JP2005332643A - Contact device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a contact device with an improved high-frequency signal transmission property. <P>SOLUTION: The contact device for high-frequency circuit comprises a base body part 12; an elastic member 14 made of a conductor mounted on the base body part 12, including a plate spring part; and a contact part 28 made of a conductor energized by the elastic member 14 and pressed against a body to be contacted; and secures conduction between the body to be contacted and itself by the elastic member 14 through the contact part 28. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a contact device having a configuration in which a contact member is pressed against a contacted body using an elastic member.

  FIG. 14 shows a conventional contact device 70. The contact device 70 is used for a connecting portion when electrical conduction is ensured between two components. The contact device 70 shown in FIG. 14 includes a fixed portion 74 fixed to one component 72, a movable contact 76 made of a conductor movably accommodated in the fixed portion 74, and also movably accommodated in the fixed portion 74. And a spring 78 made of a conductor. The movable contact 76 is biased by a spring 78 and is brought into contact with the contact of the other component 80. The spring 78, the movable contact 76, and the fixed portion 74 function as a conduction path, and conduction is ensured between the two parts 72 and 80 (between the conductor patterns 72a and 80a provided respectively).

  This type of contact device has the advantage of eliminating the need for wiring work for electrical connection between two parts. In particular, the distance between the two parts varies and there are individual differences (variations). This is effective when As this type of contact device, for example, those disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3 are known.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-88690 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-105462 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-39258

  However, in the conventional contact device, since the coil spring is used as a part of the conduction path, problems such as an increase in transmission loss when transmitting a high frequency may occur due to the inductance of the coil.

  In order to solve the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a contact device that has low loss when performing high-frequency transmission.

  The present invention comprises a base part, an elastic member made of a conductor and attached to the base part, including a leaf spring part, a contact part made of a conductor that is urged by the elastic member and pressed against the contacted body, A contact device for a high-frequency circuit, wherein the elastic member secures electrical continuity with the contacted body via the contact portion.

  Here, it is preferable that the elastic member has a terminal portion protruding from the leaf spring portion, and the leaf spring portion is configured to be bent in parallel with the protruding direction of the terminal portion. With such a structure, when formed from a metal material, the manufacturing yield is improved as compared with a leaf spring bent in a direction orthogonal to the protruding direction.

  The elastic member preferably has a through hole. By providing a through hole in the elastic member, the elastic member can be deformed more flexibly with respect to the inclination of the contact portion. In the design stage, the load characteristic of the elastic member can be adjusted by changing the size of the through hole.

  The present invention relates to a base part, an elastic member made of a conductor and mounted on the base part, including a leaf spring part, and a contact part of an antenna element provided in a vehicle window biased by the elastic member. A contact device made of a conductor to be pressed, and a contact device that ensures conduction with the contacted portion via the contact portion by the elastic member, and is applied to a vehicle window antenna If you do it, you will have an excellent effect.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to supply power with a small number of members and realize power supply with excellent high-frequency transmission characteristics.

  Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an external view showing an example of a contact device 10 according to the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG.

  The contact device 10 includes a base portion 12, an elastic member 14, a contact portion 16, and an intermediate body 18, and includes a first component 22 (for example, a signal processing unit for a vehicle window antenna) side and a first as a contacted body. This is used to form a conduction path between the second part 24 (for example, a vehicle window). In the example of FIGS. 1 to 3, the conductor pattern (not shown) of the first component 22, the terminal portion 20 consisting of a part of the elastic member 14, the contact portion 28, and the conductor pattern 30 of the second component 24 are provided. In this order, they are electrically connected to form a conduction path.

  The base portion 12 is fixed to the first component 22 side. In the example of FIGS. 1 to 3, the base portion 12 is fixed to the first component 22 by a tap screw (not shown) screwed into the bolt insertion hole 12 a. In addition, it is suitable for the base | substrate part 12 to comprise with an insulating member (for example, nylon resin).

