JP4692524B2 - Tilt sensor - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a tilt sensor.

  Conventionally, as an inclination sensor that is fixed to an object and detects that the inclination angle of the object is larger than the predetermined object angle on both sides in a predetermined object direction, a conductive material such as metal as shown in FIG. And a guide body 2 provided with a guide path 20 in which the mobile body 1 can be displaced and fixed to an object (not shown) (for example, Patent Document 1). reference).

  7 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 7. In the above-described conventional example, the upward inner surface of the guide path 20 is inclined upward from the central portion in the left-right direction toward both sides in the left-right direction. Coils 4 are wound around the left and right ends of the guide body 2. That is, when the inclination of the object in the left-right direction, which is the detection direction, exceeds the inclination angle of the inclination of the guide path 20, the moving object 1 enters the coil 4 in the inclination direction, and thus occurs in the moving object 1. The impedance of the coil 4 changes due to the eddy current, and the inclination of the object is detected based on this.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the left and right sides are guide portions 20 that are inclined upward toward the outer side in the left-right direction, and the movable body 1 is located on the guide passage 20 when the object is not inclined. There is also one in which the coil 4 is arranged below the center of the direction. In this conventional example, contrary to the conventional example of FIG. 7, when the object is inclined, the impedance of the coil 4 changes due to the moving body 1 being separated from the coil 4.
JP 2006-105763 A JP 2000-161954 A

  When the axial directions of the two coils 4 wound around the guide body 2 are different from each other as in the conventional example of FIG. 7, at the time of manufacture, the direction of the guide body is changed for each coil 4 wound, It was necessary to use a winding machine, and the manufacturing cost was high.

  Even if a general-purpose winding machine is used, it is not necessary to change the direction of the guide body for each coil to be wound, and the other end of the guide body 2 is obstructed when the coil 4 is wound around one end of the guide body 2. In order to avoid this, it is conceivable that the axial direction of each coil 4 is the target direction (the left-right direction in FIG. 7).

  However, when the axial direction of each coil 4 is set as the target direction, the guide path 20 is inclined upward in the target direction, so that the distance between the coil 4 and the guide path 20 tends to increase.

  Further, even when the coil 4 does not surround the guide body 2 as in the conventional example of FIG. 8, the distance between the coil 4 and the guide path 20 is relatively large.

  When the distance between the coil 4 and the guide path 20 is large as described above, in order to ensure the impedance change of the coil 4 due to the displacement of the moving body 1, the dimensions of the moving body 1 and the coil 4 are increased, 4 has to be provided with a core made of a magnetic material, which leads to an increase in size and an increase in manufacturing cost.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above reasons, and an object of the present invention is to provide a tilt sensor that can ensure the sensitivity of detection even if the size of a moving body is reduced.

  The invention according to claim 1 is an inclination sensor that is fixed with respect to an object and detects an inclination of the object and is inclined in at least one object direction. A guide path in which the body is displaceable and fixed to the object, and the lower surface of the guide path faces upward from the position of the moving body when the object is not tilted toward each object direction. In the guide body, at least one coil surrounding the guide path is wound with the axial direction as the vertical direction or the target direction, and the coil is wound on the lower surface of the guide body. A plurality of steps are provided for generating a step in a direction along the inclination of the lower surface of the guide path with respect to the axial direction of the coil.

  According to the present invention, the coil can be arranged closer to the guide path than when no step is provided at the site where the coil is wound in the guide body. Sensitivity can be ensured.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, there are two target directions that are opposite to each other, and the guide body includes two coils that surround one end portion in the target direction of the guide path. Each is wound around an axial direction as a target direction.

  According to this invention, the axial direction of the coil is common to the two coils, and the portion of the guide body around which the other coil is wound does not get in the way when one coil is wound. In manufacturing, each coil can be formed using a general-purpose winding machine without changing the orientation of the guide body.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the lower surface of the guide body is close to the step on the side where the cross-sectional shape of the guide body is larger in the cross section perpendicular to the axial direction of the coil. Each part to be provided is provided with a misregistration prevention convex part that protrudes downward and sandwiches the winding of the coil with the step.

