Swivel support structure for an electric apparatus

• US 4,796,842 A
• Filed: 02/26/1987
• Issued: 01/10/1989
• Est. Priority Date: 03/05/1986
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Inventors: Hamada, Takashi, Matsuoka, Hiroshi, Nodama, Takashi, Hino, Teruyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): FOSS, J
• Application Number:
  US07/019,118
• Time in Patent Office: 684 Days
• Field of Search: 248/652, 248/186, 248/664, 248/349, 248/131, 248/425, 248/289.1, 248/542, 212/247, 212/245, 114/8, 89/37.21, 269/57, 108/139, 108/142, 211/1.5
• US Class Current: 248/186.2
• CPC Class Codes: F16F 1/024 Covers or coatings therefor F16F1/24 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F16M 11/08 around a vertical axis , e.g. panoramic heads F16M11/12 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F16M 11/18 with mechanism for moving the apparatus relatively to the stand
• CPC Class Codes: F16M 2200/08 Foot or support base

Abstract

A swivel support structure for supporting an electric apparatus or console such as a television receiver console for angular movement from a neutral position to any one of leftward and rightward positions, which comprises a pedestal having a ring-shaped turntable on which the console is mounted. The turntable has a driven bevel gear formed therewith so as to protrude upwards and is frictionally rotatably mounted on the pedestal. A drive mechanism includes a remote-controlled, electrically operated reversible drive motor and a drive bevel gear drivingly coupled with the drive motor and partially protruding outwardly from the bottom of the console wherefor, when the console is mounted on the pedestal, the driven bevel gear on the turntable is automatically meshed with the drive bevel gear. The console is rotatable relative to the turntable and also to the pedestal.

Claims

1. A remote-controlled, motor-driven swivel support structure which comprises a console;

a pedestal for the support thereon of the console for angular movement from a neutral position to any one of leftward and rightward positions, said pedestal comprising a stationary and a generally ring-shaped turntable rotatably mounted thereon, said turntable having a generally ring-shaped driven bevel gear provided thereon in concentrical relationship with the axis, about which the console is rotatble, so as to face upwardly, said pedestal also including a plurality of roller assemblies arranged in a circular row concentrical with the turntable and spaced a predetermined distance from each other in a direction circumferentially of the turntable for the support of the weight of the console; and

a drive mechanism including remote-controlled, reversible drive motor and a drive bevel gear drivingly coupled with the drive motor, said drive bevel gear being so positioned as to partially protrude outwardly downwardly from the bottom of the console for engagement with the driven bevel gear on the turntable, the engagement between the drive bevel gear and the driven bevel gear taking place when the console is mounted on the pedestal from above.

2. The structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the roller assemblies are arranged on the turntable.

3. The structure as claimed in claim 2, wherein the circular row of the roller assemblies is positioned radially outwardly of the driven bevel gear.

4. The structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the driven bevel gear has its gear teeth oriented diagonally upwardly and inclined downwardly.

5. The structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the circular row of the roller assemblies is positioned radially outwardly of the driven bevel gear, and wherein the console has its bottom formed with an annular rail means resting on the roller assemblies and a circular coaxial skirt protruding downwardly therefrom in concentrical relationship with the turntable, said annular rail means and said circular skirt being spaced in a radial direction a distance enough to accommodate the driven bevel gear therebetween.

6. A remote-controlled, motor-driven swivel support structure which comprises a console;

a pedestal for the support thereon of the console for angular movement from a neutral position to any one of leftward and rightward positions, said pedestal comprising a stationary base and a generally ring-shaped turntable rotatably mounted thereon, said turntable on the stationary base and being rotatable relative to the stationary base when an external turning force greater than a predetermined value is applied to the console, said turntable having a generally ring-shaped driven bevel gear provided thereon in concentrical relationship with the axis, about which the console is rotatable, so as to face upwardly, said pedestal also including a plurality of roller assemblies arranged in a circular row concentrical with the turntable and spaced a predetermined distance from each other in a direction circumferentially of the turntable for the support of the weight of the console, said console being rotatable on the roller assemblies when a force smaller than said external turning force is applied to the console; and

a drive mechanism including a remote-controlled, electrically operated reversible drive motor, said drive bevel gear being so positioned as to partially protrude outwardly downwardly from the bottom of the console for engagement with the driven bevel gear on the turntable, the engagement between the drive bevel gear and the driven bevel gear taking place when the console is mounted on the pedestal from above.

7. The structure as claimed in claim 6, wherein at least a portion of that surface area of the turntable which contacts the stationary base is applied with a friction member.

8. The structure as claimed in claim 6, wherein the stationary base has a circular recess defined therein, said turntable being seated within the circular recess.

