JP4375243B2 - Seesaw switch - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a seesaw switch provided on a front panel or the like of an automobile.

  In general, a seesaw switch provided in a front panel or various devices of an automobile includes a pair of switch elements and a rotation operation member having a pressing portion corresponding to each of the switch elements. By being operated to rotate about a rotation axis located between the pressing parts, the pressing part alternatively presses the switch element. Further, even when the rotation operation member and the switch element are arranged at positions separated from each other, the rotation operation is performed so that the switch element is operated in accordance with the rotation operation of the rotation operation member. A pressing force transmitting member that is displaceable in the same direction as the pressing direction is interposed between each pressing portion of the member and the switch element, and an operating force applied to an end of the rotating operation member is the pressing force transmitting member. There is known one that can be transmitted to the switch element via a switch (for example, see Patent Document 1 below).

  FIG. 5 schematically shows the structure of a conventional general seesaw switch. In the figure, a pair of switch elements 102A and 102B are mounted on a circuit board 100, and a rotation operation member 106 is disposed so as to straddle them. The rotating operation member 106 has pressing portions 106a and 106b corresponding to the switch elements 102A and 102B at both ends, and is rotated around a rotating shaft 104 positioned between the pressing portions 106a and 106b. It is held by an unillustrated panel so that it is possible. Further, pressing force transmitting members 108A and 108B are interposed between the pressing portions 106a and 106b and the switch elements 102A and 102B, respectively, and these pressing force transmitting members 108A and 108B are respectively connected to the pressing portions 106a and 106b. Is held by the panel so as to be movable in the pressing direction (vertical direction in the figure).

In such a structure, when the rotation operation member 106 is rotated by, for example, pressing the pressing portion 106a of the rotation operation member 106 with a finger from the neutral position shown in FIG. The pressing portion 106a and the pressing force transmission member 108A on the back side thereof are displaced in a direction approaching the switch element 102A and transmit the pressing force to the element 102A (FIG. 5B). Thereafter, when the pressing force of the pressing portion 106a is released (for example, the finger is released from the rotation operation member 106), the pressing portion 106a is pushed up by the reaction force received from the switch element 102A, and the rotation operation member 106 is moved to the neutral position. Return to position.
JP 2004-95508 A

  In the seesaw switch as shown in FIG. 5, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), when the one pressing portion 106a is pushed down, the other pressing portion 106b is lifted in reverse, and the pressing force transmitting member 108B. It will be away from. Accordingly, when the pressing operation member 106 returns to the neutral position by releasing the pressing of the pressing portion 106a from this state (for example, releasing the finger), the pressing portion 106b is moved to the pressing force transmitting member 108B upon the return. There is an inconvenience that a collision occurs suddenly, thereby generating a so-called rattling sound. Suppression of such a rattling sound is a major issue in improving quality, such as reducing noise and imparting a high-class feeling.

  As a means for preventing the occurrence of such a rattling sound, even if the pressing portion 106a or the pressing portion 106b rises, the pressing force transmitting member also follows the pressing portion (that is, the pressing portions 106a and 106b). Regardless of the position, the pressing strokes 106a and 106b and the pressing force transmission members 108A and 108B are always in contact with each other. It is conceivable to set it equal to (movement distance from the position where the pressing portion is pressed down to the position where it rises conversely).

  However, since the basic condition is that neither of the pressing force transmitting members 108A and 108B presses the switch elements 102A and 102B in the neutral position as shown in FIG. 5A, for example, a simple structure as shown in the figure. In the seesaw switch, the moving stroke of the pressing force transmitting members 108A and 108B must be set to about half the moving stroke of the pressing portions 106a and 106b. If the basic conditions are to be satisfied while setting the moving stroke of the pressing force transmitting members 108A and 108B to be substantially equal to the moving stroke of the pressing portions 106a and 106b, the pressing force transmitting members 108A and 108B are used. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce a complicated mechanism such as a booster mechanism, and a significant cost increase cannot be avoided.

  In view of such circumstances, an object of the present invention is to effectively reduce a sound generated when a pressing operation member in a seesaw switch returns to a neutral position with a simple structure having a small number of parts.

