Catch device

Abstract

To provide a catch device (10) capable of closing an opening / closing door (3) which opens / closes in the left-to-right direction with a favorable operation feeling.SOLUTION: At a striker (20) mounted on an opening / closing door, a fitting part(22) is formed being adjacent to a striker head part (21) at a tip, and at least on one side in the width direction with respect to the fitting part, a support part (24) is formed for supporting the striker head part. At a catch body (30) on a body (2) side, thickness direction guide slopes (32f) are formed for guiding the support part of the striker from the thickness direction, at the position on both sides in the thickness direction with respect to a region (32e) to be inserted set at the center of a catch recessed part (32c). Thereby, even in the case where the position of the striker is deviated in the thickness direction of the striker, the striker can be guided to a space between a pair of holding parts by the thickness direction guide slopes, so deterioration of an operation feeling can be prevented.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a catch device used to hold in a closed state an openable door whose left or right end is pivotally supported on a main body. [Background technology]

[0002] Many home appliances have a storage chamber formed inside the main body, the entrance to which is opened and closed by a hinged door. For example, a clothes dryer has a storage chamber formed inside the main body for drying clothes, and the hinged door is opened to place the clothes into the storage chamber, and the door is then closed to dry the clothes. Also, oven cookers, grill cookers, and the like have a storage chamber formed inside the main body for heating food, and the hinged door is opened to place the food into the storage chamber, and the door is then closed to start heating.

[0003] These doors come in two types: one that pivots at the bottom and opens vertically, and one that pivots at either the left or right end and opens horizontally. In the case of doors that open vertically, a spring is often used to bias the door in the closing direction to prevent the door from opening by itself, but in the case of doors that open horizontally, a catch device is often used to prevent the door from opening by itself.

[0004] The catch device includes a catch body attached to the main body of a home appliance or the like, and a striker attached to the door. A pair of clamping portions for clamping the striker is mounted inside the catch body, and these clamping portions are biased toward each other by spring force. The striker protrudes from the door and is attached in a position such that its tip is located between the pair of clamping portions when the door is closed. A pair of recesses are formed on both sides of the striker. When the door is closed, the striker enters between the pair of clamping portions against the force of the spring, and the pair of clamping portions fit into the recesses formed on both sides of the striker. As a result, the striker attached to the door is clamped by the catch body on the main body, allowing the door to be held in a closed state. To open the door, the striker is removed from between the pair of clamping portions against the force of the spring.

[0005] In such a catch device, a small protrusion protrudes from the tip of the striker, and the catch body is also provided with a fitting hole into which the protrusion fits, so that when the striker is clamped by the clamping part of the catch body, the protrusion at the tip of the striker fits into the fitting hole in the catch body, as has been proposed (Patent Document 1).If such a catch device is used on an opening / closing door, the protrusion at the tip of the striker fits into the fitting hole in the catch body, preventing the opening / closing door from rattling relative to the body. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-192713 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] However, the proposed conventional catch devices have a problem in that the operational feel when closing a door that opens and closes in the left-right direction can be poor. The reasons for this are as follows: First, in a door that opens and closes in the left-right direction, the entire weight of the door is placed on the pivotal support portion of the door, making the pivotal support portion susceptible to deformation. In addition, the striker is attached to the door on the opposite side of the door from the pivotal support, which increases the distance from the pivotal support portion of the door to the striker. Therefore, even a slight deformation of the pivotal support portion can significantly change the position of the striker, causing it to shift out of position from between the pair of clamping portions of the catch body when the door is closed. As a result, the striker cannot smoothly fit between the pair of clamping portions of the catch body, which can impair the operational feel.

