Fastening members

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a fastening member that allows the rotation angle (amount of rotation) to be grasped and provides a good rotation operation feel. [Solution] The object of the present invention is to solve the problem by using a fastening member or the like which comprises, in this order, a substantially rectangular parallelepiped locking portion, a cylindrical fitting portion, and a main body portion which is joined to the fitting portion, the fitting portion being joined at the center of the top surface which is surrounded by the long and short sides of the locking portion at the bottom, the seat surface of the main body portion which faces the top surface of the locking portion being formed horizontally, and the top surface of the locking portion being formed tapered towards the center.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a fastening member that is movable and lockable along a rail member. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, there is known a bracket that can be attached to a metal rail to hold or suspend various members or components. Conventionally, when attaching and fixing a bracket to a metal rail, it was necessary to insert multiple members, such as nuts and nut holders, into the rail and then fasten them with screws, which was cumbersome for users (see FIG. 15 and Patent Documents 1 to 3).

[0003] Among brackets, there is one known that can be fixed to the rail by inserting the locking part of the bracket into the groove of the metal rail and rotating it 90 degrees. This bracket allows the fixing position to be freely determined, making it extremely convenient for users.

[0004] However, with the brackets described above, when a user rotates the bracket, the rotational feel is constant, making it difficult to grasp the angle (amount of rotation), which can lead to excessive or insufficient rotation, which can cause poor fixation. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2017-030331 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-017756 [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-081427 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a fastening member that allows the rotation angle (amount of rotation) to be grasped and provides a good rotation operation feel. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The inventors of the present invention have conducted extensive research to solve the above problems and have concluded that with conventional products, the frictional force during rotation is small over the entire rotation range, resulting in a constant feel for rotation operation and making it difficult to grasp the start or end point of rotation. Therefore, they have concluded that if the frictional force during rotation is made slightly small from the start point to the middle of rotation and then made larger at the end point of rotation, by tilting the upper surface of the locking part that engages with the groove in the rail, it will be possible to grasp the rotation angle (amount of rotation) and obtain a good feel for rotation operation.

[0008] Based on this idea, the inventors of the present invention have, through repeated trial and error, succeeded in creating a fastening member in which the upper surface of the engaging portion is tapered toward the center, as a solution to the problems of the present invention. The present invention has been completed based on the idea and successful example first conceived by the inventors of the present invention.

[0009] That is, according to each aspect of the present invention, the following embodiments are provided. [1] A locking portion having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, a cylindrical fitting portion, and a main body portion joined to the fitting portion, in this order; the fitting portion is joined at the center of the upper surface surrounded by the long and short sides of the locking portion at the bottom surface, The seat surface of the main body portion facing the upper surface of the locking portion is formed horizontally, A fastening member, wherein an upper surface of the engaging portion is tapered toward the center. [2] The fastening member according to item [1], wherein, in a top view, one diagonal corner of the engaging portion is an arc-shaped corner, and the other diagonal corner is a right-angled corner. [3] The fastening member is movable along and engageable with the groove of the linear rail member; The fastening member described in item [1], wherein the fastening member is engaged with the rail member by rotating the main body portion protruding from the rail member by 90 degrees while the locking portion and the fitting portion are inserted into the groove of the rail member. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to the present invention, the upper surface of the locking portion is tapered toward the center of the upper surface, which makes it possible to make the frictional force between the rail member and the locking portion when rotating slightly smaller from the start point to the middle of the rotation and larger at the end point of the rotation.As a result, it is possible to grasp the rotation angle (amount of rotation, especially the end point of the rotation) and obtain a good rotation operation feel. Furthermore, according to the present invention, the engaging portion is configured such that one diagonal corner is an arc-shaped corner and the other diagonal corner is a right-angled corner, which makes it possible to grasp the rotation angle (amount of rotation, particularly the end point of rotation), reduces the possibility of over-rotation or under-rotation, and allows for secure fixation. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing a fastening member 1A according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the fastening member 1A of FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of the fastening member 1A of FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a schematic bottom view of the fastening member 1A of FIG. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a schematic partial enlarged view of the fastening member 1A of FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a top view of the locking portion 10 of the fastening member 1A of FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a view showing a usage state of the fastening member 1A of FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a view showing a usage state of the fastening member 1A of FIG. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is an image of an actual use state of the fastening member 1A of FIG. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 shows (a) a schematic front view and (b) a schematic side view of a fastening member 1B according to the second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is an image of an actual use state of the fastening member 1B of FIG. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 shows (a) a schematic front view and (b) a schematic side view of a fastening member 1C according to the third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is an image of an actual use state of the fastening member 1C of FIG. [Figure 14] FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram for explaining the technical features of the fastening member of the present invention. [Figure 15] FIG. 15 is a reference image showing an example of a conventional bracket. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] Each aspect of the present invention will be described in detail below, but the present invention can take various forms as long as it achieves its object.

