JP6843222B2 - Operation panel of air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an operation panel provided in an air conditioner and adopting a capacitance method for detecting a change in charge capacitance.

Conventionally, some air conditioners are provided with an operation panel that accepts input operations by the user, and these days, capacitive operation panels are widely installed. The capacitance type operation panel accepts an input operation by the user by detecting a change in charge capacitance caused by the user's touch operation.

Some capacitive operation panels are equipped with a gasket whose charge capacity changes upon contact with the user. When a user touches a gasket on a substrate via a protective sheet attached to the panel body, such an operation panel accepts an input operation assigned to the gasket. Further, some capacitance type operation panels have a dielectric inserted between a protective sheet and an electrode in order to improve the dielectric constant and increase the sensitivity (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-192150

However, in a conventional operation panel as in Patent Document 1, when the protective sheet is attached to the panel body, static electricity generated from the operator's hand may enter the electrodes provided on the substrate and destroy the substrate circuit. There is. Further, in the conventional operation panel as in Patent Document 1, since the dielectric is integrally formed with the substrate, the process of attaching the dielectric is limited to the time of manufacturing the substrate.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an operation panel of an air conditioner that prevents damage to a substrate and eliminates manufacturing restrictions.

The operation panel of the air conditioner according to the present disclosure is an operation panel provided in the air conditioner, and the human body is located at a position corresponding to the fitting hole and the panel body provided with the hole forming the fitting hole. A substrate provided with a gasket whose charge capacity changes due to contact with the air conditioner, a resin button case that covers the gasket and is fitted into the fitting hole, and a design surface of the panel body so as to cover the button case. possess a protective sheet to be attached, to, the button case is closed and the side wall portion for covering the four sides of the gasket, and a design wall which closes one of the two openings formed by said side wall portion A seat portion having an L-shaped cross-sectional view is provided at an end portion of at least one side wall portion of the side wall portion on the side opposite to the design wall.

According to the present invention, since the resin button case that covers the gasket is provided, it is possible to suppress the intrusion of static electricity into the substrate, and the button case can be provided even after the manufacturing process of the substrate. It is possible to prevent damage and eliminate manufacturing restrictions.

It is a perspective view which shows the appearance of the air conditioning conditioner which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is an exploded perspective view which shows the operation panel of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the gasket of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the substrate of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the operation panel of FIG. It is an exploded perspective view which shows the state of assembling the panel body of FIG. 2 and a button case. It is a front view of the air conditioner of FIG. It is the schematic sectional drawing of the operation panel along the line AA of FIG.

Embodiment 1.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the air conditioning conditioner according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 illustrates a floor-standing air conditioner as the air conditioner 100. In FIG. 1, with reference to the air conditioner 100, the front-rear direction is the x-axis direction, the left-right direction is the y-axis direction, and the height direction is the z-axis direction. The same applies to each of the following figures.

As shown in FIG. 1, the air conditioner 100 includes a main body portion 10, a design panel 20, and an operation panel 30. The air conditioner 100 is provided in an air-conditioned space such as a room, and adjusts the temperature, humidity, cleanliness, and the like of the air in the air-conditioned space. The air conditioner 100 may be an indoor unit in a separate air conditioner in which an indoor unit and an outdoor unit are separately provided, and is an integrated air conditioner that combines the functions of the indoor unit and the function of the outdoor unit. It may be. The air conditioner 100 may be a ventilation device that replaces the air in the air-conditioned space with the outside air, an air purifier that removes dust floating in the air, or a humidifier that humidifies the air in the air-conditioned space.

When the air conditioner 100 is an integrated air conditioner, the main body 10 is not shown, but a refrigerant in which a compressor, a heat source side heat exchanger, a decompression device, and a load side heat exchanger are connected by a refrigerant pipe. The circuit is contained in the housing. The compressor is driven by, for example, an inverter to compress the refrigerant. The heat source side heat exchanger and the load side heat exchanger include, for example, a fin and tube type heat exchanger, and exchange heat between air and a refrigerant. The pressure reducing device includes, for example, an electronic expansion valve, and reduces the pressure of the refrigerant. In this case, the main body 10 may have at least one of a fan that blows air to the heat source side heat exchanger and a fan that blows air to the load side heat exchanger. When the air conditioner 100 is a separate type air conditioner, the main body 10 blows air to the load side heat exchanger together with at least the compressor and the load side heat exchanger among the various actuators constituting the refrigerant circuit. Have a fan to do. The main body 10 has a control device that controls the operations of various actuators and fans that make up the refrigerant circuit.

