Electricity: circuit makers and breakers – Multiple circuit control – Multiple switch
Utility Patent
1999-10-25
2001-01-02
Friedhofer, Michael (Department: 2832)
Electricity: circuit makers and breakers
Multiple circuit control
Multiple switch
C200S341000, C200S343000, C200S517000, C200S296000
Utility Patent
active
06169256
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a panel switch for use in a variety of electronic appliances such as video equipment, audio equipment, facsimile, copy machine, printer and the like. Further, the invention relates to a method of mounting the panel switch into an appliance.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A panel switch of the prior art is described hereinafter by referring to FIG.
9
through FIG.
14
.
Incidentally, some of the accompanying figures are cross-sectional views of the panel switch showing only portions where typical structure, spatial arrangement, and the like of individual components are conspicuous.
FIG. 9
is a cross-sectional side view, and
FIG. 10
is an exploded perspective view of the panel switch of the prior art. Referring to FIG.
9
and
FIG. 10
, a first wiring board
1
bears a wiring pattern
1
A, and a plural pair of central stationary contacts
1
B and peripheral stationary contacts
1
C formed on a upper surface thereof. A dome-shaped movable contact
2
made of resilient thin metal sheet is placed on the first wiring board
1
in a manner that an outer periphery of it is in contact with the peripheral stationary contact
1
C, and an inner surface of a central vertex portion is opposite to the central stationary contact
1
B. The movable contact
2
is adhesively secured to the first wiring board
1
with an insulation film
3
, a lower surface of which is coated with adhesive material.
A push button unit
4
made of insulation resin is so constructed that a plurality of movable key-buttons
4
C, each provided with a operating key portion
4
A on an upside thereof and a protrusion
4
B for depressing the movable contact
2
on an underside thereof, are connected to a frame
4
D. The push button unit
4
is aligned in position on the first wiring board
1
by inserting a plurality of locating bosses
4
E provided on a lower surface of the frame
4
D into a plurality of locating holes
1
D in the first wiring board
1
.
A cover
5
made of metal plate is provided with a plurality of button openings
5
A, a display opening
5
B, and a plurality of threaded holes
5
C. The cover
5
is placed on the push button unit
4
in such a manner that a plurality of the operating key portions
4
A of the push button unit
4
protrude from the button openings
5
A in the cover
5
. The cover
5
covers the push button unit
4
, and is secured to the first wiring board
1
with screws
6
, which are inserted from a backside of the first wiring board
1
through the screw holes
1
E and notches
4
F of the push button unit
4
, and fastened into the threaded holes
5
C. Since the cover
5
is secured to the first wiring board
1
with a plurality of the screws
6
, the screw holes
1
E of the first wiring board
1
are made to be larger in diameter than a diameter of the screws
6
, in order to tolerate variations in finishing dimensions of the plurality of threaded holes
5
C and screw holes
1
E.
In addition, a second wiring board
8
provided with a liquid crystal display element
7
is disposed on a left side of the first wiring board
1
and the push button unit
4
in such a manner that the liquid crystal display element
7
protrudes from the cover
5
through the display opening
5
B having a dimension greater than an outer dimension of the liquid crystal display element
7
. The second wiring board
8
is secured to the cover
5
with screws
9
which is inserted from a backside of the second wiring board
8
through a screw hole
8
A having a diameter larger than a diameter of the screws
9
, and fastened into a threaded hole
5
D in the cover
5
.
In the panel switch
10
of the above-described structure, the protrusion
4
B at the underside of the movable key-button
4
C depresses the central vertex portion of the dome-shaped movable contact
2
, so as to shift the movable contact
2
downward, when the operating key portion
4
A of the push button unit
4
is pushed downward, as shown in FIG.
11
. This causes an electrical connection between the central stationary contact
1
B and the peripheral stationary contact
1
C via the movable contact
2
due to a contact of the inner surface of the central vertex portion of the movable contact
2
with the central stationary contact
1
B. When the pushing force to the operating key portion
4
A is removed, the inner surface of the central vertex portion of the movable contact
2
moves off the central stationary contact
1
B due to a resilient force of restitution of the movable contact
2
, and thereby the movable key-button
4
C returns to its original position shown in FIG.
9
.
FIG. 12
is a cross-sectional view of an electronic appliance equipped with the panel switch
10
. In
FIG. 12
, a console
11
of the electronic appliance is provided with a plurality of button openings
11
A and a display window
11
B in an upper surface thereof, and a plurality of depressions
11
C in a lower surface thereof. The plurality of operating key portions
4
A protrude from the button openings
11
A, and the liquid crystal display element
7
locates under the display window
11
B. The panel switch
10
is placed and mounted in position of the console
11
by inserting protrusions
5
E provided on the upper surface of the cover
5
into the depressions
11
C in the console
11
.
As has been described, the panel switch of the prior art is so constructed that the first wiring board
1
and the cover
5
are fixed together by inserting the screws
6
into the screw holes
1
E having a diameter larger than the outer diameter of the screws
6
, whereas the push button unit
4
is aligned in position on the first wiring board
1
by inserting the locating bosses
4
E into the locating holes
1
D. Therefore, the operating key portions
4
A of the push button unit
4
deviate out of the centers of the button openings
5
A of the cover
5
, as shown in
FIG. 13
, if the screws
6
are fastened into the threaded holes
5
C while they are in such positions shifted eccentrically from the screw holes
1
E. As a result, the operating key portions
4
A touch the button openings
5
A if the positioning deviation is excessive, giving rise to a problem that pushing operation is obstructed.
Similar positioning deviation can also occur between the liquid crystal display element
7
disposed on the second wiring board
8
and the display opening
5
B of the cover
5
, since the screw hole
8
A of the second wiring board
8
is larger the than a diameter of the screw
9
, and the display opening
5
B of the cover
5
is also greater than the outer dimension of the liquid crystal display element
7
. If the panel switch
10
assembled as above is installed into an electronic appliance by inserting the projections
5
E of the cover
5
into the depression
11
C in the console
11
, a positioning deviation occurs between the button openings
11
A of the console
11
and the operating key portions
4
A of the push button unit
4
, as well as between the display window
11
B and the liquid crystal display element
7
, thereby giving rise to another problem that an outward appearance is impaired around the operating key portions and display sections of the appliance.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A panel switch in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes (1) a first screw; (2) a first wiring board including (a) a wiring pattern and a switch contact formed on an upper surface of said first wiring board, (b) a first locating hole, and (c) a first screw hole of a diameter larger than a diameter of said first screw; (3) a push button unit made of insulation resin including (a) a movable key-button having an operating key portion and a protrusion on an underside of said operating key portion for depressing said switch contact, (b) a frame for connecting said movable key button, and (c) a plurality of locating bosses provided on an upper surface and a lower surface of said frame, wherein said push button unit being disposed in position on said first wiring board with said locating bosses on the lower s
Abe Yoshiharu
Hanahara Tetsuro
Inoue Kenji
Friedhofer Michael
Matsushita Electric - Industrial Co., Ltd.
Ratner & Prestia
LandOfFree
Panel switch and method of mounting 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 Panel switch and method of mounting the same, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Panel switch and method of mounting the same will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2535176