JP5852669B2 - Bearing structure for rotary electronic components - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention mainly relates to a bearing structure for a rotary operation type electronic component used as a rotary switch or a variable resistor of a portable electronic device such as a wireless device.

  Conventionally, a bearing structure employed in a rotary switch, a variable resistor, or the like is a structure in which a shaft is simply inserted into a bearing as shown in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, for example. For this reason, there is no configuration for reducing the axial or radial play of the shaft, and the play is determined by the dimensional accuracy of the bearing and the shaft.

  Patent Document 3 discloses a rotary switch having a bearing structure in which an O-ring is sandwiched between an inner wall surface of a case and an outer peripheral surface of a rotating body for waterproofing. The bearing structure can suppress radial play, but cannot prevent axial play.

Japanese Patent No. 4757071 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 62-168607 Japanese Patent No. 3698270

  Although a rotary switch of a portable electronic device is required to be downsized, an operation knob that is large enough to satisfy the ease of operation is used. Therefore, the shaft play at the knob operation position is increased by the size of the knob, and the operator is not given a smooth feeling during the knob operation.

  In view of the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a bearing structure for a rotary operation type electronic component that can suppress axial and radial play.

  A rotating operation type electronic component bearing structure according to the present invention includes a columnar operation portion, a step portion formed from one end of the operation portion, a small outer diameter and an axially extending holding portion and the holding portion. Further, the bearing includes a rotation operation shaft including a driving portion extended in the axial direction, and a bearing having a shaft hole through which the holding portion is inserted and rotatably held, and one end facing the step portion. An electromechanical signal control unit that performs signal control by rotation of a rotor fixed to the drive unit is provided at the other end of the drive unit. A first taper surface extending to the outer peripheral surface of the shaft hole is formed on the inner peripheral edge of the shaft hole at one end of the bearing, and a second taper surface having an inner diameter increasing toward the outside is formed on the bearing. An annular ring spring that is sandwiched and cut between the second tapered surfaces is mounted, and the holding portion Securing ring in an annular groove formed on the outer periphery of the driver-side end portion is a retaining of the rotary operation shaft by engaging the other end of the bearing is mounted.

  In the present invention, since the external force that presses the ring spring by the tapered surface is distributed to the corner portion forming the step portion in the axial direction and the radial direction, play in the axial direction and the radial direction can be suppressed.

1 is an exploded perspective view of a rotary switch that is a first embodiment to which the present invention is applied. FIG. FIG. 2 is an axial sectional view of the embodiment of FIG. 1. The perspective view seen from the accommodation recessed part 23 side of the holder 6 in FIG. The disassembled perspective view of the variable resistor which is 2nd Example to which this invention is applied. FIG. 5 is an axial sectional view of the embodiment of FIG. 4. 6A is a perspective view of the holder 6 ′ in FIG. 5 as viewed from the accommodation recess 23 side, and FIG. 6B is a plan view of the holder 6 ′ in FIG. 5 as viewed from the accommodation recess 23 side. The perspective view of rotor 7 'which shows the modification of the Example of FIG. The disassembled perspective view of the rotary switch which is 3rd Example to which this invention is applied. FIG. 9 is an axial sectional view of the rotary switch of FIG. 8. 10A is a perspective view of the click spring in FIG. 9 and the click spring support plate before attaching the click spring, and FIG. 10B is a perspective view of the click spring support plate after the click spring is attached. 11A is a top view of the rotor in FIG. 9, FIG. 11B is a sectional view of the rotor in FIG. 9, and FIG. 11C is a bottom view of the rotor in FIG. 12A is a diagram showing a connection pattern of the upper and lower contact pieces in FIG. 9, and FIG. 12B is a diagram showing a sliding contact piece formed by folding the connection pattern. FIG. 13A is a bottom view of the lower holder, and FIG. 13B is a top view of the upper holder. The disassembled perspective view of 2nd Example of the rotary switch by this invention. The schematic diagram for demonstrating notionally the bearing structure of this invention.

[First embodiment]
An exploded perspective view of an embodiment of a rotary switch to which a bearing structure according to the present invention is applied is shown in FIG. 1, and an axial sectional view thereof is shown in FIG.

  The rotary switch includes a columnar rotation operation shaft 10, a bearing 20 through which the rotation operation shaft 10 is inserted, a rotor 7 that is mounted and fixed on the rotation operation shaft 10, and a holder 6. Have.

