The present application is based on PCT filing PCT/JP2021/005360, filed Feb. 12, 2021, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present disclosure relates to a motor drive device including an openable and closable cover.
In a motor drive device installed on a control panel, a terminal block to which an electric wire is connectable is provided on the front surface. Further, the motor drive device is provided with an openable and closable cover that covers the terminal block. By closing the cover, accidental contact with the terminal block can be prevented. Patent Literature 1 discloses a configuration including a locking mechanism that can be brought into a locked state in which a cover is restricted to a closed state. By providing the locking mechanism, it is possible to prevent the cover from opening unexpectedly and allowing contact with the terminal block, and prevent accidental contact with the terminal block.
However, according to the above-described conventional technique, although the cover can be locked, there is no indication of a locked state, and it is difficult to visually determine whether the cover is in the locked state or an unlocked state. Accordingly, even though the cover is in the unlocked state, the user may misunderstand that the cover is in the locked state and forget to lock the cover, and thus the cover may be unexpectedly opened and allow accidental contact with the terminal block.
The present disclosure has been made in view of the above, and an object thereof is to provide a motor drive device that allows easily determining whether a cover covering a terminal block is in a locked state or an unlocked state.
In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, a motor drive device according to the present disclosure includes a case including a first surface and a housing portion that opens to the first surface side; a terminal block including a terminal to which an electric wire extending to an outside of the case is connectable, the terminal block being housed in the housing portion; a cover to cover the opening, the cover being provided to be openable and closable; and a lock unit to restrict opening and closing of the cover and bring the cover into a locked state in a state where the cover is closed. The lock unit is provided on the cover so as to be rotatable about an axis perpendicular to the first surface in a state where the cover is closed. An unlocked state in which the cover is openable and the locked state are switched according to a rotation angle of the lock unit. The lock unit includes a state indicator to indicate that the cover is in the locked state.
A motor drive device according to the present disclosure has an effect of easily determining whether a cover covering a terminal block is in a locked state or an unlocked state.
Hereinafter, a motor drive device according to embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited by the embodiments.
The motor drive device 1 includes a case 4 having a rectangular parallelepiped shape. As illustrated in
The motor drive device 1 includes a cover 2 that covers the opening 6a of the housing portion 6. As illustrated in
A part of a second surface 4b adjacent to the first surface 4a of the case 4 and constituting a part of the wall surface of the housing portion 6 is a detachable wall 4c detachable from the case 4. By detaching the detachable wall 4c, the electric wire connected to the terminal 7a can be pulled out to the outside of the housing portion 6 even in a state where the opening 6a is closed by the cover 2.
The motor drive device 1 includes a lock unit 5 to restrict opening and closing of the cover 2 and bring the cover 2 into a locked state in a state where the cover 2 is closed.
The lock unit 5 is provided on the cover 2 so as to be rotatable about a rotation axis 9. The rotation axis 9 is an axis extending in a direction perpendicular to the first surface 4a in a state where the cover 2 is closed. A hole 2c for attaching the lock unit 5 is formed in the cover 2. The hole 2c formed in the cover 2 is formed by recessing the front surface 2a of the cover 2. A through hole 2d having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the hole 2c is formed in the bottom surface of the hole 2c.
The lock unit 5 includes a first member 11 and a second member 12. The first member 11 is inserted into the hole 2c from the front surface 2a side of the cover 2. The second member 12 is provided on the back surface 2b side of the cover 2 and is connected to the first member 11.
The first member 11 has a bolt shape and includes a head portion 11a and a shaft portion 11b. The head portion 11a is formed to have a diameter that can be inserted into the hole 2c but cannot be inserted into the through hole 2d. The shaft portion 11b is formed to have a diameter that can be inserted into the through hole 2d.
A fitting hole 12a into which the shaft portion 11b of the first member 11 is fitted is formed in the second member 12. The second member 12 is a back surface protruding portion protruding to the back surface 2b side of the cover 2 in a state where the shaft portion 11b of the first member 11 is fitted into the fitting hole 12a. The second member 12 is formed with a first protrusion 12b extending in a direction perpendicular to the direction from the front surface 2a toward the back surface 2b. The second member 12 is formed with a second protrusion 12c extending in a direction perpendicular to the direction from the front surface 2a toward the back surface 2b at a position different from that of the first protrusion 12b. The first protrusion 12b is inserted into the insertion trench 6b formed in the housing portion 6 when the cover 2 is in the locked state.
The hole 2c formed in the cover 2 and the head portion 11a of the first member 11 have a circular shape when viewed along the rotation axis 9, and the first member 11 is rotatable about the rotation axis 9. Further, the second member 12 to which the shaft portion 11b of the first member 11 is fitted also rotates about the rotation axis 9 together with the first member 11. That is, the entire lock unit 5 is rotatable about the rotation axis 9. Note that the shape of the head portion 11a viewed along the rotation axis 9 is not limited to a circular shape, and may be a polygonal shape or an elliptical shape.
A trench 13 is formed in an operation surface 11c of the head portion 11a of the first member 11 exposed to the front surface 2a side of the cover 2. In the first embodiment, the operation surface 11c is a surface facing the same direction as the front surface 2a of the cover 2. The trench 13 is formed in a shape into which a tool such as a flathead screwdriver can be inserted. Further, the trench 13 is formed in a shape pointing in a specific direction. For example, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
On the front surface 2a of the cover 2, a locking indication indicating the locked state is provided at a position in the direction that the trench 13 in the locked state points. For example, as illustrated in
Since the indication portion 15 is provided at the positions in the directions in which the trench 13 points, it is possible to easily visually determine whether the cover 2 is in the locked state or the unlocked state by checking the direction in which the trench 13 points. Note that, if at least the indication indicating the locked state is provided, it is possible to easily determine visually that the cover 2 is in the locked state.
In the locked state illustrated in
By rotating the lock unit 5, the position of the first protrusion 12b changes as illustrated in
The motor drive device 1 according to the first embodiment is provided with a mechanism for preventing excessive rotation of the lock unit 5 and a mechanism for making it easy to recognize that the cover 2 is brought into the locked state or the unlocked state during the operation of the lock unit 5. These mechanisms will be described.
As illustrated in
In the wall portion 16, an intervening wall 18 having a protruding height lower than the rotation restricting portion 17 described above is formed. The intervening wall 18 has a different protruding height from the back surface 2b depending on the location.
The height H1 and the height H3 are substantially equal to the distance between the second protrusion 12c and the back surface 2b in a state where the lock unit 5 is attached to the cover 2. The height H2 is larger than the distance between the second protrusion 12c and the back surface 2b in a state where the lock unit 5 is attached to the cover 2. In the process in which the state changes between the locked state and the unlocked state, the second protrusion 12c is pushed up to the portion having the height H2 of the intervening wall 18. Therefore, in the process in which the state changes between the locked state and the unlocked state, the intervening wall 18 is in contact with the second protrusion 12c from the cover 2 side, and a frictional force thereof causes a sense of resistance in rotating the lock unit 5. Thereafter, in the locked state or the unlocked state, the intervening wall 18 is lowered, so that the push-up from the intervening wall 18 to the second protrusion 12c is eliminated and the resistance felt when the lock unit 5 is rotated is also reduced. Since the resistance felt for rotating the lock unit 5 is reduced, the operator of the lock unit 5 can easily recognize that the cover 2 is brought into the locked state or the unlocked state.
In the first embodiment, an example in which the rotation restricting portion 17 and the intervening wall 18 are integrally formed has been described, but the rotation restricting portion and the intervening wall may be separately formed. For example, the wall portion 16 may not necessarily be provided, and the rotation restricting portion 17 and the intervening wall 18 may protrude from the back surface 2b of the cover 2. That is, it is sufficient if the second protrusion 12c rides over the intervening wall 18 in the process in which the lock unit 5 rotates and the state changes between the locked state and the unlocked state, and the second protrusion 12c descends from the intervening wall 18 at the positions of the locked state and the unlocked state.
Since the surrounding wall 14 surrounding the periphery of the trench 13 and protruding from the operation surface 11c is formed on the head portion 11a of the first member 11, it is difficult for an object other than a tool, such as a coin or a finger, to access the trench 13. Therefore, the lock unit 5 is not easily brought into the unlocked state except when the cover 2 needs to be opened, such as when an operation of connecting an electric wire to the terminal 7a is performed. Thus, it is possible to appropriately limit the opportunity to access the inside of the housing portion 6.
In the above-described embodiment, it has been described as an example that the locked state and the unlocked state of the cover 2 can be easily determined visually by the state indicator provided in the lock unit 5 pointing to the locking indication and the unlocking indication provided on the front surface 2a of the cover 2. However, it is possible to employ a configuration that allows easily determining the locked state and the unlocked state of the cover 2 by visual observation only by the state indicator provided in the lock unit 5. For example, it is possible to employ a configuration in which, when the lock unit 5 is rotated and the cover 2 is in the locked state, the state indicator emits light. Further, it is possible to employ a configuration in which, when the lock unit 5 is rotated and the cover 2 is in the locked state, the color of the state indicator changes. Even with such configurations, the locked state and the unlocked state of the cover 2 can be easily determined visually by the state indicator.
The configurations described in the above embodiments are examples, and can be combined with another known technique, and part of the configurations can be omitted or changed without departing from the gist.
1 motor drive device; 2 cover; 2a front surface; 2b back surface; 2c hole; 2d through hole; 2e surrounding wall; 4 case; 4a first surface; 4b second surface; 4c detachable wall; 5 lock unit; 6 housing portion; 6a opening; 6b insertion trench; 7 terminal block; 7a terminal; 8, 9 rotation axis; 11 first member; 11a head portion; 11b shaft portion; 11c operation surface; 12 second member; 12a fitting hole; 12b first protrusion; 12c second protrusion; 13 trench; 14 surrounding wall; 15 indication portion; 16 wall portion; 17 rotation restricting portion; 18 intervening wall; 19 direction indication.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/JP2021/005360 | 2/12/2021 | WO |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2022/172420 | 8/18/2022 | WO | A |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20230276590 A1 | Aug 2023 | US |