JPH11120854A - Push-down type electrical switch - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a push-down type electrical switch, having a simple structure that condition of an electric circuit, which is actually generated as a result of the operation of the push-down type electrical switch with the finger of a user, and is made so as to feedback to the sense of the finger of the user. SOLUTION: A push-down type electrical switch 10 is provided with a pair of switch terminals 18a, 18b connected to an electric circuit, a switching mechanism 20 for switching connecting condition between both the switch terminals 18a, 18b, and a push-down part 14 to be pushed down by a finger of a user, so as to operate the switching mechanism 20. The push-down part 14 is provided with a piezoelectric element 24, so that the vibration to be generated by the piezoelectric element 22 is transmitted to a finger of the user touching on the push-down part 14. Condition of electric circuit is made to be fed back by sensing the existence of vibrations of the push-down part 14.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a push-type electric switch.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An electric switch is one of conversion elements for converting a mechanical operation into an electric signal, and is used as an interface (ie, an input interface) for transmitting the operation of a human or a machine to an electric circuit. There are various types of electric switches. In particular, a push-type electric switch (hereinafter referred to as a push switch) is more direct-operating, has a simpler structure and is less expensive than other electric switches. Due to their small size, they are widely used as input interfaces to electrical circuits. A push switch can be configured to be usable not only as an input interface but also as an output interface, provided that the display output is obtained by adding a display function to the push switch in some way. Good. By using this display output, it is possible to perform feedback from the electric circuit to the outside in response to input from the outside to the electric circuit, and to form a feedback loop between the outside and the electric circuit. By using a push switch that generates a display output, usability of the electric circuit can be remarkably improved.

As a method for obtaining a display output from a push switch, a mechanical type and a light emitting type are often used. The mechanical type is mainly used for a push switch that switches on and off each time a pressing operation is performed.For example, when the push switch is in an on state and in an off state, the pressing unit is Some of them have different heights (such as operation buttons), and others have different colors in a display window provided on a part or the whole of the pressed surface. From these mechanical displays, it is possible to know whether the push switch is in the ON state or the OFF state. In the light-emitting type, an LED (light-emitting diode), a light bulb, or the like is embedded in a part or the entire surface of the push switch, and current is supplied from an electric circuit to emit light. Alternatively, the on / off state of the push switch is indicated depending on whether the switch is off.

[0004]

However, when forming a feedback loop between an electric circuit and a user by using the display output of the push switch, any of the above-described mechanical and light-emitting display methods can be used. There was also a problem. In the mechanical display method, what is actually displayed is the state of the push switch, not the state of the electric circuit. Therefore, in the case of a complicated electric circuit in which the pressing operation of the push switch does not always change the operation state of the electric circuit, a situation occurs in which the display of the push switch does not match the operation state of the electric circuit. May be. Further, in the mechanical display method, it is necessary to incorporate a mechanically configured display mechanism in the push switch, which complicates the structure of the push switch, increases the cost, and makes it difficult to reduce the size of the current switch. It is difficult to incorporate it into equipment. The light-emitting display method has a problem in the feedback method itself. That is, when the user performs a pressing operation on the pressing portion of the push switch with a finger, it is desirable that the display output of the push switch is returned to the user in the form of a sense of the finger. However, when the display is performed by the light emitting method, the state of the electric circuit is sensed visually, and cannot be sensed by the sense of a finger. This is a drawback when there is no room for viewing the display when operating the push switch. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to feed back the state of an electric circuit actually generated as a result of a user operating a push-type electric switch with a finger to the user's finger sensation. It is an object of the present invention to provide a push-type electric switch having a simple configuration that can be performed.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a push-type electric switch according to the present invention comprises a plurality of switch terminals connected to an electric circuit and a switch for switching a connection state between the plurality of switch terminals. In a push-type electric switch including a mechanism and a push-down unit pressed by a user with a finger to operate the switching mechanism, a piezoelectric element that generates vibration by supplying a vibration voltage is provided in the push-down unit, The vibration generated by the piezoelectric element is transmitted to the user's finger touching the pressing portion.