The design panel 20 is attached to the front surface side of the main body 10 so as to be openable and closable. The design panel 20 is made of resin and has a rectangular shape when viewed from the front. The operation panel 30 is provided on the design surface of the main body 10. Here, the design surface is the front side of the air conditioner 100, and is the surface on the positive side of the x-axis that is mainly visible to the user. The same applies to each component of the air conditioner 100. The operation panel 30 accepts the operation of the air conditioner 100 by the user and performs processing according to the operation content.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the operation panel of FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the operation panel 30 includes a panel main body 40, a substrate 50, a plurality of gaskets 60, a plurality of button cases 70, and a protective sheet 80. The panel body 40 is made of resin and is provided with a plurality of fitting holes 41a into which the button case 70 is fitted.

The gasket 60 has a charge capacity that changes due to contact with the human body. The gasket 60 is provided on the front side of the substrate 50 at a position corresponding to the fitting hole 41a of the panel main body 40. The button case 70 is made of resin such as plastic and covers the gasket 60.

The operation panel 30 has the same number of button cases 70 as the gaskets 60. In the state of FIG. 1 in which the operation panel 30 is assembled, each gasket 60 is fitted into the fitting hole 41a corresponding to the gasket 60 in a state of being covered with the button case 70. For example, the two gaskets 60 located second from the positive side of the z-axis are each covered with a separate button case 70 and fitted into one fitting hole 41a.

The protective sheet 80 is a sealing material that protects the panel main body 40 and the button case 70, and is attached to the main body design surface 40a, which is the design surface of the panel main body 40, so as to cover the button case 70. Here, in the state of FIG. 1 in which the operation panel 30 is assembled, the main body design surface 40a of the panel main body 40 and the case design surface 72a, which is the design surface of the button case 70, are flush with each other. , The protective sheet 80 is in contact with the back surface, which is the surface of the protective sheet 80 on the panel body 40 side.

Although not shown, a button mark indicating the content of the operation is attached to the surface of the protective sheet 80, which is the surface on the positive side of the x-axis, at a position corresponding to each gasket 60. A button mark is a picture such as a character or a figure, or a combination of a character and a picture.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the gasket of FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the gasket 60 is composed of a base member 60a made of a heat-resistant foam and a covering member 60b which is a conductive film and covers the base member 60a. That is, the gasket 60 has a structure in which the outer skin of the base member 60a is covered with the covering member 60b. In the example of FIG. 3, the covering member 60b covers four side surfaces of the base member 60a along the y-axis direction.

Since the base member 60a and the covering member 60b have flexibility, that is, shrinkage and resilience, the gasket 60 is shrinkable and has a restoring force when contracted. The charge capacity of the covering member 60b changes when it comes into contact with the human body. That is, when the user touches the button mark of the protective sheet 80 with a finger or the like, the charge capacity of the covering member 60b of the gasket 60 corresponding to the button mark changes.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the substrate of FIG. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the operation panel of FIG. In this embodiment, a plurality of gaskets 60 are provided on the substrate 50. The number of button cases 70 is the same as that of the gaskets 60, and each button case 70 covers one gasket 60. Therefore, it is possible to secure a space for installing other constituent members between the gaskets 60 in the height direction.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, although not shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of light emitting units 61 including LEDs are provided in the space on the substrate 50. For example, each light emitting unit 61 is arranged in the vicinity of one gasket 60 and is associated with the gasket 60. Note that FIG. 5 illustrates one gasket 60 and one light emitting unit 61 for the sake of simplicity.

As shown in FIG. 5, the substrate 50 is provided with a detection processing unit 51 and a control unit 52 in addition to the gasket 60 and the light emitting unit 61. The detection processing unit 51 includes an electrode for detecting a change in the charge capacity of each gasket 60, and outputs a signal indicating the change in the charge capacity detected by the electrode to the control unit 52.

The control unit 52 includes an identification processing unit 52a, a light emitting processing unit 52b, and an air conditioning processing unit 52c. The identification processing unit 52a analyzes the signal transmitted from the detection processing unit 51 to identify the gasket 60 whose charge capacity has changed. Further, the identification processing unit 52a notifies the light emission processing unit 52b and the air conditioning processing unit 52c of the identification result.

