Patent Publication Number: US-8967021-B2

Title: Operating device

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     The present invention relates to a dial type operating device. 
     In the related art, for example, there is an operating device shown in  FIG. 4  as an operating device which is provided for an air conditioning operation of vehicles. In the operating device, from the left side in  FIG. 4 , a dial  1 , an indication piece  2 , a display panel  3 , a panel support  4 , a body  5 , a push button  6 , a light guiding piece  7 , an intermediate gear  8 , a switch  9 , a LED  10 , resistors  11  to  13 , an insulator  14 , a lamp  15 , a final stage gear  16 , a housing  17 , and a pulley unit  18  are present in this order. 
     The dial  1  is formed in a hollow short cylindrical shape. The indication piece  2  is mounted on one place of an inner circumferential portion of the dial. The front end of the indication piece  2  is exposed forward from a recessed portion  19  of a leading edge of the dial  1 . In addition, gear teeth  20  are formed in an inner circumferential portion of a rear portion of the dial  1 . 
     The display panel  3  is formed in a circular sheet having a hole  21  in the center portion, in this case, a plurality of displays  22  which display a level of a set temperature in the interior of a cabin of a vehicle are annularly disposed in the front surface of the display panel  3 , and the display panel  3  is attached to a front surface of the panel support  4 . The panel support  4  is concentric with the hole  21  of the display panel  3  and includes a ring portion  23  which has substantially the same diameter as that of the hole  21 . 
     The body  5  includes a large cylindrical portion  5   b  and a small cylindrical portion  5   c  which are concentrically disposed with respect to each other in the front of a polygonal box-shaped portion  5   a . The panel support  4  is fixed to a leading edge of the small cylindrical portion  5   c . The dial  1  is rotatably fitted to an outer circumference of the large cylindrical portion  5   b . As result, the display panel  3  is exposed forward from an opening portion  1   a  of the front surface of the dial  1 . 
     In this case, a display  24  of characters (NC) of an air conditioner and a light-transmitting window  25  are provided in the front surface of the push button  6 . The light guiding piece  7  is inserted to a portion which extends to the light-transmitting window  25 . The push button  6  is inserted from the small cylindrical portion  5   c  of the body  5  to the ring portion  23  of the panel support  4  and exposed forward from the hole  21  of the display panel  3 . 
     The intermediate gear  8  includes gear teeth  8   a  in the front portion and gear teeth  8   b  in the rear portion. The gear teeth  8   a  of the front portion are inserted into a hole (not shown) which is formed in the lower portion of the polygonal box-shaped portion  5   a  of the body  5  and are meshed with the gear teeth  20  of the dial  1 . 
     The switch  9 , the LED  10 , and the resistors  11  to  13  are mounted on the insulator  14  from a front side, and the lamp  15  is also mounted on the insulator  14  from a rear side. Moreover, a notch  26  is formed in the lower portion of the insulator  14 , the gear teeth  8   b  of the rear portion of the intermediate gear  8  are inserted into the notch  26 , and therefore, the insulator  14  is combined with the body  5 . In addition, a connector  27  is integrally formed in one place of the outer circumferential portion of the insulator  14 , a mating connector (not shown) is connected to the connector  27 , and the switch  9 , the LED  10 , the resistors  11  to  13 , and the lamp  15  are electrically connected. 
     The final stage gear  16  is formed in a short cylindrical shape having a bottom, gear teeth  28  are formed in the inner circumferential portion of the gear  16 , and the gear teeth  28  are meshed with the gear teeth  8   b  of the rear portion of the intermediate gear  8 . In addition, a noncircular volume shaft fitting hole  29  is formed in the center portion of the final stage gear  16 . 
     The housing  17  accommodates the final stage gear  16  and is formed in a polygonal box shape which is combined with the polygonal box-shaped portion  5   a  of the body  5  while interposing the insulator  14 , and a circular volume shaft inserting hole  30  is formed in the center portion of the housing. 
