JPH0550701U - sensor - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To provide a sensor having a connection structure of terminals that does not cause poor electrical contact even in an environment subject to high temperature and vibration. [Structure] A main body case 1 having a storage portion 1a, an external terminal 22 provided on the main body case 1, and the storage portion 1a.
The resistance substrate 3 held inside and the opening 3 of the storage portion 1a
A cover 2 for covering the external terminals 22 and the resistance substrate 3
Lead spring 16 for electrically connecting the upper terminal pattern 8
In the sensor having, the external terminal 22 and the terminal pattern 8 are closely arranged to face each other, and the two clip portions 16a and 16b and the clip portion 16 of the lead spring 16 are provided.
A recess 16c for connecting a and 16b is provided, and a cover 30 is provided with a protrusion 30 to be inserted into the recess 16c of the lead spring 16.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a sensor for controlling a mixing ratio of gasoline and air equipped in a vehicle and a sensor for controlling an amount of recycled exhaust gas.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 A variable resistor is usually used as a sensor provided in the vehicle as described above. In such a variable resistor, the variable resistor is provided on the terminal pattern on the resistance substrate (insulating substrate) and the main body case. Generally, crimping or soldering was used to connect to external terminals.

However, in the above structure, when the sensor (variable resistor) is used at a high temperature close to 200 ° C., in the case of caulking fixation, it is caused by the difference in thermal expansion coefficient between the resistance substrate and the external terminal. Then, there is a problem that the terminal pattern and the external terminal are liable to cause poor electrical contact, and in the case of soldering, the solder is melted to cause poor electrical contact. Note that in a vehicle such as a vehicle that is often subject to vibrations, the terminals are often subject to vibrations, and the above-described electrical contact failure is more likely to occur.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the applicant of the present invention has proposed Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 3-104701 (Japanese Patent Application No. 2-11937).

FIG. 13 is a drawing attached to the above publication and is a sectional view of a variable resistor used as a sensor.

The present invention relates to a connection structure of terminals, and as shown in FIG. 13, has a first bent portion 18 having a wavy portion 17 at one end and a second bent portion 18 having a wavy portion 19 formed therein. The first bent portion 18 of the lead spring 16 having the curved portion 20 at the other end and the corrugated portion 21 formed in the middle thereof elastically clamps the end portion of the resistance substrate 3 so that the corrugated portion 17 is formed on the resistance substrate 3. The second bent portion 20 elastically clamps the external terminal 22 and the intermediate corrugated portion 21 supports the resistance substrate 3.

[0007]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 In the sensor according to the conventional example described above, the contact between the terminal pattern 8 and the lead spring 16 and the contact between the external terminal 22 and the lead spring 16 do not involve caulking and soldering, but the elasticity of the lead spring. Since the electrical contact is normally maintained even at high temperature, the resistance substrate 3 is supported by the corrugated portion 21 in the middle of the lead spring 16 to reinforce against vibration. However, since the contact portion at the tip of the external terminal 22 and the terminal pattern 8 are located at both ends of the resistance substrate 3 and are separated by substantially the length of the resistance substrate 3, the long lead spring 16 is required, and the cost is reduced. If the lead spring 16 is long, and the middle portion is reinforced by the corrugated portion 21 if the middle portion is distorted due to temperature change, vibration, etc., the strain is increased at the bent portions 18 at both ends. However, there is a problem in that deformation is likely to occur and contact failure is likely to occur due to this deformation.

The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and its purpose is to prevent electrical contact failure even in an environment subject to high temperatures and vibrations, and only lead springs. It is intended to shorten the unit price of the lead spring by shortening the length.

[0009]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 The above-described object of the present invention includes a main body case having a storage portion, external terminals provided in the main body case, an insulating substrate held in the storage portion, and a cover for covering the opening of the storage portion. In a sensor having a lead spring that electrically connects the external terminal and a terminal pattern on the insulating substrate, the external terminal and the terminal pattern are closely arranged to face each other, and the external terminal is attached to the lead spring. This is achieved by providing two clip portions for elastically holding the terminal pattern and the terminal pattern, and a concave portion connecting these clip portions, and providing the cover with a convex portion to be inserted into the concave portion.

