SWITCH DEVICE

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a switch device, and more particularly to a switch device configured to operate a power window driving motor of an automobile or the like.

Description of the Related Art

As shown in FIG. 8A, a switch device configured to operate a power window driving motor of an automobile or the like includes a case 80 having a housing shape, and a knob 81 attached to an opening portion at a distal end of a cylindrical portion 80b protruding from an upper surface 80a of the case 80. The knob 81 is engaged with a rotary shaft member 80c provided in the cylindrical portion 80b, and rotates in a seesaw-like manner with respect to the case 80 around the rotary shaft member 80c (refer to white arrow in drawing).

In the switch device of FIGS. 8A to 8C, when a front end 81a of the knob 81 is pulled up through the user's operation, the knob 81 first rotates around the rotary shaft member 80c (refer to FIG. 8B), but when the rotation amount increases, a rear end 81b of the knob 81 abuts on a stopper portion 80d provided on the case 80 (refer to FIG. 8C), and thereafter, the knob 81 rotates with respect to the case 80 with the stopper portion 80d serving as a fulcrum. At this time, force for pulling up the front end 81a of the knob 81 acts on an engagement portion 81c of the knob 81 with the rotary shaft member 80c as engagement releasing force 82 for releasing the engagement between the knob 81 and the rotary shaft member 80c according to the principle of leverage, and as such, the knob 81 may be detached from the cylindrical portion 80b of the case 80.

Meanwhile, since the knob 81 is deformed when the knob 81 is detached from the cylindrical portion 80b of the case 80, a technique has been proposed in which a restriction wall (not illustrated) is erected on the side of the knob 81 to suppress deformation of the knob 81, and as a result, detachment of the knob 81 from the case 80 is suppressed (for example, refer to Japanese Patent No. 4461033).

However, when the restriction wall is erected on the side of the knob 81, a degree of freedom of the layout of each component of the switch device is reduced, which may cause a problem that miniaturization of the switch device is hindered. In addition, since the restriction wall may be an obstacle when the knob 81 is attached to the case 80, assembly performance of the switch device may deteriorate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a switch device configured to increase a degree of freedom of layout of each component and to suppress deterioration in assembly performance.

Accordingly, an aspect of the present invention provides a switch device including: a case serving as a base portion, a cylindrical portion protruding from the case, and a knob serving as an operation member attached to a fitting portion provided in the cylindrical portion, in which the knob rotates in a seesaw-like manner around a rotary shaft member provided in the cylindrical portion, the knob includes an operation portion at least capable of being pulled up, the operation portion being provided on one side of the knob, the one side being defined using the rotary shaft member as a boundary, and an abutment portion located on another side of the knob, the other side being defined using the rotary shaft member as the boundary, the case includes a stopper portion configured to contact the abutment portion when the operation portion is pulled up, and the knob has an extending portion formed to extend toward the other side, in which the abutment portion is provided in the extending portion.

According to the present invention, since an abutment portion of a knob is provided in an extending portion of the knob, when the abutment portion of the knob abuts on a stopper portion of a case and the knob rotates with respect to the case with the stopper portion serving as a fulcrum, a distance from the rotary shaft member to the stopper portion can be made relatively large with respect to a distance from an operation portion of the knob to the stopper portion. As a result, it is possible to reduce engagement releasing force acting on an engagement portion of the knob with the rotary shaft member by the principle of leverage due to force for pulling up the operation portion of the knob, thereby making it possible to suppress detachment of the knob from the case. As a result, it is possible to eliminate the necessity of providing a restriction wall on the side of the knob, and thus, it is possible not only to increase the degree of freedom of the layout of each component of the switch device but also to avoid deterioration in assembly performance of the switch device.

Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing a configuration of a switch device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are perspective views showing an appearance of a knob of the switch device in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a case of the switch device in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 5A to 5C are process diagrams indicating a rotation operation of the knob when a front end of the knob of the switch device in FIG. 1 is pulled up;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are cross-sectional views indicating a difference in shape between a knob of a conventional switch device and the knob of the switch device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 7A and 7B are cross-sectional views schematically showing a configuration of a variation of the switch device according to the embodiment of the present invention; and

FIGS. 8A to 8C are process diagrams indicating a rotation operation of a knob when a front end of the knob of the conventional switch device is pulled up.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing a configuration of a switch device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the switch device 10 includes a case 11 having a housing shape and serving as a base portion, four knobs 12 to 15 serving as operation members arranged in two rows vertically and two rows horizontally on an upper surface 11a of the case 11, and a frame-shaped panel 16 arranged above the case 11 so as to surround the four knobs 12 to 15. The switch device 10 is attached to, for example, a door trim of a vehicle. An X direction in this figure indicates a left-and-right direction in the vehicle, a Y direction in this figure indicates a forward-and-rearward direction in the vehicle, and a Z direction in this figure indicates a vertical direction in the vehicle.

In the switch device 10, the knob 12 is disposed on the left front side, the knob 13 is disposed on the right front side, the knob 14 is disposed on the left rear side, and the knob 15 is disposed on the right rear side. In addition, the knob 12 corresponds to a power window driving motor of a left front door of the vehicle, the knob 13 corresponds to a power window driving motor of a right front door of the vehicle, the knob 14 corresponds to a power window driving motor of a left rear door of the vehicle, and the knob 15 corresponds to a power window driving motor of a right rear door of the vehicle. By operating one of the knobs 12 to 15 in a seesaw-like manner, a user can drive a corresponding power window driving motor to move a desired window upwards and downwards.

In addition, the panel 16 includes a flange portion 16a formed to horizontally extend on the upper portion thereof, an opening portion 16b configured to accommodate the four knobs 12 to 15, and a wall-shaped shielding portion 16c disposed at a portion where the four knobs 12 to 15 do not exist in the opening portion 16b. The flange portion 16a and the shielding portion 16c prevent the case 11 from being viewed by the user when the switch device 10 is attached to, for example, the door trim of the vehicle.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are perspective views showing an appearance of the knob 12 of the switch device 10, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an appearance of the case 11 of the switch device 10. It should be noted that FIG. 2A shows a case where the knob 12 is viewed obliquely from below on the left side, FIG. 2B shows a case where the knob 12 is viewed from below, and FIG. 3 shows a case where the case 11 is viewed obliquely from above on the left side.

The case 11 has four cylindrical portions 17a to 17d protruding upwards from the upper surface 11a. The knob 12 has a protrusion 12a protruding downwards. By inserting the protrusion 12a of the knob 12 into the cylindrical portion 17a, the knob 12 is attached to a fitting portion 30a provided in the vicinity of the distal end of the cylindrical portion 17a. In addition, the cylindrical portion 17a has a rotary shaft member 18a which is a cylindrical convex portion protruding in the left-and-right inner direction in the fitting portion 30a. The knob 12 includes, when attached to the fitting portion 30a, a front wall 12d configured to cover the front side of the cylindrical portion 17a, a rear wall 12e configured to cover the rear side of the cylindrical portion 17a, a right side wall 12b configured to cover the right side of the cylindrical portion 17a, and a left side wall 12f configured to cover the left side of the cylindrical portion 17a. It should be noted that the right side wall 12b and the left side wall 12f connect the front wall 12d (one side) and the rear wall 12e (the other side), respectively. In addition, the knob 12 has a top surface 12h connected to the upper end portions of the front wall 12d, the rear wall 12e, the right side wall 12b, and the left side wall 12f, the top surface 12h facing an opening portion 17g that opens at the upper portion of the cylindrical portion 17a. The knob 12 has a round hole-shaped engagement portion 19a that opens in the left-and-right direction in the protrusion 12a. When the protrusion 12a of the knob 12 is attached to the fitting portion 30a of the cylindrical portion 17a, the rotary shaft member 18a is engaged with the engagement portion 19a. When the knob 12 is attached to the cylindrical portion 17a, a wall portion of the cylindrical portion 17a is inserted between the right side wall 12b and the left side wall 12f, and the protrusion 12a. As a result, the rigidity of the knob 12 and the cylindrical portion 17a in the left-and-right direction is improved, and when operation force acting on the knob 12 acts on the right side wall 12b, the left side wall 12f, the protrusion 12a, and the wall portion of the cylindrical portion 17a, the same are hardly deformed outwards in the left-and-right direction, and as a result, it is possible to prevent detachment of the knob 12. It should be noted that the rotary shaft member 18a of the cylindrical portion 17a may protrude outwards in the left-and-right direction.

Furthermore, each of the knobs 13 to 15 also has a protrusion similar to the protrusion 12a, and each of the knobs 13 to 15 is attached to a corresponding one of the fitting portions of the cylindrical portions 17b to 17d by inserting the protrusion into the corresponding cylindrical portion. Each of the cylindrical portions 17b to 17d has a rotary shaft member similar to the rotary shaft member 18a, each of the knobs 13 to 15 also has an engagement portion similar to the engagement portion 19a in the protrusion, and when the protrusion of each of the knobs 13 to 15 is attached to the fitting portion of the corresponding cylindrical portion, the rotary shaft member of the corresponding cylindrical portion is engaged with the engagement portion.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 1, and shows a cross section of the knob 12 and the cylindrical portion 17a of the case 11. As described above, since the rotary shaft member 18a of the fitting portion 30a of the cylindrical portion 17a of the case 11 is engaged with the engagement portion 19a of the protrusion 12a of the knob 12, the knob 12 rotates around a rotary shaft 20a passing through the center of the rotary shaft member 18a (engagement portion 19a) in the left-and-right direction (X direction in drawing). That is, the knob 12 rotates around the rotary shaft 20a in a seesaw-like manner with respect to the case 11 (refer to white arrow in drawing).

The knob 12 includes an operation portion 23a provided on the front end side (one side) defined using the rotary shaft member 18a as a boundary in the forward-and-rearward direction, and an abutment portion 21a provided on the rear end side (the other side) defined using the rotary shaft member 18a as the boundary in the forward-and-rearward direction. When the user operates the knob 12, the user pulls up the operation portion 23a of the knob 12 in the forward-and-rearward direction toward the top surface 12h of the knob 12, or pushes the operation portion 23a toward the case 11. In addition, the switch device 10 is provided with a stopper mechanism configured to prevent rotation of the knob 12 so as not to excessively rotate the knob 12 when the user pulls up the operation portion 23a of the knob 12. Specifically, in the knob 12, the abutment portion 21a is provided on the opposite side of the operation portion 23a with respect to the rotary shaft 20a, and a stopper portion 22a is provided in the case 11 so as to face the abutment portion 21a.

FIGS. 5A to 5C are process diagrams indicating the rotation operation of the knob 12 when the operation portion 23a of the knob 12 is pulled up.

First, in a state where the knob 12 does not rotate with respect to the case 11, there is a gap between the abutment portion 21a and the stopper portion 22a, and the abutment portion 21a and the stopper portion 22a do not contact each other (FIG. 5A).

Thereafter, when the user starts to pull up the operation portion 23a of the knob 12 (rotates knob 12 clockwise in this figure), the abutment portion 21a approaches the stopper portion 22a (FIG. 5B), and as such, the abutment portion 21a abuts on the stopper portion 22a (FIG. 5C). Accordingly, clockwise rotation of the knob 12 is suppressed. That is, the abutment portion 21a and the stopper portion 22a function as the stopper mechanism when the user pulls up the operation portion 23a of the knob 12.

Here, even after the abutment portion 21a abuts on the stopper portion 22a, when the user tries to keep pulling up the operation portion 23a of the knob 12, the stopper portion 22a serves as a fulcrum, and the knob 12 tends to rotate clockwise with respect to the case 11 around the stopper portion 22a instead of the rotary shaft 20a. At this time, force for pulling up the operation portion 23a acts on the engagement portion 19a of the knob 12 as engagement releasing force 24 for releasing the engagement between the engagement portion 19a of the knob 12 and the rotary shaft member 18a of the case 11 according to the principle of leverage. Accordingly, the knob 12 may be detached from the case 11 by the engagement releasing force 24.

