JP2008117705A - Multistep pressing switch - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve that a structure is simple with durability and compactness, and besides, a plurality of steps can be pressed and contacted surely by a pressing force of an operator. <P>SOLUTION: A system includes a push button operating part 5 in which surroundings are separated while one point is integrated to a cabinet 1 on the surface 1a of the cabinet 1, and which is installed capable of being pushed into the cabinet 1 having the base end of a joint part 6 with the cabinet 1 as a bending point, push switches 7, 8 which are on a substrate 2 in the cabinet 1 and which form a pair by two opposedly arranged on the backside of the push button operating part 5, and a movable stem 9 which is installed at the backside of the push button operating part 5, in which two protrusions 10, 11 protruding toward the respective push switches 7, 8 are installed, and in which the protrusions 10, 11 press the push switches 7, 8 by push-in operation of the push button operating part 5. Out of the protrusions 10, 11, in the protrusion 10 closer to the bending point, the protruding length is longer so as to be close to the opposed push switch 7, and the protruding length becomes stepwisely shorter in the protrusion 11 farther from the bending point. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a multi-stage push switch that can be pushed in two or more stages with a time difference by adjusting the pressing force of an operator.

  For example, a transmitter device for remotely operating an industrial device such as a loading arm by wire or wirelessly has four push button switches on the housing surface for operating the device to be operated in the vertical and horizontal directions. Has been. Then, any one of the push buttons is selected and kept pressed to continue the operation of the operation target device in the target direction, and the switch is released at the target position to stop at that position.

  However, this operation speed depends on the output of the drive motor that is remotely operated, and the speed cannot be made variable only by a switch. Therefore, if you want to move at a high speed in the course from the initial position to the target and move closer to the target, you need to provide a separate speed change switch, etc. The configuration is also complicated and the manufacturing cost is high.

  In order to solve such a problem, a push button switch has been developed that can switch the speed by adjusting the pressing force of a finger by an operator. As an example, there is one using a movable contact for a switch disclosed in Patent Document 1 below.

As shown in FIG. 5, the movable contact B is manufactured by pressing a single metal plate, and the disc portion 101 to be pressed and the outer periphery of the disc portion 101 have a gap between them. An enclosing circular annular frame plate portion 102 and a pair of connecting plate portions 103 that connect the inner peripheral edge of the frame plate portion 102 and the outer peripheral edge of the disk portion 101 on a straight line O ₁ passing through the center of the disk portion 101. The disc portion 101 is formed in a dish shape that curves upwardly, and the frame plate portion 102 is formed in a disc spring shape whose entire circumference is inclined upward from the outer peripheral edge of the frame plate portion 102 toward the inner peripheral edge. ing. Each of the pair of connecting plate portions 103 is inclined upward from the frame plate portion 102 toward the disc portion 101 at an angle substantially equal to the inclination angle of the frame plate portion 102. Further, bent portions 104 are formed by locally projecting the middle portions of the semicircular portions on both sides of the frame plate portion 102 upward.

6 and 7 show a two-stage click type push switch using the movable contact B. FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 6A and 7A, in this switch, the intermediate portions of the semicircular portions on both sides of the frame plate portion 102 are mounted on a pair of movable contact receiving portions 111 in the switch case 110, respectively. And at least one of the support portions 112 serves as a contact portion with the common contact 113 provided on at least one movable contact receiving surface of the pair of movable contact receiving portions 111 and a pair of couplings. A connecting portion between at least one of the plate portions 103 and the disc portion 101 becomes a first switch contact portion S ₁ that contacts the first fixed contact 114 by reversing the entire circumference of the frame plate portion 102 to a downwardly inclined state. The central portion of the plate portion 101 becomes the second switch contact S ₂ that contacts the second fixed contact 115 by reversing the disk portion 101 to the expanded state.

As shown in FIGS. 6B and 7B, by pressing the disc portion 101, the entire circumference of the frame plate portion 102 is suddenly inverted to a downwardly inclined state. contact portion S ₁ is a first switch the first switch is turned on in contact with the first fixed contact 114 and reversal rapidly downward inclined state. Figure 6 (c) and as shown in FIG. 7 (c), further by pressing the disc portion 101, connecting plate connecting portion between the 103 (first switch contact part S ₁₎ a first The disk portion 101 received by the fixed contact 114 is suddenly reversed to the state of expanding downward, and the second switch contact portion S _{2 at the} center thereof contacts the second fixed contact 115 and the second switch is turned on. Turn on.

