JPH10217708A - Wheel journalling structure for caster - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a wheel of a caster to smoothly rotate while it is prevented from rattling. SOLUTION: In the wheel journalling structure, flanged collars 26 provided with cylinder parts 28, the length of each of which is slightly shorter than the width of shaft-through hole 30 of rolling bearings 24 respectively fitted into bearing holes 25, 25 provided in both ends of a shaft hole 23 of a wheel 16, are fitted into the shaft-through holes 30 with the flange parts 27, 27 facing outward, a spacer 29 is interposed inside the respective rolling bearings 24, a supporting shaft 31 inserted from shaft holes 19 provided in a pair of arms 18 of a fork 15 is passed through the cylinder parts 28 of the respective flanged collars 26 and the spacer 29 to be journalled, and the respective rolling bearings 24, 24 are held by the flanges 27 of the flanged collars 26 and the spacer 29 to prevent the wheel 16 from rattling.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement of a wheel supporting structure of a caster, particularly a caster suitable for a front wheel of a wheelchair.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a wheel supporting structure of a caster has a shaft hole 102 penetrating through the center of a wheel 101 as shown in FIG.
Rolling bearings 104, 104 are fitted into bearing holes 103, 103 provided on both left and right ends of the
A cylindrical portion 10 having a length that divides the outside of the 4,104 into approximately two parts
Collars 107, 107 provided with flanges 106, 106 at the outer ends of the flanges 105, 105 are fitted into the cylinders 105, 105 from the outside in a state where the cylinders 105, 105 are abutted. Arms 109, 109
And the support shaft 111 is passed through the shaft holes 110 and 110 provided at the distal ends of the arms 109 and 109 and the cylindrical portions 105 and 105 of the collars with collars 107 and 107, respectively. A nut 112 is screwed into a threaded portion provided at the tip of 111 and tightened to support the shaft.

[0003]

The conventional wheel support structure of the caster constructed as described above has rolling bearings 104, 103 fitted in bearing holes 103, 103 provided at both ends of a shaft hole 102 of a wheel 101. It is difficult to make the length between the outer ends of the collar 104 and the length between the flanges 106, 106 of the collars 107, 107 equal to each other because of the processing, and the cylinders 105, 105 of the collars 107, 107 are difficult to match. Is shorter than the length between the outer ends of the rolling bearings 104, 104, when the support shaft 111 is tightened with the nut 112, there is no support for the inside of the rolling bearings 104, 104. Since they are curved inward to each other and cannot be used for regular rotation and become useless, the length of the cylindrical portions 105 and 105 of the collars with collars 107 and 107 is rather reduced by the length of the rolling bearing 104. Between both outer ends of the 104 were longer than the length. However, there is a gap between the inside of each flange portion 106 and the outside of each rolling bearing 104, and play has occurred. However, the play is corrected by filling the gaps with an adhesive. Was. Therefore, the present invention provides a wheel 10
(1) An object of the present invention is to provide a wheel support structure of a caster improved so as to be able to perform normal rotation without correcting rattling.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is directed to a fork in which a wheel having rolling bearings fitted into bearing holes provided at the left and right ends of a shaft hole penetrating the center of the wheel is projected to a fork. A wheel axle support structure for a caster, wherein the axle is interposed between a pair of arms and the axle is passed through a shaft hole provided in the arm and a shaft insertion hole of each rolling bearing fitted to the wheel. A flanged collar having a cylindrical portion having a length slightly shorter than the width of the shaft insertion hole of the bearing was fitted into the shaft insertion hole with the flange portions facing each other, and fitted into the bearing hole of the wheel. A spacer having a length equal to the interval between the rolling bearings is interposed between the rolling bearings, and each rolling bearing is sandwiched between the flange portion of the flanged collar and the spacer so that the wheels can rotate normally without rattling. I made it.

[0005]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wheelchair in which a caster to which a wheel supporting structure according to the present invention is applied is mounted on a front wheel.
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a state where the members shown in FIG. 2 are assembled. The wheelchair 1 shown in FIG. 1 has a pair of left and right frame-shaped support members 2, 2 which are foldably combined, and main wheels 3, 3 erected at the rear of the support members 2, 2 are provided with rear wheels 4, 4. The supporting wheels 6 and 6 are provided so as to pivotally support the operating wheels 5 and 5, and protrude toward the front of the supporting members 2 and 2.
A support shaft 8 of front wheel casters 7, 7
Insert and fix. Both ends of the seat 10 are supported by horizontal rods 9, 9 provided on the support members 2, 2, and both ends of a seat back 11 are supported above the main rods 3, 3. At the upper ends of the main rods 3, 3, grip portions 12, 12 for a caregiver to push the wheelchair 1 are provided. Foot plates 13, 13 are provided below the front ends of the support members 2, 2.
Reference numerals 14 and 14 are brake levers for stopping the rear wheels 4 and 4, respectively.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 15 denotes a fork for rotatably supporting a wheel 16.
7. A pair of left and right arms 18, 18 project from the lower end of 7,
Shaft holes 19, 19 for supporting the wheel 16 are provided at the distal ends of the arms 18, 18, respectively, and are integrally formed by injection molding of plastic. Roller bearings (not shown) are fitted to upper and lower ends of the cylindrical body 17 respectively, and the support shaft 8 is inserted through the respective roller bearings.
Is rotatably supported.

