JP2006021561A - Locking structure - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a resilient locking frame from slipping off owing to a deflective deformation caused by an external force acting on a body case or an end leaf member after installation and also prevent the resilient locking frame and a locking projection from being broken. <P>SOLUTION: A locking structure according to the present invention is configured so that the locking projection 5 is formed on the body case 2 and the resilient locking frame 6 deformable in deflection and having a locking hole 7 is installed on the end leaf member 3, whereby the locking projection 5 intrudes into the hole 7 owing to a deflective returning deformation of the resilient locking frame 6 in the position the forefront wall part 6b of the resilient locking frame 6 gets over the locking projection 5 and the hole 7 is positioned identical to the locking projection 5 to cause the resilient locking frame 6 to be locking with the projection 5, wherein a protection wall 10 to restrict the change and movement of the resilient locking part 6 is provided in a proximity position of the resilient locking part 6. The protection wall 10 is composed of a forefront protection wall part 11 provided on a rear cover 4 and side protection wall parts 12a and 12b provided on the body case 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a locking structure in which, for example, a locking protrusion is provided on a base body, and an elastic locking member having a locking hole into which the locking protrusion enters the assembly is provided.

  As this type of conventional locking structure, a structure that locks the lower housing 100 and the upper housing 101 constituting the meter device as shown in FIG. 4 is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this locking structure, locking protrusions 102 are provided at appropriate positions on the outer peripheral surface of the lower housing 100. On the outer peripheral wall of the upper housing 101, an elastic locking portion 103 that can be bent and deformed is projected. The elastic locking portion 103 is formed with a locking hole 104 into which the locking projection 102 is inserted.

  In the above configuration, the lower housing 100 and the upper housing 101 are aligned at a predetermined assembly position and brought close to each other so that the locking hole 104 of the elastic locking portion 103 matches the position of the locking protrusion 102. It has become. Then, the elastic protrusion 103 is elastically deformed so that the engaging protrusion 102 enters the engaging hole 104. As a result, the elastic locking portion 103 is locked to the locking projection 102.

By the way, the meter device assembled by assembling the lower housing 100 and the upper housing 101 or the like is transported to a predetermined place and assembled to the vehicle. An external force may act on the lower housing 100 or the upper housing 101 when the meter device is transported or assembled to a vehicle, and the external force may act on the elastic locking portion 103 or the locking projection 102. Then, the external force is received by the locking force between the elastic locking portion 103 and the locking projection 102, and the assembly between the lower housing 100 and the upper housing 101 is held.
JP 2001-63406 A (first page, FIG. 1)

  However, in the conventional locking structure, the external force is received only by the locking force between the elastic locking portion 103 and the locking projection 102. The locking force between the elastic locking portion 103 and the locking protrusion 102 depends on the bending rigidity of the elastic locking portion 103 and the member strength of the elastic locking portion 103 and the locking protrusion 102 itself. When an external force exceeding the member strength is applied, the elastic locking portion 103 is further deformed and the locking with the locking projection 102 is released, or the elastic locking portion 103 and the locking projection 102 are damaged. was there.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to prevent the elastic locking portion from being bent and deformed by an external force acting on the base body or the assembled body after assembly, or the elastic locking portion and the locking projection portion from being damaged. An object of the present invention is to provide a locking structure that can be used.

  The invention according to claim 1 is provided with a locking projection on one of the base body and the assembly to be assembled to the base body, and an elastic locking part having a locking hole on the other side, which is flexible and deformable, Due to the deformation of the elastic locking portion, the locking protrusion enters the locking hole at a position where the locking hole of the elastic locking portion coincides with the position of the locking protrusion, and the elastic locking portion is In the locking structure for locking to the locking protrusion, a protective wall portion is provided that is disposed in the vicinity of the elastic locking portion and restricts the displacement of the elastic locking portion.

