JP2552127Y2 - Waterproof push switch - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a waterproof push switch which opens and closes contacts by pressing a knob.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional waterproof push switch, a cylindrical case and a vertically movable housing are accommodated in the case.
There is a known type including a knob having one end protruding out of a case, a contact portion opened and closed by vertical movement of the knob, and a substrate electrically connected to the contact portion and housed in the case. . The board of this switch is located outside the moving range of the knob so that the knob can move up and down without interfering with the board.

[0003]

By the way, when the switch having the above-mentioned structure is mounted on a place where rain water may be applied with the axis of the case up and down, the substrate is located between the inner surface of the case and the knob, and Since there is a slight gap between the switch and the case, when rain is applied to the switch, the rain penetrates into the case through the gap, and particularly consists of connection parts of the board and various electric components supported on the board. There was a risk of wetting the electrical components. For this reason, the entire exterior of the switch is usually covered with a waterproof rubber cover.However, this not only increases the number of parts, but also necessitates a device such as a seal structure between the waterproof rubber cover and the switch. However, there are problems such as a complicated structure. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a waterproof push switch that can solve such a problem.

[0004]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a waterproof push switch according to the present invention is, as described above, a push switch which is attached to a place where rain water may be splashed with the case axis up and down. In the switch,
The knob has a bottomed cylindrical shape that opens downward. The knob accommodates an electrical component including the contact member and the substrate, and a lower end of the knob has at least a connection portion of the substrate and other electrical components on the side of the knob. A skirt portion extending downward to a length capable of covering the structural component, and forming a vertical drainage passage between the outside of the skirt portion and the inner surface of the case, and the drainage passage is used for the case with the drainage passage. And a gap formed between each upper portion of the knob and a drain hole formed in the bottom of the base, and a board holder extending upward from the base to support both sides of the board is provided. By making the protruding height substantially coincide with the outer surface of the substrate holder, a certain clearance is formed between the inner surface of the skirt portion and the substrate.

[0005]

When rain is applied to the switch and enters the case through the gap formed between the knob and each upper part of the case, the rain passes through the water drain passage formed between the inner surface of the case and the outer surface of the skirt parallel to the case. From the drain hole at the bottom of the base to the outside of the switch. At this time, since at least the connection portion and other electrical components of the substrate are covered inside the skirt portion of the knob, rain is less likely to be applied to them. Also,
Since the protruding height of the connection portion is made substantially coincident with the outer surface of the substrate holder, the clearance between the inner surface of the skirt portion and the substrate is substantially the same as the clearance between the outer surface of the substrate holder and is constant. Therefore, since the connection portion does not protrude more than necessary and does not interfere with the skirt portion, the up and down operation of the knob becomes smooth.

[0006]

1 to 4 show an embodiment. This embodiment is configured as a switch for a seat heater disposed on a door armrest mounted on the interior side surface of an automobile door, FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section of this switch, and FIG. It is a longitudinal section of a different direction (the direction of arrow A). FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a bottom view.

The vertical direction in FIGS. 1 and 2 coincides with the vertical direction in the mounted state. Note that all the vertical directions in the present application are based on the mounting state. Further, the inward and outward directions are based on the center axis in the length direction of the switch, and the center axis direction side is inward.

1 and 2, the switch comprises a case 10, a knob 20, a substrate 30, a small push switch 40, and a base 50. The board 30, the small push switch 40, the LED lighting lamp 31 (FIG. 2), and various electric elements (not shown) attached to the board 30 form an electric component D in the present application.

A flange 11 is provided at the upper end opening of the case 10.
Is formed, and an inner peripheral portion thereof forms a narrow portion 12 protruding inward, and a slight gap 13 is formed between the narrow portion 12 and the upper portion of the knob 20. The gap 13 communicates with a water drain passage 14 formed vertically between the inner surface of the case 10 and the outer surface of the knob 20 below the flange 11.

An engagement projection 15 is formed on the side surface of the middle portion of the case 10 to form a mounting portion to the vehicle. An engagement hole 16 with the base 50 is formed at the lower end.

As is apparent from FIG. 3, guide grooves 17a to 17d for guiding the vertical movement of the knob 20 are formed at the four inner corners of the case 10, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 4, notches 18a to 18d are formed in the periphery of the lower end opening of the case 10 for positioning when the base 50 is mounted. These have different sizes to prevent erroneous assembly.

