Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02785481 2012-08-10
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PIVOTAL CONNECTION MECHANISM
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a pivotal connection mechanism, and more
particularly
to a connection mechanism for pivotally connecting two rods to each other.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A conventional pivotal connection mechanism generally includes a pivot shaft
and two
washers. The two washers are separately arranged on two outer side surfaces of
two
rods facing away from each other. The pivot shaft is extended through the two
rods
and the two washers to be locked thereto. The conventional pivotal connection
mechanism with the above-described structure is disadvantageous for use
because the
washers tend to rotate along with the pivot shaft when the pivot shaft is
turned to extend
through or loosen from the two rods, and accordingly cause inconveniences in
connecting or separating the rods to or from each other.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide an
improved pivotal
connection mechanism that enables convenient assembling and disassembling of
two
rods to or from each other, so as to eliminate the disadvantages in the
conventional
pivotal connection mechanism of the same purpose.
To solve the problems in the conventional pivotal connection mechanism, the
pivotal
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connection mechanism according to the present invention is designed for
pivotally
connecting a first rod and a second rod to each other, and includes a first
connection
seat having a first rotation-limiting member provided on a fitting surface
thereof; a
second connection seat having a second rotation-limiting member provided on a
fitting
surface thereof; a first rotation-limiting slot provided on an outer side
surface of the
first rod facing away from the second rod; a second rotation-limiting slot
provided on
an outer side surface of the second rod facing away from the first rod; and a
pivot shaft
extended through the first connection seat, the first rod, the second rod, and
the second
connection seat and locked thereto. The first connection seat is attached to
the first
rod with the first rotation-limiting member non-rotatably engaged with the
first
rotation-limiting slot on the first rod, and the second connection seat is
attached to the
second rod with the second rotation-limiting member non-rotatably engaged with
the
second rotation-limiting slot on the second rod. With the rotation-limiting
members on
the connection seats of the pivotal connection mechanism non-rotatably engaged
with
the rotation-limiting slots on the first and second rods, the first and second
connection
seats would not rotate along with the pivot shaft when the pivot shaft is
turned to extend
into or loosen from the two rods, enabling the two rods to be conveniently
connected to
or separated from each other.
The pivotal connection mechanism of the present invention further includes a
wear-resistant and low-friction washer arranged between the first and the
second rod.
The pivot shaft is extended through the first connection seat, the first
rotation-limiting
member, the first rod, the washer, the second rod, the second rotation-
limiting member
and the second connection seat to be locked thereto. With the wear-resistant
and
low-friction washer, the frictional contact area and the coefficient of
friction between
the two pivotally connected rods are reduced to minimize the wear thereof,
enabling the
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rods to have prolonged service life and be conveniently turned relative to
each other.
The pivot shaft includes a bolt and a matching nut. The bolt has an externally
threaded
shank being sequentially extended through the first connection seat, the first
rotation-limiting member, the first rod, the washer, the second rod, the
second
rotation-limiting member, and the second connection seat to engage with the
nut. The
engaged bolt and nut together constitute the pivot shaft that can stably hold
to the rods,
enabling the rods to be conveniently pivotally connected to or separated from
one
another and have prolonged service life.
The first connection seat has an outer surface facing away from the first rod.
The
outer surface of the first connection seat is extended in a direction opposite
to the
fitting surface of the first connection seat to form a raised first locating
seat, which
internally defines a round slot matching a head of the bolt, and the bolt head
is rotatably
received in the round slot. With the bolt head rotatably received in the round
slot, the
two rods can be easily assembled, and it is able to prevent the bolt head from
projecting
out of the first connection seat to ensure a beautiful appearance thereof
while
eliminating the risk of scratching a user or the user's clothes by the bolt
head.
The second connection seat has an outer surface facing away from the second
rod. The
outer surface of the second connection seat is extended in a direction
opposite to the
fitting surface of the second connection seat to form a raised second locating
seat,
which internally defines a rotation-limiting slot matching the nut, and the
nut is
non-rotatably received in the rotation-limiting slot.
