JP2013157246A - Handling device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a handling device that can have a plurality of push-button type operation switches arranged attractively and closely each other while suitably avoiding trouble such as complexity of a structure.SOLUTION: A pair of operation switches S1, S2 provided to an operation device A are provided with a pair of movable parts 6A, 6B arranged side by side in one common opening part 23 provided to a console panel part 4, and a pair of operation buttons are also provided side by side in the opening part 23. A pair of mutually close first side edge parts 51 of the pair of operation buttons 5A, 5B projects from the pair of movable parts 6A, 6B so that the pair of first side edge parts 51 approach each other, and a support part 7 for operation button that abuts against back parts of the first side edge parts 51 when the pair of operation buttons 5A, 5B are pushed backward to support the parts is provided behind the pair of first side edge parts 51.

Description

  The present invention relates to an operating device suitable for use as a remote controller for a hot water supply device or other devices.

  For example, in an operation device for a hot water supply device, a plurality of operation switches adopting a push button method are often provided side by side on the operation panel unit. As a push button type operation switch, a movable part that can be displaced with elastic restoring force in the front-rear direction of the operation panel part is provided in the opening part provided in the operation panel part, and the front side (front side) of this movable part is provided. A structure in which operation buttons are arranged on the side) is often employed (for example, Patent Document 1). Although the operation button is housed in the opening, as a means for preventing the operation button from escaping to the front side of the opening, a pressing member facing the edge of the operation button is provided on the front side of the operation panel. Is provided as appropriate. According to such a configuration, when the operation button is pressed, the movable part is displaced along with this, and a predetermined tact switch can be pressed. After that, it is possible to return the movable part and the operation button to their original positions using the elastic restoring force of the movable part.

  However, in the past, there was room for improvement as described below.

  In other words, when designing and manufacturing the operation device, a plurality of operation switches adopting a push button method can be used for the purpose of reducing the size of the operation panel unit or improving the overall design. You may want to place them as close as possible. However, conventionally, even in such a case, the plurality of operation switches accommodate one set of the movable part and the operation button in each of the plurality of openings provided in the operation panel part. The actual situation was the structure. In this case, for example, it is difficult to provide a pair of operation switches close to a state where there is almost no gap or a state close thereto. Also, the overall structure becomes complicated, and the assembly workability is not so good. Therefore, there is room for improvement in this respect.

JP 2000-31544 A

  The present invention has been conceived under the circumstances described above, and is an arrangement in which a plurality of push button type operation switches are pleasingly approached while appropriately avoiding problems such as complicated structures. It is an object of the present invention to provide an operating device that can be provided on the machine.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention takes the following technical means.

An operation device provided by the present invention includes at least a pair of push button type operation switches provided side by side on an operation panel unit, and the pair of operation switches are disposed in an opening provided in the operation panel unit. A pair of movable parts provided and displaceable with an elastic restoring force in the front-rear direction of the operation panel part, and arranged in front of the pair of movable parts in the opening, and the operation panel part An operation device comprising a pair of operation buttons that are prevented from escaping to the front of the opening by a pressing member provided on the front side of
The pair of movable portions are provided side by side in one common opening provided in the operation panel portion, and the pair of operation buttons are also provided side by side in the opening, and the pair of operation buttons The pair of first side edges approaching each other protrude from the pair of movable parts in the direction in which the pair of first side edges approach each other, and behind the pair of first side edges, A support portion for an operation button is provided, which is capable of supporting the portion by abutting against the back portions of the pair of first side edges when the pair of operation buttons is pressed backward. Yes.

