JP2008107907A - Gas alarm - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a new structure gas alarm that facilitates the mounting of a spring material in a battery-driven arrangement in which a cap having a connection terminal made of a coil spring material is mounted to form a feed structure. <P>SOLUTION: The gas alarm has a battery loading chamber in which a cylindrical battery is inserted and on the battery inlet opening edge of which the cap having a connection terminal part comprising a metal base member having a tubular battery reception portion and a connection terminal mounting portion and the connection terminal made of a metal coil spring material is mounted removably. The connection terminal mounting portion has an inner surface shape for guiding an end coil portion of the connection terminal axially inward as radially compressing it in one coil diameter direction, and has a connection terminal engagement portion. The connection terminal is axially inserted into the connection terminal mounting portion and is mounted as the end coil portion is engaged with the connection terminal engagement portion by the spring resiliency of the connection terminal itself. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a gas alarm.

In general, for example, in underground construction sites, tunnels, places where people enter, work areas, etc., there is a risk that dangerous gases such as carbon monoxide gas or hydrogen sulfide gas may be contained in the air of the environment. In many cases, there is a possibility that the air in the environmental atmosphere is in a dangerous state or in a dangerous state, such as when the oxygen gas concentration in the air may be lowered.
And when it becomes dangerous to humans due to the high concentration of dangerous gas contained in the air or low oxygen gas concentration, it is necessary to immediately know that It is.
From such a request, various types of portable gas alarms have been proposed so far. In these portable gas alarms, primary batteries such as dry batteries or secondary batteries (rechargeable batteries) are usually used. Is used as a power source for driving.

Some of such portable gas alarms have a battery loading chamber in which one cylindrical battery is inserted and loaded along the axial direction through a battery insertion opening that opens to one side. In addition, a cap having a connection terminal portion formed on the inside is detachably provided at the opening of the battery insertion slot.
The connection terminal portion formed on the cap is made of, for example, metal, and has a bottomed cylindrical base member having a receiving portion that receives the end of the battery, and electrically connects to the base member in the internal space of the base member. It is composed of, for example, a coiled spring material that is a connection terminal arranged in a connected state, and in the state of being attached to the gas alarm device body, a part of the outer peripheral surface of the base member is a gas alarm device. A power feeding structure is formed by contacting a power feeding terminal in the main body. Such a power feeding structure is disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example.

Thus, in the cap having the above-described configuration, for example, the coil-shaped spring material is mounted with its end coil portion engaged with, for example, a pair of engaging claws provided on the inner surface of the bottom wall of the base member. Has been.
The spring material mounting method will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 9, for example, a part of the inner peripheral edge portion of the end coil portion 60A of the spring material 60 is engaged with one engaging claw portion 61A. Then, the portion facing the inner peripheral edge portion across the coil central axis is elastically deformed so as to expand radially outward, and the other engaging claw portion 61B is positioned in the coil inner space. By pulling out, the inner peripheral edge portion is engaged with the other engaging claw 61B by the elasticity of the spring material 60 itself, and the spring material 60 is mounted in a state of being electrically connected to the base member 62.

JP 2003-215001 A

  However, since the mounting method for the spring material as described above requires a work in a narrow space such as the internal space of the base member, the mounting work itself is considerably troublesome and takes a long time. There is a problem.

  The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and its purpose is to use a battery as a driving power source, and to attach a cap provided with a connection terminal made of a coiled spring material. Gas alarm device having a novel structure in which a power supply structure is formed, and a coiled spring material can be easily mounted in a state where an intended electrical connection is achieved The purpose is to provide.

The gas alarm device of the present invention has a battery insertion opening that opens to one side, and includes a battery loading chamber into which a cylindrical battery is inserted along the axial direction through the battery insertion opening. In the gas alarm device in which the cap formed with the connection terminal portion connected to the electrode is detachably attached to the opening edge of the battery insertion port,
The connection terminal portion includes a cylindrical battery receiving portion that receives an end portion of the battery and a connection terminal mounting portion that is continuous with the battery receiving portion, and is electrically connected to a power supply terminal in the battery loading chamber. It is composed of a metal base member and a connection terminal made of a metal coil-shaped spring member provided in the internal space of the connection terminal mounting portion in the base member,
The connection terminal mounting portion has an inner surface shape that guides the end coil portion of the connection terminal in the axial direction while reducing the diameter in one direction of the coil radial direction, and has a connection terminal engaging portion.
The connection terminal is inserted along the axial direction into the internal space of the connection terminal mounting portion of the base member, and the end coil portion is used for connecting the base member by utilizing the spring elasticity of the connection terminal itself. The terminal engaging portion is engaged and mounted.

