WO2011129041A1

WO2011129041A1 - Method of manufacturing elastic sheet for panel unit of vehicle

Info

Publication number: WO2011129041A1
Application number: PCT/JP2011/000751
Authority: WO
Inventors: 誠野崎; 浩勝中嶋
Original assignee: 住友電装株式会社
Priority date: 2010-04-16
Filing date: 2011-02-10
Publication date: 2011-10-20
Also published as: JP2011228036A

Abstract

Provided is a method of manufacturing elastic sheets to be installed for each of a plurality of panel units, wherein the area necessary for the elastic sheets is reduced without making process management of the elastic sheets more complicated. This method comprises: a process for setting a plurality of elastic-sheet arrangement areas that are separated from each other for each of a plurality of panel units, and molding a sheet body (50) having a shape of a combination of elastic sheets (30A, 30B, 30C), which in turn have shapes corresponding to each of the elastic-sheet arrangement areas of one panel unit, in correspondence to each of the panel units; and a process for arranging the elastic sheets (30A, 30B, 30C), obtained by dividing the sheet body (50), at each of the elastic-sheet arrangement areas of the panel unit.

Description

Method for producing elastic sheet for vehicle panel unit

This invention relates to the technique for manufacturing the elastic sheet provided in the said panel unit for the light shielding and waterproofing of the interior component of a vehicle panel unit.

A panel unit is arranged in the interior of a car for the purpose of switch operation and various displays. The panel unit generally includes a main body panel facing a passenger compartment or the like, and a circuit board disposed on the back side of the main body panel. On the circuit board, a switch for receiving an operation or a light source for display (for example, an LED) Various interior parts such as) are mounted.

In the panel unit, the interior parts on the circuit board are shielded from light (preventing diffusion of light from the light source when the interior part is a light source) and waterproof (protection from moisture entering from the outside of the panel unit). There is one further provided with an elastic sheet for the purpose of. The elastic sheet is formed into a sheet shape from an elastic material such as rubber and is disposed on the surface of the circuit board. On the other hand, a waterproof wall or a light shielding wall having a shape surrounding the interior part is formed on the back side of the main body panel, and the end face of the wall is in close contact with the elastic sheet, thereby sealing the interior part. Achieve waterproofing and shading.

As an example, a panel unit disclosed in Patent Document 1 shown below is shown in FIG. The panel unit includes a main body panel 110 facing the vehicle interior, a circuit board 112 disposed on the back side thereof, a rear cover 114 attached to the main body panel 110 so as to cover the circuit board 112 from the back side, And an elastic sheet 130.

The main body panel 110 incorporates a plurality of indicator lenses 122 to be illuminated. A plurality of illumination light sources and switch contacts (not shown) are provided on the front side surface (surface on the main body panel 110 side) of the circuit board 112, and light emitted from each illumination light source passes through each indicator lens 122. Illuminate. In order to prevent the lights from these illumination light sources from intermingling, a plurality of isolation walls protrude rearward from the back surface on the main body panel 110 side.

The elastic sheet 130 is formed of an elastic member such as rubber. The area where the elastic sheet 130 is disposed includes the positions where the illumination light sources and fixed contacts are disposed on the circuit board 120. The elastic sheet 130 is disposed as shown in FIG. A through hole 132 is provided at a position corresponding to the position, and an elastic switch unit 134 is provided at a position corresponding to the fixed contact. Each through-hole 132 enables irradiation of light from the corresponding illumination light source to the indicator lens 122, and each elastic switch part 134 constitutes a pressing switch element together with the switch contact. Specifically, when a knob (not shown) provided on the main body panel 110 is pressed, the knob elastically displaces the elastic switch part 134 in the pressing direction, and is provided on the back surface of the elastic switch part 134. The movable contact made and the fixed contact are brought into contact with each other.

In this panel unit, when the circuit board 112 and further the rear cover 114 are assembled to the back side of the main body panel 110, the elastic sheet 130 is elastically deformed while the tip of the isolation wall of the main body panel 110 is elastically deformed. This forms a light shielding structure.

