JP2002231079A - Door switch - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a low cost door switch that enables to make small the operating force of the door switch at the opening and shutting of the door and to reduce the assembly process and does not require high assembly precision. SOLUTION: A plunger 12 which is provided at the vicinity of a case opening part 4 of a refrigerator or the like as a door switch 7 constituent and is held in free sliding by a spring force so as to move from protrusion state to push-in state by the closing of a door 5, a microswitch 15 which is provided adjacent to this plunger 12 and of which contact point is operated by the pressed movement of the switch operating lever 17 that is displayed by the push-in movement of the plunger, and a printed circuit board 14 which holds this microswitch 15 and is installed with a socket 18 for wiring connection at the side end, are arranged in the door switch case 9.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a door switch structure and, more particularly, to a door switch in a device such as a refrigerator which opens and closes an opening with a door.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an interior lamp for illuminating a storage room when a door of a refrigerator or the like is opened is illuminated when the door is opened. The door switch for switching control to perform cooling is provided near the opening of the refrigerator main body. When the door is closed, as shown in FIG. 6, the door switch 37 is formed by a bead surface forming a storage pocket portion inside the door.
The plunger 42 is pushed in and the switch contact 46 is switched to cut off the internal lamp circuit and connect the circuit of the cooling fan. At this time, the door switch 37 causes the plunger 42 to slide against the pressing force of the spring 43 to bring the other end of the plunger 42 into contact with the conductor plate 45 and rotate the contact to set the contact portion to the interior lamp. A which is a connection circuit
b, separated from the contact 46 of the terminal, and connected to the connection point a on the cooling fan side.
The circuit is switched by contacting the contact 47 of the terminal c.

[0003]

However, this structure is such that the conductor plate 45 is rotated by sliding the plunger 42, and the spring 43 for rotating the conductor plate 45 to contact and separate the contact is provided. Since the generated force is relatively large, it is necessary to increase the operating force of the plunger 42 itself. As a result, the spring force of the plunger part sometimes becomes stronger than the self-closing door force of the door by a magnet gasket or the like, and the door may be incompletely closed, that is, a half-door state.

[0004] The components are also plungers, conductive plates,
In addition, a spring for operating each of these elements is required, which increases the number of assembling steps and also requires high assembling accuracy.

Further, since the operating portion of the conductive plate has a mechanical structure, it is necessary to apply a lubricant such as grease to the sliding portion. This has led to an increase in costs due to the strengthening of manufacturing control to prevent this.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and it is possible to reduce the operating force of a door switch when opening and closing a door, reduce the number of assembling steps, and do not require high assembling accuracy. An object is to provide an inexpensive door switch.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 is provided with a spring force so as to move from a protruding state to a pushing state by closing a door provided near a housing opening. A plunger slidably held, a microswitch disposed adjacent to the plunger, the contact being operated by a pressing movement of a switch operating lever displaced by a pushing movement of the plunger, and holding the microswitch In addition, a door switch in which a printed circuit board having a socket for wiring connection attached to an end face thereof is disposed in a case.

According to the above configuration, the contact point of the micro switch is operated by the pressing displacement of the switch operating lever due to the sliding movement of the plunger, so that the operating force generated when the door is opened and closed can be extremely small, and the spring rebounds. The door can be securely closed without worrying about incomplete closing due to too strong force.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the microswitch is disposed adjacent to the plunger in the sliding direction, and the switch operating lever of the microswitch is moved below the end face of the plunger in the sliding direction by sliding. The operation is performed in the vertical direction, and the contact is pressed so that the operation from sliding to pressing the contact of the microswitch becomes smooth.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the contact surface of the end face of the plunger when sliding with the switch operating lever of the micro switch is chamfered, so that the contact surface of the plunger is smooth. It can slide and contact the contact surface of the operation lever to press the switch operation lever downward.

The invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that the printed circuit board to which the microswitch is fixed is held by a receiving rib integrally formed with the case body, and is pressed and fixed by attaching a case lid. The microswitch and the printed circuit board can be securely mounted with a simple configuration.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a rib for receiving the end face of the printed circuit board is provided on the end face of the case body, and the stress when the housing is inserted for wiring connection is directly applied to the printed circuit board. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the circuit board from being damaged during assembly.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a front opening and a door in the refrigerator main body. The refrigerator main body is formed by an inner box 3 provided through a heat insulating material 2 inside an outer box 1 and a refrigerator room formed by the inner box 3 and the like. Front opening 4 of storage room
, A door switch 7 is provided. As shown in FIG. 1B, when the door switch 7 is closed, the door inner bead surface 6 which forms the storage pocket of the door 5 abuts against the plunger 12 and the plunger 12 is pushed into the interior. As a result, the control circuit is switched from turning on the interior lamp (not shown) to rotating the cooling fan by switching the contact point of the microswitch 15.

As shown in FIG. 3 and a sectional view from the front in FIG. 4, the door switch 7 has a case 8 composed of a box-shaped case main body 9 and a case lid 10 for closing a side opening thereof. An opening 11 having an inward cylindrical portion is formed to hold the plunger 12 slidably.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the plunger 12 has a contact portion 12a at one end with the bead surface 6 inside the door and an upwardly projecting piece 12b at the other end as shown in FIG. The plunger 12 itself is pressed by a spring force so as to protrude outward by engaging with a coil spring 13 arranged on the end face. A chamfered portion 12c is formed below the other end of the plunger 12 in the sliding direction, and a lower rear portion thereof is fixed to the printed circuit board 14 by soldering and corresponds to a pin 9a protruding from the side surface of the case body 9. The micro switch 15 positioned and held by engagement with the hole 15a formed as described above is provided.

