JP3569632B2 - Safety mechanism of toilet seat elevating device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a safety mechanism for a toilet seat elevating device. More specifically, the present invention relates to a safety mechanism used for a toilet seat elevating device provided with a synchronization cable for synchronizing left and right movable legs supporting the toilet seat.
[0002]
[Prior art]
The present applicants have previously proposed a toilet seat elevating device using a cable as a power transmission element (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-280580). In this apparatus, a lifting drive unit is disposed on the left and right sides of the toilet, and a motor, a speed reducer, a driving cable, and the like are provided on each of the left and right units. Then, the left and right driving mechanisms are separately operated to raise and lower the left and right ends of the toilet seat.
[0003]
Further, the present applicants have a guide provided on the left and right sides of the toilet, left and right movable legs provided on each guide so as to be vertically movable, a driving mechanism for directly driving one movable leg, and a left and right movable leg. A so-called one-side-drive type toilet seat elevating device provided with a synchronization cable for synchronizing the ascending and descending operations is proposed (Japanese Patent Application No. 9-115243). In this apparatus, one side of the toilet seat can be directly driven up and down by a drive mechanism, and the other side can be driven up and down indirectly via a synchronous cable.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the case of the one-sided toilet seat elevating device, there is a problem that if a cable is cut off as a result of long-term use, the toilet seat is inclined and the user slides down. If the guides of the left and right units are not directly connected to each other but are supported by independent frames, the entire device may fall over due to the cutting of the cable, which may be dangerous for the user.
[0005]
The present invention provides a safety mechanism in the above-described one-side drive type toilet seat elevating device, which prevents the toilet seat from tilting or the device from falling down even if the synchronization cable is cut off, and protects the user safely. It is a technical issue.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The safety mechanism of the present invention includes guides provided on the left and right sides of the toilet, movable left and right legs supporting the toilet seat, provided on each guide so as to be vertically movable, a driving mechanism for directly driving one movable leg, and a left and right movable A safety mechanism used for a toilet seat elevating device including a conduit arranged between legs and synchronizing a lifting operation of the two, and a synchronization cable including a cable slidably moving in the conduit, An auxiliary cable routed in parallel with the synchronous cable and with some slack, and a means for movably guiding the auxiliary cable along the wiring route; and a means for guiding the auxiliary cable. bending direction of the elastic deformation is conduit capable, the end of the conduit in a free state, and to take the slack of the auxiliary cables resiliently returning from bending, routing the tension mechanism in the bent state It is characterized by being e (claim 1).
[0007]
In such a safety mechanism, a detecting means for detecting the pre-Symbol abnormal state where predetermined or more tensile force is applied to the auxiliary cable, when the detecting means detects an abnormal state, stops the operation of at least rise direction of the drive mechanism It is preferable to provide an electric circuit for causing the electric circuit to be driven .
[0008]
[Action and effect of the invention]
In the safety mechanism of the present invention, in a normal state, when the driving mechanism operates to drive one of the movable legs, the synchronous cable balances the torque based on the eccentric load with the torque in the opposite direction. Therefore, the left and right movable legs move up and down smoothly in synchronization with each other. The auxiliary cable performs the same operation as the synchronous cable with some slack. And when the synchronous cable is disconnected, it takes on the load instead of the synchronous cable. This can prevent the toilet seat from tilting and the device from falling down.
[0009]
Under normal conditions, the auxiliary cable is hardly subjected to tension, and hardly wears due to operation while bending. A large tension is applied only when the synchronous cable is cut. Therefore, a thinner cable than the synchronous cable can be used as the auxiliary cable.
[0010]
In the safety mechanism provided with the above-described tension mechanism, the operation of the safety cable is smooth because the auxiliary cable has little slack. In this case, if the tension mechanism is configured at the end of the elastic conduit, other components such as a spring are not required, and the configuration of the safety mechanism is simplified.
[0011]
In the case where a detecting means and an operation stop circuit for detecting that the tension greater than a predetermined value is applied to the auxiliary cable are provided, the lifting operation cannot be performed after the synchronous cable is cut. Therefore, it is more secure.
[0012]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Next, an embodiment of the safety mechanism of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing an embodiment of a toilet seat elevating device provided with a safety mechanism of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which the toilet seat of the toilet seat elevating device is raised, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV of FIG. 2, FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing the operation of the toilet seat lifting device, and FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the toilet seat lifting device provided with the safety mechanism of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows another embodiment.
[0013]
First, the entire toilet seat elevating device will be described with reference to FIG. The toilet seat elevating device A includes left and right fixed legs 1 and 1 installed on a floor so as to straddle a toilet, a movable portion 2 supported by the fixed legs and moving up and down, and a linear motion that drives the movable portion 2 up and down. And an actuator 3. Each fixed leg 1 includes a frame 4 in which a metal pipe is bent into an L shape. The left and right frames 4, 4 may be integrally connected. Level bolts 4a are attached to the front and rear of the lower portion of each frame 4, respectively. Further, inside the rising portion 4b, flat plate-shaped fixing guides 6 and 7 are fixed by two upper and lower fixing members 5 with a certain interval between them and the rising portion.
[0014]
The movable portion 2 is covered with left and right fixed guides 6 and 7 and moves left and right in the form of left and right rectangular tubular movable legs 8 and 9 and armrests 10 and 11 fixed to upper ends thereof so as to extend in the front-rear direction. And a connecting member 12 passed between the rear ends thereof. The connecting member 12 is formed of a metal pipe bent in a U-shape in plan view. Note that the connecting member 12 may be directly fixed to the movable legs 8 and 9. Left and right ends of a toilet seat support plate 13 are fixed to an intermediate portion of the inner walls of the left and right movable legs 8 and 9 in the vertical direction. Since the outer walls of the movable legs 8 and 9 pass between the fixed guides 6 and 7 and the frame 4, cutouts 15 are formed to avoid interference with the fixed member 5.
[0015]
As shown in FIG. 1, sliders 16 that slide along the outer peripheral surfaces of the fixed guides 6 and 7 are attached to two upper and lower locations on the inner surface of the inner walls of the rectangular leg-shaped movable legs 8 and 9. The lower end of the linear motion actuator 3 is pin-joined to the lower central portion of the frame 4, and the distal end of the telescopic rod 3 a is pin-joined to the intermediate portion of the movable leg 9. Therefore, when the telescopic rod 3a of the linear motion actuator 3 expands and contracts, the entire movable part 2 moves up and down. The linear motion actuator 3 is, for example, a conventionally known one having a speed reducer that reduces the rotation of the motor, a screw-nut mechanism that converts the rotation of the motor into a linear reciprocating motion of the telescopic rod 3a, and the like. Note that a fluid cylinder such as a hydraulic cylinder or an air cylinder may be used.
[0016]
Further, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, as a means for synchronizing the left and right movable parts 2, a flexible conduit 17 and a flexible conduit 17 slidably housed therein are connected to the connecting member 12 of the movable part 2. A well-known pull control cable 19 composed of an inner cable 18 is accommodated. The inner cable 18 of the pull control cable for synchronization is the synchronization cable according to claim 1. The vicinity of both ends of the synchronous cable (inner cable) 18 and the conduit 17 are in the left and right movable legs 8 and 9. Further, a second pull control cable 20 is routed in the movable section 2 in parallel with the pull control cable 19 for synchronization. The second pull control cable 20 has a conduit 21 and an inner cable 22 which are somewhat thinner than the pull control cable 19 for synchronization. The inner cable 22 is an auxiliary cable according to claim 1, and the conduit 21 is a guiding means. Together, they constitute a safety mechanism.
[0017]
The conduits 17 and 21 are, for example, formed by winding a metal wire into a cylindrical shape and provided with a synthetic resin coating. A liner may be provided on the inner surface. Therefore, it has flexibility and elasticity against bending. It has little elasticity in the axial direction. The inner cables 18 and 22 are formed by twisting metal wires, and have flexibility. Note that the conduit 17 for the synchronous cable need not have flexibility. Also, the portion of the conduit 21 for the auxiliary cable except for the end portion need not have flexibility.
[0018]
As shown in detail in FIG. 3, one end of the conduit 17 for the synchronization cable is attached downwardly to a bracket 23 fixed to the inner surface of the movable leg 8 on the left side, that is, the movable leg 8 on the side not directly driven. It is locked so as to be adjustable. An inner cable 18 protruding from an end of the conduit 17 is engaged with a pulley 24 rotatably attached to the bracket 23, and extends upward after turning upside down. The end of the inner cable 18 is locked by a locking bracket 25 fixed to the fixed guide 6. Instead of the pulley 24, the conduit 17 may be curved by 180 degrees for guiding, or a semicircular sliding guide may be provided to change the direction of the synchronous cable 18.
[0019]
The conduit 21 for the auxiliary cable is passed from the connecting member 12 to the armrest 10, and one end of the conduit 21 extends obliquely into the left movable leg 8. Its ends are not fixed and are therefore bendable. The auxiliary cable 22 emerging from the end of the conduit 21 extends downward with some slack, engages a second pulley 26 provided concentrically with the pulley 24 and turns in the same manner as the synchronous cable 18. It extends upward and is locked by the locking bracket 25 described above. The auxiliary cable pulley 26 is integrated with the synchronous cable pulley 24, but may be separate.
[0020]
Since the end of the conduit 21 for the auxiliary cable is free as described above, the auxiliary cable 22 is bent somewhat downward due to the downward extension of the auxiliary cable 22, and tends to return to the original straight state by the elastic force. . As a result, the end of the conduit 21 stops in an oblique direction at a position that balances the tension while applying some tension to the auxiliary cable 22. When the tension of the auxiliary cable 22 decreases, the auxiliary cable 22 slightly returns upward, and when the tension increases, the auxiliary cable 22 bends further downward. In order to improve the resilience of the conduit 21, the synthetic resin coating may be peeled off from the curved portion or from the curved portion toward the tip to expose the armor layer wound with the metal wire.
[0021]
As shown in FIG. 4, the opposite end of the conduit 17 for the synchronization cable is attached to the movable leg 9 on the right side, that is, the bracket 27 attached to the movable leg 9 on the driven side. Adjustably locked. The synchronization cable 18 protruding from the end of the conduit 17 extends downward and its end is locked by a locking bracket 28 fixed to the fixed guide 7.
[0022]
The right end of the auxiliary cable conduit 21 is not fixed to the movable leg 9 but extends obliquely into the movable leg 9 and is free. An auxiliary cable 22 exiting from the conduit 21 extends downward, and its end is stopped by a locking bracket 27. Also on this right side, the conduit 21 of the auxiliary cable extends obliquely at a position where the tension of the auxiliary cable 22 is balanced. The armor layer may also be exposed by removing the synthetic resin coating from the curved portion or the end portion on the right side of the conduit 21.
[0023]
Limit switches LS1 and LS2 for detecting the descending end and the rising end of the movable leg and stopping the motor are attached to the upper and lower two positions of the movable leg 9 on the right side. The locking bracket 28 is integrally formed with a dog 28a for operating those limit switches. Further, a limit switch LS3 for detecting the bending of the conduit 21 is attached above the movable leg 9 so as to face the end of the conduit 21 of the auxiliary cable. The limit switch LS3 is a detecting means for detecting that the conduit 21 is bent as indicated by an imaginary line when excessive tension is generated in the auxiliary cable 22.
[0024]
As shown in FIG. 3, an operation switch SW for controlling the operation of the linear motion actuator 3 is attached to the tip of the armrest 10 on the left side as viewed. The wiring of the operation switch SW is preferably provided in parallel on the left and right armrests 10 and 11 so that the operation switch SW can be attached to either of the left and right armrests 10 and 11 as desired by the user. FIG. 1 shows a state in which it is attached to the left armrest 10.