  According to this invention, it is possible to suppress the positional deviation between the windings of the coil and across the steps by the positional deviation preventing convex portion.

The invention according to claim 4, in the invention of claim 1 or claim 2, the lower surface of the guide body, the portion sandwiched between the stages adjacent to each other, said guide member in a cross section perpendicular to the axial direction of the coil It is characterized in that it is inclined in the direction of increasing the cross-sectional shape from the step on the side of increasing the cross-sectional shape toward the step on the side of decreasing the cross-sectional shape.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to suppress the positional deviation of the winding of the coil and across the steps due to the inclination.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of steps for generating a step in the direction along the inclination of the lower surface of the guide path with respect to the axial direction of the coil is provided at the portion where the coil is wound on the lower surface of the guide body. As a result, the coil can be arranged closer to the guide path than when no step is provided at the site where the coil is wound in the guide body. Sensitivity can be ensured.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, there are two target directions that are opposite to each other, and the guide body includes two coils that surround one end portion of the guide path in the target direction, respectively. By being wound as a direction, the axial direction of the coil is common to the two coils, and a portion where the other coil is wound in the guide body when one coil is wound becomes an obstacle. Therefore, at the time of manufacture, each coil can be formed using a general-purpose winding machine without changing the direction of the guide body.

According to the invention of claim 3, the lower surface of the guide body, at each site adjacent in the cross section is larger side of the guide member in a cross section perpendicular to the axial direction of the coil relative to the stage, respectively, lower displacement prevention protrusion sandwiched between the stepped windings of the coil are provided so as to protrude, according to the invention of claim 4, the lower surface of the guide body, a portion sandwiched between the stages adjacent to each other Is inclined in the direction of increasing the cross-sectional shape from the step on the side of increasing the cross-sectional shape of the guide body in the cross-section orthogonal to the axial direction of the coil toward the step of reducing the cross-sectional shape. In each case, it is possible to suppress the positional deviation of the windings of the coil and across the steps.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the present embodiment includes a spherical moving body 1 made of metal and a guide body 2 provided with a guide path 20 in which the moving body can be displaced. Hereinafter, the top, bottom, left, and right are based on FIG. 4, and the front-back direction in FIG. 4 is referred to as the front-rear direction.

  The guide body 2 includes a body 21 having a recess 21a serving as a guide path 20 opened on the upper surface, and a cover 22 coupled to the body 21 so as to close the recess 21a. Each of the body 21 and the cover 22 is made of a synthetic resin molded product, for example.

  The lower surface of the recess 21a has a V-shape that is inclined upward from the center in the left-right direction toward the outside in the left-right direction. Further, the cover 22 includes a main body portion 22b having a housing recess 22a opened on the upper surface, and a flange portion 22c projecting outward from the left and right ends of the main body portion 22b. The lower surface of the main body portion 22b of the cover 22 is inclined upward from the central portion in the left-right direction toward the outside in the left-right direction. That is, when the body 21 and the cover 22 are coupled to each other, a V-shaped guide path 20 is formed between the inner surface of the recess 21 a of the body 21 and the lower surface of the cover 22.

  Furthermore, the coils 4 are wound around the left and right ends of the guide body 2 with the axial direction being the left-right direction. At both front and rear ends of each flange portion 22c of the cover 22, there are provided concave portions 22d that are opened in the vertical direction and the outer side in the front-rear direction and into which the windings of the coil 4 are inserted vertically. In addition, outer protrusions 22e protrude upward from the left and right outer ends of the upper surface of the flanges 22c of the cover 22, and outer protrusions respectively protrude from the left and right ends of the upper surface of the main body 21b of the cover 22. Two inner convex portions 22f sandwiching the winding of the coil 4 are provided in front of and behind the portion 22e. Furthermore, at both the left and right ends of the body 21, recesses 21 b that are open in the vertical direction and continue below the recess 22 d of the cover 22 and through which the windings of the coil 4 are inserted vertically are provided on both front and rear surfaces. The convex part 21c protrudes downwardly on the outer side in the left-right direction with respect to the concave part 21b. By the above-described convex portions 22e, 22f, and 21c and concave portions 22d and 21b, the positional deviation of the coil 4 with respect to the guide body 2, and the positional deviation in the left-right direction is suppressed.

