JP6468882B2 - Switch device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a switch device, and more particularly to a switch device having an operation lever.

  As an example of a switch device provided with an operation lever, a plurality of rotary knobs for selecting the operation of a headlamp, a fog lamp, etc. of an automobile are provided with an operation lever coaxially arranged in a long cylindrical case. There is an in-vehicle switch device in which an operation lever is swingably disposed on a side portion of a steering column (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  The conventional on-vehicle switch device described in Patent Document 1 includes a flexible printed wiring board inside an operation lever. A switch is constituted by a movable contact provided inside the rotary knob and a fixed contact formed on the flexible printed circuit board, and the switch is turned on and off by a rotation operation of the rotary knob.

JP 2003-45287 A

  By the way, in this type of on-vehicle switch device, the flexible printed wiring board is routed from the movable contact of the rotary knob to the connector terminal connected to the external wiring on the steering column side. Therefore, when the operation lever is swung, a force that is swung against the flexible printed wiring board acts.

  As a measure to prevent deflection of the flexible printed circuit board, the amount of deflection of the flexible printed circuit board is suppressed by using positioning pins or guide members. There has been a problem that fine sliding wear occurs due to minute vibration during swinging.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a switch device capable of preventing the occurrence of fine sliding wear at the connection portion between the flexible wiring board and the connector terminal.

[1] The present invention provides a cylindrical lever movable portion that can be operated in multiple directions, a unit case that supports the lever movable portion, a movable contact provided in the lever movable portion, and a unit case. A connector terminal; a flexible wiring board connected to the movable contact and the connector terminal; and an anti-vibration portion for preventing vibrations generated at a connection portion of the flexible wiring board and the connector terminal. The portion is constituted by a pair of projecting walls that sandwich the flexible wiring board at positions facing the inner surface of the unit case.

[2] The unit case described in [1] includes an upper case and a lower case that support the lever movable portion, and a protector cover that covers a lower space of the lower case, and the pair of protruding walls includes The protector cover facing surface of the lower case and the lower case facing surface of the protector cover are provided.

[3] The insulator having the connector terminal is provided in a lower space of the lower case described in [2].

  According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent fine sliding wear from occurring at the connection portion between the flexible wiring board and the connector terminal.

It is a schematic diagram which shows typically the external appearance of the switch apparatus which concerns on suitable embodiment for this invention. It is a principal part cross-sectional schematic diagram for demonstrating the inside of the switch apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a perspective schematic diagram which shows the flexible wiring board applied to the switch apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a principal part cross-sectional schematic diagram for demonstrating the inside of the switch apparatus which concerns on other embodiment.

  Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(Configuration of switch device)
1 and 2, reference numeral 1 generally indicates a typical switch device according to the present embodiment.

  The switch device 1 includes a unit case 2 which is a switch body supported on a side portion of a steering column of an automobile, for example, and the cylindrical lever movable portion 3 is swung in the unit case 2 in multiple directions in the front-rear and up-down directions. Supports movable. The lever movable portion 3 is configured as a combination lever switch in which a fog switch knob 4, a fixed knob 5, and a light switch knob 6 are arranged on the same axis.

  Inside the lever movable part 3 is incorporated a first contact unit (not shown) that switches the contact between the fixed contact and the movable contact by rotating the fog switch knob 4 or the light switch knob 6.

  The fog switch knob 4 is configured to be rotatable with respect to the fixed knob 5 to an on position where the fog lamp is turned on and an off position where the fog lamp is turned off. The light switch knob 6 is configured to be rotatable with respect to the fixed knob 5 to an off position where the taillight and the headlight are turned off, a tail position where the taillight is turned on, and a head position where the headlight is turned on.

  The unit case 2 includes an upper case 7 and a lower case 8 that support the lever movable portion 3, and a protector cover 9 that covers a lower space of the lower case 8. A second contact provided with an insulator 10 having a fixed contact (not shown) and a connector 11 having a connector terminal connected to the fixed contact of the insulator 10 in a space below the opening formed in the middle portion of the lower case 8. Unit is arranged.

