JPH11250762A - Pushbutton switch - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a pushbutton switch small-sized and reduced in pressing operation. SOLUTION: In this pushbutton switch 12, a case main body 13 composed of an insulation resin material is provided with a pair of twist coil springs 21 and 24 at one side thereof so that they are arranged in series and prevented from interfering mutually, arms 27 and 28 on the sides of force application points of these twist coil springs 21 and 24 are extended to the other side of the case main body 13 almost along their coiling direction respectively, and a forward end part 33 of one twist coil spring 21 is brought into elastic contact with a push face 31 of a pushbutton 30 from below vertically movably arranged on the upper side of the other side of the case main body 31, increasing a twist stroke of the arm 27 on the force application point side of the first twist coil spring 21. A forward end part 32 of the arm 28 on the force application point side of one twist coil spring 24 is brought into elastic contact with a point of the arm 27 on the force application point side of the other twist coil spring 21, between the tip side and a base end part of the arm 27 and closer to the base end part from below, and a contacting point X of the arms 27 and 28 on the both force application point sides moves from the forward end part 33 side of the arm 27 to the base end part side thereof according to the moving-down of the pushbutton 30. Thereby the operating force of the pushbutton 30 is adjusted to a certain lower intensity.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a push button switch, and more particularly to a push button switch for opening and closing a fixed contact by two torsion coil springs.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a push button switch 1 of this kind has been disclosed in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, one end of a coil spring 3 biasing the push button 2 is used as a movable contact 4, and this movable contact 4 is
The movable contact 4 is brought into sliding contact with a fixed contact 7 provided in the same plane as the surface of the projection 6 below the projection 6 while sliding on the projection 6 projecting from the inner peripheral wall surface of the movable contact 4. There is known a device in which the fixed contact 7 and the fixed contact 7 are made electrically conductive.

However, the torsion coil spring receives a torsional moment, unlike the tension coil spring and the compression coil spring. Therefore, in order to absorb energy with one torsion coil spring, the diameter of the spring element wire must be increased. And the inner diameter of the coil (the effective coil diameter) must be increased, which cannot contribute to downsizing of the entire switch.

[0004]

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, two torsion coil springs 8, 9 are arranged in an L-shape with each other as a push button switch 1a, and the arms on the force point side of these torsion coil springs 8, 9 are arranged. 8a and 8b are put on top of each other,
A push button (not shown) may be configured to push down the intersection between the arms 10 and 11 on the power point side from above to reduce the load per spring. However, this configuration reduces the installation area of the spring. In addition, the size of the switch increases, and the torsion stroke of the arm on the power point side cannot be set long. Therefore, there is a problem that the operating force of the push button cannot be reduced to a certain light load.

[0005] Therefore, there is a technical problem to be solved in order to provide a push button switch which is small and can reduce the operation of the push button, and an object of the present invention is to solve this problem.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been proposed to achieve the above object, and a pair of torsion coil springs, whose interference is restricted, are connected in series on one side of a case body made of an insulating resin material. While disposing, the force-point-side arms of these torsion coil springs extend substantially along the coil winding direction to the other side of the case main body, and the tip of the force-point-side arm of the one torsion coil spring is The tip of the force-point-side arm of the one torsion coil spring is brought into contact with the pressing surface of a push button disposed on the other upper part of the case body so as to be able to move up and down, and the force-point-side arm of the other torsion coil spring. Between the part and the base end and near the base end from below,
A fixed contact with which the one torsion coil spring is always in contact is disposed on one bottom surface of the case body, and is electrically connected to the fixed contact by abutment of the force point side arm of one torsion coil spring on the other bottom surface. And a push button switch provided with a fixed contact.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing the internal structure of the push button switch. In FIG. 1, the case body 13 of the push button switch 12 is formed in a box shape whose upper surface is opened by an insulating resin material. The opening of the case body 13 is closed by a cover 14 made of a resin material to form a housing chamber 15 therein. The housing chamber 15 is divided into a left spring chamber 17 and a left spring chamber 18 by a partition wall 16 formed substantially at the center of one side of the case body 13.
A first torsion coil spring 21 is provided to support both ends of the partition wall 16 and the inner surface 20 of the case body opposed thereto, and the other side surface 16 of the partition wall 16 is provided in the left spring chamber 19.
A second torsion coil spring 24 interposed between the b and the inner surface 23 of the case body opposite to the b to support both ends is provided. And these first and second torsion coil springs 2
1 and 24 are respectively engaged with recesses 25 and 26 formed by recessing one bottom surface of the case body 13,
This engagement restricts forward, backward, left and right movement.

