JP2007287594A - Inhibitor switch and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inhibitor switch, along with its manufacturing method, capable of avoiding unintended conduction with a conductive foreign substance in an oil while suppressing a manufacturing cost, by disconnecting the disconnection part of a contact point plate by a plurality of points. <P>SOLUTION: The inhibitor switch 1 comprises a terminal stage 2 fixed in a mission case of an automatic transmission of a vehicle, contact point plates 3 and 4 formed at the terminal stage 2, an operation part 5 which is interlocked with the select lever of the vehicle for operation along the contact point plates 3 and 4, and a movable contact point 5b which is formed on the operation part 5 and slides on the contact point plate 3 to form a specified electric circuit corresponding to the contact position for detecting the position of the select lever based on the electric circuit. Disconnection parts 8 and 9 which are disconnected for cutting off conduction after being disposed at a specified position of the terminal stage 2 are formed on the contact point plates 3 and 4, with a single disconnection part, 8 or 9 disconnected by a plurality of points. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an inhibitor switch that is disposed in a transmission case of an automatic transmission of a vehicle and detects a shift position of a select lever, and a manufacturing method thereof.

  In order to detect the shift position of the select lever, an automatic switch in an automobile is usually provided with an inhibitor switch in its mission case. Such an inhibitor switch includes a terminal block fixed in the transmission case of the automatic transmission, a contact plate formed on the terminal block, an operation unit that operates along the contact plate in conjunction with the select lever of the vehicle, And a movable contact formed on the operation portion and capable of sliding on the contact plate to form a predetermined electric circuit corresponding to the contact position.

  Thus, the inhibitor switch operates in oil filled in the mission case, and detects the shift position of the select lever from the electrical circuit formed according to the contact position of the movable contact with the contact plate. Based on this detection, the power transmission path of the automatic transmission can be controlled in correspondence with the shift position of the select lever (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

In such an inhibitor switch, multiple rows of contact plates extending in parallel are formed on the terminal block. A dividing portion that connects adjacent rows is formed. Then, after arranging the contact plate integrated by the dividing part at a predetermined position of the terminal block, if the dividing part is divided by a punch or the like and the electric conduction is cut off, it is separated for each row in the manufacturing process. In addition to avoiding this, it is possible to achieve desired electrical conduction for each column after the division.
JP 2002-175743 A

  However, the above conventional inhibitor switch has the following problems because each dividing portion is divided only at one place. That is, in the oil in the mission case, conductive foreign matters such as fine metal powder often float, and if such conductive foreign matter adheres across the dividing portion of the contact plate, unintentional conduction is made, and a short circuit occurs. There has been a problem that electrical failures may occur.

  In addition, it is also possible to avoid electrical problems by applying secondary molding to the terminal block and filling the segmented portion of the segmented portion with the secondary molding resin to cause conductive foreign matter to adhere to the segmented portion. In this case, however, there is a problem that the manufacturing cost increases by the amount of the secondary molding process.

  This invention is made | formed in view of such a situation, and avoids the unintentional conduction | electrical_connection by the conductive foreign material in oil, suppressing manufacturing cost by dividing the division part of a contact plate in multiple places. It is an object of the present invention to provide an inhibitor switch and a method for manufacturing the same.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, a terminal block fixed in a transmission case of an automatic transmission of a vehicle, a contact plate formed on the terminal block, and an operation along the contact plate in conjunction with a select lever of the vehicle. And a movable contact that is formed on the operation unit and can slide on the contact plate to form a predetermined electric circuit according to the contact position. In the inhibitor switch for detecting the shift position of the lever, the contact plate is formed with a dividing portion that is arranged at a predetermined position of the terminal block and then is divided to cut off conduction. The dividing portion is divided at a plurality of locations.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the inhibitor switch according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of dividing holes for dividing the dividing portion are formed at positions corresponding to the dividing portion in the terminal block. And