  The rotation operation shaft 10 is made of resin or metal, and has a columnar operation portion 11 having an outer peripheral surface chamfered in parallel to the axial direction, and the diameter is reduced from one end of the operation portion 11 and extends in the axial direction. A cylindrical holding portion 12 and a cylindrical driving portion 13 having a diameter further reduced from one end of the holding portion 12 and extending in the axial direction are coaxially provided. The end surface on the holding portion 12 side of the operation portion 11 forms a stepped portion 10S in the radial direction from the outer peripheral edge of the operation portion 11, and a tapered surface 10T extending from the radial intermediate position of the stepped portion 10S to the outer peripheral surface of the holding portion 12 is formed. Has been. An annular groove 12 a is formed on the outer periphery adjacent to the end surface of the holding portion 12 on the side opposite to the operation portion 11. The drive unit 13 is chamfered on both sides of the shaft center line in parallel with the axial direction, and thus the cross section perpendicular to the shaft center line has a shape in which two opposite sides of the quadrilateral are arcs.

  The bearing 20 is formed of resin or metal, and has a cylindrical portion 21 having an inner diameter smaller than the outer diameter of the operation portion 11 of the rotation operation shaft 10 and having a shaft hole 24 through which the holding portion 12 is inserted, and one end of the cylindrical portion 21. And a substantially rectangular parallelepiped housing portion 22. Screws are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion 21 so as to be attached to a casing of a device in which the rotary switch is used. A tapered surface 20T is formed on the inner peripheral edge of the shaft hole 24 at the distal end of the cylindrical portion 21 so that the inner diameter increases toward the outside of the shaft hole 24 in the axial direction. The housing portion 22 communicates with the shaft hole 24, is formed with a circular accommodating recess 23 having a larger diameter concentrically with the shaft hole 24, and is opened on the surface opposite to the cylindrical portion 21. The tapered surface 10T formed in the stepped portion 10S and the tapered surface 20T formed in the cylindrical portion 21 are in a relation that the angle is opened toward the stepped portion 10S as shown in the cross section of FIG.

  The inner diameter is substantially equal to the outer diameter of the holding portion 12, the outer diameter is smaller than the outer diameter of the operation portion 11 of the rotation operation shaft 10, the cross section formed of a metal spring material is circular, and a cut annular ring spring 3 is elastically sandwiched between the tapered surfaces 10T and 20T and attached to the rotation operating shaft 10, and the holding portion 12 is inserted into the shaft hole 24 of the bearing 20, and in this state, protrudes into the housing recess 23. An annular groove 12 a at the end of the holding portion 12 is fitted with a spring metal fixing ring 4 whose outer diameter is larger than the inner diameter of the shaft hole 24 and whose ring is cut, and the housing recess 23 adjacent to the shaft hole 24. The rotational operation shaft 10 is prevented from coming off by engaging with the bottom surface 23a. At this time, the ring spring 3 sandwiched between the taper surfaces 10T and 20T is elastically pressed toward the step portion 10S by the taper surface 20T, and is elastically deformed so that the cut ring is opened. When an external force in the axial direction and / or radial direction is applied to the rotation operation shaft 10, the ring spring 3 is further pushed up toward the step portion 10S, further deforms so as to open the ring, and closes the ring against this. The elastic force resists the external force by pushing the ring spring 3 back against the tapered surface 20T in the axial direction. Thereby, the backlash of the rotation operation shaft 10 in the axial direction and the radial direction with respect to the bearing 20 is elastically suppressed. Therefore, the operator can obtain a smooth rotational operation feeling.

  The rotor 7 is made of resin, and is formed integrally with a rotation shaft 7A in which a shaft hole 7D having the same cross-sectional shape as the cross section of the drive unit 13 of the rotation operation shaft 10 is formed and coaxially with the rotation shaft 7A. And a disk portion 7B having a plate surface perpendicular to the axial direction, and is rotatably disposed in the housing recess 23 of the housing portion 22. A sliding contact piece 7C formed by punching a metal plate so as to be flush with the surface of the disk portion 7B opposite to the bearing 20 is attached by integral molding.

  The holder 6 is made of resin and has a rectangular parallelepiped shape that is perpendicular to the axial direction of the housing part 22 and is placed on the housing part 22 from the top of the rotor 7. As shown in a perspective view from the housing portion 22 side in FIG. 3, the holder 6 has a circular housing recess 6A formed on the surface on the housing portion 22 side so as to extend the housing recess 23, and the holder 6 is placed at the center. A penetrating shaft hole 6D is formed. The elastic contacts 6C1, 6C2, and the two elastic contacts 6C3 protrude inward from the inner peripheral surface of the housing recess 6A, and the set of the elastic contact 6C1, one elastic contact 6C3, the set of the elastic contact 6C2, and the other elastic contact 6C3 is an axis. The elastic contacts 6C1, 6C2, and 6C3 are located on opposite sides of the hole 6D, and are bent so that their tip portions protrude outward from the opening of the housing recess 6A. The other ends of the elastic contacts 6C1 and 6C2 protrude outward from the side surface of the holder 6, and are made terminals 6T1 and 6T2, respectively. The other elastic contacts 6C3 are integrated at the other end, and project from the side surface of the holder 6 as terminals 6T3.

