JP2009164048A - Stoke switch device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a stoke switch device inducing no failure of a contact of a switching mechanism of an operation knob to be rocked and favorably used for long service life. <P>SOLUTION: When the operation knob 4 exposed into an opening 1a in a housing 1 is rocked, a rotation member 5 which is rotatably supported in the housing 1 with a permanent magnet 6 fixed is rotated and driven to detect a change in magnetic field in the housing 1 according to the rotating position of the permanent magnet 6 by an GMR sensor 11 mounted on a circuit board 3 in the housing 1. The operation knob 4, the rotation member 5 and the circuit board 3 are held in a holder 2 fixed to the housing 1. A pressing element 7 held to reciprocate by the operation knob 4 into elastic contact with a cam surface 5a of the rotation member 5 climbs over a mount of the cam surface 5a to produce a clicking touch. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a Stoke switch device that is installed near a steering wheel of an automobile and used for switching a switch such as a wiper or a turn signal.

  This type of stalk switch device is usually provided in a pair as a combination switch on both the left and right sides of a housing fixed to a steering column or the like. And by switching the cylindrical housing of each stalk switch device in the vertical direction and the front-rear direction, it is possible to switch the beam of the headlamp and switch the turn signal, etc. A configuration in which a switch such as a wiper can be switched by swinging the operation knob with respect to the housing is widely known.

In such a stalk switch device, as a conventional example in which the operability of the operation knob has been improved, the operation knob is disposed at the distal end portion (one end portion in the longitudinal direction) of the cylindrical housing and is reciprocally held by the operation knob. The spherical pressing element is elastically biased by a spring, and a rotating member that has a cam surface with which the pressing element elastically contacts and is driven to rotate by the operation knob is rotatably supported in the housing. There is known a structure in which a slider (movable contact) attached to the base plate contacts and separates from a fixed contact on a circuit board (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this type of conventional example, the operation knob is exposed to the opening existing at the tip of the cylindrical housing, and the operation knob is provided with a drive protrusion that protrudes into the housing and engages the rotating member. When the operation knob is swung, the drive protrusion rotates the rotating member. Further, when the operating knob is swung, the spherical pressing element moves along the cam surface of the rotating member, and a click feeling is generated when the pressing element gets over the peak portion of the cam surface. ing. Further, since the slider attached to the rotating member is in sliding contact with the fixed contact forming surface of the circuit board installed in the housing, when the rotating member rotates in accordance with the swing operation of the operation knob, the fixed contact The contact position of the slider with respect to is changed so that the switch is switched. If the rotating member having the cam surface is rotationally driven in accordance with the swinging operation of the operation knob in this way, even if the inclination of the cam surface is gentle, the presser over the mountain portion can be moved. Since it can be held stably, the operation knob can be swung with a relatively light operating force.
JP 11-11117 A

  However, in the conventional stalk switch device described above, the switch is switched by sliding the slider attached to the rotating member with respect to the fixed contact forming surface of the circuit board. As a result of repeated swinging operations, the contacts may wear out over time, or conduction failure may occur due to contact oxidation or sulfuration.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a state of the art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a stalk switch device suitable for extending the life without causing contact failure in the switch switching mechanism of the swinging operation knob. Is to provide.

  In order to achieve the above object, a Stoke switch device according to the present invention includes a cylindrical housing having an opening, an operation knob that is exposed to the opening of the housing and supported so as to be swingable, and a cam surface. A rotating member that is rotatably supported in the housing and rotated by the operation knob, a permanent magnet fixed to the rotating member, and a cam surface that is reciprocally held by the operation knob. A pressing element that elastically contacts the circuit board, a circuit board that is disposed in the housing and extends along a longitudinal direction of the housing, and a giant magnetoresistive sensor mounted on the circuit board, wherein the permanent magnet is The giant magnetoresistive sensor is fixed to the rotating member and magnetized substantially parallel to the main surface of the circuit board so that the rotating surface of the permanent magnet is substantially parallel to the main surface of the circuit board. Before It has a configuration which is provided so as to face the rotational locus of the permanent magnet.

  In the stalk switch device configured as described above, since the rotating member is rotationally driven when the operation knob is swung, the magnetic field in the housing changes according to the rotational position of the permanent magnet fixed to the rotating member, The electric resistance of the giant magnetoresistive sensor changes due to the magnetic field change. Therefore, the swinging position of the control knob can be detected based on the resistance change of the giant magnetoresistive sensor, and the switch can be switched without moving the slider (movable contact) to or from the fixed contact when swinging the control knob. It can be performed. Therefore, the switch switching mechanism of the operation knob does not cause a conduction failure (contact failure) due to wear or oxidation of the contact, and the life of the stalk switch device can be extended. In addition, since the rotating member having the cam surface is rotationally driven in accordance with the swinging operation of the operation knob, the pressing member over the mountain portion can be stably held even when the inclination of the cam surface is gentle. Therefore, the operation knob can be swung with a relatively light operation force.