Referring again to FIGS. 1 and 2, the knob 20 is a bottomed cylindrical member which is housed in the case 10 so as to be vertically movable, and which opens downward.
(FIG. 2) is formed, and is covered with a cap 23 having a transmission optical path 23 a communicating with the opening 22. A transparent plate is provided on the transmission optical path 23a.

As is apparent from FIG. 2, the knob 20 forms a step portion 24 in which a portion near the lower end of the cap 23 projects laterally, and engages with the narrow portion 12 formed in the case 10 when the knob is moved upward. It is possible to prevent the knob 20 from falling off.

An engagement projection 25 protruding downward from the lower surface of the bottom 21 is integrally formed, and can be engaged with the small push switch 40 as described later.

The lower portion of the knob 20 below the step portion 24 forms a skirt portion 26 which extends long in the form of a rectangular tube up to near the upper portion of the base portion 50.

As shown in FIG. 3, rails 27a to 27d are formed at the four corners of the knob 20 so as to protrude outwardly, and the corresponding guide grooves 17a to 17 on the case 10 side.
d, the knob 20 can move up and down in the length direction in the case 10.

As is apparent from FIGS. 1 and 2, the small push switch 40, the LED illumination lamp 31 facing the opening 22, and the connection terminals of other necessary electric components are pushed into the substrate 30, and penetrate in the direction of the skirt 26. The mounting leg end 32 is soldered to form a connection portion 33.

As is apparent from FIG. 2, the range from the upper end of the substrate 30 to the lowermost one 33a of the connection portions 33 is the covering region R, and this region is in the normal state (non-push state). It is covered by a skirt 26.

When the small push switch 40 is turned on, the circuit board 30 is energized to a sheet heater (not shown), and at the same time, the LED lighting lamp 3 is turned on.
1 is lit, and the light transmitting optical path 23a and the cap 23 are transparent.
The transmitted light is displayed through the plate .

As will be described later, the substrate 30 is supported on both sides and a lower end by the base portion 50 side, and extends vertically inside the skirt portion 26 with a predetermined clearance C (FIG. 1).

The other end of the external terminal terminal 34, one end of which is electrically connected to the substrate 30, bends at a substantially right angle downward and forms a coupler terminal 36 projecting through the alignment guide 35 into a coupler portion (described later) of the base portion 50. ing.

An engagement hole 37 is formed in the center of the lower end portion of the substrate 30 for coupling with the base portion 50.

The small push switch 40 is an example of a contact member in the present invention, and its operating portion 41 projects upward, and the tip of the engaging projection 25 is engaged with an engaging groove 42 formed at the tip. By coupling, they are connected to the knob 20. A return spring 43 wound around the operation portion 41 is compressed and mounted between the engagement projection 25 and the base 30 .

As is apparent from FIG. 1, the base portion 50 is fitted and attached to the lower end of the case 10, and the engaging projections 51 formed on the sides thereof engage with the engaging holes 16.

Further, as is apparent from FIG. 4, the guides 52a to 52d are formed on the four sides at the bottom of the base 50 so as to protrude outward, and these are engaged and positioned in the engaging grooves 18a to 18d of the case 10, respectively. At this time, each guide 5
2a to 52d are formed so as to have different sizes from the other corresponding to the engagement grooves 18a to 18d, thereby preventing erroneous assembly.

A coupler section 53 is integrally formed below the base section 50, and houses a coupler terminal 36 which is an end of the external terminal terminal 34.

As is apparent from FIG. 2, substrate holders 54 are formed integrally on both sides of the base portion 50 so as to extend vertically along substantially lower halves on both sides of the substrate 30.

The substrate holder 54 is formed with guide grooves 55 (FIG. 3) which are opened inward from each other, and the both sides of the substrate 30 can be fitted into each of them from the lower end side.

The lower end of the substrate 30 is housed in a widthwise long holder groove 56 in which a part of the base portion 50 is recessed downward.

From the bottom of the holder groove 56, an engaging arm 57 is integrally formed so as to extend upward.
The substrate 30 is fixed to the base part 50 side by engaging with.

As can be seen most clearly in FIG.
A drain hole 58 is formed at both sides of the case 10, and the drain hole 58 communicates with the drain passage 14, so that rain that has entered through the gap 13 between the narrow portion 12 and the cap 23 can be drained below the case 10. .

As is apparent from FIGS. 1 and 3, the substrate 30
The protrusion height of the attachment leg end portion 32 at the connection portion 33 is set to be substantially the same as the outer surface of the substrate holder 54, and the clearance C between the inner surface of the skirt portion 26 and the surface of the substrate 30 is substantially equal to the above. Skirt part 26 and substrate holder 5
4 is substantially equal to the clearance with the outer surface.

