JPH08222066A - Switch with light emitting display function - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To attain a reduction in manufacturing cost and an improvement in manufacturing efficiency, and display colors differed between light emission and non-light emission. CONSTITUTION: A light source covering part 15 for covering a light source 4 is integrally formed on a switch cover 10. The light source covering part 15 is light transmittable, and colored to a prescribed color. The coloration is performed by preliminarily molding the part corresponding to the light source covering part 15 of a material in which a pigment is mixed to the same material as the switch cover 10, and integrating it at the molding of the switch cover 10. Since the colored part is integrated with the switch cover 10, the manufacturing cost is reduced, compared with the use of a colored member of different part, and the manufacturing efficiency is improved. When a light transmitting cover 27 is colored to a color different from the light emitting source covering part 51, the color displayed in the light emitting display part 25 is differed between the emission of the light source 4 and the non-emission.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a switch having a light-emission display function that allows the position of an operating member to be confirmed and identified easily by internal illumination.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a switch for opening and closing a power window provided in an automobile, there is one having a structure shown in FIG. Circuit board 6 attached to switch box 60
A pair of fixed contacts 62 and a lamp 63 are provided on the surface of 1, and an upper surface of the circuit board 61 is covered with a sheet-shaped switch cover 64 made of elastic material such as silicon rubber. A movable contact 66 facing the fixed contact 62 is attached to a switch-shaped switch operating portion 65 formed on the switch cover 64. An operating lever 68 is tiltably supported by a box cover 67 attached to the switch box 60, and when the operating lever 68 is tilted, the switch operating portion 65 is elastically deformed and movably moved via an operating pin 69. The contact 66 comes into contact with the fixed contact 62 to short-circuit the fixed contact 62, so that the corresponding window is opened and closed.

At the position corresponding to the lamp 63 of the box cover 67, a light guide tube 70 having a tubular shape and protruding into the hollow of the operating lever 68 is formed. A light emitting display section 72 is formed corresponding to the opening of the light guide tube 70. The light-emitting display unit 72 is configured by fitting a light-transmitting translucent cover 74 into a display hole 73 formed by cutting out a part of the operation lever 68. The lamp 63 emits light in response to the operation of a switch for night illumination (not shown), and the light emitted from the lamp 34 passes through the light guide tube 70, the transparent cover 74 and the outside of the operation lever 68. Is emitted. As a result, it is possible to visually recognize that the light emitting display portion 72 is illuminated from the outside of the operation lever 68, and thus the position of the operation lever 68 can be easily known even during nighttime traveling.

In the switch having the light emitting display function as described above, colored light should be emitted from the light emitting display section 72 in order to make it easy to visually recognize characters and the like displayed on the light emitting display section 72. Is done. As one of the means, conventionally, a cap 75 having a light-transmitting property and colored in a predetermined color is used.
As shown in FIG. 7, the glass light emitting portion 63a of the lamp 63 is covered and fixed by adhesion or the like. Further, as another means, there is also a method of using a colored translucent cover 74 fitted to the light emitting display section 72.

[0005]

However, the lamp 63
In the method of attaching the colored cap 75 to the lamp 63, since the number of parts is increased by the amount of the colored cap 75 and an additional step of attaching the colored cap 75 to the lamp 63 is required, the manufacturing cost is high and the manufacturing efficiency is high. It has the drawback of causing a decrease.

Further, in the method of mounting the colored translucent cover 74 on the light emitting display section 72, the light emitting display section 72 is displayed both when the lamp 63 is emitting light and when it is not emitting light. Since the colors are the same, it was not possible to make the display color different between when emitting light and when not emitting light.

The invention of the present application was conceived in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the invention to reduce the manufacturing cost and improve the manufacturing efficiency. The purpose is to enable different display colors.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a circuit board having a fixed contact and a light emitting source provided on the surface thereof, and an elastic sheet-like member attached to the surface of the circuit board and fixed. In a switch having a light emitting function, which includes a switch cover having a movable contact for connecting and disconnecting electrical conduction by contact and separation with respect to the contact, the switch cover is given a predetermined color and is emitted from a light emitting source. A switch having a light emitting display function, characterized in that a light emitting source adhered portion which is adhered to a light emitting source in a state capable of transmitting light is integrally formed.

The invention of claim 2 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 1, the switch cover is made of a water impermeable material and is attached so as to cover the entire circuit board. .

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a circuit board having a fixed contact and a light emitting source provided on the surface thereof and an elastic sheet-like member attached to the surface of the circuit board are electrically connected to and separated from the fixed contact. A switch cover that has a movable contact that connects and disconnects the electrical continuity, and it is possible to displace the movable contact to and from the fixed contact by arranging it outside the switch cover and elastically bending the switch cover. A switch having a light emitting function, the switch cover being provided with an operating member having a light emitting display section capable of transmitting light emitted from a light emitting source to the outside.
It is characterized in that the light source adhering portion which is given a predetermined color and is adhered to the light source in a state where the light emitted from the light source can be transmitted is integrally formed.

[0011]

According to the first aspect of the invention, the light emitted from the light emitting source is transmitted through the light emitting source adhered portion of the switch cover, and light emission display is performed with the color applied to the light source attached portion. The light is transmitted through the light emitting display section of the operation member, and in this light emitting display section, light emission display is performed using colored light.

According to the second aspect of the invention, even if water enters the outer surface of the switch cover from the operation member side, there is no possibility that the water will penetrate the switch cover and enter the circuit board side.
Further, the waterproof function acts on the entire circuit board.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the light emitted from the light emitting source passes through the light emitting source adhered portion of the switch cover, and the light emission display of the operating member is accompanied by the color applied to the light source attached portion. The light-emitting display section displays light by colored light.

[0014]

According to the invention of claim 1, as a means for displaying the light emitted from the light emitting source as colored light, a colored light emitting source attachment portion is integrally formed on the switch cover. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the manufacturing cost and improve the manufacturing efficiency as compared with the case where a component other than the switch cover is mounted on the light emitting source.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above effects, since the circuit board is entirely covered with the waterproof switch cover, water can be prevented from entering the circuit board. be able to.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, as a means for displaying the light emitted from the light emitting source as colored light, the switch cover is integrally formed with a colored light emitting source adhered portion. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the manufacturing cost and improve the manufacturing efficiency as compared with the case where a component other than the switch cover is mounted on the light emitting source. Moreover, if the light emitting display section of the operation member is colored differently from the light emitting source adhered section, the display color of the light emitting display section can be made different from each other depending on whether the light emitting display is performed or not. is there.

[0017]

【Example】

<Example 1> Hereinafter, Example 1 embodying the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
A description will be given with reference to FIG. The switch of this embodiment is
Switch box 1, circuit board 2, switch cover 1
0, a box cover 7, and an operation lever (an operation member that is a constituent of the present invention) 20.

The switch box 1 is attached to a support member (not shown) such as a vehicle body frame, and the circuit board 2 is mounted on the switch box 1 so as to close the opening on the upper surface thereof. Various elements (not shown) are attached to the circuit board 2 so as to project to the lower surface side,
Two pairs of fixed contacts 3 and 3 are arranged on the upper surface side. A light emitting source 4 such as a lamp that emits colorless light is disposed at an intermediate position between the pair of fixed contacts 3 and 3. The glass light emitting portion 4a is screwed into a holding portion 6 provided on the circuit board 2. It is installed with the upper part exposed. The light emitting source 4 is for making a light emitting display section 25 provided on an operation lever 20 described later to emit light so that the position of the operation lever 20 can be easily visually recognized even at night.

On the upper surface of the circuit board 2, a switch cover 10 formed by molding silicon rubber into a thin sheet is attached so as to cover the entire surface of the circuit board 2. The switch cover 10 has electrical insulation, is elastically bendable, can transmit light, and is impermeable.

At positions corresponding to the fixed contacts 3 and 3 of the switch cover 10, there is formed a switch actuating portion 11 which is bulged so as to be always separated from the upper surface of the circuit board 2. Each switch actuating portion 11 has a thin elastic rising portion 12 that rises in a tapered cylindrical shape so as to surround the fixed contacts 3 and 3.
And a top portion 13 having a wall thickness that closes the upper end of the elastic rising portion 12, and a movable contact 14 made of a conductive material is fixed to the lower surface of the top portion 13. The switch actuating portion 11 is always in the non-operating state in which the movable contact 14 is separated upward from the fixed contacts 3 and 3 by the elastic restoring force of the elastic rising portion 12, but the crown 13 is pushed down and elastically moved. When the rising portion 12 is elastically crushed and deformed, the movable contact 14 moves to the fixed contacts 3 and 3.
To short-circuit the fixed contacts 3 and 3,
When the pressure on the crown 13 is released, the elastic rising portion 12
Due to the elastic restoring force of the fixed contact 3,
The short circuit of 3 is released.

A light source adhered portion 15 is integrally formed at a position corresponding to the light source 4 of the switch cover 10. The light emitting source adhered portion 15 is the glass light emitting portion 4 of the light emitting source 4.
It has a dome shape that is in close contact with the outer surface of a and is thinly formed so that the light emitted from the glass light emitting portion 4a can be sufficiently transmitted. The light emitting source covering portion 15 is colored so that colorless light emitted from the light emitting source 4 is emitted as colored light when passing through the light emitting source covering portion 15. Has become.

As a means for forming the colored light emitting source deposition portion 15 on the switch cover 10, a light emitting source deposition portion is prepared by using the same molten material as the switch cover 10 in which a pigment of a predetermined color is mixed in advance. A state in which a dome-shaped member 15a corresponding to the light source adhered portion corresponding to the portion 15 is molded and is arranged at a position corresponding to the light source adhered portion 15 of the molding die (not shown) of the switch cover 10. By injecting the molten material of the switch cover 10 into the mold,
A method is adopted in which this molten material is fused with the member 15a corresponding to the light source adhered portion, and thus the switch cover 10 in which the light source adhered portion 15 is integrated is molded.

A box cover 7 is mounted above the switch cover 10 so as to cover it. In the box cover 7, the locking hole 8a of the downward facing peripheral wall portion 8 is provided with the locking projection 1a on the outer periphery of the switch box 1.
Is engaged with the switch box 1 so as not to be detachable. In this assembled state, the circuit board 2 and the switch cover 10 are fixed to the switch box 1 by sandwiching the peripheral edges thereof between the step portion 8b of the box cover 7 and the upper surface of the switch box 1. Is held.

Similarly, in this assembled state, the switch cover 10 covers the entire surface of the circuit board 2, and
The circuit board 2 and the switch cover 10 are in close contact with each other at their peripheral portions. Therefore, the water that has fallen onto the switch cover 10 does not pass through the switch cover 10 and leak onto the circuit board 2, and the water intrudes into the inside of the peripheral portion between the switch cover 10 and the circuit board 2. There is nothing to do. This ensures waterproofness between the upper surface of the circuit board 2 and the switch cover 10.

The operating lever 20 is supported on the upper surface of the box cover 7 by a bearing (not shown) so as to be tiltable about a horizontal shaft 21, and is always held at a neutral position by a biasing means (not shown). This operating lever 20
Has a hollow interior, the lower surface of which is open to the switch cover 10 side, and the operating portion 2 protruding upward.
2 and a pair of pushing portions 23, 23 extending obliquely downward from the operating portion 22 in a skirt-like shape.

Further, the operating pins 24 are vertically movably penetrated through the insertion holes 9 formed at the positions corresponding to the respective pushing portions 23 of the box cover 7, and each operating pin 24 pushes its upper end. Switch actuating portion 11 in a state of being brought into contact with the portion 23.
Is mounted and supported on the upper end surface of the. Operating lever 20
When the tilting operation is performed, one actuating pin 24 is pushed down and the switch actuating portion 11 therebelow is elastically crushed and deformed,
The movable contact 14 contacts the fixed contacts 3 and 3 to short-circuit the fixed contacts 3 and 3.

The operating lever 20 includes the light emitting source 4
A light emitting display section 25 is formed for performing a light emitting display by the light emitted from. In this light emitting display unit 25, a transparent cover 27 made of a colorless transparent material or a colorless, opaque and translucent material is fitted into a display hole 26 formed by cutting out the upper end of the operation unit 22. It is composed by. In addition, a cylindrical light guide hole 28 is formed at a position of the box cover 7 corresponding to the light emission source 4.
The light guide hole 28 extends from the light emitting source 4 toward the light emitting display unit 25, and guides the light emitted from the light emitting source 4 toward the light emitting display unit 25.

When the light emitting source 4 is caused to emit light by operating a switch for night illumination (not shown), this light is colored with the color attached to the colored thin film body 15a when passing through the light emitting source adherend 15. The light becomes light and reaches the light emitting display section 25 of the operation lever 20 by passing through the light guide hole 28. In the light emitting display section 25, light emission display using colored light is performed. Since the transparent cover 27 of the light emitting display unit 25 is colorless, the display color at this time appears almost as it is on the light source adhered portion 15.

As described above, in this embodiment, the switch cover 10 is provided as a means for emitting the colored light when the light emitting source 4 is caused to emit light.
Instead of attaching a colored cap, which is a separate component, to the light emitting source 4, the light emitting source attaching portion 15 that is colored and attached so as to wrap the light emitting source 4 is formed integrally with the switch cover 10. Therefore, compared to the case where the colored cap which is a separate component is used, the number of components is reduced, the manufacturing cost can be reduced, and the manufacturing efficiency can be improved.

Further, by forming the partial light source adhered portion 15 corresponding to the light source 4 of the switch cover 10,
It is not necessary to form a hole for exposing the light emitting source in the switch cover as in the conventional case, and as a result, the circuit board 2 can be covered over the entire surface by the switch cover 10. As a result, the water that has entered through the gap between the box cover 7 and the operating lever 20 will not enter the switch cover 1.
Even if the water drops on 0, the water does not reach the circuit board 2, and the surface of the circuit board 2 is reliably protected by water.

Further, as a modified example of the first embodiment, the light source cover 15 is used as the light transmitting cover 27 of the operating lever 20.
You may make it use what was colored with the color different from. By doing so, the color of the translucent cover 27 appears almost as it is when the light emitting source 4 does not emit light, and when the light emitting source 4 emits light, the color attached to the light source adhering portion 15 and the translucent cover. It will appear as a mixture of the 27 colors. That is, it is possible to make the color displayed on the light emitting display unit 25 different between a state in which the light emitting source 4 does not emit light and a state in which the light emitting source 4 emits light.

<Second Embodiment> Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. Example 2
Is applied to the operation switch of the power window provided on the driver's side of the automobile. As shown in FIG. 3, on the operation surface of the operation panel 30, four opening / closing operation switches 41A, 41B, 41C for opening / closing the windows of the driver's door, the passenger's door, and the rear doors separately. And a lock operation switch 51 for locking the opening and closing of the windows of doors other than the driver's seat.

Opening / closing operation switches 41A, 41B, 41
C has a structure similar to that of the switch of the first embodiment, and when the operation lever (operation member which is a constituent feature of the present invention) 43 is tilted on the box cover 37, the operation pin 42 is pushed down, whereby the switch cover is pushed down. The switch actuating portion 36 of 35 is elastically crushed and deformed, and the two pairs of fixed contacts 33 on the circuit board 32 are selectively short-circuited by the movable contacts 38, so that the windows are opened and closed.

On the other hand, the lock operation switch 51 is of a push button type, and an operation button (an operation member which is a constituent feature of the present invention) 52 is pressed to alternate between an operating position and a non-operating position. When it is displaced to, the contact (not shown) is short-circuited and the short-circuit is released, whereby the window opening / closing operation is locked and unlocked.

Operation switches 41A, 41B, 4 for opening and closing
1C, like the operation lever 20 of the first embodiment, has a hollow interior and a lower surface opened to the switch cover 35 side, and an operation portion 44 protruding upward, and an obliquely downward direction from the operation portion 44. It has a pair of pushing portions 45 which are continuous in a hem-like shape. The operation lever 43 is provided with a light emitting display section 46. Like the first embodiment, the light emitting display unit 46 is configured by fitting a transparent light-transmitting colorless cover 48 into the display hole 47 formed in the operation unit 44.

On the other hand, the lock operation button 52 also has a hollow interior, the lower surface is open to the switch cover 35 side, and the light emitting display section 53 is provided on the upper surface. The light emitting display section 53 is configured by fitting a colorless transparent cover 55 having a light transmitting property into a display hole 54 formed in the upper wall.

Each operation switch 41 is provided on the circuit board 32.
A light-emitting source 34 such as a lamp for causing the light-emitting display units 46, 53 of A, 41B, 41C, 51 to perform light-emission display is disposed substantially directly below each light-emitting display unit 46, 53. Further, the box cover 37 is formed with a light guide hole 31 for passing light from each light emitting source 34 toward the light emitting display portions 46 and 53.

The switch cover 35 is integrally formed with a light source adhered portion 39 corresponding to each light source 34.
The light emitting source adhered portion 39 is the glass light emitting portion 3 of the light emitting source 34.
It is formed in a dome shape so as to be in close contact with the outer surface of 4a, and is thinly formed so that the light emitted from the glass light emitting portion 34a can be sufficiently transmitted. Each of these light emitting source covering portions 39 is colored with a predetermined color, and when the colorless light emitted from the light emitting source 34 passes through the light emitting source covering portion 39, colored light is emitted. And is radiated to the outside.

As a means for forming the colored light emitting source covering portion 39 on the switch cover 35, a pigment of a predetermined color is previously mixed in the same melting material as the switch cover 35 for each light emitting source covering portion 39. A plurality of light emitting source adhered portion corresponding members 39a having a dome shape and different in color are molded in advance, and these are used as predetermined light source coverings of a mold (not shown) of the switch cover 35. The switch cover 3 is placed in the molding die in a state of being arranged at a position corresponding to the attachment portion 39.
The molten material of No. 5 is injected and this molten material is fused with the member 30a corresponding to the light source adhered portion, so that the switch cover 35 in which the light source adhered portion 39 is integrated is formed. There is.