  In the above-described configuration, a holder fixed inside the housing is provided, and when the holder holds the operation knob, the rotating member, and the circuit board, the operation knob, the rotating member, the circuit board, etc. are attached to the holder. Since the stalk switch device can be assembled by mounting the housing on the product, the assembling work can be easily performed.

  The Stoke switch device of the present invention has a permanent magnet fixed to a rotating member that is rotationally driven by an operation knob, and changes the magnetic field in the housing according to the rotational position of the permanent magnet accompanying the rotation of the rotating member. Therefore, the swing operation position of the operation knob can be detected based on the resistance change of the giant magnetoresistive sensor. Therefore, the switch can be switched without moving the slider (movable contact) to or from the fixed contact during the swinging operation of the operation knob, and there is no continuity failure (contact failure) due to contact wear or oxidation. It is possible to provide a stalk switch device that does not occur and is suitable for extending the life.

  FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a Stoke switch device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an overall cross section of the Stoke switch device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the main part of the Stoke switch device according to the embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a plan view of the rotating member shown in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is an explanation of the operation of the operating knob and rotating member shown in FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the relative positional relationship between the permanent magnet and the giant magnetoresistive sensor shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 7 is a circuit configuration diagram of the giant magnetoresistive sensor shown in FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the relationship between the rotation angle of a permanent magnet, and the output voltage of a giant magnetoresistive effect sensor.

  The stalk switch device shown in these drawings includes a cylindrical housing 1 constituting a part of a combination switch, a holder 2 housed and held in the housing 1, and a circuit board 3 held on the holder 2. An operation knob 4 that is swingable and exposed at the front end of the housing 1, a rotating member 5 that has a cam surface 5a and is rotatably supported by the holder 2, and is fixed to the rotating member 5. A permanent magnet 6, a spherical pressing member 7 that is reciprocally held by the operation knob 4, a spring 8 that elastically biases the pressing member 7 toward the cam surface 5 a, and a holder 2 that is rotatably supported. The operation ring 9 and the operation key 10 supported by the housing 1 so as to be movable up and down are provided. Further, on the circuit board 3, a giant magnetoresistive effect (GMR) sensor 11 for detecting a magnetic field change in the housing 1 according to the rotational position of the permanent magnet 6, and a rotating operation of the operation ring 9. A slider 12 that is sometimes driven, a giant magnetoresistive sensor 14 for detecting a magnetic field change of the permanent magnet 13 fixed to the slider 12, a push switch (not shown) that is driven when the operation key 10 is pressed, and the like Has been implemented. Hereinafter, the giant magnetoresistive sensor is abbreviated as a GMR sensor.

  The housing 1 includes a case 15 whose bottom surface is opened and a cover 16 that closes the bottom open end of the case 15. The case 15 and the cover 16 are integrated by snap coupling. An opening 1 a is formed at the tip of one end along the longitudinal direction of the housing 1, and the operation knob 4 exposed in the opening 1 a is supported by the holder 2 so as to be swingable. In addition, openings 15a and 16a are formed at locations where the case 15 and the cover 16 face each other, and a part of the operation ring 9 is exposed in these openings 15a and 16a. Further, the case 15 is formed with an opening 15b different from the opening 15a, and the operation key 10 is exposed in the opening 15b.

  The holder 2 is a long body extending along the longitudinal direction of the housing 1 and is fixed to the case 15 using screws 17. The holder 2 is formed with a semi-cylindrical portion 2 a so as to surround the slider 12, and a metal ball 19 is held on the semi-cylindrical portion 2 a via a spring 18. Further, the holder 2 is provided with a plurality of locking projections 2b, and the circuit board 3 extends along the longitudinal direction of the housing 1 by holding the circuit board 3 with the locking projections 2b. It has become.

  The operation knob 4 is attached to a curved crosspiece 2c provided at a pair at the tip of the holder 2 by a snap coupling and supported so as to be swingable. The operation knob 4 is provided with a cylindrical portion 4 a and a driving projection 4 b that protrude into the housing 1, a spring 8 is accommodated in the cylindrical portion 4 a, and the driving projection 4 b is a driven portion 5 b of the rotating member 5. Is engaged. The pressing element 7 that is elastically biased by the spring 8 is in elastic contact with the cam surface 5 a of the rotating member 5. Further, the rotary member 5 is provided with a cylindrical shaft portion 5c. As shown in FIG. 3, the support shaft 2d of the holder 2 is inserted into the shaft portion 5c so that the rotary member 5 is rotatably supported. At the same time, a disk-shaped permanent magnet 6 is fixed to the space 5d on the side of the shaft portion 5c facing the circuit board 3 by press-fitting or bonding. As shown in FIG. 3, since the permanent magnet 6 is disposed at a position facing the GMR sensor 11 via the circuit board 3, the rotating member 5 rotates to rotate the permanent magnet 6 integrally with the shaft portion 5c. Then, the magnetic field change in the housing 1 according to the rotational position of the permanent magnet 6 can be detected by the GMR sensor 11. The permanent magnet 6 is fixed to the rotating member 5 so that the rotating surface thereof is substantially parallel to the main surface of the circuit board 3 and is magnetized substantially parallel to the main surface of the circuit board 3.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the permanent magnet 6 is magnetized so that one edge is an N pole and the other edge is an S pole with a bisector L passing through the center O as an axis of symmetry. The permanent magnet 6 faces one side of the circuit board 3 (lower surface in FIG. 3) with a small gap, and the GMR sensor 11 is mounted on the other surface of the circuit board 3 (upper surface in FIG. 3). . In this GMR sensor 11, four GMR elements in which a fixed magnetic layer and a free magnetic layer are laminated via a nonmagnetic intermediate layer are connected so as to form a bridge circuit as shown in FIG. It is configured as one package as shown. In addition, the arrow in FIG. 7 has shown the magnetization direction of the fixed magnetic layer of each GMR element. The GMR sensor 11 is provided so as to face the rotation trajectory of the permanent magnet 6. Specifically, in the neutral state where the operation knob 4 is not operated, the center O of the permanent magnet 6 is disposed so as to pass through the center position of the package of the GMR sensor 11 as shown in FIG. When the permanent magnet 6 is rotated in the direction of arrows AB in FIG. 6, the external magnetic field in the housing 1 changes according to the rotational position of the permanent magnet 6, and the magnetization direction of the free magnetization layer of each GMR element Changes, the electrical resistance of the GMR sensor 11 changes. As a result, in a state where the predetermined voltage Vdd is applied to the GMR sensor 11, the output voltage (V1-V2) changes according to the rotation direction and the rotation angle of the permanent magnet 6, and as shown in FIG. The relationship of “angle-GMR sensor output voltage” is obtained. Therefore, the operation according to the rotation direction and the rotation angle of the permanent magnet 6 is based on the output voltage in the portion where the rotation angle of the permanent magnet is less than ± 90 degrees, preferably close to the straight line surrounded by the broken line in FIG. The swing operation position of the knob 4 can be detected. Therefore, the switch can be switched by swinging the operation knob 4.

  8 is a neutral state in which the magnetization direction of the permanent magnet 6 is parallel to the long axis of the package of the GMR sensor 11, as shown in FIG. The state of 5 (b) is shown. Therefore, when the permanent magnet 6 rotates 180 degrees in the clockwise direction (arrow A direction) or counterclockwise direction (arrow B direction) from the neutral state shown in FIG. 6, the output voltage from the GMR sensor 11 is accompanied with the rotation. Increases or decreases along the sine wave.

  As shown in FIG. 5, when the operation knob 4 is swung, the pusher 7 moves along the cam surface 5a, and when this pusher 7 gets over the mountain portion of the cam surface 5a, a click feeling is generated. It has come to be. Further, when the operation knob 4 is swung, the drive protrusion 4b drives the driven portion 5b, so that the rotating member 5 rotates in the direction opposite to that of the operation knob 4. That is, when the operation knob 4 is not operated to swing, the rotating member 5 is not driven to rotate as shown in FIG. 5B, so that the permanent magnet 6 is maintained in the neutral state shown in FIG. When the operation knob 4 is swung in one direction as shown in FIG. 5A or is swung in the other direction as shown in FIG. Rotates in the opposite direction, and the rotational position of the permanent magnet 6 with respect to the GMR sensor 11 changes. Therefore, as described above, the rotation direction and rotation angle of the permanent magnet 6 can be detected based on the output voltage from the GMR sensor 11, and the switch can be switched according to the swing operation position of the operation knob 4. It has become. Since the rotating surface of the permanent magnet 6 is set to be substantially parallel to the main surface of the circuit board 3, the GMR sensor 11 performs a highly accurate detection while keeping the distance from the permanent magnet 6 constant. It has become easier.