  A cylindrical bracket 12 is supported on the upper cover 7 and the lower cover 8 via vertical support shafts 12a and 12a so as to be able to swing back and forth. A cylindrical portion of the operating lever 13 is supported in the cylindrical portion of the bracket 12 so as to be swingable up and down via a horizontal support shaft 13a. The operation lever 13 is connected and fixed to the lever movable portion 3.

  A lever operating member 15 is supported in the cylinder portion of the operation lever 13 via a compression coil spring 14 so as to be able to advance and retract. The lever operating member 15 is positioned by a moderation portion 12 b having a mountain-shaped moderation surface formed on the inner surface of the bracket 12.

  An operating element 13b extending toward the insulator 10 through the opening of the lower case 8 is provided on the outer surface of the cylindrical portion of the operating lever 13, and the distal end of the operating element 13b is a movable holder to which a movable terminal 16a is attached. 16 is incorporated.

  By operating the lever movable part 3, the operator 13b moves. Following the movement of the operating element 13b, the movable holder 16 moves in the same direction. By moving the movable terminal 16a of the movable holder 16 to and away from the fixed contact of the insulator 10, switching such as passing and dimmer is performed.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the switch device 1 includes a hard substrate 21 attached to one end of the flexible wiring substrate 20 (hereinafter referred to as “FPC substrate 20”) on the lever movable portion 3 side. The cover 22 is fixed to the inner surface of the operation lever 13. The FPC board 20 is drawn in an S shape from the inside of the lever movable portion 3 to the inside of the unit case 2.

  The FPC board 20 is made of a long strip-like insulating film having flexibility, and a wiring pattern made of copper foil is formed on one side of the insulating film. The wiring pattern of the FPC board 20 includes a fixed contact (not shown) on the lever movable part 3 side formed on one end of the FPC board 20 and a fixed contact 23 on the unit case 2 side formed on the other end of the FPC board 20. It is connected to the.

  The movable contact of the lever movable portion 3 is connected to the fixed contact on the lever movable portion 3 side of the FPC board 20 to constitute a first contact unit. The connector 11 connected to the fixed contact of the insulator 10 is connected to the fixed contact 23 on the unit case 2 side of the FPC board 20 to constitute a second contact unit. The electrical connection of the first contact unit and the second contact unit is switched between a conductive state and a disconnected state by an operation of swinging the lever movable unit 3 in the front-rear and vertical directions.

(FPC board steady rest structure)
By the way, the switch device 1 configured as described above has a configuration in which the FPC board 20 is routed from the inside of the lever movable portion 3 to the inside of the unit case 2, so that when the lever movable portion 3 is operated, At the connection portion between the FPC board 20 and the connector 11, fine sliding wear due to minute vibration occurs. Unless this minute fluctuation is prevented, it is difficult to ensure a stable electrical connection state.

  Therefore, the main part of the switch device 1 according to the present embodiment is the structure of the steadying portion 30 that prevents the FPC board 20 from shaking when the lever movable portion 3 is operated.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the steady rest 30 includes a pair of projecting walls 31 and 32 that sandwich the FPC board 20 at opposing positions on the inner surface of the unit case 2, and the unit case 2 of the FPC board 20. The other end on the side is sandwiched near the connector 11 of the insulator 10.

  The protruding wall 31 in the illustrated example is constituted by a first clamping protrusion 8 a formed to protrude from the inner surface of the lower case 8. The sandwiching protrusion 8a is made of, for example, a side wall or a vertical rib of the lower case 8. One projecting wall 32 is configured by a second sandwiching projection 9 a formed to project from the inner surface of the protector cover 9 in correspondence with the arrangement position of the first sandwiching projection 8 a. The sandwiching protrusion 9a is made of, for example, a lateral rib or a protrusion.

