JPS6222992Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention includes a base body formed of an insulating material and provided with at least four or more fixed contacts, and at least four fixed contacts that face the base body and can come into contact with the fixed contacts.
The contact plate is equipped with a contact plate having more than one contact point, and the contact plate is biased toward the base body by an elastic member, and the contact plate is displaced relative to the base body to simultaneously open and close the plurality of contacts. This paper relates to the improvement of the multi-contact structure.

Conventionally, multi-contact structures having four or more contact points as described above have been incorporated into various control devices, and are also employed in automobile ignition switches.

Taking an ignition switch as an example, the ignition switch is, as shown in Fig. A movable contact plate 8 consisting of two metal ring plates 5 and 6 stacked vertically is attached to the rotor 4 in a rotatable manner.
It has a basic structure in which a movable contact plate 8 is rotatably supported by a rotor 4 and biased toward a terminal base 2 by a spring 9 fitted within a rotor 4.

As shown in FIG. 2, the fixed contacts 1 provided on the terminal base 2 include, for example, a B contact for a battery, an ACC contact for an accessory, an IG ₁ contact for a radiator fan, and an IG ₂ contact for an ignition coil. While contacts and starter ST contacts are appropriately arranged in the circumferential direction, the movable contact plate 8 has the terminal base 2 attached along the bottom surface of the lower ring plate 6, as shown in FIG. A total of three contacts a, b, and c corresponding to the fixed contacts B, ACC, IG ₁ , and ST are arranged, and the upper ring plate 5 has a chord-shaped portion 5 a that crosses the lower ring plate 6 in a chord shape. A contact point d corresponding to the IG ₂ contact point is provided at A contact structure is adopted in which a fixed contact and a sliding contact on the movable contact plate 8 are opened and closed as appropriate.

In the contact structure of such an ignition switch, for example, when driving the starter when starting the engine, a total of four contacts, the B contact, the IG ₁ contact, the IG ₂ contact, and the ST contact, must be brought into contact at the same time.
In that case, if one movable contact plate is used, stable contact can be obtained for all the contact points with three-point contact, but there is a problem that stable contact cannot necessarily be obtained with four-point contact.

In other words, when contacting at four or more points, if the height of any one contact becomes lower than the other contacts due to uneven wear of the contact, warping of the contact plate, etc., the height of the other contact becomes lower. Since the contact plate is supported at three points with the contacts serving as fulcrums, there is a problem in that the contacts with low heights become non-contact.

This problem can be solved by making the contact plate a two-layer structure as shown in Figure 1, but the structure becomes complicated and requires a large space, so it cannot be used in a limited space like an ignition switch. If you need to pay, there are disadvantages. A device in which two pairs of contacts are swingable on a plate is known from Japanese Utility Model Application No. 106940/1983.

Therefore, the present invention was made in view of the problems of the multi-contact structure described above, and even when it is necessary to close four or more contacts at the same time, all contacts are always kept in stable contact. It is an object of the present invention to provide a contact structure that is simple and compact in structure.

For this reason, the present invention includes a base body made of an insulating material and provided with at least four or more fixed contacts, and at least four or more contacts that face the base body and can come into contact with the fixed contacts. A contact structure comprising a contact plate, the contact plate being biased toward the base body by an elastic member, wherein the contact plate is composed of at least two conductive plate members forming one plane, Each plate member has 3
A hook portion is formed in one of the adjacent plate members and an engagement hole is formed in the other plate member, and the hook portion is engaged with the engagement hole. The present invention provides a contact structure characterized in that the plate members are electrically connected to each other and each is movably connected to the base body.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the illustrated embodiments.

In FIG. 4, 11 is the terminal base of the ignition switch similar to that explained in FIGS. 1 to 3, and 12 is a movable contact plate having a split structure according to the present invention. Similarly, the rotor (see Fig. 1) is rotatably supported, and the spring (see Fig. 1)
is urged toward the terminal base 11 by.

The fixed contact of the terminal base 11 is the second
As explained in the figure, the B contact, ACC contact, IG ₁ contact, and ST contact are arranged slightly inside the outer circumference of the terminal base 11, and the IG ₂ contact is arranged inside the circumference of the arrangement of these contacts. Configure.

On the other hand, as shown in the figure, the movable contact plate 12 has two semicircular first and second divided contact plates 13 and 14, which are made by dividing a conductive metal circular plate into two equal parts along an arbitrary diameter line. ,
It has a basic structure in which the abutting edges 13a and 14a of the two abut each other and are bonded in a mutually relaxed state.

As shown in FIG. 5, the joining structure of the first and second divided contact plates 13 and 14 is, for example, a mating edge 13 of the first divided contact plate 13.
A square-shaped hook 1 as a conductive member is attached to one end of a.
5 is integrally formed facing the second divided contact plate 14 side, while a step portion 16 which is one step higher than the plate surface is press-molded in the corresponding portion of the second divided contact plate 14.
A first divided contact plate 13 is provided on the stepped portion 16.
A long and narrow fitting hole 17 is punched and formed as an engaging part into which the downward tip 15a of the hook 15 is fitted, and the hook 15 is fitted into this fitting hole 17 as shown in FIG. In some cases, the structure is connected.

