JP2010197195A - Push button device and wrist watch - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a push button device preventing with a simple method a push button from being rotated following rotation of a lock cylinder, while reducing to the utmost a labor for processing or the like by a simple method, and to provide a wrist watch including the push button device. <P>SOLUTION: In the push button device including an operation button 5 having an operation head part 51 and a shaft part 52 and inserted slidably into a through hole 11 of a wrist watch case 1, and the lock cylinder 7 screwed on the outer circumference of the head part 51 of the operation button 5, a positioning pin 8 is projected to the axial direction of the shaft part 52 of the operation button 5 from the wrist watch case 1 and provided eccentrically to the shaft center of the shaft part 52, and a pin locking part 59 extending in the axial direction of the shaft part 52 is formed eccentrically to the shaft center of the shaft part 52 in the head part 51 of the operation button, and the tip of the positioning pin 8 is inserted into the pin locking part 59 of the head part 51 of the operation button 5, and then positioning in the circumferential direction of the operation button 5 is performed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a push button device and a wristwatch.

  Conventionally, electronic devices such as wristwatches are provided with push buttons (operation buttons) for operating various functions. However, such a push button may be erroneously touched by a user's hand or accidentally pressed due to an impact when touching something, and may cause the device to malfunction. In particular, in the case of a diver's wristwatch or the like, water pressure is applied from the outside underwater, so that the push button may be kept pressed, and the device may malfunction.

  Therefore, in order to prevent the push button from being pushed by mistake, a screw portion is provided on the outer periphery of the push button, and a screw ring (lock cylinder) is screwed to this, and the screw ring (lock cylinder) is rotated to rotate the push button. A push button structure has been proposed in which a push button can be held in a locked state or an unlocked state by changing a push stroke (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 54-91150

However, when the push cylinder of the push button is changed by rotating the lock cylinder in this way and the push button is held in the locked state or the unlocked state, the lock cylinder is rotated to be screwed or returned. At this time, there is a problem that the push button screwed with the lock cylinder rotates following the lock cylinder (that is, the lock cylinder and the push button rotate together).
Thus, if the push button rotates simultaneously with the rotation of the lock cylinder, the lock cylinder does not move in the axial direction of the push button, and the push button cannot be properly locked and unlocked. In addition, when a spring is provided to urge the push button, an excessive force may be applied to the spring or the load may be deformed.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the circumstances as described above, and it is easy for the push button to follow and rotate when the lock cylinder is rotated while minimizing the work and the like. An object of the present invention is to provide a push button device that can be prevented by a simple technique and a wristwatch including the push button device.

In order to solve such a problem, the invention described in claim 1
An operation button having a head for operation and a shaft connected to the head, and the shaft is slidably inserted into a through-hole formed in the main body case;
A push button device comprising: a lock cylinder screwed on an outer periphery of a head of the operation button;
A positioning member protruding from the main body case in the axial direction of the shaft portion of the operation button, and provided eccentric to the shaft center of the shaft portion;
In the head of the operation button, a groove portion extending in the axial direction of the shaft portion is formed eccentrically with respect to the shaft center of the shaft portion,
The push button device is characterized in that the distal end of the positioning member is inserted into the groove of the head portion of the operation button to position the operation button in the circumferential direction.

The invention according to claim 2 is the push button device according to claim 1,
The positioning member is a positioning pin formed in a columnar shape.

The invention according to claim 3 is the push button device according to claim 1 or 2,
The groove is characterized by being formed in a shape along the shape of the outer periphery of the positioning member.

The invention according to claim 4 is the push button device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A spring is provided between the head of the operation button and the main body case to bias the head of the operation button in a direction away from the main body case.

The invention according to claim 5 is the push button device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A ring-shaped sealing member is provided on the peripheral surface of the shaft portion of the operation button.

The invention described in claim 6
A push button device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
A wristwatch comprising the main body case.

  According to the present invention, in a pushbutton device including a lock cylinder for preventing malfunction and a wristwatch including the same, a groove is formed in the head of the operation button, and a positioning member protruding from the body case side is inserted into the groove. With this simple configuration, it is possible to prevent the operation button from rotating (that is, rotating together) when the lock cylinder is rotated.

