A multi-directional sensor includes a housing unit having a surrounding wall that defines a housing space, a first magnetic component disposed on the housing unit, a conductive body disposed in the housing space and magnetically attracted to the first magnetic component, and a plurality of spaced-apart electrically conductive terminals surrounding the conductive body. When the multi-directional sensor is subjected to an impact, the conductive body is forced to move toward two adjacent conductive terminals which are opposite to the direction of impact due to inertia so as to bridge and electrically interconnect the two adjacent conductive terminals so that a signal can be generated.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority of Taiwanese Application No. 104107786, filed on Mar. 11, 2015.

FIELD

The disclosure relates to a sensor, more particularly to a multi-directional sensor.

BACKGROUND

A conventional collision sensing technique is disclosed in an impulse sensor of U.S. Pat. No. 4,948,929. The impulse sensor includes two contact terminals disposed in a case body filled with magnetic fluid, a conductive body held floating in the magnetic fluid, and two magnetic components disposed on two opposite outer sides of the case body. In a normal situation, the conductive weight is held floating in the magnetic fluid at the center of the case body. When the impulse sensor is subjected to an impact, the conductive weight is forced to move toward the contact terminals due to inertia so as to electrically interconnect the contact terminals, so that an impact signal can be generated. However, the impulse sensor can only detect impact from a single direction. If the impact does not take place at the predetermined direction, the impulse sensor cannot detect the impact.

Referring toFIGS. 1 and 2, another conventional collision sensing technique is disclosed in an eight-directional induction starting device for a collision sensor of Chinese Patent Publication No. CN102074411A. The eight-directional induction starting device includes an inner magnetic ring11, an outer magnetic ring12, two bearings13respectively disposed above and beneath the inner magnetic ring11, an insulating housing14surrounding the inner and outer magnetic rings11,12and the bearings13, and two conductive cover plates15respectively disposed above and beneath the insulating housing14.

By electrically connecting the inner and outer magnetic rings11,12to different electric potentials, when the eight-directional induction starting device is subjected to an impact, the inner magnetic ring11is forced to move toward the outer magnetic ring12so as to contact and electrically connect with the same, so that an impact signal can be generated.

However, the eight-directional induction starting device can only detect whether an impact has occurred, but not the direction of impact. Furthermore, in order to enhance the sensitivity of the device, the bearings13are disposed above and beneath the inner magnetic ring11to reduce friction during sliding movement of the inner magnetic ring11, so that the overall structure of the device is complicated. Moreover, in order to maintain the inner magnetic ring11in an electrical connection state, the bearings13and the cover plates15must be made of electrically conductive materials. This enhances the risk of electric shock.

Referring toFIGS. 3 and 4, a conventional tilt sensor, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. JP2009117137, includes a first housing16, a movable contact17, two fixed contacts18, two fixed contacts20, and a second housing19. When tilted, the movable contact17moves to contact one of the fixed contacts18and a corresponding one of the fixed contacts20to electrically interconnect the two and generate a signal. With the fixed contacts18,20being disposed transversely of each other, an inclination state of the tilt sensor and impact from four directions can be detected. However, when the impact only takes place along a horizontal direction but not along a top-bottom direction, the movable contact17cannot be moved to contact one of the fixed contacts18and a corresponding fixed contact20, so that the tilt sensor cannot detect the direction of impact.

SUMMARY

Therefore, an object of this disclosure is to provide a multi-directional sensor that can alleviate at least one of the drawbacks of the prior arts.

According to one aspect of this disclosure, a multi-directional sensor comprises a housing unit, a first magnetic component, a conductive body and a plurality of spaced-apart electrically conductive terminals. The housing unit includes a surrounding wall surrounding an axis and defining a housing space. The first magnetic component is disposed on the housing unit. The conductive body is made of an electrically magnetically conductive material, is disposed in the housing space, and is magnetically attracted to the first magnetic component. The conductive terminals surround the axis and the conductive body and face the housing space.

