JP7354923B2 - operation switch - Google Patents

Description

The disclosure in this specification relates to an operation switch operated by a user.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a handle switch that is attached to a handlebar so that a rider of a motorcycle can turn on and off a headlamp while holding a steering handle. Various structural improvements have been proposed for such handlebar switches in order to reduce the installation space.

For example, the handle switch described in Patent Document 1 has a direction changing mechanism that changes the operating direction, and contacts are provided on both sides of the board. Contacts are provided on both sides of the board, contributing to miniaturization.

JP2013-206848A

The handle switch described in Patent Document 1 described above requires a direction changing mechanism, so a space is required to arrange the direction changing mechanism. Further, since the direction changing mechanism includes a mechanical structure, it is not possible to reduce the size sufficiently.

Therefore, the disclosed object has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and the object is to provide an operation switch that can be downsized.

The present disclosure adopts the following technical means to achieve the above objectives.

The operation switch disclosed herein includes a support member (26), an operation member (22) supported by the support member and displaced by a user, and a plate-shaped circuit in which a plurality of electronic elements (28) are mounted. The operating member includes a switch portion (41) whose displacement is operated by the user, and a detection element (30) that is mounted on the circuit board and detects the displacement of the operating member in a non-contact manner. The area where the front and back surfaces of the circuit board are projected in the normal direction is defined as a projection area (51). There is a switch part in the external area (52), the detection element is a photodetection element (30) that detects light, and the plurality of electronic elements include a detection element that emits light toward the photodetection element. It includes a light source element (31) and a lighting light source element (32) that lights up the switch part, and the detected part is detected before and after the switch part is displaced by the user. The light source element for detection and the light source element for lighting are respectively mounted on different sides of the circuit board. This is the operation switch that is used .
Another operation switch disclosed herein includes a support member (26), an operation member (22) supported by the support member and displaced by a user, and a board on which a plurality of electronic elements (28) are mounted. The operating member includes a switch portion (41) whose displacement is operated by the user. and a detected portion (42) to be detected by the detection element, and a region where the front and back surfaces of the circuit board are projected in the normal direction is defined as a projection region (51), and the detected portion is in the projection region; There is a switch part in the external area (52) outside the projection area, the detection element is a photodetection element (30) that detects light, and the plurality of electronic elements include a light detection element (30) that emits light toward the photodetection element. It includes a detection light source element (31) and a lighting light source element (32) that lights up the switch part, and the detected part is different before and after the switch part is displaced by the user. The light source element for detection and the light source element for lighting are respectively located on different sides of the circuit board. This is the implemented operation switch.

According to such an operation switch, there is a detected portion of the operation member in the projection area of the circuit board, but the switch portion is not in the projection area but in an external area. Therefore, by utilizing the external area of the circuit board in the planar direction, the dimension of the circuit board in the normal direction can be reduced. Furthermore, since the displacement of the operating member is detected in a non-contact manner by the detection element, it can be made smaller than a direction changing device having a mechanical configuration.

Note that the reference numerals in parentheses of each of the above-mentioned means are examples showing the correspondence with specific means described in the embodiments described later.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the operation switch 20. FIG. FIG. 3 is a front view showing the operation switch 20. FIG. Sectional view of FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a seesaw knob 22 and a circuit board 27. FIG. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the seesaw knob 22 after being operated. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the seesaw knob 22 and the rubber member 29. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the seesaw knob 22 after being operated. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a process of assembling the seesaw knob 22. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the process of assembling the circuit board 27. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a light guide path of a lighting light source element 32. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing another example of the light guide path of the lighting light source element 32.

(First embodiment)
A first embodiment of the present disclosure will be described using FIGS. 1 to 11. The operation switch 20 of this embodiment outputs a signal for operating the operation target when the user performs a displacement operation. The operation switch 20 of this embodiment is provided, for example, on an instrument panel of a vehicle. The operation target of the operation switch 20 is, for example, each function of a vehicle air conditioner.