  The intermediate body 18 is guided by a guide portion provided in the base body portion 12 and can be brought into contact with and separated from the second component 24 within a predetermined section. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, in this example, the base portion 12 is provided with a guide hole 34 as a guide portion. The guide hole 34 has an opening on the second component 24 side and is substantially perpendicular to the installation surface of the first component 22 (direction along the arrow C in FIG. 3; hereinafter, C direction or up and down direction). It is provided as a bottomed hole extending to Further, the cross section has a substantially elongated hole shape. The intermediate body 18 is guided by the guide hole 34 and can be protruded and retracted from the end face of the base body 12 on the abutted body (second component 24) side.

  In this example, an engagement claw 36 for preventing the intermediate body 18 from dropping off is provided at the tip (open end) of the guide hole 34. An engaging claw 38 is also provided on the base side of the intermediate body 18. The uppermost position (top dead center) of the intermediate body 18 is determined by the engagement of the engagement claws 36 and 38 (position shown in FIGS. 2 and 3). In addition, the lowest position (bottom dead center) of the intermediate body 18 is a position where the bottom of the intermediate body 18 is depressed until it contacts the bottom of the guide hole 34 or a position where the elastic member 14 is the shortest.

  The intermediate body 18 is loosely mounted in the guide hole 34. That is, there is a predetermined gap between the outer wall of the intermediate body 18 and the inner wall of the guide hole 34, and the intermediate body 18 has a direction indicated by an arrow D in FIG. It can be moved freely. Further, this gap is set so that it can be tilted within a predetermined angle range with respect to the contact / separation direction (substantially C direction) in a state where the intermediate body 18 is inserted into the guide hole 34. The configuration of the gap and the effect of the inclination of the intermediate body 18 will be described later.

  Furthermore, the intermediate body 18 is configured as a cylindrical member having an upper bottom wall and a side wall. And the contact part 28 is loosely inserted in the through-hole 40 as a window provided in the upper bottom wall, and the contact part 28 is exposed to the second component 24 side. When the side wall of the through hole 40 and the side wall of the contact portion 28 are engaged with each other, the intermediate body 18 is interlocked with the lateral movement of the contact portion 16. Therefore, the movable range of the contact portion 16 in the lateral direction is regulated by the movable range of the intermediate body 18.

  Further, there is a predetermined gap between the outer wall of the contact portion 28 and the inner wall of the through hole 40, and the contact portion 28 is in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the through hole 40 (see FIG. 3). It is movable in the D direction in the posture. Further, the gap can be tilted within a predetermined angle range with respect to the axial direction of the through hole 40 (C direction in the posture of FIG. 3) in a state where the contact portion 28 is inserted into the through hole 40. Is set to The structure of the gap and the effect of the inclination of the contact portion 28 will also be described later.

  The contact portion 16 is urged toward the second component 24 by the elastic member 14 (that is, upward) and is pressed against the second component 24. In this example, the contact part 16 is provided in the contact part 28. Among these, the contact part 28 has a substantially planar contact surface on the upper surface side. Further, the contact portion 28 has a flange portion 16a projecting laterally on the bottom surface side. By engaging the upper surface of the flange portion 16a with the lower surface of the upper bottom of the intermediate body 18, the intermediate body 18 is interlocked with the upward movement of the contact portion 16. Therefore, the upward movable range of the contact portion 16 is regulated by the movable range of the intermediate body 18. Normally, the contact device 10 may be slightly inclined, but is basically mounted in a posture in which the first component 22 side is vertically downward. 16a. For this reason, the intermediate body 18 is also interlocked with the downward movement of the contact portion 16.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the elastic member 14 is used as a conduction path. The elastic member 14 is preferably a leaf spring made of a conductive material as shown in FIG. This is because when a coil spring such as a metal is used as the elastic member 14, a transmission loss caused by an inductance component when transmitting a high frequency is increased. Therefore, the elastic member 14 is configured by a leaf spring obtained by bending a metal plate or the like so that the self-inductance of the conduction path is reduced.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the relationship between the frequency of the signal transmitted through the conduction path of the contact device 10 and the signal intensity. From FIG. 13, it can be seen that the high-frequency transmission characteristics are better when the elastic member 14 is a leaf spring than when it is a coil spring. In particular, it can be seen that extremely excellent high-frequency transmission characteristics are exhibited in a frequency band of 400 MHz or higher. Of course, the frequency characteristics of the contact device 10 vary depending on the shape and material of the elastic member 14, the relative dielectric constant of the constituent members, the arrangement of surrounding metal objects, and the like. It is important to consider the thickness, width, thickness, number of folds, material, and the like.

