This application claims benefit of priority under 35 USC 119 based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-233445 filed on Nov. 30, 2015, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.
The present invention relates to a power converter in which a unit is removably housed in a housing, the unit being configured to accommodate an electric circuit in a square-shaped chassis.
As a known power converter of this type, for example, the power converter disclosed by JP 2002-271921 A is known. The power converter disclosed by JP 2002-271921 A includes a housing including a horizontal member, a unit in which an electric circuit is accommodated in a square-shaped chassis and which can be drawn on the horizontal member, and a lock mechanism to prevent the unit from being drawn horizontally. The horizontal member includes a tray having a flat plate shape, and two spacer rails. Each of the spacer rails is made of a flat plate having a predetermined thickness, and the spacer rails are arranged at both upper ends of the tray to be horizontal in the front-rear direction of the tray. Additionally, plural ball casters are attached at the bottom of the unit, and are to be mounted on the spacer rails. The lock mechanism is configured with a protrusion, which is bent downward from the bottom plate forming the bottom of the unit.
In drawing out the unit, a lifter of elevation type is arranged at a predetermined position, and the nail of the arm of the lifter is mounted at a position on the tray in contact with the spacer rail. The nail of the arm and the spacer rail are same in thickness. When the unit is drawn on the nail side of the arm, the ball casters move onto the nail, and the unit is carried on the arm of the lifter. Thus, by use of the lifter, the unit is removable from the housing of the power converter.
In the known power converter disclosed in JP 2002-271921 A, however, the inventors of the present invention have found the following drawbacks.
To draw out the unit from the housing safely, the lock mechanism is provided at the bottom plate forming the bottom of the unit. This configuration complicates the structure of drawing the unit from the housing, and may increase the manufacturing cost.
Besides, the unit cannot be taken out from the housing unless the lifter is provided separately. Hence, the whole apparatus to remove the unit from the housing is a large-sized one.
Therefore, the present invention has been made to address the above-described drawbacks, and an object of the present invention is to provide a power converter. A unit is removable safely from a housing of the power converter by using a simple structure without the provision of a lifter, and the manufacturing cost of the power converter is low.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a power converter including: a housing including a bottom plate, a top plate, a pair of left and right side plates, a rear plate, a mounting shelf arranged above or on the bottom plate and configured to mount a unit movably in a front-rear direction, the unit including a square-shaped chassis accommodating an electric circuit and wheels on a bottom surface of the chassis, and a pair of attachment portions respectively arranged on front edges of the pair of left and right side plates; a protective cover having a rectangular plate shape, and configured to secure the unit mounted on the mounting shelf to house the unit removably between the pair of attachment portions and protect the unit from the outside; an insertion opening arranged near a front edge of the mounting shelf; and an insertion nail arranged at a first edge of the protective cover to be insertable into the insertion opening. With the protective cover being removed, the insertion nail is inserted into the insertion opening to support the first edge side of the protective cover. With the insertion nail being inserted into the insertion opening, a second edge of the protective cover that is provided on an opposite side of the first edge of the protective cover is supported to make a slanted state where the protective cover is slanted downward from the first edge to the second edge, and the unit is movable on a main surface of the protective cover.
Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
The housing 10 includes a bottom plate 11, a top plate 12, a pair of left and right side plates 13 and 14, and a rear plate 15, so that a unit-housing space A is formed to house plural units 30 in the inside of a unit-housing space A with the front side being opened.
Above or on the bottom plate 11 of the housing 10, in the unit-housing space A, a mounting shelf 16 configured to mount the plural units 30 movably in the front-rear direction is arranged. The mounting shelf 16 is disposed above or on the bottom plate 11 such that the top surface of the mounting shelf 16, on which wheels 32 of each unit 30 are mounted, is higher than the top surface of the bottom plate 11. The mounting shelf 16 is made of a flat plate having a rectangular parallelepiped shape that covers the bottom plate 11 in the housing 10, and is disposed to extend in the horizontal direction parallel to the horizontal direction that the bottom plate 11 extends.
A pair of attachment portions 17 are arranged at front edges of the pair of left and right side plates 13 and 14 of the housing 10. Between the pair of attachment portions 17, the protective cover 20 is removably attached, as will be described later.
