Hinge structure and clip including hinge structure

Abstract

To provide a hinge structure capable of holding a lid in a state open to a body in a narrow part, and a clip having the hinge structure.SOLUTION: Provided is a hinge structure for rotatably coupling a body 20 and a lid 30, including a pin 41 and a socket 43 on at least a part of a shaft of a hinge 40, wherein the pin 41 includes an interference part 42 comprising a long side and a short side, the socket includes a hole 44 comprising a long side and a short side, surrounding the interference part 42 of the pin 41, the short side being shorter than the long side of the pin 41, the long side comprising a recess 45, and the lid 30 is openable and closable with respect to the body 20 via the hinge structure, and when the lid 30 is opened to be upright with respect to the body 20, the short side of the interference part 42 of the pin 31 is fitted into the recess 45 of the hole 44 of the socket 43, whereby the lid 30 is configured to be held upright with respect to the body 20.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a hinge structure and a clip including the hinge structure.

Background Art

[0002] Generally, when attaching and fixing a bus bar or the like as an attachment member to an automobile body or the like as an attachment target member, first, a clip is inserted and fixed to a stay provided on the automobile body or the like, and then the bus bar or the like is attached and fixed to the clip.

[0003] Thus, when attaching a bus bar or the like to the clip, it is preferable that the lid of the clip is held in an open state with respect to the main body of the clip so that the bus bar or the like can be easily attached without interfering with the lid of the clip. A clip having a hinge structure as disclosed in Patent Document 1 is provided.

[0004] However, for example, when the stay for inserting and fixing the clip is provided in a narrow part, such as a deep and narrow part of an automobile body, when attaching a bus bar or the like to the clip fixed in such a place, the lid of the clip may interfere with peripheral parts or the like, and thus the lid of the clip may not be held in an open state with respect to the main body of the clip. In such a case, if the operator does not hold the lid of the clip by hand so that the lid of the clip is held in an open state with respect to the main body, the lid of the clip may close by its own weight, making it difficult to attach a bus bar or the like. Further, even if the operator holds the lid of the clip by hand to hold the lid of the clip in an open state with respect to the main body, as described above, when the clip is fixed in a narrow part, it may be difficult for the operator's hand to enter such a place. Further, when the clip is fixed at multiple points, it may be impossible for the operator to hold all the lids of the clips in an open state by pressing them all by hand at the same time. Furthermore, for the purpose of performing maintenance or the like, when performing an operation of removing a bus bar or the like from the clip and then attaching it to the clip again, it may be necessary to hold the lid of the clip in an open state with respect to the main body of the clip after releasing the locking between the lid and the main body of the clip.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] In view of the above circumstances, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a hinge structure capable of holding the lid of the clip in an open state with respect to the clip main body in a narrow part, and a clip having the hinge structure.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and a hinge structure according to an embodiment of the present invention is a hinge structure for rotatably coupling a main body and a lid, and includes a pin and a socket on at least a part of the axis of the hinge. The pin includes an interference portion including a long side and a short side, and the socket is a hole portion including a long side and a short side, surrounding the interference portion of the pin. The short side is shorter than the long side of the pin, the long side includes a concave portion, and the lid is openable and closable with respect to the main body via the hinge structure. When the lid is opened so as to stand upright with respect to the main body, the short side of the interference portion of the pin fits into the concave portion of the hole portion of the socket, so that the lid is configured to be held in an upright state with respect to the main body. This is a hinge structure.

[0008] Further, in another embodiment, the interference portion and the hole portion may be elliptical.

[0009] Further, in another embodiment, the socket of the hinge structure further includes a first regulation surface and a second regulation surface. When the lid is closed with respect to the main body, the first regulation surface abuts against the long-side surface of the interference portion of the pin, and the long-side surface of the interference portion of the pin in the hole portion presses the first regulation surface to regulate movement in a first direction. The second regulation surface abuts against the short-side surface of the interference portion of the pin, and the short-side surface of the interference portion of the pin in the hole portion presses the second regulation surface to regulate movement in a second direction, thereby regulating the movement of the lid. It may be configured as follows.

[0010] Further, in another embodiment, the lid of the hinge structure further includes a third regulation surface and a fourth regulation surface. When the lid is closed with respect to the main body, the third regulation surface abuts against the main body, and the third regulation surface regulates movement in a third direction opposite to the first direction in which the third regulation surface presses the main body. The third regulation surface abuts against the main body, and the fourth regulation surface regulates movement in a fourth direction opposite to the second direction in which the fourth regulation surface presses the main body, thereby regulating the movement of the lid. It may be configured as follows.

[0011] Further, a clip according to an embodiment of the present invention is a clip including any one of the hinge structures according to the embodiments of the present invention.

