JP4662282B2 - Switch device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a switch device including a switch element that conducts when electrodes are brought into contact with each other according to a pressing operation on a movable portion.

In recent switch devices, there is an increasing need in the market for a switch device for low load operation, for example, a membrane switch, which can conduct between contacts by a low load pressing operation.
A conventional membrane switch provides a predetermined gap with a spacer between a sheet-like movable electrode and a fixed electrode, and conducts between contacts with a low load by a user's pressing operation on the sheet-like movable electrode. (See Patent Document 1).
JP 2005-528740 Gazette

  However, since such a membrane switch is provided with a predetermined gap between the movable electrode and the fixed electrode formed on the sheet so that conduction between the contacts can be performed with a low load, when used in a high temperature situation In addition, the sheet-like movable electrode and the fixed electrode may thermally expand due to heat, and the contacts may come into contact with each other to cause a malfunction.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is a switch that does not cause a malfunction even when used in a high temperature situation in a configuration in which contact is conducted with a low load operation. To provide an apparatus.

  The present invention includes an upper movable portion having an upper electrode on the lower surface and located at a predetermined upper position, and a lower electrode facing the upper electrode with a predetermined gap between the upper electrode and a predetermined lower side. The lower movable part located at the position and the lower movable part move from the lower position toward the upper position as the upper movable part moves from the upper position toward the lower position. And a switching device including a switch element that conducts when the upper electrode contacts the lower electrode in response to a pressing operation on the upper movable portion, wherein the upper movable portion and the lower side The movable part is configured to be positioned at the upper position and the lower position only by their own weight in a non-pressing operation state with respect to the upper movable part (Claim 1).

  In the above configuration, the upper movable portion and the lower movable portion are part of an annular belt, and the interlocking means rotatably supports both sides of the upper movable portion and the lower movable portion in the annular belt. It may be a rotating body (claim 2).

Further, the upper movable part and the lower movable part are composed of parallel links of a parallel link mechanism,
The interlocking means may be a shaft portion that swingably supports an intermediate portion of a swing link that connects the upper movable portion and the lower movable portion of the parallel link mechanism. ).

  A plurality of the switch elements may be mounted on a printed circuit board, and the printed circuit board may be covered with a protective sheet to constitute a membrane switch.

  According to the switch device of the first aspect, when the upper movable portion is pressed, the upper movable portion moves from the upper position toward the lower position. Then, since the lower movable part moves from the lower position toward the upper position by the interlocking means, the switch element becomes conductive when the upper electrode comes into contact with the lower electrode in response to a pressing operation on the upper movable part.

  Here, even if the upper movable portion and the lower movable portion are deformed by heat due to the high ambient temperature, the upper electrode and the lower electrode are separated from each other with a predetermined gap. It is possible to prevent the switch element from malfunctioning without contacting the lower electrode and conducting.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the upper movable portion and the lower movable portion can be formed of an annular belt.
According to invention of Claim 3, an upper side movable part and a lower side movable part can be comprised from a parallel link mechanism.
According to invention of Claim 4, it can implement as a membrane switch.

(First embodiment)
A first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a membrane switch will be described below with reference to FIGS.

  First, FIG. 2 shows an embodiment in which the present invention is used as a switch device used for the operation of car navigation of an automobile. The switch device 1 is installed at a position where the driver can operate while driving the vehicle, and the operation position with respect to the switch device 1 is displayed as a cursor position on the display 3 of the car navigation 2. Yes.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the switch device 1 is configured by housing a printed circuit board 4 (see FIG. 1) in a case. A plurality of switch elements 5 are mounted on the surface of the printed circuit board 4 in a matrix, and the switch elements 5 are covered with a protective sheet 6 to form a membrane switch. The user can perform a determination operation by gently tracing the surface of the switch device 1 and releasing his / her finger from the switch device 1 when the user comes to a position to be determined.

FIG. 1 shows a side view of the switch element 5. The switch element 5 includes a support portion 7, a rotating body 8 (corresponding to interlocking means), an annular belt 9, an upper electrode 10, and a lower electrode 11.
The support portion 7 is formed by, for example, precision processing of a metal member, and a pair of the same shape (only the support portion on the back side is shown in FIG. 1) is disposed on the printed circuit board 4 so as to face each other. Yes. A rotating body 8 is rotatably supported between the upper portions of the support portions 7. A pair of the support portion 7 and the rotating body 8 configured as described above are provided on the printed circuit board 4 with a predetermined distance therebetween, and an annular belt 9 formed of an inelastic member is bridged between the rotating bodies 8. Yes. In the present embodiment, the upper side of the annular belt 9 that is bridged between the rotating bodies 8 is set as the upper movable portion 12, and the lower side is set as the lower movable portion 13. The upper portion of the rotating body 8 is protected by a protective member (not shown) in order to prevent being pressed through the protective sheet 6 when a pressing operation is performed by the user as will be described later.