According to such a configuration, the following effects can be obtained.
First, since the pair of operation buttons are provided in one common opening provided in the operation panel unit, the pair of operation buttons can be arranged so as to be considerably close to each other. In particular, since the first side edge portions of the pair of operation buttons that are close to each other are configured to protrude from the pair of movable portions, even if the distance between the pair of movable portions is not so small. The first side edges of the pair of operation buttons can be easily approached. For this reason, it is possible to appropriately realize that the pair of push button type operation switches are brought close to each other with good appearance and the design of the operation device is improved.
Second, when the operation button is pressed, the back portion of the first side edge portion of the operation button comes into contact with the support portion for the operation button and is supported by the support portion. Therefore, when the operation button is pressed, for example, the first side edge portion of the operation button is pushed backward with respect to the movable portion and can be prevented from inclining obliquely. In the present invention, although the first side edge portion of the operation button protrudes from the movable portion, it is possible to prevent a problem caused by this.
Thirdly, since there is one opening for arranging a pair of movable parts and operation buttons inside, the structure can be simplified. About a pair of movable part, it is not necessary to approach so much, and the shaping | molding etc. become easy. Furthermore, when assembling the operation switch, it is only necessary to accommodate the pair of operation buttons in one opening and then assemble the pressing member. Therefore, it is possible to suitably reduce the manufacturing cost.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the support portion for the operation button has a bar shape or a plate shape that is positioned in a gap between the pair of movable portions and extends in a longitudinal direction of the gap, and the pair of first buttons. By being formed to have a width larger than the width of the gap between the side edge portions, it is configured to be able to contact either of the pair of first side edge portions.

  According to such a configuration, the support portion for the operation button can be appropriately provided so as not to interfere with other portions such as the movable portion. Moreover, since the 1st side edge part of both of a pair of operation buttons can be supported by one support part, it is not necessary to provide two or more support parts, and it is rational.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the second side edge located on the opposite side of the first side edge of each of the pair of operation buttons and the operation panel slide in the front-rear direction of the operation panel. A hole and a protrusion that can be fitted are provided.

  According to such a configuration, it is possible to appropriately position each operation button based on the action of fitting the hole portion and the projection portion to each other, and preventing each operation button from being misplaced. This is preferable. Since the hole and the projection are fitted so as to be slidable in the front-rear direction of the operation panel unit, the operation buttons do not interfere with the movement of the operation panel unit in the front-rear direction.

In the present invention, preferably, a light source is provided behind at least one of the pair of operation buttons, and a part of the one operation button is a light emitted from the light source. At least one of the back surface portion of the first side edge of the one operation button and the front surface portion of the support portion for the operation button. Is subjected to a light reflection preventing treatment.

  According to such a configuration, at least one of the pair of operation switches is an illuminated push button switch, but there is a gap between the first side edges of the pair of operation buttons. However, it is possible to appropriately prevent a large amount of light from leaking from the gap to the front of the operation panel unit. More specifically, the light emitted from the light source is reflected by the back surface portion of the first side edge portion of the operation button, and the reflected light hits the front surface portion of the operation button support portion and is reflected in front thereof. In this case, the light leaks from the gap between the pair of operation buttons to the front of the operation panel unit, which may appear unnatural. On the other hand, according to the said structure, since the light reflection prevention process is performed in the traveling path of the above light, the above light leakage can be prevented appropriately.

  Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

It is a perspective view which shows an example of the operating device which concerns on this invention. It is a disassembled perspective view of the operating device shown in FIG. It is a principal part expansion perspective view of FIG. It is a principal part front view of the component shown in FIG. It is VV principal part sectional drawing of FIG. It is principal part sectional drawing which shows an example of the operation state of the structure shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