It is sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of the pushbutton apparatus of this embodiment. It is a cross-sectional perspective view of the pushbutton device shown in FIG. (A) is a sectional side view of a guide tube provided in the pushbutton device shown in FIG. 1, and (b) is a plan view of the guide tube shown in (a) as viewed from the direction of arrow III. (A) is the sectional side view of the operation button with which the pushbutton apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is equipped, (b) is the top view which looked at the operation button shown to (a) from arrow IV direction. (A) is the sectional side view of the lock cylinder with which the pushbutton apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is equipped, (b) is the top view which looked at the lock cylinder shown to (a) from the arrow V direction. (A) is the side view of the positioning pin with which the pushbutton apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is equipped, (b) is the top view which looked at the positioning pin shown in (a) from arrow VI direction.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following, a case where the push button device according to the present invention is applied to a wristwatch will be described, but an embodiment to which the present invention can be applied is not limited thereto.

1 is a cross-sectional view of main parts of a watch case and a push button device, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional perspective view of main parts of the watch case and the push button device shown in FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a watch glass 2 is attached to an upper portion of a watch case 1 which is a main body case of the watch 100 through a packing 21, and a back cover member 3 has an O-ring 31 on a lower portion. Is attached through. In addition, a display member (not shown) such as a dial plate, a timepiece module (not shown) including electronic parts such as a circuit board (not shown), and the like are housed in the wristwatch case 1. On the circuit board, contacts (not shown) that perform switching for realizing various functions of the wristwatch 100 are provided.

  In addition, a leaf spring 4 is provided inside the wristwatch case 1 so that one end side of the wristwatch case 1 is detachable from a contact provided on the circuit board. The other end side of the leaf spring 4 is configured to be pressed by a push button device 50 to be described later. When the other end side of the leaf spring 4 is pressed by the push button device 50, one end of the leaf spring 4 becomes a contact on the circuit board. It is configured to switch the switch in contact.

A through-hole 11 is formed on the side surface of the watch case 1 so as to penetrate the watch case 1. Further, a pin insertion portion 12 for inserting a positioning pin 8 to be described later is formed at a position slightly closer to the viewing side of the wristwatch 100 than the through hole 11 (upward in FIGS. 1 and 2). The pin insertion portion 12 is a hole substantially parallel to the through hole 11.
In the present embodiment, the pin insertion portion 12 is a hole having a length approximately half the thickness of the watch case 1, but the pin insertion portion 12 only needs to be able to insert and fix the positioning pin 8. A through hole may be used. A push button device 50 is provided on the side of the watch case 1 where the through hole 11 and the pin insertion portion 12 are provided.

  In this embodiment, the push button device 50 includes an operation button 5, a guide tube 6 for attaching the operation button 5 to the watch case 1, a lock tube 7 for locking the operation button 5, a positioning pin 8 for positioning the operation button 5, and the like. It is prepared for. Hereinafter, a specific configuration of the push button device 50 will be described in detail.

3A is a side sectional view of the guide tube 6, and FIG. 3B is a plan view of the guide tube 6 viewed from the direction of arrow III in FIG. 3A.
As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the guide tube 6 is a cylindrical member having openings 61 a and 61 b at both ends, and has an outer diameter substantially equal to the inner diameter of the through hole 11. The insertion portion 62 is inserted through the through hole 11, and the flange portion 63 is provided at one end of the insertion portion 62 and has an outer diameter larger than the outer diameter of the insertion portion 62.

  The insertion portion 62 of the guide tube 6 has a length dimension larger than the thickness of the side surface of the watch case 1 and communicates from the outside to the inside of the watch case 1 until the collar portion 63 hits the side surface of the watch case 1. In this way, the through hole 11 is inserted. The guide tube 6 is fixed to the watch case 1 by press fitting, brazing, spot welding or the like.

  In addition, a guide surface 64 that is tapered outward is formed at the end of the opening 61a on the side where the collar portion 63 is provided. The guide surface 64 allows the shaft portion 52 ( Insertion into the guide tube 6 shown in FIG. 4B is performed smoothly.

4A is a side sectional view of the operation button 5, and FIG. 4B is a plan view of the operation button 5 viewed from the direction of arrow IV in FIG. 4A.
As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the operation button 5 includes a head 51 that protrudes outward from the watch case 1 and is pressed from the outside, and a shaft that is inserted into the guide tube 6. The part 52 and the contact part 53 located in the front-end | tip part of the axial part 52 are comprised by coaxially continuing.
A male screw 51a is engraved on the outer peripheral surface of the head 51 at the end of the wristwatch case 1 side.

