JPH0997540A - Switch - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a switch equipped with the same functions as conventional, small, and allowing easy assembly by furnishing a resilient contact piece at the bottom of the cup-shaped part of a slide member, and permitting this contacting piece to make horizontal movement with rotation of the cup-shaped part of the slide member. SOLUTION: A slide member 2 having a cup-shaped part 2A is accommodate in a case 1, and a resilient contact piece 3 is installed at the bottom of the cup-shaped part 2A, and an operating button 22 is mounted on an operating shaft 2B over the slide 2 in such a way as protruding from a hole part 1A provided in the case 1. The cup-shaped part 2A is rotatably and slidably pinched by the support part 4A and the joint surface 1B under the hole part 1A, and an index pin 27 is put in resilient contact with a spherical recess 2C at the crest of the inside surface of the part 2A. When the button 22 is turned, the contact piece 3 moves approx. in the horizontal direction with rotational slide of the part 2A and contacts a terminal 5 to turn on the circuit, and an appropriate signal is transmitted to external apparatus via a connector 6. Thus a small- sized, stable quality switch can be accomplished at low costs for materials and assembly, wherein the structure permits automatic assembly easily.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a switch which is mainly mounted in a room of an automobile or the like and which switches a circuit by tilting an operating portion.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, automobiles have become more sophisticated and have more and more functions, and the number of parts attached to an electric circuit part for controlling them has increased and the demand for small parts has increased. There is also a demand for a switch having a small shape that can be mounted in a narrow space, as a switch configured to switch between.

As a conventional switch of this type, for example, a technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-347116 is disclosed.

A cross-sectional view of the switch is shown in FIG. 7. In FIG. 7, 20 is a case having a hole 20A on the upper surface and an opening at the bottom, and the case 20 has a bowl-shaped portion 2
A slide body 21 having 1A is included, a collar portion 21B is provided on the lower outer periphery of the bowl-shaped portion 21A, and an operation button portion 22 is provided on the operation shaft portion 21C protruding from the hole portion 20A of the case 20 to the outer surface. Is installed.

A printed wiring board 25, to which a pressing switch unit 24 is fixed by soldering or the like, is attached to a bottom plate 23 that covers the opening of the case 20, and a bowl-shaped portion 21A of a sliding body 21 is provided in the center thereof. The joint surface 20B below the hole 20A of the case 20 supporting the inner peripheral surface of the
A columnar support portion 23A that holds the bowl-shaped portion 21A in a rotatable and slidable manner is provided.

Further, the support portion 23A of the bottom plate 23 is hollow, and the moderation pin 27 biased upward by the moderation spring 26 is placed therein, and the apex of the inner peripheral surface of the bowl-shaped part 21A. The moderation pin 27 is provided in the spherical concave portion 21D provided in the portion.
Is in elastic contact with the depression 21E at the top of the recess 21D.
When the moderation pin 27 elastically contacts with the moderation pin 27, the moderation feel is obtained.

The operation of the switch 28 having such a structure will be described. When the operation button 22 is pushed in the direction A and tilted, the joint surface 20B below the hole 20A of the case 20 and the support portion 23A of the bottom plate 23 are separated. The sandwiched sliding body 21 is rotated and slid, and the operation convex portion 21F on the lower surface of the collar portion 21B on the outer circumference of the bowl-shaped portion 21A presses the pressing switch unit 24 to turn it on.
Let N.

Next, when the force applied to the operation button 22 is removed from the above state, the moderation pin 27 elastically contacting along the spherical shape of the concave portion 21D of the bowl-shaped portion 21A of the sliding body 21 returns to the upper position. By the force, the sliding body 21 returns to the position before the pressing operation, and the operation convex portion 21F on the lower surface of the collar portion 21B moves away from the pressing switch unit 24 and the pressing switch unit 2
4 is turned off.

In the above description, only the case where the operation button 22 is tilted in the A direction is described, but the same operation is performed when the operation button 22 is tilted in other directions.

[0010]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional switch 28, since the general-purpose push switch unit 24 for pushing and switching in the vertical direction is included, the number of assembling steps is increased, and the outer dimension a of the switch 28 is required. Since it depends on the external dimensions of the push switch unit 24, it is difficult to reduce the size.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a conventional problem, and an object thereof is to provide a switch which has the same function as the conventional one, and which is small in size and can be easily assembled.

