JPH1125790A - Contact surface structure of neutral start switch - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To maintain durability of an NSS(neutral start switch) and reliability of operation at a level not less than a specific level, even if the NSS is miniaturized. SOLUTION: Even if a space between fixed electrodes 50A, 50B becomes short by miniaturizing an NSS 40, a creeping distance between these electrodes 50A, 50B is made long by providing a projecting part 42 and a recessed part 44 between the fixed electrodes 50A, 50B. Thereby, even if a slight amount of abrasion powder is produced on a contact surface 40A or silver in silver plating on the surface contains moisture in the air and extends along the surface, the durability of the NSS 40 and reliability of its operation can be maintained at a contain level which is not less than a specific level, since the fixed electrodes 50A, 50B tend not to become conductive.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a contact surface structure of a neutral start switch, and more particularly, to turning on a switch by turning on a plurality of electrically non-conductive fixed electrodes at a predetermined timing. The present invention relates to a contact surface structure of a neutral start switch for switching off. The neutral start switch is Neutral
It means Start Switch, and hereinafter, the neutral start switch is abbreviated as NSS.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a shift lever device for shifting a transmission of a vehicle, a shift lever is rotatably supported by a support shaft and is connected to the transmission. In such a shift lever device, a switch for detecting a shift position of the shift lever is provided. This switch is a neutral start switch (NSS)
The shift levers located in the P and N shift ranges are detected, and the engine cannot be started in any other position.

The NSS includes a moving member that moves along a predetermined path in conjunction with a shift operation of a shift lever, and a plurality of fixed electrodes provided on the predetermined path. It is configured such that the electrical conduction state between the electrodes is switched between conduction and non-conduction. The NSS may be mounted on other devices such as a transmission case other than the shift lever device.

[0004] Incidentally, the fixed electrode in the NSS is generally plated with silver or the like to prevent corrosion or the like, while the fixed electrode is interlocked with the shift operation of the shift lever. It often rubs against the moving member that moves. As a result, fine wear powder may be scattered on the switch contact surface of the NSS. It is also known that silver in silver plating on the surface extends along the surface when absorbing moisture in the air (so-called migration).

[0005] On the other hand, in recent years, there has been an increasing demand for miniaturizing various on-vehicle components including the NSS in order to effectively utilize the space in the vehicle. When downsizing the NSS as described above, it is necessary to reduce the interval between the fixed electrodes due to the shape of the switch and the layout of the contacts.

When the wear powder accumulates or the silver in the silver plating extends along the surface of the silver plating along with the surface between the fixed electrodes having such a small distance as described above, the non-conduction occurs. It is easy to conduct between fixed electrodes that should be
There was a possibility that such inconvenience would occur.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems. Even if the size of the NSS is reduced, the durability and reliability of the operation of the NSS can be maintained at a certain level or more. It is an object of the present invention to provide an NSS contact surface structure that can be maintained.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the contact surface structure of the NSS according to the first aspect of the present invention is characterized in that a plurality of fixed electrodes in an electrically non-conductive state are made conductive at a predetermined timing. A contact surface structure of an NSS for switching on and off of a switch, wherein a concave portion or a convex portion made of an insulating material is provided between the plurality of fixed electrodes.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the contact surface structure of the NSS, wherein a silver plating containing silver having a property of absorbing moisture in the air and extending is applied to the surface, and the plurality of NSSs are electrically non-conductive. A contact surface structure of an NSS that switches on and off by turning on a fixed electrode at a predetermined timing, wherein a concave portion or a convex portion made of an insulating material is provided between the plurality of fixed electrodes. It is characterized by.

In the contact surface structure of the NSS according to the first aspect of the present invention, a concave portion or a convex portion made of an insulating material is provided between the plurality of fixed electrodes, so that the surface along the surface between the plurality of fixed electrodes is provided. The distance (hereinafter, referred to as creepage distance) increases. As a result, even if some abrasion powder or the like is generated on the contact surface of the NSS, the fixed electrodes are less likely to be in an electrically conductive state.

On the other hand, in the contact surface structure of the NSS in which the surface of the fixed electrode is provided with silver plating containing silver having a property of absorbing moisture in the air and extending, as described in claim 2, the silver plating The phenomenon in which the silver inside extends along the surface with moisture in the air, so-called migration occurs.
That is, the conductive silver may extend along the surface, and the fixed electrodes may be electrically connected to each other. However, in the contact surface structure of the NSS according to the second aspect, a concave portion or a convex portion made of an insulating material is provided between the plurality of fixed electrodes.

