Abstract:
The present invention provides a moving apparatus capable of efficiently utilizing work space on a desk, and stabilizing an operating load. The present invention includes a placing portion to place a personal computer, a moving portion to move the personal computer from a use position for using the personal computer to a non-use position different from the use position, and a fixing device to detachably fix the moving portion to a desk. The position of the placing portion is determined by the length of an extension mechanism. The positioning operation to determine the length of the extension mechanism is performed by an operating device that transfers the displacement magnitude of an operating portion to an action portion by hydraulic pressure. The operating load is stabilized because the displacement magnitude is transferred by hydraulic pressure.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0001]    This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 as a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/895,851, filed Aug. 27, 2007, entitled “Operating Device.” 
     
    
       [0002]    The present invention relates to an operating device, more specifically, an operating device in which the relative position of an operating portion and an operating object portion changes. 
       BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
       [0003]    Generally, office workers work with a personal computer (PC) placed on their desks. For example, in the case of a desk-top type computer, at least a display and a keyboard, in some cases the computer main unit, are placed on a desk. In addition, in the case of a laptop-type computer, the entire laptop is placed on a desk. 
         [0004]    However, office workers are not always using their PC when they are working. For example, when reading a document or taking notes while on the phone, the time when not using a computer is not necessarily short. Thus, if a PC is placed on a desk even when it&#39;s not in use, it takes up working space on the desk. 
         [0005]    In order to solve such issues, an elevating apparatus which places the PC on a tray and moves the tray vertically, is proposed. In this apparatus, the tray is lowered when using the PC and the tray is raised to secure working space on the desk when the PC is not in use. 
         [0000]    [Patent document] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. 2000-135123. 
         [0006]    Among such elevating apparatuses, some may use an extension mechanism consisting of a cylinder and a piston. In such an extension mechanism, the length of the overall extension mechanism changes when the piston moves within the cylinder, and the overall length of the extension mechanism is determined according to the position of the piston. Also, inside the cylinder which is divided into two by the piston is in communication with front and back faces of the piston by a communicating channel, and fluid in the cylinder moves in the communicating channel along with the movement of the piston. A valve to be opened and closed is provided inside the communicating channel, and by closing this valve, the movement of the piston is fixed, thereby the overall length of the extension mechanism is fixed. 
         [0007]    The operation of this valve is performed by an operating button protruding to the top end of the piston rod, and configured such that the valve is opened by pressing the button, thereby the piston can be moved, and the valve is closed when the button is restored, thereby the position of the piston is fixed. 
         [0008]    Conventionally, an operating device to operate a button has a operating portion provided with a lever and the like, a communicating mechanism to communicate the operating amount of the operating portion to the button, an action portion to act the operating amount of the operating portion to the button. Because the operating porting is arranged on the lower side of the tray and the action portion is provided to the front end of the piston rod, relative position of the operating portion and the action portion changes when the tray of the elevating apparatus is moved vertically. 
         [0009]    The conventional communicating mechanism is a mechanism consisting of an inner wire and an outer wire, and configured such that the operating amount is communicated by operating the inner wire stored inside the outer wire in an axial direction. Also, the inner wire and the outer wire have flexibility, and are configured to change form according to the change in relative position of the operating portion and the action portion. 
         [0010]    However, these wires are in a linear form in the normal shape, and a restoring force is generated to restore to the original form when the wires are bent according to the position of the tray of the elevation apparatus. Because this restoring force acts on the elevation apparatus with wires attached, there is a problem of making the elevating operation of the tray heavy or light. 
         [0011]    Also, friction is generated between the inner wire and the outer wire when the wires are bent, and the friction force changes according to the amount of bend of the wire, resulting in a problem of unstable operating load (force (load) necessary for an operator to operate the operating portion) of the operating portion. 
         [0012]    The present invention is made with a view of the above facts and its objective is to propose a moving apparatus which allows an operator to effectively utilize work space on a desk, and has a stable operating load. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0013]    Such an objective can be achieved by the present invention described below. 