  Invention of Claim 2 is the latching structure of Claim 1, Comprising: The said protective wall part has the front-end | tip protective wall part arrange | positioned along the outer peripheral end surface of the said front-end | tip wall part of the said elastic locking part. It is characterized by that.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the locking structure according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the protective wall portion is a side protective wall disposed along an outer peripheral end surface of the side wall portion of the elastic locking portion. It has the part.

  Invention of Claim 4 is the latching structure as described in any one of Claim 1 thru | or 3, Comprising: The said protective wall part is the height more than the thickness dimension of the said elastic latching | locking part. It is characterized by being set.

  A fifth aspect of the present invention is the locking structure according to the first or fourth aspect, wherein at least one part of the protective wall portion is provided on another assembled body assembled to the base body. Features.

  The invention according to claim 6 is the locking structure according to claim 5, wherein the tip protection wall portion is provided in another assembly 4.

  The invention according to claim 7 is the locking structure according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the base body is a main body case of a meter device, and the assembly is a meter. It is a turning member that clearly shows the contents of

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, when an external force acts on the base body or the assembled body after assembling and the elastic locking portion attempts to shift relative to the locking projection by the external force, The protective wall portion comes into contact with the portion, and the change of the elastic locking portion is restricted. That is, the external force acting on the base body and the assembly is received by the locking force between the elastic locking portion and the locking projection and also received by the protective wall portion that prevents the elastic locking portion from changing. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the elastic locking portion from being detached due to bending or deformation, and further, the elastic locking portion and the locking projection portion from being damaged.

  According to the invention of claim 2, the displacement of the tip wall portion having the largest displacement amount among the elastic locking portions is regulated. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the elastic locking portion from being detached due to bending or deformation, and the elastic locking portion and the locking projection from being damaged.

  According to the invention of claim 3, the displacement of the side wall portion of the elastic locking portion is restricted. By combining with the tip protection wall portion, it is possible to reliably prevent the elastic locking portion from coming off due to bending or deformation, or the elastic locking portion and the locking projection portion from being damaged.

  According to the invention of claim 4, in addition to the effects of the inventions of claims 1 to 3, the entire thickness direction of the outer peripheral end face abuts against the protective wall part against the elastic locking part to be transferred, The shift of the locking portion can be regulated.

  According to the invention of claim 5, in addition to the effects of the inventions of claims 1 to 4, the external force acting on the base body and the assembled body can be distributed to other assembled bodies. Damage to the assembly can be reduced.

  According to the invention of claim 6, in addition to the effect of the invention of claim 5, the external force acting on the tip wall portion having the largest displacement amount among the elastic locking portions can be distributed to other assembled bodies. Can be distributed to other assemblies.

  According to the invention of claim 7, the same effects as those of the inventions of claims 1 to 6 can be obtained in the locking structure in the case where the turning member is assembled to the main body case.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  1 to 3 show an embodiment in which the locking structure of the present invention is applied to a locking structure for assembling a facing member to a case main body of a meter device, and FIG. FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 1.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the meter device 1 is a main body case 2 that is a base body to which meter parts are fixed, and an assembly that is assembled to the front side of the main body case 2 and clearly shows the contents of the meter. A facing member 3 and a back cover 4 which is another assembled body assembled to the rear side of the main body case 2 are provided.

  The main body case 2 is provided with locking projections 5 at appropriate positions on the outer peripheral surface 2a. The surface on the rear end side of the locking projection 5 is formed as a tapered surface 5 a that gradually increases in the locking direction D of the turning member 3. The front end surface of the locking projection 5 is formed as a vertical surface 5b.

  The turn-back member 3 is provided with an elastic locking frame 6 that is an elastic locking portion at an appropriate position. The elastic locking frame 6 has a rectangular frame shape from a pair of left and right side wall portions 6a, 6a fixed at one end to the turn-back member 3 and a front end wall portion 6b connecting the ends of the pair of side wall portions 6a, 6a. And projecting in the locking direction D of the facing member 3. The elastic locking frame 6 is formed with a locking hole 7 surrounded by a pair of side wall portions 6a, 6a and a tip wall portion 6b. The opening size of the locking hole 7 is set to be slightly larger than the planar size of the locking projection 5.