  In the gas alarm device of the present invention, the cap has a cylindrical sleeve portion having an internal space for receiving the end portion of the base member, and a protrusion formed in the battery loading chamber is formed on the peripheral wall of the sleeve portion. It is preferable that a screwing groove to be screwed is formed.

  According to the gas alarm device of the present invention, the base member has a specific inner surface shape and has a connection terminal engaging portion with which the end coil portion is engaged, so that the connection terminal is simply connected to the coil. By inserting into the internal space of the base member along the axial direction, the end coil portion of the connection terminal is reduced in one direction of the coil radial direction by the action of the inner surface shape of the connection terminal mounting portion of the base member. The elastic member is guided inward of the base member while being elastically deformed, and is engaged with the connecting terminal engaging portion by the spring elasticity of the coil itself, so that the desired electrical connection of the connecting terminal is achieved. Thus, it can be easily attached to the base member.

The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a front view showing a configuration example of the gas alarm device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the gas alarm device shown in FIG. 1 viewed from the back side, and FIG. It is line sectional drawing.
This gas alarm device 10 is composed of a back casing member 12 and a front casing member 15 connected and fixed to the back casing member 12 via a ring-shaped packing 13 with fixing screws 14. 2 is provided with a substantially rectangular parallelepiped casing 11, and has a battery insertion opening 35A that opens on one side (right side in FIG. 2). Through this battery insertion opening 35A, A battery loading chamber 35 into which one cylindrical battery, for example, an AA type dry battery 55 is inserted along its axial direction, is formed by the back side casing member 12 alone.

Inside the casing 11, a flat control circuit board 30 having various necessary functional elements mounted on the surface thereof extends along the front and back surfaces of the casing 11 at a level position on the surface side from the battery loading chamber 35. The gas sensor 31 is arranged on the upper half area of the central portion on the surface of the control circuit board 30.
Further, in the lower half area on the surface of the control circuit board 30, a panel-like display mechanism (not shown) composed of, for example, a liquid crystal display panel that displays the type and concentration of the gas detected at the center is arranged. An alarm buzzer (not shown) is arranged in the right region in front of the panel-like display mechanism, and a light source (not shown) made of, for example, a light emitting diode is arranged in the left region.

Specifically, the front side casing member 15 accommodates, for example, two columnar gas sensors 31 in the upper half area of the center portion on the front face in the battery insertion direction and protrudes from the surface of the front side casing member 15. The sensor mounting portion 16 is formed, and the gas sensor 31 disposed in the sensor mounting portion 16 is connected to and fixed to the front-side casing member 15 by the fixing screw 18 via the sensor packing 17. It is held in a fixed state. Reference numeral 21 denotes a gas introduction opening formed at a position corresponding to the arrangement position of the gas sensor 31.
Here, as the gas sensor 31, a gas sensor element corresponding to the type of gas to be detected can be used. For example, a galvanic gas sensor element that detects oxygen gas, a constant potential electrolytic gas sensor element that detects carbon monoxide gas, and sulfide. Examples thereof include a constant potential electrolytic gas sensor element that detects hydrogen gas.

On the other hand, a cylindrical buzzer holding portion is formed in the right region of the display portion 24 formed in the central region on the front surface of the front casing member 15, and the control buzzer holding portion is accommodated in the buzzer holding portion. An alarm buzzer is disposed so as to be positioned on the surface of the circuit board 30, thereby forming an alarm notification unit 25 using a buzzer sound.
Further, the left side region of the display unit 24 in front of the front side casing member 15 is covered with the light emitting unit glass 26A so as to cover a light source made of a light emitting diode provided on the surface of the control circuit board 30. 15, thereby forming an alarm light emitting unit 26.

  In FIG. 1, 27 is a first operation button that doubles as a main switch and a mode changeover switch, and 28 is a function adjustment that changes an alarm generation reference according to the type of gas sensor 31, that is, the type of gas to be detected by the gas sensor 31. 2 is a second operation button that serves both as a switch for display and a display changeover switch of the display unit 24. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 29 denotes an alarm vibration generator composed of, for example, a vibration motor.

