Electricity: circuit makers and breakers – Multiple circuit control – Pivoted contact
Reexamination Certificate
2001-03-13
2003-06-17
Luebke, Renee (Department: 2833)
Electricity: circuit makers and breakers
Multiple circuit control
Pivoted contact
C200S018000, C200S561000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06580039
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a multidirectional switch and an operation unit containing the switch, wherein a suitable application sector of the operation unit includes a control unit for an automobile air-conditioner or the like.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A conventional operation unit for controlling an air-conditioner of an automobile has a panel as shown in
FIG. 10
; where a number of push button switches
1
corresponding to respective functions are disposed within a frame
3
, together with LED displays or the like indicating the functions. Lately, automobiles have been equipped with varieties of additional functions; and a so-called multidirectional switch, which is capable of handling varieties of instructions in a single-body switch, has been increasingly used in the operation units, instead of using a plurality of single-function push button switches
1
.
Such a multidirectional switch of a conventional structure is described in the following with reference to FIG.
11
through FIG.
13
.
FIG. 11
is a cross sectional side view of a conventional multidirectional switch, and
FIG. 12
shows an exploded perspective view of the multidirectional switch.
As shown in FIG.
11
and
FIG. 12
, a cylindrical case
5
made of an insulating resin is provided with a boss
5
A protruding upwardly from a center of a bottom surface of the case, and two protrusions
5
B in the vicinity of the boss
5
A.
A hole
5
C in the boss
5
A houses a supporting pin
7
, which is pushed upwardly by a slightly compressed coil spring
6
. An upper end of the supporting pin
7
has a spherical surface.
A wiring board
8
having a plurality of conductive patterns (not shown) on both of its surfaces is provided with five push button switches
9
A-
9
E on its upper surface, which are disposed in a radial arrangement around a central through hole
8
A and fixed thereon by soldering or the like, and perform electrical connection/disconnection in accordance with a pressing operating force accompanying a click feeling.
The wiring board
8
is fixed with two screw bolts
10
onto the protrusions
5
B of case
5
, with the through hole
8
A penetrated by the boss
5
A of case
5
.
The wiring board
8
is coupled with lead wires
11
at one end by soldering, or by using a conductive adhesive, and the lead wires
11
are connected via a conductive pattern with respective push button switches
9
A-
9
E.
The lead wires
11
extend from the case
5
through an opening
5
D, to be electrically connected at another end with an electronic circuit (not shown) of an automobile.
A swaying body
12
made of an insulating resin is provided just above the wiring board
8
. The swaying body
12
is provided with an operating axle
12
B protruding upwardly from a center of an upper surface of a bowl part
12
A.
Provided at a center of a lower surface of the bowl part
12
A is a clicking void
12
C, which has an elastic contact with the supporting pin
7
at the upper end thereof. The bowl part
12
A is provided with five push sections
12
D-
12
H extending in a radial arrangement from an outer circumference of the bowl part. Tip ends of the push sections make contact at their bottom surfaces with upper surfaces of the push button switches
9
A-
9
E.
A cover
13
covering the case
5
from above is provided on its upper surface with varieties of markings, painted by a printing process or a similar method. An opening
13
A is provided at a center of the cover
13
, and a contact portion
13
B of a spherical shape is provided at a lower part of the opening
13
A.
The swaying body
12
, which is pushed upwardly by the supporting pin
7
, makes contact at the upper surface of the bowl part
12
A with the contact portion
13
B. Thus, the swaying body
12
is supported by the supporting pin
7
at its upper end, so that the swinging body can sway around the upper end of the supporting pin.
An operation body
14
has an operating area
14
A of a flange shape at an upper surface of the operation body, and a coupling section
14
B protruding downwardly from a center of a lower surface of the operation body. The coupling section
14
B is inserted through the opening
13
A of cover
13
to be coupled and fixed with the operating axle
12
B of the swaying body
12
. A conventional multidirectional switch is thus constituted.
In the above-configured multidirectional switch, when the operation body
14
is pressed in a certain specific direction, for example, when the operating area
14
A is pressed downwardly at the left end the swaying body
12
sways to the left with the upper end of the supporting pin
7
serving a fulcrum point so that the bottom end surface of the push section
12
D pushes the push-button switch
9
A downwardly. Then, the push-button switch
9
A is brought into an electrical connection.
At this time, as a result of swaying of the swaying body
12
, the push sections
12
E and
12
H located next to the push section
12
D also move slightly downwardly to press the push-button switches
9
B and
9
E located next to the push-button switch
9
A. Since the loads of pressing the push-button switches
9
B and
9
E are added to that of pressing the push-button switch
9
A, a click feeling of the push-button switch
9
A itself is deteriorated.
However, as a result of the swaying motion of swaying body
12
, the point of making contact between the upper end of the supporting pin
7
and the clicking void
12
C shifts, which results in a change in the amount of flexion with the coil spring
6
. This generates a click feeling corresponding to the amount of load drop P
1
as exhibited in
FIG. 13
, which is an operational characteristics diagram.
In the conventional multidirectional switches of the above-described configuration, the coil spring
6
and the supporting pin
7
are the essential components for generating the click feeling; which means an increased number of constituent components. Furthermore, the click feeling of the push-button switch
9
A itself, which makes electrical connection/disconnection in accordance with a pressing operation, is deteriorated, resulting in a reduced amount of the load drop P
1
. Thus, it has been difficult to provide a satisfactory operational feeling with the conventional multidirectional switches.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A multidirectional switch of the present invention has an operation body comprising a plurality of operating areas, each of which is positioned at a middle area between contact switches. A pressing force applied to the operation body sways a swaying body, bringing two contact switches into electrical connection/disconnection at substantially the same time. With the above-described structure, where push structure of the swaying body press two contact switches at substantially the same time, a superior feeling of operation is generated without requiring such constituent components as a coil spring, supporting pin or the like. Thus, the present invention provides an inexpensive multidirectional switch that is formed of fewer components, and provides a superior feeling of operation.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4511769 (1985-04-01), Sahakian et al.
patent: 4975547 (1990-12-01), Nakayama et al.
patent: 4992631 (1991-02-01), Gee
patent: 5468924 (1995-11-01), Naitou et al.
patent: 5655650 (1997-08-01), Naitou
patent: 5691517 (1997-11-01), Yamamoto et al.
patent: 5813519 (1998-09-01), Gotoh
patent: 5887704 (1999-03-01), Schorpp et al.
patent: 6096985 (2000-08-01), Ritter et al.
Matsui Naoaki
Nakade Yoshiyuki
Shitanaka Hitokazu
Umezawa Shigeyoshi
Luebke Renee
Matsushita Electric Industrial
LandOfFree
Multidirectional switch and operation unit using the same does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Multidirectional switch and operation unit using the same, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Multidirectional switch and operation unit using the same will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3089149