JP7617408B2 - Plate attachment structure and operation equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a plate attachment structure for attaching a plate to a housing surface and an operating device equipped with the plate attachment structure.

Conventionally, in the case of an operating device (remote control) for a water heater, a plate on which display items and operation items are arranged is attached to the surface of the housing of the operating device. Specifically, an adhesive layer is attached to the back surface of the plate, and the plate is attached to the surface of the housing by attaching this adhesive layer to the surface of the housing.

The following Patent Document 1 describes a sheet having an adhesive layer on one side. Here, grooves are formed in a grid pattern over the entire surface of the adhesive layer. Each groove extends to the outer periphery of the adhesive layer.

JP 2007-154144 A

When attaching a plate to the surface of a housing as described above, air can get between the housing surface and the plate, resulting in a so-called air entrapment condition. When this happens, the plate will bulge undesirably due to the air entrapment, marring the appearance of the operating device.

In the configuration of Patent Document 1, the thickness of the adhesive layer itself is small to begin with, so the depth of the grooves formed in the adhesive layer is significantly shallow. For this reason, when the sheet body is attached to the surface of the housing, the grooves may be crushed, and it may become impossible for air to escape from the grooves to the outside.

In view of these problems, the present invention aims to provide a plate attachment structure that can smoothly and reliably eliminate air entrapment that occurs between the plate and the housing surface when attaching the plate to the housing surface, and an operating device equipped with the plate attachment structure.

A first aspect of the present invention relates to a plate attachment structure. The plate attachment structure according to this aspect includes a housing and a sheet-like plate attached to a surface of the housing. The housing has a groove formed on the surface to which the plate is attached, and a hole penetrating the housing and connected to the groove. The hole is a gap for forming a hinge portion for operating a switch housed in the housing.

A second aspect of the present invention relates to a plate attachment structure. The plate attachment structure according to this aspect includes a housing and a sheet-like plate attached to a surface of the housing. The housing has a groove formed on the surface to which the plate is attached, and a hole penetrating the housing and connected to the groove. The hole is a punch hole for punching out a mold when forming the housing.

According to the plate attachment structure of the first and second aspects, if air entrapment occurs between the plate and the housing surface when the plate is attached to the housing surface, the air can be pushed with a finger or the like to drive the air into the groove, allowing the air to escape to the hole through the groove. In addition, since the groove is formed on the housing surface, the groove can be ensured to be deep. Therefore, even when the plate is attached to the housing surface, the groove is not blocked. Therefore, by driving the air into the groove as described above, the air entrapment can be smoothly and reliably eliminated. In addition, by sharing a hole provided in the housing for another purpose as a hole for eliminating air entrapment, the configuration of the housing can be further simplified. Therefore, the air entrapment can be smoothly eliminated with a simpler configuration.

A third aspect of the present invention relates to an operating device. The operating device according to this aspect includes the plate attachment structure according to the first or second aspect and a circuit board accommodated in the housing. The plate is an operating plate for performing a predetermined operation.

According to the operating device of this aspect, since it is provided with the plate attachment structure of the first or second aspect, it is possible to smoothly and reliably eliminate air entrapment between the plate and the surface of the housing, thereby suppressing poor appearance of the operating device due to air entrapment, and improving the quality of the operating device.

As described above, the present invention provides a plate attachment structure that can smoothly and reliably eliminate air entrapment that occurs between the plate and the housing surface when attaching the plate to the housing surface, and an operating device equipped with the plate attachment structure.

The effects and significance of the present invention will become clearer from the description of the embodiment shown below. However, the embodiment shown below is merely an example of how the present invention can be put into practice, and the present invention is in no way limited to the embodiment described below.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a configuration of an operating device according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a front view showing the configuration of a housing and a circuit board according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a front view showing a state in which a circuit board and a cover are installed in a housing according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a structure in which a circuit board and a cover are provided in a housing according to an embodiment, taken at a position where a light source and a switch are arranged. FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion of the cross-sectional view of FIG. 4, according to an embodiment. FIG. 6 is a front view showing a state in which a plate is installed on the front surface of a housing according to the embodiment. FIG. 7 is a front view showing a state in which air is trapped between the front surface of the housing and the plate according to the embodiment. 8(a) and (b) are front views showing the arrangement of grooves and holes formed on the surface of the housing according to a modified example.

The following describes an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings.

