JPH0216488Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to the lighting section mechanism in an illuminated switch, and in particular the arrangement position of the light emitter and the terminal insertion hole into which the terminal of the light emitter is inserted. This invention relates to an illumination unit mechanism of an illuminated switch, in which the arrangement position of the socket is offset from the position of the socket, and the illumination unit is equipped with a conductor that electrically communicates between the terminal of the illuminant and the terminal insertion hole of the socket. .

[Conventional technology]

(Background of the invention) In general, in the case of an illuminated switch, a socket for inserting a terminal of a light emitter is provided in the center of the switch housing, and a light emitter for illumination is provided directly above the socket. Directly connect the end of the terminal.
It is inserted into the terminal socket. Recently, light emitting diodes have come to be used as light emitters, but these light emitting diodes are darker than lamps using filaments and emit light only in the upward direction. If you cover a button with more than three times the size, the area around the button will become dark, making it difficult to tell whether the button is lit or off when you press the button with your fingertip when operating a switch. Therefore, when using a light emitting diode as a light emitter for illumination, it is practical to arrange the light emitter at a position offset from the center in the width direction of the switch button. However, in this case, the socket for inserting the terminal of the light emitter of the illuminated switch is provided at the center in the width direction within the housing, so the terminal of the light emitter that is not located directly above the socket is inserted into the terminal insertion hole of the socket. It is necessary to bend the terminal of the light emitter in order to insert it into the device.

(Prior Art) In consideration of the above points, conventionally, as an idea of bending the terminal of a light emitting diode and guiding the end thereof to the illumination circuit so as to be able to conduct electricity, an engaging cylinder piece is provided inside the operator. A light emitting diode is removably engaged with the engaging portion of the engaging cylinder piece, while the terminal of the light emitting diode is bent into an L shape, and its upper surface is brought into contact with a support column provided upright on the operator. An idea was proposed in Japanese Utility Model Application No. 119221/1983 in which a spring electrically connected to the illumination circuit and pushing the terminal upward is brought into contact with the lower surface thereof.

[The problem that the idea attempts to solve]

However, in the case of this conventional invention,
There is a problem in that the spring often separates from the terminal when a switch is operated or when the device vibrates or is shocked, resulting in poor continuity between the terminal of the light emitter and the lighting circuit, which causes a lighting failure.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a light emitting unit mechanism for an illuminated switch that overcomes the above-mentioned drawbacks, and in which the arrangement position of the light emitter and the terminal of the light emitter are adjusted in the width direction of the switch body. To safely and reliably conduct a light emitter terminal and a terminal socket even when the arrangement position of a socket provided with a terminal insertion hole to be inserted is offset, and to have an extremely simple configuration. An object of the present invention is to provide an illumination unit mechanism in an illuminated switch that does not cause a failure in energizing the illumination circuit when the switch is operated or when the device is subjected to vibration or impact.

[Means to solve the problem]

In the present invention, in the width direction of the switch body, the placement position of the light emitting body is offset from the placement position of the socket provided with the terminal insertion hole into which the terminal of the light emitting body is inserted, and the terminal of the light emitting body is offset. The lighting mechanism of an illuminated switch includes a conductor that electrically communicates between the terminal insertion hole of the socket and the terminal insertion hole of the socket. It is constituted by a pair of conductive terminals each having a substantially inverted U-shaped loop part connected to the leg part, and the terminal of the light emitting body is held in the vicinity of the side end of the leg part within the loop part of the conductive terminal. This is an illumination part mechanism in an illuminated switch characterized by the following.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the conductive terminal is formed by bending a single wire such as phosphor bronze.