[0008] This invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the conventional technology, and aims to provide a catch device that can close an opening and closing door that opens and closes in the left-right direction with a good operating feel. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the catch device of the present invention employs the following configuration: A catch device is used to hold an openable door, one of the left and right ends of which is pivotally supported by a main body, in a closed state, and includes a striker having a base attached to either the main body or the openable door and projecting from the base, and a catch main body equipped with a pair of clamping parts attached to the other of the main body or the openable door to which the striker is not attached, and which clamps the striker from both sides when the openable door is in the closed state, The striker is a striker head portion formed at the tip of the striker, the striker head portion being a portion whose dimension in a thickness direction, which is a direction in which the striker is clamped from both sides by the pair of clamping portions, gradually increases and then decreases from the tip toward the base end of the striker; fitting portions formed at positions adjacent to the base end side of the striker head, into which the pair of clamping portions are fitted from both sides in the thickness direction, and whose dimension in a width direction, which is a direction perpendicular to the thickness direction and the protruding direction of the striker, is larger than the dimension in the width direction of the clamping portions; a support portion formed on at least one side of the fitting portion in the width direction, the support portion supporting the striker head portion from at least the one side; It is equipped with The catch body is a catch recess formed on a side facing the striker; a pair of biasing springs that bias the pair of clamping portions mounted on both sides in the thickness direction toward an insertion area of ​​the striker set at the center of the catch recess; Equipped with The pair of clamping portions are mounted on the catch body with tip portions of the clamping portions protruding inside the insertion area, Within the catch recess, thickness direction guide slopes are formed at positions on both sides of the insertion area in the thickness direction, for guiding the striker head from the thickness direction toward the clamping portion. It is characterized by:

[0010] In the catch device of the present invention described above, a striker is attached to either the main body or the door, and a catch body is attached to the main body, the catch body incorporating a pair of clamping portions that clamp the striker from both sides. The striker has a fitting portion formed adjacent to the striker head at its tip, into which the tip portions of the clamping portions fit, and a support portion formed on at least one widthwise side of the fitting portion that supports the striker head. The catch body also has an insertion area into which the striker is inserted, defined at the center of a catch recess formed on the side facing the striker, and the pair of clamping portions are mounted with their tip portions protruding into the insertion area. Furthermore, thickness-direction guide slopes are formed on both thickness-direction positions of the insertion area to guide the striker head from the thickness direction toward the clamping portions.

[0011] In this way, even if the position of the striker is shifted in the thickness direction of the striker relative to the catch body when closing the opening / closing door, the thickness direction guide slope provided on the catch body side can smoothly guide the striker between the pair of clamping parts, thereby preventing a situation in which the operating feel becomes worse.

[0012] Furthermore, in the catch device of the present invention described above, the striker head is supported by a support portion provided on at least one side of the striker head in the width direction, and the tip of the support portion may be formed with a widthwise guide slope that guides the striker in the width direction toward the insertion area when the striker is inserted into the insertion area of ​​the catch body.

[0013] In this way, even if the striker position is shifted in the width direction relative to the catch body, when closing the opening / closing door, the striker can be guided toward the insertion area by the width direction guide slope, thereby preventing a situation in which the operating feel becomes worse.

[0014] Furthermore, in the catch device of the present invention described above, the shape of the striker head and the shape of the tip of the clamping portion (the clamping portion that protrudes into the insertion area) may each be as follows. First, the striker head is formed with an insertion-side sliding surface that slides against the tip of the clamping portion when the striker is inserted into the insertion area of ​​the catch body, and an extraction-side sliding surface that slides against the tip of the clamping portion when the striker is extracted from the insertion area. Further, the tip of the clamping portion is formed with an insertion-side sliding surface that slides against the insertion-side sliding surface of the striker head when the striker is inserted into the insertion area, and an extraction-side sliding surface that slides against the extraction-side sliding surface of the striker head when the striker is extracted from the insertion area. The inclination angles of the insertion-side sliding surface and the insertion-side sliding surface relative to the striker insertion direction may be smaller than the inclination angles of the extraction-side sliding surface and the extraction-side sliding surface relative to the striker extraction direction.