  The elastic member 14 is configured to be shorter than the free length in the state of FIG. 3, that is, in a state in which the intermediate body 18 is in the uppermost position. When the contact portion 16 is in contact with the contacted body (second component 24), the contact portion 16 is pushed downward to generate a biasing force in a direction in which the elastic member 14 as a leaf spring extends. As described above, the distance between the lower surface of the base portion 12 and the contact surface (surface of the conductor pattern 30) of the contacted body and the dimensions of each part of the contact device 10 are determined. This urging force is the source of the contact surface pressure on the contact surface. Although the intermediate body 18 engages with the contact portion 16, the biasing force from the elastic member 14 does not act.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the elastic member 14 preferably has a structure having a through hole 14a. Thus, by providing the through hole 14a, it can be deformed more flexibly with respect to the inclination of the contact portion 28. Further, at the design stage, the load characteristic of the elastic member 14 can be adjusted by changing the size of the through hole. Moreover, as shown in FIG.6 and FIG.7, it can also be set as the leaf | plate spring bent in the direction orthogonal to the protrusion direction of the terminal part 20. As shown in FIG. In this case, the terminal portion 20 may be formed from a separate member and connected to the leaf spring by soldering or the like. However, in order to construct the elastic member 14 as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, when it is developed, it is necessary to form the elastic member 14 from a T-shaped or L-shaped metal material, so that the manufacturing yield is deteriorated. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, it is more preferable to use an elastic member 14 that can be formed from a strip-shaped metal material. FIG. 8 shows a perspective view of the appearance (partial cross section) of the contact device 10 using the elastic member 14 shown in FIG.

  9 to 11 show the contact device 10 in a mounted state (a state in which the contact portion 16 is attached to the first component 22 and the contact portion 16 presses the contacted surface of the second component 24 as the contacted body). FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a case where the contact portion 16 is pushed relatively straight from the abutted body without being laterally offset, and FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the contact portion. FIG. 11 is a diagram in the case where 16 is offset and pushed in the lateral direction (F direction), and FIG. 11 is a diagram in the case where the contact portion 16 is pushed in the lateral direction (G direction).

  As shown in FIG. 9, when the contact portion 16 is pushed down almost directly below, the intermediate body 18 does not incline with respect to the guide direction (C direction) of the guide hole 34, and remains as it is from the posture of FIG. 3. Will be moved to. As can be seen from FIG. 9, in this example, since the intermediate body 18 is interposed between the contact portion 16 and the base body portion 12, the movable range in the vertical direction (C direction) of the contact portion 16 is the intermediate body 18. And the length of the overlapping portion of the guide hole 34. That is, the structure of the intermediate body 18 is involved in the movable range of the contact portion 16. When the movable distance of the contact portion 16 is increased in the configuration in which the intermediate body 18 is not provided and the contact portion 16 is directly guided by the guide hole 34 as in the related art, the contact portion 16 itself must be enlarged. On the other hand, if the intermediate body 18 is provided as in this embodiment, the moving distance of the contact portion 16 can be increased without increasing the contact portion 16 itself. Such a structure is effective when the contact portion 16 is made of a special material or an expensive material, or when the contact portion 16 is desired to be miniaturized from the viewpoint of the spring constant of the elastic member 14. For example, when the contact portion 28 is made of conductive rubber, it is desirable that the contact portion 28 has a lump shape as much as possible and is less likely to cause stress concentration from the viewpoint of durability. Such a structure in which the intermediate body 18 is interposed increases the degree of freedom of the shape of the contact portion 28 (contact point portion 16), and is therefore suitable when conductive rubber is used as the contact portion 28.

  Note that the intermediate body 18 can be offset in the lateral direction in a posture that does not tilt by the gap δ1 with the guide hole 34. Further, the abutting portion 28 can be offset laterally in the same non-inclined posture by the gap δ2 between the side wall of the abutting portion 28 and the side wall of the through hole 40 of the intermediate body 18. This means that the lateral movement amount of the contact portion 16 in this posture is determined by the sizes of the gaps δ1 and δ2.