According to another aspect of this disclosure, a multi-directional sensor comprises a housing unit, a first magnetic component, a conductive body and a plurality of spaced-apart electrically conductive terminals. The housing unit includes a surrounding wall surrounding an axis, and a cover body cooperating with the surrounding wall to define a housing space. The first magnetic component is disposed on the cover body. The conductive body is made of an electrically magnetically conductive material, is disposed in the housing space, and is magnetically attracted to the first magnetic component. The conductive terminals extend into the housing unit and surround the axis.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before the disclosure is described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying embodiments, it should be noted herein that like elements are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the disclosure.

Referring toFIGS. 5 to 7, a multi-directional sensor according to the first embodiment of the disclosure is shown to comprise a housing unit2, a first magnetic component3, a conductive body4, a plurality of electrically conductive terminals5and a second magnetic component6.

The housing unit2is made of an insulating material, and includes a surrounding wall21surrounding an axis (L), a bottom wall22connected to a bottom periphery of the surrounding wall21, and a cover body23disposed on the surrounding wall21opposite to the bottom wall22along the axis (L). The surrounding wall21, the bottom wall22and the cover body23cooperate to define a housing space24.

In this embodiment, the surrounding wall21is cylindrical and the bottom wall22is circular. The surrounding wall21has a plurality of angularly spaced-apart axially extending slots211formed in an inner peripheral surface thereof and corresponding in number to the conductive terminals5. Each of the slots211has a semicircular cross section, and opens toward the housing space24. The bottom wall22has a positioning groove221formed in an outer surface thereof and having an opening that faces outward and away from the housing space24. The first magnetic component3is disposed in the positioning groove221via the opening thereof.

The cover body23has a positioning groove231formed in a top surface thereof and having an opening that faces outward and away from the housing space24. The second magnetic component6is disposed in the positioning groove231via the opening thereof. In this embodiment, the cover body23is circular to match the shape of the surrounding wall21and the bottom wall22, and has a plurality of angularly spaced-apart semicircular notches232formed in an outer periphery thereof.

It is worth to mention herein that, although the positioning grooves221,231of the bottom wall22and the cover body23respectively have an opening that faces outward in this embodiment, in an alternative embodiment, the openings of the positioning grooves221,231may face inward, or the positioning grooves221,231may be configured as through holes. Hence, the structure of the positioning grooves221,231is not limited to what is disclosed herein. Further, if the positioning grooves221,231are configured as through holes, the attractive force of the first and second magnetic components3,6on the conductive body4can be increased.

The conductive body4is made of an electrically magnetically conductive material, is disposed in the housing space24, and is magnetically attracted to the first and second magnetic components3,6. In this embodiment, the conductive body4is spherical, so that the conductive body4is rollable in the housing space24when an impact occurs and friction can be reduced. Hence, the sensitivity of the disclosure can be increased. However, the shape of the conductive body4is not limited to what is disclosed herein. During assembly, the first magnetic component3, the conductive body4and the second magnetic component6are mounted in sequence along the axis (L).

In a normal or non-impact state, the conductive body4is magnetically attracted to one of the first and second magnetic components3,6having the stronger magnetic force. In this embodiment, as shown inFIG. 6, the conductive body4is magnetically attracted to the first magnetic component3and abuts against the bottom wall22.

It is worth to mention herein that the multi-directional sensor of the first embodiment may only include the first magnetic component3(or the second magnetic component6), as shown inFIG. 8, and the first magnetic component3(or the second magnetic component6) may be disposed on an outer periphery of the surrounding wall21, as shown inFIG. 9.

With reference toFIGS. 5 and 6, the electrically conductive terminals5are respectively inserted into the semicircular slots211of the housing2, are arranged in an array, surround the axis (L) and the conductive body4, and face the housing space24. The semicircular notches232in the cover body23respectively cooperate with the semicircular slots211in the surrounding wall21to position the conductive terminals5in the housing unit2. The conductive terminals5are configured to extend through the cover body23and out of the housing unit2so that exposed portions of the conductive terminals5can serve as connecting points for electrical connection with an external circuit board (not shown). Hence, by facing the exposed portions of the conductive terminals5toward the external circuit board, the assembly of the components of the disclosure can be performed with ease.

Moreover, the distance between each two adjacent ones of the conductive terminals5is smaller than the diameter of the conductive body4. Through this, each time an impact occurs, the conductive body4can only contact two adjacent ones of the conductive terminals5so as to bridge and electrically interconnect the two adjacent conductive terminals, so that an impact signal can be generated. Thus, not only is the occurrence of impact can be detected, but also the direction of impact can be determined based on the position of the two electrically interconnected conductive terminals. Subsequent use of the system can thus be facilitated.

In this embodiment, the number of the conductive terminals5is set to more than four to surround the axis (L) and the conductive body4and to provide detection of multiple directions of impact. Further, each conductive terminal5is configured as an elongated cylinder that extends along the axis (L), so that each part of each conductive terminal5can serve as an impact detection point, so that missing of contact of the conductive body4with the conductive terminals can be avoided, thereby increasing the contact sensitivity of the multi-directional sensor of this embodiment.

In the normal or non-impact state, as shown inFIG. 6, the conductive body4is not in contact with the conductive terminals5, and is magnetically attracted to the first magnetic component3so that it abuts against the bottom wall22. When the multi-directional sensor is subjected to an impact, the conductive body4is forced to move toward two adjacent ones of the conductive terminals5which are opposite to the direction of impact due to inertia so as to bridge and electrically interconnect the two adjacent conductive terminals5, as shown inFIG. 7, so that a signal can be generated. By detecting whether the conductive terminals5are electrically interconnected and which two adjacent ones of the conductive terminals5are electrically interconnected, the multi-directional sensor is subjected to an impact and the direction of impact can both be determined.

FIGS. 8 and 9respectively show second and third modified forms of the first embodiment, where there is only one magnetic component, that is, the first magnetic component3, provided on the bottom wall22and the surrounding wall21. Similarly, in the non-impact state, the conductive body4is magnetically attracted to the first magnetic component3so that it abuts against the bottom wall22(seeFIG. 8) or a left side of the surrounding wall21(seeFIG. 9). When the multi-directional sensor is subjected to an impact, the conductive body4is forced to move toward two adjacent ones of the conductive terminals5which are opposite to the direction of impact due to inertia so as to bridge and electrically interconnect the two adjacent conductive terminals5so that a signal can be generated. Hence, the multi-directional sensor is subjected to an impact and the direction of impact can both be determined.

FIGS. 10 and 11respectively illustrate the fourth and the fifth modified forms of the first embodiment. InFIG. 10, the cover body23has a protruding portion protruding toward the conductive body4along the axis (L). InFIG. 11, each of the bottom wall22and the cover body23has a protruding portion protruding toward the conductive body4along the axis (L), so that resistance during movement of the conductive body4can be reduced. Hence, the sensitivity of movement of the conductive body4can be more enhanced.

FIGS. 12 and 13respectively show the sixth and the seventh modified forms of the first embodiment. InFIG. 12, the cover body23has an indented portion extending away from the conductive body4along the axis (L). InFIG. 13, each of the bottom wall22and the cover body23has an indented portion extending away from the conductive body4along the axis (L), so that the contact area during movement of the conductive body4can be increased to thereby increase the resistance. Hence, the sensitivity of movement of the conductive body4can be reduced in response to different application requirements.

From the foregoing description, the advantages of the first embodiment of the multi-directional sensor can be summarized as follows:

1) By surrounding the conductive body4with the conductive terminals5, whether the conductive terminals5are electrically interconnected and which of the conductive terminals5are electrically interconnected can be detected, so that whether the multi-directional sensor is subjected to an impact and the direction of impact can both be determined. Subsequent use of the system can thus be facilitated.