[0013] "Comprise," "contain," and "include" mean that elements other than those explicitly stated as included may be added (same meaning as "comprise at least"), but also encompass "consist of" and "essentially consist of." That is, "comprise" can mean including the explicitly stated elements and any one or more elements, consisting of the explicitly stated elements, or essentially consisting of the explicitly stated elements. "Have" is synonymous with "include." Elements include parts, means, ingredients, steps, conditions, parameters, and other limitations. "And / or" means any one or any or all combinations of two or more of the associated listed items. Throughout this specification, the plural is intended to be included unless the singular is clearly indicated by the context.

[0014] [Features of the present invention] The fastening member of the present invention comprises, in this order, a substantially rectangular parallelepiped locking portion, a cylindrical fitting portion, and a main body portion that joins to the fitting portion, the fitting portion being joined at the bottom at the center of the top surface that is surrounded by the long and short sides of the locking portion, the bearing surface of the main body portion that faces the top surface being formed horizontally, and the top surface being formed tapered toward the center. The fastening member of the present invention is characterized in that the configuration of the top surface of the locking portion is formed tapered toward the center of the top surface, and other configurations can be changed as appropriate depending on the purpose and use. The fastening member of the present invention can be attached to, for example, a rail member to hold or suspend various members or components.

[0015] Hereinafter, each aspect of the present invention and its embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. In each drawing, elements that are less relevant to the present invention are omitted. In this specification and drawings, elements having substantially the same functional configuration are designated by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

[0016] [First embodiment of fastening member] FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing a fastening member 1A according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the fastening member of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of the fastening member of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a schematic bottom view of the fastening member of FIG. 1.

[0017] In this specification, the up-down direction in FIG. 1 is defined as the "vertical direction," and the left-right direction is defined as the "horizontal direction."

[0018] The fastening member 1A can be attached to the rail member 40 to hold or suspend various members and components on the main body 30. The fastening member 1A is movable along the groove 41 of the rail member 40, and can be locked at any position on the rail member 40.

[0019] The rail member 40 is not particularly limited to a specific shape, but for example, is linear, and has a groove 41 in the center that runs along the longitudinal direction of the rail member 40. The shape of the internal space of the groove 41 in the rail member 40 is not particularly limited to a specific shape and may be various, but as an example, as shown in Figures 7 and 8, the groove 41 has, for example, an opening 41, a space S1 that is connected to the opening 41 and has a rectangular cross section and a width (S1w) that is larger than the opening width 42w of the opening 41, and a space S2 that is connected to the space S1 and has a width smaller than the space S1.

[0020] Further, other examples of the internal space of the groove 41 in the rail member 40 include the following. (1) The space S1 and the space S2 have a trapezoidal cross section as a whole. (2) Space S1 has a rectangular cross section, and space S2 has a trapezoidal cross section. (3) The space S1 has a rectangular cross section, and the space S2 has a right-angled triangular cross section.

[0021] The fastening member 1A includes a substantially rectangular parallelepiped locking portion 10, a cylindrical fitting portion 20, and a main body portion 30 joined to the fitting portion 20, in this order.

[0022] The locking portion 10 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape and can be engaged with the internal space S1 of the groove 41 of the rail member 40. In the locking portion 10, the top surface 10A surrounded by the long side 101 and the short side 102 is tapered toward the center C of the top surface 10A. That is, the top surface 10A is inclined toward the center C of the top surface 10A. The top surface 10A of the locking portion 10 is the surface on the upper side in the vertical direction.

[0023] In the locking portion 10, the inclination angle α of the upper surface 10A with respect to a horizontal plane passing through the center C of the upper surface 10A is preferably, for example, 0°<α≦10°, and more preferably 0°<α≦2° (see FIG. 5).

[0024] In this way, the upper surface 10A of the engaging portion 10 is configured to taper toward the center C of the upper surface 10A, and when the fastening member 1A (main body portion 30) is rotated to fix it at any position on the rail member 40, the rotational friction force can be made slightly small from the start point to the middle of the rotation and large at the end point of the rotation due to the contact area between the upper surface 10A and the inner wall surface SW of the internal space S1 of the groove 41, and as a result, the rotation angle (amount of rotation, particularly the end point of the rotation) can be intuitively grasped (see Figure 8(b)).

