JPH07192588A - Tilt detection sensor - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] The tilt detection sensor is downsized and reduced in cost by enabling tilt detection with hysteresis using a single ball. A single ball 3, a housing 2 having a ball moving path 8 for rolling and guiding the ball 3, and a ball moving path 8 by tilting the housing 2.
Sensor unit 4 for detecting the position of the ball 3 moving inside
And a tilt angle at which the ball 3 starts moving from one side to the other side of the moving path 8 in accordance with the tilt of the housing 2, and a moving angle from the other side to the one side. The ball moving path 8 is set such that the starting inclination angles are different from each other.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tilt detecting sensor configured to detect tilt by utilizing rolling of a ball.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The above tilt detecting sensor applies a ball to a ball moving path for switch-on (or off) and another ball moving path for switch-off (or on) different in tilt angle for detection. There is used a device which is configured so that after detecting an inclination more than a set value, the original detection state is not restored unless it is inclined in the opposite direction at an angle larger than the detection angle.

[0003]

The above conventional switch is
Since two sets of detection units having different detection inclination angles are provided, the size is increased, the number of parts is increased, and the cost is increased.

The present invention has been made paying attention to such a point, and the tilt detection sensor can be miniaturized by making it possible to perform tilt detection with hysteresis using a single ball. And it aims at cost reduction.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, an inclination detecting sensor according to the present invention comprises a single ball, a housing provided with a ball moving path for rollingly guiding the ball, and the housing. A tilt detecting sensor comprising: a sensor unit that detects a position of the ball moving in the ball moving path by tilting, wherein the ball moves from one side in the moving path along with the tilt of the housing. The ball moving path is set so that the inclination angle at which the movement starts to the other side and the inclination angle at which the movement starts from the other side to the one side are different from each other.

[0006]

According to the structure of the present invention, when the housing is tilted, the ball starts moving in the moving path, and this ball movement is detected by the sensor section. Then, when the housing is tilted in the opposite direction, the ball starts to move in the movement path at an inclination angle different from the inclination angle at which the ball started rolling, and the movement of the ball is detected by the sensor unit. In this way, it is possible to detect inclination with hysteresis.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional front view of an inclination detecting sensor according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross sectional plan view thereof, FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional side view thereof, and FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view thereof. It is shown.

The inclination detecting sensor 1 is composed of a detecting case 2 as a housing, a single ball 3 incorporated therein, a sensor section 4 for detecting the presence or absence of the ball, and a case 5 incorporating these.

The case 5 is a main body case 5a and a cover case 5 which is fitted onto the main body case 5a and is locked and fixed by locking claws 5c.
b, a central hole 6 for incorporating the detection case 2 is formed in the main body case 5a, and a pair of sensor mounting holes 7 are formed on the lower left and right sides thereof.

The detection case 2 comprises a pair of split cases 2a,
2b has a structure in which the ball 3 is fitted and connected through a pin 2c and a fitting hole 2d, and a ball moving path 8 for accommodating the ball 3 is formed therein. The ball moving path 8 is constituted by connecting a small-width square hole portion 8a having an inner width dimension substantially the same as the ball diameter and a wide-angle square hole portion 8b having an inner width dimension sufficiently larger than the ball diameter. , Each square hole 8
The inner portions of a and 8b are ball stable holding portions located at both ends of the ball moving path 8. Then, the flat rolling surfaces Sa and Sb whose inner surfaces of the ball moving path 8 are parallel to each other are configured to be connected in a stepped manner, and the stepped portion S thereof is
c is formed on an inclined surface of 45 °. Further, on the lower left and right sides of the detection case 2, vertically long slits 9 communicating with the narrow width square hole portion 6a are formed across both sides of the case split surface.

The sensor unit 4 includes a light projector 4a and a light receiver 4a.
b, a light sensor 4a and a light receiver 4b are used, the light emitter 4a and the light receiver 4b are inserted and mounted in the left and right sensor mounting holes 7 of the body case 5a, and the lead terminals 10 led out one by one from the light emitter 4a and the light receiver 4b are connected to the body case 5a. And penetrates through and is projected from the back surface of the case. Further, a slit 12 is formed long in the front and rear on the inner wall of each sensor mounting hole 7, and the slit 12 and the slit 9 of the detection case 2 intersect each other to form a square hole. The optical path to reach is formed.

The tilt detecting sensor 1 of the present invention is constructed as described above, and its tilt detecting operation will be described below.
A description will be given based on FIGS. 4 and 5.

As shown in FIG. 4 (a), when the inclination detecting sensor 1 is in the reference posture, the ball moving path 8 is in a standing posture with the narrow square hole 8a facing down. The ball 3 stably held in the inner portion (ball stable holding portion) of the narrow square hole 8a at the lower end of 8 blocks the optical path from the light projector 4a to the light receiver 4b, and the switch-off state is revealed.

