JPH0810648B2 - Electric lever device - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric lever device that is provided in various working machines and that has an output device that outputs an electric signal according to the amount of rotation of a lever.

<Prior Art> FIG. 10 is a side sectional view showing a conventional electric lever device of this type, and FIG. 11 is a view taken in the direction of arrow A in FIG. In this prior art, a shaft 2 having a large diameter portion and a small diameter portion is integrally provided at the lower end of a lever 1, and the shaft 2 is rotatably supported by a support 4 via a bearing 3. . A spiral spring 5 is mounted between one small diameter portion of the shaft 2 and the support 4, and the spiral spring 5 urges the lever 1 to return to the neutral position. A fan-shaped member 6 is integrally provided on the other small-diameter portion of the shaft 2, and a gear 7 is formed on the peripheral portion of the fan-shaped member 6. A gear 8 is arranged so as to mesh with the gear 7, and the gear 8 is integrally attached to an output device for outputting an electric signal according to the amount of rotation of the lever 1, that is, an operating shaft 10 of a rotary potentiometer 9. There is. The operating shaft 10 is rotatably supported by the support 4,
The case of the potentiometer 9 is provided integrally with the support 4.

Then, the operator holds the lever 1 and, for example, the 11th
When rotated in the direction of the arrow 11 in the figure, the shaft 2 integrally rotates against the force of the spiral spring 5, and the fan-shaped member 6 integrally rotates around this shaft 2 portion, and the gear 2 The gear 8 rotates via 7, the operating shaft 10 rotates integrally with the gear 8, and the potentiometer 9 outputs an electric signal corresponding to the amount of rotation of the lever 1. This electric signal is input to, for example, a controller (not shown) that performs various types of processing, and is further output from the controller as a drive signal for driving the working machine member.

When the operator returns the lever 1 to the neutral position, the force of the spiral spring 5 is also added to rotate the shaft 2 and the lever 1 returns to the neutral position.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> By the way, in the conventional technique configured as described above, an electric signal corresponding to the rotation amount of the lever 1 is output through engagement of the gears 7 and 8. Since there is a gap between the teeth of the gear 7 and the teeth of the gear 8 that mesh with each other, the rotation amount of the lever 1 is transmitted to the potentiometer 9 through the gap between the gears 7 and 8. It is difficult to secure good followability. For example, during a series of operations of the neutral state of the lever 1 → rotation of the predetermined lever 1 → returning to the neutral position of the lever 1, a hysteresis loop corresponding to the above-mentioned gap is easily formed, that is, the lever 1 is in the original state. It may not return to the neutral position correctly, and the operating performance is likely to deteriorate. If the gap is arranged as much as possible so as not to form such a hysteresis loop, the lever 1
Even with a slight rotation, the potentiometer 9 outputs an electric signal, that is, the dead zone forming the neutral position of the lever 1 disappears, and the stability of the operation cannot be obtained.

For this reason, according to this conventional technique, the position adjustment of each member including the meshing of the gears 7 and 8 must be performed with high accuracy, which complicates the manufacturing and assembling and reduces the operability. There is a problem in terms.

Further, in this conventional technique, the potentiometer 9 outputs an electric signal for driving one working machine member in response to one operation of operating the lever 1, so that a plurality of working machine members are driven. In consideration of the above, a plurality of electric lever devices shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 must be arranged side by side, and in such a case, the size of the entire device is increased.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional circumstances, and an object thereof is to be able to output an electric signal according to a rotation amount of a lever without interposing gear engagement and to perform a plurality of operations. An object of the present invention is to provide an electric lever device which can be suitably adapted to the driving of machine members.

<Means for Solving Problems> In order to achieve this object, the present invention includes a lever and an output device that outputs an electric signal according to the amount of rotation of the lever. A pusher that moves in accordance with the above, a restricting member that restricts the movement of the pusher in the lever direction, and a spring that biases the pusher in the lever direction, and the output device is a linear engageable with the pusher. It is composed of a stroke type sensor and is provided with a switch for detecting the neutral position of the lever.

<Operation> Since the present invention is configured as described above, the rotation of the lever is transmitted to the linear stroke type sensor through the movement of the pusher, and when the lever is returned to the neutral position, the force of the spring pushes the pusher. Can be moved to a position regulated by the regulation member, and an electric signal can be output without any gear engagement.

Further, the dimension until the pusher and the linear stroke type sensor are engaged forms a dead zone of the lever, and this dimension can be easily set, so that the dead zone can be easily set to a desired value.

Further, the neutral return position of the lever is always constant at a position where the pusher is regulated by the regulating member, and a hysteresis loop associated with the rotation and the return of the lever is not formed.

