Patent Application
20180066691
The invention relates to a frame assembly body and a casing for which the frame assembly body is used, the frame assembly body being preferably used as a framework of the casing for a switchboard or the like, for example.
Conventionally, a structure of welding and joining ends of frame materials has widely been adopted for an assembly of a structural object with a hexahedral frame. However, the assembly of the structural object by welding leads to such problems that an assembly worker is limited to a license holder and that long time is required for repair work due to significant post-assembly deformation caused by welding. To handle these problems, a structure of adding a member that couples the frame materials to a corner of the hexahedral frame and fastening the frame materials by a bolt or a rivet to obtain required strength has been disclosed (for example, see PTL 1, 2). In addition, a structure of fastening the frame materials by the bolt or the rivet without using the member that couples the frame materials has been disclosed (for example, see PTL 3).
[PTL 1] JP-A-2001-307697
[PTL 2] JP-A-2005-226677
[PTL 3] JP-A-2011-61981
Welding work is not performed in the technique as disclosed in PTL 1. However, in order to secure the strength of the entire frame, a member that couples the frames is required at the eight corners of the frame body. In addition, the three coupling members are required per corner. Thus, there are problems of increased part cost and increased assembly time due to 48 times of fastening work using the bolts or the rivets at all the corners.
Meanwhile, similar to the technique in PTL 1, the welding work is not performed in a technique as disclosed in PTL 2. However, in order to secure the strength of the entire frame, a coupling member that couples the frames and that has a complicated three-dimensional shape is required at a total of the eight corners of the frame body. In addition, although the number of the used members is reduced due to the one member being used per corner, the fastening work using the bolts or the rivets has to be performed at 12 positions per corner. Accordingly, the work has to be performed at 96 positions for the all corners. Thus, similar to the technique in PTL 1, the assembly time is increased.
Furthermore, in regard to a structural object realized by fastening as in PTL 3, the welding work is not performed, and such an effect that the strength of the corner can be improved is obtained. However, a shape of the member coupling the frame materials is complicated. In addition, the fastening work using the bolt or the rivet has to be performed at 20 positions per corner, that is, 160 positions for the all corners. Thus, similar to the techniques in PTL 2 and 3, there is a problem of the increased assembly time.
The invention has been made to solve the problems as described above, and therefore has a purpose of providing a frame assembly body and a casing capable of eliminating welding work and a coupling member that couples frame materials and has a complicated three-dimensional shape, capable of being assembled easily by reducing the number of fastened sections by bolts, rivets, or the like, and capable of securing sufficient strength.
A frame assembly body according to the invention is a frame assembly body that includes a first frame material and a second frame material, each of which has a shape that a plate material is bent along a periphery of a square column, has plural bent sections and plural surfaces continuing from the bent section, and that has a connected section in which one ends of the first frame material and the second frame material are joined perpendicularly. The connected section has: a projected piece locking section in which a slit-shaped fitting hole, a notch, or a recessed section formed in the second frame material is fitted to a projected piece provided on the surface of the first frame material; and a slit fitted section in which a slit-shaped notch formed in the second frame material is fitted to a fitting slit formed in a manner to notch the first frame material.
According to the invention, the connected section in which the ends of the two frame materials are joined perpendicularly has: the projected piece locking section in which the slit-shaped fitting hole, the notch, or the recessed section formed in the second frame material is fitted to the projected piece provided in the first frame material; and the slit fitted section in which the slit-shaped notch formed in the second frame material is fitted to the fitting slit formed in the manner to notch the first frame material. Accordingly, the frame assembly body and a casing that can easily be assembled without welding work or a coupling member in a complicated shape for coupling the frame materials to each other, for which the number of fastening tools, such as a bolt or a rivet, is reduced, and that secure sufficient strength can be obtained.
A purpose, a characteristic, a perspective, and an effect of the invention other than those described above will become apparent from the detailed description of the invention, which will be made below with reference to the drawings.
A frame material 1 in a lateral direction (horizontal direction) as a first frame material and a frame material 2 in a vertical direction (up-down direction) as a second frame material, both of which are used for the frame assembly body, are each a rod-shaped or a column-shaped structural material that has: bent sections that are formed by sequentially bending a plate material perpendicularly along a periphery of a square column; and plural surfaces that continue from the bend sections, and are each specifically formed by bending a steel sheet as the material twice or three times by a press brake. The frame material 1 is formed to have two bent sections A1, A2 and three surfaces that continue from the bent sections A1, A2. Note that, for convenience of the description, a central surface of the three surfaces will be referred to as a “primary surface 1a”, and one of the two opposing surfaces and the other thereof will respectively be referred to as an “opposing surface 1b” and an “opposing surface 1c”.
In addition, the frame material 2 is formed to have three bent sections B1, B2, B3 and four surfaces that continue from the bent sections B1, B2, B3. For convenience of the description, in particular, one of the two surfaces that hold the central bent section B2 therebetween and that are orthogonal to each other and the other thereof will respectively be referred to as a “first primary surface 2a” and a “second primary surface 2b”. The surface that opposes the first primary surface 2a and the surface that opposes the second primary surface 2b will respectively be referred to as an “opposing surface 2c” and an “opposing surface 2d”.
In this specification, of end surfaces on both sides that are orthogonal to the bent sections of each of the frame materials, the end surface on one end side with a connected section will be referred to as a “longitudinal end surface” without being denoted by the reference sign. However, the longitudinal end surface of the frame material 2 that is arranged in the up-down direction will be referred to as an “upper end surface” without being denoted by the reference sign. In addition, end surfaces that are parallel to the bent sections of each of the frame materials will each be referred to as a “lateral end surface” without being denoted by the reference sign. Furthermore, in this specification, a portion that is simply referred to as the “surface”, the “primary surface”, or the “opposing surface” does not only indicate the surface of the plate material constituting the frame material, but also indicates an entire portion from a front surface to a back surface that has the surface. Note that mutually opposing sides of the four surfaces of the frame material 2 will be referred to as the back surfaces.
Here, it is configured that the primary surface 1a (more precisely, an outer dimension between the above-described opposing surfaces 1b, 1c) of the frame material 1 in this first embodiment is formed to have narrower width than an inner dimension between the second primary surface 2b and the opposing surface 2d, which are formed on the back surface side of the first primary surface 2a of the frame material 2, by a specified dimension, that one longitudinal end of the frame material 1 is inserted in the back surface side of the first primary surface 2a at one end of the frame material 2, and that, of the opposing surfaces 1b, 1c of the frame material 1, the opposing surface 1b on a front side in the drawing abuts against and is fixed to aback surface side of the second primary surface 2b of the frame material 2.
In the frame material 1, a projected piece 11A is projected from the lateral end surface side (a lower side in the drawing) of a longitudinal end surface of the opposing surface 1c on a back side in the drawing in a manner to oppose the first primary surface 2a of the frame material 2, and a second projected piece 12A is projected in the same direction from a longitudinal end surface of the primary surface 1a. In addition, the opposing surface 1b on the front side is provided with a fitting slit 21A at a specified position that is located slightly inside of the longitudinal end surface, the fitting slit 21A being formed by notching the lateral end surface in a slit shape at a right angle. An opening side of the fitting slit 21A is widened in a tapered shape in a direction toward the longitudinal end surface. Note that the projected piece 11A is uniformly provided with the opposing surface 1c on the back side in the drawing, and a tip side of a corner H on a lower side of the projected piece 11A in the drawing is diagonally cut so as to allow insertion thereof in a fitting hole 11B from above obliquely. The projected piece 12A is uniformly provided with the primary surface 1a.
Meanwhile, the frame material 2 is provided with the slit-shaped fitting hole 11B, to which the projected piece 11A is fitted, and which is formed of a rectangular hole, at a specified position on the first primary surface 2a, and is also provided with a recessed section 12B, with which the projected piece 12A is engaged, and which is formed of a step formed by lowering an upper end surface of the first primary surface 2a, which is in contact with the bent section B2, by one step.
