JPH01258328A - Rotary encorder-contact - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make a rotary encorder-contact compact and simplified manufacture thereof without lowering resolution by dividing a circumference on an insulative substrate into a number of phases equally, providing electrode pattern by one phase on each divided radius and also providing a contact corresponding to it to a slider. CONSTITUTION:As number of phases is two, a circumference on an insulative substrate 1 is divided into two. Two phase electrode patterns 11a and 11b are formed on divided radii, respectively. The electrodes 11a and 11b are provided as shifted T/4 each other and connected to terminals 14 and 15 through conductive membranes 16 and 17, respectively. A slider 2 is composed such that a contact 22 contacted with a center electrode 18 is provided in the center of a metal disk 21 and contacts 23 and 24 contacted with the electrode patterns 11a and 11b are provided in its radius. While the disk 21 is composed such that it slides over the electrode patterns 11a and 11b. A rotary encorder-contact is thus simplified its configuration and the electrode patterns 11a and 11b can be formed larger even if the rotary encorder-contact is compact so that resolution is prevented from being lowered.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improvement in a contact type rotary encoder having multiple phases.

Contact type rotary encoders are used for applications such as pulse generators and position detectors in digital circuit input sections. There are two types of rotary encoders: single-phase and multi-phase rotary encoders. For example, a two-phase rotary encoder outputs a pulse waveform as shown in FIG. 4.

In this example, the two phases have a phase difference of T/4.

The rotary encoder having two output phases is represented in terms of an electrical circuit as shown in FIG. SWl, SW2 are T
Switches that are turned on and off with a time difference of /4, V, ,V
, is the output voltage, and #1.2.3 are the terminals. The structure of a rotary encoder consists of an insulated substrate with two-phase electrode patterns and a slider with contact parts that slide into contact with the electrode patterns of each phase.The slider is rotated relative to the insulated substrate. This structure allows the contact portion to slide along the electrode pattern of each phase.

FIG. 6 shows a conventional contact type rotary encoder. 61
is an insulating substrate, on the surface of which two annular patterns A and B are formed concentrically.

Each pattern A, B is a pattern in which wide electrode portions 62a, 62b- and thin line portions 63a, 63b alternately repeat.
and outer annular pattern A and inner annular pattern B
The phase is different from that by T/4. This 2
For the two annular patterns A and H, the slider (not shown) has a rotation center 64 at the center of the two annular patterns A and B,
The two contact portions are brought into sliding contact with the surface of the substrate on the same straight line passing through the center 64, as shown by 65 and 66 in the figure. The center of rotation 64 of the slider is a center electrode 67 formed on the surface of the insulating substrate.
It is connected with. The center electrode 67 connects to the center terminal # through an extraction electrode (not shown) formed on the back side of the insulating substrate 61.
It is connected to 3. Further, the outer annular pattern A is connected to terminal #1 through a conductive portion 68 formed on the surface of the substrate. The inner annular pattern B is connected to the terminal #2 through a conductive portion 69 provided to pass under the outer annular pattern A.

According to this configuration, when the slider is rotated clockwise on the surface of the insulating substrate with the terminal #112.3 connected to the power source E as in the circuit shown in FIG. The contact portion 66 contacts the wide electrode portion 62a, and then, after a delay of T/4, the contact portion 66 contacts the wide electrode portion 62b. Then T/4~274T
During the period, both of the two contact portions 65 and 66 have a wide electrode 62a,
62b. After 274T, the contact portion 65 no longer contacts the wide electrode portion 62a, and after 374T, both contact portions 65 and 66 come into contact with the wide electrode portions 62a and 62b.
no longer in contact with. From now on, repeat this operation. Therefore, the output voltage V, , V, is T/4 as shown in FIG.
It becomes a pulse waveform that repeats with a phase difference of .

However, the conventional contact type rotary encoder described above has the following problems.

(2) Since the electrode patterns of each phase are formed in concentric circles, the resolution and accuracy of the low-resolution encoder are determined by the accuracy of the innermost electrode pattern (pattern B in the illustrated example). That is, to obtain high resolution, it is necessary to increase the diameter of the innermost electrode pattern, which increases the size of the structure.On the other hand, if the structure is made smaller, the diameter of the innermost electrode pattern becomes smaller, resulting in lower resolution. .

■In order to connect the inner electrode pattern and terminal #2, the connection electrode must pass under the outer electrode pattern, which makes manufacturing difficult, and when manufacturing by printing, it cannot be manufactured in one printing. There is.

The above-mentioned problems are not limited to the case where there are two output phases, but are also common when there are three or more phases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a contact rotary encoder that is easy to manufacture and does not significantly reduce resolution even when downsized.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object of i °, the contact type rotary encoder according to the present invention divides one virtual circumference on the surface of an insulating substrate equally into the number of phases, and applies an electrode pattern to each divided circular arc portion, one phase at a time. is arranged, and on the other hand, on the slider side, a contact portion facing the electrode pattern of each phase is arranged.