The following embodiment shows the configuration when the present invention is applied to an operating device (remote control) for a water heater. For convenience, each figure is accompanied by arrows indicating the up, down, left, right, front, and back of the operating device.

Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view showing the configuration of the operation device 10. Figure 2 is a front view showing the configuration of the housing 100 and the circuit board 300.

The operating device 10 includes a housing 100, a plate 200, a circuit board 300, and a cover 400. The housing 100 and the plate 200 form a plate attachment structure 20 for attaching the plate 200 to the front surface of the housing 100. As described below, the plate attachment structure 20 has a configuration for eliminating air entrapment that occurs between the front surface of the housing 100 and the plate 200 when the plate 200 is attached.

The housing 100 has a box shape with an open rear. When viewed from the front, the shape of the housing 100 is approximately square. The housing 100 is made of, for example, a hard resin material. The housing 100 may also be made of other hard materials such as metal.

Six holes 101 are formed on the front surface of the housing 100, through which light from the six light-emitting sources 301 mounted on the circuit board 300 passes. In other words, these six holes 101 are light passages through which light from the light-emitting sources 301 passes. When viewed from the front, the shape of the holes 101 is a rectangle that is long in the left-right direction. Four holes 101 are arranged vertically in the left area of the front surface of the housing 100, and two holes 101 are arranged horizontally in the center of the upper side. The positions of these holes 101 correspond to the positions of the six light-emitting sources 301 on the circuit board 300 side. The holes 101 penetrate the housing 100 from front to back.

Furthermore, four hinge parts 102 are formed on the front surface of the housing 100, arranged vertically. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, by forming an arc-shaped gap 102a penetrating from front to rear on the front surface of the housing 100, the hinge parts 102 are formed so as to be elastically deformable from front to rear. The positions of these hinge parts 102 correspond to the positions of the four switches 302 mounted on the circuit board 300.

In addition, three punch holes 103 are formed on the front surface of the housing 100. At the back of the punch holes 103, claws 103a are arranged for holding wiring (not shown) drawn out from the circuit board 300. The claws 103a are integrally formed on the back surface of the housing 100. The punch holes 103 are intended to allow the mold used to form the housing 100 to be pulled forward at the position of the claws 103a.

In addition, a hole 104 and two holes 105 are formed on the front surface of the housing 100. The two holes 105 are screw holes for attaching the circuit board 300 to the housing 100. A boss (not shown) for supporting the circuit board 300 is formed on the rear surface of the housing 100 at a position corresponding to the two holes 105. The hole 105 and the boss penetrate the housing 100 from front to back.

The rear surface of the housing 100 is formed with a protrusion (not shown) for supporting the circuit board 300 together with the boss, and further formed with a notched protrusion (not shown) for positioning the circuit board 300 by restricting the outer periphery of the circuit board 300 while supporting the circuit board 300. The circuit board 300 is supported by these bosses and protrusions and is installed on the rear surface of the housing 100.

On the front surface of the housing 100, in the area where the plate 200 overlaps when the plate 200 is attached, multiple grooves 106 are formed in a lattice pattern. In this embodiment, eight grooves 106 extending vertically are arranged in a row approximately evenly in the left-right direction, and seven grooves 106 extending horizontally are arranged in a row approximately evenly in the up-down direction. As shown in FIG. 2, some of these grooves 106 communicate with one or more of the holes 101, the gaps 102a of the hinge portion 102, the punched holes 103, and the holes 104.

Circuit board 300 is implemented with a circuit for executing the functions of operation device 10. As described above, circuit board 300 is implemented with six light sources 301 and four switches 302. Light source 301 is an LED. Light source 301 may be a light source other than an LED. Switch 302 has an operator on the front surface, and is a push-type switch that operates when this operator is pressed. When hinge portion 102 described above is pressed and hinge portion 102 bends backward, the operator of switch 302 is pressed and switch 302 operates.

In addition, circuit sections (not shown) such as a control circuit related to the light source 301 and the switch 302 are arranged on the circuit board 300.

The plate 200 is an operation plate that allows the user to operate the operation device 10. The plate 200 is a thin plate-like member made of a flexible and translucent material such as resin. When viewed from the front, the plate 200 has a shape that is slightly smaller than the housing 100. In other words, the plate 200 is shaped to fit inside the edge 107 formed along the outer periphery of the front surface of the housing 100. An adhesive layer 201 is attached to the entire rear surface of the plate 200. For example, the adhesive layer 201 is exposed to the outside by peeling off the release paper attached to the rear surface of the adhesive layer 201.