[0015] In this way, the force required to remove the striker from between the pair of clamping parts is greater than the force required to insert the striker between the pair of clamping parts. As a result, when closing the door, the striker can be inserted with a light force to hold the door closed, but a certain amount of force is still required to open the door, making it possible to prevent the door from being opened accidentally.

[0016] In addition, in the above-mentioned catch device of the present invention, the thickness-wise guide inclined surface formed within the catch recess and the insertion-side sliding surface of the clamping portion may form a continuous inclined surface when viewed from the width direction.

[0017] This allows the striker, guided by the thickness-direction guide slope, to move smoothly to the insertion-side sliding surface of the clamping part when closing the door, making it possible to achieve a good operating feel when closing the door, without any step or feeling of catching.

[0018] Furthermore, in the catch device of the present invention described above, thickness-wise guide slopes are formed on both sides of the insertion area in the thickness direction at positions that are offset in the width direction from the pair of clamping portions, but thickness-wise guide slopes may not be formed at positions that are offset in the thickness direction from the insertion area and also from the pair of clamping portions in the thickness direction.

[0019] This reduces the contact area between the striker and the thickness-direction guide slope, allowing the striker to be smoothly guided into the insertion area and improving the operational feel when closing the door. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0020] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view showing the external shape of a clothes dryer 1 equipped with a catch device 10 of the present embodiment. [Figure 2] 1 is an explanatory diagram of a striker 20 of this embodiment attached to an opening / closing door 3 of a clothes dryer 1. FIG. [Figure 3] 1 is an exploded view showing the detailed shape of the catch body 30 of this embodiment attached to the body 2 of the clothes dryer 1. FIG. [Figure 4] 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the detailed shape of a pair of clamping parts 33 mounted inside the catch body 30 of this embodiment. FIG. [Figure 5] 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the shape of a catch recess 32c of a catch main body 30 into which a striker 20 is inserted. FIG. [Figure 6] 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the positional relationship between a guide slope 32f formed in a catch recess 32c and a through hole 22 and a support portion 24 formed in a striker 20. FIG. [Figure 7] 3A to 3C are explanatory diagrams showing the operation of the catch device 10 of the present embodiment. [Figure 8] 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the reason why the opening and closing door 3 can be smoothly closed even if the position of the striker 20 is misaligned in the thickness direction (vertical direction). FIG. [Figure 9] 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the reason why the opening and closing door 3 can be smoothly closed even if the position of the striker 20 is misaligned in the width direction (left and right direction). FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0021] 1 is an explanatory diagram of a clothes dryer 1 equipped with a catch device 10 of this embodiment. The clothes dryer 1 comprises a cubic main body 2 with a large opening 2a on the front, and an opening / closing door 3 for opening and closing the opening 2a. The opening / closing door 3 is a hinged door that opens and closes in the left-right direction, with the left side of the opening / closing door 3 pivoted to the main body 2 when viewed from the front. A handle 3a is formed on the right side of the opening / closing door 3, and pulling the handle 3a toward you causes the opening / closing door 3 to rotate around the pivot position on the left side, allowing clothes to be inserted through the opening 2a.

[0022] A catch body 30 constituting the catch device 10 of this embodiment is mounted on the main body 2 at a position immediately to the right of the insertion port 2a when viewed from the front. In addition, as will be described in detail later, a concave-shaped catch recess 32c is formed in the center of the catch body 30, and a pair of clamping parts 33 are mounted at the back of the catch recess 32c in positions facing each other in the vertical direction.

[0023] A component called a striker 20 that constitutes the catch device 10 of this embodiment is protruded from the right side of the rear surface (the surface facing the main body 2) of the opening / closing door 3. The detailed shape of the striker 20 will be described later, but the striker 20 is attached in a position where it is inserted into the catch recess 32c of the catch main body 30 when the opening / closing door 3 is closed. The striker 20 inserted into the catch recess 32c is clamped between the pair of catch main bodies 30, thereby holding the opening / closing door 3 in a closed state.