In the embodiment, an example was shown in which the illumination mechanism of the present invention was applied to an illuminated push-button switch, but the illumination mechanism of the present invention is not limited to push-button switches, but can also be applied to other types of switches, such as illuminated waveform switches, etc. Needless to say, it can also be applied to

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described along with an actual example applied to an illuminated push button switch.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the main parts of an illuminated push button switch constructed by applying an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic partially cutaway cross-sectional view showing the switch mechanism, and FIG. The figure is an enlarged central cross-sectional diagram of the main part. In these figures, reference numeral 1 indicates the housing of the switch, and the housing 1 has an end face 1a.
is open, and is partitioned into a space in which the operating shaft 3 slides up and down and a space in which the switch means 2 is housed, by a flat part 1b provided approximately at the center. An operation shaft 3 constituted by a push button 6 and a converter 4 having an internal illumination mechanism of the present invention is inserted into the housing 1 from the direction of the open end surface 1a of the housing 1, and is slidably arranged. . On the other hand, a switch base 2A having a switch means 2, which will be described later, is mounted on the base end 1c of the housing 1. The housing 1 and the switch base 2A are
A plurality of recesses 1d, 1d... formed in the base end 1c of the housing 1, and a plurality of engagement protrusions 2 formed in the side surfaces 2a, 2a of the switch base 2A.
b, 2b... are fitted by engaging with each other.

First, the switch means 2 used in the push button switch according to this embodiment will be explained.
An NC fixing piece 20, an NO fixing piece 21, and a support piece 22 having a pair of rising parts 22a, 22a, which constitute the switch means 2, are respectively disposed on the switch base 2A. The NC fixing piece 20 and the NO fixing piece 21 are respectively connected to NC contact terminals 2 that pass through the bottom wall of the switch base 2A.
3. It is an NO contact terminal 24, and the support piece 22 also serves as a common terminal 25 passing through the bottom wall of the switch base 2A. Stepped notches 26a and 26b (shown in the second figure) are formed on both sides of each rising portion 22a and 22a of this support piece 22,
The notch 26a located above holds a side end 27b of a movable contact piece 27 having a movable contact 27a, and the notch 26b holds a side end of an actuating piece 29 which is pressed and operated by an operating plate 28, which will be described later, as a push rod. 29a are respectively locked. Then, one end of the tension spring 30 is locked to the movable contact piece 27, and
The other end is locked to the operating piece 29, and the operating plate 28
When the actuating piece 29 is pressed, the movable contact piece 27 and the actuating piece 29 are provided with reversibility so that they can be reversed. In this embodiment, an operation panel designated by the reference numeral 28 functions to transmit the operation of the push button 6 to the switch means 2. That is, this operation plate 28 is comprised of a pair of upright pieces 2d, 2d provided on the inner wall surface 1e of the housing 1 and the switch base 2A.
It is guided by the vertical surfaces 2e, 2e of and is mounted so as to be able to slide vertically,
The engaging claw 4b of the converter 4 is engaged with the downward stepped portion 28a formed on the inner upper end portion of the converter 4, thereby connecting it to the operating shaft 3. Stepped portion 1f (as shown in the third diagram)
By coming into contact with this, it is prevented from coming off upward. Note that the inner wall surface 1e of the housing 1
A heart cam 31 is formed on one surface of the operation plate 28 facing the , and the heart cam 31 includes:
The bent portion 32a at one end is slidably engaged with the free end 32b of the pin 32, which is locked in the horizontal hole 2c formed in the side surface 2a of the switch base 2A. In this way, as described above, the movable contact piece 27
The actuating piece 29 is configured to be reversible using notches 26a and 26b provided in the support piece 22 as fulcrums, and is reversible up and down according to the snap action principle, thereby opening the NC contact 20a and the NO contact 21a. It is designed to open and close. In this case, when the lower end surfaces 28c, 28c of the horizontal portions 28b, 28b extending on the operation plate 28 collide with the actuation piece 29 and begin to apply downward pressing force, the movable contact 27a
is in contact with the NC contact 20a, and furthermore,
When a sufficient pressing force is applied to the operating piece 29, the movable contact piece 27 is turned around the fulcrum to the NO contact 21a side, and the switch is switched from the NC contact 20a to the NO contact 21a. In any case, the operation of abutting against the end surface of the actuating piece 29 is based on the moment generated by the positional relationship between the supporting points of the movable contact piece 27 and the actuating piece 29 and the spring 30 mounted between them. An upward force is always acting on the horizontal portions 28b, 28b of the plate 28.

