JP2001266707A - Lever switch apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate backlash caused by a gap between an operating lever and a moderation piece. SOLUTION: An inside edge face of a hole 19 of the moderation piece 18 is formed into an inclined surface 27 (a buckling-imparting means), which an end part of a spring 17 for urging the moderation piece 18 in a projected direction are contacted. A biased load is applied to the spring 17 corresponding to the inclination and the spring 17 is buckled, and by the buckling of the spring 17, the moderation piece 18 is inclined and the tip side base and the side thereof are contacted with the operating lever 13. Thereby, the gap between the operating lever 13 and the moderation piece 18 is eliminated, and the backlashes cased by the gap are eliminated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a lever switch device having an improved moderation mechanism.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a lever switch device used for various operations of a vehicle such as an automobile, as shown in FIG. 8, an operation lever 1 is pivotally supported by a shaft 2 so as to be rotatable vertically in the drawing. ing. A hole 3 is formed in a portion of the operation lever 1 opposite to the operation portion 1a side, and a spring 4 and a moderation piece 5 are incorporated into the hole 3 so that the moderation piece 5 is operated by the spring 4. It is urged in a direction protruding from the lever 1. A moderation valley 6a is provided ahead of the protruding direction, and a moderation valley 6a
The detent portions 6 having b and 6c are provided in a fixed state.

In this configuration, when the operation lever 1 is turned in either the up or down direction in the figure, the detent piece 5 moves from the detent valley 6a to the detent ridge 6b or the detent ridge 6c while compressing the spring 4, The resistance caused thereby gives a moderation to the rotation of the operation lever 1. A switch body (not shown) responds to the rotation of the operation lever 1.

[0004]

In the case of the above construction, the hole 3 of the operating lever 1 has to be formed somewhat larger in diameter than the moderation piece 5 because the moderation piece 5 is incorporated. For this reason, there is a gap C between the hole 3 of the operation lever 1 and the moderation piece 5, and the operation lever 1 is said to rattle as shown by arrows A and B in FIG. Had problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a lever switch device capable of eliminating rattling of an operation lever caused by a gap between the operation lever and a moderation piece. To offer.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a lever switch device according to the present invention includes a base, an operation lever rotatably provided on the base, and an operation lever for turning the operation lever. A switch body that responds, a detent piece incorporated in the operating lever so as to be able to protrude and retract, a spring that urges the detent piece in a projecting direction, and a detent piece that is urged by the spring to rotate the operating lever. And a detent part which contacts and gives moderation to the rotation of the operation lever, wherein the detent piece or the operation lever is seated on at least one end of the spring or at a part where the end of the spring is in contact. A buckling imparting means for buckling is provided.

According to this structure, the moderating piece is inclined and comes into contact with the operation lever on the distal end side and the proximal end side due to the buckling of the spring. As a result, the gap between the operation lever and the moderation piece is eliminated, and the play of the operation lever caused by the clearance is eliminated.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. First, FIG. 3 shows an entire configuration of a lever switch device used for, for example, cruise control of a vehicle such as an automobile.
It has a base 11. The base 11 has a hollow portion 12 that becomes deeper from the right side to the left side in the drawing, and a portion on the left side in the drawing is inserted into the hollow portion 12 from the portion having the shaft 14 of the operation lever 13. .

The shaft 14 of the operating lever 13 is provided on both sides of the operating lever 13 in a direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 3 and is formed on both sides of the hollow portion 12 of the base body 11. The operation lever 13 is pivotally supported so as to be rotatable vertically about the shaft 14 in the drawing. The operating portion 13a of the operating lever 13 is located on the opposite side to the portion inserted into the hollow portion 12 of the base 11, and is located outside the base 11.

A hole 16 is formed in the portion of the operation lever 13 inserted into the hollow portion 12 from the end face to a portion near the shaft 14. A spring 17 is accommodated in the hole 16 and a moderation piece 18 is further formed. It is housed so that it can appear. In this case, the spring 17 is a compression coil spring, and urges the moderation piece 18 in a direction protruding from the hole 16 by the spring force (elastic force) of the spring 17.

On the other hand, the detent piece 18 has a cylindrical shape and has a hole 19 on the spring 17 side for accommodating most of the spring 17, and an outer surface on the opposite side to the hole 19.
It has a spherical portion 20 and a convex portion 21 protruding from the center of the spherical portion 20. On the other hand, a moderation block 22 is provided in a fixed state at the back of the hollow portion 12 of the base 11. The moderation block 22 is provided with the moderation piece 18.
Has a concave spherical portion 23 in contact with the spherical portion 20 as a moderating portion.

Here, the concave spherical portion 23 of the moderation block 22
Has the largest distance from its center to the shaft 14 of the operation lever 13 and is vertically movable (the shaft 14 of the operation lever 13).
(The direction of rotation about the center), the distance to the shaft 14 becomes smaller as it goes to both sides.
In response to the displacement of the spherical portion 20 of the moderation piece 18 due to the rotation of the operation lever 13 about the axis 14, the center portion functions as a moderation valley, and both upper and lower sides in the figure function as moderation peaks. I have.

A hole 24 through which the protrusion 21 of the detent piece 18 movably passes is formed in a deep portion of the hollow portion 12 of the base 11, and a switch (a left side in the drawing) is provided in front of the hole 24. A main body 25 is provided. This switch body 25
Is composed of a movable contact 25a and a plurality of fixed contacts 25b which come into contact with and separate from each other by sliding. Of these, the movable contact 25a is fitted to the protrusion 21 of the moderation piece 18 so as to be movable in the axial direction, and is fixed. Contact 25
b is buried in the insulator 26 with its surface exposed, and the insulator 26 is attached to the base 11.

In this configuration, when the operation lever 13 is turned in the up or down direction in the figure, the detent piece 18 compresses the spring 17 while the concave spherical portion 2 of the detent block 22 is compressed.
The moderation valley 3 moves from the moderation valley to the moderation hill and comes into contact with the moderation valley. At this time, the convex portion 21 of the moderation piece 18 causes the switch body 2
In response, the movable contact 25a is moved in one of the upper and lower directions in the figure, whereby the contact of the movable contact 25a with the fixed contact 25b is switched, and the switch is switched.

The timing at which the switches of the switch body 25 are switched coincides with the timing at which the rotation of the operation lever 13 is moderated. When the operation of the operation lever 13 is released when the moderation is given by the moderation peak of the concave spherical portion 23 of the moderation block 22, the spring 17 returns the moderation piece 18 to the moderation valley, thereby automatically returning. Has become.

FIG. 2 shows the moderation piece 18 alone in detail, and the hole 19 of the moderation piece 18 has an inclined end surface 27 at the back end surface. Further, FIG. 1 shows in detail a portion of the operation lever 13 in which the spring 17 and the moderation piece 18 are assembled, and the back end face of the hole 19 of the moderation piece 18 is the inclined surface 27 as described above. Accordingly, the spring 17 is subjected to an eccentric load according to the inclination and buckled. Therefore, the inclined surface 27 of the hole 19 of the moderation piece 18 functions as a buckling imparting means for buckling the spring 17.

However, due to the buckling of the spring 17,
The moderation piece 18 is tilted, and in this case, the lower part on the distal side (left side in the figure) and the upper part in this case on the proximal side (right side)
It is in contact with the inner surface of the hole 16, that is, the operation lever 13. As described above, in this configuration, the spring 17 buckles in accordance with the inclination of the inclined surface 27 of the hole 19 of the moderation piece 18, so that the moderation piece 18 is inclined and comes into contact with the operation lever 13 on the distal end side and the proximal end side. This eliminates the gap between the operation lever 13 and the moderation piece 18, so that the operation lever 13 does not rattle due to the gap.

4 to 7 show the second to fifth embodiments of the present invention. The same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description will be made. Omitted, and only different parts are described.

