JP2012142131A - Push button switch - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a push button switch capable of improving amusement by easily connecting a mode change with an operation feeling.SOLUTION: The push button switch comprises a push button 1; a signal processing circuit part 6 for generating signals in proportion to a displacement amount of the push button 1; a first coil spring 7 and a second coil spring 8 for energizing the push button 1 in a direction opposite to a direction, in which the push button 1 is pushed; and a holder 9 and a rib 21B for holding the second coil spring 8 while it is shrunk by a constant amount in a direction, in which the push button 1 is pushed. The second coil spring 8 is arranged at a position, where it is pressed by the push button 1 after the push button 1 is displaced by a constant amount while pressing the first coil spring 7.

Description

  The present invention relates to a pushbutton switch suitable for an operation switch of a game machine such as a pachinko machine or a game machine.

  Conventionally, the operation switch of the game device is frequently operated with an excessive force during the game (during game play), so from the viewpoint of durability, a non-contact type push button switch having no mechanical contact May be used (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  The optical push button switch (push button switch) described in Patent Document 1 includes a push button operation unit that automatically returns by elastic means, and a light amount detection sensor provided along the movement path of the push button operation unit. . The push button actuating unit is provided with light amount changing means that is formed in the moving direction and changes the light amount of transmitted light or reflected light according to the moving state. For this reason, in the conventional example, since the depth when the push button operating unit is pressed can be detected as a change in the light amount, it is possible to continuously detect whether the push button operating unit is pressed or not. The play state (mode) can be changed by pressing.

JP-A-7-176237

  However, in the above-described conventional example, since the load on the push button operating unit is always proportional to the amount of displacement of the push button operating unit, the user has a constant feeling of operating the push button operating unit. For this reason, even if the mode is changed according to the displacement amount of the push button operation unit, the operation feeling of the push button operation unit does not change before and after the mode change. However, there was a problem that it was difficult to connect and lacked playability.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a pushbutton switch that can easily connect a mode change and an operation feeling and can improve playability.

  The pushbutton switch of the present invention includes a pushbutton, a signal processing circuit section that creates a signal proportional to the displacement amount of the pushbutton, and a first spring that biases the pushbutton in a direction opposite to the direction in which the pushbutton is pushed. And a second spring, and holding means for holding the second spring in a state in which the second spring is contracted by a certain amount in the direction in which the push button is pushed. It is characterized in that it is disposed at a position where it is pressed by the push button after being displaced by a certain amount while the spring is pressed.

  According to the present invention, the mode change and the operation feeling are easily combined, and the playability can be improved.

It is sectional drawing which shows embodiment of the pushbutton switch which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the external appearance of a pushbutton switch same as the above, (a) is a whole perspective view, (b) is a top view, (c) is a side view, (d) is a bottom view with the cover removed. . It is a disassembled perspective view of a pushbutton switch same as the above. It is a figure which shows the operation state of a pushbutton switch same as the above, (a) is sectional drawing of the state which pushed in the pushbutton until the mode changes, (b) is sectional drawing after the mode change. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the pushbutton switch, wherein (a) is a correlation diagram between the displacement amount of the pushbutton and the output voltage, and (b) is a correlation diagram between the load on the pushbutton and the displacement amount of the pushbutton.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a pushbutton switch according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the vertical direction in FIG. 1 is defined as the vertical direction. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the push button 1, the body 2, the cover 3, the sensing unit 4, the moving body block 5, the signal processing circuit unit 6, and the first coil spring 7 (the first coil spring 7) 1 spring), a second coil spring 8 (second spring), and a holder 9.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 (a) to 2 (d), the push button 1 is formed of a disc-shaped synthetic resin molded body, and has a circular recess 10 in a plan view that is depressed downward on the upper surface of the center portion thereof. Is provided. A screw insertion hole 11 into which the fixing screw 12 is inserted is provided in the center of the recess 10 so as to penetrate in the vertical direction.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 (a) to 2 (d), the body 2 has a flat rectangular parallelepiped base 20 whose bottom surface is open, and projects upward from the center of the top surface of the base 20 and has a diameter larger than that of the base 20. A cylindrical main body 21 having a small size is integrally formed as a synthetic resin molded body. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2D, four protrusions 20 </ b> A project downward from the inner bottom surface of the base 20 along the circumferential direction. A circular hole 21A is provided on the upper surface of the main body 21, and a connecting part 51 of a movable body block 5 described later is disposed in the hole 21A so as to be movable in the vertical direction.