  Each coil 4 has a shape surrounding one of the left and right ends of the guide path 20. That is, when the object (not shown) to which the guide body 2 is fixed is not tilted in the left-right direction or when the tilt angle is equal to or less than a predetermined angle, the moving body 1 is positioned at the center in the left-right direction of the guide path 20. To position. When the guide body 2 is tilted in any of the left and right directions with a certain large tilt angle, the movable body 1 is displaced to a range surrounded by one coil 4 at the end of the guide path 20 in the tilt direction. The impedance of the coil 4 changes, and the inclination is detected by detecting this change. That is, the left-right direction is the target direction in the present embodiment. Note that the moving body 1 is not necessarily composed of a conductive material such as metal as long as it generates the above-described impedance change. For example, the moving body 1 is formed by covering the surface of a metal sphere with a synthetic resin. There may be.

  In addition, the present embodiment includes a detection circuit block 3 in which a circuit component 31 that constitutes a detection circuit that detects inclination is mounted on a printed wiring board 30. A part of the detection circuit block 3 including the portion where the circuit component 31 is mounted is stored in the storage recess 22a with the surface of the printed wiring board 30 on which the circuit component 31 is mounted facing rearward. The detection circuit is electrically connected to each coil 4 via a terminal 41 made of a conductive material attached to the cover 22 and the printed wiring 30, and detects a tilt based on a change in impedance of each coil 4. Since such a detection circuit can be realized by a well-known technique, a detailed description thereof is omitted.

  In addition, the present embodiment includes a housing 5 in which a concave portion 50 in which the guide body 2 in which the moving body 1 is stored and the detection circuit block 3 is assembled is stored is provided on the front surface. More specifically, the housing 5 is made of, for example, a synthetic resin molded product, and has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped main body portion 51 provided with a recess 50 and attachment portions 52 provided on both the left and right sides of the lower end portion of the main body portion 51. . The guide body 2 is positioned with respect to the housing 5 by contact with the inner surface of the recess 50, for example. The recess 50 of the housing 5 is filled with a filler (not shown), and the guide 2 and the detection circuit block 3 are fixed to the housing 5 and protected from water and dust by the solidification of the filler. Is done. Each attachment portion 52 has an attachment hole 52a extending in the front-rear direction, and the housing 5 is fixed to the object by, for example, a bolt (not shown) inserted through the attachment hole 52a. That is, the guide body 2 is fixed to the object via the housing 5. Further, on the upper surface of the housing 5, a cylindrical receptacle 53 to which a plug (not shown) is connected protrudes upward. Further, two metal contacts 54 each having one end protruding into the recess 50 and the other end protruding into the receptacle 53 are held in the housing 5 by, for example, insert molding. Each of the contacts 54 is electrically connected to a portion of the printed circuit board 30 of the detection circuit block 3 where one end protrudes upward from the housing recess 21a, and the other end is connected to a plug-side contact (not shown). By making contact conduction, the detection circuit block 3 and the plug are electrically connected.

  Here, a step is generated on the lower surfaces of the left and right end portions around which the coil 4 is wound in the guide body 2 in the direction along the inclination of the lower surface of the guide path 20 with respect to the left and right direction which is the axial direction of the coil 4. A plurality of steps 21d are provided (that is, the outer side in the left-right direction is positioned above the inner side in the left-right direction).

  According to the above configuration, in the case where the step 21d is not provided at the site where the coil 4 is wound in the guide body 2, that is, the cross-sectional shape in the cross section orthogonal to the axial direction of the coil 4 is within the range in which the coil 4 is wound. Since the coil 4 can be arranged closer to the guide path 20 as compared with the case where the whole is constant, the size of the moving body 1 and the coil 4 is not increased, and the coil 4 is not provided without providing a core. The magnitude of the impedance change (that is, detection sensitivity) can be ensured.

  Further, the axial direction of the coil 4 is the right and left direction common to the two coils 4, and the portion where the other coil 4 is wound in the guide body 2 when the one coil 4 is wound becomes an obstacle. Therefore, at the time of manufacture, each coil 4 can be formed using a general-purpose winding machine (not shown) without changing the direction of the guide body 2.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), each of the adjacent portions on the side having a larger cross-sectional shape in the cross-section orthogonal to the axial direction of the coil 4 than the step 21d (inside in the left-right direction, left side in the figure). In addition, there may be provided a misalignment prevention convex portion 21e that protrudes downward, which is a direction orthogonal to the axial direction of the coil 4, and sandwiches the winding of the coil 4 with the step 21d. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 5B, the cross-sectional shape of the surface sandwiched between the adjacent steps 21 d is reduced from the step on the side where the cross-sectional shape in the cross-section orthogonal to the axial direction of the coil 4 is increased. You may make it incline in the direction which enlarges the said cross-sectional shape toward the step of the side (that is, downward toward the outer side of the left-right direction). If any one of the above configurations is employed, the positional deviation of the winding of the coil 4 and the positional deviation across the step 21d can be suppressed by the positional deviation prevention convex portion 21e and the inclination. The misalignment prevention convex portion 21e may be provided on the upper surface or the front and rear surfaces of the guide body 2.

  Moreover, instead of winding the coil 4 around the left and right ends, respectively, the coil 4 may be wound only on the lower end of the guide body 2 with the axial direction being the vertical direction, as shown in FIG. In this case, when the object is not tilted, the moving body 1 is located in a range surrounded by the coil 4, and when the object is tilted, the moving body 1 is removed from the range surrounded by the coil 4. Impedance changes. Further, the coil 4 is wound on an outward surface in the left-right direction, and the step 21f is provided in such a manner that the upper cross-sectional shape is larger than the lower cross-sectional shape. Even in this case, it is possible to prevent the positional deviation of the windings of the coil 4 due to the positional deviation preventing convex portion 21e as shown in FIG. 5A or the inclination as shown in FIG. 5B.

(A) (b) shows embodiment of this invention, respectively, (a) is a moving body about the position of a coil, and each when an inclination angle is larger and smaller than an object angle in the cross section of a guide body. It is explanatory drawing which showed the position of (a), (b) is AA sectional drawing of (a). It is an exploded perspective view showing the same as above. It is a perspective view which shows what assembled | attached the detection circuit block to the guide body in the same as the above, and a housing. It is a front view showing the same. (A) (b) is sectional drawing which shows the principal part of another form same as the above, respectively, (a) (b) shows a mutually different form. It is explanatory drawing which showed the position of the coil in the cross section which shows the principal part of another form same as the above. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of a prior art example. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of another prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Moving body 2 Guide body 4 Coil 5 Housing 20 Guide path 21d, 21f Stage 21e Misalignment prevention convex part

Claims (4)

An inclination sensor that is fixed with respect to an object and detects an inclination of the object in at least one object direction,
A moving body including a conductive material, and a guide body provided with a guide path in which the moving body can be displaced and fixed to an object,
The lower surface of the guide path is inclined upward from the position of the moving body when the object is not inclined toward each object direction,
At least one coil surrounding each guide path is wound around the guide body so that the axial direction is the vertical direction or the target direction,
In the lower surface of the guide body, a portion where the coil is wound is provided with a plurality of steps for generating a step in a direction along the inclination of the lower surface of the guide path with respect to the axial direction of the coil. Tilt sensor. There are two target directions that are opposite to each other,
2. The inclination sensor according to claim 1, wherein two coils each surrounding one end portion in the target direction of the guide path are wound around the guide body with the axial direction as the target direction. On the lower surface of the guide body, each portion adjacent to the step on the side where the cross-sectional shape of the guide body is large in the cross section orthogonal to the axial direction of the coil with respect to the step is projected downward , and the coil windings 3. The inclination sensor according to claim 1, further comprising a misalignment prevention convex portion sandwiched between the steps. On the lower surface of the guide body, the portion sandwiched between the steps adjacent to each other is located on the side where the cross-sectional shape is reduced from the step on the side where the cross-sectional shape of the guide body is increased in the cross section orthogonal to the axial direction of the coil. The inclination sensor according to claim 1, wherein the inclination sensor is inclined in a direction of increasing the cross-sectional shape toward the step.

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