OVERTURN PREVENTING DEVICE
Providing an overturn preventing device which can easily determine whether or not the damper is properly mounted. The overturn preventing device is mounted between a top surface of a piece of furniture (an article) and a ceiling. The overturn preventing device includes a damper. The damper includes a cylinder, a rod, a piston and a rod cover. The cylinder encloses a hydraulic fluid (operating liquid) and a gas. The rod is reciprocably inserted into the cylinder. The piston is slidably housed in the cylinder. A proximal end of the rod is coupled to the piston. The rod cover has one of two ends coupled to a distal end side of the rod thereby to be reciprocable together with the rod. The opening side end of the rod cover is located on a side of the bottom side end of the cylinder relative to the opening side end of the cylinder when the piston is immersed in the operating liquid.
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The present invention relates to an overturn preventing device.
BACKGROUND ARTPatent Document 1 discloses a conventional overturn preventing device. This overturn preventing device is mounted between a top surface of a piece of furniture installed on a floor surface and a ceiling. The overturn preventing device includes a damper which is extended and contracted to generate a damping force. When the furniture is tilted by shaking of an earthquake or the like, the damper is contracted to generate a damping force with the result that the overturn preventing device can prevent the furniture from overturn.
PRIOR ART DOCUMENT Patent DocumentsPatent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP 2015-6330
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Problem to be Overcome by the InventionIn the overturn preventing device of Patent Document 1, when a distance between the top surface of the furniture and the ceiling is large, a piston provided in a cylinder would be disposed in a compressed gas which is enclosed above a hydraulic fluid in the cylinder depending on an amount of extension of the damper. In the case where the overturn preventing device is mounted in such a state, when the furniture is tilted by shaking of an earthquake or the like, the damper does not generate a damping force until the damper is contracted so that the piston is moved into the hydraulic fluid. Consequently, there is a possibility that the damping force of the damper does not effectively act on the furniture with the result that the furniture would be overturned.
Thus, the damper needs to be used in a state such that an appropriate damping force can be generated. However, it is difficult, in many cases, to determine from an appearance whether or not the damper is in such a state.
The present invention was made in view of the above-described circumstances in the conventional art and has an object to provide an overturn preventing device which can be easily determined whether or not it is properly mounted.
Means for Overcoming the ProblemAn overturn preventing device of the present invention is mounted between a top surface of an article installed on an installation surface and a ceiling. The overturn preventing device includes a damper. The damper includes a cylinder, a rod, a piston and a rod cover. The cylinder is formed into a bottomed cylindrical shape and encloses an operating liquid and a gas. The rod is inserted into the cylinder to be reciprocable in a central axis direction and protrudes upward from one of two ends of the cylinder. The piston is housed in the cylinder to be slidable in the central axis direction. A proximal end of the rod is coupled to the piston. The rod cover is cylindrical and extends on a central axis line of the rod. The rod cover has two ends one of which is coupled to a distal end side of the rod thereby to be reciprocable in the central axis direction of the rod together with the rod. The other end of the rod cover is located on a side of the other end of the cylinder relative to the one end of the cylinder when the piston is immersed in the operating liquid.
The overturn preventing device in accordance with the invention may further include a cylinder side base and a connecting member. The cylinder side base is coupled to the other end of the cylinder and abuts against the top surface of the article or the ceiling. The connecting member connects the cylinder side base or the cylinder and the rod cover in a state where the damper is contracted.
In the overturn preventing device in accordance with the invention, the cylinder side base may be coupled to the damper via a rotating shaft rotatably supporting the damper. The cylinder side base may have a scale. The scale indicates an angle about the rotating shaft. The connecting member may be rotatably supported by the rotating shaft thereby to be connected to the cylinder side base. The connecting member may have a pointing part. The pointing part is rotated with rotation of the connecting member to point to the scale.
