JP2014232695A - Switch device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce a product price while preventing a foreign substance such as sand dust or a liquid from penetrating from a translucent hole of a body into portions of a movable armature and a fixed contact, without increasing the number of components to be used, in a switch device comprising a function for lighting an operation knob.SOLUTION: An enclosure wall 30 enclosing a body 1 from a peripheral portion of a translucent hole 5 to portions of a movable armature 22 and fixed contacts 19-21 is provided while extending from the body 1 to the side of an insulator 15, and an enclosure wall 31 overlapped with the enclosure wall 30 is provided while extending from the insulator 15 to the side of the body 1. The enclosure walls 30 and 31 prevent a foreign substance from penetrating from the translucent hole 5 of the body 1 to the portions of the movable armature 22 and the fixed contacts 19-21.

Description

  The present invention relates to a switch device having a function of illuminating an operation knob.

  Conventionally, for example, a switch device for a window regulator of a vehicle has been provided with a function of illuminating an operation knob. In this case, the operation knob is provided with an illuminated portion provided with a pattern or the like representing its operation function, and a light transmitting hole is provided in the body that supports the operation knob, and responds to the operation of the operation knob. A movable contact piece and a fixed contact point to which the movable contact piece comes into contact with and away from each other are built in the body. Furthermore, a light source such as a lamp or a light-emitting diode is provided inside the body, and light emitted from the light source is projected to the illuminated part of the operation knob through the light transmitting hole of the body, and the illuminated part is illuminated. It is supposed to be.

  In addition, a light guide member, a so-called light guide, is fitted into the light transmitting hole of the body, and the light emitted from the light source is guided to the illuminated portion of the operation knob by the light guide, and through the light transmitting hole of the body. Intrusion of foreign matter such as dust and liquid into the movable contact piece and the fixed contact portion is prevented, and the movable contact piece and the fixed contact portion are prevented from causing poor conduction due to the intruding foreign matter (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2006-202634 A

  However, as described above, if the light guide is fitted in the light transmitting hole of the body to prevent foreign matter from entering from the light transmitting hole of the body to the movable contact piece and the fixed contact portion, the light guide As a result, the number of parts used increased and the product price increased.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and therefore the object thereof is to prevent the entry of foreign matter into the movable contact piece and the fixed contact portion through the light transmitting hole of the body without increasing the number of parts used. It is possible to provide a switch device that can reduce the product price.

  In order to achieve the above object, a switch device according to the present invention includes a body having a light transmitting hole, an operation knob supported by the body and having an illuminated portion, and a movable contact piece responsive to the operation of the operation knob. An insulator provided with a fixed contact that contacts and separates from the movable section; and a light source provided inside the body so as to project light to the illuminated portion of the operation knob through the light transmitting hole, An enclosure wall that surrounds the movable contact piece and the fixed contact portion from a peripheral portion of the translucent hole of the body is provided to protrude from the body to the insulator side, and an enclosure wall that overlaps the enclosure wall is provided from the insulator to the body. It is provided so as to protrude to the side (invention of claim 1).

  According to the above means, the enclosure wall provided in the body and the enclosure wall provided in the insulator can prevent foreign matter from entering the movable contact piece and the fixed contact portion through the light transmitting hole of the body. In addition, since a separate part such as a conventional light guide is not required, the product price can be reduced.

1 is a vertical side view of an entire apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Partially broken perspective view of a single body Enlarged perspective view of the movable contact piece Plan view of insulator part

Hereinafter, an example (one embodiment) of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
First, FIG. 1 shows a general structure of a switch device, in particular, a vehicle window regulator switch device, which is mainly composed of a body 1. The body 1 has a container shape with an open lower surface, and has a knob support portion 2 on the upper surface portion. The knob support portion 2 has a cylindrical shape, and shaft portions 3 project from the outer surfaces on both sides of the upper left and right sides (in the direction perpendicular to the drawing sheet). A rubber cover 4 is attached to the upper end opening of the knob support 2.

  A translucent hole 5 is formed in a portion of the body 1 on the front side (left side in the drawing) of the knob support portion 2. The translucent hole 5 opens from the inside of the body 1 to the upper outside, and forms a rectangular cylindrical cavity as shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, the operation knob 6 has a tooth-like portion 7 and a recessed portion 8 for hooking fingers on the front portion, and an illuminated portion 9 on the upper portion in the vicinity of the rear side. The illuminated portion 9 is provided by incorporating a translucent part (translucent piece) such as a translucent plastic into the operation knob 6, and is provided with a pattern or the like indicating the operation function of the operation knob 6. The light is transmitted from the inside of the operation knob 6 to the upper outside.

