This application claims benefit of priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-111484 filed on Jun. 1, 2015, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a press operation apparatus installed in an operation panel for use in various electronics for vehicles or household electric appliances.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a press operation apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-85655, press buttons, which are formed by combining quadrilateral front knobs and square tubular retainers, are fitted into a quadrilateral opening formed in a housing. The front knobs are arranged in lines within the opening. The retainers are slidably supported by the housing. The press buttons are urged in the front side direction by springs. A substrate is installed on the back side of the housing. The substrate is provided with switches that are pressed by the respective retainers.
On the side surfaces of each square tubular retainer that face four directions, four ribs are formed so as to extend in the direction in which the retainer moves. The ribs are slidably fitted into respective guide grooves formed in the housing. An end portion of each rib and an end portion of each guide groove are tapered. When the press buttons are returned to the front side by the urging force of the springs, the tapered portions of the ribs engage with the tapered portions of the guide grooves, and the positions of the press buttons are thereby set. In this way, clearances between the quadrilateral front knobs adjacent to one another can be made uniform.
In the press operation apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-85655, the ribs, which are formed on the side surfaces of each square tubular retainer that face the four directions, slide into the guide grooves of the housing with little clearance. When one of the press buttons slides in the housing, all of the four-directional side surfaces of the corresponding retainer are restricted by the guide grooves.
Accordingly, when one of the front knobs is pressed at a position away from the center of the front knob, the retainer attempts to lean within the housing, and this increases resistance produced when the press button is depressed with the four-directional side surfaces restricted. The front knobs disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-85655 include rectangular front knobs. There is an extremely high probability that such a rectangular front knob is pressed at a position away from the center, and the resistance produced when the front knob is pressed to depress the retainer tends to increase. There is also a need to accurately apply the urging force of each spring at the central position of the retainer. Furthermore, there is a tendency that the press buttons cannot surely be returned to the same position as before the press buttons are pressed unless the urging force is increased.
An increase in the clearance between the sliding portions of the rib and of the guide groove may reduce a sliding load when the front knob is depressed. The increase in the clearance, however, excessively increases the unsteadiness of the press button when the press button is pressed, which results in poor operability.
A press operation apparatus includes a case, an operation body disposed on the case, a switch disposed in the case and configured to be activated by pressing the operation body, an urging member disposed on the case and urging the operation body in a direction opposite to a direction in which the operation body is pressed, retaining structures arranged so as to be spaced apart from each other in a first direction, and positioning structures arranged between the retaining structures so as to be spaced apart from each other in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. Each of the positioning structures includes a projection and opposing positioning portions, the projection is disposed on one of the operation body and the case, the opposing positioning portions oppose each other in the first direction and are disposed on the other of the operation body and the case, the projection is interposed between the opposing positioning portions when the operation body is moving in the direction opposite to the direction in which the operation body is pressed, and a position of the operation body in the first direction is set. The projection moves away from the opposing positioning portions when the operation body is pressed and pivots on one of the retaining structures.
In the embodiment, an X-direction is a first direction, a Y-direction perpendicular to the X-direction is a second direction, and a Z-direction perpendicular to the X-direction and the Y-direction is a third direction.
The operation panel 1 shown in
As shown in
Synthetic resin operation bodies 11 that are rectangular press buttons are disposed above the cases 12. As shown in
In the press operation apparatuses 10, when the operation bodies 11 are in the return position in which the operation bodies 11 are not pressed, the positions of the operation bodies 11 are set so that the clearance δs can be made uniform at several places, the clearance δx can be made uniform for all of the operation bodies 11, and the clearance δy can be made uniform at both sides in the Y-direction.
In the embodiment, all of the operation bodies 11 have the same dimensions and the same shape. However, the operation bodies 11, for example, having different Y-directional widths may be disposed in combination.
As shown in
Two flat springs 14, serving as urging members, that extend in the X-direction are interposed between the operation body 11 and the case 12. The flat springs 14 are made of a synthetic resin material or a metallic flat-spring material. The central portions of the flat springs 14 are secured to the case 12. The operation body 11 is urged by both ends of the flat springs 14 in the direction in which the operation body 11 moves away from the case 12, that is, in the direction in which the operation body 11 moves away from the switch 13 toward the return position in which the operation body 11 does not activate the switch 13.