[0025] In the locking portion 10, it is preferable that, in a top view, one diagonal corner is an arc-shaped corner 11a, 11c, and the other diagonal corner is a right-angled corner 11b, 11d. That is, of the approximately rectangular parallelepiped shape of the locking portion 10, one diagonal corner (11a, 11c) is formed in a curved shape, and the other diagonal corner (11b, 11d) is formed in a right-angle shape (see FIG. 6).

[0026] The locking portion 10 is first inserted into the internal space S1 of the groove 41 of the rail member 40 with the long side 101 oriented parallel to the longitudinal direction of the rail member 40. When the main body 30 is rotated relative to the rail member 40, the pair of arcuate corners 11a, 11c rotate smoothly without contacting the internal space S1 of the groove 41. When the pair of right-angled corners 11b, 11d contact the internal space S1 of the groove 41, the rotation stops, and the short side 102 is oriented parallel to the longitudinal direction of the rail member 40, preventing rotation beyond 90° (see FIG. 7(c) in particular). This configuration makes it easy to grasp the rotation angle (the amount of rotation, particularly the end point of rotation), reduces the possibility of over-rotation or under-rotation, and ensures reliable locking. In other words, according to the present invention, the frictional force during rotation is not constant throughout the entire rotation range, allowing the end point of rotation to be clearly and intuitively grasped, resulting in a good rotational feel.

[0027] Since the locking portion 10 rotates within the internal space S1 of the groove 41, the size of the approximately rectangular parallelepiped locking portion 10 is such that the short sides 102 fit the opening width 42w of the opening 42 of the groove 41, and the long sides 101 fit the width S1w ​​of the internal space S1. The height (vertical size) of the locking portion 10 need only be large enough to be accommodated in the internal space S1.

[0028] The fitting portion 20 is cylindrical and can be fitted into the opening 42 of the groove 41 of the rail member 40 . The fitting portion 20 has a bottom surface 20B on the lower vertical side joined to the locking portion 10, and an upper surface on the upper vertical side joined to the main body portion 30. The bottom surface 20B of the fitting portion 20 is joined to the locking portion 10 at the center C of the upper surface 10A of the locking portion 10.

[0029] The outer diameter (horizontal size) of the fitting portion 20 may be any size that fits the opening width 42w of the opening 42 of the groove 41 of the rail member 40. The vertical size of the fitting portion 20 may be any size that fits the length of the opening 42 of the groove 41 of the rail member 40.

[0030] In the present invention, the main body 30 is a functional part that enables various members and components to be held or suspended. Therefore, the shape of the main body 30, more specifically, the shape of the main body 30 other than the seat surface 30A, is not particularly limited, and various designs are possible.

[0031] In the fastening member 1A according to the first embodiment, the main body 30 has, for example, a disk-shaped base 31 and a pair of arm portions 32a, 32b extending obliquely from the base 31 upward in the vertical direction. The pair of arm portions 32a and 32b each have a through hole 33. In the fastening member 1A according to the first embodiment, for example, a wire or the like can be inserted through the through holes 33, 33, and a part or member can be supported and fixed between the pair of arm portions 32a, 32b (see FIG. 9).

[0032] The seating surface 30A of the main body 30 (base 31) facing the upper surface 10A of the locking portion 10 is formed horizontally. Therefore, in the present invention, the distance between the upper surface 10A and the seating surface 30A is not constant, but is formed so that the distance from the seating surface 30A increases with increasing distance from the center C of the upper surface 10A.

[0033] A usage mode of the fastening member 1A according to the first embodiment will be specifically described below with reference to FIGS. The fastening member 1A is movable along the groove 41 of the linear rail member 40, and can be locked at any position. First, in the fastening member 1A, the locking portion 10 and the fitting portion 20 are inserted into the groove 41 of the rail member 40. More specifically, the locking portion 10 and the fitting portion 20 are inserted into the groove 41 of the rail member 40 with the long side 101 of the locking portion 10 parallel to the longitudinal direction of the rail member 40. The fitting portion 20 is fitted into the opening 42 of the groove 41, and the locking portion 10 is engaged with the internal space S1 of the groove 41 (see FIG. 7(b)). At this time, the main body portion 30 is in a state of protruding from the rail member 40. In this state, the fastening member 1A is movable along the groove 41 of the rail member 40.

