Switch assembly

Abstract: To reduce number of components to be used and make the whole structure axially down-sized in a switch assembly which includes a push operation member and a rotary operation member,A first push operation member 21 and a second push operation member 22 are mounted together on a light guiding member 9 thereby to eliminate necessity of such an exclusive holder in assembling the push operation members 21, 22 as required in a conventional switch assembly. An angle adjusting piece for giving an angular adjustment to rotary operation of a rotary operation member 36 is integrally formed at an inner periphery of the rotary operation member 36, avoiding necessity of a separate component. Further, the angle adjusting piece and angle adjusting notches 19 are so arranged as to face with each other in a diametrical direction of the rotary operation member 36.

Description: This invention relates to a switch assembly which includes a push operation member and a rotary operation member. Such a switch assembly according to the preamble of claim 1 in described for example in EP-A-0 605 324. Related art Heretofore, there has been proposed a switch assembly for air conditioning in a vehicle which includes a push operation member and a rotary operation member. In such switch assembly, the push operation member is assembled to an exclusive holder so that a pushing operation is possible, and a first switch element is actuated by this pushing operation. Moreover, a light emitting element and a light guiding member are provided for the push operation member and a light emitted by the light emitting element is adapted to be guided by the light guiding member to pass the light through a light permeable part incorporated in the push operation member. The rotary operation member is provided around an outer periphery of the holder for the push operation member so that a rotary operation is possible, and a second switch element is actuated by this rotary operation. Either one of the rotary operation member and the push operation member is formed with angle adjusting notches, while the other is provided with an angle adjusting ball together with a helical compression spring. The angle adjusting ball is adapted to engage with the adjusting notches by means of a spring force of the helical compression spring to give an angular adjustment to the rotary operation of the rotary operation member. In case of the above described conventional structure, it has been necessary to use a number of components, which has incurred a high cost. Among these components, the light guiding member, the holder for the push operation member, the angle adjusting ball, the helical compression spring, and the angle adjusting notches have been so constructed as mounted one on another in an axial direction, thus making the whole rotary operation member thickened in the axial direction. SUMMARY OF INVENTION The invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a switch assembly in which the number of components to be employed has been decreased and a thinner shape of the whole structure can be attained. In order to achieve the above described problem, a switch assembly according to the invention is provided in that it comprises a light emitting element, a light guiding member for guiding a light emitted from the light emitting element, a push operation member including a light permeable part for passing through the light guided by the light guiding member, the push operation member being assembled to the light guiding member in a manner operable by a pushing operation, first switch elements adapted to be actuated by the pushing operation of the push operation member, a rotary operation member provided around an outer periphery of the light guiding member in a manner operable by a rotary operation, second switch elements adapted to be actuated by the rotary operation of the rotary operation member, angle adjusting notches provided in one of an outer periphery of the light guiding member and an inner periphery of the rotary operation member, and an angle adjusting piece integrally formed in the other of the outer periphery of the light guiding member and the inner periphery of the rotary operation member so as to diametrically face with the angle adjusting notches, the angle adjusting piece imparting an angular adjustment to the rotary operation of the rotary operation member in engagement with the angle adjusting notches. According to the provided structure, the push operation member is mounted on the light guiding member and do not require a holder exclusively for assembling the push operation member. Further, the angle adjusting piece is integrally formed at the other of the outer periphery of the light guiding member and the inner periphery of the rotary operating member, and therefore it is not required as a separate component. In addition to the fact that the exclusive holder is not required in assembling the above described push operation member, the switch assembly can be made thinner in an axial direction than the conventional assembly, because the angle adjusting piece and the angle adjusting notches face with each other in a diametrical direction of the rotary operation member between the rotary operation member and the light guiding member. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a side view showing one embodiment of the invention in a vertical section; Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view of the embodiment of the present invention; and Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Now, referring to the drawings, an embodiment of a switch assembly for air conditioning in a vehicle according to the invention will be described. Fig. 1 shows the switch assembly for air conditioning installed on an instrument panel of the vehicle, particularly an automobile in a vertical section, Fig. 2 shows the switch assembly in a cross section, and Fig. 3 shows the switch assembly in an exploded state. In these Figs. 1 to 3, a light emitting element LED 2 is mounted on a circuit board 1 which also serves as a mounting base. Tact switches 3, 4 are mounted at both upper and lower parts of the LED 2. The tact switches 3, 4 are adapted to be turned on by pushing their operable portions 3a, 4a in a square pillar form. The tact switches 3, 4 have restoring means such as return springs or the like (not shown) for normally retaining the operable parts 3a, 4a at their off positions before they are pushed in. An upper one 3 of the tact switches incorporates an LED 5 so as to be positioned behind the operable portion 3a. Additionally, the circuit board 1 is provided with fitting holes 6, 6 at both sides of the LED 2, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Moreover, at an area around the fitting holes 6, 6 and the tact switches 3, 4 is provided a fixed common contact piece 7 in an annular shape which has a plurality of, seven, for example, fixed selection contact pieces 8, 8 .... equidistantly provided at its outer periphery. By means of the fitting holes 6, 6, a light guiding member 9 which is made of a synthetic resin having a light permeability such as acrylic resin is fitted to the circuit board 1. This light guiding member 9 has an outer shape of a thick disc and a recess 10 for containing the LED formed at a rear face of its central part (adjacent to the circuit board 1 in the drawings). Threaded bores 11, 11 are formed in the light guiding member 9 at both sides of the recess 10 spaced apart with the same distance therebetween as the fitting holes 6, 6 in the circuit board 1. Further, the light guiding member 9 are formed at a front face of its central part (remote from the circuit board 1 in the drawings) with a light releasing recess 12 which has a diagonally upwardly oriented face 12a and another light releasing recess 13 which has a diagonally downwardly oriented face 13a. Tact switch receiving holes 14, 15 are formed in both upper and lower parts of the light releasing recesses 12, 13, and shaft receiving holes 16, 16 are formed at both left and right hands thereof. In outer walls of the shaft receiving holes 16, 16 are formed shaft bearing holes 17, 18, 17, 18 respectively. A number of angle adjusting notches 19, 19... are provided on an outer circumference of the light guiding member 9 at its one edge (adjacent to the circuit board 1 in the drawings) at a pitch equal to the arrangement of the fixed selection contact pieces 8, 8... With this construction, the light guiding member 9 is mounted on the circuit board 1 by bringing the threaded bores 11, 11 in alignment with the fitting holes 6, 6 in the circuit board 1, and then screwing screws 20, 20 from the rear face of the circuit board 1 through the fitting holes 6, 6 into the threaded bores 11, 11 for clamping. In the mounted state of the light guiding member 9, the LED 2 is contained in the LED receiving recess 10, and the tact switches 3, 4 are contained in the tact switch receiving holes 14, 15. On the other hand, the push operation member consists of an upper first push operation member 21 and a lower second push operation member 22 in a semi-circular shape. Respective arcuate outer circumferences of both the push operation members 21, 22 are provided with flange portions 23, 24. Arms 25, 25, 26, 26 are projectingly formed from back faces at both sides of the arcuate portions. The arms 25, 25, 26, 26 have shafts 27, 27, 28, 28 projectingly formed at outer side faces of their distal end portions. The push operation members 21, 22 have light permeable parts 29, 30 in a form of letters "A/C" and "MODE". The push operation members 21, 22 have a lightproofing property at areas except the light permeable parts 29, 30. Two operating portions 31, 31, 32, 32 are respectively projected from the back faces of the push operation members 21, 22 at the middle of the arcuate portions. These operating