JP7160557B2 - In-vehicle device - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to an in-vehicle device.

An in-vehicle device for using ETC and ETC2.0 is known. A card owned by the vehicle user (hereinafter referred to as "card") is inserted into the in-vehicle device from the card slot, and the in-vehicle device reads the information recorded on the card to use ETC and ETC 2.0. becomes possible. ETC and ETC2.0 are registered trademarks.

Here, in the card, a contact portion which is electrically connected to a terminal of the in-vehicle device when the card is housed in the in-vehicle device is formed to be exposed on the front surface of the card. there is Therefore, when the user touches the contact portion when using the card, dirt such as sebum may adhere to the contact portion. If the card is inserted into the in-vehicle device while the contact portion is dirty, the electrical connection between the contact portion and the terminal of the in-vehicle device is disturbed, and contact reliability cannot be ensured.

Therefore, Patent Literature 1 discloses a configuration in which a cleaning section for cleaning the contact section of the card is provided inside the in-vehicle device. The cleaning part is provided next to the terminal of the in-vehicle device and closer to the card slot than the terminal in the insertion direction, which is the direction in which the card is inserted into the card slot, and contacts the contact part during the process of the card being received from the card slot. to clean the contacts.

JP-A-2009-59031

However, in the in-vehicle device described in Patent Document 1, the cleaning section is positioned next to the terminal, and the cleaning section contacts the contact section of the card, so that the card is pressed by the cleaning section. As a result, when the card is housed in the in-vehicle device, the force separates the contact portion from the terminal, and the contact reliability between the contact portion and the terminal tends to become unstable.

An object of one aspect of the present disclosure is to provide an in-vehicle device that can easily ensure contact reliability between a contact portion of a card and a terminal of the in-vehicle device.

One aspect of the present disclosure is an in-vehicle device (1) comprising a case (12), a plurality of terminals (15), and a cleaning section (18). The case is configured to accommodate a card (2) having a contact portion (21) exposed on the first surface of the first surface (2F) and the second surface (2B) from the card slot (11). be done. The terminal is provided inside the case so as to be located on the side opposite to the card slot in the insertion direction in which the card is inserted into the card slot. The terminals are electrically connected to the card by coming into contact with the contact portions while the card is housed in the case. The cleaning part is provided inside the case so as to be positioned on the card slot side in the insertion direction, and comes into contact with the contact part during the process in which the card is accommodated from the card slot.

According to such a configuration, since the cleaning portion is located on the side opposite to the terminal in the insertion direction, the force with which the cleaning portion presses the card is unlikely to become the force separating the contact portion and the terminal. As a result, it is possible to easily ensure contact reliability between the contact portion of the card and the terminal of the in-vehicle device.

It is a figure which shows the vehicle-mounted apparatus mounted in the vehicle in this embodiment. It is a figure in which a card|curd is inserted in the vehicle-mounted apparatus of this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the card|curd of this embodiment. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an in-vehicle device of this embodiment; FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VV of FIG. 2; FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG. 5; It is a schematic diagram for explaining a terminal in this embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state in which the key member and the lens member of the embodiment are assembled; FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IX-IX of FIG. 8; It is a figure which shows the wiping cloth of this embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the positional relationship between the wiping cloth and the key member of the embodiment; 12 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XII-XII of FIG. 11; FIG. It is a front view of the in-vehicle device of this embodiment. 3 is a plan view of the card connector of the embodiment; FIG. 4 is a schematic bottom view of the card connector of the embodiment; FIG.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, although the reference numerals used in the description of the embodiments below are appropriately used in the claims, they are used for the purpose of facilitating the understanding of the present disclosure and limit the interpretation of the claims. not intended to.

[1. Constitution]
An in-vehicle device 1 shown in FIG. 1 is a device for using ETC and ETC2.0. The in-vehicle device 1 is mounted in the vehicle interior of the vehicle 100 . When using the in-vehicle device 1, as shown in FIG. 2, first, an IC card 2 owned by the user of the vehicle 100 (hereinafter referred to as "card 2") is inserted from the card slot 11 of the in-vehicle device 1. . By reading the information recorded on the card 2 by the in-vehicle device 1, ETC and ETC 2.0 can be used. In the present embodiment, for the sake of convenience, the surface on which the card slot 11 is provided is defined as the front surface of the in-vehicle device 1 . Also, the direction H shown in FIG.

