Alps Electric Co., Ltd.

Alps Electronics Co., Ltd.

Atsuo Takahashi

Tatsuya Yokoyama

Yasuo Takii

Hiroshi Hayakawa

Takehiko Ito

Takuya Maeda

Rotary support bodies which support both ends of a rod penetrating a manipulating knob body are formed by joining a first rotary support member which is arranged at one side of the manipulating knob body and supports one end of the rod and a second rotary support member which is arranged at another side of the manipulating knob body and supports another end of the rod, and one end of the rod is fixed to the second rotary support member, and another end of the rod is engaged with the first rotary support member. Accordingly, a manipulating knob can be mounted on a casing in a state the manipulating knob is mounted on the rotary support body.

Steering switch for vehicle

An automotive combination switch includes a housing having an opening through which a steering shaft passes, and a stork switch having a switch box, that is inserted and mounted in the housing and a manipulating rod protruding from the switching box. Snaps protruding from the outsides of walls of the switching box are snap-fitted into locking holes formed on walls of the housing. A claw of each snap is in elastical contact with a periphery of each locking hole by providing an elastic plate in the housing, and elastically contacting the elastic plate to a front of the switch box in the inserting direction.

Automotive combination switch

A turn signal switch device capable of being miniaturized and of improving a degree of freedom of design is provided. First and second shaftsandare formed in a housing. A first leveris provided in the first shaftto be rotatable and to proceed to and recede from the rotation orbit of a canceling protrusion. A second leveris rotatably provided in the second shaft. The first leverand the second leverare rotatably connected to each other. Furthermore, a second elastic memberis provided in the housingtogether with a first elastic member. When an operating leveris in a neutral position, the first leveris maintained in the rotation neutral position by the first elastic memberand the second leveris maintained in the rotation neutral position by the second elastic member

Turn signal switch device

A plurality of switchable contacts are provided on a relaying printed circuit board for centralized relaying of signals between a vehicle per se and a switch unit; a plurality of contact change-over members for connecting and disconnecting the switchable contacts are mounted on this printed circuit board; a drive member oscillatable from outside to inside of a box-shaped housing is fitted to each end of the housing in a lengthwise direction; the printed circuit board is fixed to an outer part of an under face of the housing to cause the contact change-over members to face the inside of the housing; the drive members and the contact change-over members are engaged with each other to oscillate the drive members; and the switchable contacts on the printed circuit board are thereby changed over.

Composite switch unit for vehicle use provided with swingable drive members at both ends in lengthwise direction of box-shaped housing

The turn signal switch device is provided with: a housing; an operating lever rotatably supported by the housing; a first cancel lever which is rotated by abutting a cancel protrusion on a steering wheel side; and a second cancel lever rotatable in interlock with the first cancel lever, wherein a protrusion shaft or an elongated hole of the second cancel lever is inserted in an elongated hole or the protrusion shaft provided in a bottom plate of the housing, and wherein in order that both ends may be exposed in the elongated hole, the protrusion shaft is caught between both ends of the second spring mounted to the bottom plate or the second cancel lever to be held at a central position of the elongated hole.

Turn signal switch device for automatically restoring operating lever from operating position to neutral position

The switching unit has the switching member on the front side and the switching member on the back side which are mutually mechanically and electrically connected when mounted on the spoke portion of the steering wheel, and is designed such that when the switching members are assembled in one unit, the elastic electrode portion on one side comes into elastic contact with the electrode pattern portion on the other side. The switching members, therefore, are not required to be assembled into one unit prior to installation on the steering wheel. In addition it is possible to dispense with such a complicated operation as electrically connecting the switching members by a wiring harness after installation to the steering wheel, therefore improving the ease of installation. Furthermore, since there is no necessity to form a through hole in the spoke portion of the steering wheel, the steering wheel will not be deteriorated in mechanical strength.