Further, the above-mentioned object of the present invention covers a main body case having a storage portion, an external terminal provided in the main body case, an insulating substrate held in the storage portion, and an opening of the storage portion. In a sensor having a cover and a lead spring electrically connecting the external terminal and a terminal pattern on the insulating substrate, a paragraph having substantially the same thickness dimension as the external terminal is provided on the cover side of the substrate. The lead spring is provided with two clip portions having substantially equal gaps, and one of the clip portions is fitted into the external terminal and the other is fitted into the paragraph portion to form the terminal pattern. It is achieved by hitting.

[0011]

[Action]

 According to the above configuration, one end of the insulating substrate is elastically clamped by one clip portion of the lead spring to elastically contact the terminal pattern, and the other clip portion elastically clamps the external terminal. Since the contact between the lead spring and the contact between the external terminal and the lead spring is made through the elastic force of the clip portion without intervening caulking and soldering, it can be normally maintained even in a high temperature environment where the solder melts. Also, since the connection part of the external terminal and the terminal pattern of the insulating substrate are arranged close to each other so as to face each other, the terminal pattern and the external terminal can be connected by a short lead spring, resulting in a reduction in component cost and an extension. In other words, the cost of the sensor itself is reduced.

Further, when the cover that covers the opening of the main body case is provided with the convex portion that is inserted into the concave portion between the pair of clip portions of the reed spring, the central portion of the reed spring can be reliably held. Therefore, it is possible to withstand vibration and prevent the clip portion from being deformed, so that the connection portion does not cause poor contact.

Further, a paragraph having substantially the same thickness as the external terminal is provided on the insulating substrate, and one of the two clip portions provided on the lead spring and having substantially the same gap is fitted into the external terminal while the other is attached. If the lead spring is elastically contacted with the terminal pattern by being inserted in the paragraph, the movement of the lead spring in the width direction is restricted by the paragraph, so contact failure at the connection part can be prevented, and the direction when the lead spring is installed Assembling workability is improved because there is no property.

[0014]

【Example】

 An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 to 10 are explanatory views of a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a variable resistor used as a sensor, and FIG. 2 is a side view of the variable resistor with a cover removed. 3 and 4 are plan views of the insulating substrate, FIG. 4 is a front view of the reed spring, FIG. 5 is a left side view of the lead spring shown in FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is a right side view of the reed spring shown in FIG. 7 is an enlarged explanatory view of an essential part showing a state in which an external terminal is connected to a terminal pattern on an insulating substrate by a lead spring, FIG. 8 is a front view of a cover, FIG. 9 is a rear view of the same, and FIG. 10 is a modification of the lead spring. FIG. 3 is an enlarged explanatory view of a main part of FIG. The same parts as those in the conventional example shown in FIG. 13 are designated by the same reference numerals.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a main body case of a variable resistor having a housing portion 1 a, 2 is a cover, 3 is a resistance substrate (insulating substrate), and the substrate 3 is a support for both sides of the main body case 1 as shown in FIG. It is held in the groove 4 of the id. As shown in FIG. 3, a resistor 5 and a current collector 6 are formed on the upper surface of the resistor substrate 3, and both ends of the resistor 5 are connected to the first terminal pattern 8 and the third terminal pattern via the lead pattern 7. The current collectors 6 are connected to the terminal patterns 8 respectively, and are connected to the second terminal patterns 8 via the lead patterns 7. 1 and 2, reference numeral 10 denotes a slider receiver, and a slider 11 is attached to the lower surface thereof as shown in FIG. A spring 13 is inserted between a protrusion 10a of the slider receiver 10 and a protrusion 29, which will be described later, of the cover 2, and the protrusion 10a is fitted into the concave groove 15 of the body case 1. The slider receiver 10 is movable using the concave groove 15 as a guide.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 16 denotes three lead springs formed in the same shape. The first lead spring 16 provided in correspondence with the resistor 5 has first and second clips as shown in FIG. It has parts 16a and 16b and a recess 16c that connects the clip parts 16a and 16b. The first clip portion 16 a of the first lead spring 16 elastically holds one end of the resistance substrate 3 having the first terminal pattern 8 formed on one surface thereof, and the second clip portion 16 b is embedded in the main body case 1. The first external terminal 22 is clamped and held.

