JPH0122193Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Technical Field The present invention relates to the structure of an upper cover of a horn switch, that is, a switch operation cover, which is incorporated into an automobile steering wheel.

BACKGROUND ART The schematic structure of an automobile steering wheel and a horn switch incorporated therein are shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a ring, and 3 is a steering shaft connecting central portion, and the ring 1 and the central portion 3 are connected by spokes 2, 2.

The horn switch 4 is incorporated into the steering shaft connection center portion 3. The general structure is that a fixed plate 6 and a movable plate 7 are placed on a base 5.
and are attached via attachment means 13 and screws 14. The movable plate 7 is installed at a constant distance from the fixed plate 6, and when a pressing force is applied to the movable plate 7 from above, it resists the spring force of the spring 27 incorporated in the mounting means 13. and fixed plate 6
The movable contact 28 fixed to the movable plate 7 can be tilted toward the corresponding fixed plate 6.
A fixed contact (not shown) is contacted, thereby closing the switch circuit.
In order to operate the movable plate 7, an upper cover, that is, a horn switch operating cover 8 is provided on the movable plate 7.

Conventionally, the upper cover 8 has a structure as shown in FIG.
A protective layer 9 is provided on the surface of the cover body 10 which has a
It is constructed by covering the

Each of the mounting legs 11 has a cylindrical shape, and a tip engaging portion 16 is formed at the tip thereof. This tip engaging portion 16 has several axial slits 17,
The portion between the slits can be easily bent inward. A groove 18 is formed on the outer periphery of the tip engaging portion 16. Mounting feet 11 of upper cover 8
The tip engaging portion 16 is inserted from above into each mounting hole 12 provided at a predetermined position of the movable plate 7, and the peripheral wall of the mounting hole 12 is engaged in the groove 18 of the tip engaging portion 16. By tightening this mounting foot, the movable plate 7
Attach to. Therefore, by pressing the upper cover 8, the movable plate 7 can be tilted integrally.

The cover body 10 is made of a material that is harder and more rigid than the material of the protective layer 9. This is because the upper cover 8 is pressed by hand and may be hit violently, so it is designed to be able to withstand such rough handling. The material of this cover body is, for example, ABS resin,
Plastics such as polyacetal and propylpyrene are commonly used.

However, since the hard cover body 10 feels very unpleasant to the touch, it is generally covered with a protective layer 9 made of the soft material described above. This protective layer has conventionally been generally made of a plastic material such as vinyl chloride resin or urethane foam.

However, if the mounting legs 11 of the upper cover 8 are made of a hard material as in the conventional example, there is a problem that they may break due to strong impact.

In order to solve this problem, the cover main body 10, including its mounting feet 11, should be made of soft plastic material, but as mentioned above, this cover main body 10 is susceptible to rough handling. This is not possible because the material must be rigid enough to withstand

Purpose of the Present Invention Therefore, the present invention has a double structure for the mounting legs of the upper cover, that is, the horn switch operation cover, in which the inside is made of hard plastic, while the outer periphery, or the outer periphery and the inner periphery, are surrounded by soft plastic. The purpose is to prevent the mounting feet from easily breaking.

Summary of the present invention Conventionally, horn switch operation covers are formed by injection molding, and the present invention is based on the following: The cover body is formed in advance, and then the cover body is inserted into a mold, and then a protective layer is applied. Focusing on the fact that so-called insert molding is used to form the cover body, the plastic material of this soft protective layer is used, and the soft plastic material is wrapped around the legs of the cover body in the mold. I decided to do so.

That is, the cover body is made of a material with relatively high rigidity, and the legs forming the skeleton of the mounting legs extend from the back side of the flat operation surface, and the protective layer is made of a material with relatively high rigidity. It is made of a plastic material that is relatively softer than the material of the cover body, and covers the surface of the cover main body and at least the outer peripheral surface of the feet, and further protrudes from the feet to engage the ends of the mounting feet. It forms a part.

According to the above configuration, in each mounting leg of the upper cover, a protective layer made of soft plastic is formed around the skeletal leg of the cover body 10.
It is difficult to break, and even if it does break, the broken part of the hard skeletal leg is covered by a protective layer made of soft plastic material around it.

Furthermore, according to the above configuration, the end engaging portion of each mounting foot is formed of a protective layer of soft plastic material, so even if it receives a large impact, it will not come off from the movable plate, and the end engaging portion has elasticity. Since it can be deformed, it will not break.

Further, according to the above configuration, by the insert molding method, the soft plastic material forming the protective layer can be flowed onto the surface of the cover body inserted in the mold and easily wrapped around each skeletal leg, It can be easily manufactured. Therefore, the number of special parts does not increase to implement the above configuration.

Embodiments The present invention will be specifically described below with reference to embodiments shown in FIGS. 3 to 5.

3 and 4 show a half back view and a sectional view of the upper cover, that is, the horn switch operation cover 8. In the figure, 10 is the cover body;
A plurality of legs 15 forming the skeleton of the mounting legs 11 are provided on the back surface of the operation surface 29, and a lattice-like rib 2 is provided.
It is equipped with 6. The cover body 10 is made of a relatively hard material, that is, a rigid material, as in the conventional example.

On the other hand, reference numeral 9 denotes a protective layer, which is made of a relatively soft plastic material as in the conventional example, and includes the surface of the cover main body 10, that is, the surface that is pressed by hand, and the outer peripheral surface of each leg 15. And the inner peripheral surface is coated in a series. Then, this protective layer 9 is applied to the tip of each mounting foot 11.
5 protrudes toward the distal end side, and forms a distal end engagement portion 16 of the mounting foot 11. That is, like the conventional example, this tip engaging portion 16 is provided with a plurality of axial slits 17, and the portions between the slits are bent inward, respectively.
Furthermore, the outer periphery is provided with a groove 18 into which the wall surrounding the mounting hole of the movable plate can fit.

The horn switch operation cover 8 having the above structure is molded by insert molding, as shown in FIG. Therefore, as clearly shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a suitable through hole 23 is formed at a predetermined position on the operating surface 29 of the cover body 10, through which the plastic material of the protective film 9 can pass. It's becoming like that.

To further explain FIG. 5, in the figure 19 is a fixed type, 20 is a movable type, and 21 is a core. A cavity 24 is formed between the fixed mold 19 and the movable mold 20, and a gate 22 for injecting a plastic material, which is a material for the protective layer, is formed between the two. On the side of the movable mold 20, a foot-shaped cavity 25 for forming each mounting leg 11 of the upper cover 8 is formed, and a cavity 30 for each rib 26 of the cover body 10 to fit into is formed. -ing In the mold shown in Figure 5,
Now, when the plastic material for the protective layer 9 is injected through the gate 22, this plastic material goes around the surface of the cover body 10 inserted in advance, and also enters the inside and outside of the legs 15 through the through holes 23. It goes around and goes around to the tip side of the cavity 25. The above core 21 has a cavity 25
is inserted into the center of the cover body 10, and is housed within the legs 15 of the inserted cover body 10. Therefore, the injected soft plastic material is
It covers the outer and inner periphery of, and its center is hollow. In addition, there is a mounting foot 1 at the tip of the cavity 25.
It has a shape for forming one tip engaging portion 16.

As described above, the horn switch operating cover 8 of the horn switch according to the present embodiment can be constructed very easily by inserting the cover body 10 into a mold in advance and injecting the plastic material for the protective layer. Since the mounting foot 11 has a hard foot 15 at its center or inside and is surrounded by a soft protective layer on its inner and outer circumferential surfaces, it is difficult to break. Moreover, even if it breaks, the broken part will not scatter. Further, the end mounting portion 16 of the mounting foot 11 made of soft plastic material can elastically engage with the surrounding wall of the mounting hole 12 of the movable plate 7, and therefore does not easily come off even under strong impact. It has the advantage of being hard to break.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the intended purpose of the present invention can be fully achieved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a plan view schematically showing an automobile steering wheel, Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line of Fig. 1, Figs. 3 to 5 show embodiments of the present invention, and Fig. 3 is a horn switch operation cover. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a state in which the horn switch operating cover in FIGS. 3 and 4 is insert-molded. 1...Ring, 2...Spoke, 3...Steering shaft connection center part, 4...Horn switch, 5...Base, 6...Fixed plate, 7...Movable plate, 8...Top cover (horn switch) operation cover), 9... protective layer, 10... cover body, 11
...Mounting foot, 12...Mounting hole, 13...Mounting means, 14...Screw, 15...Feet, 16...Tip engaging portion, 17...Slit, 18...Groove, 19...
Fixed type, 20... Movable type, 21... Core, 22...
... Gate, 23 ... Through hole, 24 ... Cavity, 25 ... Paw-shaped cavity, 26 ... Rib, 2
7... Spring, 28... Movable contact, 2
9...Operation surface, 30...Cavity.

Claims (1)

[Claim for Utility Model Registration] A plurality of mounting feet extend from the back side of the flat operating surface, and the engagement portion at the tip of each of the mounting feet is engaged with a mounting hole of a movable plate provided with a movable contact. The cover is adapted to be worn, and is made of a material with relatively high rigidity, and has legs that form the framework of the mounting legs extending from the back side of the flat operating surface; The cover is made of a plastic material that is relatively softer than the other material, and covers the surface of the cover body and at least the outer circumferential surface of the foot, and protrudes from the foot to form a front end engagement portion of the mounting foot. A switch operation cover for a horn switch of an automobile steering wheel, characterized by comprising a protective layer made of: