JPH07176246A - Tilt switch - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a small tilt switch to stably and further surely perform contact action and opening action. CONSTITUTION:In a tilt switch 1, a vessel is constituted of a cover plate 2 insulating a conductive terminal pin 5 fixed on a disk 4 and a housing 3 made of conductive material. A contact member 7 is fixed to a vessel side end part of the conductive terminal pin 5. A rack-shaped part 3B is provided in the periphery of a bottom surface 3A of the housing 3, to store a conductive ball 9 so as to be positioned in almost the center in a regular attitude. When the switch 1 is tilted at a prescrived angle or more, the conductive ball 9 is rolled on the rack-shaped part 3B to come into contact with the contact member 7. In the rack-shape part 3B, in at least a part of rolling the conductive ball 9, a gradient rate is decreased simultaneously with rising concentrically in a regular attitude from the center side over to the peripheral side. That is, when tilted the switch 1, the gradient rate of descending is increased in accordance with going to the peripheral side. Consequently, when the conductive ball 9 is once started to roll, it is rapidly advanced non-reversibly, and no unstable contact condition is generated due to unsteadiness of the conductive ball 9 in the vicinity of an action preset angle.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is attached to, for example, a control device for an oil heater, a gas combustion device, an electric device, etc., and detects a tilt or a fall of these control target devices to send a detection signal to the control device or the like. It relates to a tilt switch for sending.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various types of tilt switches have been proposed. For example, the actual exploitation 50-12387
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 0 (1998) describes a switch that responds to a fall or tilt in which a conductor ball is placed in a hermetically sealed housing made of an electrically insulating material and the fixed contact is electrically opened or closed by the movement of the conductor ball. In Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 50-127654, a rollable conductor is inserted between vertically spaced electrodes so that the conductor is connected to the V-shaped open electrode during rolling. The switch is listed. In Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 41-17699, there is a movable contactor in which a magnetic ball is housed and a magnet is held in a container made of a non-magnetic material. There is described a safety switch with a magnet in which the movable contact and the fixed contact are closed by the attraction force and the balls roll to separate the contact.

These tilt switches are attached to a combustion device such as an oil fan heater, and output an ON signal or an OFF signal when the device to be controlled tilts or falls over a predetermined angle and receives this signal. The control unit of the controlled device takes appropriate safety measures such as extinguishing fire and stopping fuel supply.

[0004]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]
In the switch that responds to a fall or tilt of Japanese Patent No. 123870, since the resting position of the conductor ball in the normal posture is higher than the resting position of the conductor ball after the switch is actuated, it is located in the center of the container. The conductor ball did not automatically return after rolling, and it was difficult to return it to its original position even if it was operated by hand, which was very inconvenient to handle.

Further, in the fall detection switch of Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 50-127654, the lower electrode surface, which is the rolling portion of the conductor, is V-shaped, and the tilt angle of the controlled device is almost the same as the angle of this surface. If they match, the contact between the conductor and the electrode becomes unstable, and contact opening may be repeated. In addition, since the upper and lower electrodes are V-shaped in the same direction, if the conductor comes into contact with both electrodes due to a particular impact, the conductor may be directly inserted between the two electrodes and held. Even if the target device is returned to the normal position, the conductor does not return to the normal position, and there is a risk of continuing to output the ON signal.

The safety switch with a magnet disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 41-17699 also has a certain inclination angle in which the attractive force of the magnet and the force of the ball to roll due to gravity balance each other. Unstable contact may occur due to wobbling of the sphere. Further, since the fixed contact and the movable contact are provided on the outside of the container and the permanent magnets are provided, the structure becomes complicated, downsizing becomes difficult, and adjustment of the operating angle becomes difficult.

[0007]

Therefore, the tilt switch of the present invention comprises a cylindrical conductive housing having a bottom and a lid in which conductive terminal pins are electrically insulated and fixed through at substantially the center of a substantially circular plate. The housing has a plate, the housing has a shelf-like portion concentrically provided from the center on the bottom surface, the opening end of the housing is fixed to the peripheral portion of the lid plate to form a container, and a conductive terminal of the lid plate is provided. A contact member made of a conductive material, which has a contact portion arranged substantially concentrically around the conductive terminal pin as a center, is conductively fixed to the pin end, and a solid conductive sphere is gravitated in a normal posture inside the container by gravity. It is located almost in the center of the housing and is stored so as not to contact the contact member, and at least the shape of the portion of the housing shelf where the conductive balls make contact and roll is concentric in the normal posture from the center side to the outer peripheral side. Rise to At the same time, the slope rate is reduced so that the conductive sphere is prevented from rolling by the shelf of the housing until the container tilts at a predetermined set angle, and the container tilts beyond the predetermined angle. Thus, the conductive ball is configured to irreversibly steeply move through the shelf-shaped portion and come into contact with the contact member, so that the contact member is stably electrically connected to the housing by the conductive ball.

Another feature is that it has a bottomed cylindrical conductive housing and a cover plate in which conductive terminal pins are electrically insulated and fixed through at substantially the center of a substantially circular plate. The bottom surface has a shelf-like portion concentrically provided from the center, the opening end of the housing is fixed to the peripheral edge of the lid plate to form a container, and the conductive terminal pin end of the lid plate has a conductive terminal pin. A contact member made of a conductive material having a plurality of supple elastic arms having contact portions arranged substantially concentrically around the is electrically conductively fixed, and a solid conductive sphere is provided inside the container. In a normal posture, it is housed so as not to come into contact with the contact member due to gravity in the center of the housing, and the shape of at least the part of the shelf-like part of the housing where the conductive balls come into contact and roll from the center side to the outer peripheral side. Concentric circles in regular position The conductive sphere does not come into contact with the contact member until the container is tilted at a predetermined set angle, and the conductive sphere is tilted beyond the predetermined angle so that the conductive sphere becomes conductive. The ball is in a tilt switch configured to irreversibly steer the ledge and displace it as it contacts and displaces the contact member to electrically connect the contact member stably to the housing by means of conductive balls. .

Still another feature resides in that the contact member is configured to come into contact with the conductive sphere at a portion except the tip thereof.

Still another feature is that the conductive spheres are allowed to swing on the bottom surface of the housing in the normal posture, and at least the conductive spheres are located at the center of the bottom surface of the housing between the ledge and the surface of the conductive spheres. Sometimes it has a gap so that it does not come into contact with the shelf.

Still another feature is that at least a portion of the contact member and the inner surface of the housing which is in contact with the conductive sphere and the surface of the conductive sphere are surface-treated so as not to impair the conductivity due to the use atmosphere. is there.

Still another feature is that the hermetically sealed container is constructed by hermetically fixing the housing and the cover plate.

Still another feature is that a protrusion is provided in the vicinity of the center of the contact member so that even when the container is turned upside down, the conductive ball does not come to rest near the center of the contact member but always comes into contact with the housing. To be there.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the tilt switch of the present invention. The tilt switch 1 constitutes a container by fixing a lid plate 2 and a housing 3 by welding or the like.
The cover plate 2 penetrates through a through hole 4A formed in the substantially center of a substantially circular metal plate 4, and conductive terminal pins 5 are fixed by an electrically insulating filler 6 such as glass or ceramic. Further, if the lid plate 2 and the housing 3 are fixed to each other by caulking or bonding, it is not always necessary to use a metal plate for the lid plate, and the lid plate is made of, for example, a circular electrically insulating material as shown in FIG. The conductive terminal pin 5 may be fixed through the center of the disk 26.

A contact member 7 made of a conductive material is conductively fixed to the tip of the conductive terminal pin 5 inside the container by welding or the like. In this embodiment, the contact member 7 has a plurality of supple elastic arms 7A as shown in FIGS. 3 (A) and 3 (B), and a contact portion with a conductive ball 9 described later is conductive. The terminals are arranged substantially concentrically around the terminal pin 5.
For example, when the material of the contact member 7 is phosphor bronze and the mass of the conductive sphere is about 0.7 g, the thickness of the contact member 7 is about 0.1 g.
It is preferable that the width of the arm portion 7A is 01 to 0.03 mm and the width of the arm portion 7A is about 0.5 mm, which is very flexible. Further, in this embodiment, a protective member 8 such as a metal plate having high rigidity is fixed in the vicinity of the fixed portion where the conductive terminal pin 5 and the contact member 7 are fixed, and a conductive ball 9 is provided as described later.
The permanent deformation of the contact member 7 due to the collision is prevented.

