Patent Application
20240288216
This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2023-0026892, filed on Feb. 28, 2023, and Korean Patent Application No. 10-2024-0006251, filed on Jan. 15, 2024.
One or more embodiments relate to a door switch connector module used in a home appliance such as a refrigerator, and a home appliance including the same.
A door switch is embedded with a reed sensor to be used to detect opening and closing of a door of a home appliance, such as a refrigerator. The reed sensor includes two lead pieces formed of a magnetic body in a sealed glass tube, and detects opening and closing of a door as the two lead pieces come into contact or are separated depending on a distance from a magnet to open and close a contact.
The reed sensor is used, for example, in a refrigerator. The reed sensor is mounted on an outer case of the refrigerator, and connected to a mainboard provided in an inner case of the refrigerator using a wire-to-wire connector. The wire-to-wire connector herein is configured with a receptacle connected to the mainboard with a wire, and a plug connected to the reed sensor with a wire.
The reed sensor and the wire-to-wire connector of the related art connected using a wire cause complicated wiring and require an increased number of connectors, and therefore, productivity is low due to increased assembly and installation time and cost.
A door switch connector module includes a plug assembly disposed in an inner case of an installation target and a door switch assembly disposed outside the inner case and coupled to the plug assembly. The plug assembly has a receptacle terminal. The door switch assembly includes a main housing, a reed sensor disposed in the main housing, a tab terminal, and a cover housing coupled to the main housing and closing the main housing. The main housing has a guide boss extending in a coupling direction. The tab terminal contacts a lead of the reed sensor and extends to an outside of the main housing in parallel with the guide boss.
Features of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of example embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:
Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, various alterations and modifications may be made to the embodiments. Here, the embodiments are not construed as limited to the disclosure. The embodiments should be understood to include all changes, equivalents, and replacements within the idea and the technical scope of the disclosure.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not to be limiting of the embodiments. The singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises/including” and/or “includes/including” when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and/or groups thereof.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms, including technical and scientific terms, used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains. Terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be construed to have meanings matching with contextual meanings in the relevant art, and are not to be construed to have an ideal or excessively formal meaning unless otherwise defined herein.
When describing the examples with reference to the accompanying drawings, like reference numerals refer to like elements and a repeated description related thereto will be omitted. In the description of embodiments, detailed description of well-known related structures or functions will be omitted when it is deemed that such description will cause ambiguous interpretation of the present disclosure.
In addition, the terms first, second, A, B, (a), and (b) may be used to describe constituent elements of the embodiments. These terms are used only for the purpose of discriminating one component from another component, and the nature, the sequences, or the orders of the components are not limited by the terms. When it is mentioned that one component is “connected” or “accessed” to another component, it may be understood that the one component is directly connected or accessed to another component or that still other component is interposed between the two components.
The same name may be used to describe an element included in the embodiments described above and an element having a common function. Unless otherwise mentioned, the descriptions on the embodiments may be applicable to the following embodiments and thus, duplicated descriptions will be omitted for conciseness.
Hereinafter, a door switch connector module 100 according to embodiments will be described with reference to
Referring to the drawings, the door switch connector module 100 includes a door switch assembly 110 provided outside an inner case 1 which is an installation target, and a plug assembly 140 provided inside the inner case 1.
Hereinafter, a refrigerator will be described as an example of a home appliance which is an installation target of the door switch connector module 100. However, this is for convenience of description, and the installation target may be substantially various home appliances.
In the door switch connector module 100, the door switch assembly 110 and the plug assembly 140 are coupled to each other via a through hole 1a of the inner case 1 and fixed to the inner case 1 at the same time.
Here, a cushion member 2 is provided between the plug assembly 140 and the inner case 1. The cushion member 2 is formed to have a sufficient size and thickness to prevent a foaming member from being introduced to the inside of the door switch connector module 100. For example, the cushion member 2 may have an area that is greater than or equal to a front surface of a plug housing 141.
Referring to
The main housing 111 is mounted so that the tab terminal 130 comes into contact with the leads 121 on both sides of the reed sensor mounting portion 112. For example, a second slot 113a, into which a contact portion 131 of the tab terminal 130 is inserted and coupled, is formed to intersect with the first slot 112a. Also, a third slot 113b, to which a support 134 of the tab terminal 130 is coupled, may be formed. The drawings herein are for convenience of description, and sizes and positions of the second slot 113a and the third slot 113b may be variously changed according to a shape of the tab terminal 130.
The main housing 111 includes a guide boss 114 formed to extend in a direction in which it is coupled to the plug assembly 140.
A plurality of bumps 115, to which locking latches 116a and 116b of the cover housing 116 to be described below are locked, are formed on the main housing 111.
After the reed sensor 120 and the tab terminal 130 are mounted on the main housing 111, the cover housing 116 is provided to cover and close the corresponding portion. For example, the cover housing 116 has a plate shape corresponding to a portion where the reed sensor 120 and the tab terminal 130 are mounted, and includes the locking latches 116a and 116b that extend toward the main housing 111 from both end portions to be locked with the main housing 111. In addition, the number of locking latches 116a and 116b may be more than one, and for example, two locking latches may be provided on each of both ends.
When the cover housing 116 is coupled to the main housing 111, the locking latches 116a and 116b spread outward by their own elastic force, and ride over and are coupled to the locking bumps 115 on a side surface of the main housing 111, and the elastic force is applied in the coupled state to stably maintain the coupled state. However, the shape and the position of the locking latches 116a and 116b are not limited to those shown in the drawings, and the locking latches 116a and 116b may substantially have various shapes so that the cover housing 116 is able to be locked with the main housing 111.
The cover housing 116 may maintain the coupled state by pressing the tab terminal 130 against the main housing 111. When the coupling of the cover housing 116 to the main housing 111 is completed, as shown in
The reed sensor 120 may be formed with an inert gas sealed therein, and the leads 121 which are formed of magnetic bodies on both end portions and form movable contacts are provided to extend to both sides thereof.
The number of tab terminals 130 may be two to come into contact with the leads 121 on both sides. However, the structures of the two tab terminals 130 are the same, and therefore, one tab terminal 130 will be described hereinafter.
Referring to
When the contact portion 131 is inserted into the second slot 113a, the lead slot 131a is formed to be open with a predetermined length from a lower end of the contact portion 131 so that the lead 121 penetrates. When the tab terminal 130 is coupled to the main housing 111, the tab terminal 130 is supported and fixed to the main housing 111 by the contact portion 131 and the flat portion 133 in a state where the lead 121 penetrates through the lead slot 131a.
As shown in the embodiment of
A barb 131b protruding outwards to be fixed to the main housing 111 may be formed on an end portion of the contact portion 131. The barb 131b may be formed in the form of a hook or barb that gradually spreads as it goes in a direction of being inserted into the second slot 113a, so that the barb 131b is inserted into and fixed to the second slot 113a.
For example, the support 134 is provided on the same plane as the contact portion 131, that is, an edge that is bent at 90 degrees with respect to the flat portion 133 and is on the same side of the contact portion 131. In addition, the support 134 may be provided in front according to the flat portion 133.
The flat portion 133 is formed to extend from the contact portion 131 in parallel with the guide boss 114, and is formed to elongate to be exposed to the outside of the main housing 110. However, a length of an end portion of the flat portion 133 exposed to the outside is formed not to be longer than the guide boss 114.
Referring to
As shown in
As the barrel portion 152 is compressed and deformed while surrounding an outer peripheral surface of the wire W in a state where the wire W is accommodated therein, the barrel portion 152 is compressed with a core wire of the wire W to be electrically and physically connected thereto, and is physically coupled and fixed to an outer peripheral surface of coating of the wire W.
The contact portion 151 of the receptacle terminal 150 is bent into a round curved shape from a front end portion to form a contact spring 151a. The contact spring 151a has a curved surface and an elastic structure, and is not fixed except for a front end portion of the contact spring 151a, and therefore, the tab terminal 130 may be easily inserted and separated. That is, when the door switch assembly 110 is inserted into the plug assembly 140, the tab terminal 130 may be easily inserted along an inclination of the contact spring 151a.
Because a front end of the contact portion 151 of the receptacle terminal 150 is exposed from the plug housing 141, when the door switch assembly 110 is pulled from side to side while the door switch assembly 110 is coupled to the plug assembly 140, the door switch assembly 110 may be extracted from a hole of an inner case.
In addition, since a space for the tab terminal 130 and the guide boss 114 is formed in the plug housing 141, the door switch assembly 110 may be easily extracted when it is pulled from side to side.
Referring again to
Inclined surfaces 142b and 142c are formed on edges of the first and second coupling slots 141a and 141b of the plug housing 141. When the door switch assembly 110 is coupled to the plug assembly 140, since inclined surfaces 142a, 142b, and 142c inclined toward the inside along a coupling direction are formed at positions where the insertion into the first and second coupling slots 141b and 141c starts, the guide boss 114 and the tab terminal 130 may be smoothly inserted into the first and second coupling slots 141b and 141c. The inclined surface 142a herein is formed on a portion where the main housing 111 comes into contact with the plug housing 141.
A receptacle terminal mounting portion 143a, into which the receptacle terminal 150 is inserted and coupled, is formed on a rear surface 143 of the plug housing 141, as shown in
The TPA 145, which maintains a coupled state of the receptacle terminal 150 and closes the rear surface 143 of the plug housing 141 is provided on the rear surface 143 of the plug housing 141. For example, the plug housing 141 is formed so that a portion of the rear surface 143, excluding a portion where the receptacle terminal mounting portion 143a is formed, is open, and the TPA 145 is coupled to and closes the portion of the rear surface 143 which is open as described above from the rear side to prevent the detachment of the receptacle terminal 150 to the rear side. The TPA 145 may include a locking latch 145b which covers the rear surface 143 of the plug housing 141 and has both end portions extending in a coupling direction for the plug housing 141. For example, the locking latch 145b of the TPA 145 may cover a side surface 144 of the plug housing 141 and may be locked with a locking bump 144a formed to protrude from the side surface 144 of the plug housing 141, as shown in
In addition, the plug assembly 140 may include guide ribs 143b and 145c guiding the coupling of the TPA 145 to the plug housing 141. For example, the first guide rib 143b which is formed to protrude towards the inside and extends in a straight line along a direction, in which the TPA 145 is coupled to the plug housing 141, may be formed on an inner surface of the open portion of the rear surface of the plug housing 141, and the second guide rib 145c corresponding to the first guide rib 143b may be formed on the TPA 145. Since the TPA 145 slides while the first guide rib 143b and the second guide rib 145c come into contact with each other, the TPA 145 moves in a straight line into the plug housing 141 and is coupled to a correct position. In an embodiment, in the TPA 145, the second guide rib 145c may be formed on the locking latch 145b.
A wire groove 145a is formed on the TPA 145 so that the wire W coupled to the plug housing 141 is able to be extracted. The wire groove 145a may be formed as a semicircular groove corresponding to an outer peripheral surface of the wire W. One pair of the TPAs 145 symmetrical to each other may be provided on upper and lower portions of the wire W. That is, one pair of the TPAs 145 may be coupled to be symmetrical to each other with respect to an edge or a center line of a semicircle formed by the wire groove 145a. As shown in
The TPA 145 covers and closes the rear surface 143 of the plug housing 140 and the wire groove 145a surrounds the wire W, and therefore, it is possible to prevent a foaming member from being introduced into the plug housing 140. As shown in
According to embodiments, because the door switch connector module 100 includes the door switch assembly 110 and a plug assembly 140, there is no need of a separate wire-to-wire connector, and the installation and electrical connection are completed only by inserting the door switch assembly 110 to the plug assembly 140. Therefore, an installation process of the door switch connector module 100 is simple, the cost may be reduced, and wiring harness may be simplified.
However, effects of the door switch connector module 100 and the home appliance including the same are not limited to those described above, and other effects not mentioned above are clearly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art from the following description.
While the embodiments are described with reference to drawings, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that various alterations and modifications in form and details may be made in these embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims and their equivalents. For example, suitable results may be achieved if the described techniques are performed in a different order, and/or if components in a described system, architecture, device, or circuit are combined in a different manner, and/or replaced or supplemented by other components or their equivalents. Therefore, other implementations, other embodiments, and equivalents to the claims are also within the scope of the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2023-0026892 | Feb 2023 | KR | national |
| 10-2024-0006251 | Jan 2024 | KR | national |