portions 31, 31, 32, 32 are respectively correspond to the operable parts 3a, 4a of the tact switches 3, 4. In particular, they are spaced apart with the same distance therebetween as the side walls of the operable parts 3a, 4a and their tip ends are rounded so as to push the left and right side walls of the operable parts 3a, 4a. There is additionally formed between the operating portions 31, 31 of the first push operation member 21 a lens containing hole 33 into which a lens 34 is incorporated. At the back face of the arcuate portion of the first push operation member 21 is formed a light shielding piece 35 which extends remotely from the arcuate portion as shown in Fig. 1. With this construction, the push operation members 21, 22 make their shafts 27, 27, 28, 28 received in the shaft receiving holes 16, 16 in the light guiding member 9 and resiliently inserted into the shaft bearing holes 17, 17, 18, 18 to bring the rounded ends of the operating portions 31, 31, 32, 32 into contact with edge faces of the left and right side walls of the operable parts 3a, 4a of the tact switches 34. In order to facilitate the insertion of the shafts 27, 27, 28, 28 into the shaft bearing holes 17, 18, the shafts 27, 28 are provided with slanted faces 27a, 28a (Refer to Figs. 2 and 3) beforehand. When assembling the push operation members 21, 22 to the light guiding member 9, the first push operation member 21 is assembled prior to the second push operating member 22, so that the light shielding piece 35 is located extendingly up to the back of the second push operation member 22 thereby to close a gap between the push operating members 21, 22. The rotary operation member 36 is in a form of a ring encircling the light guiding member 9 and both the push operation members 21, 22, and made of a synthetic resin. A knurled part 37 is formed around an outer periphery of the rotary operation member 36 to improve gripping ability of a user's fingers. At one axial end portion (remote from the circuit board 1 in the drawings) of the rotary operation member 36 is provided an inner flange 38 and at the other end portion (adjacent to the circuit board 1 in the drawings) is provided an outer flange 39. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, an angle adjusting piece 40 and a balance piece 41 each of which is integrally formed by molding a synthetic resin are symmetrically provided at an inner periphery of the rotary operation member 36. The angle adjusting piece 40 and the balance piece 41 are in a shape of an arc which is slightly larger in diameter than the outer circumference of the light guiding member 9 and swingingly connected to the rotary operation member 36 at their middle portions. The angle adjusting piece 40 has, inside the both ends thereof, projections 42 for engaging with each one of the angle adjusting notches 19, 19... at an interval corresponding to a few pitches (for example, two pitches) of the angle adjusting notches 19. A movable contact piece 43 and a balance contact piece 44 are symmetrically attached to the back face of the rotary operation member 36 by means of screws 45, 46 respectively. The movable contact piece 43 has a movable common contact portion 43a and a movable selection contact portion 43b. The movable common contact portion 43a and the balance contact piece 44 correspond to the above mentioned fixed common contact piece 7, while the movable selection contact portion 43b corresponds to the fixed selection contact pieces 8, 8 .... With this construction, the rotary operation member 36 encircles both the push operation members 21, 22 and the light guiding member 9, covering the flange portions (outer flange portions) 23, 24 of the push operation members 21, 22 with the inner flange 38, and bring the movable common contact portion 43a of the movable contact piece 43 and the balance contact piece 44 into contact with the fixed common contact piece 7, thereby to bring the movable selection contact portion 43b into contact with the arranged part of the fixed selection contact pieces 8, 8 ..... Then, a panel 47 is connected to the circuit board 1 by mating the rotary operation member 36 with an opening 48 in the panel 47 while covering the outer flange 39 with a clamping part 49 formed at an inner periphery of the opening 48, thus assembling the whole switch assembly for air conditioning. Now, operation of the above described construction will be described. When the first push operation member 21 is operated in a pushing motion, the first push operation member 21 rotates toward the circuit board 1 around the shafts 27, 27 and urges the operating portions 31, 31 to push the operable part 3a of the tact switch 3 to turn on the tact switch 3. In this way, the air conditioning control unit which is not shown actuates a cooling system and causes the LED 5 to emit a light at the same time. The light emitted from the LED 5 is released through the lens 34 in front of the