In this panel unit, it is desired to reduce the area of the elastic sheet 130. This reduction in area leads to a decrease in material cost, an improvement in assemblability, and a reduction in weight related to the elastic sheet 130. However, interior parts (lighting sources, switches, and the like) that are subject to light shielding and waterproofing by the elastic sheet 130 are often distributed on the circuit board 112, and the light shielding and waterproofing of these interior parts is 1 If the elastic sheet 130 is used, the area of the elastic sheet 130 can be significantly reduced.

As a means for reducing the area, the laying region of the elastic sheet 130 is dispersed into a plurality of small regions that are separated from each other, and a small-area elastic sheet corresponding to each of the small regions is disposed (that is, dispersedly disposed). It is possible. However, in that case, when manufacturing one panel unit, a plurality of elastic sheets must be managed, and the process management (for example, product number management) becomes complicated. The complicated process management results in hindering the reduction of the cost and the improvement of the production efficiency.

JP 2008-309954 A

An object of the present invention is a technique that enables a required area of an elastic sheet to be reduced without complicating process management of the elastic sheet when manufacturing elastic sheets respectively provided for a plurality of vehicle panel units. Is to provide.

Specifically, the present invention provides a plurality of vehicle panel units each including a main body panel, a circuit board disposed on the back side of the main body panel, and an elastic sheet disposed between the main body panel and the circuit board. 1) A shape corresponding to each elastic sheet arrangement area in one panel unit by setting a plurality of elastic sheet arrangement areas spaced from each other for each panel unit. A step of forming a sheet body having a shape in which the elastic sheets are combined with each other corresponding to each panel unit, and 2) for each panel unit, the panel body by dividing the sheet body corresponding to the panel unit. A plurality of elastic sheets corresponding to the respective elastic sheet arrangement regions of the unit are formed, and these elastic sheets are placed in front It provides that comprises a step of disposing the respective elastic sheet arrangement area in the panel unit.

In this method, a plurality of elastic sheet disposition areas spaced apart from each other are set for each panel unit (that is, a plurality of small elastic sheets are dispersedly disposed). Compared with the case where one large elastic sheet arrangement region is set, the required area of the elastic sheet is reduced. In addition, when manufacturing a plurality of elastic sheets provided in each panel unit, a sheet body having a shape in which a plurality of elastic sheets belonging to the same panel unit are combined is manufactured for each panel unit, and then the sheet By dividing the body, a plurality of elastic sheets are formed, that is, since the panel unit and the sheet body correspond to each other, even though a plurality of elastic sheets are assigned to each panel unit, Process management can be easily performed in units of sheet bodies in which sheets are combined.

It is a front view of the panel unit which concerns on embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. It is a front view which shows the arrangement | sequence of the some elastic sheet in the said panel unit. It is a front view of the sheet | seat body for manufacturing the said several elastic sheet. It is a front view which shows the example of the arrangement | sequence of the said sheet body in the raw material sheet of the said sheet body. It is a front view which shows the example of an arrangement | sequence of the said elastic sheet in the case of punching out the conventional large-sized several elastic sheet from a raw material sheet. It is a front view which shows the example of an arrangement | sequence of the said elastic sheet in the case of punching out the small elastic sheet divided | segmented into plurality about one panel unit from a raw material sheet. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the conventional panel unit. It is a perspective view which shows the elastic sheet of the panel unit shown by FIG.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

1 and 2 show a panel unit according to this embodiment. The panel unit constitutes, for example, a part of an instrument panel of an automobile, and includes a main body panel 10, a circuit board 20, a plurality of (three in the illustrated example)

elastic sheets

30A, 30B, and 30C, and a rear cover 40. Is provided.

The main body panel 10 has a main body wall 10a facing the passenger compartment side (left side in FIG. 2), and a side wall 10b protruding from the rear surface of the peripheral edge of the main body wall to the back side over the entire circumference. A display window 12 is formed at the upper center of the wall 10a. Furthermore, members constituting various operation units are arranged on the main body wall 10a. In the example shown in FIG. 1, as the operation unit, a plurality of push buttons 14 disposed below the display window 12, a pair of

dials

16A and 16B provided on the left and right wings of the main body wall 10a, and a left dial 16A. A plurality of push buttons 17 disposed below the right dial 16B and a plurality of push buttons 18 disposed below the right dial 16B. Each

push button

14, 17, 18 receives a pressing operation from the passenger compartment side, and each

dial

16A, 16B receives a rotating operation while holding the

dials

16A, 16B.

