JP2006215960A - Lever device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent damage to a tongue piece in installation of a lever to a lever support without any increase in size of the lever support. <P>SOLUTION: The tongue piece 29 in a bracket 26 is formed to be smaller than a face 34a having a projection 34 for the lever. The face 34a faces not only the tongue piece 29 in the bracket 26 but also a face of the peripheral part except the tongue piece 29 in the bracket 26. In this way, when the lever 34 moves the bracket 26 in the facing direction between the face 34a having the projection 35 and the tongue piece 29 in the bracket 26, a load from the lever is received not only by the tongue piece 29 but also by the peripheral part face except the tongue piece 29 in the bracket 26. Therefore, stress caused in the tongue piece 29 can be reduced, and damage to the tongue piece 29 can be prevented. In addition, increase in size of the bracket 26 can be prevented since increase in length of the tongue piece 29 is not necessary. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a lever device having an improved structure for attaching a lever to a lever support.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a lever device used for, for example, a turn signal of a vehicle such as an automobile or a wiper control is provided with a lever 1 and a lever support 2 as shown in FIG. The lever 1 is formed with protrusions 3 on both sides as shown in FIG. 7 as an engaged portion. On the other hand, the lever support 2 is formed with tongues 4 on both sides. The tongue piece 4 has a rectangular shape, and one side (in the illustrated example, the right side in FIG. 6) is integrally connected to the lever support 2, and the other three sides are separated from the lever support 2. . The tongue piece 4 is formed with a hole 5 as an engaging portion. Further, grooves 7 and 8 are formed on the inside from the both sides of the lever insertion opening 6 of the lever support 2 to the hole 5 of the tongue piece 4. The depth is gradually reduced.

  With this configuration, the lever 1 is inserted into the lever support 2 from the lever insertion opening 6 of the lever support 2, and the protrusion 3 is advanced along the grooves 7 and 8 while elastically pushing the tongue piece 4 apart. , To match the hole 5. Then, the tongue piece 4 is restored, and the hole 5 is engaged with the projection 3, and thus the lever 1 is attached to the lever support 2 (see FIGS. 7 and 8).

Thus, the lever support 2 is in a direction (upward in each figure) intersecting the facing direction (left and right direction in FIG. 7) between the surface of the lever 1 having the protrusion 3 and the tongue piece 4 of the lever support 2. As shown by the arrow A in FIG. 7, the lever 1 has the shaft portion 9, and the lever 1 rotates the lever support 2 around the shaft portion 9 in the attached state as described above. The lever support 2 is operated in a direction in which the surface of the lever 1 having the projection 3 and the tongue piece 4 are opposed to each other.
JP 2004-46698 A

In the case of the above conventional one, when the lever 1 is operated in a direction in which the lever 1 is opposed to the surface having the protrusion 3 and the tongue 4 of the lever support 2, a load in a direction in which the lever 1 is extended to the tongue 4. Will be added. For this reason, it is necessary to increase the strength of the tongue piece 4, which is generally realized by increasing the thickness of the tongue piece 4.
However, as a result, the stress of the tongue piece 4 that is spread when the lever 1 is attached to the lever support 2 is increased, and the tongue piece 4 may crack and break at one side where the lever piece 4 continues to the lever support 2. . In order to avoid this, it is considered that the length of the tongue piece 4 is increased. In this case, however, there is a problem that the lever support 2 is enlarged.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and therefore the object thereof is to avoid breakage of the tongue piece when the lever is attached to the lever support without incurring an increase in the size of the lever support. To provide a lever device that can.

  In order to achieve the above object, a lever device of the present invention includes a lever and a lever support, and an engaged portion of a tongue piece formed on the lever support is provided with an engaged portion of the lever. By engaging with the elasticity of the tongue piece, the lever is attached to the lever support body, and the lever support body is operated by the lever in the opposite direction between the surface having the engaged portion of the lever and the tongue piece. The tongue piece is formed smaller than the surface of the lever having the engaged portion, and the surface of the tongue piece faces the surface of the peripheral portion other than the tongue piece of the lever support together with the tongue piece. It is characterized (Invention of Claim 1).

  According to the above means, the surface of the lever having the engaged portion faces the surface of the peripheral portion other than the tongue piece of the lever support together with the tongue piece of the lever support, so that the lever has a protrusion. When the lever support is operated in a direction opposite to the surface of the lever support and the tongue piece of the lever support, the lever support receives not only the load on the tongue piece but also the surface of the peripheral portion other than the tongue piece. Therefore, the plate thickness of the tongue piece can be reduced accordingly, and the length of the tongue piece need not be increased. Thus, breakage of the tongue when the lever is attached to the lever support can be avoided without incurring an increase in the size of the lever support.

Hereinafter, a first example (first embodiment) of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, FIG. 3 shows a lever switch device including a lever device for a vehicle such as an automobile as a whole. The switch cover 11 is used as a main body, and a body cover 12 is mounted on the upper side of the figure, and the lower side thereof. An under cover 13 is attached.