As shown in
The retaining structures 20 are formed by combining retaining projections 21 and retaining catches 22. The retaining projections 21 are formed integrally with the operation body 11 so as to extend downward in the Z-direction from the lower surface of the operation body 11. The retaining catches 22 are formed within insertion spaces 12a formed in the case 12.
As shown in
When the operation body 11 is attached to the case 12 downward from above, the retaining projections 21 are inserted into the insertion spaces 12a, and the slanted attachment surfaces 21a come into contact with the slanted catch surfaces 22a. When the operation body 11 is depressed, the retaining projections 21 are elastically deformed, and, as shown in
As shown in
As shown in
In each retaining structure 20, the slanted retaining portions 21c may be formed only in the retaining projection 21 and two contact portions that come into contact with the respective slanted retaining portions 21c may be formed in the retaining catch 22, or alternatively the slanted retaining portions 22c may be formed only in the retaining catch 22 and two contact portions that come into contact with the respective slanted retaining portions 22c may be formed in the retaining projection 21. In this way, the positions of the operation bodies 11 in the Y-direction and the Z-direction can be set when the operation bodies 11 are in the return position.
The retaining projections 21 may be formed integrally with each case 12 so as to protrude upward and the retaining catches 22 may be formed integrally with each operation body 11. In this case, the slanting directions of the slanted retaining portions 21c and the slanted retaining portions 22c are upside down compared with the configuration shown in
As shown in
As shown in
A pair of opposing positioning portions 31a are formed so as to oppose each other in the X-direction at the lower end of each support 31. Opposing releasing portions 31b are formed so as to oppose each other in the X-direction at positions above the respective opposing positioning portions 31a with respect to the Z-direction (third direction). The distance between the opposing releasing portions 31b in the X-direction is longer than the distance between the opposing positioning portions 31a in the X-direction. Slanted boundary portions 31c are formed at the boundary between the opposing positioning portions 31a and the opposing releasing portions 31b.
The projections 32 protrude in the Y-direction from the case 12. Each projection 32 is cylindrical and has a diameter slightly smaller than or equal to the distance between the opposing positioning portions 31a in the X-direction.
While the operation body 11 is in the return position in which the operation body 11 is not pressed, the operation body 11 is urged by the flat springs 14 in the upward direction shown in the figures, and the positions of the operation body 11 in the Y-direction and the Z-direction are set by the retaining structures 20, as described above. At this time, as shown in
As shown in
The positions of the operation body 11 in the X-direction and the Y-direction can be set by the two retaining structures 20 and the two positioning structures 30 when the operation body 11 is in the return position in which the operation body 11 is not pressed, and the clearances δy, δx, and δs shown in
The action of each press operation apparatus 10 is described below.
In the case where the operation body 11 in the return position is depressed against the urging force of the flat springs 14, the operation body 11 tends to be pressed at a position away from the central portion of the operation body 11 in the X-direction (first direction).
In
As shown in
In the press operation apparatus 10, right after the operation body 11 begins pivoting from the return position shown in
The resistance can be reduced by moving the projections 32 away from the pairs of opposing positioning portions 31a also when a pressing force F is applied to the operation body 11 at a position away from the center to the right hand side in contrast to
Thus, when the operation body 11 is pressed, the operation body 11 pivots on the retaining structure 20 disposed at one of the ends of the press operation apparatus in the X-direction. The operation body 11 can accordingly be pressed stably and good operability can be achieved.
When the operation body 11 is pressed at the central portion of the operation body 11 in the X-direction, the operation body 11 is depressed in a horizontal position and the resistance does not become large.
When the operation body 11 is in the return position as shown in
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2015-111484 | Jun 2015 | JP | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
6297461 | Kamishima | Oct 2001 | B1 |
7122756 | Sasaki | Oct 2006 | B2 |
8299382 | Takemae | Oct 2012 | B2 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
2005-085655 | Mar 2005 | JP |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20160351348 A1 | Dec 2016 | US |