Electricity: circuit makers and breakers – Solid contact – Rotating actuator
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-11
2002-09-10
Friedhofer, Michael (Department: 2832)
Electricity: circuit makers and breakers
Solid contact
Rotating actuator
C200S570000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06448523
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tactile-feedback rotary electrical component that is suitably used in electronic devices such as microwave ovens and acoustic devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
As an example of a conventional tactile-feedback rotary electrical component, a rotary variable resistor will be described below with reference to
FIGS. 12 and 13
. Referring to
FIG. 12
, an operating member
52
is rotatably mounted in a cup-shaped metal cover
51
.
In the operating member
52
, an operating section
53
and a disklike rotating section
54
are integrally formed. The rotating section
54
is held inside the cover
51
, and the operating section
53
protrudes from the cover
51
.
An insulating substrate
57
with resistors
55
and the conductors
56
is attached to the open end of the cover
51
, and a sliding element
58
mounted on the rotating section
54
is in sliding contact with the resistors
55
and the conductors
56
.
A metal leaf spring
59
includes a zigzag portion
59
a
bent in a zigzag form, and a semicircular protuberance
59
b
at the end thereof.
The leaf spring
59
is mounted in a hole
54
a
formed in the rotating section
54
so that the protuberance
59
b
engages with and disengages from a recess
51
a
formed in the cover
51
.
When the operating section
53
is rotated, the rotating section
54
is also rotated. The sliding element
58
slides on the resistors
55
and the conductors
56
to change the resistance, and the protuberance
59
b
of the leaf spring
59
engages with and disengages from the recess
51
a
of the cover
51
to give tactile feedback in the rotation of the operating section
53
.
In the above-described conventional tactile-feedback rotary electrical component, since the leaf spring
59
for obtaining tactile feedback is mounted in the rotating section
54
, it must be mounted in the cover
51
while being held in the rotating section
54
. This reduces assembly efficiency and increases cost.
Since the hole
54
a
of the rotating section
54
holds the zigzag leaf spring
59
therein, it must be large enough to allow the leaf spring
59
to move in the direction perpendicular to the axial direction. For this reason, the leaf spring
59
is fitted loosely and rattles in the axial direction of the operating section
53
, thereby degrading the tactile feedback.
Since the leaf spring
59
has a zigzag shape, workability is decreased and the cost is increased.
Since the zigzag leaf spring
59
is mounted in the hole
54
b
of the rotating section
54
, when the rotating section
54
is decreased in thickness and size for the purpose of reducing the size of the rotary electrical component, the leaf spring
59
is also decreased in size. In particular, this makes it difficult to obtain a high torque.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive tactile-feedback rotary electrical component with high assembly efficiency.
In order to overcome the above problems, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a tactile-feedback rotary electrical component including: a housing; an operating section rotatably mounted in the housing; a rotating section held in the housing to be rotated by the operating section; and a first U-shaped spring formed of a leaf spring, wherein the first U-shaped spring is held in a recessed holder section formed in the housing, one of the outer peripheral surface of the rotating section and the first U-shaped spring has a protuberance, the other has a recess, and the protuberance and the recess are engaged and disengaged by the rotation of the rotating section so as to produce tactile feedback.
Preferably, the rotating section has the recess, and the first U-shaped spring has the protuberance.
Preferably, the protuberance is shaped like a rib, and the recess is shaped like a groove.
Preferably, the housing has a cylindrical wall section having an open end portion opened at the rear end, the holder section is formed in the wall section, and the first U-shaped spring is held in the holder section so as to be placed along the axial direction of the operating section.
Preferably, two first U-shaped springs are mounted in the holder section, and the sliding paths of the protuberances of the two first U-shaped springs with respect to the rotating section are different from each other.
Preferably, the recessed holder section includes an open portion facing the open portion of the wall section at one end in the axial direction of the operating section, and an inner portion. Preferably, one of the first U-shaped springs is placed so that a free end portion thereof is disposed on the side of the open portion of the holder section and so that a connecting portion thereof is disposed in the inner portion, and the other U-shaped spring is placed so that a connecting portion thereof is disposed on the side of the open portion of the housing and so that a free end portion thereof is disposed in the inner portion. Preferably, the sliding paths of the protuberances of the two first U-shaped springs with respect to the rotating section are different from each other.
The tactile-feedback rotary electrical component may further include a second U-shaped spring formed of a leaf spring for elastically pressing the outer peripheral surface of the rotating section.
Preferably, the wall section of the housing has a polygonal outer wall, and the holder section is formed on the inner wall of the wall section facing the corner of the outer wall.
Preferably, at least the first U-shaped spring is held in one of the plural holder sections, the first or second U-shaped spring is held in the other holder section, and the rotating section is elastically pressed toward the rotation center by the plural U-shaped springs.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4107634 (1978-08-01), Scaletta et al.
patent: 4117280 (1978-09-01), Feaster
patent: 4719324 (1988-01-01), Kuratani
patent: 5373132 (1994-12-01), Achermann et al.
patent: 5669489 (1997-09-01), Von Ende
patent: 5847335 (1998-12-01), Sugahara et al.
patent: 6143994 (2000-11-01), Thivilier
patent: 6175091 (2001-01-01), Nishimura et al.
patent: 3342609 (1983-11-01), None
patent: 52-2224 (1950-06-01), None
Alps Electric Co. ,Ltd.
Friedhofer Michael
Klaus Lisa N
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