  In addition, a protrusion 10 is provided on the back side of the rear portion of the operation knob 6 from the above-described portions 7 to 9, and a cave portion 11 that opens downward is formed with the lower half of the protrusion 10 being hollow. doing. A spring 12 and a slider 13 are accommodated in the cavity 11. In this case, the spring 12 is a compression coil spring, the slider 13 is a piece having a cylindrical shape and a tip formed in a spherical shape, and the spring 12 is the back side of the cave 11 and the slider 13 is a cave. Located on the outlet side of the portion 11, the distal end side of the slider 13 is protruded downward from the cave portion 11 by the spring force of the spring 12.

  In addition, bearing holes 14 are formed on both the left and right sides near the center of the protruding portion 10, and the protruding portion 10 is inserted into the knob support portion 2 through the cover 4 of the body 1 tightly. Is fitted to the shaft portion 3 of the body 1 so that the operation knob 6 is supported so as to swing up and down around the shaft portion 3. In addition, the portion to be illuminated 9 is positioned on the light transmitting hole 5 of the body 1 and is opposed to it.

  On the other hand, an insulator 15 is incorporated in the body 1. The insulator 15 has conductors 16, 17 and 18 embedded therein, and the conductors 16 to 18 are exposed from the insulator 15 on the upper side. In this case, although not shown in detail, the conductor 16 is a power supply conductor and is connected to an automobile battery (not shown). The conductor 17 is a load conductor and is connected to a motor (not shown) of the window regulator. The conductor 18 is a ground conductor, and is connected to a vehicle body (not shown).

  A contact piece is attached to the exposed portion of the conductor 16, and in particular, a contact 19 that protrudes upward is formed, and an exposed portion of the conductor 17 is formed to form a contact 20. Like the conductor 16, the conductor 18 is provided with a contact piece attached to the exposed portion, and in particular, a contact 21 protruding upward is formed. These contacts 19 to 21 are all fixed contacts, and the fixed contact 19 is a fixed contact for power supply, the fixed contact 20 is a fixed contact for load, and the fixed contact 21 is for ground because of the conduction relationship with the conductors 16 to 18. It is a fixed contact.

  Above the fixed contacts 19 to 21, a movable contact piece 22 facing them is arranged. The movable contact piece 22 is made of a highly conductive plate material such as a silver plate, and is long in the front-rear direction (left-right direction in the drawing) as shown in FIG. Thus, the valley portion 22a is formed, and the oblique portions 22b and 22c are formed on both front and rear sides thereof. Also, load contact portions 22d are formed on both the left and right sides of the inclined portion 22b by extending from the trough portion 22a and bent in an inverted U shape, and a power contact portion 22e is formed at the front (left side in the figure) end portion. A ground contact portion 22f is bent at a rear end (right side in the drawing) into a symmetrical letter shape with respect to the power contact portion 22e.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 1, the movable contact piece 22 rests on the load contact portion 22d on the load fixed contact 20 and swings up and down around the load fixed contact 20 as a fulcrum. Provided. The tip of the slider 13 is pressed against the center of the valley 22a.

  A circuit board 23 is also mounted on the insulator 15 so as to be positioned in front of the movable contact piece 22 and the fixed contacts 19 to 21 (on the left side in the drawing), and the circuit board 23 has a light emitting diode as a light source. 24, a diode 25 and resistors 26 and 27 are mounted as shown in FIG. 4, and the mating conductors in the conductors 16 to 18 are connected by soldering portions 28 and 29.

FIG. 1 shows a light projecting range L of the light emitting diode 24, which is, for example, a 60 degree angle and emits light at a position where the illuminated portion 9 of the operation knob 6 is located in the light projecting range L. A diode 24 is present. In this case, the light emitting diode 24 is present at a position where the illuminated portion 9 of the operation knob 6 is located in the center portion of the light projection range L, more specifically, the operation knob 6. The light-emitting diode 24 is positioned so as to be located almost directly below the illuminated portion 9.
Further, the light emitting diode 24 may be present at a position close to the movable contact piece 22 and the fixed contact points 19 to 21.