Meanwhile, in the present embodiment, the stopper mechanism is constructed to reduce the engagement releasing force 24. Specifically, as the stopper mechanism, an extending portion 25a is provided and the abutment portion 21a is provided in the extending portion 25a. Here, the extending portion 25a is formed by extending the rear wall 12e of the knob 12 toward the rear end side (the other side) and further extending the same downwards than the end portion on the case 11 side on each of the front end sides of the right side wall 12b and the left side wall 12f of the knob 12. That is, the extending portion 25a further extends downwards than a bottom portion 12c. It can also be said that the extending portion 25a further protrudes toward the case 11 side than the bottom portion 12c.

As a result, in the state where the knob 12 does not rotate with respect to the case 11, a distance L₁(first distance) from the rotary shaft member 18a (rotary shaft 20a) to the stopper portion 22a can be made relatively large with respect to a distance L₂(second distance) from an operation point 26a to the stopper portion 22a, in which the operation point 26a is located in the vicinity of the operation portion 23a where the user's finger is engaged and operation force of the user acts when the operation portion 23a of the knob 12 is pulled up. Specifically, the distance L₁is 60% or more of the distance L₂.

Here, since the engagement releasing force 24 acting on the engagement portion 19a according to the principle of leverage and caused by the operation force acting on the operation point 26a is expressed by the following formula (1), the engagement releasing force 24 can be reduced by making the distance L₁relatively large with respect to the distance L₂.

Engagement releasing force 24=operation force×(distance L₂/distance L₁) (1)

As a result, since detachment of the knob 12 from the case 11 can be suppressed, it is possible to eliminate the necessity of providing the restriction wall on the side of the knob 12. Accordingly, it is possible not only to increase the degree of freedom of the layout of each component of the switch device 10 but also to suppress deterioration in assembly performance of the switch device 10.

It should be noted that, although the knob 12 is coated, in the present embodiment, coating is not applied to a portion of the abutment portion 21a of the extending portion 25a of the knob 12, the portion abutting on the stopper portion 22a. That is, there is no coating that is worn away due to repeated abutment between the abutment portion 21a and the stopper portion 22a at the time of rotation of the knob 12. Therefore, it is possible to suppress a change in the rotation amount of the knob 12. As a result, a change in the relationship between the distance L₁and the distance L₂caused by the change in the rotation amount of the knob 12 is suppressed, and as such, the difficulty of detaching the knob 12 from the case 11 can be maintained in the originally intended state. In addition, since coating is not applied to the portion of the abutment portion 21a that abuts on the stopper portion 22a, the distance L₁does not change from the initially intended value due to variations in the thickness of coating at the portion of the abutment portion 21a abutting on the stopper portion 22a. Therefore, even after the knob 12 is assembled to the case 11 after coating is applied to the knob 12, the intended rotation amount of the knob 12 can be realized. Further, since the portion of the abutment portion 21a where coating is not applied can be obtained by hiding the aforementioned portion by fitting the protruding abutment portion 21a into a slit or the like of a jig for fixing the knob 12 when coating is applied to the knob 12, it is possible to eliminate the necessity of taking a protection measure against coating adhesion to the abutment portion 21a, such as masking, when coating is applied to the knob 12.

In the present embodiment, the extending portion 25a extends to the rear end side of the knob 12 and extends below the bottom portion 12c of the knob 12. However, as long as distance L₁can be made relatively large with respect to distance L₂, the extending portion 25a may extend only to the rear end side of the knob 12, or may extend only below the bottom portion 12c of the knob 12. Further, the operation portion 23a of the knob 12 may coincide with the operation point 26a.

As shown in FIG. 6A, in a conventional switch device, a knob 61 does not include an extending portion extending toward the rear end side and extending downwards. Therefore, in order to prevent the user from visually recognizing an upper surface 62a and a cylindrical portion 63a of a case 62, it is necessary to provide a shielding portion 64a configured to cover the upper surface 62a and the cylindrical portion 63a of the case 62 on the panel on the rear end side of the knob 61. Then, in order to avoid interference between the rotating knob 61 and the shielding portion 64a, it is necessary to secure a gap between the knob 61 and the shielding portion 64a. As a result, the length of the switch device in the forward-and-rearward direction (Y direction in this figure) cannot be reduced, and there is limitation in achieving miniaturization of the switch device.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6B, the extending portion 25a of the knob 12 according to the present embodiment covers the upper surface 11a and the cylindrical portion 17a of the case 11, and as such, the upper surface 11a and the cylindrical portion 17a of the case 11 can be prevented from being visually recognized by a user. Therefore, since it is not necessary to provide a shielding portion configured to cover the rear end side of the knob 12 on the panel 16, it is not necessary to secure a gap between the knob 12 and the shielding portion of the panel 16. As a result, the length of the switch device 10 in the forward-and rearward direction (Y direction in this figure) can be reduced, thereby making it possible to miniaturize the switch device 10. In addition, since the extending portion 25a has an R-shape so that a cross-sectional shape thereof draws an arc in a side view, designability of the knob 12 can be enhanced.