Further, a lamp terminal 9 for a light emitting body is provided at the center of the switch base 2A, and is provided through the bottom wall of the switch base 2A.

The operating shaft 3 is composed of a converter 4 for opening and closing the switch means 2, and a push button 6 as an operator which is molded separately from the converter 4 and fitted onto the converter 4. There is. Of these, the converter 4 is formed with two left and right engaging claw pieces 4b, 4b having elasticity hanging from its lower end surface as described above, and one of the engaging claw pieces 4b is operated as described above. The engaging claw piece 4b is elastically engaged with the downward stepped portion 28a of the plate 28, and the other engagement claw piece 4b is elastically engaged with the downward stepped portion 33a of the sliding plate 33 as shown in the third figure.
Therefore, the operation plate 28 is not only provided with the inner wall surface 1e of the housing 1, but also on the side surfaces 2e, 2 of the pair of upright pieces 2d, 2d that stand up from the switch base 2A.
It is also guided by e and slides smoothly up and down.
Then, the free end 32b of the hook pin 32, whose one end bent portion 32a is attached to the side hole 2c of the switch base 2A, slides into the heart cam 31 provided on the operation plate 28, and the operation plate 2
The vertical movement of 8 can be locked. On the other hand, an extension spring 33b is mounted between the sliding plate 33 and the switch base 2A, and the sliding plate 33 is adapted to slide along a guide provided in the housing 1.

Now, approximately at the center of the converter 4 constructed in conjunction with the switch means 2, there is formed a hollowed out part 4A for accommodating the light emitting body 7 and the conductive terminal 5 constituting the illuminating part according to the present invention. has been done. That is, in order to lock the light emitter 7 in the hollowed out part 4A, light emitter locking parts 4d, 4d having a pair of opposing recesses 4e, 4e are formed at the ends in the width direction of the converter 4. At the same time, light emitting terminals 7d, 7d bent into a substantially L shape are provided at the bottom of the hollowed out portion 4A.
Horizontal grooves 4f, 4f are provided to guide the (5th diagram),
Furthermore, the free ends 7e, 7 of the light emitter terminals 7d, 7d
Side wall holes 4a, 4a for inserting and locking the light emitter 7 so as to prevent it from moving in any direction other than the upward direction are formed in the lower part of the inner wall surface of the hollowed out portion 4A (as shown in the sixth figure). On the other hand, vertical grooves 4h, 4h for guiding and locking the conductive terminals 5 are provided in the opposing inner wall surfaces 4B, 4B in the hollowed out part 4A, and approximately at the center of the bottom of the converter 4 provided with the hollowed out part 4A. ,
Guide holes 4g, 4g are formed through the bottom of the conductive terminal 5, through which the leg portion 5a of the conductive terminal 5 is inserted and guided to a socket 8, which will be described later.

Further, in order to contribute to the formation of the horizontal grooves 4f, 4f, vertical grooves 4j, 4j are similarly provided at positions corresponding to the vertical grooves 4h, 4h of the rising piece 4C, which is provided upright at approximately the center of the bottom within the hollowed out portion 4A. The vertical grooves 4h and 4j guide and lock the conductive terminal 5.

Therefore, as is clear from Figures 4 to 6,
The pair of guide holes 4g, 4g through which the legs 5a of the conductive terminal 5 are guided are arranged so as to communicate with the terminal ends of the vertical grooves 4j, 4j provided in the rising piece 4C. 4g, that is, the longitudinal grooves 4j, 4j and 4h, 4h, are set so as to match the spacing between the terminal insertion holes 8a, 8a of the socket 8, which is shown by chain lines in FIG. They are disposed at the bottom of the converter 4, on the opposing inner wall surface of the hollowed out portion 4A, and on the rising piece 4C.

