JPH11273504A - Electronic component of rotational operation type - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a proper contact characteristic and lessen the outside diameter of a rotational operation type electronic component used for audio/ video equipment, etc. SOLUTION: Two sets of a first and a second contact parts 19A, 20A and 19B, 20B of a movable contact 14 set on the under surface of an operating shaft 10 and arranged radially at two positions symmetric with respect to the rotational center of the operating shaft 10 are elastically contacted, on an annular fixed contact part 12 which is fixed on the inner bottom surface of a case 11 and where one semicircle portion is a common electrode part 15 and the other semicircle portion is a signal electrode part 16 composed of a first and a second conductive pattern parts 16A, 16B. Thereby, the contact pressure can be set being a proper value, and one of the contact parts of the movable contact 14 arranged in the two positions can be used as a contact for the common electrode part 15, consequently the rotational operation type electronic component having a small outside diameter can be realized.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rotary operation type electronic component mainly used for volume adjustment and timer adjustment of audio / video equipment and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The technology of this kind of conventional rotary operation type electronic component is described by taking a rotary operation type encoder capable of obtaining a two-phase pulse output having a predetermined phase difference as an example in FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 4 is a front cross-sectional view of a rotary operation type encoder which is a conventional rotary operation type electronic component, and FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the rotary operation type encoder. In FIG. An operating shaft made of molding resin provided with the flange portion 1B provided below, the flange portion 1B is housed in a concave portion of the case 2 made of molding resin, and a positioning projection 1C provided at the center of the lower surface of the flange portion 1B is formed. It is rotatably held in a center hole 2A provided in the case 2 and is inserted and held in a circular through hole 3A of a bearing 3 arranged so that an upper shaft 1A closes an opening of the case 2. It is mounted so that it can rotate.

[0004] A contact portion 5B (5B1-5B) provided at the tip of an elastic arm 5A of a terminal-integrated brush 5 made of an elastic metal thin plate fixed to the case 2 by insert molding or the like.
3) As shown in the plan view of FIG.
B, while elastically contacting the rotary contact plate 4 fixed to the lower surface,
A terminal portion 5C of the terminal-integrated brush 5 projects outward from the side of the case 2.

After the terminal-integrated brush 5 is fixed to the case 2 by insert molding, the elastic arm 5A and the contact portion 5B of the terminal-integrated brush 5 are bent and formed by a mold through the window 2B of the case 2. A cover plate 6 is fixed below the case 2 to close the window 2B, and the rotary contact plate 4 and the contact portion 5B of the terminal-integrated brush 5 are fixed.
To prevent the intrusion of dust and the like into the contact portion constituted by.

Next, the structure of the contact portion will be described with reference to the plan view of FIG. 6. The rotary contact plate 4 includes a circular conductive portion 4A provided at the center, a conductive bar 4B radially extending therefrom, and a conductive bar 4B. The three terminal-integrated brush 5 fixed to the case 2 with the rotation of the rotary contact plate 4 by the rotation of the operating shaft 1 is constituted by an insulating portion 4C filled with resin between the cross sections 4B. Of the contact portions 5B1 to 5B3 arranged side by side in the radial direction.
B1 resiliently slides on the circular conductive portion 4A, and the other two signal contact portions 5B2 and 5B3 are the conductive bar 4B and the insulating portion 4C.
The contact portions 5B2 and 5B3 are arranged at positions shifted by a predetermined angle so that the outputs have a predetermined phase difference.

The operation of the rotary operation type encoder having the above structure is as follows. When the shaft portion 1A of the operation shaft 1 serving as the operation portion is rotated, the lower flange portion 1B, that is, the rotary contact plate 4 is rotated. The contact portions 5B (5B1 to 5B3) of the two terminal-integrated brushes 5 resiliently slide on the rotary contact plate 4, and between the contact portions 5B1 and 5B2 and the contact portion 5B.
1 and 5B3, and a pulse signal having a predetermined phase difference is extracted from each terminal 5C connected to the contacts 5B1 to 5B3.

[0008]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional rotary operation type electronic component (rotational operation type encoder), the terminal-integrated brush is provided so that an appropriate contact pressure is generated at the contact portion 5B via the elastic arm 5A. If the terminal portion 5C is formed of a thin elastic metal sheet, the strength of the terminal portion 5C is insufficient. If the terminal portion 5C is formed of a thick material to guarantee the strength of the terminal portion 5C, the contact pressure of the contact portion 5B becomes too strong, and the elastic arm When 5A can be formed long, the contact pressure generated at the contact portion 5B can be set to an appropriate value, but there is a problem that as the size of the rotary operation type electronic component is reduced, there is a limit to this.