Also, without providing a plurality of levers,
Since a plurality of pushers and a linear stroke type sensor engaging with the pushers can be provided around one lever, it is suitable for driving a plurality of working machine members.

Also, since a switch for detecting the neutral position of the lever is provided, even if the signal system connected to the linear stroke type sensor is broken or noise is mixed in, the neutral position of the switch can be adjusted by moving the lever to the neutral position. Is output, and the working machine member can be returned to the initial state based on the signal.

<Example> Hereinafter, an electric lever device of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 is an explanatory view including a cross-sectional portion showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the arrangement of pushers, and FIG. 3 is a linear stroke type provided in the embodiment shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a view showing an electric circuit of the sensor, FIGS. 4 and 5 are front views, side views and FIG. 6 showing an internal structure of a linear stroke type sensor forming the electric circuit of FIG. 3, respectively. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the arrangement form of an example.

As shown in FIG. 1, in this embodiment, the lever 20 is
It is composed of a rod body 21 and a holding plate 22 which is integrally fixed to the lower end of the rod body 21 and whose lower surface is formed into a gentle curved surface. This lever 20 allows rotation in the 360 ° direction. It is supported by a column 24 via a universal joint 23. A screw is formed at the lower end of the pillar 24,
24 is screwed into a screw hole formed in a casing 26 forming a main body via a sealing material 25. The casing 26 is composed of an upper lid 27 and a box body 28 into which the upper lid 27 is integrally fitted. A recess 29 is formed in a lower portion of the box body 28, and a vent hole communicating with the recess 29. 30 and a filter 31 arranged in the ventilation hole 30 are provided.

A pusher 32, which is linearly movable, is provided so as to come into contact with the lower surface of the holding plate 22 of the lever 20 and to surround the rod body 21 (not shown here) of the lever 20 as shown in FIG. Have been placed. This pusher 32 is a sealant
It is provided so as to penetrate the upper lid 27 of the casing 26 via 33, and has a large diameter portion 34 at the lower end thereof and a protruding portion 35 protruding below the large diameter portion 34. The large-diameter portion 34 of the pusher 32 described above is capable of contacting the upper lid 27, that is, the upper lid 27 constitutes a regulating member that regulates the movement of the pusher 32 in the lever 20 direction. Also, the casing 26
A spring 36 for urging the pusher 32 in the direction of the lever 20 is provided inside, and this spring 36 is integrated with the large diameter portion of the pusher 32.
34, and the other end is engaged with the bottom of the box 28 of the casing 26.

Further, an output device for outputting an electric signal, that is, a linear stroke type sensor 37 is arranged corresponding to the pusher 32. The operating shaft 38 of this sensor 37 is the casing 26.
It is arranged so as to be located inside thereof, and is arranged so as to have a clearance 39 which forms a dead zone of the lever 20 between the pusher 32 and the protrusion 35 of the pusher 32, and guides the operating shaft 38. A screw portion 41 is formed around the guide portion 40. The sensor 37 is connected to the guide portion 4 via the seal member 25a.
The screw portion 41 of 0 is attached to the casing 26 so as to be screwed into the screw hole formed in the box body 28 of the casing 26.
The threaded portion 41 of the guide portion 40 described above constitutes means for varying the size of the clearance 39.

As shown in FIG. 3, the sensor 37 has a switch 42 for detecting the neutral position of the lever 20 and a variable resistance portion 43.
And an electric circuit having. The internal structure of the sensor 37 is integrally provided with the above-mentioned operating shaft 38 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, and is a slider 44 which is movable in the vertical direction in FIG.
45, a conductor 46 with which the slider 44 is constantly in contact, a conductor 47 with which the slider 44 can be selectively contacted and the slider 45 is always in contact, and a resistor 48 that is connected to this conductor 47. , The conductor 45 is in constant contact with the slider 45. Note that conductor 4
The switch 42 shown in FIG. 3 is constituted by the sliders 6, 47 and the slider 44, and includes the conductor 47, the resistor 48, the conductor 49 and the slider.
The variable resistance portion 43 shown in FIG.

As schematically shown, each sensor 37 is connected via a lead wire 50 to a controller 51 that performs various kinds of signal processing, that is, a controller 51. As shown in FIG. 6, the controller 51 is a solenoid valve that controls an actuator that drives a working machine member that is a movable member that constitutes the working machine.
It is connected to a driver circuit 53 that outputs a signal that drives 52. As shown in FIG. 6, the switch 42 incorporated in the sensor 37 is connected to the power source 54 of the driver circuit 53.

When the working machine is, for example, a hydraulic shovel that constitutes a construction machine, the above-mentioned working machine members are a boom, an arm, a bucket, a revolving structure, and the above-mentioned actuator is a boom cylinder that rotates the boom. An arm cylinder for rotating an arm, a bucket cylinder for rotating a bucket, a swing motor for swinging a swing body, and the like. The solenoid valve 52 described above controls the boom solenoid valve for controlling the boom cylinder and the arm cylinder. Solenoid valve for arm,
A bucket solenoid valve for controlling a bucket cylinder and a swing solenoid valve for controlling a swing motor.

In the embodiment configured as described above, when the lever 20 shown in FIG. 1 is rotated in the direction of arrow 55, for example, in order to drive a specific work machine member, the lever 20 is rotated.
The pusher 32 located on the left side of the drawing moves downward against the force of the spring 36 via the holding plate 22 of FIG. When the protruding portion 35 of the pusher 32 comes into contact with the operating shaft 38 of the sensor 37 and further moves, the sliders 44 and 45 shown in FIG. Move in the direction of arrow 56. When the slider 44 contacts both the conductors 46 and 47, the switch 42 shown in FIG. 6 is turned on, the power supply 54 shown in FIG. 6 is turned on, and the slider 45 is turned on by the resistor 48. And a conductor 49, an electric signal corresponding to the amount of rotation of the lever 20 is output to the controller 51, a signal corresponding to the electric signal is output from the controller 51 to the driver circuit 53, and the driver circuit 53 outputs an electromagnetic signal. A drive signal is output to the drive unit of the valve 52, and an actuator (not shown) is driven by this, and the corresponding working machine member is driven by the amount of rotation of the lever 20. When the lever 20 is rotated in the direction opposite to the direction of arrow 55 in FIG. 1, the pusher 32 located on the right side of the drawing moves downward, and the corresponding working machine member is opposite to the above in the same manner as described above. Driven in the direction of.

When the lever 20 is returned to the original neutral position, the pusher 32 is moved upward to a position where the large diameter portion 34 of the pusher 32 is restricted by the upper lid 27 of the casing 26 through the restoring force of the spring 36 shown in FIG. To the operating axis 38 of the sensor 37.
Also moves upward to the position shown in FIG. 1, whereby the sliders 44, 45 shown in FIG. 4 have the positional relationship shown in FIG. 4, that is, first, the slider 45 is moved. It is separated from the resistor 48, then the slider 44 is separated from the conductor 47, and the switch 42 is turned off. As the slider 45 is separated from the resistor 48 in this manner, the sensor 37 is controlled by the controller.
A signal for setting the working machine member corresponding to 51 to the neutral position is output, the solenoid valve 52 returns to the neutral position in response to the output signal from the driver circuit 53, and then the switch 42 is turned off to turn off the power supply 54. Is turned off, and the driving of the driver circuit 53 is stopped.

Then, the lever 20 is moved in a direction orthogonal to the arrow 55 in FIG.
That is, when it is rotated in the up-down direction orthogonal to the left-right direction in FIG. 2, the corresponding pusher 32 moves in the same manner as described above, and an electric signal is output from the corresponding sensor 37. Different work implement members can be driven.

For example, in the case of the hydraulic shovel described above, the lever 20
The boom can be driven by rotating in the left-right direction in FIG. 2, and the bucket can be driven by rotating in the up-down direction.

In the embodiment configured as described above, the movement of the pusher 32 with the rotation of the lever 20 and the movement of the operating shaft 38 of the sensor 37 with the movement of the pusher 32, that is, no gear engagement is performed. The electric signal according to the amount of rotation of the lever 20 can be output from the sensor 37 without intervening.

Further, the dimension until the pusher 32 and the operating shaft 38 of the sensor 37 are engaged, that is, the clearance 39 forms a dead zone for the rotation of the lever 20, and the guide portion 40 of the sensor 37
The clearance 39 can be easily set to a desired value by appropriately rotating the screw portion 41 of the above, that is, the dead zone can be easily set to a desired value. Although the dead zone can be easily set to a desired value in this manner, in this embodiment, the pusher 32 is urged upward by the spring 36, and the pusher 32 is attached to the lever 20. Since it is in contact with the holding plate 22, there is no backlash.

Further, in the neutral return position of the lever 20, the pusher 32 is always constant at the position where the pusher 32 is regulated by the upper lid 27 of the casing 26, that is, the regulation member. Stable operability can be obtained without forming a loop.

In addition, by providing two pairs of driving members for driving two working machine members, that is, four pushers 32 around one lever 20, the driving of the two working machine members can be realized and the size of the apparatus can be reduced. it can.