In the battery loading chamber 35, a connection terminal 36 made of, for example, a coiled spring material extends along the battery insertion direction on the inner surface of the partition wall on the front side in the battery insertion direction that partitions the battery loading chamber 35. A plate-shaped power supply terminal 37 mounted on the control circuit board 30 is mounted on a cap mounting portion 38 that is provided in a posture and is formed at the opening edge portion of the battery insertion port 35A and on which a cap described later is mounted. A part thereof is provided in a state exposed in the battery receiving space 35B.
For example, a pair of protrusions 39 are formed on the inner peripheral surface of the cap mounting portion 38 at positions spaced apart from each other in the circumferential direction.

  In this gas alarm device 10, the dry battery 55 is loaded into the battery loading chamber 35 in such a posture that the positive electrode is positioned in front of the battery insertion direction, and further connected to the negative terminal of the dry battery 55. The cap 40 provided with is mounted on the cap mounting portion 38, whereby a power feeding structure is formed.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the cap 40 is accommodated in the inside of the sleeve portion 42 of the cap body 41 and has a cylindrical sleeve portion 42, for example, and is held and fixed thereto. And a connection terminal 43 made of a coil-shaped spring material and disposed in an electrically connected state with the base member 45 in the internal space of the base member 45. ing.

A pair of screw grooves 44 into which a pair of protrusions 39 formed in the cap mounting portion 38 are screwed are formed on the peripheral wall of the sleeve portion 42 of the cap body 41 independently of each other.
The threading groove 44 includes a projection insertion groove 44A extending in the axial direction from the opening edge of the sleeve portion 42, and a guide groove 44B extending along the circumferential surface of the sleeve portion 42 continuously to the projection insertion groove 44A. It is configured.

The base member 45 includes a cylindrical battery receiving portion 46 that receives an end portion of the dry battery 55 and a connection terminal mounting portion 47 that is continuous with the battery receiving portion 46.
As shown in FIG. 6, the connection terminal mounting portion 47 is connected to the battery support surface 46 </ b> A that protrudes radially inward to support the end face of the battery and extends toward the axially inward side. A terminal introduction portion 48 having a guide surface 48A that guides inward in the axial direction while elastically deforming the end coil portion 43A of 43 in such a manner that the diameter thereof is reduced in one direction of the coil radial direction (left-right direction in FIG. 6). A terminal fixing portion 49 extending toward the inner side in the axial direction while curving inward in the radial direction continuously from the terminal introducing portion 48, and a bottom wall portion 50 fixed to the cap body 41 by, for example, screwing. The connection terminal engaging part 51 by the opening is formed in the axially inward position of the guide surface forming part on the peripheral wall of the terminal fixing part 49. In FIG. 6, 50 </ b> A is a fixing hole for the cap body 41.

  The guide surface 48A of the base member 45 has an oval shape in which the inner edge shape of the end surface of the cut portion by a cross section perpendicular to the central axis of the base member 45 decreases in the short axis diameter as it goes inward in the axial direction. Or it is formed by the smooth curved surface used as an ellipse shape. In addition, the shape of the opening edge in the battery support surface 46A is circular, and the peripheral surface portions (the upper surface portion and the lower surface portion in FIG. 6) other than the guide surface forming portion in the terminal introduction portion 48 have a constant inner diameter. It is said.

As described above, the connection terminal 43 is made of a coiled spring material, and is formed in a truncated cone shape so that the coil diameter increases from one end to the other end in the coil axial direction. The end coil portion 43 </ b> A having a large coil diameter is engaged with the connection terminal engaging portion 51 of the base member 45 and is mounted in a state of being electrically connected to the base member 45. The distal end portion of the connection terminal 43 protrudes into the battery receiving portion 46.
As the connection terminal 43, one having a coil diameter d1 of the end coil portion 43A larger than the opening diameter d2 at the axial level position of the edge of the guide surface 48A, for example, is used (FIGS. 5 and 6). reference).