Furthermore, on the opposing surface 2c, which opposes the first primary surface 2a, a notch 21B is provided at a position near the bent section B3 between the opposing surface 2c and the second primary surface 2b, the notch 21B being notched in a slit shape from an upper end surface of the opposing surface 2c in a downward direction of the drawing so as to be engaged with the fitting slit 21A. Note that the upper end surface of the opposing surface 2C is formed to be lower than the upper end surface of the second primary surface 2b by plate thickness of the frame material 1.
Next, a description will be made on a connecting method of the frame material 1 and the frame material 2 with reference to
First, as depicted in
As described above, fitting in the projected piece locking section E1 and that in the slit fitting section F1 prevent removal of the frame material 1 from the frame material 2 in a perpendicular direction. In addition, the engagement in the projected piece locking section E2 and that in slit fitting section F1 prevent rotation of the frame material 1 with respect to the frame material 2, which occurs within the primary surface 1a in a direction indicated by a double-headed arrow, and thereby prevent the removal of the frame material 1 from the frame material 2.
In addition, in the connected section that is configured by adopting a fitting structure as described above, a width dimension of the hole or the slit, to which each of the frame materials is fitted, is set to have a circumferential clearance of approximately 0.1 mm from thickness of the materials to be processed. In this way, the materials can be processed by a general-purpose machine, such as a turret punch press, without use of a special processing machine. At the same time, it is needless to say that the frame materials cannot be fitted to each other without provision of the clearances. When the clearances in the dimensions as described above are provided, assemblability is not hindered, and rattling of the frame materials after fitting can be minimized.
Note that, when the connected section is applied to the rectangular frame assembly body, a decent effect can be exerted by using the connected section only at one of four corners, and structures of the connected sections at the other three are not particularly limited. However, in order to maximize the effect that can be exerted by application of the invention, such a connected section is desirably applied to all the four corners of a rectangular shape.
In this case, two each of the frame material 1 and the frame material 2 are used, and the four corners are sequentially fitted to assemble a rectangular frame. In regard to the last fourth corner to be fitted, because the three corners are already joined by fitting, the frame material 1 is brought into a state where the right side thereof is tilted downward as opposed to that depicted in
However, each of the three connected sections, which are already joined by fitting, slightly rattles in a state before being fastened by the screw 5. Accordingly, when explained by using
At this time, a clearance in the substantially same dimension as a projected dimension of the projected piece 11A is formed between the left end of the fitting slit 21A in
Note that, while the connecting method is not necessarily limited thereto, additional members to be prepared in this method are only the wedge-shaped plate material, which fills the clearance, and a fixing screw. Thus, cost and time required for the assembly can be kept down. The frame assembly body in the rectangular frame shape, which is assembled as described above, can be used as a framework of a signboard, a billboard, a road sign, or the like that is placed in an indoor or outdoor environment, for example. However, application thereof is not particularly limited. In addition, a rivet or the like may be used instead of the screw.
As described above, in the first embodiment, the frame materials 1, 2 are joined to each other perpendicularly through combinations of the projected piece locking sections E1, E2, which are achieved by the projected piece 11A and the slit-shaped fitting hole 11B as well as the projected piece 12A and the recessed section 12B, and the slit fitting section F1, which is achieved by the fitting slit 21A and the slit-shaped notch 21B, at the longitudinal ends of the two frame materials 1, 2 constituting the at least one corner of the frame assembly body.
In the connected section where both of the frame materials 1, 2 are fitted to each other, of three edges, two each of which are orthogonal to each other, and which constitute a corner G (depicted in
According to the above first embodiment, welding work and a coupling member in a complicated three-dimensional shape, which couples the frame materials, can be eliminated, and the number of fastened sections using a bolt, the rivet, or the like is reduced. Thus, assembly work is facilitated, and the frame assembly body, for which sufficient strength is secured, can be obtained. In addition, a temporary assembly of the frame materials is completed by adopting the fitting structure, and necessary and sufficient strength of the connected section can be secured by the fitting structure. Thus, the number of the fastening tools, such as the screws, can be minimized to such extent that the materials are removed and eventual rattling is suppressed.