In order to solve this problem, an elastic arm 5A, a contact portion 5B and a terminal 5C of a terminal-integrated brush 5 are provided.
Can be formed by joining different materials or materials of different thicknesses by welding or the like,
In this case, there is a problem that the material cost is increased and it is not possible to provide the rotary operation type electronic component at low cost.

Further, in the contact portion, a contact portion 5B
In order to keep the radial spacing between 1-5B3 with high accuracy,
Normally, as shown in a plan view of FIG.
Are often arranged side by side in the radial direction, and in this configuration, it is difficult to reduce the size in the radial direction, and there is a limit to downsizing the rotary operation type electronic component.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has an appropriate contact pressure at the contact portion, can guarantee the strength of the terminal portion, and can be reduced in size in the radial direction. It is an object of the present invention to provide inexpensive operation type electronic components.

[0012]

Means for Solving the Problems To solve the above-mentioned problems, a rotary operation type electronic component of the present invention is provided on an inner bottom surface of a case,
A wide ring whose center coincides with the rotation center of the operation axis,
A common electrode portion having a half-peripheral portion entirely exposed, and a signal electrode portion including first to n-th conductive pattern portions, the other half-peripheral portions of which are electrically and independently arranged concentrically. In addition to the fixed contact portion having the following, the first to n-th conductive pattern portions are elastically contacted with the first to n-th conductive pattern portions at two positions symmetrical with respect to the rotation center of the operation shaft on the lower surface of the flange portion of the operation shaft. A movable contact provided with n-contact portions arranged in the radial direction is mounted.

Since the first to n-th contact portions of the movable contact and the terminal portion protruding from the case can be constituted by different components, the necessary contact pressure of the contact portion and the strength of the terminal portion can be easily adjusted. And the first to n-th contact portions of the movable contacts disposed at two positions symmetrical with respect to the rotation center of the operation axis at one point are any one of the first to n-th contact portions. Is in contact with the common electrode portion and the other first to n-th contact portions are in elastic contact with the signal electrode portion, and one of the first to n-th contact portions can always be shared as a contact for the common electrode portion. The number of the first to n-th contact portions arranged in the radial direction can be reduced by one, and a downsized rotary operation type electronic component can be obtained.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS According to the first aspect of the present invention, a case made of a molded resin having an open top surface and a shaft portion integrally formed with a flange portion housed in the case project upward. The operating shaft, the bearing that covers the opening of the case and rotatably inserts and holds the shaft of the operating shaft, and the center of the part except for the center of the inner bottom surface of the case coincides with the rotation center of the operating shaft. A first ring is provided in a wide ring shape, a half of which is a common electrode part which is entirely exposed, and the other half of which are arranged concentrically so as to be electrically independent of each other.
The fixed contact portion, which is a signal electrode portion composed of the nth conductive pattern portion, is electrically connected to each of the common electrode portion of the fixed contact portion and the first to nth conductive pattern portions of the signal electrode portion, and protrudes outward from the case. And the fixed contact portion is elastically attached to the first to n-th conductive pattern portions at two positions symmetrical with respect to the rotation center of the operation shaft. First to n-th are arranged in the radial direction
A contact portion, and at least i-th of two positions
The contact part (i = 1 to n) is a rotary operation type electronic component composed of movable contacts that are conductive, and a movable contact having first to n-th contact parts and a terminal part protruding from the case are separated. , The thickness of the material of the movable contact can be selected and the contact pressures of the first to n-th contact portions can be appropriately set as necessary. And at least one of the first to n-th contact portions of the movable contacts disposed at two points symmetrical with respect to the rotation center of the operation shaft. Is the common electrode portion, and the other first to n-th contact portions are the first to n-th contact portions.
Since it is configured to resiliently contact on the n-th conductive pattern portion, one of the first to n-th contact portions can always be shared for the common electrode portion, and thus the first to n-th contact portions arranged in the radial direction can be used. This has the effect that the number can be reduced by one, and the rotary operation type electronic component can be easily miniaturized in the radial direction.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, each of the common electrode portion of the fixed contact portion and the first to n-th conductive pattern portions of the signal electrode portion and each terminal portion are integrated with a metal. The fixed contact portion is formed by a thin plate, and the fixed contact portion is insert-molded and fixed to the inner bottom surface of the case. In addition to the operation according to the first aspect of the present invention, the fixed contact portion and the terminal portion are formed by an integral thin metal plate. In addition, the electrical connection is complete and inexpensive, and the fixed contact portion can be stably fixed to the inner bottom surface of the molded resin case by insert molding and fixing by making the metal thin plate a certain thickness or more. At the same time, the strength of the terminal portion can be increased.

