JPH0765674A - Contactless multi-pole switch - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a contactless multi-pole switch which is compact, has a simple structure, and can select a large number of modes with a small number of photointerrupters as compacted with the number of switch positions. CONSTITUTION:A key top 1 is slantingly operated toward both sides from a normal position as a center in two steps and a shutter 21 is moved to five positions by the operation of the key top. The shutter has light transmitting parts or light shutting parts 21A, 21b, 21c to transmit or shut the light from two photointerrupters 61, 62. Signals of five types of modes are selected and sent out by the light transmitting parts or five position light shutter and two photointerrupters.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a contactless switch using a photointerrupter, and more particularly to a contactless multimode switch having a plurality of photointerrupters and selecting signals corresponding to a large number of modes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a switch for opening and closing a power window of an automobile has switch positions corresponding to five modes of normal, up, down, auto up, and auto down. Act on.

1. When the switch is in the normal position, the glazing rests in its current position. 2. The window continues to move in the closing direction by the motor while the switch is in the up position. 3. When the switch is in the auto up position,
The window glass is moved in the closing direction by the motor, and even if the switch is returned to the normal position, the motor continues to operate until the window is completely closed. 4. While the switch is in the down position, the window glass continues to move in the opening direction by the motor. 5. When the switch is in the auto down position,
The window glass is moved in the opening direction by the motor, and even if the switch is returned to the normal position, the motor continues to operate until the window is fully opened.

In such a switch having a large number of positions corresponding to a large number of modes, instead of directly opening / closing the current of the motor for opening / closing the window in the above example with the contact of the switch, a control device including a relay or the like. Since a minute signal current input to the switch is opened and closed, there is a problem that the self-cleaning effect on mechanical contacts is lost and contact failures increase, and a contactless switch is desired.

Conventionally, a slide type shown in FIG. 5 using a photo interrupter is known as a non-contact type multi-mode switch. Here, the photo interrupter is a light emitting element such as a light emitting diode and a light receiving element such as a phototransistor that outputs a corresponding electric signal in response to light input, and light emitted from the light emitting element is incident on the light receiving element. As described above, the output signal of the light receiving element is turned "OFF" or "off" by arranging the shield plates so as to face each other with a certain gap, and inserting or moving a blocking plate that blocks the passage of light in the gap. The "ON" level is set so that the contactless contact operation is performed.

In FIG. 5, the switch mount 101 has a groove 1
A column 1 having a concave cross-section having a side wall 11a and a side wall 111b.
10 and a pillar body 110 are integrally formed with square side plates 112 at both ends thereof with a material such as plastic.
102 'is attached.

As shown in FIG. 6, the laminated plates 102 and 102 'are for mounting the light emitting element 126 and the light receiving element 127, respectively.
Printed circuit boards 121, 121 'for attachment, partition plates 122, 12 for preventing interference between adjacent light emitting elements
2 ', the printed circuit boards 121, 121' are laminated with transparent plates 123, 123 'for preventing external impact and dust. Electrodes 124 and 124 'and terminals 125 and 125' are provided on the printed circuit boards 121 and 121 ', respectively, and the light emitting element 126 or the light receiving element 127 is bonded between the electrodes.

The partition plate 122 is comb-shaped, and the light emitting element 126 or the light receiving element 127 is located in the notch 122a, and the laminated plates 102 and 102 'are attached to the side walls 111b on both sides as shown in FIG. At this time, the light emitting element 126 and the light receiving element 127 facing each other are arranged so as to form the above-mentioned photo interrupter.

As shown in FIG. 5, in the slide piece 103, a knob piece 132 is formed on an upper portion of a rectangular parallelepiped slide body 131, and a flat blocking plate 133 is formed on the lower surface so that the longitudinal direction thereof coincides with the sliding direction. Is integrally formed with. The switch cover 104 is made of a metal plate having a U-shaped cross section, and a sliding hole 104a for inserting the knob piece 132 is formed in the upper portion thereof along the longitudinal direction.