When the inclination detecting sensor 1 is inclined to the left, for example, as shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b), the ball 3 is a reference ball stable holding portion until it is inclined by 90 °. It is held in a certain small-width square hole 8a and the switch-off state is maintained.

When the inclination detection sensor 1 is inclined to the left by 90 ° or more, the ball 3 rolls downward along the ball movement path 8 as shown in FIGS. After passing Sc, the ball is moved to the wide-angled hole portion 8b which is the other ball stable holding portion, the optical path from the light emitter 4a to the light receiver 4b is opened, and the switch-on state is revealed.

As described above, the inclination detecting sensor 1
After detecting a tilt of an angle exceeding 0 °, for example, when the tilt is returned to the right, as shown in FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C, the tilt is returned to the previous tilt detection angle of 90 °. However, the ball 3 cannot pass over the uneven portion Sc, and as shown in FIG. 5 (d), it is even larger (135 ° or more in the case of FIG. 5).
Only after the return inclination, the ball 3 moves to the narrow-angled hole portion 8a beyond the step difference portion Sc, and the original switch-off state is brought about.

That is, the tilt detection sensor 1 is turned on when tilted to the left or right beyond 90 ° from the reference posture, and after turning on, exceeds 45 ° in the opposite direction from the reference posture. Hysteresis is given to the operation so that it will not return to the switch off unless it is tilted to the return,
Even if there is a slight return inclination after the switch is turned on, the switch is not turned off, so that the switch off state due to chattering does not appear.

[Other Embodiments] The present invention can be implemented in the following modes.

As shown in FIG. 7 (a), the ball moving path 8 is formed by connecting rolling surfaces Sa and Sb having different inclination angles α and β in a mountain shape and stabilizing the ball on the gentle inclination angle α side. The sensor unit 4 for detecting the presence or absence of the ball is installed on the holding unit 8a.

According to this structure, when the tilt detecting sensor 1 tilts to the right from the horizontal state at an angle exceeding the angle α, the ball 3 rolls to the ball stable holding portion 8b on the side of the tight tilt angle β and is switched on. However, after the switch is turned on, it will not return to the switch off unless it is tilted to the left beyond the horizontal by an angle β or more.

As shown in FIG. 7B, the ball moving path 8 is formed by connecting rolling surfaces Sa and Sb having the same inclination angle α in a chevron shape, and the ball is held on the reference ball stable holding portion 8a. The sensor unit 4 for presence / absence detection is installed, and the rolling surface Sb of the other ball stable holding portion 8b is configured to have a rolling resistance larger than that of the one rolling surface Sa (for example, a fine uneven surface). With this configuration also, hysteresis can be given to the operation.

As shown in FIG. 7C, the ball moving path 8 is formed by connecting rolling surfaces Sa and Sb having the same inclination angle α in a mountain shape, and the ball is held on the reference ball stable holding portion 8 a. The sensor unit 4 for presence / absence detection is installed, and the ball 3 made of magnetic metal is provided on the other ball stable holding unit 8b.
By installing a magnet that weakly attracts, it is possible to give hysteresis to its operation.

In each of the above embodiments, only the inclination in the fixed direction (right direction in the figure) is detected, but the inclination in the forward and reverse directions from the reference posture may be detected. it can. Further, as the sensor unit 4 for detecting the presence or absence of the ball, there are a proximity switch that senses the ball 3 made of magnetic metal, a reed switch that senses the magnetized ball 3, a contact-type switch that is operated by contact with the ball 3, and the like. It can also be used.

[0024]

As is apparent from the above description, the tilt detecting sensor of the present invention uses a single ball,
It is possible to have detection characteristics with hysteresis,
Compared to the conventional tilt detection sensor that uses two sets of detection units, the number of parts is reduced and the size can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional front view of a tilt detection sensor according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a vertical side view of a tilt detection sensor.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a tilt detection operation.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a tilt return detection operation.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram showing various other embodiments.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 housing 3 ball 4 sensor part 5 case 8 ball moving path 8a, 8b ball stable holding part Sa, Sb rolling surface Sc step difference part

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A single ball, a housing having a ball movement path for rollingly guiding the ball, and a sensor for detecting the position of the ball moving in the ball movement path when the housing is inclined. And a tilt angle at which the ball starts moving from one side to the other side in the movement path and a movement start from the other side to the one side in accordance with the tilt of the housing. An inclination detection sensor in which the ball movement path is set so that the inclination angles are different from each other. 2. The inclination detecting sensor according to claim 1, wherein the ball moving path is formed by forming two flat rolling surfaces that are parallel to each other in a stepped structure with an inclined surface interposed therebetween.