  The operation ring 9 is externally fitted to and integrated with the drive body 20, and the drive body 20 is rotatably held by the semi-cylindrical portion 2 a of the holder 2. A click hole 20 a and a spiral hole 20 b are formed in the peripheral wall of the drive body 20. A metal ball 19 elastically biased by the spring 18 can be engaged with and disengaged from the click hole 20a, and the slider 12 is slidably engaged with the spiral hole 20b. A disk-shaped permanent magnet 13 facing the circuit board 3 with a minute gap is fixed to the slider 12 by press-fitting or bonding. The magnetization direction of the permanent magnet 13 is the thickness of the circuit board 3. It is substantially parallel to the direction. When the operation ring 9 is rotated, the driving body 20 rotates in the circumferential direction, and the inner wall of the spiral hole 20b drives the slider 12. Therefore, the slider 12 to which the permanent magnet 13 is fixed is along the longitudinal direction of the holder 2. The linear movement of the permanent magnet 13 is detected by the GMR sensor 14 on the circuit board 3 so that the switch can be switched according to the rotational operation position of the operation ring 9. When the operation ring 9 is rotated, the metal ball 19 is engaged with and disengaged from the click hole 20a as the drive body 20 rotates, so that a click feeling is generated. When the operation key 10 is pressed, a push switch (not shown) on the circuit board 3 is driven so that the switch can be switched. However, the present invention relates to a stalk switch device in which an operation knob 4 capable of swinging operation is supported on the housing 1, and a switch switching mechanism using the operation ring 9 and the operation key 10 is not directly related to the present invention. Therefore, the detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.

  As described above, in the Stoke switch device according to the present embodiment, the permanent magnet 6 is fixed to the rotating member 5 that is rotationally driven by the operation knob 4, and the rotational position of the permanent magnet 6 that accompanies the rotation of the rotating member 5. Since the GMR sensor 11 detects a change in the magnetic field in the housing 1 in response to this, the swing operation position of the operation knob 4 can be detected based on the change in resistance of the GMR sensor 11. Therefore, when the operation knob 4 is swung, the switch can be switched without bringing the slider (movable contact) into and out of contact with the fixed contact, and continuity failure due to contact wear or oxidation (contact point). (Defect) does not occur, so that the life of the stalk switch device can be extended. Moreover, in this embodiment, even when the operation ring 9 is rotated, the GMR sensor 14 detects a magnetic field change in the driving body 20 corresponding to the rotational position of the permanent magnet 13 so that the switch can be switched. Therefore, in this respect as well, a long life is avoided while avoiding contact failures.

  In this embodiment, after the operation knob 4, the rotating member 5, the circuit board 3, and the like are attached in advance to the holder 2 fixed inside the housing 1, the housing 1 (the case 15 and the cover 16 is attached to the semi-finished product. ) Can be assembled and the stalk switch device can be assembled.

  In the above embodiment, the permanent magnet 6 is fixed to the shaft portion 5c of the rotating member 5. However, the permanent magnet 6 is fixed to the other portion of the rotating member 5, and the moving area of the permanent magnet 6 or the vicinity thereof is fixed. The GMR sensor 11 may be disposed at a position opposite to.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the housing 1 is comprised combining the case 15 and the cover 16, the housing 1 may be cylindrical previously.

  Further, as described above, the present invention relates to a stalk switch device in which the operation knob 4 that can be swung is supported on the housing 1, and therefore a switch switching mechanism using the operation ring 9 and the operation key 10 can be omitted as appropriate. It is.

It is a disassembled perspective view of the Stoke switch device concerning the example of an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is an overall cross-sectional view of a Stoke switch device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is principal part sectional drawing of the Stoke switch apparatus which concerns on the example of embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of the rotation member shown in FIG. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of the operation knob and rotation member shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the relative positional relationship of the permanent magnet and GMR sensor shown in FIG. It is a circuit block diagram of the GMR sensor shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the relationship between the rotation angle of the permanent magnet shown in FIG. 3, and the output voltage of a GMR sensor.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Housing 1a Opening 2 Holder 3 Circuit board 4 Operation knob 4b Driving protrusion 5 Rotating member 5a Cam surface 5c Shaft part 6 Permanent magnet 7 Presser 8 Spring 11 Giant magnetoresistive effect sensor (GMR sensor)

Claims (2)

A cylindrical housing having an opening; an operation knob that is exposed to the opening of the housing and supported to be swingable; and has a cam surface and is rotatably supported in the housing. A rotating member that is rotationally driven, a permanent magnet fixed to the rotating member, a pressing member that is reciprocally held by the operation knob and elastically contacts the cam surface, and is disposed in the housing. A circuit board extending along the longitudinal direction of the circuit board, and a giant magnetoresistive sensor mounted on the circuit board,
The permanent magnet is fixed to the rotating member such that a rotating surface of the permanent magnet is substantially parallel to the main surface of the circuit board, and is magnetized substantially parallel to the main surface of the circuit board, A giant magnetoresistive sensor is provided so as to oppose the rotation trajectory of the permanent magnet.   The stalk switch device according to claim 1, further comprising a holder fixed inside the housing, wherein the holder holds the operation knob, the rotating member, and the circuit board.

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