JP5291520B2 - Dial switch and operation device for vehicle air conditioner using the same - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a dial switch using a photo interrupter as means for detecting rotation of a dial knob, and an operating device for a vehicle air conditioner using the dial switch.

  A dial switch operated by rotating a dial knob is widely used in various devices such as a temperature setting switch, an air volume setting switch, an audio device operation switch, etc. provided on an operation panel of a vehicle air conditioner. . In such a dial switch, since the dial knob is operated by operating the dial knob, it is necessary to detect the rotation direction of the dial knob. Conventionally, a contact type detection means has been generally employed.

  The dial switch is provided with a click mechanism (moderation mechanism) in order to improve the feeling when the dial knob is operated, so that a click feeling (moderation feeling) can be obtained during the rotation operation. As this click mechanism, there is known a mechanism in which a rotating member rotated together with a dial knob is provided with a wavefront, and a slider that is pressed against the wavefront from a direction orthogonal to each other via a spring or the like.

  However, since the contact type detection means described above is a contact type, it is inevitable that contact wear and frictional noise will be generated. There are problems such as shortening the service life. Therefore, in order to solve these problems, a pair of photo interrupters are used, and light passing portions and slit portions provided alternately at equal intervals on the rotating body are passed between the light emitting portion and the light receiving portion of the photo interrupter. A dial switch that can detect the rotation direction of the dial knob in a non-contact manner is used (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 3).

No. 1-336356 Utility Model Registration No. 2554702 JP 7-38969 A

  As described above, in the case of detecting the rotation direction of the dial knob using a pair of photo interrupters, when the pair of photo interrupters is A and B, the order from the photo interrupters A and B, for example, from A If the ON signal is input first, the rotation direction is recognized such as right rotation. Thus, in order to order the inputs of the two photointerrupters A and B, it is necessary to shift the input timing, and this shift is caused by the arrangement angle of the two photointerrupters A and B.

  For this reason, in the state where the slider of the click mechanism is positioned at the lowest point of the trough of the other wavefront unless the arrangement angle of the two photointerrupters A and B is appropriately set to ensure the deviation necessary for rotation detection, There is a problem that a photo interrupter is placed in the vicinity of the on / off switching position of the photo interrupter, and the allowable range for backlash in the rotation direction of the click mechanism is narrowed, and erroneous detection is likely to occur.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and is a dial switch that can reduce the on / off switching of a photo interrupter due to backlash in the rotation direction of the click mechanism, that is, misdetection of rotation. And it aims at providing the operating device of the vehicle air conditioner using the same.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the dial switch of the present invention and the operating device for a vehicle air conditioner using the dial switch employ the following means.
That is, the dial switch according to the present invention is arranged at a predetermined angle for detecting a rotation direction of the dial knob, a dial knob that is rotatably supported, a click mechanism that gives a click feeling to the rotation operation of the dial knob. In the dial switch including a pair of photo interrupters, the number of click stages of the click mechanism is n, and the light shielding part and the slit part rotating between the light emitting part and the light receiving part of the photo interrupter are equally spaced. When the number of the light shielding portions of the rotating bodies provided alternately is n, the arrangement angle α of the photo interrupter satisfies the following expression (1).
α = 360 / n * (2N ± 1 / l) (1)
However, n is an arbitrary integer satisfying 16 ≦ n ≦ 36, N is an arbitrary integer satisfying N ≧ 1, and l is 2 <l ≦ 360 / 5n.

  According to the present invention, in the dial switch that detects the rotation direction of the dial knob with a pair of photo interrupters, the number of click stages of the click mechanism is n, and the light shielding part and the slit rotate between the light emitting part and the light receiving part of the photo interrupter. When the number of light-shielding portions of the rotating body provided alternately at equal intervals is n, the arrangement angle α of the pair of photo interrupters is α = 360 / n * (2N ± 1 / l) However, n is an arbitrary integer satisfying 16 ≦ n ≦ 36, N is an arbitrary integer satisfying N ≧ 1, and l is configured to satisfy 2 <l ≦ 360 / 5n. When the slider is positioned at the lowest point of the trough of the other wavefront, it is possible to provide a margin for the photo interrupter on / off switching point with respect to the backlash in the rotation direction of the click mechanism. That. Therefore, erroneous detection of rotation due to rattling of the click mechanism can be reduced.