  The drive portion 13 protruding into the housing recess 23 is inserted into the shaft hole 7D of the rotor 7 so that the disk portion 7B of the rotor 7 is disposed in the housing recess 23, and the tip of the drive portion 13 is the shaft hole 6D of the holder 6. From the top of the rotor 7 so as to close the housing recess 23, and the fixing pin 8 is inserted into the fixing hole 6a of the holder 6 and the fixing hole 22a of the housing portion 22 to insert the tip. The rotary switch is assembled by caulking with rivets.

  The rotor 7 is rotated by rotating the operation portion 11 of the rotation operation shaft 10. The tips of the elastic contacts 6C1, 6C2 and 6C3 provided on the holder 6 are located at different radial positions from the axis center of the rotation operation shaft 10. That is, in this example, the two elastic contacts 6C3 sharing the terminal 6T3 are located on both sides of the rotating shaft 7A of the rotor 7, and the distal ends of the elastic contacts 6C1 and 6C2 are located further outward in the radial direction. The rotor 7 is in sliding contact with the sliding contact piece 7C provided on the plate surface of the disk portion 7B by the rotation of the rotor 7. The sliding contact piece 7C conducts between the terminals 6T1 and 6T3 in the first predetermined rotation angle range (a plurality of rotations) of the rotor 7, and a second predetermined rotation angle range (a plurality may exist). Thus, the number of sliding contact pieces 7C, the respective arc angles, the radial position and width, etc. are determined so that the terminals 6T2 and 6T3 are electrically connected.

  By determining the axial position of the annular groove 12a, and hence the axial position of the fixing ring 4, as desired, the pressing force applied to the ring spring 3 by the tapered surface 20T can be set as desired, so that the ring spring is between the tapered surfaces 10T and 20T. 3 can be set as desired, and an appropriate rotational operation feeling can be given to the operator.

[Second Embodiment]
1, 2 and 3 show a first embodiment in which the bearing structure of the present invention is applied to a rotary switch. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the embodiment applied to a variable resistor, and FIG. As shown in FIG. This variable resistor has a rotation operation shaft 10, a bearing 20, a rotor 7 ', a holder 6', a ring spring 3, a fixing ring 4, and a fixing pin 8, and FIGS. Only the rotor 7 'and the holder 6' are different from the first embodiment. Therefore, the following description will focus on the different parts, and the description of the common parts will be omitted as much as possible.

  The rotor 7 ′ has a rotating shaft 7A and a disk portion 7B as in the rotor 7 of FIG. 1, but the sliding contact piece 7′C is replaced by a disk portion instead of the sliding contact piece 7C in FIG. It is attached to the plate surface of 7B. The sliding contact piece 7′C is formed by pressing with an elastic metal plate so as to sandwich the rotating shaft 7A from the substantially semimoon-shaped base portion 7′Cb and the side edge of the base portion 7′Cb on the rotating shaft 7A side. Two contacts 7'C1 that are bent to be separated from the plate surface of the disk portion 7B, and are extended from the side edge of the base portion 7'Cb outside the two contacts 7'C1 and the disk portion 7B. And a contact 7′C2 bent away from the plate surface.

  The base portion 7′Cb is fixed by press-fitting a not-shown protrusion protruding from the plate surface of the disk portion 7B into a fixing hole 7′Aa formed in the base portion. The tips of the contacts 7'C1 and 7'C2 are folded back to the plate surface side of the disk portion 7B, and convex bent portions 7'C1a and 7'C2a are formed on the holder 6 'side. It becomes a point. These bent portions 7'C1a and 7'C2a are arranged in a straight line orthogonal to the rotation center line, and the bent portions 7'C1a of the two contacts 7'C1 are located on both sides adjacent to the rotating shaft 7A. The bent portion 7′C2a of the contact 7′C2 is located radially outward from the bent portion 7′C1a of the one contact.

  As shown in FIG. 6A and a plan view of the holder 6 ′ viewed from the rotor 7 ′, the metal plate is pressed so as to surround the shaft hole 6D on the bottom surface 6B of the housing recess 6A. The common conductor ring 6C formed in the above and the arc-shaped strip-shaped resistor 6R provided concentrically at intervals outside the common conductor ring 6C are attached. Both ends of the resistor 6R are connected to terminals 6T1 and 6T2, respectively. A terminal 6T3 extends integrally from the common conductor ring 6C through both ends of the resistor 6R.