  As means for solving the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a pair of switch elements having an operated part that receives a pressing operation, and a main body part located in a region straddling each switch element at a position separated from these switch elements. And has a pressing portion at a position corresponding to each of the switch elements on the back side of the main body, and the main body is rotated about a rotation shaft positioned between the pressing portions. Accordingly, each of the pressing portions displaces in a direction in which the pressing portion contacts and separates from the corresponding operated portion, and each pressing portion of the rotating operation member and the corresponding switch element cover. A pressing force transmitting member that is interposed between the operating portion and that is displaced together with the pressing portion that is displaced in a direction approaching the operated portion and transmits the pressing force received from the pressing portion to the operated portion; ,in front The rotation operation member is held so as to be rotatable about the rotation axis, and the pressing force transmission members are held behind the rotation operation member so as to be movable in the pressing direction of the pressing portion. A holding member, and the rotation operation member is positioned between the main body portion and the holding member and is always in contact with the holding member in a state of being elastically deformed, and the elastic force of the main body portion in the main body portion. In the vicinity of each pressing portion, there is a spring portion that applies an urging force opposite to the direction in which the pressing portion presses the pressing force transmitting member, and the spring portion, the main body portion, and the pressing portion are integrally formed. It is characterized by being made.

  According to this seesaw switch, even if the main body portion of the rotation operation member is rotated and one pressing portion is displaced in the pressing direction and the other pressing portion is displaced in the opposite direction, the above-mentioned main body portion has the Since an urging force is applied to the vicinity of each pressing portion by a spring portion, the other pressing portion suddenly collides with the pressing force transmitting member even if the pressing of the one pressing portion is released from this state. This is suppressed and almost no rattling noise is produced. The effect of suppressing the rattling noise can be obtained by simply changing the shape of the rotating operation member without requiring any change on the holding member side.

  The spring portion extends inwardly to the vicinity of the rotation shaft so as to face each other from the vicinity of each pressing portion in the main body portion, and from the distal end portion of the beam portion toward the holding member. It is preferable to have a contact portion that extends and has a tip that contacts the holding member.

  With such a spring portion, the amount of deflection of the tip of the beam portion varies when the rotation operation member is rotated, but the variation range of the amount of deflection can be kept small. A biasing force can be applied to the vicinity of each pressing portion in the main body without causing excessive deformation of the portion, and a long life of the rotating operation member can be ensured.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the tapping sound generated when the rotating operation member returns to the neutral position is effective with a simple structure in which the spring portion is integrally formed with the rotating operation member. Therefore, there is an effect that quality can be improved.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, although this embodiment shows the form which applies this invention about the seesaw switch provided in the panel 1 shown in FIG. 1, the seesaw switch which concerns on this invention is the front panel of a motor vehicle, and various apparatuses regardless of the use. The present invention can also be applied to a seesaw switch provided in an operation unit or the like.

  The panel 1 holds both a turning operation member 2 that is turned and pressing force transmission members 3A and 3B, which will be described later, and corresponds to a holding member of the present invention. The panel 1 is formed with a recess 11 that is recessed from the surface 15 at a predetermined position, and the rotation operation member 2 is fitted into the recess 11. A printed circuit board 4 is disposed on the back side of the panel 1 (the lower side in FIG. 1).

  The turning operation member 2 has a substantially rectangular shape extending in the front-rear direction in plan view, and can be turned around a turning shaft 24 extending in the left-right direction, which will be described later. As will be described in detail later, the rotating operation member 2 has a cap-shaped main body 21 that opens on the back side (lower side in FIGS. 2 and 3), and the main body 21, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. There are pressing portions 22A and 22B formed at both end portions in the front-rear direction (left-right direction in FIG. 3) on the back side. When the front side portion or the rear side portion of the front surface (the upper surface in FIGS. 2 and 3) of the main body portion 21 is pressed and the main body portion 21 is rotated, the pressing portion (the pressing portion) on the pressed side is pressed. 22A or the pressing portion 22B) is displaced downward, and the opposite pressing portion (the pressing portion 22B or the pressing portion 22A) is displaced upward.

  The concave portion 11 has a substantially rectangular shape that is slightly larger than the rotational operation member 2 in a plan view, and includes a bottom wall 11a that forms a bottom surface 11c, and a peripheral wall 11b that extends upward from the peripheral edge of the bottom wall 11a. It is made up of.

