The present invention relates to an improvement in a brake mechanism of a chainsaw that rotates and drives an endless saw chain and cuts wood pieces and the like.
Chainsaws using a small engine and an electric motor as a power source are widely known. An engine chainsaw includes a centrifugal clutch. When a rotation speed of a drive shaft exceeds a set value, a centrifugal clutch is connected, power is transmitted from the drive shaft to a sprocket, and a saw chain rotates. When a rotation speed of the drive shaft is less than a set value, the centrifugal clutch is blocked, power transmission from the drive shaft is blocked and the saw chain remains in a stop state.
When rebounding of a chainsaw occurs while an object such as a wood piece is being cut or when rotation of a saw chain is desired to be immediately stopped for some reason, an operator can stop rotation of the saw chain by tilting a brake lever disposed on the front side of a front handle forward and operating a brake mechanism. For example, a brake mechanism is disclosed in Patent Literature 1, and a brake mechanism that is operated by a brake lever is a mechanical brake, a brake band is disposed on the outer circumferential side of a rotating body that rotates in connection with a sprocket, the brake band is strongly fastened using a link mechanism when the brake lever is operated and thus rotation of the rotating body is stopped.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2013-144422
In chainsaws in the related art, since a rotation angle of a brake handle (brake operation unit) is limited when a part of the brake handle hits on a stopper part formed on a housing body, the rotation angle is restricted to being small. Such a configuration is convenient because a movement angle of the brake handle is restricted during use. However, during production and assembling, since a brake link mechanism is assembled while pulling a brake spring, there are problems that it is necessary to use a special tool and the assembling performance is not favorable.
The present invention has been made in view of the above background, and an object of the present invention is to provide a chainsaw in which the assembling performance of a brake link mechanism is improved by allowing a rotation angle of a brake handle to be increased when constituent components around the brake handle are assembled. Another object of the present invention is to provide a chainsaw in which a rotation angle limiting member of a brake handle is provided separately from a housing and thus it is possible to freely restrict an operation angle of the brake handle after assembling. Still another object of the present invention is to realize a chainsaw in which a sufficient strength for a rotation angle limiting mechanism that receives a rotation torque of a brake handle can be ensured.
Representative aspects among inventions disclosed in this specification will be described as follows. According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a chainsaw including a driving source configured to drive a saw chain; a brake configured to stop rotation of the saw chain provided on a side of a housing body including the driving source; a brake operation unit configured to allow operation of the brake; and a brake link configured to allow operation of the brake according to an operation of the brake operation unit, wherein the brake link is provided on the side of the housing body and a movement amount limiting unit configured to restrict an operation amount of the brake operation unit is detachable from the housing body. The brake operation unit is pivotally supported by the housing body so that it can be rotated by an operator, and the movement amount limiting unit is a rotation angle limiting member that limits a rotation range of the brake operation unit. In this manner, when the rotation angle limiting member of the brake operation unit is configured as a detachable component separately from a brake handle or a base (such as a housing) on which the brake handle is mounted, since a rotation angle of the brake operation unit can be set to be large while constituent components (such as a link and a spring) around the brake are assembled, the assembling performance is greatly improved.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the brake link is biased in a predetermined direction by an elastic body such as a brake spring. The rotation angle limiting member does not operate during an operation of mounting the elastic body on the brake link but it operates after the spring is mounted. In addition, a brake link cover that covers an accommodation unit of the brake link of the housing body and is fixed is provided and the rotation angle limiting member is provided in the brake link cover. When the rotation angle limiting member is provided as a separate component, the angle at the time of brake operation of the brake operating portion after assembly can be freely set, and it is possible to easily support dimensional specifications of the brake operation unit and the like. In addition, in this structure, since a rotation limiting member receives a rotation torque of the brake operation unit, it is easy to increase the strength and it is easy to support rotation strength specifications of the brake operation unit.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, the rotation angle limiting member is a protrusion provided to protrude from the brake link cover to the vicinity of a rotation point of the brake operation unit. In addition, the elastic body is assembled while the brake link cover is removed and is assembled while the brake operation unit is rotated beyond a range of an operation amount limited by the rotation angle limiting member. In particular, a rotation range of the brake operation unit during an operation of mounting the elastic body on the brake link is increased to be larger than a rotation range of the brake operation unit during operation, and the increased rotation range is set on a side on which the brake mechanism allows operation of the brake operation unit. In this manner, in the structure, since the rotation angle limiting member receives a rotation torque of the brake handle, it is easy to increase the strength and it is easy to support rotation strength specifications of the brake handle.
According to the present invention, when constituent components around the brake handle are assembled, since a rotation angle of the brake handle increases, the assembling performance of the brake link mechanism can be greatly improved. In addition, when the rotation angle limiting member of the brake operation unit is provided as a component separately from the housing body, it is possible to freely restrict an operation angle of the brake handle after assembling.