According to the present invention, the state of the electric circuit actually generated as a result of the user operating the depressed portion of the depressible electric switch with a finger is reflected in the presence or absence of vibration of the depressed portion.
Therefore, the actual state of the electric circuit is fed back to the user in the form of perceiving the vibration of the pressed portion with the finger.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a push-type electric switch according to a first embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a push-type electric switch according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The push-type electric switch 10 shown in FIG. 1 is a push switch including a switch main body 12 and a push-down unit 14. The shaft 16 fixed to the pressing unit 14 is supported by the switch body 12 so as to be able to move up and down, and is urged upward by a spring (not shown). If the finger is released, the finger moves downward and returns to the original upper position. On the lower surface of the switch main body 12, a pair of switch terminals 18a and 18b connected to an electric circuit for controlling the operation of the electric switch 10 are provided. The switch body 12 has a built-in switching mechanism for switching the connection state between the switch terminals, and the pressing unit 14 is connected to the switching mechanism. Then, when the user presses the pressing section 14 with a finger, the switching mechanism is operated. More specifically, while the user is pressing down the pressing unit 14, the switch terminals 18 a and 18 b are in a connected state (the ON state of the electric switch 10), and the user is releasing the finger from the pressing unit 14. The switching mechanism is configured such that the switch terminals 18a and 18b are not connected (the electric switch 10 is off). As a mechanism for performing such a switching operation, various switching mechanisms have been conventionally known, and the present invention may be implemented using any appropriate one of them. Since the specific configuration of the switching mechanism itself is not important to the present invention, the specific structure of the switching mechanism is not shown in the drawing, and this switching mechanism is schematically shown by a switch symbol 20 which is an electric circuit symbol. .

The pressing section 14 is provided with a piezoelectric element 22 that generates vibration by supplying a vibration voltage, and the vibration generated by the piezoelectric element 22 is transmitted to the user's finger touching the pressing section 14. Then, the user can perceive the vibration with his finger. In addition, in order to efficiently transmit the vibration generated by the piezoelectric element 22 to the user's finger, in the embodiment of FIG. 1, the piezoelectric element 22 is formed on both sides of a thin plate-shaped piezoelectric material 24 (for example, ceramic). Electrode 26
An element provided with a and 26b is used, and one surface (upper surface in the figure) of the element is arranged so as to be located near the pressing surface of the pressing unit 14. In order to attach the piezoelectric element 22 to the pressing section 14, for example, the side edge or the lower surface of the piezoelectric element 22 may be bonded to the pressing section 14 via an elastic member. Further, in the embodiment of FIG. 1, the upper surface of the piezoelectric element 22 is covered with a soft and thin plastic film 28 so that the vibration generated by the piezoelectric element 22 is not greatly attenuated while protecting the piezoelectric element 22. It is transmitted to the user's finger.

The lower surface of the switch body 12 is further provided with a pair of piezoelectric element power supply terminals 30a and 30b, and the piezoelectric element power supply terminals 30a and 30b are connected to electric wires 32a and 32b.
b are connected to the electrodes 26a and 26b of the piezoelectric element 22, respectively. The piezoelectric element feeding terminals 30a and 30b are provided outside the electric switch 10 and are connected to the piezoelectric element 22.
Is connected to a drive voltage generating circuit (not shown) for supplying an oscillating voltage. From the drive voltage generation circuit to the piezoelectric element 22
The vibration voltage to be supplied to is set so that the vibration generated by the piezoelectric element 22 becomes a vibration that the user can easily sense with his / her finger. Specifically, for example, the frequency is 10 Hz to 30 Hz.
In such a case, the driving voltage generating circuit may be constituted by an oscillator transmitting at that frequency. Furthermore, if the piezoelectric element 22 generates the vibration intermittently, it becomes easier for the user to perceive than when the vibration is generated continuously. In this case, the drive voltage generating circuit may be configured by a combination of an oscillator and an appropriate circuit (for example, a multivibrator) for intermittently oscillating the oscillator. The piezoelectric element 22 may be further vibrated in another vibration mode. The configuration of the driving voltage circuit required in such a case can be easily designed by those skilled in the art, and thus the description thereof is omitted here.

