JPH11111117A - Click mechanism for seesaw-operated electric parts - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a click mechanism, capable of reliably holding a rotary knob, if it is seesaw-operated with slight operating force, at a lock position. SOLUTION: A rotary knob 4 is supported in a recess 2a formed at the end of a holder 2 in a seesaw-operable manner and a driving lever 4d and a cylinder 4e are protrudedly formed on the rotatary knob 4. A rotational member 7 is supported on a protrusion formed in the holder 2 in a rotatable manner and a movable contact 9 mounted on the rotational member 7 is put in elastic contact with a fixed contact 10 for a printed board 8 fixed to the holder 2. A cam face 7b to which troughs and crests continues gently is formed on the rotational member 7 and a ball 6 held in the cylinder 4e via a coil spring 5 is pressed against the cam face 7b. The end of a driving lever 4d is inserted between a pair of supports 7c formed on the rotational member 7, so that the rotational member 7 can be rotated to the opposite direction in association with the rotary knob 4 and the ball 6 can be rolled on the cam face 7b, accordingly, for the movable contact 9 to approach/separate to/from the fixed contact 10 for switching operation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a click mechanism of a seesaw-operated electric component that is operated by a rotary knob with a feel and a seesaw.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a switch device for operating a wiper and a washer of an automobile, for example, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No.
As described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 0230, there is known one in which a wiper operation and a washer operation are selectively performed by a seesaw operation of a rotation knob. Such a conventional switch device includes a rotating knob supported by a housing so as to allow a seesaw operation, a click mechanism for holding the rotating knob at a plurality of lock positions, and a slide body driven by the seesaw operation of the rotating knob. And a movable contact that comes into contact with and separates from a fixed contact provided on the housing side is attached to the slide body. The click mechanism includes a cam surface formed on the inner bottom surface of the housing, and a ball held by a rotation knob via a spring, and the ball is elastically urged to the cam surface by the spring.

In the switch device constructed as described above, when one end of the rotary knob is pressed from the outside to perform a seesaw operation, the ball moves from the trough to the peak of the cam surface in conjunction with the rotary knob. As a result, the turning knob is stably held at the position, and a click feeling is generated. Further, since the slide body is driven in the horizontal direction in accordance with the seesaw operation of the rotary knob, the movable contact provided on the slide body comes into contact with and separates from the fixed contact, and the contact is switched.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned conventional switch device, the ball held by the rotary knob slides on the cam surface formed on the inner bottom surface of the housing, which is a fixed side member. If the angle between the valley and the peak of the surface is made steep, the locking force that holds the rotation knob is increased,
A large operation force is required to operate the rotary knob in a seesaw operation. Conversely, if the angle between the valley and the peak of the cam surface is made gentle, the rotary knob can be operated in a seesaw operation with a small operating force, but the locking force And the rotation knob cannot be stably held. In other words, increasing the locking force of the rotating knob is in conflict with decreasing the operating force, so both cannot be satisfied. The force had to be increased, and a click mechanism excellent in operation feeling could not be realized.

[0005]

According to the present invention, a rotary member is driven to rotate in conjunction with a seesaw operation of a rotary knob, and a cam surface for generating a click feeling is formed on the rotary member. When the cam surface is formed on the rotating member that rotates in the direction opposite to the seesaw operation of the rotary knob in this manner, even if the angle between the peak and the valley of the cam surface is set gently, the cam member is rotated by the rotating member. Since the angle fluctuates, the turning knob can be operated by a seesaw operation with a small operating force while the locking force of the turning knob is increased.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In a click mechanism for a seesaw-operated electric component according to the present invention, a rotary knob supported so as to be capable of operating a seesaw from outside around a first fulcrum of a housing and a cam having a click groove formed therein. A rotating member having a surface and rotatably supported about a second fulcrum in the housing; and a spring for elastically biasing a driving body held reciprocally by the rotating knob to the cam surface. A drive lever for driving the rotation member to rotate is provided on the rotation knob, and the drive lever is engaged with the rotation member.

With this structure, when the rotary knob is moved in one direction from the neutral position, the rotary member is rotated by the drive lever of the rotary knob, and the driving member held by the rotary knob rotates. In order to get over the ridge of the cam surface formed on the cam surface and move to the valley, even if the angle between the ridge and the valley of the cam surface is set gently, the rotation knob should be stably held at the lock position. Can be.

