The present application relates to a mechanical lock, and in particular to a lock and a lid lock.
Currently, electrical appliances usually require lock mechanisms of a high security level. Take a washing machine as an example, the lid of a large cylinder washing machine needs to be locked by a lock mechanism to prevent possible harms to human body when the washing machine runs at a high speed (or when the machine still runs at a high speed after being turned off due to inertia).
However, most locks are complex to operate with, occupy a large space and may not be manually unlocked conveniently.
A lock and a lid lock are provided according to embodiments of the present application, to solve or alleviate at least one or more technical challenges in the existing technology, and at least to provide a helpful choice or create a favorable condition for this purpose.
To implement the above objects, in one aspect of the present application, a lock is provided according to an embodiment of the present application. The lock includes a base, and a driving mechanism, a sliding mechanism, a connecting mechanism and a locking mechanism which are disposed on the base. The driving mechanism includes a driving unit and a screw rod, the driving unit driving the screw rod to rotate. The sliding mechanism includes a gear and a sliding block connected to the gear, the gear being engaged with the screw rod, to drive the sliding block to move linearly. The connecting mechanism comprises a first end connected to the sliding block, and a second end connected to the locking mechanism, the connecting mechanism converting the linear movement of the sliding block into rotational movement of the locking mechanism. The locking mechanism is rotatably connected to the base and comprises a locking portion to unfold or retract relative to the base along with the rotation of the locking mechanism.
In an embodiment, the sliding mechanism comprises a pair of gears which engage on opposite two sides of the screw rod symmetrically.
In an embodiment, the gear is connected to the sliding block via a gear shaft; and an elastic element is disposed between the gear and the gear shaft for providing a frictional force between the gear and the gear shaft to prevent a relative rotation therebetween.
In an embodiment, the gear shaft has a stepped contour and includes a first stepped portion and a second stepped portion; the inner surface of the gear is matched with the stepped contour of the gear shaft and comprises a first stepped surface corresponding to the first stepped portion, and the elastic element is clamped on the first stepped portion and is in interference fit with the second stepped surface.
In an embodiment, the elastic element is sheathed on the gear shaft and includes a protruding end clamped in a recess in the inner wall of the gear.
In an embodiment, the sliding block includes a guide portion; the guide portion includes an extension portion perpendicular to the movement direction of the sliding block and comprising a guide hole, the screw rod passing through the guide hole of the guide portion; and a gap is provided between the guide hole and the screw rod.
Another aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides a lid lock structure, comprising an upper lid, a casing and the above-mentioned lock, wherein the upper lid is configured to be buckled to the casing; the lock is configured to be disposed in the casing, and a locking hole being disposed in the upper lid at a position corresponding to the lock; and the locking portion is configured to be rotatable relative to the casing to extend out of the same, for being locked in the locking hole.
In an embodiment, the lock is arranged in the casing in a vertical manner, and the locking portion rotates outwards towards the upper portion of the casing.
In an embodiment, the lock is arranged in the casing in a horizontal manner, and the locking portion rotates outwards towards the inner side of the casing.
In an embodiment, a gap is provided between the upper lid and the casing, to accommodate a sheet-like plate which slides therein.
The above summary only intends to illustrate the purpose of the description, and does not intend to be limiting in any form. In addition to the above described illustrative aspects, embodiments and features, further aspects, embodiments and features of the present application will be readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings and the detailed description below.
The same reference numerals in the drawings will be used to refer to the same or like parts or elements throughout the drawings, unless specified otherwise. These drawings may not be necessarily drawn according to the scales. It should be understood that these drawings only depict some embodiments of the present application, and shall not be regarded as limiting to the scope of the present application.
In the following, only some embodiments are briefly described. As can be recognized by those skilled in the art, various modifications may be made to the described embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present application. Therefore, the drawings and the description are substantially regarded as exemplary intrinsically rather than restrictive.
In the first aspect of the present application, a lock 100 is provided.
The lock 100 of the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings.
Referring to
According to an embodiment, the driving mechanism 2 includes a screw rod 21 and a driving unit 22. The driving unit 22 can drive the screw rod 21 to rotate. In addition, the driving mechanism 2 further includes a socket 23 (which will be described later).
The sliding mechanism 3 includes a gear 301 and a sliding block 302 connected to the gear 301. The gear 301 engages with the screw rod 21. Thus, when the screw rod 21 rotates, the gear 301 will also move linearly in an axial direction of the screw rod 21. Further, the gear 301 is capable of driving the sliding block 302 connected thereto to slide linearly.
The connecting mechanism 4 includes one end connected to the sliding block 302, and the other end connected to the locking mechanism 5. The connecting mechanism 4 is rotatably connected to the base 1. In this way, the linear movement of the sliding block 302 may be converted by the connecting mechanism 4 into rotation of the locking mechanism 5 relative to the base 1.
The locking mechanism 5 is provided with a locking portion 501, which may rotate along with the rotation of the locking mechanism 5 and may form different angles with the direction of motion of the sliding block 302 in the rotation process, i.e., the locking portion 501 may rotate to unfold or to retract relative to the base. It can be easily understood that the locking portion 501 has an angle range which may be set as required.
In an embodiment, specifically as shown in the state transition from
As shown in the state transition from
It should be noted that the directions such as “front”, “rear”, “upper” and “lower” as used herein are intended for convenience of description and do not necessarily correspond exactly to the space in practical work.
In an embodiment, the sliding mechanism comprises a pair of gears 301 which is engage on two opposite sides of the screw rod 21 symmetrically. In this way, when the screw rod 21 rotates, the pair of symmetrically engaged gear 301 jointly drive the sliding block 302 to move linearly, so that the transmission of the movement between the screw rod 21 and the sliding block 302 can be smoothed and stabilized.
As shown in
Further, when the external load exceeds the frictional force provided by the elastic element 304, for example, when the sliding block 302 moves to an extreme position or the sliding block 302 is stuck in movement, the reaction force suffered by the sliding block 302 may exceed the frictional force provided by the elastic element 304, and the gear 301 at this moment starts to engage with the screw rod 21 against the frictional force and rotates relative to the gear shaft 303. In this way, the occurrence of the “jamming” phenomenon in the rotation of the screw rod 21 is avoided, the overheating of the driving mechanism 2 is prevented, and the driving mechanism 2 is protected.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
There is a variety of available shapes for the elastic element and a variety of connection manners among the elastic element and the gear and the gear shaft. The shapes and the connection manners are not limited to those listed in the present application. Any elastic element in the existing art and the future art that can be connected between the gear and the gear shaft and provides frictional force can be applied to the present application, which will not be elaborated herein.
Referring to
Referring to
The housing 6 is buckled to the base 1, and an accommodating cavity is formed between the housing 6 and the base 1. The accommodating cavity may be configured to accommodate the driving mechanism 2, the sliding mechanism 3, the connecting mechanism 4 and the locking mechanism 5.
The housing 6 defines a rotation area 601 allowing the locking portion 501 to rotate, such that the locking portion 501 may rotate flexibly to unfold or retract.
Further, due to the presence of the rotation area 601, the housing 6 is not completely sealed, and moisture or impurities may enter the accommodating cavity via a gap between the housing 6 and the main rotational shaft 502. As shown in
Referring to
Referring to
In an embodiment, the housing 6 is sealed to the base 1 by ultrasonic welding.
Referring to
Further, referring to
Referring to
According to an embodiment, the socket 23 may also be connected to a magnetic reed switch 231. The magnetic reed switch 231 is connected to the control system and is conducted by the magnetic force, i.e., when the magnetic reed switch 231 is not subjected to the magnetic force, the magnetic reed switch 231 is not conducted; while, when the magnetic reed switch 231 is subjected to the magnetic force, the magnetic reed switch 231 is conducted. For example, further Referring to
According to a second aspect of embodiments of the present application, a lid lock structure in which the lock 100 is disposed is provided. The lock 100 may be applied to various fields in the lid lock structure, and preferably suitable for a lid lock structure of a wave-type washing machine.
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
As shown in the state transition from
As shown in the state transition from
According to a third aspect of embodiments of the present application, a manual unlocking mode is provided.
Referring to
Further Referring to
In the description of the present specification, the reference terms such as “an embodiment”, “some embodiments”, “an example”, “a specific example” or “some examples” and the like mean that the particular features, structures, materials or characteristics described in combination of the embodiments or examples are included in at least one embodiment or example of the present application. Furthermore, the described particular features, structures, materials or characteristics may be combined in a proper manner in any one or more embodiments or examples. In addition, in the absence of contradiction, one skilled in the art can integrate and combine different embodiments or examples described in this specification and the features of different embodiments or examples.
In addition, the terms “first” and “second” are used for a descriptive purpose only and shall not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Thus, features defining “first” and “second” may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of the features. In the description of the present application, “a plurality of” means two or more, unless expressly limited otherwise.
In addition, the functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated in a processing module, or may exist as physically independent units. Two or more units may also be integrated into one module. The integrated module can be realized in the form of hardware or in the form of a software function module. When the integrated module is realized in a form of the software function module and is sold or used as an independent product, it may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. The storage medium may be a read-only memory, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, or the like.
The content described above are specific embodiments of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art may easily anticipate various alternations or replacements of these embodiments within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, and all these alternations or replacements should be covered by the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be defined by the claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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201711423849.X | Dec 2017 | CN | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/US2018/066482 | 12/19/2018 | WO |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2019/133380 | 7/4/2019 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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4170374 | Garcia | Oct 1979 | A |
20160356059 | Newman | Dec 2016 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
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19526660 | Jan 1997 | DE |
19526660 | Jan 1997 | DE |
102011010439 | Aug 2011 | DE |
Entry |
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International Preliminary Report on Patentability for PCT/US2018/066482 dated Jul. 9, 2020. |
International Search Report for PCT/US2018/066482 dated Mar. 22, 2019. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20210002921 A1 | Jan 2021 | US |