JP2003007159A - Switch mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a switch mechanism capable of electrically opening/closing, with sure, regardless of relatively simple configuration when electrically opening/ closing by coming near/away from between both contact points as required, with the contact points separated from each other. SOLUTION: A switch mechanism 1 comprises a main-body side terminal piece 2 where a pair of conductors 5 and 6 are jointed each other trough an insulator 7, and an electrifying terminal piece 3 which contacts/departs from the conductors 5 and 6 of the main-body side terminal piece 2. The main-body side terminal piece 2 relatively displaces from the electrifying terminal piece 3. The conductors 5 and 6 of the main-body side terminal piece 2 are provided with slopes 5a and 6a which are opened outward with the insulator as a starting point by the conductors 5 and 6. If the main-body side terminal piece 2 and the electrifying terminal piece 3 are contacted and pressurized each other, the electrifying terminal piece 3 is guided by the slopes 5a and 6a so that the conductor 5 is electrically continuous to the conductor 6 through the electrifying terminal piece 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a switch mechanism that electrically opens and closes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a switch mechanism such as an electric switch or a relay that electrically opens and closes has an integrated structure in which a movable side contact and a fixed side contact are housed in one case.

However, for example, in a remote control system in which a remote control mechanism such as a robot arm is used to remotely control various electric devices provided in an electric device to be remotely controlled, a movable side contact and a fixed contact are fixed. It is necessary to have a switch mechanism that separates the side contacts from each other and makes the movable contacts contact the fixed contacts by an external operation to electrically connect the stationary contacts as necessary.

That is, as shown in FIG.
0 is connected to a power source 51 such as a battery and various electric devices 52 such as a motor via fixed contacts 55, 55, and a movable contact 56 is attached to an actuator of the remote control mechanism. Then, the movable side contact 56 on the actuator side is brought into contact with the fixed side contact 55 on the electric device 50 side to electrically connect the two contacts 55, 56, thereby supplying the electric power from the power source 51 to the electric device 52. Further, the movable side contact 56 on the actuator side is separated from the fixed side contact 55 on the electric device 50 side to separate both contacts 55,
By making non-conduction between 56, the power source 51 to the electric device 5
The power supply to 2 is cut off.

As described above, as a switch mechanism in which the fixed side contact 55 and the movable side contact 56 are separated and independent from each other, and both contacts 55, 56 contact as necessary, for example, the fixed side contact 55. The movable side contact 56 and the movable side contact 56 are respectively constituted by a flat contact terminal plate, and both terminal plates are brought into contact with and separated from each other to electrically open and close (hereinafter referred to as a simple contact type), and the movable side contact is A method in which the fixed contacts are formed in the shape of a socket in the shape of a socket and the plug is inserted into and removed from the socket to open and close electrically (hereinafter referred to as an insertion method) is conceivable.

[0006]

However, in the former simple contact type switch mechanism, since a guide mechanism for guiding both contacts 55 and 56 to each other is provided, both contacts 55 and 56 are brought close to each other. Sometimes they are easily displaced from each other and it is difficult to ensure electrical continuity.

Further, in the latter insertion type switch mechanism, after the plug which becomes the movable side contact 56 is once inserted into the socket which is the fixed side contact 55, both contacts 5
Although the connection between 5 and 56 can be surely made, the plugs are likely to be displaced from each other by the time the plug is smoothly inserted into the socket, and it is difficult to ensure the electrical continuity as in the former case.

In other words, in any of the above switch mechanisms, in order to ensure contact between the contacts 55, 56, the movable side contact 56 should be accurately directed to the fixed side contact 55 from only one specific direction. It is necessary to bring them close to each other, and therefore, the remote control mechanism must be controlled extremely accurately,
Not only is the load on the control system side increased, but the operation of the actuator of the remote control mechanism is restricted.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the contacts are separated and independent from each other,
In the case of performing electrical opening and closing by spacing both contacts close to each other as needed, a switch mechanism that can reliably perform electrical opening and closing operation despite a relatively simple configuration The purpose is to provide.

