Abstract:
A single button six-way sunroof switch includes a case; a knob base which has a coupling hole, hooks, and a hinge hole; a knob with coupling grooves, wherein the hooks of the knob base are engaged with the coupling grooves; a light emitting rod having a latching jaw, which is latched with the upper end of the knob base around the coupling hole; a lever integrally formed with the light emitting rod; a slider which has a panel with a through-hole, support legs extended from corners of the panel, and a hinge pin; a contact having a body part coupled to the lever, which passes through the through-hole of the slider, and contact-point legs extended from the body part in four directions; and a Printed Circuit Board having tact switches to be pushed by the lever and a plurality of contact points contacted by the contact-point legs.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]     This application is based on, and claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2004-0109976, filed on Dec. 22, 2004, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     The present invention relates to a sunroof switch, and more particularly to a single button six-way sunroof switch that can open and close a sunroof in six ways (full-open, full-close, tilt-up, tilt-down, partial-open and partial-close) with one-touch operation using a single button, thereby permitting a driver to freely control degree of opening of a sunroof as he/she desires.  
         [0004]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0005]     Generally, a conventional sunroof switch for opening and closing a sunroof is installed near the sunroof on the ceiling of the passenger compartment of a vehicle and an operation element is provided to the sunroof switch to allow a driver to control degree of opening of a sunroof in four ways (open, close, tilt-up and tilt-down) or six ways (full-open, full-close, tilt-up, tilt-down, partial-open and partial-close).  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     Embodiments of the present invention provide a sunroof switch including: a case having a hollowed inner space and openings at an upper and a lower end portion; a knob base having a coupling hole penetrated in a vertical direction, projected hooks on both side surfaces and a hinge hole at a lower end portion thereof; a knob with coupling grooves on both side surfaces thereof wherein the hooks of the knob base are engaged with the coupling grooves; a light emitting rod having a latching jaw at an upper end portion thereof wherein the latching jaw is latched with the upper end of the knob base around the coupling hole; a lever integrally formed with the light emitting rod by being extended from both sides and a lower end of the light emitting rod; a slider having a panel with a through-hole penetrated in the vertical direction and formed at the center portion of the panel, support legs extended from corners of the panel and integrally formed with the panel, and a hinge pin formed on an upper end portion; a contact having a body part coupled to a lower end portion of the lever which passes through the through-hole of the slider and contact-point legs attached to the body part in four directions; a PCB having an upper surface on which tact switches to be pushed by the lever are arranged on both side edge portions and a plurality of contact points with which the contact-point legs are brought into contact are arranged; and a cover for covering the opened lower end portion of the case.  
         [0007]     In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the case further has a guide with a cross guide hole at an upper end portion thereof.  
         [0008]     A guide pin to be engaged with the cross guide hole is formed at the opposite position of the hinge hole, projecting from a surface of the knob base.  
         [0009]     The case further has holders shaped with right angles on its inner surfaces.  
         [0010]     In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the slider further has support grooves on both sides, into which sets of springs and rods are inserted, which are supported by the respective support grooves, and the front ends of the rods are received and supported by the holders by elastic forces of the springs.  
         [0011]     In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the case further has slide slots at lower portions of both sides of the case, which limit movement of the slider. A slide pin inserted into each slide slot is integrally formed with each contact-point leg by being projected on the outer surface of each contact-point leg.  
         [0012]     In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, coupling projections are integrally formed with the lever by being projected from both sides of the lever in the middle portion of the lower part thereof, and the body part of the contact has coupling holes on both side surfaces, with which the coupling projections are engaged.  
         [0013]     In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the lower part of the lever has two ends, which extend to reach the tact switches and have push pads on the bottom, which selectively push the tact switches.  
         [0014]     In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, two of the contact-point legs are first contact-point legs provided for partial-open and partial-close operations of the sunroof, and the other two of the contact-point legs are second contact-point legs provided for full-open and full-close operations of the sunroof.  