Further, the contact member may be a conductive material having a high rigidity in applications such as chattering due to repulsive force at the time of contact with a conductive sphere, which will be described later, and may have an arm portion. It doesn't have to be.

The housing 3 has a bottomed cylindrical shape made of a conductor such as metal, and has a bottom surface 3A extending in a circular shape from the center, and a shelf-like portion 3B and a cylindrical portion 3C provided so as to surround the bottom surface 3A. Have Further, at least a portion of the shelf-like portion 3B that comes into contact with a conductive sphere 9 described later is configured so as to rise concentrically in the normal posture from the center side of the housing 3 to the outer peripheral side, and at the same time, the gradient rate decreases.

Inside the container, a solid conductive sphere 9 made of metal or the like is positioned substantially at the center of the housing 3 by gravity when stationary in a normal posture. As the material of the conductive sphere, various metals such as stainless steel such as iron or its alloy, copper or its alloy, or hard lead can be used. At this time, a surface treatment such as a noble metal such as gold or silver, or a solder plating consisting of nickel, lead and tin, etc. is applied to those such as iron and copper that are easily oxidized in the air and the oxide film may impair the conductivity. It is preferable that the product subjected to is selected according to the purpose. Further, the contact portions of the contact member 7 and the inner surface of the housing 3 with the conductive spheres 9 are similarly subjected to a surface treatment selected according to the purpose. When the lid plate 2 and the housing 3 are fixed by ring projection welding or the like to form a closed container, the atmosphere inside the container is replaced with a corrosion-preventing gas such as hydrogen or an inert gas, and sealed or evacuated. This makes it possible to eliminate the need for surface treatment even with a material that easily forms an oxide film in the air.

The operation of the tilt switch 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 5. The operation setting angles are the diameter d1 of the contact portion between the conductive ball 9 and the shelf 3B and the diameter d2 of the conductive ball 9. It is determined by the contact angle α between the conductive sphere and the shelf, which is determined by In the tilt switch of FIG. 1, α is 35 °. In the normal posture, the conductive sphere 9 is held at a position where it does not come into contact with the contact member 7 or the protector 8 or conduct.

Even if the tilt switch 1 is tilted, the conductive sphere 9 is kept in the same position as the shelf 3B until the tilt angle reaches the operation setting angle. When the inclination angle exceeds the operation set angle, which is 35 ° in this embodiment, the conductive ball 9 starts rolling. At this time, since the slope rate of the conductive ball rolling portion 3D of the shelf-like portion 3B changes from the center side 3E to the outer peripheral side 3F as described above, when the conductive ball 9 rolls at a predetermined operating angle, the conductive ball 9 rolls. The part is in the inclination direction, that is, on the outer peripheral side 3F
The downward slope will increase toward. Therefore, once the conductive balls 9 that have started rolling start tumbling, they irreversibly abruptly move from the center side 3E of the rolling portion 3D on the shelf-like portion 3B to the outer peripheral side 3F and rapidly move to the position 9A shown by the dotted line. Then, it comes into contact with the contact member 7 to close the electric path between the housing 3 and the conductive terminal pin 5.

The contact between the conductive ball 9 and the housing 3 is made to occur at the rolling portion 3D. At this time, the conductive balls 9 are stable at two points on the center side 3E and the outer peripheral side 3F of the rolling portion 3D, but are not stable on the rolling portions 3D other than these two points. Therefore, by switching the contact and separation of the conductive sphere 9 and the contact member 7 at a place other than the above-mentioned two stable points, the control target device is slowly tilted. Even at this time, the conductive sphere 9 rapidly moves at the switching point, and an unstable contact state due to the wobbling of the conductive sphere 9 near the operation set angle does not occur, so that a reliable ON signal can be obtained.