In this embodiment, the member constituting the main body wall 10a and the side wall 10b of the main body panel 10 and the member constituting the

push buttons

14, 17, 18 are separate members, and these are assembled together. It is done. However, the “main body panel” of the panel unit according to the present invention may be composed entirely of a single member, or an outer panel facing the passenger compartment side and an inner panel disposed on the back side thereof. It may be composed of a panel.

The circuit board 20 is disposed on the back side of the main body panel 10. On the front side surface (that is, the surface on the main body panel 10 side) 20a of the circuit board 20, the

dials

16A, 16B, the display liquid crystal panel 22 facing the display window 12, and the

push buttons

14, 17, A plurality of fixed contacts respectively positioned on the back side of 18 and a plurality of illumination light sources (for example, LEDs) 24 for illuminating the

push buttons

14, 17, 18 from the back side are mounted.

The

elastic sheets

30A, 30B, and 30C are each formed in a relatively thin sheet shape by an elastic member such as rubber, and are arranged between the main body panel 10 and the front side surface of the circuit board 20. Established. In this embodiment, three elastic sheet arrangement regions (a central region, a left region, and a right region) that are spaced apart from each other are set on the front side surface 20a of the circuit board 20, and are in close contact with the front side surface 20a within each region. Thus, the

elastic sheets

30A, 30B, and 30C are laid on the front side surface 20a.

The central region is a region including six fixed contacts (contacts corresponding to the push buttons 14) below the display liquid crystal panel 22, and the elastic sheet 30C is laid in this region. The elastic sheet 30C has a plurality of elastic switch portions 32C interposed between the push buttons 14 and the fixed contacts, and guides for guiding light from the illumination light sources 24 to the corresponding push buttons 14. And an optical window 34C.

Each elastic switch portion 32C has a back surface on which a movable contact is formed, and this movable contact constitutes a switch element together with a fixed contact on the circuit board 20 side. The elastic switch portion 32C has a shape that can be elastically displaced in the thickness direction of the elastic sheet 30C with respect to other portions, and when the corresponding push button 14 is pressed, the circuit board is formed by the push button 14. The movable contact and the fixed contact are brought into contact with each other, thereby switching the switch from OFF to ON.

Similarly, the left region and the right region are respectively two fixed contacts below the

dials

16A and 16B (two fixed contacts corresponding to the push buttons 17 and 2 corresponding to the push buttons 18). The

elastic sheets

30A and 30B are laid in the left and right regions, respectively. The elastic sheet 30A guides the light from the plurality of elastic switch portions 32A interposed between the push buttons 17 and the fixed contacts corresponding thereto and the light from the illumination light sources 24 to the corresponding push buttons 17, respectively. The elastic sheet 30B includes a plurality of elastic switch portions 32B interposed between the push buttons 18 and the fixed contacts corresponding thereto, and the illumination light sources 24, respectively. Light guide windows 30B for guiding the light to the corresponding push buttons 18 respectively.

Each

elastic switch portion

32A, 32B has a back surface on which a movable contact is formed, and this movable contact constitutes a switch element together with a fixed contact on the circuit board 20 side. The

elastic switch portions

32A and 32B have a shape that can be elastically displaced in the thickness direction of the

elastic sheets

30A and 30B with respect to other portions, and the corresponding push button (the push button 17 or the push button 18) is pressed. When operated, it is elastically displaced toward the circuit board 20 by the push button, thereby bringing the movable contact and the fixed contact into contact with each other to switch the switch from OFF to ON.

The rear cover 40 is attached to the main body panel 10 so as to cover the elastic sheet 30 and the circuit board 20 from the back side in a state where the elastic sheet 30 and the circuit board 20 are assembled to the back side portion of the main body panel 10. The circuit board 20 is clamped from both the front and back sides in cooperation with the main body panel 10.

Next, in manufacturing a plurality of panel units including this panel unit and a panel unit having the same structure as this, a method for manufacturing the elastic sheets 30A to 30C used for each panel unit will be described.