Advantages of the Invention

[0012] According to the hinge structure of the present invention, in the narrow part, the lid of the clip can be held in an open state with respect to the clip body.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0013]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

Figure 11

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0014] Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, the hinge structure of the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[0015] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the clip 10 with the lid 30 of the embodiment of the present invention opened 180°, as viewed from above. The clip 10 is made of, for example, resin. The clip 10 includes a main body 20 and a lid 30. The main body 20 and the lid 30 are rotatably coupled by a hinge 40. The lid 30 can be rotated via a hinge structure to open and close with respect to the main body 20. The main body 20 is configured to be able to hold a bus bar 61, which will be described later with reference to FIG. 7. In the present embodiment, the main body 20 has two receiving portions 22 so as to be able to hold two bus bars. The main body 20 includes a lid locking claw receiver 21. In the present embodiment, the lid locking claw receiver 21 includes a protrusion. The lid 30 includes a lid locking claw 31. In the present embodiment, the lid locking claw 31 includes a protrusion. In the present embodiment, as will be described later, when the lid 30 rotates with respect to the main body 20 via the hinge 40 and the lid 30 is in a closed state with respect to the main body 20, the protrusion of the lid locking claw 31 and the protrusion of the lid locking claw receiver 21 engage with each other, and the lid locking claw 31 and the lid locking claw receiver 21 are locked, whereby the lid 30 is held in a closed state with respect to the main body 20.

[0016] FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the clip 10 with the lid 30 of the embodiment of the present invention opened 180°, as viewed from below. The clip 10 includes a stay holding portion 50. The stay holding portion 50 is provided with a stay holding piece 51, a stay insertion hole 52, and a stay locking claw 53. Regarding the stay locking claw 53, referring also to FIG. 4, it can be understood that the stay locking claw 53 is provided in the stay holding portion 50. As will be described later, a stay 60 is inserted into the stay insertion hole 52 of the stay holding piece.

[0017] Figure 3 shows a left side view of the clip 10 with the lid 30 of the embodiment of the present invention opened 180°. In this embodiment, the right side view of the clip 10 is omitted because it is symmetrical to the left side view. The axis of the hinge 40 extends in the Y-axis direction, and the pin 41 and the socket 43 are provided on at least a part of the axis of the hinge 40. In this embodiment, the pin 41 and the socket 43 are provided at two locations, one at each end of the axis of the hinge 40. Figure 3 shows one end side thereof. Note that the locations where the pin 41 and the socket 43 are provided are not limited to this, and for example, the pin 41 and the socket 43 may be provided only at one location at one end of the axis of the hinge 40. The pin 41 includes an interference portion 42. The interference portion 42 includes a long side in the X-axis direction and a short side in the Z-axis direction in the XZ plane. In this embodiment, the interference portion 42 is elliptical in the XZ plane. The socket 43 includes a hole portion 44. In this embodiment, the hole portion 44 includes a long side in the X-axis direction and a short side in the Z-axis direction in the XZ plane. The hole portion 44 is provided so as to surround the interference portion 42 of the pin 41, and the short side of the hole portion 44 is set to be shorter than the long side of the interference portion 42. In this embodiment, the interference portion 42 is elliptical in the XZ plane. Also, in this embodiment, the long side of the hole portion 44 includes recesses 45 at two locations. The hole portion 44 of the socket 43 includes a first regulating surface 46 and a second regulating surface 47.

[0018] Figure 4 shows a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A shown in FIG. 1. As described above, the stay locking claw 53 is provided on the stay holding portion 50. The stay locking claw 53 engages with the stay 60 inserted into the stay insertion hole 52 and is configured to hold the stay 60 within the stay holding piece 51. The lid 30 includes a third regulating surface 48 and a fourth regulating surface 49.

[0019] FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of the clip 10 with the lid 30 of the embodiment of the present invention opened by 90°, as viewed from below. The state where the lid 30 is opened by 90° is a state where the lid 30 is rotated 90° with respect to the main body 20 via the hinge 40 from the state of FIG. 1 where the lid 30 is opened by 180°. In such a state where the lid 30 is opened by 90°, the stay 60 is inserted into the stay insertion hole 52 in the Z-axis direction as indicated by the dashed-dotted line. In the present embodiment, when the stay 60 is inserted into the stay insertion hole 52, the stay locking claw 53 catches in the hole provided in the stay 60, thereby locking the stay 60. In this way, the stay 60 is locked by the stay locking claw 53, and the stay 60 is held within the stay holding piece 51.

[0020] FIG. 6 shows a left side view of the clip 10 with the lid 30 of the embodiment of the present invention opened by 90°. Similar to FIG. 3, in the present embodiment, the right side view of the clip 10 is omitted because it is symmetric to the left side view. Regarding the hinge 40, the state shown in FIG. 6 where the lid 30 is opened by 90° will be described in detail in comparison with FIG. 3 showing the state where the lid 30 is opened by 180°.