When the conductive ball 9 and the contact member 7 come into contact with each other,
If they are rigid bodies, repulsion causes kinetic energy due to rolling of the conductive spheres 9 not to be absorbed, resulting in chattering, which may be a problem in use. However, the conductive sphere 9 comes into contact with the arm-shaped portion 7A of the contact member 7 having sufficient flexibility with sliding, and the kinetic energy of the conductive sphere 9 is absorbed by the contact member 7, so that the conductive sphere 9 and the contact Substantial chattering due to repulsion with the member 7 can be eliminated. According to the experiment, when the weight of the conductive sphere is about 0.7 grams, when the phosphor bronze plate with the thickness of 0.015 mm and the width of 0.5 mm is used for the arm part of the contact member, the off state is complete. While it takes less than 1 millisecond to turn on, the contact state becomes stable from the off state to the completely on state when using a contact member with high rigidity of about 0.2 mm. It took a few milliseconds.

Also, at the time of returning, the conductive ball 9 keeps contact with the contact member 7 until it reaches the set return angle, and when it exceeds the set angle, the conductive ball 9 starts rolling. At this time, contrary to the operation, the downward gradient increases from the outer peripheral side to the central side of the shelf-like portion 3B, so that the conductive sphere 9 rapidly moves to the bottom surface 3A.
At the same time as returning to the top, the contact with the contact member 7 can be reliably cut off, and the initial state can be irreversibly restored.

At this time, the contact between the conductive ball 9 and the contact member 7 is caused by the tip portion of the contact member, which is the tip 7B of the arm portion 7A in this embodiment.
In the contact member 7 having a supple structure, the contact sliding with the conductive sphere 9 becomes unsmooth due to the roughness of the tip 7B and the minute flaws and the roughness of the surface of the inertia sphere 9. In the case of a high contact member, in the worst case, even if the tilt switch returns to the normal posture, the inertia ball may get caught at the tip of the contact member and may not return to the normal position, but may continue to output the ON signal.

Therefore, in the tilt switch of the present embodiment, the conductive ball 9 is constructed so as to come into contact with the contact member 7 except at the tip thereof. Therefore, the contact sliding state is more stable in the contact member having a supple structure, and the inertia ball can be prevented from being caught even in the contact member having high rigidity.

Here, as in this embodiment, the conductive sphere 9 has the bottom surface 3A.
In the structure in which it is held on the shelf-like portion 3B without contacting with, the holding angle β of the conductive ball 8 by the housing 3 shown in FIG. Further, if the angle becomes sharper and exceeds a certain limit, the conductive ball may be sandwiched by the portion 3E on the shelf-like portion 3B, and the rolling angle may vary or the operation may become impossible.

Therefore, in another embodiment of the present invention, FIG.
Also, as shown in FIG. 4, the conductive ball 9 of the tilt switch 11 or 21 is swingably contacted on the bottom surface 13A (23A) of the housing 13 (23) in a normal posture, and the shelf-like portion 13B is formed.
A small gap is provided between (23B) and the surface of the conductive sphere 9 so that the conductive sphere 9 does not come into contact with the shelf 13B (23B) at least when the conductive sphere is located at the center of the bottom surface 13A (23A) of the housing. Is to have.

First, the tilt switch 11 will be described with reference to FIG. The same parts as those in the above-described embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof will be omitted. In the tilt switch 11 of this embodiment, the conductive ball 9 is swingably in contact with the bottom surface 13A of the housing 13 in the normal posture. In this state, between the shelf-like portion 13B and the conductive sphere 9, the conductive sphere 9 is located at the center of the bottom surface 13A of the housing 13 at least when the conductive sphere 9 is located between the shelf-like portion 1 and the conductive sphere 9.
A slight gap is provided so as not to contact 3B. Therefore, the conductive sphere 9 and the shelf-like portion 13B come into contact with each other at a single point, and the conductive sphere 9 is designed so as not to be constrained at all times and can freely roll on the bottom surface 13A.

Next, the tilt switch 2 will be described with reference to FIG.
1 will be described. Also in this embodiment, the same parts as those in the above-mentioned embodiments are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. In the tilt switch 21 of this embodiment, the cover plate 22 has the conductive terminal pin 5 fixed to the center of the disk 26 made of an electrically insulating material, and is fixed to the housing 23 made of a conductive material such as metal by caulking. There is. In the normal position, the conductive ball 9 is swingably in contact with the bottom surface 23A of the housing 23. In this state, at least the conductive ball 9 is located between the shelf-like portion 23B and the conductive ball 9 in the housing 23.
A slight gap is provided so that the conductive ball 9 does not come into contact with the shelf-like portion 23B when it is located at the center of the bottom surface 23A.
Therefore, the conductive sphere 9 and the shelf-like portion 23B are in contact with each other at a single point, and the conductive sphere 9 is designed so as not to be constrained at all times and can freely roll on the bottom surface 23A.