In addition, display items 202 and operation items 203 (see FIG. 6) are provided on the front surface of the plate 200 at positions corresponding to the hole 101 and hinge portion 102 on the front surface of the housing 100. Each of the display items 202 is marked with a label for providing a predetermined notification to the user, and each of the operation items 203 is marked with a label indicating the content of the operation that will be accepted.

The cover 400 is a lid that closes the opening of the housing 100 from the rear. The cover 400 is made of hard resin, metal, or the like. A step (not shown) that is one step lower on the inner periphery side is formed at the rear end of the four side walls 108 of the housing 100. The cover 400 is fitted into this step, and the cover 400 is attached to the housing 100.

When assembling the control device 10, first, the circuit board 300 is placed on the bosses and protrusions formed on the rear surface of the housing 100 and screwed into the bosses. In addition, the wiring drawn out from the circuit board 300 is hooked onto the tabs 103a formed on the rear surface of the housing 100 and attached to the rear surface of the housing 100. After the circuit board 300 is thus installed inside the housing 100, the cover 400 is fitted into the steps at the rear ends of the four side walls 108 and attached to the housing 100. This completes the assembly of the housing 100, the circuit board 300, and the cover 400.

Figure 3 is a front view showing the circuit board 300 and cover 400 installed in the housing 100.

As shown in FIG. 3, the light source 301 on the circuit board 300 side is positioned at the position of the hole 101 of the housing 100. Also, the switch 302 on the circuit board 300 side is positioned at the position of the hinge portion 102 of the housing 100. For convenience, the wiring hung on the claw 103a is omitted from FIG. 3.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the structure of Figure 3 taken along the line A-A' where the light source 301 and the switch 302 are aligned. Figure 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion of the cross-sectional view of Figure 4.

As shown in FIG. 5, two of the multiple grooves 106 are connected to holes 101 that pass light from the light source 301 at positions P11, P12, P13, and P14. The holes 101 extend along a cylindrical portion 101a formed on the rear surface of the housing 100. A small gap G11 exists between the rear end of the cylindrical portion 101a and the front surface of the circuit board 300. Therefore, these two grooves 106 are connected to the space between the housing 100 and the circuit board 300 via the holes 101 and the gap G11. In addition, the other grooves 106 connected to these two grooves 106 are also connected to the space between the housing 100 and the circuit board 300 via these two grooves 106.

At positions P15 and P16 shown in FIG. 5, two grooves 106 are connected to the gap 102a for forming the hinge portion 102. Therefore, these two grooves 106 are connected to the space between the housing 100 and the circuit board 300 via the gap 102a. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4, two other grooves 106 are connected to the gaps 102a of the other two hinge portions 102. Therefore, the other grooves 106 connected to these four grooves 106 are also connected to the space between the housing 100 and the circuit board 300 via these four grooves.

As shown in FIG. 5, a number of grooves 106 are connected to the hole 104 at positions P17, P18, and P19. Therefore, these grooves 106 are also connected to the space between the housing 100 and the circuit board 300. Furthermore, other grooves 106 connected to these grooves 106 are also connected to the space between the housing 100 and the circuit board 300 via these grooves 106.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 4, a number of grooves 106 are connected to the three holes 103. Therefore, these grooves 106 are also connected to the space between the housing 100 and the circuit board 300. Furthermore, the other grooves 106 connected to these grooves 106 are also connected to the space between the housing 100 and the circuit board 300 via these grooves 106.

Ultimately, all of the grooves 106 are connected, either directly or through other grooves 106, to either the holes 101, the gaps 102a, the holes 103, or the holes 104, thereby connecting to the space between the housing 100 and the circuit board 300.

Plate 200 is attached to the front of the structure shown in FIG. 3. That is, plate 200 is fitted inside edge 107 so that adhesive layer 201 attached to the rear surface of plate 200 overlaps the inner area of edge 107 on the front of housing 100. This causes plate 200 to be attached to the front of housing 100. This completes the assembly of operating device 10. FIG. 6 shows a front view of operating device 10 after assembly is completed.

However, when the plate 200 is attached to the front surface of the housing 100 as described above, air may become trapped between the front surface of the housing 100 and the plate 200. If air becomes trapped, an undesirable bulge occurs in the plate 200 due to the trapped air, and the appearance of the operating device 10 is marred.

In contrast, in this embodiment, as described above, multiple grooves 106 are formed on the front surface of the housing 100, which are connected to the hole 101, the gap 102a of the hinge portion 102, the hole 103, and the hole 104. As a result, even if air trapping occurs as described above, it can be smoothly eliminated as follows.

Figure 7 is a front view showing a state in which air has been trapped between the front surface of the housing 100 and the plate 200. For convenience, the structure of the area of the front surface of the housing 100 that overlaps with the plate 200 is shown by dashed lines in Figure 7.

In the example of FIG. 7, A1 and A2 indicate air masses (air masses) caused by air entrapment. Here, air entrapment occurs in two places. In this case, the worker can drive the air mass A1 into one of the four grooves 106 surrounding the air mass A1. For example, when driving the air mass A1 into the groove 106 directly above, the worker uses his/her finger or a jig to push the lower part of the air mass A1 as shown by the white arrow, and moves the air mass A1 upward. As a result, when the air mass A1 reaches the groove 106 directly above, the air mass A1 flows in the left-right direction within the groove 106 directly above as shown by the dashed arrow, and is released into the space inside the housing 100 through the gap 102a and hole 104 of the hinge part 102 to which the groove 106 is connected. This eliminates the air mass A1.

Similarly, the worker drives air mass A2 into one of the four grooves 106 surrounding air mass A2. For example, when driving air mass A2 into the groove 106 directly to the left, the worker uses his/her finger, a jig, or the like to push the right part of air mass A2 as shown by the open arrow, moving air mass A2 to the left. As a result, when air mass A2 reaches the groove 106 directly to the left, air mass A2 flows vertically within the groove 106 directly to the left as shown by the dashed arrow, and is released into the space inside the housing 100 through the holes 103 connected to this groove 106. This eliminates air mass A2.

In this way, all air masses caused by air entrapment are eliminated. This eliminates the undesirable bulge of the plate 200 caused by air entrapment, improving the appearance of the operating device 10.

Effects of the embodiment
According to this embodiment, the following effects can be achieved.

1, the housing 100 has a groove 106 formed on the surface (front surface) to which the plate 200 is attached, and holes (hole 101, gap 102a of hinge portion 102, void 103, hole 104) that penetrate the housing 100 and connect to the groove 106. As a result, even if air is trapped between the plate 200 and the surface of the housing 100 when the plate 200 is attached to the surface of the housing 100, as shown in FIG. 7, the air masses A1 and A2 can be pushed with a finger or the like to drive the air masses A1 and A2 into the groove 106, allowing the air to escape to these holes through the groove 106. In addition, since the groove 106 is formed on the surface of the housing 100, the groove 106 can be secured to be deep. Therefore, even if the plate 200 is attached to the surface of the housing 100, the groove 106 will not be blocked. Therefore, by driving the air mass into the groove 106 as described above, the air trap can be smoothly and reliably eliminated.

As shown in Figures 3 and 7, the groove 106 is arranged so as to extend over the entire area of the surface of the housing 100 that the plate 200 overlaps when attached. This shortens the distance between the air mass and the groove 106 when air is trapped, and the worker only needs to move the air mass a short distance to drive it into the groove 106. This makes it possible to more smoothly eliminate air traps.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 7, multiple grooves 106 are formed on the surface of the housing 100. This makes it easy to increase the density of the grooves 106 on the surface of the housing 100. Therefore, when air entrapment occurs, the air mass is more likely to approach one of the grooves 106, and the air mass can be easily driven into the groove 106.

As shown in Figures 3 and 7, the multiple grooves 106 are formed in a lattice pattern on the surface of the housing 100. As a result, when air gets trapped, the air mass is surrounded by the grooves. Therefore, it is sufficient to drive the air mass into one of the grooves 106 around the air mass.

Furthermore, when the grooves 106 are formed in a lattice pattern in this way, even if air is trapped when the plate 200 is attached, the position of the trapped air is likely to be aligned with the position of the grooves 106. This makes it easier for the air at this position to escape from the grooves 106 to one of the holes as the plate 200 is attached. Therefore, when the grooves 106 are formed in a lattice pattern, it is possible to reduce the area of trapped air (air masses) that remains after the plate 200 is attached. This makes it easier to attach the plate 200.

As shown in Figures 3 and 7, the holes to which the grooves 106 are connected include a light passage opening (hole 101) that passes light from the light source 301 housed in the housing 100, a gap 102a for forming a hinge portion 102 for operating a switch 302 housed in the housing, and a punching hole 103 for punching out the mold when forming the housing 100. In this way, by using a hole provided in the housing 100 for another purpose as a hole for eliminating air entrapment, the structure of the housing 100 can be simplified. Therefore, air entrapment can be smoothly eliminated with a simpler structure.

As shown in FIG. 1, the operating device 10 includes the plate attachment structure 20 configured as described above, and a circuit board 300 housed in the housing 100. Here, the plate 200 is an operating plate for performing a specified operation. In this way, since the operating device 10 includes the plate attachment structure 20 configured as described above, air entrapment between the plate 200 and the surface of the housing 100 can be smoothly and reliably eliminated. Therefore, poor appearance of the operating device 10 due to air entrapment can be suppressed, and the quality of the operating device 10 can be improved.

<Example of change>
The application of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications other than those described above are possible.

For example, in the above embodiment, multiple grooves 106 are formed in a grid pattern, but the method of forming the grooves is not limited to this.

For example, as shown in FIG. 8(a), multiple grooves 111 extending left and right and one groove 111 extending up and down may be formed on the front surface of the housing 100 so as to intersect with each other, and each groove 111 may be connected to each other. In this case, it is sufficient that any one of the grooves 111 is connected to a hole 112 that penetrates the housing 100 from front to back, and thus all of the grooves 111 are connected to the interior of the housing 100 via the hole 112.

Also, as shown in FIG. 8(b), a plurality of concentric grooves 121 and two diagonally extending grooves 121 may be formed on the front surface of the housing 100 so as to intersect with each other, and the grooves 121 may be connected to each other. In this case, it is sufficient that any one of the grooves 121 is connected to a hole 122 that penetrates the housing 100 from front to rear, and all of the grooves 121 are connected to the interior of the housing 100 via the hole 122.

Furthermore, it is not necessary to form multiple grooves, and a single groove may be formed in a single stroke. For example, a single spiral groove may be formed on the front surface of the housing 100, and at some position on this groove, the groove may be connected to a hole that penetrates the housing 100 from front to rear.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the adhesive layer 201 is attached to the rear surface of the plate 200, but the adhesive layer 201 may be attached to the front surface of the housing 100. In this case, the adhesive layer may be attached to the area of the front surface of the housing 100 excluding the groove 106. With this configuration, even if air is trapped when the plate 200 is attached to the front surface of the housing 100, the air can be eliminated by driving the air mass into the groove 106, as described above.

In the above embodiment, the plate attachment structure 20 is applied to the operating device 10 of the hot water supply device, but the device to which the plate attachment structure is applied is not limited to this. For example, the plate attachment structure of the present invention may be applied to a device that does not accept operations and simply notifies by emitting light. The plate attachment structure of the present invention may also be applied to a device that performs a specified function while both accepting operations and notifying. Furthermore, if a plate is attached only to the area for notification in this device, the plate attachment structure of the present invention may be applied to this area.

The area to which the plate is attached does not have to be the front of the device, but may be the side of the device, etc. In this case, the plate attachment structure according to the present invention may be applied to this side.

In addition, various modifications of the embodiments of the present invention are possible within the scope of the claims.

10 Operation device 20 Plate attachment structure 100 Housing 101 Hole (light passage hole)
102 Hinge portion 102a Gap (hole)
103 Punch hole (hole)
104 hole 106 groove 200 plate 300 circuit board 301 light source 302 switch

Claims (3)

A housing and
a sheet-like plate attached to a surface of the housing;
The housing includes:
a groove formed on a surface to which the plate is attached;
a hole penetrating the housing and connected to the groove ;
The hole is a gap for forming a hinge portion for operating a switch housed in the housing.
A plate attachment structure characterized by: A housing and
a sheet-like plate attached to a surface of the housing;
The housing includes:
a groove formed on a surface to which the plate is attached;
a hole penetrating the housing and connected to the groove;
The hole is a punch hole for punching a mold when forming the housing.
A plate attachment structure characterized by: The plate attachment structure according to claim 1 or 2 ,
A circuit board accommodated in the housing,
The plate is an operation plate for performing a predetermined operation.
An operating device characterized by:

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