Electricity: circuit makers and breakers – Solid contact – Push button operated
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-03
2001-03-27
Friedhofer, Michael (Department: 2832)
Electricity: circuit makers and breakers
Solid contact
Push button operated
C200S324000, C200S520000, C200S523000, C200S323000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06207914
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the structure of a switch used as a power switch used in, for example, a washing machine, a dish washer, or a drying machine, and more particularly to the structure of a push-button switch incorporating a self-restoring function.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 11
to
14
illustrate the structure of a conventional push-button switch incorporating a self-restoring function. More specifically,
FIG. 11
is a partly cutaway plan view showing a state in which the push-button switch is locked.
FIG. 12
illustrates the relationship between a lock cam and a lock pin of FIG.
11
.
FIG. 13
is a partly cutaway plan view showing a state in which a solenoid of the push-button switch is performing an actuating operation.
FIG. 14
illustrates the relationship between the lock cam and the lock pin of FIG.
13
.
In these figures, a frame member
11
is formed by pressing a metallic plate, such as a steel plate. An AC switch section
12
and a solenoid
13
are integrally mounted side-by-side to the frame member
11
. A DC switch section
14
is mounted behind the AC switch section
12
.
A sliding member
15
is slidably disposed on the AC switch section
12
. By pushing in the sliding member
15
, a circuit provided at the AC switch section
12
and a circuit provided in the DC switch section
14
are turned on. The sliding member
15
is biased towards an initial position thereof by a restoring spring (not shown). When the sliding member
15
is in the initial position, the circuits of the AC switch section
12
and DC switch section
14
are turned off.
A heart cam
16
is disposed at the sliding member
15
, and includes a protrusion-like lock cam
16
a
at the center portion thereof. A lock pin
17
(described later) is made to slide along the lock cam
16
a
. By stopping the lock pin
17
by a surface of the lock cam
16
a
, the sliding member
15
is locked in a pushed-in state.
The lock pin
17
is formed by bending both ends of a round rod at right angles, with a lock-pin fulcrum
17
a
being formed at one end thereof and a lock-pin operating end
17
b
being formed at the other end thereof. The lock-pin fulcrum
17
a
is axially supported in a hole (not shown) formed in the frame member
11
, while the lock-pin operating end
17
b
, which is rotatable, is disposed so as to slide along the lock cam
16
a
of the heart cam
16
.
An actuating cam
18
includes a cam protrusion
18
a
at the center portion thereof. The cam protrusion
18
a
is rotatably axially supported by the frame member
11
. One end of the actuating cam
18
is engaged and connected to an iron core
13
a
of the solenoid
13
. The actuating cam
18
is formed so that it can be rotationally driven around the cam protrusion
18
a
as a fulcrum by the force of attraction of the solenoid
13
. On the other hand, the other end of the actuating cam
18
is disposed near the heart cam
16
disposed at the sliding member
15
, with inclined surfaces
18
b
and
18
c
together forming a triangular shape at the tip of this other end of the actuating cam
18
. The actuating cam
18
is disposed between the AC switch section
12
and the frame member
11
.
The operation of the conventional push-button switch incorporating a self-restoring function will be described. When the sliding member
15
is pushed in, it is kept in a pushed-in position. In this pushed-in position, the operating end
17
b
of the lock pin
17
is stopped by the lock cam
16
a
, so that the sliding member
15
is locked in the pushed-in position. From this pushed-in position, when the solenoid
13
is energized by a signal transmitted from an external control circuit (not shown), the force of attraction of the solenoid
13
causes the actuating cam
18
to rotate around the cam protrusion
18
a
as the fulcrum by the iron core
13
a
. At this time, the inclined surface
18
b
formed at the end of the actuating cam
18
which has rotated comes into contact with the operating end
17
b
from a longitudinal direction of the lock pin
17
(or a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the lock pin
17
). and guides and moves the operating end
17
b
in a horizontal direction (or a downward direction in the figures). This causes the operating end
17
b
to disengage from a stopper section of the lock cam
16
a
of the heart cam
16
, so that the sliding member
15
is unlocked.
However, in the structure of the conventional push-button switch incorporating a self-restoring function, when the sliding member
15
is in the locked state, the operating end
17
b
of the lock pin
17
is held by the stopper section of the lock cam
16
a
, whereas, when the sliding member
15
is in an auto-off state, the operating end
17
b
of the lock pin
17
is disengaged from the lock cam
16
a
as a result of pushing the operating end
17
b
of the lock pin
17
horizontally by the inclined surface
18
b
at the end of the actuating cam
18
actuated by the solenoid
13
. Therefore, friction between the lock pin
17
and the lock cam
16
a
is large, so that a large force is required to unlock the lock pin
17
. This results in the problem that the amount of actuating current supplied to the solenoid
13
becomes large.
In addition, since the lock pin
17
is forced to disengage from the stopper section of the lock cam
16
a
by pushing the lock pin
17
horizontally, the lock pin
17
is severely worn, which may prevent a highly reliable product with a long life from being manufactured.
Further, the actuating cam
18
actuated by the solenoid
13
is rotated to unlock the lock pin
17
, so that the actuating cam
18
is increased in size, thus making it difficult to reduce the size of the product.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, in order to overcome the above-described problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a more reliable, longer-life, small push-button switch structure incorporating a self-restoring function by simplifying an actuating structure and reducing the actuating electrical current in a solenoid as a result of reducing friction between a lock pin and a lock cam during an auto-off state in order to reduce the amount of force required to unlock the lock pin.
To this end, according to the present invention, there is provided a push-button switch comprising:
a sliding member;
a lock pin for locking the sliding member at a certain location;
a heart cam including a lock cam along which the lock pin slides; and
a movable stopper member, disposed at the heart cam, for holding the lock pin at a lock position as a result of cooperating with the lock cam or for unlocking the lock pin.
The push-button switch may be such as to comprise a switch body; the sliding member slidably provided at the switch body; the lock pin, with a first end thereof being axially stopped by the sliding member and a second end thereof being rotatable; the heart cam provided at the switch body, with the second end of the lock pin sliding along the heart cam; an actuating member for unlocking the lock pin; a restoring spring for biasing the sliding member in a restoring direction; the movable stopper member movable along a sliding path of the lock pin and to a location away from the sliding path; wherein, after the lock pin has been held at the lock position by the lock cam of the heart cam and the stopper member, the stopper member is moved by the actuating member in order to unlock the lock pin.
When the push-button switch comprises a slide member, a lock pin, a heart cam, and a movable stopper member, a lock cam surface which extends from a first end of the lock cam to a second end, at a stopper-member side, of the lock cam may be formed by an inclined surface formed so as to extend towards an operating section of the sliding member from the first end of the lock cam to the second end, at the stopper-member side, of the lock cam.
When the push-button switch comprises a slide member, a lock pin, a heart cam, and a movable stopper member, the stopper member ma
Alpa Electric Co., Ltd.
Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione
Friedhofer Michael
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