The operation switch 20 has a main body 21 fixed to an instrument panel, and a seesaw knob 22 that is movable with respect to the main body 21. A vehicle is provided with an electronic control device mainly composed of, for example, a microcomputer. The operation switch 20 outputs an output signal to the electronic control device. The electronic control device receives the output signal of the operation switch 20 and controls the operation of the vehicle display device based on the output signal.

The main body part 21 has an upper case 23, a lower case 24, and a decorative part 25, and by combining the three members, forms a rectangular parallelepiped case having a space inside. The decorative part 25 becomes a part exposed in the vehicle interior, and the upper case 23 and the lower case 24 become parts housed inside the instrument panel. The upper case 23 and the lower case 24 have a rectangular cylindrical shape with a bottom. By combining the upper case 23 and the lower case 24, a rectangular parallelepiped container having a space inside is configured.

When the upper case 23 and the lower case 24 are combined, one of the six sides of the rectangular parallelepiped is open. A flat plate-shaped decorative part 25 is placed in this open portion. Decorative parts 25 are provided so as to close an opening when upper case 23 and lower case 24 are combined. The decorative part 25 has a rectangular frame shape with an opening. The seesaw knob 22 is arranged in the opening of the decorative part 25 so that a part of it is exposed.

Inside the main body portion 21, a seesaw knob 22, a support member 26, a circuit board 27, an electronic element 28, and a rubber member 29 are provided. The support member 26 is fixed to the upper case 23 or the lower case 24 with bolts or the like. The support member 26 is a member that supports each part. A decorative part 25, a circuit board 27, and a rubber member 29 are fixed to the support member 26. Further, the support member 26 is rotatably supported by the seesaw knob 22. Rotation also includes angular displacements of less than 360 degrees.

As shown in FIG. 1, the support member 26 has a flat portion and a frame portion. The frame-shaped portion is provided so as to rise from the flat plate-shaped portion. The frame-shaped portion becomes a portion into which the seesaw knob 22 is inserted and assembled. Further, the frame-shaped portion becomes a portion to which the rubber member 29 is fixed. The flat plate-shaped portion becomes a portion to which the circuit board 27 is fixed. Further, the flat plate-shaped portion becomes a portion fixed to the lower case 24.
The circuit board 27 is a printed circuit board in which a wiring pattern made of a conductive material is formed on an insulating substrate. The circuit board 27 is fixed to the support member 26 with bolts or the like. A plurality of electronic elements 28 are mounted on the front and back surfaces of the circuit board 27. The plurality of electronic elements 28 are, for example, a central processing unit (Central Processing Unit: CPU), a memory, and the like.

Further, the plurality of electronic elements 28 mounted on the circuit board 27 include a photodetection element 30 that detects light. The photodetection element 30 detects displacement of the seesaw knob 22 in a non-contact manner. The plurality of electronic elements 28 mounted on the circuit board 27 also include a detection light source element 31 that emits light toward the photodetector element 30 and a lighting light source element 32 that lights up the switch portion 41 of the seesaw knob 22. The detection light source element 31 and the lighting light source element 32 are mounted on different surfaces of the circuit board 27, respectively. In this embodiment, the detection light source element 31 is mounted on the front side of the circuit board 27, which is the lower surface in FIG. The vertical direction in FIG. 3 is the vertical direction of the operation switch 20 in the mounted state mounted on a vehicle. Therefore, in the mounted state, the photodetector element 30 is mounted on the surface of the circuit board 27 located on the lower side in the direction of gravity.

Further, the lighting light source element 32 is mounted on the back side of the circuit board 27, on the upper side in FIG. The detection light source element 31 and the lighting light source element 32 are realized by, for example, light-emitting diodes (abbreviated as LEDs). The detection light source element 31 is arranged to face the photodetector element 30, as shown in FIG. As a result, the light emitted by the detection light source element 31 enters the photodetector element 30 if there is no obstacle between the light source element 31 and the photodetector element 30 . When the photodetection element 30 detects light, it outputs an on signal indicating that it has been detected, and when it stops detecting light, it outputs an off signal indicating that no light is detected.

