JP2000149704A - Push switch - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a push switch that allows an arm to be simply and securely fixed to a knob without using a fixing component such as an E sleeve, does not have possibility of causing the coming-off of the arm, does not cause the falling of the knob, and is excellent in operability and operation feeling. SOLUTION: This push switch is composed of a pressing operation knob 3 energized in a projecting direction by an elastic member 5, a holder 6 connected to the knob, an arm 7 formed on the holder, and a case 4 that supports the elastic member and engages with the holder. The holder 6 abuts on a reference surface 9a when a switch is pressed by the arm 7, and at that time, the holder is pressed against the case by the energizing force of the elastic member. The knob 3 can be projected in the knob pressing direction more than the reference surface 9a, and the holder 6 is assembled into the knob in that form. The knob 3 has a fitting part 13 in a direction perpendicular to the axial center, and the holder 6 has a fitted part 17. The holder 6 has a slide engaging part 28 in the axial center direction, and the case 4 has an engaged part 31. The holder 6 has a receiving part on the opposite side to the arm 7, and the case 4 has a falling stop part to enter into the receiving part.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a push switch which is depressed when, for example, a digital odometer of an automobile is set to zero.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 11 shows a conventional push switch. The push switch 90 includes a knob 92 penetrating a character display plate 91 of a meter unit including a speedometer, a case 93 fixed on the back side of the character display plate 91, and a small-diameter portion 94 of the knob 92 inside the case 93. And a substantially U-shaped arm 96 fixed to the distal end of the knob 92. The distal end 106 of the arm 96 is connected to the switch 98 of the circuit board 97.
Are located opposite to each other.

A coil spring 95 is elastically supported by a flange 99 of a knob 92 and a bottom of a case 93. Knob 92
And the base end 100 of the arm 96 are fixed by an E-sleeve 101 as shown in FIG. That is, the knob 92
The tip of the arm 96 has a small diameter.
The hole 103 of the base end 100 of the arm 96 engages, the surface of the base end 100 of the arm 96 comes into contact with the step 104 of the knob 92, and the E-sleeve 101 mounted in the circumferential groove 105 of the small diameter portion 102
The rear surface of the base end 100 of the arm 96 is in contact with the arm 96. E
The sleeve 101 is a substantially E-shaped metal ring.

In FIG. 11, when a knob 92 is pressed, a coil spring 95 is compressed, and a distal end portion 106 of an arm 96 presses a switch 98. Thereby, for example, the distance display of a digital odometer is set to zero, or an insignificant part of the meter unit, which is always off, is lit up. When the user releases the knob 92, the knob 92 returns to the original position by the urging force of the coil spring 95.

[0005] The case 93 prevents light leakage to the visible side. In addition, the U-shaped arm 96 flexes to prevent an excessive load on the switch 98. Case 93 and E sleeve 101
Prevents the knob 92 from being pulled out from the visible side.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional structure, as shown in FIG.
2, the hole 103 of the base end portion 100 of the arm 96 is engaged with the small-diameter portion 102 of the knob 92, and then the E-sleeve 101 is attached to the circumferential groove 105 of the small-diameter portion 102 with a jig or the like. It requires troublesome work, especially E-sleeve 1
01 is very troublesome, and there is a problem that the assembling work requires a lot of man-hours. In addition, E sleeve 10
There is a problem in that the number of parts increases and the cost increases by using 1. If the mounting of the E-sleeve 101 is incomplete, if the arm 9
There was concern that 6 would drop out. Further, as shown in FIG. 11, when the distal end 106 of the arm 96 presses the switch 98, a bending force is applied to the knob 92 because the distal end 106 of the arm 96 and the axis of the knob 92 are offset.
As a result, there is a concern that the knob 92 is tilted and it is difficult to perform a smooth operation, the operation feeling is deteriorated, and the knob 92 is rubbed with the case 93 and easily worn.

In view of the above, the present invention can easily and securely fix an arm to a knob without using fixing parts such as an E-sleeve. It is another object of the present invention to provide a push switch with good operability and operation feeling without causing the knob to fall down.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a pressing knob urged in a projecting direction by an elastic member, a holder connected to the knob, and It is basically composed of a provided switch pressing arm and a case for supporting the elastic member and engaging the holder (claim 1). When the switch is pressed by the arm, the holder comes into contact with the reference surface, and at that time, the holder is pressed against the case by the urging force of the elastic member (claim 2). Further, the knob can protrude from the reference surface in the knob pressing direction, and the holder is assembled to the knob in the protruding state (claim 3). It is also effective that the knob has a fitting portion in a direction perpendicular to the axis, and the holder has a fitted portion with respect to the fitting portion. It is also effective that the holder has a slide engagement portion in the axial direction and the case has a portion to be engaged with the slide engagement portion. It is also effective that the holder has a receiving portion on the side opposite to the arm, and the case has a fall prevention portion that enters the receiving portion (claim 6).

