This application claims priorities from Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-139759 filed on Jun. 18, 2010, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to a hinge device including a shaft part and a bearing part.
To a lid of a console box of a vehicle, a hinge device for connecting the lid to an accommodation box is attached. For example, JP-H06-010941-A discloses a hinge device having a shaft part and a bearing part which are integrally molded with plastic. The shaft part has plural recesses, and the bearing part has plural projections corresponding to the recesses.
In JP-H06-010941-A, a so-called click feeling is given to the user when the projections of the bearing part are fitted to the recesses of the shaft part. However, when the projections are abraded as a result of long period of use, the click feeling is loosen. Further, since the diameter of the bearing part is larger than the diameter of the shaft part, the shaft part is supported only by the ends of the projections. Accordingly, a sliding resistance of the bearing part and the shaft part is poor.
One object of the present invention to provide a hinge device which can stably give a sufficient click feeling for a long period of time and increases a frictional force between a shaft part and a bearing part during a relative rotation of the shaft part and the bearing part.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a hinge device including: a shaft part having a protruding part; and a bearing part having an insert hole into which the protruding part is inserted, wherein a first plane part is formed on an outer peripheral surface of the protruding part so as to extend in an axial direction thereof, wherein a second plane part is formed on an inner peripheral surface of the insert hole so as to extend in an axial direction thereof, wherein a diameter of a circumscribed circle defined on an sectional outer periphery of the protruding part in the axial direction thereof is larger than a diameter of an inscribed circle defined on a sectional inner periphery of the insert hole in the axial direction thereof, and wherein at least one of the protruding part and the insert hole has an elasticity.
According to the above configuration, when the first plane part is engaged with the second plane part during the relative rotation of the protruding part and the insert hole, a click feeling can be given to the user. Further, an aging deformation of a shape is hardly generated in the first plane part and the second plane part. Further, since at least one of the protruding part and the insert hole has the elasticity, the diameter of the sectional circumscribed circle of the protruding part in the axial direction can be reasonably made larger than the diameter of the sectional inscribed circle of the insert hole in the axial direction, thereby improving the click feeling.
According to the present invention, the satisfactory click feeling can be stably obtained for a long period of time and a frictional force can be improved between the shaft part and the bearing part during the relative rotation of those two parts.
Embodiments will be described below by referring to the drawings. The same or equivalent components or members respectively shown in the drawings are designated by the same reference numerals and a duplicated explanation will be omitted. Dimensions of the members in the drawings are respectively enlarged or reduced for facilitating the understanding.
The first shaft part 40a and the second shaft part 40b may be formed in the same shapes so that each shaft part is commonly used as the right part or the left part. Each shaft part 40 has a base part 41 and a cylindrical-shaped protruding part 42 that protrudes from the base part 41. The shaft part 40 is fixed to the accommodation box 3 by inserting a pin into a fixing part 48 formed in the base part 41. On an outer peripheral surface of the protruding part 42, a first plane part 46 is formed to extend in the axial direction. In an end of the protruding part 42, a leg part 44 is provided to extend in the axial direction. A diameter of the leg part 44 is smaller than the diameter of the protruding part 42. Four slits 50 are formed in the leg part 44 to thereby divide the leg part 44 into four. In an end of the leg part 44, a flange part 45 is formed. The flange part 45 has a diameter larger than that of the leg part 44.
The bearing part 20 includes insert holes 22 in the right and left sides of a bearing main body part 28. Into each of the insert holes 22, the leg part 44 and the protruding part 42 of the shaft part 40 are inserted. Thus, the bearing part 20 is supported by the shaft parts 40. The bearing main body part 28 is formed to have a sector cross-sectional shape in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction. A lid connecting part 24 of the bearing part 20 is connected to the lid 2 of the console box 1 so as to integrally rotate with the lid 2. In an inner peripheral surface of the insert hole 22, a second plane part 26 is formed to extend in the axial direction. The position and shape of the second plane part 26 are set correspondingly with the first plane part 46. For example, in the insert hole 22 and the protruding part 42, the two second plane parts 26 and the two first plane parts 46 having the same width and the same depth are respectively formed such that the two plane parts are axisymmetric with respect to the axial direction.
As shown in
As shown in
During the rotation, a state where the first plane part 46 is not engaged with the second plane part 26 as shown in
In the hinge device 10 according to the embodiment, the diameter D2 of the circumscribed circle 64 defined on the sectional outer periphery of the protruding part 42 is set larger than the diameter D3 of the inscribed circle 66 defined on the sectional inner periphery of the insert hole 22. Thus, in the first state shown in
The diameter D2 is set larger than the diameter D3 by a certain value or more. The certain value may be set based on a production error to reduce a possibility that the diameter D2 is smaller than the diameter D3 due to the production error.
When the sliding resistance of the insert hole 22 and the protruding part 42 is high in the second state, even if an acceleration is applied to the standing lid 2 during driving a vehicle, the lid 2 is maintained in a stationary state. In the second state shown in
The diameter D2 of the circumscribed circle 64 defined on the sectional outer periphery of the protruding part 42 is formed to be substantially the same as the diameter D4 of the circumscribed circle 68 defined on the sectional inner periphery of the insert hole 22. Thus, the lid 2 in the completely-opened state can be restrained from shaking.
When the opening angle is 0°, as shown in
After the lid 2 is opened to the opening angle of P1 where an end part of the second plane part 26 of the insert hole 22 reaches an end part of the first plane part 46 of the protruding part 42, the sliding resistance against the rotation of the protruding part 42 is decreased. And, when the lid 2 is opened to the opening angle of 90° and stopped, the sliding resistance against the rotation of the protruding part 42 is minimized. Due to the inclination/difference of the sliding resistance against the rotation of the protruding part 42, a click feeling is given in a range from the opening angle of P1 to 90°.
In the embodiment, the click feeling can be generated by providing the first plane part 46 of the protruding part 42 and the second plane part 26 of the insert hole 22. The protruding part 42 having such first plane part 46 can be produced with more simple process and lower cost as compared with a case where a recess is formed in the protruding part 42.
In the first plane part 46 and the second plane part 26, the deformation of plane shapes hardly occurs. Thus, the click feeling is obtained for a long period of time. Since an obstacle is not provided in the protruding part 42, it is possible to easily insert the protruding part 42 into the insert hole 22, thereby facilitating an attachment.
In the bearing part 20, a cylindrical insert hole 82 is provided so as to protrude in the axial direction. One opening end part 76 of the insert hole 82 is not connected to a bearing main body part 28. The insert hole 82 includes four slits 60 extending in the axial direction such that end parts thereof are opened. The insert hole 82 can elastically support the protruding part 42 due to the slits 60. In an inner periphery of the opening end part 76 of the insert hole 82, a small diameter part 58 is provided.
When the protruding part 42 is inserted into the insert hole 82, the small diameter part 58 is fitted to the leg part 44, and the flange part 56 protrudes from the opening end part 76 of the insert hole 82 so as to be caught by the opening end part 76. The flange part 56 functions as a stopper for preventing the shaft part from slipping out after the shaft part 40 is inserted into the insert hole 82.
Two slits 70 are provided in the leg part 44, to be opposed and opened at their ends. The slits 70 give elasticity for bending the leg part 44 in a diametrical direction. The diameter of the flange part 56 is reduced due to the elasticity during the insertion of the shaft part 40 and engaged and attached to a small diameter part 58, so that the shaft part 40 can be simply attached to the bearing part 20. As shown in
As shown in
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and the embodiment may be variously modified in accordance with the knowledge of a skilled person. Such modified embodiments will also fall within the scope of the present invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
P. 2010-139759 | Jun 2010 | JP | national |