The switch mount 10 formed as described above
When the slide piece 103, the switch piece 104 and the slide piece 103 are sequentially assembled, the knob piece 132 integrally formed with the slide piece 103 is inserted into the sliding hole 104a, and the blocking plate 133 is fitted into the groove 111a.

When the slide piece 103 is sequentially moved by operating the knob piece 132 by using the slide hole 104a and the groove 111a as guides, the blocking plate 133 is composed of a specified pair of light emitting element and light receiving element. The light of the photo interrupter is blocked and the output signal of the light receiving element is inverted.

As shown in FIG. 5, a blind hole 131a is formed on the side surface of the slide body 131, a spring 134 is loaded in the blind hole 131a, and a click roller 135 is arranged on the head of the spring 134. Further, click square holes 104b are formed on one side wall of the switch cover 104 at regular intervals.

When the knob tab 132 of the switch is slid,
The click roller 135 engages with the click square hole 104b due to the elasticity of the spring 134, and each time the click piece 132 has a click response, the switch position can be recognized.

[0014]

In the example of the conventional switch described above with reference to FIG. 5, since five photointerrupters are arranged side by side, the above-mentioned power window auto-up, up, normal, and down operations are performed. ,
It can be used by sequentially corresponding to the five modes of auto down.

However, in the above-mentioned multimode switch, the photo interrupters equal to the number of modes are required, and when the knob piece 132 is operated to the switch position corresponding to each mode, even if there is the click mechanism, the switch position is changed. It is necessary to confirm it visually.
Such a situation is inconvenient in driving operation of the automobile, and causes problems such as an increase in size, an increase in the number of parts, and accompanying cost. In particular, the switch that opens and closes the power window,
Since it is usually attached to a place with a limited space such as an armrest or a door grip, using a large number of light-emitting elements and light-receiving elements side by side hinders downsizing of the switch and limits its practicality.

Therefore, in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention provides a contactless multi-mode switch which is small in size and simple in structure, in which a large number of modes can be selected with a small number of photo interrupters in comparison with the number of switch positions. The purpose is to do.

[0017]

To achieve the above object, a contactless multi-mode switch according to the present invention comprises a key top that is tilted in two steps on both sides of a normal position, and a key top. The shutter includes two shutters that are moved to five positions and two photo interrupters. The shutter blocks or transmits the light rays of both photointerrupters at the normal position of the key top to set its output to an “OFF” level or an “ON” level, and by tilting the first step of the key top in one direction. The light of one photointerrupter is blocked or transmitted and its output is set to "OFF" level or "ON" level, and the light of the other photointerrupter is transmitted or blocked and its output is set to "ON" level or "OFF" level. Respectively, the light beam of one photointerrupter is transmitted or blocked by the tilting of the first step in the other direction of the key top, and its output is set to the "ON" level or "OFF" level, and the light beam of the other photointerrupter. Is cut off or transmitted to set the output to the “OFF” level or the “ON” level,
It is characterized in that it has a light transmitting portion or a light shielding portion for transmitting or blocking the light rays of both photo interrupters by tilting the key tops in the second direction in both directions to make the output thereof an "ON" level or an "OFF" level. There is.

[0018]

With the above construction, four types of combined outputs can be obtained from the two photo interrupters, and the same combined output due to the tilting of the second stage in both directions is different from the output before both are obtained. Since the signals can be identified by, it is possible to selectively output signals in five modes.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a non-contact multi-mode switch according to the present invention, in which a printed circuit board 8 is sandwiched between an upper case 5 and a lower case 7 forming a box body of the switch and fixed in the box. The individual photo interrupters 6 are fixed by a method such as soldering, and are electrically connected to the circuit pattern on the printed board 8. Each photo interrupter 6 is composed of a pair of a light emitting element 61 and a light receiving element 62 facing each other via a gap 6a as shown in detail in FIG. 1C, and a gap 6a of two photo interrupters on a printed circuit board 8. Are arranged in a line.

The slider 2 has a Y-shaped cross section, and the slider sliding pieces 23 on both outer sides are guided by the inner wall of a slider housing portion 51 formed integrally with the upper case 5 and are slidable in the longitudinal direction. To be retained.

