MX2007004839A - Spring loaded spacer - Google Patents

Abstract

A spring loaded spacer for fastening components and control units with touch control face plates or panels wherein the spacer has a barrel portion having at one end means for connecting the spacer to a chassis or the like and at its other end a shank for connecting it to one or more printed circuit boards and/or components or the like, wherein a spring loaded shank is seated within the barrel and is adapted to receive one or more printed circuit boards under tensioned engagement.

Description

SPRING LOAD SEPARATORS This invention relates to spring loaded spacers and more particularly directed to these products, preferably made of plastic and having insulating qualities and capable of being used in fastening systems for components and control units, plates or front panels. with touch control. BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Typically, in conventional touch control assemblies, for example, in the upper oven touch control panels, a separate spring, a separate spacer and often other parts are connected together with a card. printed circuit. These assemblies take a significant amount of time and effort to arm themselves. The parts must be sized correctly and substantial assembly facilities are required. The parts and the printed circuit board are critical and an assembly error can result in damage to the equipment or decrease the life of the appliance in which they are used. In addition these parts are usually not interchangeable, and while many fastening systems may require a simple household appliance, the subassemblies separately they usually require that the necessary connections are fulfilled. A fully assembled system is provided to utilize the present spring loaded spacer. The spacer is versatile enough to allow modifications such as providing different fixed methods for the spring clip and different spring voltages that are available for different sensor pressures. The length of the spring loaded spacer can also easily vary to accommodate different springs, tensions and required dimensions. Above all, the spring loaded spacer taught by the present invention substantially decreases the time and cost of installation over the cost of providing and assembling traditional components and methods. Through using a spring-loaded spacer encompassed by the present invention, the head of the device that can be used to secure it to the printed circuit board with a photo-light sensor can be custom designed to accommodate various hole sizes. or other methods of restraint. The spacer encompassed by the present invention has an area similar to a peripheral ring adjacent to its head that can be used to secure a second printed circuit board and another printed circuit board that can maintain light and be sensitive photo or other components, and can accommodate a variety of card thicknesses; in this way, the present spring-loaded spacer can securely receive several printed circuit cards in spaced relationship. A spring loaded spacer encompassing the present invention provides a uniform and continuous force applied to the printed circuit board or other covered connection, making sure that the components mounted on the card are always in contact with the related part. In these applications, the spring-loaded spacer encompassed by the present invention acts as a low-load shock absorber and the arrangement of the spring in the part holds the spring in place and allows the compression desired. Although the upper part of the spring loaded spacer encompassed by the present invention can be removably attached to a printed circuit board or the like, the lower part of the device is usually connected and lies on a chassis or similar structure, and can also be used in an insurance or a location pin. The arrangement is sufficiently versatile to allow the use of the spacer in almost any environment, that is, in an electronic or automotive device or in a household appliance or the like. The mounting system for securing the spacer to an underlying surface can be a threaded bolt or spring washer or a tapered screw or other mounting element, as desired; and this mounting system can be integrated into a spring-loaded spacer encompassing the present invention and manufactured in the same mold. The device embodying the present invention consists of a barrel portion having at one end elements for connecting to a chassis or the like and at the other end a crank portion having elements for connecting to a printed circuit board or the like. The crank portion is spring loaded with a coil compression spring seated within the barrel portion. Arranged at the end of the crank intended to be connected to a printed circuit board or the like is a series of circumferential rings that can be used to secure one or more printed circuit boards or other components to the spacer. This arrangement allows the portion of the barrel to have a seat consisting of a snap fit with a chassis or a screw or bolt or other mount. Likewise, the end of the crank that connects to a printed circuit board or the like may vary to provide various conventional connections to the printed circuit board or similar panel.

OBJECTIVES AND ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a spring-loaded spacer of the character described. Another objective is to provide a spring-loaded spacer for a touch control panel that is fully assembled and ready for installation. Another objective is to provide a spring-loaded spacer that can accommodate one or more printed circuit boards or other components. Another objective is to provide a spring-loaded spacer that can provide continuous and predetermined pressure to a surface on which it is mounted. Another object is to provide a spring-loaded spacer that can provide continuous and predetermined pressure to a control panel or a light sensor secured to a surface on which the spring-loaded spacer is mounted. Another object is to provide a spring loaded spacer that can be easily modified and is suitably versatile to be attached to a printed circuit board or panel or other components. Another objective is to provide a spring-loaded spacer that replaces several conventional components and that can be used and installed as a single piece.