         [0015]     In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, on the upper surface of the PCB, a negative polarity terminal is arranged on one side, tilt-up/tilt-down contact points with which the tact switches will be brought into contact are arranged in the middle portion, first step contact points are arranged between the negative polarity terminal and the tilt-up/tilt-down contact points where the first contact-point legs among the contact-point legs reach the first step contact points, and second step contact points are arranged at the side opposite the negative polarity terminal. An LED is also mounted on the center portion of the PCB.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0016]      FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of a single button six-way sunroof switch in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0017]      FIG. 2A  and  FIG. 2B  are perspective views showing the procedure of assembling parts constituting an upper portion of a single button six-way sunroof switch in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0018]      FIG. 3A  and  FIG. 3B  are perspective views showing the procedure of assembling parts constituting a lower portion of a single button six-way sunroof switch in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0019]      FIG. 4A  and  FIG. 4B  are perspective views of a single button six-way sunroof switch in accordance with the present invention, in which the switch is assembled completely;  
         [0020]      FIG. 5  is a plan view of a printed circuit board (PCB) for use in a single button six-way sunroof switch in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0021]      FIG. 6A  is a side view of a single button six-way sunroof switch in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0022]      FIG. 6B  is a cross-sectional view of a single button six-way sunroof switch in accordance with the present invention, taken along line A-A in  FIG. 6A ;  
         [0023]      FIG. 6C  is a cross-sectional view of a single button six-way sunroof switch in accordance with the present invention, taken along line B-B in  FIG. 6A ;  
         [0024]      FIG. 7  is a partial cut-away view of a single button six-way sunroof switch in accordance with the present invention, in which the switch is in the tilt-down status;  
         [0025]      FIG. 8  is a partial cut-away view of a single button six-way sunroof switch in accordance with the present invention, in which the switch is in the tilt-up status;  
         [0026]      FIG. 9  is a partial cut-away view of a single button six-way sunroof switch in accordance with the present invention, in which the switch is in the open status; and  
         [0027]      FIG. 10  is a partial cut-away view of a single button six-way sunroof switch in accordance with the present invention, in which the switch is in the close status. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0028]     Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail by describing preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.  
         [0029]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a single button six-way sunroof switch in accordance with the present invention includes a case  10 , a knob  12  and a knob base  14  which are installed on the case  10 , a light emitting rod  16  and a lever  18  which are installed inside the case  10 , a slider  20 , a contact  22  and a PCB  24  with contact points, which are installed under the lever  18 , and a cover  36  covering a lower part of the case  10  when all the parts in  FIG. 1  are assembled.  
         [0030]     Each part of the single button six-way sunroof switch will be described below in detail.  
         [0031]     The case  10  has openings at a center portion of an upper part and at the whole portion of a lower part. The case  10  is a hollowed rectangular parallelepiped and houses components of the switch.  
         [0032]     Guide plates  30  are perpendicularly provided on the case  10  at both side edges thereof and the guide plates  30  and the case  10  are integrally formed to be a single body. The guide plates  30  have cross holes  28 .  
         [0033]     Additionally referring to  FIGS. 6B and 6C , the case  10  has holders  32 , formed as right angles, on both inner walls. The case  10  further has slide slots  34  formed to penetrate side walls of the case  10  at a lower portion thereof and extend horizontally. Coupling grooves  38  are formed on outer side surfaces of the case  10  below the slide slots  34 . The coupling grooves  38  are used to couple with a cover described below.  
         [0034]     The knob  12  substantially serves as an operation handle and has an engraved radiation mark on the upper surface thereof, where the mark indicates the directions of opening and closing of a sunroof to allow a driver to visually identify the direction of operation of a sunroof and its location. The knob  12  further has penetrated coupling holes  40  on both sides.  
         [0035]     The knob base  14  to be coupled with the knob  12  has a coupling hole  42  penetrated in the vertical direction. On both side surfaces of the knob base  14 , guide pins  44  to be engaged with the cross holes  28  are integrally formed with the knob base  14  at rear lower end portions and hinge holes  46  are formed at front lower end portions.  
         [0036]     Further on both side surfaces of the knob base  14 , projected hooks  48  to be engaged with coupling holes  40  of the knob  12  are integrally formed with the knob base  14  above the hinge holes  36 .  
