Patent ID: 7908713

Claim:
An operating knob device comprising: a supporting member, which has a distal end; and an operating knob, which is attached to the distal end of the supporting member, wherein the operating knob comprises a bearing portion and a fitting portion, the fitting portion is rotatable about a rotation axis of the operating knob, an outside diameter of the fitting portion is larger than an outside diameter of the bearing portion, and the operating knob further comprises: an operating part that has a hollow portion; and a connector that is attached to the operating part and that includes a fitting cylindrical portion configured so that the fitting portion is fitted therein, a stopper disposed at an inner circumferential side of the fitting cylindrical portion and in a position protruding radially inward, and a housing portion, the stopper contacts a distal end surface of the supporting member in a state where the fitting portion is fitted into the fitting cylindrical portion; and when a load greater than or equal to a predetermined value is applied to the operating part from an exterior location in a direction toward the supporting member in a state where the fitting portion is fitted into the fitting cylindrical portion, (i) a reaction corresponding to the load is applied to the stopper from the distal end surface of the supporting member, (ii) the stopper is deformed from the position protruding radially inward to a bent position extending in a direction approximately parallel to the rotation axis so as to be housed in the housing portion, wherein the distal end of the supporting member engages and slides against the stopper to cause the stopper to bend to the bent position, (iii) the fitting cylindrical portion moves toward the supporting member along an outer circumference of the fitting portion, and (iv) the hollow portion houses the distal end of the supporting member.