  Two beams 22 projecting outward from the base 20 are integrally formed on both the left and right side surfaces of the base 20 in FIG. 2B, and a flat cylindrical mounting portion 23 is formed by these beams 22. It is supported. Therefore, this embodiment can be attached to an external device by screwing these attachment portions 23 to an external device such as a pachinko machine.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the cover 3 is made of a synthetic resin molded body having a rectangular plate shape, and is attached to the body 2 so as to close the lower surface opening of the base 20. The body 2 and the cover 3 are fixed to each other by an appropriate method such as adhesion or welding.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the sensing unit 4 is formed by integrally forming a disk-shaped flange 40 and a coil bobbin 41 that protrudes upward from the center of the upper surface of the flange 40 as a synthetic resin molded body. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2D, four support portions 40B projecting downward are provided on the lower surface of the flange 40, and the printed wiring of the signal processing circuit portion 6 described later is provided by these support portions 40B. A plate 60 is supported. Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2D, four circular through holes 40A into which the protrusions 20A are inserted are provided on the lower surface of the flange 40 along the circumferential direction. As shown in FIG. 1, the coil bobbin 41 includes a cylindrical winding drum portion 41A, and an upper flange portion 41B and a lower flange portion 41C respectively provided at upper and lower ends of the winding drum portion 41A. As shown in FIG. 1, the detection coil 42 is formed by winding a winding around the outer peripheral surface of the winding body portion 41 </ b> A.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the movable body block 5 includes a flat bottomed cylindrical main portion 50 whose bottom surface is open, and a bottomed cylinder whose bottom surface is open and protrudes from one axial end side of the main portion 50. The connecting portion 51 having a shape is integrally formed as a synthetic resin molded body. A cylindrical moving body 52 made of a conductive metal material is provided inside the connecting portion 51. In addition, a projecting wall 50A having a circular shape in plan view, into which the upper end portion of the first coil spring 7 is fitted, is integrally formed on the upper inner bottom surface of the main portion 50 so as to protrude downward. A screw hole 51 </ b> A in which the fixing screw 12 is screwed is provided in the upper bottom portion of the connecting portion 51.

  The main portion 50 has a diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the main body 21, and four protrusions 50 </ b> B that protrude downward toward the inner wall of the main body 21 and protrude downward are circumferentially provided on the outer peripheral surface thereof. Are provided at equal intervals. These protrusions 50 </ b> B are configured such that their tip portions are fitted into guide grooves (not shown) provided on the inner wall of the main body portion 21. Therefore, the main portion 50 is disposed in the main body portion 21 so as to be movable in the vertical direction by the projections 50B being slidably guided in the guide grooves.

  The signal processing circuit unit 6 includes a disk-shaped printed wiring board 60 as shown in FIG. 2 (d), and various electronic components (not shown) constituting the signal processing circuit are mounted on the printed wiring board 60. ing. The signal processing circuit, for example, distance information between the moving body 52 and the detection coil 42 to be described later according to the constant current output from the constant current circuit and the peak value of the voltage across the detection coil 42 determined by the impedance of the detection coil 42. Create a signal indicating. Alternatively, the signal processing circuit applies an oscillation signal having a reference frequency (a frequency corresponding to the inductance of the detection coil 42) from the oscillation circuit to the detection coil 42, and the detection changes depending on the distance between the moving body 52 and the detection coil 42. A signal based on the inductance of the coil 42 is created.

  The first coil spring 7 has a lower end portion fixed to the lower flange portion 41 </ b> C of the coil bobbin 41 and an upper end portion fixed to the protruding wall 50 </ b> A of the main portion 50, thereby compressing the main body portion 21. Stored inside. Therefore, since the first coil spring 7 elastically biases the moving body block 5 upward by its elastic force, the first coil spring 7 biases the moving body 52 in the opposite direction (upward) to the direction in which the push button 1 is pressed. In a state where the push button 1 is not pressed, the upper end surface of the main portion 50 is stationary at a position (reference position) where it contacts the upper inner bottom surface of the main body portion 21. At this reference position, the detection coil 42 is located outside the moving body 52, and the distance between the detection coil 42 and the moving body 52 is the largest. Here, the distance between the detection coil 42 and the moving body 52 indicates, for example, the distance from the upper end of the moving body 52 to the lower end of the detection coil 42.

