JPH0643976Y2 - Electronic timer specification switching device - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial field of application] This invention is based on the specifications of an electronic timer, that is, 0-5, 0-10.
The present invention relates to a specification switching device for switching specifications such as a time range and auxiliary specifications other than the time range, for example, time units such as hours, minutes, and seconds, and operation modes such as timed operation and timed return.

[Conventional technology]

The specifications of the internal circuit (timer circuit) that has multiple specifications
An electronic timer is provided in which one unit has a plurality of functions by switching from the outside by a specification switching device.

A typical example of such a specification switching device is, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 59-152543, to change a specification by switching a timer circuit by some rotary type switching mechanism, and It has a structure in which the corresponding one of the specifications displayed on the specification display member interlocking with the switch mechanism is displayed on the display window.

[Problems to be solved by the device]

However, in the above-mentioned specification switching device, since a small and thin and suitable rotary type switch is not provided as a single item, each rotary type switch mechanism can be combined with contact patterns and switch sliders. Since they are individually formed on the printed circuit board, there is a problem in that the number of parts is large, the assembly is complicated, and the cost is high.

Further, since each switch mechanism needs a contact portion corresponding to the number of specifications (for example, four) desired to be switched, there is a problem that the number of contact portions is large and the reliability is reduced accordingly.

Moreover, in order to increase or decrease the number of switching specifications in each switch mechanism, the design of the switch mechanism itself must be changed, which is very troublesome.

Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to provide a specification switching device for an electronic timer in which the above points are improved.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

In order to achieve the above object, the specification switching device of the present invention is
It is a rotary type, two variable resistors for setting the time range and for setting the auxiliary specifications other than the time range, in which a constant voltage is applied and the magnitude of the output voltage is changed according to the rotation. Two axes for time range setting and auxiliary specification setting for rotating both variable resistors, respectively, and a plurality of output states according to the magnitude of the output voltage output from the both variable resistors, respectively, and A conversion circuit for electrically switching the time range and auxiliary specifications of a timer circuit having a plurality of time ranges and a plurality of auxiliary specifications, and a large hole and two small holes provided on the extension of its diameter, and A time range display plate in which a plurality of numerical values representing the time range is displayed on the front surface of the periphery of the large hole as a group, and the axis for setting the time range and this time range display plate are connected to each other. An auxiliary specification display member that rotates integrally with the connecting mechanism and the auxiliary specification setting shaft, and a plurality of auxiliary specifications other than the time range are displayed on the front surface thereof, and the auxiliary specification display member and the time. A timer that is provided so as to close the front side of the range display plate and is switched according to the rotation of the variable resistor for setting the time range among the numerical values constituting each group displayed on the time range display plate. Of the plurality of time range display windows that are exposed one by one corresponding to the time range of the circuit and the plurality of auxiliary specifications displayed on the auxiliary specification display member, the variable for setting the auxiliary specification A nameplate having an auxiliary specification display window in which one corresponding to the auxiliary specification of the timer circuit that is switched according to the rotation of the resistor is exposed. An operating gear coupled to the shaft for setting a first link gear which is meshed with the operation gear, a second which is meshed with the first link gear
Ring-shaped link gear, a third link gear meshed with the second link gear and having the same number of teeth as the first link gear, and projectingly provided on the first and third link gears, respectively. And two pins, which are rotatably passed through the two small holes of the time range display plate, respectively.

[Action]

According to the above configuration, the output state of the conversion circuit is changed in plural according to the rotation of the variable resistor for setting the time range and the auxiliary specification, respectively, whereby the time range of the timer circuit and the auxiliary specification are electrically changed. Can be switched to each.

In conjunction with that, the corresponding one of the specifications displayed on the time range display plate and the auxiliary specification display member is displayed on the display window of the nameplate.

〔Example〕

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the electronic timer having a specification switching device according to an embodiment of the present invention with a knob removed.

This electronic timer includes a power supply unit, a timer circuit 100 described later,
A specification switching device section 4 is provided on the front surface of the timer main body section 2 that houses the output relay 110 and the like.

The specification switching device section 4 is a gear box as shown in FIG.
The components shown in FIG. 1 are provided on the front side and the rear side of 40.

That is, the holes 41a to 41c and the holes provided in the gear box 40
Operation gears 30a to 30c and link gears 34 to 36 are rotatably mounted on the portions 44 to 46 from the front side. Reference numeral 42 denotes a recessed region for accommodating the time range display plate 20a so that it can move freely.

The operation gear 30a is, for example, 0-5, 0-10, 0-15, 0-2.
It is for switching the time range (range) such as 0.

The operation gear 30b is used to switch auxiliary specifications other than the time range, specifically, for example, a time unit of 1 second, 10 seconds, 1 minute, 10 minutes, or the like.

The operation gear 30c has other auxiliary specifications, specifically, A (for example, timed operation), B (for example, timed return),
It is for switching the operation modes such as C and D.

The operation gears 30a to 30c are respectively coupled to shafts 31a to 31c for setting a time range, setting a time unit, and setting an operation mode, each of which has a driver groove in its head. Each axis
Each of 31a to 31c has several ratchet grooves 32 in its middle portion and a protrusion 33 in its tail portion. Then, on the side portions of the holes 41a to 41c of the gear box 40, claws (not shown) that engage with the ratchet grooves 32 of the operation gears 30a to 30c are provided, respectively, whereby the shafts 31a to 31c are provided. And each operating gear 30
The stepwise rotation (4 steps in this example) from a to 30c is made possible to ensure the switching of each specification.

A printed circuit board 70 is provided on the rear side of the gear box 40, and rotary variable resistors 50a to 5 for setting the time range, the time unit, and the operation mode are provided on the front side of the printed circuit board 70.
0c is attached to each recess 51, and each shaft 31
The projecting pieces 33 of a to 31c are fitted to each other, whereby the respective variable resistors 50a to 50c are made rotatable by the shafts 31a to 31c in association with the operating gears 30a to 30c. A variable resistor 60 for setting time is attached to the front side of the printed board 70.

A first link gear 34 having a pin 37 protruding therefrom, a second ring-shaped link gear 35, and a third link gear 36 having a pin 37 protruding are meshed in this order with the operating gear 30a. There is. The number of teeth of the first link gear 34 and the number of teeth of the third link gear 36 are the same. And, the time range display plate 20a is provided on the front side of these link gears 34 to 36, and the large hole 2
The two pins 37 are rotatably passed through the two small holes 22 provided on the extension of the diameter of 1. With the connection mechanism 38 having such a configuration, the time range display plate 20a
When the shaft 31a is rotated, the robot makes an eccentric motion close to an ellipse as indicated by an arrow R while keeping the posture constant.

On the front surface of the time range display plate 20a and on the periphery of the large hole 21, a plurality of numerical values representing the specifications of the time range, four groups in this example, are printed as six groups.

In addition, a ring-shaped time unit display plate 20b is fitted as an example of an auxiliary specification display member so as to rotate integrally with the shaft 31b. This time unit display board 2
On the front surface of 0b, four characters (in this example, a combination of numbers and letters) representing the specification of the time unit are printed.

In addition, a ring-shaped operation mode display plate 20c is fitted into the shaft 31c so as to rotate integrally with the shaft 31c, as another example of the auxiliary specification display member. Four characters representing the specifications of the operation mode are printed on the front surface of the operation mode display plate 20c in this example.

Further, a name plate 10 is provided so as to cover the front side of these display plates 20a to 20c and further the entire front side of the gear box 40. The name plate 10 has holes 13a to 13c through which the heads of the shafts 31a to 31c are rotatably exposed, a knob 6 for setting a time (which is made of, for example, a transparent member), and a shaft 61 of a variable resistor 60. A hole 11 for connecting and a scale 12 are provided. Further, the name plate 10 includes six time range display windows 14a and four time unit display plates 20b, each of which exposes one of the six groups of the time range display plate 20a. A time unit display window 14b, one of which is exposed, and an operation mode display window 14c, from which one of the four modes of the operation mode display plate 20c is exposed, are provided.

Next, the electric circuit will be described with reference to FIG. 4. A constant voltage V _E is applied across the variable resistors 50a to 50c and 60.
Therefore, the voltage output to the sliding portion of each variable resistor changes according to its rotation. More specifically, since the variable resistors 50a to 50c are rotated in four steps as described above, the output voltage changes in four steps and the variable resistor 60 is continuously rotated, so that the output The voltage changes continuously.

The sliding part of each variable resistor 50a-50c has, for example, a 2-bit
A / D conversion circuits 80a to 80c are respectively connected to convert the four-stage voltage output from each variable resistor 50a to 50c into a 2-bit digital signal. Instead of the contact signal from, the specifications of the timer circuit 100 are electrically switched.

In addition, the sliding portion of the variable resistor 60 has, for example, 8-bit A /
The D conversion circuit 90 is connected to convert the voltage output from the variable resistor 60 into an 8-bit digital signal.
I am trying to set the time.

