JPH10211146A - Working carriage - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a working carriage capable of maintaining the advancing direction of a device base by fixing the turning operation of a turning caster at need. SOLUTION: Two wheels of a motor driven type the rotating direction of which is fixed are provided at the front part of the device base 1 and two turning casters 3 are provided at the rear part of the device base 1 in a walking type sweeper. In this sweeper, a lock plate 12 is provided for the turning fork 3a of the caster 3 and a lock arm 15 operable through a cable 19 by an unlocking lever is provided on the side of the device base 1. Then when the caster wheel 3b of the caster 3 faces a straight advancing direction, the pawl 15a of the lock arm 15 is engaged with the locking hole 12a of the lock plate 12 to fix the turning operation of the caster 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a work cart such as a walk-type sweeper used for cleaning works in factories, stations, roads, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional general walking sweeper is shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, a front-wheel drive four-wheel type having two wheels at each of the front and rear portions of the machine base 31, and electric wheels whose rotation direction is fixed in the straight traveling direction are used as the front wheels 32, A turning caster as a driven wheel is used for the rear wheel 33. Then, the operator stands behind the machine base 31 and walks while operating the machine lever 31 provided at the rear of the machine base 31 to change the driving force and the rotation direction of the front wheel 32 to move the machine base 31 forward or backward, and walk. In addition, a lateral force is applied to the handle 35 fixed to the rear of the machine base 31 to turn the caster 3.
Steering (turning) the machine base 31 by changing the direction of 3
It is supposed to.

[0003]

In the case of a walk-type sweeper for steering the machine base 31 by changing the direction of the above-mentioned swivel caster 33, when cleaning a flat floor surface such as a factory or a station yard, it is necessary to clean the floor. Straightness can be easily maintained.
However, in the case of a road, as shown in FIG. 9, the road surface is often inclined rightward or leftward with respect to the traveling direction. It is swung to the inclined side, and the machine base 31 turns naturally. Therefore, in order to maintain the straightness of the machine base 31, the operator has to constantly support the handle 35. Note that such a phenomenon occurs not only due to the inclined surface but also due to unevenness of the floor surface.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to fix a turning operation of a turning caster as needed to maintain a traveling direction of a machine base. The present invention provides a work cart that has been improved.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is configured as follows. That is, the invention of claim 1 is a work carriage of a type in which a machine is provided with a plurality of wheels including at least one swivel caster, and the machine is steered by turning the swivel caster. A lock mechanism for locking or unlocking the turning operation of the turning caster is provided.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the lock mechanism is operated to lock the turning operation of the turning caster and fix the direction of the caster wheel, the traveling direction of the machine base is changed. Can be fixed. Therefore, when the machine is moving forward or backward, the machine moves in the desired direction without being affected even if the floor or road surface is inclined to the right or left with respect to the direction of travel or has irregularities. can do.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the work cart according to the first aspect, the lock mechanism is provided on a lock plate provided on the caster side and a lock plate provided on the machine base side. And a detachable lock member. With such a configuration, an inexpensive lock mechanism having a simple structure can be provided.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the work cart according to the second aspect, the lock plate is provided with an engagement portion to which the lock member can engage when a caster wheel of the swivel caster is directed straight. Is provided. With such a configuration, straightness of the machine base can be ensured.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the work cart according to the second aspect, the machine base is provided with an electric actuator for engaging and disengaging the lock member. With such a configuration, the operability of the locking action and the releasing action of the swivel caster can be improved.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the work cart according to the first aspect, the machine base is provided with a cleaning device. Therefore, according to the invention of claim 5, when cleaning the floor of a factory or the road surface of a road, even if the floor surface or the road surface is inclined right or left with respect to the traveling direction or has irregularities. The machine can travel in the desired direction without being affected by the influence.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. The walk-behind work vehicle according to the present embodiment is intended for a work vehicle having a cleaning function, that is, a walk-type sweeper. FIG. 1 is a side view showing the walk-type sweeper, and FIG. It is. As shown in the figure, the walking type sweeper is a front-wheel-drive type four-wheel type having two wheels at each of the front and rear portions of a machine base 1, and the front-wheel 2 is an electric type in which the rotation direction is fixed to the straight traveling direction. , And a turning caster 3 as a driven wheel rotatable around a vertical axis is used as a rear wheel.

An operator stands behind the machine base 1 and operates the traveling lever 4 provided at the rear of the machine body 1 to change the driving force and the rotation direction of the front wheels 2 to move the machine body 1 forward or backward. The caster walks while applying a lateral force to the handle 5 fixed to the rear of the machine base 1.
Is changed, the machine base 1 is steered (turned).

The machine base 1 is provided with a cleaning device,
The cleaning device includes an electric main brush 6 that is rotatably arranged at a substantially central portion of the machine base 1 so that an axial direction thereof is the width direction of the machine base 1, and a front end of the machine base 1 (of a walking type sweeper). In this case, the right side is generally used). An electric side brush 7 which is disposed so as to be rotatable horizontally, a detachable dust box 8 provided near the front of the machine base for collecting dust swept by the main brush 6, and the like. It is composed of In addition, the machine base 1 is provided with an air purification device (not shown) that sucks dust that has been wound up during the cleaning operation and discharges clean air through a filter.

As shown in FIG. 3, the swivel caster 3 has a swivel fork 3a mounted on the machine base 1 via a bearing 9 so as to be rotatable about a vertical axis.
rotatable caster wheel 3b attached to a
The machine base 1 is provided with a turning lock device for locking the turning operation of one (eg, right) turning caster 3 to fix the direction of the caster wheel 3b. Hereinafter, the swing lock device is shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

The turning lock device comprises a lock mechanism 10 for locking or releasing the turning operation of the turning caster 3, and a lock releasing mechanism 16 for operating the lock mechanism 10. The lock mechanism 10 is a disk-shaped lock plate 1 fixed to the upper surface of the revolving fork 3a with bolts 11.
2 and a lock arm 15 as a lock member, which is attached to a bracket 13 provided on the machine base 1 via a pin 14 so as to be rotatable up and down, and a hook-shaped claw 15 a provided at the tip of the lock arm 15. However, when the caster wheel 3b is directed straight, the turning operation of the turning caster 3 is locked by engaging with one lock hole 12a provided in the lock plate 12. The lock arm 15 is urged in the lock direction by its own weight or by a spring (not shown).

On the other hand, the lock release mechanism 16 includes a lock release lever 17 rotatably attached to the handle 5 via a pin 18, and a cable for transmitting the release operation force of the lock release lever 17 to the lock arm 15. 19. The cable 19 has a tube 19a having both ends connected to the machine base 1, and a tube 19a.
Into the lock release lever 17 at one end.
And a cable inner 19b the other end of which is connected to the lock arm 15.

The walk-type sweeper according to the present embodiment is configured as described above. When the operator operates the traveling lever 4 while standing behind the machine 1 to travel the machine 1, When the user wants to go straight on the machine base 1, releasing the lock release lever 17 causes the lock arm 15 to rotate downward by its own weight or spring force. At that time, when the caster wheel 3b of the revolving caster 3 is directed straight, the claw 15a of the lock arm 15 is engaged with the lock hole 12a of the lock plate 12.

That is, since the swivel motion of the swivel caster 3 is fixed with the caster wheel 3b facing the straight traveling direction, in this state, the swivel caster 3 turns even when traveling on a slope or unevenness of the floor or road surface. Machine 1
Can be stably maintained.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the straightness of the machine base 1 can be maintained, for example, when cleaning a road edge inclined right or left in the traveling direction, There is no need to keep the handle 5 supported, and workability is improved. Then, since the directions of the three wheels including the front wheels 2 are fixed in the straight traveling direction, even if one of the turning casters 3 can freely rotate, the straight traveling property of the machine base 1 is not impaired.

On the other hand, when the lock release lever 17 is pulled, the claw 15a of the lock arm 15 is pulled out from the lock hole 12a of the lock plate 12 via the cable 19, and the lock of the swivel caster 3 is released. In this state, the turning caster 3 can be freely turned by applying a lateral force to the steering wheel 5 as in the prior art, and the machine base 1 can be steered right or left. In this embodiment, since the lock release lever 17 is attached to the handle 5, the turning lock can be released by grasping the lock release lever 17 together with the handle 5 with one hand, and the steering of the machine base 1 may be impaired. Absent. Further, since the lock mechanism 10 is constituted by the lock plate 12 and the lock arm 15, a lock mechanism with a simple structure and at low cost is provided.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. The embodiment shown in FIG. 6 is a modified example of the lock release mechanism 16 in the above-described embodiment, in which the lock arm 15 is disengaged from the lock plate 12 using an electric actuator 20 such as an electric cylinder or an electromagnet. Is performed. The electric actuator 20 is configured to be operable by a switch (not shown) provided near the handle 5 at the rear of the machine base 1.
The other configuration is the same as that of the above-described embodiment. Therefore, according to the above embodiment, the operability of the locking action and the releasing action of the swivel caster 3 can be improved.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 7 is a modified example of the lock mechanism 10, and the lock plate 12
The lock hole 12a is added to the lock hole 12a.
“a” is provided on the same circumferential line of the lock plate 12 at appropriate intervals. Therefore, in such a configuration, in the case where the machine base 1 turns with the same radius, the turning traveling of the machine base 1 can be stabilized by locking the turning caster 3 at the turning position. .

Although not shown, in the lock mechanism 10, the lock arm 12 may be changed to a lock pin that can move up and down. Further, the lock mechanism 10 can be configured using a meshing type or friction type clutch. In this case, the turning position of the turning caster 3 can be locked at a fine pitch or steplessly.

In the above-described embodiment, the turning lock is performed on one of the two turning casters 3. However, both turning casters 3 may be locked. Further, the caster swivel lock device according to the present invention is not limited to the walk-type sweeper, and may be applied to other work carts, for example, various types of hand carts used for carrying luggage in factories or supermarkets. Further, the number of wheels provided on the machine base does not particularly matter.

[0025]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention,
By fixing the swivel motion of the swivel caster as necessary, it is possible to stably maintain the traveling direction of the machine platform without being affected by inclination or unevenness when traveling on the floor or road surface , Workability can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a walking type sweeper.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a lock mechanism of the turning caster.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a lock release mechanism.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the lock mechanism.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing another embodiment relating to the lock mechanism.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing still another embodiment relating to a lock mechanism.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a conventional walking type sweeper.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a natural rotation of the sweeper due to inclination.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Machine base 2 ... Front wheel 3 ... Revolving caster 4 ... Traveling lever 5 ... Handle 10 ... Lock mechanism 12 ... Lock plate 15 ... Lock arm 16 ... Lock release mechanism 17 ... Lock release lever 19 ... Cable

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A work vehicle provided with a plurality of wheels including at least one swivel caster on a machine base and steering the machine base by swiveling the swivel caster, wherein the machine base turns the swivel caster. A work cart provided with a lock mechanism for locking or releasing an operation. 2. The work cart according to claim 1, wherein the lock mechanism is provided on a side of the swivel caster, and a lock provided on the machine side and detachable from the lock plate. A work cart composed of members. 3. The work carriage according to claim 2, wherein the lock plate has an engagement portion with which the lock member can be engaged when a caster wheel of the swivel caster is directed straight. . 4. The work cart according to claim 2, wherein an electric actuator for engaging and disengaging the lock member is provided on the machine base. 5. The work cart according to claim 1, wherein the machine base includes a cleaning device.