[0024] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the striker 20 attached to the rear surface of the door 3. FIG. 2(a) shows the striker 20 attached to the door 3 as viewed from the direction indicated by arrow A in FIG. 1. As shown in the figure, the striker 20 roughly has a shape in which a trapezoidal plate member stands upright from a plate-like base 20a, and the base 20a is attached with mounting screws 3b to a position behind a handle 3a formed on the door 3. Note that, hereinafter, the direction in which the trapezoidal plate member protrudes from the base 20a will be referred to as the "protrusion direction" of the striker 20, the direction of the thickness of the trapezoidal plate member will be referred to as the "thickness direction" of the striker 20, and the direction of the upper or lower side of the trapezoid shape will be referred to as the "width direction" of the striker 20.

[0025] FIG. 2(b) shows the shape of the striker 20 as viewed from the direction indicated by arrow B in FIG. 2(a). As shown in FIG. 2(b), a rectangular through hole 22 that is long in the width direction (the left-right direction on the plane of FIG. 2(b)) is formed at the tip end of the striker 20. Therefore, the striker 20 has a shape in which the striker head 21, which is located on the tip side of the through hole 22, and the striker main body 23, which is located on the base end side (the base portion 20a side) of the through hole 22, are supported by columnar portions (hereinafter referred to as support portions 24) formed on the left and right sides (both sides in the width direction) of the through hole 22. The support portions 24 support the striker head 21 from both sides in the width direction, and the tip portions of the support portions 24 are formed in a sloped shape that tapers in the width direction, thereby forming widthwise guide slopes 24a.

[0026] The through-hole 22 is a portion into which a pair of clamping portions 33 built into the catch body 30, which will be described later, fit. Therefore, in this embodiment, the through-hole 22 corresponds to the "fitting portion" of the present invention. Furthermore, it is sufficient for the through-hole 22 to be able to fit the pair of clamping portions 33, and it does not necessarily have to pass through the striker 20. Therefore, recesses may be formed on the top and bottom surfaces of the striker 20 so that they butt against each other.

[0027] FIG. 2(c) shows a cross-sectional view taken at the position of cross section CC in FIG. 2(b). As shown in the figure, the striker head 21 has slopes formed on both the tip and base ends. As will be described in detail later, the slope formed on the tip end (insertion-side sliding surface 21a) serves as a surface that abuts and slides against the clamping portion 33 when the striker 20 is inserted into the catch recess 32c (see FIG. 1) of the catch body 30. The slope formed on the base end of the striker head 21 (extraction-side sliding surface 21b) serves as a surface that abuts and slides against the clamping portion 33 when the striker 20 is extracted from the catch recess 32c of the catch body 30. In the striker 20 of this embodiment, the angle between the insertion-side sliding surfaces 21a is set to be smaller than the angle between the extraction-side sliding surfaces 21b.

[0028] 3 is an exploded view showing the detailed shape of the catch body 30 of this embodiment. As shown in the figure, the catch body 30 of this embodiment includes an attachment plate 31 for attaching the catch body 30 to the main body 2, a storage section 32 in which a catch recess 32c is formed and in which a pair of clamping sections 33 (described later) are slidably stored, the pair of clamping sections 33 slidably assembled inside the storage section 32, a pair of coil springs 34 that bias the pair of clamping sections 33, and a retaining cover 35 that holds the pair of clamping sections 33 and the coil springs 34 assembled inside the storage section 32 so as not to fall out.

[0029] The mounting plate 31 is a plate-like member with a rectangular through window 31a formed in the center, and mounting holes 31b for mounting the catch main body 30 to the main body 2 are formed on both the upper and lower sides of the through window 31a.

