EP0314925B1 - Mikroschalter - Google Patents

Mikroschalter Download PDF

Info

Publication number
EP0314925B1
EP0314925B1 EP88116375A EP88116375A EP0314925B1 EP 0314925 B1 EP0314925 B1 EP 0314925B1 EP 88116375 A EP88116375 A EP 88116375A EP 88116375 A EP88116375 A EP 88116375A EP 0314925 B1 EP0314925 B1 EP 0314925B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
microswitch
swingable lever
push button
end portion
lever
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP88116375A
Other languages
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0314925A3 (en
EP0314925A2 (de
Inventor
Toyohiro Izumo Omron Tateisi Nagahara
Takashi C/O Patent Center Niwa
Takezo C/O Patent Center Sano
Isao C/O Patent Center Kato
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Omron Corp
Original Assignee
Omron Corp
Omron Tateisi Electronics Co
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Omron Corp, Omron Tateisi Electronics Co filed Critical Omron Corp
Publication of EP0314925A2 publication Critical patent/EP0314925A2/de
Publication of EP0314925A3 publication Critical patent/EP0314925A3/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0314925B1 publication Critical patent/EP0314925B1/de
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01H—ELECTRIC SWITCHES; RELAYS; SELECTORS; EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE DEVICES
    • H01H13/00—Switches having rectilinearly-movable operating part or parts adapted for pushing or pulling in one direction only, e.g. push-button switch
    • H01H13/02—Details
    • H01H13/26—Snap-action arrangements depending upon deformation of elastic members
    • H01H13/36—Snap-action arrangements depending upon deformation of elastic members using flexing of blade springs