  Furthermore, in the dial switch according to the present invention, in the dial switch described above, in a state where the slider of the click mechanism is positioned at the lowest point of the valley of the counterpart wavefront, the light shielding portion and the slit portion of the rotating body are: The pair of photo interrupters are mirror-symmetric on a straight line that bisects the arrangement angle α.

  According to the present invention, in a state where the slider of the click mechanism is positioned at the lowest point of the valley of the counterpart wavefront, the light shielding portion and the slit portion of the rotating body bisect the arrangement angle α of the pair of photo interrupters. Since the mirror is symmetrical on a straight line, the right and left rotation input timings when the slider of the click mechanism moves from one trough to the next trough relative to the rotation of the dial knob in the left-right direction Can be at the same timing. Thereby, the operation feeling of the dial switch in both the left and right directions can be made uniform.

  Furthermore, in the dial switch according to the present invention, in any one of the dial switches described above, the pair of photo interrupters arranged at the angle α is located at a position outside the range of the lettering provided on the surface of the dial switch. It is arranged.

  According to the present invention, since the pair of photo interrupters arranged at the angle α is arranged at a position outside the range of the lettering provided on the surface of the dial switch, the photo interrupter case or the like becomes a wall. Therefore, the light from the backlight for the lettering is not blocked, and accordingly, uneven brightness or insufficient brightness for the lettering can be prevented.

  Furthermore, an operating device for a vehicle air conditioner according to the present invention is the operating device for a vehicle air conditioner provided with a temperature setting switch and an air volume setting switch. This dial switch is used.

  According to the present invention, any of the dial switches described above is used as the temperature setting switch and / or the air volume setting switch for operating the vehicle air conditioner. While being able to prevent detection, the operation feeling can be improved.

  According to the present invention, in the state where the slider of the click mechanism is positioned at the lowest point of the valley of the counterpart wavefront, the margin to the switching point of the photo interrupter on / off with respect to the backlash in the rotation direction of the click mechanism is obtained. Since a margin can be provided, erroneous detection of rotation due to rattling of the click mechanism can be reduced.

It is a perspective view of the control box of the vehicle air conditioner to which the dial switch which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention is applied. It is the longitudinal cross-sectional view (A) of the dial switch shown in FIG. 1, and its aa sectional drawing (B). FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a relationship between a rotating body of the dial switch shown in FIG. 2 and an arrangement angle of a photo interrupter. It is a top view which shows the center angle of the light-shielding part provided in the rotary body shown in FIG. 3, and a slit part. FIG. 3 is a development view (illustrated with the rotation side stopped and the stop side moved) showing the operational relationship between the photo interrupter and the click mechanism of the dial switch shown in FIG. 2. It is a graph which examines the arrangement | positioning angle of a pair of photo interrupter shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the relationship between the arrangement | positioning (A) which is easy to misdetect, and the arrangement | positioning (B) which is hard to misdetect with the click mechanism and photo interrupter shown in FIG. 7A and 7B are schematic diagrams (A) and (B) showing the arrangement relationships (A) and (B) shown in FIG. 7 together with the graph shown in FIG. 6.

Embodiments according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[First Embodiment]
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 shows an external perspective view of a control box of a vehicle air conditioner, and FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal sectional view of a dial switch applied thereto.
The control box (operation device) 1 includes a housing 2 in which a substrate 11 and other devices described later are built, and an operation panel 3 is provided on the front side thereof.

  On both sides of the operation panel 3, two dial switches 4 constituting a temperature temperature setting switch, an air volume setting switch and the like are disposed, and a display unit 5 and other push button switches 6 are disposed between them. ing. A push switch 9 including a pusher portion 7 and a key top portion 8 is provided at the center of the dial switch 4. The key top portion 8 of the push switch 9 can be provided with lettering (not shown) indicating functions of the dial switch 4 and the push switch 9.