To assemble the waterproof push switch, first, the upper end of the knob 20 is inserted through the lower end opening of the case 10 and pushed up. At this time, the step portion 24 is
When the cap 23 is engaged, the cap 23 is stopped in a state where the cap 23 protrudes from the case 10 by a predetermined amount, and is prevented from coming off.

Next, both sides of the substrate 30 are inserted into the guide grooves 55 formed in the substrate holders 54 on both sides from the lower end, and the lower ends are further inserted into the holder grooves 56 of the base 50 so that the engagement arms 57 are formed. Is engaged with the engagement hole 37,
The substrate 30 and the base unit 50 are combined and integrated, and a sub-assembly body is formed by the base unit 50 and the electric components D such as the substrate 30 and the small push switch 40.

The sub-assembly is inserted through the opening at the lower end of the case 10, and the substrate 30 and the small push switch 40 are inserted.
Is fitted into the skirt portion 26 of the knob 20 and pushed up to engage the engagement projection 25 of the knob 20 with the engagement groove 42 of the operation portion 41 and to insert the engagement projection 51 into the engagement hole 16. Engagement completes the assembly.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. In the state of FIG. 1, when rain is applied to the upper part of the switch due to opening and closing of a door or the like, the rain enters the case 10 through the gap 13, and flows out of the drain hole 58 to the outside through the drain passage 14. During this time, since the electrical component including the covering region R where the connection portion 33 of the substrate 30 is formed is covered with the skirt portion 26, there is no possibility that rain will be applied to this portion.

The clearance C between the skirt portion 26 and the substrate 30 is always constant because the height of the attachment leg end 32 at the connection portion 33 is substantially equal to the outer surface of the substrate holder 54. Therefore, although the board 30 and the small push switch 40 are accommodated in the knob 20, the knob 20 can be moved up and down.

The contact member in the present invention does not necessarily need to use the small push switch 40. For example, a movable contact that moves integrally with the knob 20, and the movable contact is detachable and attached to the substrate 30 It may be a simple one composed of fixed contacts provided.

[0040]

[Effect of the invention] The waterproof push switch according to the invention is
The board and the contact member are accommodated inside the bottomed tubular knob that opens downward, and at least the connection portion of the board is surrounded by the skirt portion of the knob, and a water drain passage is provided between the skirt portion of the knob and the inner surface of the case. A constant clearance was formed between the skirt portion and the inner surface of the skirt by making the protrusion height at the connection portion of the substrate substantially coincide with the outer surface of the substrate holder.

Therefore, even if rain is applied to the switch, the rain does not flow down the outside of the case through the water drain passage, and there is no possibility that the rain will fall on the electrical components, at least the portion including the connection portion of the substrate. Therefore, the conventional waterproof rubber cover can be omitted, the number of parts can be reduced, and the production can be facilitated by not requiring a complicated structure.

Also, since a certain clearance is formed between the inner surface of the skirt and the protruding end of the connection portion of the board, the knob can be moved up and down smoothly even though the board and the contact members are housed inside the knob. can do.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the embodiment shown in the direction of arrow A in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Case 13 Gap formed in each upper part of case and knob 14 Drain passage 20 Knob 26 Skirt part 30 Substrate 32 Mounting leg end 33 Connection part 40 Small push switch (contact member) 50 Base part 54 Substrate holder 58 Drain hole

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A case having a cylindrical shape arranged such that an axis thereof is vertically arranged in a mounted state, a knob housed in the case so as to be vertically movable, and one end of which can protrude out of the case;
A push member comprising: a contact member which is opened and closed by a vertical movement of a knob; a substrate electrically connected to the contact member and accommodated in the case; and a base supporting the substrate and attached to one end of the case. In the switch, the knob is in the shape of a cylinder with a bottom that opens downward, and accommodates an electrical component including the contact member and the substrate in the knob, and a lower end of the knob has at least a connection portion of the substrate on the side of the knob. And a skirt portion extending downward to a length capable of covering the other electrical components, and forming a vertical drainage passage between the outside of the skirt portion and the inner surface of the case. A gap formed between the upper part of the case and the knob in the drain passage communicates with a drain hole formed in the bottom of the base, and a substrate holder extending upward from the base to support both sides of the substrate is provided, The result The protrusion height of the section by substantially coincides with the outer surface of the substrate holder, waterproof push switch, characterized in that the formation of the predetermined clearance between the skirt inner surface and the substrate.