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the inhibitor switch according to the second aspect, the contact plate is formed in a plurality of stages with respect to the terminal block, and the dividing hole corresponds to a dividing portion of each contact plate. It is characterized by being formed.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a terminal block fixed in a transmission case of an automatic transmission of a vehicle, a contact plate formed on the terminal block, and operating along the contact plate in conjunction with a select lever of the vehicle. And a movable contact that is formed on the operation unit and can slide on the contact plate to form a predetermined electric circuit according to the contact position. In the manufacturing method of the inhibitor switch for detecting the shift position of the lever, the contact plate is formed with a dividing portion which is arranged at a predetermined position of the terminal block and then is divided to cut off conduction. One dividing portion is divided at a plurality of locations.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the method for manufacturing an inhibitor switch according to the fourth aspect, a plurality of dividing holes are formed at positions corresponding to the dividing portions in the terminal block, and cutting means are inserted into the dividing holes. By doing so, the dividing portion is divided at a plurality of locations.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the method of manufacturing an inhibitor switch according to the fifth aspect, the contact plate is formed in a plurality of stages with respect to the terminal block, and the dividing holes are formed in the divided portions of the respective contact plates. It is formed at a corresponding position, and the cutting means is inserted into each dividing hole, and the dividing portions of the contact plates of each of the plurality of stages are divided at a plurality of locations.

  According to the invention of claim 1 or claim 4, since one divided portion of the contact plate is divided at a plurality of locations, a plurality of divided locations can be formed, and conductive foreign matter adheres to one divided location. However, the interruption of conduction can be maintained by other dividing points. Therefore, since a separate process such as secondary molding can be omitted, the manufacturing cost can be suppressed, and unintended conduction due to conductive foreign matters in the oil can be avoided.

  In the invention of claim 2 or claim 5, since a plurality of dividing holes for dividing the dividing portion are formed at positions corresponding to the dividing portions in the terminal block, the cutting means such as a punch is divided. If it is made to fit in the hole, the dividing part can be divided accurately and easily.

  In the invention of claim 3 or claim 6, the contact plate is formed in a plurality of stages with respect to the terminal block, and the dividing hole is formed at a position corresponding to the dividing portion of each contact plate. If a cutting means such as a punch is inserted into the dividing hole at the same time, a plurality of divided portions of each contact plate extending over a plurality of stages can be cut and divided at a plurality of locations at the same time.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.
The inhibitor switch according to the present embodiment is disposed in a transmission case of an automatic transmission of an automobile and is for detecting a shift position of a select lever. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a resin molded product is used. Are mainly composed of a terminal block 2 made of a metal, contact plates 3 and 4 made of metal, an operation unit 5 in which a movable contact 5 b is formed, and a metal case 6.

  The terminal block 2 has a plurality of groove portions 2a extending in the longitudinal direction on the surface side (the upper surface side in FIGS. 1 and 2), and the connector portion 2b is integrally formed at a predetermined portion on the side surface. . The terminal block 2 is provided with two upper and lower contact plates 3 and 4, and a part of the upper contact plate 3 faces the outside in the groove 2 a of the terminal block 2. The movable contact 5b is configured to be slidable.

  Each of the contact plates 3 and 4 is formed by, for example, extracting and bending a conductive metal plate with a press or the like into a predetermined shape. Further, terminal portions 3a and 4a are formed at the end portions of the upper and lower contact plates 3 and 4, respectively, and these terminal portions 3a and 4a are set so as to be positioned at the connector portion 2b. Thus, if a connector (not shown) formed on an external device or the like (for example, a controller or the like disposed in the mission case) is connected to the terminal portions 3a and 4a of the connector portion 2b, the detection signal of the inhibitor switch 1 is sent. It can be sent to external devices.

  The case 6 is attached so as to cover the surface side of the terminal block 2, and the flange portion 6 b is integrally formed. By inserting a bolt (not shown) into the bolt hole 6 ba formed in the flange portion 6 b, The case 6 and the terminal block 2 are configured to be fixed at predetermined positions in a mission case (not shown). Further, the case 6 is formed with a straight elongated hole 6a in the longitudinal direction thereof, and the lever portion 5a of the operating portion 5 is inserted into the elongated hole 6a.

  On the other hand, the operation unit 5 can operate along the contact plate 5b in conjunction with the select lever of the automobile, and as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the lever unit 5a in conjunction with the operation of the select lever, A movable contact 5b that can slide on the contact plate 3 is formed. That is, the operation portion 5 is accommodated between the case 6 and the terminal block 2 and the operation of the select lever is transmitted via the protruding lever portion 5a, and the contact plate 3 is slid on the contact plate 3 according to the operation. It is possible to move. Since the movable contact 5b is formed corresponding to the groove 2a formed on the terminal block 2, when the operation unit 5 operates, the movable contact 5b slides on the contact plate 3 in the groove 2a. It will be.