However, in the switch having the above-described configuration, excessive stress (stress) is applied to the movable contact B for each pressing operation, so that the switch may be damaged with a small number of operations and there is a problem in durability.
In addition, since two stages of connection are made with one movable contact B, the degree of freedom of the load characteristics at the first stage (when the first switch is turned on) and the load characteristics at the second stage (when the second switch is turned on) is small. The variation of cannot be expanded. For example, when the load characteristics of the first stage are adjusted to the desired characteristics, the influence extends to the load characteristics of the second stage, so the degree of freedom of the load characteristics of the second stage is reduced, and it is difficult to obtain the desired operation characteristics. There's a problem.

Therefore, there is a two-stage operation push switch disclosed in the following Patent Document 2 as a solution to the above problem. As shown in FIG. 8, the tact plate of the push switch is formed by first and second tact plates 202 and 203 arranged in parallel in the tact plate accommodating recess 201, and the pressing point K1 to which the operating loads P1 and P2 are applied. , K2 when the moment of balance of the key top 204 when the fulcrum is balanced is P3 (P4), the operation unit 205 is formed at a position where P3 ≠ P4 is established. . For example, as shown in the figure, the load characteristics of the first and second tact plates 202 and 203 are made equal to shift the formation position of the operation unit 205 from the central vertical axis O to the left side in the figure, so that The center of the first tact plate 202 is reversed by pressing the step and the first step is connected, and the center of the second tact plate 203 is also reversed by pressing the second step and the second step is connected. Done. According to such a configuration, each connection in the first stage and the second stage is performed by a single reversal of each tact plate 202, 203. Therefore, the stress applied to each tact plate 202, 203 is reduced, and long connection is achieved. The life can be extended and the degree of freedom in the load characteristics of the first and second stages is large, so that variations of load characteristics can be expanded.
No. 7-53234 JP 2004-146095 A

  However, the two-stage operation push switch disclosed in Patent Document 2 includes a housing 210, terminal portions 211, 212, and 213 that form a plurality of fixed contacts that are insert-molded thereto, and tact plates that serve as movable contacts. 202 and 203, and a plurality of dedicated parts such as push buttons, the number of parts is large, the structure is complicated, and the difficulty of manufacturing such as molding is high. However, it was difficult to commercialize small lots.

  Further, in such a switch structure, in order to operate the switch by pushing it in two steps accurately, a separate part for the guide for preventing the push button from tilting in the load direction is required. Furthermore, since a wide space is required in the lateral direction as shown in the drawing, the area of the switch portion is increased, and thus there is a problem that the apparatus is increased in size.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and it is possible to extend the life of the switch, reduce the number of components with a simple structure, reduce the area of the switch portion, and suppress the height. It is another object of the present invention to provide a multi-stage push switch that can reliably push the fixed contact portion in two or more stages by adjusting the pressing force of the operator.

Next, means for solving the above problems will be described with reference to the drawings corresponding to the embodiments.
The multi-stage push switch according to claim 1 of the present invention is such that the periphery of the multistage push switch is integrated with the surface 1a of the housing 1 in a state where the housing 1 is integrated with the housing 1, and the joint 6 base end with the housing 1 is provided. A push button operation unit 5 provided so as to be able to be pushed toward the inside 1 of the housing with a bending point as a bending point;
A pair of fixed contact portions 7, 8 on the substrate 2 disposed in the housing 1 and formed as a pair with at least two opposed to the back surface of the push button operation portion 5;
At least two protrusions 10 and 11 are provided on the back surface of the push button operation unit 5 and project toward the pair of fixed contact portions 7 and 8, respectively, and the push operation of the push button operation unit 5 is performed. The protrusions 10 and 11 are provided with a movable stem 9 that presses against the fixed contact portions 7 and 8, respectively.
Of the protrusions 10 and 11 of the movable stem 9, the protrusion 10 close to the bending point has a long protruding length so as to be close to the opposing fixed contact portion 7, and the protrusion 11 farther from the bending point has a protruding length. It is characterized by shortening in stages.

  In the multistage push switch according to claim 2, a groove 6a for bending is formed at the bending point in the joint portion 6 of the push button operation portion 5, and the cross section is substantially T at the center of the back surface of the joint portion 6. The reinforcing rib 6b is integrally formed so as to form a letter shape.

  The multistage push switch according to claim 3, wherein an elastic sheet 12 that covers the surface 1 a of the housing 1 including the push button operation unit 5 is provided on the surface 1 a of the housing 1. Yes.

  The multistage push switch according to claim 4 is characterized in that push switches are provided as the fixed contact portions 7 and 8.