In the same manner, the second lead spring 16 provided corresponding to the current collector 6 and the third lead spring 16 provided corresponding to the lead pattern 7 connected to the resistor 5 are The clip portion 16a elastically clamps the second and third terminal patterns 8, and the second clip portion 16b elastically clamps the second and third external terminals 22. The second clip 16b has a pair of blades 16d and surrounds the external terminal 22 with these blades 16d to prevent the lead spring 16 from rattling in the lateral direction (width direction). Both blades 16d may be formed in the extending direction of the resistance substrate 3, as shown in FIG. At this time, if the width between the tips of both blades 16d is set wider than the width of the external terminal 22 and the width between the roots of both blades 16d is set narrower than the width of the external terminal 22, the external terminal The number of contact points between 22 and the lead spring 16 is increased, and the contact reliability is improved. In FIG. 10, reference numeral 36 denotes a chamfer formed on the end surface of the resistance substrate 3, and this chamfer 36 facilitates insertion of the lead spring 16 into the resistance substrate 3. Returning to FIG. 1, reference numeral 24 is a shaft for pressing the slider receiver 10 toward the cover 2 and is held by the collar portion 25 of the main body case 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, the cover 2 has a circular thick portion 27 in the center on one surface, and an annular projecting wall 28 on the outer periphery of the thick portion 27. On the other surface, a convex portion 29 that receives the spring 13 and a convex portion 30 that is inserted into the concave portion 16c of the lead spring 16 are provided. On the other hand, the peripheral wall 31 of the main body case 1 has an annular projecting wall 32, and the projecting walls 28 and 32 are located in a space 34 formed when the opening 33 of the main body case 1 is covered with the cover 2. The space 35 is sealed by injecting an adhesive 35 such as an epoxy resin. By embedding the projecting walls 28 and 32 with the adhesive 35 in this way, the main body case 1 and the cover 2 are reliably bonded, and the adhesive 35 is prevented from peeling off due to temperature change or vibration. The projecting walls 28 and 32 are not necessarily annular, and a part of them may be formed in an annular shape, and a concave groove may be used instead of the projecting wall.

The protrusion 30 of the cover 2 covered by the opening 33 of the main body case 1 in this manner is inserted into the recess 16 c of each lead spring 16 as shown in FIG.

According to the above-described embodiment of the present invention, the terminal pattern 8 at the end of the resistance substrate 5 is elastically clamped by the first clip portion 16a of the lead spring 16 and the external terminal by the second clip portion 16b. 22 is elastically held, and the contact between the terminal pattern 8 and the lead spring 16 and the contact between the external terminal 22 and the lead spring 16 are maintained by the elastic force of the lead spring 16 without intervening caulking and soldering. Therefore, it can be normally maintained even under an environment of about 200 ° C. Further, since the terminal pattern 8 provided on the resistance substrate 3 and the connection portion at the front ends of the external terminals 22 are closely arranged to face each other, the lead spring The length of 16 is short, and the convex portion 30 of the cover 2 is inserted into the concave portion 16c located at the center between the two clip portions 16a and 16b, so that the lead spring 16 is not held at the central portion. Since it is held securely, it can withstand vibration. Further, since the length of the reed spring 16 is shorter than that of the conventional one, the material cost can be saved and the unit price of parts can be reduced. Further, since the contact portion between the resistance substrate 3 and the lead spring 16 is on the opening 33 side (front side) of the main body case 1, it is possible to easily confirm the quality of the contact at the time of assembling the product and improve the reliability. can do.

11 and 12 are explanatory views of a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 11 is a sectional view of a main part showing a state in which an external terminal and a terminal pattern on an insulating substrate are connected by a lead spring, FIG. 12 is a perspective view thereof, and parts corresponding to those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals.