Here, the area where the front and back surfaces of the circuit board 27 are projected in the normal direction is defined as a projection area 51. Further, an area outside the projection area 51 is defined as an external area 52. Therefore, the area in the vertical direction of the circuit board 27 shown in FIG. 3 becomes the projection area 51. Furthermore, in FIG. 3, the left side of the virtual line 53 shown in FIG. 3 is the projection area 51, and the right side is the external area 52.

The seesaw knob 22 is an operating member whose displacement is operated by the user. The user can operate the operation target by operating the seesaw knob 22. The seesaw knob 22 is rotatably supported by a support member 26. Specifically, the seesaw knob 22 is shaped like a rectangular parallelepiped container with one side open.

The seesaw knob 22 includes a switch portion 41 whose displacement is operated by a user, and a detected portion 42 which is detected by a detection element. The switch portion 41 has arrows printed on its surface as shown in FIG. 2, and is a portion that the user presses to operate. The switch portion 41 is inserted into the opening of the decorative part 25 and exposed into the vehicle interior. The surface of the switch portion 41 serves as an operation surface 43 that is contacted by the user. As shown in FIG. 2, the operation surface 43 is in a twisted position relative to the surface of the circuit board 27.

Seesaw knob 22 is provided to rotatably engage support member 26 . Specifically, the rotating shaft 33 of the support member 26 is inserted into the through hole 44 of the seesaw knob 22 . More specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the seesaw knob 22 has through holes 44 formed in two opposing walls. The two through holes 44 face each other in the vertical direction in FIG. 3 . Further, the two through holes 44 are located at the center of the seesaw knob 22 in the left-right direction, as shown in FIG. The support member 26 has a rotating shaft 33 that engages with the through hole 44 . The rotating shaft 33 is inserted into the through hole 44 from the outside of the seesaw knob 22. This allows the seesaw knob 22 to rotate around the rotating shaft 33. The rotating shaft 33 is located closer to the switch portion 41 than the detected portion 42 . The seesaw knob 22 has a switch portion 41 at one end on the left and right in FIG. 3, and a detected portion 42 at the other end. Therefore, the rotating shaft 33 is located to the right of the center in the left-right direction in FIG.

Displacement of the detected portion 42 is detected in a non-contact manner by a photodetection element 30 mounted on the circuit board 27 . As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the detected portion 42 is an arc-shaped wall member, and a slit 45 is formed in a portion thereof. When the seesaw knob 22 is pressed by the user as shown in FIG. 4, it rotates around the rotation axis 33 as shown in FIG. The detected portion 42 is shaped like an arc having a radius from the rotating shaft 33 to the irradiated portion so that the distance from the detection light source element 31 to the irradiated portion becomes the same when rotated. be. As shown in FIG. 5, this prevents the detected portion 42 from coming into contact with other members even when rotated.

As shown in FIG. 4, the detected portion 42 of the seesaw knob 22 receives light from the detection light source element 31 before and after the switch portion 41 is displaced by the user. It is displaced to a light-shielding position where it blocks light and a passing position where it does not block light from the light source element. The position shown in FIG. 4 is the passing position, and the position shown in FIG. 5 is the light blocking position. At the passing position shown in FIG. 4, the light from the detection light source element 31 passes through the slit 45. Thereby, the photodetecting element 30 detects the displacement operation by the user.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, the rubber member 29 is fixed to the support member 26 with an adhesive or the like. The rubber member 29 has elasticity. The rubber member 29 applies a reaction force to the displacement operation by the user. The rubber member 29 has a small tip and is formed into a quadrangular prism shape with two stages, a tip end and a base end. The rubber member 29 deforms when the top portion of the distal end portion is pressed so that the distal end portion fits into the base end portion. In the pre-operation position shown in FIG. 6, the rubber member 29 and the switch portion 41 are in contact with each other with a slight gap or zero touch. In the position before operation, the seesaw knob 22 is in a neutral position where it is not rotated. In the position after the operation shown in FIG. 7, the rubber member 29 and seesaw knob 22 are in contact. As a result, when the user presses the rubber member 29, the tip of the rubber member 29 is pushed in, giving the user a feeling of operation. Further, when the user's operation is finished, the rubber member 29 returns to its original shape due to its elastic force, returning the seesaw knob 22 to the neutral position.