A keytop supporting portion 52 having a keytop holding piece 53 is integrally formed on the upper case 5, and the keytop supporting hole 13 of the keytop 1 and the keytop holding piece 53 are engaged with each other. The key top 1 is held so as to be swingable about the key top holding piece 53.
When the key top 1 is rocked around the key top holding piece 53, the slider engaging portion 11 extending below the key top 1 engages with the slider supporting portion 22 of the slider 2 as shown in FIG. Slide the slider 2 in the longitudinal direction.

As shown in FIG. 3, the slider 2 is arranged so that the slider sliding pieces 23 on both outer sides straddle the photo interrupter 6, and the middle leg shutter 21 having a Y-shaped cross section is inserted into the gap 6a of the photo interrupter. Therefore, the shutter 21 moves in the gap 6a in the arrangement direction of the two photo interrupters by the swinging operation of the key top 1. The shutter 21 has a transparent window 2 as shown in detail in FIG.
1a, 21b, and 21c are provided, and the passing light beam in the gap 6a of the photo interrupter 6 is blocked or transmitted with the movement of the shutter 21, so that the output signal of the corresponding light receiving element 62 is inverted, whereby the key top 1 The mode corresponding to the position of is selected.

Key top 1 corresponding to the switch mode
The relationship between the position and the output of each light receiving element 62 at that time will be described with reference to FIG. Note that, in FIG. 4, the two photo interrupters 6 and the light receiving elements 62 are separately displayed by adding subscripts x and y to them.

FIG. 4A shows the positional relationship between the shutter 21 and the photo interrupters 6x and 6y when the key top 1 is in the normal position, and the translucent windows 21a, 21b and 21c of the shutter 21 are the interrupters 6x and 6y. Since they are not facing any of the
In y, the light passing through the gap 6a is blocked by the shutter 21, and both outputs are at the "OFF" level.

FIG. 4 (b) shows a state in which the key top 1 is tilted to the up position, in which the transparent window 21a of the shutter 21 is located in the gap 6a of the photo interrupter 6y to allow the light beam to pass therethrough, while the photo interrupter Since the light beam of 6x remains blocked, the output of the photo interrupter 6x is at the "OFF" level, and the photo interrupter 6y
Output becomes "ON" level.

FIG. 4 (c) shows a state in which the key top 1 is further tilted from the up position to the auto up position, and the transparent window 21a continues to have the gap 6a of the photo interrupter 6y due to its elongated hole shape. In the photo-interrupter 6x, the light-transmitting window 21c is located in the gap 6a of the photo interrupter 6x and allows the light beam to pass therethrough.
The outputs of the photo interrupters 6x and 6y are both "O".
It becomes N "level.

FIG. 4 (d) shows a state in which the key top 1 is tilted to the down position, in which the translucent window 21a of the shutter 21 is located in the gap 6a of the photo interrupter 6x and allows the light beam to pass therethrough, while the photo interrupter Since the light beam of 6y remains blocked, the output of the photo interrupter 6x becomes the "ON" level and the output of the photo interrupter 6y becomes the "OFF" level.

FIG. 4 (e) shows a state in which the key top 1 is further tilted from the down position to the auto down position, and the transparent window 21a continues to have the gap 6a of the photo interrupter 6x due to its elongated hole shape. In the photo-interrupter 6y, the light-transmitting window 21b is positioned in the gap 6a of the photo-interrupter 6y to pass the light-beam, so that the outputs of the photo-interrupters 6x and 6y are both "ON".
Become a level

As described above, in each of the normal, up and down positions, the photo interrupter 6x,
Since the combination of “ON” and “OFF” of the output of 6y is different from each other, the corresponding mode is identified by processing them with an appropriate logic circuit. However, in both the auto up and auto down positions, the photo interrupter 6 is used.
Since the outputs of both x and 6y are at the "ON" level, both positions are identified by the following means.

As is clear from the description of FIG. 4C, the auto-up position always goes through the up-position, so that the output of the photo interrupter 6y goes to the "ON" level first, and then the photo interrupter 6y.
The output of x becomes the "ON" level. On the other hand, since the auto down position always goes through the down position, the output of the photo interrupter 6x becomes the "ON" level first, and then the output of the photo interrupter 6y becomes the "ON" level.

