JPH08203383A - Microswitch - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To enhance assembling operability and profitability by molding a spring portion of a curved mountain shape integral with a movable contact plate, and molding pressing pieces integral with a slider, for pressing the movable contact plate. CONSTITUTION: When a slider 31 is in a neutral position, at movable contact plates 20, 21 the mounting portion of a movable contact 24 is pressed downward by spring forces since a spring portion 26 is held in an upwardly projected curved shape. The contact 24 therefore touches normally closed contacts 16, 18 to conduct. When the slider 31 is slid leftward, pressing pieces 33, 34 provided on the bottom surface of the slider 31 also slide leftward, and the pressing piece 33 pushes down the spring portion 26 and takes an upwardly recessed curved shape, and so its reaction pushes up the mounting portion of the contact 24 of the contact portion 20 to cause the contact 24 to touch a normally open contact 15. Also, the pressing piece 34 presses down the contact mounting portion of the contact plate 21 to keep the contacts 24, 18 in touch with each other. When the slider 31 is returned to the neutral position the force of pressing the spring portion 26 of the contact plate 20 by the pressing piece 33 is relieved, the spring 26 returns to an upwardly projected shape, and the contact 24 returns to a conducting state.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a micro switch equipped with a leaf spring which is displaced by sliding operation of a slider having a connecting portion for operating buttons to open and close contacts.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional microswitch structure of this type, for example, there is one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-37921.

This known microswitch structure is shown in FIG.
0 has a structure as shown in FIG. 0, and the switch unit 2 installed in the switch body case 1 and the switch body case 1
An operation button 3 pivotally supported on the slider, a slider 4 incorporated in the switch section 2 and slidingly operated by the operation of the operation button 3, and a slider vertically displaced as the slider 4 slides. Corresponding to a contact pressing member 7 which is a separate member, a leaf spring-shaped movable contact plate 5 with which the contact pressing member 7 abuts, and a movable contact 6 attached to the tip of the movable contact plate. The upper and lower fixed contacts 8 and 9 are provided, and when the operation button 3 is pushed, the slider 4 slides in the left and right direction in the drawing, and further the contact pressing member 7 accompanying the sliding operation of the slider 4.
By the vertical displacement of the movable contact plate 5
The upper and lower fixed contacts 8 or the lower fixed contact 9 are contacted with and separated from each other to perform switching.

[0004]

However, as shown in FIG. 11, the structure of the leaf spring-shaped movable contact plate 5 incorporated in such a microswitch is such that one end is locked to a fulcrum part and the other end is in the vicinity thereof. A contact plate body 5-1 formed in a rectangular frame shape with a movable contact 6 provided on the inner side, and a reversing plate spring 5-2.
The reversing plate spring 5-2 is elastically interposed between the inner side edge of the contact plate body near the movable contact 6 and the fixed plate 10, and the contact pressing member 7 is provided. When there is no downward displacement of the movable contact plate 5 and the movable contact plate 5 is not pressed downward,
When the movable contact 6 is biased in the direction of contacting the upper fixed contact 8 and the movable contact plate 5 is pressed downward due to the contact pressing element 7 being displaced downward, the movable contact 6 is moved downward. It acts so as to bias in the direction of contacting 9.

That is, the movable contact plate 5 is the contact plate body 5-
1 and the reversing leaf spring 5-2, the structure of the movable contact plate 5 is naturally complicated, and as a result, the assembling workability is poor and the assembling cost is high. Get higher Furthermore, since the number of parts for forming the movable contact plate 5 is large, there are problems that the cost of parts is high and the economy is poor.

Further, in the conventional micro switch,
Since the slider 4 and the contact pressing member 7 are separate members, this also increases the number of parts used, and there are the same problems as described above in terms of assembly workability and economy.

The present invention has been made by paying attention to such a conventional problem, and an object of the present invention is to construct a movable contact plate and a reversing plate spring as an integral member, and to construct a slider and a slider. It is an object of the present invention to provide a microswitch that can improve economy and assembling workability by reducing the number of parts used by forming the contact point pressing member as a single member.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a microswitch according to the present invention includes a switch case, a movable contact plate housed in the switch case, and a movable contact plate housed in the switch case. In a microswitch having open and normally closed fixed contacts and a slider for bringing the movable contact of the movable contact plate into contact with and separated from the normally open and normally closed fixed contacts, the movable contact plate is horizontal. It is formed in an L-shape consisting of a part 22 and a vertical part 23, and has a movable contact 24 facing the normally open and normally closed fixed contacts at the end of the horizontal part thereof, and a terminal part 27 at the end of the vertical part. Further, two slits 25 are provided from the boundary between the horizontal portion and the vertical portion toward the movable contact mounting portion to form a tongue-shaped spring 26, and the inner surface of the vertical portion is formed. Stuck to The free end of the tongue-shaped spring 26 is locked in the locking groove 29 of the fixed plate 30 to keep the tongue-shaped spring 26 in a convex curved shape upward. Is integrally provided with a pressing piece 33 for deforming the tongue-shaped spring portion 26 from the upward convex curved shape to the upward concave curved shape in accordance with the sliding operation. It is a thing.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.

First, the structure of the microswitch of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a switch case having an open top surface. Inside the switch case, there are provided respective contact storage chambers (a) for assembling the first switch mechanism 12 and the second switch mechanism 13. (B) is sectioned and formed by the partition wall 14, and one of the contact storage chambers (a) has a normally open contact 15 at the position near the right end wall in FIG.
A normally closed contact 16 that vertically opposes the normally open contact 15 is pierced and held by press fitting or insert molding.

On the bottom surface of the other contact storage chamber (b),
A normally-open contact 17 and a normally-closed contact 18 vertically facing the normally-open contact 17 are pierced and held by press fitting or insert molding at a position near the left end wall in FIG. Further, on both side walls of the switch case 11, there are formed elongated holes 19 for slidably holding a slider 31 which also serves as a cover which will be described later.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a first movable contact plate mounted in one contact storage chamber (a), and 21 denotes a second movable contact plate mounted in the other contact storage chamber (b). The movable contact plates 20 and 21 have the same structure.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the movable contact plates 20 and 21 are made of a metal plate having flexibility and elasticity and are formed in an L-shape consisting of a horizontal portion 22 and a vertical portion 23. And the movable contact 2 is attached to the tip of the horizontal portion 22.
4 is fixed by the caulking means. Also, this horizontal part 2
Two slits 25 are provided from the bent portion 2 toward the contact mounting portion to form a tongue-shaped spring portion 26.

Inside the vertical portion 23, a fixing plate 30 having a tongue piece 28 that can be inserted between the two slits 25 is provided, and the tongue piece 28 or the horizontal portion 22 is fixed.
It is positioned so as to protrude from the upper surface of and is attached by fixing means such as spot welding.

A horizontal engaging groove 29 is formed on the inner side surface of the tongue piece 28, and the end edge of the spring portion 26 of the tongue piece is formed in the engaging groove 29 as shown in FIG. If you engage it,
The spring 26 is maintained in a curved shape that is convex upward by an amount corresponding to the thickness of the tongue portion 28. And spring part 2
In this shape-retaining state of 6, the spring force of the spring portion 26 causes the movable contact 24 of the movable contact plates 20 and 21 to close the normally closed contact 1.
It acts so as to press against 6 or 18. The tip of the vertical portion 23 is formed on the terminal portion 27.

The first movable contact plate 2 thus formed
0 and the second movable contact plate 21 correspond to the switch case 1
1 is located in the contact storage chambers (a) and (b), and the respective terminal portions 27 are held through the bottom wall of the switch case 11 by press fitting or insert molding, and further the first and second movable contacts. The movable contact 24 provided at the tip of the plate is located between the normally open contact 15 and the normally closed contact 16 and between the normally open contact 17 and the normally closed contact 18, and is shown in FIGS. 6 and 8. Retained in form.

Reference numeral 31 denotes a slider which also covers the upper opening of the switch case 11 and also serves as a cover. A side edge of the slider 31 is a projecting edge loosely fitted in an elongated hole 19 provided in the switch case 11. 32 is formed and the slider 31 is slid within the slot 19. Further, on the lower surface of the slider 31, pressing pieces 33 and 34 for pressing the first movable contact plate 20 and the second movable contact plate 21 located in the contact storage chamber from above are projected as an integral member. Has been done. Further, on the upper surface of the slider 31, an operation portion 35 is formed which is engaged with an operation button (not shown).

The above is the configuration of the microswitch of the present embodiment, and the assembly configuration thereof is as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8. When the slider 31 is at the neutral position as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, the spring portions 26 of the first movable contact plate 20 and the second movable contact plate 21 are kept in a curved shape that is convex upward. Therefore, the movable contact 24 mounting portion is urged downward by the spring force, which causes the movable contact 24 to be closed.
, 18 and the normally closed contact 16 and the first movable contact plate 20, and the normally closed contact 18 and the second movable contact plate 21 are electrically connected.

When the slider 31 is slid to the left in FIGS. 6 and 8, the pressing pieces 33, 34 provided as an integral member on the lower surface of the slider 31 also slide to the left, and the pressing piece 33 is removed. As shown in FIG. 7, the spring portion 26, which is held in a curved shape that is convex upward, is pushed down to become a curved shape that is concave upward.
The movable contact 24 mounting portion of the movable contact plate 20 is pushed up, so that the movable contact 24 comes into contact with the normally open contact 15. Further, the other pressing piece 34 pushes down the movable contact mounting portion of the second movable contact plate as shown in FIG. 9, so that the contact between the movable contact 24 and the normally closed contact 18 is still held.

When the slider 31 is returned to the neutral position, the pressing piece 3
Since the pressing force of the spring portion 26 of the movable contact plate 20 obtained in 3 is released, the spring portion 26 returns to the upward convex curved shape again, and the movable contact 24 comes into contact with the normally closed contact again.
Return to the initial conduction state.

In the above description, the operation when the slider 31 is slid to the left side in FIGS. 6 and 8 has been described, but if the slider 31 is slid to the right side in FIGS. Movable contact plate 20 and second
The movable contact plate 21 is switched by the reverse operation.

As described above, the microswitch of this embodiment is switched by the sliding operation of the slider 31, but in this embodiment, the first movable contact plate 2 is used.
When the 0 and second movable contact plates 21 are press-molded, two slits 25 are provided in the horizontal portions of these movable contact plates to form the spring portion 26 integrated with the movable contact plates. It is possible to reduce the number of parts to be used as compared with the case where a leaf spring member which is another component is assembled as described above. Further, the elasticity imparting means to the spring portion 26 attaches the edge of the spring portion 26 to the movable contact plate. Since it can be carried out by a simple work of engaging with the fixed plate 30, the assembly workability and economical efficiency of the switch can be improved in this embodiment.

In this embodiment, when the slider is molded,
Since the pressing pieces 33 and 34 projectingly provided on the lower surface of the slider are integrally formed, it is not necessary to prepare a contact pressing member which is separate from the slider as shown in the conventional example. In the example, assembling workability and economic efficiency associated with the reduction of the number of parts are enhanced, labor saving of parts management and simplification of the switch structure are enhanced.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, a mountain-shaped curved spring portion is integrally formed on a movable contact plate which constitutes a micro switch, and further, the movable contact plate is pushed by a slider. Since the pressing piece for this is integrally formed, the number of components of the microswitch is reduced as compared with the conventional one, which enables improvement of the assembly workability of the microswitch and simplification of the structure. Therefore, the effect that the product cost can be significantly reduced can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a switch according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of the configuration of a movable contact plate of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part of a movable contact plate according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the switch according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a front sectional view of a switch according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of the first switch mechanism in the neutral position of the switch slider according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a left slide operation of the first switch mechanism of the switch slider according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a side sectional view of the second switch mechanism in the neutral position of the switch slider according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the sliding operation of the switch slider of the embodiment of the present invention to the left of the second switch mechanism.

FIG. 10 is a side sectional view showing a conventional switch structure.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a movable contact plate incorporated in a conventional switch.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Switch case 12 ... First switch mechanism 13 ... Second switch mechanism 14 ... Partition wall 15 ... Normally open contact 16 ... Normally closed contact 17 ... Normally open contact 18 ... Normally closed contact 19 ... Elongated hole 20 ... First Movable contact plate 21 ... Second movable contact plate 22 ... Horizontal part 23 ... Vertical part 24 ... Movable contact 25 ... Slit 26 ... Spring part 27 ... Terminal part 28 ... Tongue part 29 ... Locking groove 30 ... Fixed plate 31 ... Slider 32 ... Flange 33 ... Pressing piece 34 ... Pressing piece 35 ... Operation section

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A switch case, a movable contact plate housed in the switch case, a normally open and normally closed fixed contact also housed in the switch case, and a movable contact of the movable contact plate. In a microswitch having a slider for contacting with and separating from an open and a normally closed fixed contact, the movable contact plate is formed in an L-shape including a horizontal portion (22) and a vertical portion (23). , A movable contact (24) facing the normally open and normally closed fixed contacts at the tip of the horizontal portion, and a terminal portion (27) at the tip of the vertical portion, and the horizontal portion. A fixed plate (30) fixed to the inner surface of the vertical portion is formed by forming two tongue-shaped springs (26) by providing two slits (25) from the boundary portion with the vertical portion toward the movable contact mounting portion. ) The tongue-shaped spring in the engaging groove (29). 26) by locking the free end of the tongue-shaped spring (26) in the shape of an upwardly convex curved shape, and the slider has the above-mentioned tongue-shaped spring as it slides. A microswitch integrally comprising a pressing piece (33) for deforming the spring portion (26) from an upward convex curved shape to an upward concave curved shape.