The card 2 shown in FIG. 3 has a contact portion 21 exposed on the front surface 2F of the front surface 2F and the back surface 2B. The contact portion 21 is electrically connected to the terminals 15 by coming into contact with a plurality of terminals 15 provided in the in-vehicle device 1 to be described later when the card 2 is accommodated in the in-vehicle device 1 . Specifically, the terminals C1 to C3 and the terminals C5 to C7 of the contact portion 21 are in contact with the plurality of terminals 15, respectively.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5, the in-vehicle device 1 includes a case 12, a card connector 13, a circuit assembly 14, a plurality of terminals 15, a housing 151, a key member 16, a lens member 17, a cleaning section 18 and an ejector. A button 19 is provided.

The case 12 is a member that accommodates the card 2 from the card slot 11 . The case 12 has an upper case 12A and a lower case 12B. Each of the upper case 12A and the lower case 12B has a substantially rectangular bottom. The upper case 12A and the lower case 12B function as the case 12 of the vehicle-mounted device 1 as a whole by being assembled so as to overlap each other. A card slot 11 is formed in the front wall of an upper case 12A arranged in front of the in-vehicle device 1 . Further, the upper case 12A is provided with a dustproof sheet C for preventing dust from entering from the card slot 11. As shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the state in which the card 2 is housed in the case 12 will be referred to as the housed state.

The card connector 13 is a member that accommodates and holds the card 2 inside the case 12 . The card connector 13 has a locking mechanism for locking the position of the card 2 in the housed state, an ejecting mechanism for ejecting the card 2 to the outside of the in-vehicle device 1 when an eject button 19 is operated, and the like.

The circuit assembly 14 is an assembly component in which a plurality of electronic components such as speakers electrically connected by printed wiring are mounted. The circuit assembly 14 reads information from the card 2 via a plurality of terminals 15 and communicates with a roadside device for ETC communication installed on the road via an antenna (not shown). The circuit assembly 14 is fixed to the card connector 13 with a plurality of screws S. As shown in FIG.

The terminals 15 are terminals electrically connected to the contact portions 21 of the card 2 in the housed state. As shown in FIG. 5, the plurality of terminals 15 are provided inside the case 12 so as to be located on the side opposite to the card slot 11 in the insertion direction D. As shown in FIG. The insertion direction D is the direction in which the card 2 is inserted into the card slot 11 and the direction in which the card 2 is extracted from the card slot 11 . The opposite side of the card slot 11 refers to the back side of the case 12, that is, the range from the center to the back of the in-vehicle device 1 along the insertion direction D, and the card slot 11 side refers to the insertion direction D. It refers to the range from the center of the in-vehicle device 1 to the front side. Furthermore, being provided inside the case 12 so as to be located on the opposite side of the card slot 11 means that at least a portion of each terminal 15 that contacts the contact portion 21 is located on the opposite side of the card slot 11 in the insertion direction D. It means that it is located within the range of As shown in FIG. 6, the number of terminals 15 in this embodiment is six, two each along the insertion direction D, and three rows along the direction perpendicular to the insertion direction D. there is Note that oblique lines representing cross sections are omitted in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 7, each of the terminals 15 has one end fixed to the lower surface of the circuit assembly 14, and the other end elastically deformable in the vertical direction of the in-vehicle device 1 with the fixed one end as a base point. ing. Moreover, each terminal 15 is housed in a housing 151 except for a portion that contacts the contact portion 21 .

The key member 16 is a member having a button for adjusting the volume of a warning sound emitted by the in-vehicle device 1 and a button for checking the usage history of ETC and ETC2.0. The key member 16 is provided next to the card slot 11 inside the case 12 . The key member 16 has a base portion 18A of a cleaning portion 18, which will be described later, on its lower surface.

The lens member 17 is a member having a lens that covers an LED as an indicator for indicating the state of the in-vehicle device 1 and a lens that covers an LED arranged near the card slot 11 . As shown in FIG. 8, the lens member 17 is attached to the lower portion of the key member 16. As shown in FIG. The lens member 17 has a plurality (three in this example) of holes 17H through which convex portions 181, which will be described later, penetrate.