  According to the multistage push switch according to the present invention, the number of parts can be reduced by using the molded shape of the casing and the substrate, and it can be manufactured at a low cost, and each protrusion of the movable stem corresponds to the pressing force of the operator. Since it can be sequentially pressed against the fixed contact portion, it is possible to perform a reliable multistage pressing operation. In addition, since a metal tact plate or the like frequently used in conventional switches is not used, there is no fear of damage due to metal fatigue or the like, and a long life can be achieved.

  In addition, since the groove part is an elastic hinge and the rigidity of other parts is high, when the push button operation part is pressed, each projection can be pressed sequentially from the corresponding fixed contact part closer to the bending point, and the multistage push The certainty of operation can be increased.

  Furthermore, since the casing operation surface is covered with an elastic sheet, it is rich in dustproof and waterproof properties, and the elasticity makes it easy for the operator to obtain a pressing feeling.

  Further, by providing the push switch as the fixed contact portion, it is possible to realize a multistage push switch having a simple configuration in which the fixed contact portion is physically pressed.

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.
1 is a partial plan view showing a housing surface of a multistage push switch according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. b) is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing an operation when the push button operation unit is pressed.

  In each figure, 1 is a casing made of a synthetic resin molded body or the like that constitutes the exterior of a wired or wireless device, 2 is a substrate that is positioned and installed inside the casing 1 via spacers, and on which various circuit components are mounted. It is. As shown in FIG. 2, a battery box 3 is disposed on the back side of the substrate 2, and the back surface of the battery box 3 is detachably covered with a back cover 4.

  As shown in FIG. 1, four vertical and horizontal push button operation units 5 are provided on the surface 1 a of the housing 1, and each push button operation unit 5 is formed into an elongated joint when the housing 1 is molded. It is formed by leaving the portion 6 and cutting it into a substantially circular shape. Further, the push button operation portion 5 has a surface 5a protruding from the entire surface (operation surface) of the housing 1 into a substantially dome-like bulge shape, and a recess 5b (see FIG. 3) is formed on the inner surface side. Yes.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a groove 6a for bending is formed on the rear surface of the joint 6 at the base end with the housing surface. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a reinforcing rib 6b is integrally formed at the center of the back surface of the joint portion 6 continuing to the push button side ahead of the groove portion 6a so as to form a substantially T-shaped cross section. Therefore, when the push button operation unit 5 is pushed in, the push button operation unit 5 can be pushed into the inside of the housing 1 in accordance with the pressing force without bending the joint 6 with the groove 6a as a bending point. ing.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a pair of push switches 7 and 8 as first and second fixed contact portions are arranged on the surface of the substrate 2 facing the push button operation portion 5. Yes. A movable stem 9 is fitted into the recess 5 b of the push button operation unit 5 so as to face the push switches 7 and 8. On the back surface of the movable stem 9, first and second protrusions 10 and 11 are integrally provided so as to face the first and second push switches 7 and 8, and toward the push switches 7 and 8. Projects for a predetermined length. Of these protrusions 10 and 11, the protrusion length of the first protrusion 10 on the side close to the bending point (groove 6a) is formed long, and is close to the first push switch 7 facing the protrusion. Further, the projecting length of the second protrusion 11 which is far from the bending point is formed short, and the second push switch 8 facing the second protrusion 11 is smaller than the distance of the first protrusion 10 to the first push switch 7. is seperated.

Further, the entire surface 1a (operation surface) of the housing 1 is covered with a nameplate 12 made of, for example, a rubber elastic sheet. As a result, a gap formed between the push button operation unit 5 and the surface 1a of the housing 1 can be eliminated, and a dustproof / waterproof effect can be obtained. Can be amplified.
Although not shown, each push button operation unit 5 is provided for controlling movement of the operation target device up and down, left and right in the present embodiment, and the surface of the surface 5a is coated by screen printing or the like. , “Up”, “Down”, “Left”, “Right”, etc. are printed in advance.

  In the above, when the operator presses the push button operation unit 5 with the light first-stage pressing force F <b> 1 indicated by the arrow in FIG. 4A, only the first protrusion 10 moves the first push switch 7. Can be pressed. And as shown in FIG.4 (b), the 1st protrusion 10 pushed the 1st push switch 7 by pushing the pushbutton operation part 5 with the further strong 2nd stage | paragraph pressing force F2 from this state. In addition, the second protrusion 11 presses the second push switch 8 in addition to this.

  At this time, for example, when it is desired to perform two-step control such as increasing the operation speed at the initial operation time of the operation target device and decreasing the operation speed near the target position, first apply a large pressing force, then If the pressing force is reduced in the vicinity of the target position, the device can be remotely operated at a two-stage driving speed according to the operator's sense of operation.