The light emitting unit 52b emits light from the light emitting unit 61 associated with the gasket 60 identified by the identification processing unit 52a. Therefore, when the user touches the position of the protective sheet 80 corresponding to the gasket 60, the light emitting unit 61 associated with the gasket 60 emits light. That is, when the user touches the button mark on the protective sheet 80, the position of the button mark becomes bright, so that the user can confirm the button mark on which the touch operation has been performed.

The air conditioning processing unit 52c controls the operation of the air conditioner 100 in cooperation with the control device by transmitting a signal corresponding to the gasket 60 identified by the identification processing unit 52a to the control device of the main body 10. .. However, the main body 10 may not be provided with a control device, and the air conditioning processing unit 52c may directly control the operations of various actuators and fans constituting the refrigerant circuit.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing how the panel body and the button case of FIG. 2 are assembled. In FIG. 6, the panel main body 40 and the button case 70 are viewed from the surface opposite to the design surface, and the portion of the region R in FIG. 2 is generally extracted. In FIG. 6, the button case 70 is fitted in the two fitting holes 41a, but the button case 70 is not fitted in the one fitting hole 41a.

As shown in FIG. 6, the panel main body 40 has a hole portion 41 forming a fitting hole 41a. The hole 41 has a flange-shaped first flange portion 42 forming a side wall on the negative side of the y-axis and a flange-shaped second flange portion 43 forming the side wall on the positive side of the y-axis.

The button case 70 has a side wall portion 71 that covers the four side surfaces of the gasket 60, and a design wall 72 that closes one of the two openings formed by the side wall portion 71. The design wall 72 has a case design surface 72a. In the button case 70, the groove portion 70a is formed by the side wall portion 71 and the design wall portion 72. A gasket 60 is arranged in the groove 70a.

The button case 70 has a first seat portion 73 at an end portion of the side wall portion 71 on the side wall on the negative side of the y-axis opposite to the design wall 72. The side wall on the negative side of the y-axis of the first seat portion 73 and the side wall portion 71 has an L shape in an xy plan view. The button case 70 has a second seat portion 74 at an end portion of the side wall portion 71 on the side wall on the positive side of the y-axis opposite to the design wall 72. The side wall of the second seat portion 74 and the side wall portion 71 on the positive side of the y-axis has an L-shape in xy plan view.

Here, the surface of the first seat portion 73 on the panel body 40 side is a seat surface that comes into contact with the back surface of the first flange portion 42 when the button case 70 is fitted into the fitting hole 41a. Further, the surface of the second seat portion 74 on the panel body 40 side becomes a seat surface that comes into contact with the back surface of the second flange portion 43 when the button case 70 is fitted into the fitting hole 41a. Therefore, the button case 70 can be stably fixed to the fitting hole 41a.

Further, with respect to the panel main body 40, the first flange portion 42 is formed with a positioning hole 42a, and the second flange portion 43 is provided with a positioning pin 43a. Further, in the button case 70, a positioning pin 73a is formed in the first seat portion 73 at a position facing the positioning hole 42a of the first flange portion 42. Similarly, the second seat portion 74 is formed with a notch portion 74a at a position facing the positioning pin 43a of the second flange portion 43. That is, when the button case 70 is fitted into the fitting hole 41a, the positioning pin 73a is fitted into the positioning hole 42a, and the surface of the positioning pin 43a on the fitting hole 41a side comes into contact with the notch portion 74a. Therefore, the button case 70 can be more stably fixed to the fitting hole 41a.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the air conditioner of FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the operation panel taken along the line AA of FIG. 7. FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, the button case 70 is fitted into the fitting hole 41a, and the gasket 60 provided on the substrate 50 is fitted into the groove 70a of the button case 70 to fix the substrate 50 to the panel body 40. Then, the positioning pin 73a is fitted into the positioning hole 42a, and the surface of the positioning pin 43a on the fitting hole 41a side comes into contact with the notch portion 74a.

Here, the gasket 60 is formed to be slightly larger than the groove portion 70a of the button case 70. Since the gasket 60 has shrinkage and resilience, when it is fitted into the groove 70a, it shrinks and then comes into close contact with the groove 70a by the restoring force. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, there is no gap between the surface of the gasket 60 and the inner surface of the button case 70. Therefore, since the change in the charge capacity of the gasket 60 is accurately transmitted, the sensitivity of the operation panel 30 can be increased, and the operability can be improved.

As described above, since the operation panel 30 has the resin button case 70 that covers the gasket 60, the static electricity substrate 50 emitted from the operator's hand when the protective sheet 80 is attached to the panel body 40 or the like. Invasion can be suppressed. Further, the button case 70 can be provided even after the manufacturing process of the substrate 50. Therefore, according to the operation panel 30, it is possible to prevent damage to the substrate 50 and eliminate manufacturing restrictions.

By the way, in the conventional operation panel, there is a gap between the protective sheet and the gasket, and this gap causes a malfunction. In this respect, since the button case 70 is interposed between the protective sheet 80 and the gasket 60, the operation panel 30 can narrow the gap between the protective sheet 80 and the gasket 60, thereby suppressing malfunction. can do. Further, if the operation panel 30 is configured such that the button case 70 is in contact with the protective sheet 80 as in the present embodiment, the gap between the protective sheet 80 and the gasket 60 can be eliminated, so that a malfunction occurs. Can be prevented accurately.

Further, the button case 70 has a side wall portion 71 that covers the four side surfaces of the gasket 60, and a design wall 72 that closes one of the two openings formed by the side wall portion 71. Therefore, it is possible to accurately prevent the intrusion of static electricity into the substrate 50. The side wall portion 71 may be formed so as to cover two or three side surfaces of the four side surfaces of the gasket 60, for example. However, if it is configured to cover the four side surfaces, it is possible to more reliably prevent static electricity from entering the substrate 50, and the button case 70 can be stably fitted into the hole 41.

The above-described embodiment is a suitable specific example in the operation panel of the air conditioner, and the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. For example, FIG. 2 illustrates a case where the design panel 20 and the panel body 40 are integrally formed of resin, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the panel body 40 is integrated with the housing of the body 10. It may be formed separately from the design panel 20 or the main body 10.

Further, in a space such as between the gaskets 60 on the substrate 50, a remote controller that receives a signal transmitted from a remote controller (not shown) for operating the air conditioner 100 and transmits the received signal to the control device. A light receiving unit may be provided. Further, a notification unit including a buzzer or the like including a speaker may be provided in a space such as between the gaskets 60 on the substrate 50. Then, the control unit 52 may have a notification processing unit that notifies the notification unit of a sound such as a beep sound when the detection processing unit 51 detects a change in the charge capacity of the gasket 60. In this way, when the user touches the button mark on the protective sheet 80, the user can be made to recognize that the input operation has been accepted.

That is, the plurality of button cases 70 are separately configured and each cover one gasket 60. Therefore, since the light emitting unit, the remote controller light receiving unit, the notification unit, and the like can be arranged in a space such as between the gaskets 60 on the substrate 50, the operation panel 30 can be downsized by effectively using the space. Can be done. However, in the above embodiment, the case where the operation panel 30 has the light emitting unit 61 and the light emitting processing unit 52b is illustrated, but the operation panel 30 has the light emitting unit 61 and the light emitting processing unit 52b. It does not have to be.

Here, FIG. 6 illustrates a case where a seat portion having an L-shaped cross-sectional view is provided at an end portion of the side wall portion 71 on the side opposite to the design wall of the two side walls. It is not limited to this. The seat portion may be provided on one side wall of the side wall portion 71, or may be provided on three or four side walls of the side wall portion 71 depending on the shape of the panel body 40. That is, the button case 70 may be provided with a seat portion having an L-shaped cross-sectional view at the end of at least one side wall of the side wall portion 71 on the side opposite to the design wall 72. Even in this way, the stability when the button case 70 is fitted into the fitting hole 41a can be improved.

In the above embodiment, a case where the first seat portion 73 and the second seat portion 74 are provided at the ends of the side wall portions 71 on the opposite sides of the side wall portions 71 opposite to the design wall 72, respectively, is illustrated. ing. The first seat 73, which is one of the seats, has a positioning pin 73a, which is a case-side positioning pin, on a surface facing the panel body 40. Further, the hole portion 41 is formed in the first flange portion 42 in which the positioning hole 42a into which the positioning pin 73a is fitted is formed at a position facing the first seat portion 73, and in the second seat portion 74 which is the other seat portion. It has a second flange portion 43 on which a positioning pin 43a, which is a positioning pin on the main body side, is formed on a facing surface. In addition, the second seat portion 74 has a notch portion 74a formed at a position corresponding to the positioning pin 43a. However, the combination of the positioning pin, the positioning hole, and the notch is not limited to this.