The above and other objects of the present invention and new aspects can be clearly understood from the following description and drawings in this specification.
Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Here, in the following drawings, the same parts will be denoted with the same reference numerals and repeated descriptions will be omitted. In addition, in this specification, front and rear, and up and down directions are directions shown in the drawings.
A front handle 8 that is held by an operator is fixed to the housing body 2 by a plurality of screws 8a and a rear handle 3 is provided on the rear side. One side end of the front handle 8 is fixed to the right side of the housing body 2 and the other side end is fixed to the left side. In the rear handle 3, a throttle lever 4a configured to allow operation a vaporizer (not shown) and adjust an output of the engine and a lock lever 4b configured to release locking of the throttle lever 4a are provided. On the front side of the front handle 8, a brake handle (hand guard) 9 as a brake operation unit is provided. When the brake handle 9 is tilted and rotated from a position shown in
In the not shown engine, a crankshaft (not shown) that extends in a left and right direction perpendicular to the front and rear direction of the chainsaw 1 is disposed inside the housing body 2, and a cooling fan and a recoil starter (both are not shown) are provided at the left side end of the crankshaft. A centrifugal clutch mechanism is provided at the right side end of the crankshaft, and the sprocket (to be described below) is mounted on a rotating drum of the centrifugal clutch mechanism. When the operator starts the engine and pulls the throttle lever 4a provided in the rear handle 3, the rotation of the engine becomes fast, the centrifugal clutch (not shown) is connected, a rotation force of the engine is transmitted, and the saw chain (not shown) rotates. In order to stop the engine during operation, a not shown stop switch provided in a part of the housing body 2 is turned off.
The clutch drum 30 is a cylindrical member having a predetermined width in the axis direction and acts as a mechanical brake mechanism by the brake band 40 being wound on its outer circumferential surface. The brake band 40 is a belt-like member made of metal and has one end side that is bent in a U shape, and a needle 40a for holding is formed in the vicinity of a tip to prevent the brake band 40 from escaping. The brake band 40 is bent into a circular shape in a side view and a hook part formed at the other end 40b is locked by the brake link mechanism. In order to brake the clutch drum 30 by the brake band 40, the brake link mechanism is operated, the brake band 40 is pulled in a direction of an arrow 48, the diameter of the brake band 40 along the outside of the clutch drum 30 decreases and the brake band 40 is brought into close contact with the clutch drum 30. When the brake is released, if a pulling force in a direction of the arrow 48 is released, the diameter of a circular part is increased by a restoring force of the brake band 40, and the force that fixes the clutch drum 30 is released.
The brake handle 9 is pivotally supported by the housing body 2, and a right side mounting part thereof is rotatable in a front and rear direction by a rotation shaft 21. Inside a right side mounting part of the brake handle 9, a swing space 9a is provided, and one end side with respect to the rotation shaft 21 of a reset plate 20 is accommodated therein as an operation part of the link mechanism. The swing space 9a is provided in this manner and a part of the reset plate 20 is accommodated therein in order to set a rotation angle of the brake handle 9 to be larger than a rotation angle of the reset plate 20 with respect to the rotation shaft 21. The operation plate 25 is substantially an L-shaped member that swings and is pivotally supported by a rotation shaft 26. At a tip of an arm part, a locking part for locking the end 40b of the brake band 40 is formed, and additionally, a locking part for locking a hook part 33b on one end side of the brake spring 33 is formed. A swinging end of the reset plate 20 and the vicinity of a bent part of the operation plate 25 are linked by a connecting plate 24.
A rotation angle of the brake handle 9 to the front side is limited by abutting a stopper wall 9c formed on one end side in a circumferential direction of a cylindrical shaft 9b in the vicinity of the rotation shaft 21 of the brake handle 9 against the rotation limiting member 61. The rotation limiting member 61 is a movement amount limiting unit configured to restrict an operation amount of a brake operation unit and is integrally produced with the brake link cover 6 made of a synthetic resin. When the brake link cover 6 is removed, the rotation limiting member 61 is also removed. A hook part 33a as the other end of the brake spring 33 locked on the operation plate 25 is locked on a brake spring holding shaft 56 formed in the housing body 2. The brake spring 33 is an elastic body made of a tension coil spring and the hook parts 33a and 33b are formed at both ends. The brake spring 33 applies a force that fixes the brake band 40 in a direction of the arrow 48 while the brake is operated, and on the other hand, when the brake is not being operated by the link mechanism, the brake handle is returned to an initial position shown in
In the brake band 40 wound around the clutch drum 30 that rotates, a circular hole 40c is formed in a part that is in contact with the outer circumferential surface of the clutch drum 30. The hole 40c is formed in order to improve a heat radiation effect, and a plurality of holes 40c are provided in the circumferential direction at constant or irregular intervals. On the outer circumferential side of the brake band 40, a plurality of ribs 41 for holding the shape are provided when the brake band 40 is loosened and the size in the radial direction becomes large. In addition, in order to release heat generated when the brake is operated, a plurality of air holes 70 are provided in a lower surface part of the recess 51 of the housing body 2. Although not shown in this specification, if an air flow window is opened in the vicinity of an upper end of the brake link cover 6, since a window through which air flows is formed on the lower side and the upper side of the brake mechanism, it is possible to effectively release heat generated when the brake is operated to the outside. The housing body 2 is produced by integrally molding a synthetic resin. Therefore, not only the mounting part 53 on which the guide bar 11 is mounted, but also the screw bosses 52a to 52d, a mounting guide 55, the rib 41, the rotation limiting member mounting shaft 57, and the like are integrally formed. The mounting bolt 54 for mounting the guide bar 11 is provided in the mounting part 53 by casting.