         [0000]    An operating device consisting of a pressurizing operation means to apply pressure to a liquid pressure communicating medium according to the displacement of an operating member by an external operation, an action means to convert and operate the pressure applied by the pressurizing operation means into a switching operation of a position fixed state and a position released state of a positioning means, and a conducting channel to guide the pressure communicating medium from the pressurizing operation means to the action means, wherein the conducting channel is a conducting tube with flexibility and consists of a thermoplasticity resin, and positions for installing the pressurizing operation means and the action means can be moved relatively. 
         [0014]    An operating device for attaching to a moving apparatus consisting of a platform, a placing portion having a placing face to place a placing object, an elevation oscillating member comprising a rear end portion oscillatably connected to the platform and a front end portion oscillatably connected to the placing portion, an extension mechanism located between the elevation oscillating member and the platform, and a switching means to switch the extension position of the extension mechanism to a lock state and a release state that allows extension, wherein the elevation oscillating member, the platform, and the extension means comprises a triangular link structure, and the operating device consisting of a pressurizing operation means to apply pressure to a liquid pressure communicating medium according to the displacement of an operating member by an external operation, an action means to output the pressure applied from the pressurizing operation means as an operating pressure for the switching operation of the switching means, and a conducting tube with flexibility that consists of a thermoplasticity resin to guide the liquid pressure communicating medium from the pressurizing operation means to the action means. 
         [0015]    The pressurizing operation means is a operating side piston that advances and retreats according to the displacement of the operating member, and an operating side cylinder filled with a liquid pressure communicating medium. 
         [0016]    The action means has an acting side piston which the pressure from the pressurizing operation means is applied, an acting side cylinder which stores the acting side piston and is filled with a liquid pressure communicating medium, and an acting member which advances and retreats along with the acting side piston as a unit. 
         [0017]    The pressure communicating medium is oil, the positioning means is a opening and closing means to open and close a communicating channel connecting the space in the cylinder divided into two by the piston in an extension mechanism having a cylinder filled with fluid and a piston reciprocatably stored in the cylinder, and the opening and closing means is opened and closed by the action means. 
         [0018]    The opening and closing means executes an opening and closing motion when the distance of the action side piston of the action means exceeds a predetermined value. 
         [0019]    In the operating device, the conducting tube is generally in a helical form, but may also take other forms. 
         [0020]    The communication of the operating pressure from the pressurizing operation means to the action means is performed though the pressure communicating medium which is a fluid, the operating pressure is communicated to the action portion and the pressure required for operation is stabilized even when the conduction channel is deformed due to a change in the relative position of the pressurizing operation means and the action means. Because the conducting tube is consistsing of a thermoplasticity resin, the conducting tube itself softens in a case when the pressure communicating medium expands due to an increase in temperature, thereby absorbings the volume relative to the expansion of the pressure communicating medium by expanding the conducting tube itself. This enables theo suppression of an improper operation caused by an increase in pressure to the action means due to the heat expansion of the pressure communicating medium. 
         [0021]    The placing portion may be moved vertically by sliding the elevation oscillating member as a fixing release state of the extension means. By moving the placing portion, the angle of the placing portion and the elevation oscillating member changes, thereby the relative position of the pressurizing operation means on the placing portion side and the action means on the elevation oscillating member side changes. Even when such a change in the relative position occurs, the pressure communicating medium is guided though the flexible conduction tubeconducting tube, thereby the bend of the conduction tubeconducting tube does not obstruct the elevation operation of the placing portion, and also the operating load is maintained in a stable fashion. Because the conducting tube is consistsing of a thermoplasticity resin, the conducting tube itself softens in a case when the pressure communicating medium expands due to an increase in temperature, and thereby is capable of absorbing the volume relative to the expansion of the pressure communicating medium by expansion ofding the conducting tube itself. This enables theo suppression of an improper operation caused by an increase in pressure to the action means due to the heat expansion of the pressure communicating medium. 
