CN210123706U - Switch and vehicle lock - Google Patents

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a switch and a vehicle lock. The switch includes a housing, a plurality of terminals, each terminal disposed partially within the housing and including a connection portion disposed outside the housing for coupling the plurality of terminals to a circuit; a trigger portion extending from outside the housing into the housing and adapted to move along its axis toward the terminals in response to a force applied thereto to bring the plurality of terminals into contact with each other, thereby completing an electrical circuit coupled by the terminals; and an elastic member adapted to deform in response to movement of the trigger portion toward the terminal and to recover when the force is removed, such that the trigger portion is reset under the combined action of the elastic member and the terminal. Embodiments according to the present disclosure provide a switch in which a terminal is assisted by an elastic member to reset a trigger, eliminating the risk of failure due to the terminal providing restoring force for a long time, thereby improving reliability of the switch.

Description

Switch and vehicle lock

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to electronic switches and, more particularly, to tact switches and vehicle locks.

Background

The light touch switch is also called a key switch, when the switch is used, the switch is closed and switched on by applying pressure to the switch operation direction under the condition of meeting the operation force, when the pressure is relieved, the switch is switched off, and the internal structure is switched on and off by the stress change of the metal elastic sheet. The tact switch has advantages of small contact resistance load, accurate operation force error, diversified specifications and the like, and is widely applied to electronic equipment, white household appliances and the like, such as: audio-visual products, digital products, remote controllers, communication products, household appliances, security products, toys, computer products, fitness equipment, medical equipment, currency examining pens, laser pen keys and the like. In addition, with the development of the sharing bicycle, more and more bicycles use a tact switch to obtain information on whether a lock ring or other parts reach a predetermined position.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

The traditional tact switch is switched on and off by the stress change of a metal elastic sheet. The metal dome used is also typically a terminal for connecting to an electrical circuit. Because the terminal generally adopts comparatively thin metal to make, long-time atress can lead to the terminal to take place permanent deformation to lead to the problem such as switch function failure. To at least partially address the above and other potential problems, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a switch and a vehicle lock using the same.

In a first aspect of the disclosure, a switch is provided. The switch includes a housing, a plurality of terminals, each terminal disposed partially within the housing and including a connection portion disposed outside the housing for coupling the plurality of terminals to a circuit; a trigger portion extending from outside the housing into the housing and adapted to move along its axis toward the terminals in response to a force applied thereto to bring the plurality of terminals into contact with each other, thereby completing an electrical circuit coupled by the terminals; and an elastic member adapted to deform in response to movement of the trigger portion toward the terminal and to recover when the force is removed, such that the trigger portion is reset under the combined action of the elastic member and the terminal.

Embodiments according to the present disclosure provide a switch in which a terminal is assisted by an elastic member to reset a trigger, eliminating the risk of failure due to the terminal providing restoring force for a long time, thereby improving reliability of the switch.

In some embodiments, the trigger extends into the housing through a first wall, and the connection extends from a second wall, and the first and second walls are parallel to each other.

In some embodiments, the switch further comprises a fixing portion disposed in the housing between the first wall and the second wall for fixing the first end of the elastic member. By this arrangement, the switch can be more easily assembled.

In some embodiments, the trigger portion includes a drive ring sleeved on a portion of the trigger portion in the housing for driving the second end of the elastic member to move to deform the elastic member.

In some embodiments, the resilient member comprises a spring disposed about the trigger.

In some embodiments, each of the terminals includes a bent portion such that the plurality of terminals overlap each other in a direction along the axis at least at a position corresponding to the trigger portion.

In some embodiments, the plurality of terminals and the trigger portion are disposed on opposite sides of the fixation portion.

In some embodiments, the fixing portion is provided with an opening for the triggering portion to pass through to contact the plurality of terminals.

In some embodiments, the opening and the through hole are aligned in a direction in which the axis extends.

According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a vehicle lock is provided. The lock includes the switch described above.

Further features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings. It should be understood that this summary is not intended to identify key or critical features of the embodiments of the disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description.

Drawings

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent by describing in more detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings, in which like reference numerals generally represent like parts throughout the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a switch according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the trigger has not yet been triggered;

FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of a switch in which an activation portion has been activated, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of a switch according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

fig. 4 illustrates a front view of a switch according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The same or similar reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like elements.

Detailed Description

The present disclosure will now be described with reference to several example embodiments. It should be understood that these examples are described only for the purpose of enabling those skilled in the art to better understand and thereby enable the present disclosure, and are not intended to set forth any limitations on the scope of the technical solutions of the present disclosure.