  A cylindrical dial knob 10 constituting the dial switch 4 is rotatably supported via a rotation holder 12 provided on a substrate 11 and can be rotated around the push switch 9 in both directions. . A control circuit (not shown) is mounted on the substrate 11. Further, an annular collar portion 13 extending in the radial direction is integrally formed on the outer periphery of the lower portion of the cylindrical dial knob 10, and the lower surface thereof is as shown in FIG. The wave front 14 is formed by continuously and repeatedly forming valleys and valleys.

  A slider 15 is provided so as to be pressed against the wavefront 14 via a spring 16 from below in the vertical direction. The slider 15 is held by a holding portion 17 provided on the rotary holder 12 so as to be slidable in the vertical direction via a spring 16, and slides on the wavefront 14. Thus, a click mechanism 18 is provided that gives a click feeling to the rotation operation of the dial knob 10.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the skirt portion extending below the cylindrical dial knob 10 rotates between the light emitting portions 22 </ b> A and 23 </ b> A and the light receiving portions 22 </ b> B and 23 </ b> B of the pair of photointerrupters 22 and 23. The rotating body 19 in which the light shielding portions 20 and the slit portions 21 are alternately provided at equal intervals is integrally provided. As shown in FIG. 4, the light shielding unit 20 and the slit unit 21 have θ1 = θ2 when the center angles with respect to the center Φ of the rotating body 19 are θ1 and θ2, and the light shielding unit 20 is a photo interrupter 22. , 23, the angle θ for one cycle from the time when the optical path is blocked to the next time is θ1 + θ2.

  Note that the rotator 19 only needs to be capable of blocking and opening the optical paths of the photo interrupters 22 and 23, and does not require any particular strength. Therefore, as shown in FIG. The wall thickness is reduced and it is molded integrally.

  The pair of photo interrupters 22 and 23 are arranged on the substrate 11 with a predetermined arrangement angle α so as to oppose the rotation locus of the rotator 19. The photo interrupters 22 and 23 are provided with light emitting portions 22A and 23A and light receiving portions 22B and 23B, respectively. The light shielding portions 20 and the slit portions 21 of the rotating body 19 are alternately passed between the light interrupting portions 22A and 23A. It is configured to be released, and is known per se. Then, according to the order of input from the two photo interrupters 22 and 23, for example, when an ON signal from the photo interrupter 22 is input first, the rotation is right, and when an ON signal from the photo interrupter 23 is input first, the rotation is left. Thus, the rotation direction is recognized.

  An example of the operational relationship between the two photo interrupters 22, 23 and the click mechanism 18 is shown in FIG. FIG. 5 shows a state in which the wavefront 14 of the click mechanism 18 and the light shielding portion 20 of the rotating body 19 are rotated rightward in the order of (1) to (7). In FIG. 5, for the sake of convenience, a state in which the slider 15 and the photo interrupters 22 and 23 are moved is shown. 5 (1), the slider 15 of the click mechanism 18 is positioned at the lowest point of the valley of the wavefront 14, the slit portion 21 is rotated to the position of the photo interrupters 22, 23, and the photo interrupters 22, 23 are Both are turned on.

  When the wavefront 14 and the rotator 19 are rotated from the position (1), the slider 15 rises up the peak of the wavefront 14 as shown in (2), and the light path of the photointerrupter 22 is blocked by the light shielding unit 20. It is cut off and switched from on to off, and the photo interrupter 23 maintains the on state as it is. When the rotation further proceeds from the position (2), as shown in (3), the slider 15 starts to descend the peak of the wavefront 14, the photo interrupter 22 maintains the off state, and the photo interrupter 23 As a result, the optical path is interrupted and switched from on to off.

  When the rotation proceeds from the position (3) to the position (4), the slider 15 is again positioned at the lowest point of the valley of the wavefront 14, and both the photo interrupters 22 and 23 are turned off. When the rotation proceeds from the (4) position to the (5) position, the slider 15 rises up the peak of the wavefront 14, and the photo interrupter 22 is switched from OFF to ON by the slit 21 being opened by the optical path. Remains off. When the slider 15 is further rotated from the position (5) to the position (6), the slider 15 starts to descend the crest of the wavefront 14, the photo interrupter 22 is kept on, and the optical path of the photo interrupter 23 is opened by the slit portion 21. Switch from off to on. Then, when proceeding from the position (6) to the position (7), the slider 15 is positioned at the lowest point of the valley of the wavefront 14, and the position returns to the position (1) where both the photo interrupters 22 and 23 are turned on.

  As described above, when the wavefront 14 and the rotating body 19, that is, the dial knob 10 are sequentially rotated in the directions (1) to (7), the ON signal is input first from the photo interrupter 22, and the photo interrupter is delayed. Since an ON signal is input from 23, this case is recognized as a right rotation. On the other hand, when rotated in the direction from (7) to (1), the ON signal is input first from the photo interrupter 23, and the ON signal is input from the photo interrupter 22 later. Recognize as a left rotation.

That is, the rotation direction of the dial knob 10 is recognized by the order of input from the two photo interrupters 22 and 23. In order to set the input order of the photo interrupters 22 and 23, it is necessary to shift the input timing as described above, and the deviation of the input timing is caused by the arrangement angle α of the two photo interrupters 22 and 23.
In the following, the arrangement angle α of the photo interrupters 22 and 23 that causes a shift in input timing will be described with reference to FIG.

  The deviation required for the above rotation detection is empirically required to be 5 ° or more, and the phases of the on / off timing charts of the two photo interrupters 22 and 23 are shifted by 5 ° as shown in FIG. Further, the wavefront 14 is arranged such that the on-on center or the off-off center of the pair of photo interrupters 22 and 23 is a valley of the wavefront 14 of the click mechanism 18. In this state, the width D during which the two photo interrupters 22 and 23 are turned on / off or off / off is indicated by the position of the slider 15. As the width D, that is, the range in which the slider 15 settles in the valley of the counterpart wavefront 14 is larger, the dial switch 4 is more difficult to switch input (false detection) with respect to the rattling of the click mechanism 18, and the switching input ( This means that it is easy to detect errors.

  In the above description, the width D when the phases of the on-off timing charts of the two photo interrupters 22 and 23 are shifted by 5 ° (deviation angle) is 10 °. When the phase of the timing chart of the photo interrupters 22 and 23 is further shifted every 5 °, the width D when the deviation angle is 10 ° is 5 °, the width D when the deviation angle is 15 ° is 0 °, and the deviation angle When the angle is 20 °, the width D is 5 °, and when the deviation angle is 25 °, the width D is 10 °. From this point, it can be understood that if the arrangement angle α of the two photo interrupters 22 and 23 is shifted by 5 ° or 25 °, switching input (false detection) becomes difficult with respect to the rattling of the click mechanism 18.

Here, the calculation formula (1) for obtaining the optimum arrangement angle α of the pair of photo interrupters 22 and 23 that can reduce the erroneous detection of the rotation due to the backlash of the click mechanism 18 will be considered.
First, in one cycle of on-off of the photo interrupters 22 and 23, the number of stages of the click mechanism 18 (the number of valleys of the wavefront 14) is n, and each time the click mechanism 18 moves one stage, the optical path of the photo interrupters 22 and 23 Is OFF (light-shielding part 20) -ON (slit part 21) -OFF (light-shielding part 20), as shown in FIG. 4, the angle θ is an angle of one cycle. This one-cycle angle is one rotation (360 °) divided by the number of stages n of the click mechanism 18 and doubled, and is expressed by the following equations (2) and (3).
360 / n * 2N (2)
N ≧ 1 (3)
N is an arbitrary integer

On the other hand, the number of steps of the click mechanism 18 (the number of valleys of the wavefront 14) n is practically about 16 to 36, and can be expressed by the following equation (4).
16 ≦ n ≦ 36 (4)
Therefore, for example, when the number of stages n of the click mechanism 18 is 24, 360/24 = 15, 15 * 2 = 30, the period is 30 °, and the photointerrupter 23 is N = 1 with respect to the photointerrupter 22 as a reference. If it is 30 °, it may be arranged at a position of 60 ° when N = 2 and 90 ° when N = 3.

Next, the deviation necessary for rotation detection is considered. If this shift is considered to be obtained by dividing the central angle of the light-shielding portion 20 or the slit portion 21 into l, l is expressed by the following equation (5).
360 / n * 1 / l (5)
The shift l is generally set to l = 2. However, by setting l> 2, it is possible to easily absorb rattling of the click mechanism 18 and the photo interrupters 22 and 23 are turned on-off or off-off. It is possible to widen the wrapping cost of the area.

Further, the deviation angle is empirically required to be 5 ° or more (MIN 5 °). That is, from the above equation (5), if 360 / n * 1 / l ≧ 5, the deviation l is l ≦ 360 / 5n and can be expressed by the following equation (6).
2 <l ≦ 360 / 5n (6)
If the deviation angle is required to be 5 ° or more, the lap allowance is also 5 ° or more, and 360 / n ≧ 10 is established. This indicates that n = 36 is a substantially upper limit value.

From the above formulas (2) to (6), the optimum arrangement angle α between the two photointerrupters 22 and 23 is a combination of the above formula (2) representing the period and the above formula (5) representing the deviation. It can be represented by equation (1).
α = 360 / n * (2N ± 1 / l) (1)
However, as a condition, from the formulas (3), (4), and (6), N is an arbitrary integer of N ≧ 1, n is an arbitrary integer of 16 ≦ n ≦ 36, and l is 2 <l ≦ 360 / 5n.

  The two photo interrupters 22 and 23 are arranged at the arrangement angle α calculated by the above formula (1), but actually, the center part of the dial switch 4 is often subjected to lettering. In this case, it is necessary to arrange the photointerrupters 22 and 23 at positions outside the lettering range so that the case of the photointerrupters 22 and 23 becomes a wall and does not block the light from the backlight against the lettering. Therefore, in the above, for example, when the number of stages n of the click mechanism 18 is 24 and the deviation l is 2.5, when N is 1, α is 36 °, when N is 2, α is 66 °, When N is 3, α is 96 °, when N is 4, α is 126 °, and when N is 5, α is 156 °. Accordingly, the two photo interrupters 22 and 23 may be arranged by selecting a position out of the lettering range from the arrangement angle α.

With the configuration described above, according to the present embodiment, the following operational effects can be obtained.
By arranging the pair of photo interrupters 22 and 23 for detecting the rotation direction of the dial knob 10 at the arrangement angle α calculated by the above equation (1), the slider 15 of the click mechanism 18 is at the bottom of the valley of the counterpart wavefront 14. In the state of being located at the point, the photo interrupters 22 and 23 can be arranged at positions away from the on-off switching position.

  That is, in the case where the deviation l is 2 or less, as shown in FIG. 7A, the photo interrupter 22 is in a state where the slider 15 of the click mechanism 18 is positioned at the lowest point of the valley of the opponent wavefront 14. , 23 are arranged near the ON / OFF switching position, and erroneous detection occurs due to rattling of the click mechanism 18. On the other hand, in this embodiment, by making the above-mentioned deviation l larger than 2, as shown in FIG. 7B, the photo interrupters 22 and 23 are moved away from the on / off switching position. Can be arranged.

  For this reason, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, a margin to the on / off switching point of the pair of photo interrupters 22 and 23 with respect to the backlash in the rotation direction of the click mechanism 18 is provided. You can have it. That is, as shown in FIG. 8A, when the photo interrupters 22 and 23 are arranged close to the on / off switching position, the slider 15 of the click mechanism 18 moves to the bottom of the valley of the counterpart wavefront 14. In a state where the click mechanism 18 is positioned at the point, the allowable range S with respect to the backlash in the rotation direction of the click mechanism 18 is narrowed and easy to detect erroneously. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. By arranging 22 and 23 at positions away from the on-off switching position, the rotation direction of the click mechanism 18 in a state where the slider 15 of the click mechanism 18 is positioned at the lowest point of the valley of the counterpart wavefront 14. The allowable range S for rattling can be widened. Thereby, false detection of rotation can be reduced.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the pair of photo interrupters 22 and 23 arranged at the angle α calculated by the above formula (1) shields the illumination optical path for the lettering applied to the surface of the dial switch 4. In order to prevent this from happening, it is arranged at a position outside the range of lettering. For this reason, the case of the photo interrupters 22 and 23 becomes a wall so that the light from the backlight for the lettering is not blocked. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of uneven brightness or insufficient brightness due to the lettering. it can.

  Furthermore, by applying the dial switch 4 to the temperature setting switch and the air volume setting switch of the operating device (control box) 1 for operating the vehicle air conditioner, the performance and function of each switch are enhanced and erroneous detection is prevented. And the operational feeling can be improved.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
In the present embodiment, the light shielding portion 20 and the slit portion 21 of the rotating body 19 are mirror-symmetrical on a straight line that bisects the arrangement angle α of the pair of photo interrupters 22 and 23 with respect to the first embodiment described above. Is different. Since other points are the same as those in the first embodiment, description thereof will be omitted.
In the present embodiment, in a state where the slider 15 of the click mechanism 18 is positioned at the lowest point of the valley of the counterpart wavefront 14, the light shielding part 20 and the slit part 21 provided in the rotating body 19 are a pair of The left and right mirrors are symmetrical on a straight line that bisects the arrangement angle α of the photo interrupters 22 and 23.

  As described above, in the state where the slider 15 of the click mechanism 18 is positioned at the lowest point of the valley of the counterpart wavefront 14, the light shielding portion 20 and the slit portion 21 provided in the rotating body 19 are replaced with a pair of photo interrupters 22. , 23 is made to be mirror-symmetrical on a straight line that bisects the arrangement angle α, so that the slider 15 of the click mechanism 18 moves from the valley of the counterpart wavefront 14 to the next valley with respect to the rotation of the dial knob 10 in the left-right direction. The input timing of the right rotation and the left rotation when moving to can be made the same timing. For this reason, the operation feeling of the dial switch 4 in the left and right directions can be made uniform.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the invention concerning the said embodiment, In the range which does not deviate from the summary, it can change suitably. For example, in the above embodiment, the example in which the push switch 9 is provided at the center portion of the dial switch 4 has been described. However, it goes without saying that the present invention can be similarly applied to the dial switch 4 in which the push switch 9 is not provided. In this case, lettering may be performed directly on the key top portion of the dial knob 10.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the example which integrally molded the collar part 13 and the rotary body 19 in which the wave front 14 of the click mechanism 18 is formed in the dial knob 10, these do not necessarily need to be shape | molded integrally. Alternatively, a separate body may be used as appropriate. Further, it goes without saying that the slider 15 of the click mechanism 18 includes a ball.

1 Control box (operating device)
4 Dial switch 10 Dial knob 14 Wavefront 15 Slider 18 Click mechanism 19 Rotating body 20 Light shielding portion 21 Slit portions 22 and 23 Photo interrupters 22A and 23A Light emitting portions 22B and 23B Light receiving portions α Photo interrupter arrangement angle

Claims (4)

A dial knob that is rotatably supported, a click mechanism that gives a click feeling to the rotation operation of the dial knob, and a pair of photo interrupters that are arranged at a predetermined angle for detecting the rotation direction of the dial knob. Dial switch
The click mechanism has n click stages, and the number of the light shielding parts of the rotating body in which the light shielding parts and the slit parts rotating between the light emitting part and the light receiving part of the photo interrupter are alternately provided at equal intervals is A dial switch characterized in that when n, the arrangement angle α of the photo interrupter satisfies the following expression (1).
α = 360 / n * (2N ± 1 / l) (1)
However, n is an arbitrary integer satisfying 16 ≦ n ≦ 36, N is an arbitrary integer satisfying N ≧ 1, and l is 2 <l ≦ 360 / 5n.   In a state where the slider of the click mechanism is positioned at the lowest point of the valley of the counterpart wavefront, the light shielding portion and the slit portion of the rotating body bisect the arrangement angle α of the pair of photo interrupters. The dial switch according to claim 1, wherein the dial switch is mirror-symmetrical on a straight line.   3. The dial according to claim 1, wherein the pair of photointerrupters arranged at the angle α is arranged at a position outside a range of lettering provided on a surface of the dial switch. switch. In an operating device for a vehicle air conditioner provided with a temperature setting switch and an air volume setting switch, the dial switch according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is used as the temperature setting switch and / or the air volume setting switch. An operating device for a vehicle air conditioner.

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