  The back cover 4 is assembled to the main body case 2 by locking means (not shown). The back cover 4 is provided with a front end protective wall portion 11 constituting a protective wall portion 10 extending on the outer peripheral surface 2 a of the main body case 2. The tip protection wall portion 11 has a concave groove 11a along the shape of the outer peripheral end surface of the tip wall portion 6b of the elastic locking frame 6, and is disposed at a position close to the tip wall portion 6b. Specifically, the outer peripheral end surfaces of the tip wall portion 6b and the tip protection wall portion 11 are arranged at positions where they substantially contact each other. The tip protection wall portion 11 has a height dimension that is approximately the same as the thickness dimension of the elastic locking frame body 6.

  The protective wall portion 10 is composed of the above-described tip protective wall portion 11 and side protective wall portions 12a and 12b. The side protection walls 12a and 12b are formed in the main body case 2 and are formed by setting a part of the outer peripheral surface 2a one step higher than the other surfaces. The side protection wall portions 12a and 12b are a pair of side wall portions 6a and 6a of the elastic locking frame 6, and are disposed at close positions where the tip protection wall 11 is not disposed. Specifically, the outer peripheral end surfaces of the side protection wall portions 12a and 12b and the side wall portions 6a and 6b are disposed at positions where they substantially contact each other. In this embodiment, the protection wall portion 10 including the tip protection wall portion 11 and the side protection wall portions 12 a and 12 b is disposed over the entire outer peripheral end surface of the elastic locking frame 6.

  In the above configuration, the main body case 2 and the facing member 3 are aligned at a predetermined assembly position and brought close to each other. Then, the distal end wall 6 b rides on the locking projection 5 due to the bending deformation of the elastic locking frame 6. Thereby, the movement of the elastic locking frame 6 in the locking direction D is allowed. When the movement of the elastic locking frame body 6 in the locking direction D proceeds and the locking hole 7 of the elastic locking frame body 6 coincides with the position of the locking projection 5, the elastic locking frame body 6 bends and deforms to return. Then, the locking projection 5 enters the locking hole 7. As a result, the elastic locking frame 6 is locked to the locking projection 5.

  In addition, the back cover 4 is assembled to the main body case 2 after or before the turning member 3 is assembled to the main body case 2. When the turning member 3 and the back cover 4 are assembled to the main body case 2, the elastic locking frame body 6 is locked to the locking protrusion 5, and the protective wall portion 10 is positioned in the vicinity of the elastic locking frame body 6. The tip protection wall 11 and the side protection walls 12a and 12b are arranged.

  When the external force acts on the main body case 2 and the turn-back member 3 on the meter device 1 assembled in this way, and the elastic locking frame body 6 tries to shift by the external force, the protective wall portion 10 is attached to the elastic locking frame body 6. The end protection wall 11 and the side protection walls 12a and 12b come into contact with each other, and the displacement of the elastic locking frame 6 is restricted. That is, the protective wall 10 that receives external force acting on the main body case 2 and the turning member 3 by the locking force between the elastic locking frame 6 and the locking projection 5 and prevents the elastic locking frame 6 from shifting. Also receive. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the elastic locking frame body 6 from coming off due to the bending deformation and the elastic locking frame body 6 and the locking projection 5 from being damaged as much as possible.

  In this embodiment, the tip protection part 11 regulates the transition of the tip wall part 6b having the largest transition amount in the elastic locking part 6. Accordingly, it is possible to effectively prevent the elastic locking frame body 6 from coming off and the elastic locking frame body 6 and the locking projection 5 from being damaged.

  In this embodiment, the lateral protection walls 12a and 12b regulate the displacement of the side wall portions 6a and 6a of the elastic locking frame 6. That is, the tip protection wall portion 11 and the side protection walls 12a and 12b can more reliably prevent the elastic locking frame body 6 from being detached due to bending deformation and the elastic locking frame body 6 and the locking projection portion 5 from being damaged. . Further, the tip protection wall 11 and the side protection walls 12 a and 12 b arranged around the entire circumference of the elastic locking frame 6 also function as a protector for preventing inadvertent contact with the elastic locking frame 6. To do. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent inadvertent release of the elastic locking frame 6 which is not intended by the operator.