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a microswitch assembling method and a microswitch obtainable thereby.
  • a typical microswitch is shown in Fig. 1 as one of conventional general microswitches.
  • a switch casing 102 is constructed by a cover 101 and a switch casing main body 103.
  • a pair of a terminal member 104 for normally closed contact and a terminal member 105 for normally open contact and a common terminal member 106 are fixed to the main body 103.
  • Fixed contacts 107 and 108 are fixed to inner end portions 104a and 105a of the fixed terminal members 104 and 105, respectively.
  • a movable contact member 110 is pivotally supported to the inner end portion 106a of the common terminal member 106 at the base end thereof.
  • the movable contact member 110 has a movable contact 109 at the front end thereof, the movable contact 109 being come into contact with or removed from the fixed contacts 107 and 108, respectively.
  • a compression leaf spring 111 is attached between the front end side of the movable contact member 110 and the inner end portion 106a of the common terminal member 106.
  • a push button 112 is inserted into a hole 102a formed in the top plate of the switch casing 102. By depressing the push button 112, the movable contact member 110 is moved, thereby switching the contacting state of the movable contact 109 from the normally closed type fixed contact 107 to the normally open type fixed contact 108 by the snap action.
  • Fig. 2 means for assuring a large operating stroke is shown in Fig. 2. That is, the push button 112 is operated by an operating lever 113 which is pivotally attached to the switch casing 102.
  • Fig. 3 shows another means for realizing a large operating stroke, in which a sub-button 115 which is pressed downwardly through a spring member 114 is inserted in the push button 112 and the movable contact member 110 is operated by the sub-button 115.
  • the former means has a drawback such that a large space is needed for the operating lever 113.
  • the latter means has a drawback such that the number of parts increases.
  • FR-A- 2 530 862 discloses a microswitch, comprising an isolating frame on which stationary contacts are fixed.
  • a pivotally supported movable contact for selectively contacting the stationary contacts is in connection with a vertically movable push button and a commuting mechanism.
  • the latter comprises an entrainment lever, an intermediate lever, a leaf spring and a contact lever.
  • the one end region of the entrainment lever is fixed to the isolating frame.
  • the other end region of the entrainment lever is connected to the intermediate lever.
  • the free end of the contact lever carries the movable contact.
  • the end of the intermediate lever and the end of the leaf spring are connected to each other.
  • the contact lever is connected to projections of the isolating frame and to the end of the leaf spring.
  • the present invention is made to solve the inconveniences in the foregoing conventional microswitches and it is an object of the present invention to provide a method by which a microswitch can be easily automatically assembled and a microswitch which needs a small number of component parts.
  • the swingable lever is operated by the push button and the movable member is operated through the compression spring interposed between the swingable lever and the movable member. Therefore, although the microswitch is small, the operating stroke can be enhanced by the swingable lever.
  • the number of parts is smaller than that of the conventional microswitch in which the operating stroke is increased by a spring member assembled in a push button.
  • the fulcrum of the compression spring is moved like an arc around a pivotal supporting portion of the swingable lever as a rotational center. Therefore, a sudden increase in load at a position near the operation limit position is suppressed, a good operating feeling is derived, particularly a large operating stroke is derived, and the assembling efficiency is high.
  • the swingable lever applied with the spring force of the compression spring is deformed to the settable position of the push button by the swingable lever positioning projection, so that this microswitch can be easily assembled.
  • Fig. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of a microswitch according to the invention.
  • Figs. 6a and 6b are front cross sectional views showing the microswitch in the OFF and ON states, respectively.
  • a switch casing 10 consists of a terminal base 11 and a cover 12.
  • the terminal base 11 is made of a plate-like synthetic resin having an electrical insulating property and constructs a lower plate of the switch casing 10.
  • Vertically projecting portions 11a and 11b are formed on both of the left and right end portions of the terminal base 11.
  • the cover 12 is assembled onto the terminal base 11.
  • a pair of notched portions 12a and 12b adapted to be come into engagement with the vertically projecting portions 11a and 11b are formed at both of the left and right end portions of the cover 12 made of a synthetic resin, respectively.
  • a common terminal member 13, a terminal member 14 for normally closed type contact, and a terminal memeber 15 for normally open type contact are fixed to the terminal base 11.
  • Inner end portions 14a and 15a of the terminal members 14 and 15 are bent from lower and upper directions on the right end side in the terminal base 11 so as to face each other.
  • Fixed contacts 16 and 17 are fixed to the opposite surfaces of the inner end portions 14a and 15a, respectively.
  • a movable member 18 is arranged in the lateral (right/left) direction.
  • the movable member 18 is made of a conductive material and has a almost rectangular shape having a large opening in the central position.
  • a movable contact 19 which faces both of the fixed contacts 16 and 17 is fixed to a free end portion 18a.