Because the fastening positions can be reduced, required work time for the assembly can be shortened. Because all the frame materials can be assembled by fitting, temporal assembly work and fastening work using the bolt or the rivet can be performed in completely separate processes. Thus, work efficiency can be promoted. Because the required member other than the frame materials is only the wedge-shaped plate material for the rectangular frame assembly body using the four frame materials. Thus, the cost and the time required for the assembly are too low and short to be problematic. Because welding is unnecessary, the frame assembly body can easily be assembled regardless of a selected worker. The frame materials can be processed by the general-purpose machine, such as the turret punch press, without the use of the special processing machine.
Note that a basic structure, in which the connected section is configured by fitting the frame material 1 in the lateral direction and the frame material 2 in the vertical direction in the drawing to each other to form the rectangular frame shape, is substantially the same as that in the first embodiment. However, some portions thereof are added or changed. Thus, a description of the frame materials 1, 2 will only be made on the added or changed portions. Note that directions such as the lateral direction, the vertical direction, and a front-rear direction are used for convenience of the description and thus are not limited to indicate an actual used state.
In the drawing, a frame material 3 as a third frame material in the front-rear direction is newly added to a connected portion of the frame material 1 in the lateral direction and the frame material 2 in the vertical direction from an orthogonal direction to a plane defined by both of the materials. Similar to the frame material 1, the frame material 3 has a shape that is formed by bending a steel sheet twice by the press brake, and has bent sections C1, C2, a primary surface 3a, an opposing surface 3b, and an opposing surface 3c. Furthermore, the frame material 3 has: two fitting slits 22A, 31A that are formed on a lateral end surface of the opposing surface 3b; a fitting slit 23A that is formed on a lateral end surface of the opposing surface 3c; and a projected piece 13A that is provided to be projected from a longitudinal end surface of the primary surface 3a.
An L-shaped slit 41B is added to the primary surface 1a of the frame material 1 and the opposing surface 1c on the back side thereof, which continues from the primary surface 1a via the bent section A1. The L-shaped slit 41B is provided across the two surfaces, to which an engagement piece 41A formed at an end of the opposing surface 3c of the frame material 3 is fitted, and also serves as a notch 23B, to which a fitting slit 23A is fitted, the fitting slit 23A being formed as a notch that is formed adjacently to the other end side of the engagement piece 41A. Note that the fitting slit 23A and the notch 23B constitute a slit fitting section F3.
The frame material 2 has: a notch 22B at a position in the opposing surface 2d that is in contact with the bent section B1 continuing from the first primary surface 2a, the notch 22B being fitted to the fitting slit 22A on a far side from a longitudinal end surface of the two fitting slits 22A, 31A provided on the lateral end surface of the opposing surface 3b in the frame material 3; and a recessed section 13B on the bent section B2 side in the upper end surface of the second primary surface 2b, the recessed section 13B being fitted to the projected piece 13A of the frame material 3. A lower surface of the projected piece 13A abuts against an upper surface of the primary surface 1a of the frame material 1.
Note that the fitting slit 22A and the notch 22B constitute a slit fitting section F2, and the projected piece 13A and the recessed section 13B constitute a projected piece locking section E3 (depicted in
An L-shaped end surface I as a portion between the projected piece 11A and the projected piece 12A on the longitudinal end surfaces of the frame material 1 is recessed by plate thickness from an end surface J of the opposing surface 1b portion, so as to insert a portion of the opposing surface 3b in the frame material 3, which is on one end side with respect to the fitting slit 22A, in a portion between the L-shaped end surface I and the first primary surface 2a of the frame material 2. In conjunction with this, the projected piece 11A of the frame material 1 seems to be formed longer than that in the first embodiment. The projected piece 11A constitutes the projected piece locking section E1, and the above-described fitting slit 31A is fitted to the projected piece base 31B as the base thereof. Thus, the projected piece 11A also serves as a projected piece locking section E4 (depicted in
Next, a description will be made on an assembly with reference to
At this time, the portion of the opposing surface 3b in the frame material 3, which is on the one end side of the fitting slit 22A, is inserted between the end surface I of the frame material 1 and the first primary surface 2a of the frame material 2. In this way, the ends of the three frame materials including the frame material 1, the frame material 2, and the frame material 3 are fitted, and the three-way connected section with the orthogonal frame materials can thereby be assembled. Note that the rectangular parallelepiped frame assembly body can also be obtained in a similar manner.