A first embodiment of the overturn preventing device, in accordance with the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
First EmbodimentAt least one overturn preventing device 1 of the first embodiment is mounted between a top surface of a piece of furniture F (exemplified as an article in the invention) and a ceiling C, as illustrated in
The overturn preventing device 1 includes a damper 10 as illustrated in
The damper 10 includes a cylinder 11, a rod 13, a piston 14 and a rod cover 16. The damper 10 also includes a rod guide 12 and a damping part 15. The cylinder 11 is formed into a bottomed cylindrical shape. A Hydraulic fluid L (exemplified as an operating liquid in the invention) and a compressed gas G (exemplified as a gas in the invention) are enclosed in the cylinder 11. The rod guide 12 closes an opening of the cylinder 11. The rod 13 is inserted through an opening side end of the cylinder 11 into the cylinder 11 to be reciprocable in a central axis direction and protrudes from the opening side end of the cylinder 11. The rod 13 has a proximal end side inserted into the cylinder 11. Furthermore, the rod 13 is slidably inserted through the rod guide 12. The piston 14 is slidably housed in the cylinder 11. The proximal end of the rod 13 is connected to the piston 14. The piston 14 is provided so as to divide an interior of the cylinder 11 into a rod side pressure chamber 11A in which the proximal end of the rod 13 is housed and a counter-rod side pressure chamber 11B.
The damping part 15 imparts resistance to a flow of fluid moving between the rod side pressure chamber 11A and the counter-rod side pressure chamber 11B. The damping part 15 has an orifice 15A and a check valve 15B. The orifice 15A and the check valve 15B are respectively provided in flow passages communicating between the rod side pressure chamber 11A and the counter-rod side pressure chamber 11B. The check valve 15B allows the fluid to flow from the rod side pressure chamber 11A to the counter-rod side pressure chamber 11B and blocks the reverse flow. The orifice 15A and the check valve 15B are disposed in the piston 14.
The damper 10 is a compression damper in which a damping force generated during an extending operation is smaller than a damping force generated during a contracting operation. The contracting operation of the damper 10 refers to an operation which reduces an amount of protrusion of the rod 13 from the cylinder 11 (an entire length of the damper 10). The extending operation of the damper 10 refers to an operation which increases an amount of protrusion of the rod 13 from the cylinder 11 (an entire length of the damper 10). Furthermore, a gas pressure of the compressed gas G enclosed in the cylinder 11 causes a force to act in the extending direction of the damper 10. By the action of the compressed gas G, the damper 10 imparts a biasing force in such a direction that the lower end of the cylinder 11 serving as the furniture F side end and the upper end of the rod 13 serving as the ceiling C side end depart from each other.
The following will describe a mechanism of generating a damping force of the damper 10 by the damping part 15. The orifice 15A imparts resistance to the flow of hydraulic fluid L between the rod side pressure chamber 11A and the counter-rod side pressure chamber 11B with both extending and contracting operations of the damper 10. The check valve 15B allows the hydraulic fluid L to flow from the rod side pressure chamber 11A to the counter-rod side pressure chamber 11B and blocks the reverse flow. Accordingly, the damper 10 has two flow paths of the hydraulic fluid L from the rod side pressure chamber 11A to the counter-rod side pressure chamber 11B during the extending operation, that is, one flow path including the orifice 15A and the other flow path including the check valve 15B. On the other hand, the damper 10 has only one flow path of the hydraulic fluid L from the counter-rod side pressure chamber 11A to the rod side pressure chamber 11B through the orifice 15A during the contracting operation. Accordingly, the damping force generated by the damper 10 during the extending operation is smaller than the damping force generated by the damper 10 during the contracting operation.
The rod cover 16 is formed into the shape of a cylinder extending on a central axis line of the rod 13. The rod cover 16 has an end coupled to the distal end side of the rod 13 (the upper end side in
The cylinder side base 21 is coupled via a joint 18 to the bottom of the cylinder 11. The rod side base 22 is coupled via another joint 18 to the distal end of the rod 13. In other words, the cylinder side base 21 is coupled via the joint 18 to the cylinder side end of the damper 10, and the rod side base 22 is coupled via the joint 18 to the rod side end of the damper 10. The cylinder side base 21 abuts against the top surface of the furniture F. The rod side base 22 abuts against the ceiling C. The damper 10 is mounted between the top surface of the furniture F and the ceiling C with the rod side end thereof being directed to the ceiling C side. The cylinder side base 21 and the rod side base 22 are provided to be rotatable relative to the damper 10. The cylinder side base 21 and the rod side base 22 substantially have the same form and the same structure.
