JPH0565025U - Rotary switch with click feeling - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] A click mechanism that can easily increase the relative position accuracy of the contact and the slider for switching the contact is adopted, and the contact switching operation and the clicking operation can be linked with high accuracy. Provide a rotary switch with a click feeling that is advantageous for cost reduction. A contact pattern 8 having a plurality of contacts 8a and a click pattern 10 having a plurality of protrusions 10a are concentrically provided on the same substrate 5, and a gap 7 between the contacts 8a of the contact pattern 8 is The slider piece 11 of No. 1 is set to a narrowness that cannot contact the substrate 5, and the click pattern 10
The gap 9 between the convex portions 10a is set to be wide enough to allow the second slider piece 12 integrated with the slider piece 11 to contact the substrate 5.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a rotary switch with a click feeling that allows an operator to feel a contact switching operation with fingers.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 This type of rotary switch has a contact switching mechanism that generates a pulse signal by repeating contact and separation between the contact and the slider piece, and a click feeling by repeatedly engaging and disengaging the uneven portion and the elastic member. A click mechanism that produces a (moderate feel) is provided in a pair of a cord plate and a slider receiver, which is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 58-60827. There is.

In the rotary switch described in this publication, a slider receiver to which a slider piece is fixed holds and holds a ball through a spring, while the code plate has an outer-sert metal. A plurality of contact points made of plates are arranged along the circumferential direction while keeping a predetermined interval, and a comb tooth-shaped uneven portion is formed concentrically with these contact points. On the other hand, when the cord plate is rotated, the slider piece slides on each contact, and the ball is engaged with and disengaged from the uneven portion. Therefore, by increasing the relative position accuracy between each contact and the concavo-convex part and by increasing the relative position accuracy between the slider piece and the ball, the contact switching operation in which the slider piece repeats contact with and separation from the contact, It is possible to accurately link the click motion, which causes the ball to engage and disengage with the uneven portion to generate a click feeling.

Further, in this conventional example, a contact switching mechanism and a click mechanism are realized by using a pair of code plates and slider receivers, and it is necessary to separately attach a click-only cam plate or the like. Since it does not exist, the number of parts can be reduced, which is also advantageous for downsizing.

[0005]

However, in the above-described conventional example, when the metal plate serving as the contact point is supplied to the injection molding die to perform outsert molding, the positioning pin provided on the die and the metal plate are provided. Due to the clearance required between the positioning holes, the contacts are easily displaced from the reference position of the mold.Therefore, in the code plate after outsert molding, there are contact points and uneven parts for clicking. It was difficult to precisely define the relative position of the. Furthermore, since the contact switching slider piece and the click ball are separate parts, it was difficult to precisely define the relative position between the slider piece and the ball. As a result, the interlocking accuracy between the contact switching operation and the click operation is likely to decrease, and it is extremely difficult to ensure interlocking performance, especially in a high-resolution rotary switch in which each contact is arranged at a fine pitch.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems of the prior art, and an object thereof is to make it possible to link the contact switching operation and the click operation with high accuracy, which is also advantageous in cost reduction. It is to provide a rotary switch with.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 The above-described object of the present invention is to provide a first pattern formed by forming a plurality of contacts along a circumferential direction while maintaining a predetermined interval on a same substrate, and a plurality of patterns along a circumferential direction while maintaining a predetermined interval. Is provided concentrically with the second pattern formed by forming the convex portions of the contact pattern, and the contact switching slider piece cannot contact the base plate with a space between the contact points adjacent to the first pattern. And a click slider piece made of a single metal piece with the slider piece is used as the elastic member, and the interval between the above-mentioned convex portions adjacent to the second pattern is set. This is achieved by setting the width of the click slider piece so that it can contact the substrate.

[0008]

[Action]

 According to the above means, the contact switching slider piece is not disengaged from the first pattern, but the click slider piece is disengaged from the second pattern, so that a click feeling occurs. In addition, since the first and second patterns can be collectively formed on the substrate, the relative position of both patterns can be defined with high accuracy, and the contact switching slider Since the one piece and the click slider piece are integrated, the relative positions of both slider pieces can be specified with high accuracy.