     The volume  18  is configured such that a noncircular hollow shaft section  18   b  is projected from a case  18   a , and a variable resistor (not shown) having a resistance value which varies the resistance value in accordance with rotation of the shaft section  18   b  is accommodated in an inner space of the case  18   a , and the shaft section  18   b  is passed through a volume shaft inserting hole  30  of the housing  17  and is inserted and fitted into the volume shaft fitting hole  29  of the final stage gear  16 . In addition, a lead wire  31  adapted to transmit a resistance output to a control device (not shown) is led out from the case  18   a  of the volume  18  to the outside. 
     With the above configuration, when an operator grips and rotates the dial  1  by a hand, the rotation is transmitted from the gear teeth  20  to the gear teeth  8   a  of the intermediate gear  8  at its front portion and the rotation is further transmitted from the gear teeth  8   b  of the intermediate gear  8  at its rear portion to the gear teeth  28  of the final stage gear  16 . Accordingly, since the final stage gear  16  is rotated, the shaft section  18   b  is rotated through a noncircular engagement structure of the volume shaft fitting hole  29  of the final stage gear  16  and the shaft section  18   b  of the volume  18 . Thereby, the resistance value of the variable resistor (not shown) in the case  18   a  is changed and its resistance output is transmitted to the control device (not shown) through the lead wire  31 . As a result, the control device determines a set temperature in the interior of the vehicle corresponding to a rotation angle of the dial  1  on the basis of the received resistance output and energizes a motor (not shown) adapted to operate a dumper for controlling a temperature of air supplied to the interior of the vehicle so as to adjust the temperature. 
     Meanwhile, the display  22  of the display panel  3  is adapted to display the temperature adjusted as described above, and the indication piece  2  indicates a position (corresponding to the rotation angle of the dial  1 ) of any of the displays  22  of the display panel  3 , that is, the indication piece  2  indicates a set temperature position in association with the rotation of the dial  1 . At that time, the lamp  15  illuminates the entirety of the displays  22  from the back side of the displays  22 . Therefore, the displays  22  has light translucency. 
     When an operator carries out a pressing operation of the push button  6  by a fingertip, the switch  9  which is mounted on the insulator  14  is pressed and operated, and an output thereof is transmitted to the control device through a lead wire (not shown) from the connector  27  of the insulator  14  so that an air conditioner is operated. With this, the LED  10  emits light, and the light passes through the light guiding piece  7 , emerges in the light-transmitting window  25  of the push button  6 , and displays the operation of the air conditioner (for example, refer to JP-A-2005-96579). 
     In the configuration of the related art, operational rotation of the dial  1  is transmitted to the gear teeth  8   a  of the intermediate gear  8  at the front portion from the gear teeth  20  of the dial  1  and further transmitted to the gear teeth  28  of the final stage gear  16  from the gear teeth  8   a  of the intermediate gear  8  at the rear portion so as to cause the final stage gear  16  to be rotated, and thereby the shaft section  18   b  of the volume  18  is rotated. The related art has a structure including two stages of gear transmission adapted to finally transmit the operational rotation of the dial  1  to the shaft section  18   b  of the volume  18 . 
     A reaction or swingback referred to as a backlash inevitably exists in the transmission of rotation by gears so that the more the number of stages of gear transmission is increased, the more the backrushes are generated. Therefore, in the configuration of the related art, operational precision is lowered due to the backrushes and an adjusting operation by the dial  1  is not highly precisely performed. In addition, in the configuration of the related art, there are problems that the number of components is large and the cost is increased because of the two stages of gear transmission, and the reduction in size is difficult. 
     The invention is made in view of the above described circumstances, and the purpose of the invention is to provide an operating device capable of enhancing precision in an adjusting operation by a dial, and achieving reduction of cost and reduction in size by virtue of reduction of the number of components. 
