extremely small, and the function of the intermediate stop position of the second member for a long time can be exhibited.
Further, in the present invention, the operation of fixing one end of the coil spring, the operation of assembling the coil spring on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical material, and the forming of the coil spring so that the outer diameter of the cylindrical material matches the inner diameter of the coil spring as in the related art. In addition, the work of assembling them and the work of forming and assembling them so that the inner diameter of the tubular material and the outer diameter of the support shaft match each other are not required at all, but since the leaf spring is simply stored in the tubular material The work of assembling the leaf spring is extremely simple and inexpensive.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an entire hinge mechanism according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part of FIG. 1 viewed from another angle.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing a hinge mechanism according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing a hinge mechanism according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a conventional hinge mechanism.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a main part of FIG. 6;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 1st member 2 2nd member 3 Support shaft 3a Cut 4 Tube material 5 Leaf spring 5a Inner end 5b Outer end 6 Bearing

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A hinge mechanism for supporting a second member rotatably in any direction with respect to a first member and stopping the second member at an arbitrary angle, wherein the hinge mechanism rotates together with the second member. A hinge mechanism, wherein a spiral leaf spring is inserted into a possible cylindrical member, and an inner end of the leaf spring is directly or indirectly fixed to the first member. 2. A hinge mechanism for supporting a second member on a support shaft of a first member so as to be rotatable in any direction and stopping the second member at an arbitrary angle. A spiral leaf spring is inserted in the movable tubular member, and the outer end of the leaf spring is directly or indirectly fixed to the tubular member, and the inner end is included in the support shaft of the second member. A hinge mechanism. 3. A hinge mechanism for supporting a second member rotatably in any direction with respect to a first member and stopping the second member at an arbitrary angle. A hinge mechanism, wherein an S-shaped leaf spring is inserted into a possible cylindrical member, and a central portion of the leaf spring is directly or indirectly fixed to the first member.