         [0037]     Referring to  FIG. 2A  and  FIG. 2B , the knob  12  and the knob base  14  are coupled such that the hooks  48  of the knob base  14  are inserted into the coupling holes  40  of the knob  12 .  
         [0038]     Here, the light emitting rod  16  is inserted into the coupling hole  42  of the knob base  14  and has a latch jaw  50  at an upper end portion thereof where the latch jaw  50  is integrally formed with the light emitting rod  16  to be a single body. The light emitting rod  16  and the knob base  14  are coupled such that the latch jaw  50  is latched with the edge of the penetrated coupling hole  42  of the knob base  14 .  
         [0039]     Further, the lever  18  is integrally formed with the light emitting rod  16  to be a single body, and extends along the side and the lower end of the light emitting rod  16 . The lever  18  and the light emitting rod  16  serve as a fulcrum for a seesaw motion together. The lever  18  has coupling projections  52  in the lower middle portion of the both side surfaces thereof. Referring to  FIG. 3A , both lower end portions of the lever  18  extend to contact with tact switches  54  formed on the PCB  24  and have respective push pads  56  on the bottom thereof where the push pads  56  alternatively push the corresponding tact switches  54 .  
         [0040]     The slider  20  has a panel with a through-hole  58  formed at the center portion to penetrate the panel. The slider  20  has support legs  60  integrally formed with the panel and extending from each corner of the panel. Hinge pins  62  are formed around the outer circumferential edge of the through-hole  58  so as to be engaged with the hinge holes  46  provided to the knob base  14 .  
         [0041]     The slider  20  and the knob base  14  are coupled such that the hinge pins  62  are inserted into the hinge holes  46  of the knob base  14 . When the slider  20  and the knob base  14  are coupled, the middle portion of the light emitting rod  16  i.e. the boundary portion between the light emitting rod  16  and the lever,  18  is inserted into the through-hole  58 .  
         [0042]     Referring again to  FIG. 6B , in the middle portion of the both side surfaces of the slider  20 , support grooves  68  are formed so that sets of springs  64  and rods  66  are inserted there into. The front end of each rod  66  is received in and supported by each holder  32  provided inside the case  10  by an elastic force of each spring  64 .  
         [0043]     Referring to  FIG. 2B , slide pins  70  are integrally formed on the outer surfaces of the respective support legs  60  to be inserted into the slide slots  34  provided to the case  10 .  
         [0044]     As illustrated in more detail in  FIG. 4B , the slide pins  70  formed on the support legs  60  are engaged with the respective slide slots  34  of the case  10  to slide along the slide slot  34 .  
         [0045]     The contact  22  to be coupled with the lever  18  includes a body part  72  coupled to a lower part of the lever  18  and first and second contact-point legs  74  and  76  attached on the lower surface of the body part  72  and extending outwardly in four directions. The contact-point legs  74  and  76  are formed of a conductive material.  
         [0046]     Referring to  FIG. 2A  and  FIG. 2B , the body part  72  of the contact  22  has coupling holes  78  on both sides thereof to be coupled with respective coupling projections  52  of the lever  18 .  
         [0047]     The contact-point legs  22  outwardly extend in the oblique direction, where two of the contact-point legs  22  are first contact-point legs  74  for partial-open and partial-close operations of a sunroof and the other two are second contact-point legs  76  for full-open and full-close operations of a sunroof.  
         [0048]     Next, the PCB  24  serving as the contact points and controlling on and off of a sunroof switch will be described below in detail.  
         [0049]     Referring to  FIG. 3A , on the upper surface of the PCB  24 , the tact switches  54  to be selectively pushed by the push pads  56  of the lever  18  are separately arranged and further a plurality of contact points  86 ,  88  with which the contact-point legs  74 ,  76  of the contact  22  bring into contact are formed in the predetermined arrangement.  
         [0050]     Here, the PCB  24  is mounted on the upper surface of the cover  36 , and the cover  36  is coupled with the bottom of the case  10  for covering the lower opening of the case  10  after all the parts constituting the sunroof switch in accordance with the present invention are integrally assembled and received inside the case  10 .  
         [0051]     The case  10  and the cover  36  are coupled such that the coupling projections  80  formed on the outer surface of the cover  36  are engaged with the coupling grooves  38  formed on the side surfaces of the case  10  below the slide slots  34 .  
         [0052]     Here, the description will be made with PCB  24  below in more detail. With reference to  FIG. 5 , on the upper surface of the PCB  24 , a negative polarity terminal  82  is arranged at a side, tilt-up/tilt-down contact points  84  with which the tact switches  54  will be brought into contact are arranged in the middle portion, first step contact points  86  with which the first contact-point legs  74  will be brought into contact are arranged between the negative polarity terminal  82  and the tilt-up/tilt-down contact points  84 , and second step contact points  88  are arranged at the opposite side of the negative polarity terminal  82 .  
         [0053]     Further, a light emitting diode (LED)  90  for emitting light is disposed at the center portion of the PCB  24 .  
         [0054]      FIG. 4A  and  FIG. 4B  illustrate the sunroof switch in accordance with the present invention, in which all the parts are completely assembled. When the sunroof switch is installed on the ceiling of a vehicle, the case  10  and a connector  92  extending from the PCB  24  through the cover  36  are buried inside the ceiling of a body of the vehicle, and only the knob  12  is exposed so as to control the switch.  
         [0055]     The operation of the sunroof switch in accordance with the present invention as described above will be explained below.  
         [0056]     Referring to  FIG. 6A , reference symbol “R” denotes a pivot point for the tilt operation of the knob where the hinge pin  62  is engaged with the hinge hole  46  of the knob base.  
         [0057]     Reference symbol “TH” denotes a point that the guide pin  44  of the knob base  14  is inserted into the cross guide hole  28  of the guide  30  integrally formed with the case  10 , where the guide pin  44  moves in the direction of up and down (direction T) in the cross guide hole  28  for the tilt-up and tilt-down operations of the knob  12 , and the guide pin  44  moves in the direction of back and forth (direction H) in the cross guide hole  28  for opening and closing operations of the knob  12 .  
         [0058]     When operating the knob  12  in the direction of back and forth for opening and closing the sunroof, the slide pins  70  formed the on support legs  60  of the slider  20  move along the corresponding slide slots  34  formed in the case  10 .  
         [0059]     At this time, referring to  FIG. 6B  and  FIG. 6C , in the status that the front end of the rod  66  is received in and supported by the holder  32  formed on the inner wall of the case  10 , if the knob  12  is operated to move in the direction, back or forth, for opening and closing the sunroof, the slider  20  and the rod  66  move together back or forth along the holder  32 . If the knob  12  is released, the rod  66  is retracted to the center portion, which is the default position of the rod  66 , along the surface of the holder  32 .  
         [0060]     When the rod  66  is retracted to the center portion, the default position, along the surface of the holder  32 , the slider  20 , the knob base  14  linked with the slider  20 , and the knob  12  combined with the knob base  14  are returned to their own default positions, respectively.  
         [0061]     The operation steps and statuses of the sunroof switch in accordance with the present invention will be described below.  
         [0062]     (1) Operation to Tilt Down a Sunroof  
         [0063]     Referring to  FIG. 7 , the tilt-down of the sunroof is achieved by pulling the knob  12 . When the knob  12  is pulled, the knob base  14  angularly pivots on the pivot point “R” and the light emitting rod  16  fixed to the coupling hole  42  is simultaneously pulled, so that the lever  18  integrally formed at the lower part of the light emitting rod  16  is tilted in the direction that the knob  12  is pulled.  
         [0064]     Accordingly, one push pad  56  (for tilt-up) of the lever  18  is separated from the tact switch  54  by the pivoting of the knob  12 , and the other push pad  56  (for tilt-down) of the lever  18  comes into contact with the tact switch  54 , so that the tilt-down operation of the sunroof is performed as soon as the contact point for tilt-down arranged on the PCB  24  is conducted.  