Thus, as in the first aspect of the present invention, even if the creepage distance becomes long and the silver in the silver plating slightly extends along the surface due to the migration, the fixed electrodes are electrically connected to each other. It becomes difficult to become.

According to the first or second aspect of the present invention, when the size of the NSS is reduced, the distance between the fixed electrodes is shortened. As a result, the creepage distance between the fixed electrodes can be increased, so that it is difficult for the fixed electrodes to be in an electrically conductive state, and the durability performance and operation reliability of the NSS are maintained at a certain level or more. Can be.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a neutral start switch (NSS) according to the present invention will be described below. Hereinafter, as an example, the N provided in the shift lever device will be described.
SS will be described.

FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway sectional view of the shift lever device 10 including the NSS 32 according to the present invention.

The shift lever device 10 includes a shift lever 12
It has. The shift lever 12 is integrally fixed to a cylindrical retainer 14, and the retainer 14 integrated with the shift lever 12 is rotatably supported by a shaft 16. This shift lever 1
2 is connected to a transmission of the vehicle via a control rod or the like (not shown), and the shift lever 12 is
By rotating around 6, the transmission is shifted.

The shift lever 12 is provided with a grooved pin 18. The grooved pin 18 is connected to a shift button 24 of a shift knob 22 via a push rod 20 provided inside the shift lever 12, and the push rod 20 is urged by a return spring 26. Thus, by operating the shift button 24, the grooved pin 18 moves up and down along the axis of the shift lever 12 against the urging force of the return spring 26.

The grooved pins 18 enter the detent holes 30 of the detent plate 28. The upper peripheral wall of the detent hole 30 is the “P” of the shift lever 12,
The recesses and protrusions are formed in a continuous shape in association with the shift ranges of “R”, “N”, “D”, “2”, and “L”, and the grooved pin 18 is engaged. That is, during the predetermined shift range, unless the shift button 24 is operated to move the grooved pin 18 downward.
The grooved pin 18 cannot get over the unevenness of the detent hole 30, restricting the movement of the shift lever 12 to the adjacent shift range, and between other predetermined shift ranges without operating the shift button 24. The grooved pin 18 can get over the unevenness of the detent hole 30 only by operating the shift lever 12 to the adjacent shift range.

On the other hand, an NSS 32 is provided near the detent plate 28. The NSS 32 is configured such that a part of the case 34 is also used as the detent plate 28, and is integrally attached to the detent plate 28. This NSS 32 is a shift lever 1
The shift position of the shift lever 12 is detected by electrically detecting the position of an operation arm (not shown) fixed to the shift lever 2. Thus, the NSS 32 detects the shift lever 12 located in each shift range, and is configured so that the engine cannot be started in a position other than the P shift range and the N shift range.

FIG. 1 shows a contact surface 40 A of a sub-stator terminal 40 built in the NSS 32. As is clear from FIG. 1, the contact surface 40A has a substantially sector shape with the point P as the center, and a plurality of fixed electrodes 50A, 50 which are elongated in the circumferential direction of the sector (the direction of arrow A).
B, 50C, 50D (these are referred to as fixed electrodes 5
0) are provided over a plurality of rows along the direction of arrow A. These fixed electrodes 50 have a contact surface 40A.
Insert molded. The surface of each fixed electrode 50 is plated with silver. The silver in the silver plating has a property of absorbing and extending moisture in the air.

In the contact surface 40A, the distance between the adjacent fixed electrodes 50 along the direction of arrow A and the distance between the adjacent fixed electrodes 50 along the fan-shaped radial direction (direction toward the point P) are considerably reduced. I have.

On such a contact surface 40A, an operating arm (not shown) which moves in conjunction with the shift operation of the shift lever 12 and the fixed electrode 50 rub against each other, and fine wear powder scatters on the contact surface 40A. In addition, a phenomenon in which silver in silver plating on the surface of the fixed electrode 50 absorbs moisture in the air and extends along the surface, that is, so-called migration occurs.

As described above, the abrasion powder scatters on the contact surface 40A and the silver extends along the surface, so that the fixed electrodes 50 are easily brought into an electrically conductive state.