Next, the positional relationship between the circuit board 27 and the seesaw knob 22 will be explained. As shown in FIG. 3, the seesaw knob 22 has a detected portion 42 in a projection area 51 of the circuit board 27 and a switch portion 41 in an external area 52. The seesaw knob 22 extends in the plane direction of the surface of the circuit board 27, and has one end on the circuit board 27 and the other end not on the circuit board 27. Further, the detected portion 42 is located in a projection area 51 on the front surface side of the circuit board 27 . The front side of the circuit board 27 is the lower side of the circuit board 27 in FIG.

The seesaw knob 22 and the support member 26 are not arranged in the projection area 51 on the back side of the circuit board 27. The back side of the circuit board 27 is the upper side of the circuit board 27 in FIG.
Next, the assembly process of the operation switch 20 will be explained using FIGS. 8 and 9. First, as shown in FIG. 8, the seesaw knob 22 is assembled to the support member 26. As shown in FIG. The seesaw knob 22 is completed by inserting the through hole 44 into the rotating shaft 33 as described above. When assembling the seesaw knob 22 to the support member 26, the seesaw knob 22 is slid from the right side to the left side as shown by the arrow in FIG. 8, and the seesaw knob 22 is inserted into the frame-shaped portion of the support member 26.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 3, the circuit board 27 is fixed to the support member 26. Using the portion where the seesaw knob 22 and the support member 26 are not placed, the circuit board 27 is slid from the upper side to the lower side as shown by the arrow in FIG. Then, the photodetection element 30 and the detected portion 42 are aligned.

Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the photodetection element 30 and detection light source element 31 of the circuit board 27 are aligned with the detected portion 42 of the seesaw knob 22 and fixed to the support member 26. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3, the assembly process is completed by assembling the upper case 23, lower case 24, and decorative parts 25.

Next, the arrangement of the lighting light source element 32 will be explained using FIGS. 10 and 11. 10, the lighting light source element 32 and the detection light source element 31 are mounted on the front side of the circuit board 27, and in FIG. 4, the lower side. The lighting light source element 32 illuminates the design on the surface of the switch portion 41. However, when the photodetecting element 30 and the lighting light source element 32 are on the same surface of the circuit board 27, there is a concern that malfunction may occur if the light from the lighting light source element 32 enters the photodetecting element 30. Specifically, there is a possibility that the light emitted by the lighting light source element 32 is reflected by the circuit board 27 or the like and unintentionally enters the photodetector element 30, as shown in FIG. In this case, there is a possibility that the photodetecting element 30 will make a false detection.

Therefore, as described above, the detection light source element 31 and the lighting light source element 32 are preferably mounted on different surfaces of the circuit board 27, respectively. In this case, as shown in FIG. 11, the light guide path from the lighting light source element 32 to the photodetector element 30 becomes longer, so that it is possible to prevent light from entering the photodetector element 30 without setting a complicated shape such as a light shielding structure. It can be prevented.