Next, as depicted in
As it has been described so far, according to the second embodiment, in the connected section that constitutes the corner of the frame assembly body, the welding work and the coupling member in the complicated three-dimensional shape, which couples the frame materials, can be eliminated. In addition, the three frame materials are fastened without use of a special fastening part, and the frame materials that constitute the frame assembly body are fastened by the minimum number of the screws or the rivets. In this way, the mechanically strong frame assembly body can be obtained. Furthermore, because the number of the fastening tools such as the bolts or the rivets is reduced, the assembly work is facilitated, and the frame assembly body with the necessary and sufficient strength can be obtained.
During an assembly, as depicted in
Thereafter, the two frame materials 3 in the right-left direction are fitted to corners at an upper end thereof in a similar manner. In this way, the frame assembly body constructed of the rectangular parallelepiped framework is completed. Note that, as depicted in
As described above, the frame assembly body according to the third embodiment is characterized that a total of 12 frame materials in the up-down direction, the front-rear direction, and the right-left direction, which serve as the framework constituting a hexahedron of a casing, are locked by simply being fitted at a total of 8 corners of the casing, that a structure, in which the connected section has substantially the same strength as that upon completion and can retain a self-standing state, is obtained and that the number of the fastening means for eliminating rattling of the connected sections caused by fitting can be minimized only to the three screws per three-way connected section.
According to the third embodiment that is configured as described so far, the welding work and the special fastening parts such as the coupling member in the complicated three-dimensional shape, which couples the frame materials, can be eliminated. In addition, the frame materials that constitute the frame assembly body are fastened by the minimum number of the screws or the rivets. In this way, the mechanically strong frame assembly body can be obtained. Furthermore, because the number of the fastening tools such as the bolts and the rivets is reduced, the assembly work is facilitated, and the frame assembly body with the necessary and sufficient strength can be obtained.
In
Note that, in this fourth embodiment, while the frame materials 2 are arranged in the up-down direction and are connected by the intermediate frame 4, the invention is not limited thereto. The intermediate frame 4 horizontally connects the two adjacent frame materials disposed in the up-down direction of the frame materials including the frame materials 1, the frame materials 2, and the frame materials 3.
The intermediate frame 4 is formed by bending a steel sheet three times by the press brake and, as depicted in
Meanwhile, as depicted in
In order to fit the intermediate frame 4 to the frame material 2, as depicted in
As described above, in a state where the intermediate frame 4 is fixed to the frame material 2 by fitting, as depicted in
In addition, in a portion surrounded by a broken circle L in
Note that the frame assembly body depicted in
The frame assembly body and the casing are assembled by fitting the ends of the plural frame materials. In this way, deformation of the entire frame structure as depicted by an arrow in
As it has been described so far, according to the fourth embodiment, similar to the first to third embodiments, the frame assembly body and the casing can be obtained, the frame assembly body and the casing being able to eliminate the welding work and the coupling member, such as a gusset plate, that couples the frame materials and has the complicated shape, being assembled easily by reducing the number of the fastening tools such as the bolts or the rivets, and securing the sufficient strength.
The intermediate frame 4, which is used to provide the shelf or the like in the casing, is mounted by fitting the two notch slits 51A to the notch slit 51B and fitting the notch slit 52A to the fitted piece 52B. Thus, the easy assembly and the strong connection can be achieved. While the deformation of the entire frame structure is suppressed, the heavy equipment or the like can be installed in the frame structure. Note that each of the embodiments of the invention can freely be combined or appropriately be modified or omitted within the scope of the invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-095294 | May 2015 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2016/062108 | 4/15/2016 | WO | 00 |
