JPS5928188Y2 - cigarette lighter - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a cigarette lighter, and particularly to a cigarette lighter suitable for use by being attached to the front panel of an automobile.

As is well known, a cigarette lighter is generally installed on the front panel of an automobile.

This type of cigarette lighter generally has a terminal for power connection at the bottom of its body and a bimetal finger that is electrically connected to the terminal, and a heater case housing a heater element inside the body. The heater case is movable along the axis of the body and removably housed, and the heater case is always biased outward from the body by a spring. When pushed toward the bottom, the bimetal finger engages the heater case and temporarily holds it, while at the same time supplying current from the power connection terminal to the heater element through the heater case, making it red hot, After a certain period of time, the bimetal finger reaches a predetermined temperature due to the red heat, expands outward and disengages from the heater case, and the biasing force of the spring causes the heater case to return to its original position. There is.

That is, the bimetal fingers have both the function of temporarily holding the heater case and the function of a contact point for supplying current from the power supply connection terminal to the heater case.

However, the conventional structure described above has a problem in that when the heater case is removed from the bimetal fingers, the arc generated when the current is cut off damages the contact portions of the bimetal fingers.

The heater case only needs to be made of a conductive metal material and can be made of any arc-resistant material.On the other hand, bimetal fingers require a specific material to function as a bimetal. Currently, it is difficult to obtain materials that are strong against arcs and are cost-effective.

The present invention aims to eliminate such problems and prevent damage to the bimetal fingers due to arcing.

In order to achieve this purpose, the cigarette lighter of the present invention uses a separate member to perform the contact function, which is one of the two functions conventionally provided by the bimetal finger, and also uses a different material for this member. It is characterized by being constructed with a contact piece having unlimited contact points.

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the illustrated embodiments.

The illustrated embodiment shows an automobile cigarette lighter as →l.

The general structure of this cigarette lighter is the same as the conventional one, with a bimetallic finger 2 provided below a cylindrical body 1 that is fixed to the front panel of an automobile (not shown), and a bimetallic finger 2 provided in the axial direction of the body 1. A heater case 3 is provided above the bimetal finger 2, which is movable and is temporarily held by engaging the left and right claws 2a, 2b of the bimetal finger 2 when pushed toward the bottom 1a of the body. It has a well-known structure.

The heater case 3 houses a heater element 4 therein, and when the knob 6 is pushed into the socket case 5 inserted into the body 1, the bottom 1a of the body is pressed.
On the other hand, due to the biasing force of a spring (not shown) stored in the socket case 5, when the engagement with the bimetal finger 2 is disengaged, it returns to its original position outward with respect to the socket case 5. I'm trying to come back.

Now, in the present invention, the bimetal finger 2 is attached in the following structure.

That is, a hole 1b is provided in the center of the bottom 1a of the body 1,
The lower center protrusion 7a of the insulator 7 is fitted into the hole 1b, and the insulator is placed on the bottom 1a.The electrode rod 8 is inserted into the hole Tb penetrating the center of the insulator 7, and the lower part of the insulator 7 is inserted into the hole Tb of the body 1. It is projected to the outside.

This electrode rod 8 has a flange 8a on its upper part, and this flange 8a
is fixed to the upper surface of the insulator 7.

On the other hand, a thread is cut in the lower part of this electrode rod 8, and an insulator 9, an insulating washer 10, and a washer 11 are fitted into this threaded part from the outside of the body 1, and a power supply connection terminal 12 is screwed into the threaded part. , the insulators 7, 9, insulating washers 10, washers 11, and power supply connection terminals 12 are integrally fixed to the bottom 1a of the body.

In the figure, 18 is a body holder that holds body 1;
are washers, each of which is fitted into the insulator 9, and fixed between the bottom 1a of the body and the insulating washer 10 by screwing the power supply connection terminal.

The bimetal finger 2 has a well-known shape in which opposing claws 2a and 2b are formed by bending both ends of a single rectangular bimetal at a substantially right angle. The diameter is slightly larger than the diameter of the upper part 8b of the collar 8a of the rod 8.