With the nut non-rotatably
received in the rotation-limiting slot, the two rods can be easily assembled
to or
disassembled from each other, and it is able to effectively prevent the
condition of
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self-loosening of the bolt from the nut. Meanwhile, the nut is not exposed
from the
second connection seat to ensure a beautiful appearance thereof while
eliminating the
risk of scratching a user or the user's clothes by the nut.
The first rotation-limiting member has an outer configuration matching an
inner
configuration of the first rotation-limiting slot on the first rod; and the
second
rotation-limiting member has an outer configuration matching an inner
configuration of
the second rotation-limiting slot on the second rod. Thus, the connection
seats are
effectively prevented from rotating along with the pivot shaft when the latter
is turned,
and increased connection strength between the connection seats and the rods
can be
obtained.
The first rotation-limiting member includes a first round stub as a base and a
first
protrusion radially outward projected from the first round base; and the
second
rotation-limiting member includes a second round stub as a base and a second
protrusion radially outward projected from the second round base.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the pivotally connected first and
second
rods have a pivot point located at their respective middle area, so that the
first and the
second rod cross each other and form a foldable scissor linkage.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the pivotally connected first
and
second rods have a pivot point located close to their respective one end; and
the pivotal
connection mechanism further includes a first reinforcing cap fixedly fitted
on the
pivotal end of the first rod to correspond and adjoin to the first connection
seat, and a
second reinforcing cap fixedly fitted on the pivotal end of the second rod to
correspond
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and adjoin to the second connection seat. The reinforcing caps not only give
the
pivotal ends of the first and second rods a beautiful appearance, but also
prevent them
from exposing to an open space to thereby eliminate the risk of scratching a
user or the
user's clothes by the pivotal ends of the rods.
In the above embodiment, the first rod is further provided near the pivotal
end thereof
with a fixed first locating dot, and the first reinforcing cap is internally
provided with a
first locating blind hole or a first undercut for correspondingly engaging
with the first
locating dot.
In the above embodiment, the second rod is further provided near the pivotal
end
thereof with a fixed second locating dot, and the second reinforcing cap is
internally
provided with a second locating blind hole or a second undercut for
correspondingly
engaging with the second locating dot.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, the first reinforcing cap is
integrally
formed with the first connection seat, and the second reinforcing cap is
integrally
formed with the second connection seat.
With the above arrangements, the pivotal connection mechanism of the present
invention provides the advantage of allowing two rods to be pivotally
connected to or
be separated from one another in a convenient manner.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to
achieve the
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above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following
detailed
description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings,
wherein
Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a pivotal connection mechanism
according to
a first embodiment of the present invention for connecting two link rods of
two scissor
linkages to one another;
Fig. 2 shows an example of application of the pivotal connection mechanism of
the
present invention; and
Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a pivotal connection mechanism
according to
a second embodiment of the present invention for connecting two link rods of a
scissor
linkage to one another.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Please refer to Fig. 1 that is an exploded perspective view of a pivotal
connection
mechanism according to a first embodiment of the present invention for
connecting two
link rods of two scissor linkages to one another. More specifically, the
pivotal
connection mechanism of the present invention is used to pivotally connect a
first link
rod 1 of a first scissor linkage and a second link rod 2 of a second scissor
linkage to
each other. As shown in Fig. 1, the pivotal connection mechanism in the first
embodiment includes a first connection seat 3, a second connection seat 4, a
washer 5, a
first reinforcing cap 6, a second reinforcing cap 7, a bolt, and a nut.
As can be best seen from Fig. 1, the first link rod 1 has a rectangular-like
cross section
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and is provided close to an end of an outer side surface facing away from the
second
link rod 2 with a first rotation-limiting slot 12, which includes a pivot hole
11 located at
a bottom thereof. The first link rod 1 is also provided closer to the same end
with a
fixed first locating dot. The second link rod 2 has a rectangular-like cross
section and
is provided close to an end of an outer side surface facing away from the
first link rod 1
with a second rotation-limiting slot 22, which includes a pivot hole 21
located at a
bottom thereof. The second link rod 2 is also provided closer to the same end
with a
fixed second locating dot. The first and the second link rod 1, 2 are
structurally
similar to each other.