         [0065]     (2) Operation to Tilt Up a Sunroof  
         [0066]     Referring to  FIG. 8 , the tilt-up of the sunroof is achieved by pushing the knob  12 . When the knob  12  is pushed, the knob base  14  angularly pivots on the pivot point “R” and the light emitting rod  16  fixed to the coupling hole  42  is simultaneously pulled, so that the lever  18  integrally formed at the lower part of the light emitting rod  16  is tilted in the opposite direction of the direction that the knob  12  is pulled.  
         [0067]     Accordingly, one push pad  56  (for tilt-down) of the lever  18  is separated from the tact switch  54  by the pushing operation of the knob  12  like a seesaw motion, and the other push pad  56  (for tilt-up) of the lever  18  comes to push the tact switch  54 , so that the tilt-up operation of the sunroof is performed as soon as the contact point for tilt-up arranged on the PCB  24  is conducted.  
         [0068]     (3) Operation to Open a Sunroof  
         [0069]     With reference to  FIG. 9 , when the knob  12  is operated to the left to open the sunroof, the knob base  14  combined with the knob  12 , the light emitting rod  16  combined with the knob base  14 , the lever  18  integrally combined with the light emitting rod  16  at a lower part thereof, and the slider  20  combined with the lever  18  simultaneously move to the left.  
         [0070]     Accordingly, the first contact-point legs  74  of the contact  22  reach the first step contact points  86  on the PCB  24 , thereby making electrical contact. As a result, the sunroof is partially opened.  
         [0071]     At this time, since the slide pins  70  formed on the support legs  60  move along the slide slots  34  formed in the case  10 , the slide slots  34  guide and limit the movement of the slider  20 . The length of the movement of the slider  20  is in the range of 2.5 to 3.5 mm.  
         [0072]     That is, since the total length of the slide slot  34  formed in the case  10  is in the range of 5 to 7 mm, the slide pin  70  initially positioned in the middle of the slide slot  34  can move back and forth by about 2.5 to 3.5 mm.  
         [0073]     Here, if the knob  12  is pulled farther to the left, the second contact-point legs  76  of the contact  22  reach the second step contact points  88  on the PCB  24 , thereby being conducted. As a result, the sunroof is fully opened.  
         [0074]     (4) Operation to Close a Sunroof  
         [0075]     Referring to  FIG. 10 , when the knob  12  is operated to the right to close the sunroof, the knob base  14  combined with the knob  12 , the light emitting rod  16  combined with the knob base  14 , the lever  18  integrally combined with the light emitting rod  16  at a lower part thereof, and the slider  20  combined with the lover  18  simultaneously move to the right.  
         [0076]     Accordingly, the first contact-point legs of the contact  22  reach the first step contact points  86  on the PCB  24 , thereby making electrical contact. As a result, the sunroof becomes partially closed.  
         [0077]     In a similar manner to the opening operation of the sunroof, as described above, since the slide pins  70  formed on the support legs  60  of the slider  20  move along the slide slots  34  formed in the case  10 , the slide slots  34  guide and limit the movement of the slider  20 . The movement length of the slider  20  is in the range of 2.5 to 3.5 mm.  
         [0078]     Here, if the knob  12  is pushed farther to the right, the second contact-point legs  76  of the contact  22  reach the second step contact points  88  on the PCB  24 , thereby being conducted. As a result, the sunroof is fully closed.  
         [0079]     Meanwhile, since light emitted from the LED  90  mounted on the PCB  24  reaches the knob  12  via the light emitting rod  16 , the engraved radiation mark is illuminated. Accordingly, visibility of knob operation is enhanced.  
         [0080]     In accordance with the present invention, as described above, opening and closing of the sunroof can be controlled in six ways (full-open, full-close, tilt-up, tilt-down, partial-open and partial-close) using a single button, thereby permitting a driver to freely control degree of opening of the sunroof as he/she desires.  
         [0081]     The present invention provides a sunroof switch with simple structure and excellent, smooth and precision opening-closing maneuverability compared to conventionally sunroof switches. The sunroof switch in accordance with the present invention can reduce manufacturing cost and enhance assembly work efficiency due to its simple structure.  
         [0082]     Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conceptions and specific embodiments disclosed in the foregoing description may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other embodiments for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention.