GB2102198A - Piezoelectric oscillator mounting device - Google Patents

Abstract

A piezoelectric oscillator mounting device which includes a synthetic resin base 11 penetrated by a pair of terminal pins (only one 15a visible) for connection to a piezoelectric oscillator, and a pair of upstanding support portions 12, 13 formed integral with the base on both sides thereof. The support portions are provided with a first pair of opposing mounting grooves 12a, 13a and a second pair of opposing mounting grooves 12b, 13b. The first pair of grooves differ from the second pair in terms of width and/or intervening distance, enabling the mounting of either of two piezoelectric oscillators of different thickness and/or diameter. Either oscillator is mounted by inserting the edges thereof into the appropriate opposing pair of mounting grooves. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Piezoelectric oscillator mounting device BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to the construction of a mounting device for a piezoelectric oscillator.

A piezoelectric oscillator is an oscillator that utilizes a piezoelectric crystal plate made of quartz or the like. Electrodes of a metal such as silver or aluminum are formed on both surfaces of the crystal plate by a vapor deposition technique, and the crystal plate is made to vibrate by applying an electric signal across the electrodes. It is general practice to mount such an element on mounting device prior to use.

A conventional mounting device is shown in Fig. 1. The device includes a base 1 comprising an insulator such as glass or a ceramic. A pair of terminal pins 2, 3 made of metal wire are supported within the base 1 and project from the top and bottom surfaces thereof. Clips 4, 5 comprising piano wire or the like are affixed at one end to the upper ends of the respective terminal pines 2, 3. The other ends of the clips 4, 5 are coiled to form holding portions 4a, 5a which hold the piezoelectric oscillator 6 at the edges thereof to support the oscillator 6 on the terminal pins 2, 3. Electrodes 7, 8 are formed on the front and back surfaces of the oscillator 6, respectively, and are so located as to be contacted by the holding portions 5a, 4a.The electrodes 7, 8 are bonded to the respective holding portions 5a, 4a by an electrically conductive bonding agent or the like to assure good electrical contact between the holding portions and corresponding electrodes.

With the conventional arrangement of this type the spacing between the dlips 4, 5 is predetermined. This means that the base 1 is capable of mounting only the specified piezoelectric oscillator, since only this oscillator will have a diameter that matches the spacing between the clips 4, 5. Moreover, attempting to mount an oscillator which is too thick will destroy the spring action of the clips and make it impossible to retain the oscillator. In addition, considerable labor is required to secure the penetrating terminal pins 2, 3 to the base 1, and to affix the clips 4, 5 to the terminal pins 2, 3, an operation which must be performed by spot welding. As a result, there is an increase in the cost of the piezoelectric oscillator assembly.

Another disadvantage is that the clips 4, 5 do not always provide reliable support for the oscillator which is therefore likely to break if subjected to externally applied impact and vibration.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a piezoelectric oscillator mounting device which is capable of selectively mounting piezoelectric oscillators having two different shapes.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a piezoelectric oscillator mounting device which permits a piezoelectric oscillator to be mounted merely by an insertion operation and to be retained in a reliable manner.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the figures thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a front view illustrating a piezoelectric oscillator mounting device according to the prior art; Figs. 2 through 6 illustrate an embodiment of a piezoelectric oscillator mounting device according to the present invention, in which Fig. 2 is a perspective view, Fig. 3 is a front view showing how a first piezoelectric oscillator is mounted, Fig.

4 is a plan view of Fig. 3, Fig. 5 is a front view showing how a second piezoelectric oscillator is mounted, and Fig. 6 is a plan view of Fig. 5 and Fig. 7 is a plan view showing another embodiment of a piezoelectric oscillator mounting device according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to Figs. 2 through 4, a piezoelectric oscillator mounting device according to the present invention, indicated generally at 10, includes a base 11 comprising a synthetic resin.

The base 11 is integrally provided with upstanding support portions 12, 1 3 on either side thereof, and is formed to include a flange 14 at the lower end thereof. A pair of spaced terminal pins 1 5, 1 6 are retained in the base 11 and project from both sides thereof. The ends 1 5a, 1 6a of the pins 1 5, 1 6 projecting from the top side of the base 11 form connection portions to be connected to a piezoelectric oscillator, which will be described below. A first pair of opposing mounting grooves 1 2a, 1 3a are provided in the side walls of respective support portions 12, 1 3 is such a manner the plane containing the mounting grooves 1 2a, 1 3a intersects a straight line drawn between the connection portions 1 5a, 1 6a of the terminal pins 1 5, 1 6.A second pair of opposing mounting grooves 1 2b, 1 3b are provided in the side walls of respective support portions 12, 1 3 in such a manner that the plane containing these mounting grooves likewise intersects the straight line drawn between the connection portions 1 5a, 1 6a. It is obvious, therefore, that the planes containing the first and second pairs of mounting grooves intersect each other. As shown in Fig. 4, moreover, the distance i1 between the recessed portions of mounting grooves 1 2a, 13a is shorther than the distance 12 between the recessed portions of mounting grooves 1 2b, 1 3b.

The mounting device 10 having the foregoing constructipn is capable of mounting either of two piezoelectric oscillators 17, 18, as will now be described.

