Electricity: circuit makers and breakers – Solid contact – Reciprocating actuator
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-02
2002-05-14
Bradley, P. Austin (Department: 2832)
Electricity: circuit makers and breakers
Solid contact
Reciprocating actuator
C200S315000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06388220
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an illuminated switching device and more particularly to an illuminated switching device suitable for use in opening and closing a window by a power window system on a motor vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
Referring to the accompanying drawings, a conventional illuminated switching device will be explained.
FIG. 6
is a side view showing the conventional illuminated switching device; and
FIG. 7
is a side view showing the illuminated switching device of
FIG. 6
with a knob removed.
As shown in
FIGS. 6 and 7
, a switch section
11
of a illuminated switching device C is made of a synthetic resin material such as a glass-filled epoxy resin material, and comprises a case
11
a
formed in an approximately box shape by a molding process, an unillustrated stationary contact housed in the case
11
a
, an unillustrated moving contact, an operating member
11
b
which is rockably supported on the upper surface side of the case
11
a
, and a plurality of (e.g., six) L-shaped switch terminals
11
c
connected to the unillustrated stationary contact.
The case
11
a
includes an upper case
11
d
and a lower case
11
e
. The upper case
11
d
and the lower case
11
e
are retained as one body by an appropriate means such as a snap-in engagement means. A switch terminal
11
c
of an approximately L-shape protrudes outwardly from the side wall of the lower case
11
e
. On the operating member
11
b
, a knob
15
with a later-described translucent portion
15
b
is retained.
A printed-circuit board
12
is made of for instance a synthetic resin such as a glass-filled epoxy resin material, and is formed in a flat plate shape. On at least one side (e.g., the back side) is formed an unillustrated circuit pattern of a specific configuration.
The printed-circuit board
12
has a plurality of (e.g., six) switch terminal holes
12
a
and plural sets of round through holes
12
b
(e.g., two sets including four holes in all: two holes per set). Around the switch terminal hole
12
a
and the through hole
12
b
, a wiring pattern is provided. The through holes
12
b
in one set are arranged at a spacing L
1
.
In the switch terminal hole
12
a
of the printed-circuit board
12
, the switch terminal
11
c
of the switch section
11
is inserted with the bottom surface of the lower case lie of the switch section
11
set on the printed-circuit board
12
. The forward end portion of the switch terminal
11
c
is soldered to the wiring pattern not depicted.
A holding member
13
is molded in an approximately rectangular shape of a synthetic resin material such as a phenolic resin material. The holding member
13
has a pair of (two) rectangular insertion holes
13
a
. The insertion holes
13
a
are formed through the upper surface side to the lower surface side, and are arranged at a spacing L
1
.
The holding member
13
is mounted in the vicinity of the switch section
11
on the printed-circuit board
12
. The insertion hole
13
a
and the through hole
12
b
of the printed-circuit board
12
are so arranged that the axes of the holes
12
b
and
13
b
will be aligned.
A lamp
14
has an illuminating portion
14
a
including a light-emitting device (LED) and a pair of lamp terminals
14
b
parallelly protruding out of the illuminating portion
14
a
. The pair of lamp terminals
14
b
are arranged at a spacing L
1
. There is provided a uniform, equal spacing between the illuminating portion
14
a
and the free end portion (forward end portion) of the lamp terminal
14
b.
On the pair of lamp terminals
14
b
, a crank-like bent portion
14
c
is formed. The lamp terminals
14
b
of the lamp
14
are parallelly inserted in the insertion hole
13
a
of the holding member
13
and a set of through holes
12
b
of the printed-circuit board
12
. The forward ends of the lamp terminals are soldered to the wiring pattern not shown.
The lamp terminal
14
b
is held by the holding member
13
on the printed-circuit board
12
. The illuminating portion
14
a
is extended to the vicinity of the operating member
11
b
of the switch section
11
, and the bent portion
14
c
is disposed in the vicinity of the upper case
11
d
of the switch section
11
. In this state, the size between the illuminating portion
14
a
and the insertion hole
13
a
of the holding member
13
, inclusive of the bent portion
14
c
, is relatively long; the illuminating portion
14
a
, therefore, is unstably supported.
The knob
15
is made by molding of an insulating molding material for example, and has an opaque pushing portion
15
a
, a translucent portion
15
b
provided at a desired part of the pushing portion
15
a
and made of a transparent or opaque insulating molding material, and an approximately rectangular recess portion
15
c
provided in the back side. The recess portion
15
c
of the knob
15
is retained by a suitable means to the operating member
11
b
of the case
11
a
, thus :forming the knob
15
and the case
11
a
in one body.
The illuminating portion
14
a
is disposed in the vicinity of the bottom side of the translucent portion
15
b
of the knob
15
. The translucent portion
15
b
is illuminated bright with the light from the illuminating portion
14
a
, being displayed in a raised state.
The illuminated switching device C thus constituted is disposed by an approximate means within a cabinet
16
. When the switching device C is in this state, the knob
15
is disposed protruding out through an opening
16
a
provided in the cabinet
16
.
Next, operation of the illuminated switching device C will be explained.
The illuminated switching device C is designed such that when the pushing portion
15
a
of the knob
15
is depressed and the knob
15
is swung, the operating member
11
b
engaged with the knob
15
is actuated. With the operation of the operating member
11
b
, the moving contact moves to and from the stationary contact, thus operating the contact on and off.
The lamp
14
of this illuminated switching device C is so arranged as to be turned on simultaneously with illumination of unillustrated headlamps of a motor vehicle (an automobile).
The conventional illuminated switch device C described above has such a problem that the lamp
14
, retained by means of the holding member
13
, needs this holding member
13
, resulting in an increased component count. Furthermore, since a mounting spacing is needed for installing the holding member
13
on the printed-circuit board
12
, upsizing the illuminated switching device will become imperative.
Because the length of the lamp terminal
14
b
from the upper end surface of the holding member
13
to the illuminating portion
14
a
is long, the lamp terminal
14
b
totters with the vibration of the illuminated switching device C. With this vibration, light emission to the translucent portion
15
b
of the illuminating portion
14
a
will totter in an unstable state.
Since the spacing L
1
between a set of through holes
12
b
of the printed-circuit board
12
and the spacing between a pair of lamp terminals
14
b
of the lamp
14
are set at the same size, the lamp terminal
14
b
can easily be inserted into the through hole
12
b
. However, the illuminating portion
14
a
of the lamp
14
is hard to position at a given level above the printed-circuit board
12
; and therefore the illuminating portion
14
a
of the lamp
14
to be mounted on the printed-circuit board
12
will not be set at a given height. Furthermore, because the spacing L
1
between the lamp terminals
14
b
is narrow, the lamp
14
supported is likely to be unstable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly it is an object of this invention to provide an illuminated switching device comprising a small number of components and capable of giving stabilized illumination to the translucent portion of a knob for purpose of solving the above-described problem.
The illuminated switching device of this invention is comprised of a switching section having a case and switch terminals protruding out of the case, a printe
Atumi Masakatsu
Kowata Nobuyuki
Saiso Kenichi
Sasaki Makoto
Alps Electronic Co., Ltd.
Bradley P. Austin
Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione
Klaus Lisa N.
LandOfFree
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