[0030] The storage section 32 is a member having mounting holes 32b formed on both the top and bottom sides of a plate-shaped base plate 32a, and a rectangular catch recess 32c formed in the center of the base plate 32a. The periphery of the catch recess 32c is surrounded by a rectangular frame wall 32d. The storage section 32 is aligned with the mounting plate 31 by fitting the frame wall 32d into the through-hole 31a of the mounting plate 31, and then fastened together with the mounting plate 31 to the main body 2 by inserting mounting bolts (not shown) into the mounting holes 31b and 32b.

[0031] As shown in an enlarged view of the catch recess 32c in FIG. 3, a rectangular recess that is elongated in the left-right direction (the width direction of the striker 20) is formed at the rear of the center of the catch recess 32c. The space from this recess to the entrance of the catch recess 32c is the space into which the striker 20 is inserted (the insertion area 32e). In FIG. 3, the insertion area 32e is indicated by diagonal lines. On both sides of the insertion area 32e in the up-down direction (the thickness direction of the striker 20), guide slopes 32f are formed, tapering toward the rear. Furthermore, a sliding passage 32g, in which the clamping portion 33 (described later) is slidably accommodated, is opened at the center of the guide slopes 32f. Furthermore, on both sides of the insertion area 32e in the left-right direction (the width direction of the striker 20), guide slopes 32h, tapering toward the rear, are formed at the entrance of the catch recess 32c.

[0032] The shape inside the catch recess 32c is shaped to match the shape of the striker 20. Therefore, with regard to the directions inside the catch recess 32c, the left-right direction will be referred to as the width direction and the up-down direction will be referred to as the thickness direction, in accordance with the direction of the striker 20. Furthermore, the guide slopes 32f of this embodiment formed on both sides in the thickness direction of the insertion region 32e correspond to the "thickness direction guide slopes" in the present invention.

[0033] The clamping portions 33 are roughly shaped like rectangular parallelepipeds with their longitudinal ends protruding in a wedge shape, and are stored in the sliding passage 32g of the storage portion 32 with the wedge-shaped protruding sides facing each other. The detailed shape of the clamping portions 33 will be described later. Each clamping portion 33 is biased toward each other from the rear side by a coil spring 34. The coil spring 34 in this embodiment corresponds to the "biasing spring" in the present invention. Furthermore, a holding cover 35 is attached to the clamping portion 33 from the rear side to hold the pair of clamping portions 33 and the coil spring 34 attached to the rear side of the catch recess 32c of the clamping portion 33.

[0034] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the detailed shape of the pair of clamping portions 33. FIG. 4(a) shows the detailed shape as seen from the direction of arrow D in FIG. 3, and FIG. 4(b) shows the detailed shape as seen from the direction of arrow E in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 4(a), an inclined surface labeled "33a" is formed at the tip of the clamping portion 33. This inclined surface is the inclined surface against which the insertion-side sliding surface 21a (see FIG. 2(c)) at the tip of the striker 20 slides when the striker 20 is inserted between the pair of clamping portions 33. Therefore, hereinafter, this inclined surface will be referred to as the insertion-side sliding surface 33a.

[0035] As shown in FIG. 4(b), a sloped surface labeled "33b" is also formed at the tip of the clamping portion 33 on the side opposite the insertion-side sliding surface 33a. This sloped surface is the sloped surface against which the removal-side sliding surface 21b (see FIG. 2(c)) at the tip of the striker 20 slides when the striker 20, which has been inserted and clamped between the pair of clamping portions 33, is pulled out. Therefore, hereinafter, this sloped surface will be referred to as the removal-side sliding surface 33b. Furthermore, a cylindrical mounting hole 33c is formed in the clamping portion 33, into which the coil spring 34 is inserted from the back side.