[0021] As described above, in the present embodiment, the pin 41 and the socket 43 are provided at two locations, one end and the other end of the axis of the hinge 40, respectively. FIG. 6 shows one end side thereof. The long side of the interference portion 42 extended in the X-axis direction in FIG. 3 in the XZ plane, but with the lid 30 rotated 90° with respect to the main body 20, it extends in the Z-axis direction in FIG. 6. Similarly, the short side of the interference portion 42 extended in the Z-axis direction in FIG. 3 in the XZ plane, and with the lid 30 rotated 90° with respect to the main body 20, the interference portion 42 also rotates 90° and extends in the X-axis direction in FIG. 6. At this time, the two short sides of the interference portion 42 are respectively fitted into the two recesses 45 of the hole portion 44 of the socket 43. This is because the short side of the hole portion 44 is set to be shorter than the long side of the interference portion 42, so the short side of the interference portion 42 fits into the recess 45. By the short side of the interference portion 42 fitting into the recess 45, the lid 30 is held in a state of being opened by 90° with respect to the main body 20 as shown in FIG. 6.

[0022] FIG. 7 shows a state in which a bus bar 61 is attached to a clip 10 with the clip 10 fixed to a stay 60 installed in a narrow portion formed by a wall 62 in an embodiment of the present invention. As described above, the bus bar 61 can be held in the receiving portion 22 of the main body 20 of the clip 10. In the state of FIG. 7, the lid 30 is held in a state of being opened 90° with respect to the main body 20. In this way, since the lid 30 is held in a state of being opened 90° with respect to the main body 20, for example, the lid 30 does not interfere with the wall 62 or close due to its own weight, so the bus bar 61 can be smoothly attached to the receiving portion 22 without interfering with the lid 30. Note that the state where the lid 30 is “opened 90° with respect to the main body 20” means that the lid 30 is opened with respect to the main body 20 so as to stand upright to such an extent that it does not interfere with the wall 62 or the bus bar 61, and it does not have to be exactly 90°.

[0023] FIG. 8 shows a state in which the bus bar 61 is attached to the clip 10 and the lid 30 is closed in an embodiment of the present invention. After the bus bar 61 is installed in the receiving portion 22 of the main body 20 of the clip 10, the lid 30 is closed with respect to the main body 20. At this time, the protrusion of the lid locking claw 31 of the lid 30 and the protrusion of the lid locking claw receiver 21 of the main body 20 are engaged with each other, and the lid locking claw 31 and the lid locking claw receiver 21 are locked, so that the lid 30 is held in a closed state with respect to the main body 20, and thus, the clip 10 holds the bus bar 61.

[0024] Here, in a clip manufactured by integrally molding a pin and a socket in a combined state in one mold, a certain amount of gap is formed between the pin and the socket due to the structure of the mold. In such a conventional clip having a gap between the main body and the lid, when the lid is closed after the bus bar is installed in the receiving portion of the main body, the bus bar rattles in the clip due to such a gap. Against this background, a clip with less rattling of the lid is required.

[0025] Figure 9 shows a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B shown in Figure 8. In the present embodiment, the socket 43 further includes a first restricting surface 46 and a second restricting surface 47 in the hole 44. When the lid 30 is closed with respect to the main body 20, the first restricting surface 46 abuts against the long-side surface of the interference portion 42 of the pin 41, and restricts the movement of the long-side surface of the interference portion 42 of the pin 41 in the hole 44 in the a-direction, which is the direction in which the long-side surface of the interference portion 42 of the pin 41 presses the first restricting surface 46. Further, the second restricting surface 47 abuts against the short-side surface of the interference portion 42 of the pin 41, and restricts the movement of the short-side surface of the interference portion 42 of the pin 41 in the hole 44 in the b-direction, which is the direction in which the short-side surface of the interference portion 42 of the pin 41 presses the second restricting surface 47. By restricting the movement of the interference portion 42 of the pin 41 in the a-direction and the b-direction in this manner, the movement of the lid 30 in the a-direction and the b-direction can be restricted. Therefore, by providing such a configuration in the hole 44 of the socket 43, the rattling of the lid 30 can be suppressed.

[0026] Further, Figure 10 shows a cross-sectional view taken along line C-C shown in Figure 8, and Figure 11 shows a cross-sectional view taken along line D-D shown in Figure 8. In the present embodiment, the lid 30 further includes a third restricting surface 48 and a fourth restricting surface 49. Similarly, when the lid 30 is closed with respect to the main body 20, the third restricting surface 48 abuts against the main body 20, and restricts the movement of the third restricting surface 48 in the c-direction, which is the direction in which the third restricting surface 48 presses the main body 20. In the present embodiment, the c-direction is opposite to the a-direction. Further, the fourth restricting surface 49 abuts against the main body 20, and restricts the movement of the fourth restricting surface 49 in the d-direction, which is the direction in which the fourth restricting surface 49 presses the main body 20. In the present embodiment, the d-direction is opposite to the b-direction. By restricting the movement of the third restricting surface 48 of the lid 30 in the c-direction and the movement of the fourth restricting surface 49 of the lid 30 in the d-direction in this manner, the movement of the lid 30 in the c-direction and the d-direction can be restricted. Therefore, in addition to the configuration of the hole 44 of the socket 43 that restricts the movement of the lid 30 in the a-direction and the b-direction as described above, by further providing such a configuration in the lid 30, the rattling of the lid 30 can be further suppressed.