The timer circuit 100 is well known, and receives a signal from the oscillation circuit 101, and the time setting circuit 102 sets the time according to the signal from the A / D conversion circuit 90. In addition, the time setting circuit 10
Upon receiving the signal from 2, the frequency dividing circuit 103 divides the frequency at a ratio according to the signal from the A / D conversion circuit 80a to determine the time range.
Further, in response to the signal from the frequency dividing circuit 103, the frequency dividing circuit 104
The time unit is determined by dividing by a ratio according to the signal from the A / D conversion circuit 80b. Upon receiving the time-up signal from the frequency dividing circuit 104, the output circuit 105 determines the output mode according to the signal from the A / D conversion circuit 80c. Further, normally, the output circuit 105 drives the output relay 110.

An example of the overall operation of the specification switching device will be described.

When switching the time range, by rotating the shaft 31a by a jig such as a screwdriver, the time range display plate 20a is moved through the above-mentioned connecting mechanism 38, and the desired time range display window 14a of the nameplate 10 is displayed. Numerical value indicating the time range, for example, "0", "1", "2", as shown in FIG.
"3", "4", and "5" are displayed (exposed). On the other hand, by doing so, the variable resistor 50a is rotated in conjunction with the shaft 31a, and the time range of the timer circuit 100 is switched to that corresponding to the display via the A / D conversion circuit 80a.

When switching the time unit, the time unit display plate 20b is rotated by rotating the shaft 31b with a jig such as a screwdriver, and the time unit display window 14b of the nameplate 10 is displayed.
A character representing a desired time unit, for example, "1S" as shown in FIG. 3 is displayed. On the other hand, in doing so, the variable resistor 50b is rotated in association with the shaft 31b, and the time unit of the timer circuit 100 is switched to the one corresponding to the display via the A / D conversion circuit.

When switching the operation mode, the shaft 31c is also rotated by a jig such as a screwdriver to rotate the operation mode display plate 20c, and the operation mode display window 1 of the nameplate 10 is rotated.
Characters indicating a desired operation mode, for example, "A" as shown in FIG. 3 are displayed on 4c. On the other hand, if you do that,
The variable resistor 50c is rotated in conjunction with the operation gear 30c,
The operation mode of the timer circuit 100 is switched to the one corresponding to the display through the A / D conversion circuit 80c.

As described above, in the specification switching device, instead of the conventional rotary type switch mechanism, the variable resistors 50a to 50c and
Since the A / D conversion circuits 80a to 80c are used, compared to the case where each rotary type switch mechanism is individually configured on a printed circuit board by a combination of contact patterns and switch sliders as in the conventional example, The number of parts is reduced, and therefore, the assembling is easy and the cost is low.

Further, in the conventional example, each switch mechanism needs a contact portion corresponding to the number of specifications (for example, four) desired to be switched, whereas in this example, the contact portion in each variable resistor 50a to 50c is normally one. Since the number of contact parts is reduced, the number of contact parts is reduced and the reliability is improved accordingly. Such an effect increases as the number of specifications to be switched increases.

Further, in the conventional example, when the number of switching specifications in each switch mechanism was increased or decreased, the design of the switch mechanism itself had to be changed, whereas in this specification switching device, the variable resistors 50a to 50c remain unchanged. And leave A /
This can be easily coped with only by electrically changing the D conversion circuits 80a to 80c.

In addition, in this specification switching device, the shaft 31a for setting the time range is set.
When rotated, since the time range display plate 20a makes an eccentric movement close to an ellipse while keeping the posture constant, compared with the case where the time range display plate 20a simply moves linearly, the time range display plate 20a It is possible to display a numerical value representing a larger time range in a small moving area, so that it is possible to reduce the size of this specification switching device, and thus the electronic timer that employs it.

It should be noted that it is preferable to use commercially available ones as the above-mentioned variable resistors 50a to 50c, but it is preferable because the cost is low. May be configured respectively.

Further, instead of each of the A / D conversion circuits 80a to 80c, a conversion circuit that determines which section of the voltage level the input voltage is divided into in advance and changes the output state accordingly is provided. You may use each.

However, the A / D conversion circuit 90 and the timer circuit 100 are
Normally, it is composed of a 1-chip CPU, in which case each A / D
The conversion circuits 80a to 80c can use the A / D conversion circuit 90 in a time-divisional manner (in this embodiment, this is the case), and if so, the A / D conversion circuits 80a to 80c are used. Since it is not necessary to specially provide, it is possible to further reduce the number of parts and further reduce the cost.

In addition, the time unit display plate 20b and the operation mode display plate 2
Instead of providing 0c, characters or the like indicating the time unit and the operation mode may be directly printed on the front faces of the operation gears 30b and 30c, respectively.
Since b and 30c also serve as the display member, the structure is further simplified.