It should be noted that the fixed contacts provided on the terminal base 11 are appropriately arranged, and as shown in FIG.
The left and right ends of a are symmetrical, that is, the hook 1 is placed on the second divided contact plate 14 side at the left end.
5, if the hook 15 is provided on the first divided contact plate 13 side at the right end, both plates 13 and 14 have the same shape,
It is also possible to reduce costs by standardizing parts.

As shown in FIG. 6, in the above coupling structure, the fitting hole 17 is made slightly wider than the thickness of the hook 15, in other words, the fitting hole 17 is made so that the hook 15 can be fitted with some play. As shown by double arrows R and Y, the hook 15 has a restraint-relieving structure that allows the hook 15 to be relatively displaced in the vertical direction and the swinging direction while remaining in contact with the fitting hole 17.

Of the first and second divided contact plates 13 and 14 combined as described above, as shown in FIG. A total of two contact portions 18 and 19 are provided, and a total of two contact portions 20 and 21 corresponding to the fixed contacts IG ₁ and IG ₂ of the terminal base 11 are provided on the second divided contact plate 14 side, and the overall structure is A total of four contact portions 18, 19, 20, and 21 are formed.

When the contact structure as described above is adopted, each divided contact plate 13, 14 is supported by two contact portions 18, 19, 20, 21 and two constraint relaxation coupling structures (15, 17). Therefore, these divided contact plates 13, 1
Even if one of any pair of contacts to be closed by contacts 18, 19, 20, and 21 of No. 4 becomes lower than the other contact due to uneven wear, etc.
The divided contact plates 13 and 14 can smoothly incline according to the step difference between the contacts and contact both contacts simultaneously. Therefore, even when the number of contacts to be closed is four or more, the movable contact plate 12 can make good contact between all the contacts.

In the above embodiment, each divided contact plate is provided with two contact portions, but if necessary, up to three contact portions may be provided, and a three-point support structure can be formed by these contact portions. can.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the terminal base 11
A total of five contacts, B, ACC, IG ₁ , IG ₂ , and ST, are provided on the side, but depending on the configuration of the ignition switch 4, a contact for shorting the ignition coil resistor may be used instead of the IG ₂ contact. as the R contact point, or
The ST contact can be further divided into two, ST ₁ and ST ₂ contacts.

Furthermore, if the total number of contacts needs to be 6 or more, or even if the number of contacts is 6 or less, the split contact plate can be divided into three or other suitable split structures as necessary depending on the arrangement of fixed contacts. can be adopted.

Furthermore, the connection structure of these divided contact plates is not limited to the above embodiment, and any restraint relaxation structure that allows relative displacement while maintaining mutual contact may be adopted. can.

As is clear from the above description, in the present invention, the contact plate is composed of at least two conductive plate members forming one plane, and each plate member has a fixed contact point on the base body. While providing up to three contact points that can be contacted, one of the adjacent plate members has a hook part,
Engagement holes are respectively formed in the other plate member, and by engaging with the hook portion and the engagement hole, the plate members are electrically connected to each other,
The present invention provides a multi-contact structure characterized in that each plate member is movably connected to at least a base body.

With the contact structure according to the present invention, even when four or more contacts are closed at the same time, it is possible to make good contact with all the contacts, making the opening/closing stable, and making it possible to make a multi-contact switch. Durability can be improved.

In addition, in the structure of the present invention, multiple plate members are connected both electrically and mechanically by fitting the hook portion and the engagement hole, so they can be assembled as a single contact plate. In general, four or more contacts can be provided on one contact plate, and there is no need for the contact plate to have a double structure as in the past, making the configuration compact. Board 2
When using equally divided contact plates, the two plates can have the same shape, which can be advantageous in terms of cost.

Although the above embodiments have been explained using an ignition switch as an example, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to any multi-contact switch that requires closing four or more contacts at the same time. Needless to say, it's good.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a conventional ignition switch, Fig. 2 is a plan view of the terminal base, Fig. 3 is a plan view of the movable contact plate shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged perspective view showing the coupling structure of the contact plate, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the coupling structure shown in FIG. 5. 11...Terminal base, 12...Movable contact plate, 13...Divided contact plate, 14...Divided contact plate, 15...
Hook, 17... Fitting hole, 18, 21... Contact portion.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] A base body made of an insulating material and provided with at least four or more fixed contacts, and at least four or more contacts that face the base body and can come into contact with the fixed contacts. Equipped with a contact plate,
In a contact structure in which the contact plate is biased toward the base body by an elastic member, the contact plate is composed of at least two electrically conductive plate members forming one plane, and each plate member has three electrically conductive plate members. A hook portion is formed in one of the adjacent plate members, an engagement hole is formed in the other plate member, and the hook portion is engaged with the engagement hole. A contact structure characterized in that the plate members are electrically connected to each other and each is connected movably to the base body.