Therefore, when the outputs of both photo interrupters 6 are at the "ON" level, the output signals are processed by using an appropriate logic circuit to determine which output is at the "ON" level first. By doing so, both the auto-up and auto-down modes are identified. That is, in the present invention, by providing the means for discriminating the output inversion order of the two photo interrupters, it is possible to identify the above-mentioned 5 modes by the two photo interrupters.

In application to power windows, etc.,
It is inconvenient to visually check the swinging operation of the key top 1 in the driving operation of the automobile. Therefore, in the present invention, the switch position corresponding to the above-mentioned 5 modes is provided in response to the operation of the key top 1. In order to be able to recognize, it is equipped with the following moderation mechanism and is equipped with an automatic return function to the normal position.

As shown in FIG. 3, a key mechanism 1 is integrally formed with the key top 1, and a mode pin holding portion 54 integrally formed with the upper case 5 holds the mode pin 3 and the spring 4. However, the moderation pin 3 is always pressed against the moderation mechanism portion 12 by the elasticity of the spring 4. The detent mechanism unit 12 is a cam, and when the detent pin 3 pushes the cam, the key top 1 rotates around the key top holding piece 53 to generate a restoring force for always returning to the normal position. Therefore, at any position of the rocking operation of the key top 1 described above, when the operator releases the key top 1 from the key top 1, the key top 1 automatically returns to the normal position.

The inclination of the cam is suddenly changed at both the position where the up position is changed to the automatic up position and the position where the down position is changed to the automatic down position. The switch position corresponding to the above 5 modes can be accurately recognized by the response when operating.

In the above embodiment, the translucent windows 21a, 21b and 21c are provided in the shutter 21. However, the translucent window and other portions are reversed, that is, the translucent window portion is a light shielding portion. Alternatively, the other portion may be a light transmitting portion. Further, the positions of the light-transmitting window or the light-shielding portion on the shutter may be changed so that the output levels of the photo interrupters on the up side and the down side are also opposite to those in the above-described embodiment.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention, since only two photo interrupters are used to selectively output the signals of the five modes as described above, the number of parts is reduced. Manufacturing cost is improved, and the switch structure is simple and easy to miniaturize.
It is advantageous when it is installed and used in a place with limited space, and the switch position corresponding to 5 modes is obtained by 2-step operation in both directions centering on the normal position, so that position can be accurately adjusted. It can be recognized and the operation is reliable and easy.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, (a) showing the whole and (b) and (c) showing partial details.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 3, showing the configuration of an embodiment of the non-contact multi-mode switch according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 2, showing the configuration of an embodiment of the non-contact multi-mode switch according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the relationship between the position of the key top and the operation of the photo interrupter in the contactless multi-mode switch according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a partially assembled perspective view showing an example of a conventional non-contact multi-mode switch.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of a laminated plate in the contactless multimode switch of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 key top 6,61,62 photo interrupter 21 shutters 21a, 21b, 21c translucent window (translucent part or shading part)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A shutter comprising: a key top that is tilted in two steps toward both sides of a normal position; a shutter that is moved to five positions by operating the key top; and two photo interrupters. However, at the normal position of the key top, the light beams of both photointerrupters are blocked or transmitted to bring the output to the “OFF” level or the “ON” level, and one of the keys is tilted in one direction in one direction to tilt one of the two. The light of the photo interrupter is cut off or transmitted and its output is set to the “OFF” level or “ON” level, and the light of the other photo interrupter is transmitted or cut to set its output to the “ON” level or “OFF” level, respectively. However, by tilting the first step of the key top in the other direction, the light beam of one photo interrupter is transmitted or blocked. The output is set to the “ON” level or the “OFF” level, the light beam of the other photo interrupter is blocked or transmitted, and the output is set to the “OFF” level or the “ON” level. A non-contact multi-mode switch having a light-transmitting portion or a light-shielding portion, which transmits or blocks light rays of both photointerrupters by tilting the eyes and makes the output of the photointerrupter an "ON" level or "OFF" level.