Switching unit for steering wheel in motor vehicle

There is provided a stalk lever in which its assembling can be easily carried out and a degree of freedom in its design can be improved. The present invention is constructed such that when the longitudinal hole formed at the connecting section of the lever main body R is closed by the lid, the engaging sections formed to be protruded at the lid are fitted to the fitting sections formed to be indented at the holders and then the holder members are fixed to the holder engaging sections.

Stalk lever fixed with holder member for operating turn signal switch or knob switch and the like

A turn signal switch includes a housing having a cam portion; a control lever turnably supported in the housing; a driving element for holding the control lever at three positions, first and second operating positions and a neutral position, in cooperation with the cam portion; a lever member turnably supported in the housing so as to return the control lever from the first and second operating positions to the neutral position; and a spring member for elastically urging the lever member toward a canceling projection that turns together with the steering wheel. The lever member is retracted outside the locus of turning of the canceling projection by the control lever when the control lever is in the neutral position, and is advanced inside the locus of turning of the canceling projection by the urging force of the spring member so that the spring member is in elastic contact with the lever member at one point when the control lever is in the first or second operating position.

Turn signal switch

A mechanism for releasing an excess load with a simple construction when the excess load is applied during a cancel operation for automatically restoring an operating lever. A movable member is swingably supported by a holder mounted to an operating lever, and a spring is provided between the movable member and a driving member, whereby the movable member is biased toward the stable position of the holder, and the driving member is brought into press contact with a cam surface of a case. When the operating lever is rotated from the neutral position to the operating position, the driving member slides on the cam surface and is held in the operating position, and a first lever member comes into the rotation path of a cancel protrusion. When in this condition the steering wheel is turned in the opposite direction, the cancel protrusion abuts the first lever member to rotate during the return operation thereof, and with that, a second lever member rotates. As a result, the periphery of an opening of the second lever member pressurizes a receiving portion of the movable member, and due to this pressurizing force, the operating lever is automatically restored to the neutral position.

A switch lever is rotatably supported on first and second cases and is held in one of three positions of right and left ON positions and neutral position by cooperation of a cam face formed on the first case with an actuator provided on the switch lever. On the inside bottom surface of the second case, first and second support pins are provided upright. A first lever member is rotatably supported on the first support pin and a second lever member is rotatably supported on a support pin formed upright on the forward end of the first lever member. In the second lever member are formed first and second long holes, in which the support pin and the second support pin are fitted. A torsion spring is provided to press the second lever member in the longitudinal direction of these long holes. When the switch lever is turned to right or left turn position, the second lever member is moved forward into the path of rotation of a cancel projection by the force of the torsion spring, turning the second lever member. The first lever member is turned in interlock with the second lever member, thereby automatically returning the switch lever to neutral position.

A vehicular knob switch apparatus suitable for the attainment of size reduction and multi-function is provided. An operating knob is attached to a cylindrical housing rotatably from the exterior. Integral with the operating knob is a first gear which is disposed in the circumferential direction of the operating knob. A second gear is brought into mesh with the first gear in such a manner that the respective axes are orthogonal to each other. A support shaft of the second gear is held by a holder which is fixed to the interior of the housing. Also held by the holder is a printed circuit board which is disposed in the axial direction of the operating knob. Rotation of the operating knob is transmitted to a rotary volume through both gears and. The rotary volume is mounted on the printed circuit board, and first and second push switches, which are operated by key tops, respectively, are also mounted on the printed circuit board. The key tops are attached to the housing to allow to be operated from the exterior.

Vehicular knob switch apparatus

A vehicle knob switch apparatus including an operating lever, a cylindrical holder disposed at an end of the operating lever, a plurality of changeover switch portions accommodated in the interior of the holder, a first operating knob, mounted so as to be rotatable substantially coaxially with an axial line of the operating lever and not movable in the axial direction, for operating one of the plurality of changeover switch portions, and a second operating knob, swingably mounted to an end of the holder, for operating the other one of the plurality of changeover switch portions. The vehicle knob switch apparatus has an integrated switch mechanism, allows components to be installed in the vicinity of the steering column after confirmation of functions, and can be reduced in size.

Growing community of inventors

Miyagi-ken, Japan

Atsuo Takahashi