In addition, as described above, the pusher 32 and the operating shaft 38 of the sensor 37
Even if vibration is transmitted to the lever 20 in the neutral state due to some operation due to the formation of the clearance 39 between it and this, this vibration is not transmitted to the operating shaft 38. Excellent safety with no signal output.

Further, since the sensor 37 includes the switch 42 for detecting the neutral device of the lever 20, even if the signal system including the controller 51 is broken down or noise is mixed, if the lever 20 is in the neutral position, As described above, the power supply 54 is turned off, so that the driving of the driver circuit 53 is stopped, whereby the solenoid valve 52 is returned to the neutral position, and the corresponding working machine member automatically corresponds to the neutral state of the lever 20. In this respect, it also has excellent safety.

Further, since the ventilation hole 30 is provided in the casing 26 as described above, regardless of the movement of the pusher 32, the casing 26
The internal pressure is kept constant, and the sensor 37 and the seal members 25, 25
It has excellent durability with no unreasonable load applied to a, 33, etc.

Since the box 28 of the casing 26 is provided with the recess 29, even if water drops collect in the casing 26 due to a change in ambient temperature, the water drops are stored in the recess 29, and the filter 31 To flow to the outside via, and thereby protect the sensor 37 from water droplets.

Further, since the filter 31 is provided in the ventilation hole 30 of the casing 26, external dust or the like does not enter the casing 26, and also from this point, the sensor 37 and the sliding portions are protected. be able to.

When water drops collect in the recess 29, the water drops pass through the filter 31 when the water flows out of the casing 26.
Can keep 31 clean.

FIG. 7 is an electric circuit diagram showing another example of the arrangement of the switch 42 and the variable resistance portion 43 incorporated in the sensor 37 described above, and FIGS. 8 and 9 are sensors 37 having the electric circuit shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a front view and a side view showing the internal configuration of FIG. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the arrangement of the conductor, the resistor, and the slider may be appropriately changed.

<Effect of the Invention> Since the electric lever device of the present invention is configured to transmit the rotation of the lever to the linear stroke type sensor as the movement of the pusher as described above, the rotation of the lever can be performed without interposing gear engagement. It is possible to output an electric signal according to the amount of movement, and therefore, it is possible to eliminate the occurrence of a hysteresis loop that occurs when gear engagement is interposed, and to set a desired dead zone, which is superior to conventional ones. Excellent operability and safety can be obtained.

Further, since a plurality of pairs of pushers can be driven by one lever and an electric signal can be output from the corresponding linear stroke type sensor, it is possible to favorably drive a plurality of working machine members. In addition, the size of the device can be reduced as compared with the conventional one.

In addition, since a switch for detecting the neutral position of the lever is provided, even if the signal system connected to the linear stroke type sensor fails or noise is mixed in, the neutral position can be handled by returning the lever to the neutral position. A switch signal is output from the switch, and the working machine member can be returned to the initial state based on the signal, which also has excellent safety.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view including a cross section showing an embodiment of the electric lever device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the arrangement of pushers, and FIG. 3 is provided in the embodiment shown in FIG. Showing the electric circuit of the linear stroke type sensor, FIGS. 4 and 5 are front views, side views and FIG. 6 showing the internal structure of the linear stroke type sensor forming the electric circuit of FIG. 3, respectively. FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing an example of the arrangement form of the embodiment, FIG. 7 is a view showing another example of the electric circuit of the linear stroke type sensor shown in FIG. 1, and FIGS. A front view, a side view, and a side sectional view showing a conventional electric lever device, respectively, showing an internal configuration of a linear stroke type sensor forming a circuit, and FIG. 11 is a view as seen from an arrow A in FIG. 20-lever, 21-rod, 22-presser plate, 23-universal joint, 24-column, 25, 25a, 33-seal material, 26-casing, 27-upper lid, 28 …… Box, 29 …… Dimple, 30… Ventilation hole, 31 …… Filter, 32
...... Pusher, 34 …… Large diameter part, 35 …… Projection part, 36 …… Spring, 37 …… Linear stroke type sensor (output device), 38
...... Actuating shaft, 39 ...... Clearance, 40 ...... Guide part, 41
...... Screw part, 42 ...... Switch, 43 …… Variable resistance part.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An electric lever device comprising a lever and an output device for outputting an electric signal according to the amount of rotation of the lever, and a pusher that moves in response to the rotation of the lever, and the lever of the pusher. Direction restricting member and a spring for urging the pusher in the lever direction, the output device includes a linear stroke type sensor with which the pusher is engageable, and the neutral position of the lever is set. An electric lever device having a switch for detecting.