  In a state where the holder 6 'is covered with the housing portion 22, the bent portion 7'C1a of the two contacts 7'C1 of the sliding contact piece 7'C is in elastic contact with the common conductor ring 6C, and the bent portion 7 of the contact 7'C2 is provided. 'C2a makes elastic contact with the resistor 6R. Therefore, when the rotor 7 'rotates, the electrical resistance between the terminals 6T1 and 6T3 and the electrical resistance between the terminals 6T2 and 6T3 change.

  Also in the second embodiment, as shown in the axial section in FIG. 5, the tapered surface 20 </ b> T formed at the inner peripheral edge of the shaft hole 24 at the tip of the cylindrical portion 21 of the bearing 20 presses the ring spring 3. Since deformation is possible, play in the axial direction and radial direction of the rotation operation shaft 10 with respect to the bearing 20 can be suppressed.

[Modification]
In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6A, a resistor 6R and a common conductor ring 6C are provided on the bottom surface 6B of the receiving recess 6A of the holder 6 ', and contacts 7'C1, 7'C2 are provided on the disk portion 7B of the rotor 7'. A sliding contact piece 7′C having Conversely, as shown in FIG. 7, as shown in FIG. 7, an arc belt-like resistor 7R is provided on the plate surface of the disk portion 7B of the rotor 7 ′, and a common conductor ring 7Cc is provided on the inside thereof. The resistor 7R and the common conductor ring 7Cc are brought into sliding contact with the elastic contacts 6C1 and 6C3, respectively. However, the elastic contact 6C2 and the terminal 6T2 are not provided. In this case, in the rotor 7 ', one end of the resistor 7R is connected to the common conductor ring 7Cc.

[Third embodiment]
FIG. 8 shows an exploded perspective view of an embodiment in which the bearing structure according to the present invention is applied to a rotary switch disclosed in Patent Document 1, and FIG. 9 shows an axial sectional view of the rotary switch. 1, 2 and 3, the rotary switch of this embodiment is configured to give the operator a click feeling at every desired rotation angle interval of the rotary operation shaft 10 and to increase the number of switches. It is a thing.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the rotary switch includes a rotation operation shaft 10, a ring spring 3, a bearing 20, a click disc 30, a click spring 40, a click spring support plate 50, and a lower holder 80. The rotor 70, the upper holder 60, the cover 90, and other components. A combination of the upper holder 60 and the cover 90 corresponds to the holder 6 in FIG. 1, and in this embodiment, a lower holder 80 having an elastic contact is further provided to increase the number of switches.

  The rotation operation shaft 10 has the same structure as the rotation operation shaft 10 in FIG. 1, is formed into a cylindrical shape by processing a metal rod, is extended coaxially from the operation portion 11 and the tip thereof, and has a diameter from the operation portion 11. And a drive unit 13 that extends coaxially from the tip of the holding unit 12 and has a smaller diameter than the holding unit 12. An annular groove 12 a is formed on the outer peripheral surface adjacent to the tip of the holding portion 12. The drive unit 13 is formed with at least one flat surface 13a formed by being cut off in parallel with the central axis. In the illustrated example, two parallel planes are formed symmetrically with respect to the rotation center of the rotation operation shaft 10.

  The bearing 20 has a cylindrical portion 21 in which mounting screws are formed on the outer periphery, and a rectangular housing portion 22 formed integrally with one end of the cylindrical portion 21. A shaft hole 24 through which the holding portion 12 of the rotation operation shaft 10 is rotatably inserted is formed in the bearing 20 through the cylindrical portion 21. On the upper surface of the housing portion 22, fixing holes 22 a are formed in one set of diagonal portions, and positioning holes 22 b are formed in another set of diagonal portions. Further, a circular accommodating recess 23 is formed in the center of the upper surface of the housing portion 22 coaxially with the cylindrical portion 21, and a shaft hole 24 is concentrically opened on the bottom surface thereof. The tip of the holding portion 12 of the turning operation shaft 10 inserted through the bearing 20 in a state where the ring spring 3 is mounted so as to be in contact with the tapered surface 10T of the turning operation shaft 10 protrudes from the bottom surface of the housing recess 23, and the tip The fixing ring 4 is attached to the annular groove 12a of the part to prevent it from coming off.

  In this embodiment, the housing part 22 accommodates the click disk 30. The click disk 30 has a shaft portion 31 at the center thereof, and unevenness is arranged in the circumferential direction on the outer upper surface of the shaft portion 31 by ridges 32 extending radially. A shaft hole 33 into which the rotation shaft 71 of the rotor 70 is inserted is formed in the shaft portion 31 in the axial direction. The shaft hole 31 protrudes from one place on the inner periphery of the shaft hole 33 toward the center. An engagement key 34 extending in the direction is formed. The front end face toward the center of the engagement key 34 is a flat surface that comes into contact with and engages with the flat surface 13 a of the drive unit 13, and the drive unit 13 inserted through the shaft hole 33 when the rotation operation shaft 10 is rotated. The click disk 30 is rotated by engaging the flat surface 13a with the tip flat surface of the engagement key 34.

  The annular click spring 40 is formed by punching a spring metal plate, and engagement protrusions 41 projecting toward the click disk 30 are formed at two positions on one diameter of the annular portion, and the diameter is further increased. And two fixed terminals 42 extending outwardly from each other on two lines on the other diameter perpendicular to the diameter. The fixed terminal 42 is bent to the opposite side of the click disk 30 at approximately 45 ° with respect to the plate surface at the intermediate portion. The click spring 40 is bent by 45 °, whereby the engagement of a click spring support plate 50, which will be described later, with a locking groove 55 can be made shallower, and thus the thickness of the click spring support plate 50 can be reduced.

  The click spring 40 is attached to the lower surface of the click spring support plate 50. 10A and 10B show perspective views before and after the click spring 40 is attached. However, here, the set of the click spring 40 and the click spring support plate 50 in FIG. 8 is shown rotated by 180 ° about the center line 5X. The click spring support plate 50 has the same rectangular shape as the housing portion 22, and an annular recess 52 that receives the ring-shaped click spring 40 is formed on the lower surface thereof, and a shaft hole 51 is formed in the center. The diameter of the shaft hole 51 is a diameter through which a rotation shaft 71 of a rotor 70 described later can be rotatably inserted. Two positioning holes 53b are formed adjacent to one side of the click spring support plate 50, fixing holes 53a are formed in the vicinity of one set of diagonal portions, and the lower surface in the vicinity of another set of diagonal portions is formed. Each is formed with a positioning projection 54.

  The two fixed terminals 42 of the click spring 40 are inserted and locked in locking grooves 55 formed extending from the fixing hole 53a of the click spring support plate 50 in the center direction. In this state, the click spring support plate 50 is attached to the upper surface of the housing portion 22 by inserting the drive portion 13 through the shaft hole 51 and closing the accommodation recess 23 accommodating the click disc 30 from above. At this time, the positioning protrusion 54 of the click spring support plate 50 is press-fitted and fixed in the positioning hole 22 b on the upper surface of the housing portion 22.

  11A is a top view of the rotor 70, FIG. 11B is a cross-sectional view taken along line 11B-11B in FIG. 11A, and FIG. 11C is a bottom view rotated 180 ° around the line 11B-11B in FIG. In this embodiment, in order to increase the number of usable switches, the elastic contact and the sliding contact piece can be brought into contact with and detached from both the one surface and the other surface of the disk portion of the rotor. Yes. That is, the rotor 70 is located in the middle of the rotational axis 71, the longitudinal axis of the rotational shaft 71, the disk portion 72 coaxial with the rotational shaft 71, and the sliding contact piece 7 </ b> C held by the disk portion 72. Are integrally formed by insert molding. A shaft hole 73 having the same cross-sectional shape as the shaft hole 33 of the click disc 30 is formed in the rotation shaft 71. Further, a notch 74 is formed by cutting one circular arc portion of the lower end of the rotating shaft 71 by a predetermined length in the axial direction from the lower end. In the notch 74, the rotation shaft 71 is fitted into the engagement key 34 in the shaft hole 33 of the click disk 30 through the shaft hole 51, whereby the rotation shaft 71 is fitted in the axial direction of the notch 74. Only the length is inserted into the shaft hole 33a.

  The sliding contact piece 7C is composed of an upper contact piece 7C1 and a lower contact piece 7C2, and a pattern of upper and lower contact pieces 7C1 and 7C2 connected to each other obtained by punching one metal plate as shown in FIG. 12A. As shown in FIG. 12B, and the lower contact piece 7C2 is overlaid on the lower side of the upper contact piece 7C1.

