JPH0428809Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to the structure of an operation knob assembly mechanism for a control lever of a vehicle air conditioner such as a heater or a cooler.

[Conventional technology]

As shown in FIG. 5, the air conditioner is operated by sliding an operating knob 101 connected to one end of a control lever 102 from side to side along a straight slit provided in a front panel 100. Then,
A link 104 pivotally supported at the other end of the lever 102
The rotary shaft 103 is rotated by a predetermined angle via the rotary shaft 103 to operate a switch or a damper connected to the shaft 103.

The conventional operation knob 101 is constructed by incorporating a spring 111 and a knob illumination lens 112 into a hollow body 110 as shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 7, as shown in FIG. The lens 112 is inserted and fixed so that it is positioned on the upper side. As shown in the figure, the rear end of the lens 112 is a reflective surface 112a having an inclination of 45 degrees, and the lens 11 receives light irradiated onto the reflective surface 112a from a light source 113 installed above.
The tip of the lens 112 exposed on the front surface of the hollow body 110 is made to shine, thereby facilitating operation of the knob at night.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

The operation knob 101 and the control lever 102 are made symmetrically, and even if the operation knob 101 is upside down, it can be attached to the tip of the control lever 102 without any abnormality during assembly. Reverse assembly was sometimes carried out due to carelessness. In such a case, the slope of the reflective surface 112a of the lens 112 is opposite to that in the normal case, and the light received from the light source 113 is reflected from the lens 112.
2, the forward deflection action is no longer performed, and it becomes impossible to achieve the desired effect of illuminating the operating knob. Further, this conventional knob requires the spring 111 to fix the lens to the hollow body and to fix the knob itself to the tip of the lever, which increases the number of parts.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention improves the shortcomings of the conventional operating knob, proposes a structure that has fewer parts and eliminates mistakes caused by reverse assembly of the knob.

That is, the present invention is an operating knob assembly mechanism for a control lever of a device, and includes an engaging piece made of two bifurcated legs made of an elastic material and provided at the tip of the control lever. , an operation knob provided with a hole that fits into the engagement piece, and a lens that guides light from a light source to the tip of the operation knob is held in the space between the legs of the engagement piece. This mechanism is assembled into the operating knob, and the engaging piece, the operating knob, and the lens are integrally held together by elastic deformation of the engaging piece.

The dimensions of the legs of the one engagement piece need to be different from the dimensions of the other leg, thereby preventing the operating knob from being assembled in the opposite direction to the lever.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to preferred embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the front side of the operating knob 1 of the present invention. The knob 1 is made of vinyl chloride resin, and has notches 2 on its side to make it easier to hold with fingers. There is. Also, there is an opening 3 on the front side.
is provided so that the tip of a lens 4, which will be described later, is exposed.

FIG. 2 is an assembled perspective view of the assembly mechanism of the present invention seen from the rear side, and the operating knob 1 is provided with a hole 5 having a specially shaped cross section on the rear surface. The lens 4 is inserted into the knob 1 through the hole 5, and its tip is exposed from the opening 3 as described above. This lens 4 is in the form of a rod having a specially shaped cross section made of a transparent resin such as polycarbonate, and particularly has stepped portions 7 and 8 of different heights on its upper and lower surfaces. The center portion of the hole 5 of the operation knob 1 has a protrusion 7a and a recess 8a corresponding to this stepped portion, and the lens 4 and the opening 3 can only close the hole 5 in a predetermined direction.
It has been devised so that it cannot be inserted inside. The rear end of the lens 4 is an inclined reflective surface 4a, and the light coming from a light source (not shown) is deflected by the reflective surface as in the case of the conventional assembly mechanism described above. It has the effect of directing it forward along the axial direction.

On the other hand, the control lever 9 to which the operating knob 1 is attached is made of a highly elastic resin such as polyacetal, and its tip is an engaging piece with two bifurcated legs 9a and 9b. ing. The engaging piece also has a special shape as shown in the figure, and its cross section has a shape corresponding to that so that it can fit into the hole 5 of the operating knob 1 described above. The legs 9a, 9
The gap 10 between the legs 9a and 9b is configured to be slightly smaller than the thickness of the lens 4, and when the lens 4 is inserted into the gap 10 in the state shown in FIG. The lens 4 is spread out and firmly gripped by its elastic force. In this state, when the legs 9a and 9b are further inserted into the hole 5, they are pressed against the inner wall of the hole 5 and a resilient force is generated between them and the operating knob 1, resulting in a strong engagement state, and the legs 9a and 9b are separately attached with springs, etc. There is no need to provide a biasing member.

As shown in Fig. 3, the dimensions a and b in the height direction of the legs 9a and 9b are different from each other (a>b), and the shape of the corresponding hole in the operation knob 1 is also different on the left and right sides accordingly. is set to . Therefore, even if the operator accidentally turns the operating knob 1 upside down and attempts to assemble it to the control lever 9 during the assembly work, the two will not fit together at all, and the operator will immediately notice the mistake.

FIG. 4 shows a state in which the operation knob 1, lens 4, and control lever 9 assembled in this manner are attached to a design panel 11 of an air conditioner. In the figure, 12 is a lens that transmits light from a light source.

[Effect of idea]

As detailed above, according to the present invention, the operation knob, the lens, and the control lever are made firm by the elastic force generated by the elastic deformation of the engagement piece at the tip of the control lever. Since it can be assembled, there is no need for a spring, which was conventionally assembled as a separate component, and the number of parts can be reduced.

In addition, the dimensions of the leg of the engaging piece and the hole of the operating knob that fits into it are made different on the left and right sides, so if the operating knob is turned upside down by mistake during assembly, both sides will be damaged. The mistake can be noticed immediately. This makes it possible to prevent malfunctions caused by reverse attachment of the lens due to assembly errors that have conventionally occurred.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a front perspective view of the operating knob used in the present invention, Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the assembly sequence of the assembly mechanism of the present invention, and Figure 3 is the engagement of the control lever used in the present invention. Perspective view showing the left and right dimensions of the joint, No. 4
The figure is an assembled sectional view of the assembly mechanism of the present invention, Figure 5 is a plan view showing the entire lever operation mechanism, Figure 6 is a perspective view showing the assembly of the conventional assembly mechanism, and Figure 7 is the same assembly. FIG. 1...knob, 2...notch, 3...opening, 4...
... Lens, 5 ... Hole, 7, 8 ... Step portion, 9 ... Control lever, 10 ... Gap, 11 ... Design panel, 12 ... Light source lens.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] An operating knob assembly mechanism for a control lever of a device, which comprises: an engaging piece consisting of two bifurcated legs made of an elastic material provided at the tip of the control lever; and an operation knob provided with a hole for fitting, and the space between the legs of the engagement piece includes:
A lens having a thickness slightly larger than the width of the space and guiding light from a light source to the tip of the operating knob is assembled into the operating knob in a state in which the engaging piece, the operating knob and the lens are retained. are held integrally with each other by elastic deformation of the engagement piece, the cross section of one leg of the engagement piece and the cross section of the other leg have different dimensions, and the operation The holes in the knobs are also sized to correspond to the cross section of these legs.