The push button 6, which constitutes a part of the operation shaft 3, has a groove 4c provided in the converter 4, and a groove 4c provided in the converter 4. 4c... is attached to the converter 4 by being elastically fitted. And push button 6
A window hole 6c for exposing the light-emitting portion 7a of the light-emitting body 7 is provided in a portion offset from the center of the light-emitting body 7, thereby effectively emitting light upward from the light-emitting body 7.

As shown in FIG. 4, a pair of conductive terminals designated by reference numeral 5 are each formed into the same shape by bending a single wire, and have a substantially inverted U-shaped loop portion 5b with horizontal portions 5c, 5c. 5b and its loop portion 5b,
It consists of leg parts 5a, 5a hanging down from the horizontal parts 5c, 5c forming a part of the horizontal part 5b. By means of the loop portions 5b, 5b, the light emitting body terminal 7
Gap parts 5A, 5A for inserting and holding d, 7d
are formed, and therefore, the ends of the loop portions 5b, 5b on the horizontal portions 5c, 5c side are closer to the tip portions 5d,
It is formed in an inverted L shape with a width narrower than that on the 5d side. As a result, the terminals 7d, 7d bent into a substantially L-shape of the light emitting body 7 are elastically held in the loop portion near the end of the leg portions 5a, 5a of the conductive terminal 5 while contacting the horizontal portions 5c, 5c. ing. The projecting ends 5d, 5d of the conductive terminal 5 abut against the top surface 6d of the inner wall of the push button 6, as shown in FIG. The parts 5a, 5a are the converter 4 as described above.
After passing through the guide holes 4g, 4g provided through the bottom of the socket, the free ends 5e, 5e are inserted into the terminal insertion holes 8a, 8a of the socket 8, and the loop portions 5b, 5b are inserted into the terminal insertion holes 8a, 8a of the socket 8. Vertical grooves 4h-4j, 4h-4j formed in the hollowed out portion 4A of the converter 4
It will be locked and fixed.

It is preferable that the conductive terminal 5 is formed from a metal wire having elasticity and conductivity, such as phosphor bronze, and having a round cross section, so that stable contact can be obtained without straining the contact surface with the light emitting terminals 7d. That will happen.

The light-emitting body designated by the reference numeral 7 has a light-emitting portion 7a fitted into the window hole 6c of the push button 6, and the main body 7 is connected to the locking portion 4 having a pair of opposing recesses 4e, 4e.
The two terminals 7d, 7d of the light emitting body 7, which are bent into a substantially L-shape, are engaged with the converter 4 by fitting into the cutout 4A of the converter 4. It is elastically clamped by the terminal 5 to ensure reliable contact and retention. Furthermore, the ends 7e, 7e of the terminals are inserted and locked into the holes 4a formed in the side wall of the hollowed out portion 4A of the converter 4, as described above. As the light emitting body 7 in the present invention, it is possible to use a miniature light bulb having an outer filament of a light emitting diode, a neon bulb, etc., as long as it has a terminal.

As shown in FIG. 3, below the light emitter 7 and at the center in the width direction of the switch body, that is, at a position offset from the light emitter 7, there is a movement guide for the illumination unit formed in the housing 1, as shown in FIG. A socket 8 is provided which is inserted and guided into the cylindrical portion 1g and is biased upward by a conductive extension spring 10, which will be described later. In the longitudinal direction of this socket 8, the free ends 5e, 5a of the conductive terminals 5, 5a, 5a,
A pair of terminal insertion holes 8a, 8a for inserting and holding the terminal e are provided (as shown in the first figure), and
Downward step portions 8b, 8b which are pressed against the upper end portion of the spring 10 are formed in the inner portions a, 8a. This socket 8 is made of an insulator, and when the free ends 5e, 5e of the conductive terminals 5 are inserted from above in the vicinity of the step portions 8b, 8b in the respective holes 8a, 8a, A socket fitting 8c that contacts the free ends 5e, 5e of the conductive terminal 5 and the spring 10 is inserted. As shown in FIG. 3, the socket 8 is connected to the lamp terminals 9, 9 for the light emitter, one end of which is located inside the housing 1 and the other end of which projects outward from the switch base 2A. In between, the step portion 8b whose upper end portion is the socket 8,
The spring 10 is mounted in such a manner that the conductive terminals 5, 5 and the lamp terminal 9 are in pressure contact with each other, and their lower ends are in contact with the one ends 9a, 9a of the lamp terminals 9, 9. electrically connected.

