Conveyors: power-driven – Conveyor section – Live roll
Reexamination Certificate
2002-08-12
2004-04-27
Ridley, Richard (Department: 3651)
Conveyors: power-driven
Conveyor section
Live roll
C193S0350SS, C193S037000, C198S780000, C411S163000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06726003
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fastening structure for fastening a shaft and a mounting structure for mounting a roller unit having a shaft to a fixed body such as a conveyor frame, which is fixed to the floor or the ground.
2. Description of Related Art
Some conventional type of roller conveyor has a plurality of motorized rollers arranged on a frame. Each of the motorized rollers is constructed by accommodating a motor and a reducer in a roller body supported rotatably relative to a shaft that is fastened to a fixed body such as the frame.
Conventional fasteners, including a shaft fastener disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Hei. 11-268815 and a mounting plate
52
shown in
FIG. 10
of the drawings attached hereto, have been used in order to fasten shafts of motorized rollers to fixed bodies such as frames. A shaft
51
of a conventional motorized roller
50
is fastened to a frame
53
(a fixed body) of a conveyor through a mounting plate
52
, as shown in FIG.
10
. Each end of the motorized roller
50
has a shaft
51
protruding therefrom. The outer surface of the shaft
51
is threaded. The plate
52
has a throughhole
54
at substantially its center. The shaft
51
is able to be fitted into the hole
54
. The plate has four throughholes
55
at the four corners. The holes are used in mounting the plate
52
to the frame
53
. The frame
53
has throughholes
56
into which the shaft
51
of the motorized roller
50
can be inserted and four threaded holes (not shown) around the throughhole
56
.
The plate
52
is mounted to the frame
53
through screws
57
, aligning the hole
54
with the hole
56
and aligning the holes
55
with the threaded holes respectively. The shaft
51
is inserted into the hole
56
of the frame
53
and into the hole
54
of the plate
52
. The shaft
51
is fastened to the frame by tightening a nut
58
. The shaft
51
cannot rotate relative to the frame
52
because the hole
54
of the plate
52
is in conformity with the shaft
51
.
The above-described conventional mounting of the shaft
51
involves mounting of the plate
52
to the frame
53
via screws
57
so as to prevent rotation of the shaft
51
. For mounting and fastening the shaft
51
to the frame, a throughhole
56
to accommodate the shaft
51
should be drilled on the frame
53
and threaded holes, not shown, in which the screws are driven, should be formed around the hole
56
on the frame
53
. Thus the mounting and fastening of the shaft
51
takes a lot of time and effort and is inefficient. If the frame
53
is of complex shape, such as channel-shape or square U-shape in section shown in
FIG. 10
, the mounting and fastening becomes more troublesome. Thus the conventional fastening structure in which the plate
52
is preliminarily screwed on the frame
53
makes a rigid limitation on the shape of the frame
53
, which is the fixed body.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a fastening structure of a shaft and a mounting structure of a roller unit having simple construction that is capable of fastening the shaft to any shape of fixed body easily and quickly. Other objects, advantages, features, and uses will become more apparent as the description proceeds, when considered with the accompanying drawings.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In one aspect of the invention to solve the above-described problem, a fastening structure including a fixed body and a shaft for fastening the shaft to the fixed body further includes a plate mountable on the shaft unrotatably relative to the shaft and having projections engageable with a surface of the fixed body and a fastener mountable on the shaft so as to urge the projections against the surface to prevent rotation of the plate relative to the fixed body about the axis of the shaft.
In this specification, a projection may be in any shape if it can prevent the rotation. It may be a tooth, a fluke, a pin, or a nail.
As the plate of the fastening structure has projections that engage with or bite into the surface of the fixed body, the plate need not be screwed so as to prevent rotation. Therefore, only one throughhole, through which the shaft extends, should be formed on the fixed body to fasten one shaft, without the need of forming throughholes in which the screws are driven. Therefore, easy and rapid fastening of a shaft to a fixed body is achieved.
As the plate is mounted on the shaft unrotatably relative to the shaft and is not rotatable relative to the fixed body about the axis of the shaft either, the shaft is fastened to the fixed body unrotatably relative to the body.
In another aspect of the invention, a fastening structure including a fixed body and a shaft for fastening the shaft to the fixed body further includes a plate mountable on the shaft unrotatably relative to the shaft and having projections engageable with a surface of the fixed body and a fastener mountable on the shaft so as to urge the projections against the surface to prevent rotation of the plate relative to the fixed body about the axis of the shaft, wherein the shaft includes an engaging portion and a supporting portion that is larger than the engaging portion in diameter, wherein the plate has a throughhole into which the engaging portion is fittable so as to prevent rotation of the plate relative to the shaft, and wherein the fixed body and the plate are sandwiched between the supporting portion and the fastener.
In the fastening structure, as the plate has projections engageable with a surface of the fixed body, the plate does not need to be screwed to prevent its rotation. Fastening work of the shaft is simplified and working efficiency is enhanced as threaded holes on the fixed body, which were necessary in conventional fastening structure, are not to be formed.
As the plate is mounted on the shaft unrotatably relative to the shaft and is not rotatable relative to the fixed body about the axis of the shaft either, the shaft is fastened to the fixed body unrotatably relative to each other.
In this specification, “a supporting portion that is larger than the engaging portion in diameter” means that the circumcircle of the supporting portion is larger in diameter than the circumcircle of the engaging portion. The section of the supporting portion may be of any shape such as rectangular and polygonal shape.
In still another aspect of the invention, a mounting structure including a roller unit, a shaft, a plate, a fixed body, and a fastener for mounting the roller unit to the fixed body, wherein the plate is mountable on the shaft unrotatably relative to the shaft and having projections engageable with a surface of a fixed body, wherein the roller unit has a roller body mounted on the shaft rotatably relative to the shaft and driven by a motor housed in the roller body, wherein the fastener is mounted on the shaft so as to urge the projections against the surface to prevent rotation of the plate relative to the fixed body about the axis of the shaft.
In the mounting structure of a roller unit, the plate does not need to be screwed to prevent its rotation, as the plate has projections engageable with a surface of the fixed body. As threaded holes on the fixed body, which were necessary in conventional fastening structure, are not to be formed, only one throughhole should be formed on the body to fasten one shaft. Thus the shaft of a roller unit can be fastened to the fixed body easily and rapidly.
As the plate is mounted on the shaft of the roller unit unrotatably relative to the shaft and is not rotatable relative to the fixed body about the axis of the shaft either, the shaft of the roller unit is fastened to the fixed body unrotatably relative to the body.
In the fastening structure or the mounting structure, the plate has a throughhole, the shaft includes an engaging portion and a supporting portion that is larger than the engaging portion in diameter, and the engaging portion is fittable into the throughhole so as to prevent rotation of the plate relative to t
Hasegawa Tomonobu
Itoh Kazuo
Itoh Electric Company Limited
Ridley Richard
Wood Phillips Katz Clark & Mortimer
LandOfFree
Fastening structure and mounting structure does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Fastening structure and mounting structure, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Fastening structure and mounting structure will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3231973