  Two circumferential grooves 54 a and 54 b are formed in the vicinity of the central portion of the shaft portion 52 along the outer peripheral surface of the shaft portion 52. A seal ring 55, which is a ring-shaped sealing member such as an O-ring, is fitted in each of the circumferential grooves 54a and 54b so that airtightness between the operation button 5 and the guide tube 6 is ensured. It has become. The seal ring 55 is made of, for example, various resins. The material for forming the seal ring 55 is not limited to this.

  Further, a locking groove 56 is formed along the outer peripheral surface of the shaft portion 52 between the shaft portion 52 and the contact portion 53. A retaining member 57 that prevents the operation button 5 from falling off the guide tube 6 is retained in the retaining groove 56. As the retaining member 57, for example, an E-shaped ring having a diameter larger than the inner diameter of the guide tube 6 can be used. The retaining member 57 may be any member that can prevent the operation button 5 from falling off the guide tube 6 and is not limited to the E-shaped ring.

  The contact portion 53 is in contact with the other end side end portion (the end portion on the push button device 50 side) of the leaf spring 4, and the operation button 5 is pushed toward the inside of the wristwatch case 1, thereby causing the leaf spring. 4 is pressed so that one end (the end on the circuit board side) of the leaf spring 4 is brought into contact with a contact on the circuit board.

  In the present embodiment, a cylindrical groove 58 formed coaxially with the shaft 52 is formed inside the head 51 of the operation button 5. Further, a pin locking portion 59 is formed at one end of the groove portion 58 and is eccentric with respect to the shaft center of the shaft portion 52 and into which a positioning pin 8 described later is inserted and locked. The pin locking portion 59 is a groove portion extending in the axial direction of the shaft portion 52, and the shape on the wall surface side is formed in a semicircular shape along the outer peripheral shape of the positioning pin 8. In the assembled state of the push button device, the positioning pin 8 is inserted into the pin locking portion 59 and locked.

  A coil spring 9 is provided around the outer periphery of the shaft portion 52 between the inner peripheral surface of the groove portion 58 of the head portion 51 and the outer peripheral surface of the shaft portion 52. One end of the coil spring 9 is in contact with the upper end surface of the flange 63 of the guide tube 6, and the other end is in contact with the inner surface of the groove 58, and the operation button 5 is normally in the axial direction of the shaft 52. The urging is performed in a direction away from the wristwatch case 1 along the direction.

FIG. 5A is a side sectional view of the lock cylinder 7, and FIG. 5B is a plan view of the lock cylinder 7 viewed from the direction of arrow V in FIG. 5A.
As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the lock cylinder 7 is a hollow short columnar member, and has openings 74a and 74b at both ends. Among these, the opening 74a arranged on the wristwatch case 1 side is provided with a flange 73 provided continuously from the side wall, and the diameter of the opening 74a is the wristwatch case 1 side of the head 51 of the operation button 5. It is smaller than the diameter of the end face. Thus, when the lock cylinder 7 is rotated to be in the unlocked state, the inner surface of the collar portion 73 of the lock cylinder 7 abuts against the end surface of the head 51 of the operation button 5 to prevent the lock cylinder 7 from falling off. It has become.

A female screw 72 that is screwed into a male screw 51 a formed in the head 51 of the operation button 5 is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the lock cylinder 7.
The lock cylinder 7 is rotated with respect to the head 51 of the operation button 5, so that a predetermined stroke distance W from the position (w1 in FIG. 1) where the outer surface of the collar 73 comes into contact with the outer surface of the wristwatch case 1. It can move to a position (w2 in FIG. 1) that is separated from the outer surface of the watch case 1.
It is preferable that the outer peripheral surface of the lock cylinder 7 is provided with irregularities as shown in FIG. 5B so that the lock cylinder 7 can be easily rotated.

6A is a side sectional view of the positioning pin 8, and FIG. 6B is a plan view of the positioning pin 8 viewed from the direction of the arrow VI in FIG. 6A.
The positioning pin 8 is a cylindrical positioning member as shown in FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b). One end side of the positioning pin 8 is inserted into the pin insertion portion 12 of the watch case 1 as shown in FIG. Yes. The positioning pin 8 is preferably fixed to the pin insertion portion 12 by press fitting, brazing, spot welding or the like.