[0027] As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the drawings. However, the hinge structure is not limited to the specific structure described as long as the lid is configured to be held in an open state with respect to the main body, and can be appropriately changed.

[0028] For example, in other embodiments, either the pin or the socket is an elastic piece, and if it is configured such that the pin can be inserted into the socket by elastically bending the other non-destructively, the lid and the main body of the clip may be manufactured not by integral molding but by separate molds and assembled.

[0029] Also, for example, in order to increase the holding strength when holding the lid open at 90° with respect to the main body, the ratio of the length of the long side of the interference portion of the pin to the length of the short side of the interference portion of the pin can be set larger so that the long side of the interference portion of the pin fits deeper into the recess of the hole portion of the socket, or the depth of the recess of the hole portion of the socket can be set deeper and the width can be set narrower, or the pin can be made of a harder material with respect to the socket, etc., and can be appropriately changed.

[0030] Furthermore, the hinge structure of the present invention is not limited to the application to the stay snap clip as described above with reference to the drawings. For example, it can be appropriately applied to those that fit by snap fit, such as stud holding that firmly holds the fit, ikari leg holding that fits into a mating hole, two-part holding that fits into another clip in a doghouse shape, etc.

[0031] Also, the process of attaching the attachment member is not limited to the process described above with reference to the drawings, that is, first fixing the clip to the stay, and then attaching the attachment member to the clip and closing the lid to fix the attachment member. For example, the clip may be attached to the attachment member in advance, the lid may be closed, and then the attachment member may be fixed by fixing the clip.

[0032] Note that, although the embodiments of the present invention have been described by way of example, the application target of the present invention is not limited to, for example, application to automobiles, but can be applied to various products, and can be appropriately applied without departing from the technical idea of the invention.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0033] 10 Clip 20 Body 21 Lid Locking Claw Receiver 22 Receiving Portion 30 Lid 31 Lid Locking Claw 40 Hinge 41 Pin 42 Interference Portion 43 Socket 44 Hole Portion 45 Concave Portion 46 First Regulation Surface 47 Second Regulation Surface 48 Third Regulation Surface 49 Fourth Regulation Surface 50 Stay Holding Portion 51 Stay Holding Piece 52 Stay Insertion Hole 53 Stay Locking Claw 60 Stay 61 Bus Bar 62 Wall

Claims

1. A hinge structure for rotatably coupling a body and a lid, wherein at least a part of the axis of the hinge is provided with a pin and a socket, the pin being provided with an interference portion including a long side and a short side, the socket being a hole portion including a long side and a short side, surrounding the interference portion of the pin, the short side being shorter than the long side of the pin, and the long side including a concave portion, the lid being openable and closable with respect to the body via the hinge structure, and when the lid is opened so as to stand upright with respect to the body, the short side of the interference portion of the pin fits into the concave portion of the hole portion of the socket, whereby the lid is configured to be held in an upright state with respect to the body, a hinge structure.

2. The hinge structure according to claim 1, wherein the interference portion and the hole portion are elliptical in shape.

3. The socket further includes a first regulating surface and a second regulating surface, when the lid is closed with respect to the body, the first regulating surface abuts against the surface on the long side of the interference portion of the pin, and restricts the movement of the surface on the long side of the interference portion of the pin in the first direction pressing the first regulating surface within the hole portion, and the second regulating surface abuts against the surface on the short side of the interference portion of the pin, and restricts the movement of the surface on the short side of the interference portion of the pin in the second direction pressing the second regulating surface within the hole portion, so as to restrict the movement of the lid, The hinge structure according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The lid further includes a third regulating surface and a fourth regulating surface, when the lid is closed with respect to the body, the third regulating surface abuts against the body, and restricts the movement in the third direction opposite to the first direction in which the third regulating surface presses the body, and the fourth regulating surface abuts against the body, and restricts the movement in the fourth direction opposite to the second direction in which the fourth regulating surface presses the body, so as to restrict the movement of the lid, The hinge structure according to claim 3.

5. A clip comprising the hinge structure according to any one of claims 1 or 2.

6. A clip comprising the hinge structure according to claim 3.

7. A clip comprising the hinge structure according to claim 4.

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