[0036] 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an enlarged view of the interior of the catch recess 32c with the clamping portions 33 and coil springs 34 attached. As shown in the figure, the pair of clamping portions 33 are attached to the insertion region 32e formed in the center of the catch recess 32c with their tips protruding from both vertical sides. Also, guide slopes 32f are formed on both sides of each clamping portion 33. If an imaginary guide slope is imagined between the guide slopes 32f on both sides, the clamping portions 33 are positioned so that the insertion-side sliding surfaces 33a of the clamping portions 33 form a slope continuous with the imaginary guide slope.

[0037] FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional view obtained by cutting the catch recess 32c of the storage section 32 at the position of cross section FF in FIG. 5. For reference, FIG. 6 also shows the striker 20 inserted into the catch recess 32c by a dashed line. As shown in the figure, the widthwise dimension W2 (left-right direction in FIG. 6) of the clamping portion 33, the tip of which protrudes into the insertion region 32e, is smaller than the widthwise dimension W1 of the through-hole 22 formed in the striker 20. Therefore, when the striker 20 is inserted into the insertion region 32e, the tip of the clamping portion 33 can be fitted into the through-hole 22 of the striker 20. The roles of the guide slopes 32f formed in the catch recess 32c, the guide slopes 32h formed at the entrance of the catch recess 32c, and the widthwise guide slopes 24a formed on both sides of the tip of the striker 20 will be explained later. 5 and 6, guide slopes 32f are formed on both sides of clamping portion 33 in the width direction, but guide slopes 32f are not formed in positions that overlap clamping portion 33 in the width direction. The reason for this will also be explained later.

[0038] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing the operation of the catch body 30 of the above-described embodiment to hold the striker 20. FIG. 7(a) shows the state before the opening / closing door 3 shown in FIG. 1 is closed. As shown in FIG. 7(a), in this state, the striker head 21 at the tip of the striker 20 has not yet been inserted between the pair of clamping portions 33. As the opening / closing door 3 is closed, the striker 20 approaches the gap between the pair of clamping portions 33 as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 7(a), and the insertion-side sliding surface 21a formed at the tip of the striker head 21 abuts against the insertion-side sliding surface 33a formed at the tip of the clamping portion 33. Then, when a force is applied in the closing direction of the opening / closing door 3 from this state, the insertion-side sliding surface 21a of the striker head 21 pushes the gap between the two clamping portions 33 against the biasing force of the coil spring 34, and the striker head 21 is inserted between the two clamping portions 33, as shown in FIG. 7(b).

[0039] As described above, the widthwise dimension W2 of the clamping portion 33 is smaller than the widthwise dimension W1 of the through-hole 22 formed in the striker 20. For this reason, when the striker 20 is further inserted, the tip portion of the clamping portion 33 fits into the through-hole 22 of the striker 20, as shown in Figure 7(c). Since the clamping portion 33 is biased from the rear side by the coil spring 34, the striker 20 is held from both sides by the clamping portion 33, and therefore the opening and closing door 3 is also held in the closed state.

[0040] Furthermore, when the door 3 is opened, as the door 3 is pulled, the removal-side sliding surface 21b of the striker head 21 of the striker 20 comes into contact with the removal-side sliding surface 33b of the clamping portion 33. When the door 3 is further pulled with force, as shown in FIG. 7(d), the removal-side sliding surface 21b of the striker head 21 pushes apart the space between the two clamping portions 33 against the biasing force of the coil spring 34, and as the space is pushed apart, the striker head 21 is pulled out from between the two clamping portions 33. As a result, the door 3 finally returns to the state shown in FIG. 7(a), and the door 3 is opened.

[0041] 7(b) and 7(d), the insertion-side sliding surface 21a and the inserted-side sliding surface 33a, which come into contact when the door 3 is closed, form a smaller angle with respect to the movement direction of the striker 20 than the removal-side sliding surface 21b and the removal-side sliding surface 33b, which come into contact when the door 3 is opened. Therefore, the force required for the striker head 21 of the striker 20 to push apart the space between the two clamping portions 33 is smaller when closing the door 3 than when opening the door 3. As a result, the door 3 can be closed with a light force, and a fairly large force is required when opening the door 3, providing an excellent operational feel with no risk of accidentally opening it.

[0042] 1, the door 3 is pivotally supported on the side opposite to the side where the striker 20 is attached, so if there is an error in the attachment of the door 3 or if a large force is applied to the door 3, the position of the striker 20 will be displaced. As a result, when the door 3 is closed, the tip of the striker 20 cannot be smoothly inserted between the two clamping portions 33.

[0043] However, in this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 6, guide slopes 32f are formed on both sides of the clamping portion 33 in the width direction. Furthermore, the through hole 22 of the striker 20 is formed so that the width dimension W1 is wider than the width dimension W2 of the clamping portion 33, and support portions 24 are formed on both sides of the through hole 22 in the width direction. For this reason, as shown in Fig. 8, if the position of the striker 20 is shifted in the thickness direction (the up-and-down direction in Fig. 8), the support portions 24 formed on both sides of the striker head 21 of the striker 20 will abut against the guide slopes 32f. Then, the striker 20 is guided along the guide slopes 32f toward the clamping portion 33, as indicated by the black arrow in Fig. 8.

[0044] 5 and 6, the guide slopes 32f are formed on both sides of the clamping portion 33 at different positions in the width direction relative to the clamping portion 33, but no guide slopes 32f are formed at positions that overlap with the clamping portion 33 in the width direction. Therefore, when the striker 20 is guided by the guide slopes 32f, the contact area between the striker 20 and the guide slopes 32f is reduced, allowing the striker 20 to be guided smoothly. As the striker 20 is guided in this manner, the striker head 21 comes into contact with the insertion-side sliding surface 33a of the clamping portion 33. Thereafter, as the striker 20 is inserted, it pushes the clamping portion 33 apart while simultaneously sliding along the insertion-side sliding surface 33a, and ultimately, as shown in FIG. 7(c), the tip of the clamping portion 33 fits into the through-hole 22 of the striker 20.

[0045] As described above, in this embodiment, even if the position of the striker 20 is misaligned in the thickness direction, the striker 20 can be guided between the two clamping portions 33, thereby preventing a loss of operational feel when closing the opening and closing door 3. Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 8, the guide inclined surface 32f and the insertion-side sliding surface 33a are smoothly connected, so the striker 20 smoothly switches from sliding on the guide inclined surface 32f to sliding on the insertion-side sliding surface 33a. Therefore, there is no risk that the operator will feel a step when closing the opening and closing door 3.

[0046] FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a case where the position of the striker 20 is misaligned in the width direction (left-right direction in FIG. 9 ) when the opening / closing door 3 is closed. As shown in the figure, if the position of the striker 20 is misaligned in the width direction (left-right direction in FIG. 9 ), when the striker 20 is inserted into the catch recess 32c, the widthwise guide slopes 24a formed on both sides of the tip of the striker 20 come into contact with the guide slopes 32h formed near the entrances on both sides of the width direction of the catch recess 32c. As a result, the striker 20 is guided toward the clamping portions 33 along the guide slopes 32h, as indicated by the black arrows in FIG. 9 . Therefore, even if the position of the striker 20 is misaligned in the width direction, the striker 20 can be guided between the two clamping portions 33, thereby preventing a loss of operational feel when closing the opening / closing door 3.