[0009]

【Example】

 An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. Here, FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a main part of a rotary switch according to an embodiment, FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the overall structure of the rotary switch, and FIG. 3 is a contact pattern of the rotary switch and sliding on the pattern. FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the dimensional relationship with the slider piece, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the dimensional relationship between the click pattern of the rotary switch and the slider piece sliding on the pattern.

In the rotary switches shown in these figures, a slider receiver 3 is integrated with an operation shaft 2 rotatable with respect to a code plate 1, and a cover 4 covering the slider receiver 3 is a core. It is integrated with the board 1.

The code plate 1 has a ring-shaped common electrode 6 on a substrate 5 and a contact pattern 8 extending along the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral side of the common electrode 6 having narrow gaps 7 of equal pitch. And a click pattern 10 having a wide gap 9 of equal pitch and extending along the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral side of the contact pattern 8 are concentrically provided. Every other 8a is electrically connected to the common electrode 6, and the gaps 9 between the respective convex portions 10a forming the click pattern 10 are located radially outside the contacts 8a having the same potential as the common electrodes 6. ..

Such a code plate 1 can be manufactured by an ordinary pattern forming technique. That is, first, a copper foil is attached to one surface of the substrate 5, an overcoat resist is applied to a predetermined area of the copper foil, the exposed copper foil is removed by etching, and then an overcoat resist is formed. Is melted, and the copper foil remaining on the substrate 5 is sequentially plated with nickel and gold, whereby the common electrode 6 having good conductivity and both patterns 8 and 10 can be collectively formed.

Further, the slider receiver 3 has a slider 13 formed by branching and forming a first slider piece 11 and a second slider piece 12, and an inner circumference of the slider 13. Since the slider 14 located on the side is fixed in a state of being electrically insulated from each other, and the pair of sliders 13 and 14 are elastically contacted with the pattern forming surface of the code plate 1, When the operating shaft 2 is rotated, both sliders 13 and 14 slide on the code plate 1. Specifically, one slider piece 11 of the slider 13 can slide on the contact pattern 8, the other slider piece 12 can slide on the click pattern 10, and the slider 14 Can slide on the common electrode 6.

As for the dimensional relationship between the contact pattern 8 and the first slider piece 11, as shown in FIG. 3, the first slider piece 11 is attached to the substrate 5 within the gap 7 of the contact pattern 8. In the case where the width d of the gap 7 is set to be small so that they cannot come into contact with each other, and the sliding portion 11a of the slider piece 11 is formed as a cylindrical surface having a radius of curvature r as in this embodiment. , And the thickness of the contact pattern 8 is t, this dimensional relationship can be expressed as in Equation 1.

[0015]

## EQU1 ## r ² − (rt) ² > (d / 2) ² The dimensional relationship between the click pattern 10 and the second slider piece 12 is as shown in FIG. The width D of the gap 9 is set to be large so that the second slider piece 12 can come into contact with the substrate 5 in the gap 9 and the sliding of the slider piece 12 as in the present embodiment. When the moving portion 12a is formed as a cylindrical surface having a radius of curvature R, the dimensional relationship can be expressed as in Equation 2 where the thickness of the click pattern 10 is t.

[0016]

R ² − (R−t) ² <(D / 2) ² Therefore, when the slider 13 rotates on the code plate 1 due to the above dimensional relationship, the first slider piece 11 is Since it rotates on substantially the same plane, it does not engage or disengage from the contact pattern 8. However, since the second slider piece 12 engages or disengages from the click pattern 10, it causes a click feeling each time it falls into the gap 9. It is like this.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be briefly described.