     SUMMARY 
     In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided an operating device comprising: 
     a dial that has a first engagement portion; 
     a rotational body that is formed in an annular shape, and has a second engagement portion so as to be engaged with the first engagement portion of the dial, wherein rotation of the dial is transmitted to the rotational body through an engagement of the first and second engagement portions; 
     gear teeth that are provided on an inner circumferential portion of the rotational body; 
     a gear that is meshed with the gear teeth and is rotated in an inner space of the rotational body; and 
     a rotation response member that is directly coupled to a rotation shaft of the gear and varies a physical amount in accordance with a rotation angle of the dial. 
     For example, the rotational body is arranged in an inner space of the dial. 
     For example, a rotational axis of the dial and the rotation shaft of the gear are coaxially arranged to each other. 
     For example, one of the first and second engagement portions is an engagement hole, and the other of the first and second engagement portions is an engagement projection. 
     In accordance with the above configurations, the operational rotation of the dial is transmitted to the rotational body through the engagement structure of the first and second engagement portions, and further transmitted from the gears to the rotation response member through the direct coupling structure thereof. Therefore, only a single stage of gear transmission is used so that it is possible to reduce the backrushes in the gear transmission. Consequently, it is possible to enhance precision in an adjusting operation by the dial. In addition, since only the single stage of the gear transmission is used, it is possible to reduce the number of components and to achieve reduction of the cost and reduction in size of the operating device in desired levels. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The above objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail preferred exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a longitudinal section side view showing an operating device according to an embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view showing an entirety of the operating device according to the embodiment; 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view showing a part of the operating device according to the embodiment viewed from a direction opposite to that of  FIG. 2 ; and 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic view, equivalent to  FIG. 2 , showing an example in the related art. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
     Hereinafter, an example (an embodiment) of the invention will be described with reference to  FIGS. 1 to 3 . 
     First,  FIG. 2  shows, in an exploded state, an entirety of an operating device which serves as an air conditioning operation for vehicles, particularly, for automobiles and moreover serves as a switching operation of a mode of air blowing in interiors of vehicles. In  FIG. 2 , a dial  101 , a display panel  102 , a push button  103 , a body  104 , a circuit board  105 , a gear  106 , an insulator  107 , a moderation piece  108 , a moderation spring  109  and a rotor (rotational body)  110  are shown from the left side in this order. 
     Among these, the dial  101  is formed in a hollow short cylindrical shape, and includes an indication section  111  in a front edge portion at one position, and slits  112  and engagement holes (engagement portions)  113  as engagement portions in a rear edge portion, respectively at several positions. 
     The display panel  102  is formed of a circular sheet. In this case, a plurality of displays  114  indicating modes of blowing air in an interior of a vehicle are arranged in an annular shape on the display panel  102  at a peripheral portion of the front face thereof, and a display  115  indicating switching between inner and outer air about the blown air is also provided on the display panel  102 . 
     In the push button  103 , a diameter of a circular front face portion  103   a  is the largest, and an annular portion  103   b  is disposed behind the circular front face portion  103   a . Extension portions  103   c  are disposed behind the annular portion  103   b  at several positions. Holes  138  and  139  are respectively formed on upper and lower parts of the circular front face portion  103   a . As shown in  FIG. 1 , each of elongated projections  116  extending in a back-and-forth direction as an axial direction is provided from an inner face part of each of the extension portions  103   c  to an inner face part of the annular portion  103   b  and a switch operating projection  117  is provided on the push button  103  in the vicinity of its central portion. 
     The body  104  is formed in a circular cylindrical shape, and has a flange portion  104   c  which is disposed between a front portion  104   a  and a rear portion  104   b  of the body  104 . In the body  4 , recessed streaks  118  are provided on an outer circumferential part of the front portion  104   a  at a plurality of positions so as to correspond to the elongated projections  116  of the push button  103 . Other than those, several rectangular holes  119  are provided on the body at the front portion  104   a  near the flange portion  104   c . In addition, slits  120  and engagement holes  121  are provided on the rear portion  104   b  at several positions, respectively. 