As illustrated in Fig. 3, a piezoelectric oscillator 1 7 has electrodes 1 7a, 1 7a formed on its front and back surfaces. A portion of each electrode 1 7a, 1 7a is extended radially of the oscillator to form respective terminal sections 1 7b, 1 7b.

Likewise, piezoelectric oscillator 18, shown in Fig.

5, has electrodes 18a, 18a formed on its front and back surfaces. A portion of each electrode 18a, 1 8a is extended radially of the oscillator to form terminal sections 1 8b, 1 8b. It should be noted that piezoelectric oscillator 1 7 is smaller in diameter than piezoelectric oscillator 18, but that both oscillators are of the same thickness.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, piezoelectric oscillator 1 7 is mounted by positioning the oscillator over the mountinq qrooves 1 2a, 13a provided in the support portions 1 2, 13, inserting the edges of the oscillator 1 7 into the opposing grooves 12a, 13a and sliding the oscillator toward the base 11 until the lower edge of the oscillator abuts against the base, whereby the oscillator is positioned between the connection portions 15a, 1 6a of the terminal pins 1 5, 16 with its terminal section 1 7b on one surface in contact with connection portion 15a and is terminal section 1 7b on the other surface in contact with connection portion 16a.An electrically conductive bonding agent or the like may be applied to these points of contact to assure that the piezoelectric oscillator 1 7 will be mounted on the mounting device 10 securely.

Piezoelectric oscillator 1 8 is mounted as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. Oscillator 18, owing to its greater diameter, is positioned over the deeper pair of mounting grooves 1 2b, 1 3b provided in support portions 12, 13. The edges of the oscillator 18 then are inserted into the grooves 1 2b, 1 3b and the oscillator is slid toward the base 11 until its lower edge abuts against the base, just as described above.This positions the oscillator 1 8 between the connection portions 1 5a, 1 6a of the terminal pins 1 5, 16 with its terminal sections 1 8b, 1 8b in contact with the connection portions 15a,16a. The piezoelectric oscillator 1 8 may be secured by applying an electrically conductive bonding agent to the points of electrical contact, as described above.

The base 11 having the piezoelectric oscillator 1 7 or 1 8 mounted thereon is covered by a metal case (not shown), as is common in the art.

Another embodiment of a mounting device is illustrated in Fig. 7, in which the thickness or width W, of the first pair of mounting grooves 12a, 13a is greater than the thickness or width W2 of the second pair of mounting grooves 1 2b, 1 3b.

This arrangement makes it possible to mount two piezoelectric oscillators which differ in thickness.

As shown in Fig. 7, the base 11 is provided with guide grooves 11 a, 11 b which assure that the terminal sections of the piezoelectric oscillator will contact the connection portions of the terminal pins 1 5, 1 6 reliably.

In the foregoing the first and second pairs of mounting grooves differed in terms of the intervening distances It, 12 in the first embodiment and in terms of their widths W" W2 in the second embodiment. It is obvious, however, that both of these configurations may be combined in a single mounting device. Further, it is obvious that the piezoelectric oscillators can be supported securely by pouring viscous adhesive into the groove.

In accordance with the present invention as described and illustrated hereinabove, therefore, the piezoelectric oscillator mounting device 10 comprises the base 11 which is formed to include the support portions 12, 13 on each side thereof, the first and second pairs of opposing mounting grooves 1 2a, 1 3a and 1 2b, 1 3b being formed in the supports 12, 13. This enables the single mounting device 10 to mount either of the two piezoelectric oscillators 1 7, 18 which differ from each other in terms of diameter and/or thickness.

Morever, the oscillators are mounted merely by inserting them into the matching mounting grooves. This simplifies the mounting operation and reduces the risk that the oscillator will be damaged. Since the base 11 is made of synthetic resin, moreover, the terminal pins 15, 16 can be attached by setting them in the resin when the base 11 is molded.

As many apparently widely different embodiments of the present invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments thereof except as defined in the appended claims.

Claims (6)

1. A piezoelectric oscillator mounting device which comprises: a base made of synthetic resin; a pair of upstanding support portions formed integral with said base on both sides thereof and having a first pair of opposing mounting grooves and a second pair of opposing mounting grooves, each pair of grooves being adapted to receive a piezoelectric oscillator; and a pair of terminal pins passing through said base between said first and second upstanding support portions and projecting from each side of said base.

2. The piezoelectric oscillator mounting device according to claim 1, in which the distance between said first pair of opposing mounting grooves is less than the distance between the said second pair of opposing mounting grooves.

3. The piezoelectric oscillator mounting device according to claim 1, in which the width of said first pair of opposing mounting grooves is greater than the width of said second pair of opposing mounting grooves.

4. The piezoelectric oscillator mounting device according to claim 1, in which the plane containing said first pair of opposing mounting grooves intersects the plane containing said second pair of opposing mounting grooves.

5. A piezoelectric oscillator mounting device comprising a base made of synthetic resin; oscillator support portions projecting from the base at opposing sides thereof and including respective abutment faces for supporting an oscillator mounted in the device; and a pair of contact pins mounted on the base, and protruding therefrom between the support portions for making electrical contact with an oscillator mounted in the device.

6. A piezoelectric oscillator mounting device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 2 to Figure 6, or Figure 7 of the accompanying drawings.