The joints 18 are respectively provided on both ends of the damper 10, as described above. Each joint 18 is formed by bending a flat plate-shaped metal fitting as illustrated in
The cylinder side base 21 and the rod side base 22 each have a base body 23, a pin 24, a stop ring 25, and bush 26. Since the cylinder side base 21 and the rod side base 22 have substantially the same form and the same structure as described above, the cylinder side base 21 will be described in the following.
As illustrated in
Furthermore, a scale 23B is formed on a side surface of the base body 23. The scale 23B indicates an angle about a central axis of an insertion hole 23A through which the pin 24 serving as a rotating shaft is inserted. The scale 23B is formed as two marks indicating angles of 15 degrees and 25 degrees about the rotation axis with respect to the direction perpendicular to the bottom surface (the lower surface in
The bush 26 is substantially cylindrical in shape as illustrated in
The central part of the bush 26 has an inner diameter slightly larger than an outer diameter of the shaft part 24A of the pin 24. Furthermore, both ends of the bush 26 have inner peripheral surfaces 26C the diameters of which are outwardly enlarged. Accordingly, the bush 26 is rotatable about the shaft part 24A of the pin 24. Furthermore, the bush 26 is inclinable with respect to the shaft part 24A of the pin 24 to the extent that the inner peripheral surfaces 26C of both ends thereof having enlarged diameters abut against an outer peripheral surface of the shaft part 24A of the pin 24. In other words, the damper 10 with the bush 26 attached to the joint 18 is rotatable about the shaft part 24A of the pin 24 and swingable in a direction intersecting the rotation direction. Furthermore, the damper 10 can be swung more largely in the direction intersecting the rotation direction by the elastic deformation of the bush 26.
When the piston 14 is immersed in the hydraulic fluid L, the opening side end of the rod cover 16 is located on a side of the bottom side end of the cylinder 11 relative to the opening side end of the cylinder 11. In other words, the opening side end of the rod cover 16 is located between the opening side end and the bottom side end of the cylinder 11 when the piston 14 is immersed in the hydraulic fluid L. Furthermore, it can also be said that a lower end of the rod cover 16 is located below an upper end of the cylinder 11 when the piston 14 is immersed in the hydraulic fluid L. The damper 10 exerts a proper damping force in this state. Furthermore, an entire part of the rod 13 protruding from the cylinder 11 is covered by the rod cover 16.
The connecting member 31 connects the cylinder side base 21 and the rod cover 16 thereby to restrict the extension of the damper 10. As illustrated in
Furthermore, the connecting member 31 has a pointer 31C as illustrated in
The overturn preventing device 1 having the above-described construction will be mounted between the top surface of the furniture F and the ceiling C in the following manner. In the overturn preventing device 1 in an initial state before the mounting, the rod cover 16 and the cylinder side base 21 are connected by the connecting member 31, and the damper 10 is held in the contracted state, as illustrated in
First, the overturn preventing device 1 is placed on the top surface of the furniture F and the cylinder side base 21 is caused to abut against the top surface of the furniture F. At this time, the overturn preventing device 1 is placed so that the shaft part 24A (the rotating shaft) of the pin 24 of the cylinder side base 21 is perpendicular to a direction in which the furniture F is tilted by shaking of an earthquake or the like (the right direction in
The upper end of the damper 10 is then inclined frontward so that an inclination angle of the damper 10 with respect to the vertical direction is adjusted to be between 15° and 25°. In the first embodiment, the inclination angle can be adjusted so that the pointer 31C of the connecting member 31 which is inclined according to the inclination of the damper 10 points to the angular range (the range between 15° and 25°) indicated by the scale 23B. The angular range indicated by the scale 23B is set as a proper angular range of the damper 10 in which the tilt of the furniture F can be effectively suppressed. Then, the direction of the rod side base 22 is corrected so that the shaft part 24A of the pin 24 of the rod side base 22 is parallel to the shaft part 24A of the pin 24 of the cylinder side base 21. This can be achieved since the cylinder 11 and the rod 13 are relatively rotatable about the central axis of the damper 10 and since the cylinder side base 21 connected to the cylinder 11 and the rod side base 22 connected to the rod 13 are also relatively rotatable about the central axis of the damper 10. Then, in this state, the connecting member 31 is detached. Thereupon, the damper 10 is extended by the pressure of the compressed gas G enclosed in the cylinder 11 so that the rod side base 22 abuts against the ceiling C as illustrated in