The cleaning unit 18 cleans dirt, etc. attached to the contact portion 21 by coming into contact with the contact portion 21 of the card 2 moving to the back side of the case 12 during the accommodation process in which the card 2 is accommodated from the card slot 11 . is the cleaning part. As shown in FIG. 5, the cleaning section 18 is provided inside the case 12 so as to be positioned on the card slot 11 side in the insertion direction D. As shown in FIG. Note that "provided inside the case 12 so as to be positioned on the card slot 11 side" means that the entire cleaning section 18 is positioned within the range on the card slot 11 side in the insertion direction D. . The cleaning unit 18 of this embodiment is provided on the back side of the card slot 11 in the case 12 and next to the card slot 11, in other words, at the end of the case 12 on the card slot 11 side in the insertion direction D. .

The cleaning unit 18 has a plurality of protrusions 181, three in this example. The convex portion 181 is a portion that contacts the contact portion 21 . Specifically, the convex portion 181 is a substantially cylindrical portion projecting downward from the lower surface of the lens member 17 . As shown in FIG. 6, each of the three convex portions 181 is positioned on each vertex of a triangle when viewed from the direction of the bottom surface of the in-vehicle device 1 . Moreover, each of the protrusions 181 is provided at a position where each of the terminals 15 is on the same line parallel to the insertion direction D with respect to one of the protrusions 181 . Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 6, in the width direction W, the width 18W of the contact surface of each convex portion 181, which is the surface that contacts the contact portion 21, is located on the same line parallel to the insertion direction D. is greater than 15W. The width direction W is a direction along the front surface 2F or the back surface 2B of the card 2 in the housed state and perpendicular to the insertion direction D, which is the horizontal direction in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 9, the three convex portions 181 have a base portion 18A and a wiping cloth 18B. The base portion 18</b>A is three convex portions that form the bases of the three convex portions 181 . The base portion 18A is formed integrally with the key member 16, as shown in FIG. The wiping cloth 18B is a cloth that removes dirt and the like adhering to the contact portion 21. As shown in FIG. Specifically, the wiping cloth 18B is wound around the base portion 18A so as to mainly cover the base portion 18A, and directly contacts and wipes the contact portion 21 of the card 2 moving to the inner side of the case 12 during the accommodation process. to remove dirt and the like adhering to the contact portion 21 . The wiping cloth 18B is, for example, a woven cloth having a high weaving density and a predetermined thickness capable of withstanding repeated sliding. As shown in FIG. 10, the wiping cloth 18B before being wound around the base portion 18A has a trilobal shape, and a double-faced tape T is provided in the center thereof.

Here, a method of winding the wiping cloth 18B will be described. First, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the wiping cloth 18B is positioned on the portion corresponding to the base portion 18A of the key member 16, and the double-sided tape T is applied to the portion corresponding to the center of the three convex portions of the base portion 18A. affix to the surface of the Next, the wiping cloth 18B is wound so as to conform to each convex portion. Next, the lens member 17 is attached to the key member 16 while passing the convex portions through the holes 17H. As a result, the end portion of the wiping cloth 18B after the key member 16 and the lens member 17 are assembled is positioned between the key member 16 and the lens member 17 as shown in FIG. pressed against, in other words, clamped.

The eject button 19 is a button operated by the user of the vehicle 100 to eject the card 2 from the card connector 13 to the outside of the in-vehicle device 1 .
As shown in FIG. 13 , the in-vehicle device 1 further includes a plurality of protrusions 12C (two in this embodiment) provided inside the case 12 . Each of the projections 12C is provided below the card slot 11 integrally with the upper case 12A. Specifically, the projections 12C are formed as part of the upper case 12A on the left and right sides and below the card slot 11 when viewed from the front of the in-vehicle device 1 . Each of the projections 12C abuts on both ends of the back surface 2B of the card 2 in the direction orthogonal to the insertion direction D during the accommodation process. The height of each protrusion 12</b>C is set to a value such that the gap between the protrusion 181 and the protrusion 12</b>C in the vertical direction of the in-vehicle device 1 is equal to or less than the thickness of the card 2 . As a result, each time the card 2 is inserted and removed from the card slot 11, both ends in the width direction W of the back surface 2B of the card 2 are supported by the protrusions 12C, and the width direction W of the front surface 2F of the card 2 is supported by the protrusions 12C. is pressed against the cleaning portion 18 . That is, in the vicinity of the card slot 11, the in-vehicle device 1 gently bends the card 2 into a U-shape when viewed from the front of the in-vehicle device 1, and wipes off dirt and the like adhering to the contact portion 21 with the wiping cloth 18B of the cleaning portion 18. Remove by wiping with

Here, the card connector 13 has a metallic connector spring 131 shown in FIG. 14 and a leaf spring 132 shown in FIG. A connector spring 131 and a leaf spring 132 are springs for an ejection mechanism for the card connector 13 . Specifically, when the eject button 19 is operated, the connector spring 131 ejects the card 2 out of the in-vehicle device 1 in conjunction with the movement of the eject button 19, in other words, it is a spring for pushing it out. . The connector spring 131 is a spiral spring provided parallel to the insertion direction D on the upper surface of the card connector 13 .

The plate spring 132 presses the side surface of the card 2 when the card 2 is ejected to the outside of the in-vehicle device 1 by the connector spring 131, thereby adjusting the amount by which the card 2 is ejected to the outside of the in-vehicle device 1 in the insertion direction D. is a spring for adjusting the One end of the leaf spring 132 is fixed to the card connector 13, and the other end is elastically deformable in the width direction W with the fixed one end as a base point. The leaf spring 132 in the state in which the card 2 is not inserted as shown in FIG. The force with which the leaf spring 132 presses the side surface of the card 2 in the present embodiment is that the leaf spring in the configuration in which the cleaning section 18 is not provided is greater than the force of the protrusion 181 pressing the front surface 2F of the card 2. 2 is set to be smaller than the strength of pressing the side surface.

[2. effect]
According to the embodiment detailed above, the following effects are obtained.
(1a) The six terminals 15 are provided inside the case 12 so as to be located on the opposite side of the card slot 11 . On the other hand, the cleaning unit 18 is provided inside the case 12 so as to be positioned on the card slot 11 side in the insertion direction D, more specifically, next to the card slot 11 . That is, the cleaning portion 18 is located on the side opposite to the six terminals 15 in the insertion direction D. As shown in FIG.

According to such a configuration, the force with which the cleaning unit 18 presses the card 2 in the housed state is less likely to be a force that separates the contact portions 21 from the six terminals 15 . As a result, it is possible to easily ensure contact reliability between the contact portion 21 of the card 2 and the six terminals 15 of the in-vehicle device.

(1b) The cleaning portion 18 has three substantially cylindrical projections 181 , and each of the projections 181 contacts the contact portion 21 . According to such a configuration, each protrusion 181 can be stably brought into contact with the contact portion 21 as compared with a configuration having one protrusion that contacts the entire contact portion 21 in the width direction W. That is, for example, in the configuration of the cleaning section that wipes the entire surface of the contact section 21, there is concern that the cleaning section will not be able to press the card 2 with a stable force, and the dirt on the contact section 21 will not be completely removed. Conversely, if the above-described pressing force, that is, the contact load applied to the card 2 by the cleaning unit is increased, the force required for inserting the card 2 into the in-vehicle device 1 may be excessively increased. There is concern that the allowable value of the contact load on the 0 and ETC standards will be exceeded. In contrast, according to the cleaning portion 18 of the present embodiment, each of the three convex portions 181 wipes the contact portion 21 while stably contacting the contact portion 21 . As a result, according to the cleaning unit 18 of the present embodiment, dirt adhering to the contact portion 21 can be removed without excessively increasing the force required to insert the card 2 into the in-vehicle device 1 .

(1c) Each of the six terminals 15 is positioned on the same line parallel to the insertion direction D with respect to one of the three protrusions 181 . According to such a configuration, dirt on the terminal contact portions, which are portions of the contact portion 21 that come into contact with the six terminals 15 , can be efficiently wiped off by the cleaning portion 18 .

(1d) The width 18W of each protrusion 181 is larger than the width 15W of the terminal 15 located on the same line parallel to the insertion direction D. According to such a configuration, each of the protrusions 181 wipes the terminal contact portion of the contact portion 21 wider than the width of the terminal 15 . As a result, the portion of the terminal contact portion that is not wiped by the cleaning portion 18 can be reduced as much as possible.

(1e) There are three convex portions 181, each located on each vertex of the triangle. In other words, the three convex portions of the base portion 18A are spaced apart from each other. With such a configuration, one wiping cloth 18B can be easily attached to each of the three convex portions of the base portion 18A.

(1f) The wiping cloth 18B is in direct contact with the contact portion 21 of the card 2 that moves to the back side of the case 12 during the accommodation process, thereby removing dirt and the like adhering to the contact portion 21 . Also, the wiping cloth 18B is a cloth having a high weaving density and a predetermined thickness that can withstand repeated sliding. According to such a configuration, damage to the contact portion 21 can be reduced compared to a configuration in which the wiping cloth 18B is not provided and the contact portion 21 is in contact with, for example, resin or metal. In addition, since the wiping cloth 18B is more hydrophilic than metal or resin, it is possible to easily remove stains such as hand cream and foundation from the contact portion 21 .

(1g) The wiping cloth 18B before being wrapped around the base portion 18A has a trefoil shape, which is a shape in which three circles are combined into one. According to such a configuration of the wiping cloth 18B, it is possible to improve the workability of winding the wiping cloth around the base portion 18A, compared to a wiping cloth having a general shape such as a square shape or a triangular shape.

(1h) The end of the wiping cloth 18B is sandwiched between the key member 16 and the lens member 17 between the key member 16 and the lens member 17 . With such a configuration, it is possible to prevent the wiping cloth 18B from slipping, fraying and tearing from the ends of the wiping cloth 18B, which may occur when the wiping cloth 18B slides in contact with the contact portion 21. .

(1i) The protrusions 12</b>C are formed separately on the left and right sides of the card slot 11 when viewed from the front of the in-vehicle device 1 . According to such a configuration, in the vicinity of the card slot 11, the entire card 2 deforms in a gentle U-shape when viewed from the front of the in-vehicle device 1, in other words, with a large radius of curvature. , is inserted into the in-vehicle device 1 . With such a configuration, the load on the card 2 can be reduced compared to a configuration in which only the central portion of the card 2 is deformed by the cleaning portion 18 .

(1j) The base portion 18A, which is the base of the shape of the three convex portions 181, is formed integrally with the key member 16. As shown in FIG. According to such a configuration, it is possible to suppress an increase in the number of parts in the in-vehicle device 1 as compared with the configuration in which the protrusions are provided independently.

(1k) The strength with which the leaf spring 132 presses the side surface of the card 2 is as much as the protrusion 181 presses the front surface 2F of the card 2. is set to be smaller than the strength of pressing the side surface of the According to such a configuration, it is possible to suppress an increase in the insertion force when inserting the card 2 into the in-vehicle device 1, and furthermore, it is difficult to reduce the amount of the card 2 ejected to the outside of the in-vehicle device 1. can do. As a result, the workability of inserting and removing the card 2 into and out of the in-vehicle device 1 due to the provision of the cleaning unit 18 is less likely to occur. If the spring constant of the connector spring 131 or the like is set large instead of the spring constant of the plate spring 132 to reduce the amount of the card 2 ejected, the card 2 is inserted into the in-vehicle device 1. The insertion force at the time of insertion increases. On the other hand, according to the in-vehicle device 1 of the present embodiment, since the force of pressing the side surface of the card 2 by the leaf spring 132 is adjusted, the insertion force when inserting the card 2 into the in-vehicle device 1 is increased. can be made difficult.

In this embodiment, the front surface 2F corresponds to the first surface, and the back surface 2B corresponds to the second surface. Also, the key member 16 corresponds to the first member, and the lens member 17 corresponds to the second member.

[3. Other embodiments]
Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, it is needless to say that the present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiments and can take various forms.

