Supports – Stand – Standard type
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-13
2001-10-09
Ramirez, Ramon O. (Department: 3632)
Supports
Stand
Standard type
C248S188500
Reexamination Certificate
active
06299113
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a telescopic member for mainly adjusting the height of legs of a desk, a chair, a table, a bed, etc., and also relates a cylindrical body for applying a frictional force to the telescopic operation of the telescopic member and a molded body that is installed in the cylindrical body.
FIG. 1
is a partial longitudinal cross-sectional view that shows the configuration of a conventional telescopic member. This telescopic member
100
has a step-wise height adjusting mechanism that has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-38967 (1987), and is attached to the lower end of each leg of, for example, a table T. In
FIG. 1
, for convenience of explanation, a screw portion S used for securing the leg, which is mounted at each corner of the bottom surface of the table T so as to stick out downward, is threadedly engaged directly with a screw hole
21
a
to be secured thereto. Here, the screw hole
21
a
is formed in the center portion of an end cap
21
welded to the upper end of its inner cylinder
2
.
This telescopic member
100
is provided with an outer cylinder
3
that is externally fitted onto the inner cylinder
2
so as to allow it to slide freely inside thereof. A bottom cap
31
made of synthetic resin is attached to the lower end of the outer cylinder
3
with its one portion fitted therein. A screw
32
is inserted through the bottom cap
31
in the center thereof from the bottom side, (and threadedly engaged with a screw hole
34
a
formed in the base portion
34
of a pillar-shaped body
33
that is inserted into the inner cylinder
2
so that the base portion
34
is secured on the upper surface of the bottom cap
31
.
The pillar-shaped body
33
is provided with an upright portion
35
formed on the upper side of the base portion
34
so as to stick out therefrom, and a plurality of engaging portions
36
provided as holes are formed in the upright portion
35
in its longitudinal direction (in the up-and-down direction in the
FIG. 1
) with appropriate intervals. A lock lever motion mechanism
22
is mounted with screws
23
to the inner circumferential surface of the inner cylinder
2
so as to oppose these engaging portions
36
.
The lock lever motion mechanism
22
is provided with a frame body
24
that has a securing surface to the inner cylinder
2
in the vicinity of the center thereof and that has a channel shape in its cross-section when viewed from above or below, and the frame body
24
is arranged with its opening side of the channel shape facing the upright portion
35
. Inside the frame body
24
, a lock lever
25
, which engages with the engaging portions
36
, is swingably supported by a horizontal shaft
26
in the front to rear direction in its center portion shown in FIG.
1
.
FIG. 1
shows a state in which a pawl portion
25
a
, which is a lower end of the swing lever
25
, is engaged with one of the engaging portions
36
. The rotation of the lock lever
25
in the clockwise direction from the engaged state as shown in
FIG. 1
is regulated by a contact of a holding portion
25
b
that is the other end of the lock lever
25
with the inner wall surface of the inner cylinder
2
of the frame body
24
on the securing side, and also regulated by a contact of its upper side moving end with one portion of a slider
27
, as illustrated in
FIG. 1
; thus, its engaged state is maintained. Moreover, the rotation of the lock lever
25
in the counterclockwise direction is allowed although it goes against a spring
28
that applies a pressing force to the lock lever
25
in the opposite direction.
Therefore, as the inner cylinder
2
is slidden inside the outer cylinder
3
in the pull-out direction, that is, as the telescopic member
100
is extended, the lock lever motion mechanism
22
is raised relative to the outer cylinder
3
together with the inner cylinder
2
so that the pawl portion
25
a
of the lock lever
25
is allowed to contact the upper end of the engaging portion
36
with which it is currently engaged. As the inner cylinder
2
is further raised, the lock lever
25
is rotated counterclockwise in
FIG. 1
against the pressing force of the spring
28
, with the result that the engagement with the corresponding engaging portion
36
is released. Then, when the pawl portion
25
a
has reached the position of another engaging portion
36
right above of the above-mentioned engaging portion
36
, the pressing force of the spring
28
allows the lock lever
25
to rotate clockwise, thereby again bringing the lock lever
25
into an engaged state with the new engaging portion
36
.
As described above, the engagement between the lock lever
25
and the engaging portions
36
makes it possible to adjust the length of the telescopic member
100
with intervals in which the engaging portions
36
are provided. Moreover, as the lock lever motion mechanism
22
is raised with the inner cylinder
2
beyond the engaging portion
36
at the uppermost stage, the upper end of the slider
27
is allowed to contact a control piece
37
a
that is formed on an appropriate position above this engaging portion
36
so as to stick out toward the lock lever motion mechanism
22
. The slider
27
, which has its protruding portion
27
a
fitted to a longitudinally elongated hole
24
a
that is formed in the end walls of the channel shape of the frame body
24
in the thickness direction (in the front to rear direction in FIG.
1
), is pressed downward by the control piece
37
a
along this elongated hole
24
a
. The slider
27
, which has been pressed downward to the lower end position of the elongated hole
24
a
, forces the lock lever
25
to rotate counterclockwise against the pressing force of the spring
28
, and also intervenes with the pawl portion
25
a
and the engaging portion
36
so as to prevent the engagement between them.
This arrangement allows the inner cylinder
2
to descend together with the lock lever motion mechanism
22
, that is, to slide in the push-in direction. The lock lever motion mechanism
22
, which descends together with the inner cylinder
2
, has its slider
27
pushed up by a control piece
37
b
that is the same as the control piece
37
a
and that is formed in an appropriate position below the engaging portion
36
at the lowermost stage so as to stick out therefrom, through the motion opposite to that as described above; thus, the lock lever
25
is released from its engagement prevented state by the slider
27
. Then, the lock lever motion mechanism
22
is again raised together with the inner cylinder
2
so that the lock lever
25
is engaged with the engaging portion
36
at the lowermost stage, and returned to the original state as shown in FIG.
1
.
FIGS. 2A
,
2
B, and
2
C are explanatory drawings that show the movements of a friction body in the conventional telescopic member. A cylindrical holder
4
is attached to the upper end of the outer cylinder
3
with its inner circumferential surface contacting the outer circumferential surface of the inner cylinder
2
. This holder
4
maintains the inner cylinder
2
along its inner circumferential surface in a concentric manner with respect to the outer cylinder
3
, and also applies frictional resistance to the movement of the inner cylinder
2
to a certain extent. Moreover, a braking chamber
42
, which has a taper surface
41
opposing the outer circumferential surface of the inner cylinder
2
, is placed along the inner circumferential surface of the holder
4
, and a friction body
43
made of an O-ring is embedded in the braking chamber
42
.
As illustrated in
FIG. 2A
, when the inner cylinder
2
is moved in the pull-out direction from the outer cylinder
3
, the friction body
43
is moved upward until it contacts an upper-end moving end surface
44
(see
FIGS. 2B and 2C
) that is an upper end position of the braking chamber
42
, following the movement of the inner cylinder
2
. When the inner cylinder
2
is slidden in the push-in direction into the outer cylinder
3
, as sh
Yamashita Tadanobu
Yamashita Yoshinobu
Burns Doane , Swecker, Mathis LLP
Koyo Giken Co., Ltd.
Ramirez Ramon O.
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