A circuit board 14 is housed inside the under cover 13, an insulator 15 is disposed above the circuit board 14, and contact holders 16 and 17 are disposed above the circuit board 14. The contact holders 16 and 17 are respectively provided with movable contacts 18 and 19 on the insulator 15 side, and the insulator 15 has fixed contacts 20 and 21 embedded on the contact holder 16 side. The movable contacts 18 and 19 are separately slid along with the contact holders 16 and 17, respectively, and the first switch body 22 is formed by the contact holder 16, the movable contact 18, and the fixed contact 20. The second switch body 23 is constituted by the contact holder 17, the movable contact 19, and the fixed contact 21.
The circuit board 14 is connected to the terminal portions 20a and 21a of the fixed contacts 20 and 21. In addition, a connector 24 is mounted and a connection line 25 is connected thereto.

  On the other hand, a bracket 26 as a lever support is disposed between the body cover 12 and the switch body 11. The bracket 26 is open at the surface portion other than the upper surface portion in the figure and both side surface portions in the direction orthogonal to the paper surface of the drawing, and has a shaft portion 27 on the left side portion of the upper surface portion in the drawing. 27 is fitted in a recess 28 formed in the body cover 12 to support the bracket 26 so as to be rotatable in the direction of arrow A in FIGS.

  Further, tongue pieces 29 shown in FIG. 1 are formed on both side portions of the bracket 26 as shown in FIG. The tongue piece 29 has one side (in the illustrated example, the right side in FIG. 1) integrally connected to the bracket 26, and the other three sides (in the illustrated example, the upper side, the left side, and the lower side in FIG. 1). ) Is separated from the bracket 26, and a trapezoid is formed in which one side, which is the base end connected to the bracket 26, is wider than the left side, which is the distal end that is separated from the bracket 26. Further, the tongue piece 29 is formed with a circular hole 30 as an engaging portion. In addition, the tongue piece 29 is formed from both sides of the lever insertion port 31 (see FIG. 2) formed by the left opening of the bracket 26. Over the hole 30, grooves 32 and 33 are formed on the inner side with the depth gradually reduced.

  On the other hand, reference numeral 34 denotes a lever. The lever 34 is formed with cylindrical projections 35 as engaged portions on both sides as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, a slope 36 is formed on the side facing the inner part of the bracket 26 with the depth gradually reduced.

  With this configuration, the lever 34 is inserted into the bracket 26 from the lever insertion port 31 of the bracket 26, and the protrusion 35 is advanced along the grooves 32 and 33 from the inclined surface 36 side while the tongue piece 29 is elastically expanded. , To match the hole 30. Then, the tongue piece 29 is restored, and the hole 30 is engaged with the projection 35, and thus the lever 34 is attached to the bracket 26.

  FIG. 1 shows the mounting state of the lever 34. As is clear from this figure, the tongue piece 29 of the bracket 26 is formed smaller than the surface 34a having the projection 35 of the lever 34, and the surface 34a. However, both the tongue piece 29 of the bracket 26 and the surface of the peripheral portion other than the tongue piece 29 of the bracket 26 (the portion indicated by the hatched area in FIG. 1) are also opposed.

A hole 37 shown in FIG. 3 is formed in advance at the base end of the lever 34 inserted into the bracket 26, and the spring 38 and the moderation piece 39 are accommodated therein. On the other hand, the switch body 11 has a plurality of moderation valleys 40 having slopes 40a in the vertical direction in FIG. 3, and an arc arrangement centering on the shaft portion 27 of the bracket 26 as shown in FIG. The moderation piece 39 is brought into pressure contact with one of the moderation valleys 40 by the elastic force of the spring 38, and the moderation mechanism 41 is formed by the moderation piece 39 and the spring 38 and the moderation valley 40. It is composed. Further, the contact holder 16 of the first switch body 22 is engaged with the bracket 26 as shown in FIG.
Further, a shaft 42 is rotatably inserted into the lever 34, and the contact holder 17 of the second switch main body 23 is engaged with a driving portion 43 projecting from a base end portion of the shaft 42.

  When the user operates the lever 34 in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIGS. 1 and 3 in the case of the configuration as described above, the surface 34a having the projection 35 of the lever 34 causes the tongue piece 4 of the bracket 26 to By applying a load in a direction in which the surface of the peripheral portion (the portion indicated by the hatched area in FIG. 1) is pushed and expanded, the bracket 26 is centered on the shaft portion 27 by the arrow A in FIGS. 2 and 4. It rotates in the direction shown, that is, it operates in the direction in which the surface of the lever 34 having the projection 35 and the tongue piece 29 of the bracket 26 face each other.

  When the bracket 26 is rotated as described above, in the moderation mechanism 41, the moderation piece 39 is sequentially engaged with the adjacent moderation valleys 40, and moderation is given to the rotation of the bracket 26 and the lever 34. At the same time, in the first switch body 22, the contact holder 16 slides on the fixed contact 20 with the movable contact 18 in the direction indicated by the arrow B in FIG. 4, and the movable contact 18 is moved by the moderation mechanism 41. Along with the provision of moderation, the contact is brought into and out of contact with the fixed contact 20 to open and close the contact. Note that the opening and closing of the contacts at this time is used for controlling the operating speed of the wiper of the vehicle, for example.