(2a) In the above-described embodiment, the three substantially cylindrical projections 181 are illustrated. However, the configuration of the convex portion is not limited to this. For example, the projections may have other shapes such as a quadrangular prism shape or a triangular prism shape. Also, for example, the number of protrusions may be two, four or more, or may be singular.

(2b) In the above embodiment, the width 18W of the contact surface of the protrusion 181, which is larger than the width 15W of the terminal 15 positioned on the same line parallel to the insertion direction D, was exemplified. However, the width of the contact surface of the protrusion is not limited to this, and may be the same as the width of the terminal positioned on the same line parallel to the insertion direction D, for example.

(2c) In the above embodiment, each of the three protrusions 181 is positioned on each vertex of the triangle when viewed from the direction of the lower surface of the in-vehicle device 1. However, the positions of each protrusion are as follows. is not limited to For example, the convex portions may be positioned so as to line up in a straight line along the width direction W, respectively.

(2d) In the above embodiment, the convex portion 181 having the base portion 18A and the wiping cloth 18B was exemplified. However, the configuration of the protrusion is not limited to this, and for example, the protrusion may not have a wiping cloth.

(2e) In the above embodiment, the wiping cloth 18B is fixed by being sandwiched between the key member 16 and the lens member 17, but the wiping cloth is fixed to the key member by a method other than sandwiching. good too.

(2f) The function of one component in the above embodiments may be distributed as multiple components, or the functions of multiple components may be integrated into one component. Also, part of the configuration of the above embodiment may be omitted. Also, at least a part of the configuration of the above embodiment may be added, replaced, etc. with respect to the configuration of the other above embodiment. It should be noted that all aspects included in the technical idea specified by the wording in the claims are embodiments of the present disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Vehicle-mounted apparatus 2... Card 2B... Back surface 2F... Front surface 11... Card slot 12... Case 12C... Protrusion 15... Terminal 16... Key member 17... Lens member 18... Cleaning portion 18A Base portion 18B Wiping cloth 21 Contact portion 181 Convex portion.

Claims (7)

A card (2) having a contact portion (21) exposed on said first surface of a first surface (2F) and a second surface (2B) is configured to be received from a card slot (11). a case (12);
The contact portion is provided inside the case so as to be located on the side opposite to the card slot in the insertion direction, which is the direction in which the card is inserted into the card slot, and when the card is accommodated in the case. a plurality of terminals (15) electrically connected to the card by contact with
a cleaning part (18) provided inside the case so as to be positioned on the card slot side in the insertion direction, the cleaning part (18) coming into contact with the contact part in the process of receiving the card from the card slot;
In the card slot, they are provided on both end sides in a direction perpendicular to the insertion direction, and contact with both ends of the second surface in the direction perpendicular to the insertion direction when the card is housed in the case. a pair of projections (12C) in contact;
An in-vehicle device (1) comprising: The in-vehicle device according to claim 1,
The in-vehicle device, wherein the cleaning unit has a plurality of projections (181), and the projections are in contact with the contact portion. The in-vehicle device according to claim 2,
The in-vehicle device, wherein each of the terminals is positioned on the same line parallel to the insertion direction with respect to one of the protrusions. The in-vehicle device according to claim 3,
A contact surface, which is a surface of each of the convex portions that contacts the contact portion, in a direction along the first surface of the card and in a direction perpendicular to the insertion direction when the card is accommodated in the case. The in-vehicle device, wherein the width is equal to or greater than the width of each of the terminals located on the same line parallel to the insertion direction. The in-vehicle device according to any one of claims 2 to 4,
The in-vehicle device, wherein the convex portions are three, and are located on respective vertices of a triangle. The in-vehicle device according to any one of claims 2 to 5,
The in-vehicle device, wherein the convex portion has a base portion (18A), which is a plurality of convex portions forming a base of the shape of the convex portion, and a wiping cloth (18B) covering the base portion. The in-vehicle device according to claim 6,
a first member (16) which is a member having the base portion;
a second member (17) having a plurality of holes and assembled with the first member so that each of the protrusions penetrates each of the holes;
further having
The in-vehicle device, wherein an end portion of the wiping cloth is sandwiched between the first member and the second member between the first member and the second member.

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