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 show one embodiment of the push switch according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a push switch 1 has a push knob 3 made of a synthetic resin and protruding to the outside (visible side) through a character display plate 2 of a meter unit (not shown).
And a case 4 made of a synthetic resin or metal fixed on the back side of the character display plate 2 and covering the knob 3, and a coil spring (elastic member) for urging the knob 3 toward the character display plate 2 in the case 4 5, a synthetic resin holder 6 which is slidably engaged with the case 4 and holds the tip of the knob 3 inside, and a substantially U-shaped or J-shaped switch pressing provided integrally with the holder 6. Arm 7. The tip of the arm 7 is almost in contact with the switch 10 of the circuit board 9.

The knob 3 is formed, for example, in a straight columnar or arcuate shape, has a flange portion 12 for the character display plate 2 at an intermediate portion, and has a pair of left and right grooves (fitting portions) 13 at the tip end. Have. As shown in FIG.
Are cut out in the tangential direction at the outer peripheral portion of. The cross section of the groove 13 of this example is rectangular. The groove 13 is a knob 3
A short columnar head 16 is formed on the distal end side of the knob 3 adjacent to the groove 13, comprising an inner side surface 14 located in the longitudinal direction and a bottom surface 15 located in the radial direction.

The groove 13 of the knob 3 is slidably engaged with a pair of right and left protrusions (fitted portions) 17 of the holder 6 from right beside. The gap L between the pair of ridges 17 is formed to be slightly larger than the width across flats of the groove 13. The ridge 17 is formed in a rectangular shape in cross section in conformity with the groove 13, and has front and rear side surfaces 18 in the longitudinal direction of the holder 6 and a front end surface 19 facing each other.

Each ridge 17 is formed on the inner surface of both side walls 20 of the holder 6 so as to project in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the holder 6. The holder 6 is formed in a U-shaped cross section with the side walls 20 and the back wall 21, and an opening 23 for inserting the knob 3 is formed between the side walls 20. The side walls 20 and the back wall 21 are connected by a bottom wall 22. The width of the accommodation chambers 24 and 25 between the side walls 20 is formed slightly larger than the outer diameter of the knob 3, so that the tip side of the knob 3 can be held in the accommodation chambers 24 and 25 without play. The storage chambers 24 and 25 are divided into front and rear by a ridge 17.

A flexible arm 7 is provided on one side wall 20 of the holder 6. The arm 7 is composed of a long protruding portion 26 orthogonal to the side wall 20 and a short pressing portion 27 folded in a substantially U-shape from the protruding portion 26. The switch 10 of FIG. A hemispherical projection 8 for the push button 11 is formed. Note that the arm 7 may be formed integrally with the holder 6 using a synthetic resin, or the metal arm 7 may be provided separately on the synthetic resin holder 6,
It may be provided by integral molding.

As shown in FIG. 2, ribs (slide engagement portions) 28, 29 for sliding engagement with the case 4 of FIG. 1 are provided at the center of the outer side surfaces of the side walls 20 of the holder 6 and the center of the back wall 21.
Are formed in the longitudinal direction of the holder 6. Each rib 28,
29 is located in the front half of the holder 6 and the arm 7 is
It is located in the latter half. Here, the front means the direction of the character display board 2. The circuit board 9 of FIG.
Are provided. Protrusion 30
Can contact the surface (reference surface) 9a of the circuit board 9 when the switch of the arm 7 is pressed.

As shown in FIG. 1, the rib 28 of the holder 6 is slidably engaged with a slit portion (engaged portion) 31 of the case 4. The case 4 has at least both side walls 32 and a bottom wall 33.
The bottom wall 33 is provided with a hole 34 or a notch opening for knob insertion. The inner diameter of the hole 34 or the notch opening is formed slightly larger than the outer diameter of the knob 3. The coil spring 5 is extrapolated to the knob 3 and is elastically supported by the bottom wall 33 and the flange 12 on the front side of the knob 3. The flange 12 is in contact with the character display plate 2.