  A pair of front and rear switch elements 5A and 5B are mounted on the printed circuit board 4 at positions corresponding to the pressing portions 22A and 22B of the rotating operation member 2. These switch elements 5A and 5B have an operated portion 51 that receives a pressing operation. The pressing force transmitting members 3A and 3B are respectively disposed between the operated portions 51 of the switch elements 5A and 5B and the pressing portions 22A and 22B of the rotating operation member 2.

  Each of the pressing force transmitting members 3A and 3B has a substantially columnar shape extending in the vertical direction, which is the direction in which the pressing portions 22A and 22B are displaced, and is a rotating operation member in the neutral position shown in FIG. The two pressing portions 22A, 22B and the switch elements 5A, 5B have the same axial length as the separation distance between the operated portions 51.

  The bottom wall 11a of the recess 11 is formed with holding portions 13 for holding the pressing force transmission members 3A and 3B at positions corresponding to the switch elements 5A and 5B, respectively. These holding portions 13 have a substantially cylindrical shape extending in the vertical direction, and are formed so as to penetrate the bottom wall 11a. The pressing force transmission members 3A and 3B are fitted into the holding portions 13, respectively, so that the pressing force transmission members 3A and 3B are held by the holding portions 13 so as to be vertically movable.

  In such a seesaw switch, when the surface of the main body 21 of the rotating operation member 2 is pressed and the main body 21 is rotated, the switch element (switch element 5A) on the side of the pressing operation is operated. Alternatively, the operating force is transmitted to the switch element 5B) via the pressing force transmission member (the pressing force transmission member 3A or the pressing force transmission member 3B), and the switch element is switched on.

  Next, the detail of the structure of the said rotation operation member 2 is demonstrated.

  The rotating operation member 2 is formed of a material that is relatively easily elastically deformed, such as a synthetic resin, and is formed from the main body portion 21, the pressing portions 22 </ b> A and 22 </ b> B, and both ends of the main body portion 21 in the front-rear direction. Each has an extended spring portion 23A, 23B.

  The main body 21 includes a substantially rectangular top plate 21a extending in the front-rear direction, a front wall 21b hanging downward from a front end portion of the top plate 21a, and both left and right ends of the top plate 21a. It has side walls 21c and 21d that hang down and a rear wall 21e that hangs down from the rear end of the top plate 21a. The front wall 21b, the side walls 21c and 21d, and the rear wall 21e are connected to each other at adjacent ends to form a peripheral wall along the peripheral edge of the top plate 21a.

  The front wall 21b is formed in a shape in which the lower surface of the central portion in the left-right direction protrudes downward from the lower surfaces of both end portions, and the portion protruding below the central portion is the pressing portion 22A. Similarly, the rear wall 21e is formed such that the lower surface of the central portion in the left-right direction protrudes downward from the lower surfaces of both end portions, and the portion protruding below the central portion serves as the pressing portion 22B. Yes. Further, at the central part of the inner side surface of the front wall 21b and the rear wall 21e in the left-right direction, a ridge extending in the vertical direction from the back surface (the lower surface in FIGS. 2 and 3) of the top plate 21a to the pressing portions 22a and 22B. A portion 21g is formed to increase the strength of the central portion.

  The side walls 21c and 21d are formed in such a shape that the lower surface is inclined upward from both ends in the front-rear direction, and the lower surface protrudes downward in the central portion to form a convex portion 21f. Yes. And the rotating shaft 24 extended in the left-right direction is each protrudingly provided by the outer surface of both the convex parts 21f.

  Each of the pivot shafts 24 can be fitted into a through-hole 12 provided in a portion of the peripheral wall 12 of the recess 11 facing the side walls 21c and 21d. Then, the rotation operation member 2 is held on the panel 1 so that the main body 21 can be rotated around the rotation shaft 24 by fitting the rotation shafts 24 into the respective through holes 12. . Further, when the rotation operation member 2 is in the neutral position shown in FIG. 4A, the surface of the top plate 21a is positioned substantially on the same plane as the surface 15 of the panel 1.

  As shown in FIG. 2, each of the spring portions 23A and 23B is configured as a pair of left and right, and the pair of front spring portions 23A are connected to the front end portions of the side walls 21c and 21d of the main body portion 21, respectively. The pair of spring portions 23B on the rear side are connected to the rear end portions of the side walls 21c and 21d of the main body portion 21, respectively. These spring portions 23A and 23B have a width from the outer surface of the side walls 21c and 21d to the vicinity of the pressing portions 22A and 22B (see FIG. 2), and the front end of the side walls 21c and 21d. It extends inward so as to be opposed to each other from the rear end portion or the rear end portion to form a cantilever shape, and can be bent and deformed (elastically deformed) in the vertical direction.

  Specifically, each of the spring portions 23A and 23B has a base portion 231 that extends slightly downward from the front end portion or the rear end portion of the side walls 21c and 21d, and the rotating portion so as to face each other from the lower end portion of the base portion 231. A beam portion 232 that extends inward to the vicinity of the moving shaft 24, and a contact portion 233 that extends downward substantially parallel to each other from the distal end portion of the beam portion 232 and that has a distal end that contacts the bottom surface 11c of the concave portion 11. Yes.

  The front end of the contact portion 233 is formed in an arc shape in a side view, and the spring portions 23A and 23B are elastically deformed regardless of the posture of the main body portion 21, that is, the front end portion (inner side of the beam portion 232). The end portion is always in contact with the bottom surface 11c of the recess 11 in a state of being displaced upward.

  Next, the operation of this seesaw switch will be described.

  In the state where the rotation operation member 2 is not operated, both the pressing portions 22A and 22B receive the reaction force evenly from the switch elements 5A and 5B via the pressing force transmission members 3A and 3B. The rotation operation member 2 is held at a neutral position as shown in FIG. Specifically, the contact portions of the spring portions 23A and 23B in a state where the tip portions of the beam portions 232 of the spring portions 23A and 23B extending from both ends in the front-rear direction of the main body portion 21 are bent by an equal amount. The front ends of 233 are in elastic contact with the bottom surface 11c of the recess 11 (the top surface of the bottom wall 11a).

  In this state, when the rear portion of the surface of the top plate 21 of the rotation operation member 2 is pressed and the main body 21 is rotated, the tip of the beam portion 232 of the spring portion 23B as shown in FIG. While the pressing portion 22B is displaced downward while increasing the amount of bending, the pressing force transmitting member 3B is pushed by the pressing portion 22B and displaced downward together with the pressing portion 22B. Thereby, the pressing force of the pressing portion 22B is transmitted to the operated portion 51 of the switch element 5B via the pressing force transmitting member 3B.

  At this time, the pressing portion 22A on the opposite side is lifted by an amount equal to the pushing amount of the pressing portion 22B. The contact state between the tip and the bottom surface 11c of the recess 11 is maintained. That is, even if the pressing portion 22A is lifted, the contact state between the tip of the contact portion 233 of the spring portion 23A and the bottom surface 11c of the recess 11 is maintained, and the spring portion 23A is continuously provided by the elastic force of the spring portion 23A. The state where the upward biasing force is applied to the front end of the main body 21 is maintained.

  When the operation force is released from this operation state (for example, the finger is released from the top plate 21a of the rotation operation member 2), the reaction force of the switch element 5B is pressed by the rotation operation member 2 via the pressing force transmission member 3B. The rotation operation member 2 is finally returned to the neutral position after being transmitted to the portion 22B (that is, the pressing portion 22B is pushed back).

  At this time, the pressing portion 22A returns from the raised position to the neutral position. However, since the upward biasing force is applied to the front end portion of the main body portion 21 by the spring portion 23A, the pressing portion 22A is pressed. Abrupt collision with the pressure transmitting member 3A is suppressed, and almost no rattling noise is generated.

  Contrary to the above, when the front portion of the surface of the top plate 21a of the rotation operation member 2 is pressed (when pressed by the pressing portion 22A), the operating force is released as described above. Thus, it is possible to effectively suppress the generation of a rattling sound at the pressing portion 22B when returning to the neutral position.

  The effect of suppressing such a rattling noise is that the rotation operation member 2 is changed only by changing the shape of the rotation operation member 2 with almost no change on the panel 1 and the pressing force transmission members 3A and 3B. 2 can be obtained with a simple structure in which the spring portions 23A and 23B are integrally formed with a small number of parts, thereby improving the quality.

  In the present embodiment, a panel 1 is shown in which a portion that holds the rotation operation member 2 and a portion that holds the pressing force transmission members 3A and 3B are integrally formed as one that corresponds to the holding member according to the present invention. However, the holding member according to the present invention may be configured such that the portion that holds the rotation operation member 2 and the portion that holds the pressing force transmission members 3A and 3B are configured separately.

