JP2001043945A - Fluorescent lamp socket having interlock switch - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To properly move a contact piece to be pushed in by an interlock button, thereby to abut contacts on each other in a stable condition, to improve reliability as a product and to improve its assembly workability. SOLUTION: An interlock button 3 movable forward and backward and pushed in by the base part of a fluorescent lamp 1 is provided. A switch of which contacts 5, 7 are closed and opened by the forward and backward movement of the interlock button 3 is provided. A contact piece 4 for holding the one contact 5 in a swingable manner is provided. A button receiving part 8 is formed on the contact piece 4. An engaging projection 31 engaging with the button receiving part 8 is formed at a tip part of the interlock button 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fluorescent lamp socket with an interlock switch, comprising an interlock button which can be pushed and retracted by a base portion of a fluorescent lamp, and a switch which opens and closes a contact when the interlock button advances and retreats. It is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional fluorescent lamp socket with an interlock switch will be described. In the conventional product, the main part of the contact piece is pushed by the tip of the interlock button pushed in by the base part of the fluorescent lamp, and the contact of the contact piece comes into contact with another contact opposite thereto to realize the interlock.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned conventional product, the interlock button may be inclined obliquely, and the main part of the contact piece may not be pushed properly. Also, when assembling the fluorescent lamp socket, it takes a lot of work to align the center of the tip of the interlock button with the contact piece, or to confirm it.
Impairs productivity. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to improve the reliability of a product by allowing a contact piece pushed by an interlock button to move appropriately, thereby making contact between contacts in a stable state. Another object is to improve the assemblability.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprises an interlock button which can be pushed and retracted by a base of a fluorescent lamp. A switch is provided for opening and closing the contact according to the movement of the interlock button. A contact piece for holding one of the contact points so as to swing freely is provided. A button receiver is provided on the contact piece.
An engagement projection is provided at the tip of the interlock button to engage with the button receiving portion. By doing so, the interlock button and the contact piece are appropriately brought into contact with each other, so that a stable switch operation can be performed, and the number of man-hours for alignment or confirmation thereof is not required.

[0005]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A description will be given with reference to FIGS. The illustrated fluorescent lamp socket with an interlock switch according to the present invention includes an interlock button 3 which can be pushed and retracted by a base of the fluorescent lamp 1. Interlock button 3
A switch is provided for opening and closing the contacts 5 and 7 by the forward and backward movement of the contact.
A contact piece 4 for holding one contact 5 swingably is provided.
A button receiving portion 8 is provided on the contact piece 4. An engagement protrusion 31 that engages with the button receiving portion 8 is provided at the tip of the interlock button 3.

The structure and the like will be supplemented. The interlock button 3 is mounted on the socket body 2 so as to be able to advance and retreat. There is a slit 11 on the entire wall of the socket body 2, into which the shaft of the interlock button 3 is loosely inserted. The advance / retreat is a direction approaching the fluorescent lamp 1, and the retreat is a direction away from the fluorescent lamp 1. The switch between the contacts 5 and 7 is turned off when moving forward, and the switch is turned on when moving backward. There is a pair of pin receiving portions 10 sandwiching the slit 11 on the entire wall of the socket body 2, and receives the connection pins 19 on the end face of the base of the fluorescent lamp 1 there. The interlock button 3 is urged forward by the conductive plate 9 or the like. There is a contact piece 6 in addition to the contact piece 4, and both face each other. The contact piece 4 is on the movable side and the contact piece 6 is on the fixed side. Both are spring materials fixed on one side, and there are contacts 5.7 on their free ends. The contacts 5 and 7 constitute a normally-open switch that is opened unless the interlock button 3 is pressed. The conductive plate 9 is in electrical contact with the connection pin 19 at the pin receiving portion 10. Wiring (not shown) is provided on the conductive plate 9. The button receiving portion 8 in the illustrated example is a guide hole. A concave portion instead of the guide hole may be used. The guide hole 8 is so small that the engaging projection 31 cannot be pulled through. A part of the roundness of the tip of the engaging projection 31 hits the edge of the guide hole 8.
The guide hole 8 prevents the tip of the engagement protrusion 31 from coming off the center of the guide hole 8. When the fluorescent lamp 1 is mounted, the interlock button 3 which retreats when pushed by the engagement projection 31 also retreats around the guide hole 8. The periphery of the guide hole 8 holds the engagement protrusion 31 while retreating, and prevents the engagement protrusion 31 from shifting in the radial direction of the guide hole 8. The same effect is obtained when the button receiving portion 8 is not a guide hole but a concave portion.

As will be described before and after, the interlock circuit including the contacts 5 and 6 generally has a metal reflector or the like on the front side of the fluorescent lamp socket. Used when there is a risk of ground fault by touching a board or the like. The interlock circuit closes when the fluorescent lamp 1 is normally mounted, and energizes a lighting device (not shown) for the fluorescent lamp 1. Interlock button 3 when assembling fluorescent lamp socket with interlock switch
When the engagement protrusion 31 and the button receiving portion 8 are engaged, disengagement is unlikely to occur, visual confirmation of the engagement state is easy, and the number of work steps is reduced. In addition, since it is hard to come off, reliability is improved.

[0008]

According to the present invention, the engaging projection of the interlock button is held in the button receiving portion, and the interlock button or the engaging projection is prevented from being displaced from the center of the button receiving portion. For this reason, the reliability as an interlock switch improves. Further, it is easy to visually confirm the engagement and the engagement at the time of assembling the fluorescent lamp socket, which contributes to a reduction in the number of assembling steps.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a lamp socket according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a rear sectional view showing the internal structure of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view showing the usage state.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing a main part thereof.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Fluorescent lamp 2: Socket body 3: Interlock button 4: Contact piece 5: Contact 7: Contact 8: Button receiving portion 31: Engagement protrusion

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A contact piece comprising an interlock button which can be pushed and retracted by a base portion of a fluorescent lamp, a switch which opens and closes a contact when the interlock button is advanced and retracted, and a contact piece which holds one of the contacts in a swingable manner. Wherein a button receiving portion is provided on the contact piece, and an engaging protrusion for engaging with the button receiving portion is provided at a tip of the interlock button.