2) Because the first and second magnetic components3,6are close to each other, two opposite sides of the conductive body4are simultaneously magnetically attracted to the first and second magnetic components3,6, so that the stability of the multi-directional sensor of this disclosure is increased. In comparison with the conventional sensor which requires two bearings that lead to its complicate structure, the first embodiment has a relatively simple structure, so that the industrial applicability of the first embodiment can be increased.

3) By setting the number of the conductive terminals5to more than four and by arranging the conductive terminals5to surround the axis (L) and the conductive body4, detection of multiple directions of impact can be provided. Moreover, with each conductive terminal being configured as an elongated cylinder that extends along the axis (L), each part of each conductive terminal5can serve as an impact detection point, so that missing of contact of the conductive body4with the conductive terminals5can be avoided, thereby increasing the contact sensitivity of the multi-directional sensor of this embodiment.

4) With the conductive body4and the conductive terminals5being disposed in the housing space24confined by the surrounding wall21, the bottom wall22and the cover body23, and by using the insulating material for making the housing unit2, the issue of electric shock in the prior arts can be avoided. Hence, the multi-directional sensor of this embodiment is safe to use.

5) With the at least one of the bottom wall22and the cover body23being configured to have a protruding portion or an indented portion along the axis (L), the sensitivity of movement of the conductive body4can be increased or reduced in response to the different application requirements. The application of this embodiment can thus be widened.

Referring toFIGS. 14 and 15, the second embodiment of the multi-directional sensor according to this disclosure is shown to be generally identical to the first embodiment. Particularly, the multi-directional sensor of this embodiment comprises a housing unit2′, first and second magnetic components3and6, a conductive body4, and a plurality of electrically conductive terminals5′. However, in this embodiment, each of the surrounding wall21′, the bottom wall22′ and the cover body23′ has a square shape, and the housing unit2′ further includes four cutouts25formed in a top end surface212of the surrounding wall21′ and located at four corners of the surrounding wall21′, and four first engagement portions26respectively disposed in the cutouts25. Each of the first engagement portions26is configured as a protrusion.

The housing unit2′ further includes four spaced-apart second engagement portions233provided on the cover body23′. Each of the second engagement portions233is configured as a groove to engage a respective first engagement portion26. Alternatively, each of the first engagement portions26may be configured as a groove, while each of the second engagement portions233may be configured as a protrusion. The structures of the first and second engagement portions26,233are not limited to what is disclosed herein.

In this embodiment, four conductive terminals5′ are respectively disposed at the four corners of the surrounding wall21′. Each of the conductive terminals5′ is configured as a flat bent plate that includes a first terminal portion51inserted into a respective one of the first engagement portions26via a through hole thereof and received in a corresponding one of the cutouts25, a second terminal portion52opposite to the first terminal portion51and extending out of the housing unit2′, and an intermediate portion53between the first and second terminal portions51,52. A part of the first terminal portion51of each conductive terminal5′ extends into the housing space24for the conductive body4to contact. The second terminal portions52of the conductive terminals5′ can be directly electrically connected to an external circuit board. Thus, the ease of use of the second embodiment can be increased.

FIGS. 16 to 19respectively show the second to fifth modified forms of the second embodiment. In these modified forms, at least one of the bottom wall22′ and the cover body23′ is provided with a protruding portion or an indented portion that protrudes toward or extends away from the conductive body4along the axis (L).

The advantages described in the first embodiment can be similarly achieved using the second embodiment. Further, with the configuration of the conductive terminals5′ being flat bent plates, the consumption of the metal material can be minimized, and the weight, the size and the cost of the second embodiment can be reduced.

Referring toFIGS. 20 and 21, the third embodiment of the multi-directional sensor according to this disclosure is shown to be generally identical to the second embodiment. However, in this embodiment, the conductive plates7disposed on top and bottom end surfaces212,212′ of the surrounding wall21′, opposite to each other along the axis (X), and facing the housing space24. The first magnetic element3, one of the conductive plates7, the conductive body4, the other conductive plate7and the second magnetic component6are mounted in sequence along the axis (L). The distance between the conductive plates7along the axis (L) is larger than the length of the conductive body4along the axis (L). Each of the conductive plates7has a guide pin exposed from the housing unit2to facilitate assembly.