The wheel 16 is integrally formed by insert injection molding of a tire portion 20 around a wheel body 16a.
A shaft cylinder 22 is provided at the center of the spoke 21 formed radially inside.
Bearing holes 25 for fitting the outer rings of the rolling bearings 24, 24 at the left and right ends of a shaft hole 23 passing through the shaft cylinder 22,
25 is provided with a larger diameter than the shaft hole 23.

Reference numerals 26, 26 denote collars provided with flanges 27, 27 at one end.
It is set slightly shorter than the width of 4. Reference numeral 29 denotes a cylindrical spacer which is interposed in the shaft hole 23 inside the rolling bearings 24, 24.
It is set so as to match the interval between the rolling bearings 24, 24 fitted to the roller bearings. Then, the spacer 29 is provided in the shaft hole 23.
Bearing holes 2 provided at both ends of shaft hole 23 with
The outer races of the rolling bearings 24, 24 are fitted into the rolling bearings 5, 25, respectively, and the shaft insertion holes 3 of the rolling bearings 24, 24 are fitted.
The collars 26, 26 are fitted so that the flanges 27 face outward at 0, 30, respectively, and communicate with the spacer 29. When the collar 26 and the spacer 29 are made of abrasion-resistant engineering plastic, dimensional processing is facilitated.

Reference numeral 31 denotes a support shaft for supporting the wheel 16, and a nut 33 is screwed into a screw portion 32 provided at the tip. 34 and 34 are plain washers, and 35 is a spring washer. Next, the assembly of the casters 7 will be described step by step. Arm 18, 1 of fork 15
8 and the collars 26, 26 and the spacer 29 described above.
And the other arm 18
A plain washer 34 is superimposed on the outside of the shaft 16 and the support shaft 31 is inserted through the shaft hole 19, and the support shaft 31 is further inserted in the rolling bearing 24 of the wheel 16 in the order of the collar with collar 26, the spacer 29 and the collar with collar 26. 3, and then a plain washer 34 and a spring washer 35 are inserted into the shaft hole 19 of the other arm 18, and a nut 33 is screwed into a threaded portion 32 at the tip of the support shaft 31. Assembled as shown.

[0010] The caster 7 thus assembled
Are connected to the arms 18, 18 of the fork 15 via the support shaft 31.
Each of the rolling bearings 24, 24 fitted in bearing holes 25, 25 provided at both left and right ends of a shaft hole 23 is supported by the wheels 16.
Are supported by a spacer 29 on the inside and a flange 27 of a collar 26 with a flange on the outside. Moreover, each collar 2 whose cylindrical portion 28 is slightly shorter than the width of the rolling bearing 24.
The gaps S, S are present between the cylinders 28, 28 and the spacer 29 without the tips of the cylinders 28, 28 and the spacer 29 contacting each other.
6, each of the rolling bearings 2 is formed by the flanges 27, 27 and the spacer 29.
Since the inner and outer sides of the rolling bearings 24 and 24 are firmly supported, the rolling bearings 24 and 24 do not curve inward and the wheels 16 do not rattle. Therefore, the wheels 16 can rotate smoothly.

[0011]

As described above, the wheel supporting structure of the caster according to the present invention has a structure in which the rolling bearing is inserted into the shaft insertion hole of the rolling bearing fitted into bearing holes provided at both ends of the wheel shaft hole. A flanged collar with a tubular part slightly shorter in width than the width is inserted so that the flanges face each other, and a spacer is interposed inside each rolling bearing, and a shaft hole provided in the arm of the fork Since the support shaft inserted from above is inserted into the cylindrical portion of each flanged collar and the spacer to support the shaft, the rolling bearings fitted in the bearing holes at both ends of the shaft hole of the wheel are supported by spacers on the inside of each other. The outside is firmly supported by the flange of the flanged collar, and there is no gap between the flanged bearings of the flanged collar.There is no need to fill the gap with adhesive, and the rolling bearings Does not curve inward In can be rotated smoothly without rattling wheels. Therefore, especially when used as a wheelchair front wheel caster mounted on a wheelchair, the wheelchair that is most disliked can be eliminated and the wheelchair can be moved smoothly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wheelchair in which a caster to which the present invention is applied is mounted on a front wheel.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a main part of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a main part showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 7 Caster 15 Fork 16 Wheels 18, 18 Arm 19, 19 Shaft hole 23 Shaft hole 24, 24 Rolling bearing 25, 25 Bearing hole 26, 26 Collar with collar 27, 27 Collar 28, 28 Cylindrical part 29 Spacer 30, 30 Shaft Insertion hole 31 Support shaft

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A wheel in which rolling bearings are fitted into bearing holes provided at both left and right ends of a shaft hole penetrating the center of a wheel is interposed between a pair of arms protruding from a fork and provided on the arm. In a wheel supporting structure of a caster in which a support shaft passes through a shaft hole and a shaft insertion hole of each rolling bearing fitted to the wheel, the length of the shaft is slightly shorter than the width of the shaft insertion hole of the rolling bearing. A flanged collar having a cylindrical portion is fitted into the shaft insertion hole with the flanges facing outward, and a length equal to the interval between the respective rolling bearings inside the rolling bearing fitted into the bearing hole of the wheel. A wheel axle support structure for a caster, characterized in that each of the rolling bearings is interposed between the collar portion of the collar with collar and the spacer with the spacer interposed therebetween.