Conventionally, as described above, as the elastic sheet provided in the panel unit in which the plurality of

push buttons

14, 17, 18 are distributed to the center and the left and right as described above, the center elastic sheet 30C and the left and right elastic sheets shown in FIG. As shown by the two-dot chain line in the same figure, 30A and 30B including the connecting

portions

36A and 36B were molded, and this single large elastic sheet was incorporated in the panel unit. Therefore, this conventional elastic sheet includes a wasteful area corresponding to the connecting

portions

36A and 36B.

On the other hand, if the three small

elastic sheets

30A, 30B, and 30C shown in FIG. 3 are manufactured for one panel unit, and these are dispersedly arranged in regions that are separated from each other, the connecting

portions

36A and 36B are unnecessary. Therefore, the required area of the elastic sheet is reduced accordingly. However, when the

elastic sheets

30A, 30B, and 30C used for a plurality of panel units are simply mass-produced individually, when the

elastic sheets

30A, 30B, and 30C are incorporated into the panel units, Three types of

elastic sheets

30A, 30B, and 30C must be taken out and used for each panel unit from a large number of elastic sheet groups including the

elastic sheets

30A, 30B, and 30C. However, there is a risk of decline.

Therefore, in this embodiment, a sheet body 50 as shown in FIG. 4 is manufactured and assigned for each panel unit in order to reduce the required area of the elastic sheet and achieve simple process management. The sheet body 50 has a shape in which three

elastic sheets

30A, 30B, and 30C used in one panel unit are combined, and the sheet body 50 and each panel unit correspond one-to-one. To do. Therefore, if the sheet body 50 is managed as a unit, the process management can be easily performed as in the case where a single elastic sheet is assigned to one panel unit as in the prior art.

In addition, at the stage of assembling the

elastic sheets

30A, 30B, and 30C into the panel units, the sheet body 50 assigned to the panel unit is simply divided along the two-dot chain lines L1 and L2 shown in FIG. The

elastic sheets

30A, 30B, and 30C can be easily obtained, and the

elastic sheets

30A, 30B, and 30C can be allocated and arranged as they are in the respective areas of the panel unit. That is, while setting a plurality of (three in this embodiment) elastic sheet arrangement areas for one panel unit, the elastic sheets 30A to 30C corresponding to the areas are combined as shown in FIG. Manufacturing one sheet body 50 enables both reduction of the required area of the elastic sheet and simple process management.

Further, as a specific method for manufacturing the sheet body 50, a plurality of sheet bodies 50 can be simultaneously punched out from a single large raw material sheet using, for example, a press die, in the same manner as a conventional elastic sheet. . An example of the arrangement is shown in FIG. According to this example, it is possible to obtain eight (that is, eight panel units) sheet bodies 50 from a single raw material sheet 60. On the other hand, in the elastic sheet 52 having the conventional shape as shown in FIG. 6, only four elastic sheets 52 can be punched from the raw material sheet 60 having the same size. In other words, in the manufacture of the sheet body 50 according to this embodiment, the yield is improved approximately twice as compared with the manufacture of the conventional elastic sheet 52.

Of course, one of the reasons for the improvement in the yield is that the connecting

portions

36A and 36B are not required, but the other major cause is the orientation of the

elastic sheets

30A and 30B in the sheet body 50. Changes. For example, as a shape in which the three elastic sheets 30A to 30C shown in FIG. 3 are combined, the connecting

portions

36A and 36B shown in the figure are removed, and the

elastic sheets

30A and 30B are left as they are on the left and right sides of the central elastic sheet 30C. An adjacent shape is conceivable, but in this shape, the longitudinal dimension of the sheet body is only reduced by the dimension L of the connecting

portions

36A and 36B as compared with the shape of the conventional elastic sheet 52, and thus the yield jumps. Improvement is difficult. That is, the number of sheet bodies that can be punched from the raw material sheet 60 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 cannot be significantly increased.

On the other hand, in the sheet body 50 shown in FIG. 4, the

elastic sheets

30A, 30B and the central elastic sheet 30C are in a vertically long posture in which the orientation of the horizontally long

elastic sheets

30A, 30B is changed by 90 ° as the rotation angle. Therefore, the aspect ratio of the sheet body 50 (the ratio between the vertical dimension and the horizontal dimension) approaches 1 by the change in the direction. That is, the overall shape approaches a square. In this way, the combination of the elastic sheets 30A to 30C after changing the direction so that the aspect ratio approaches 1 greatly contributes to the improvement of the yield.

For example, when the three types of

elastic sheets

30A, 30B, and 30C are punched from the raw material sheet 60 in a state of being separated from each other as shown in FIG. 7, not only the subsequent process management is complicated as described above, but also 1 The number of elastic sheets 30A to 30C that can be punched from the raw material sheet 60 is limited to five panel units, and a dramatic improvement in yield cannot be expected. In other words, combining with the elastic sheet 30C after changing the orientation of the

elastic sheets

30A and 30B as described above is a dramatic improvement in yield, in addition to the effect of preventing complication of subsequent process management. Enables realization of effects.

In the present invention, the number of elastic sheets included in one sheet body is not limited to three, and may be two or four or more. Further, the present invention is not necessarily limited to mass production of panel units having the same structure. For example, even when manufacturing a plurality of types of panel units having different structures and elastic sheet arrangement areas, the sheet body as described above is manufactured for each panel unit according to the type and then divided. It is possible to reduce the required area of the elastic sheet without complicating the process management.

Further, the purpose of the elastic sheet according to the present invention is not limited to the light shielding and the configuration of the switch unit. For example, a specific interior part may be hermetically sealed to prevent water from entering from the outside.

As described above, the present invention reduces the required area of the elastic sheet without complicating the process management of the elastic sheet when manufacturing the elastic sheet provided in each of the plurality of vehicle panel units. Provide the technology that makes it possible.

Each of the sheet bodies may be formed, for example, by simultaneously punching a plurality of sheet bodies from a single raw material sheet with a press die. Thereby, the mass productivity of the sheet body is increased.

In that case, the shape of each of the sheet bodies is changed in the direction of some of the elastic sheets so that the aspect ratio is closer to 1 than the shape in which the plurality of elastic sheets included in the sheet body are all combined in the same direction. Thus, it is preferable to form a united shape. Thereby, it becomes possible to make the arrangement | sequence of the sheet | seat body punched out from the said raw material sheet denser, and a yield improves.

Moreover, this invention manufactures the said elastic sheet of the panel unit for vehicles provided with the main body panel, the circuit board arrange | positioned on the back side of this main body panel, and the elastic sheet arrange | positioned between the said main body panel and the said circuit board. A sheet body is provided. The sheet body has a shape capable of forming a plurality of elastic sheets respectively corresponding to the plurality of elastic sheet arrangement regions set for the panel unit by dividing the sheet body.

Claims

A method of manufacturing the elastic sheet of a plurality of vehicle panel units each including a main body panel, a circuit board disposed on the back side of the main body panel, and an elastic sheet disposed between the main body panel and the circuit board Because
A plurality of elastic sheet disposition areas spaced from each other for each panel unit are set, and a sheet body having a shape obtained by combining elastic sheets having shapes corresponding to the respective elastic sheet disposition areas in one panel unit Forming corresponding to each panel unit;
For each of the panel units, the sheet body corresponding to the panel unit is divided to form a plurality of elastic sheets corresponding to the elastic sheet disposition regions of the panel unit, and these elastic sheets are attached to the panel. A method of manufacturing an elastic sheet for a panel unit for a vehicle, comprising a step of disposing each elastic sheet in a region of the unit.
In the manufacturing method of the elastic sheet of the panel unit for vehicles according to claim 1,
Each said sheet body is a manufacturing method of the elastic sheet of the panel unit for vehicles formed by stamping a several sheet body simultaneously from a single raw material sheet | seat with a press die.
In the manufacturing method of the elastic sheet of the panel unit for vehicles according to claim 2,
The shape of each of the sheet bodies is combined by changing the direction of some of the elastic sheets so that the aspect ratio is closer to 1 than the shape in which the plurality of elastic sheets included in the sheet body are all combined in the same direction. The manufacturing method of the elastic sheet of the panel unit for vehicles which is made the shape made.
A sheet body for producing the elastic sheet of a vehicle panel unit comprising a main body panel, a circuit board disposed on the back side of the main body panel, and an elastic sheet disposed between the main body panel and the circuit board. An elastic sheet for a vehicle panel unit having a shape capable of forming a plurality of elastic sheets respectively corresponding to a plurality of elastic sheet disposition areas set for the panel unit by dividing the sheet body. Sheet body for manufacturing.