[Second Embodiment] In the second embodiment shown in FIG. 4, a step 31 is formed at the deep end of the hole 19 of the detent piece 18 as buckling applying means instead of the above-mentioned inclined surface 27. ing. Even in this case, since the spring 17 is buckled by the imbalanced load as described above, the detent piece 18
Is tilted to eliminate a gap between the control lever 13 and the control lever 13, and the play of the control lever 13 can be eliminated.

[Third Embodiment] In the third embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the back end face of the hole 16 of the operation lever 13 is formed as an inclined surface 41 as buckling imparting means instead of the above-mentioned step portion 31. Even in this case, since the spring 17 is subjected to the eccentric load in the same manner as described above and buckles, the moderation piece 18 is inclined to eliminate a gap between the operation lever 13 and the rattle of the operation lever 13. Can be.

In this case, the hole 16 of the operation lever 13 is
Instead of the inclined surface 41, a step similar to the step 31 described above may be formed at the far end. Further, the inclined surface or the step portion (buckling imparting means) may be provided on not only one of the moderation piece 18 and the operation lever 13 but also both of them.

[Fourth Embodiment] In a fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 6, as a buckling imparting means which replaces the above-mentioned inclined surface 41, a detent piece side end 51a of a spring 51 and an operation lever side end 51b. Are formed in a contrasting oblique shape. Even in this case, the spring 51 is buckled by the biased load similarly to the above, so that the detent piece 18 is inclined to eliminate the gap between the operation lever 13 and the rattle of the operation lever 13. Can be. In this case, the oblique configuration of the spring 51 is such that the detent piece side end 5
1a and the operation lever side end 51b may be applied to only one of them.

[Fifth Embodiment] In a fifth embodiment shown in FIG. 7, a buckling imparting means which replaces the above-mentioned oblique structure of the spring 51 is provided with a moderating piece side end and an operating lever side end of a spring 61. And the protrusions 61a and 61, respectively.
b is formed. Even in this case, the spring 61
However, as described above, since the eccentric load is applied and the buckling is performed, the moderation piece 18 is inclined to eliminate the gap between the operation lever 13 and the backlash of the operation lever 13 can be eliminated.
In this case as well, the projecting portions 61a, 6
1b may form only one of them.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above and shown in the drawings. In particular, the entire lever switch device is not limited to the one used for a cruise control of a vehicle such as an automobile. The present invention can be appropriately modified and implemented without departing from the gist, for example, it can be applied to those used for other purposes.

[0025]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the lever switch device of the present invention, the detent piece or the operating lever is provided with the spring at a portion where the end of the spring is in contact, or at least one end of the spring. By providing the buckling imparting means for buckling, there is an excellent effect that rattling of the operation lever due to the gap between the operation lever and the moderation piece can be eliminated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a moderation piece alone.

FIG. 3 is a cutaway front view of the entire lever switch device.

FIG. 4 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2, showing a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a partial longitudinal sectional view of an operation lever showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of a spring according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention, with a part thereof omitted;

FIG. 7 is a side view, partially omitted, of a spring according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic cutaway front view of the entire lever switch device showing a conventional example.

FIG. 9 is a schematic cutaway front view showing a rattling state of the entire lever switch device.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 is a base, 13 is an operation lever, 17 is a spring, 1
8 is a moderation piece, 23 is a concave spherical portion (moderation portion) of a moderation block, 25 is a switch body, 27 is an inclined surface (buckling imparting means), 31 is a step (buckling imparting means), and 41 is an inclined surface (buckling imparting means). Buckling imparting means), 51 denotes a spring, 51a and 51b denote slanted ends of the spring (buckling imparting means), 61 denotes a spring, and 61a and 61b denote projecting portions of the spring (buckling imparting means).

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A base, an operation lever rotatably provided on the base, a switch body responsive to the rotation of the operation lever, a detent piece incorporated in the operation lever so as to be able to protrude and retract, A spring for urging the detent piece in a protruding direction, and a detent part which comes into contact with the detent piece urged by the spring as the operation lever rotates to give detent to the rotation of the operation lever. The lever switch device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a buckling imparting means for buckling the spring at a portion of each of the detent piece and the operation lever where an end of the spring contacts, or at least one end of the spring.