For example, when the button case 70 includes one seat portion, the seat portion has a positioning pin, and the hole portion 41 has a flange portion having a positioning hole formed at a position facing the seat portion. It may be. On the other hand, when the button case 70 includes a plurality of seats, all the seats may have positioning pins. Then, it is preferable that the hole portion 41 has a flange portion facing each seat portion so that positioning holes are formed in all the flange portions. Even in this way, the stability when the button case 70 is fitted into the fitting hole 41a can be improved.

Further, when the button case 70 has one seat portion, the hole portion 41 has a flange portion having a positioning pin on the surface facing the seat portion, and the seat portion corresponds to the positioning pin. A notch may be formed at the position where the notch is to be formed. On the other hand, when the button case 70 includes a plurality of seat portions, the hole portions 41 are provided with flange portions facing each of the seat portions so that positioning pins are formed on all the flange portions. May be good. Then, it is preferable that notches are formed in all the seats. Even in this way, the stability when the button case 70 is fitted into the fitting hole 41a can be improved.

In FIG. 1, a floor-standing air conditioner is illustrated as the air conditioner 100, but the air conditioner 100 may be a wall-mounted air conditioner or a wall-embedded air conditioner. Further, FIGS. 2 and 4 exemplify a case where a plurality of gaskets 60 are provided on the substrate 50, but the present invention is not limited to this, and even if only one gasket 60 is provided on the substrate 50. Good.

Further, in the manufacturing process of the operation panel 30, after the button case 70 is arranged on the panel body 40, the substrate 50 provided with the gasket 60 may be installed on the panel body 40, or the gasket on the substrate 50 may be installed. After attaching the button case 70 to the 60, the substrate 50 may be installed on the panel body 40.

10 main body, 20 design panel, 30 operation panel, 40 panel main body, 40a main body design surface, 41 hole, 41a fitting hole, 42 first flange, 42a positioning hole, 43 second flange, 43a positioning pin, 50 Board, 51 detection processing unit, 52 control unit, 52a identification processing unit, 52b light emitting processing unit, 52c air conditioning processing unit, 60 gasket, 60a base member, 60b covering member, 61 light emitting unit, 70 button case, 70a groove, 71 side wall Part, 72 Design wall, 72a Case design surface, 73 1st seat, 73a Positioning pin, 74 2nd seat, 74a Notch, 80 Protective sheet, 100 Air conditioner.

Claims (6)

It is an operation panel provided in the air conditioner.
The panel body with holes to form the fitting holes,
A substrate provided with a gasket whose charge capacity changes due to contact with the human body at a position corresponding to the fitting hole, and a substrate.
A resin button case that covers the gasket and is fitted into the fitting hole,
It has a protective sheet attached to the design surface of the panel body so as to cover the button case.
The button case is
A side wall covering the four sides of the gasket and
It has a design wall that closes one of the two openings formed by the side wall.
At the end of at least one side wall of the side wall portion opposite to the design wall, a seat portion having an L-shaped cross section is provided by the side wall portion.
Operation panel of the air conditioner. The operation panel of the air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the design surface of the button case is in contact with the protective sheet. The seat portion is provided at an end portion of two side walls facing each other of the side wall portion on the side opposite to the design wall.
One of the seats has a case-side positioning pin on a surface facing the panel body.
The operation panel of the air conditioner according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the hole portion has a first flange portion in which a positioning hole into which the case-side positioning pin is fitted is formed at a position facing one of the seat portions. .. The hole portion has a second flange portion having a main body side positioning pin formed on a surface facing the other seat portion.
The operation panel of the air conditioner according to claim 3, wherein the other seat portion has a notch formed at a position corresponding to the main body side positioning pin. A plurality of the gaskets are provided on the substrate, and the gaskets are provided on the substrate.
The operation panel of the air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the number of the button cases is the same as that of the gaskets, and each button case covers one of the gaskets. The gasket is
A base member made of heat-resistant foam and
A conductive film with a covering member that covers the base member and
With
The operation panel of the air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 5 , wherein the base member and the covering member have shrinkage and resilience.

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