[0047] The catch device 10 of this embodiment has been described above, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and can be embodied in various forms without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0048] For example, in the catch device 10 of the above-described embodiment, the striker 20 is attached to the opening / closing door 3 and the catch main body 30 is attached to the main body 2, but it is also possible to attach the catch main body 30 to the opening / closing door 3 and attach the striker 20 to the main body 2. [Explanation of symbols]

[0049] 1... clothes dryer, 2... main body, 2a... loading port, 3... opening and closing door, 3a...handle, 3b...mounting screw, 10...catch device, 20... striker, 20a... base, 21... striker head, 21a...insertion side sliding surface, 21b...extraction side sliding surface, 22...through hole, 23... striker main body portion, 24... support portion, 24a... width direction guide slope, 30...catch body, 31...mounting plate, 31a...through window, 31b...mounting hole, 32...storage section, 32a...board, 32b...mounting hole, 32c...catch recess, 32d...frame wall, 32e...insertion area, 32f...guide slope, 32g...sliding passage, 32h...guide slope, 33...Holding part, 33a...Sliding surface on the inserted side, 33b...Sliding surface on the extracted side, 33c...mounting hole, 34...coil spring, 35...retaining cover.

Claims

1. A catch device is used to hold an openable door, one of the left and right ends of which is pivotally supported by a main body, in a closed state, and includes a striker having a base attached to either the main body or the openable door and projecting from the base, and a catch main body equipped with a pair of clamping parts attached to the other of the main body or the openable door to which the striker is not attached, and which clamps the striker from both sides when the openable door is in the closed state, The striker is a striker head portion formed at the tip of the striker, the striker head portion being a portion whose dimension in a thickness direction, which is a direction in which the striker is clamped from both sides by the pair of clamping portions, gradually increases and then decreases from the tip toward the base end of the striker; fitting portions formed at positions adjacent to the base end side of the striker head, into which the pair of clamping portions are fitted from both sides in the thickness direction, and whose dimension in a width direction, which is a direction perpendicular to the thickness direction and the protruding direction of the striker, is larger than the dimension in the width direction of the clamping portions; a support portion formed on at least one side of the fitting portion in the width direction, the support portion supporting the striker head portion from at least the one side; It is equipped with The catch body is a catch recess formed on a side facing the striker; a pair of biasing springs that bias the pair of clamping portions mounted on both sides in the thickness direction toward an insertion area of ​​the striker set at the center of the catch recess; Equipped with The pair of clamping portions are mounted on the catch body with tip portions of the clamping portions protruding inside the insertion area, Within the catch recess, thickness direction guide slopes are formed at positions on both sides of the insertion area in the thickness direction, for guiding the striker head from the thickness direction toward the clamping portion. A catch device characterized by:

2. The catch device according to claim 1, the support portion of the striker supports the striker head from at least one side in the width direction, A widthwise guide slope is formed at the tip of the support portion to guide the striker in the width direction toward the insertion area when the striker is inserted into the insertion area of ​​the catch body. A catch device characterized by:

3. The catch device according to claim 1, The striker head has: an insertion-side sliding surface that slides against a tip portion of the clamping portion that protrudes into the insertion area when the striker is inserted into the insertion area of ​​the catch body; a removal-side sliding surface that slides against the tip portion of the clamping portion that protrudes into the insertion area when the striker is removed from the insertion area of ​​the catch body; is formed, The tip of the clamping part has an insertion-side sliding surface that slides against the insertion-side sliding surface of the striker head when the striker is inserted into the insertion region; a removal-side sliding surface that slides against the removal-side sliding surface of the striker head when the striker is removed from the insertion area; is formed, The inclination angles of the insertion-side sliding surface and the inserted-side sliding surface with respect to the insertion direction of the striker are set to be smaller than the inclination angles of the removal-side sliding surface and the removed-side sliding surface with respect to the removal direction of the striker. A catch device characterized by:

4. The catch device according to claim 3, The thickness direction guide slope formed in the catch recess and the insertion side sliding surface of the clamping portion form a continuous slope when viewed from the width direction. A catch device characterized by:

5. The catch device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, The thickness direction guide slope is The insertion region is formed on both sides in the thickness direction and at positions shifted in the width direction with respect to the pair of clamping portions, The insertion portion is not formed on either side of the insertion region in the thickness direction, and is not formed on either side of the pair of clamping portions in the thickness direction. A catch device characterized by:

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