In this example, when the push button 6 is pressed, the converter 4, the conductive terminal 5, the light emitter 7 and the socket 8 below the push button 6 can be moved downward at the same time. In addition, in order to apply a pressing force to the push button 6 to complete the switch switching operation and to prevent the push button 6 from further lowering, for example, the inner wall surface 1e of the housing 1 must be pressed.
A step (not shown) may be formed on the outer wall of the push button 6, converter 4, etc., which constitute the operation shaft 3, for example, 3b, and a protrusion that contacts the step may be formed on the outer wall of the push button 6, converter 4, etc. that constitute the operation shaft 3.

Reference numeral 12 denotes holes 12a, 12a... that fit into protrusions 1i, 1i... provided on the outer periphery of the housing 1.
It is an elastic board with The elastic plate 12 and the housing flange 1j are members used for attachment to the switch panel (not shown).

[Effect of idea]

The present invention is constructed as described above and operates as described above, and when the light emitting body is placed in a position offset from just above the socket for the light emitting body provided in the housing of the illuminated switch, a separate body can be used. The luminous terminal is effectively extended through a conductive terminal consisting of a conductive terminal, and conduction is established between the luminous terminal and the socket safely and reliably, and the luminous terminal is It is possible to reliably prevent conductive terminals from floating up or coming off from sockets, resulting in poor conduction.

Furthermore, the conductive terminal of the present invention is different from the conventional clamping contact conductive terminal which has a structure that opens at the top, and has a clamping part in the shape of an approximately inverted U-shaped loop, and the terminal of the light emitting body is slid inside the loop. Due to the structure that has strong clamping force and makes contact at a narrow position of the loop,
The conductive terminal can maintain stable contact despite its extremely simple shape. Further, a conductive terminal having such a shape and characteristics can be easily processed, and since the shape is simple, it can be formed into an extremely small component. Therefore, it is suitable for use as a conductive terminal for a small switch.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the main parts of an example in which the illumination mechanism according to the present invention is applied to an illuminated switch, Fig. 2 is a partially cutaway cross-sectional schematic diagram showing the main parts, and Fig. 3 is an enlarged center view of the main part. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the main parts of the illumination mechanism according to the present invention, FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view showing the illumination mechanism, and FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view thereof. 1...Housing, 2...Switch means, 4...
...Converter, 5...Conductive terminal, 5A...Gap part, 5
a...Leg portion, 5b...Loop portion, 5c...Horizontal portion, 5e...Free end, 6...Push button, 8...Socket.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] (1) In the width direction of the switch body, the placement position of the light emitting body and the placement position of the socket provided with the terminal insertion hole into which the terminal of the light emission body is inserted are offset. An illumination unit mechanism of an illuminated switch comprising a conductor electrically communicating between a terminal of the light emitter and the terminal insertion hole of the socket, wherein the conductor is connected to the terminal insertion hole of the socket. A pair of conductive terminals each having a leg portion inserted into the leg portion and a substantially inverted U-shaped loop portion connected to the leg portion; An illumination mechanism in an illuminated switch characterized by being clamped near a side end. (2) The lighting mechanism in the lighting switch according to claim 1, wherein the conductive terminal is formed by bending a single wire. (3) The lighting mechanism in the lighting switch according to claim 2, wherein the conductive terminal is formed of a phosphor bronze wire.