Method to manufacture a wiring board for a motor-driven actuator, and motor-driven actuator

Abstract: A wiring board (20) of a motor-driven actuator, e.g for an air conditioning flap in a car, is manufactured by simultanously and integrally molding a bearing hole (25) and a conductive pattern (22) to the wiring board in order to mutually match the relative positions of the bearing hole and the conductive pattern in the wiring board. A wall portion of the housing (1,2) of the actuator is provided with a connector (28) passing opening shaped as a connector through hole with a sufficiently large size to allow the largest sized connector among a series of connectors differently sized in accordance with the types of the internal and external electric circuits to pass through so that the connector projects from the housing for disposition. A cover (30) is provided projecting sidewards from the connector for filling a gap between the through hole and the connector passing the through hole. In the housing of the actuator consisting of two housing parts, the connector is structurally provided in one housing part, the wiring board is individually formed separately from the connector, and connecting terminals of the wiring board which is received on the housing part are positioned within the connector.

Description: The invention relates to a method according to the preamble part of claim 1 and to a motor-driven actuator according to the preamble part of independent claim 6 (see for instance US-A-4 795 867). The actuator preferably is employed for adjusting the position of a ventilation flap in an automobile air conditioning system and/or a heating system and/or a ventilating system, and under the control of a supervising control unit. In an actuator as it is already used in practice, the wiring board is a printed board on which the conductive pattern is formed by etching or printing or the like. The bearing hole for the output shaft is formed in the wiring board by press working or the like. The formation of the conductive pattern and the formation of the bearing hole are carried out in quite different manufacturing processes or different working steps. For this reason, a variation or displacement between the relative positions of the bearing hole and the conductive pattern inevitably occurs causing a dislocation in the contact positional relation between the conductive brush and the conductive pattern. Such dislocation possibly prevents the accurate control of the position of the body e.g. ventilating flap, to be driven and adjusted. DE-A-3827470 discloses a printed board (Figure 14) carrying a conductive pattern defining contact planes for contact brushes of a driven gear mounted in an actuator. The printed board is secured onto a projection of a housing of the actuator and is centered by the projection. The projection surrounds a bearing hole for the shaft of the gear. Since the components are manufactured separately dislocations between the brushes and the conductive pattern on the board can occur due to manufacturing and assembling tolerances. IN US-A-4795867 a printed board is centered on a hub portion of the lower housing part. The hub portion surrounds the bearing hole for the shaft of the rotatable brush gear. Dislocations between the conductive pattern on the board and the brushes of the gear might occur due to manufacturing tolerances. EP-A-0355504 refers to an electrical switch having a two-part housing. A cover plate is manufactured with a printed conductive pattern and metal conductor lines defining a variable resistor arrangement in cooperation with a rotor, the spigot of which is received in a bearing hole of the plate. The rotor can be manually rotated in order to vary the resistor behavior accordingly. JP 55209609 (Application No. JP 820091754) discloses an actuator with a driven gear and a circuit board, the surface of which cooperates with contact brushes of the gear. The printed circuit board is mounted to a bottom plate of the housing of the actuator and is centered by a hub portion provided on the bottom plate. The hub portion surrounds a bearing hole for the shaft of the gear. Since the printed circuit board with its conductive pattern and the bearing hole in the hub portion are manufactured separately, misalignments between the brushes on the gear and the conductive pattern of printed circuit board might occur. Similar designs of actuators are known from JP 63017108 (Application No. 61-161090) and JP 60092922 (Application No. 58-201611). In both last mentioned cases the bearing hole for the shaft is provided in a part of the actuator which is manufactured separately from the printed board. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing a wiring board for a motor actuator for that type or to provide a motor actuator allowing it to accurately control the stop angle position of the output shaft and to eliminate any dislocation to the contact positional relation between the conductive brush and the conductive pattern. This can be achieved with the method as described in claim 1 and with the actuator as described in independent claim 6. Since the bearing hole and the conductive pattern are integrally molded at the same time to the wiring board when the wiring board is molded, the bearing hole and the conductive pattern can be manufactured without any displacement or within a very small range of displacement. Therefore, it is possible to avoid a dislocation or to make a dislocation very small for the contact positional relation between the conductive brush rotating together with the output shaft and the conductive pattern on the wiring board. The depending claims refer to preferred embodiments of the method and the actuator as disclosed. Embodiments of the invention will be described with the help of the accompanying drawing. The drawing shows: Figure 1: an exploded perspective view of a first embodiment of' an actuator, Figure 2: an exploded perspective view of an actuator, Figure 3: a second embodiment, Figure 4: a cross section of a structural detail. The actuator of Figure 2 does not fall within the scope of the claims, since the wiring board is a printed board. Fig. 2 is merely for illustration purposes. In Fig. 1, upper and lower housings 1 and 2 made of plastic are formed by injection molding, e.g. in an electrically insulated plastic mold, and are secured with each other by passing fixing screws (not shown) through threaded holes 3 and 4. A motor mounting plate 5 is secured to a motor 7 with mounting screws 6, and its foot is inserted into a slit 8 formed in the floor portion of the lower housing 2 to be thereby secured to the lower housing 2. A worm gear 9 is mounted to a rotatable shaft 7a of the motor 7, and a supporting plate 11 to be inserted in the lower housing 2 is pressed against the tip of the worm gear 9. A reduction gear group 12 reduces the rotating speed of the motor 7 for transmission, and is rotatably fitted in shafts 13 vertically provided on the lower housing 2. At an output gear 14 which meshes with the final gear of the reduction gear group 12, the output shaft 15 is integrally famed so that the rotation of the motor 7 drives the output shaft 15 through the reduction gear group 12 for rotation. The tip of the output shaft 15 projects outside through a hole 16 drilled in the upper housing 1 to be connected to a link (not shown) in order to drive a body to be driven such as an air conditioning door for an automobile. On the underside of the output gear 14, there is secured a conductive brush 17, which is rotated around the output shaft 15 together therewith. On a wiring board 20, a control circuit to control the operation of the motor 7 is provided. On the surface of the wiring board 20, a conductive pattern 22 formed of highly electrically-conductive metallic plate is formed on a concentric circle to come into contact with the rotating conductive brush 17. A diode 23 is connected in the control circuit. In this respect, the shape of the conductive pattern 22 is schematically shown in Fig. 1. Also, at the center position of the conductive pattern 22, a bearing hole 25 in which the lower end of the output shaft 15 is rotatably fitted is formed in the wiring board 20 so that the conductive brush 17 is rotated around the bearing hole 25. The wiring board 20 is a plate-shaped body molded using electrically-insulated plastic material, and during molding, the conductive pattern 22 is inserted and integrally molded to the wiring board 20, and the bearing hole 25 is formed by the molding at the same time. Accordingly, the conductive pattern 22 and the bearing hole 25 are integrally molded when the wiring board 20 is molded, and the conductive pattern 22 and the bearing hole 25 can be manufactured within a very small range of displacement. As a result, a variation or a displacement occurring in the contact positional relation between the conductive brush 17 which is rotated together with the output shaft 15 fitted in the bearing hole 25 and the conductive pattern 22 becomes very small, and the rotation and stop of the motor 7 are controlled in accordance with the contact relation between the conductive brush 17 and the conductive pattern 22, thus enabling the accurate control of the stop angle position of the output shaft 15. On the conductive pattern 22, there are continuously formed connecting terminals 26 for connecting to an external control circuit and power supply terminals 27 for connecting to a power terminal 7a of the motor 7. The power supply terminals 27 are bent after molding. Connecting terminals 26 are disposed in a connector 28 which has been plastic molded integrally with the wiring board 20. With such a structure, to control the rotation stop position of the output shaft 15, the rotation and stop of the motor 7 are controlled in accordance with the contact relation between the conductive brush 17 and the conductive pattern 22. In this respect, since a conventional circuit can be used for the control circuit to be connected to the connector 28, the illustration and description thereof is omitted. The wiring board 20 and the connector 28 which are thus integrally formed can be freely replaced in accordance with the specification of an automotive air conditioner for which the motor actuator is used. Therefore, the shape and the like of the conductive pattern 22 vary depending on the type of the wiring board 20, and the conductive brush 17 may be changed accordingly. Also, depending on the control circuit formed in the wiring board 20, the number of the connecting terminals 26 within the connector 28 is various: from 2 pieces to ten pieces, and the shape and the size of the connector 28 become different respectively. The connector 28 is disposed to project outside from the housings 1 and 2. In the upper and lower housings 1 and 2, there are formed connector through-holes 29 through which the connector 28 passes. However, the connector through-holes 29 are formed to a sufficient size to allow the largest connector 28 for use with a motor actuator of the present embodiment to pass through. Therefore, even if any wiring board 20 and connector 28 are used, the connector 28 can pass through the connector through-holes 29, and therefore there is no need for replacing the upper and lower housings 1 and 2. However, with the above-mentioned size, the size of the connector through-hole 29 is too large for the connector 28 in almost all cases, and there will be a gap between the connector 28 and the connector through-hole 29. At the rear end portion of the connector 28, a plate-shaped cover 30 to fill up the gap between the connector 28 and the connector through-hole 29 is integrally formed with the connector 28 or the like to project sideways. The cover 30 is disposed so that its outer edge portion adheres closely to the inner surface side of the both housings 1 and 2 to completely fill up the gap between the connector 28 and the connector through-hole 29. Fig. 2 illustrates an actuator in which the wiring board 20 is formed of the so-called printed board, and is separated from the connector 28 and the like. In this case, terminals 31 formed in the wiring board 20 and terminals 32 projectingly provided on the rear surface of the connector 28 are connected together by soldering, and the wiring board 20 and the connector 28 can be replaced as a unit. Since other portions are the same as in the first embodiment as previously described, like reference numerals or symbols are attached to like portions and the explanation will be omitted. With such a motor actuator, by replacing only the electric circuit and the connector, it is possible to cope with various different specifications, particularly to share a housing even if the specification of the motor actuator is different. Therefore, there is no need for preparing any plastic molding die for the housing for each specification, thus greatly reducing the manufacturing cost. Fig.3 shows a third embodiment according to the present invention, in which the connector 28 is formed on the upper surface side of the upper housing 1, and the connecting terminals 26 are bent upward after molding to be positioned within the connector 28. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the wiring board 20 is individually formed separately from the connector 28, and if the shape of the connector 28 is changed, it is necessary to change the upper housing 1. Also, on a staged portion 2a formed on the upper end edge of the lower housing 2, the wiring board 20 is placed, and the motor 7 and the reduction gear group 12 are disposed under the wiring board 20. As shown in Fig. 4 a shaft 13 for supporting gear 10 of the reduction gear group 12 is integrally and vertically provided on the lower housing 2, and its upper end engages with a receiver 33 formed in the underside of the wiring board 20. Since other portions are basically the same as in the first embodiment as previously described, like reference numerals or symbols are attached to like portions and the explanation will be omitted.