The third aspect of the present invention is the first or second aspect.
In the invention described in the above, the projection provided at the center of the lower surface of the flange portion of the operation shaft is rotatably held at the center of the fixed contact portion on the inner bottom surface of the case, and the lower surface of the flange portion of the operation shaft is provided. The movable contact attached to the case and the fixed contact part on the inner bottom surface of the case
The center position can be adjusted easily and with high precision so that the n-th contact portion reliably and elastically slides on the first to n-th conductive pattern portions of the fixed contact portion.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, each of the elastic arms of the first to n-th contact portions provided at two positions of the movable contact is operated. The first of the concentric fixed contacts from the lower surface of the shaft flange
To the n-th conductive pattern portion, and are extended in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. The fixed contact portion on the inner bottom surface of the case and the operating shaft are formed by caulking force or the like when assembling the rotary operation type electronic component. The distance between the lower surfaces of the flange portions changes, and the bending dimensions of the elastic arms of the first to n-th contact portions of the movable contacts arranged at two locations change, so that the elastic contacts of the first to n-th contact portions to the fixed contact portion. Even if the contact position changes, the direction of the change is the same in both of the first to n-th contact portions, and the relative positional relationship between the two can be kept unchanged.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the first to fourth fixed contact portions are provided.
The n-th conductive pattern portions are in the form of comb teeth having the same number of equal angular intervals, and the comb teeth of each pattern are arranged so as to be shifted by a predetermined angle. The first to n-th contact portions of the movable contact are respectively resiliently contacted on the tooth portion, and between the terminal portion that is electrically connected to the common electrode portion of the fixed contact portion and the terminal portion that is electrically connected to the signal electrode portion, This has the effect that an incremental-type rotary operation type encoder capable of outputting n-phase pulse signals having a predetermined phase difference can be realized at low cost.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect of the present invention, the number n of the first to n-th conductive patterns of the fixed contact portion and the first to n-th contact portions of the movable contact is two. In spite of being able to output a two-phase pulse signal having a phase difference, the number of contact portions arranged in the radial direction of the movable contact may be two, so that the most versatile two-phase pulse signal is provided. This has the effect that an incremental rotary encoder of the output type that is small in the radial direction can be realized.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 1 as an example of a rotary operation type encoder capable of obtaining a two-phase pulse output having a predetermined phase difference as in the case of the related art. 3 will be described.

In this embodiment, the same components as those described in the section of the related art are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view of a rotary operation type encoder which is a rotary operation type electronic component according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view. As shown in FIG. The upper part of the shaft part 10A serving as an operating part is formed integrally with the shaft part 10A, and the flange part 10B is made of a molded resin case 11.
, A positioning projection 10C provided at the center of the lower surface of the flange 10B is rotatably held in a center hole 11A provided in the case 11, and the shaft 10A is formed in a circular through hole of the bearing 3. 3A is rotatably mounted by being inserted through and held in the same manner as in the prior art. A ring-shaped fixed contact portion 12 having the same width as the center of rotation of the case 1 is insert-molded and fixed, and a terminal portion 13 integrally formed with the fixed contact portion 12 is a case 1.
The movable contact 14 projecting from the side of the first contact portion 1 and elastically contacting the fixed contact portion 12 is mounted on the lower surface of the flange portion 10B of the operation shaft 10.

The wide-width ring-shaped fixed contact portion 12 is made of a thin metal plate. As shown in the plan view of FIG.
The signal electrode section 16 is composed of first and second comb-shaped first and second conductive pattern sections 16A and 16B having the same number of equal angular intervals and arranged concentrically so that the other half-circumference portions of about 180 ° are electrically independent of each other. The first and second conductive pattern portions 16A and 16B are fixed so that their comb teeth are shifted by a predetermined angle, and the terminal portion 13 integrally formed therewith is electrically reliable. Is in a conductive state.