9. The structure as claimed in claim 8, wherein the turntable has an outer peripheral face applied with a friction member which, when the turntable is seated within the circular recess, frictionally contacts the outer peripheral wall defining the circular recess.

10. The structure as claimed in claim 8, wherein the circular recess has an outer peripheral wall which, when the turntable is seated within the circular recess, contacts the outer peripheral face of the turntable, said outer peripheral wall being applied with a friction member.

11. The structure as claimed in claim 6, wherein the stationary base has a circular recess defined therein, said turntable being seated within the circular recess, and wherein said roller assemblies are arranged on the stationary base at a location radially outwardly of the circular recess.

22. The structure as claimed in claim 9, wherein the drive mechanism also includes a remote-controlled, electrically operated reversible drive motor stationarily carried by the support framework and a drive transmission system for transmitting the drive of the drive motor to the drive bevel gear.

12. A remote-controlled, motor-driven swivel support structure comprising:

a console;

a pedestal for the support thereon of the console for angular movement from a neutral position to any one of leftward and rightward positions, said pedestal includes a stationary base and a generally ring-shaped turntable rotatably mounted thereon, said turntable being held in frictional contact with the stationary base;

a plurality of roller assemblies arranged on the pedestal in a circular row concentrical with the axis about which the console is rotatable and spaced a predetermined distance from each other in a direction circumferentially of the console for the support of the weight of the console, each of said roller assemblies comprising at least one shaft extending radially of the console and at least two rollers rotatably mounted on the shaft and shaped a distance from each other in a direction radially of the console;

a driven mechanism including a remote-controlled, reversible drive motor drivingly associated with the console for angularly moving the console, said turntable being rotatably relative to the stationary base when an external turning force greater than a frictional forced produced when the console rolls on the roller assemblies is applied to the console; and

circular skirts equal in number to the number of the rollers of each roller assembly and formed on the bottom of the console so as to protrude downwardly outwardly from the bottom of the console, said skirts resting on the respective rollers of all of the roller assemblies when the console is mounted on the pedestal.

13. The structure as claimed in claim 12, wherein the pedestal has a circular row of recesses defined therein for accommodating the roller assemblies.

14. The structure as claimed in claim 12, wherein the console is comprised of front and rear console portions and, correspondingly, each of the skirts is comprised of two generally semi-circular skirt segments, said semi-circular skirt segments having a pair of joints defined therein when the front and rear console portions are combined together to complete the console, said joints of the semi-circular skirt segments of one of the skirts being displaced in position from the joints of the semi-circular skirt segments of the other of the skirts in a direction radially thereof.

15. The structure as claimed in claim 14, wherein at least one of the joints of the skirt segments of the skirts is formed so as to extend radially slantwise.

16. The structure as claimed in claim 12, wherein the console is comprised of front and rear console portions and, correspondingly, each of the skirts is comprised of two generally semi-circular skirt segments, said semi-circular skirt segments having a pair of joints defined therein when the front and rear console portions are combined together to complete the console, said joints of the semi-circular skirt segments of one of the skirts being displaced in position from the joints of the semi-circular skirt segments of the other of the skirts in a direction circumferentially thereof.

17. A remote-controlled, motor-driven swivel support structure comprising:

a console;

a pedestal for the support thereon of the console for angular movement from a neutral position to any one of leftward and rightward positions, said pedestal includes a stationary base and a generally ring-shaped turntable rotatably mounted thereon, said turntable being held in frictional contact with the stationary base;

a plurality of roller assemblies arranged on the pedestal in a circular row concentrical with the axis, about which the console is rotatable, and spaced a predetermined distance from each other in a direction circumferentially of the console for the support of the weight of the console, each of said roller assemblies comprising at least two shafts extending radially of the console and spaced a distance from each other in a direction circumferentially of the circular row, and one or more rollers rotatably mounted on each of the shafts;

a drive mechanism including a remote-controlled, reversible drive motor drivingly associated with the console for angularly moving the console, said turntable being rotatable relative to the stationary base when an external turning force greater than a frictional forced produced when the console rolls on the roller assemblies is applied to the console, said console being rotatable relative to the stationary base through the turntable; and

circular skirts equal in number to the number of the rollers of each roller assembly and formed on the bottom of the console so as to protrude downwardly outwardly from the bottom of the console, said skirts resting on the respective rollers of all of the roller assemblies when the console is mounted on the pedestal.

18. The structure as claimed in claim 17, wherein the console is comprised of front and rear console portions and, correspondingly, each said skirt is comprised of two generally semi-circular skirt segments, said semi-circular skirt segments having a pair of joints defined therein when the front and rear console portions are combined together to complete the console.

19. The structure as claimed in claim 17, wherein said joints of the semi-circular skirt segments of each skirt are formed so as to extend radially slantwise.