Claims: Method for manufacturing a wiring board (20) for a motor-driven actuator, particularly for positioning a fluid-flow control member of an automobile air conditioning - and/or heating - and/or ventilating system, the actuator comprising an output shaft (15) rotatably driven by a motor (7), a conductive brush (17) secured to the output shaft (15), the wiring board (20) being provided with a conductive pattern (22) cooperating with the conductive brush (17) in order to control the rotation and stop of the motor (7) and the stop angle position of the output shaft (15), the wiring board (20) containing at least one bearing hole (25) for the output shaft (15), characterised in that the relative positions of the bearing hole (25) and the conductive pattern (22) of the wiring board (20) are mutually aligned by integrally molding the bearing hole (25) and the conductive pattern (22) at the same time in the wiring board (20), when the wiring board is molded. Method according to claim 1, characterised in that the wiring board (20) is molded as a plate-shaped body of electrically insulating plastic material, that the conductive pattern (22) is inserted into the body, and that the bearing hole (25) is integrally molded into said body simultaneously when the conductive pattern (22) is inserted into said body. Method according to at least one of claims 1 or 2, characterised in that the conductive pattern (22) is composed of a highly electrically conductive metallic plate, that the metallic plate is inserted into the plate-shaped body or embedded into the plastic material in order to be integrally molded with the wiring board (20) when molding said plate-shaped body, and that the bearing hole (25) is integrally molded into said body at the same time. Method according to at least one of claims 1 to 3 characterised in that the output shaft (15) is rotatably fitted into the bearing hole (25) by matching the diameter of the bearing hole (25) to the outer diameter of the output shaft (15). Method according to at least one of claims 1 to 4, characterised in that a surface irregularity (9) is integrally molded on at least one surface of the plate-shaped body when the bearing hole (25) and the conductive pattern (22) are integrally molded in the body. A motor-driven actuator, particularly for positioning a fluid-flow control member of an automobile air conditioning - and/or heating - and/or ventilating system, comprising an output shaft (15) rotatably driven by a motor (7), a conductive brush (17) secured to the output shaft (15), and a wiring board (20) comprising a plate-shaped body of insulating material being provided with a conductive pattern (22) for cooperation with the conductive brush (17) to control the rotation and stop of the motor (7) and the stop angle position of the output shaft (15), the wiring board (20) further being formed with at least one bearing hole (25) for the output shaft (15), characterised in that the bearing hole (25) and the conductive pattern (22) are integrally molded in said plate-shaped body with mutually aligned relative positions, said plate-shaped body being made of a plastic material. Actuator according to claim 6, characterised in that the conductive pattern (22) is a highly electrically conductive metallic plate with a plurality of concentric circular conductors, that the metallic plate is inserted into the plate-shaped body by integrally molding it with the bearing hole (25) into the plate-shaped body in order to position the conductors in coaxial relationship with the bearing hole (25). Actuator according to at least one of claims 6 or 7, characterised in that at least one surface irregularity (33) is molded on at least one surface of the plate-shaped body, the surface irregularity (33) being shaped as a receiving socket for a structural axis (13) for a gear (10) belonging to a reduction gear mechanism (12) interconnecting the motor (7) and the output shaft (15).

Inventors: HIROTA HISATOSHI, HIROTA, HISATOSHI
Applicants: S K G ITALIANA S R L, TGK CO LTD, S.K.G. ITALIANA S.R.L., TGK CO. LTD.
Application year: 1993
Main classification: H01H11
IPC codes: H02K5, H02K11, H02K7