         [0022]    An amount of the displacement of the operating member is communicated to the action means through the pressure communicating medium by moving the piston with the operating member, thereby the amount of the displacement of the operating side can be communicated accurately to the action portion side. The acting side piston converts the amount of displacement of the operating side communicated though the pressure communicating medium into the operation displacement, thereby the amount of the displacement of the operating side can be accurately acted as the displacement of the acting side. The length of the extension mechanism can be adjusted to an arbitrary length by configuring the extension mechanism with the cylinder and the piston. Also, by using the opening and closing means to open and close the distribution channel to insert the piston as a lock mechanism, the length can be fixed at an arbitrary position. Further, by using oil as a pressure communicating medium, the operation displacement of the pressure operating means side can be accurately communicated sequentially to the action means side, thereby the open-close operation of the opening and closing means may be performed with high accuracy. 
         [0023]    The opening and closing motion may be operated accurately because the opening and closing motion is executed when the distance of the action side piston of the action means exceeds a predetermined value. Further, because the conducting tube is consistsing of a thermoplasticity resin, the conducting tube softens and is capable of expanding along with the expansion of the pressure communicating medium in a case when the pressure communicating medium expands due to an increase in temperature, thereby enablinges theo suppression of an improper operation caused by the movement of the action side piston due to the increase in volume. 
         [0024]    By forming the conducting tube into a helical form, or other generally curved shape, the expandable distance increases, thereby the moving distance of the relative displacement of the pressureing operating means and the action means may be configured much longer. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
         [0025]      FIG. 1  is a side view of a moving apparatus using an operating device. 
           [0026]      FIG. 2  is a plan view of a moving apparatus using an operating device. 
           [0027]      FIG. 3  is an overall view of an operating device. 
           [0028]      FIG. 4  is a perspective plain view of a moving apparatus placing portion provided to an operating device. 
           [0029]      FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of an operating device. 
           [0030]      FIG. 6  is an overall perspective view of an operating device action portion. 
           [0031]      FIG. 7  is a side view of another embodiment of an operating device. 
           [0032]      FIG. 8  is a plane view of another embodiment of an operating device. 
           [0033]      FIG. 9  is a side view of a moving apparatus using an operating device with another structure. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION 
       [0034]    The present invention will hereinafter be more specifically described in reference to drawings. As shown in  FIG. 1 , a moving apparatus  1  according to the present invention is provided with a placing portion  18  (see also  FIG. 2 ) for placing a personal computer (a laptop type), a moving portion  12  to move the placing portion  18  between a use position for using the personal computer and an arbitrary nonuse position different from the use position, and a fixation device  14  to fix the moving portion  12  to a desk  16  detachably as a fixing means. 
         [0035]    The fixation device  14  consisting of a contact portion  14 C with an angled “U”-shaped cross section, and its upper face contacting with the lower face of a base  20  of the moving portion  12 , and the upper inner face contacting with the surface of the desk. This contact portion  14 C is fixed to the desk  20  by contacting a front end portion  14 B with the back face of the desk by a screw  14 A, resulting with the moving portion  12  fixed to the desk  16 . As also shown in  FIG. 2 , the moving portion  12  is provided with a base  20 , a prop  22  rotatably attached to the base  20  through a link  26 , and a supporting portion  24  rotatably attached to the prop portion  22  through a link  28  to support the placing portion  18 . 
         [0036]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , the prop  22  is an elevation oscillating member consisting of two prop members  22 A and  22 B. Two prop members  22 A and  22 B are installed on the base  20  which is a platform, and the support portion  24 , in a way that retains a predetermined spacing. 
         [0037]    link  25  is provided to a position that moves from the center of two prop members  22 A and  22 B towards the support portion  24  side. The link  25  has an action portion  4 C of an operating device  4  (described later) installed rotatably. The action portion  4 C is connected to the front end of a piston rod  52  of an extension mechanism  5 . The extension mechanism  5  is provided with a cylinder main body  51  which has a cylinder, and a piston which is stored in the cylinder, the piston is connected to a piston rod  52 , and the overall length consisting of the cylinder main body  51  and the piston rod  52  is configured to extend and contract by moving the piston within the cylinder. 