As used herein, the term "include" and its variants are to be read as open-ended terms meaning "including, but not limited to. The term "based on" will be read as "based at least in part on". The terms "one embodiment" and "an embodiment" should be understood as "at least one embodiment". The term "another embodiment" should be understood as "at least one other embodiment". The terms "first," "second," and the like may refer to different or the same object. Other explicit and implicit definitions may be included below. The definitions of the terms are consistent throughout the specification unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

In a conventional switch, particularly a tact switch, when a force for triggering the tact switch is absent, an elastic force of a terminal itself is generally used to reset a trigger. The inventor finds that some tact switches fail due to permanent deformation of the terminal caused by a large deformation force applied to the terminal for a long time. The plurality of terminals after the permanent deformation always maintain a contact state, thereby causing the switch to fail.

To address or at least partially address the above or other potential issues with switches, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a switch. Fig. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of the switch 100, wherein the trigger 103 has not yet been triggered; and figure 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the switch 100 in which the trigger 103 has been triggered.

As shown, the switch 100 generally includes a housing 101, a plurality of terminals 102, a trigger 103, and a resilient member 104. The housing 101 is generally a closed structure having a closed cavity to protect components therein from external forces and dust. A plurality of terminals 102 are partially arranged in the housing 101. An embodiment having two terminals 102 is shown in fig. 1. However, it should be understood that the number of terminals 102 may not be limited thereto. For example, the number of terminals may also be 3 or more.

The plurality of terminals 102 each include a connecting portion 1021 arranged outside the housing 101 for coupling the terminal 102 to a circuit. An embodiment in which connecting portion 1021 extends out of housing 101 to form a connecting leg to facilitate coupling to circuitry is shown in fig. 1. It should be understood that the structure of the connecting portion 1021 is not limited thereto, and any other suitable structure or arrangement is possible. For example, in some alternative embodiments, the connecting portion 1021 may also be a solder formed on the outside of the casing 101, rather than protruding from the casing 101, so that the switch 100 can be connected to the circuit board by surface mount technology.

The trigger 103 extends from outside the housing 101 into the housing 101. Wherein a portion external to the housing 101 can be brought into contact with the component whose position of movement is to be monitored so that an appropriate force is applied to the trigger when the component is moved into position. Under the action of a force, the trigger 103 is able to move along its own axis X towards the terminals 102 to bring the plurality of terminals 102 into contact with each other, thereby completing the circuit connected by the terminals 102.

Unlike conventional switches, the switch 100 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure also has an elastic member 104. The elastic member 104 can be deformed during the movement of the trigger 103 toward the terminal. The elastic member 104 is restored after the force applied to the trigger 103 is removed, for example, a member triggered by the trigger 103 is moved to another position. The process of restoration will cause the trigger 103 to reset under the combined action of the elastic member 104 and the terminal 102 to wait for the next trigger.

By introducing the elastic member 104, the trigger 103 can be reset mainly by the restoring force of the elastic member 104, and the terminal 102 can be reset under the condition of being basically not stressed or being subjected to small force, so that the condition that the terminal 102 fails due to the restoring force provided for a long time is basically eliminated. In addition, the introduction of the elastic member 104 makes the reset of the trigger 103 faster, thereby improving the response speed of the switch 100.

An embodiment in which the elastic member 104 is compressed to provide a restoring force to reset the trigger 103 is shown in fig. 1 and 2. Of course, it should be understood that the deformation of the elastic member 104 is not limited thereto. For example, in some alternative embodiments, the deformation of the elastic member 104 may be a stretching. For example, one end of the elastic member 104 may be fixed to a wall through which the trigger 103 passes (hereinafter, referred to as a first wall 101 for convenience of discussion), and the other end is fixed to the trigger 103 to be stretched while the trigger 103 moves toward the terminal 102.

In this case, after the force applied to the trigger 103 is removed, the stretched elastic member 104 can also provide an elastic restoring force to return the trigger 103. Further, fig. 1 and 2 show an embodiment in which the elastic member 104 is a spring surrounding the trigger 103. However, it should be understood that the resilient member 104 may be any other suitable member capable of deforming and providing a restoring force. For example, in some alternative embodiments, the resilient member 104 may also be an elastic rubber or silicone rubber, or the like.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 1-4, a connection 1021 may extend from a second wall 1012 that is parallel to a first wall 1011. Such an arrangement further facilitates the switch 100 being arranged in a suitable position to detect whether the component is moved to a desired position. Of course, it should be understood that the positional relationship between the trigger part 103 and the connecting part 1021 may also be not limited thereto. Any other suitable structure or arrangement is possible. For example, in some embodiments, the first wall 1011 and the second wall 1012 may also be perpendicular to each other. The improvement of the switch 100 will be exemplarily described below by the embodiment shown in the drawings.