[0012]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a switch according to the present invention has a sliding member sandwiched between a sliding contact surface on a lower surface side of a through hole of a case and a supporting portion of a bottom plate so as to rotate and slide. A structure in which an elastic contact piece is provided at the lower end of the bowl-shaped portion of the moving body, and the elastic contact piece is horizontally moved as the bowl-shaped portion of the sliding body is rotated to contact and separate from the terminal planted on the peripheral surface of the support portion of the bottom plate. It is what

According to the present invention, since the function of the conventional pressing switch unit can be constituted by the elastic contact piece and the terminal, a small switch can be obtained.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is an open-bottomed case having a through hole in the upper surface and a bowl-shaped sliding contact surface formed at the peripheral edge of the lower surface side of the through hole. A convex operation shaft portion projecting from a through hole of the case and a bowl-shaped portion rotatably slidably contacting a sliding contact surface of the case, and an elastic contact piece at a lower end of the bowl-shaped portion. The sliding body disposed inside the case and the tip of the columnar supporting portion support the bowl-shaped portion of the sliding body from below and are planted so as to project downward from the peripheral surface of the supporting portion. It is composed of a convex bottom plate that is connected to the lower surface of the case with the above-mentioned terminal, and the elastic contact piece and the terminal are brought into contact with each other by tilting the operating shaft part of the sliding body and rotating the bowl-shaped part. The external dimensions can be made smaller than before. Having an iodine.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the first aspect, one of a rotational sliding contact portion between the sliding contact surface on the lower surface side of the through hole of the case and the bowl-shaped portion of the sliding body is By providing the groove portion around the entire circumference, when foreign matter such as dust enters the case hole portion, it accumulates in the groove portion, so that the sliding contact surface below the through hole of the case and the bowl-shaped portion of the sliding body. It has an effect that it is possible to prevent it from being bitten into the rotational sliding contact portion with.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the columnar support portion of the bottom plate is hollow, and a rod-shaped moderation pin having a semi-spherical tip portion inside the support portion. Is disposed in an upwardly biased state via a spring, and a recess is provided at the apex portion of the inner surface of the bowl-shaped portion of the sliding body with which the tip of the moderation pin abuts. The sliding body returns to the midpoint position when no force is applied to the shaft portion, and the sliding body has an action of returning to the midpoint position when no force is applied to the operation shaft portion.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to third aspects, a terminal that is planted so as to project downward from the peripheral surface of the support portion of the bottom plate is provided with a taper angle that spreads downward. The elastic contact piece slides and wipes when the elastic contact piece contacts and separates from the terminal.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the case of the case is arranged so as to face the terminal planted so as to project downward from the peripheral surface of the support portion of the bottom plate. The second terminal is planted either on the inner peripheral surface or the outer periphery of the bottom plate, and it can handle when the connection position of the operation button and the switch terminal is displaced due to the switch mounting space. It has the effect of reducing the size.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to third aspects, the terminal and the bowl-shaped lower end of the sliding member which are planted so as to project downward from the peripheral surface of the support portion of the bottom plate. In place of the circuit configuration by the elastic contact piece provided in, a printed wiring board having a lateral push type switch unit was attached to the bottom plate, and this switch unit was formed by protruding a part of the lower end of the bowl-shaped portion of the sliding body. Since the switch unit is configured to perform pressure contact operation, and the switch unit is laterally pressed by the pressing unit of the sliding body, there is an effect that the external dimensions can be made smaller than in the past.

(First Embodiment) A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3.

In this embodiment, the same parts as those described in the above-mentioned conventional example are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the structure of the switch of the embodiment, and FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the same.

In the figure, 1 is a case having a hole 1A on the upper surface and an opening at the bottom as in the conventional example, and the case 1 contains a sliding body 2 having a bowl-shaped part 2A. The elastic contact piece 3 is attached to the lower end of the bowl-shaped portion 2A, and the operation shaft portion 2B above the sliding body 2 is the case 1
The operation button 22 is attached so as to project from the hole 1A.

The bottom plate 4 that covers the opening of the case 1
In the same manner as in the conventional example, a hollow columnar support portion 4A containing a moderation pin 27 biased upward by a moderation spring 26 is provided in the center, and the support portion 4A and the hole portion of the case 1 are provided. The bowl-shaped portion 2 is rotatable and slidably contactable with the joint surface 1B below 1A.
By sandwiching A, the moderation pin 27 is elastically contacted with the spherical concave portion 2C at the apex portion of the inner peripheral surface of the bowl-shaped portion 2A, and the moderation pin 27 is elastically contacted with the depression 2D at the apex portion of the concave portion 2C. A terminal 5 fixed by insert molding or crimping is arranged at the root of the outer periphery of the support portion 4A so as to face the elastic contact piece 3, and the terminal 5 protruding downward and the housing below the bottom plate 4 are provided. A connector 6 is formed with the portion 4B, and the connector 6 is connected to an external device (not shown).

Then, foreign matter such as dust is caught in the hole 1 of the case 1.
A groove portion 2E is provided over the entire circumference on the upper surface of the bowl-shaped portion 2A so that the joint surface 1B below A and the bowl-shaped portion 2A of the sliding body 2 do not get caught in the rotary sliding portion. A gap is provided closer to the center than the groove portion 2E of the part.

The operation of the switch having such a configuration will be described with reference to the sectional view of FIG. 3. When the operation button 22 is pushed in the direction of the symbol A in the drawing and tilted, the joining surface of the case 1 is the same as in the conventional example. As the bowl-shaped portion 2A of the sliding body 2 sandwiched between 1B and the support portion 4A of the bottom plate 4 rotates and slides, the bowl-shaped portion 2A
The elastic contact piece 3 at the lower end of the same moves in the horizontal direction in the same direction B and comes into contact with the terminal 5 of the bottom plate 4 provided at a position opposite to it to turn on the circuit, and the signal is externally transmitted via the connector 6. It is transmitted to a device (not shown).

Next, except for the force applied to the operation button 22 from the above-mentioned ON state, the bowl-shaped portion 2A of the sliding body 2 is similar to the conventional example.
The sliding body 2 is pushed back to the position before the pressing operation by the force of the moderation pin 27 elastically contacting along the spherical concave portion 2C on the inner circumference to return upward, and the elastic contact piece at the lower end of the bowl-shaped portion 2A is also pushed. 3 is also separated from the terminal 5 and the circuit is turned off, and the signal is transmitted to an external device (not shown) via the connector 6.

Although the above description has been made only when the operation button 22 is tilted in the direction of the symbol A in the drawing, it goes without saying that the same operation is performed even if the operation button 22 is operated in other directions.

As described above, in place of the conventional pressing switch unit 24 for vertically pressing and switching, the elastic contact piece 3 and the terminal 5 which move in the substantially horizontal direction are brought into contact with and separated from each other. The function is the same as before,
In addition, since the external dimensions are small and the soldering process and the like are eliminated, a switch with stable quality can be obtained.

Further, the groove portion 2E on the upper surface of the sliding body 2 arranged so as not to bite the foreign matter into the rotary sliding portion can be expected to be effective only by providing it in either one of the sliding portion of the sliding body 2 and the sliding portion of the case 1. Needless to say.

(Second Embodiment) A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the sectional view of FIG.

The present embodiment is basically the same as that shown in FIG.
~ Since it is the same as the first embodiment described with reference to Fig. 3, detailed description thereof will be omitted, and only different parts will be described.

As shown in FIG. 4, in this embodiment, the structure of the contact means for opening and closing the circuit is modified, and the supporting portion 7A of the bottom plate 7 that covers the opening of the case 1 is shaped so as to expand downward. Accordingly, the terminal 8 fixed to the outer periphery by insert molding or caulking is also provided with a taper angle, and the bottom plate 7 thus configured has the sliding member 2 of the first embodiment described above. The elastic contact piece 3 attached below the bowl-shaped portion 2A comes into contact with and separates from each other. With such a structure, when the terminal 8 and the elastic contact piece 3 come into contact with each other, both slide so that a wiping action is achieved. Thus, the effect of increasing contact stability can be obtained.

(Third Embodiment) A third embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the sectional view of FIG.

The present embodiment is basically the same as that shown in FIG.
~ Since it is the same as the first embodiment described with reference to Fig. 3, detailed description thereof will be omitted, and only different parts will be described.

As shown in FIG. 5, in this embodiment, the structure of the contact means for opening and closing the circuit is modified, and in addition to the first terminal 10 planted on the outer periphery of the support portion 9A of the bottom plate 9, it is opposed thereto. The second terminal 11 is planted in the second terminal fixing portion 9B of the bottom plate 9 provided at the position, and the bowl-shaped portion 12 of the sliding body 12 is provided.
The bifurcated elastic contact piece 13 provided at the lower end of A is arranged in the middle of the first and second terminals 10 and 11. With such a structure, the connection position of the switch terminal is the operation button 22. It is possible to obtain the effect of being able to deal with the situation even when it deviates from the center.