A contact portion 16 projects from the upper surface of the micro switch 15 on the plunger side, and a switch actuating lever 17 is provided so as to be inclined upward and rearward with the plunger side as a support shaft so as to press the contact portion 16. ing. The switch actuating lever 17 is displaced downward by the chamfered portion 12c of the plunger as the plunger 12 is pushed in and slid, and the contact portion 1 of the microswitch 15 is displaced by the displacement of the switch actuating lever 17.
6 operates.

The printed circuit board 14 includes a case body 9.
Is held by being fitted to the holding rib 9d formed at
The case lid 10 is securely held and fixed in the case 8 by fitting the case lid 10 into engagement with the locking claw 9 e formed in the side opening of the case body 9.

Further, as shown in FIG.
A support rib 9f for receiving an end surface of the printed circuit board 14 is provided on an end surface of the printed circuit board 14, and an opening above the socket 18 on the circuit board 14 is opened to serve as a housing insertion portion for wiring 19. A guide rib 9g is provided on the housing insertion portion. It may be provided to facilitate insertion of the housing 20 into the socket.

The door switch 7 is configured as described above. When the door switch 7 is mounted on an apparatus body such as a refrigerator,
The housing 20 of the wiring 19 drawn in advance from the heat insulating material 2 between the inner and outer boxes of the refrigerator main body is connected to the socket 18 of the door switch 7 to partition the heat insulating material 2 near the front opening 4 of the main body as shown in FIG. It is formed and housed together with the wiring 19 in the concave chamber 21 provided on the surface of the inner box 3, and the fitting is fixed by engaging the flange portion on the front surface of the case 8 with the peripheral portion of the concave chamber 21 of the inner box. .

When the refrigerator door is opened, the plunger 12 of the door switch 7 is in a protruding state because the bead surface 6 inside the door is not pressed as shown in FIG. Since the switch operating lever 17 is also above and the switch contact portion 16 is not pressed, the interior lamp circuit is connected to illuminate the storage room.

When the door is closed later, as shown in FIG. 1B, the door inner bead surface 6 presses the contact portion 12a of the plunger, and the plunger 12 resists the force of the spring 13. To retract and slide back end chamfer 12
c contacts the inclined surface of the switch operating lever 17 and presses it downward, thereby pressing the lower microswitch contact portion 16. As a result, the control circuit is switched from the interior light side to the cooling fan side, the storage room is turned off, and the cooling fan rotates to discharge cool air into the storage room, thereby performing cooling control to a predetermined temperature such as freezing or refrigeration. is there.

[0022]

The present invention is configured as described above.
When the door is opened and closed, the sliding of the door switch to the rear of the plunger exerts a downward pressure on the switch operating lever,
Since the contact of the micro switch is pressed by the switch operating lever, the operating force required for sliding the plunger is extremely small as compared with the conventional method.

Therefore, the door can be securely closed without worrying about incomplete closing due to the repulsive force of the spring being too strong, and the switch can be prevented from malfunctioning due to deformation of the bead surface when pressed by the plunger. This eliminates the need for a reinforcing plate or the like provided on the inner bead surface of the door, thereby reducing costs including man-hours.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the micro switch is disposed adjacent to the plunger in the sliding direction, and the sliding causes the switch operating lever of the micro switch to slide in the lower portion of the end face of the plunger in the sliding direction. The operation from the sliding to the pressing of the contact is smooth because the operation is performed in the direction perpendicular to the contact and the contact is pressed.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the contact portion between the plunger and the switch operating lever of the micro switch slides more smoothly without being caught by the chamfered portion of the plunger end face, and the switch operating lever is moved downward. It can be pressed and does not require the use of a lubricant or the like.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the printed circuit board to which the microswitch is fixed is held by the receiving rib formed integrally with the case body, and is pressed and fixed by mounting the case lid, so that it is reliably formed with a simple structure. Can be attached.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the stress at the time of housing insertion for wiring connection is not directly applied to the printed circuit board, thereby preventing the circuit board from being damaged at the time of assembly and facilitating the assembling work. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a door switch showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part of the refrigerator, showing a state where the door switch according to the present invention is attached.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a door switch configuration according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing an assembled state of the door switch of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of a door switch showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a conventional door switch.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 4 front opening 6 door inner bead surface 7 door switch 9 case main body 10 case lid 12 plunger 12c chamfered portion 13 coil spring 14 printed circuit board 15 micro switch 16 contact portion 17 switch operating lever 18 socket 19 wiring 20 housing 21 recessed chamber

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A plunger provided near a housing opening and slidably held by a spring force so as to move from a projected state to a pushed state by closing a door, and is disposed adjacent to the plunger. A micro switch whose contacts are operated by the pressing movement of the switch operating lever which is displaced by the pushing movement of the plunger, and a printed circuit board holding the micro switch and having a socket for wiring connection attached to the end face are placed in a case. Door switch arranged. 2. The micro switch is disposed adjacent to the plunger in a sliding direction thereof, and the sliding causes a switch operating lever of the micro switch to operate in a direction perpendicular to the sliding direction at a lower portion of the end face of the plunger. 2. The door switch according to claim 1, wherein the door switch is arranged to press the contact. 3. The door switch according to claim 2, wherein the contact surface of the end surface of the plunger when the micro switch slides with the switch operating lever is chamfered. 4. The door switch according to claim 1, wherein the printed circuit board to which the microswitch is fixed is held by a receiving rib formed integrally with the case body, and is pressed and fixed by mounting a case lid. 5. The printed circuit board according to claim 4, wherein the end face of the case body is provided with a rib for receiving the end face of the printed circuit board.
Door switch as described.