  When the circumference of the rotating body 8 is S and the distance between the centers of the pair of rotating bodies 8 is L, the length of the annular belt 9> 2L + S (= the dimension without any play of the annular belt 9). It is formed to become.

  In the annular belt 9, the upper electrode 10 is provided at the center of the lower surface of the portion that becomes the upper movable portion 12, and the lower electrode 11 is provided in the positional relationship facing the upper electrode 10 at the portion that becomes the lower movable portion 13. . The upper electrode 10 and the lower electrode 11 are formed of a conductive copper member in a flat rectangular shape, and the lower electrode 11 is formed in a shape larger than the upper electrode 10. By setting the length of the annular belt 9> 2L + S and the weight of the upper electrode 10 <the weight of the lower electrode 11, it is possible to move the lower side in a state where both sides of the upper movable part 12 are supported by the rotating body 8 in a normal state. While being tensioned by being pulled by the weight of the portion 13, both sides of the lower movable portion 13 are loosened and drooped from the rotating body 8 by its own weight. In this case, in the normal state, the upper movable portion 12 is located at the upper position, and the lower movable portion 13 is located at the lower position.

  The upper electrode 10 and the lower electrode 11 are connected to a conductive pattern (not shown) of the printed circuit board 4 through the flexible wiring 14. And according to a user's pressing operation, when the upper electrode 10 and the lower electrode 11 contact, it has the structure which conducts to the printed circuit board 4 through the flexible wiring 14. FIG. The flexible wiring 14 is formed in a coil shape so that it does not apply a load to the upper movable portion 12 and the lower movable portion 13 by expanding and contracting even when the positions of the upper electrode 10 and the lower electrode 11 fluctuate. It has become.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the switch element 5.
When the car navigation 2 is operated, a button corresponding to an operation that can be operated at that time is displayed on the display 3. The driver of the vehicle performs a low-load pressing operation (touch operation) with a finger on the surface of the switch device 1 as if tracing the surface of the switch device 1. Then, the upper movable part 12 of the switch element 5 located at the site where the pressing operation is performed with the finger is pushed downward from the upper position shown in FIG. At this time, since the rotating body 8 supporting both sides of the upper movable section 12 rotates as the upper movable section 12 moves downward, the lower movable section 13 moves along with the rotation of the rotating body 8. Move upward. As a result, the upper electrode 10 provided on the upper movable portion 12 descends from the upper position toward the lower position, and the lower movable portion 13 moves from the lower position toward the upper position as the rotating body 8 rotates. Thus, the upper electrode 10 and the lower electrode 11 provided to face the inner peripheral portion of the annular belt 9 come into contact with each other and become conductive (ON).

  When the upper electrode 10 and the lower electrode 11 are in a conductive state in this way, a detection signal indicating that the switch element 5 is turned on is output to the car navigation 2. In this case, when the plurality of switch elements 5 are turned on in response to a touch operation by the user, a detection signal indicating that the plurality of switch elements 5 are turned on is output to the car navigation 2.

  When the car navigation 2 detects that one switch element 5 is turned on, the car navigation 2 moves the cursor displayed on the display 3 to a position corresponding to the position of the switch element 5 that is turned on. When a plurality of switch elements 5 are on, the cursor is moved to the center position of the switch elements 5. Accordingly, when the driver moves the touch operation position with respect to the switch device 1, the cursor position displayed on the display 3 is moved accordingly. At this time, when the cursor is positioned on the button displayed on the display 3, the button is selected to indicate that the button is selected.

  When a desired button displayed on the display 3 is selected and displayed by a touch operation on the switch device 1, the driver releases the touch operation on the switch device 1. Thereby, at the position where the finger is released from the switch device 1, the switch element 5 at that position is finally turned off. Therefore, the car navigation 2 determines that the determination operation has been performed at the position of the switch element 5 that was last turned off. . In this case, similarly to the case where the switch element 5 is turned on, when the plurality of switch elements 5 are simultaneously turned off, it is determined that the determination operation is performed at the center position.

When the determination operation is performed in a state where the buttons are selected and displayed as described above, the car navigation 2 performs an operation according to the button selected and displayed at that time.
By the way, since the switch device 1 of the present embodiment is mounted on a vehicle, the temperature inside the vehicle becomes high particularly during the stop of the temperature such as summer, and the switch device 1 may also become high temperature. there were. In the conventional membrane switch, the sheet sandwiching the sheet-like movable electrode and the fixed electrode expands due to heat, and the contacts may come into contact with each other to cause a malfunction.
On the other hand, in a capacitive switch device that does not have the possibility of such a problem, especially when used in a car with many electronic devices, the electric field strength may change due to the influence of noise, resulting in malfunction. was there.

However, according to the present embodiment, the lower movable portion 13 in the annular belt 9 is provided heavier than the upper movable portion 12, thereby positioning the upper movable portion 12 and the lower movable portion 13 at the upper position and the lower position, respectively. Since the ambient temperature is high unlike the conventional membrane switch in which the sheet-like movable electrode and the fixed electrode come into contact with each other due to an increase in the ambient temperature, the entire length of the annular belt 9 is caused by heat. Even if (the dimensions of the upper movable portion 12 and the lower movable portion 13) becomes longer, the upper electrode 10 and the lower electrode 11 are separated from each other with a sufficient predetermined gap. Therefore, it is possible to prevent malfunction from occurring. This is because even if the total length of the annular belt 9 (the dimensions of the upper movable portion 12 and the lower movable portion 13) is shortened due to the low ambient temperature, the upper electrode 10 and the lower electrode 11 have a sufficient predetermined gap. In the same way, it is possible to prevent malfunctions.
Moreover, since the switch element 5 is composed of mechanical elements, it is possible to realize a switch device that is not affected by the noise of the electronic equipment provided around the switch element 5.

(Second embodiment)
FIGS. 4 and 5 show a second embodiment of the present invention. The substantially same parts as those in the above embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted, and different parts will be described.
FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the switch element 5. The switch element 5 shown in FIG. 4 is characterized in that the upper movable portion and the lower movable portion are constituted by a parallel link mechanism.
FIG. 4 shows a side view of the switch element 5, and the switch element 5 includes a support portion 21, a parallel link mechanism 22, an upper electrode 10, and a lower electrode 11.

A shaft portion 23 (corresponding to interlocking means) is provided at the tip of the support portion 21 erected on the printed circuit board 4, and the parallel link mechanism 22 is supported on the shaft portion 23.
The parallel link mechanism 22 includes an upper movable portion 24 and a lower movable portion 25 (corresponding to a parallel link) made of an insulating member, and a pair of swing links 26. The upper movable portion 24 and the lower movable portion 25 have the same shape, and both ends of the upper movable portion 24 and the lower movable portion 25 are connected to each other so as to be rotatable at the shaft portion 23 by a swing link 26. The central portion of the swing link 26 is rotatably supported by the shaft portion 23 at the tip of the support portion. A stopper (not shown) is provided on the support portion 21 so that the parallel link mechanism 22 does not rotate counterclockwise.

  The upper electrode 10 is provided on the lower surface of the upper movable portion 24 at the left side in the figure, and the lower electrode 11 is provided on the upper surface of the lower movable portion 25 in the right side position. The lower electrode 11 is formed in a larger shape than the upper electrode 10. Thereby, the upper movable part 24 is located at the upper position, and the lower movable part 25 is located at the lower position.

  By configuring the parallel link mechanism 22 as described above, the swing link 26 swings clockwise about the shaft portion 23 when a pressing operation is performed from above, and accordingly the upper link is movable. The part 24 translates from the upper position to the lower position and the lower movable part 25 translates from the lower position to the upper position, so that the upper movable part 24 and the lower movable part 25 are close to each other. To do. The upper electrode 10 and the lower electrode 11 are respectively positioned on the upper movable portion 24 and the lower movable portion 25 so as to come into contact with each other as the swing link 26 swings.

  The upper electrode 10 and the lower electrode 11 are connected to a conductive pattern (not shown) of the printed circuit board 4 through the flexible wiring 14. When the upper electrode 10 and the lower electrode 11 come into contact with each other according to the pressing operation by the user, the printed circuit board 4 is electrically connected through the flexible wiring 14.

When the user finishes the pressing operation and releases the finger from the switch element 5, the parallel link mechanism 22 returns to the initial state shown in FIG.
And the switch element 5 of the said structure is mounted in the matrix form on the surface of the printed circuit board 4, and these switch elements 5 are coat | covered with the protection sheet 6, and are comprised as a membrane switch.

According to such an example, even if it is the composition which adopted parallel link mechanism 22, switch device 1 which is not influenced by heat like 1st example is realizable.
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, and the following modifications or expansions are possible.

  The upper electrode 10 and the lower electrode 11 only need to be conductive and need not be in any shape. The upper electrode 10 and the lower electrode 11 are connected to the conductive pattern of the printed circuit board 4 by the flexible wiring 14, but in summary, the upper electrode 10 and the lower electrode 11 are connected to the conductive pattern of the printed circuit board 4. It is only necessary to be able to cope with fluctuations.

The support portions 7 and 21 may be cantilevered as long as they are configured to support the rotating body 8 or the swing link 26 without being paired.
The lower electrode 11 in the first embodiment is formed in a shape larger than that of the upper electrode 10, but by providing an electrode heavier than the upper part of the annular belt 9 below the annular belt 9, The lower electrode 11 may be configured to be slack, and the lower electrode 11 may be formed of a member having a specific gravity higher than that of the upper electrode 10 even if the shape is the same.

  Although the rotating body 8 in the first embodiment rotates in response to a pressing operation on the switch element 5, the upper movable portion 12 and the lower movable portion 13 can move in response to a pressing operation on the annular belt 9. The annular belt 9 may be configured to be slidable at a position where the annular belt 9 becomes the rotating body 8.

  The lower electrode 11 in the second embodiment is formed to have a larger shape than the upper electrode 10. However, the lower electrode 11 heavier than the upper electrode 10 is provided on the upper surface of the lower movable portion 25 at a normal time or pressed. It is sufficient that the configuration returns to the initial position after the operation is completed, and the lower electrode 11 only needs to be formed of a member having a specific gravity higher than that of the upper electrode 10 even in the same shape. Further, although the upper electrode 10 is provided at a position on the left side of the upper movable portion 24 and the lower electrode 11 is provided at a position on the right side of the lower movable portion 25, when the pressing operation is performed, Any arrangement relationship may be used as long as the lower electrode 11 can come into contact therewith.

  The swing link 26 of the parallel link mechanism 22 in the second embodiment is formed in the same shape as a pair. However, even if the shape is different, the upper electrode is used when a pressing operation is performed. 10 and the lower electrode 11 may be configured to be in contact with each other.

  The swing link 26 of the parallel link mechanism 22 in the second embodiment is provided with a stopper (not shown) on the support portion 21 so as not to rotate counterclockwise, but is provided so as not to rotate clockwise. It may be configured to be rotatable in both directions without providing a stopper. In this case, it is necessary to provide a plurality of upper movable parts 24 and a plurality of lower movable parts 25 so that the upper electrode 10 and the lower electrode 11 are in contact with each other regardless of which direction the swing link 26 rotates.

The side view which shows typically the switch element in 1st Example of this invention Perspective view of switch device 1 equivalent view showing the operating state of the switch element FIG. 1 equivalent view showing a second embodiment of the present invention. 3 equivalent figure

Explanation of symbols

In the drawings, 1 is a switch device, 5 is a switch element, 8 is a rotating body (interlocking means), 9 is an annular belt, 10 is an upper electrode, 11 is a lower electrode, 12 is an upper movable part, 13 is a lower movable part, Reference numeral 21 denotes a support portion, 22 denotes a parallel link mechanism, 23 denotes a shaft portion (interlocking means), 24 denotes an upper movable portion (parallel link), 25 denotes a lower movable portion (parallel link), and 26 denotes a swing link.

Claims (4)

An upper movable portion having an upper electrode on the lower surface and positioned at a predetermined upper position and a lower electrode facing the upper electrode with a predetermined gap between the upper electrode and the upper electrode are positioned at a predetermined lower position. A lower movable portion, and interlocking means for moving the lower movable portion from the lower position toward the upper position as the upper movable portion moves from the upper position toward the lower position. A switch device comprising a switch element that conducts when the upper electrode contacts the lower electrode in response to a pressing operation on the upper movable part,
The upper movable portion and the lower movable portion are configured to be positioned at the upper position and the lower position, respectively, only in their own weight in a non-pressing operation state with respect to the upper movable portion. Switch device. The upper movable part and the lower movable part are formed of a part of an annular belt,
2. The switch device according to claim 1, wherein the interlocking unit is a rotating body that rotatably supports both sides of the upper movable portion and the lower movable portion of the annular belt. The upper movable part and the lower movable part are composed of parallel links of a parallel link mechanism,
The interlocking means is a shaft portion that pivotably supports an intermediate portion of a swing link that connects the upper movable portion and the lower movable portion of the parallel link mechanism. The switch device according to 1. A plurality of the switch elements are mounted on a printed circuit board,
4. The switch device according to claim 1, wherein the switch board is configured as a membrane switch by covering the printed board with a protective sheet.

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