(Fourth Embodiment) A fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the sectional view of FIG.

The present embodiment is basically the same as that shown in FIG.
~ Since it is the same as the first embodiment described with reference to Fig. 3, detailed description thereof will be omitted, and only different parts will be described.

As shown in FIG. 6, in this embodiment, the structure of the contact means for opening and closing the circuit is modified. A printed wiring board 15 having a lateral push type switch unit 14 is mounted on a bottom plate 16 to form a sliding member. The switch unit 14 is operated by the pressing portion 17B formed by a part of the bowl-shaped portion 17A of 17, and by adopting such a configuration, a small-sized switch having almost the same price as the conventional one can be obtained. Is what you can get.

[0040]

As described above, in the switch according to the present invention, the elastic contact piece provided at the lower end of the bowl-shaped portion of the sliding body is attached to the peripheral surface of the supporting portion of the bottom plate as the bowl-shaped portion of the sliding body is rotated and slidably contacted. Since the switch is configured to come in contact with and separate from the implanted terminal, it is possible to obtain a small switch with low material cost and assembly cost, stable quality, and easy automatic assembly by machines. The effect can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a configuration of a switch according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view for explaining the same operation.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a configuration of a switch according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a configuration of a switch according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a configuration of a switch according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a configuration of a conventional switch.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 case 1A hole part 1B joining surface 2 sliding body 2A bowl-shaped part 2B operating shaft part 2C recessed part 2D recess 2E groove part 3 elastic contact piece 4 bottom plate 4A support part 4B housing part 5 terminal 6 connector 7 bottom plate 7A support part 8 terminal 9 bottom plate 9A Supporting part 9B Second terminal fixing part 10 First terminal 11 Second terminal 12 Sliding body 12A Bowl-shaped part 13 Elastic contact piece 14 Switch unit 15 Printed wiring board 16 Bottom plate 17 Sliding body 17A Bowl-shaped part 17B Pressing part 22 Operation button

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An open-bottom type case having a through hole on the upper surface thereof and a bowl-shaped sliding contact surface formed on the peripheral edge of the lower surface side of the through hole, and a convex operation shaft protruding from the through hole of the case. And a sliding body that is provided inside the case and that has a bowl-shaped portion that rotatably and slidably contacts the sliding contact surface of the case and an elastic contact piece at the lower end of the bowl-shaped portion, and a columnar shape. The bowl-shaped portion of the sliding body is supported from below by the tip of the supporting portion, and the terminal is planted so as to project downward from the peripheral surface of the supporting portion. A switch which is formed of a bottom plate and is configured to incline the operation shaft portion of the sliding body and rotate the bowl-shaped portion to bring the elastic contact piece and the terminal into contact with each other to form a circuit. 2. The switch according to claim 1, wherein a groove portion is provided over the entire circumference in either one of the sliding contact surface on the lower surface side of the through hole of the case and the rotational sliding contact portion of the bowl-shaped portion of the sliding body. 3. A columnar support portion of the bottom plate is hollow, and a rod-shaped moderation pin having a hemispherical tip is disposed inside the support portion in a biased state via a spring. By providing a recess at the apex of the inner surface of the arm of the sliding body with which the tip of the moderation pin abuts, the sliding body is returned to the midpoint position when no force is applied to the operating shaft of the sliding body. The switch according to claim 1, wherein the switch is provided. 4. The switch according to claim 1, wherein the terminal implanted so as to project downward from the peripheral surface of the support portion of the bottom plate is provided with a taper angle that spreads downward. 5. The second terminal is planted on either the inner peripheral surface of the case or the outer periphery of the bottom plate so as to face the terminal planted so as to project downward from the peripheral surface of the support portion of the bottom plate. The switch according to any one of items 1 to 4. 6. A lateral push type switch unit is used in place of the circuit configuration of the terminal planted so as to project downward from the peripheral surface of the support portion of the bottom plate and the elastic contact piece provided at the lower end of the bowl-shaped portion of the sliding body. The mounted printed wiring board is mounted on a bottom plate, and the switch unit is pressure-contacted by a pressing portion formed by projecting a part of the lower end of the bowl-shaped portion of the sliding body.
The switch according to any one of to 3.