The second embodiment is different from the above-described first embodiment in that the paragraph 37 is formed at the end of the resistance substrate 3 on the side (front side) facing the cover 2 and the lead spring 16 This is because the first and second clip portions 16a and 16b have the same shape, and the convex portion 30 of the cover 2 is omitted. The width of the paragraph 37 is set to be slightly larger than the width of the clips 16a and 16b of the lead spring 16, and the thickness of the paragraph 37 is substantially the same as the thickness of the external terminal 22. Therefore, the play in the lateral direction (width direction) of the lead spring 16 is restricted by the first clip portion 16a coming into contact with the side wall of the paragraph portion 37. In addition, since the first and second clip portions 16a and 16b have a symmetrical shape, when the lead spring 16 is assembled, the direction in which the resistor board 3 or the external terminal 22 clamps the clip portions 16a and 16b by elastic force. And the workability of assembly is improved.

As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, both the clip portions 16 a and 16 b are provided with a positioning protrusion 38, and the resistance substrate 3 and the external terminal 22 are provided with a positioning recess for fitting with the positioning protrusion 38. If provided, these projections 38 and recesses can prevent the play of the lead spring 16 in the lateral direction. Therefore, in this case, the width of the paragraph 37 is smaller than the width of the clip parts 16a and 16b. Can be set large enough.

[0025]

[Effect of the device]

 According to the present invention, as described above, the connection between the terminal pattern on the insulating substrate and the external terminal provided on the main body case is performed through the lead spring, and the terminal pattern and the external terminal are connected to the lead spring. The contact is made by elastically holding by a pair of clips provided on the reed spring, so that normal electrical contact can be maintained even in a high temperature environment, and the terminal pattern and the tip of the external terminal can be maintained. Since the connecting parts are arranged close to each other and facing each other, the length of the lead spring connecting them can be made shorter than before, and the lead spring becomes shorter than before. Material costs will be reduced, and the unit price will be lower. Also, when the convex part of the cover is inserted into the concave part formed between the two clip parts, the reed spring is held at the center part thereof, so that the reed spring is held securely and is resistant to vibration. Can endure. Furthermore, when a paragraph with almost the same thickness as the external terminal is formed on the insulating substrate and the paragraph and the external terminal are elastically clamped by clips with almost equal gaps, the width of the lead spring is Not only can the play in the direction be prevented, but the directionality at the time of incorporating the lead spring is eliminated, so that the assembling workability is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a variable resistor according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the variable resistor of FIG. 1 with a cover removed.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of an insulating substrate included in the variable resistor of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a lead spring included in the variable resistor of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a left side view of the lead spring.

FIG. 6 is a right side view of the lead spring.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the terminal pattern and external terminals are connected by the lead spring of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a front view of a cover included in the variable resistor of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a rear view of the cover.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged explanatory view of a main part showing a modified example of the lead spring.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts of a variable resistor according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of FIG. 11.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view of a conventional variable resistor.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Main Body Case 1a Storage Part 2 Cover 3 Resistive Substrate (Insulating Substrate) 8 Terminal Pattern 16 Reed Spring 16a Clip Part 16b Clip Part 16c Recess 16d Wing Part 22 External Terminal 27, 32 Projection Wall 30 Convex Part 34 Void 35 Adhesive 36 Chamfer 37 Paragraph 38 Positioning protrusion

Claims (2)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A main body case having a storage portion, an external terminal provided in the main body case, an insulating substrate held in the storage portion, and a cover for covering an opening of the storage portion, the external terminal In a sensor having a lead spring that electrically connects the external terminal and the terminal pattern on the insulating substrate, the external terminal and the terminal pattern are closely arranged to face each other, and the external terminal and the terminal pattern are pressed against the lead spring. 2. A sensor, comprising: two clip parts that are held between the two clip parts; and a recess that connects the two clip parts, and a protrusion that is inserted into the recess in the cover. 2. A main body case having a storage portion, an external terminal provided in the main body case, an insulating substrate held in the storage portion, and a cover for covering an opening of the storage portion, the external terminal In a sensor having a lead spring for electrically connecting the terminal pattern on the insulating substrate with the insulating substrate, a paragraph portion having substantially the same thickness dimension as the external terminal is provided on the cover side of the insulating substrate, and each of the lead spring is provided. Is provided with two clip portions having substantially the same gap, and one of the clip portions is fitted into the external terminal, and the other is fitted into the paragraph portion to make elastic contact with the terminal pattern.