[0025]
Next, the elevating operation of the toilet seat elevating device A will be described with reference to FIG. When the linear actuator 3 extends and the movable part 2 rises, the conduit 17 for the synchronous cable and the conduit 21 for the auxiliary cable also rise together with the movable part 2. The synchronization cable 18 and the auxiliary cable 22, which then exit from the right ends of the conduits 17, 21, are pulled out of the conduits 17, 21 since the ends are locked by the locking brackets 28, and are pulled out of the left side. In the movable leg 8 of FIG. 1, the synchronization cable 18 is drawn into the conduit 17 and the auxiliary cable 22 is drawn into its corresponding conduit 21. At that time, the tension of the synchronous cable is changed by the pulley 24 to push down the fixed guide 6, and the movable leg 8 is supported upward by the reaction force. Therefore, the counterclockwise torque based on the eccentric ascending drive force of the linear actuator 3 is balanced by the tension of the synchronous cable 18, and the left and right movable legs 8 and 9 rise synchronously.
[0026]
On the other hand, almost no tension is applied to the auxiliary cable 22, and the auxiliary cable 22 is simply pulled out of the conduit 21 on the right side and pulled into the conduit 21 on the left side following the rise of the movable portion 2. Therefore, there is no problem in durability even with a thin cable. On the right side, tension is applied based on the frictional resistance in the conduit 21, and the end of the oblique conduit 21 further tilts somewhat downward. On the left side there is a slack, which is somewhat absorbed by the resilience of the end of the conduit 21. Therefore, the engagement with the pulley 24 does not come off. In addition, it is preferable to provide a projection 29 for preventing the cable from coming off near the pulley 24 or the second pulley 25 (see FIG. 3).
[0027]
Then, when the user sits on the toilet seat in a state of being raised as indicated by the imaginary line, the weight is supported by the linear motion actuator 3 via the movable portion 2. Therefore, a large counterclockwise torque is applied to the movable portion 2 in FIG. However, as described above, the synchronous cable 18 hangs the pulley 24, is supported upward on the left side, and is pulled downward on the right side by the tension of the synchronous cable 18, so that clockwise torque acts, and It can be balanced with counterclockwise torque.
[0028]
When the linear actuator 3 contracts from this state, the tension of the inner cable 18 is about to decrease at the same time as the right movable leg 9 is lowered, so that the inner cable 18 is pulled out from the left end of the conduit 17 and The movable leg 8 also descends synchronously. Also in this case, the synchronous cable 18 descends while balancing the counterclockwise torque applied to the movable portion 2 with the synchronous cable 18. Therefore, even if the rigidity of the connecting member 12 or the like is low, right and left can be smoothly moved up and down synchronously without stick-slip or locking. When descending, the auxiliary cable 22 is pulled out from the left end side of the conduit 21 and is drawn in to the right end side. The slack occurs on the right side, and is absorbed to some extent by the repulsive force of the end of the conduit 21 on that side.
[0029]
When the synchronous cable 18 is disconnected during the elevating operation, the movable portion 2 tends to tilt in the counterclockwise direction due to the counterclockwise torque generated by the weight of the user and the upward supporting force of the linear motion actuator 3. However, the auxiliary cable 22 does not slack when tilted to some extent, and supports the torque in place of the synchronous cable 18. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the movable section 2 from being largely inclined and the entire apparatus from falling down.
[0030]
Further, when a large tension is applied to the auxiliary cable 22, the end portion of the conduit 21 for the auxiliary cable is further bent downward as shown by the imaginary line in FIG. Therefore, the limit switch LS3 for detecting the bending of the conduit detects that the bending has occurred. The detection signal is transmitted to a control circuit for controlling the motor of the linear actuator 3 and, for example, stops the motor of the linear actuator 3. Note that it is possible to stop only the ascending operation that places a large burden on the auxiliary cable and make the descending operation effective. In the configuration, when cutting is performed in the middle of ascent, the operation is stopped in the middle, and when cutting is performed in the middle of the lowering operation, the lowering is continued as it is. The next time you try to raise it, it does not rise. When the limit switch LS3 for detecting the bending of the conduit is operated, a lamp or a buzzer for notifying an abnormal situation may be operated.
[0031]
In the above toilet seat elevating device A, since the control cable 19 is passed through the connecting member 12, the control cable does not come out to the outside. Therefore, the appearance is simplified. In addition, since the movable legs 8 and 9 having a rectangular cylindrical shape cover the fixed guides 6 and 7, there is an advantage that the fixed guides are protected from water and the like.
[0032]
In the embodiment of FIG. 5, both ends of the synchronization cable 18 are locked by fixed guides 6 and 7, and both ends of the conduit 17 are locked by movable legs 8 and 9, but can be reversed as shown in FIG. 6. it can. In the toilet seat elevating device B, the left end of the conduit 17 for the synchronous cable is locked downward at the upper end of the fixed guide 6 on the left. The synchronization cable 18 protruding from the end extends downward and is locked to the left movable leg 8 or slider 16. Further, the right end of the conduit 17 is locked downward at the upper end of the right fixed guide 7. Further, the synchronous cable 18 protruding therefrom is turned by a pulley 24 rotatably attached to the fixed guide 7, and then its end is locked to the movable leg 9 on the right side. Since the conduit 17 is locked by the fixed guides 6 and 7, it is exposed to the outside through, for example, a slit formed in the movable leg so as not to hinder the vertical movement of the movable leg 8, 9. The auxiliary cable 22 and its conduit 21 are routed in parallel with the synchronous cable 18 and its conduit 17. This has substantially the same effect as the toilet seat elevating device A shown in FIG. 5, although the wiring is somewhat complicated.
[0033]
Although in the embodiment of FIG. 1 using the limit switch to detect the bending of the conduit 21 of the auxiliary cable, Ru can also use a detector such as a photoelectric tube switch or a proximity switch or pressure sensor. In this case, the end of the conduit may be attached to the bracket via a compression coil spring, and the auxiliary cable may be tensioned by the restoring force of the compression coil spring. In this case, the tension of the auxiliary cable can be detected by detecting the position of the end of the conduit.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an embodiment of a toilet seat elevating device provided with a safety mechanism of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing a state in which a toilet seat of the toilet seat lifting device of FIG. 1 is raised.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing the operation of the toilet seat lifting / lowering device of FIG. 1;
FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing another embodiment of the toilet seat elevating device of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
A toilet seat elevating device 1 fixed leg 2 movable part 3 linear actuator 4 frame 6 fixed guide 7 fixed guide 8 movable leg 9 movable leg 12 connecting member 13 toilet seat support plate 17 conduit 18 synchronization cable 19 control cable 20 second control cable 21 conduit 22 Auxiliary cable 24 Pulley LS1 Limit switch LS2 Limit switch LS3 Limit switch B Toilet seat lifting device

Claims (2)

Guides provided on the left and right sides of the toilet bowl, left and right movable legs supporting the toilet seat, and a drive mechanism for directly driving one of the movable legs, and wiring between the left and right movable legs. A safety mechanism used for a toilet seat elevating device including a conduit for synchronizing the elevating operation of the two and a synchronous cable comprising a cable slidably moving in the conduit , wherein the safety mechanism is provided in parallel with the synchronous cable. And an auxiliary cable routed with some slack, and means for movably guiding the auxiliary cable along the wiring route , wherein the means for guiding the auxiliary cable has elastic deformation in the bending direction. a possible conduit, at the ends free state of the conduit, and to take the slack of the auxiliary cables resiliently returning from bending, the toilet seat lifting instrumentation having a tensioning mechanism and wired in a bent state Safety mechanism. The auxiliary cable further includes a detection unit that detects an abnormal state in which a tension greater than a predetermined value is applied to the auxiliary cable, and an electric circuit that stops at least the operation of the drive mechanism in the ascending direction when the detection unit detects the abnormal state. The safety mechanism according to claim 1.

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