At last, it is confirmed that the opening side end of the rod cover 16 is located on the side of the bottom side end relative to the opening side end of the cylinder 11. When the opening side end of the rod cover 16 is in this state, it can be determined that the overturn preventing device 1 can exert a proper damping force. For example, in the case of
On the other hand, as illustrated in
As described above, the overturn preventing device 1 is mounted between the top surface of the furniture F installed on the installation surface and the ceiling C. The overturn preventing device 1 includes the damper 10. The damper 10 includes the cylinder 11, the rod 13 and the rod cover 16. The cylinder 11 is formed into a cylindrical shape. The rod 13 is inserted into the cylinder 11 to be reciprocable in the central axis direction while protruding from one end of the cylinder 11. The rod cover 16 is formed into the cylindrical shape and extends on a central axis line of the rod 13. One end of the rod cover 16 is connected to the distal end side of the rod 13 so as to be reciprocable in the central axis direction of the rod 13 together with the rod 13. In the state where the damper 10 can exert a proper damping force, the opening side end that is the other end of the rod cover 16 is located on the side of the bottom side end of the cylinder 11 relative to the opening side end of the cylinder 11.
According to the above configuration, in the overturn preventing device 1 of the first embodiment, by confirming the location of the opening side end of the rod cover 16, it can be easily determined whether or not the damper is in a state of capable of exerting a proper damping force, that is, whether or not the piston 14 is immersed in the hydraulic fluid L which means the state capable of exerting proper damping force in the hydraulic damper.
Accordingly, it can be easily determined whether or not the overturn preventing device 1 is properly mounted.
Furthermore, the damper 10 includes the piston 14 housed in the cylinder 11 to be slidable in the central axis direction. The proximal end of the rod 13 is connected to the piston 14. The hydraulic fluid L and the compressed gas G are enclosed in the cylinder 11. The rod 13 protrudes upward from the cylinder 11. The piston 14 is immersed in the hydraulic fluid L when the damper 10 is in a state capable of exerting a proper damping force. In this case, by confirming the location of the rod cover 16, it can be determined whether or not the damper 10 which is a hydraulic damper is in a state capable of exerting a proper damping force, that is, whether or not the piston 14 is immersed in the hydraulic fluid L.
Furthermore, the overturn preventing device 1 includes the cylinder side base 21 and the connecting member 31. The cylinder side base 21 is coupled to the bottom side end of the cylinder 11 and abuts against the top surface of the furniture F. The connecting member 31 connects the cylinder side base 21 and the rod cover 16. As a result, the overturn preventing device 1 can be easily held in the state where the damper 10 is contracted. Furthermore, the connecting member 31 is provided so as to be detachable relative to the rod cover 16 and the cylinder side base 21. As a result, the connecting member 31 can be kept detached when unnecessary. Still furthermore, since the overturn preventing device 1 is provided with the housing part for housing the connecting member 31, the connecting member 31 can be prevented from being lost by being housed herein.
Furthermore, the cylinder side base 21 is coupled to the damper 10 via the pin 24 serving as the rotating shaft rotatably supporting the damper 10. The cylinder side base 21 further has the scale 23B. The scale 23B indicates the angle about the rotating shaft. The connecting member 31 is rotatably supported by the proximal end of the pin 24 serving as the rotating shaft thereby to be connected to the cylinder side base 21. The connecting member 31 has the pointer 31C. The pointer 31C is rotated with rotation of the connecting member 31. Accordingly, the inclination angle of the damper 10 about the rotation axis can be easily recognized. As a result, it can be easily determined whether or not the damper 10 is at a proper inclination angle.