  The second coil spring 8 has a larger diameter than the first coil spring 7, and its spring constant is also larger than the spring constant of the first coil spring 7. And as for the 2nd coiled spring 8, while a lower end part is fixed to the flange 40, an upper end part is fixed to the upper surface inner bottom part of the recessed part 90B of the holder 9 mentioned later.

  The holder 9 is formed of a synthetic resin molded body, and as shown in FIG. 1, a cylindrical portion 90 formed integrally by connecting the upper ends of two cylindrical members having different diameters, and the lower end of the cylindrical portion 90 It is comprised from the annular-shaped flange part 91 which protrudes outward from a part. The outer diameter dimension of the cylindrical portion 90 is smaller than the inner diameter dimension of the main portion 50 of the movable body block 5. For this reason, when the moving body block 5 moves downward, the cylindrical portion 90 enters the inside of the main portion 50. A hole in the cylindrical member on the inner side of the cylindrical portion 90 is a through hole 90 </ b> A for passing the coil bobbin 41 and the first coil spring 7. Further, a concave portion 90B is provided between the outer cylindrical member and the inner cylindrical member of the cylindrical portion 90, and the upper end portion of the second coil spring 8 is fitted into the concave portion 90B.

  The flange 91 has a diameter that is substantially the same as the inner diameter of the main body 21. Here, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of (not shown) ribs 21 </ b> B protruding inward are integrally formed on the inner wall of the main body 21 along the circumferential direction. Accordingly, the upward movement of the holder 9 is restricted by the lower end portions of the ribs 21 </ b> B coming into contact with the upper surface of the flange portion 91. As shown in FIG. 3, the flange portion 91 is provided with four notches 91 </ b> A at equal intervals in the circumferential direction so that the protrusion 50 </ b> B of the moving body block 5 is fitted therein. .

  Here, since the upward movement of the holder 9 is restricted by the rib 21B, the second coil spring 8 is housed inside the main body 21 in a compressed state. That is, the rib 21B and the holder 9 constitute holding means for holding the second coil spring 8 in a state where the second coil spring 8 is contracted by a certain amount in the direction in which the push button 1 is pressed (downward). Therefore, the second coil spring 8 elastically biases the holder 9 upward by its elastic force.

  This embodiment is assembled in the following procedure. First, after the signal processing circuit unit 6 is supported and fixed to each support unit 40B protruding from the lower surface of the flange 40 of the sensing unit 4, the first coil spring 7 is disposed so as to surround the coil bobbin 41. Further, after the second coil spring 8 is disposed so as to surround the first coil spring 7, the holder 9 is put on the upper end portion of the second coil spring 8, and the second coil spring 8 is placed in the recess 90 </ b> B of the holder 9. Fit the upper end of. On the other hand, the connecting part 51 is inserted into the hole 21 </ b> A of the main body part 21 of the body 2, and the movable body block 5 is accommodated in the main body part 21 in a state where each protrusion 50 </ b> B is fitted in the guide groove on the inner wall of the main body part 21.

  Then, the coil bobbin 41 is inserted into the main body 21 in which the movable body block 5 is housed, and the four protrusions 20A provided on the inner bottom surface of the base 20 are inserted into the four through holes 40A provided in the flange 40, respectively. . Thereafter, the tip of each protrusion 20A is melted and the sensing part 4 is caulked and fixed to the body 2 (so-called welding). At this time, when the flange portion 91 of the holder 9 is hooked on the lower end portion of the rib 21 </ b> B of the main body portion 21, the second coil spring 8 is stored in the main body portion 21 in a compressed state. Thereafter, the cover 3 is placed on the lower surface of the base 20 and fixed. Finally, the assembly of the present embodiment is completed by screwing the push button 1 into the screw hole 51 </ b> A of the connecting portion 51 using the fixing screw 12.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. First, when the push button 1 is pushed to apply a load larger than the elastic force of the first coil spring 7, the moving body block 5 moves downward together with the push button 1, and the detection coil 42 enters the inside of the moving body 52. To do. As the load on the push button 1 increases, the displacement of the moving body block 5 from the reference position increases, and conversely, the distance between the detection coil 42 and the moving body 52 decreases.

