Omron Corporation

Omron Tateisi Electronics Co.

Murakami Kameido Co., Ltd.

Kiyotaka Yamaguchi

Yasuhide Tanaka

Keiichi Shimizu

Kiyoshi Nakayama

Hideyo Kakuno

Hiroyuki Kuroda

Toshio Yoshioka

Kazuya Yoshikawa

Hiroyuki Ami

A switching device capable of preventing entrance of water from outside of a case through a space below an operation knob into the case is disclosed. The switching device includes: a switch; a case within which the switch is accommodated; a hollow cylinder which is provided on the upper surface of the caseand open to above and below to communicate with the inside of the case; an operation knob provided to cover the upper opening of the cylinder such that the operation knob can swing; and an operation bar which extends through the lower opening of the cylinder into the case to transmit the motion of the operation knob to the switch. A projection is provided on the upper surface of the case in the vicinity of the cylinder. The lower end of the operation knob is opposed to the upper end of the projection with a small clearance interposed therebetween when the operation knob is not shifted.

Switching device

A switch apparatus of the invention can avoid contact damage without inviting a drastic increase in a size even when applied to a high power source voltage and does not deteriorate return feeling to a neutral state. The switch apparatus includes a switch A for cutting off connection between one side driving input of a DC motor and a negative plate side power source, a switch B for cutting off connection between the other side driving input and the negative plate side power source, and a switch C for cutting off connection between the one side driving input and the positive plate side power source and connection between the other side driving input and the positive plate side power source, wherein the switch A and the switch B are normally-closed type switches and the switch C is a normally-open type switch. The switch C is opened at a predetermined time before the switch A or the switch B is closed, and cuts off in advance a power source route to avoid the occurrence of dead short-circuit. When the switch C has a slide type structure, switch feeling of contacts of the switch C can be improved.

Switch apparatus

In a switch, the speed at which contacts are separated from each other is increased without depending on the speed at which an operating member is operated, so that an arc is prevented from being generated, to prevent the operating member to be deformed by heat generation and prevent the durability of the switch to be decreased due to the abrasion of the contacts. A movable contact member having movable contacts at both its ends is swingably supported with a common fixed contact projecting upward and serving as a fulcrum. A leaf spring is fixed to a slider. The leaf spring has a portion projecting in a U shape. The U-shaped portion is engaged with the center of the movable contact member. When the slider is moved, the U-shaped portion is distorted in the transverse direction. When the slider is further moved, the U-shaped portion gets beyond the fulcrum, so that the movable contact is rapidly separated from a normally open fixed contact.

Switch

An objective of the invention is to provide a power window switch apparatus for an automobile such that the circuit boards within the case which hold the electronic components could be soldered on one side only, thereby reducing production cost and making it easier to lead the wiring pattern around the boards despite the space limitations imposed by the car door. The freedom with which the circuit boards could be designed is also increased. Circuit boards are built into a case facing each other at right angles to the surface on which operating knobs are arranged in a row. This arrangement makes it easy to solder modular switches and wiring terminals of the connector to the circuit boards on one side only. It also makes it possible to increase the surface area of the circuit boards to the very limit of the height restriction imposed on the switch apparatus by the automobile door.

Modular array of switches, switch actuators, printed circuit boards,

In a switch device, a metal stamping has a first group of connector terminals arranged in one line among plural lines of arranged connector terminals and is constructed by one metal stamping together with a wiring pattern. The metal stamping is subjected to an insert molding process to form an insert molding. A second group of connector terminals, arranged in another line, among the connector terminals arranged in plural lines, are formed from parts of metal pieces which are separate from the metal stamping. The second group of connector terminals are press-fitted in the insert molding. In the switch device, the manufacture of the metal stamping requires minimal bending steps, and the manufacture can be achieved with the use of a simple stamping metal mold.

Switch device

The multi-position electrical switch includes a printed circuit (PC) board arranged in a casing and supporting an array of stationary contacts encircling a light emitting element fixed on the PC board. A resilient rubber sheet covers the PC board and supports an array of movable contacts arranged opposite the stationary contacts. A control knob having a central opening rests on the rubber sheet in the region of the movable contacts. The bottom of the knob is formed with a tubular projection communicating with the central opening of the knob and extending to the level of an opening in the rubber sheet around the light emitting element. The bottom of the knob is provided with four pin-shaped stoppers which delimit the tilting movement of the knob in four directions and the pressing surface portions of the bottom are inclined such as to evenly engage a depressed region of the rubber sheet when the knob is tilted in one of the four directions and the corresponding movable contacts are lowered and pressed against the opposite stationary contacts. The annular end face of the tubular projection has four inclined sections oriented according to the four tilting directions. In a tilted position of the knob, a corresponding inclined section fully engages the flat surface of the PC board thus safeguarding the actuation of the selected contacts only.

Growing community of inventors

Kyoto, Japan

Kiyotaka Yamaguchi