[0010]

The present invention has the following features to attain the object mentioned above. That is,
A switch mechanism according to a first aspect of the present invention is a main body side terminal piece in which a pair of conductors are joined to each other through an insulator, and an energizing terminal piece that is in contact with and separated from the conductor of the main body side terminal piece. The main body side terminal piece and the energizing terminal piece are provided so as to be displaceable relative to each other, and each conductor of the main body side terminal piece is directed outward by the conductors from the insulator. When the main body side terminal piece and the energizing terminal piece are in contact with each other and pressed, the energizing terminal piece is guided to the inclined surface and the inclined surface is formed. It is characterized in that the pair of conductors are electrically connected via the energizing terminal piece.

As a result, since the inclined surfaces of the conductors of the body-side terminal piece are largely open outward, the conductor-side terminal piece and the body-side terminal piece are electrically connected to each other even if the energizing terminal piece is relatively displaced. When the power-supply terminal pieces are brought close to each other, the current-carrying terminal pieces contact the inclined surfaces of the conductors of the body-side terminal piece, and then are guided by the inclined surfaces and naturally fit between the conductors. The conductors of the terminal pieces are electrically connected via the energizing terminal pieces. Therefore, despite the relatively simple structure, it is possible to surely perform the electrical opening / closing operation as compared with the related art.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the switch mechanism according to the first aspect, the inclined surface of each conductor is
It is characterized in that it constitutes all or part of the truncated cone-shaped slope.

Thus, even when the energizing terminal piece approaches the main body side terminal piece not only from one direction but also from multiple directions, electrical conduction can be surely achieved, and the energizing terminal piece is The restriction on the directionality when approaching the main body side terminal piece is relaxed, and the degree of freedom is increased.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the switch mechanism according to the first or second aspect, a plurality of the main body side terminal pieces are provided, and each of the main body side terminal pieces is made of an insulating material. It is characterized in that they are sequentially joined through.

As a result, the current-carrying terminal piece surely contacts only one body-side terminal piece at a predetermined position among the plurality of body-side terminal pieces, and each body-side terminal piece is electrically connected. Since they are separated and independent of each other, if a plurality of electric components are individually connected to each main body side terminal piece in advance, each electric component can be surely operated.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. [Embodiment 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an overall configuration of a switch mechanism according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an equivalent circuit diagram including the switch mechanism of FIG.

The switch mechanism 1 of this embodiment includes a main body side terminal piece 2 which acts as a fixed side contact and an energizing terminal piece 3 which acts as a movable side contact.

The main body side terminal piece 2 has a pair of upper and lower conductors 5 and 6 made of a trapezoidal conical metal or the like.
Are joined to each other via the insulator 7 with their tops facing each other. As a result, the conductors 5 of the main body side terminal piece 2 are
6, an inclined surface 5 that is inclined by the conductors 5 and 6 so as to open outward in a V shape from the insulator 7 as a starting point.
a and 6a are formed. In this case, the inclined surfaces 5a and 6a of the conductors 5 and 6 occupy the entire truncated cone-shaped inclined surface.

A support shaft 8 is attached to the main body side terminal piece 2 so as to pass through the shaft centers of the conductors 5 and 6 and the insulator 7, and the support shaft 8 is provided at a predetermined position of the electric device 50. It is installed. An insulating material 9 is interposed between the conductors 5 and 6 and the support shaft 8. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a power source 51 such as a battery and an electric device 52 such as a motor provided in the electric device 50 are electrically connected to the conductors 5 and 6, respectively.

On the other hand, the energizing terminal piece 3 is the main body side terminal piece 2
And is made of a spherical conductor such as metal. The energizing terminal piece 3 is not necessarily spherical as long as it can contact the conductors 5 and 6. A pin 12 is attached to the energizing terminal piece 3, and the pin 12 is connected via a spring 15 to the tip of a piston 14 of a cylinder 13 that constitutes an actuator of a remote control mechanism. The current-carrying terminal piece 3 is moved toward and away from the main body-side terminal piece 2 by 14. In addition, the piston 14 of the cylinder 13
The pin 16 is fitted to the pin 16 at right angles to it.
The support springs 17 are provided between the both ends of the terminal and the energizing terminal piece 3, respectively.
Are connected by. As a result, the energizing terminal piece 3 can be displaced relative to the main body side terminal piece 2 in the vertical direction. In addition, 18 is a base for mounting the cylinder 13.

In this configuration, the power source 5 of the electric device 50
When electric power is supplied from 1 to the electric device 52 to operate the electric device 52, the piston 14 of the cylinder 13 is extended to connect the energizing terminal piece 3 to the main body side terminal piece 2 attached to the electric device 50. Contact.