  The amount of deflection of the FPC board 20 is suppressed by sandwiching the FPC board 20 between the opposing surfaces formed between the first holding protrusion 8a and the second holding protrusion 9a. The sandwiching projection 8a and the sandwiching projection 9a can have a minimum size and form sufficient to sandwich the FPC board 20, and the fixed contact 23 of the FPC board 20 and the connector terminal of the connector 11 can be used. Fine sliding wear due to minute vibrations generated between the two is prevented.

(Effect of embodiment)
According to the switch device 1 configured as described above, in addition to the above effects, the following effects can be obtained.

  Since the amount of vibration of the FPC board 20 during the operation of the lever movable part 3 is suppressed, a stable electrical connection state can be secured and generation of contact noise due to the fluctuation of the FPC board 20 in the unit case 2 is generated. Can also be prevented.

  Since the steady rest structure can be set on the inner surface forming the internal space of the unit case 2, the narrow space of the unit case 2 can be used effectively.

  As for the steady rest portion 30 of the FPC board 20, the example of use applied to the FPC board 20 drawn in an S shape with a margin has been shown. However, it is not limited to when there is a margin in the routing of the FPC board 20. Absent.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the steady rest portion 30 is provided in a case where there is no allowance for routing the FPC board 20, that is, the FPC board 20 is drawn linearly from the inside of the lever movable portion 3 to the inside of the unit case 2. Even if it is a case, generation | occurrence | production of the fine sliding wear between the stationary contact 23 of the FPC board | substrate 20 and the connector terminal of the connector 11 can be prevented.

  Therefore, the use of the above-described steadying portion 30 prevents the occurrence of fine sliding wear between the fixed contact 23 of the FPC board 20 and the connector terminal of the connector 11 regardless of the length or the drawn state of the FPC board 20. It becomes possible to do.

  In the above-described embodiment and the illustrated example, the combination lever switch including the light system switch for switching the lighting on / off state of the headlamp, the fog lamp, and the like of the automobile is illustrated, but the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention can also be applied to a combination lever switch having other uses such as a wiper switch for operating the wiper and a switch device having various operation levers.

  Moreover, although the case where it applied to a motor vehicle was demonstrated in the said embodiment and illustration example, this invention is not limited to this, For example, it can apply effectively to various vehicles, such as a construction machine and an agricultural machine. Of course.

  As is clear from the above description, typical embodiments and illustrated examples according to the present invention are illustrated, but the above-described embodiments and illustrated examples do not limit the invention according to the claims. Therefore, it should be noted that not all the combinations of features described in the above embodiments and the illustrated examples are essential to the means for solving the problems of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Switch apparatus, 2 ... Unit case, 3 ... Lever movable part, 4 ... Fog switch knob, 5 ... Fixed knob, 6 ... Light switch knob, 7 ... Upper case, 8 ... Lower case, 8a, 9a ... Nipping protrusion , 9 ... Protector cover, 10 ... Insulator, 11 ... Connector, 12 ... Bracket, 12a ... Vertical support shaft, 12b ... Moderation portion, 13 ... Operation lever, 13a ... Horizontal support shaft, 13b ... Operator, 14 ... Compression coil spring, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 ... Lever operation member, 16 ... Movable holder, 16a ... Movable terminal, 20 ... FPC board, 21 ... Hard board | substrate, 22 ... FPC cover, 23 ... Fixed contact, 30 ... Stabilizing part, 31, 32 ... Projection wall

Claims (2)

A cylindrical lever movable part that can be operated in multiple directions;
An upper case and a lower case that support the lever movable part, and a unit case having a protector cover that covers a lower space of the lower case;
A movable contact provided in the lever movable portion;
A connector terminal provided in the unit case;
A flexible wiring board connected to the movable contact and the connector terminal;
An anti-vibration portion for preventing the occurrence of vibration at the connection portion of the flexible wiring board and the connector terminal,
The steadying portion is configured by a pair of projecting walls that sandwich the flexible wiring board, and the pair of projecting walls are provided on a protector cover facing surface of the lower case and a lower case facing surface of the protector cover. A switch device characterized by that. The lower space of the lower case, the switch device according to claim 1, wherein the insulator having the connector terminals is provided.

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