Patent ID: 8240681

Claim:
A wheel supporting mechanism, comprising: a wheel supporting a housing in a state where the wheel protrudes from a bottom face of the housing; an axle extending from the wheel; a wheel mount, which has a bearing rotatably supporting the axle, and which has a first end portion and a second end portion that is on an opposite side of the first end portion with the bearing positioned therebetween; a pivot support, which is provided in a vicinity of the first end portion in the wheel mount, and which pivotally supports the wheel mount in relation to the housing; a pivot restrictor that restricts pivoting of the wheel mount by being engaged with a vicinity of the second end portion; an adjuster that adjusts a height of the housing in relation to the wheel by restricting a pivoting range of the wheel mount by fixing the pivot restrictor to the housing; and an enclosure that substantially encloses the pivot restrictor, wherein the wheel mount is provided with a first engagement portion in the vicinity of the second end portion, the pivot restrictor is provided with a second engagement portion that is engaged with the first engagement portion, and the first engagement portion and the second engagement portion, when both are engaged, restrict an upward and downward pivoting range of the wheel mount, and hold the wheel mount; wherein the housing is provided with a through-hole in the bottom face thereof, the adjuster is formed of a screw bolt having a head portion and a shank threaded as a male screw, the pivot restrictor is provided with a female screw portion that screwed into the male screw, the shank of the screw bolt is screwed into the female screw portion through the through-hole, and the head portion is engaged with a peripheral portion of the through-hole, thereby connecting the pivot restrictor to the housing so as to be movable in a height direction, and rotation of the screw bolt adjusts a movable range of the pivot restrictor, and restricts a pivoting range of the wheel mount.