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EP-4624875-B1 - ELECTRONIC BALANCE

EP4624875B1EP 4624875 B1EP4624875 B1EP 4624875B1EP-4624875-B1

Inventors

  • ODA, HISANORI

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20250331

Claims (4)

  1. An electronic balance comprising: an accommodation case (5) in which a weighing mechanism joined to a weighing pan (2) is disposed; a windshield (8) including an upper face plate, a front face plate, a back face plate, and a pair of right and left side plates, for covering the weighing pan to form a weighing chamber above the accommodation case, where at least the pair of right and left side plates (13, 14) are sliding doors slidable in a front-rear direction of the accommodation case; a pair of suspension mechanisms configured to suspend and support the pair of right and left sliding doors in a slidable manner, respectively and individually; an air cylinder (63) disposed in the accommodation case; characterized by a linkage mechanism configured to link the pair of right and left sliding doors at their lower portions in an engageable and disengageable manner; and the air cylinder configured to link a piston rod to the linkage mechanism and slide the pair of right and left sliding doors via the linkage mechanism.
  2. The electronic balance according to claim 1, wherein a pump (74, 78) that serves as a drive source of the air cylinder (63) is disposed in the accommodation case (5).
  3. The electronic balance according to claim 2, wherein the air cylinder (63) and the pump (74, 78) are disposed in the accommodation case (5) in a vertically overlapping state.
  4. The electronic balance according to claim 2, wherein the air cylinder (63) and the pump (74, 78) are disposed parallel in the accommodation case (5).

Description

Technical Field The present invention relates to an electronic balance that automatically opens and closes sliding doors as a pair of right and left side plates of a windshield forming a weighing chamber. Background Art Conventionally, various mechanisms have been proposed as mechanisms for automatically opening and closing sliding doors which are a pair of right and left side plates of a windshield forming a weighing chamber. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a precision balance in which sliding windows as side plates are made movable in synchronization in a lateral direction by a plate movably supported below a weighing chamber and a grip with a lock fixed to the plate, and a motor drive device that moves the plate is connected to the plate. Then, the motor drive device is positioned in a balance case that accommodates a weighing mechanism and has substantially the same size as that of the weighing chamber and is provided at a rear portion of the weighing chamber, and is fixed to a rear wall of the weighing chamber, and a pinion fixed to a tip end of a rotation drive shaft of the motor is engaged with a rack provided on the plate. As a result, the rotation drive shaft of the motor drive device rotates to move the plate in the front-rear direction of the weighing chamber, which moves the sliding window in the same direction to open and close it. Citation List Patent Literature Patent Literature 1: Japanese Published Unexamined Utility Model Application No. S62-140328 Further prior art is disclosed by patent document US 2011/0132669A1. Summary of Invention Technical Problem However, in the precision balance of Patent Literature 1, since the motor drive device is accommodated in the balance case provided at the rear of the weighing chamber, the precision balance becomes large in the front-rear direction due to the presence of the case, and this causes a problem that downsizing is difficult. The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problem, and an object thereof is to provide an electronic balance that can be downsized and includes a windshield having sliding doors as a pair of side plates to be automatically opened and closed. Solution to Problem In order to achieve the above-described object, according to a preferred first aspect of the electronic balance of the present invention, the electronic balance includes: an accommodation case in which a weighing mechanism joined to a weighing pan is disposed; a windshield including an upper face plate, a front face plate, a back face plate, and a pair of right and left side plates, for covering the weighing pan to form a weighing chamber above the accommodation case, where at least the pair of right and left side plates are sliding doors slidable in a front-rear direction of the accommodation case; a pair of suspension mechanisms configured to suspend and support the pair of right and left sliding doors in a slidable manner, respectively and individually; a linkage mechanism configured to link the pair of right and left sliding doors at their lower portions in an engageable and disengageable manner; and an air cylinder disposed in the accommodation case and configured to link a piston rod to the linkage mechanism and slide the pair of right and left sliding doors via the linkage mechanism. According to this configuration, since the rod of the air cylinder is linked to the linkage mechanism that links the pair of right and left sliding doors, the pair of right and left sliding doors can be automatically slid in conjunction with each other by driving the air cylinder and protruding and withdrawing the piston rod of the air cylinder. In addition, since the air cylinder is provided in the accommodation case positioned below the weighing chamber, the conventional case provided at the rear of the weighing chamber for accommodating the weighing mechanism and motor drive mechanism becomes unnecessary. When only one of the pair of right and left sliding doors is linked to the linkage mechanism, only this one sliding door can be slid. Further, in a second aspect, in addition to the first aspect, a pump that is a drive source of the air cylinder is disposed in the accommodation case. According to this aspect, the electronic balance is more remarkably downsized. In addition, since it is not necessary to provide the pump in a place separate from the accommodation case, the entire configuration is compact and easy to use. Furthermore, in a third aspect, in addition to the configuration of the second aspect, the air cylinder and the pump are disposed in the accommodation case in a vertically overlapping state. According to this aspect, an area occupied by the air cylinder and the pump in the accommodation case can be minimized. Furthermore, in a fourth aspect, in addition to the configuration of the second aspect, the air cylinder and the pump are disposed parallel in the accommodation case. According to this aspect, a height occupied by the air