Switch

Details Switch Switch

2002-08-12

2004-02-03

Friedhofer, Michael (Department: 2832)

Electricity: circuit makers and breakers

Solid contact

Rocking actuator

C200S310000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06686550

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a switch such as a seesaw type switch, a lever switch or the like used in a power window switch or the like of an automobile.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a conventional seesaw type switch as shown by FIG.
12
and
FIG. 13
described in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No.20844/1991.
FIG. 12
is a disassembled perspective view and
FIG. 13
is a sectional view.
As shown by FIG.
12
and
FIG. 13
, a conventional seesaw type switch
201
is provided with fixed terminals
205
and
207
and a common fixed terminal
209
at a terminal board
203
. A movable contact piece
211
is pivotably supported by the common fixed terminal
209
. Movable contacts
213
and
215
are provided at both ends of the movable contact piece
211
. The movable contact piece
211
is formed by a plate member and is arranged such that a plate face thereof is directed upwardly. A pin
217
is brought into elastic contact with an upper face of the movable contact piece
211
. The pin
217
is contained in a sliding member
219
via a coil spring
221
.
Therefore, when the sliding member
219
is moved to a state of
FIG. 13
by operating the switch knob, the movable contact
213
on one side is brought into contact with the fixed contact
205
on one side and the fixed contact
205
on one side and the common fixed contact
209
are conducted to each other. Further, when the sliding member
219
is moved to the right side of
FIG. 13
by operating the switch knob, the pin
217
is moved to the right side of the common fixed contact
209
by smoothly sliding on the upper face of the movable contact piece
211
by the elastic contact. By moving the pin
217
, the movable contact piece
211
is rotated in the clockwise direction in FIG.
13
and the movable contact
215
on other side is brought into contact with the fixed contact
207
on other side. Thereby, the fixed contact
207
on other side and the common fixed contact
209
are conducted to each other.
In this way, by operating the movable contact piece
211
in seesaw movement by operating the switch knob, the movable contacts
213
and
215
can be brought into contact with and separated from the fixed contacts
205
and
207
.
Meanwhile, according to the power window switch of an automobile, a click feeling is given to operation of the switch knob in order to give an operator differentiation among lifted and lowered positions and a neutral position of switch operation as the operation feeling.
However, according to the above-described structure, excellent click feeling cannot be given by a side of the movable contact piece
211
and therefore, there must be provided separately a portion having a click groove, a steel ball which is brought into elastic contact with the click groove and a coil spring for urging the steel ball between the switch knob and a switch case. Therefore, there are needed the steel ball and the coil spring other than the pin
217
and the coil spring
221
, a number of parts is large, assembling and parts control is complicated to thereby cause an increase in cost.
Further, conventionally, according to a click member of a seesaw type switch, there is used the pin
217
which is long in an up and down direction such that the pin
217
is not detached from the sliding member
219
even when the pin
217
is slided on the movable contact piece
211
. The pin
217
is used when an amount of sliding the pin
217
on the movable contact piece
211
is large and a steel ball cannot be used since the steel ball is detached from the sliding member
219
. A front end of the pin
217
is constituted by a spherical shape and therefore, it is difficult to fabricate the pin
217
by a large amount when the pin
217
is made of a metal and therefore, a pin molded by resin is generally used. However, there poses a problem that the pin
217
made of resin is devoid of durability and expensive in comparison with the steel ball.
With regard thereto, the present assignee has already proposed a structure as described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No.145232/1988. According to the structure, a movable contact piece is bent by pressing to thereby form a click ridge and a steel ball supported by a slider is brought into contact with the movable contact piece by urge force of a coil spring. Further, a click feeling can be given to a switch knob by cooperatively moving the slider by operating a switch knob and making the steel ball ride over the click ridge.
However, there poses a problem that in forming the click ridge by pressing the movable contact piece, it is difficult to accurately form the click ridge by springback of the movable contact piece in pressing and the degree of freedom of setting a height and a shape of the click ridge is narrow. Further, due to sliding between the movable contact piece made of a metal and the steel ball made of a metal, abrasion powder is produced and a contact failure is caused and in order to achieve smooth sliding, it is necessary to significantly improve an accuracy of finishing a surface of the movable contact piece to thereby cause an increase in cost.
Further, a movable contact board on which the steel ball slides, must be formed such that the ridge portion is lowered and the valley portion is shallowed to prevent the steel ball from being detached from a holder and a change in operational force (click feeling) is reduced when the knob is pivoted. Therefore, according to the seesaw type switch using the steel ball, there poses a problem in which operation feeling is poor and erroneous operation is liable to be brought about since the position is changed from an OFF position to ON position by small operational force.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide a switch such as a seesaw type switch, a lever switch or the like capable of widening the degree of freedom of setting a height and shape of a click groove while providing the click groove on the side of a movable contact and capable of promoting an operation feeling without increasing cost thereof.
According to a first aspect of the invention, the invention is concerned switch comprising a fixed contact fixedly supported by a housing, a movable piece pivotably supported by the housing and having a movable contact brought into contact with and separated from a fixed contact, and a switch knob pivotably supported by the housing for operating to move an elastic contact member brought into elastic contact with the movable piece, wherein the movable contact is brought into contact with and separated from the fixed contact by pivoting the movable piece by moving the elastic contact member on the movable piece by operating to pivot the switch knob, and wherein the movable piece is provided with a contact portion made of a conductive material and a click portion made of a resin having a click groove.
According to a second aspect of the invention, in the switch according to the first aspect, the click portion of the movable piece is formed to be flat and comprise the click groove at an end edge thereof and the click portion of the movable piece is arranged to erect relative to the housing such that the elastic contact member is brought into elastic contact with the click groove, wherein the elastic contact member is formed by a steel ball, further comprising a ball support portion in a cylindrical shape for containing the steel ball via an urging member and having an opening at an end portion thereof wherein the opening of the ball support portion is provided with an engaging groove loosely fitted to the end edge of the click portion of the movable piece.
According to a third aspect of the invention, in the switch according to the first or second aspect, a section of the click groove is formed in a recessed shape in accordance with an outer face in a spherical shape of the steel ball.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, in the switch according to any one of the first to third aspects, the switch further

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