20. A remote-controlled, motor-driven swivel support structure comprising:

a console;

a pedestal for the support thereon of the console for angular movement from a neutral position to any one of leftward and rightward positions, said pedestal having a generally ring-shaped driven bevel gear provided therein in concentrical relationship with the axis, about which the console is rotatable, so as to face upwardly, said pedestal includes a stationary base having a circular recess defined therein and a generally ring-shaped turntable frictionally rotatably received in said circular recess; and

a drive mechanism accommodated within the console and including a support framework and a drive bevel gear rotatably carried by the support framework, said drive bevel gear partially protruding outwardly downwardly from the bottom of the console such that, when the console is mounted on the pedestal, said drive bevel gear is operatively meshed with the driven bevel gear by the effect of the weight of the console, said turntable having the driven bevel gear and being rotatable relative to the stationary base when an external force greater than the force required for the console to rotate relative to the turntable by the operation of the drive mechanism is applied to the console.

21. The structure as claimed in claim 20, wherein the driven bevel gear has its gear teeth oriented diagonally upwardly and inclined downwardly.

23. A remote-controlled, motor-driven swivel support structure comprising:

a console accommodating therein various component parts, including a cathode ray tube and a flyback transformer, of a television receiver set;

a pedestal for the support thereon of the console for angular movement from a neutral position to any one of leftward and rightward positions, said pedestal having a stationary and generally ring-shaped driven bevel gear provided thereon in concentrical relationship with the axis, about which the console is rotatable, so as to face upwardly, said pedestal also including a plurality of roller assemblies arranged in a circular row concentrical with the turntable and spaced a predetermined distance from each other in a direction circumferentially of the turntable for the support of the weight of the console; and

a drive mechanism accommodated within the console and including a remote-controlled, reversible drive motor and a drive bevel gear drivingly coupled with the drive motor, said drive bevel gear being positioned to partially protrude outwardly downwardly from the bottom of the console for engagement with the driven bevel gear on the turntable when the console is mounted on the pedestal, said drive bevel gear being operatively meshed with the driven bevel gear by the weight of the console, said drive mechanism being positioned within the console, at a location sufficiently spaced from the flyback transformer.

24. The structure as claimed in claim 23, wherein the drive mechanism comprises a support framework positioned inside the console, said drive bevel gear being rotatably carried by said support framework.

25. The structure as claimed in claim 23, wherein the console is comprised of front and rear console portions and wherein said drive mechanism is so positioned that the presence of the drive mechanism will not provide an obstruction to the selective insertion and removal of the cathode ray tube into and from the front console portion.

26. The structure as claimed in claim 23, wherein the flyback transformer is mounted on a chassis accommodated within the console at a location adjacent one of the opposite sides of said chassis and wherein said drive mechanism is positioned within the console at a location adjacent the other of the opposite sides of the chassis.

27. A remote-controlled, motor-driven swivel support structure comprising:

a console;

a pedestal for the support thereon of the console for angular movement from a neutral position to any one of leftward and righward positions;

a remote-controlled drive mechanism accommodated within the console; and

indicator means for providing an indication that the console is being turned, said indicator means comprises a pin rigidly secured to a gear element forming a part of the drive mechanism, and a sound generating piece engageable with the pin once during each complete rotation of the gear element to produce sounds.

28. The structure as claimed in claim 27, wherein the pedestal has a generally ring-shaped driven bevel gear provided thereon in concentrical relationship with the axis of rotation of the console, said driven bevel gear having its gear teeth facing upwards, said drive mechanism including a remote-controlled, electrically operated reversible drive motor, a drive bevel gear engageable with the driven bevel gear and a drive transmission system including at least one intermediate gear for transmitting the drive of the drive motor to the drive bevel gear to drive the driven bevel gear, and wherein said indicator means comprises an actuating pin rigidly secured to the intermediate gear or to the drive bevel gear and engageable with a sound generating piece, each time the intermediate gear or the drive bevel gear undergoes each complete rotation, to produce audible sounds.

29. The structure as claimed in claim 28, wherein said sound generating piece is rigidly supported by a support framework used for rotatably supporting the drive bevel gear and the drive transmission system.

30. The structure as claimed in claim 27, wherein the pedestal has a stationary base and a generally ring-shaped driven bevel gear provided thereon in concentrical relationship with the axis of rotation of the console, said driven bevel gear having its gear teeth facing upwards, said drive mechanism including a remote-controlled, electrically operated reversible drive motor and a drive bevel gear drivingly coupled with said driven bevel gear, and wherein said indicator means comprises an actuating pin rigidly secured to the drive bevel gear and engageable with a sound generating piece, each time said drive bevel gear undergoes each complete rotation, to produce audible sounds.