  The body 1 has an enclosure wall 30 that surrounds the portion of the movable contact piece 22 and the fixed contacts 19 to 21 from the periphery of the light transmitting hole 5 as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the insulator 15 overlaps with the surrounding wall 30 and the portions of the movable contact piece 22 and the fixed contacts 19 to 21 from the peripheral portion of the light transmitting hole 5 are also shown in FIG. 4. An enclosing wall 31 is provided so as to protrude from the insulator 15 to the body 1 side.

In this case, the enclosure wall 31 of the insulator 15 overlaps the inside of the enclosure wall 30 of the body 1, but may be overlapped to the outside of the enclosure wall 30 of the body 1. Further, in this case, the gap between the overlapping walls 30 and 31 is set to a minute size, for example 0.3 [mm], but may be slightly larger or smaller than that.
Further, the enclosing walls 30 and 31 are formed with recessed portions 30a and 31a for positioning the light emitting diode 24 close to the movable contact piece 22 and the fixed contact points 19 to 21, respectively.

  In addition, FIG. 4 shows the movable contact piece 22, and as is apparent from FIG. 4, the two movable contact pieces 22 are shown in detail with the two front and rear (left and right in the figure) being reversed in the left and right directions. 1 and 3 show the right side (upper side in FIG. 4), and FIG. 2 shows the partition 1a between the left and right. Although not shown, corresponding to the two movable contact pieces 22, the fixed contacts 19 to 21 exist below each of the movable contact pieces 22 so that the front and rear arrangements are opposite to each other. 10, the spring 12, and the slider 13 also exist corresponding to these two movable contact pieces 22, respectively.

  In this case, the movable contact piece 22 on the right side and the fixed contacts 19 to 21 existing below the movable contact piece 22 are for window-up in the vehicle window regulator switch device, and the movable contact piece 22 on the left side and the lower side thereof. The fixed contacts 19 to 21 existing in the window are for window down.

  In addition, a connector housing 32 is formed on the insulator 15 so as to be positioned further forward than the circuit board 23, and male connection terminals 33 and 34 that are electrically connected to the conductors 16 to 18 inside the connector housing 32. Is connected to a female connection terminal located inside the mating connector housing by inserting a mating connector housing (not shown), and each of the conductors 16 to 18 is connected to each of the mating connectors (vehicle battery, window). It connects to the regulator motor and the car body.

Next, the operation of the switch device configured as described above will be described.
FIG. 1 shows a normal state in which the tip of the slider 13 is in pressure contact with the central portion of the valley 22 a of the movable contact piece 22 of the movable contact piece 22 for window up. At this time, the load contact portion 22d of the movable contact piece 22 contacts the load fixed contact 20, and the ground contact portion 22f contacts the ground fixed contact 21, so that the load fixed contact 20 and the ground fixed contact are contacted. 21, and the power contact portion 22 e is spaced upward from the power fixed contact 19.

  From this normal state, when the finger is put on the toothed portion 7 of the operation knob 6 and the operation knob 6 is pulled up as indicated by an arrow A in the figure, the operation knob 6 swings clockwise around the shaft portion 3. As a result, the protrusion 10 is tilted in the same direction with the spring 12 and the slider 13. As a result, the slider 13 slides on the movable contact piece 22 from the trough portion 22a of the movable contact piece 22 to the front inclined portion 22b while contracting the spring 12, whereby the movable contact piece 22 is moved. The piece 22 is swung as indicated by an arrow B in the figure with the top of the load fixed contact 20 as a fulcrum. As a result, the ground contact portion 22f of the movable contact piece 22 is separated upward from the ground fixed contact 21, and instead the power contact portion 22e contacts the power fixed contact 19 to supply the load fixed contact 20 to the power source. It will be in the state connected to the fixed contact 19 for use.

  When the finger on the toothed portion 7 of the operation knob 6 is released from that state, the slider 13 is moved from the inclined portion 22b on the front side of the movable contact piece 22 to the trough portion 22a by the return spring force of the spring 12. Slide back on the movable contact piece 22. As a result, the movable contact piece 22 is returned, the power contact portion 22 e is separated from the power fixed contact 19, and the ground contact portion 22 f is brought into contact with the ground fixed contact 21. At the same time, the operation knob 6 is returned.

The movable contact piece 22 for wind down is omitted from the description, but operates in the opposite direction before and after.
In such a situation, when the light emitting diode 24 which is a light source emits light, the light is thrown through the light transmitting hole 5 of the body 1 to the illuminated part 9 of the operation knob 6 to illuminate the illuminated part 9.

