Abstract:
To provide a protective cover capable of enhancing convenience in connecting and disconnecting an external output line and the like without impairing safety. In a protective cover placed on a side wall of a casing and covering a hollow part in which an output part of an apparatus housed in the casing is provided, the cover is characterized by including an outer lid which is supported by a hinge provided at an upper end to be openable and closable, and is provided, at a part close to a lower end, with a first locking member engaging with a catching member that is provided at a lower part of the hollow part, and an internal lid which is rotatably mounted to a position corresponding to the output part in an inner surface of the aforesaid outer lid to cover the output part. The internal lid is supported by a hinge.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-33991, filed on Feb. 10, 2005, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to a protective cover provided on a part of a casing that houses an apparatus, and particularly to a protective cover provided at a dangerous region for a person to touch. 
   2. Related Art 
   Electrical apparatuses and other apparatuses which are especially planned to be used outdoors are often housed in casings, and each of their output terminals is provided on a part of the casing. A protective cover is provided in front of the output terminal to prevent workers from touching it carelessly. 
     FIG. 10  is an example of a sound-proof engine driven generator which is shown in Registered Utility Model No. 3096471, and a hollow part  220  is provided in a side wall of a sound-proof case  202  in a sound-proof engine driven generator  201 . A mounting plate  210  mounted with output terminals  211  is provided in this hollow part  220 , and a front surface of the mounting plate  210  is covered with a lid  227 . The lid  227  has a structure in which a hinge not shown is provided at an upper end and a side part is bolted. External output lines  212  are connected to the output terminals  211  by removing bolts, and thereafter, the lid  227  is closed and fixed with the bolts. 
     FIG. 11  is another example also shown in Registered Utility Model No. 3096471. The output terminal  211  is provided at the mounting plate  210  which is mounted to a left side wall in the drawing of the terminal plate mounting member  220 , and the external output line  212  is inserted into the output terminal  211 , and is fastened and fixed with a bolt. The external output line  212  is pulled outside from a clearance formed between a lower end of the lid  227  and the terminal mounting member  220 . 
     FIG. 12  is shown in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-96433. A terminal mounting part  303   b  is provided below an operation panel  312  of a sound-proof engine generator  301  by being partitioned by a front surface cover inside surface  303   d  and a partition wall  311 , and an output terminal  313  is provided on a terminal mounting board  314  placed in this terminal mounting part  303   b . A terminal cover  316  is provided to cover the output terminal  313  and the terminal mounting board  314 , and this terminal cover  316  is fixed by screwing a bolt (not shown) inserted through a bolt hole  319  into a threaded hole  320 , so that the terminal cover  316  is not easily opened. 
   A protruding piece  316   d  is provided in the vicinity of a right side hinge shown in the drawing, of the terminal cover  316 , so that the protruding piece  316   d  operates a switch not shown with the terminal cover  316  closed to promote a safe operation. 
   The structures of the peripheries of the output terminals shown in  FIGS. 10-12  have sufficient consideration of safety. 
   However, when the external output lines are frequently connected and disconnected, these structures require complicated operations and are considerably inconvenient in handling. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention is made in view of the above points, and has its object to provide a protective cover capable of enhancing convenience in connecting and disconnecting external output lines and the like without impairing safety. 
   In order to achieve the above-described object, the present invention provides, 
   in a protective cover placed on a side wall of a casing and covering a hollow part in which an output part of an apparatus housed in the casing is provided, a protective cover characterized by comprising 
   an outer lid supported by a hinge provided at an upper end of the hollow part to be openable and closable in an up-and-down direction, and is provided, at a part close to a lower end, with a first locking member engaging with a catching member that is provided at a lower part of the hollow part, and 
   an internal lid which is rotatably mounted to a position corresponding to the output part in an inner surface of the outer lid to cover the output part, with its upper end rotatably supported by a hinge, characterized in that 
   the first locking member in the aforesaid outer lid comprises a hook locked at the catching member, a spring biasing the hook to be locked and held at the catching member, and an operation member which releases the biasing by this spring. 