The first connection seat 3 has a fitting surface for bearing on a first side
surface of the
first link rod 1 facing away from the second link rod 2. On the fitting
surface of the
first connection seat 3, there is provided a first rotation-limiting member
31, which
includes a first round stub as a base and a first protrusion radially outward
projected
from the first round base. The first rotation-limiting member 31 has an outer
configuration matching an inner configuration of the first rotation-limiting
slot 12 on
the first link rod 1, so that the first rotation-limiting member 31 is non-
rotatably
received in the first rotation-limiting slot 12. The first connection seat 3
has an outer
surface facing away from the first link rod 1. The outer surface of the first
connection
seat 3 is extended in a direction opposite to the fitting surface to form a
raised first
locating seat 32, which internally defines a round slot. The first connection
seat 3 also
internally defines a first through hole, which extends through the first round
base of the
first rotation-limiting member 31 and a bottom of the round slot.
The second connection seat 4 has a fitting surface for bearing on a second
side surface
of the second link rod 2 facing away from the first link rod 1. On the fitting
surface of
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the second connection seat 4, there is provided a second rotation-limiting
member,
which includes a second round stub as a base and a second protrusion radially
outward
projected from the second round base. The second rotation-limiting member has
an
outer configuration matching an inner configuration of the second rotation-
limiting slot
22 on the second link rod 2, so that the second rotation-limiting member is
non-rotatably received in the second rotation-limiting slot 22. The second
connection
seat 4 has an outer surface facing away from the second link rod 2. The outer
surface
of the second connection seat 4 is extended in a direction opposite to the
fitting surface
to form a raised second locating seat 42, which internally defines a rotation-
limiting
slot 421. The second connection seat 4 also internally defines a second
through hole,
which extends through the second round base of the second rotation-limiting
member
and a bottom of the rotation-limiting slot 421.
The washer 5 is wear-resistant and low-friction and is arranged between the
first link
rod 1 and the second link rod 2.
The nut is non-rotatably received in the rotation-limiting slot 421, while a
head of the
bolt is rotatably received in the round slot. The bolt has an externally
threaded shank
being extended through the first through hole of the first connection seat 3,
the pivot
hole 11 on the first link rod 1, the washer 5, the pivot hole 21 on the second
link rod 2,
and the second through hole of the second connection seat 4 to engage with the
nut.
The first reinforcing cap 6 is internally provided on a side wall with a first
locating
blind hole, with which the first locating dot is engaged for the first
reinforcing cap 6 to
fixedly fit on the end of the first link rod 1. The first reinforcing cap 6 is
so
configured that a part of its rim matches and fitly contacts with a part of
the peripheral
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edge of the first connection seat 3, while another part of its rim matches and
fitly
contacts with a part of the peripheral edge of the washer 5.
The second reinforcing cap 7 is internally provided on a side wall with a
second
locating blind hole, with which the second locating dot is engaged for the
second
reinforcing cap 7 to fixedly fit on the end of the second link rod 2. The
second
reinforcing cap 7 is so configured that a part of its rim matches and fitly
contacts with a
part of the peripheral edge of the second connection seat 4, while another
part of its rim
matches and fitly contacts with another part of the peripheral edge of the
washer 5.
Fig. 2 shows an example of application of the pivotal connection mechanism
according
to the present invention in a foldable tent. The foldable tent includes four
poles 8,
four sets of foldable connection devices 9, and a foldable roof frame 10.
The poles 8 are telescopic poles and respectively have a fixed joint provided
on an
upper end thereof, and a slidable joint movably fitted therearound. Each of
the
slidable joints is provided with a locking member, with which the slidable
joint can be
locked to a position relative to a corresponding pole. When the locking member
is
unlocked, the slidable joint is allowed to slide upward and downward along the
pole.
Any two adjacent poles 8 have one set of the foldable connection device 9
connected to
between them. Each set of the foldable connection device 9 includes three
scissor
linkages. Two end portions at one side of the first scissor linkage are
separately
pivotally connected to the fixed joint and the slidable joint on one of the
two adjacent
poles 8. Two end portions at one side of the second scissor linkage are
separately
pivotally connected to two end portions at another side of the first scissor
linkage.
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Two end portions at one side of the third scissor linkage are separately
pivotally
connected to two end portions at another side of the second scissor linkage,
while two
end portions at another side of the third scissor linkage are separately
pivotally
connected to the fixed and the slidable joint on the other one of the two
adjacent poles.