In this case, the relative positions of the energizing terminal piece 3 and the main body side terminal piece 2 are displaced, and the energizing terminal piece 3 is initially present.
Even if only contacts the conductor 5 on one side of the main body side terminal piece 2, when the energizing terminal piece 3 is further pressed, the energizing terminal piece 3 is guided to the inclined surface of the conductor 5 which is first contacted and finally Since it fits between the upper and lower conductors 5 and 6, the pair of conductors 5 and 6 is electrically connected via the current-carrying terminal piece 3.

When the conductors 5 and 6 of the main body side terminal piece 2 are electrically connected via the energizing terminal piece 3, the electric power from the power source 51 is supplied to the electric device 52 through the switch mechanism 1. . Further, when the piston 14 of the cylinder 13 is retracted, the energizing terminal piece 3 causes the conductors 5, 6 of the main body side terminal piece 2 to move.
The power supply 5
The power supply from 1 to the electric device 52 is cut off.

As described above, in the switch mechanism 1 according to the first embodiment, the inclined surfaces 5 of the conductors 5 and 6 of the main body side terminal piece 2 are arranged.
Since a and 6a are largely opened outward in a V shape, even if the energizing terminal piece 3 is displaced relative to the main body side terminal piece 2, The introduction is easy, and once the energizing terminal piece 3 comes into contact with the main body side terminal piece 2, the inclined surfaces 5a and 6a serve as guides for the energizing terminal piece 3 and thus have a relatively simple structure. Nevertheless, it is possible to surely perform the electrical opening / closing operation as compared with the related art.

Moreover, since the inclined surfaces 5a, 6a of the conductors 5, 6 of the main body side terminal piece 2 are frustoconical inclined surfaces,
Regardless of the direction in which the energizing terminal piece 3 approaches from the circumferential direction of the main body side terminal piece 2, electrical conduction can be reliably achieved, and there is a restriction on the directionality when the terminal pieces 2 and 3 approach each other. Has been eased. Therefore, the degree of freedom in operating the remote control mechanism to which the energizing terminal piece 3 is attached increases.

[Second Embodiment] FIG. 3 is a side view showing an essential part of a switch mechanism according to the second embodiment, and FIG. 4 is an equivalent circuit diagram including the switch mechanism shown in FIG. The same reference numerals are given to the portions corresponding to the configuration shown in FIG.

The switch mechanism 20 according to the second embodiment is
The energizing terminal piece 3 acting as the movable side contact is the same as in the case of the first embodiment and is a single piece, but a plurality of main body side terminal pieces 2 acting as the fixed side contacts are provided, and each main body is provided. The side terminal pieces 2 are sequentially joined via the insulating material 21.

A support shaft 22 is attached to the main body side terminal piece 2 and the insulating material 21 so as to penetrate through the shaft center, and the support shaft 22 is attached to the electric device 50. Also,
As shown in FIG. 4, conductors 5 and 6 that form each main body side terminal piece 2 are electrically connected to various electric devices 52 that form an electric device 50. Other configurations are the same as in the case of the above-described first embodiment, and therefore detailed description will be omitted here.

In the second embodiment, since the electric equipment 52 is individually connected to the conductors 5 and 6 of each main body side terminal piece 2 in advance, a plurality of energizing terminal pieces 3 are provided. If the main body side terminal piece 2 is pressed toward one main body side terminal piece 2 at a predetermined position, only the main body side terminal piece 2 is surely contacted, and each main body side terminal piece 2 is pressed.
Are electrically separated and independent, each electric device 52 can be reliably operated.

By the way, as a concrete example of use of the switch mechanisms 1 and 20 of the above-mentioned first and second embodiments, for example, as shown in FIG. Mounted on one vehicle 30 by attaching the energization terminal piece 3 to the vehicle 31 and bringing the other vehicle 31 close to the one vehicle 30 to bring the energization terminal piece 3 into contact with the main body side contact piece 2. It can be used such as starting up the electric device 50 that is being operated.

The following modifications and applications can be considered for the first and second embodiments. (1) In the first embodiment, the support shaft 8 of the main body side terminal piece 2 is fixed to a predetermined position of the electric device 50, and the energizing terminal piece 3 is vertically arranged with respect to the main body side terminal piece 2. Although the structure that can be displaced relatively is shown in Fig. 6, as shown in Fig. 6,
The support shaft 8 of the main body side terminal piece 2 is connected to the electric device 5 via the spring 24.
It is also possible to fix it to 0 so that it can be displaced in the vertical direction, while fixing the energizing terminal piece 3 to the tip of the piston 14 of the cylinder 13 that constitutes the actuator of the remote control mechanism.

