JP3254571B2 - Touch sensor 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 touch sensor device for detecting a pressure of a moving body such as a vehicle or a pressure applied to the moving body to generate a signal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a relatively narrow civil engineering work site, a work vehicle such as a power shovel contacts a building,
In the meantime, an operator may be pinched, or a transport vehicle such as a forklift collides with a wall or a storage of a building in a warehouse, or an operator may be pinched between them. In order to prevent such an accident, a buffer is attached to a blind spot from the driver's seat of a vehicle or the like, and a warning can be issued by detecting the contact pressure of the buffer with a contact object, as shown in FIG. Various alarm devices are used.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral A denotes a power shovel, and several pillow-shaped touch sensors a are adhered to a rear portion and a rear side portion of the power shovel A. A buzzer device b that is connected to the touch sensor a with a connection cord and emits an alarm sound is attached to a driver's seat. The touch sensor a has a soft urethane foam as a core material, and has a surface coated with a waterproof coating made of a resin paint, and has a built-in spring-return type push button switch (not shown). That is, when the touch sensor a comes into contact with a building, an operator, or the like during the retreat of the power shovel A or the shovel turning operation, the internal switch is pressed by the propagation pressure, and the buzzer device b is pressed by the signal. When activated, it emits a buzzer to notify the driver of an abnormality.

[0004]

However, the touch sensor has a thin waterproof coating on the surface, and when the waterproof coating is damaged due to friction or the like due to repeated contact with an obstacle such as a building, rainwater flows from there inside. Will penetrate,
This permeated rainwater has a problem that even a small amount tends to act on the internal switch, impairing the function as a sensor. Further, since the pressing of the internal switch depends on the pressure propagation of the core material, it is necessary to press the internal switch to a certain depth, and the reaction is slow, and there is a problem that the reaction speed varies depending on the pressed portion. There is a problem that the switch device is easily damaged by a severe collision.

[0005] In order to solve such a problem, the present invention is durable, for example, it is robust and relatively hard to be damaged, and the sensor function is not impaired by rainwater or the like.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a touch sensor device that has a good response to pressing and has a relatively strong buffering property against collision.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a sensor body composed of an elastic hollow body having a restoring force, provided with a suction valve and a discharge valve composed of a check valve,
A touch sensor device that detects a movement of air passing through the discharge valve and emits a signal, a touch sensor device in which the elastic hollow body is formed of a rubber material or a plastic material other than the rubber material, , The discharge valve,
Attach a movable plate with a return spring operated by air pressure,
A touch sensor device that emits a signal by performing a switch operation of an electric circuit by the operation of the movable plate,
The touch sensor device in the case where the movable plate with the return spring is a diaphragm, and a touch plate device that attaches a rotary plate that changes the degree of rotation according to the amount of air to the discharge valve, and emits a signal with a potentiometer, and The invention proposes a touch sensor device in which a signal activates an alarm.

[0007]

When the pressing force is applied to the touch sensor main body, the pressing portion is depressed, and the internal air is pushed out from the discharge valve. The air pressure at that time causes the movable plate to be pushed and moved, or the potentiometer to be actuated to turn on and off the switch of the electric circuit to generate a signal. By connecting an alarm or a lamp to this electric circuit,
The alarm goes off and the lamp lights up or flashes. When the pressure is removed from the touch sensor body, external air is sucked from the suction valve of the touch sensor body, and the touch sensor body is restored to its original shape by its restoring force.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a touch sensor device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 is a perspective view showing a touch sensor device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of a suction valve thereof, and FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of a discharge valve.

As shown in FIG. 1, a touch sensor device 1 used as an alarm device of this embodiment includes a sensor body 2 made of an elastic rubber material, suction valves 3 attached to both ends thereof, and a microswitch. It comprises a discharge valve 4 and an alarm 6 with a lamp connected to the discharge valve 4 by a connection cord 5.

The sensor body 2 is formed of an elastic rubber material into a tubular hollow body having a wall having a thickness so as to have a restoring force.
a has a gentle inclination toward the center so that it can respond flexibly to external pressure, and has an overhang portion 2b along the longitudinal direction for attachment to a vehicle or the like.

As shown in FIG. 2, the suction valve 3 has a main body 7 formed in a substantially cylindrical body provided with ventilation holes 8 and 9 on both end surfaces.
A steel ball 11 and a spring 12 are housed in the internal chamber 10, and the steel ball 11 is urged in the anti-suction direction (the direction opposite to the arrow) to always provide the ventilation hole 8.
And a check valve that opens only when air is sucked in.
It is attached to the wall of the sensor main body 2 in an airtight state by a flange portion 7a provided on the base end surface portion.

As shown in FIG. 3, the discharge valve 4 is formed in a substantially cylindrical body in which a check valve portion 13 and a switch portion 14 are connected. The check valve portion 13 has ventilation holes 15 at both end surfaces.
A steel ball 18 and a spring 19 are housed in an internal chamber 17, and the steel ball 18 is urged toward the suction side (in the direction opposite to the arrow) to form a check valve that normally closes the vent hole 15. are doing.

The switch section 14 forms a cylinder chamber 20 having one end communicating with the ventilation hole 16 of the check valve section 13, and a plurality of discharges communicating with the outside air at an end of the cylinder chamber 20 on the ventilation hole 16 side. A hole 21 is provided. This cylinder chamber 20
A spring-return type micro switch 22 is fixed to the bottom of the, and a pressing plate 24 urged toward the ventilation hole 16 by a spring 23 is housed therein. That is, the pressure plate 2 is pressed by the pressure of the air discharged from the ventilation hole 16 in the check valve portion 13.
4 is pressed and the pin 25 of the micro switch 22 is pressed to turn on the switch.
The switch is turned off when the pressing plate 24 returns to the original position by the force of 2.

Further, terminals 26A and 26B for electrically connecting to the terminals of the microswitch 22 are provided outside, so that the terminals 26A and 26B can be electrically connected to the alarm 6 via the connection cord 5. The discharge valve 4 is hermetically attached to the wall of the sensor body 2 by a flange portion 13a provided on a base end surface portion.

In the touch sensor device 1 configured as described above, the sensor main body 2 is provided with an adhesive tape or the like on the rear portion and the rear side portion of the vehicle, which is blind from the driver's seat, as in the conventional example shown in FIG. The alarm 6 is attached to the driver's seat by an appropriate means.

When a person or a building comes into contact with the sensor main body 2 and a pressing force is applied, the internal air pressure increases, and the steel ball 18 of the discharge valve 4 is pressed against the force of the spring 19,
Further, the pressing plate 24 is pressed against the force of the spring 23,
The internal air is discharged from the discharge holes 21 to the outside.
The pressing plate 24 is connected to the pin 2 of the micro switch 22 during that time.
5 is turned on, the electric circuit is closed, the alarm 6 is activated by an electric signal, an alarm is issued, and a lamp is turned on to notify the driver of the abnormality.

When the pressing on the sensor body 2 stops, the internal air pressure stops working, and the steel ball 18 of the discharge valve 4 and the pressing plate 2
4 returns to the original position by the respective spring forces, so that the microswitch 22 is turned off, and the alarm of the alarm 6 stops and goes off. On the other hand, since the sensor body 2 has a restoring force, in order to compensate for the internal negative pressure due to the restoring force, the suction valve 3 retracts the steel ball 11 against the force of the spring 12 to open the vent holes 8 and 9. The sensor body 2 returns to its original state by acting to suck external air via the sensor.

In the touch sensor device 1 of the present invention, the air pressure inside the sensor main body 2 uniformly acts on the entire inner wall of the sensor main body 2, and the external pressing force is immediately applied to the discharge valve irrespective of the pressed portion. 4, the alarm 6 can be operated with a relatively small force. The operating pressure can be easily set to an arbitrary value by changing the spring 19 of the discharge valve 4.

Since the sensor body 2 is formed of a relatively thick rubber body having a restoring force, it is robust, has a large resistance to contact and friction with a building or the like, and is durable. In addition, the suction valve 3 that matches the restoring force of the sensor body 2
Can be arbitrarily set by adjusting the spring force by replacing the spring 12.

As the material of the sensor body constituting the elastic hollow body, a rubber material of natural rubber or synthetic rubber is desirable at a low cost, or a plastic material having a high resilience other than a rubber material such as polyolefin can be used.

The shapes of the suction valve and the discharge valve are not limited to those of the above embodiment, and various types can be used. Also, the switch structure is not a push button type micro switch but a diaphragm type. It may be a pressure switch, for example, on the front of the vent of the discharge valve,
Provide a rotating plate that rotates according to the flow rate of the discharged air,
A flow sensor that reads the position of the rotating plate with a potentiometer may be used, or another pressure switch may be used.

This touch sensor device is mounted on the back wall of a passenger car garage together with its sensor body and alarm.
It can also be used as a safety device for notifying a passenger car of a backward limit position by an alarm device when the vehicle is put in a garage. in this case,
As the alarm device, an alarm device with a light which can be used even at night is suitable.

[0023]

As apparent from the above description, the present invention has the following effects. (1) Since the sensor main body is made of a tubular elastic hollow body having a resilient thickness, the sensor main body is hardly damaged by friction or the like due to repeated contact with an object such as an external structure, and has high durability. (2) Since it is a system using air pressure, it has good responsiveness to external pressing force. (3) It has a buffering property against the pressing of the external object and can withstand a sudden collision. (4) The response speed and the buffering degree can be controlled by adjusting the discharge valve and the suction valve.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a touch sensor device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of a suction valve in the touch sensor device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of a discharge valve in the touch sensor device of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a conventional alarm device applied to a power shovel.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Touch sensor apparatus 2 Sensor main body 3 Suction valve 4 Discharge valve 5 Connection code 6 Alarm device 8, 9 Vent hole 11 Steel ball 12 Spring 13 Check valve part 14 Switch part 15, 16 Vent hole 18 Steel ball 19 Spring 21 Discharge hole 22 Micro switch 23 Spring 24 Press plate

────────────────────────────────────────────────── (5) Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-6-341912 (JP, A) JP-A-3-61806 (JP, A) JP-A-61-66938 (JP, A) JP-A-1- 212632 (JP, A) JP-A-60-191855 (JP, A) JP-A-6-19244 (JP, U) JP-A-63-126815 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. ⁷ , DB name) G01L 1/02 B60R 19/48 G01V 9/00

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] 1. A sensor body made of an elastic hollow body having a restoring force is provided with a suction valve and a discharge valve made of a check valve,
A touch sensor device for detecting a movement of air passing through the discharge valve and generating a signal. 2. The touch sensor device according to claim 1, wherein the elastic hollow body is formed of a rubber material. 3. The touch sensor device according to claim 1, wherein the elastic hollow body is formed of a plastic material other than a rubber material. 4. The discharge valve according to claim 1, wherein a movable plate with a return spring operated by air pressure is attached to the discharge valve, and the operation of the movable plate causes a switch operation of an electric circuit to be performed to generate a signal. The touch sensor device as described in the above. 5. The touch sensor device according to claim 4, wherein a diaphragm is used instead of the movable plate with a return spring. 6. The touch sensor device according to claim 1, wherein a rotary plate that changes the degree of rotation according to the amount of air is attached to the discharge valve, and a signal is generated by a potentiometer. 7. The touch sensor device according to claim 1, wherein the signal activates an alarm.