Lever switch for vehicle

Details Lever switch for vehicle Lever switch for vehicle

2002-10-16

2003-09-23

Donovan, Lincoln (Department: 2832)

Electricity: circuit makers and breakers

Special application

Steering wheel, shaft or column mounted

C200S061270, C200S061350, C200S335000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06624366

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lever switch for a vehicle, and particularly to that easy to assemble.
2. Description of Related Art
Lever switches for vehicles adopt, for example, a structure shown in
FIGS. 5 and 6
.
FIG. 5
is a partially sectional view thereof and
FIG. 6
is an exploded perspective view of essential parts thereof.
A control lever
50
includes an operating section
51
formed extending from a shaft base
6
f
having rotating shafts
6
d
on both sides. More specifically, it has a triple structure having a second lever
6
extending from a shaft base
6
f
, and a cylindrical first lever
3
on the outside and a third lever
22
on the inside with the second lever
6
centered, each of which can rotate about the second lever
6
.
The rotating shafts
6
d
on both sides of the shaft base
6
f
are fitted in respective shaft holes
35
d
formed in both sidewalls of a swing block
35
, and the control lever
50
is rotatably retained around the rotating shaft
6
d
by the swing block
35
.
An extension portion
6
e
extending in the opposite direction from the second lever
6
is provided at the shaft base
6
f
. The extension portion
6
e
holds a ball
26
biased by a spring
25
and pushes it to a cam
35
b
of the swing block
35
. The ball
26
and the cam
35
b
constitute a click mechanism of the control lever
50
.
The swing block
35
has a rotating shaft
35
a
at the bottom wall and a rotating shaft
35
e
on the upper wall, as shown in FIG.
6
. The rotating shaft
35
a
is fitted in a shaft hole lc formed in a support surface A of a casing
1
, and the rotating shaft
35
e
is fitted in a shaft hole of a cover
1
A covering the casing
1
, respectively, which are retained in the casing
1
together with the retained control lever
50
such that they can be rotated about the rotating shaft
35
a.
A pole plate
10
is mounted under the support surface A of the casing
1
, and has a turn signal switch, a headlight selection switch, a windshield wiper switch, and a washer switch thereon.
A contact surface abutting on a contact portion
27
b
of an arm
27
supported by the casing
1
is formed on the lower surface of the extension portion
6
e
at the end of the shaft base
6
f
. A pushing portion
27
c
is slid vertically by rotating the control lever
50
vertically (in the plane parallel to the paper in
FIG. 5
) to move a moving part
29
biased by a spring
28
, thereby switching the headlight selection switch.
The end of the third lever
22
passing through the second lever
6
is connected to a rotating knob
4
adjacent to the first lever
3
, shown in
FIG. 6
, at the inner end of which an operating rod
22
a
shaped like a gearwheel is provided. The operating rod
22
a
is engaged with a moving part
34
of the wiper switch, which is rotatably supported by a substrate
32
mounted to the pole plate
10
through a through-hole
35
c
at the center of the rotating shaft
35
a
of the swing block
35
. When the rotating knob
4
is rotated, the moving part
34
is rotated to switch the wiper switch.
The first lever
3
is rotatably supported by the second lever
2
, at the inner end of which an operating rod (not shown) is provided at the back of the operating rod
22
a
. The end of the operating rod is brought into contact with a moving part of the washer switch, and the washer switch is switched by rotating the first lever
3
.
When the control lever
50
is rotated back and forth (in the plane perpendicular to the paper in FIG.
5
), the turn signal switch (not shown) is switched.
A switch for operating, for example, a constant speed controller is provided in, and also a slide knob
16
and a push button
17
for operating it are provided at the end of the control lever
50
.
The switches and the vehicle are connected by wire leads
11
. The wire leads
11
taken out near the shaft base
6
f
of the control lever
50
through a gap formed between the first lever
3
and the second lever
6
are passed through the through-hole
35
c
of the swing block
35
, as shown in
FIG. 5B
, are then passed through the shaft hole
1
c
in the support surface A, are then led out of the casing
1
, and connected to the vehicle.
FIG. 5B
is a sectional view of the rotating shaft
35
a
, seen from the support surface A of the casing
1
.
In the conventional lever switch for a vehicle, however, during assembly, when the shaft base
6
f
of the second lever
6
is mounted to the swing block
35
and they are then assembled into the casing
1
, the wire leads
11
must be passed through the through-hole
35
c
of the swing block
35
in advance. Accordingly, a process for passing the wire leads
11
into the through-hole
35
c
is needed, thus increasing man-hours.
Particularly when a connector attached to each end of the wire leads is larger than the through-hole
35
c
, first, only the wire-lead main body must be passed, and after assembly, the connector must be mounted, further increasing man-hours and resulting in inefficient production.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, in consideration of the above conventional problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a lever switch for a vehicle facilitating assembly and achieving efficient production.
To this end, according to the present invention of claim
1
, in a lever switch for a vehicle comprising a control lever in which switches are housed in an operating section thereof, a swing block, and a casing, the control lever being rotatably retained by the swing block, the swing block having a rotating shaft formed on the bottom wall thereof, the rotating shaft being fitted in a shaft hole of the casing to be supported by the casing, and the control lever being allowed to rotate in two intersecting planes with respect to the casing, a recessed portion communicating with the control lever is formed in the outer peripheral face of the rotating shaft or the inner peripheral face of the shaft hole.
Since space is formed between the rotating shaft and the shaft hole by forming the recessed portion in the outer peripheral face of the rotating shaft or the inner peripheral face of the shaft hole, the wire leads jutting from the switches can be fitted in this recessed portion to pass through the lower part of the casing.
The recessed portion can be formed, in the rotating shaft for example, extending from the upper end face of the bottom wall to the lower end face of the rotating shaft.
According the present invention of claim
3
, the recessed portion has a retaining section for retaining the wire leads.
Since the retaining section is provided, the lever switch can be assembled with the wire leads retained in the recessed portion, thus improving workability during assembly.
The retaining section can be constituted by tongue pieces formed extending from, for example, an opening of the recessed portion as part of the rotating shaft. The tongue pieces retain the wire leads mounted in the recessed portion.
The retaining section can also be constituted by a plurality of grooves formed in parallel with the recessed portion in the recessed portion.
In this case, the wire leads can easily be retained in the recessed portion by press fitting the wire leads in the grooves.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5440085 (1995-08-01), Suzuki et al.
patent: 5701660 (1997-12-01), Javery et al.
patent: 5920047 (1999-07-01), Akimoto et al.
patent: 5936215 (1999-08-01), Masuda et al.
patent: 6114640 (2000-09-01), Oddo et al.
patent: 6462290 (2002-10-01), Matsumoto

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