  The mounting method of the connection terminal 43 to the base member 45 will be described in detail. The connection terminal 43 is placed in the position where the end coil portion 43A having a large coil diameter is positioned on the front side in the mounting direction. As shown in FIG. 7, in a state where a part of the outer edge portion of the end coil portion 43A is engaged with the connection terminal engaging portion 51, a portion facing the outer edge portion with the coil shaft interposed therebetween By inserting into the connecting terminal mounting portion 47 along the guide surface 48A, the end coil portion 43A is elastically deformed so as to be reduced in one direction in the coil radial direction, and thereafter, as shown in FIG. In addition, the connection terminal engagement portion 51 is restored by the elasticity of the connection terminal 43 itself and engaged with the connection terminal engagement portion 51, whereby the electrical connection with the base member 45 is achieved. It is. In this state, the peripheral surface of the wire constituting the end coil portion 43 </ b> A of the connection terminal 43 is the end surface of the guide surface forming portion and the bottom wall portion 50 of the base member 45 by the spring elasticity of the connection terminal 43 itself. (The movement of the connection terminal 43 in the mounting direction is restricted), thereby preventing the connection terminal 43 from falling off.

Hereinafter, the operation of the gas alarm device 10 will be described.
First, the cap 40 is mounted on the cap mounting portion 38 in a state where one AA dry battery 55 is loaded in the battery loading chamber 35.
Specifically, the cap 40 is inserted into the cap mounting portion 38 by aligning the projection insertion groove 44A of the screwing groove 44 with the projection 39 of the cap mounting portion 38, and then the cap 40 is inserted into the cap mounting portion 38, for example. By rotating clockwise, the protrusion 39 is moved along the guide groove portion 44B, whereby the cap 40 is held and fixed to the cap mounting portion 38, and a part of the outer peripheral surface of the base member 45 is part of the battery loading chamber 35. It is electrically connected to the power supply terminal 37 inside.
In the state where the dry battery 55 is loaded in the battery loading chamber 35, if the gas alarm device 10 is activated by operating the first operation button 27, the gas sensor 31, the display unit 24, and the other components are activated. Become. In this state, air in the environmental atmosphere diffuses and reaches the gas sensor 31, the concentration of the target gas is detected, and the result is displayed on the display unit 24.

The concentration of the detection target gas detected by the gas sensor 31 is sent to the control circuit board 30 as a current signal or a voltage signal for processing, whereby the detection target gas concentration exceeds the reference value set for the gas. When an alarm signal is generated, an alarm operation signal is issued, thereby driving the alarm notification mechanism and generating an alarm. In the illustrated example, an alarm is generated by the light emission of the alarm light emitting unit 26, the buzzer sound by the alarm notification unit 25 including the alarm buzzer, and the vibration by the alarm vibration generator 29.
As described above, when a plurality of types of alarm notification mechanisms are provided, it is not necessary that all of them be driven at the same time, and a cyclic alarm in which each alarm notification mechanism is sequentially driven for a predetermined time. It is preferable that the operation is performed, and according to such drive control, it is possible to suppress the consumption of the dry battery 55 as compared with the case of being driven all at once.

  The gas alarm device 10 is carried by the worker, for example, held by the operator's hand, or mounted on the body by an appropriate mounting member, for example, so that the body can be used by the person. When the environment atmosphere in which the operator is present becomes dangerous due to the high concentration of the dangerous gas or the low concentration of the oxygen gas, this is indicated on the display unit 24. Since it is notified by the display and the operation of the alarm notification mechanism, the worker can immediately take notification, take appropriate protective measures, or take measures such as evacuating from the spot. Note that 58 in FIG. 2 is a mounting member mounting portion such as a pin or clip.

  Thus, according to the gas alarm device 10 described above, the base member 45 has a specific inner surface shape and has the connection terminal engaging portion 51 to which the end coil portion 43A of the connection terminal 43 is engaged. By simply inserting the connection terminal 43 into the internal space of the base member 45 along the coil axial direction, the end coil portion 43A is moved in the coil radial direction by the action of the guide surface 48A of the base member 45. Since the diameter is reduced in the direction, the base member 45 is guided inward in the axial direction, and then restored by the spring elasticity of the connection terminal 43 itself and engaged with the connection terminal engaging portion 51. It can be easily attached to the base member 45 in a state where the desired electrical connection is achieved.

