JP2918070B2 - Pushbutton switch and method of manufacturing the same - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a push-button switch for making a contact conductive by pushing a stem and a method of manufacturing the same, and more particularly to a push-button switch suitable for easily performing an assembling operation and a method of manufacturing the same. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 58-164137.
As described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H10-209, a push button switch provided with a stem having a flange portion has been proposed by the present applicant. FIG.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional push button switch of this type, in which a housing 31 having an opening, fixed contacts 32 and 33 exposed on an inner bottom surface where the opening of the housing 31 is desired, and opposed to the fixed contacts 32 and 33 are disposed. A movable contact 34, a stem 35 having a flange 35 a, which can freely move up and down and press the movable contact 34 toward the fixed contacts 32 and 33 at the time of descent, and a flange 35 a fixed around the opening of the housing 31 and raised. And fixed terminals 32, 33 protruding from the housing 31 and connected to the fixed contacts 32, 33, respectively.

When manufacturing this conventional push button switch, first, a housing 31 is formed with fixed contacts 32, 33 provided in the openings, and then the movable contacts 3 are fixed to the fixed contacts 32, 33.
4 and the stem 3 is placed on the opening of the housing 31.
5 and then press the holding plate 36 to the flange 3 of the stem 35.
5a, the projection 3 around the opening of the housing 31
1a, the pressing plate 36 is provided around the opening.
And the flange 35a. In addition,
In this conventional push button switch, the periphery of the stem 35 is configured to be covered by the flange 35a. However, as another conventional example, the flange of the stem is not provided up to the periphery of the opening of the housing, that is, In some cases, a gap is formed between the outer edge and the inner surface of the housing opening. When a gap is formed in this way, when the stem is pushed in, foreign matter enters through the gap and the foreign matter intervenes between the fixed contact and the movable contact, resulting in poor contact between the contacts. There are concerns. Therefore, a push button switch having excellent dustproofness by providing the stem 35 with the flange 35a having a relatively large area as described above has been proposed.

[0004]

In the prior art described above, when the stem 35 is disposed on the opening of the housing 31, it is necessary to handle the stem 35 as a single item. .
In particular, since the stem 35 is provided with the flange 35a having a relatively large area, the stem 35 cannot be automatically supplied using the parts feeder, and therefore, the assembly of the push button switch is not possible. Automation could not be achieved.

The present invention has been made in view of such a situation in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a push button switch capable of incorporating a stem together with a holding plate into a housing, and a method of manufacturing the same.

[0006]

In order to achieve this object, a push button switch according to the present invention comprises a housing having an opening, a fixed contact exposed on an inner bottom surface of the housing at which the opening is desired, and a fixed contact facing the fixed contact. A movable contact arranged, a stem that can move up and down in the opening, and a fixed around the opening of the housing to prevent the stem from falling off
And a holding plate that moves up and down as the stem moves up and down.
In a push button switch in which the movable contact comes into contact with and separates from the fixed contact, a flexure capable of deforming the stem in the elevating direction of the stem.
A connecting portion and a flange portion extending outward through the bending portion,
Insert the projection provided on the flange into the hole provided on the holding plate
By doing so, the stem is moved through the bending portion and the flange portion.
And is held by the holding plate .

Further, according to the method of manufacturing a push button switch of the present invention, a housing having an opening,
A fixed contact exposed on the inner bottom surface where an opening is desired, and this fixed contact
Movable contacts arranged opposite to each other, and can move up and down within the opening
A stem and fixed around the opening of the housing
A holding plate for preventing the stem from falling off.
The movable contact becomes the fixed contact as the system moves up and down.
In the manufacturing method of toward and away from the push-button switch, presser plate to form a hoop material comprising the pressing plate from the hoop-shaped metal plate
After providing a hole in, the hoop material fed to the mold apparatus, with molding the stem made of an elastic body is filled with a molten resin into the cavity of the mold apparatus, the portion of the elastic body, Inserted into the hole and integrated with the holding plate
The flange is changed in the elevating direction connecting the flange and the stem.
It is configured to form a shapeable bending portion .

[0008]

The push button switch of the present invention has a stem as described above.
A flange portion extending outwardly through a bending portion is continuously provided, and the flange portion of the holding plate and the stem of the stem are connected to each other through a projection inserted into a hole of the holding plate. The holding plate is held integrally, so that the stem can be incorporated into the housing together with the holding plate. A method of manufacturing a push-button switch of the present invention, after providing a hole in presser plate by a hoop material including a presser plate as described above is formed from the hoop-shaped metal plate, and forming a stem made of an elastic body, Since the above-mentioned bending portion and flange portion are formed by a part of the elastic body, it is possible to obtain a push button switch that can incorporate the stem together with the holding plate into the housing.

[0009]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a push button switch according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the push button switch of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of a hoop material including a holding plate of the push button switch of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

A push button switch according to the present embodiment shown in FIG. 1 includes a housing 1 having an opening 1a, fixed contacts 2 and 3 exposing an inner bottom surface of the housing 1 where the opening 1a is desired, A movable contact 4 and a flange 5
And a stem 6 which has a flexible portion 10 and is capable of ascending and descending and pressing the movable contact 4 toward the fixed contacts 2 and 3 when descending, and is fixed around the opening 1a of the housing 1 to regulate the rise of the flange portion 5. And a holding plate 7. As shown in FIG. 2, the holding plate 7 is formed from a part of the hoop material 8, and has, for example, four holes 7 a to 7 d facing the flange 5 and mounting holes 7 e arranged near four corners. And The hoop member 8 includes a plurality of continuous holding plates 7, support portions 8 a formed on both sides along the longitudinal direction, a connecting portion 8 b connecting the support portions 8 a, and a holding plate 7. Connecting part 8 provided between the support part 8a and the connecting part 8b
c. A feed hole 8d is provided at the base of the connecting portion 8b. As shown in FIG. 3, the flange 5 is provided with projections 5a to 5d which are inserted into the holes 7a to 7d and connect the flange 5 and the holding plate 7 to each other. Is provided with a holding portion 9 that sandwiches the supporting portion 8a and the connecting portion 8b. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, the bending portion 10 is
The connection with the stem 6 is connected in a U-shape.
The deformation allows the stem 6 to move up and down.
It has become.

In this embodiment, when manufacturing a push button switch, first, as shown in FIG. 2, a hoop material 8 including a holding plate 7 is formed by pressing a hoop-shaped metal plate to form a flange. After the holes 7a to 7d facing the portion 5 are provided in the holding plate 7, the hoop material 8 is supplied to a mold device (not shown), and the cavity of the mold device is filled with a molten resin. As shown in Fig. 7, a stem 6 made of an elastic body is formed, and a part of the elastic body forms a bending portion 10, protrusions 5a to 5d, and a grip portion 9, respectively. Next, the movable contact 4 is arranged in the opening 1a of the housing 1 so as to face the fixed contacts 2 and 3, and the hoop member 8 is positioned so that the stem 6 is positioned above the opening 1a of the housing 1.
Is supplied, the protrusions 1b at the four corners of the housing 1 are inserted into the mounting holes 7e, and each protrusion 1b is caulked to fix the flange 5 and the holding plate 7 to the housing 1. And
The holding plate 7 is cut off from the hoop material 8 by cutting the connecting portion 8c at a location indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG.

In the embodiment configured as described above, the protrusion 5a
5d and the holding portion 9, the stem 6 and the holding plate 5 are held, so that the holding plate 7 is supplied in a state of being included in the hoop material 8, and the stem 6 together with the holding plate 7 is integrated with the housing 1. Can be incorporated into the stem 6
The work of handling as a single unit can be omitted. In this embodiment, both the projections 5a to 5d and the grip 9 are provided.
Only one can be provided.

[0013]

Since the present invention is constructed as described above, the stem can be integrated into the housing together with the holding plate, so that the assembling work of the push button switch can be simplified. In particular, it is suitable for automating the assembly operation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing one embodiment of a push button switch of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a hoop material including a press plate of the push button switch of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a state where the hoop material of FIG. 2 is supplied to a mold apparatus to form a stem.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a conventional push button switch.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 1 housing 1a opening 2, 3 fixed contact 4 movable contact 5 flange 5a to 5d projection 6 stem 7 holding plate 7a to 7d hole 8 hoop material 9 gripping portion 10 bending portion

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A housing having an opening, a fixed contact exposed at an inner bottom surface of the housing at which the opening is desired, a movable contact disposed opposite to the fixed contact, and an inside of the opening.
A vertically movable stem, and a holding plate fixed around the opening of the housing to prevent the stem from falling off, wherein the movable contact is provided along with the vertical movement of the stem.
In the push button switch which comes in contact with and separates from the fixed contact, a flexible portion which can be deformed in the vertical direction of the stem is provided on the stem.
A flange extending outward through the bending portion;
Inserting the projection provided on the holding plate into the hole provided on the holding plate
From the above, the stem through the bending portion and the flange portion,
A push button switch held on a presser plate . 2. A housing having an opening, a fixed contact exposed at an inner bottom surface of the housing where the opening is desired, a movable contact disposed opposite to the fixed contact, and
A vertically movable stem, and a holding plate fixed around the opening of the housing to prevent the stem from falling off, wherein the movable contact is provided along with the vertical movement of the stem.
In a method of manufacturing a push button switch which comes into contact with and separates from a fixed contact, a hoop material including the holding plate is formed from a hoop-shaped metal plate.
After providing a hole in presser plate Te, the hoop material fed to the mold apparatus, with molding the stem made of an elastic body is filled with a molten resin into the cavity of the mold apparatus, the elastic member Partially inserted into the hole and connected to the holding plate
A flange to be formed, and an ascent connecting the flange to the stem.
A method of manufacturing a push button switch, comprising forming a downwardly deformable flexure .