JP7033483B2 - Switch structure of dial switch - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a switch structure of a dial switch, and more particularly to a structure of a dial switch that operates a switch by rotating an operation knob.

Conventionally, as a switch structure of this kind, for example, there is one disclosed as a rotation operating device (see Patent Document 1).

The rotation operation device that constitutes the operation unit of audio equipment etc. is attached to the center panel of the instrument panel of the vehicle, and the operation knob and the circular rotating body that are integrally assembled to the base plate that constitutes the rotation operation device are rotated. By doing so, the rotation position is transmitted to a switch mechanism or the like of an audio device or the like.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2009-87556

By the way, a plurality of concave portions and a plurality of convex portions are alternately and continuously formed on the outer periphery of the annular portion of the circular rotating body over the entire circumference, and are located in the vicinity of the outer periphery of the annular portion of the circular rotating body. A plate-shaped spring having a protruding portion having a convex curved shape on the outer peripheral side in the central portion and a mounting portion having curved portions formed at both ends thereof is engaged and supported by a pair of support portions.

Then, by rotating the circular rotating body and the protruding portion of the plate-shaped spring overcomes the convex portion of the circular rotating body and engages with the adjacent concave portion, the operator clicks at each predetermined rotation angle of the circular rotating body. It is designed to give a feeling. In this case, since the curved portions at both ends of the plate-shaped spring are held so as to be in constant contact with both support portions, the generation of abnormal noise is prevented.

In the rotation operation device having the above configuration, the rotation operation of the circular rotating body is confirmed only by the click feeling obtained by the plate-shaped spring.

Therefore, the present invention has been invented in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is a variety of click feelings and click sounds for confirming switch operation in a switch that operates a switch by rotating an operation knob. The purpose is to provide a switch structure that can be performed with a comfortable operation feeling.

In order to solve the above problems, in the invention described in claim 1 of the present invention, a plurality of concave portions and a plurality of convex portions are alternately and continuously formed in a wavy shape over the entire circumference in the circumferential direction of the outer periphery. It comprises a rotor having a rotatable tubular portion provided with a detent, a spring abutting the detent of the rotor, and a holder supporting the spring, the spring being located at the center. It has a curved protrusion, an extension extending in opposite directions from the root of the curved protrusion, and a bent portion located at the end of the extension, and the curved protrusion abuts on the detent. , The extension portion is supported by the holder on both side ends in the width direction, the bent portion is in contact with the outer surface of the holder, and the portion of the holder in which the bent portion of the spring is in contact is narrow. It is characterized by being in a state of floating in the air through the part .

Further, the invention according to claim 2 of the present invention is characterized in that, in claim 1, the curved protrusion of the spring and the recess of the detent have substantially the same shape and dimensions.

According to the present invention, a detent in which a plurality of concave portions and a plurality of convex portions are alternately and continuously formed in a wavy shape over the entire circumference in the circumferential direction is provided in the tubular portion of the rotor, and the spring is provided. A sliding contact protrusion, an extension portion extending in opposite directions from the root portion of the sliding contact protrusion, and a bent portion in which the end portion of the extension portion is bent are provided, and both end portions in the width direction of the extension portion of the spring are provided. The sliding contact protrusion was brought into contact with the detent while being supported by the holder, and the bent portion was brought into contact with the outer surface of the holder.

As a result, it was possible to realize a switch structure that allows confirmation of the rotation operation of the dial switch to be performed with various operation sensations such as a click feeling and a click sound.