  Further, when the lever 34 is operated in the direction indicated by the arrow C in FIGS. 1 and 3, that is, in the direction intersecting the facing direction of the surface 34 a having the protrusion 35 of the lever 34 and the tongue piece 29 of the bracket 26, the lever 34 is operated. 3 is rotated in the same direction around the projection 35 as a shaft portion. At the same time, in the first switch body 22, the contact holder 16 is moved on the fixed contact 20 with the movable contact 18 by the arrow D in FIG. Slide in the direction shown to open and close the contacts. Note that the opening and closing of the contacts at this time is used for, for example, washer control of the vehicle.

  In addition, when the shaft 42 is rotated, the contact holder 17 slides on the fixed contact 21 with the movable contact 19 in the direction indicated by the arrow E in FIG. Open and close the contacts. Note that the opening and closing of the contact at this time is provided for intermittent operation time control of the wiper of the vehicle, for example.

  As described above, in this configuration, the tongue piece 29 of the bracket 26 is formed smaller than the surface 34 a having the protrusion 35 of the lever 34, and the surface 34 a together with the tongue piece 29 of the bracket 26 has a tongue piece 29 of the bracket 26. The peripheral direction of the peripheral portion other than (the portion indicated by the hatched area in FIG. 1) is also opposed, so that the lever 34 is opposed to the surface 34a having the projection 35 and the tongue piece 29 of the bracket 26. When the bracket 26 is operated, the bracket 26 receives not only the load by the tongue piece 29 but also the surface of the peripheral portion other than the tongue piece 29.

  Therefore, it is not necessary to increase the thickness of the tongue piece 29 as much as the conventional one, and the thickness can be reduced. Therefore, the stress generated in the tongue piece 29 when the lever 34 is attached to the bracket 26 can be reduced, and the tongue piece can be reduced. 29 breakage can be avoided. Further, it is not necessary to increase the length of the tongue piece 29, so that the size of the bracket 26 can be prevented from being increased.

  In addition, particularly in the case of this configuration, the base end side of the tongue piece 29 that is connected to the bracket 26 is formed wider than the tip end side of the tongue piece 29 that is separated from the bracket 26. This is because the lever 34 can be operated in a direction intersecting with the facing direction of the surface 34a having the projection 35 of the lever 34 and the tongue piece 29 of the bracket 26, and when the lever 34 is operated in that direction. Since the tongue piece 29 is subjected to a large load on the base end portion side, the tongue piece 29 has a strength to withstand the base end portion side of the tongue piece 29, and this also prevents the tongue piece 29 from being broken. can do.

In contrast to this, FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment (second embodiment) of the present invention. The same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted. Only the part is described.
In this case, instead of the tongue piece 29 described above, the base end side of the tongue piece 51 connected to the bracket 26 is formed to have the same width as the tip end side spaced from the bracket 26.
In the case where the lever 34 is not operable in a direction intersecting with the facing direction of the surface 34a having the projection 35 of the lever 34 and the tongue piece 29 of the bracket 26, this may be done.

  In addition, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above and shown in the drawings. In particular, the engaged portion exemplified by the protrusion 35 (convex portion) of the lever 34 and the bracket (lever support). The engagement portion exemplified by the 26 holes 30 (concave portion) may be provided with the concave-convex relationship reversed, and further, the engagement portion may be applied to a lever device other than for a vehicle as a whole without departing from the gist. May be implemented with appropriate changes.

The front view of the principal part which shows 1st Example of this invention Side view of main parts Vertical section of the entire lever switch device including the main parts Top view of the entire lever switch device with the body cover removed FIG. 1 equivalent view showing a second embodiment of the present invention. Exploded front view of main parts showing a conventional example 2 equivalent diagram 1 equivalent diagram

Explanation of symbols

  In the drawing, 26 is a bracket (lever support), 29 is a tongue piece, 30 is a hole (engagement portion), 34 is a lever, 35 is a projection (engaged portion), and 51 is a tongue piece.

Claims (2)

Lever,
A lever support,
The engaged portion of the tongue formed on the lever support is engaged with the engaged portion of the lever by the elasticity of the tongue piece, so that the lever is attached to the lever support, and the engaged portion of the lever In the one in which the lever support is operated by the lever in the facing direction between the surface having the tongue and the tongue piece,
The tongue piece is formed smaller than the surface having the engaged portion of the lever, and the surface of the tongue piece faces the surface of the peripheral portion other than the tongue piece of the lever support together with the tongue piece. Lever device to do. The lever is operable in a direction intersecting the facing direction of the tongue piece and the surface having the engaged portion of the lever;
2. The lever device according to claim 1, wherein a base end portion side connected to the lever support body is formed wider than a distal end portion side of the tongue piece that is separated from the lever support body.

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