As explained above, in the operation switch 20 of this embodiment, the detected portion 42 of the seesaw knob 22 is located in the projection area 51 of the circuit board 27, but the switch portion 41 is not in the projection area 51 but in the external area 52. . Therefore, by utilizing the external area 52 of the circuit board 27 in the planar direction, the dimension of the circuit board 27 in the normal direction can be reduced. Specifically, by arranging the seesaw knob 22 in the right external region 52 of the circuit board 27 in FIG. 3, the vertical dimension can be reduced. Furthermore, since the displacement of the seesaw knob 22 is detected in a non-contact manner, there is no need for a direction changing mechanism in existing equipment, so the configuration can be simplified and downsized.

In this embodiment, the operation surface 43 of the switch portion 41 is in a substantially perpendicular positional relationship with the surface of the circuit board 27. In order to enable non-contact operation detection, by setting a detection shape inside the seesaw knob 22, it becomes an integral part, which solves the problem of an increase in the number of parts and the number of assembly steps. Further, in the present embodiment, the detection shape and the seesaw knob 22 are integrated, but they may be constructed as separate parts and fitted in a claw shape or the like. Furthermore, by adopting a non-contact method, it is possible to solve the problem that the operating feel depends on sliding wear and friction generated during operation, without using lubricating grease.

Further, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, there is a detected portion 42 in a projection area 51 on the front side of the circuit board 27, and a seesaw knob 22 and a support member in a projection area 51 on the back side of the circuit board 27. 26 is not arranged. With this configuration, the circuit board 27 can be assembled to the seesaw knob 22, as shown in FIG. This makes it possible to improve ease of assembly.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the rubber member 29 applies a reaction force to the displacement operation by the user. This allows the user to feel the operation. Moreover, the rubber member 29 can suppress the generation of noise due to the displacement operation.

In other words, since a non-contact type is used, parts that provide a sense of operation are set separately. This is achieved by setting a pusher shape on the outside of the seesaw knob 22, and pushing the part that gives the feeling of operation to give the feeling of operation. Furthermore, without the rubber member 29, when the seesaw knob 22 returns, the support member 26 and the seesaw knob 22 will momentarily hit and generate a hitting sound, but by using the rubber member 29, the hitting sound generated during operation can be reduced. effective.

Further, in this embodiment, the rotation shaft 33 is located closer to the switch portion 41 than the detected portion 42 . When the switch portion 41 is thereby displaced, the amount of displacement of the detected portion 42 can be made larger than the amount of displacement of the switch portion 41 due to the lever principle. Therefore, even if the amount of displacement caused by the operation is small, the detected portion 42 can be reliably displaced and the displacement can be detected.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the photodetector element 30 is mounted on the lower surface of the circuit board 27 in the mounted state. If foreign matter gets inside the main body 21 in the mounted state, the foreign matter tends to descend and adhere to the upper side of the circuit board 27. Therefore, by mounting the photodetecting element 30 on the lower surface of the circuit board 27, it is possible to prevent foreign matter from adhering to the vicinity of the photodetecting element 30. This can improve the reliability of detection.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, functions are concentrated on the inside of the seesaw knob 22 in order to make it thinner. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the detection light source element 31 is arranged below the detected portion 42 of the seesaw knob 22. In other words, the positions of the detected portion 42 of the seesaw knob 22 and the detection light source element 31 of the circuit board 27 partially overlap, as shown in FIG. 4 . This allows the operation switch 20 to be made smaller.

(Other embodiments)
Although the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be implemented with various modifications within the scope of the gist of the present disclosure.

The structures of the embodiments described above are merely examples, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the scope of these descriptions. The scope of the present disclosure is indicated by the claims, and further includes all changes within the meaning and scope equivalent to the claims.

In the first embodiment described above, the detection element is realized by the photodetection element 30, but is not limited to the photodetection element 30. For example, a magnetic detection element may be used as long as it is configured to detect the displacement of the operating member in a non-contact manner.

In the first embodiment described above, the seesaw knob 22 is rotatably supported by the support member 26, but the rotation operation is not limited to this. It may also be a slide operation.

In the first embodiment described above, the seesaw knob 22 is configured to return to the neutral position after operation, but the configuration is not limited to this, and it may be a so-called push button switch, toggle switch, rocker switch, etc. good.