Further, each of the shafts 31a to 31c may be rotated by something like a knob instead of being rotated by the driver groove.

Further, the shafts 31b and 31c are provided with gears in order to share the parts with the shaft 31a side, but since there are no gears meshing with them, shafts without gears may be used.

Further, in the above embodiment, the specification switching device capable of switching three kinds of specifications of the time range, the time unit, and the operation mode is shown, but one or more kinds of auxiliary specifications for switching outside the time range are optional. For example, if the time unit is fixed, the variable resistor 50b for setting the time unit and its related components, conversion circuit, etc. are not necessary, and if the operation mode is fixed, the operation mode setting Variable resistor for 50
c and its related components, conversion circuits, etc. are not required. Also, auxiliary specifications other than these may be switched.

[Effect of device]

As described above, according to the present invention, the combination of the rotary variable resistor and the conversion circuit is used for switching the time range of the timer circuit and the auxiliary specifications other than the time range.
Compared to using a switch mechanism to switch specifications,
The number of parts is reduced, and therefore, the assembling is easy and the cost is low.

In addition, the switch mechanism needs a contact portion according to the number of specifications to be switched, whereas the variable resistor normally requires only one contact portion, so the number of contact portions is smaller than that of the switch mechanism. , Its reliability is improved. Such an effect increases as the number of specifications to be switched increases.

When using a switch mechanism, the design of the switch mechanism itself had to be changed to increase or decrease the number of switching specifications, whereas in this specification switching device, the variable resistor was left as it was. Can be easily dealt with only by electrically changing the conversion circuit side.

In addition, the time range setting shaft and the time range display plate are connected by the above-described connecting mechanism. According to this, when the time range setting shaft is rotated, the time range display plate is Since the eccentric movement near the ellipse is performed while keeping the posture constant, it is possible to change the numerical value that represents more time range in a small moving area of the time range display plate than when the time range display plate simply moves linearly. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the size of the specification switching device and thus the electronic timer using the device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a specification switching device portion of FIG. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the gear box portion of FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the electronic timer having a specification switching device according to an embodiment of the present invention with a knob removed. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of an electric circuit of the electronic timer of FIG. 10 …… Name plate, 14a …… Time range display window, 14b …… Time unit display window, 14c …… Operation mode display window, 20a …… Time range display plate, 20b …… Time unit display plate, 20c …… Operation mode Display plate, 21 ... Large hole, 22 ... Small hole, 30a-30c ... Operation gear,
31a-31c …… Axis, 34-36 …… Link gear, 37 …… Pin,
38 …… Coupling mechanism, 50a ～ 50c …… Variable resistor, 80a ～ 80c…
… A / D conversion circuit, 100… Timer circuit.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A rotary type, two variables for setting a time range in which a constant voltage is applied and changing the magnitude of the output voltage according to the rotation and for setting an auxiliary specification other than the time range. A resistor, two shafts for setting a time range and auxiliary specifications for rotating the variable resistors, and a plurality of output states according to the magnitude of the output voltage output from the variable resistors. The conversion circuit for electrically switching the time range and auxiliary specifications of the timer circuit having a plurality of time ranges and a plurality of auxiliary specifications, and a large hole and two small holes provided on the extension of its diameter. And a time range display plate in which a plurality of numerical values representing the time range are displayed as a group on the front surface of the peripheral portion of the large hole, an axis for setting the time range, and this time range display A connecting mechanism for connecting between the auxiliary specification display member and the auxiliary specification setting shaft that rotates integrally with the auxiliary specification setting shaft, and a plurality of auxiliary specifications other than the time range are displayed on the front surface of the auxiliary specification display member; Provided so as to block the front side of the display member and the time range display plate, among the numerical values constituting each group displayed on the time range display plate,
Displayed on a plurality of time range display windows and ones corresponding to the time range of the timer circuit that is switched according to the rotation of the variable resistor for setting the time range, and the auxiliary specification display member. The auxiliary specification display window is configured to expose one of the plurality of auxiliary specifications that corresponds to the auxiliary specification of the timer circuit that is switched according to the rotation of the variable resistor for setting the auxiliary specification. A name plate, and the connecting mechanism has an operating gear coupled to the shaft for setting the time range, a first link gear meshed with the operating gear, and a meshing engagement with the first link gear. A second ring-shaped link gear, a third link gear meshed with the second link gear and having the same number of teeth as the first link gear, and the first and third link gears. Each projecting The time range display panel two specifications switching device of an electronic timer which is characterized in that it comprises a those respectively rotatably threaded through the eyelets of a two pin.