It is worth to mention herein that, for convenience of illustration, inFIG. 20, the housing unit2and the conductive terminals5′ are drawn separately, but in actual production, the conductive terminals5′ are embedded in the housing unit2′ and are injection molded together with the housing unit2′. A part of the first terminal portion51of each conductive terminal5′ extends into the housing space24for the conductive body4to contact. Thus, the connection of the conductive terminals5′ with the housing unit2′ is strong without additional engagement structure.

The housing unit2′ includes eight first engagement portions26, eight second engagement portions27, an upper cover body28, and a lower cover body29. Four of the first engagement portions26are disposed on four corners of the top end surface212of the surrounding wall21′, while the other four of the first engagement portions are disposed on four corners of the bottom end surface212′ of the surrounding wall21′. Each of the first engagement portions26is configured as a protrusion.

The upper and lower cover bodies28,29cooperate with the surrounding wall21′ to clamp the conductive plates7and the first and second magnetic components3,6thereamong. Four of the second engagement portions27are disposed on the upper cover body28, while the other four of the second engagement portions27are disposed on the lower cover body29. Each of the second engagement portions27is configured as a groove to engage a respective first engagement portion26. Alternatively, each first engagement portion26may be configured as a groove, while each second engagement portion27may be configured as a protrusion. The structures of the first and second engagement portions are not limited to what is disclosed herein.

In a normal or non-impact state, as shown inFIG. 21, the conductive body4is magnetically attracted to the first magnetic component3and abuts against one of the conductive plates7that is proximate to the first magnetic component3. When the multi-directional sensor is subjected to an impact, the conductive body4is forced to move toward the first terminal portions51of two adjacent ones of the conductive terminals5′ or one of the conductive plates7and a corresponding one of the conductive terminals5′ which are opposite to the direction of impact due to inertia so as to bridge and electrically interconnect the two adjacent conductive terminals5′ or the conductive plate7and the corresponding conductive terminal5′, so that a signal can be generated. Hence, by detecting whether the conductive terminals5and the conductive plates7are electrically interconnected and which of the conductive terminals5and the conductive plates7are electrically interconnected, whether the multi-directional sensor is subjected to impact and the direction of impact can both be determined. In this way, detection of impact at all directions can be provided.

It is worth to mention herein that, like the first embodiment, the third embodiment may also include only one magnetic component, that is, the first magnetic component3(or the second magnetic component6), as shown inFIG. 22, and the first magnetic component3may be disposed on the surrounding wall21′.

The advantages described in the first embodiment can be similarly achieved using the third embodiment. Moreover, with the conductive plates7being disposed spaced apart from each other along the axis (L), detection of impact at all directions can be provided, thereby greatly facilitating subsequent use of the system.

Referring toFIGS. 23 and 24, the fourth embodiment of the multi-directional sensor according to this disclosure is shown to be generally identical to the first embodiment and differs in that the first magnetic component3is disposed in an inner surface of the cover body23, and each of the conductive terminals5extends through the bottom wall22into the housing space24with a part thereof exposed from the housing unit2for connection with an external circuit board. Further, the conductive terminals5are disposed below the conductive body4. The diameter of the conductive body4is larger than the distance between each two diametrically opposite ones of the conductive terminals5.

In a normal or non-impact state, the conductive body4is magnetically attracted to and abuts against the first magnetic component3. When the multi-directional sensor is subjected to an impact, wherever is the direction of impact, the conductive body4will drop due to gravity and contact the conductive terminals5, as shown inFIG. 24, so that the conductive terminals5are electrically interconnected and a signal can be generated. Thus, by detecting whether the conductive terminals5are electrically interconnected, whether the multi-directional sensor is subjected to an impact can be determined.