The operating device A of the present embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is for remotely operating a hot water supply device (not shown), for example, and is a wall-hanging type used by being installed on a wall surface of a kitchen. The operating device A includes an operating device main body 1, a front case 2, and a pressing member 3.
In FIG. 1, the front portion of the controller device A is an operation panel unit 4, and operation switches S <b> 1 and S <b> 2 having operation buttons 5 </ b> A and 5 </ b> B are provided on the operation panel unit 4. The operation switches S1 and S2 correspond to an example of a pair of operation switches intended by the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the operating device body 1 has a configuration in which a control board 11 is accommodated in the case body 10, and the control board 11 constitutes a control circuit for remotely operating the hot water supply device. Various electric / electronic components (not shown) are mounted. In addition, the control board 11 is also equipped with a display 12 such as a liquid crystal display for image display shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an LED light source 13 described later, a tact switch 14 and the like. In the operating device main body 1 shown in FIG. 2, illustrations other than the peripheral part of the display 12 are simplified. A plurality of operation switches 15 are provided in the lower periphery of the display device 12, but these are not the configurations intended by the present invention, and are similar to, for example, the existing push button system. Therefore, the description thereof is omitted.

The front case 2 has a front wall portion 20 and a peripheral wall portion 21 that cover a part of the front surface side and the peripheral side surface of the operating device main body 1, and the front side (front side) of the operating device main body 1. It is fitted from the outside. An opening 23 is formed in the front wall portion 20 of the front case 2 in addition to the opening window 22 for exposing the display surface of the display 12. As will be described later, the opening 23 is provided with movable portions 6A and 6B and accommodates the operation buttons 5A and 5B. As will be described later, the pressing member 3 serves to prevent the operation buttons 5 </ b> A and 5 </ b> B from slipping out of the opening 23 and is attached to the front surface of the front wall portion 20. The pressing member 3 has a plate shape having opening holes 32 and 33 corresponding to the opening window 22 and the opening 23 of the front case 2. The pressing member 3 and the front case 2 are made of resin.

  As shown in FIG. 5, in addition to the operation buttons 5A and 5B, the operation switches S1 and S2 include movable portions 6A and 6B provided in the opening 23 of the front case 2, and a support portion 7 for the operation buttons. doing. In addition, the operation switches S1 and S2 are of an illumination system that allows light emitted from the LED light source 13 to travel forward through the light transmitting portions 50 of the operation buttons 5A and 5B.

  3 and 4, the movable portions 6A and 6B are plate-shaped having a light transmitting cutout portion 60, and a gap 69 having an appropriate width W1 is provided in the opening 23. Are lined up and down. The movable parts 6A and 6B are supported by an elongated bar-shaped support spring part 61. The support spring part 61 and the movable parts 6A and 6B are integrally formed with the front case 2. The support spring portion 61 can be bent and deformed in the front-rear direction of the operation panel portion 4 (front-rear thickness direction of the front case 2). Accordingly, the movable parts 6A and 6B can be displaced in the front-rear direction of the operation panel part 4 with an elastic restoring force. As shown in FIG. 5, the tact switch 14 is located behind (back) the movable parts 6A and 6B, and when the operation buttons 5A and 5B are pressed from the front, the movable part 6A. , 6B are pressed by the tact switch 14, and a predetermined switching operation is performed.

  The operation buttons 5A and 5B are, for example, small rectangular pieces, are accommodated in the opening 23 so as to abut the front surfaces of the movable portions 6A and 6B, and are lined up and down. However, the first side edge 51 (in this embodiment, the lower edge of the operation button 5A and the upper edge of the operation button 5B) of the operation buttons 5A and 5B protrudes from the movable parts 6A and 6B. It is said that. More specifically, the first side edge 51 of the operation button 5A protrudes downward from the lower end of the movable part 6A by an appropriate dimension L1, and the first side edge 51 of the operation button 5B is the upper end of the movable part 6B. And protrudes upward by an appropriate dimension L1. Accordingly, the first side edges 51 of the operation buttons 5A and 5B can be made to approach each other considerably without moving the movable parts 6A and 6B so much.