Operation of the tilt switch 21 is shown in FIG.
The operation setting angle is determined by the height h of the contact portion between the conductive sphere 9 and the shelf 23B with respect to the bottom surface 23A and the diameter d of the conductive sphere 9 and the shelf 23B. It is determined by the contact angle α with. In the tilt switch 21 of FIG. 4, α is 65 °. In the normal posture, the conductive balls 9 can freely roll as long as they are in contact with the bottom surface 23A, and there is no problem in contacting with any part on the shelf 23B, and of course, the contact member 7 and the protector 8
It is configured so that it does not come into contact with and conduct electricity.

When the tilt switch 21 tilts, the conductive ball 9
Comes into contact with the shelf-like portion 23B at the lowest portion due to gravity, and keeps that posture until the tilt angle of the switch reaches the operation set angle. Conductive ball 9 when the tilt angle exceeds the operation setting angle
Rolls irreversibly on the shelf 23B and rapidly moves to the position of the dotted line 9A to come into contact with the contact member 7 and the housing 2
The electric path between 3 and the conductive terminal pin 5 is closed. Therefore, similar to the tilt switch 1 described above, an unstable contact state due to the wobbling of the conductive balls 9 near the operation set angle does not occur, and a reliable ON signal can be obtained.

Further, at least in a regular position between the conductive balls and the shelf-shaped portion, when the conductive balls are located at the center of the bottom surface of the housing, the conductive balls and the shelf-shaped portion 23B of the housing 23 are slightly contacted with each other. Since the conductive spheres 9 are supported by only the housing bottom surface 23A or the housing bottom surface 23A and the shelf-like portion 23B in a regular posture, the conductive balls 9 are supported on the shelf-like portion 23B even at the same operation setting angle. The holding angle β of the conductive sphere 9 by the housing 23 is larger than that of the one supporting the sphere. Therefore, the influence of friction with the housing 23 at the start of rolling of the conductive balls 9 is reduced, rolling is not hindered, and a stable operation angle can be obtained at all times. In addition, even if the tilt switch has a large operation setting angle, the holding angle β of the conductive sphere by the housing is large, so that the conductive sphere 9 is not pinched and fixed. The operation of the tilt switch 11 shown in FIG. 2 is similar to that of the tilt switch 21 shown in FIG.

The returning operation is the same as that of the tilt switch 1 described above, and the description thereof is omitted.

In these tilt switches 1, 11 and 21, when the container is 180 degrees with respect to the normal posture, that is, when the container is turned upside down, the conductive ball 9 stands still on the substantially central portion of the contact member 7 while being separated from the housing. Therefore, there is a possibility that the ON signal will not be output even if the controlled device falls.

Therefore, in another embodiment of the present invention, a protrusion is provided in the vicinity of the center of the contact member so that even when the container is turned upside down, the conductive sphere is always in contact with the housing and the contact member without resting near the center of the contact member. It is supposed to be stationary.
Hereinafter, description will be given with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8.

In FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the same effects as those of the above-described embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. FIG. 7 shows the cover plate 2 of the tilt switch 31 of this embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view of a state in which a contact member 7 having sufficient flexibility and a protective body 8 having high rigidity are fixed to the end of the conductive terminal pin 5 of FIG. A protrusion 38 is fixed to the center of the protective body 8, and the protrusion 38 has a shape that does not come into contact with the conductive ball 9 when the conductive ball 9 is in a stationary state in a normal posture and during normal rolling. There is. The protrusion 38 may be formed integrally with the contact member 7 or the protector 8, for example.

The operation of the tilt switch 31 having the projection 38 will be described. When the tilt switch 31 is in the normal position, and when the tilt and fall are normal, the same operation as the tilt switch described above is performed. Further, when the container is turned upside down as described above, the conductive sphere 9 tends to be separated from the center by the projection 38 of the protector 8 and rests on the arm-shaped portion 7A of the contact member 7 as shown in FIG. At this time, in the present embodiment, the arm-shaped portion 7A has sufficient flexibility and is bent by the weight of the conductive sphere 9, so that the conductive sphere 9 always contacts the inner surface of the housing 33. Therefore, even if the container is turned upside down, the conductive ball 9 does not interrupt the contact with the housing, and the ON signal can be reliably output.