Additionally, plural (four is a non-limiting example) insertion openings 18a, 18b, 18c, and 18d are arranged near the front edge of the mounting shelf 16 of the housing 10. From the state where the protective cover 20 is removed, insertion nails 22a, 22b, 22c, and 22d of the protective cover 20 are respectively inserted into the insertion openings 18a, 18b, 18c, and 18d, as will be described later.
Next, as illustrated in
At a lower edge 20a of the protective cover 20, plural (four is a non-limiting example) insertion nails 22a, 22b, 22c, and 22d are provided to be respectively insertable into the plural insertion openings 18a, 18b, 18c, and 18d arranged at the mounting shelf 16. Each of the insertion nails 22a, 22b, 22c, and 22d is formed to bend frontward from the lower edge 20a of the protective cover 20. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the insertion nails 22a, 22b, 22c, and 22d are located on the top surface near the front edge of the mounting shelf 16, when the protective cover 20 is attached to the housing 10. The insertion nails 22a, 22b, 22c, and 22d are respectively inserted into the insertion openings 18a, 18b, 18c, and 18d with the protective cover 20 being removed from the housing 10 (i.e., the state illustrated in
Further, as illustrated in
A method of housing each unit 30 in the housing 10 of the power converter 1 and a method of removing each unit 30 from the housing 10 will be described with reference to
Firstly, as illustrated in
Next, as illustrated in
In order to remove each unit 30 from the housing 10, firstly, by pressing frontward the protective cover 20 from the rear side, the protective cover 20 is removed from the housing, as illustrated in
This configuration enables each unit 30 mounted on the mounting shelf 16 to move over the main surface of the protective cover 20, as illustrated in
As described above, according to the power converter 1 in one embodiment of the present invention, the insertion openings 18a, 18b, 18c, and 18d are arranged near the front edge of the mounting shelf 16 of the housing 10, and in addition, the insertion nails 22a, 22b, 22c, and 22d to be respectively insertable into the insertion openings 18a, 18b, 18c, and 18d are arranged at the lower edge (i.e., a first edge) 20a of the protective cover 20. With the protective cover 20 being removed, the insertion nails 22a, 22b, 22c, and 22d are respectively inserted into the insertion openings 18a, 18b, 18c, and 18d, and the lower edge 20a of the protective cover 20 is supported. Additionally, the upper edge 20b (i.e., a second edge) of the protective cover 20 is supported on the ground, on the floor, or the like, with the upper edge 20b being arranged on the opposite side of the lower edge 20a where the insertion nails 22a, 22b, 22c, and 22d are arranged. The protective cover 20 is made into a slanted state of slanting downward from the lower edge 20a to the upper edge 20b. Then, each unit 30 becomes movable over the main surface of the protective cover 20. Such a simple structure makes each of the units 30 removable from the housing 10 safely, without the provision of a lifter.
The protective cover 20 is configured to secure each of the unit, and to protect the units 30 from the outside. The protective cover 20 is also configured to be a member of removing each of the units 30. The power converter is achieved with a fewer number of parts and a lower manufacturing cost.
When each unit 30 moves obliquely downward over the main surface of the protective cover 20, each unit 30 abuts the stopper 23 arranged on the upper edge 20b of the protective cover 20, and then its movement is stopped. This configuration prevents each unit 30 from moving intensely or going outside from the protective cover 20, and makes each unit 30 removable more safely.
After each unit 30 is removed from the housing 10, the protective cover 20 can be attached to the housing 10.
Heretofore, embodiments of the present invention have been described. However, the present invention is not limited to them. Various changes and improvements are applicable. For example, the protective cover 20 is made of a metal member. However, any material that bears the load of the unit 30 can be used other than metal. The insertion nails 22a, 22b, 22c, and 22d are arranged at the lower edge 20a of the protective cover 20, but, may be arranged at the upper edge 20b of the protective cover 20.
1 power converter
10 housing
11 bottom plate
12 top plate
13, 14 side plates
15 rear plate
16 mounting shelf
17 attachment portion
18
a, 18b, 18c, 18d insertion openings
20 protective cover
20
a lower edge (first edge)
20
b upper edge (second edge on the opposite side of the first edge)
22
a, 22b, 22c, 22d insertion nails
23 stopper
30 unit
31 chassis
32
a wheel
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2015-233445 | Nov 2015 | JP | national |