  Of the operation buttons 5A and 5B, the second side edge 52 located on the opposite side to the first side edge 51 is formed thinner than the other parts of the operation buttons 5A and 5B. The two side edges 52 are provided with one or a plurality of holes 53 therethrough. On the other hand, one or more protrusions 24 that project in the front direction of the operation panel unit 4 and fit with the hole 53 are provided on the inner peripheral edge of the opening 23. By fitting the projections 24 and the holes 53, the operation buttons 5A and 5B are prevented from being displaced in the surface direction of the operation panel unit 4. The hole 53 and the protrusion 24 are slidably fitted so as not to prevent the operation buttons 5A and 5B from being displaced in the front-rear direction of the operation panel 4. It should be noted that the hole 53 and the protrusion 24 have the opposite positional relationship to the present embodiment (a configuration in which a protrusion is provided on the operation buttons 5A and 5B and a hole is provided on the inner periphery of the opening 23). Is also possible. The peripheral edge of the opening hole 33 of the pressing member 3 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is located in front of the outer peripheral edge (except for the first side edge 51) of the operation buttons 5A and 5B. 5B is prevented from escaping inappropriately in front of the opening 23.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the operation button support portion 7 abuts against the first side edge portion 51 and supports this portion when the operation buttons 5A and 5B are pressed. It is a part of. The support portion 7 is located in the gap 69 between the movable portions 6A and 6B and has a bar shape or a plate shape extending across the opening portion 23 in the left-right width direction (see also FIGS. 3 and 4). It is formed integrally with the front case 2. The width of the front surface portion 70 of the support portion 7 is larger than the width W2 of the gap 59 formed between the operation buttons 5A and 5B, and the front surface portion 70 of the support portion 7 is the first of both the operation buttons 5A and 5B. It faces the back surface of the side edge 51. Accordingly, it is possible to support the operation buttons 5A and 5B using the support portion 7.

In the present embodiment, the following configuration is adopted as means for setting the operation switches S1 and S2 to the illumination system.
That is, the operation buttons 5A and 5B are made of a light-transmitting resin, and a non-light-transmitting coating layer 54 is provided on the back surface thereof. However, there is a portion where the coating layer 54 is not provided in the back surface portion, and this portion and the front region thereof are the light transmitting portion 50. The light emitted from the LED light source 13 passes through the light transmitting portion 50 and travels forward of the operation buttons 5A and 5B. Of course, the LED light source 13 is switched between a lighting state and a light-off state in conjunction with the on / off of the operation switches S1 and S2.

  As shown in the partially enlarged view of FIG. 5, the coating layer 54 is not strictly a single layer but has first to third coating layers 54 a to 54 c. The first paint layer 54a displays characters (for example, characters such as “automatic” and “repulse” shown in FIGS. 1 to 4) or symbols indicating the type or function of the operation switches S1 and S2. Layer of printing. The second coating layer 54b is the background of the first coating layer 54a and is, for example, a solid coating layer of white paint. The third coating layer 54c is a solid coating layer of black paint, for example. The second and third coating layers 54b and 54c cover the entire area excluding the light transmitting portion 50 in the back surface of the operation buttons 5A and 5B. The third coating layer 54c plays a role of preventing reflection of light traveling from the LED light source 13, and the process of providing the third coating layer 54c is an example of the “light reflection preventing process” in the present invention. Equivalent to. Preferably, such a light reflection preventing process is also performed on the front surface portion 70 of the operation button support portion 7. As the light reflection preventing treatment, for example, surface embossing by surface molding, embossing treatment, blasting, or the like can be applied instead of black painting.

  Next, the operation of the operation device A will be described.

  First, since the operation buttons 5A and 5B are accommodated in one opening 23, they can be easily brought close to each other. In particular, since the first side edge portion 51 is configured to protrude from the movable portions 6A and 6B by an appropriate dimension L1, the width W1 of the gap 69 between the movable portions 6A and 6B is relatively large. However, it can be set as the structure which made the pair of 1st side edge parts 51 approach easily. Therefore, the pair of upper and lower operation switches S1 and S2 can be provided close to each other with good appearance, and the design of the operation device A can be improved.

As described with reference to FIG. 6, when the operation buttons 5 </ b> A and 5 </ b> B are pressed, the back portions of the first side edge portions 51 abut against the support portion 7. Supported. Since the first side edge 51 protrudes from the movable parts 6A and 6B, unlike the present embodiment, when the support part 7 is not provided, the first side edge 51 or its When the vicinity portion is pressed, the first side edge 51 is pushed rearward of the movable parts 6A and 6B, the second side edge 52 is displaced forward, and the operation buttons 5A and 5B are inclined. There is a risk of tilting. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the first side edge portion 51 is appropriately prevented from being pushed rearward from the movable portions 6A and 6B by the support portion 7, so that the above-described concern is not caused. be able to. Further, the operation buttons 5 </ b> A and 5 </ b> B are appropriately prevented from being displaced in the up / down / left / right direction by the positioning action by the fitting of the hole 53 and the protrusion 24. As described above, in this embodiment, it is possible to appropriately prevent the operation buttons 5A and 5B from being inclined in an unnatural state or to be displaced in the vertical and horizontal directions, and appropriately maintain a good-looking state. Is possible.

The operation switches S1 and S2 are illuminated, and the LED light source 13 is provided at a position relatively close to the support portion 7, but light from the LED light source 13 is transmitted from the gap 59 between the operation buttons 5A and 5B. Leaking forward is also prevented appropriately.
More specifically, it is not preferable that a part of the light emitted from the LED light source 13 travels along a path indicated by a broken line La in FIG. In this path, a part of the light emitted from the LED light source 13 is reflected by the back surface portion of the first side edge portion 51 of the operation button 5B, thereby hitting the front surface portion 70 of the support portion 7, and then the front surface portion. This path is reflected forward by 70 and passes through the gap 59. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the third coating layer 54c, which is black paint, is provided at a position corresponding to the light traveling path as described above, that is, at the back surface portion of the first side edge portion 51. In addition, preferably, the light reflection preventing treatment is also applied to the front surface portion 70 of the support portion 7. Therefore, the amount of light traveling in the above-described path is reduced, and it is possible to appropriately avoid a large amount of light leaking from the gap 59. If a large amount of light leaks from the gap 59, the user may be given an impression that the controller device A is rough. However, according to the present embodiment, such a concern can be eliminated. The light reflection preventing process is not performed, for example, on the operation button 5B side, and the leakage of light described above is performed even in the case where the light reflection preventing process is performed only on the front surface portion 70 of the support portion 7. It is possible to obtain the effect of preventing.

  In the case where the light reflection preventing process is performed on the back surface of the operation button 5B, the light reflection preventing process may be performed only on the back surface of the first side edge 51, and the other parts may not be processed. However, when such a partial treatment (black coating) is performed, when the operation button 5B is viewed from the front, the color tone is different between the black painted portion and the non-colored portion ( There is a risk that the color may appear uneven. From the viewpoint of avoiding such a concern, it is preferable to process the substantially entire back surface of the operation button 5B. In addition, in order to prevent light leakage as described above, it is not necessary to apply the black coating (third coating layer 54c) to the other operation button 5A. There is an advantage that the colors of the buttons 5A and 5B can be made uniform.

  In addition, according to the operation device A of the present embodiment, the pair of operation switches S1 and S2 has a configuration in which the movable portions 6A and 6B and the operation buttons 5A and 5B are arranged in one opening 23. It is possible to simplify the configuration. Even when the operation buttons 5A and 5B are brought close to each other, the movable portions 6A and 6B do not need to be approached so much, so that the movable portions 6A and 6B can be easily formed. Further, when assembling the operation switches S1 and S2, since the operation members 5A and 5B are inserted into one opening 23 and then the pressing member 3 is assembled, the series of assembly workability is good. For this reason, the manufacturing cost can be suitably reduced.

  The present invention is not limited to the contents of the above-described embodiment. The specific configuration of each part of the operating device according to the present invention can be variously modified within the range intended by the present invention.

In the above-described embodiment, the pair of operation switches are provided side by side, but the direction in which they are arranged is not limited to this, and it is needless to say that, for example, a configuration in which they are arranged in the left-right direction or the like can be employed. A pair of movable parts should just be arranged in one common opening part, and can be displaced with an elastic restoring force in the front-back direction of an operation panel part. The pair of operation buttons may be provided side by side in one opening provided with a pair of movable parts, and the first side edges approaching each other may protrude from the pair of movable parts in a predetermined direction. The specific numerical value of this protrusion dimension is not limited. Each operation switch can be configured as a non-illuminated type. In such a case, the entire operation button can be made of a non-light-transmitting material. The pair of operation buttons may not necessarily have the same size and shape. For example, the present invention can be applied to a case where two operation buttons having different sizes are provided side by side.

  When carrying out the present invention, in addition to these, an additional movable part and operation buttons are further provided in the opening part where the pair of movable parts and operation buttons are provided, and a large number of three or more are provided in one opening part. It can be set as the structure provided with the movable part and the operation button. In this case, if the configuration of any of the pair of movable parts and operation buttons among the many movable parts and operation buttons corresponds to the structure intended by the present invention, it belongs to the technical scope of the present invention. .

  The support portion for the operation button in the present invention only needs to be provided so as to be in contact with the back surface portion of the first side edge portion of the operation button when the operation button is pressed and supported. Accordingly, a configuration in which a plurality of (for example, two) support portions are provided corresponding to each of the pair of operation buttons may be employed.

  The operating device according to the present invention is suitable as an operating device for a hot water supply device, but is not limited thereto. Moreover, it can also be comprised as a type of operating device different from the wall hanging type installed in a wall surface. The operation panel unit may be upward, for example. In this case, the front and rear of the operation panel unit referred to in the present invention are above and below the operation panel unit.

A Operation device S1, S2 Operation switch 3 Holding member 4 Operation panel unit 5A, 5B Operation button 6A, 6B Movable unit 7 Support unit 13 for operation button LED light source (light source)
23 Opening 24 Protruding part 50 Light transmitting part 51 First side edge part (of operation button)
52 Second side edge (of operation button)
53 hole part 70 front part (of support part for operation buttons)

Claims (4)

It has at least a pair of push button type operation switches arranged side by side on the operation panel section,
The pair of operation switches are:
A pair of movable parts provided in an opening provided in the operation panel part and displaceable with an elastic restoring force in the front-rear direction of the operation panel part;
A pair of operation buttons disposed on the front side of the pair of movable parts in the opening and prevented from escaping to the front of the opening by a pressing member provided on the front side of the operation panel. When,
An operating device comprising:
The pair of movable parts are provided side by side in one common opening provided in the operation panel part, and the pair of operation buttons are also provided side by side in the opening,
The pair of first side edges of the pair of operation buttons approaching each other protrude from the pair of movable parts in the direction in which the pair of first side edges approach each other.
Behind the pair of first side edge portions, when the pair of operation buttons are pressed backward, the operation buttons can contact and support the back portions of the pair of first side edge portions. An operating device, characterized in that a support portion is provided. The operating device according to claim 1,
The operation button support portion is in the shape of a bar or a plate located in the gap between the pair of movable portions and extending in the longitudinal direction of the gap, and the gap between the pair of first side edges. An operating device configured to be in contact with either of the pair of first side edges by being formed with a width larger than the width. The operating device according to claim 1 or 2,
A second side edge located on the opposite side to the first side edge of each of the pair of operation buttons, and a hole that is slidably fitted in the front-rear direction of the operation panel part. And an operating device provided with a protrusion. The operating device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A light source is provided behind at least one of the pair of operation buttons, and a part of the one operation button allows light emitted from the light source to pass forward. It is configured as a possible light transmission part,
An operation device in which at least one of a back surface portion of the first side edge portion of the one operation button and a front surface portion of the operation button support portion is subjected to a light reflection preventing process.

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