  The specific structure of the rotation operation member 2 can be set as appropriate, and is not limited to the button type shown in the present embodiment, but may be a knob type.

  Further, the rotation shaft 24 does not need to be provided on the rotation operation member 2, and is provided on the peripheral wall of the recess 11, and the rotation operation member 2 may be provided with the through hole 12.

  Furthermore, it is also possible to form the spring portions 23A and 23B in a substantially square shape that goes inward once but goes outward in the middle. However, in this case, the amount of bending of the tip of the spring portion increases, and there is a risk of causing unreasonable deformation of the spring portion, but the front end of the main body portion 21 as shown in the present embodiment. A beam portion 232 extending inward to the vicinity of the rotation shaft 24 so as to face each other from the front portion or the rear side end portion, and a contact portion 233 extending from the distal end portion of the beam portion 232 toward the bottom surface 11c of the concave portion 11. If the spring portions 23A and 23B are used, it is possible to suppress the fluctuation range of the bending amount of the distal end portion of the beam portion 232 when the rotation operation member 2 is rotated, so that the beam portion 232 is not deformed excessively. A biasing force can be applied to the front end or the rear end of the main body 21 without raising it, and a long life of the rotating operation member 2 can be ensured.

  Further, the base portion 231 may be omitted as the spring portions 23A and 23B. Furthermore, the contact portion 233 does not necessarily extend downward from the end of the distal end portion of the beam portion 232 as illustrated, and may extend downward from a position slightly closer to the base 231 from the end.

  Further, the positions where the pressing portions 22A and 22B are provided do not have to be at both end portions of the main body portion 21, but may be positions that are inward from both end portions, and the spring portions 23A and 23B are extended. The position need not be the front end and the rear end of the side walls 21c, 21d of the main body 21, but may be in the vicinity of the pressing portions 22A, 22B.

It is an exploded perspective view of a seesaw switch concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is the II-II sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is the III-III sectional view taken on the line of FIG. (A) is a cross-sectional side view showing a state where the rotation operation member is in a neutral position, and (b) is a cross-sectional side view showing a state where the front end portion of the rotation operation member is pressed. (A) (b) is a partial cross section side view which shows the operation state of the conventional general seesaw switch.

Explanation of symbols

1 Panel (holding member)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Recessed part 11a Bottom wall 13 Holding part 2 Rotating operation member 21 Main body part 22A, 22B Press part 23A, 23B Spring part 231 Base part 232 Beam part 233 Contact part 24 Rotating shaft 3A, 3B Pressing force transmission member 4 Printed circuit board 5A , 5B Switch element 51 Operated part

Claims (2)

A pair of switch elements having an operated part that receives a pressing operation, and a main body part that is located in a region straddling each switch element at a position spaced from the switch elements, and the switch elements on the back side of the main body part Each pressing portion has a pressing portion at a position corresponding to each of the pressing portions, and the main body portion is rotated about a rotating shaft positioned between the pressing portions, whereby each pressing portion corresponds to the corresponding cover. A rotation operation member that is displaced in a direction of moving toward and away from the operation unit; and each operated portion of the rotation operation member that is interposed between each pressing portion of the rotation operation member and the operation unit of the switch element corresponding thereto. A pressing force transmitting member for transmitting the pressing force received from the pressing portion to the operated portion together with the pressing portion that is displaced in a direction approaching the rotating portion, and the rotating operation member about the rotating shaft Rotation operation And a holding member for movably holding the respective pressure transmitting member at the back side of the rotating operation member in the pressing direction of the pressing portion holds so that the ability,
The rotating operation member is located between the main body portion and the holding member and is always in contact with the holding member in an elastically deformed state, and a portion near the pressing portions in the main body portion due to its elastic force. The pressing portion has a spring portion that applies an urging force opposite to the direction in which the pressing force transmitting member is pressed, and the spring portion, the main body portion, and the pressing portion are integrally formed. Seesaw switch featuring The seesaw switch according to claim 1,
The spring portion extends inward from the vicinity of each pressing portion in the main body to the vicinity of the rotation shaft so as to face each other, and extends from the tip of the beam toward the holding member. And a seesaw switch having a contact portion whose tip contacts the holding member.

Images