LEVER POSITIONING REGISTER FOR VEHICLE TRANSMISSION SWITCH

DISPOSITIF DE REGLAGE DE POSITION DE LEVIER POUR INTERRUPTEUR DE BOITE DE VITESSE

English Abstract

ABSTRACT OF DISCLOSURE
A switch includes a movable member provided with a
movable contact thereon and a substrate provided with fixed
contacts thereon with which the movable contact contacts.
The movable member is driven by an operating lever secured
thereto to slide over the substrate so that the movable
contact is shifted from one fixed contact to another. The
switch comprises a first reference portion provided on the
operating lever and a second reference portion provided on
the substrate. The movable contact is accurately
positioned on the substarate with respect to the fixed
contacts when the first reference portion is positioned to
align with the second reference portion.

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive
property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
1. A switch for use in connection with a machine to
control an operational condition of the machine including
a movable member provided with at least one movable
contact thereon and a substrate provided with fixed
contacts thereon with which said movable contact engages,
said movable member being driven by an operating lever
secured thereto to slide over said substrate so that said
movable contact is shifted from one fixed contact to
another, wherein said switch comprises:
a first reference portion on said operating lever;
and
a second reference portion provided on said
substrate at the time said substrate is manufactured and
before said switch is assembled;
wherein said movable contact is accurately
positioned on said substrate with respect to said fixed
contacts in a position corresponding to a predetermined
operational condition of the machine when said first
reference portion is positioned to align with said second
reference portion.

Description

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[Field of the Invention] -
The present invention relates to a variety of switches ~;
including rotary switches and slide switches, and more
particularly to a switch that provides improved accuracy of -
setting position of a movable contact relative to fixed
contacts.
~Prior Art] `~
Conventionally, a wide variety of switches such as -~
rotary switches and slide switches have been used as a
shift switch, where a movable member on which a movable - - -
contact is provided is driven by an operating lever thereof
to slide over a substrate having fixed contacts disposed
thereon, thereby switching the fixed contacts from one to
another. Japanese Utility Model Preliminary Publication ;~
No.55-2041 discloses one such switch, for example. These
switches often require accurate positioning of the position
of acommon contact or movable contact relative to fixed
contacts. An inhibitter switch, for example, is attached
to an automatic transmission of a vehicle and is driven
through lever operation of the automatic transmission for
setting cruising conditions of the vehicle. The inhibitter
switch is shifted its movable contact between a plurality ,~
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of fixed contacts, from one fixed contact to another
disposed on the substrate, in accordance with the swing
angle of the lever that is connected to a control shaft of
the automatic transmission. Since this switch is installed
to work with the transmission, a large amount of positional
error of the movable contacts greatly affects transfflission
control itself. Thus a high positional accuracy between
the movable contact and the fixed contacts is of great
importance.
The aforementioned prior art switches suffer from the
disadvantages that there is no positional references for ;~
the lever of the switch to be positioned so that the
movable contact is suitably positioned relative to the ;~
respective contacts disposed on the switch substrate, thus "~.~!''.'; '~''
exhibiting a poor positioning accuracy of the movable
contact.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
With the foregoing in mind, the present invention was
made to provide a switch in which a movable contact moves
on the substrate to switch between a plurality of contacts
from one fixed contact to another disposed on the
substrate, characterized in that the above-described switch -~
lever and the substrate are each provided with a reference
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setting portion, thereby overcoming the drawbacks in the
prior art switches.
Another aspect of this invention is as follows.
A switch for use in connection with a machine to
control an operational condition o~ the machine including
a movable member provided with at least one movable
contact thereon and a substrate provided with fixed
contacts thereon with which said movable contact engages,
said movable member being driven by an operating lever
secured thereto to slide over said substrate so that said
movable contact is shifted from one fixed contact to
another, wherein said switch comprises:
a first reference portion on said operating lever;
and
a second reference portion provided on said `~
substrate at the time said substrate is manufactured and
before said switch is assembled; ~ ~ ;
wherein said movable contact is accurately ` ; ~`
positioned on said substrate with respect to said fixed
contacts in a position corresponding to a predet~rmined
operational condition of the machine when said first
reference portion is positioned to align with said second
reference portion.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF_THE DRAWINGS
Features and details of the invention will be
apparent from description of a specific embodiment
described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in
which:
FIG. 1 to FIG. 3 illustrate an embodiment of a shift
switch according to the present invention;
FIG. 1 i~ a plan view of a cross-section of the
switch according to the invention;
FIG. 2 i9 a top view of the switch shown in FIG. l;
and
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4a
FIG. 3 i5 a top view of the substrate shown in FIG.
1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
A preferred embodiment of an inhibiter switch to
which the present invention is applied will now be
described in detail with reference to the accompanying
drawings as follows. A case 1 is formed in the shape of
a thin frame to which a substrate 2 is secured by means
of screws or the like. On the case 1 is formed an
elongate hole la for mounting the case 1 to an automatic
transmission (not shown).
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The substrate ~ is provided a projection 2a formed
thereon around which a plurality of fixed contacts 3 are
disposed concentrically as sh~wn in FIG.3. The substrate 2
is provided with a connector 2b formed integrally therewith
for connecting the movable contact and the respective fixed
contacts with external wirings.
A movable member 4 comprises a shaft 4a rotatably
journalled by a journal hole lb of the case 1 and an arm 4b
formed integrally with and exteding ~t substantially right
angle from the shaft 4a. The lower end of the shaft 4a is
supported pivotally at the projection 2a, thereby defining
a center of pivotal motion of the movable member 4 with
respect to the substrate 2. The arm 4b is provided with
movable contacts 6, each urged by a comprëssion spring 5 so
that they engage the fixed contacts 3 through depressive
force of the compression spring 5.
An operating lever 7 is secured at one end thereof to
an upper end portion of the shaft 4a of the movable member
4 and is formed a connecting hole 7a thereon to w~lich a
drive arm (not shown) driven by a control shaft of the
automatic transmission is connected.
In the vicinity of the free end of the operating lever
7, there is provided a through hole ~b which serves as a
reference portion for the operating lever to be positioned
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in place. On the upper surface of the substrate 2 is
formed a protrusion 2d having a blind hole 2c therewithin.
This blind hole 2c serves as a reference portion with which -
the through hole 7b is to be aligned. The position of the
through hole 2c on the substrate 2 is determined so that
the inhibitter switch is at a position N, a neutral
position of the transmission, when the through hole 7b is
directly in line with the blind hole 2c on an axis
therethrough at a position No. Therefore fit-inserting an
end portion 8a of a setting jig 8 into the blind hole 2c
and a rear end portion 8b into the through hole 7b permits
the movable contact mounted on the arm 4b to take up an ~ -
accurate angular position with resepect to the fixed
contacts 3 on the substrate 2. ~ -
The respective references, i.e., the through hole 7b
and the blind hole are only exemplary and many variation
may be made as far as the angular position of the lever 7
thus movable contact can be positioned in place with
respect to the fixed contacts on the substrate. Also, the
construction of the protrusion 2d projecting upwardly is
exemplary only.
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Representative Drawing