  In this embodiment, the upper and lower contact pieces 7C1 and 7C2 are formed in a pattern inscribed in a common circle C1 indicated by a broken line in FIG. 12B. The circles C2, C3 are concentric with the circle C1 and gradually decrease in diameter. The annular bands B1, B2, B3 adjacent to each other having a width sandwiched by C4 are defined, and a desired number of desired lengths (angle ranges) in the circumferential direction within these annular bands B1, B2, B3, respectively. A contact piece pattern in which each arc region is a contact piece region is determined in advance.

  In the upper contact piece 7C1 of FIG. 11A, the annular band B1 is filled with one contact piece region C1a having a predetermined angular range and an empty region G1a having the remaining angular range. The annular band B2 is filled with two contact piece regions C1b1 and C1b2 each having a predetermined angle range, and empty regions G1b1 and G1b2 between adjacent two contact piece regions. The annular band B3 is filled with one (360 °) empty region G1c. The contact piece regions C1a, C1b1, and C1b2 are regions where the metal surface of the contact piece 7C1 is exposed, and the empty regions G1a, G1b1, G1b2, and G1c are insulation of the disk portion 72 that is in the same plane as the surface of the contact piece region. It is the body surface.

  On the other hand, in the lower contact piece 7C2 shown in FIG. 11C, the annular band B1 has four contact piece regions C2a1, C2a2, C2a3, C2a4 each having a predetermined angular range, and a space between the four contact piece regions adjacent to each other. It is filled with regions G2a1, G2a2, G2a3, G2a4. The annular band B2 is filled with two contact piece regions C2b1 and C2b2 each having a predetermined angular range, and empty regions G2b1 and G2b2 between the two contact piece regions adjacent to each other. The annular band B3 is filled with one (360 °) contact piece region C2c. Contact piece area C2a1, C2a2, C2a3, C2a4, C2b1, C2b2, C2c are areas where the metal surface of the contact piece is exposed, and empty areas G2a1, G2a2, G2a3, G2a4, G2b1, G2b2 are the surfaces of the contact piece area Is the surface of the insulator of the disk portion 72 in the same plane.

  In this embodiment, the upper holder 60 and the lower holder 80 have the same structure, and the holders formed as the same component can be used for the upper side and the lower side by changing the vertical direction. Similarly, the cover 90 and the click spring support plate 50 have exactly the same structure. By using the same structure as described above, the manufacturing cost of the switch can be reduced.

  FIG. 13A shows the lower surface of the lower holder 80 and a part of the lower surface of the rotor 70 visible above. A circular rotor accommodating recess 82 is formed on the upper surface of the lower holder 80, and a substantially rectangular window 81 is formed on the floor of the rotor accommodating recess 82. On the side wall portion of the rotor accommodating recess 82 adjacent to one side of the lower holder 80, an engaging protrusion 85 (see also FIG. 8) protruding from the lower surface to the upper holder 60 side, and the engaging protrusion An engaging recess 86 (see also FIG. 8) is formed adjacent to the portion 85 and having the same width and the side wall portion cut off. Fixing holes 84a are formed in the vicinity of one set of diagonal portions of the lower holder 80, and positioning holes 84b are formed in the vicinity of another set of diagonal portions. Further, two positioning projections 83 are formed adjacent to one side from which the terminals 8T1, 8T2, and 8T3 are led out.

  The lower holder 80 is formed by insert molding together with the three elastic contacts 8C1, 8C2, and 8C3 and the terminals 8T1, 8T2, and 8T3 that extend integrally from the elastic contacts 8C1, 8C2, and 8C3. The three elastic contacts 8C1, 8C2, 8C3 extend inward from the edge of the window 81, and their tips are respectively located on the annular bands B1, B2, B3 defined on the sliding contact piece 7C of the rotor 70. Yes. Each of the elastic contacts 8C1, 8C2, and 8C3 has two branch arms, and the contact stability (reliability) and the life of the contact are enhanced by two-point contact in each annular band.

  FIG. 13B shows the upper surface of the upper holder 60 and a part of the upper surface of the rotor 70 visible below the upper holder 60. As described above, the structure of the upper holder 60 is exactly the same as that of the lower holder 80. A circular rotor accommodating recess 62 is formed on the lower surface of the substantially rectangular upper holder 60 which is the same as the housing part 22, and a substantially rectangular window 61 is formed on the ceiling of the rotor accommodating recess 62. On the side wall portion of the rotor accommodating recess 62 adjacent to one side of the upper holder 60, an engaging convex portion 65 protruding from the lower surface to the lower holder 80 side, and adjacent to the engaging convex portion 65. An engaging recess 66 having the same width and having a side wall cut off is formed. Fixing holes 64a are formed in one set of diagonal portions of the upper holder 60, and positioning holes 64b are formed in another set of diagonal portions. Further, two positioning protrusions 63 are formed adjacent to one side from which the terminals 6T1, 6T2, and 6T3 are led out.