When the knob 3 in FIG. 1 is extended, the coil spring 5 is slightly compressed. The case 4 is fixed in a meter unit (not shown), and the knob 3 is urged by the coil spring 5 toward the character display plate 2 (pulling direction). As a result, the holder 6 is pulled toward the character display plate 2 and the front end face 36 of the holder 6 is pressed against the bottom wall 33 of the case 4 to prevent the holder 6 from coming out of the case 4. Thus, the arm 7 can be securely fixed to the knob 3 without using the conventional E-sleeve (FIG. 12).

A more detailed structural example of the push switch according to the present invention and its operation will be described below with reference to FIGS. This example is essentially the same as the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, but will be described using reference numerals different from those of FIGS.
Detailed description of the same parts as in the previous example is omitted.

FIG. 3 is a front view as viewed from the same direction as FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a front view as viewed from a direction of 90 ° with FIG. 3, and FIG. FIG. 3 to 6
(a) to (e) correspond to each other.

In FIG. 3A, the front end face 40 of the case 39 is shown.
Has an inclined surface so as to contact the curved front cover 41 of the meter unit. A wall portion 42 is extended to the rear end side of the case 39, and a slit portion 43 is formed in the wall portion 42 by the knob 4.
4 are formed along the axis. The open end of the slit portion 43 opens in a tapered shape, and the tapered portion 45
The ribs 47 on the holder 46 side of (b) are securely
I will guide you inside. The arm 48 is integrally formed crossing the rib 49 so that the bending rigidity of the arm 48 is improved.

In FIG. 3 (a), a guide plate (falling prevention portion) 50 extends perpendicularly to the wall portion 42 toward the tip end of the knob 44.
4 is formed to extend in parallel. In FIG. 3B, the holder 46 is used.
Is provided with a receiving portion 51 for the guide plate 50. The receiving portion 51 is located at the same height as the tip (projection) 52 of the arm 48. The structure of the receiving portion 51 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The reference surface 54a indicated by a chain line in FIG. 3 indicates the position of the surface of the circuit board 54.

In order to assemble the holder 46 shown in FIG. 3B with the knob 44, first, the knob 44 is set in the case 39 as shown in FIG. 3A, and is completely pushed toward the reference surface 54a as shown by an arrow A. The position of the tip of the knob 44 protrudes in the pushing direction from the reference surface 54a, that is, the surface of the circuit board 54. This is the point of the present invention.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3B, a holder 46 having an arm 48 is fitted to the outside of the knob 44 from a lateral direction (a direction perpendicular to the knob 44). Next, as shown in FIG.
4 is pulled back in the direction of arrow B, and the front half of the holder 46 is housed inside the case 39. Rib (slide engagement part)
47 and 49 are inserted into the respective slit portions (engaged portions) 43, the guide plate 50 enters the inside of the receiving portion 51, and the push switch 76 is easily assembled. In this state, the circuit board 54 is assembled as shown in FIG. Arm 48
Is in contact with the switch 55, but does not press the switch 55. Projection 56 at the tip of holder 46
Are located opposite the circuit board 54. The gap between the protrusion 56 and the circuit board 54 is set to be slightly larger than the stroke of the switch 55.

By pressing the knob 44 in the direction of arrow A as shown in FIG.
push. The protrusion 56 at the tip of the holder 46 contacts the circuit board 54. When the knob 44 is pushed down to the position shown in FIG. 3A, the holder 46 can be released as shown in FIG. 3B, but the pushing stroke of the knob 44 in FIG. The holder 46 is pressed against the case 39 with a sufficient biasing force of the coil spring (elastic member) 57 (FIG. 4E). Therefore, the holder 46 does not come off the knob 44 and the case 39. The switch 55 operates within a range of the pushing amount in which the holder 46 (arm 48) does not come off the knob 44.

The configuration and operation in FIGS. 4A to 4E will be described below. As shown in FIG. 4A, the coil spring 57 is most compressed when the knob 44 is pushed. The case 39 has a substantially U-shaped cross section, and has an opening 58 in the lateral direction. A coil spring 57 is housed in a housing chamber 59 in the first half of the case 39. As shown in FIG. 4B, a ridge (fitted portion) 61 of the holder 46 is slidably fitted from just beside into a groove (fitted portion) 60 on the tip end side of the knob 44, and the holder 46 is
4 is fixed immovably in the longitudinal direction. By raising the knob 44 as shown in FIG. 4C or releasing the hand after stopping the pushing of the knob 44, the holder 46 is automatically moved into the accommodation chamber 62 in the latter half of the case 39 with the restoring force of the coil spring 57. Approach. In this example, the flange portion 63 of the knob 44 has another member fixed to the knob 44. The flange 63 is the case 39
And slides the knob 44 straight without tilting. A coil spring 5 is provided in the accommodation chamber 59 in the first half.
A rib 64 for centering 7 is formed.