  On the other hand, when the contact portion 16 is further offset in the lateral direction (F direction) as shown in FIG. 10 (offset amount: d1), the intermediate body 18 is inclined with respect to the C direction. Is inclined with respect to the intermediate body 18. As a result, the contact portion 16 can move in a lateral direction over a relatively long distance (in the case of FIG. 9) while maintaining a state where the contact portion 16 is in contact with the contacted body with a substantially flat contact surface. it can. This is configured such that the intermediate body 18 is engaged with the contact portion 16 in the lateral direction, the intermediate body 18 can be inclined with respect to the guide hole 34, and the contact portion 16 can be inclined with respect to the intermediate body 18. It is realized by doing. By adopting such a configuration, the contact surface of the contact portion 28 and the contact surface of the contacted body can be offset more greatly than in the past while maintaining the surface contact state. Abrasion is improved, and an increase in contact resistance due to contact with one piece can be suppressed.

  Further, the gap between the side wall of the guide hole 34 and the outer wall of the intermediate body 18 is set to a second part so that the amount of inclination (inclination angle with respect to the C direction) of the intermediate body 18 with respect to the guide portion (guide hole 34) increases. It is preferable to increase the width toward the 24th side (upper side). In this example, the intermediate body 18 has a tapered shape (tapered shape; a shape that becomes thinner toward the upper side). When the gap is constant along the guide direction, the inclination of the intermediate body 18 decreases as the amount of pushing of the intermediate body 18 toward the first component 22 increases, and the lateral direction (F direction) of the contact portion 16 decreases. The offset amount becomes small. In the present embodiment, by adopting the above configuration, even when the intermediate body 18 is pushed in, the amount of inclination of the intermediate body 18 is ensured, and the lateral offset amount of the contact portion 16 is increased.

  In the present embodiment, even when the abutted body (second component 24) is not parallel to the first component 22, the surface between the contact portion 16 and the abutted body. Contact is maintained. The allowable range of the tilt of the contacted body is determined as the sum of the tilt amount of the intermediate body 18 with respect to the base body 12 and the tilt amount of the contact portion 16 with respect to the intermediate body 18.

  Also, as shown in FIG. 11, when the contact portion 16 is further offset in the lateral direction (G direction) (offset amount: d2), the intermediate body 18 is inclined in the G direction, and the contact portion 16 is Tilt with respect to 18. As a result, the contact portion 16 can move in the lateral direction while maintaining a state in which the contact portion 16 is in contact with the contacted body with a substantially flat contact surface. In order to increase the offset amount in the G direction, it is desirable that the intermediate body 18 has a tapered shape (tapered shape; a shape that becomes thinner toward the upper side).

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of the vehicle glass antenna 50 using the contact device 10 according to the present embodiment. The antenna element 52 of the vehicle glass antenna 50 is attached to the vehicle interior side of the rear window glass 54 of the vehicle by printing or the like. One end of each antenna element 52 extends to the overlap portion H of the vehicle roof panel 56 and the rear window glass 54. A substrate support base 58 that supports a processing circuit such as an amplifier for processing a signal received by the antenna element 52 is fixed to the roof panel 56 with, for example, a bolt or the like. Note that a cover or the like (not shown) is attached to the overlapped portion H so that it cannot be seen from the outside.

  On the substrate support base 58, the contact device 10 that contacts a processing circuit such as an amplifier or an end contact 52 a formed at the end of the antenna element 52 is placed. Therefore, the substrate support base 58 is provided so that the contact between the contact device 10 and the end contact 52a of the rear window glass 54 is pressed and the continuity between the antenna element 52 and the internal circuit of the substrate support base 58 is ensured. The roof panel 56 is fixed at a predetermined position. In FIG. 12, two systems of antenna units 50a and 50b having substantially the same function are provided so that diversity is configured. Further, the number and shape of the antenna elements 52 are not limited to those shown in the drawing, and are appropriately set according to the function and the like. The substrate support base 58 corresponds to the first component 22, the rear window glass 54 corresponds to the second component 24, that is, the contacted body, and the end contact 52 a corresponds to the conductor pattern 30.

  In the vehicle glass antenna 50 having such a configuration, first, the substrate support base 58 on which the contact device 10 is placed is mounted on the roof panel 56, and then the rear window glass 54 is placed at a predetermined position and fixed. Is done. In this operation, the rear window glass 54 is often moved in a direction along the surface of the rear window glass 54 such as the I direction and the J direction in FIG. 12 for fine adjustment of the attachment position. When the rear window glass 54 as the contacted body is mounted on the vehicle, the contact portion 16 of the contact device 10 is pushed by a predetermined amount, so the rear window glass 54 reaches the mounting position on the vehicle side. Before contact is made, the contact device 10 must be contacted. Therefore, the rear window glass 54 moves in the direction (lateral direction for the contact device 10) in a state where the contact device 10 and the end contact 52a are in contact with each other. As described above, the contact device 10 according to the present embodiment is less worn when the contact portion 16 (the contact portion 28) and the second component 24 are laterally displaced in a surface contact state, and the wear is small. Since an increase in contact resistance due to hitting is suppressed, the contact device 10 for the vehicle glass antenna 50 in which such configuration and assembly are performed is extremely effective.

  Further, since the contact device 10 forms a conduction path by the elastic member 14 in the form of a leaf spring, the inductance component in the conduction path is reduced, and extremely excellent high frequency transmission characteristics are realized particularly in transmission and reception in the frequency band of several hundred MHz. can do.

  Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within an equivalent range.

It is an external view which shows an example of the principal part structure of the contact apparatus concerning embodiment of this invention. It is AA sectional drawing of the contact apparatus of FIG. It is BB sectional drawing of the contact apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows the shape of the elastic member in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows another example of the shape of the elastic member in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows another example of the shape of the elastic member in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows another example of the shape of the elastic member in embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view (partial cross section) of a contact device using the elastic member shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the state which the contact apparatus of FIG. 1 contact | abutted with the to-be-contacted body. It is a figure which shows another example of the state which the contact apparatus of FIG. 1 contact | abutted with the to-be-contacted body. It is a figure which shows another example of the state which the contact apparatus of FIG. 1 contact | abutted with the to-be-contacted body. It is a figure which shows an example of the principal part structure of the glass antenna for vehicles using the contact device concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a graph which shows the high frequency transmission characteristic of the contact device concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the conventional contact device.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Contact apparatus, 12a Bolt insertion hole, 12 Base | substrate part, 14 Elastic member, 14a Through hole, 16 Contact part, 16a Eaves part, 18 Intermediate body, 20 Terminal part, 22 1st part, 24 2nd part, 28 Contact portion, 30 conductor pattern, 34 guide hole, 36, 38 engagement claw, 40 through hole, 50a, 50b antenna unit, 50 vehicle glass antenna, 52 antenna element, 52a end contact, 54 rear window glass, 56 Roof panel, 58 substrate support base, 70 contact device, 72a, 80a conductor pattern, 72, 80 parts, 74 fixed part, 76 movable contact, 78 spring.

Claims (4)

A base part;
An elastic member made of a conductor and mounted on the base portion and including a leaf spring portion;
A contact portion made of a conductor that is urged by the elastic member and pressed against the contacted body;
With
A contact device for a high-frequency circuit, wherein the elastic member ensures electrical continuity with a contacted body via the contact portion. The contact device for a high-frequency circuit according to claim 1,
The elastic member has a terminal portion protruding from the leaf spring portion,
The leaf spring portion is configured to be bent in parallel with the protruding direction of the terminal portion. The contact device for a high frequency circuit according to claim 1 or 2,
The contact member for a high frequency circuit, wherein the elastic member has a through hole. A base part;
An elastic member made of a conductor and mounted on the base portion and including a leaf spring portion;
A contact portion made of a conductor that is urged by the elastic member and pressed against the contacted portion of the antenna element provided in the vehicle window;
With
A contact device for use in a vehicle window antenna, wherein the elastic member ensures electrical continuity with a contacted portion via the contact portion.

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