Next, a push-down type electric switch 10 'according to a second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 2 will be described. The electrical switch 10 'of FIG.
It is the same as the electric switch 10 of FIG. 1, and the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted. The electric switch 10 'of FIG. 2 differs from the electric switch 10 of FIG. 1 in that a drive voltage generation circuit 34 for generating a voltage to be supplied to the piezoelectric element 22 is incorporated in the switch body 12.
A pair of power supply terminals 36 a, 3 b for supplying power to the drive voltage generation circuit 34 are provided on the lower surface of the switch body 12.
6b, and when power is supplied to the power supply terminals, the drive voltage generation circuit 34 operates to generate a voltage, whereby the piezoelectric element 22 vibrates. The specific configuration of the drive voltage generation circuit 34 may be the same as the drive voltage generation circuit described in relation to the electric switch 10 in FIG. 1, and may be appropriately designed according to the vibration mode of the piezoelectric element 22. Good.

Next, a specific example of how to use the electric switch shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described. Electric switch 1 of FIG.
0 and the electric switch 10 'of FIG. 2 connect the switch terminals 18a, 18b provided on the switch body 12 to an electric circuit controlled by the electric switch. When the electric switch 10 shown in FIG. 1 is used, the above-described drive voltage generating circuit is set to an operation state or a non-operation state according to the state of an electric circuit to which the switch is connected.
More specifically, for example, when the electric circuit is in the first state, the drive voltage generation circuit is activated, and supplies a voltage to the piezoelectric element 22 so as to generate vibration in the pressing portion 14. When the electric circuit is in the second state, the drive voltage generating circuit is set to the non-operating state, and the pressing unit 14 may be prevented from generating vibration. By doing so, as a result of the user operating the pressing portion 14 of the electric switch 10 with a finger, the state of the electric circuit actually generated is determined by the presence or absence of vibration of the pressing portion 14 of the user's finger. It will be fed back to the senses. Further, even if the electric switch 10 is operated for some reason and the state of the electric circuit does not change, the actual state of the electric circuit is changed to the pressing unit 14.
Will be reflected in the presence or absence of vibration. The same applies to the electric switch 10 'of FIG.
If power is supplied to the drive voltage generation circuit 34 incorporated in the electric switch 10 ′ or the power supply is cut off depending on the state of the electric circuit controlled via 0 ′, Accordingly, the same operation and effect as those of the electric switch 10 of FIG. 1 can be obtained.

In the embodiment disclosed above, the present invention is applied to a push switch having a structure in which a switch body supports a shaft fixed to a pressing portion. The switch is not limited to such a switch, and can be applied to any switch as long as it is a push-type electric switch provided with a push unit operated by a user with a finger.

[0013]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, a plurality of switch terminals connected to an electric circuit, a switching mechanism for switching a connection state between the plurality of switch terminals, and a user's finger. A push-down type electric switch having a push-down portion for operating the switching mechanism by pushing down, a piezoelectric element that generates vibration by supplying a vibration voltage is provided in the push-down portion, and a vibration generated by the piezoelectric element is provided. Is transmitted to the user's finger touching the pressing portion. Therefore, the state of the electric circuit actually generated as a result of the user operating the push-type electric switch with a finger is fed back to the sense of the user's finger, so that the user can use the actual electric circuit without relying on the visual sense or the like. Can be known, and this is achieved by a simple configuration.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a push-type electric switch according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a push-type electric switch according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10, 10 '... push-down electric switch, 12 ... switch body, 14 ... push-down portion, 18a, 18b ... switch terminal, 20 ... switching mechanism, 22 ... piezoelectric element, 28 ...
Membrane, 34 ... Drive voltage generation circuit.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A switch comprising: a plurality of switch terminals connected to an electric circuit; a switching mechanism for switching a connection state between the plurality of switch terminals; and a pressing unit pressed by a user with a finger to activate the switching mechanism. In the push-type electric switch provided, a piezoelectric element that generates vibration by supplying an oscillating voltage is provided in the pressing section, and the vibration generated by the piezoelectric element is transmitted to a user's finger touching the pressing section. A push-type electric switch, characterized in that: 2. The piezoelectric element according to claim 1, wherein the piezoelectric element is an element having electrodes provided on both sides of a thin plate-shaped piezoelectric material, and one surface of the element is disposed near a pressing surface of the pressing portion. The push-down electric switch according to claim 1. 3. The push-down electric switch according to claim 1, wherein said one surface of said piezoelectric element is covered with a soft and thin film. 4. A driving voltage generating circuit for generating a voltage to be supplied to said piezoelectric element.
Push-type electric switch according to the item.