On the other hand, as shown in the bottom view of the flange portion in FIG. 3B, the movable contact 14 made of a single elastic metal plate mounted on the lower surface of the flange portion 10B of the operating shaft 10 has a circular center. The first and second flat plate portions 14B provided at two side symmetrical positions of the portion 14A are aligned in the counterclockwise direction when viewed from below.
The elastic arms 17 and 18 are extended, and the distal ends thereof have first and second contact portions 19A and 20A at point-symmetric positions with respect to the center.
As shown in the plan view of FIG. 3C, first and second contact portions 19A, 20A and 19B, 20B provided at these two positions are fixed contact portions, respectively. 12, that is, one of the first and second contact portions 1
9A and 20A resiliently contact the common electrode portion 15, and the other first and second contact portions 19B and 20B resiliently contact the respective comb tooth portions of the first and second conductive pattern portions 16A and 16B of the signal electrode portion 16. ing.

At this time, the first and second contact portions 19A, 20A and 19B, 20B of the movable contact 14 at two places are provided.
Are provided at the distal ends of a pair of first and second elastic arms 17 and 18 which are respectively extended in a counterclockwise direction when viewed from below, so that the case 11 is formed by a caulking force or the like when assembling the rotary operation type encoder. Even if the dimension between the fixed contact portion 12 on the inner bottom surface and the lower surface of the flange portion 10B of the operation shaft 10 changes, and the bending dimensions of the two first and second elastic arms 17 and 18 of the movable contact 14 change, The first and second contact portions 19A, 20A and 19B, 20B both move on the fixed contact portion 12 in the same direction, and the first and second contact portions 19A, 20A and 19B, 20B at two places.
Can be reliably brought into contact with the fixed contact portion 12 at a symmetrical position without changing the relative positional relationship between them.

In the rotary operation type encoder having the above structure, the movable contact 14 is mounted on the lower surface of the flange portion 10B of the operation shaft 10, and the fixed contact portion 12 formed integrally with the terminal portion 13 is provided.
Is fixed to the case 11 by insert molding, it is not necessary to provide a window for forming a movable contact in the case 11, so that the contact portion is highly dust-proof and the upper part of the operating shaft 10 has a circular through hole 3A of the bearing 3 above. And the lower part is a flange 10
B is positioned at the center of the lower surface of B.
The movable contact 1 attached to the lower surface of the flange portion 10B of the operating shaft 10 is held by the center hole 11A of the
4 and the center position of the fixed contact portion 12 on the inner bottom surface of the case 11 can be easily combined with high precision.

Further, since the thickness of the material of the movable contact 14 and the thickness of the material of the terminal portion 13 can be selected, the contact pressure of the first and second contact portions 19 (19A and 19B), 20 (20A and 20B) and The strength of the terminal portion 13 can be appropriately set to an optimum value, stable contact characteristics can be ensured, and the terminal portion 13 with little deformation and easy handling can be easily realized.

When setting the contact pressure of the first and second contact portions 19 and 20, in addition to the selection of the material thickness and the like, the first and second contact portions are selected.
By adjusting the widths and lengths of the elastic arms 17 and 18, it is possible to obtain a device having reliable and stable contact characteristics over a long period of time, and the terminal portion 1
When the thickness of the material 3 is increased and its strength is increased, the strength of the fixed contact portion 12 integral therewith is also increased, so that the insert molding and fixing of the fixed contact portion 12 to the case 11 are of course stabilized. is there.

Next, the operation of the rotary operation type encoder having the above configuration will be described. When the portion of the operation shaft 10 serving as the operation portion that protrudes above the shaft portion 10A is operated,
Accordingly, the lower flange portion 10B, that is, the movable contact 14 rotates, and the first and second contact portions 19 and 20 of the movable contact 14 slide on the ring-shaped fixed contact portion 12 formed on the inner bottom surface of the case 11. By contact, the signal electrode portion 1
6, a pulse signal is generated between the first conductive pattern portion 16A and the common electrode portion 15 and between the second conductive pattern portion 16B and the common electrode portion 15, respectively. Terminal portions 13A, 13B integrally formed with conductive pattern portions 16A, 16B and common electrode portion 15
And 13C.

When the operation shaft 10 is rotated, the operation shaft 10 is held by the circular through hole 3A of the bearing 3 and the center hole 11A of the case 11. The center of rotation between the movable contact 14 mounted on the lower surface of the case 10B and the fixed contact portion 12 of the case 11 is unlikely to shift, and a highly accurate output can be obtained.

As an example of a rotary operation type electronic component according to the present invention, a rotary operation type encoder capable of obtaining a two-phase pulse output having a phase difference has been described above. By increasing the number n of the conductive pattern portions of the contact portion and the fixed contact portion arranged in the respective radial directions, it is possible to easily realize a rotary operation type electronic component capable of obtaining a multi-phase output signal. Of course.

