Screen apparatus

A screen apparatus, in which

• a screen that can be freely expanded and stored is provided, and
• an expansion and storage direction of the screen is defined as an X-axis direction among three orthogonal axes including the X-axis, a Y-axis, and a Z-axis, the X-axis direction and a Z-axis direction each have first and second opposite sides, the screen has first and second ends in the X-axis direction and first and second end portions in the Z-axis direction, the first side in the X-axis direction is defined as corresponding to the first end of the screen in the X-axis direction, the second side in the X-axis direction is defined as corresponding to the second end of the screen in the X-axis direction, the first side in the Z-axis direction is defined as corresponding to the first end portion of the screen in the Z-axis direction, and the second side in the Z-axis direction is defined as corresponding to the second end portion of the screen in the Z-axis direction,
• the screen apparatus comprising:
• a pair of frames, consisting of a first frame and a second frame, at least one of which is a slidable frame in the X-axis direction, the first and second frames being longitudinal in the Z-axis direction and hollow, and being disposed opposite to each other in the X-axis direction;
• a first guide and a second guide each having first and second ends in the X-axis direction, one of the first and second ends of each of the first and second guides being a free end, the first guide and the second guide being drawn from an inside of the at least one slidable frame when the at least one slidable frame is slid to the first side in the X-axis direction and being stored in the inside of the at least one slidable frame when the at least one slidable frame is slid to the second side in the X-axis direction;
• and
• a tension member stored in the inside of the at least one slidable frame and connecting the free end of the first guide and the free end of the second guide,
• wherein the end of the screen in the X-axis direction is fixed to the first frame and the second end of the screen in the X-axis direction is fixed to the second frame, a portion of the first guide, which is drawn from the inside of the at least one slidable frame, is configured to extend linearly in the X-axis direction between a second end portion of the first frame in the Z-axis direction and a second end portion of the second frame in the Z-axis direction, and a portion of the second guide, which is drawn from the inside of the at least one slidable frame, is configured to extend linearly in the X-axis direction between a first end portion of the first frame in the Z-axis direction and a first end portion of the second frame in the Z-axis direction,
• wherein the first guide is formed by connecting a plurality of first guide units, each of the first guide units having first and second end parts in the X-axis direction and including a pair of side walls disposed opposite to each other in the Y-axis direction when the first guide is drawn from the inside of the at least one slidable frame, each side wall having first and second end parts in the X-axis direction, and a bottom wall connecting both of the side walls, wherein one of two adjacent first guide units is pivotally supported by another of the two adjacent first guide units, whereby the first guide not only bends to the first side in the Z-axis direction but also maintains linearity in the X-axis direction, and the second end portion in the Z-axis direction of the expanded screen is inserted between both of the side walls of each of the first guide units in the portion of the first guide, which is drawn from the inside of the at least one slidable frame,
• wherein a pin extending outward from each of the side walls is provided at the first end part on the first side in the X-axis direction of each of the side walls of each of the first guide units, and an opening is opened in the second end part on the second side in the X-axis direction of each of the side walls of each of the first guide units, the two adjacent first guide units being connected by fitting, with clearance, each of the pins of the other of the two adjacent first guide units in each of the openings of the one of the two adjacent first guide units, each of the pins forming a pivot, and each of the first guide units being pivotally movable,
• wherein each side wall of each of the first guide units includes
• a rail part provided at an inner side part of the side wall, the rail part extending along an imaginary line that connects a pivot center of each of the first guide units in a connecting direction, and
• a supporting piece protruding inwardly from the side wall and provided at one end edge part of the side wall, the supporting piece being disposed further from the bottom wall than the rail part in the Z-axis direction,
• wherein a screen retaining member is detachably attached to an inner side of each of the side walls each of the first guide units, the screen retaining member having a plurality of needle parts aligned at intervals and attached to a longitudinal base that extends continuously and is bendable in a pivotal moving direction of each of the first guide units, the screen retaining member having first and second end portions in the X-axis direction, wherein in an attached state of the screen retaining member, the longitudinal base is supported between the rail part and the supporting piece of each of the first guide units, and all of the needle parts protrude inwardly from both of the side walls of each of the first guide units, and
• wherein when the first guide is drawn to the second side in the X-axis direction accompanying sliding of the at least one slidable frame to the first side in the X-axis direction, the needle parts of each of the screen retaining members stab through the first end portion of the screen in the Z-axis direction, which is inserted between both of the side walls of each of the first guide units in the drawn portion of the first guide, whereby slipping out of the screen from the drawn portion of the first guide is suppressed, and when the first guide is stored in the inside of the at least one slidable frame accompanying sliding of the at least one slidable frame to the second side in the X-axis direction, the needle parts of each of the screen retaining members slip out of the first end portion of the screen in the Z-axis direction,
• wherein:
• a longitudinal adjuster, forming the free end of the first guide, to which a weight is attached and which moves in the inside of the at least one slidable frame in the Z-axis direction, is connected to a first endmost first guide unit, the first endmost first guide unit being the first guide unit of the plurality of first guide units that is positioned farthest toward the first side in the Z-axis direction when the first guide is stored in the inside of the at least one slidable frame, a pair of hollow first stoppers which oppose each other in the Y-axis direction are provided at an end part of the longitudinal adjuster to which the first endmost first guide unit is connected, each of the first stoppers having an open end on the second side in the X-axis direction and a closed end on the first side in the X-axis direction, and a linear notch is formed along the rail part of the first endmost first guide unit, to which the longitudinal adjuster is connected, at an inner side surface of each of the first stoppers;
• a stopping unit is connected to a second endmost first guide unit, the second endmost first guide unit being the first guide unit of the plurality of first guide units that exists at a position corresponding to the second end in the X-axis direction in the drawn portion of the first guide when the first guide is drawn from the inside of the at least one slidable frame, and the stopping unit is the same as the second endmost first guide unit except that the supporting piece is removed and a second stopper, extending from each of the rail parts to one end on the first side in the Z-axis direction of each of the side walls, is provided at a connected end on the second side of the X-axis direction of the second endmost first guide unit;
• the longitudinal base of the screen retaining member has a length such that a first end portion of the longitudinal base on the first side in the X-axis direction of the screen retaining member comes into contact with the closed end of each of the first stoppers while a second end portion of the longitudinal base on the second side in the X-axis direction of the screen retaining member comes into contact with the second stopper of the stopping unit;
• and
• in an attached state of the screen retaining member, the first end portion of the longitudinal base on the first side in the X-axis direction of the screen retaining member is configured to be inserted into an inside of each of the first stoppers of the adjuster and to come into contact with the closed end of each of the first stoppers, the second end portion of the longitudinal base on the second side in the X-axis direction of the screen retaining member is configured to come into contact with the second stopper of the stopping unit, and the needle parts are configured to protrude inwardly from each of the first stoppers through the notch and not to come into contact with the second stopper at a portion of the screen retaining member of which the longitudinal base is inserted into the inside of each of the first stoppers.