   Since in the present invention, the protective cover of the double lid structure with the outer lid and the internal lid is adopted as described above, and therefore, the protective cover, in which the outer lid can be easily opened and closed by the operation of an operation lever and when the outer lid is opened, a preliminary protective state by the internal lid is achieved, can be provided. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a an explanatory view showing a construction of one embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a right side view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 3  is an enlarged view of an essential part showing a state in which an outer lid is opened in the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 4  is an enlarged view of an essential part showing a detailed structure of the outer lid in the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 5  is an explanatory view showing the relationship of an internal lid  120  and an outer lid  130  in the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 6  is an enlarged view of an essential part showing an opening and closing mechanism of the outer lid and the internal lid in the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 7  is an enlarged view of an essential part showing the opening and closing mechanism of the outer lid and the internal lid in the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 8  is an enlarged view of an essential part showing the opening and closing mechanism of the outer lid and the internal lid in the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 9  is an enlarged view of an essential part showing the opening and closing mechanism of the outer lid and the internal lid in the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 10  is an explanatory view showing an output terminal part structure of a conventional engine driven generator; 
       FIG. 11  is an enlarged sectional side view of the output terminal part shown in  FIG. 10 ; and 
       FIG. 12  is an explanatory view showing another conventional output terminal part structure. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to  FIGS. 1 to 9 . 
     FIG. 1  is a side view of a first embodiment of the present invention. In  FIG. 1 , an example as a protective cover provided at an output terminal part of a portable engine driven generator  100  is shown. 
   The engine driven generator  100  has an engine  50  and a generator  60  directly connected, and is housed in a casing  110 . The casing  110  is constructed by placing a housing chamber  112  on a base  111 , and the output terminal part is provided at a right side in the drawing, of the housing chamber  112 . The base  111  is loaded on a carriage  160 , and is movable by a wheel  161 . 
   The output terminal part is formed as a box-shaped space inside a mounting frame  115   a . An output terminal is placed in this box-shape space, and a front surface is covered with an outer lid  130  of a protective cover. 
   In the box-shaped space, a blade type terminal plate  80   b  and a plug-in terminal (not shown) are mounted on an insulating plate  70 , and a male terminal  90   a  provided at a tip end of an output cable  90  is inserted into the plug-in terminal. 
   At a front surface of the box-shaped space, the outer lid  130  is rotatably supported by a hinge  132  which is provided at an open end and an upper end of the box-shaped space, and is rotated in the counterclockwise direction and is substantially in the horizontal state in the drawing. And, when the outer lid  130  is rotated in the clockwise direction to be in the vertical state, a hook  139  engages with a catching member  116  to bring a housing chamber  115   b  into a closed state. 
   At an inner surface of the outer lid  130 , an internal lid  120  is supported by a hinge  121  which is mounted to change a relative position with respect to the outer lid  130  with two pairs of bolts. Accordingly, the internal lid  120  can be fixed to be closer to the upper end of the outer lid  130 , and can be fixed by being moved to the position closer to the lower end. The internal lid  120  is rotatably supported by the hinge  121 , and a catching pin  122 , which is provided at a surface opposed to the outer lid  130 , engages with a catcher  134 , which is provided at a position corresponding to the outer lid  130 , to be able to be temporarily caught. 
     FIG. 2  shows an outer surface of the casing  110  in a P-direction in  FIG. 1 , namely, when the protective cover is seen from its front as a state in which the outer lid  130  is lifted up. Therefore, the internal lid  120  is seen. In this case, the blade type terminal plate  80   b  is provided a little to the right of the housing chamber  115 , and therefore, the internal lid  120  is also mounted to a position which is a little to the right with respect to the protective cover outer lid  130 . 
   It is the output terminals that are shown in the state hidden by the internal lid  120 , and each of the phase terminals constructing three phases is provided with two kinds of terminals, which are plug-in terminals  80   a  and a blade type terminal plate  80   b  for a clip. The plug-in terminals  80   a  are usually used, but when connection and disconnection are performed extremely frequently, connection is simply made to the blade type terminal plate  80   b  by using a clip. 
     FIG. 3  is a sectional view cut along the line A-A in  FIG. 2 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , the state in which the outer lid  130  in the horizontal state is rotated around the hinge  132  in the clockwise direction and is in the position at 45 degrees and in the vertical position is shown by the phantom line. 
   In the vertical state, the hook  139  engages with the catching member  116  provided at the housing chamber  115  to lock the outer lid  130  to bring the housing chamber  115  into the closed state. 