         [0038]    In the extension mechanism  5 , the opposite end of the side that the piston rod  52  protrudes from is rotatably fixed to a supporting base  30 , which is fixed to a base  20 . 
         [0039]    This extension mechanism  5  is a commonly known mechanism, comprising an and oil- is filled in the cylinder. Inside, the of the cylinder is divided into two oil chambers by the piston, and a channel that allows which communications between both oil chambers, is provided into the piston. By the movement of the piston in the cylinder, the oil in the both oil chambers circulates through the channel, or passage formed in the piston. In this passage, provided is a lock valve, which switches between a closed state that shuts off the circulation and an open state that enables the circulation. Because the circulation of the oil between the both oil chambers is shut off in a case when the lock valve is in the closed state, the piston is unable to move in the cylinder, thereby the total length of the extension mechanism  5  becomes unchangeable and locked. 
         [0040]    A switching operation of the lock valve is performed against an operating button  53  (refer to  FIG. 5 ) which is protrudesing from the top end of the piston rod  52 . In a case when the operating button  53  is pressed in, the lock valve is released and the length of the extension mechanism  5  is changable. And in a case when the operating button  53  is protrudesd (the state shown in  FIG. 5 ), the lock valve is closed and the length of the extension mechanism  5  is unchangeable. Inside the cylinder, a spring is stored and a pressure is constantly applied in a to the direction that would for pushing the piston rod  52  out. The operating button  53  is constantly biased into thise direction of the protruding, and the lock state is a standby position. Further, the lock valve may be configured to be released at the point when the amount of pressureing onf the operating button  53  has reached to a predetermined value. In such a case, the switching positions for the closed state and the open state become clear, thereby the lock and release operation of the extension mechanism  5  also becomes easy. 
         [0041]    As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 3 , an upper projection  34  is provided to the rear end of the supporting portion  24  provided with the link  28 , a lower projection  36  is also formed on a portion of the base  20  where attached to the link  26 , a connecting rod  38  is placed between the upper projection  34  and the lower projection  36 . Both ends of the connecting rod  38  are rotatably connected to the upper projection  34  and the lower projection  36 . By this connecting rod  38 , the placing portion  18  can maintain the inclination angle within a predetermined range when the supporting member  22  is moved vertically. 
         [0042]    Next, an operating device  4  to release a lock of the extension mechanism  5  is explained.  FIG. 3  is an overall view of the operating device  4 . The operating device  4  has an operating portion  4 A as a pressurizing operation means, an action portion  4 C as an action means, and a connecting tube  4 B as a conduction channel to guide oil that is pressure communicating medium, between the operating portion  4 A and the action portion  4 C. As shown in  FIG. 4 , the operating portion  4 A is provided to perform an operation of releasing the lock of the extension mechanism  5  by a user. The operating portion  4 A is fixed on a lower face of the placing portion  18  and provided to a position that is closer the edge of the placing portion  18  so that it enables the release operation simultaneously when performing the elevation operation on the placing portion  18 . 
         [0043]      FIG. 5  is a cross sectional view of the operating device  4 . The operating portion  4 A is provided with an operating portion main body  41 A, an attaching portion  46 A to fix the operating portion main body  41 A to the placing portion  18  (shown in  FIG. 3 ), an operating member  47 A, and a piston  44 A which has a piston rod  45 A. The operating portion main body  41 A and the attaching portion  46 A is formed as a unit, a cylinder  43 A is formed inside the operating portion main body  41 A, and the piston  44 A is stored in the cylinder  43 A. The cylinder  43 A is blocked by a lid  42 A. The piston rod  45 A connected to the piston  44 A protrudes outside of the operating portion main body  41 A, and its front end contacts the operating member  47 A. Also, the operating portion main body  41 A is connected to a conducting tube  42 B through the connecting portion  41 B, the connecting tube  4 B and the cylinder  43 A are in communicative connection through the communicating channel  431 A. 
         [0044]    On the attaching portion  46 A, the rear end of the operating member  47 A is slidably supported by the supporting pin  48 A. On the top end of the operating member  47 A, a finger hook  471 A is formed in an outward curb, and this finger hook  471 A is exposed outside from the edge of the placing portion  18  (see  FIG. 4 ). The finger hook  471 A is attached to the top end of the piston rod  45 A, and configured to slide the operating member  47 A, thereby pressing in the piston rod  45 A by hooking a finger on the finger hook  471 A and pulling. The spring  451 A is mounted externally to the piston rod  45 A, and biasing the piston rod  45 A in the direction of pulling out. This is for restoring the piston rod  45 A after the releasing operation. 
         [0045]      FIG. 76  is a perspective view showing the mounting condition of the action portion  4 C. The action portion  4 C is provided with an action portion main body  41 C, a connecting portion  42 C to connect and fix the top end of the piston rod  52  in the extension mechanism  5 , and a piston  44 C. A cylinder  43 C is formed inside the action portion main body  41 C, and the piston  44 C is stored in the cylinder  43 C. Also, the operating button  53  of the piston rod  52  connected through the connection portion  42 C is inserted into the cylinder  43 C, and attached to a face on one side of the piston  44 C. On a face on the other side of piston  44 C, an oil chamber filled with oil is formed by the cylinder  43 C and the piston  44 C ( FIG. 5  shows a condition where the oil is pressed out). 
         [0046]    A communicating channel  45 C is connected to the cylinder  43 C and a conducting tube  42 B which is connected through the connecting portion  43 B is connected to the communicating channel  45 C. The conducting tube  42 B is a tubal body formed with a flexible material, and preferably it is formed with a thermoplasticity resin for example, it may be formed by synthetic resin. By configuring the conducting tube  42 B with a soft material, a decrease in the resistance against deformation is achieved, thereby suppressing any excess resistance from occurring when performing the elevation operation of the placing portion  18 . Oil is filled in the cylinder  43 A on the operating portion  4 A side, the cylinder  43 C on the action portion  4 C side, and the conducting tube  42 B, as a pressure communicating medium. 
         [0047]    In a case when the oil, that is, the pressure communicating medium, is thermally expanded for some reasons, such as an increase in the atmosphere temperature, there may be a possibility that an the increase in the volume of the oil pushes the piston  44 C and a natural movement of the piston  44 C presses the operating button  53  in. In such a case, the lock valve of the extension mechanism  5  is in a half-opened state, which may result in a change in the length of the extension mechanism  5 . Alternatively, there may be a possibility of a change in a maneuvering feeling because the gap interspace between the application of the operating pressure and the beginning for action is lessened shorten. However, since the conducting tube  42 B is configured with a thermoplasticity resin, the temperature of the conducting tube  42 B itself increases along with the oil and the conducting tube  42 B softens. Because of this, the amount of the deformation allowance for the conducting tube  42 B increases and the conducting tube  42 B also expands by the expansion of the oil inside. By this expansion of the conducting tube  42 B, the increase of volume from the thermal expansion of the oil can be absorbed, thereby suppressinges the natural movement of the piston  44 C due to the increase in volume and preventings the improper operation. Specifically, as the volume of the pressure communicating medium against the area that receives the pressure of the piston  44 C on the action side increases, the effect described above is exerted. That is, because the distance of the piston  44 C increases according to the increase of the volume expansion amount as the volume of the pressure communicating medium increases. In addition, because the softening of the conducting tube  42 B progressively softens with andue to the increase in the temperature is slowly progressing as the temperature increases, there is no effect to the pressure communicating performance when communicating the operating pressure of the operating portion  4 A side to the action portion  4 C side. 
