Electricity: circuit makers and breakers – Solid contact – Rotating actuator
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-09
2002-05-28
Bradley, P. Austin (Department: 2832)
Electricity: circuit makers and breakers
Solid contact
Rotating actuator
C200S018000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06396016
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a compact and complex electronic component incorporating a rotary encoder and a push switch or two push switches, and more in particular, to an electronic component incorporating a rotary encoder capable of precise adjustments and a push switch (or two push switches) with a long life-cycle.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A compact and complex electronic component incorporating a rotary encoder and a push switch is widely employed in audio or video apparatuses. In the complex electronic component, the rotary encoder is useful for adjusting volume, frequency, time, etc., and the push switch is useful for switching to another option.
Hereinafter, a compact and complex electronic component developed by the Tsuyama Matsushita Electric Co. Ltd., which incorporates a rotary encoder and a push switch, will be described with reference to FIG.
1
.
As shown in an outside perspective view in
FIG. 1A
, the complex electronic component
10
includes mainly a base plate
11
, a rotary encoder
12
, a push switch
13
and a mechanism
14
for selectively switching on the push switch
13
. The push switch
13
is fixed on an upper surface of the base plate
11
. The rotary encoder
12
is attached movably and rotatably on the base plate
11
and spaced a predetermined distance apart from the push switch
13
. Moreover, the rotary encoder
12
is capable of moving toward the push switch
13
. When the movement of the rotary encoder
12
toward the push switch
13
takes place, the mechanism
14
is actuated to switch on the push switch
13
. The base plate
11
need not be made of a metal, but may be molded of a resin.
The arrangement and cooperation between the members consisting of the electronic component
10
can be understood by
FIG. 1B and 1C
.
FIG. 1B
is an exploded perspective view of the electronic component
10
.
FIG. 1C
is a sectional view of the electronic component
10
along A—A line in FIG.
1
A.
The rotary encoder
12
and the push switch
13
will be described in detail, respectively. The rotary encoder
12
is composed of an operational member
121
, a lid plate
122
, a rotatable member
123
, a contact plate
124
, resilient contact legs (
1251
a
,
125
b
and
125
c
), connecting terminals
133
, and a bottom plate
126
. The bottom plate
126
has a central shaft
1261
extending through the center of the rotary encoder
12
, which rotates around the central shaft
1261
. The operational member
121
is operated by one finger to rotate relative to the central shaft
1261
or to move toward the push switch
13
. The lid plate
122
has a V-shaped portion projecting downward. The rotatable member
123
has teeth arranged around the circumference of its upper surface. The contact plate
124
is disposed on the lower surface of the rotatable member
123
. There are openings through the contact plate
124
and disposed along the circumference of the contact plate
124
. The rotatable member
123
is molded of a resin and formed together with the contact plate
124
such that the resin is filled within the openings of the contact plate
124
.
The resilient contact legs (
1251
a
,
1251
b
and
1251
c
) extend upwards from a thin metal sheet inserted-molded within the base plate
11
. The connecting terminals
133
extend upwards from a side end of the thin metal sheet to provide connection of the rotary encoder
12
with an external circuit (not shown). The bottom plate
126
also has a support shaft
1262
for providing support to the rotary encoder
12
to rotate within a narrow range of angle when the rotary encoder
12
moves toward the push switch
13
. Moreover, the base plate
11
has an elliptical hole
111
and a circular hole
112
for receiving the central shaft
1261
and the support shaft
1262
, respectively. In general, the bottom plate
126
is made of a metal. When the operational member
121
rotates, the rotatable member
123
and the contact plate
124
rotates along with the operational member
121
.
In contrast, the lid plate
122
is engaged with the central shaft
1261
to be stationary relative to the central shaft
1261
. In particular, the V-shaped portion of the lid plate
122
is retained by a surface of the teeth of the rotatable member
123
such that the lid plate
122
can provide resistance as the rotary encoder
12
rotates.
The contact legs (
1251
a
,
1251
b
and
1251
c
) are disposed on a lower surface of the contact plate
124
. When the operational member
121
rotates, the resilient contact legs
1251
slide on the contact plate
124
to generate switching signals. The contact leg
1251
c
is always in touch with the contact plate
124
. The contact leg
1251
a
and the contact leg
125
b
are in touch with the contact plate
124
alternately. According to the contact sequence of the contact legs (
1251
a
and
1251
b
) with the contact plate
124
, the external circuit will receive the switching signals to adjust the volume of the corresponding option.
Also shown in
FIG. 1B
, the push switch includes a conductive dome-shaped member
131
, a conductive patterned member
132
mounted on the base plate
11
, and connecting terminals
133
. The connecting terminals
133
extend from the conductive patterned member
132
to provide connection of the push switch
13
with the external circuit. The dome-shaped member
131
has a circumference which contacts the patterned member
132
. Moreover, the dome-shaped member
131
has a dome end. When the dome end of the dome-shaped member
131
is pressed to contact the patterned member
132
, the push switch
13
is switched on. In general, the dome-shaped member
131
is best made of metal, which will make the assembly of the push switch
13
more convenient.
The mechanism
14
is pivotally connected to the base plate
11
such that the mechanism
14
is allowed to rotate within a predetermined range. The mechanism
14
has an end
141
adjacent to the dome end of the dome-shaped member
131
and a side
142
adjacent to an actuator
1263
attaching to the bottom plate
126
. The actuator
1263
of the bottom plate
126
extends through a rectangular hole
113
. When the rotary encoder
12
moves toward the push switch
13
, the actuator
1263
is actuated to push the side
142
of the mechanism
14
, and then the end
141
of the mechanism
14
presses the dome end of the dome-shaped member
131
down to switch on the push switch
13
. By
FIG. 1C
, the arrangement and cooperation between the members consisting of the electronic component
10
can be understood well.
FIG. 1C
is a sectional view of the electronic component
10
along A—A line in FIG.
1
A.
The disadvantage of the complex electronic component
10
of the Matsushita Co. is summarized as follows. First, based on the precondition that the compact size of the complex electronic component
10
can not be sacrificed, the diameter of the dome-shaped member is limited to be about 3 mm and the thickness of that the dome-shaped member
131
is about 0.1 mm. Due to small size of the dome-shaped member
131
, in the complex electronic component
10
, it is difficult for the dome-shaped member
131
to be fabricated and assembled with other members into the push switch
13
. Also due to small size of the dome-shaped member
131
, the fracture mode of the dome-shaped member
131
is low-cycle fatigue typically, i.e., the fatigue life of the dome-shaped member
131
, formed of a iron material, is less than 10
6
cycles. In practical application, the life cycle of the electronic component
10
mainly depends on the fatigue life of the push switch
13
. When the dome-shaped member
131
is fractured, the electronic component
10
must be replaced.
Second, in the complex electronic component
10
, when the rotary encoder
12
rotates, the lid plate
122
can not provide enough resistance so that the rotary encoder
12
is hard to precisely adjust.
Accordingly, to solve the aforesaid problems, this present invention provides a compact and complex electronic component incorporating a long life-cyc
Liao Pin-Chien
Lin Chen-Yu
Bradley P. Austin
Darfon Electronics Corp.
Klaus Lisa Nhung
Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly LLP
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