     FIG. 4  shows a state in which the outer lid  130  of the protective cover is opened again to be in the horizontal position, and especially shows the operation mechanism of the hook  139  here. The hook  139  is biased to rotate in the clockwise direction by a spring  140 , and the hook  139  can be rotated in the counterclockwise direction around a pivotal shaft  150  against the biasing force by the spring  140  when the operational force is applied to the hook  139 . 
   A lever  138   c  is provided to give this operational force, and the operation of rotating the hook  139  in the counterclockwise direction is performed by lifting its tip end upward in the drawing. In order to perform the rotating operation, the outer lid  130  is provided with an opening into which the worker inserts his or her finger. 
   In the lever  138   c , a sleeve  138   a  as a center of rotation which will be described later is fixedly attached at a substantially central part, and the other end forms a pressing lever  138   d . The pressing lever  138   d  is provided so that the tip end is capable of abutting on a tip end of the internal lid  120 , and when the rotating operation of the lever  138   c  is performed, the pressing lever  138   d  presses the tip end of the internal lid  120  downward when the internal lid  120  is in the position in  FIG. 4 . The operation of the lever  138   c  is performed by being rotated in the counterclockwise direction by a pin  138   e , which will be described later and is planted on the lever  138   c , and with this, the hook  139  is also rotated in the counterclockwise direction against the biasing force of the spring  140 . 
     FIG. 5  is an explanatory view showing the relationship between the internal lid  120  and the outer lid  130 . The internal lid  120  is placed at the position where it covers the blade type terminal plate  80   b , and it is preferable to prevent contact of the output cable  90  and the inner surface of the internal lid  120 . Therefore, it is sometimes necessary to adjust the clearance between the blade type terminal plate  80   b  and the internal lid  120 . Therefore, the internal lid  120  is mounted by using a slide plate  133  of a bolt fastening type capable of being changed in position. Thereby, the internal lid  120  can be fixed at the optimal position by positioning the slide plate  133  and fastening it with the bolt. 
   As shown in  FIG. 5 , the internal lid  120  is supported by the hinge  121  and is in the rotatable state with respect to the outer lid  130 . Thereby, even when the outer lid  130  is opened, the blade type terminal plate  80   b  can be still covered, and the danger of the person closeby touching the output terminal plate can be avoided. 
     FIG. 6  is a view explaining an outline of the operation mechanism explained in  FIG. 4 . As shown in  FIG. 6 , the outer lid  130  shifts to the open state (shown by the phantom line) from the closed state by rotation at substantially 90 degrees between the vertical position and the horizontal position with the hinge  132  as the center, and returns to the closed state from the open state. 
   In the horizontal position which is the open state, the lower end of the internal lid  120  is shown to be fitted in the catcher  134  of the outer lid  130 , but when the outer lid  130  is usually opened by operating the lever  138   c , the pressing lever  138   d  presses the lower end of the internal lid  120  and releases it from the catcher  134  of the outer lid  130 , and therefore, the lower end of the internal lid  120  is in the free state. 
     FIGS. 7 and 8  show the operation mechanism shown in  FIGS. 4-6  by enlarging it,  FIG. 7  is an enlarged partial sectional view, and  FIG. 8  is a sectional view taken along the line B-B. This operation mechanism has the operation member  138  and the hook  139  as its main components, and both of them are rotatably and pivotally supported at a shaft  150 . Namely, the operation member  138  is fitted to the shaft  150  by the sleeve  138   a  and the catching member  139  is fitted to the shaft  150  by the sleeve  139   b.    
   When the worker opens the outer lid  130 , he or she operates the lever  138   c  of the operation member  138  to rotate in the counterclockwise direction, and thereby, the pin  138   e  planted on the operation member  138  presses a projection  139   a  of the hook  139  to rotate the hook  139  in the counterclockwise direction. As a result, the hook  139  rotates against the rotating biasing force of the biasing spring  140  in the clockwise direction, and is disengaged from the catching member  116 , and thereby, the outer lid  130  becomes rotatable. 
     FIG. 9  shows the state just before the hook  139  is locked by the catching member  116  while the outer lid  130  is rotated in the clockwise direction with the hinge  132  as the center. The hook  139  has a slide part  139   f  at an upper side in the drawing at a tip end of the hook  139 , and just before the hook  139  is locked by the catching member  116 , the slide part  139   f  abuts on the catching member  116  and slides. When the slide part  139   f  passes, the catching lever is locked at the catching member  116  by the deeply contoured locking part  139   c . Thereby, the outer lid  130  is in the caught state.