The positioning pin 8 protrudes from the wristwatch case 1 side to the head 51 side along the axial direction of the shaft portion 52 of the operation button 5. Further, the positioning pin 8 is eccentric with respect to the shaft center of the shaft portion 52. The tip on the other end side of the positioning pin 8 is inserted and locked in a pin locking portion 59 formed in the head 51 of the operation button 5.
The positioning pin 8 is a positioning member for positioning the operation button 5 in the circumferential direction around the shaft portion 52, and the operation button 5 can slide back and forth along the axial direction of the shaft portion 52. The circumferential direction around the shaft portion 52 of the operation button 5 is positioned by the positioning pin 8, and the rotation about the shaft portion 52 is restricted.

  The positioning pin 8 is inserted at least one end into the pin locking portion 59 in both the locked state and the unlocked state of the operation button 5, and the operation button 5 is connected to the wristwatch case 1 side in the unlocked state. When pushing into the head 51, the length is such that the pushing operation is not hindered (that is, it does not hit the inside of the head 51 until the pushing operation of the operation button 5 is completed).

  Next, the operation of the push button device and the wristwatch including the push button device according to the present embodiment will be described.

When operating the operation button 5, the lock cylinder 7 is rotated in a predetermined direction with respect to the head 51 of the operation button 5, so that the position of the outer surface of the collar 73 contacts the outer surface of the watch case 1. The outer surface of the collar 73 is moved from the outer surface of the wristwatch case 1 by a predetermined stroke distance W (w2 in FIG. 1) from w1 in FIG. At this time, since the positioning pin 8 is locked in the pin locking portion 59, the rotation of the operation button 5 around the shaft portion 52 is restricted, and the operation button follows the rotation of the lock cylinder 7. 5 is prevented from rotating in the axial direction (that is, the operation button 5 rotates with the lock cylinder 7).
In this unlocked state, the operation button 5 can be moved by the stroke distance W in the axial direction of the shaft portion 52. Then, by pushing the head 51 of the operation button 5 toward the wristwatch case 1, the shaft portion 52 slides along the axial direction, and the contact portion 53 located at the tip of the shaft portion 52 is moved to the leaf spring 4. Press. As a result, the other end of the leaf spring 4 comes into contact with the contact on the circuit board side, and the switches of various functional parts of the wristwatch 100 are switched.

When the operation of the operation button 5 is locked, the lock cylinder 7 is rotated with respect to the head 51 of the operation button 5 in the opposite direction to the unlocking state, so that the position of the outer surface of the collar 73 is The position is moved from the position w2 in FIG. 1 to the position w1 in FIG. At this time, since the positioning pin 8 is locked in the pin locking portion 59, the rotation of the operation button 5 around the shaft portion 52 is restricted, and the operation button follows the rotation of the lock cylinder 7. 5 is prevented from rotating in the axial direction (that is, the operation button 5 rotates with the lock cylinder 7).
As a result, the outer surface of the collar portion 73 of the lock cylinder 7 comes into contact with the outer surface of the wristwatch case 1 so that the operation button 5 cannot be pushed in, and the operation button 5 is locked so as not to be erroneously operated.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the positioning pin 8 is locked in the pin locking portion 59 formed in the head 51 of the operation button 5, the operation button 5 is brought into the locked state. When the lock cylinder 7 is rotated to release the lock of the operation button 5, the operation button 5 rotates following this (that is, the operation button 5 rotates with the lock cylinder 7). Can be prevented.
If the operation button 5 rotates at the same time when the lock cylinder 7 is rotated, the lock cylinder 7 does not move in the axial direction of the shaft portion 52, and the operation button 5 cannot be properly locked and unlocked. Further, an excessive force may be applied to the coil spring 9, or the load may be deformed due to a load.
In this respect, in the present embodiment, the rotation (both rotation) of the operation button 5 when the lock cylinder 7 is rotated is restricted by a simple configuration in which the positioning pin 8 is locked in the pin locking portion 59. In addition, since it is not necessary to form and process the operation button 5 or the like into a complicated shape, the cost can be reduced.

  Since the positioning pin 8 formed in a cylindrical shape is used as the positioning member, the positioning member can be easily processed, and since the peripheral surface has no corners, it can be smoothly inserted and engaged in the pin locking portion 59 which is a groove portion. Can be stopped.

  Further, since the shape of the wall surface side of the pin locking portion 59 (groove portion) that locks the positioning pin 8 that is the positioning member is formed in a semicircular shape along the outer peripheral shape of the positioning pin 8, the positioning pin 8 Can be easily inserted without being caught.