Then, the end 14a of the contact piece 14, the insulating washer 15, the bimetal finger 2, and the insulating washer 16, which will be described in detail later, are fitted into the upper part 8b of the electrode rod in order, and the upper end of the electrode rod 8 is caulked, and these are integrally inserted. It is fixed at

At this time, the area around the hole 2c of the bimetal finger 2 is not brought into contact with the electrode rod 8 at all, and is completely insulated from the electrode rod 8 by insulating washers 15 and 16.

On the other hand, the diameter of the hole 14b provided in the end 14a of the contact piece into which the electrode rod 8 is inserted is approximately the same as the diameter of the upper part 8b of the electrode rod, and the circumference of the hole 14b is the same as the diameter of the upper part 8b of the electrode rod. I try to stay in touch.

The contact piece 14 is formed in an L-shape and is arranged in a direction perpendicular to the bimetal finger 2.

Further, the hole 14b is provided at one end of the contact piece 14, and a contact point 17 is fixed at the other end, so that when the heater case 3 is pushed in, the contact point 17 is connected to one end of the outer peripheral surface of the heater case 3. I try to make contact with the parts.

In the above embodiment, the contact point 17 is made separate from the contact piece 14, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a part of the contact piece 14 is made to protrude and is used as a contact point. 17 and the contact piece 14 may be integrated.

Moreover, the contact piece 14 is not provided with a protrusion, and the heater case 3 is simply
The point in contact with the outer circumferential surface may be used as a contact point.

According to the cigarette lighter with the above configuration, when the knob 6 is pushed into the socket case 5 and the heater case 3 is moved toward the bottom 1b of the body 1, the heater case 3 is moved between the left and right claws 2a and 2b of the bimetal fingers. The contact 1 is fitted into and held by the contact piece 14 while being fixed to the contact piece 14.
7 comes into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the heater case 3 and passes the current from the power supply connection terminal 8 to the heater case 3 and the heater element 4! This causes the heater element 4 to become red hot.

When the heater element 4 becomes red hot enough, the left and right claws 2a and 2b of the bimetal fingers open outward under the influence of the heat and release the engagement with the heater case 3.

Then, the heater case 3 returns to its original position together with the knob due to the biasing force of the spring built into the socket case 5.

At this time, the contact 17 of the contact piece 14 also comes off from the heater case 3, and the current supply to the heater case 3 is cut off.

As explained in the above embodiment, the cigarette lighter according to the present invention has a structure in which the bimetal fingers have only the function of holding the heater case, and the contact pieces with contacts have the contact function. It is completely unaffected by arcing during interruption, thus preventing damage caused by this.

On the other hand, the heater case and the contacts of the contact piece can be made of any arc-resistant material, which is very convenient.

Although the embodiments relate to automobile cigarette lighters, it goes without saying that the cigarette lighter according to the present invention can be applied to applications other than automobiles.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of an automobile cigarette lighter according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a main part taken along line 1--2 in FIG. 1...Body, 2...Bimetal finger, 2a
. 2b...nail, 2c...hole, 3...heater case,
4...Storage element, 5...Socket case, 6
...Knob, 7.9...Insulator, 7a...Protrusion, 8
... Electrode rod, 8a... Tsuba, 10, 15.16...
Insulating washer, 11... washer, 12...-power supply connection terminal, 13...- washer, 14... contact piece, 1
4a... End, 14b... Hole, 17... Contact, 1
8...Body holder.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] A heater case housing a heater element is housed in a cylindrical body so as to be movable along the axis of the body and detachable. At the same time, the bottom of the body is equipped with a power connection terminal, and the heater case is pushed toward the bottom of the body against the biasing force of the spring to short-circuit the power connection terminal and the heater case. In a cigarette lighter in which the element is energized and heated to red heat, the element engages with the outer circumferential surface of the heater case pushed into the body to hold the heater case, while the red heat of the heater element causes the heater element to curve outward. A bimetal finger that has a plurality of claws that release the engagement with the heater case and is insulated from the power connection terminal, and a heater case that is connected to the power connection terminal and pushed into the body. A cigarette lighter characterized in that a contact piece having a contact point that contacts the outer peripheral surface is fixed to the bottom of the body.