The rotating member may function only as a click member. However, when a substrate having a plurality of fixed contacts is fixed to the housing, and the rotating member is provided with a movable contact which can be brought into contact with and separated from the fixed contacts, Not only can the switching operation of the contacts be performed in conjunction with the seesaw operation of the rotating knob, but also the rotating member can be largely rotated in a narrow space, so that the degree of freedom in arranging the respective contacts can be increased.

[0009]

Embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.
1 is an exploded perspective view showing a main part of a seesaw operation type switch device, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the switch device, FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the switch device, and FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory diagram of the switch device. .

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a holder 2 is press-fitted and fixed in a cylindrical casing 1, and the casing 1 and the holder 2 constitute a housing. A base end of the casing 1 is swingably attached to a column side of an automobile (not shown), and a cap 3 is put on the holder 2. A semicircular concave portion 2 a serving as a first fulcrum is formed at the tip of the holder 2, and a second
Is formed. The support shaft 4a of the rotary knob 4 is supported by the concave portion 2a of the holder 2, and the rotary knob 4 is supported by the holder 2 around the concave portion 2a so as to be able to perform a seesaw operation. Has been prevented. The rotation knob 4 has an operation surface 4c exposed to the outside from an opening end of the cap 3, and a drive lever 4d and a cylindrical portion 4e are formed at the center of the back surface of the operation surface 4c.
The distal end of the driving lever 4d is circular and protrudes from the cylindrical portion 4e. A ball 6 as a driving body is held inside the cylindrical portion 4e via a coil spring 5 so as to be able to reciprocate.

The shaft hole 7 of the rotating member 7 is
a is inserted, and the printed circuit board 8 is fixed to the holder 2 so as to cover the rotating member 7. A cam surface 7b is formed on the opposite side of the shaft hole 7a of the rotating member 7, and the rotating member 7 is rotatably supported by the holder 2 about the projection 2b. The valley and the ridge of the cam surface 7b are smoothly continuous, and the ball 6 is pressed against the cam surface 7b under the urging force of the coil spring 5. Rotating member 7
A pair of receiving portions 7c are formed on one surface of the driving lever 4d.
c. A movable contact 9 is attached to the other surface of the rotating member 7, and the movable contact 9 is pressed against a plurality of fixed contacts 10 provided on the printed circuit board 8 so as to be able to come and go.

Next, the operation of the switch device thus constructed will be described mainly with reference to FIG. 4. When the rotary knob 4 is at the neutral position shown in FIG. The rotating knob 4 is stably held at the neutral position by being pressed against the valley of the cam surface 7b on a straight line connecting the projections 2b. In addition, the movable contact 9 is separated from the fixed contact 10 excluding the common contact and is switched off, so that the movable contact 9 is maintained in a stopped state in which the wiper is not operated.

When the left end of the operation surface 4c is pressed in the neutral position shown in FIG. 4A, as shown in FIG. 4B, the rotary knob 4 moves the seesaw counterclockwise about the recess 2a. Then, since this rotational force is transmitted to the rotating member 7 via the engaging portion between the driving lever 4d and the receiving portion 7c, the rotating member 7 rotates clockwise around the projection 2b. Along with this, the ball 6 rolls on the cam surface 7b, gets over the left peak, presses against the slope of the peak and urges the rotating member 7 in the clockwise direction. 4 (b) is held at the first locked position. At this time, since the valleys and ridges of the cam surface 7b are smoothly continuous, the see-saw operation of the rotary knob 4 to the first lock position can be performed with a small operating force, and the cam surface 7b rotates. Since the rotary knob 4 is formed on the rotary member 7 that rotates in the opposite direction, the rotary knob 4 can be stably held at the first lock position. At the same time, the movable contact 9 slides on the printed circuit board 8 in conjunction with the rotation of the rotating member 7 and short-circuits the common contact and the specific fixed contact 10 to switch on. For example, the wiper operates at a normal speed. Activated.

Conversely, when the right end of the operation surface 4c is pressed at the neutral position shown in FIG. 4A, for example, as shown in FIG. The seesaw operation is performed in the circumferential direction, and the rotating member 7 rotates counterclockwise about the protrusion 2b. Accordingly, the ball 6 rolls on the right peak of the cam surface 7b, during which the movable contact 9 short-circuits the common contact and another fixed contact 10 to switch on. Activated. In this case, since the ball 6 has not climbed over the mountain on the right side of the cam surface 7b, when the pressing force on the operation surface 4c is removed, the rotary knob 4 automatically returns to the neutral position shown in FIG.

When the right end of the operation surface 4c is further pressed from the position shown in FIG. 4 (c), the ball 6 rides over the mountain on the right side of the cam surface 7b, comes into pressure contact with the slope of the mountain, and rotates the rotating member 7 counterclockwise. In order to urge in the rotation direction, the rotation knob 4 is moved to the position shown in FIG.
In the meantime, the movable contact 9 is short-circuited between the common contact and the further fixed contact 10 to be switched on during this period, so that, for example, the wiper is operated intermittently. Also in this case, since the valleys and the ridges of the cam surface 7b are smoothly continuous, the rotary knob 4 can perform the seesaw operation to the second lock position with a small operating force.
Can be stably held at the second lock position.

In the above embodiment, the switch device for detecting the amount of rotation of the rotary member 7 by the contact switching operation using the movable contact 9 and the fixed contact 10 has been described. Used, rotating member 7
May be detected as a change in resistance value, and the rotation amount of the rotating member 7 may be optically detected using a light emitting element and a light receiving element.

In the above embodiment, the case where the engaging portion between the driving lever 4d and the rotating member 7 is located between the first fulcrum and the second fulcrum has been described. May be on the other side of the second fulcrum. In this case, since the distance of the engagement portion from the first fulcrum becomes longer, the movement of the rotation knob becomes larger than in the above-described embodiment, and the rotation member can be largely moved.

[0018]

The present invention is embodied in the form described above and has the following effects.

A rotary knob supported so as to be capable of operating a seesaw from outside around a first fulcrum of the housing; and a cam surface having a click groove formed therein.
A rotating member rotatably supported about the fulcrum of
A spring that resiliently biases a driving body held reciprocally by the rotating knob against the cam surface; and a driving lever that rotationally drives the rotating member is provided on the rotating knob. When the rotary knob is engaged with the rotary member, the rotary knob is driven to perform a seesaw operation from the neutral position in one direction, whereby the rotary member is rotated by the drive lever of the rotary knob, and the driving body held by the rotary knob rotates. Even when the angle between the ridge and the valley of the cam surface is set to be gentle, the rotation knob is stably held at the lock position because the ridge moves over the ridge of the cam surface formed on the member. be able to.

Further, when a substrate having a plurality of fixed contacts is fixed to the housing and movable contacts are provided on the rotating member so as to be able to contact and separate from the fixed contacts, the contacts are switched in conjunction with the seesaw operation of the rotary knob. Not only can the operation be performed, but also the rotating member can be largely rotated in a narrow space, so that the degree of freedom in arranging the respective contacts can be increased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a main part of a seesaw operation type switch device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the switch device.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the switch device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the switch device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Casing 2 Holder 2a Recess 2b Projection 4 Rotation knob 4a Support shaft 4c Operation surface 4d Drive lever 5 Coil spring 6 Ball 7 Rotating member 7a Shaft hole 7b Cam surface 7c Receiving part 8 Printed circuit board 9 Movable contact 10 Fixed contact

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A rotary knob which is supported from the outside so as to be capable of operating a seesaw around a first fulcrum of a housing, and a cam surface having a click groove formed therein. A rotating member rotatably supported by the rotating knob, and a spring for elastically biasing a driving body held reciprocally by the rotating knob to the cam surface, the rotating knob rotating the rotating member by the rotating knob. A click lever for a seesaw operation type electric component, wherein a drive lever is provided, and the drive lever is engaged with the rotating member. 2. The seesaw operation according to claim 1, wherein a substrate having a plurality of fixed contacts is fixed to the housing, and a movable contact that can be brought into contact with and separated from the fixed contacts is provided on the rotating member. Click mechanism for mold electrical parts.