In each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the example in which the protective member is arranged to prevent the deformation of the contact member is shown, but it can be omitted if the contact member is not deformed. .

In the embodiment, the conductive balls are prevented from rolling by the shelf of the housing until the inclination angle reaches a predetermined operation angle. However, the conductive balls are contacted until the operation angle is reached. 9A, the bottom surface 43A of the housing 43 and the shelf-like portion 43B are connected with a radius of curvature larger than that of the conductive sphere 9, and the conductive sphere 9 is in contact with the contact member. While not in use, the conductive sphere may be always supported only at one point on the inner surface of the housing. Further, the shelf-like portion is not limited to the one in which the gradient rate of the rolling portion of the conductive sphere continuously decreases, and if the instability at the time of contact with the contact member of the conductive sphere is eliminated, for example, FIG. The shelf-like portion such as the shelf-like portion 63B from the bottom surface 63A of the housing 63 shown in C) may have a structure in which the gradient rate changes stepwise.

The shape of the bottom surface of the housing is not limited to a flat surface and may be a concave curved surface or a convex curved surface as shown in FIG. 9A as long as it does not substantially affect the operating characteristics of the conductive sphere when tilted. Alternatively, for example, like the housing 53 of FIG. 9 (B), the bottom surface 53A may have a substantially conical shape and the shelf-like portion 53B may be provided around the bottom surface 53A. In addition, in order to prevent inadvertent rotation of the conductive sphere in the circumferential direction during vibration or the like, unevenness may be provided on the bottom surface.

[0041]

According to the tilt switch of the present invention, even if the container is tilted, the conductive ball is rolled to the position where it comes into contact with the contact member by the shelf-like portion on the bottom surface of the housing until the predetermined operation set angle is reached. Since it is blocked, the conductive sphere does not come into contact with the contact member. When the inclination angle of the container exceeds the operation setting angle, the conductive balls roll and abruptly move on the shelf to contact the contact member, and the conductive ball short-circuits between the housing and the contact member. The electric path between them is securely closed, and the unstable contact state due to the fluctuation of the conductive balls near the operation set angle does not occur.

Further, since the contact member is configured so as to contact with the conductive sphere at the portion excluding its tip, the operation angle of the tilt switch is not unstable and the movement of the conductive sphere is not hindered.

Further, by using a contact member having an arm portion having a supple elasticity and displacing the arm portion when the conductive sphere comes into contact with the contact member, the contact is made by sliding. It is possible to suppress the occurrence of chattering.

Further, since the conductive balls have a gap between the shelf-shaped portion and the surface of the conductive balls so that the conductive balls can swing on the bottom surface of the housing in the normal posture, the conductive balls are clamped and restrained by the shelf-shaped portion. It is possible to always obtain a stable operation angle.

A stable contact state is maintained for a long period of time by subjecting at least a portion of the contact member and the inner surface of the housing in contact with the conductive sphere and the surface of the conductive sphere to a surface treatment so as not to impair the conductivity due to the atmosphere in use. Can be obtained.

Further, by hermetically fixing the housing and the lid plate to form an airtight container, by substituting and enclosing the inside of the container with a corrosion-preventing gas, or by applying a vacuum, the surface treatment can be omitted for a long time. A stable contact state can be obtained.

Further, by providing a protrusion near the center of the contact member, it is possible to ensure that the conductive ball does not come to rest near the center of the contact member but always comes into contact with the housing even when the container is turned upside down.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a tilt switch of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is another embodiment of the tilt switch of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an example of a contact member used in the tilt switch of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is another embodiment of the tilt switch of the present invention.

5 is a schematic diagram for explaining the operation of the tilt switch of FIG.

6 is a schematic diagram for explaining the operation of the tilt switch of FIG.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a main part of another embodiment of the tilt switch of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the tilt switch of the present invention when it is inverted.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing a housing and conductive balls of another embodiment of the tilt switch of the present invention.