In the first embodiment described above, the seesaw knob 22 has the through hole 44 and the support member 26 has the rotating shaft 33, but the support member 26 has the through hole 44 and the seesaw knob 22 has the through hole 44. It may be. That is, any structure may be used as long as one side has a rotating shaft 33 rotatably engaged with the other.

20... Operation switch 21... Main body 22... Seesaw knob (operating member)
23... Upper case 24... Lower case 25... Decorative parts 26... Support member 27... Circuit board 28... Electronic element 29... Rubber member 30... Photodetection element (detection element)
31...Light source element for detection 32...Light source element for lighting 33...Rotation axis 41...Switch portion 42...Detected portion 43...Operation surface 44...Through hole 45...Slit 51...Projection area 52...External area 53...Virtual line

Claims (7)

a support member (26);
an operation member (22) supported by the support member and displaced by a user;
a plate-shaped circuit board (27) on which a plurality of electronic elements (28) are mounted;
a detection element (30) mounted on the circuit board and configured to detect displacement of the operating member in a non-contact manner;
The operating member has a switch portion (41) whose displacement is operated by a user, and a detected portion (42) which is detected by the detection element,
A region where the front and back surfaces of the circuit board are projected in the normal direction is defined as a projection region (51), the detected portion is located in the projection region, and the switch portion is located in an external region (52) outside the projection region. Yes,
The projection area on the front side of the circuit board includes the detected portion,
An operation switch in which the operation member and the support member are not arranged in the projection area on the back side of the circuit board . a support member (26);
an operation member (22) supported by the support member and displaced by a user;
a plate-shaped circuit board (27) on which a plurality of electronic elements (28) are mounted;
a detection element (30) mounted on the circuit board and configured to detect displacement of the operating member in a non-contact manner;
The operating member has a switch portion (41) whose displacement is operated by a user, and a detected portion (42) which is detected by the detection element,
A region where the front and back surfaces of the circuit board are projected in the normal direction is defined as a projection region (51), the detected portion is located in the projection region, and the switch portion is located in an external region (52) outside the projection region. Yes,
The detection element is a photodetection element (30) that detects light,
The plurality of electronic elements include a detection light source element (31) that emits light toward the photodetection element and a lighting light source element (32) that lights up the switch portion,
The detected portion has a light-shielding position where the detected portion blocks light from the detection light source element before and after the switch portion is displaced by the user, and a light shielding position where the detection portion blocks light from the detection light source element. Displaced to a passing position that does not block the light from the
The detection light source element and the lighting light source element are operation switches mounted on different surfaces of the circuit board, respectively . The projection area on the front side of the circuit board includes the detected portion,
The operation switch according to claim 2 , wherein the operation member and the support member are not arranged in the projection area on the back side of the circuit board. The detection element is a photodetection element (30) that detects light,
The plurality of electronic elements include a detection light source element (31) that emits light toward the photodetection element and a lighting light source element (32) that lights up the switch portion,
The detected portion has a light-shielding position where the detected portion blocks light from the detection light source element before and after the switch portion is displaced by the user, and a light shielding position where the detection portion blocks light from the detection light source element. Displaced to a passing position that does not block the light from the
The operation switch according to claim 1 , wherein the detection light source element and the lighting light source element are respectively mounted on different surfaces of the circuit board. The operation switch according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , further comprising a rubber member (29) provided on the support member, having elasticity and applying a reaction force to a displacement operation by a user. One of the operating member and the supporting member has a rotating shaft (33) that rotatably engages with the other, and is displaced by being rotated by a user,
The support member rotatably supports the operation member,
The operation switch according to any one of claims 1 to 5 , wherein the rotating shaft is located closer to the switch portion than the detected portion. The operation switch according to any one of claims 1 to 6 , wherein the detection element is mounted on a lower surface of the circuit board in a mounted state.

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