(2) In the first and second embodiments, the slopes 5a and 6a of the conductors 5 and 6 of the main body side terminal piece 2 constitute the whole of the truncated cone-shaped slope. May form a part of. That is, the conductors 5 and 6 may have a shape obtained by vertically dividing a truncated cone shape.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the conductors 5 and 6 each have a planar shape inclined by the conductors 5 and 6 so as to open outward in a V shape from the insulator 7 as a starting point. It is also possible to form the inclined surfaces 5a and 6a.

(3) In the first and second embodiments, the case where the energizing terminal piece 3 acts as the movable side contact and the main body side terminal piece 2 acts as the fixed side contact has been described. The terminal piece 3 for use may serve as a fixed side contact, and the main body side terminal piece 2 may serve as a movable side contact.

(4) In the above-described first and second embodiments, the energizing terminal piece 3 is attached to the actuator of the remote operation mechanism, but it is not always necessary to attach it to the remote operation mechanism. It is also possible to attach the energizing terminal piece 3 to and away from the main body side terminal piece 2 as long as it electrically opens and closes each electric device 52 of the electric device 50. . Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the configuration shown in FIGS. 1 to 7, and can be implemented by appropriately changing it without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0036]

According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. (1) In the switch mechanism according to the invention described in claim 1, since the inclined surface of each conductor of the main body side terminal piece is largely opened outward, the energizing terminal piece is relatively displaced. However, if the main body side terminal piece and the energizing terminal piece are brought close to each other, the energizing terminal piece will be naturally guided by the inclined surface after contacting the inclined surface of each conductor of the main body side terminal piece. It is fitted between the conductors, and the conductors of the main body side terminal piece are electrically connected to each other through the current-carrying terminal piece. Therefore, despite the relatively simple structure, it is possible to surely perform the electrical opening / closing operation as compared with the related art.

(2) In the switch mechanism according to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the invention, the inclined surface of each conductor of the main body side terminal piece is wholly or partially a truncated cone-shaped inclined surface. Since the energizing terminal piece can contact the main body side terminal piece not only in one direction but also in all directions, reliable electrical conduction can be achieved, and The restrictions on sex are relaxed and the degree of freedom increases.

(3) In the switch mechanism according to a third aspect of the invention, in addition to the effects of the first and second aspects of the invention, a plurality of main body side terminal pieces are sequentially joined via an insulator. Therefore, the current-carrying terminal piece surely contacts only one body-side terminal piece at a predetermined position among the plurality of body-side terminal pieces, and each body-side terminal piece is electrically separated and independent. Therefore, if a plurality of electric components are individually connected to each main body side terminal piece, each electric component can be operated reliably.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an overall configuration of a switch mechanism according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an equivalent circuit diagram including the switch mechanism of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a main part of a switch mechanism according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

4 is an equivalent circuit diagram including the switch mechanism of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a specific example of use of the switch mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing a modified example of the switch mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing another modification of the switch mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an equivalent circuit diagram for explaining a switch mechanism used in a system in which an electric device is remotely controlled using a remote control mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 switch mechanism 2 Main unit side terminal piece 3 energizing terminal pieces 5 conductors 5a inclined surface 6 conductors 6a inclined surface 7 insulator 20 switch mechanism 21 Insulation material

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A main body side terminal piece comprising: a main body side terminal piece in which a pair of conductors are joined to each other through an insulator; and an energizing terminal piece that is in contact with and separated from the conductor of the main body side terminal piece. The piece and the energizing terminal piece are provided so as to be relatively displaceable, and each conductor of the main body side terminal piece is inclined by both conductors so as to open outward from the insulator as a starting point. When the main body side terminal piece and the energizing terminal piece are in contact with each other and pressed, the energizing terminal piece is guided to the inclined surface and the energization is performed between the pair of conductors. A switch mechanism characterized in that it is conducted through a terminal piece for use. 2. The switch mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the inclined surface of each conductor constitutes all or part of a truncated cone-shaped inclined surface. 3. The switch according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of main body side terminal pieces are provided, and each main body side terminal piece is sequentially joined through an insulating material. mechanism.