JPS6142439B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an operating device for electrical equipment, in which an operating unit is removably stored in a storage window provided on the front panel of the equipment, and an operating knob is provided on the top surface of the operating unit. The aim was to downsize the entire device and improve operability.

In recent years, the operation of electrical equipment such as audio equipment has become extremely complex, and the number of operation knobs used to operate them has also increased. On the other hand, there is a growing demand for downsizing the entire device. Therefore, in order to meet both requirements, it is necessary to install many control knobs on a narrow front panel, which poses the problem of having to make each control knob small or placing each control knob fairly close to each other. There is. Even if the control knobs are made smaller or placed closer to each other, their operability becomes extremely poor and users may accidentally operate different buttons or operate two buttons at the same time. This may cause problems such as

The present invention solves these conventional problems by attaching all or part of the operating knobs to an operating unit that can be moved in and out of the cabinet, and normally storing these operating knobs inside the cabinet. However, the present invention provides an operating device that is exposed to the outside of the cabinet only when in use, thereby reducing the size of the entire device and improving operability.

Embodiments in which the present invention is applied to an audio amplifier will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In the figure, 1 is a cabinet constituting the main body of the device, 2 is a front panel thereof, 3 is a display provided on the front panel 2, and 4 is an operation knob also provided on the front panel 2.

Reference numeral 5 indicates a unit storage window 6 provided in the front panel 2, which is an operating unit stored in the unit storage window 5 so as to be freely accessible, and 6a indicates a guide formed from approximately the center of both sides of the operating unit 6 toward the rear end. groove, 6
b is the front end surface of the operating unit 6, 6c is a protrusion provided at the center of the upper surface of the operating unit 6, and 7 is attached to the upper surface of the operating unit 6, and includes a volume, a switch, etc. provided in the operating unit 6 (Fig. (not shown).

Reference numeral 8 denotes a U-shaped metal guide rail mounted on the chassis 9 behind the unit storage window 5, and 8a, 8a are formed on both sides of the guide rail inwardly opposite to the guide groove 6a of the operating unit 6. 8b is a long hole formed in the bottom of each guide groove 8a, and 8c is a long hole formed between the bottom and both side surfaces of the guide rail 8 in order to provide sufficient springiness to both sides. It is a through hole. Both side surfaces of the guide rail 8 are formed so as to be slightly inclined inward in a natural state, and as shown in FIG.
When it is stored, it is expanded slightly outward so that the distance between the two sides becomes S.

The guide groove 6a of the operating unit 6 and the guide groove 8a of the guide rail 8 are both trapezoidal grooves having vertically tapered surfaces, and as shown in FIG. In both cases, the width of the bottom surface is W ₁ .

10 is a bearing plate made of resin, 10a is a locking pawl integrally formed at both ends, 10b is a bearing hole formed in two places in the center, and 11 is a shaft 11a.
This is a guide roller composed of a roller 11b and rollers 11b at both ends thereof. Note that the rollers 11b, 1
The outside of 1b is formed into a conical shape. The guide roller 11 is rotatably attached to the bearing plate 10 by fitting its shaft 11a into the bearing hole 10b of the bearing plate 10.
0, the claws 10a, 10a at both ends are connected to the guide rail 8.
By engaging with the elongated holes 8b, 8b, the claw 10
a is attached to the guide rail 8 so as to be movable within a sliding range in the longitudinal direction of the elongated hole 8b.
The width _W2 at both ends of the rollers 11b, 11b of the guide roller 11 shown in FIG.
It is set to be slightly larger than the width W ₁ of the bottom surface of a and 8a.

12 is a motor for automatically retracting and protruding the operating unit 6; 13 is a vibration isolating rubber for preventing the driving noise of the motor 12; 14 is a motor holding metal fitting; 15 is a vibration isolating rubber 13 and a motor holding metal fitting 14.
These screws are used to attach the motor 12 to the motor 12, and these screws constitute a motor bracket 16. This motor block 16 is attached to the chassis 9 with screws (not shown).

17 is an original shaft pulley supported on the shaft of the motor 12, 18 is a worm shaft rotatably attached to a part of the guide rail 8, 19 is a drive pulley attached to one end of the worm shaft 18, and 20 is an original pulley. A belt for power transmission is suspended between the shaft pulley 17 and the drive pulley 19, 21 is a shaft attached to the guide rail 8, 22 is rotatably attached to the shaft 21, and a gear provided on the outer periphery is connected to the worm shaft. 22a is an arm integrally formed on a part of the upper surface of the worm wheel 22, 22b is an arm 22
It is a pin provided at the tip of a. Although not shown, grooves for fixing E-rings are formed on the outer periphery of the tips of the shaft 21 and the pin 22b, respectively, and by fixing moring rings in these grooves, the worm wheel 22 and the pin 22b are fixed. Levers 24 and 25, which will be described later, are respectively connected to the shaft 2.
1 and pin 22b so that they do not come out in the axial direction. Furthermore, recesses 22c for detecting the rotation angle of the worm wheel 22 are provided on the lower surface of the gears of the worm wheel 22 at positions facing each other at an angle of 180 degrees, and the recesses 22c are provided on the upper surface of the guide rail 8. A limit switch 23 is installed which is operated by.

Reference numerals 24 and 25 indicate levers that constitute a crank mechanism 26 together with the arm 22a of the worm wheel 22. As shown in FIG. 8, one end of the lever 24 is formed with a hole (not shown) into which the above-mentioned pin 22b is loosely fitted, and the other end is provided with a locking piece 24a for locking one end of the spring 27. A protrusion 24b is formed on both ends to guide one end of the lever 25.
is formed. On the other hand, the lever 25 has an elongated hole 25a into which the pin 22b is loosely fitted, an elongated hole 25b into which the locking piece 24b of the lever 24 is loosely fitted, and a spring 27.
A locking piece 25c for locking the other end and an engagement hole 25d are formed in the projection 6c of the operating unit 6 mentioned above. And two locking pieces 24a and 2
lever 2 by a spring 27 suspended between 5c
4 and 25 are always urged to attract each other, and the long hole 25a of the lever 25 is loosely fitted into the pin 22b of the arm 22a, and the engagement hole 25d of the lever 25 is fitted into the protrusion 6c of the operating unit 6. By fitting together, the worm wheel 22 and the operating unit 6 are connected.

Note that 28 is a motor start button provided on the front panel 2, and when this button 28 is pressed once, a starting current flows through the motor 12 for a certain period of time determined by a motor start circuit (not shown). .

In the above configuration, when the operating unit 6 is stored, the operating unit 6 is stored as shown in FIGS.
is pushed in to a position where its front end surface 6b is flush with the front panel 2. At this time, the worm wheel 22 is attached to the arm 22a as shown in FIG.
is rotated to the most rearward position, and one recess 22 provided on the lower surface of the worm wheel 22
Since point c releases the pressure on the operating piece of the limit switch 23, the power to the motor 12 is cut off.

If you press the motor start button 28 from this state,
Current is supplied to the motor 12 for a certain period of time, and the motor 1
2 starts. The rotation of this motor 12 is caused by the belt 2
0 to the worm shaft 18, and the worm wheel 22 rotates in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 3 in accordance with the rotation of the worm shaft 18. As a result, the operating portion (not shown) of the limit switch 23 comes out of the recess 22c of the worm wheel 22 and comes into pressure contact with the outer periphery of the worm wheel 22, turning on the limit switch 23. Therefore, after that, motor 1
Even if the starting current to motor 2 is cut off, current continues to be supplied to motor 12 via limit switch 23,
The worm wheel 22 continues to rotate. This rotation of the worm wheel 22 is transmitted to the operating unit 6 via the crank mechanism 26, which includes an arm 22a, levers 24, 25, etc., and the operating unit 6 is pushed forward, causing the front panel to open as shown in FIG. Projected from 2. and worm wheel 2
2 rotates until the arm 22a is located at the most forward position as shown in FIG. The limit switch 23, which was in the on state, is switched to the off state. Therefore, the rotation of the motor 12 is stopped at the position where the operating unit 6 is most protruded, resulting in the operating state shown in FIGS. 2 and 4.
In this state, all the operating knobs 7 provided on the operating unit 6 are exposed to the outside of the cabinet 1, so that desired operations can be performed by operating them.