Further, these first torsion coil springs 21
And the arms 27, 28 on the force point side of the second torsion coil spring 24
Extend from one side of the case body 13 to the other side along the coil winding direction.
The arm 27 on the side of the first point of force is a push button 3 provided on a push button guide portion 29 provided on the other side of the cover 13 so as to be able to move up and down.
The lower arm 28 of the second torsion coil spring 24 is configured so as to resiliently contact the pressing surface 31 of the case 0 from below and accumulate an elastic force in accordance with the lowering of the push button 30.
3, after being appropriately extended to the other side, is bent in an L-shape below the arm 27 on the power point side of the first torsion coil spring 21,
The bent tip portion 32 is configured to support the arm 27 on the force point side of the first torsion coil spring 21 from below, and the torsion of the second torsion coil spring 24 causes
The configuration is such that the load acting on the first coil torsion coil spring 21 is shared.

Therefore, in this configuration, the support point X of the second torsion coil spring 24 with respect to the arm 27 on the power point side of the first torsion coil spring 21 is changed to the distal end portion 33 of the arm 27 on the power point side of the first torsion coil spring 21. It is desirable to set as close to the base end as possible from the side to reduce the operating force of the push button 28 as much as possible.

In this case, preferably, the height of the concave portion 25 for engaging the second torsion coil spring 24 is set higher than the height of the concave portion 26 for engaging the first torsion coil spring 21, Arm 27 on the force point side of torsion coil spring 21
The point of contact between the arm and the arm 28 on the force point side of the second torsion coil spring 24, that is, the support point X is moved from the arm distal end 33 side to the arm base end side in accordance with the depression of the push button 30. With this configuration, it is possible to widen the range in which the push-down operation can be performed with a constant light load, and it is possible to eliminate the uncomfortable feeling of the push button operation due to the change in the pressing force.

In such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 1, a first conductive plate 34 is inserted into one bottom surface of the case body 13 so as to be in contact with the first torsion coil spring 20. A second conductive plate 35 is inserted into the bottom surface so as to abut the arm 27 on the power point side of the first torsion coil spring 21, and the tip 33 of the arm 27 on the power point side of the first torsion coil spring 21 is inserted into the second conductive plate 35. When the first conductive plate 34 and the first conductive plate 34 are in contact with each other, the push button 30 is pressed down so that the distal end portion 33 of the arm 27 on the force point side of the first torsion coil spring 21 contacts the second conductive plate 35. The two conductive plates 35 can be electrically conducted.

The terminals (not shown) integrally formed on the first conductive plate 34 and the second conductive plate 35 respectively protrude outside the case body 13, and the push button guide 29 is provided with the push button guide 29. The push button 30 is formed in a cylindrical shape with both ends opened so as to be able to guide the 30 up and down freely, and the lower part of the push button 30 is expanded radially outward so as to restrict the escape from the case body 13.

Next, the operation of the push button switch according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, when the push button 30 is pushed down, the arm 27 on the force point side of the first torsion coil spring 21 elastically contacting the pressing surface 31 of the push button 30 from below slides on one side surface 16a of the partition wall 16. It is pushed down to the other bottom surface side of the case body 13 as a moving guide surface, that is, to the second conductive plate 34 side.