It is an exploded perspective view of the dial switch provided with the switch structure of this invention attached to the air conditioner panel. It is a top view of the air conditioner panel which attached the dial switch provided with the switch structure of this invention. It is a perspective view of the rotor which constitutes a dial switch. It is a perspective explanatory view of the holder which constitutes a dial switch. It is a perspective view of the spring which constitutes a dial switch. It is an assembly drawing of a dial switch. It is explanatory drawing which shows the operation of a dial switch. Similarly, it is explanatory drawing which shows the operation of a dial switch. Similarly, it is explanatory drawing which shows the operation of a dial switch. Similarly, it is explanatory drawing which shows the operation of a dial switch.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 10 (the same parts are designated by the same reference numerals). Since the embodiments described below are suitable specific examples of the present invention, various technically preferable limitations are added, but the scope of the present invention particularly limits the present invention in the following description. Unless otherwise stated, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a dial switch having the switch structure of the present invention attached to an operation panel of a vehicle air conditioner (hereinafter, abbreviated as “air conditioner panel”), and FIG. 2 shows a dial switch attached to the air conditioner panel. It is a top view which shows the state.

In addition, in FIGS. 1 and 2, the air conditioner panel 1 shows a state in which the front panel arranged on the front surface is removed so as to be easily compared with the following description, and the configuration of the dial switch 2 is integrated with the dial switch 2. The dial knob attached to the dial switch 2 to rotate the dial switch 2 is omitted.

The dial switch 2 includes a rotor 10 that directly controls rotation of the switch mechanism, a spring 40 that prevents rotation of the rotor 10 from rotating, and a holder 20 that supports the spring 40.

As shown in FIG. 3, the rotor 10 has a base portion 13 having an annular flange portion 11 and an extension portion 12 extending downward from a peripheral edge portion of the flange portion 11 at predetermined intervals along the circumferential direction. A cylindrical tubular portion 15 extending from the flange portion 11 of the base portion 13 in the direction opposite to the extending portion 12 (upward) is provided.

On the outer periphery of the tubular portion 15, a detent 16 is provided in which a plurality of concave portions 16a and a plurality of convex portions 16b are alternately and continuously formed in a wavy shape over the entire circumference in the circumferential direction. ..

As shown in FIG. 4, the holder 20 has a main body portion 21 having a curved cross section having a predetermined width extended in a direction perpendicular to the cross section, and the holder 20 perpendicular to the extension direction of the main body portion 21 from the inner wall surface of the main body portion 21. It is provided with a flat plate-shaped rolled plate portion 31 extending in various directions (the cross-sectional direction).

The main body 21 is provided with a pair of support protrusions 22 for supporting the spring 40 at the upper portions of both ends curved in the circumferential direction, and each support protrusion 22 is formed with a notch 23 for locking and supporting the spring 40 from below. Has been done.

Further, the main body portion 21 has a pair of lightening portions 24 extending downward from below on both sides of the central portion curved in the circumferential direction, and free leg portions 25 extending downward on both sides of the lightening portion 24. have.

The rolled plate portion 31 has a pair of locking leg portions 32 extending downward from the central portion of the lower surface, and the holder 20 is attached to the tip end portion of the locking leg portion 32 when the holder 20 is attached to the case 3 of the air conditioner panel. A locking claw (hook) 33 used for locking is provided.

Further, the extension plate portion 31 has a pair of extension portions 34 that stand up from each of the two edge portions and extend upward at both edges of the tip portion, and the main body portion 21 is provided at the tip portion of the extension portion 34. A support protrusion 35 that presses and supports the spring 40 from above is provided at a position facing the support protrusion 22 provided in the above.

As shown in FIG. 5, the spring 40 is formed of a plate-shaped spring member, and is formed from a sliding contact protruding portion 41 that is bent and projected in a substantially V shape at the center and a root portion of the sliding contact protruding portion 41. It has a pair of extension portions 42 extending in opposite directions, and a pair of bent portions 43 bent in a direction substantially opposite to the protrusion direction of the sliding contact protrusion 41 at both ends of each extension portion 42.

Next, the assembled state of the rotor 10, the holder 20, and the spring 40 constituting the dial switch 2 will be described with reference to FIG.

The rotor 10 is integrally inserted into a cylindrical rotor guide 4 (see FIG. 1) rotatably provided in the case 3 of the air conditioner panel.

