JP2006226794A - Tilt sensor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a tilt sensor achieving cost reduction. <P>SOLUTION: The tilt sensor 10 comprises a substrate 1 for mounting an infrared light-emitting element Ir-LED2 and a light-receiving element P-Tr3 and 4, a substrate 6 having a reflection face 6a, and a resin molding 5 for forming a recess 5d storing a disk 7 that is a shading object moving the recess 5a storing Ir-LED on the side of the substrate 1 and recesses 5b and 5c storing P-Tr3 and 4 by gravity, according to the attitude on the side of the reflection face 6a, by being sandwiched on both the substrates 1 and 6. In addition, a light-emitting window 5e and light-receiving windows 5f and 5g penetrating each of the recesses 5a, 5b and 5c and a recess 5d are formed in the resin molding 5. Terminal parts 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d and 1e that are five pairs of through holes are formed on the upper and lower end faces of the substrate 1. A dummy terminal 6b that are the through holes of three locations are formed on the lower end face of the substrate 6. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an inclination sensor used for detecting an inclination of an electronic device or the like.

Conventional tilt sensors used to detect the tilt of electronic devices such as digital cameras, video cameras, and mobile phones include, for example, a substrate on which one light emitting element is mounted and light emitted from the light emitting element. A resin mold having a space in which a metal ball that can be moved by gravity according to the posture of the tilt sensor is sandwiched between another substrate on which two light receiving elements that receive light are mounted. By detecting the presence or absence of an output signal from the light receiving element by blocking the optical path from the light emitting element to the light receiving element by the metal ball according to the attitude, the attitude of the tilt sensor is recognized without contact. There is a photo interrupter type (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP-A-11-351845 (FIGS. 1 to 4, paragraph numbers 14 to 16)

  However, such a conventional tilt sensor is composed of, for example, two substrates, two plastic molds, one ball, two phototransistors and one infrared light emitting element, and has eight parts. Many. Further, when this tilt sensor is mounted on a mother board, there is a problem that the mother board is limited to a horizontal one.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a conventional problem, and an object of the invention is to provide an inclination sensor that can reduce the number of parts and reduce the cost.

  Means of the present invention for achieving the above object comprises a light emitting element and a plurality of light receiving elements for receiving light emitted from the light emitting element, and is adapted to gravity in the middle of an optical path from the light emitting element to the light receiving element. A tilt sensor having a space containing a movable light shielding object, and detecting the presence or absence of an output signal from the light receiving element by blocking the light path by the light shielding object according to a posture of the tilt sensor. In the inclination sensor configured to recognize the attitude of the inclination sensor, the light emitting element and the plurality of light receiving elements are mounted on the same substrate, and a reflecting surface is disposed opposite to the mounting surface of the substrate. It is characterized by.

  And a resin mold having a recess that opens to the reflecting surface and stores the light shielding object, a recess that opens to the mounting surface of the substrate and stores the light emitting element, and a recess that stores the light receiving element. The resin mold has a light emitting window that communicates the concave portion that accommodates the light shielding object and the concave portion that accommodates the light emitting element, and a light receiving window that communicates the concave portion that accommodates the light shielding object and the concave portion that accommodates the light receiving element. It is characterized by having.

  The light-shielding object is a disk.

  The light-shielding object is a sphere.

  As described above, according to the present invention, a light emitting element and a plurality of light receiving elements that receive light emitted from the light emitting element are provided, and in accordance with gravity in the middle of an optical path from the light emitting element to the light receiving element. A tilt sensor having a space for storing a movable light shielding object, and detecting the presence or absence of an output signal from the light receiving element by blocking the light path with the light shielding object according to the posture of the tilt sensor. In the inclination sensor configured to recognize the attitude of the inclination sensor, the light emitting element and the plurality of light receiving elements are mounted on the same substrate, and a reflection surface is disposed opposite to the mounting surface of the substrate. The light emitting / receiving element can be mounted on one substrate, the number of parts can be reduced, and the process can be simplified.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 is a perspective view of a tilt sensor according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a central longitudinal sectional view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a plan view of a substrate showing a mounting surface of a light emitting / receiving element, and FIG. 5 is a rear view of the tilt sensor, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a cross section taken along line AA in FIG. 2, FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a cross section taken along arrow BB in FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows this operation | movement.

  First, the structure of the inclination sensor which is 1st embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 10 denotes a substantially cubic-shaped inclination sensor that detects an inclination to a posture in three directions in which arrows X, Y, and Z are directed downward. Reference numeral 1 denotes a substrate composed of a double-sided printed circuit board. One side has a wiring pattern for mounting an optical element to be described later, and terminal portions 1a, 1b, 1c, and 1d that are five pairs of through-holes in the upper and lower peripheral portions. And 1e are formed.

  On the other surface, a wiring pattern is formed to connect the terminal portions 1a and 1a, 1c and 1c, 1e and 1e. As shown in FIG. 3, reference numeral 2 denotes a light emitting diode (hereinafter abbreviated as Ir-LED) which is an infrared light emitting element mounted near the center of one surface of the substrate 1. Reference numerals 3 and 4 denote phototransistors (hereinafter abbreviated as P-Tr), which are light receiving elements mounted on the same plane as the Ir-LED 2 at a distance from the left and right in the upper center of the same plane. The terminal portion 1a has an emitter of P-Tr3, the terminal portion 1b has an anode of an Ir-LED 2, the terminal portion 1c has a collector of P-Tr 3 and 4, the terminal portion 1d has a cathode of an Ir-LED 2, A P-Tr4 emitter is connected to the terminal portion 1e.