first push operation member 21 in order to indicate that the cooling system has started to operate. After the operation, the first push operation member 21 is restored in association with a return of the operable parts 3a of the tact switch 3 by means of a biasing force of retention means such as a return spring or the like. When the first push operation member 21 is pushed again in this state, the first push operation member 21 rotates in the same manner as described above to push the operable part 3a of the tact switch 3 again, thereby to turn on the tact switch 3 again. This will cause the control unit to stop the operation of the cooling system, and at the same time, shut off the LED 5 to discontinue the indication of the operation of the cooling system. When the first push operation member 21 is again pushed, the first push operation member 21 rotates in the same way as described above to push the operable parts 3a of the tact switch 3 to turn on the tact switch 3. Then, the control unit actuates the cooling system again, and causes the LED 5 to emit the light at the same time, to indicate the operation of the cooling system. In other words, each time when the first push operation member 21 is pushed, the operation and stop of the operation of the cooling system in the air conditioning apparatus in the automobile, as well as the indication of the operation by means of the LED 5, and stop of the indication are conducted alternately. (The indication by the letters "A/C" (the light permeable part 29) on the first push operation member 21 means that the first push operation member 21 takes charge of the operation and the stop of the operation of the cooling system.) In case where the second push operation member 22 is pushed, the second push operation member 22 rotates toward the circuit board 1 around the shafts 28, 28 to push the operable part 4a of the tact switch 4 by means of the operating portions 32, 32 to turn on the tact switch 4. This will cause the control unit to change operation mode (for example, strong or weak) of the cooling system. In this case too, the second push operation member 22 is restored in association with a return of the operable part 4a of the tact switch 4 by means of a biasing force of the retention means such as a return spring or the like. When the second push operation member 22 is pushed again in this state, the second push operation member 22 rotates in the same manner as described above to push the operable part 4a of the tact switch 4 again, thereby turning on the tact switch 4 again. This will cause the control unit to change the operation mode of the cooling system again. In other words, each time when the second push operation member 22 is pushed, the operation mode of the cooling system in the air conditioning apparatus in the automobile will be changed. (The indication by the letters "MODE" (the light permeable part 30) on the second push operation member 22 means that the second push operation member 22 takes charge of changing the operation mode of the cooling system.) In the nighttime, the LED 2 emits a light by operating a light switch of the automobile. The light emitted from the LED 2 is released from the slanted faces 12a, 13a of the light releasing recesses 12, 13 through the light guiding member 9 to light up the light permeable part 29 (the letters "A/C") of the first push operation member 21 and the light permeable part 30 (the letters "MODE") of the second push operation member 22. On this occasion, the light shielding piece 35 effectively serves to prevent the light emitted from the LED 2 from leaking through the gap between the first push operation member 21 and the second push operation member 22. In this way, the tact switches 3, 4 serve as the first switch elements to be operated by the pushing operation of the first push operation member 21 and the second push operation member 22. On the other hand, when the rotary operation member 36 is operated in a rotary motion, the movable contact piece 43 and the balance contact piece 44 synchronously rotates. The movable common contact portion 43a of the movable contact piece 43 slides along the front face of the fixed common contact piece 7 of the circuit board 1, and the movable selection contact portion 43b slides along the front face of the arranged part of the fixed selection contact pieces 8, 8 .... to successively contact the fixed selection contact pieces 8, 8 .... one by one. In this way, connections between the fixed common contact piece 7 and the fixed selection contact pieces 8, 8 .... are performed one by one, and accordingly, the control unit performs selection of mode of a ventilator, for example, for blowing out air in the air conditioner in the automobile. In this case, along with the rotary operation of the rotary operation member 36, the angle adjusting piece 40 and the balance piece 41 synchronously rotate. Each time when the fixed selection contact portion 43b contacts each of the fixed selection contact pieces 8, 8 ... one by one, the angle adjusting piece 40 sliding along the outer periphery of the light guiding member 9 makes its projections 42 engage with each one of the angle adjusting notches 19, 19 .... provided on the outer circumference of the light guiding member 9 one by one, thereby to impart an angular adjustment to the rotary operation of the rotary operation member 36. In association with the rotary operation of the rotary operation member 36, the balance piece 41 slides around the outer periphery of the light guiding member 9 in symmetry with the angle adjusting piece 40, while the balance contact piece 44 slides along the front face of the fixed common contact piece 7 in symmetry with the movable contact piece 43, to keep a diametrical and an axial balance of the rotary operation member 36. In this way, the above described movable contact piece 43, the fixed common contact piece 7, and the fixed selection contact pieces 8, 8 ... serve as the second switch elements to be operated by the rotary operation of the rotary operation member 36. In the above described construction, the push operation member including the first push operation member 21 and the second push operation member 22 is assembled to the light guiding member 9 and does not require such exclusive holder as in the conventional construction in assembling the push operating members 21, 22. Further, the angle adjusting piece 40 is integrally formed at the inner periphery of the rotary operation member 36 and need not be a separate component. As the results, the components to be used are decreased in number, thus achieving the low cost of the product. In addition to the fact that the first and the second push operation members 21, 22 do not require an exclusive holder for assembling, the angle adjusting piece 40 and the angle adjusting notches 19, 19 .... diametrically face with each other between the rotary operation member 36 and the light guiding member 9. This enables the switch assembly to be axially down-sized. As the light emitting element which emits the light to be guided by the light guiding member 9, not only the LED but also a lamp, etc. may be used. The other LEDs also may be substituted by lamps respectively. Further, instead of the above described push operation member performing a push-push operation, a push-pull operation member can be employed. As for the angle adjusting notches and the angle adjusting piece, the angle adjusting notches may be formed at the inner periphery of the rotary operation member contrarily to the above described structure, and the angle adjusting piece may be integrally formed at the outer periphery of the light guiding member. The whole switch assembly can be used not only for the air conditioning of the vehicles but also widely used as a general switch assembly. This invention is not limited to the embodiment described above referring to the drawings, but can be modified within a scope defined by the claim. As apparent from the foregoing description, in the switch assembly according to the invention which includes the push operation member and the rotary operation member, the number of the components to be used is decreased and the whole switch assembly can be made axially down-sized.

Claims: A switch assembly comprising: a light emitting element (2); a light guiding member (9) for guiding a light emitted from said light emitting element (2); a push operation member (21,22) including a light permeable part (29,30) for passing through the light guided by said light guiding member (9), said push operation member (21,22) being assembled to said light guiding (9) member in a manner operable by a pushing operation; first switch elements (3,4) adapted to be actuated by the pushing operation of said push operation member (21,22), a rotary operation member (36) provided around an outer periphery of said light guiding member (9) in a manner operable by a rotary operation; second switch elements adapted to be actuated by the rotary operation of said rotary operation member (36); characterized by angle adjusting notches (19) provided in one of an outer periphery of said light guiding member (9) and an inner periphery of said rotary operation member (36), and an angle adjusting piece (40) integrally formed in the other of the outer periphery of said light guiding member (9) and the inner periphery of said rotary operation member (36) so as to diametrically face with said angle adjusting notches (19), said angle adjusting piece (40) imparting an angular adjustment to the rotary operation of said rotary operation member (36) in engagement with said angle adjusting notches (19).

Inventors: ISHIGURO KAZUYOSHI, ISHIGURO, KAZUYOSHI
Applicants: TOKAI RIKA CO LTD, KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOKAI RIKA DENKI SEISAKUSHO
Application year: 1999
Main classification: H01H25
IPC codes: H01H9, H01H3, H01H89, H01H25