         [0048]    Action of the operating device  4  configured as described above is hereinafter explained. When hooking a finger on the finger hook  471 A and pulling the finger, the operating member  47 A presses the piston rod  45 A in. As a result, the piston  44 A on the operating portion  4 A side is pressed by the piston rod  45 A, and the oil is pressed out from the cylinder  43 A. The pressed out oil flows into the cylinder  43 C on the action portion  4 C side by conducting tube  42 B, pressing out the piston  44 C, and pressing the operating button  53  in. As a result, the lock on the extension mechanism  5  is released, thereby the placing portion  18  can be moved vertically. The lock released state can be maintained by maintaining the state where the operating button  53  is pressed constantly. 
         [0049]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , the amount of bend of the conducting tube  42 B is different for the condition where placing portion  18  is lowered to the desk (use position (A)), the condition where lifted to an upper most position (upper most position (B)), and the condition where fixed on a position in the middle (middle position C)). In a configuration to communicate the operating displacement by a wire, the operating pressure changes by the difference in the amount of bend, and it is unstable. This is thought to be because the contacting pressure between an inner wire and an outer wire changes by bending the wires and also the restoring force against the deflection of each wire is different according to the deflection state of the wire. 
         [0050]    In the present invention, the medium to communicate the operating pressure is fluid, the operating pressure (the force necessary to pull the operating member) can be stabilized without being influenced by the bending amount of the conducting tube  42 B or the position of the placing portion  18 . The operating device  4  according to the present invention is not limited to be used in the moving apparatus  1  explained above, and it may be used to a mechanism in which the relative position of an operating portion and an action portion changes. Also, the configuration described above is explained by using the case where it is used in the lock release operation of the extension mechanism  5  as an example; however, it may be another mechanism, as long as the mechanism is configured to displace the operating portion. 
         [0051]      FIG. 7  is an overall side view of the moving device  1  provided with a table base, and  FIG. 8  is an overall plane view of the same. The table base  20  of the moving device  1  that includes having the operating device  4  is provided with a table base  15 . The table base  15  is provided with a pillar  152 , a pedestal  151  provided to an upper end of the pillar  152 , a leg connecting portion  153  provided to a lower end of the pillar  152 , a plurality of legs  154   a  to  154   d  radially extendinged obliquely downward from the leg connecting portion  153 , and rollers  155   a  to  155   d  provided ton the end of each leg  154   a  to  154   d.    
         [0052]    The base  20  is fixed to the pedestal  151 . As described above, the moving device  1  is provided with the moving portion  12 , the placing portion  18 , and the extension mechanism  5 . The operating portion  4 A of the operating device  4  is provided on the lower side of the placing portion  18 , and the conducting tube  42 B is provided between the operating portion  4 A and the action portion  4 C of the extension mechanism  5 . 
         [0053]    With the moving device  1 , the end of two legs  154   a  and  154   b  are configured to position outside of the placing portion  18  when the placing portion is in a use position (a lowermost position). 
         [0054]    The moving device  1  configured as described above is generally not to be attached to a desk or a table, and instead may bet is configured to be able to be used directly by a user who may be sitting on a chair or a sofa, or may be used by a user by pulling the placing portion  18 . 
         [0055]      FIG. 9  shows another embodiment of the conducting tube  42 B.  FIG. 9  shows an embodiment, in which the conducting tube  42 B is formed in a helical, or other generally curved form in the operating device  1  shown in  FIG. 1 , and the configuration of the illustrated components is the same as described above except for the conducting tube  42 BA. For this reason, the configuration of the conducting tube  42 BA is explained, and same reference numbers as  FIG. 1  are used for other configurations, and thus the explanation is omitted. 
         [0056]    The conducting tube  42 BA is configured in a helical form, or other generally curved shapes. Because of this, the amount fofr extension ofding the conducting tube  42 BA can be increased, thereby the range of that can change the relative positions of the operating portion  4 A and the action portion  4 C can also be expanded.