  The cap 40 is configured such that the protrusion 39 formed in the battery loading chamber 35 is screwed into the screwing groove 44 formed in the peripheral wall of the sleeve portion 42 of the cap 40, so that the cap 40 can be attached and detached. Therefore, the dry battery 55 can be easily replaced, and high convenience can be obtained.

As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to said embodiment, A various change can be added.
For example, the gas alarm device according to the present invention is not limited to the configuration as in the above embodiment as long as it is driven by a battery and a cap is attached to form a power feeding structure.
Further, the guide surface of the base member constituting the cap is limited to the above configuration as long as the connection terminal made of the coiled spring material is elastically deformed so that the coil diameter is reduced. In addition, the guide surface forming portion may be configured to be formed on only one of the peripheral wall portion on the right side and the peripheral wall portion on the left side in FIG. 6, for example.
Further, the driving power source is not limited to a primary battery such as a dry battery, and a secondary battery (rechargeable battery) may be used.

It is a front view which shows one structural example of the gas alarm device of this invention. It is the disassembled perspective view which looked at the gas alarm device shown in FIG. 1 from the back side. It is the sectional view on the AA line in FIG. It is a front view which shows the structure of the cap in the gas alarm device shown in FIG. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the cap shown in FIG. It is a top view which shows the inner surface of the base member which comprises a cap. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view for demonstrating the mounting method with respect to the base member of the terminal for a connection. FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion X indicated by an alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 7 and shows a state where the connection terminal is mounted on the base member. In the conventional cap manufacturing method, it is a longitudinal cross-sectional view for demonstrating the mounting method with respect to the base member of the terminal for a connection.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Gas alarm device 11 Casing 12 Back surface side casing member 13 Ring-shaped packing 14 Fixing screw 15 Front side casing member 16 Sensor mounting part 17 Sensor packing 18 Fixing screw 20 Sensor cap 21 Gas introduction opening 24 Display part 25 Alarm notification part 26 Alarm Light Emitting Unit 26A Light Emitting Unit Glass 27 First Operation Button 28 Second Operation Button 29 Alarm Vibration Generator 30 Control Circuit Board 31 Gas Sensor 35 Battery Loading Chamber 35A Battery Insertion Port 35B Battery Receiving Space 36 Connection Terminal 38 Cap mounting part 37 Power supply terminal 39 Protrusion 40 Cap 41 Cap body 42 Sleeve part 43 Connection terminal 43A End coil part 44 Screwing groove 44A Protrusion insertion groove part 44B Guide groove part 45 Base member 46 Battery receiving part 46A Battery support 47 Connecting terminal mounting portion 48 Terminal introducing portion 48A Guide surface 49 Terminal fixing portion 50 Bottom wall portion 50A Fixing hole 51 Connecting terminal engaging portion 53 Connecting terminal portion 55 Dry cell 58 Mounting member mounting portion 60 Spring material 60A End coil Part 61A One engaging claw portion 61B The other engaging claw portion 62 Base member

Claims (2)

A connection terminal portion having a battery insertion opening that opens in one side, a battery loading chamber into which a cylindrical battery is inserted along the axial direction via the battery insertion opening, and connected to one electrode of the battery In the gas alarm device in which the cap formed with is detachably attached to the opening edge of the battery insertion port,
The connection terminal portion includes a cylindrical battery receiving portion that receives an end portion of the battery and a connection terminal mounting portion that is continuous with the battery receiving portion, and is electrically connected to a power supply terminal in the battery loading chamber. It is composed of a metal base member and a connection terminal made of a metal coil-shaped spring member provided in the internal space of the connection terminal mounting portion in the base member,
The connection terminal mounting portion has an inner surface shape that guides the end coil portion of the connection terminal in the axial direction while reducing the diameter in one direction of the coil radial direction, and has a connection terminal engaging portion.
The connection terminal is inserted along the axial direction into the internal space of the connection terminal mounting portion of the base member, and the end coil portion is used for connecting the base member by utilizing the spring elasticity of the connection terminal itself. A gas alarm device which is engaged with and attached to a terminal engaging portion.   The cap has a cylindrical sleeve portion having an internal space for receiving an end portion of the base member, and a screwing groove into which a protrusion formed in the battery loading chamber is screwed is formed on the peripheral wall of the sleeve portion. The gas alarm device according to claim 1, wherein the gas alarm device is provided.

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