When the push-down of the push button 30 advances and not only the first torsion coil spring 21 but also the second torsion coil spring 24 is twisted, the arm 2 on the power point side of the first torsion coil spring 21
7 on the force point side of the second torsion coil spring 24 with respect to
The support point X of 8 moves from the distal end 33 side of the arm 27 on the power point side of the first torsion coil spring 21 to the base end side. Therefore, the push button 28 can be pushed down with a constant light load.

As the pressing is advanced, the first torsion coil spring 2
When the distal end portion 33 of the arm 27 on the first point of force abuts on the second conductive plate 35 embedded in the bottom surface of the other side of the case body 13, the first conductive plate 34 and the second conductive plate 35 are electrically connected. The switch is turned on by conducting.

Next, when the pressing force of the push button 30 is released, the first and second torsion coil springs 21 and 24 are restored by the resilient force accumulated when the push button 30 is pressed, and each of the first and second torsion coil springs 21 and 24 is restored.
6 is restored along both side surfaces 19 and 22.

By restoring the torsion state, the arm 28 on the force point side of the second torsion coil spring 24 is detached from the second conductive plate 35, and the switch is turned off. Then, due to the restoring force of the first torsion coil spring 21, the push button 28 returns to the original position before being pushed.

In the description of the present embodiment, the partition wall 16 is formed integrally with the case body 13 to prevent short-circuiting between the torsion coil springs 21 and 24, and the arms 27, 24 on the power point side. Although it is configured so as to prevent interference between the two, the short-circuit can be prevented by forming a coating of an insulating material on both side surfaces 19 and 22 of the partition wall 16 by coating or bonding, respectively. In order to prevent the displacement of the wall 16, the partition wall 16 may be bonded to the case main body 13 or may be integrally molded.

The present invention can be variously modified without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and it goes without saying that the present invention extends to the modified ones.

[0020]

As described in detail in one embodiment of the present invention, a pair of torsion coil springs whose interference is restricted are arranged in series on one side of a case body made of an insulating resin material. The force-point-side arms of the torsion coil spring are extended substantially along the coil winding direction to the other side of the case main body, and the tip of the force-point-side arm of the one torsion coil spring is placed on the other side of the case body. The lower end of the torsion-side arm of the other torsion coil spring is elastically contacted with the pressing surface of the push button disposed so as to be able to move up and down, and the tip and the base end of the torsion-side arm of the one torsion coil spring. And the base end side is elastically contacted from below, so that both a reduction in the size of the spring and an increase in the torsion stroke can be achieved, and it is possible to provide a push button switch that is small and has a light button operation. When the force-point-side arms of the torsion coil springs are configured to extend in the coil winding direction, workability can be greatly improved, and an excellent effect of achieving a significant cost reduction can be achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a push button switch according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a change in a torsion state of the torsion coil spring according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a conventional push button switch;
3A is a plan view, and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 3A.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a conventional push button switch.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 13 case main body 30 push button 16 partition wall 21 first torsion coil spring (one torsion coil spring) 24 second torsion coil spring (the other torsion coil spring) 27 arm at the point of force of first torsion coil spring 28 second torsion coil Arm at the point of force of the spring 30 Push button 31 Pressing surface 33 Tip of the sheath at the point of force of the first torsion coil spring 34 First conductive plate (fixed contact) 35 Second conductive plate (fixed contact) X Support point (contact point) )

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pair of torsion coil springs whose mutual interference is restricted are arranged in series on one side of a case main body made of an insulating resin material, and the force-point-side arms of these torsion coil springs are respectively substantially moved in the coil winding direction. Along the other side of the case main body, the tip of the force-side arm of the one torsion coil spring is extended from below onto a pressing surface of a push button arranged to be able to move up and down on the other upper side of the case main body. At the same time, the distal end of the force point side arm of the other torsion coil spring is elastically contacted between the distal end portion and the base end of the force point side arm of the one torsion coil spring and near the base end from below. A fixed contact that is always in contact with the one torsion coil spring is provided on one side bottom surface of the case body, and is electrically connected to the fixed contact by abutment of a force point side arm of one torsion coil spring on the other bottom surface. Conducted fixed contacts are provided A push button switch, characterized in that: