JP2002190235A - Slide operation type switch - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To rationally constitute a slide operation type switch with a small number of parts and where assembly is easy even when made small. SOLUTION: In the device, an X slider 40 and a Y slider 50 are contained in a case 30 so that each can be freely slid in directions that are orthogonal by the operation of a key top 1, a spring body 60 constituted from a loop shaped conductive material that is pressure welded to edge parts of each slider 40 and 50 so that each slider 40 and 50 are energized to a neutral position is provided, a shared contact point 4 which is conducted to the spring body 60 is provided in a corner part of a side-wall 32 of the case 30 and a detecting contact point 5 that is brought into contact with the spring body 60 when the sliders 40 and 50 are activated is provided on an inner surface of the sidewall 32.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a slide member accommodated slidably with respect to a case, an urging member for urging the slide member to a neutral position, and a urging force against the urging force of the urging member. More specifically, the present invention relates to a technology for simplifying the structure, comprising a slide operation type switch having a conduction portion that reaches an electric conduction state when a slide member is operated.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-302576 discloses a slide-operated switch configured as described above. In this conventional technique, four elastically deformable switches are provided inside a case. By providing a slider in a state sandwiched between the four elongated contacts, the slider is operably supported in the cross direction while the slider is held in a non-operating state. It is configured to be held in a neutral position. When the slider is operated, the elongated contact piece is elastically deformed and comes into contact with the fixed contact, so that the operating state can be electrically detected. Further, as a similar technique, there is one disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 59-25138,
In this conventional technique, an operating element that can be operated in a cross direction is provided, and four movable contacts that contact the operating element and hold the operating element at a neutral position, and are arranged at positions facing the movable contacts. When the operating element is operated, the movable contact is elastically deformed and comes into contact with the fixed contact to reach a conductive state, so that the operating state can be electrically detected. A similar description is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-235.
In this conventional technique, a disc-shaped or annular common contact is operably supported via an operation knob, and can be contacted when the common contact is deformed. By arranging the position contact at the position, when the operation knob is operated, the common contact and the position contact come into contact with each other, so that the operation state can be electrically detected.

[0003]

This type of switch is required to be miniaturized, and at the same time, has a viewpoint of facilitating assembly,
Simplification of the structure is required from the viewpoint of cost reduction. However, considering the first configuration of the prior art, the use of four elongated contact pieces tends to increase the number of parts and to assemble easily. In addition, the structure is simple when considering the second configuration of the prior art.
Since it has two movable contacts, it is easy to take time for assembly. Therefore, considering the third configuration of the prior art, it is considered that the number of components is small and the size can be easily reduced. However, since this configuration requires an insulating boss for determining the position of the common contact, the number of components is increased, and a favorable surface is impaired.

An object of the present invention is to rationally construct a slide-operated switch which has a small number of parts and is easy to assemble even if it is downsized.

[0005]

The features, functions and effects of the slide switch according to the first aspect of the present invention are as follows. [Features] A slide member accommodated slidably with respect to the case, an urging member for urging the slide member to a neutral position, and a case where the slide member is operated against the urging force of the urging member. Wherein the case has a bottom wall slidably supporting the slide member, and a side wall rising from the bottom wall. The biasing member, a contact portion contacting the side wall,
A loop having a pressing portion in contact with the slide member, or a spring formed of a conductor formed into a loop having an open part, and a common contact contacting a contact portion of the spring is formed in the case. And, when the pressing portion of the spring body is displaced to the side wall side due to the operation of the slide member, the pressing portion, or, provided in the case, a detection contact that comes into contact with the spring body at a position near the pressing portion, When the slide member is operated, the conductive portion is configured to make the common contact and the detection contact conductive via the spring body.

According to the above feature, since the biasing means is constituted by a single spring body formed in a loop shape, the number of parts is smaller than that using a plurality of spring bodies. Not only reduction is possible, but also handling during assembly becomes easy. Further, the posture of the spring body can be determined by the spring body coming into contact with the side wall of the case. The spring body is made of a conductor, and is kept in a conductive state with the common contact by being in contact with the common contact. The pressing portion of the spring body or the position near the pressing portion is detected by the operation of the slide member. When the contact is made, the detection contact and the common contact are brought into conduction through the spring body, so that this operation can be electrically detected. As a result, a slide-operated switch that has a small number of parts and is easy to assemble even if it is reduced in size is rationally configured by improving the degree to which the spring body is formed into a loop shape.

The features, functions and effects of the slide operation type switch according to the second aspect of the present invention are as follows. [Features] In the slide operation type switch of claim 1,
A pair of the slide members is provided, each of which is slidably movable in a direction orthogonal to each other, and is operably supported at two positions sandwiching a neutral position, and pressing portions of the spring body are provided at both ends of each slide member. The point is that they are pressed against each other.

According to the above-mentioned features, the spring members are pressed against both ends of the respective slide members, so that the respective slide members are held at the neutral position by the urging force from the spring members, and the neutral position is maintained. When any one of the slide members is operated from the position, the pressing portion of the spring body linearly moves integrally with the end of the slide member with the movement of the slide member, and the pressing portion of the spring body is moved. Alternatively, a predetermined portion near the pressing portion comes into contact with the detection contact. As a result, each slide member is stably held at the neutral position, and the operation is reliably detected.

The features, functions and effects of the slide operation type switch according to claim 3 of the present invention are as follows. [Features] In the slide operation type switch of claim 2,
The case is configured to include the bottom wall having a square shape, and the four side walls standing upright from an end of the bottom wall, and the common contact is disposed at four corners of an inner surface of the side wall. And (4) the detection contacts are arranged on the inner surfaces of the four side walls.

According to the above features, the spring body comes into contact with the corner of the inner surface of the side wall, so that the posture of the entire spring body is determined, and when a force acts on the spring body with the movement of the slide member. In this case, since the spring body makes strong contact with the common contact located on the lower side in the direction in which the force is applied, poor conduction does not occur. As a result, operations in directions orthogonal to each other can be reliably detected.

The features, functions and effects of the slide operation type switch according to claim 4 of the present invention are as follows. [Features] The slide operation type switch according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the spring body is formed by bending a piano wire.

[Operation / Effect] According to the above feature, since the spring body is formed by bending and forming the piano wire, not only the structure is simplified, but also the material cost can be reduced. as a result,
A slide-operated switch was constructed at a lower cost.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in the non-operation state, the key top 1 is held at the neutral position N (non-operation position), and based on the neutral position N, the key top 1 is moved in the X direction. It is supported so as to be slidable in a direction perpendicular to the Y direction and a direction combining these directions,
Also, the key top 1 has been operated to any one of four operation positions, that is, the operation positions at both ends in the X direction and the operation positions at both ends in the Y direction, and the key top 1 has been synthesized in the X direction and the Y direction. A slide operation type switch SW that can electrically detect that the switch has been operated (in the middle direction between X and Y) is configured.

The slide switch SW is provided in a remote controller for home appliances, a mobile phone, a controller for a game machine, or the like. A panel 2 such as a home appliance is disposed between the top 1 and the support case A. The structure of the slide operation type switch SW will be described below.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the supporting case A is made of resin and has a square bottom wall 31;
An X slider 40 as a slide member slidably supported in the X direction along the bottom wall 31 of the case 30
A Y-slider 50 as a slide member, which is slidably supported in the Y-direction along the bottom wall 31 of the case 30 in a posture orthogonal to the X-direction in a state of being superposed on the X-slider 40; A loop-shaped spring body 60 is provided as an urging member for urging the Y-slider 50 and the Y-slider 50 to the neutral position, and the upper surface is closed by the cover 3. An opening 3A is formed in the cover 3, and an engaging piece 1A protruding from the lower surface of the key top 1 is inserted into the opening 3A. The engaging piece 1A is connected to the X slider 40 and the Y slider 50, respectively. Through the engaging holes 41 and 51 formed in the hole.

The X-slider 40 and the Y-slider 50 are respectively provided with the engaging holes 41 and 51 at the center positions, and protrude outward at both ends in the width direction. A pair of guide pieces 42 and 52 that are in contact with the inner surface side (the upper side in FIGS. 2 and 3) of the bottom wall 31 of the case 30 are formed. The engagement piece 1A is formed in a rectangular cross section so as not to cause the inconvenience of rotation of the key top 1. Further, both the X slider 40 and the Y slider 50 are in the neutral position as shown in FIG. When the key top 1 is located at N, the key top 1 is located at the neutral position N.

The case 30 includes the bottom wall 31 and four side walls 32 standing upright from the end of the bottom wall 31.
And positioning holes 3B projecting from four corners of the cover 3
The bottom wall 31 has an opening 34 for guiding a projecting piece protruding from the lower surface 43 of the X slider 40 and an opening 35 for guiding the Y slider 50. A regulating pin 36 for determining the position of the spring body 60 is formed near the inner corner of the side wall 32. A common contact 4 made of a good conductor such as a copper alloy is provided at an inner corner portion of the side wall 32, and a detection contact 5 made of a good conductor such as a copper alloy is provided at a central position in the longitudinal direction of each side wall 32. Have. Further, an external common terminal 4T electrically connected to the common contact 4 is protruded outside the case, and an external detection terminal 5T electrically connected to each detection contact 5 is protruded outside the case.

The spring body 60 is formed by bending a wire made of a piano wire as an example of a conductor so as to protrude outward from the center position of the loop in a tapered shape, and to extend to the corner of the inner surface of the case. And a pressing portion 62 that gently curves so as to protrude toward the center of the loop and contacts both ends of the X slider 40 and the Y slider 50. A pressing part contact 63 having a shape in which a position facing the detection contact 5 at an intermediate position of the pressing part 62 slightly protrudes outward from the center of the loop, and is formed into a partially open loop shape. Have been. Also, the common contact 4 and the spring body 60
The contact portion 63 of the spring body 60 and the detection contact 5 constitute a conducting portion in a system that reaches a conducting state when the sliders 40 and 50 operate. It is to be noted that the piano wire can be used as it is, but as a preferred embodiment, it is plated with gold. By applying such gold plating, high conductive performance can be maintained for a long time.

Then, the slide operation type switch SW
When the key top 1 is in a non-operation state, that is, when the key top 1 is at the neutral position N, as shown in FIGS.
Each of the sliders 50 is maintained at the non-operation position (neutral position N). In this state, the pressing contact 63 formed on the spring body 60 and the detection contact 5 are separated from each other. The contact 4 is maintained in a non-conductive state. Next, when the key top 1 is operated in the direction X from the neutral position N, as shown in FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b), the X slider 40 resists the urging force of the spring body 60 to open the opening 34. Linearly slides along one side to one operating end, and the pressing contact 63 of the spring body 60 comes into contact with the detecting contact 5, and the detecting contact 5 reaches a conductive state with the common contact 4, and as a result, in this direction, The operation can be electrically detected. When the key top 1 is operated from the neutral position N in a direction in which the X direction and the Y direction are combined, FIG.
As shown in (a) and (b), the X slider 40 slides along the opening 34 against the urging force of the spring body 60 as described above, and at the same time, the Y slider 50
As a result of sliding along the opening 35 against the urging force of 0, the two pressing contact points 63 come into contact with the detection contacts 5, and each of the detection contacts 5 reaches a conductive state with the common contact 4, and as a result, in this direction, The operation can be electrically detected.

As described above, the slide operation type switch SW of the present invention includes a pair of sliders 40 and 50 that operate linearly and a spring body 60 made of a loop-shaped conductor in the case, and the electric contacts 4 and 5 are provided on the inner surface of the case. Can be formed, so that not only the structure is simple and the size can be reduced, but also the assembly becomes easy. In particular, in the slide operation type switch SW, when the key top 1 is operated, the X slider 40 or the Y slider 50 operates linearly regardless of the direction in which the key top 1 is operated. The contact 63 is brought into contact with the detection contact 5 at the opposing position in a direction perpendicular to the wall surface of the side wall 32, and at the same time, of the plurality of contact portions 61 of the spring body 60, the slider 40,
Since the one located on the lower side in the operation direction of 50 is pressed against the common contact 4, there is no occurrence of poor conduction.

[Other Embodiments] In the present invention, besides the above-described embodiment, for example, the spring body can be formed by using a conductive and elastically deformable resin. Can be formed to form a ring-shaped spring body.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a slide operation type switch.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a slide operation type switch.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a slide operation type switch.

FIG. 4 is a plan view and a cross-sectional view showing a slider and a spring body in a neutral state.

FIG. 5 is a plan view and a cross-sectional view showing a slider and a spring body when a key top is operated to one side.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a slider and a spring body when a key top is operated in an intermediate direction.

[Explanation of symbols]

 4 common contact 5 detection contact 30 case 31 bottom wall 32 side wall 40, 50 slide member 60 spring body 61 contact portion 62 pressing portion N neutral position

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A slide member slidably housed in a case, an urging member for urging the slide member to a neutral position, and operating the slide member against the urging force of the urging member. And a conductive part that reaches an electrically conductive state when the switch is turned on, wherein the case has a bottom wall slidably supporting the slide member and a posture rising from the bottom wall. A conductor having a side wall, and wherein the biasing member is formed into a loop shape having a contact portion in contact with the side wall and a pressing portion in contact with the slide member, or a loop shape in which a part is opened; The case is provided with a common contact that comes into contact with the contact portion of the spring body, and when the pressing portion of the spring body is displaced toward the side wall by the operation of the slide member, the pressing portion is , Young Alternatively, the case may be provided with a detection contact which comes into contact with a spring body at a position near the pressing part, and the conduction part is configured to make the common contact and the detection contact via the spring body conductive when the slide member is operated. Slide-operated switch. 2. A pair of said slide members, each of which is slidably movable in a direction orthogonal to each other, and is operably supported at two positions sandwiching a neutral position, and slides a pressing portion of said spring body with each slide. 2. A slide-operated switch according to claim 1, wherein said switch is pressed against both ends of said member. 3. The case is provided with the square bottom wall, and the four side walls standing upright from an end of the bottom wall, and the case is provided at four corners of an inner surface of the side wall. 3. The slide-operated switch according to claim 2, wherein a common contact is disposed, and said detection contact is disposed on inner surfaces of four side walls. 4. The slide operation type switch according to claim 1, wherein the spring body is formed by bending a piano wire.