  However, when the operation unit 5 slides on the contact plate 3, the movable contact 5b and the contact plate 3 come into contact with each other to be electrically connected, and a predetermined electrical circuit is formed according to the contact position. It is configured to be. Therefore, the shift position of the select lever can be detected from a predetermined electrical circuit, and the power transmission path of the automatic transmission can be controlled in accordance with the shift position of the select lever based on the detection. Yes. The contact plates 3 and 4 are electrically connected at predetermined locations, and an electrical predetermined circuit is formed including these two contact plates 3 and 4.

  By the way, as shown in FIG. 4, the contact plates 3, 4 are formed with dividing portions 8, 9 that are arranged at predetermined positions of the terminal block 2 and then divided to cut off conduction. The dividing portions 8 and 9 are for connecting adjacent rows or portions so that the contact plates 3 or 4 consisting of a plurality of rows or portions are not separated in the manufacturing process. In 1, it is a site | part resected so that conduction | electrical_connection may be interrupted | blocked.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a dividing hole 10 into which a cutting means 7 such as a punch (see FIG. 8) can be inserted is formed at a position corresponding to the dividing portions 8 and 9 in the terminal block 2. Yes. The dividing hole 10 is formed so as to penetrate through the front and back of the terminal block 2, and as shown in FIG. 7, two holes (dividing holes 10a, 10b) are provided at one divided portion 8 or 9. have. And as shown in FIG. 8, it is comprised so that one cutting part 8 or 9 can be cut in two places (plural places) by inserting cutting means 7, such as a punch, in each dividing hole 10a, 10b. Yes.

  Thereby, in the contact plate 3, as shown in FIG. 5, the one divided portion 9 has a plurality of divided portions 9a and 9b, and in the contact plate 4, one divided portion as shown in FIG. 8 has a plurality of dividing points 8a and 8b. Therefore, in the process of use, even if conductive foreign matter floating in the oil in the mission case adheres to one of the divided points, the interruption of conduction can be maintained by the other divided point, so a separate process for closing the divided point ( Secondary molding and the like) can be eliminated, the manufacturing cost can be reduced, and unintentional conduction due to conductive foreign matter in the oil can be avoided.

  Further, since a plurality of dividing holes 10a and 10b for dividing the dividing portions 8 and 9 are formed at positions corresponding to the dividing portions 8 and 9 in the terminal block 2, the cutting means 7 such as a punch is divided. If it inserts in hole 10a, 10b, the dividing parts 8 and 9 can be divided accurately and easily. Furthermore, if the excision means 7 such as a punch can be inserted into the plurality of dividing holes 10a and 10b at the same time, a large number of the dividing portions 8 and 9 can be divided at a plurality of locations at the same time. Further simplification can be achieved.

  Furthermore, the contact plates 3 and 4 are formed in a plurality of upper and lower stages with respect to the terminal block 2, and the dividing holes 10 a and 10 b are formed at positions corresponding to the dividing portions 8 and 9 of the respective contact plates 3 and 4. Therefore, if cutting means such as punches are simultaneously inserted into the plurality of dividing holes 10a and 10b, the plurality of dividing portions 8 and 9 of the contact plates 3 and 4 across the plurality of stages are simultaneously cut out at a plurality of locations. Can be divided.

  According to the inhibitor switch 1, when the driver operates the select lever, the lever portion 5 a is operated in conjunction with the operation, and the operation portion 5 slides linearly on the contact plate 3 to the contact position. A predetermined electrical circuit is formed accordingly. At this time, since the interruption of the conduction of the dividing portions 8 and 9 is reliably maintained by the plurality of dividing points 8a and 8b (9a and 9b), an electrical failure such as a short circuit is surely prevented and the reliability of the inhibitor switch 1 is improved. Can be improved.

Next, a method for manufacturing the inhibitor switch 1 will be described.
First, the contact plates 3 and 4 respectively connected by the dividing portions 8 and 9 are positioned and fixed at predetermined positions in a molding die for molding the terminal block 2. Then, a resin is poured into the molding die, and the terminal block 2 is molded while the contact plates 3 and 4 are insert-molded. At this time, by forming a plurality of parting holes 10a and 10b for one parting part 8 and 9, the parting parts 8 and 9 are exposed to the outside at a plurality of places through the parting holes 10a and 10b. And

  After the contact plates 3 and 4 are fixed to the terminal block 2 as described above, the cutting portions 8 and 9 are simultaneously cut at a plurality of locations by fitting the cutting means 7 such as punches into the cutting holes 10a and 10b. Thus, since the terminal block 2 in which the contact plates 3 and 4 are insert-molded is obtained, the inhibitor switch 1 according to the present embodiment can be obtained by attaching the operation unit 5 and the case 6 to the terminal block 2.

  As mentioned above, although this embodiment was described, this invention is not limited to this, For example, one parting part may be divided | segmented in three or more places, and you may make it form three or more parting parts. Further, in the present embodiment, the contact plate having the dividing portion is arranged in two upper and lower stages, but it may be one stage or three or more stages. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the operating portion slides linearly on the contact plate in conjunction with the operation of the select lever. Instead, for example, the fixed contact is arcuate (or circumferential). It is good also as what makes an operation part slide in arc shape (circumferential shape).

  The contact plate is provided with a dividing portion that is arranged at a predetermined position of the terminal block and then divided to cut off conduction, and the dividing portion is divided at a plurality of locations, and a manufacturing method thereof If so, the present invention can also be applied to ones having different external shapes or to which other functions are added.

Overall perspective view showing the appearance of the inhibitor switch of the present invention An exploded perspective view for showing the internal configuration of the inhibitor switch The perspective view which shows the operation part in the inhibitor switch The perspective view which shows the contact plate arrange | positioned in the upper and lower stages in the inhibitor switch The top view which shows the contact plate arrange | positioned in the upper stage in the same inhibitor switch, and the enlarged view which shows the parting part of the parting part The top view which shows the contact plate arrange | positioned in the lower stage in the inhibitor switch, and the enlarged view which shows the division | segmentation location of the parting part It is a figure explaining the method to divide the dividing part in the inhibitor switch, Comprising: The top view which shows before dividing It is a figure explaining the method to divide the dividing part in the same inhibitor switch, Comprising: The top view which shows after division | segmentation

Explanation of symbols

1 Inhibitor switch 2 Terminal block 3 Contact plate (upper)
4 Contact plate (lower)
5 Operation part 5b Movable contact 6 Case 7 Cutting means (punch)
8 Dividing part 8a, 8b Dividing part 9 Dividing part 9a, 9b Dividing part 10 (10a, 10b) Dividing hole

Claims (6)

A terminal block fixed in the transmission case of the automatic transmission of the vehicle;
A contact plate formed on the terminal block;
An operation unit that operates along the contact plate in conjunction with the select lever of the vehicle;
A movable contact that is formed on the operation unit and that can slide on the contact plate to form a predetermined electrical circuit corresponding to the contact position;
In an inhibitor switch for detecting a shift position of the select lever from the electrical circuit,
The contact plate is formed at a predetermined position of the terminal block and then divided to form a cut-off portion that is cut off, and one cut-off portion is cut at a plurality of locations. Inhibitor switch to do.   The inhibitor switch according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of dividing holes for dividing the dividing portion are formed at positions corresponding to the dividing portion in the terminal block.   The inhibitor switch according to claim 2, wherein the contact plate is formed in a plurality of stages with respect to the terminal block, and the dividing hole is formed at a position corresponding to a dividing portion of each contact plate. A terminal block fixed in the transmission case of the automatic transmission of the vehicle;
A contact plate formed on the terminal block;
An operation unit that operates along the contact plate in conjunction with the select lever of the vehicle;
A movable contact that is formed on the operation unit and that can slide on the contact plate to form a predetermined electrical circuit corresponding to the contact position;
In the manufacturing method of the inhibitor switch for detecting the shift position of the select lever from the electrical circuit,
The contact plate is formed at a predetermined position of the terminal block, and then is divided to be cut off to cut off conduction, and one divided portion is divided at a plurality of locations. Manufacturing method of inhibitor switch.   5. A plurality of dividing holes are formed at positions corresponding to the dividing portions in the terminal block, and the dividing portions are divided at a plurality of locations by inserting cutting means into the dividing holes. A manufacturing method of the inhibitor switch as described.   The contact plate is formed in a plurality of stages with respect to the terminal block, and the dividing hole is formed at a position corresponding to the dividing portion of each contact plate, and the cutting means is inserted into each dividing hole to form a plurality of stages. 6. The method of manufacturing an inhibitor switch according to claim 5, wherein a dividing portion of each contact plate is divided at a plurality of locations.

Images