JP2009099313A - Seesaw switch - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To install on a front face panel a member which prevents erroneous operation of an operation knob without impairing fine appearance of a seesaw switch. <P>SOLUTION: The seesaw switch 100 is equipped with the operation knob 20 which is swingably supported on a substrate 10 on which at least one switch element is mounted and selectively operates a switch element by swinging, the front face panel 30 that is a panel covering an upper part of the substrate 10 and has an opening 32 exposing the operation knob 20 upward on it, and a pair of ribs 34 which are installed on the upper face of the front face panel 30 along respective peripheral end parts in a width direction of the opening part 32 to prevent the erroneous operation of the operation knob. The operation knob 20 is supported on the substrate 10 in a neutral position where the knob does not operate any switch element so that the upper face of the operation knob 20 and the upper face of the front face panel 30 become flush. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a seesaw switch, and more particularly to an improvement in a seesaw switch used for an input operation unit of various devices.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a switch device has been used when operating and setting electronic devices and the like. As the switch device, a switch having an appropriate form is selected according to the application. As a switch device, for example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, a seesaw switch that selectively turns on / off an internal contact corresponding to the position by depressing one end of an operation surface It has been known.

  The seesaw switch allows easy selection of two or more operating states, and easy visual and tactile judgment of the operating state of the operation knob. This is effective when it is necessary to make a judgment.

  FIG. 3A is an external perspective view of a conventional in-vehicle seesaw switch 200. 3B is a cross-sectional view of the conventional in-vehicle seesaw switch 200 taken along line AA in FIG. 3A. An opening 302 is formed in the front panel 300 such as a decorative plate, and the operation knob 202 is provided on a substrate (not shown) in a state of being exposed from the opening 302. A pair of ribs 304 projecting upward from the front panel 300 along both side surfaces of the operation knob 202 are formed on the peripheral edge portion 302 a in the width direction of the opening 302 of the front panel 300.

  The rib is a member provided to prevent the operation knob from being erroneously operated from the viewpoint of safety. The seesaw switch is designed to comply with, for example, FMVSS 118, which is one item of the US Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard, when used as a vehicle-mounted differential device such as a power window, a partition panel, and a roof panel. In FMVSS118, even if a hemisphere with a radius of 20 mm (which may be a sphere) simulating the knee of an infant aged 2 to 3 years is pressed against the differential device with a load of 135 N, any window or the like operated by the differential device can be opened. It is required not to start closing from the position. Therefore, the seesaw switch is designed to correspond to the FMVSS 118 by preventing the operation knob from being erroneously operated by forming a rib on the front panel as described above.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-53992 JP 2004-47165 A

  However, in the conventional seesaw switch, the height h of the rib relative to the front panel is high as shown in FIG. 3B. Further, if the height of the rib is high, it is necessary to increase the thickness in order to increase the rigidity, and in particular, the thickness of the root portion 304a of the rib is increased. Thus, if the height of the rib is high and the wall thickness is thick, the aesthetics of the design are impaired.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a member on the front panel for preventing erroneous operation of the operation knob without impairing the aesthetics of the seesaw switch.

  The seesaw switch according to the present invention is supported on a substrate provided with at least one switch element so as to be swingable, and an operation knob for selectively operating the switch element by the swing, and a panel covering the upper side of the substrate A front panel having an opening that exposes the operation knob upward, and swinging of the operation knob provided on the upper surface of the front panel along each peripheral edge in the width direction of the opening. A pair of swing restricting members for regulating the operation knob, wherein the operation knob has the upper surface of the operation knob and the upper surface of the front panel flush with each other at a neutral position where no switch element is operated. It is supported on the top.

  In one aspect of the seesaw switch according to the present invention, each peripheral edge in the longitudinal direction of the opening has an inclined portion that is inclined downward from the upper surface of the front panel toward the substrate.

  According to the present invention, since the upper surface of the operation knob and the upper surface of the front panel are flush with each other, the height of the erroneous operation preventing member for preventing erroneous operation of the operation knob from the upper surface of the front panel can be reduced. .

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as “embodiment”) will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1A is an external perspective view of a seesaw switch 100 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 1B is a plan view of the seesaw switch 100 in the present embodiment, and FIG. 1C is a cross-sectional view of the seesaw switch 100 in the present embodiment taken along line AA in FIG. 1B. In FIG. 1A, FIG. 1B, and FIG. 1C, the structure of a part that is not related to the description is omitted for simplification of the drawing.

  The seesaw switch 100 according to the present embodiment is provided in a vehicle, for example, and is used as a vehicle-mounted differential device such as a power window, a partition panel, and a roof panel.

  The seesaw switch 100 according to the present embodiment has an upper surface exposed from the substrate 10, a front panel 30 that covers the upper side of the substrate 10, and an opening 32 formed in the front panel 30, and swings when the operator presses down. And an operation knob 20.

  The substrate 10 is a component that constitutes the bottom surface of the seesaw switch 100. A switch element (not shown) is provided on the substrate 10. In the present embodiment, the seesaw switch 100 having two switch elements is illustrated. In addition, a pair of support portions 14 protrudes from the substrate 10. Each support portion 14 is formed with a protruding portion 14a opposite thereto. By fitting each projection 14a into a through hole 22a of a supported portion 22 provided on the operation knob 20, the projection 14a swings about a pivot, that is, about a swing axis passing through each fulcrum. The operation knob 20 is supported on the substrate 10 so as to be possible.

  The operation knob 20 is a portion that receives a force when operating the seesaw switch 100. The upper surface of the operation knob 20 is a substantially flat surface. The peripheral portion of the operation knob 20 is chamfered, and an inclined surface 20a that is inclined downward from the upper surface toward the bottom surface is formed. A pair of supported portions 22 extending from the upper surface toward the bottom surface are provided on both side walls in the width direction of the operation knob 20. Each supported portion 22 is formed with a circular through hole 22a on the outer surface.

  The front panel 30 is a so-called decorative board that is disposed substantially parallel to the substrate 10. An opening 32 having a shape slightly larger than the operation knob 20 is formed in the front panel 30, and the operation knob 20 is exposed above the front panel 30 through the opening 32. Ribs 34 projecting upward from the front panel 30 along the side surfaces in the width direction of the operation knob 20 are formed at the respective peripheral edges in the width direction of the opening 32. The rib 34 is a malfunction prevention member for preventing the operation knob 20 from being erroneously operated.

  In the present embodiment, the operation knob 20 is supported by a pair of support portions 14 disposed on the substrate 10. However, for example, a support member that extends toward the substrate 10 may be formed on the back surface of the front panel 30, and the operation knob 20 may be swingably supported by the support member.

  In the seesaw switch 100 configured as described above, in this embodiment, the upper surface of the operation knob 20 and the upper surface of the front panel 30 at the neutral position where no switch element is operated, that is, the switching operation is not performed, are surfaces. The operation knob 20 is disposed on the substrate 10 via the supported portion 22 and the support portion 14 so as to be uniform. That is, the operation knob 20 is disposed so that the upper surface of the operation knob 20 at the neutral position where no switching operation is performed and the upper surface of the front panel 30 are positioned on the same plane or the same curved surface. . By disposing in this way, the reference from FMVSS 118 is satisfied, and the upper surface of the operation knob 20 is disposed on the substrate 10 at a position higher than the upper surface of the front panel 30. The height of the rib 34 can be reduced. For example, in the conventional seesaw switch, the height h of the rib from the upper surface of the front panel (see FIG. 3B) is about 5.5 mm so as to satisfy the standard of FMVSS118. However, in the present embodiment, the standard of FMVSS 118 can be satisfied and the height h of the rib can be about 3.1 mm. Therefore, according to this embodiment, since the height of a rib can be made low, the thickness of the base part of a rib can be made thinner than before.

  In order to reduce the height of the rib, it is conceivable to dispose the operation knob 20 so that the upper surface of the operation knob 20 is lower than the upper surface of the front panel 30. That is, it can be considered that the operation knob 20 is disposed in a state of being depressed from the upper surface of the front panel 30. However, such a state is not preferable because the aesthetics of the design is impaired. Therefore, in order not to impair the aesthetics of the design, the upper surface of the operation knob 20 and the upper surface of the front panel 30 are preferably flush with each other.

  Here, when the upper surface of the operation knob 20 and the upper surface of the front panel 30 are flush with each other, when the operation knob 20 swings from the neutral position to any one of the switching positions with the projections 14a as fulcrums. In addition, as shown in FIG. 2A, the operator's finger is placed between the end 20b of the operation knob 20 in the longitudinal direction to be pressed and the peripheral edge 32a of the opening 32 in the longitudinal direction to be pressed. There is a risk of being caught.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 2B, each peripheral edge portion 32 a in the longitudinal direction of the opening portion 32 is chamfered and inclined downward from the upper opening edge portion 36 a toward the lower opening edge portion 36 b. An inclined portion 36 is formed. That is, a so-called counterbore is formed on each peripheral edge 32 a in the longitudinal direction of the opening 32. By forming the counterbore in this way, the operator's 20 is pressed between the longitudinally pressed end 20b of the operation knob 20 and the longitudinally pressed peripheral edge 32a of the opening 32. Fingers can be prevented from being pinched, and the operability of the operation knob 20 can be improved.

  The rib 34 may be an erroneous operation preventing member that prevents erroneous operation of the operation knob 20 so as to satisfy the standard of FMVSS 118. Therefore, for example, the erroneous operation preventing member may be configured by arranging a plurality of protruding members along the width direction of the opening 32.

It is an external appearance perspective view of the seesaw switch concerning this embodiment. It is a top view of the seesaw switch in this embodiment. It is sectional drawing along line AA described in FIG. 1B of the seesaw switch in this embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the spot facing formed in the opening part of a seesaw switch. It is a figure for demonstrating the spot facing formed in the opening part of a seesaw switch. It is an external appearance perspective view of the conventional seesaw switch. It is sectional drawing along line AA described in FIG. 3A of the conventional seesaw switch.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 board | substrate, 14 support part, 20 operation knob, 22 supported part, 30 front panel, 32 opening part, 34 rib, 36 inclination part, 100 seesaw switch.

Claims (2)

An operation knob that is swingably supported on a substrate provided with at least one switch element, and that selectively operates the switch element by the swing;
A front panel that covers the upper side of the substrate, and is formed with an opening that exposes the operation knob upward;
A pair of erroneous operation prevention members for preventing erroneous operation of the operation knob, provided along the respective peripheral edges in the width direction of the opening on the upper surface of the front panel;
With
The operation knob is supported on the substrate so that the upper surface of the operation knob and the upper surface of the front panel are flush with each other in a neutral position where no switch element is operated.
Seesaw switch characterized by that. The seesaw switch according to claim 1,
Each peripheral edge portion in the longitudinal direction of the opening has an inclined portion inclined downward from the upper surface of the front panel toward the substrate.
Seesaw switch characterized by that.

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