  According to the present embodiment, the number of parts can be reduced by using the molded shape of the housing 1 and the substrate 2, and it can be manufactured at a low cost. Since each push switch 7 and 8 which the 2nd protrusions 10 and 11 respond | correspond can be pressed in order, reliable two-step pushing operation can be performed now. In addition, since a metal tact plate that is often used in conventional switches is not used, there is no risk of damage due to metal fatigue, etc. In other words, the durability of the switch can be improved and the life can be extended. become. In addition, the switch portion can be configured to be compact with no protrusion in the height (thickness) direction.

  Further, since the groove portion 6a becomes an elastic hinge and the joint portion 6 is reinforced by the reinforcing rib 6b and the rigidity of other portions is high, the projections 10 and 11 are bent at the time of pressing the push button operation portion 5. The closer first push switch 7 can be pressed first, and then the second push switch 8 far from the bending point can be pressed, and the reliability of the two-stage pressing operation can be increased.

  Furthermore, the surface 1a (operation surface) of the housing 1 is covered with the nameplate 12 made of an elastic sheet, so that it is rich in dustproofing and waterproofing, and the elasticity makes it easy for the operator to obtain a pressing feeling.

  In the above-described embodiment, the two-step control is performed by the first and second push switches 7 and 8 and the first and second protrusions 10 and 11 corresponding thereto. It is also possible to form a multistage push switch having three or more stages by arranging three or more push switches on 2 and providing a protrusion corresponding to each push switch. At this time, each protrusion is formed so as to be shortened stepwise as the distance from the bending point (groove 6a) increases.

  In the above-described embodiment, the push switches 7 and 8 are provided as the fixed contact portions, and the switches are turned on by physical pressing by the projections 10 and 11 of the movable stem 9. (Fixed contact portion), the other may be a movable contact (each projection), and may be configured to conduct electrically when the movable contact comes into contact with the fixed contact by an operator's pressing. In that case, the first movable contact close to the bending point contacts the corresponding first fixed contact and is connected to the internal circuit, and a control signal corresponding to the pressed state is sent to the control target device for control. it can. Further, by pushing the push button operation unit 5 with a stronger operating force from this state, the second movable contact is in addition to the second movable contact while the first movable contact is kept in contact with the first fixed contact. Contact the fixed contact and connect to the internal circuit. As a result, a control signal corresponding to this connection is sent to the device to be controlled for control.

It is a fragmentary top view which shows the housing | casing surface of one Embodiment of the multistage push switch by this invention. It is AA sectional drawing in FIG. It is BB sectional drawing in FIG. (A), (b) It is a partial expanded sectional view which shows the operation | movement at the time of the press of a pushbutton operation part. It is a top view which shows the conventional movable contact. It is a front view of the longitudinal section which shows the push switch using the movable contact of FIG. It is a side view of the longitudinal section which shows the push switch using the movable contact of FIG. It is an expanded sectional view which shows the conventional 2 step | paragraph operation | movement push switch.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Housing 1a ... Surface (operation surface)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 2 ... Board | substrate 5 ... Push button operation part 6 ... Joint part 6a ... Groove part 6b ... Reinforcement rib 7 ... 1st fixed contact part (1st push switch)
8: Second fixed contact (second push switch)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 9 ... Movable stem 10 ... 1st protrusion 11 ... 1st protrusion 12 ... Elastic sheet (nameplate)

Claims (4)

Push button operation that is provided so that the periphery is cut off in a state where it is integrated with the case on the surface of the case and can be pushed into the case with the base end of the joint with the case as a bending point And
A fixed contact portion which is on a substrate disposed in the housing and forms a set of at least two disposed opposite to the back surface of the push button operation portion; and
At least two protrusions are provided on the back surface of the push button operation part and project toward each of the set of fixed contact parts, and the protrusions are formed by the push operation of the push button operation part. A movable stem that presses against
Of the protrusions of the movable stem, the protrusions close to the bending point have a long protruding length so as to be close to the opposite fixed contact portion, and the protrusions farther from the bending point gradually decrease in protruding length. Multistage push switch characterized by that.   A groove for bending is formed at the bending point in the joint of the push button operation part, and a reinforcing rib is integrally formed at the center of the back surface of the joint so as to form a substantially T-shaped cross section. The multistage push switch according to claim 1, wherein the multistage push switch is provided.   The multistage push switch according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an elastic sheet that covers the surface of the casing including the push button operation unit is provided on a surface of the casing.   The multistage push switch according to claim 1, wherein a push switch is provided as the fixed contact portion.

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