JP3145273B2 - Lever device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lever device which is excellent in the mounting property of a ball when a lever used for adjusting the temperature of an air conditioner for an automobile is mounted.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, there has been a heater control device for an automobile provided with a lever device for adjusting a temperature and selecting a blowing mode. Generally, such a lever device includes a moderation mechanism for giving a sense of moderation to the turning operation. In a lever device having such a moderation mechanism,
For example, as shown in FIG. 5, a concave portion 2 is formed at a predetermined position on the back surface of a front panel 1 disposed at a front portion in the vehicle. On the other hand, the lever 3 is provided with a housing recess 4 in which a spring 5 is housed. When the lever 3 is mounted, a ball 6 is arranged between the front panel 1 and the spring 5. The ball 6 is pressed against the rear surface of the front panel 1 by the urging force of the spring 5 and engages with the concave portion 2 to give a sense of moderation to the rotation operation of the lever 3.

[0003]

However, in the conventional lever device, it is not easy to set the ball 6 when the lever 3 is mounted. That is, the ball 6 is a sphere having a small diameter (approximately 4 mm in diameter), and needs to be kept pressed into the housing recess 4 by a finger against the urging force of the spring 5, so that handling is extremely difficult. Difficult,
Workability was worsened.

In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a lever device that can easily mount a ball when assembling a lever.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, in the lever device according to the first invention, one end of the lever projects forward from a slit portion of the front panel, and a spring housed in the housing recess of the lever. A lever device in which the lever is slid along a slit while the ball urged forward by the ball is disengaged from a concave portion formed on the back surface of the front panel. The recess is formed at the rear edge of the extending portion, and a positioning recess for preventing rolling before mounting the ball and positioning the ball in front of the housing recess of the lever is integrated with the lever. It is formed in.

Further, in the lever device according to the second invention,
The positioning recess is formed by stamping out a part of the lever, and the protrusion slides on the upper surface of the extension formed by extending the lower edge of the slit of the front panel rearward. A projection from the upper edge of the slit portion slides on the upper surface of the lever.

[0007]

In the lever device according to the first aspect of the present invention,
When mounting the lever, the spring is housed in the housing recess, and the ball is placed in the positioning recess. When one end of the lever is projected from the slit of the front panel, the rear edge of the extension of the front panel presses the ball. The pressed ball escapes from the positioning recess, moves into the receiving recess at the same time as the assembly of the lever, is urged forward by a spring, comes into pressure contact with the rear surface of the front panel, and becomes engageable with the recess.

In the lever device according to the second aspect of the present invention, when the lever is rotated, the upper surface of the lever slides on a protruding portion extending from the upper edge of the slit portion of the front panel, and the lower surface is positioned. The projecting portion forming the recess is slidably contacted with the upper surface of the extending portion of the front panel. As a result, the lever slides smoothly without causing rattling in the vertical direction.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a lever device provided in a vehicle air conditioner. In each lever device, levers 12 and 13 are attached to a base 11 so as to be rotatable about support shafts 12a and 13a, respectively. The lever 12 is for adjusting the blowing temperature, and the lever 13 is for selecting the blowing mode.

One end of each of the levers 12 and 13 projects forward from a slit portion 15 of a front panel 14, and a knob 16 for manual operation is attached to the one end. A heater control mechanism (not shown) is provided at the other end. Are connected to each other, the wire 17 being composed of an inner wire 17a and an outer wire 17b.

Since the lever 13 has the same structure as the conventional one, the lever 12 will be described in detail below. That is, a spring receiving member 18 is screwed to the upper surface of the lever 12 as shown in FIG. Spring receiving member 18
Has an accommodation recess 19 that opens toward one end to which the knob 16 is attached. The accommodation recess 19 accommodates a spring 20. A positioning recess 21 is formed on the upper surface of the lever 12 near the front of the housing recess 19 of the spring receiving member 18, and the lower surface is a projection 22 (see FIG. 4). This protrusion 2
2 is formed at the same time as the processing of the lever 12 by a punching process using a press or the like, and the ball 23 before mounting is positioned there.

In the front panel 14, as shown in FIG. 4, the upper edge and the lower edge of the slit portion 15 are extended rearward, so that the upper
And a lower extension 25 are formed. The rear edge portion 26 of the upper extension portion 24 is formed in an arc shape centering on the support shaft 12a, and concave portions 27 (see FIG. 1) are formed at predetermined intervals. Further, a protruding portion 28 is formed on the front facing surface of the upper extending portion 24 toward the lower side.

The assembling operation is performed in the lever device having the above-described configuration as follows.

First, the spring 20 is housed in the housing recess 19 of the spring receiving member 18 attached to the lever 12, and the ball 23 is positioned in the positioning recess 21. Then, one end of the lever 12 is inserted into the slit 15 of the front panel 14 from the rear side. In this case, since the ball 23 is prevented from rolling in the positioning recess 21, the lever 12 only needs to be translated while maintaining the horizontal state.

With the parallel movement of the lever 12, the ball 23 is pressed by the rear edge 26 of the upper extending portion 24 extending from the upper edge of the slit portion 15, and starts moving rearward. At this time, a projection 28 provided on the upper extension 24 of the front panel 14 contacts the upper surface of the lever 12, and a lower extension 25 of the front panel 14 contacts the projection 22 on the lower surface. Lever 1 when moving because it is guided
The rattling of 2 is small. Therefore, the ball 23 does not jump out of the positioning recess 21 and moves smoothly from the positioning recess 21 into the housing recess 19.

When the ball 23 is moved into the accommodation recess 19, it is urged forward by the spring 20 in the accommodation recess 21, and is brought into pressure contact with the rear edge 26 of the upper extension 24. At this time, the lever 12 is connected to the support shaft 12a.
And a knob 16 is attached to a portion protruding forward from the front panel 14.

In the thus assembled lever device, if the knob 16 is moved in parallel with the finger, the lever 12 rotates about the support shaft 12a. The lever 12 has a projection 2 having an upper surface provided on an upper extension 24 of the front panel 14.
8, the projection 22 on the lower surface is connected to the lower extension 2 of the front panel 14.
The slide is smoothly performed without rattling because the guide is guided by the guide 5. At this time, the spring 20
The ball 23 urged forward by the
Of the lever 12, and a desired sense of moderation can be obtained in the turning operation of the lever 12. The rotation of the lever 12 drives a heater control mechanism (not shown) via the inner wire 17a, so that a desired air-conditioning temperature is obtained.

[0019]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the lever device of the first aspect, the ball can be positioned in the positioning recess before the lever is assembled. Thus, the ball can be pressed by a part of the front panel and mounted in the receiving recess simply by making the one end of the lever protrude forward from the slit on the front panel. This eliminates the need for the work of mounting the ball while pressing it with a finger as in the related art, and makes it possible to perform the assembling work very easily.

According to the lever device of the second aspect, the protrusion extending from the upper edge of the slit is slidably in contact with the upper surface of the lever, and the protrusion forming the positioning recess is formed of the slit. Since the lever comes into sliding contact with the upper surface of the extending portion extending from the lower edge, the lever slides while being guided in the vertical direction. Therefore, the lever can be operated smoothly without rattling in the vertical direction.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a lever device according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a front view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing one end of the lever of FIG. 1;

4A is a cross-sectional view showing a state before the lever device of FIG. 1 is assembled, and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view showing a state after the lever device is assembled.
It is.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a lever device according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 12 lever 14 front panel 15 slit part 19 accommodation concave part 21 positioning concave part 23 ball 24 upper extension part 25 lower extension part 26 rear edge part 27 concave part

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] An end of a lever projects forward from a slit portion of a front panel, and a ball urged forward by a spring housed in a housing recess of the lever engages and disengages with a recess formed on a back surface of the front panel. In the lever device in which the lever slides along the slit, a rearwardly extending portion is provided on the rear surface of the front panel,
The recess is formed at the rear edge of the extension, and a positioning recess is formed integrally with the lever in front of the housing recess of the lever to prevent the ball from rolling before mounting. A lever device characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. The positioning recess is formed by stamping out a part of a lever, and the projecting portion extends rearward from a lower edge of a slit portion of the front panel. 2. The lever device according to claim 1, wherein a protrusion protruding from an upper edge of the slit portion slides on an upper surface of the lever while sliding on the lever.