To facilitate assembly of the resilient member 104, in some embodiments, the switch 100 further includes a retainer 1013, as shown in fig. 1. The fixing part 1013 is disposed between the first wall 1011 and the second wall 1012 for fixing the first end of the elastic member 104 thereon. The fixation here may mean that the first end of the elastic member 104 is restrained from further movement toward the terminal 102. Of course, fixing may also mean that the first end is fastened to the fixing part 1013 by a suitable means.

The trigger part 103 includes a drive ring 1031. Is fixedly sleeved on the part of the trigger part 103 in the housing 101 to drive the second end of the elastic member 104 to move to compress the elastic member 104 when the trigger part 103 moves towards the terminal 102 under the action of the trigger part 103. When the elastic member 104 provides a restoring force, the restoring force can act on the drive ring 1031, thereby driving the trigger part 103 to reset. This arrangement enables the switch 100 to be more easily assembled, improving assembly efficiency, and thus reducing assembly costs.

In some embodiments, each of the terminals 102 may be bent such that the terminals 102 overlap each other at least at a position corresponding to the trigger 103 and in a direction along the axis X. This can facilitate the contact of the terminals 102 with each other to complete the circuit upon the triggering of the trigger 103. Further, a bump may be provided on at least one of the plurality of terminals 102 to facilitate contact between the terminals 102.

As shown in fig. 1, in some embodiments, the plurality of terminals 102 and the triggering part 103 are respectively disposed on opposite sides of the fixing part 1013. An opening 1014 may be provided on the fixing part 1013 for the triggering part 103 to pass through to contact the plurality of terminals 102. Furthermore, the opening 1014 and the through hole in the first wall 1011 through which the trigger 103 passes are aligned in the direction in which the axis X extends. This ensures that the movement of the trigger 103 does not deflect and cause a trigger failure, improving the stability of the switch 100.

As can be seen from the above, the switch 100 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure can respond more quickly, and also avoid the switch failure caused by the terminal providing restoring force for a long time, thereby improving the stability and the service life of the switch 100.

A vehicle lock is also provided according to a second aspect of the present disclosure. The bicycle lock can be applied to bicycles. Such a vehicle lock uses the above-mentioned switch to detect the position of a component such as a tongue or a lock pin, thereby improving the reliability of the detection.

It is to be understood that the above detailed embodiments of the disclosure are merely illustrative of or explaining the principles of the disclosure and are not limiting of the disclosure. Therefore, any modification, equivalent replacement, or improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention. Also, it is intended that the following claims cover all such changes and modifications that fall within the scope and boundaries of the claims or the equivalents of the scope and boundaries.

Claims (10)

1. A switch (100), comprising:

a housing (101) for accommodating the electronic component,

a plurality of terminals (102), each terminal (102) being partially arranged within the housing (101) and comprising a connection portion (1021) arranged outside the housing (101) for coupling the plurality of terminals (102) to a circuit;

a trigger portion (103) extending from outside the housing (101) into the housing (101) and adapted to move along its axis (X) towards the terminals (102) in response to a force applied thereto to bring the plurality of terminals (102) into contact with one another, thereby completing an electrical circuit coupled by the terminals (102); and

an elastic member (104) adapted to deform in response to movement of the trigger (103) towards the terminal (102) and to recover when the force is removed, such that the trigger (103) is reset under the co-action of the elastic member (104) and the terminal (102).

2. The switch (100) of claim 1, wherein the trigger portion (103) extends into the housing (101) through a first wall (1011) and the connecting portion (1021) extends from a second wall (1012), and wherein

The first wall (1011) and the second wall (1012) are parallel to each other.

3. The switch (100) of claim 2, further comprising a fixing portion (1013) arranged in the housing between the first wall (1011) and the second wall (1012) for fixing a first end of the resilient member (104).

4. The switch (100) according to claim 3, wherein the trigger part (103) comprises a driving ring (1031) sleeved on a portion of the trigger part (103) in the housing (101) for driving the second end of the elastic member (104) to move to deform the elastic member (104).

5. The switch (100) of claim 1, wherein the resilient member (104) comprises a spring disposed around the trigger (103).

6. The switch (100) according to claim 1, wherein each of the terminals (102) comprises a bend such that the plurality of terminals (102) overlap each other in a direction along the axis (X) at least at a position corresponding to the trigger (103).

7. The switch (100) of claim 3, wherein the plurality of terminals (102) and the trigger portion (103) are disposed on opposite sides of the retainer portion (1013).

8. The switch (100) according to claim 7, wherein said stationary part (1013) is provided with an opening (1014) for said trigger part (103) to pass therethrough to contact said plurality of terminals (102).

9. The switch (100) according to claim 8, wherein the opening (1014) and a through hole on the first wall (1011) through which the trigger (103) passes are aligned in a direction in which an axis (X) extends.

10. A vehicle lock comprising a switch (100) according to any of claims 1-9.

Images