It should be noted that, in the switch device 10, the knob 13 has the same configuration as the knob 12. In addition, the knobs 14 and 15 have the same configuration as the knob in the conventional switch device as shown in FIG. 6A, but the knobs 14 and 15 may also have the same configuration as the knob 12.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various variations and changes can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention.

For example, in the knob 12, the abutment portion 21a is provided only on the opposite side of the operation portion 23a with respect to the rotary shaft 20a. However, as shown in FIG. 7A, in addition to the abutment portion 21a, another abutment portion 27a may be provided on the same side as the operation portion 23a with respect to the rotary shaft 20a (front end side defined based on rotary shaft member 18a serving as boundary in forward-and-rearward direction). Similarly to the extending portion 25a, the other abutment portion 27a further protrudes toward the case 11 than the bottom portion 12c. In addition, the case 11 is provided with another stopper portion 28a which faces the other abutment portion 27a.

In the state where the knob 12 does not rotate with respect to the case 11, there is a gap between the other abutment portion 27a and the other stopper portion 28a, and the other abutment portion 27a and the other stopper portion 28a do not contact each other (FIG. 7A).

Thereafter, when the user starts to push the operation portion 23a of the knob 12 downwards (rotates knob 12 counterclockwise in this figure), the other abutment portion 27a approaches the other stopper portion 28a, and as such, the other abutment portion 27a abuts on the other stopper portion 28a (FIG. 7B). As a result, counterclockwise rotation of the knob 12 is suppressed. That is, the other abutment portion 27a and the other stopper portion 28a function as the stopper mechanism when the user pushes the operation portion 23a of the knob 12 downwards.

Here, when the user tries to keep pushing the operation portion 23a of the knob 12 downwards even after the other abutment portion 27a abuts on the other stopper portion 28a, the other stopper portion 28a serves as a fulcrum, and the knob 12 tends to rotate counterclockwise with respect to the case 11 around the other stopper portion 28a instead of the rotary shaft 20a. At this time, force for pushing the operation portion 23a downwards acts on the engagement portion 19a of the knob 12 as another engagement releasing force 29 for releasing the engagement between the engagement portion 19a of the knob 12 and the rotary shaft member 18a of the case 11 according to the principle of leverage.

Here, the other engagement releasing force 29 acting on the engagement portion 19a according to the principle of leverage and caused by another operation force for pushing the operation portion 23a downwards is expressed by the following formula (2). It should be noted that a distance L₃(third distance) is a distance from the rotary shaft member 18a (rotary shaft 20a) to the other stopper portion 28a in the state where the knob 12 does not rotate with respect to the case 11, and a distance L₄is a distance from the operation portion 23a to the other stopper portion 28a in the state where the knob 12 does not rotate with respect to the case 11.

Another engagement releasing force 29=another operation force×(distance L₄/distance L₃) (2)

As shown in FIG. 7A, since the distance L₄and the distance L₃are not much different, the other engagement releasing force 29 becomes smaller than the engagement releasing force 24, and as such, there is no possibility that the knob 12 is detached from the case 11 by the other engagement releasing force 29. Therefore, in order to increase the distance L₃and reduce the other engagement releasing force 29, it is not necessary to provide another extending portion similar to the extending portion 25a on the front end side of the knob 12. That is, there is no problem even if the distance L₃remains short. As a result, the distance L₃is equal to or less than the distance L₁. Conversely, the distance L₁is equal to or greater than the distance L₃.

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-23262 filed on Feb. 17, 2022 which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

SWITCH DEVICE

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Abstract

Description

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Priority Claims (1)