  In this embodiment, the entire thickness direction of the outer peripheral end surface of the elastic locking frame 6 abuts against the tip protection wall portion 11 and the side protection wall portions 12a and 12b. Therefore, the displacement of the elastic locking frame body 6 can be reliably regulated. In the embodiment, the tip protection wall portion 11 and the side direction protection wall portions 12a and 12b are set to the same height as the thickness of the elastic locking frame 6, but the elastic locking frame It may be set higher than the thickness dimension of 6. The higher the thickness of the elastic locking frame 6 is, the more effectively the deformation of the elastic locking frame 6 can be prevented.

  In this embodiment, since the front end protection wall portion 11 is provided on the back cover 4 other than the main body case 2 and the look-back member 3, the external force can be distributed to the back cover 4. Can reduce damage. In particular, since the external force acting on the tip wall portion 6b having the largest displacement amount in the elastic locking frame 6 can be distributed to the back cover 4, the external force can be effectively distributed to the back cover 4. In this embodiment, only the tip protective wall portion 11 of the protective wall portion 10 is provided on the back cover 4, but the entire protective wall portion 10 may be provided on the back cover 4.

  In addition, according to the embodiment, the case where the base body is the main body case 2 and the assembled body is the turning member 3 is shown, but the present invention can of course be applied to other cases.

  In the embodiment, the main body case 2 that is the base body is provided with the locking projection 5, and the turning member 3 that is the assembly is provided with the elastic locking frame 6 that is the elastic locking portion. The main body case 2 may be provided with an elastic locking frame 6 as an elastic locking portion.

  In addition, in embodiment, although the locking hole 7 of the elastic locking frame 6 which is an elastic locking part is a through-hole opened on an upper surface, you may form as a hole which does not open on an upper surface.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a main part showing the embodiment of the present invention and showing a state in which a facing member is assembled to a case body and an elastic locking frame is locked to a locking projection. FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the present invention and is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 shows the embodiment of the present invention and is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 1. It is a perspective view before the latching of the latching structure of a prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

1 Meter device 2 Body case (base body)
3 facing parts (assembly)
4 Back cover (other assembly)
5 Locking projection 6 Elastic locking frame (elastic locking)
6a Side wall part 6b Tip wall part 7 Locking hole 10 Protection wall part 11 Tip protection wall part 12a, 12b Side protection wall part

Claims (7)

A locking projection is provided on one of the base body and the assembly to be assembled to the base body, and an elastic locking part that is flexibly deformable and has a locking hole is provided on the other. The locking projection is inserted into the locking hole by deformation of the elastic locking portion at a position where the locking hole coincides with the position of the locking projection, and the elastic locking portion is locked to the locking projection. In the locking structure to
A locking structure that is disposed in the vicinity of the elastic locking portion and includes a protective wall portion that restricts the displacement of the elastic locking portion. The locking structure according to claim 1,
The said protective wall part has a front-end | tip protective wall part arrange | positioned along the outer peripheral end surface of the said front-end | tip wall part of the said elastic locking part, The latching structure characterized by the above-mentioned. The locking structure according to claim 1 or 2, wherein
The said protection wall part has a side protection wall part arrange | positioned along the outer peripheral end surface of the side wall part of the said elastic latching | locking part, The latching structure characterized by the above-mentioned. The locking structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The locking structure according to claim 1, wherein the protective wall portion is set to a height equal to or greater than a thickness dimension of the elastic locking portion. The locking structure according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein
At least a part of the protective wall portion is provided in another assembly body assembled to the base body. The locking structure according to claim 5,
A locking structure characterized in that the tip protection wall portion is provided in another assembly. The locking structure according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The locking structure according to claim 1, wherein the base body is a main body case of a meter device, and the assembly is a turning member that clearly shows the contents of the meter.

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