In this rotary switch, when the operator rotates the operation shaft 2 in one direction, the slider receiver 3 integrated with the operation shaft 2 rotates in the same direction, and the slider 14 is rotated during this rotation operation. Always slides on the common electrode 6, but the first slider piece 11 of the slider 13 makes contact with each contact 8a of the contact pattern 8 one after another, so that it is conducted to the common electrode 6. When the slider piece 11 comes into contact with the contact point 8a, the two sliders 13 and 14 are electrically connected and a pulse signal is detected. By counting the number of pulses, the operating shaft 2 The amount of rotation can be detected. Further, during the rotation operation of the slider receiver 3, the second slider piece 12 of the slider 13 alternately contacts the convex portion 10a of the click pattern 10 and the substrate 5 exposed in the gap 9. Each time the slider piece 12 falls into the gap 9, a click feeling is generated. However, as is apparent from FIG. 1, each gap 9 is connected to each contact 8a electrically connected to the common electrode 6. Since it is provided at the corresponding position, a click feeling is generated every time a pulse signal is detected, and the operator can feel this click feeling with fingers.

As described above, in the above embodiment, since the contact pattern 8 and the click pattern 10 are collectively formed on the substrate 5, the relative positions of both patterns 8 and 10 can be defined with high accuracy, and further, Since the slider 13 is branched to form the first and second slider pieces 11 and 12, the relative positions of both the slider pieces 11 and 12 can be defined with high accuracy. The contact switching operation and the click operation can be linked with high accuracy. Therefore, even in a high-resolution rotary switch in which the contacts 8a are arranged at a fine pitch, the interlocking between the contact switching operation and the click operation can be relatively easily ensured.

Further, when the click mechanism for engaging and disengaging the second slider piece 12 of the slider 13 with the click pattern 10 on the substrate 5 as in the above-described embodiment is adopted, elasticity for click only is adopted. Since it is not necessary to additionally install members, cam plates, etc., the number of parts can be reduced, assembly is improved, cost reduction and miniaturization can be promoted.

In the above embodiment, the rotary switch in which the slider receiver 3 is rotated with respect to the code plate 1 has been described, but the code plate fixed to the operation shaft is rotated with respect to the slider plate. It goes without saying that the present invention can be applied even to a rotary switch of the type.

[0022]

[Effect of the device]

 As described above, the contact pattern and the click pattern are concentrically provided on the substrate, and the slider piece for engaging and disengaging the click pattern is a metal piece integrated with the slider piece for contact switching. According to the present invention, since the relative positions of the both patterns and the relative positions of the two slider pieces can be defined with high accuracy, the contact switching operation and the click operation can be linked with high accuracy. In addition, since it is not necessary to additionally attach an elastic member, a cam plate, or the like dedicated to the click, it is possible to achieve cost reduction and size reduction.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a main part of a rotary switch according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the overall configuration of the rotary switch.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a dimensional relationship between a contact pattern of the rotary switch and a slider piece that slides on the pattern.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a dimensional relationship between a click pattern of the rotary switch and a slider piece that slides on the pattern.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Code Plate 3 Slider Receiver 5 Substrate 7,9 Gap 8 Contact Pattern (First Pattern) 8a Contact 10 Click Pattern (Second Pattern) 10a Convex Part 11 First Slider Piece 12 Second Slider piece (slider piece for click)

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A plurality of contacts arranged along a circumferential direction, a slider piece slidable on the plurality of contacts, and a convex portion and a concave portion alternately provided along the circumferential direction. A click mechanism for engaging and disengaging the elastic member is provided, and the plurality of contacts and the slider piece are relatively rotated to bring them into contact with each other, and the click mechanism is operated in conjunction with the contact operation. In a rotary switch with a click sensation that produces a sensation, a first pattern in which a plurality of the contacts are formed along a circumferential direction while maintaining a predetermined interval on the same substrate, and a circumferential pattern while maintaining a predetermined interval And a second pattern formed by forming a plurality of the above convex portions along a concentric circle, and the distance between the contact points adjacent to the first pattern is set so that the slider piece contacts the substrate. It is set to an impossible width and the elasticity A click slider piece made of a metal piece integral with the slider piece is used as a member, and the interval between the convex portions adjacent to the second pattern is set such that the click slider piece is on the substrate. A rotary switch with a click feeling characterized by being set to a width that allows contact.