  • a base end portion 18b is fitted into a first pivotal groove 20 formed on the left end surface of an inner end portions 13a of the common terminal member 13.
  • the base end portion 18b is rotatably pivotally supported by this groove 20.
  • a rectangular hole 21 is formed in a top plate 12c of the cover 12.
  • a push button 22 made of a synthetic resin is inserted into the hole 21 and can be vertically moved between the inner end portion 13a of the common terminal member 13 and the inner end portions 14a and 15a of the terminal members 14 and 15.
  • a swingable lever 23 is formed into a substantially S shape.
  • An edge portion 24 formed on the side of a base end portion 23a of the swingable lever 23 is fitted into and rotatably pivotally supported to a second pivotal groove 25 formed on the right side surface of the inner end portion 13a of the common terminal member 13.
  • a free end portion 23b of the lever 23 is pushed by the lower surface of the push button 22.
  • a compression spring 26 is made of a leaf spring and formed into an almost arc shape.
  • a left end portion 26a of the spring 26 is fitted into a lateral groove 27 formed in the central portion of the swingable lever 23.
  • Notched portions 28 formed in a right end portion 26b are come into engagement with engaging projections 29 formed on the free end side of the movable member 28, thereby applying a return spring force to the movable member 18.
  • a pair of restricting plates 30 and 31, which face each other, are formed in the lower end portions of the push button 22, thereby restricting the position of the movable member 18 in the width direction.
  • Projecting portions 32 and 33 to vertically guide the restricting plates 30 and 31 are formed on the front and rear inner walls of the cover 12 respectively.
  • Engaging projections 34 are formed on both of the front and rear walls of the terminal base 11.
  • Engaging holes 35 are formed in both of the front and rear walls of the cover 12 and are brought into engagement with the engaging projections 34 when the cover 12 is assembled onto the terminal base 11.
  • a swingable lever positioning projection 36 is formed by an elongated portion of the inner end of the common terminal member 13 and is bent toward the side of the swingable lever 23.
  • the free end portion 23b of the swingable lever 23 to which the left end portion 26a of the compression spring 26 is pivotally attached is brought to the settable position of the push button 22 by the positioning projection 36 as will be described later.
  • a concave portion 37 to bend the projection is formed in the inner end portion 13a of the common terminal member 13.
  • the base end portion 18b of the movable member 18 is fitted into the first pivotal groove 20 in the common terminal member 13 as shown in Fig. 7a.
  • the swingable lever 23 is set to an almost vertical position and the edge portion 24 is pivotally fitted into the second pivotal groove 25 as shown in Fig. 7b.
  • the notched portions 28 on the right end side of the compression spring 26 are movably attached to the engaging projections 29 on the free end portion of the movable member 18.
  • the left end portion 26a of the compression spring 26 is downwardly moved along the right side surface of the swingable lever 23 and is movably fitted into the lateral groove 27 of the swingable lever 23 as shown in Fig. 7d.
  • the positioning projection 36 formed in the inner end portion 13a of the common terminal member 13 is bent to the right as shown in Fig. 7e.
  • the swingable lever 23 is inclined to the right by the projection 36, thereby positioning so that the free end portion 23b of the lever 23 is brought to the settable position of the push button 22.
  • Fig. 7f by assembling the cover 12 having the push button 22 onto the terminal base 11, the push button 22 is set to the settable position of the swingable lever 23.
  • the free end portion 18a of the movable member 18 rotates counterclockwise around the pivotal supporting portion 18b (20) as a rotational center by the snap action. Consequently, as shown in Fig. 6b, the movable contact 19 is away from the normally closed type fixed contact 16 and is come into contact with the normally open type fixed contact 17, thereby electrically connecting the terminal member 15 and the common terminal member 13.
  • the operating stroke can be enhanced by the swingable lever 23 and a long stroke of about 3 mm can be obtained.
  • the necessary space can be reduced as compared with the conventional structure (in the example shown in Fig. 2) in which the operating stroke is enhanced by the operating lever provided in the outside of the switch casing.
  • the number of parts can be reduced as compared with the conventional structure (in the example shown in Fig. 3) in which the operating stroke is enhanced by the spring member arranged in the push button.
  • the inner end elongated portion of the common terminal member 13 is bent to thereby form the projection 36. Therefore, the swingable lever 23 is brought to the push button settable position, so that the push button 22 faces the free end portion 23b of the swingable lever 23 by assembling the cover 12 onto the terminal base 11. In other words, the automatic assembling works can be easily performed and the productivity can be improved.
  • the swingable lever positioning projection 36 has been constructed by the bent portion 37 of the inner end portion of the common terminal member 13.
  • the projection 36 can be also formed by a boss portion 61 formed on the inner wall of the terminal base 11 as shown in Fig. 9.
  • the positions of the movable member 18 and the like are restricted in the width direction by the restricting plates 30 and 31 formed under the push button 22. Also, the restricting plates 30 and 31 are guided by the projecting portions plates 32 and 33 formed on the side of the switch casing 10. Therefore, the movable member 18 and the like are properly held without shaking.

Landscapes

  • Push-Button Switches (AREA)
  • Rotary Switch, Piano Key Switch, And Lever Switch (AREA)
  • Saccharide Compounds (AREA)
  • Laser Surgery Devices (AREA)

Claims (5)

  1. Ein Verfahren zum Zusammenbauen eines Mikroschalters, aufweisend die Schritte:
    - Einsetzen eines Fußendeteils (18b) eines beweglichen Elements (18) in eine in einem gemeinsamen Anschlußelement (13) ausgebildete erste Nut (20);
    - Verbringen eines verschwenkbaren Hebels (23) in eine nahezu vertikale Lage, wobei ein Schneidenteil (24) von diesem verschwenkbar in eine zweite, als Angel dienende Nut (25) eingesetzt wird;
    - bewegliches Befestigen eingekerbter Teile (28), die an einer Seite einer blattartigen Druckfeder (26) ausgebildet sind, an Eingriffsvorsprünge (29) an einem freien Ende des beweglichen Elements (18);
    - Bewegen eines gegenüberliegenden Endteils (26a) der Druckfeder (26) längs einer Vorderfläche des verschwenkbaren Hebels (23) bis zu einem Mittelteil des verschwenkbaren Hebels (23) nach unten;
    - Vorsehen eines Positioniervorsprungs (36; 61) für den verschwenkbaren Hebel (23) derart, daß man ein freies Endteil (23b) von diesem in einen Betätigungsweg einer Drucktaste (22) hineinragen läßt; und
    - Aufsetzen eines Gehäuses auf den vorstehenden Aufbau, wobei die Drucktaste (22) darin zum Betätigen des freien Endteils (23b) des verschwenkbaren Hebels (23) geführt wird.
  2. Ein Mikroschalter, der durch das Verfahren des Anspruchs 1 erhalten werden kann,
    wobei der Positioniervorsprung (36) durch ein gebogenes Element an der inneren Endseite des gemeinsamen Anschlußelements (13) ausgebildet ist.
  3. Ein Mikroschalter, der durch das Verfahren des Anspruchs 1 erhalten werden kann,
    wobei der Positioniervorsprung durch ein an einer Innenwand der Anschlußgrundplatte (11) ausgebildetes vorspringendes Teil (61) ausgebildet ist und zum Eingriff mit dem Ende des verschwenkbaren Hebels (23) angepaßt ist, der durch das innere Endteil des ersten gemeinsamen Anschlußelements (13) verschwenkbar gelagert ist.
  4. Ein Mikroschalter nach Anspruch 2 oder 3,
    wobei das gegenüberliegende Ende der Druckfeder (26) mit einer Quernut (27) in dem Mittelteil des verschwenkbaren Hebels (23) in Eingriff steht.
  5. Ein Mikroschalter nach Anspruch 2, 3 oder 4, ferner aufweisend:
       ein vorderes und ein hinteres Beschränkungselement (30, 31), die ein Paar bilden und an den unteren Enden der Drucktaste (22) zum Beschränken der Lage des beweglichen Elements (18) in Richtung der Breite vertikal nach unten ausgebildet sind; und
       Führungsteile (32, 33), die an einer Innenwand des Schaltgehäuses (10) zum Führen der vertikalen Bewegungen der Beschränkungselemente (30, 31) ausgebildet sind.
EP88116375A 1987-10-08 1988-10-04 Mikroschalter Expired - Lifetime EP0314925B1 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP1987154541U JPH066432Y2 (ja) 1987-10-08 1987-10-08 マイクロスイツチ
JP154541/87U 1987-10-08

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0314925A2 EP0314925A2 (de) 1989-05-10
EP0314925A3 EP0314925A3 (en) 1989-06-07
EP0314925B1 true EP0314925B1 (de) 1994-07-27

Family

ID=15586513

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP88116375A Expired - Lifetime EP0314925B1 (de) 1987-10-08 1988-10-04 Mikroschalter

Country Status (4)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0314925B1 (de)
JP (1) JPH066432Y2 (de)
AT (1) ATE109303T1 (de)
DE (1) DE3850848T2 (de)

Families Citing this family (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2716746B1 (fr) * 1993-04-07 1997-01-10 Roger Vialy Microrupteur à rupture brusque et à contacts frottants.
JP5848219B2 (ja) * 2012-09-13 2016-01-27 アルプス電気株式会社 押圧型スイッチ装置
JP2014060107A (ja) * 2012-09-19 2014-04-03 Alps Electric Co Ltd スイッチ装置

Family Cites Families (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR1529781A (fr) * 1967-05-08 1968-06-21 Cem Comp Electro Mec Perfectionnements aux interrupteurs sensibles à rupture brusque
US4559422A (en) * 1982-06-21 1985-12-17 Mironenko Vyacheslav G Microswitch
JPS59138131U (ja) * 1983-03-05 1984-09-14 オムロン株式会社 押ボタンスイツチ
HU189816B (en) * 1984-02-08 1986-08-28 Kontakta,Hu Precision click switch
FR2588999A1 (fr) * 1985-10-22 1987-04-24 Rogero Jean Perfectionnements aux contacteurs a rupture brusque

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP0314925A3 (en) 1989-06-07
EP0314925A2 (de) 1989-05-10
DE3850848T2 (de) 1995-03-30
JPH066432Y2 (ja) 1994-02-16
JPH0160423U (de) 1989-04-17
ATE109303T1 (de) 1994-08-15
DE3850848D1 (de) 1994-09-01

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