4 (c) and 4 (d), the coil spring 57 is slightly compressed, and the urging force of the coil spring 57 pulls the holder 46 up to the case 39.
Thereby, the front end face 65 of the holder 46 is in contact with the bottom wall 66 of the case 39. In the case 39, the flange 63 (FIG. 4)
(c)) is in contact with a stopper (not shown).

As shown in FIG. 4E, the holder 46 is slidably engaged with the case 39, and when the knob 44 is pressed, the holder 46 projects along the case 39 toward the circuit board 54. With the protrusion 56 of the holder 46 in contact with the circuit board 54, the coil spring 57 is compressed by about half. When the knob 44 is released, the knob 44 returns to the original position by the urging force of the coil spring 57.

The construction and operation in FIGS. 5A to 5E will be described below. In FIG. 5A, reference numeral 48 denotes an arm, 49 denotes a rib, 39 denotes a case, and 67 denotes a slit in the side wall 68. In this example, the knob 44 is not circular in cross section, but has an arcuate cross section in which a part of the circumference is notched in a plane in the longitudinal direction. The groove 60 of the knob 44 continues to the flat surface 69. With the knob 44 fully pushed down, the holder 46 can be
4 toward the flat surface 69. FIG. 5B shows a state in which the holder 46 is assembled to the knob 44 as shown in FIG.
As shown in (c), the knob 44 is pulled up, and the holder 46 enters the case 39 and is held. The circuit board 5 in FIG.
4 is assembled, and the knob 44 is pressed in FIG. 5E, so that the projection 56 of the holder 46 comes into contact with the circuit board 54.

The configuration and operation in FIGS. 6A to 6E will be described below. As shown in FIG. 6A, the case 39 has a support wall 70.
To a meter unit (not shown). 6B, the holder 46 is attached to the knob 44 with the knob 44 pushed in, and the knob 44 is pulled in FIG. 6C, the rib 47 slides into the slit 43, and the holder 46 is Incorporated in The circuit board 54 is assembled in FIG. 6D, and the knob 44 is pressed in FIG. 6E, and the holder 46 moves toward the circuit board 54 integrally with the arm 48 (FIG. 6A).

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 3 (d). The receiving portion 51 of the holder 46 is bent in an L-shape to have a substantially hook shape. That is, the receiving portion 51 is
A support portion 72 projecting at right angles from a side wall 71 of the support member;
Pressing portion 7 bent from 2 and extending parallel to side wall 71
3 is comprised. The support portion 72 is slidably engaged with the slit portion 74 of the guide plate 50 of the case 39. Thus, the holder 46 is fixed immovably in the width direction of the guide plate 50 without play. Further, since the holding portion 73 comes into contact with the surface of the guide plate 50 and holds the guide plate 50 between the side wall 71 of the holder 46 and the holding portion 73, the holder 46
Are fixed immovably in the thickness direction of the guide plate 50 without play.

8 and 9 (BB of FIG. 8).
In the push switch 77 in which the receiving portion 75 for the guide plate 86 is formed of a simple rib as in the example of the cross-sectional view, the occurrence of the inclination θ of the holder 79 when the switch 78 of FIG. 10 is operated is prevented. The holder 79 falls over the arm 8
When the leading end of the “0” contacts the switch 78, the holder 79
This is caused by the fact that the projection 81 at the front end of the contact has not yet contacted the circuit board 82. The holder 79 falls down so as to rotate about the rib 83, and the position of the receiving portion 51 in the embodiment of FIG. 7 is changed to the holder 46 as shown in FIG.
, That is, at least at the same height as the distal end 52 of the arm 48.

In FIG. 7, a knob 4 having a circular arc (dominant arc) cross section is shown.
4 is a plan view of the back surface 84 of the holder 46 having a U-shaped cross section.
And the arcuate surfaces 85 on both sides are brought into contact with the inner surfaces of both side walls 71 of the holder 46, and are firmly fixed to the holder 46 without backlash or misalignment.

In each of the above embodiments, a spring member having another shape or an elastic body other than the coil springs 5 and 57 can be used as the elastic member. In addition, holders 6, 4
6 and other portions other than the tip portion are mounted on the circuit boards 9 and 54.
It is also possible to contact the surface of other members (reference surface 54a). Further, it is also possible to provide protrusions (17, 61) on the knobs 3 and 44 side as fitting portions, and to provide concave portions such as grooves (13, 60) on the holder 6 and 46 sides as fitting portions. In addition, the holder 6, as the slide engagement portion,
The slits (31, 43) are provided on the 46 side, and the case 4,
On the 39 side, ribs (28, 29, 47, 4) as engaged portions
It is also possible to provide 9). References in parentheses are for reference. Further, a plate member similar to the guide plate 50 is used as the receiving portion 51, and the fall prevention portion (50) is used.
Alternatively, a hook-shaped member or a frame-shaped member similar to the receiving portion 51 can be used. However, it is preferable that the receiving portion 51 is located on the distal end side of the holder 46.

[0034]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, by fitting the knob into the holder, the arm and the knob can be easily and reliably connected without using a fixing member such as a conventional E-sleeve. Can be fixed. As a result, the troublesome man-hour for assembling the E-sleeve and the cost of parts are reduced. According to the second and third aspects of the present invention, when the arm completely presses the switch, the holder is firmly held in the case by the urging force of the elastic member. Is prevented. According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the knob (holder) can be assembled to the holder (knob) from right beside, it is easy and reliable without being disturbed by components such as a circuit board and a switch in the meter unit. Can be assembled. Thereby, assembling workability is improved. According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the holder is assembled to the knob in a state where the knob is pushed in the pressing operation direction, and the knob is pulled back in the opposite direction. , While being securely positioned, and easily incorporated into the case in a sliding manner. The incorporation of the holder into the case can be automatically performed using the biasing force of the elastic member. Thus, the workability of assembling the holder and the case is improved. According to the sixth aspect of the invention, even when a twisting force is applied to the holder when the arm offset to the holder presses the switch, the fall prevention portion is engaged in the receiving portion. The holder and the knob are prevented from falling down, and a smooth and reliable switch operation becomes possible. Thereby, the operability and operation feeling of the push switch are improved, and wear of the knob, the holder, and the case is prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating one embodiment of a push switch according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a state where a knob and a holder of a push switch are assembled.

FIGS. 3A to 3E are front views sequentially showing another embodiment of the push switch and an assembled state thereof.

FIGS. 4A to 4E are cross-sectional views corresponding to FIGS. 3A to 3E.

FIGS. 5A to 5E are side views sequentially showing an assembled state of the push switch.

6 (a) to 6 (e) are cross-sectional views corresponding to FIGS. 5 (a) to 5 (e).

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 3 (d).

FIG. 8 is a front view showing another embodiment of the push switch.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a front view showing a problem of the push switch of FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a front view showing a conventional example (a part is cross-sectional view).
It is.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view showing a conventional arm fixing means.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1,76 Push switch 3,44 Knob 4,39 Case 5,57 Coil spring (elastic member) 6,46 Holder 7,48 Arm 9a, 54a Reference surface 13,60 Groove (fitting portion) 17,61 Fitting portions) 28, 29, 47, 49 Ribs (slide engaging portions) 31, 43, 67 Slit portions (engaged portions) 50 Guide plates (fall-over preventing portions) 51 Receiving portions

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A pressing knob urged in a projecting direction by an elastic member, a holder connected to the knob, a switch pressing arm provided on the holder, and a supporting member for supporting the elastic member. And a case for engaging the holder. 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein when the switch is pressed by the arm, the holder comes into contact with a reference surface, and at that time, the holder is pressed against the case by the urging force of the elastic member. Push switch. 3. The push switch according to claim 2, wherein the knob can protrude from the reference surface in the knob pressing direction, and the holder is assembled to the knob in a protruding state. 4. The push switch according to claim 1, wherein the knob has a fitting portion in a direction perpendicular to the axis, and the holder has a fitting portion with respect to the fitting portion. . 5. The holder according to claim 1, wherein the holder has a slide engaging portion in the axial direction, and the case has a portion to be engaged with the slide engaging portion. The described push switch. 6. The holder according to claim 1, wherein the holder has a receiving portion on a side opposite to the arm, and the case has a fall prevention portion that enters the receiving portion. Push switch described in.