     The circuit board  105  is formed in a disk shape, and a circular hole  122  is provided on the circuit board  105  in the vicinity of its central portion. A light emitting unit (for example, an LED)  140  is mounted on the circuit board  105  at a front face portion just above the hole  122  and a switch  123  is mounted thereon at the front face portion just below the hole  122 . The switch  123  is, for example, a duct switch and is used to supply or cut off a current of a motor (not shown) which is adapted to operate a dumper for switching between inner and outer air about the blown air in the interior of the vehicle. In addition, recessed notch portions  124  are provided on the circuit board  105  at several positions in the outer circumferential portion thereof. 
     Moreover, as shown in  FIG. 3 , a volume (rotation response member)  125  is provided on a back face of the circuit board  105 . In this case, the volume  125  is formed in a chip shape and has a noncircular hole  126  in its central portion and a variable resistor element  125   a  shown in  FIG. 1  provided at a peripheral portion of the hole  126 . 
     A gear  106  is formed in a circular shape and has gear teeth  106   a  at an entirety of an outer circumferential portion thereof and a rotation shaft  106   b  at a central portion thereof. The rotation shaft  106   b  is projected in both front and rear directions of the gear  106 . In the rotation shaft  106   b , a front portion  106   b   1  is formed in a noncircular shape corresponding to the hole  126  of the volume  125  and a rear portion  106   b   2  is formed in a circular shape. 
     An insulator  107  has an annular flange portion  107   a  at its frontmost part, a first short circular cylindrical portion  107   b  disposed behind the annular flange portion  107   a , a second short circular cylindrical portion  107   c  which has a bottom and a diameter smaller than that of the first short circular cylindrical portion  107   b  and is disposed behind the first short circular cylindrical portion  107   b , and a square cylindrical portion  107   d  which has a thickness smaller than that of the second short circular cylindrical portion  107   c  and is disposed further behind the second short circular cylindrical portion  107   c . An opening  127  is formed on the second short circular cylindrical portion  107   c  at a roughly half upper part thereof which is in contact with the first short circular cylindrical portion  107   b.    
     In addition, elongated projections  128  commonly corresponding to the slits  120  of the body  104  and the recessed notch portions  124  of the circuit board  105 , and engagement projections  129  corresponding to the engagement holes  121 , are formed on the first short circular cylindrical portion  107   b  at its inner circumferential part. An annular bearing portion  130  corresponding to the rear portion  106   b   2  of the gear  106  is formed on the second short circular cylindrical portion  107   c  at the innermost bottom part as shown as shown in FIG.  1 . 
     Meanwhile, the square cylindrical portion  107   d  is a connector housing section and has a plurality of connection terminals  131  in its inner part as shown in  FIG. 1 . It further has an engaging pawl  132 , as shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , which is provided at the outside thereof and is used for connection to a mating connector housing (not shown). 
     Moreover, while only one is shown in  FIG. 1 , a plurality of click grooves  133  of which the number is matched with that of the displays  114  and  115  of the display panel  102  and the positions correspond to those of the displays  114  and  115 , are formed on a back face of the flange portion  107   a  at one position thereof (omitted in  FIG. 3 ). 
     A main body of the moderation piece  108  is formed in a square pole shape and the moderation spring  109  is a compression coil spring. 
     The rotor  110  is formed in an annular shape and has an outer annular portion  110   a  and an inner annular portion  110   b . Elongated projections  134  corresponding to the slits  112  of the dial  101  and engagement projections  135  as engagement portions corresponding to the engagement holes  113  are formed on the outer annular portion  110   a  at an outer circumferential part. In addition, gear teeth  136  are formed on the inner annular portion  110   b  in an entire inner circumferential part at the rear side thereof. Moreover, as shown in  FIG. 1 , a bag portion  137  is formed at one position between the outer annular portion  110   a  and the inner annular portion  110   b  corresponding to the click grooves  133 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , in the above configuration, the display panel  102  is stuck to a front face of the push button  103  and the push button  103  is inserted into the dial  101 . Next, the body  104  is inserted into the dial  101 . While the recessed streaks  118  of the body  104  are fitted to the elongated projections  116  of the push button  103 , the front portion  104   a  is inserted into the push button  103 . 