In the above description, the fixed contact portion 12 and the terminal portion 13 are integrally formed of a metal plate. However, the fixed contact portion fixed to the case is fixed by caulking the terminal portion formed as a separate component. It is needless to say that the fixed contact portion can be formed by printing a conductive paste other than the metal plate at that time.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention, a fixed contact portion is fixed to a case, and a movable contact having an elastic contact portion is mounted on an operation shaft, and the contact portion and the terminal portion are separated from each other. Because it is configured as a component, the thickness of each material can be selected as necessary, and it has a movable contact with excellent contact stability and has a small number of rotary operation type electronic components whose terminals are not easily deformed. The effect that the number of parts can be realized at low cost can be obtained.

Further, any one of the first to n-th contact portions of the movable contact provided at two positions symmetrical with respect to the center of rotation of the operation shaft is used as a contact for the common electrode portion during the rotation operation. With this configuration, it is possible to reduce the number of contacts arranged in the radial direction and to obtain a practically advantageous effect that the rotary operation type electronic component can be downsized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view of a rotary operation type encoder which is a rotary operation type electronic component according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the same.

3A is a plan view of the fixed contact portion, FIG. 3B is a bottom view of a flange portion of the operation shaft, and FIG. 3C is a plan view of a state where the fixed contact portion and the movable contact are combined.

FIG. 4 is a front sectional view of a rotary operation type encoder which is a conventional rotary operation type electronic component.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the same.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a contact portion constituted by the rotary contact plate and a contact portion of the terminal-integrated brush.

[Description of Signs] 3 Bearing 3A Circular through hole 10 Operating shaft 10A Shaft portion 10B Flange portion 10C Positioning convex portion 11 Case 11A Center hole portion 12 Fixed contact portion 13, 13A, 13B, 13C Terminal portion 14 Movable contact 14A Central circular portion 14B Flat plate part 15 Common electrode part 16 Signal electrode part 16A First conductive pattern part 16B Second conductive pattern part 17 First elastic arm 18 Second elastic arm 19, 19A, 19B First contact part 20, 20A, 20B Second Contact part

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Kenji Kataoka 1006 Kazuma Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A case made of molded resin having an open top surface, an operation shaft integrally formed with a flange portion housed in the case, and an operation shaft projecting upward. A bearing that rotatably inserts and holds the shaft of the shaft;
Except for the center of the inner bottom surface of the case, the center is provided in a wide ring shape whose center coincides with the rotation center of the operation shaft, and a half of the common electrode is exposed on the whole surface, and the other half of the case is electrically connected to each other. A fixed contact portion, which is a signal electrode portion composed of first to nth conductive pattern portions arranged concentrically so as to be independent from each other, and a first electrode portion of a common electrode portion of the fixed contact portion and a first electrode portion of the signal electrode portion. A terminal portion that is electrically connected to each of the n-th conductive pattern portions and protrudes outward from the case, and is mounted on the lower surface of the flange portion of the operation shaft and fixed at two positions that are point-symmetric with respect to the rotation center of the operation shaft. It has first to n-th contact portions arranged in the radial direction so as to resiliently contact the first to n-th conductive pattern portions of the contact portions, and at least two i-th contact portions (i = 1 to n) at two positions. ) Consisting of movable contacts that are conductive Rolling operation type electronic component. 2. The fixed electrode part and the first to n-th conductive pattern parts of the signal electrode part and the respective terminal parts are formed of an integral thin metal plate, and the fixed contact part is formed on the inner bottom surface of the case. The rotary operation type electronic component according to claim 1, wherein the electronic component is insert-molded and fixed. 3. The rotary operation type electronic device according to claim 1, wherein a projection provided at the center of the lower surface of the flange portion of the operation shaft is rotatably held at the center of the fixed contact portion on the inner bottom surface of the case. parts. 4. An elastic arm of each of the first to n-th contact portions disposed at two positions of the movable contact is connected to the first to n-th conductive pattern portions of the concentric fixed contact portion from the lower surface of the flange portion of the operation shaft. The rotary operation type electronic component according to claim 1, wherein the electronic component is extended in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. 5. The first to n-th conductive pattern portions of the fixed contact portion are each in the form of comb teeth having the same number of equal angular intervals, and the comb tooth portions of each pattern are arranged so as to be shifted by a predetermined angle.
The rotary operation type electronic component according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first to n-th contact portions of the movable contact resiliently contact the comb-tooth portions of the first to n-th conductive pattern portions, respectively. . 6. The rotary operation type electronic component according to claim 5, wherein the number n of the first to n-th conductive pattern portions of the fixed contact portion and the first to n-th contact portion of the movable contact is two.