Opening / closing operation switches 41A, 41B, 41
The C light emission source 34 emits light by an operation different from the operation lever 43. The light emitted from these light emission sources 34 becomes colored light with the color attached to the colored thin film body 39a when passing through the light emission source attachment portion 39, and passes through the light guide hole 31 to emit light. The light emitting display unit 46 is reached.
In, light emission display is performed by colored light. Since the transparent cover 48 of the light emitting display section 46 is colorless, the display color at this time is almost the same as the colored color on the light source adhered section 39. Here, since the color of the light emitting source adhered portion 39 is set individually for each operation lever 41A, 41B, 41C as described above, the display color of the light emission display portion 46 also differs for each operation lever 43. For example, the light emitting display section 46 for the driver side window emits "green" light, and the other three light emitting display sections 46 emit "orange" light. Thereby, the operation switch 41A for the driver's seat side window and the other three operation switches 41B, 41C, 41C can be easily identified.

Further, the light emitting source 34 of the lock operation switch 51 is emitted when the operation button 52 is operated to enter the lock state. The light emitted from the light emitting source 34 reaches the light emitting display section 53 as colored light with the color attached to the colored thin film body 39a when passing through the light source adhered portion 39. In the light emitting display section 53, since the light transmitting cover 55 is colorless, the color such as "red" colored in the light emitting source adhered portion 39 appears almost as it is, and the light emitting display by colored light is performed. .

Also in this embodiment, as in the first embodiment,
The manufacturing cost is reduced and the manufacturing efficiency is improved as compared with a case where a colored cap, which is a separate component from the switch cover 35, is attached to the light emitting source 34 as a means for emitting and displaying the light emitting display units 46 and 53 by colored light. In addition to the conventional structure, the circuit cover 32 also has a waterproof function because it is not necessary to form a hole in the switch cover for exposing the light emitting source.

Further, as a modification of the present embodiment, the light-transmitting covers 48, 55 of the light-emitting display parts 46, 53 may be colored in a color different from that of the light-emitting source attachment part 39. By doing so, it is possible to make the color displayed on the light emitting display sections 46 and 53 different between the state where the light emitting source 34 is not lit and the state where the light emitting source 34 is lit.

<Other Embodiments> The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and illustrated in the drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. In addition to the above, various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

(1) In the above embodiment, the case where only the light emitting source adhered portion is colored has been described, but according to the present invention, the entire switch cover may be colored. In this case, since it is not necessary to previously form the colored thin film body before the switch cover is formed, the number of forming steps can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged sectional view of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a second embodiment

FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged sectional view of the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a conventional example.

FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged sectional view of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 ... Circuit board 3 ... Fixed contact 4 ... Light source 10 ... Switch cover 14 ... Movable contact 15 ... Light source adhered part 20 ... Operation lever (operation member) 25 ... Light emitting display part

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A circuit board having a fixed contact and a light source provided on the surface thereof, and an elastic sheet-shaped member which is attached to the surface of the circuit board so as to electrically connect with the fixed contact. In a switch having a light-emitting function, which comprises a switch cover having a movable contact for connecting and disconnecting, the switch cover is given a predetermined color, and
A switch having a light emitting display function, characterized in that a light emitting source attaching portion which is attached to the light emitting source in a state of being capable of transmitting light emitted from the light emitting source is integrally formed. 2. The switch having a light emitting display function according to claim 1, wherein the switch cover is made of a water impermeable material and is attached so as to cover the entire circuit board. 3. A circuit board having a fixed contact and a light emitting source provided on the surface thereof, and an elastic sheet-like member which is attached to the surface of the circuit board and is electrically connected to and separated from the fixed contact. A switch cover having a movable contact for connecting and disconnecting, and a switch cover which is arranged outside the switch cover and elastically bends the switch cover so that the movable contact can be displaced toward and away from the fixed contact. A switch having a light emitting function, comprising: an operating member that is supported and that has a light emitting display section that is capable of transmitting light emitted from the light emitting source to the outside, wherein the switch cover is provided with a predetermined color. ,and,
A switch having a light emitting display function, characterized in that a light emitting source attaching portion which is attached to the light emitting source in a state of being capable of transmitting light emitted from the light emitting source is integrally formed.