The foldable roof frame 10 includes a top member, four sets of struts, and
four
stretchers. Each set of struts includes an upper strut and a lower strut. The
upper
strut has an upper end pivotally connected to the top member and a lower end
pivotally
connected to an upper end of the lower strut. The lower strut is pivotally
connected at
a lower end to the fixed joint on one of the four poles. Each of the
stretchers has a
lower end pivotally connected to the slidable joint on a corresponding pole,
and an
upper end pivotally connected to a corresponding lower strut.
Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a pivotal connection mechanism
according to
a second embodiment of the present invention for using on a scissor linkage.
More
specifically, the pivotal connection mechanism according to the second
embodiment of
the present invention is used to pivotally connect a first link rod 1' and a
second link
rod 2' of a scissor linkage to each other. The pivotal connection mechanism in
the
second embodiment includes a first connection seat 3', a second connection
seat 4', a
washer 5', a bolt, and a nut.
The first link rod l' has a rectangular-like cross section and is provided at
a middle area
of an outer side surface facing away from the second link rod 2' with a first
rotation-limiting slot 12', which includes a pivot hole 11' located at a
bottom thereof.
The first link rod l' is also provided close to each of two ends with a fixed
first locating
dot. The second link rod 2' has a rectangular-like cross section and is
provided at a
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middle area of an outer side surface facing away from the first link rod l'
with a second
rotation-limiting slot 22', which includes a pivot hole 21' located at a
bottom thereof.
The second link rod 2' is also provided close to each of two ends with a fixed
second
locating dot. The first and the second link rod 1', 2' are structurally
similar to each
other.
The first connection seat 3' has a fitting surface for bearing on a first side
surface of the
first link rod 1' facing away from the second link rod 2'. On the fitting
surface of the
first connection seat 3', there is provided a first rotation-limiting member
31', which
includes a first round stub as a base and a first protrusion radially outward
projected
from the first round base. The first rotation-limiting member 31' has an outer
configuration matching an inner configuration of the first rotation-limiting
slot 12' on
the first link rod 1', so that the first rotation-limiting member 31' is non-
rotatably
received in the first rotation-limiting slot 12'. The first connection seat 3'
has an outer
surface facing away from the first link rod 1'. The outer surface of the first
connection seat 3' is extended in a direction opposite to the fitting surface
to form a
raised first locating seat 32', which internally defines a round slot.
The first
connection seat 3' also internally defines a first through hole, which extends
through the
first round base of the first rotation-limiting member 31' and a bottom of the
round slot.
The second connection seat 4' has a fitting surface for bearing on a second
side surface
of the second link rod 2' facing away from the first link rod 1'. On the
fitting surface
of the second connection seat 4', there is provided a second rotation-limiting
member,
which includes a second round stub as a base and a second protrusion radially
outward
projected from the second round base. The second rotation-limiting member has
an
outer configuration matching an inner configuration of the second rotation-
limiting slot
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22' on the second link rod 2', so that the second rotation-limiting member is
non-rotatably received in the second rotation-limiting slot 22'. The second
connection
seat 4' has an outer surface facing away from the second link rod 2'. The
outer surface
of the second connection seat 4' is extended in a direction opposite to the
fitting surface
to form a raised second locating seat 42', which internally defines a rotation-
limiting
slot 421'. The second connection seat 4' also internally defines a second
through hole,
which extends through the second round base of the second rotation-limiting
member
and a bottom of the rotation-limiting slot 421'.
The washer 5' is wear-resistant and low-friction and is arranged between the
first link
rod l' and the second link rod 2'.
The nut is non-rotatably received in the rotation-limiting slot 421', while a
head of the
bolt is rotatably received in the round slot. The bolt has an externally
threaded shank
being sequentially extended through the first through hole of the first
connection seat 3',
the pivot hole 11' on the first link rod 1', the washer 5', the pivot hole 21'
on the second
link rod 2', and the second through hole of the second connection seat 4' to
engage with
the nut.
The present invention has been described with some preferred embodiments
thereof and
it is understood that many changes and modifications in the described
embodiments can
be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the
invention that is
intended to be limited only by the appended claims.
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