31. A remote-controlled, motor-driven swivel support structure which comprises a console;

a pedestal including a generally ring-shaped turntable mounted thereon, said ring-shaped turntable having a generally ring-shaped driven bevel gear provided therein in concentrical relationship with the axis of rotation of the turntable with its gear teeth facing upwards;

a plurality of roller assemblies arranged in a circular row concentrical with the turntable and spaced a predetermined distance from each other in a direction circumferentially thereof for supporting the console for rotation from a neutral position towards any one of leftward and rightward positions;

a drive mechanism accommodated within the console and including a drive bevel gear engageable with the driven bevel gear when the console is mounted on the pedestal; and

a circular dust preventive skirt means protruding downwardly from the bottom of the console in concentrical relationship with the axis of rotation of the console and shielding the drive and driven bevel gear radially exteriorly to avoid any possible entry of dusts and foreign matter into a space between the console and the pedestal.

32. The structure as claimed in claim 31, further comprising an additional circular skirt protruding downwardly from the bottom of the console in concentrical relationship with said dust preventive skirt means and positioned radially inwardly of the driven bevel gear such that said drive and driven gears are positioned between the dust preventive skirt means and said additional circular skirt.

33. The structure as claimed in claim 31, wherein the drive bevel gear of the drive mechanism is positioned inwardly of the dust preventive skirt means with respect to the bottom of the console, and, correspondingly, said driven bevel gear, when the console is mounted on the pedestal, protruding inwardly of the dust preventive skirt means with respect to the bottom of the console for engagement with the drive bevel gear.

34. The structure as claimed in claim 31, further comprising a plurality of roller assemblies for the support thereon of the console, said roller assemblies being arranged on the pedestal in a circular row concentrical with the driven bevel gear and spaced a predetermined distance from each other in a direction circumferentially of the circular row, said roller assemblies being positioned inwardly of the dust preventive skirt means and radially outwardly of the driven bevel gear, and an annular rail protruding downwardly from the bottom of the console in concentrical relationship with the dust preventive skirt means and positioned radially inwardly thereof, said annular rail being, when the console is mounted on the pedestal, resting on the roller assemblies to support the weight of the console and also to reduce a friction which would occur when the console is rotated relative to the turntable.

35. The structure as claimed in claim 31, wherein the pedestal has a stationary base, said stationary base being formed with a circular recess in which the turntable is frictionally rotatably accommodated.

36. The structure as claimed in claim 31, wherein the pedestal has a stationary base, said stationary base being formed with a circular recess in which the turntable is frictionally rotatably accommodated, and wherein the drive bevel gear of the drive mechanism is positioned inwardly of the dust preventive skirt means with respect to the bottom PG,67 of the console, and said driven bevel gear, when the console is mounted on the pedestal, protruding inwardly of the dust preventive skirt means with respect to the bottom of the console for engagement with the drive bevel gear.

37. A remote-controlled, motor-driven swivel support structure which comprises a console;

a pedestal for the support thereon of the console for angular movement from a neutral position to any one of leftward and rightward positions, said pedestal including a stationary base and a generally ring-shaped turntable frictionally rotatably mounted thereon, said turntable having a generally ring-shaped driven bevel gear provided thereon in concentrical relationship with the axis, about which the console is rotatable, so as to face upwards;

a drive mechanism including a remote-controlled, electrically operated reversible drive motor and a drive bevel gear drivingly coupled with the drive motor, said drive bevel gear being so positioned as to partially protrude outwardly downwardly from the bottom of the console for engagement with the driven bevel gear when the console is mounted on the pedestal;

a pair of stoppers provided on the pedestal and spaced a predetermined angle from each other with respect to the axis of rotation of the console;

a switch carrier plate secured to the bottom of the console; and

a pair of limit switches rigidly carried by said switch carrier plate and spaced a predetermined distance from each other in a direction circumferentially of the turntable for selective engagement with the stoppers, said limit switches being so positioned as to define said leftward and rightward positions, respectively, and electrically connected with the drive mechanism for interrupting the operation of the drive mechanism when any one of the limit switches is actuated by the corresponding stopper.

38. The structure as claimed in claim 37, wherein the bottom of the console has a circular skirt formed therewith so as to encircle the limit switches.

39. The structure as claimed in claim 37, wherein the bottom of the console has a pair of arcuately extending groove-defining wall members formed therewith so as to protrude downwards therefrom, each of said groove-defining wall members defining an arcuate guide groove in which the respective stopper is relatively moved during the rotation of the console.

40. A remote-controlled, motor-driven swivel support structure comprising:

a console;

a pedestal for the support thereon of the console for angular movement from a neutral position to any one of leftward and rightward positions;

a remote-controlled drive mechanism accommodated within the console; and

indicator means for providing an indication that the console is being turned, said indicator means comprises a sound synthesizer and sound outputting means for producing audible sounds synthesized by the sound synthesizer.