Furthermore, since the damper 10 has the rod cover 16, adhesion of dust to the outer peripheral surface of the rod 13 can be suppressed. Furthermore, though it is difficult to apply decoration on the surface of the rod 13, such as by painting, it is possible to apply a desired decoration to the rod cover 16 when the damper 10 has the rod cover 16 covering the rod 13. Accordingly, since the portions where a desired decoration can be applied is increased as compared with the case where the damper has no rod cover, the designability of the overturn preventing device can be improved.
Second EmbodimentNext, a second embodiment will be described with reference to
The protrusions 211D are provided to protrude from an open end edge of the cylinder body 211C along an extension direction of the damper 10, as illustrated in
The overturn preventing device 201 thus constructed has the following action and effect. More specifically, the cylinder 211 has the protrusions 211D protruding at the upper end of the cylinder body 211C. Accordingly, when the damper 210 extends to the vicinity of its maximum length with which the damper 210 exerts a proper damping force, this can be easily grasped. For example, when the cylinder 211 has no protrusions 211D, it is difficult to distinguish whether or not a part covered by the rod cover 16 is the vicinity of the upper end. However, the cylinder 211 has the protrusions 211D. Accordingly, when only the protrusions 211D of the cylinder 211 are covered by the rod cover 16, it can be easily understood that the state is a vicinity of the upper end of the cylinder 211 and that the damper has a nearly maximum length in the state where the damper can exert a proper damping force. Furthermore, since the multiple protrusions 211D are provided, they are visible in a wider range.
As described above, the overturn preventing device 201 of the second embodiment has the same action and effect as of the first embodiment. In addition, it can be easily understood whether or not the damper 10 extends to have a nearly maximum length in the state where it exerts a proper damping force.
The present invention should not be limited to the embodiments described above with reference to the drawings, but the technical scope of the invention encompasses the following embodiments, for example.
(1) Although the overturn preventing device is mounted on the furniture in the first and second embodiments, the overturn preventing device may be mounted on, for example, a bed having a plurality of beds connected to each other in the up-down direction, a large sized television, a refrigerator, a book shelf, a showcase, a server rack and the like, all of which have a possibility of being overturned by shaking of an earthquake or the like.
(2) Although the overturn preventing device is mounted on the furniture placed on the floor surface with the rear surface being opposed to the wall surface in the first and second embodiments, the overturn preventing device may be mounted on a piece of furniture placed on the floor surface without being adjacent to a wall. In this case, when there is a possibility that the article would be overturned not only frontward but also in other directions such as rearward, the overturn preventing device needs to be properly mounted according to a direction in which the article may be overturned, with attention to a mounting position, the number of overturn preventing devices to be mounted, an inclination angle of the damper, a direction in which the damper is inclined, etc.
(3) Although the compression damper is used in the first and second embodiments, a two-way damper or an extension damper may be used. When using these dampers, the overturn preventing device needs to be properly mounted according to the type of the damper with attention to the bases to be fixed to the article and ceiling, the location or the number of the devices, the inclination angle of the damper, the inclination direction of the damper, and the like.
(4) In the first and second embodiments, the damper is extended by the gas pressure of the compressed gas. However, for example, the damper may be extended by applying a biasing force by other means such as a compression coil spring, or may be further extended by a combination of the means and the like.
(5) In the first and second embodiments, the liquid pressure damper is used as the damper, and the hydraulic fluid is employed as the operating liquid enclosed in the cylinder. However, for example, a liquid pressure damper enclosing another liquid such as water as the operating liquid may be employed.
(6) Although the first and second embodiments show the examples in which the connecting member is provided, the connecting member is not a requisite component in the invention. Even when the connecting member is provided, the invention should not be limited to the configuration of the first and second embodiments. Any connecting member may be applied which can restrict at least one of the contracting operation and the extending operation of the damper irrespective of a connection part (engagement part), such as a connecting member connecting the rod cover and the cylinder.