When the operator tilts the brake handle 9 to the front side (brake operation direction), since the reset plate 20 is also tilted in the same direction, one end side of the brake band 40 wound around the clutch drum 30 is pulled by the operation plate 25 and thus rotation of the clutch drum 30 is stopped. Since the sprocket 31 and the saw chain are linked to the clutch drum 30, rotation of the saw chain is stopped according to the stopping of the clutch drum 30. When the brake handle 9 is returned to the rear by the operator from this state, since the brake handle 9 and the reset plate 20 are stably held at the initial position by a biasing force of the brake spring 33, fastening of the clutch drum 30 by the brake band 40 is loosened, and the clutch drum 30, the sprocket 31, and the saw chain can freely rotate.
Next, an operation of the brake link mechanism will be described with reference to
In the vicinity of a tip of the second arm 25b of the operation plate 25, a locking part 25c for locking the brake band 40 and a locking part 25d for locking the brake spring 33 (refer to
When the operator tilts the brake handle 9 forward from the state (1), the reset plate 20 rotates from a position of 20a′ to a position of 20a in (2). Since this rotation is centered on the rotation shaft 21, the second arm 20b also rotates from a position of 20b′ and a position of the connecting pin 22 is moved from 22′ and is moved to an upper side part from an imaginary line connecting the centers of the connecting pin 27 and the rotation shaft 21, that is, a side away from the brake spring 33. As a result, since the second arm 20b is rotated in a direction away from the connecting pin 22 by a corner 25f of the operation plate 25, a holding state of the reset plate 20 is released, a pulling force of the brake spring 33 is released, the second arm 25b pulls one end side of the brake band 40, the clutch drum 30 is fastened, and thus rotation of the clutch drum 30 is stopped. An amount of movement of the operation plate 25 counterclockwise is restricted to an extent of the brake band 40 being pulled.
Next, procedures of assembling the brake spring 33 will be described with reference to
A person who performs an assembling operation can easily lock the hook part 33b and the locking part 25d without strongly pulling the brake spring 33. Here, in (1) in the drawing, a procedure in which the hook part 33a is locked first and the hook part 33b is then locked is shown, but the order may be reversed and the hook part 33b may be locked first. In addition, in
In
As described above, in the present example, the brake handle 9, the housing body 2, and the rotation limiting member 61 configured to limit a rotation angle of the brake handle 9 are configured as separate components other than a component (here, the housing body 2) on the side on which the brake handle 9 is pivotally supported. Therefore, when constituent components (such as the brake spring 33) around the brake are assembled, constituent components can be assembled while the brake handle 9 is greatly rotated beyond a range of an operation amount to be limited. Then, when the rotation limiting member 61 is mounted, a rotation angle of the brake handle 9 can be restricted to being small. In addition, when the rotation limiting member 61 is provided on the side of the brake link cover 6, since the rotation limiting member 61 can also be mounted at the same time by mounting the brake link cover 6 on the housing body 2, there is no risk of mounting of the rotation limiting member 61 being forgotten. Furthermore, since the rotation limiting member 61 that receives a rotation torque of the brake handle 9 is held not only by the brake link cover 6 but also by the rotation limiting member mounting shaft 57 on the side of the housing body 2, a sufficient strength for the rotation limiting mechanism can be ensured.
While the present invention has been described above with reference to the example, the present invention is not limited to the above example, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, the mounting structure of the brake band and the configuration of the brake link mechanism are not limited to those of the above example, and other configurations may be used, and when the rotation limiting member is provided on the side of a separate member other than a part to which the brake handle is fixed, it can be similarly applied to a chainsaw using another brake mechanism.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2016-016775 | Jan 2016 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/JP2017/000278 | 1/6/2017 | WO | 00 |