  Reference numeral 5 denotes a mold which is a resin molded product bonded to the substrate 1. As shown in FIG. 5, a recess 5 a which is a space for storing the Ir-LED 2 and a space for storing the P-Trs 3 and 4 as shown in FIG. The recesses 5b and 5c are formed to be open. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, a concave portion 5d, which is a space in which the corners of a substantially equilateral triangle in a plane form a part of a cylinder, is opened on the other surface. In addition, a light emitting window 5e and light receiving windows 5f and 5g are formed through each of the concave portions 5a, 5b and 5c and the concave portion 5d.

  In FIG. 4, 6 is a substrate made of a single-sided printed wiring board bonded to the mold 5, and the surface facing the recess 5d is a smooth reflecting surface 6a to which Au plating or the like is applied. Dummy terminals 6b, which are three through holes, are formed on the lower end surface of the substrate 6 for fixing to the mother board. Reference numeral 7 denotes a disk as a light blocking object made of a light blocking material, and is housed in the recess 5d so as to be movable by gravity according to the posture of the tilt sensor 10.

  Next, the operation of the tilt sensor 10 will be described. When the inclination sensor 10 disposed by soldering the terminal portions of the substrate 1 and the substrate 6 to the motherboard of the electronic device is in a posture in which the arrow Z faces downward, as shown in FIG. Therefore, the light emitted from the Ir-LED 2 does not reach any of the P-Trs 3 and 4. Therefore, the posture can be recognized by not outputting a signal from the P-Trs 3 and 4 to the emitter.

  When the tilt sensor 10 is in the posture in which the arrow X faces downward, as shown in FIG. 7, the disk 7 settles at one corner of the recess 5d and closes the window 5f, but does not close the window 5g. The light emitted from the LED 2 is reflected by the reflecting surface 6a through the window 5e, passes through the window 5g and reaches the P-Tr4, but does not reach the P-Tr3. Therefore, a posture can be recognized by outputting a signal to the emitter only from P-Tr4 and not outputting a signal from P-Tr3.

  Similarly, when the arrow Y is oriented downward, as shown in FIG. 8, the disk 7 settles at one corner of the recess 5d and closes the window 5g, but does not close the window 5f. The emitted light is reflected by the reflecting surface 6a through the window 5e, passes through the window 5f, and reaches P-Tr3, but does not reach P-Tr4. Therefore, a posture can be recognized by outputting a signal to the emitter only from P-Tr3 and not outputting a signal from P-Tr4.

  Next, the effects of the first embodiment will be described. Since it is a reflector system in which the light emitted from the Ir-LED 2 is returned to the light emitting side by the reflecting surface 6a, the P-Tr3 (4) can be mounted on the same substrate 1 as the Ir-LED 2, and the light emitting and receiving elements can be mounted simultaneously. It can be simplified. Since there is only one mounting board and mold component, the product cost can be reduced. And the inclination sensor 10 can be reduced in size and can be surface-mounted on a motherboard. When mounting, the motherboard can support both the horizontal and vertical directions. In addition, since the switch is a non-contact type, operation reliability is high.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a tilt sensor according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 9, 20 is a tilt sensor. Reference numeral 17 denotes a sphere as a light blocking object made of a light blocking material, and is housed in the recess 5d so as to be movable according to gravity. The difference between the tilt sensor 20 and the tilt sensor 10 of the first embodiment is only the shape of the light shielding object. Accordingly, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and names, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  Next, the effect of the second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the tilt sensor 20, since the light shielding object is the sphere 17, the tilt sensor 20 can be mounted on the motherboard both in the horizontal direction and in the vertical direction, and the degree of freedom of mounting is increased. Since the light-shielding object is a sphere 17, the movement is smooth. Other effects are the same as those of the first embodiment.

  As a highly reliable tilt sensor, a wide variety of devices can be mounted on the motherboard.

It is a perspective view of the inclination sensor which is 1st embodiment of this invention. It is a center longitudinal cross-sectional view of the inclination sensor which is 1st embodiment of this invention. It is a top view which shows the mounting surface of the inclination sensor which is 1st embodiment of this invention. It is a rear view of the inclination sensor which is 1st embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the AA arrow cross section of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the BB arrow cross section of FIG. It is sectional drawing explaining operation | movement of the inclination sensor which is 1st embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing explaining operation | movement of the inclination sensor which is 1st embodiment of this invention. It is a center sectional view of the inclination switch which is the second embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

1, 6 Substrate 2 Ir-LED
3, 4 P-Tr
5 Mold 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d Recessed part 5e Light emitting window 5f, 5g Light receiving window 6a Reflecting surface 7 Disc 10, 20 Inclination sensor 17 Sphere

Claims (4)

  A slant having a light-emitting element and a plurality of light-receiving elements that receive light emitted from the light-emitting element, and having a space that houses a light-blocking object that can move according to gravity in the middle of an optical path from the light-emitting element to the light-receiving element An inclination sensor that detects the presence or absence of an output signal from the light receiving element and recognizes the attitude of the inclination sensor by blocking the optical path with the light shielding object according to the attitude of the inclination sensor. The tilt sensor is characterized in that the light emitting element and the plurality of light receiving elements are mounted on the same substrate, and a reflective surface is disposed opposite to the mounting surface of the substrate.   A resin mold having a recess that opens to the reflecting surface and stores the light shielding object, a recess that opens to the mounting surface of the substrate and that stores the light emitting element, and a recess that stores the light receiving element; The resin mold includes a light emitting window that communicates the concave portion that accommodates the light shielding object and the concave portion that accommodates the light emitting element, and a light receiving window that communicates the concave portion that accommodates the light shielding object and the concave portion that accommodates the light receiving element. The tilt sensor according to claim 1.   The tilt sensor according to claim 1, wherein the light shielding object is a disk. The tilt sensor according to claim 1, wherein the light shielding object is a sphere.

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