(7) Although the first end second embodiments exemplify the connecting member connecting the rod cover and the pin of the base, the configuration of the connecting member should not be limited to the exemplified. For example, as illustrated in
(8) Although the first and second embodiments show an example of the connecting member provided so as to be detachable, the connecting member may be provided so as to be undetachable at one of ends thereof. In this case, as illustrated in
(9) Although the connecting member is connected in a state close to where the damper is most contracted in the first and second embodiments, an amount of contraction of the damper at the time of connection should not be particularly limited. However, from the viewpoint of ease in handling such as transportation and storage, it is preferable that an amount of contraction is large, that is, an overall length is shorter.
(10) Although the side surface of the base body is formed with the scale giving a rough indication of the inclination angle of the damper in the first and second embodiments, the scale is not a requisite component in the invention. When the scale is formed, the configuration of the scale should not be limited to those of the first and second embodiments. For example, the scales may be respectively formed on both side surfaces of the base body, or the scale may be formed to have both a range of 15° to 25° and a range of −15° to −25° about the rotation axis. Thus, the scales may be formed on a plurality of locations.
(11) Although the pin is exemplified as the rotating shaft member in the first and second embodiments, another shaft member such as bolt may be employed, for example.
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- C . . . ceiling; F . . . furniture (article); G . . . compressed gas (gas); L . . . hydraulic fluid (operating liquid); W . . . wall surface; 1, 201 . . . overturn preventing device; 10, 201 . . . damper; 11, 211 . . . cylinder (11A . . . rod side pressure chamber, 11C . . . counter-rod side pressure chamber, 211C . . . cylinder body, 211D . . . protrusion); 12 . . . rod guide; 13 . . . rod; 14 . . . piston; 15 . . . damping part (15A . . . orifice, 15B . . . check valve); 16 . . . rod cover (16A . . . engaged hole); 18 . . . joint (18A . . . through hole); 21 . . . cylinder side base; 22 . . . rod side base; 23 . . . base body; 23A . . . insertion hole; 24 . . . pin; 24A . . . shaft part; 25 . . . stop ring; 26 . . . bush; 26A . . . concave part; 26B . . . outer peripheral surface; 26C . . . inner peripheral surface; 31 . . . connecting member; 31A . . . base side engaging part; 31B . . . cover side engaging part; 31C . . . pointer; and 32 . . . engagement pin.
Claims
1. An overturn preventing device to be mounted between a top surface of an article installed on an installation surface and a ceiling, the device comprising a damper including:
- a bottomed cylindrical cylinder enclosing an operating liquid and a gas;
- a rod protruding upward from one of two ends of the cylinder and inserted into the cylinder to be reciprocable in a central axis direction;
- a piston to which a proximal end of the rod is coupled, the piston being housed in the cylinder to be slidable in the central axis direction; and
- a rod cover which is cylindrical and extends on a central axis line of the rod, the rod cover having two ends one of which is coupled to a distal end side of the rod thereby to be reciprocable in the central axis direction of the rod together with the rod,
- wherein the other end of the rod cover is located on a side of the other end of the cylinder relative to the one end of the cylinder when the piston is immersed in the operating liquid.
2. The overturn preventing device according to claim 1, further comprising:
- a cylinder side base coupled to the other end of the cylinder and configured to abut against the top surface of the article; and
- a connecting member connecting the cylinder side base or the cylinder and the rod cover with the damper being contracted.
3. The overturn preventing device according to claim 2, wherein the cylinder side base is coupled to the damper via a rotating shaft rotatably supporting the damper;
- wherein the cylinder side base has a scale indicating an angle about the rotating shaft;
- wherein the connecting member is rotatably supported by the rotating shaft thereby to be connected to the cylinder side base; and
- wherein the connecting member has a pointer which is rotated with rotation of the connecting member to point to the scale.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 20, 2017
Publication Date: May 16, 2019
Applicant: KYB CORPORATION (Minato-ku, Tokyo)
Inventors: Hirohito MORI (Minato-ku, Tokyo), Yuusuke KAWANO (Minato-ku, Tokyo), Masashi SUGURO (Minato-ku, Tokyo), Tomoki ANDOU (Minato-ku, Tokyo), Shougo ITOU (Hanishina-gun, Nagano)
Application Number: 16/098,596