Another object is to provide a spring-loaded spacer that can be easily modified and is suitably versatile to be connected to a chassis or the like by means of a conventional snap fastener, screw, bolt or other conventional fastening means. It is also another object of the invention to provide a spring-loaded spacer that is economical and simple to manufacture and that is easy, effective and efficient to use. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the Drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the spring loaded spacer of the invention, secured to a printed circuit board and having another printed circuit board mounted on its crank (but without attach to an underlying chassis). Figure 2 is a perspective view for viewing through the spring loaded spacer encompassing the invention. Figure 3 is an elevated view of a spacer shown in Figure 2, partially in section, with customized alternative connection sections, respectively, custom-labeled chassis connection sections A, B and C for the spacer shown in the Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a sectional view of a crank for the spacer shown in Figure 2. Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of the head of the spacer, taken on line 5-5 of Figure 3. Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of the barrel for the spacer shown in Figure 2. Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view of the barrel for the spacer, taken on line 7-7 of Figure 5. Figure 8 is an elevated view of a compression spring for the spacer shown in Figure 2. Description of Preference Making Forms With reference to Figure 1, a spring loaded spacer 10 is connected to a top printed circuit board PCI and a circuit board printed bottom PC2. Components such as touch control TC and a light sensor S can be secured on the printed circuit board PCI, as shown. This spacer 10 is normally installed in a chassis or in an underlying panel (not shown) and when the polarizing spacer is installed moving away from the chassis and towards the PC2 and PC2 printed circuit boards. As shown in Figure 2, this spring-loaded spacer 10 consists of a barrel element 11 having mount elements 12 for connecting the barrel element to an underlying chassis or panel (not shown). The barrel element receives a crank 12 and a compression spring 13. The compression spring 12 is installed in an arrow 14 formed in the crank 12 and the spring 13 has an end formed 15 adapted to settle in the bottom 16 of the element 12. barrel 11. The legs 17 are form on the crank spaced away from the bottom of the arrow 14 to capture the upper end 18 of the spring 13. The end of the crank 12 remote from this arrow 14 carries a fixing element 19 to secure a printed circuit board PCI or similar to the Spacer loaded with spring. This fastening element 19 is preferably an arrowhead head adapted to engage with pressure in an opening formed in the printed circuit board. A plurality of circumferential rings 20 can be formed in the crank 12 adjacent to the fasteners 19, and these rings 20 can be used to secure one or more additional PC2 printed circuit boards to the spring loaded spacer. A window 21 can be formed in the barrel 11 to observe the action of the crank 12 and the spring 13 as a crank is pressed towards the printed circuit board coated PCI. The pressure of the spring applied by the spacer 10 against the printed circuit boards PCI and / or PC2 may be affected by the compression of the spring 12 and greater or lesser spring pressure may be achieved by varying the construction of the spring. In Figure 3, three variations of the connecting elements for seating the barrel 11 are shown, marked with A, B and C. The connecting elements A have an opening 22 in the bottom of the barrel and a screw or other fastener (no. shown) can be used to secure the barrel to a chassis or the like. The connecting element B has a hub 23 that can be threaded or have a similar fastening element, in order to receive a bolt or screw to secure the barrel to the underlying chassis or panel. The connecting element C can have an arrowhead 24 that can be used to clamp on an underlying surface of the corresponding opening of the chassis or similar panel. These variations of end A, B or C in the bottom of the barrel 11 or in fixing element 19 in the upper part of the arrow 12 can be varied in a plastic mold by using a suitable interchangeable cavity when the part is formed. Except for the spring 12, the other parts of the spacer combinations, ie the barrel 11 and the arrow 12 are preferably made of plastic material, to have an insulating value in order to inhibit cuts of the printed circuit board or other electronic or electrical component. When the invention is disclosed in considerable detail, it should be understood that many variations can be used in this structure without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Correspondingly, it is not desirable that the invention be limited to the exact construction described.

Claims (12)

CLAIMS 1. A spring-loaded spacer for fastening components to a panel, wherein the spacer comprises a barrel portion having elements for connecting this barrel portion to the panel and a spaced crank remote from the connecting element that fixes the portion of the component, this crank is seated in the portion of the barrel and the spring elements associated with the crank to polarize the component and the panel spaced apart under tension but adapted to connect to the crank against the components. 2. In the spacer described in Claim 1, wherein the connecting elements of the panel comprise an opening for receiving a fastener for connecting the barrel portion to the panel. 3. In the spacer described in Claim 1, wherein the panel connection element comprises a hub on the crank to connect the barrel to the panel. 4. In the spacer described in Claim 1, wherein the panel connecting element comprises a tip element in the barrel for connecting the barrel to the panel. 5. In the spacer described in Claim 1, wherein the handle is slidably disposed in the barrel portion. 6. In the spacer described in Claim 1 wherein the spring element is engaged by one end of the crank. 7. In the spacer described in Claim 7, wherein a spring element is a compression spring. 8. In the spacer described in Claim 1, wherein the handle has rib elements at half its length adapted to receive an opening element. 9. In the spacer described in Claim 8 wherein the rib element comprises multiple spaced apart extensions extending from the crank. 10. In the spacer described in Claim 8, wherein the open element comprises a second component. 11. In the spacer described in Claim 1, wherein the crank fastener comprises a fastener at one end of the crank opposite the barrel portion. 12. In the spacer described in Claim 11, wherein the fastener is adapted to be against the component when the spring element extends. 14. In the spacer described in Claim 1, wherein the spacer is adapted to be connected to multiple components. 15. In the spacer of Claim 1, wherein the crank has an arrow to receive the spring element. 16. In the spacer described in Claim 15, wherein the arrow has legs to capture one end of the spring elements. 17. In the spacer described in Claim 1, wherein the barrel and the arrow are made of dielectric insulating material. 18. In the spacer described in Claim 17, wherein the barrel and arrow are molded of plastic. 19. In the spacer described in
1. Claim 1, wherein the spring loaded spacer is assembled as a top structure to be used as a fastening element. 20. In the spacer described in Claim 1, wherein the spring element comprises a coil compression spring seated in the barrel portion. 21. In the spacer described in
2. Claim 20, wherein the coil compression spring surrounds the arrow.