Therefore, in the contact surface 40A of the present embodiment,
As shown in FIG. 2, a convex portion 42 made of an insulating material is provided between fixed electrodes adjacent to each other along the direction of arrow A. By providing such a convex portion 42, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, the creeping distance between the adjacent fixed electrodes 50A and 50B is increased.

A concave portion 44 is provided between fixed electrodes adjacent to each other along the radial direction of the sector. By providing such a concave portion 44, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, the creeping distance between the adjacent fixed electrodes 50C and 50D is increased.

As described above, the protrusion 42 and the recess 44 are provided,
By increasing the creepage distance between adjacent fixed electrodes,
Even if some abrasion powder is generated on the contact surface 40A and silver slightly extends along the surface containing moisture, it is difficult for the fixed electrodes 50 to be in an electrically conductive state.

That is, even if the interval between the fixed electrodes 50 is reduced by reducing the size of the NSS, the convex portions 42 and the concave portions 44 are provided between the fixed electrodes, so that the creepage distance between the fixed electrodes can be increased. , NSS can maintain the durability performance and operation reliability at a certain level or more.

In the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the convex portion is provided between the fixed electrodes adjacent to each other along the direction of arrow A and the concave portion is provided between the fixed electrodes adjacent to each other along the radial direction of the sector has been described. Since it is sufficient that the creepage distance between the fixed electrodes can be increased, either a convex portion or a concave portion may be provided between the fixed electrodes. However, when providing a convex part,
It is necessary to set the height of the projection so as not to hinder the movement of the moving member (not shown) along the contact surface 40A.

The shape of the convex portion is not limited to the shape shown in FIG. 3, and the shape of the concave portion is not limited to the shape shown in FIG. 4. For example, the convex portion 42A having a round surface as shown in FIG. FIG.
The concave portion 44A having a rounded surface as shown in FIG. Further, a plurality of convex portions and concave portions may be provided between the fixed electrodes.

In the above embodiment, the NSS provided on the shift lever device has been described. However, the present invention can be applied to an NSS mounted on a device other than the shift lever device.

For example, FIG. 8 shows a configuration example in which an NSS 92 is mounted on a transmission case 90. The NS mounted on the transmission case 90 as described above.
In S92, as shown in FIG. 2, by providing the concave portion 44 and the convex portion 42 between the fixed electrodes on the contact surface of the sub stator terminal, the creepage distance between the fixed electrodes is increased as in the above-described embodiment. The durability performance and operational reliability of the NSS 92 can be maintained at a certain level or higher.

As described above, no matter where the NSS is installed, the same effect as in the above embodiment can be obtained by providing the concave portion 44 and the convex portion 42 on the contact surface of the sub stator terminal as shown in FIG. Needless to say.

[0033]

According to the present invention, by providing a concave portion or a convex portion between the fixed electrodes, the creepage distance between the fixed electrodes can be increased, so that the durability performance and operation reliability of the NSS can be kept constant. Can be maintained above level.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an arrangement of a contact surface and a fixed electrode of a sub-stator terminal having a built-in NSS according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example in which a concave portion and a convex portion are provided between fixed electrodes on a contact surface in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 2 showing protrusions provided between fixed electrodes.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2 showing concave portions provided between fixed electrodes.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a modification of the projection of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a modification of the recess shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view showing one configuration example of a shift lever device including an NSS.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration example in which an NSS is mounted on a transmission case.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 shift lever device 32 NSS (neutral start switch) 40 sub-stator terminal 40A contact surface 42 convex portion 44 concave portion 50 fixed electrode

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A contact surface structure of a neutral start switch for turning on and off a switch by turning on a plurality of fixed electrodes in an electrically non-conductive state at a predetermined timing. A contact surface structure of the neutral start switch, wherein a concave portion or a convex portion made of an insulating material is provided on the contact portion. 2. A method in which a plurality of fixed electrodes which are silver-plated containing silver having a property of absorbing and extending moisture in the air and which are electrically non-conductive, are made conductive at a predetermined timing. A contact surface structure of a neutral start switch for switching on and off of a switch, wherein a contact portion of the neutral start switch is provided with a concave portion or a convex portion formed of an insulating material between the plurality of fixed electrodes. Surface structure.