JPH0312568Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to an operation control device, and in particular, to a mechanism in which the operation lever slides parallel to the plate surface of a finish panel, the operation lever can be operated with a good feeling of operation. The present invention relates to an operation control device that can perform the following operations.

Conventionally, in operation control devices such as automobile air conditioning control devices, an operation lever has been slid parallel to a finish panel, that is, an operation display panel such as the front panel of a housing such as an instrument panel. A so-called parallel slide mechanism, which controls the operation of a predetermined device using this mechanism, has been adopted. In such mechanisms, various efforts have been made to eliminate rattling of the operating lever and provide a good operating feel. However, the reality is that no conventional mechanism of this kind has yet been provided with a configuration that satisfactorily achieves the above objectives.

For example, in the case of an operation control device having the configuration shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a long operating lever 2 that is moved linearly along a finish panel (not shown) and a linear movement of the operating lever 2 are used. A drive lever 4 that converts the motion into rotational motion and transmits it to a predetermined device.
The block 6 interposed between the cross section U
A sheet 1 is mounted inside a guide rail 8 made of iron plate in the shape of a letter, and installed on the inner wall side on both sides of the guide rail 8.
0 and 10, and when the operating lever 2 is moved, the block 6 is placed in contact with the guide rail 8 with a predetermined amount of frictional resistance between it and the seats 10 and 10. It is designed so that it can be slid inside. By setting the frictional resistance to an appropriate value in advance, a predetermined good operational feeling can be obtained.

However, in the actuation control device having such a configuration, if the guide rail 8 is too wide, a gap will be created between the block 6 and the seats 10, 10, and the operating lever 2 will play in its longitudinal direction. moon,
On the other hand, if the width is too narrow, the load (frictional resistance) when the operating lever 2 slides will increase and the operating feeling will deteriorate, so the bending process of the guide rail 8 needs to be performed with extremely high precision. It was. For this reason, when pursuing a good operational feel, work efficiency decreases and the cost of the product increases.On the other hand, if you try to improve work efficiency, you have no choice but to sacrifice the operational feel to some extent. There was an inherent problem in not being able to obtain the necessary benefits.

The present invention was devised in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide an economical parallel slide that does not cause rattling in the longitudinal direction of the operating lever and provides a stable and good operating feel. An object of the present invention is to provide an operation control device equipped with a mechanism.

In order to achieve this purpose, the present invention adopts a longitudinal control lever that is placed through a linear slit provided in the finish panel and has an operating knob attached to its front end. and a guide surface that is located on the back side of the finish panel and is provided in a direction parallel to the plate surface of the panel, and that the guide portion of the operating lever is made of two opposing surfaces or two back-to-back surfaces. and a guide rail that guides linearly along the panel, the operation control device controlling the operating state of a predetermined device according to the movement of the operation lever, the guide portion of the operation lever and the guide rail linearly guiding the operation lever along the panel. A leaf spring means for urging the operating lever to be separated from the guide rail in the longitudinal direction is formed into a bent shape so as to elastically protrude outward at an intermediate portion thereof, a curved elastic protrusion is provided, the protrusion is accommodated and held in the guide part of the operating lever, and the protrusion of the leaf spring means is elastically protruded through a window provided in the guide part;
By applying the biasing force of the leaf spring means to one of the two surfaces constituting the guide surface, in a state in which the other surface of the guide surface and the guide portion of the operating lever are brought into contact with each other. , the plate spring means is moved in sliding contact with the guide and moved together with the operating lever, and a predetermined moderation groove is provided on the guide rail surface on which the plate spring means slides,
The protrusion of the leaf spring means is elastically engaged with the moderation groove.

Therefore, according to the present invention having such a configuration, the leaf spring means provided between the guide rail and the portion of the operating lever guided by the guide rail is biased so as to separate them; Since the lever is moved together with the operating lever while being in sliding contact with the guide rail, the leaf spring means is elastically interposed between the operating lever and the guide rail regardless of the moving position of the operating lever. As a result, the wobbling of the operating lever in the longitudinal direction can be effectively eliminated, and a good operating feeling when sliding can be ensured. In addition, for the same reason, that is, because the gap is elastically filled by the leaf spring means, the above-mentioned effect can be achieved even if the machining accuracy of the guide rail and the portion of the operating lever that is guided by the guide rail is not so high. Therefore, it became possible to obtain at a low cost an actuation control device equipped with a parallel slide mechanism that has no rattling in the longitudinal direction of the operating lever and has a good operating feel. It is.

Hereinafter, in order to clarify the present invention more specifically, two or three embodiments will be described in detail based on the drawings in the case where the present invention is applied to an air conditioning control device for an automobile. Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to an operation control device.

First, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of an air conditioning control system for an automobile. On the left side of the center, a long name plate 16 indicating the operating status of the air conditioner is provided so that its longitudinal direction is perpendicular to the paper surface in the figure, and on the upper and lower parts sandwiching the name plate 16, A slit 18 is formed parallel to the longitudinal direction of the name plate 16. And a longitudinal operation lever 20 for controlling the air conditioning state.
is disposed so as to be movable through the slit 18.