According to the present invention, the electrode patterns of each phase are arranged in arc portions that equally divide one circumference. In other words, the electrode patterns of each phase are arranged on the same circumference, and are no longer configured with an inner electrode pattern and an outer electrode pattern as in the past. Therefore, it is possible to downsize the rotary encoder while maintaining its resolution. Furthermore, when connecting the electrode patterns of each phase to the terminals, the connection can be made without having to pass under other electrode patterns as in the conventional case.

Fig. 1 is an exploded view showing a contact type rotary encoder with two output phases as an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 1 is an insulating substrate, 2 is a slider, 3 is a rotation operation shaft for rotating the slider 2, and 4 is a cover.

The insulating substrate 1 is made of, for example, a resin substrate, and has two layers on its surface.
Phase electrode patterns lla and llb are formed. Both patterns Ila and llb are formed at each divided circular arc portion which is assumed to have one circumference on the substrate surface and divides the circumference into two equal parts. In this case, the picture electrode patterns lla and 11b are provided offset by T/4 as shown in FIG. The shape of each electrode pattern lla, llb is basically a repeating pattern of wide electrode portions 12a, 12b and thin line portions 13a, 13b, similar to the conventional example shown in FIG. Each of the electrode patterns lla and llb is connected to a terminal 14.15 provided at an end of the insulating substrate 1 through a conductive film 16.17 formed on the surface of the substrate. A center electrode 18 is formed on the substrate surface portion corresponding to the center of the circumference on which the electrode patterns lla and 11b are formed. This center electrode 18 is led out through a through hole to the back surface of the substrate, and is connected to a terminal 19 through a conductive film (not shown) formed on the back surface of the substrate.

The slider 2 has a structure in which contact portions 22, 23, and 24 are provided by cutting and raising the central portion and the circumferential portion of a metal disk 21 at two locations.

When the metal disk 21 is brought closer to the insulating substrate 1, the contact portion 22 at the center contacts the center electrode 18, and the contact portions 23, 24 at the circumferential portion
contacts the electrode patterns 11a and llb of each phase. 25
．． 26 is a hole into which the protruding portion of the rotating operation shaft 3 is engaged.

The rotation operation shaft 3 consists of an operation shaft 31 and a disk portion 32 attached to the tip of the shaft.
Protrusions 33, 34 are provided which engage the.

The cover 4 is a bottomless cylindrical body 42 having a hole 41 in the center through which the operating shaft 31 is inserted, and a plurality of claw pieces 43.4 on the outer circumference of the cylinder.
3 is installed protrudingly. In order to attach the cover 4 to the insulating substrate 1, the claw pieces 43, 43 are caulked so as to engage with the back surface of the substrate.

In order to assemble a rotary encoder using each of the components 1 to 4 described above, first, the projections 33, 34 of the rotation operation shaft 3 are engaged with the holes 25, 26 of the slider 2, and then the slider 2 is moved to the insulating substrate 1. It is sufficient to slide the board into contact with the front surface, cover it with the cover 4 in that state, and swage the claw pieces 43 and 43 onto the back surface of the board.

In this assembled state, the two contact portions 23.
24 is in contact with the electrode patterns lla and llb with a phase difference of T/4 as shown in FIG. When the rotation operation shaft 3 is rotated, the locus of the contact portions 23, 24 does not pass through the thin line portions 13a and 13b, as shown by the hatched portion S in FIG.

Therefore, the contact portions 23 and 24 are connected to the electrode patterns lla and ll.
When the rotation operating shaft 3 is turned in the direction of arrow P (clockwise) from the state in which it is in contact with b as shown in FIG.
As in the figure, a pulse signal with a phase shift of T/4 is obtained.

Although the embodiment shows a rotary encoder with two output phases, the present invention can be applied to a rotary encoder with three or more phases. In that case, the number of divisions of one virtual circumference on the insulating substrate is increased corresponding to the number of phases, and
The number of contact portions of the slider may be increased in accordance with the electrode patterns of each phase.

As explained above, according to the present invention, the electrode pattern for each phase is arranged in the arc portion that divides one circumference equally by the number of phases, so that the electrode pattern for multiple phases is Unlike the case where the patterns are arranged in concentric circles, all the electrode patterns are arranged on one circumference, which has the effect that the rotary encoder can be made smaller without significantly reducing its resolution.

In addition, since the electrode patterns for each phase are formed on the same circumference, conductive parts for connecting the electrode patterns and terminals can also be formed on the surface of the insulating substrate, and if printed, all the parts can be formed in one go. The electrode pattern and all the conductive parts can be formed, and it has the advantage of being very easy to manufacture.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing the contact type rotary encoder of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view of the insulating substrate, Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the movement locus of the contact part, and Fig. 4 is a diagram of the two-phase two-phase rotary encoder. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an output pulse waveform, FIG. 5 is an electric circuit diagram of a rotary encoder, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a conventional contact type rotary encoder. 1... Insulating substrate, 2... Slider, lla, llb.
...Electrode pattern, 23.24...Contact part. Patent applicant: Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) One virtual circumference on the surface of the insulating substrate is equally divided into the number of phases, and an electrode pattern is arranged for each phase in each divided arc,
On the other hand, a contact type rotary encoder characterized in that a contact portion facing the electrode pattern of each phase is arranged on the slider side.