In the vicinity of the rotor 10, a pedestal portion 50 for attaching the holder 20 is arranged in advance in the case 3 of the air conditioner panel, and the holder 20 is engaged with the pedestal portion 50 and the case 3 of the air conditioner panel. The pedestal portion 50 is attached and fixed as a pedestal at a predetermined position of the case 3 of the air conditioner panel by the locking claws (neither of them is shown) of the locking leg portion of the air conditioner panel.

A spring 40 is supported and attached to the holder 20, and the spring 40 is in a state where the sliding contact protrusion 41 is in contact with the wavy detent 16 formed in an annular shape on the outer circumference of the tubular portion 15 of the rotor 10. Then, the lower end portions 42a of each of the pair of extension portions 42 in the width direction are locked and supported from below by the notches 23 formed in the pair of support protrusions 22 of the main body portion 21 of the holder 20. At the same time, the upper end portion 42b in the width direction of each of the pair of extension portions 42 is pressed from above by the support protrusions 35 provided on each of the pair of extension portions 34 extending upward from the extension plate portion 31 of the holder 20. It is supported.

At the same time, each of the pair of bent portions 43 located at the ends of the pair of extension portions 42 of the spring 40 wraps around to the side of the main body portion 21 of the holder 40, and the free leg portion 25 of the main body portion 21 It is held in contact with the outer surface.

Next, the operation of the dial switch 2 when the dial knob (not shown) integrally attached to the rotor 10 (cylindrical portion 15 of the rotor 10) is rotated will be described.

First, the position of the concave portion 16a of the wavy detent 16 formed in an annular shape on the outer circumference of the tubular portion 15 of the rotor 10 as shown in FIG. When the dial knob integrally attached to the tubular portion 15 of the rotor 10 is rotated, the tip of the sliding contact protruding portion 41 of the spring 40 is rotated along with the rotation of the tubular portion 15. As shown in FIG. 8, the 41a follows the ascending slope connected to the concave portion 16a of the detent 16 and abuts on the top portion 16d of the adjacent convex portion 16b.

At this time, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 9, the spring 40 is slidably contacted by the sliding contact protruding portion 41 located at the position of the concave portion 16a of the detent 16 by the convex portion 16b of the detent 16 as shown by the broken line in FIG. The protrusion 41 is pushed back toward the holder 20, and the pair of extension 42 bends and deforms.

Further, when the dial knob is rotated, the sliding contact protrusion 41 of the spring 40 is connected to the convex portion 16b of the detent 16 as the tubular portion 15 of the rotor 10 is rotated. The state is maintained by contacting (fitting) with the adjacent recess 16a.

Then, by continuously rotating the dial knob, the operation of the dial switch 2 is repeated, and the spring 40 is slid at the position of the recess 16a of the detent 16 provided in the tubular portion 15 of the rotor 10. Every time the contact protrusion 41 is positioned (fitted), the rotor 10 is prevented from rotating by the sliding contact protrusion 41, and the set state of the dial switch 2 is maintained.

By the way, when the sliding contact protrusion 41 of the spring 40 moves from the convex portion 16b of the detent 16 to the adjacent concave portion 16a due to the rotation of the tubular portion 15 of the rotor 10, the tip portion 41a of the sliding contact protrusion 41 of the spring 40 becomes. When the tip portion 41a of the sliding contact projection portion 41 of the spring 40 is positioned at the top portion 16d of the convex portion 16b of the detent 16 when the tip portion 41a of the sliding contact projection portion 41 of the spring 40 is moved (shifted) from the top portion 16d of the convex portion 16b of the detent 16 to the adjacent concave portion 16a side. Due to the restoring force against the elastic deformation, the tip portion 41a of the sliding contact projection portion 41 of the spring 40 descends at once on the descending slope of the detent 10 and comes into contact with the bottom portion 16c of the recess 16a (see FIG. 9).

In other words, the sliding contact protrusion 41 of the spring 40 hits the recess 16a of the detent 16 by the restoring force due to the elastic deformation. Therefore, a striking sound is generated between the surface of the sliding contact protrusion 41 of the spring 40 and the inner surface of the recess 16a of the detent 16. At the same time, the impact at this time causes vibration in the spring 40.

By the way, the main body portion 21 of the holder 20 has a pair of lightening portions 24 extending from the lower side to the upper side on both sides of the central portion curved in the circumferential direction, whereby a narrow portion is formed at the portions and a narrow portion is formed. On both sides of the lightening portion 24, there are free leg portions 25 that extend downward and are in a floating state without contacting the case 3 of the air conditioner panel to which the holder 20 is attached and fixed (see FIG. 4). ..

Further, in the spring 40, the lower end portions 42a of each of the pair of extension portions 42 in the width direction are engaged from below by the notches 23 formed in the pair of support protrusions 22 of the main body portion 21 of the holder 20. Along with being stopped and supported, the upper end portion 42b in the width direction of each of the pair of extension portions 42 is provided on each of the pair of extension portions 34 extending upward from the extension plate portion 31 of the holder 20. It is pressed and supported from above.

As a result, none of the surfaces of the pair of extension portions 42 are in contact with the holder 20, and only the pair of bent portions 43 located at the ends of the pair of extension portions 42 are the main body of the holder 20. It is in contact with the outer surface of the free leg portion 25 of the portion 21 (see FIG. 6).

Therefore, the vibration generated in the spring 40 due to the impact of the sliding contact protrusion 41 of the spring 40 on the recess 16a of the detent 16 is transmitted to each of the pair of bent portions 43 without being absorbed through the pair of extension portions 42, and is folded. The vibration in each of the bent portions 43 is transmitted to the free leg portion 25 of the main body portion 21 held in a state where the bent portions 43 are in contact with each other.

At this time, since the free leg portion 25 of the main body portion 21 is in a floating state through the narrow portion, the vibration transmitted from the bent portion 43 of the spring 40 is emphasized without being absorbed and becomes the bent portion 43. Vibration noise is generated between.

As described above, by adopting the dial switch having the above-mentioned configuration, the click feeling due to the striking vibration generated between the sliding contact protrusion 41 of the spring 40 and the recess 16a of the detent 16 and the striking sound generated at that time. A reliable operation feeling is obtained by the vibration sound generated between the bent portion 43 of the spring 40 and the free leg portion 25 of the holder 20, and an excellent effect is exerted on the reliable operation of the dial switch. ..

1 ... Air conditioner operation panel (air conditioner panel)
2 ... Dial switch 3 ... Case 4 ... Rotor guide 10 ... Rotor 11 ... Flange part 12 ... Extension part 13 ... Base part 15 ... Cylindrical part 16 ... Detent 16a ... Concave part 16b ... Convex part 16c ... Bottom part 16d ... Top part 20 ... Holder 21 ... Main body 22 ... Supporting protrusion 23 ... Notch 24 ... Lightening part 25 ... Free leg 31 ... Rolling plate 32 ... Locking leg 33 ... Locking claw 34 ... Upper extension 35 ... Supporting protrusion Part 40 ... Spring 41 ... Sliding contact protruding part 41a ... Tip part 42 ... Extension part 42a ... Lower end part 42b ... Upper end part 43 ... Bent part 50 ... Pedestal part

Claims (2)

A rotor having a rotatable tubular portion provided with a detent in which a plurality of concave portions and a plurality of convex portions are alternately and continuously formed in a wavy shape over the entire circumference in the circumferential direction.
A spring that abuts on the detent of the rotor,
With a holder to support the spring,
The spring has a curved protrusion located at the center, an extension extending in opposite directions from the root of the curved protrusion, and a bent portion located at the end of the extension, and the spring is curved. The protrusions are in contact with the detent, the extensions are supported by the holder on both sides in the width direction, and the bends are in contact with the outer surface of the holder.
The switch structure of the dial switch, characterized in that the portion of the holder in contact with the bent portion of the spring is in a state of floating in the air through a narrow portion . The switch structure of the dial switch according to claim 1, wherein the curved protrusion of the spring and the recess of the detent have substantially the same shape and dimensions.

Images