Incidentally, the guide groove 6a of the operating unit 6 and the guide groove 8a of the guide rail 8 each have a tapered surface on the top and bottom, and the rollers 11b and 11b of the guide roller 11 housed between them also have a tapered surface. is configured. And each guide groove 6
Compared to the bottom width W ₁ of rollers 11b and 8a,
The width W ₂ between the guide rails 11b is configured to be slightly longer, and since both sides of the guide rail 8 are biased so as to be inclined inwardly, the guide rail 8 is configured to be slightly longer than the width W 2 between the guide rails 11b and When the guide roller 11 is housed between the grooves 6a and 8a, the tapered surfaces of the guide grooves 6a and 8a can be reliably pressed against the tapered surfaces of the rollers 11b and 11b. Therefore, by vertically sliding these tapered surfaces against each other, the vertical center of the operating unit 6 and the vertical center of the guide rail 8 (particularly its guide groove 8a) can be automatically aligned. can. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the guide rail 8 and the operating unit 6 from being out of center, causing the guide rail 8 and the operating unit 6 to be unable to be accommodated, or from shaking during operation.

Further, since the bearing plate 10 to which the guide roller 11 is attached has its pawl 10a movably engaged with the elongated hole 8b of the guide rail 8, it slides with respect to the guide rail 8 within the range of the elongated hole 8b. On the other hand, the operating unit 6 slides with respect to the guide roller 11 within the range of the guide groove 6a. Figures 7a to 7d schematically show this situation, and Figures 7a, 7d,
When the operating unit 6 is pushed out in the direction of the arrow c while rotating the guide roller 11 in the direction of the arrow 13 from the stored state of the operating unit 6 shown in c, the guide roller 11 itself moves forward within the range of the guide groove 8a of the guide rail 8. The operating unit 6 further moves forward within the range of its guide groove 6a. Therefore, if both of the above-mentioned movement amounts are each set to 1, the operation unit 6 will move as shown in FIGS.
When fully protruded, the front end surface 6b of the operating unit 6 protrudes from the front panel 2 by 21. Conversely, if the operating unit 6 is
In order to protrude by that amount, a length of 1 may be used as the guide groove 6a, and the length of the guide groove 6a can be shortened to 1/2 of the total protrusion amount. For this reason, the guide groove 6a is placed at the rear 1 of the side surface of the operating unit 6.
2 only needs to be provided, and it is possible to reliably eliminate the inconvenience that the guide groove 6a is exposed to the outside of the cabinet 1 and spoils its appearance when the operating unit 6 is completely protruded.

Furthermore, if the crank mechanism 26 is constructed of two levers 24 and 25 that are arranged so as to be slidable in the longitudinal direction, and a spring 27 that biases them in the direction of pulling them together, as in the above embodiment, each Dimensional errors in parts can be easily absorbed to ensure stable operation.

That is, as shown in FIG. 8, when the arm 22a provided on the worm wheel 22 rotates, the effective diameter φ
D is the slide stroke st ₁ of the operating unit 6
(In other words, the distance from the state where it is regulated by the stopper 29 inside the cabinet to when it fully protrudes),
The relative sliding stroke st ₂ of the two levers 24 and 25 (that is, the distance that the locking piece 22b and the locking piece 25c can move in the long holes 25a and 25b against the biasing force of the spring 27) is added. It becomes the dimensions. Therefore, while the pin 22b moves within the elongated hole 25a, in other words, during slide stroke st ₂ , the rotational force of the worm wheel 22 is not transmitted to the operating unit 6, but in other rotation ranges, the pin 22b moves through the elongated hole. Two levers 2 are used to press one end of 25a.
4 and 25 serve as substantially integrated levers and act as a conventional crank to push the operating unit 6 forward. Therefore, the dimensional errors and installation errors of each component can be absorbed in the slide stroke st ₂ , and extremely stable operation can be performed.

In the above embodiment, the worm wheel 22 is used as a rotating body for controlling the on/off of the limit switch 23, which is the first switching means. Needless to say, it is okay.

Further, in the above embodiment, some of the operating knobs are attached to the operating unit 6, but all of the operating knobs may be attached to the operating unit. When some of the operating knobs are attached to the operating unit 6 as in the above embodiment, it is desirable to attach operating knobs that are not used relatively frequently, such as for tone quality adjustment and separation adjustment, to the operating unit 6.

As described above, in the present invention, all or part of the operating knobs are attached to an operating unit that can be freely moved in and out of the cabinet, and these operating knobs are normally housed inside the cabinet and only when in use are removed from the outside of the cabinet. Since the control knobs can be arranged three-dimensionally using the internal space of the cabinet, it is possible to arrange all the control knobs on a flat surface of the front panel as in the past. In comparison, the space occupied by the operation knobs within the front panel can be reduced.
The overall size of the device can be reduced accordingly.
Moreover, since the operating knob is housed in the cabinet when not in use, the occurrence of defects due to dust etc. can be extremely reduced.

Furthermore, if a motor is placed in the cabinet and the motor is used to automatically move the operating unit in and out, the operability of inserting and removing the operating unit itself becomes easier, and the commercial value of the equipment can be significantly increased. Furthermore, the means for transmitting the rotation of the motor is configured with a lever attached to a worm wheel with play and biased by a spring, and a regulating member is provided to regulate the position of the operating unit flush with the front of the cabinet. Dimensional errors in parts can be easily absorbed and the operating unit can be housed flush with the front of the cabinet. Also, at this time, an unevenness is provided on the outer periphery of the rotating body that rotates according to the rotation of the motor, and the unevenness turns on and off the first switch means to intermittent the motor current, and a start button provided on the front panel. The second switch means is operated to supply current to the motor for a certain period of time to start the motor, and then the rotation of the rotating body turns on the first switch means to continue driving the motor. For example, the operating unit can be moved in and out by simply momentarily operating the motor start button, which further improves the operability. In addition, if the unevenness of the rotating body is formed at a position where the first switch means is turned off when the operating unit is fully extended and when it is completely retracted, it will automatically switch between the fully extended position and the fully retracted position. Since the operating unit can be stopped at any time,
In this respect as well, operability can be improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIGS. 1 and 2 are perspective views showing an example of the present invention in a stored state and in use. Figures 3 and 4 are perspective views showing the main parts in the stored state and in use.
The figure is an exploded perspective view of the main parts of the same embodiment, Figure 6 is a sectional view of the main parts of the same embodiment, and Figures 7 a, b, c, and d are schematic diagrams showing how the operating unit of the same embodiment moves. Figures 8a, 8b and 8c are plan views for explaining the operation of the crank mechanism of the same embodiment. 1... Cabinet, 2... Front panel, 3...
...Display, 4...Operation knob, 5...Storage window, 6
...Operation unit, 6a...Guide groove, 7...Operation knob, 8...Guide rail, 8a...Guide groove,
9... Chassis, 10... Bearing plate, 11... Guide roller, 11b... Roller, 12... Motor,
16...Motor block, 17...Original shaft pulley,
18... Worm shaft, 19... Drive pulley, 20
... Belt, 22 ... Worm wheel, 22a
... Arm, 22c ... Recess, 23 ... Limit switch, 24, 25 ... Lever, 26 ... Crank mechanism, 27 ... Spring, 28 ... Motor start button.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A storage window provided in the front panel of a cabinet constituting an electrical device, an operating unit inserted into the storage window so as to be freely accessible, and the front of the operating unit and the cabinet flush with each other. A regulating member that regulates the position at a position, an operating knob disposed on the top surface of the operating unit, a component housed within the operating unit and operated by the operating knob, and a component disposed within the cabinet of the electrical equipment. a worm wheel rotationally driven by the motor, a means for transmitting the rotation of the motor to the operation unit, and a motor control means for controlling the current to the motor intermittently;
An operating device comprising a lever attached to the worm wheel with play and biased by a spring, so that the operating unit is automatically moved in and out by rotation of the motor. 2. The motor control means includes a rotating body provided in the transmission means and rotated in accordance with the rotation of the motor;
The first switch means is placed near the rotating body and is controlled to turn on and off by the irregularities on the outer periphery of the rotating body, and the motor is started by being controlled by a motor starting button provided on the front panel of the electrical equipment. and a second switch means that supplies a starting current to the motor for a certain period of time when a button is pressed, and the first switch means is turned on by the rotation of the rotating body accompanying the start of the motor, When the operating unit is extended or retracted to a predetermined position, the first switch means is turned off due to the unevenness of the rotating body, and the operating unit is automatically moved in and out. 2. The operating device according to claim 1, wherein said operating unit is automatically stopped by cutting off current to the motor.