  In addition, since the coil spring 9 is provided between the head 51 of the operation button 5 and the watch case 1, the coil spring 9 biases the head 51 of the operation button 5 away from the center of the watch case 1. When the button is released, the position of the head 51 of the operation button 5 can be reliably returned to the release position of the operation button 5. As a result, it is possible to prevent malfunctions such as the operation button 5 being pressed even though the locked state is released.

  Further, since the seal ring 55 that is a ring-shaped sealing member is fitted on the peripheral surface of the shaft portion 52 of the operation button 5, the guide tube 6 inserted into the through hole 11 and the shaft portion 52 of the operation button 5 It is possible to ensure airtightness between the two.

  In the present embodiment, the positioning pin 8 is used as the positioning member. However, the positioning member is not limited to the positioning pin 8 as long as it can be fitted in a groove such as the pin locking portion 59.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the case where the positioning pin 8 is inserted into the pin insertion portion 12 provided in the watch case 1 is taken as an example, but the configuration of the positioning pin 8 is not limited to this. For example, the guide tube 6 and the wristwatch case 1 may be provided integrally.

Moreover, although the case where the positioning pin 8 is a column shape was illustrated in this embodiment, the shape of the positioning pin is not limited to what was illustrated. For example, the shape of the positioning pin may be a polygonal column.
In this case, the pin locking portion (groove portion) for inserting and locking the positioning pin is formed in a shape along the shape of the outer periphery of the positioning pin. Thus, the pin locking part (groove part) can be smoothly inserted into the pin locking part (groove part) by forming the pin locking part (groove part) along the shape of the outer periphery of the positioning pin.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the pin insertion portion 12 is formed at a position slightly closer to the viewing side of the wristwatch 100 than the through-hole 11, and the pin locking portion 59 is above the shaft portion 52 (closer to the viewing side of the wristwatch 100). Although the positioning pin 8 is inserted and locked to this, the position where the positioning pin 8 is provided is not limited to this. The positioning pin 8 and the pin insertion portion (groove portion) for locking the positioning pin 8 may be located at an eccentric position with respect to the shaft portion 52 of the operation button 5, and may be, for example, below or on the side of the shaft portion 52.

  In the present embodiment, the coil spring 9 is provided as means for urging the operation button 5, but the coil spring 9 is not an essential component. When the coil spring 9 is not provided, for example, the operation button 5 may be urged by the leaf spring 4 in a direction away from the center of the watch case 1.

  In the present embodiment, the push button device 50 is applied to the wristwatch 100 as an example. However, the device to which the pushbutton device 50 is applied is not limited to the wristwatch 100. Any device provided with an operation button that needs to securely hold the locked state can be applied to devices other than wristwatches.

  Further, the shape of the operation button 5 or the like is not limited to that illustrated here. For example, a polygonal shape such as an octagon in cross section may be used.

  In addition, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and can be modified as appropriate.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Watch case 4 Leaf spring 5 Operation button 6 Guide cylinder 7 Lock cylinder 8 Positioning pin 9 Coil spring 11 Through-hole 12 Pin insertion part 50 Pushbutton device 51 Head 51a Male screw 52 Shaft part 53 Contact part 55 Seal ring 59 Pin engagement Stop part 62 Insertion part 63 Butt part 72 Female screw 73 Butt part 100 Wristwatch

Claims (6)

An operation button having a head for operation and a shaft connected to the head, and the shaft is slidably inserted into a through-hole formed in the main body case;
A push button device comprising: a lock cylinder screwed on an outer periphery of a head of the operation button;
A positioning member protruding from the main body case in the axial direction of the shaft portion of the operation button, and provided eccentric to the shaft center of the shaft portion;
In the head of the operation button, a groove portion extending in the axial direction of the shaft portion is formed eccentrically with respect to the shaft center of the shaft portion,
The push button device characterized in that the distal end of the positioning member is inserted into the groove of the head portion of the operation button to position the operation button in the circumferential direction.   The push button device according to claim 1, wherein the positioning member is a positioning pin formed in a columnar shape.   3. The push button device according to claim 1, wherein the groove is formed in a shape along an outer periphery of the positioning member.   The spring for urging the head of the operation button in a direction away from the main body case is provided between the head of the operation button and the main body case. 4. The pushbutton device according to any one of 3.   The push button device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a ring-shaped sealing member is provided on a peripheral surface of a shaft portion of the operation button. A push button device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The body case;
A wristwatch characterized by comprising:

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