[0034] The fastening member 1A is locked to the rail member 40 by rotating the main body 30 by 90° at any position on the groove 41 of the rail member 40. More specifically, by rotating the main body 30 by 90°, for example, clockwise, the locking portion 10 is positioned in the internal space S1 of the groove 41 with the long side 101 oriented perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the rail member 40, and the fastening member 1A is fixed to the rail member 40 (see FIG. 8(b)). Furthermore, by rotating the main body 30 of this fastening member 1A counterclockwise by 90°, the engaging portion 10 is positioned in the internal space S1 of the groove 41 with the long side 101 parallel to the longitudinal direction of the rail member 40, so that the fastening member 1A can move relative to the rail member 40 (see Figure 8(a)).

[0035] As shown in Fig. 9, in one mode of use of fastening member 1A, a wire is passed through each of through holes 33, 33 of main body 30, and the wire is used to fasten a cord disposed between paired arm portions 32a, 32b. Note that in Fig. 9, the circled portion indicates fastening member 1A.

[0036] The shape, material, arrangement, size, etc. of each component in the embodiments may be changed as appropriate depending on the specific usage of the present invention. For example, the material of the fastening member 1 may be a plastic material such as polytetrafluoroethylene, silicon, silicone, or rubber; an inorganic material such as polymer resin or ceramic; or a metal material such as iron, stainless steel, copper, aluminum, or titanium.

[0037] According to the fastening member 1A of the first embodiment, the upper surface 10A of the locking portion 10 is tapered toward the center C of the upper surface 10A. This configuration allows the frictional force generated when rotating the fastening member 1A to be slightly smaller from the start of rotation to the middle of rotation and larger at the end of rotation. As a result, the rotation angle (the amount of rotation, especially the end of rotation) can be grasped and a good rotational feel can be obtained. More specifically, the tapered configuration allows the axial force of the fastening member to be increased (generating the correct and sufficient amount of pulling force required to fasten the parts). This maximizes the contact area when the fastening member (main body) is rotated 90° and stopped, thereby maximizing slip torque. When the fastening member is made of resin, the tapered upper surface of the locking portion is crushed by the axial force, resulting in full contact with the rail member, which is more preferable. Furthermore, according to the fastening member 1A of the first aspect, the engaging portion 10 has a configuration in which one diagonal corner is an arc-shaped corner 11a, 11c and the other diagonal corner is a right-angled corner 11b, 11d, so that it is easy to grasp the rotation angle (amount of rotation, particularly the end point of rotation), and therefore there is little possibility of over-rotation or under-rotation occurring, and the fastening can be performed reliably.

[0038] [Variations] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and modifications and improvements are possible within the scope of achieving the object of the present invention. In the fastening member of the present invention, the fitting portion is joined at the center of the top surface, which is surrounded by the long and short sides of the locking portion at the bottom surface, and the seat surface of the main body portion facing the top surface is formed horizontally, and the top surface is formed tapered toward the center, which is a technical feature.Therefore, the area outside the range defined by the seat surfaces of the locking portion, fitting portion, and main body portion (see the thick line area in Figure 14) (see the shaded area in Figure 14) can be selected as appropriate.

[0039] In particular, the shape of the main body 30 of the fastening member 1 other than the bearing surface 30A can be designed in various ways depending on the purpose and use. For example, the main body 30 can be designed into the shapes shown in Figures 10 to 13. In the images of one usage mode shown in Figures 11 and 13, the circled portion indicates the fastening member.

[0040] The present invention is not limited to any of the above-described embodiments, and can be embodied by modifying the components within the scope of the gist of the present invention. Furthermore, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining multiple components disclosed in the above embodiments. For example, some of the components shown in the embodiments may be modified, such as by addition, deletion, or substitution. Furthermore, the components and forms of different embodiments may be appropriately combined. [Explanation of symbols]

[0041] 1 Fastening member 10. Locking portion 10A top 101 Long side 102 short side 11 Corner 20 Fitting part 20B Bottom 30 Main body 31 Base 32 Arm section 33 Through hole 40 Rail member 41 Groove 42 Opening S interior space

Claims

1. A fastening member including, in this order, a substantially rectangular parallelepiped locking portion, a cylindrical fitting portion, and a main body portion joined to the fitting portion, the fitting portion is joined at the center of the upper surface surrounded by the long and short sides of the locking portion at the bottom surface, The seat surface of the main body portion facing the upper surface of the locking portion is formed horizontally, The upper surface of the locking portion is tapered toward the center, The fastening member is movable along and engageable with the groove of the linear rail member, The fastening member is engaged with the rail member by rotating the main body portion protruding from the rail member by 90 degrees while the locking portion and the engaging portion are inserted into the groove of the rail member.

2. 2. The fastening member according to claim 1, wherein, in a top view, one diagonal corner of the engaging portion is an arcuate corner, and the other diagonal corner is a right-angled corner.

Images