  The upper holder 60 is formed by insert molding together with three elastic contacts 6C1, 6C2, and 6C3 and terminals 6T1, 6T2, and 6T3 that are integrally extended from them and protrude outward from one side surface of the upper holder 60. The three elastic contacts 6C1, 6C2, 6C3 extend inward from the edge of the window 61, and their tips are respectively located on the annular bands B1, B2, B3 defined on the sliding contact piece 7C of the rotor 70. Yes. In this example, each of the elastic contacts 6C1, 6C2, 6C3 has two branch arms, and is in contact at two points in each annular band.

  Returning to FIG. 8, the positioning protrusion 83 (see FIG. 13A) of the lower holder 80 is fitted into the positioning hole 53 b of the click spring support plate 50, and the lower holder 80 is positioned and fixed on the click spring support plate 50. The From above, the drive portion 13 of the rotating operation shaft 10 is inserted into the shaft hole 73 of the rotor 70 so that the substantially lower half of the disk portion 72 of the rotor 70 is disposed in the rotor accommodating recess 82 of the lower holder 80. Is inserted and engaged with the shaft hole 33 of the click disc 30 through the shaft hole 51 of the click spring support plate 50.

  The upper holder 60 is placed over the rotor 70 so that the upper half of the disk portion 72 of the rotor 70 is accommodated in the rotor accommodating recess 62 of the upper holder 60, and is fixed to the lower holder 80 in an overlapping manner. At this time, the engaging convex portion 65 and the engaging concave portion 66 (see FIG. 13B) of the upper holder 60 are fitted into the engaging concave portion 86 and the engaging convex portion 85 of the lower holder 80, respectively, and are positioned with respect to each other. Further, the upper end portion of the rotating shaft 71 of the rotor 70 is inserted into the shaft hole 91 of the cover 90, the cover 90 is overlaid on the upper holder 60, and the positioning projection 94 is fitted into the positioning hole 64b, thereby positioning the positioning hole 93b. The positioning projection 63 is fitted to the base. As a result, the elastic contacts 8C1, 8C2, 8C3 of the lower holder 80 are elastically maintained in contact with the lower surface of the disk portion 72 of the rotor 70, and the elastic contacts 6C1, 6C2, 6C3 of the upper holder 60 are kept in contact with the disk portion of the rotor 70. The upper surface of 72 is kept in elastic contact.

  In a state where the components are combined in this way, the fixing hole 93a of the cover 90, the fixing hole 64a of the upper holder 60, the fixing hole 84a of the lower holder 80, the fixing hole 53a of the click spring support plate 50, the fixing hole of the bearing 20 Two fixing pins 8 are inserted into 22a, the tips of the pins 8 are crushed with rivets, and fixed together.

  By assembling the rotary switch in this way, the drive unit 13 is inserted into the shaft hole 73 of the rotating shaft 71 of the rotor 70 through which the click disk 30 and the click spring support plate 50 are inserted, and the cover 90 It is supported in the shaft hole 91. The cross section perpendicular to the axial center of the shaft hole 73 of the rotor 70 has a shape obtained by cutting a circular arc in a straight line in the same manner as the cross section of the drive unit 13. As the child 70 is rotated, the click disk 30 is also rotated. As a result, the projection 41 of the click spring 40 fixed to the click spring support plate 50 engages with the radial irregularities of the rotating click disk 30 to cause a click feeling when the rotating operation shaft 10 is rotated. In addition, sliding contact and separation occur between the upper and lower contact pieces 7C1, 7C2 of the rotor 70 and the elastic contacts 6C1, 6C2, 6C3 and 8C1, 8C2, 8C3 of the upper and lower holders. be able to.

  As can be understood from the above description, in this third embodiment, the contact piece regions are separately determined within 360 ° in the annular regions that are different in the radial direction separately on the upper surface and the lower surface of the disk portion of the rotor 70. Therefore, there is an advantage that the degree of freedom in design is high. That is, there is a high degree of freedom in which the opening / closing angle ranges and relative timings of a plurality of switches can be designed according to requirements.

  In the third embodiment described above, the case where the annular bands B1, B2, B3 are defined in common for the upper and lower contact pieces 7C1, 7C2 of the rotor 70 has been shown. Of course, the upper and lower holders 60 and 80 may be separately defined for the upper and lower sides, and the number and arrangement of the elastic contacts of the upper holder 60 and the lower holder 80 may be determined in accordance with the respective annular bands.

[Fourth embodiment]
FIG. 14 shows a fourth embodiment of the rotary switch according to the present invention. In the third embodiment, the lower holder 80 is integrally formed with the elastic contacts 8C1, 8C2, and 8C3 by insert molding, and then the elastic contacts 8C1, 8C2, and 8C3 are bent at a desired angle in the window 81. Although the holder 80 and the click spring support plate 50 are separated from each other, when the lower holder 80 can be insert-molded with the elastic contacts 8C1, 8C2, 8C3 bent in advance at a predetermined angle, as shown in FIG. Alternatively, the lower holder 80 and the click spring support plate 50 may be formed as a lower holder (first holder) 80 ′ integrated with each other. Similarly, the upper holder 60 and the cover 90 in the third embodiment may be formed as an upper holder (second holder) 60 ′ integrated with each other as shown in FIG. Since other configurations are the same as those of the third embodiment, the description thereof is omitted.

[Concept of Invention]
FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a rotary operation type electronic component for conceptualizing and explaining the above-described various embodiments and modifications to which the bearing structure according to the present invention is applied. The cylindrical rotation operation shaft 100 is coaxial with an operation unit 110 that receives a rotation operation, a holding unit 120 that has a smaller diameter than the operation unit 110 and extends coaxially, and an outer diameter that is further reduced from the holding unit 120. The boundary between the operation unit 110 and the holding unit 120 forms a stepped portion 100S. A holding portion 120 is rotatably inserted into the shaft hole 230 of the bearing 200 from one end side of the bearing 200, and a fixing ring 400 fixed on the outer periphery of the rear end portion of the holding portion 120 is formed in the shaft hole 230 at the other end of the bearing 200. Engage with the outer periphery. The drive part 130 extended from the holding part 120 rotates the rotor 700 in the electromechanical signal control part 600 provided at the other end of the bearing 200. The electromechanical signal control unit 600 is a variable resistance mechanism that causes a resistance change due to sliding between the contact and the resistor by the rotation of the rotor 700, or a switch operation by contact between the elastic contact and the contact sliding piece, or separation. And a signal applied to the terminal 6T is controlled by electromechanical control.

  The electromechanical signal control unit 600 corresponds to the configuration including the holders 6 and 6 ', the rotors 7 and 7', and the housing unit 22 that accommodates the holders 6 and 6 'in the embodiment of FIGS. This corresponds to a configuration including the upper holders 80 and 80 ′, the lower holders 60 and 60 ′, and the rotor 70 accommodated therebetween in the example.

  The bearing structure of the present invention is formed with a tapered surface 100T extending from the radial intermediate position of the step portion 100S of the rotation operation shaft 100 to the outer peripheral surface of the holding portion 120, and at the bearing end surface facing the step portion 100S. The ring spring 300 is configured to be pressed against the tapered surface 100T by a tapered surface 200T having a diameter increasing toward the outside formed on the inner peripheral edge of the shaft hole 240. The tapered surfaces 100T and 200T are angled so as to open toward the stepped portion 100S in the axial cross section.

  By changing the inclination angle of the tapered surfaces 100T and 200T, the ratio of distributing the external force applied from the tapered surface 200T to the ring spring 300 into the axial component and the radial component can be changed.

Claims (5)

It is a bearing structure for rotary operation type electronic parts,
A column-shaped operation part, a holding part that forms a step part from one end of the operation part and has a small outer diameter and is extended in the axial direction, and a drive part that is further extended in the axial direction from the holding part. A rotation operation shaft including
A bearing having a shaft hole through which the holding portion is inserted and rotatably holding the holding portion, and one end facing the stepped portion;
Including
The other end of the bearing is provided with an electromechanical signal control unit that performs signal control by rotation of a rotor fixed to the driving unit,
The rotating operation shaft is formed with a first taper surface extending from the intermediate position in the radial direction of the stepped portion to the outer peripheral surface of the holding portion,
The bearing has a second tapered surface having an inner diameter that increases outwardly at the inner peripheral edge of the shaft hole at the one end, and is sandwiched and cut between the first and second tapered surfaces. An annular ring spring is attached,
A fixing ring is attached to an annular groove formed on the outer periphery of the drive unit side end of the holding unit, and is engaged with the other end of the bearing to prevent the rotation operation shaft from coming off.   2. The bearing structure according to claim 1, wherein the first and second tapered surfaces are angled so as to open toward the stepped portion.   3. The bearing structure according to claim 1, wherein the electromechanical signal control unit includes a rotation switch mechanism.   3. The bearing structure according to claim 1, wherein the electromechanical signal control unit includes a variable resistance mechanism.   5. The bearing structure according to claim 1, wherein the ring spring is made of a metal spring material.

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