  Here, in the signal processing circuit unit 6, an analog voltage signal (hereinafter referred to as “displacement signal”) corresponding to the inductance of the detection coil 42 that changes according to the distance between the detection coil 42 and the moving body 52. Creating. For example, when the amount of displacement from the reference position is taken on the horizontal axis and the displacement signal level is taken on the vertical axis, as shown in FIG. 5A, the displacement signal has a signal level (voltage) almost linearly as the amount of displacement increases. ) Has an increasing characteristic. Therefore, the signal processing circuit unit 6 detects the displacement amount of the moving body 52, that is, the displacement amount of the push button 1 based on the level ratio (voltage ratio) with the displacement signal level of the reference position, and corresponds to the displacement amount. An operation signal having a level can be output.

  Next, when a certain load is applied to the push button 1 to move the movable body block 5 downward, each protrusion 51B is formed in each notch 91A of the flange portion 91 of the holder 9 as shown in FIG. The upper inner bottom surface of the main portion 50 comes into contact with the upper surface of the cylindrical portion 90 of the holder 9. That is, the second coil spring 8 is disposed at a position where the push button 1 is pressed by the push button 1 after being displaced by a certain amount in a state where the push button 1 is pressing the first coil spring 7. The position of the push button 1 is called a boundary position. In order to push the push button 1 further below the boundary position, it is necessary to resist not only the reaction force of the first coil spring 7 but also the reaction force of the second coil spring 8 as shown in FIG. There is.

  Here, as described above, the second coil spring 8 is held by the holder 9 in a state of being contracted by a certain amount. For this reason, the push button 1 cannot be pushed below the boundary position unless a certain load or more is applied to the push button 1. That is, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), the push button 1 cannot be pushed downward with the load L1 at the boundary position where the displacement amount of the push button 1 is X1, but is pushed to the load L2 (L2> L1). Is displaced below the boundary position. Therefore, the user's operation feeling when pushing the push button 1 before and after the boundary position can be made different.

  Further, in the signal processing circuit unit 6, as shown in FIG. 5A, an arbitrary signal level is set to the threshold value V1, and when the signal level of the displacement signal is equal to or higher than the threshold value V1, the first mode is less than the threshold value V1. In some cases, it is possible to output the operation signal by discriminating from the second mode. That is, an operation signal corresponding to the first mode can be output if the displacement of the push button 1 is above the boundary position, and the second mode can be output if the displacement is below the boundary position.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the user's operational feeling when pushing the push button 1 before and after the boundary position can be made different. For this reason, when the mode is changed based on the displacement amount of the push button 1 as described above, the mode change and the operation feeling can be easily combined, and the playability can be improved.

  For example, when this embodiment is adopted as a chance button of a pachinko machine and different effects are provided in the first mode and the second mode, the effect changes when the user pushes the push button 1 strongly. Therefore, it becomes easier to obtain a real feeling that the user is involved in the game. In addition, it is assumed that the user repeatedly hits the chance button. At this time, if the user sets the push button 1 so that the load required to push the push button 1 downward from the boundary position is increased, the user presses the push button 1. It is difficult to make a transition from the first mode to the second mode even after repeated hits. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the mode from changing against the intention of the designer, and to provide an appropriate effect.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the switch is switched on / off according to the push operation of the push button 1 by turning off when the displacement of the push button 1 is above the boundary position and turning on when the displacement is below the boundary position. It is also possible to use as.

  In the present embodiment, the spring constant of the second coil spring 8 is made larger than the spring constant of the first coil spring 7, but the spring constants of the coil springs 7 and 8 may be the same. . However, the difference between the operation feeling in the first mode and the operation feeling in the second mode can be made clearer by increasing the spring constant of the second coil spring 8 as in the present embodiment. it can. Moreover, although this embodiment is suitable for the operation switch of game machines, such as a pachinko machine and a game machine, it cannot be overemphasized that it may be used as an operation switch of other apparatuses.

1 Push button 21B Rib (holding means)
6 Signal processing circuit unit 7 First coil spring (first spring)
8 Second coil spring (second spring)
9 Holder (holding means)

Claims (1)

  A push button, a signal processing circuit that creates a signal proportional to the amount of displacement of the push button, a first spring and a second spring that urge the push button in a direction opposite to the direction in which the push button is pushed, Holding means for holding the second spring in a state where the second spring is contracted by a certain amount in the direction in which the push button is pushed, and the second spring is constant when the push button presses the first spring. A push button switch, wherein the push button switch is disposed at a position to be pressed by the push button after being displaced.

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