     On the other hand, the gear  106  is accommodated in a space of the second short circular cylindrical portion  107   c  of the insulator  107 , the gear teeth  106   a  are exposed from the opening  127  and the rear portion  106   b   2  of the rotation shaft  106   b  is fitted to the bearing portion  130 . Based on the above, while the recessed notch portions  124  of the circuit board  105  are fitted to the elongated projections  128  of the insulator  107 , the circuit board  105  is accommodated in the first short circular cylindrical portion  107   b  of the insulator  107  so as to be positioned at its innermost part, and thereby the hole  122  of the circuit board  105  is fitted to the front portion  106   b   1  of the rotation shaft  106   b  of the gear  106  through the hole  126  of the volume  125 . Accordingly, rotation of the circuit board  105  is stopped with respect to the insulator  107  by the elongated projections  128  of the insulator  107 , and the rotation shaft  106   b  of the gear  106  is pivoted by the bearing portion  130  of the insulator  107  and the hole  126  of the volume  125 . The rotation shaft  106   b  of the gear  106  is directly coupled to the volume  125 . 
     After that, the first short circular cylindrical portion  107   b  of the insulator  107  is fitted to the rear portion  104   b  of the body  104 . While the elongated projections  128  are fitted and guided to the slits  120 , the engagement projections  129  are engaged with the engagement holes  121 . Accordingly, rotation of the body  104  is stopped by the engagement projection  129  of the insulator  107 . 
     After that, the moderation spring  109  and the moderation piece  108  are sequentially accommodated in the bag portion  137  of the rotor  110 , the inner annular portion  110   b  is fitted to the first short circular cylindrical portion  107   b  of the insulator  107 , and the gear teeth  136  are meshed with the gear teeth  106   a  of the gear  106  exposed from the opening  127  of the second short circular cylindrical portion  107   c . In addition, at the same time, while the elongated projections  134  of the rotor  110  are fitted and guided to the slits  112  of the dial  101 , the engagement projections  135  are engaged with the engagement holes  113 . The moderation piece  108  is pressed to be engaged with the moderation valley  133  of the insulator  107  by a spring force of the moderation spring  109 . Thus, the entirety of the operating device is assembled. 
     Meanwhile, the circuit board  105  is connected to the connection terminals  131  at a position where the circuit board  105  is placed on an innermost part of the first short circular cylindrical portion  107   b  of the insulator  107 . Female side connection terminals (not shown) of a mating connector to be connected to the square cylindrical portion  107   d  (a connector housing portion) of the insulator  107 , are adapted to be fitted and connected to the connection terminals  131 . 
     In the case of the configuration described above, when an operator holds the dial  101  by a hand and operates and rotates the dial  101  so as to cause the indication section  111  to indicates any of the displays  114  of the display panel  102 , the rotor  110  is rotated through the engagement structure of the engagement holes  113  of the dial  101  and the engagement projections  135  of the rotor  110 . Therefore, the rotor  110  is a rotational body to which the rotation of the dial  101  is transmitted through the engagement structure of the rotor  110  and the dial  101 . When the rotor  110  as the rotational body is rotated, the gear  106  is rotated centering around the rotation shaft  106   b  through meshing between the gear teeth  136  of the rotor  110  and the gear teeth  106   a  of the gear  106 . 
     The rotated gear  106  applies its rotation to the volume  125  through engagement (direct coupling) between the noncircular front portion  106   b   1  of the rotation shaft and the noncircular hole  126  of the volume  125 . In the volume  125 , the applied rotation causes a resistance value of the variable resistor element  125   a  to vary physical amount (for example, resistance value, angle, rotation amount, posture, light volume, and so on) corresponding to a rotation angle of the dial  101 . Therefore, the volume  125  is a rotation response member which varies the physical amount in accordance with the rotation angle of the dial  101 . As the rotation response member, other than the above, an optical sensor, a rotary encoder or the like can be used. 
     Meanwhile, a resistance output (an output of the rotation response member) of the volume  125  is transmitted to a control device (not shown) from the connection terminals  131  of the first short circular cylindrical portion  107   b  (the connector housing portion) of the insulator  107  through female side connection terminals of a mating connector connected to the connection terminals  131  and lead wires (not shown) connected thereto. As a result, the control device determines, in this case, a mode of blowing air to an interior of a vehicle corresponding to the rotation angle of the dial  101  on the basis of the received output. Accordingly, the control device supplies electrical power to the motor (not shown) adapted to operate the dumper for switching a blowing direction of air to be supplied in the interior of the vehicle, and thereby switches the blowing direction of the air. 
     In addition, the switching is performed with click feeling in such a manner that the indication section  111  of the dial  101  is matched with each of the displays  114  of the display panel  102 . The click feeling is obtained such that the click piece  108  is engaged with each of the click grooves  133  of the insulator  107  by the spring force of the moderation spring  109 . The displays  114  are illuminated by the light emitting unit  140  through the holes  138  and  139  of the push button  103 , and therefore the displays  114  have translucency. 
     In addition, when the push button  103  is operated to be pushed from the front face of the display panel  102 , the elongated projections  116  are guided to the recessed streaks  118  of the body  104 , and thereby the push button  103  is moved backward. By the movement, the switch  123  at the front face of the circuit board  105  is pressed by the switch operating projection  117 , and thereby the switch  123  is operated. An output by the operation of the switch  123  is to be transmitted to a control device (not shown) from the connection terminals  131  of the insulator  107 . Herewith, the motor (not shown) adapted to operate the dumper for switching between inner and outer air about air blown in the interior of the vehicle is energized, and thereby the switching between inner and outer air is performed. Meanwhile, when the pressing operation of the push button  103  is released, the push button  103  is restored by a restoring force of the switch  123 . 
     Thus, in accordance with the operating device having the above configuration, the operational rotation of the dial  101  is transmitted to the rotor  110  as the rotational body through the engagement structure of the engagement holes  113  as engagement portions thereof and the engagement projections  135  as engagement portions. While the operational rotation is further transmitted from the gear teeth  136  of the rotor  110  to the gear  106 , the operational rotation is transmitted from the gear  106  to the volume  125  as the rotation response member by the direct coupling structure thereof. Therefore, only a single stage of gear transmission is used so that it is possible to reduce backrushes in the gear transmission. Consequently, by reducing influence of backrushes to the gear transmission, it is possible to enhance the precision in the adjusting operation by the dial  101 . In addition, since only the single stage of gear transmission is used, it is possible to reduce the number of components and to achieve reduction of the cost and reduction in size of the operating device in desired levels. 
     Meanwhile, the engagement projections  135  can be provided on the dial  101  as engagement portions and the engagement holes  113  can be provided on the rotor  110  (the rotational body) as engagement portions. 
     In addition, an operational target of the dial  101  is not limited to an air conditioning operation for vehicles such as automobiles or the like, particularly, to a switching operation of a mode of blowing air in an interior of a vehicle, but it can be a controlling operation of a flowrate of air or a temperature and also can be an operation other than the above. In addition, to be consistent with the above, the switch  123  operated by the push button  6  is not limited to one adapted to switch between inner and outer air about air blown in an interior of a vehicle, but it can be one used for an on-off operation of an air conditioner or a defogger for a rear window, and further can be one used for an on-off operation of a device other the above devices. Moreover, the operating device is not necessarily provided with the switch  123  and the structure relating to its operation. 
     Meanwhile, the invention is not limited to the embodiment described above with reference to the drawings, but modifications can be made, if necessary, without departing from the essence of the invention. 
     Although the invention has been illustrated and described for the particular preferred embodiments, it is apparent to a person skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made on the basis of the teachings of the invention. It is apparent that such changes and modifications are within the spirit, scope, and intention of the invention as defined by the appended claims. 
     The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-002181 filed on Jan. 10, 2012, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.