[Explanation of reference signs] 1,11,21,31: Tilt switch 2,22: Lid plate 3,13,23,33,43,53,63: Housing 3A, 13A, 23A, 43A, 53A, 63A: Bottom surface 3B , 13B, 23B, 43B, 53B, 63B: Shelf portion 4, 26: Disc 5: Conductive terminal pin 6: Filling material 7: Contact member 8: Protective body 9: Conductive sphere 38: Protrusion

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Mitsuhiro Urano 4-30 Hosho-cho, Minami-ku, Nagoya City Stock Association Inside the Imakata Seisakusho (72) Inventor Katsuhiro Kimura 4-30 Hosho-cho, Minami-ku Nagoya City Stock Association In-house company (72) Inventor Katsuyuki Watanabe 4-30, Hosho-cho, Minami-ku, Nagoya City Stock Company In-house company (72) Hideki Ozeki 4-30, Hosei-cho, Minami-ku, Nagoya City Stock company Inside the factory

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A bottomed cylindrical conductive housing, and a cover plate having a substantially circular plate and a conductive terminal pin electrically insulated and penetratingly fixed at substantially the center of the plate. It has a shelf-like portion provided concentrically, the opening end of the housing is fixed to the peripheral edge of the lid plate to form a container, and the conductive terminal pin end of the lid plate is approximately centered on the conductive terminal pin. A contact member made of a conductive material having concentrically arranged contact portions is conductively fixed, and a solid conductive sphere is positioned inside the container in a normal posture in the approximate center of the housing by gravity, and the contact member is It is stored so that it does not touch,
The shape of at least the part where the conductive balls contact and roll in the shelf-shaped part of the housing is configured to rise concentrically in the normal posture from the center side to the outer peripheral side, and at the same time, the gradient rate decreases, and Rolling is blocked by the shelf-shaped part of the housing until it tilts to a predetermined set angle, and the conductive ball irreversibly advances in the shelf-shaped part when the container tilts beyond the predetermined angle and contacts the contact member. The tilt switch is characterized in that the contact member is electrically connected to the housing stably by a conductive ball. 2. A bottomed cylindrical conductive housing, and a cover plate in which conductive terminal pins are electrically insulated and fixed through at substantially the center of a substantially circular plate, and the housing has a bottom surface from the center. It has a shelf-like portion provided concentrically, the opening end of the housing is fixed to the peripheral edge of the lid plate to form a container, and the conductive terminal pin end of the lid plate is approximately centered on the conductive terminal pin. A contact member made of a conductive material having a plurality of flexible elastic arms that concentrically arrange the contact portions is conductively fixed, and a solid conductive sphere is gravitated in a normal posture inside the container. Is located in the center of the housing so as not to come into contact with the contact point member, and the shape of at least the conductive ball of the shelf-like portion of the housing where the conductive balls come into contact and roll is concentric in the normal posture from the center side to the outer peripheral side. Same as Sometimes the gradient rate is reduced, and the conductive sphere does not come into contact with the contact member until the container is tilted at a predetermined set angle, and the conductive sphere is shelved by tilting the container beyond the predetermined angle. A tilt switch characterized in that the shape portion is irreversibly steeply advanced to come into contact with a contact member to displace it and slide the contact member to electrically connect the contact member to a housing stably by a conductive ball. 3. The contact member is configured to come into contact with the conductive sphere at a portion other than the tip thereof.
Alternatively, the tilt switch according to claim 2. 4. The conductive sphere is allowed to swing on the bottom surface of the housing in a normal posture, and at least when the conductive sphere is located at the center of the bottom surface of the housing between the shelf-shaped portion and the surface of the conductive sphere. The tilt switch according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the tilt switch has a gap that does not come into contact with the tilt switch. 5. The contact member and at least a portion of the inner surface of the housing which comes into contact with the conductive sphere and the surface of the conductive sphere are surface-treated so as not to impair the conductivity due to a use atmosphere. The tilt switch according to any one of claims 1 to 4. 6. The tilt switch according to claim 1, wherein the hermetically sealed container is formed by air-tightly fixing the housing and the cover plate. 7. The contact member is provided with a protrusion in the vicinity of the center thereof, and the conductive sphere does not come to rest near the center of the contact member but always comes into contact with the housing even when the container is turned upside down. The tilt switch according to any one of claims 1 to 6.