  In addition, there is a space for the above-described operation of the operation knob 6 between the operation knob 6 and the body 1, and from the outside of the body 1, foreign matter such as dust and liquid passes through the space, and further the light transmitting hole 5. Through the body 1. However, in the switch device having the above-described configuration, however, the enclosure wall 30 that surrounds the movable contact piece 22 and the portions of the fixed contacts 19 to 21 protrudes from the peripheral portion of the light transmitting hole 5 toward the insulator 15. The insulator 15 has an enclosure wall 31 that overlaps the enclosure wall 30 and surrounds the movable contact piece 22 and the fixed contact points 19 to 21 from the peripheral portion of the light transmitting hole 5. It protrudes to the side.

  By these enclosure walls 30, 31, foreign matter that has entered the body 1 from the outside of the body 1 through the light transmitting hole 5 is further prevented from entering the movable contact piece 22 and the fixed contacts 19 to 21. . Thus, in the switch device having the above-described configuration, foreign matter can be prevented from entering the movable contact piece 22 and the fixed contact points 19 to 21 from the light transmitting hole 5 of the body 1. By not requiring a separate part such as a light guide, the number of parts used can be reduced, and a reduction in product price can be achieved as desired.

  In addition, in the switch device configured as described above, the relationship between the illuminated portion 9 of the operation knob 6 and the light emitting diode 24 is such that the illuminated portion 9 of the operating knob 6 is positioned within the light projection range of the light emitting diode 24. There is no light guide (light guide member) between them. In this case, if the light guide exists, the light emitted from the light emitting diode 24 can be guided as desired by the light guide, and therefore the positional relationship between the illuminated portion 9 of the operation knob 6 and the light emitting diode 24 is not specified. That is, the illuminated portion 9 of the operation knob 6 may be positioned outside the light projection range of the light emitting diode 24.

  However, if so, the light emitting diode 24 comes to be located away from the movable contact piece 22 and the fixed contacts 19 to 21, and accordingly, the circuit board 23 on which the light emitting diode 24 is mounted is enlarged, The switch device as a whole is also enlarged.

  On the other hand, in the switch device configured as described above, the illuminated portion 9 of the operation knob 6 is positioned within the light projection range of the light emitting diode 24. For this reason, the light emitting diode 24 is connected to the movable contact piece 22 and the fixed contact. It is necessary to be positioned close to the portion 19-21. Accordingly, the enclosure wall 30 of the body 1 and the enclosure wall 31 of the insulator 15 are provided with recesses 30a and 31a for positioning the light emitting diode 24 close to the movable contact piece 22 and the fixed contact points 19-21. Thus, the light emitting diode 24 can be positioned as close as desired to the movable contact piece 22 and the fixed contact points 19 to 21, and accordingly, the circuit board 23 on which the light emitting diode 24 is mounted has a small size. The switch device as a whole can be miniaturized.

The present invention is not limited to a vehicle window regulator switch device, and can be applied to other switch devices.
In addition, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, and can be implemented with appropriate modifications without departing from the scope of the invention.

  In the drawings, 1 is a body, 5 is a light transmitting hole, 6 is an operation knob, 9 is an illuminated portion, 15 is an insulator, 19 to 21 are fixed contacts, 22 is a movable contact piece, 24 is a light emitting diode (light source), 30 , 31 indicates an enclosure wall, and 30a, 31a indicate recesses.

Claims (2)

A body having a light transmitting hole;
An operation knob supported by this body and having an illuminated part;
A movable contact that responds to the operation of this control knob,
An insulator provided with a fixed contact contacting and moving away from the movable section;
A light source provided inside the body to project light to the illuminated portion of the operation knob through the light transmitting hole;
An enclosure wall that surrounds the movable contact piece and the fixed contact portion from a peripheral portion of the light transmitting hole of the body is provided so as to protrude from the body to the insulator side, and an enclosure wall that overlaps the enclosure wall is formed from the insulator. A switch device characterized by being provided protruding from the body side.   The relationship between the illuminated portion of the operation knob and the light source is a relationship in which the illuminated portion of the operation knob is located within the light projection range, and the light source is positioned close to the movable contact piece and the fixed contact portion. The switch device according to claim 1, wherein the recess portion is formed in the enclosure wall of the body and the enclosure wall of the insulator.

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