The operating lever 20 has an operating knob 22 attached to its longitudinal front end, and is rotatably connected to the front end of a drive lever 26 via a pin 24 at its rear end.
2, the operating lever 20 is connected to the slit 1.
8, the drive lever 26 is pivoted about an axis 30 formed in the frame 28 at its rear end, via a cable 32 connected at one end to its intermediate part. The operation of an air conditioner (not shown) connected to the other end is controlled.

In this device, a parallel slide mechanism 34 is provided between the frame 28 and the operating lever 20 so that the operating lever 20 is moved parallel to the finish panel 14 during the movement operation. It is set up.

As shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 4, this parallel slide mechanism 34 has two inner opposing sides that are formed parallel to the finish panel 14 at the front end of the frame 28 on the back side of the finish panel 14. A guide rail 36 having a substantially U-shaped cross section with one surface serving as a guide surface, a spring accommodating portion 38 of the operating lever 20 accommodated in the groove of the guide rail 36, and a plate accommodated within the accommodating portion 38. It consists of a spring 40.

The spring accommodating portion 38 is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, for example.
As shown in the figure, a pair of front and rear opposing walls 44 and 46 extend perpendicularly to the flat plate part 42 from the middle part of the flat plate part 42 of the operating lever 20 inserted into the slit 18, and the ends thereof. It consists of side walls 48, 48 connecting the parts, and these walls 4
A substantially C-shaped leaf spring 40 is housed in an inner hollow portion 50 formed by 4 to 48 . The leaf spring 40 has a protrusion 52 in its center that is bent so as to protrude outward. It is accommodated in the spring accommodating portion 38 in a protruding state. When the spring accommodating portion 38 of the operating lever 20 that accommodates the leaf spring 40 is housed in the guide rail 36, as shown in FIG.
is brought into contact with the front wall (guiding surface) of the guide rail 36, and the elastic force of the leaf spring 40 causes the rear wall 46 of the spring accommodating portion 38 to be brought into contact with the guide rail 3.
By setting the elastic force of the leaf spring 40 to an appropriate value in advance, the spring 40 is brought into contact with the rear wall (guiding surface) of the leaf spring 40, as shown by the arrow in FIG. When the operating lever 20 is slid parallel to the finish panel 14, the protruding portion 52 of the leaf spring 40 and the rear wall 46 of the spring accommodating portion 38 touch both side walls (guiding surfaces) of the guide rail 36. The lever 20 is brought into sliding contact with the lever 20 with an appropriate frictional resistance, so that a good operating feeling without rattling can be obtained in the longitudinal direction of the operating lever 20.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7, a plurality of moderation grooves 55 are formed on the front wall surface of the guide rail 36 at predetermined intervals. These moderation grooves 55
is adapted to engage with a protrusion 52 of the leaf spring 40 when the operating lever 20 comes to a predetermined operating position, and by their engagement, a predetermined sense of moderation is provided to the operator. is beginning to be brought about.

As is clear from the above description, in the air conditioning control device having such a configuration, the finish panel 1
The leaf spring 40 is elastically interposed between the guide rail 36 provided parallel to the guide rail 36 and the spring accommodating portion 38 of the operating lever 20 guided by the guide rail 36, thereby preventing backlash in the longitudinal direction. Therefore, the guide rail 36 and the spring housing portion 38 of the operating lever 20 do not need to be processed with high accuracy, and can be operated with normal processing accuracy. This makes it possible to stably obtain an air conditioning control device with a good feel, thereby substantially improving work efficiency during the manufacture of the air conditioning control device. In addition, the frame 28 including the guide rail 36 and the operating lever 2 including the spring accommodating portion 38 are designed so that machining accuracy is not a problem.
0 can be obtained as synthetic resin molded products, and the manufacturing cost is significantly lower than that of conventional products.

Further, in this embodiment, since the leaf spring 40 is separated from the bottom of the groove of the guide rail 36 by the lower frame portion of the window 54 of the spring accommodating portion 38, the movement operation of the operating lever 20 is difficult. This has the advantage of being performed more smoothly.

Although not shown, in the spring accommodating portion 38, a protrusion that protrudes into the hollow portion 50 is provided on the rear wall 46, and each end of the leaf spring 40 is brought into contact with the protrusion, so that the operating lever 20 If the leaf spring 40 is fixed relative to the operating lever 20 in the sliding direction during the sliding operation, the operability of the operating lever 20 can be further improved.

In addition, in this embodiment, a window 54 is provided in the front wall 44 of the spring accommodating portion 38 of the operating lever 20, and the protruding portion 52 of the leaf spring 40 is made to protrude from the window 54. During the movement operation, the protruding portion 52 of the leaf spring 40 and the spring accommodating portion 3
However, the window 54 is provided in the rear wall 46 of the spring accommodating portion 38, and the leaf spring 40 can be inserted into the rear wall 46 of the spring housing portion 38 from there. It is also possible to configure the projection 52 of the leaf spring 40 and the front wall 44 of the spring accommodating portion 38 to come into sliding contact with the inner wall of the guide rail 36 by causing the projection 52 to project.

The present invention can also be implemented in other aspects,
An example is shown in FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, respectively.

That is, in the case of the air conditioning control device whose essential parts are shown in FIG. The spring accommodating portion 62 is formed as a U-shaped groove serving as a side wall, while the bottom portion 6 is fixed to a flat operating lever 64 by adhesive or by an engagement mechanism (not shown).
It has a box shape with 6. A window 54 is formed in the front wall 44 of the spring housing portion 62,
The protrusion 52 of the leaf spring 40 housed in the interior space protrudes from the window 54 and comes into contact with the back side of the finish panel 60. Also, at this time, the rear wall 46 of the spring accommodating portion 60
However, due to the elastic force of the leaf spring 40, the guide rail 5
The protruding portion 52 of the leaf spring 40 is brought into contact with the rear wall of the leaf spring 40 as in the previous embodiment.
Of course, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the surfaces on which the two slides are in sliding contact are reversed. Further, in this embodiment, in order to separate the leaf spring 40 from the bottom of the guide rail 58 and maintain a better operating feel of the operating lever 64, a bottom part 66 is provided in the spring accommodating part 62, and the leaf spring 40 is separated from the bottom of the guide rail 58. However, if the plate spring 40 and the bottom of the guide rail 58 are designed to make smooth sliding contact, the spring housing portion 62
The window 54 may be a slit extending to the bottom of the guide rail 58. This is generally true when the guide rail has a bottom portion that can come into sliding contact with the leaf spring in the spring accommodating portion, including the embodiments described above.

In addition, in the case of the air conditioning control device whose main part is shown in FIG. 9, the guide rail 70 of the parallel slide mechanism 68 is a plate-shaped stationary member provided parallel to the finish panel 72. The opposite surfaces of the guide rail 70 constitute guide surfaces, and the leaf spring 40 accommodated in the spring accommodating portion 38 of the operating lever 74 is placed on the opposite surface of the guide rail 70 from the finish panel 72. Projection part 5
2 are brought into contact with each other. In addition, the elastic force of the leaf spring 40 biases the operating lever 74 backward as a whole, so that the spring housing portion 3
Finish panel 72 provided in front of 8
A sliding contact wall 76 parallel to the guide rail 70 comes into contact with the front surface of the guide rail 70, and comes into sliding contact with the protrusion 52 of the leaf spring 40 when the operation lever 74 is moved. The wall 76 is slid with the guide rail 70 sandwiched therebetween. That is, this makes it possible to obtain a good operating feeling of the operating lever 74.

It goes without saying that other modifications and improvements can be made to the present invention based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art, as long as they do not deviate from the scope of the claims for utility model registration. For example, the shape of a leaf spring is approximately U.
Alternatively, instead of controlling the operation of a predetermined device via a drive lever, it is also possible to configure the device to be directly controlled by an operating lever.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a parallel slide mechanism of a conventional actuation control device, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view thereof. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the operation control device according to the present invention applied to an air conditioning control device for an automobile, FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the main part, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing FIGS. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the main parts showing the operating lever used in the air conditioning control device shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of essential parts of the air conditioning control device shown from the back side of the finish panel. 8 and 9 are views corresponding to FIG. 4, respectively, showing other embodiments of the present invention. 14, 60, 72...finish panel, 1
8... Slit, 20, 64, 74... Operating lever, 22... Operating knob, 26... Drive lever, 3
4,56,68...parallel slide mechanism, 36,5
8, 70...Guide rail, 38, 62...Spring housing section, 40...Plat spring, 52...Protrusion part, 54
... Window, 55 ... Moderation groove, 66 ... Bottom, 76 ...
...Sliding wall.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A longitudinal control lever is disposed passing through a linear slit provided in the finish panel, and an operating knob is attached to the front end of the control lever; a guide rail provided in a direction parallel to the surface and linearly guiding the guide portion of the operating lever along the panel on a guide surface consisting of two opposing surfaces or two back-to-back surfaces; In an operation control device that controls the operating state of a predetermined device according to the movement of the operating lever, the guide portion of the operating lever and the guide rail are separated from each other in the longitudinal direction of the operating lever. The plate spring means for biasing the operating lever is formed into a bent shape so as to elastically protrude outward at the intermediate portion thereof to provide a curved elastic protrusion, and the guide portion of the operating lever is provided with a curved elastic protrusion. At the same time, the protruding portion of the leaf spring means is elastically projected through a window provided in the guide portion, and the biasing force of the leaf spring means is applied to the two surfaces constituting the guide surface. By acting on one of the guide rails, the leaf spring means slides on the guide rail and moves together with the operating lever in a state where the guide portion of the operating lever is brought into contact with the other surface of the guide surface. On the other hand, a predetermined moderation groove is provided on the guide rail surface on which the plate spring means slides, so that the protrusion of the plate spring means is elastically engaged with the moderation groove. An operation control device characterized by: