Electronic device
The electronic device addresses positioning challenges by using larger through-holes and adjustment holes with O-rings to absorb errors, enabling accurate assembly and reducing load on connectors.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- WO · WO
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- KOWA CO LTD
- Filing Date
- 2025-12-03
- Publication Date
- 2026-06-11
AI Technical Summary
Existing electronic devices face challenges in accurately positioning multiple connectors on a substrate due to mounting and machining errors, leading to potential displacement and excessive load on the connectors, especially when two connectors are mounted on the same substrate.
The electronic device incorporates a substrate with larger through-holes and adjustment holes for each connector, allowing for a predetermined gap or adjustment allowance to absorb positioning errors, and uses position adjustment O-rings to ensure proper alignment without excessive load on the connectors.
This configuration enables proper assembly of the device without applying unnecessary load to the positioning members, ensuring accurate positioning and reducing the risk of displacement between connectors.
Smart Images
Figure JP2025042097_11062026_PF_FP_ABST
Abstract
Description
Electronic device 【0001】 The present invention relates to an electronic device having a feature in a positioning structure between two or more positioning members fixed to a substrate and a housing. 【0002】 Conventionally, in an electronic device, a configuration has been adopted in which a connector mounted on a substrate is installed in an opening formed in a housing so that the connector can be used from the outside of the housing. In such a case, it is necessary to accurately position and fix the connector in the opening of the housing. However, due to mounting errors of the connector with respect to the substrate, machining errors when machining the opening of the housing, etc., the position of the connector may shift with respect to the opening of the housing. 【0003】 As a solution to such a problem of displacement, for example, Patent Document 1 has already been proposed. This Patent Document 1 discloses a structure in which displacement is absorbed by elastic force by fixing a substrate via mounting members that elastically deform at the four corners. 【0004】 Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-42124 【0005】 According to Patent Document 1, displacement can be eliminated by moving the entire substrate by elastic deformation of the mounting members at the four corners of the substrate. However, when two connectors as positioning members are mounted on the same substrate, displacement may occur between the two connectors. In such a situation, with a method of moving the entire substrate as in Patent Document 1, there is a risk that it may not be possible to cope with displacement, such as when one is adjusted, the other will shift. 【0006】Figure 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of positioning a circuit board with two connectors mounted as positioning members using a single housing. In Figure 7, a first connector as the first positioning member and a second connector as the second positioning member are mounted on the circuit board. In this example of Figure 7, both the first and second connectors are circular connectors, and a type of connector is used in which the male and female connectors are fixed by screw connection. On the housing side, through holes for the first connector and through holes for the second connector are formed at the positions where the first and second connectors face each other, according to the outer circumference shape of each. On the outer circumference of each of the through holes for the first and second connectors, cylindrical boss portions with screw grooves on the inner circumference are integrally formed with the housing. 【0007】 In Figure 7, even if the mounting error of the first connector and the processing error on the housing side are taken into consideration when determining the diameter of the through-hole for the first connector, and the mounting error of the second connector and the processing error on the housing side are taken into consideration when determining the diameter of the through-hole for the second connector, if two connectors are mounted on the same circuit board and two holes are formed in the same housing, the errors on the first connector side and the errors on the second connector side will affect each other, which may result in assembly being impossible, or even if assembly is possible, excessive load being placed on the connectors. 【0008】 To avoid such problems, both the diameter of the through-hole for the first connector and the diameter of the through-hole for the second connector need to be set to a size that includes enough adjustment margin to adequately absorb the effects of errors on the mating side. However, as shown in the example in Figure 7, when cylindrical bosses with screw threads on the inner circumference are formed on the outer circumference of both the through-hole for the first connector and the through-hole for the second connector, the inner diameter of the boss is determined by the specifications of the circular connector, which presents a problem in that the diameters of the through-holes for the first and second connectors cannot be unconditionally increased. 【0009】The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide an electronic device that can be properly assembled with a housing without putting a load on the positioning members, even when two or more positioning members are fixed on the same substrate. 【0010】 The electronic device according to the present invention is characterized by comprising: a substrate to which a first positioning member and a second positioning member are attached; a first housing member which is part of the housing that constitutes the external appearance of the device, and has a through hole for a first positioning member formed at a position corresponding to the first positioning member, which is larger than the external dimensions of the first positioning member by a predetermined gap; and an adjustment hole for a second positioning member formed at a position corresponding to the second positioning member, which is larger than the external dimensions of the second positioning member by a predetermined adjustment allowance that can absorb both errors that may occur in positioning on the first positioning member side and errors that may occur in positioning on the second positioning member side; and a second housing member which is part of the housing that constitutes the external appearance of the device, and has a through hole for a second positioning member formed at a position corresponding to the second positioning member, which is larger than the external dimensions of the second positioning member by a predetermined gap; and an adjustment hole for a first positioning member formed at a position corresponding to the first positioning member, which is larger than the external dimensions of the first positioning member by a predetermined adjustment allowance that can absorb both errors that may occur in positioning on the first positioning member side and errors that may occur in positioning on the second positioning member side. 【0011】 Furthermore, in the electronic device according to the present invention, the substrate is fixed to the first housing member with the first positioning member inserted into the through hole for the first positioning member and the second positioning member inserted into the adjustment hole for the second positioning member, and the second housing member is fixed to the first housing member with the first positioning member inserted into the adjustment hole for the first positioning member and the second positioning member inserted into the through hole for the second positioning member. 【0012】Furthermore, in the electronic device according to the present invention, a position adjustment O-ring is fitted to the outer circumference of the first positioning member, and the position adjustment O-ring functions as a position adjustment member in a predetermined gap between the first positioning member and the through hole for the first positioning member. 【0013】 Furthermore, in the electronic device according to the present invention, a position adjustment O-ring is fitted to the outer circumference of the second positioning member, and the position adjustment O-ring functions as a position adjustment member in a predetermined gap between the second positioning member and the through hole for the second positioning member. 【0014】 Furthermore, in the electronic device according to the present invention, the first positioning member and the second positioning member are further characterized in that they are connectors. 【0015】 Furthermore, in the electronic device according to the present invention, the first positioning member and the second positioning member are circular connectors, and the through-holes for the first positioning member and the second positioning member are formed at the locations where they are made, and cylindrical boss portions with screw grooves on their inner circumference are formed so that each location functions as a female connector. 【0016】 According to the present invention, even if two objects requiring positioning, a first positioning member and a second positioning member, are mounted on the same substrate, the first positioning member is appropriately positioned by the first housing member, and the second positioning member is appropriately positioned by the second housing member. This makes it possible to assemble an electronic device without applying unnecessary load to the first and second positioning members after proper positioning. 【0017】This is a blowback diagram illustrating the overall configuration of an electronic device corresponding to an embodiment of the present invention. This is a plan view showing an example of a circuit board constituting an electronic device corresponding to an embodiment of the present invention. This is a plan view showing an example of a first housing member constituting an electronic device corresponding to an embodiment of the present invention. This is a plan view showing an example of a second housing member constituting an electronic device corresponding to an embodiment of the present invention. This is a perspective view showing the assembled state of an electronic device corresponding to an embodiment of the present invention. This is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating an O-ring for position adjustment in an electronic device corresponding to an embodiment of the present invention. This is a plan view of a circuit board and housing illustrating a conventional positioning method in an electronic device. 【0018】 Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, an example of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. 【0019】 Figure 1 is a blown-out diagram illustrating the overall configuration of an electronic device 100 corresponding to at least one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 1, the electronic device 100 comprises a circuit board 10, a first housing member 20, and a second housing member 30. The electronic device 100 is also constructed by assembling the components, including a third housing member 50 which is not shown in Figure 1. 【0020】 Figure 2 is a plan view showing an example of a substrate 10 that constitutes an electronic device corresponding to at least one embodiment of the present invention. The substrate 10 is a substrate necessary for the electronic device and has a first positioning member and a second positioning member attached to it, which need to be positioned relative to the housing. The first positioning member and the second positioning member can be any type of member that needs to be positioned relative to the housing. In this example, the case in which a circular connector fixed by a screw-in connection is used as the first positioning member and the second positioning member will be explained as an example. Other examples of the first positioning member and the second positioning member include a rectangular connector, a connector for a recording medium, and a push button. 【0021】Figure 3 is a plan view showing an example of a first housing member 20 that constitutes an electronic device corresponding to at least one embodiment of the present invention. The first housing member 20 has a through hole 21 for a first positioning member and an adjustment hole 22 for a second positioning member. 【0022】 The through-hole 21 for the first positioning member is formed at a position on the substrate 10 corresponding to the first positioning member 11 during assembly, and is formed to be larger than the outer dimensions of the first positioning member 11 by a predetermined gap. Here, the predetermined gap to be considered when determining the dimensions of the through-hole 21 for the first positioning member only needs to be a gap that does not cause difficulty when passing the first positioning member 11 through the through-hole 21 for the first positioning member during assembly, and does not necessarily need to be a gap intended to absorb mounting errors of the first positioning member 11 on the substrate 10 or machining errors of the through-hole 21 for the first positioning member. 【0023】 The adjustment hole 22 for the second positioning member is formed at a position on the substrate 10 corresponding to the second positioning member 12 during assembly, and is formed to be larger than the outer dimensions of the second positioning member 12 by a predetermined adjustment allowance that can absorb both the errors that may occur in positioning on the first positioning member 11 side and the errors that may occur in positioning on the second positioning member 12 side. There is no problem if the errors that occur on the first positioning member 11 side and the errors that occur on the second positioning member 12 side are in the same direction, but if the directions of the errors are in opposite directions, which are 180 degrees apart, the positional misalignment will be large, and the predetermined adjustment allowance is required to be large enough to accommodate cases where the positional misalignment is maximized due to such a 180-degree difference in the direction of the errors. 【0024】 In this example, the first positioning member 11 employs a round connector that is fixed by a screw-in connection, and a cylindrical boss portion 23 with screw grooves on its inner circumference is formed on the outer circumference of the through hole 21 for the first positioning member. This boss portion 23 is structured for screw-in connection of a male connector that is paired with the first positioning member 11. 【0025】In addition, the first housing member 20 is provided with four screw holes 24 in this example for screwing the second housing member 30 to it. 【0026】 Figure 4 is a plan view showing an example of a second housing member 30 that constitutes an electronic device corresponding to at least one embodiment of the present invention. The second housing member 30 has an adjustment hole 31 for a first positioning member and a through hole 32 for a second positioning member. 【0027】 The adjustment hole 31 for the first positioning member is formed at a position corresponding to the first positioning member 11 on the substrate 10 during assembly, and is formed to be larger than the outer dimensions of the first positioning member 11 by a predetermined adjustment allowance that can absorb both the errors that may occur in positioning on the first positioning member 11 side and the errors that may occur in positioning on the second positioning member 12 side. In this example, a cylindrical boss portion 23 is formed on the outer circumference of the through hole 21 for the first positioning member of the first housing member 20, so it is necessary to provide a predetermined adjustment allowance while allowing this boss portion 23 to pass through. For this reason, in this example, it is necessary to form the adjustment hole 31 for the first positioning member to be larger than the dimensions of the boss portion 23 plus the predetermined adjustment allowance. 【0028】 The through-hole 32 for the second positioning member is formed at a position on the substrate 10 corresponding to the second positioning member 12 during assembly, and is formed to be larger than the external dimensions of the second positioning member 12 by a predetermined gap. Here, the predetermined gap to be considered when determining the dimensions of the through-hole 32 for the second positioning member only needs to be a gap that does not cause difficulty when passing the second positioning member 12 through the through-hole 32 for the second positioning member during assembly, and does not necessarily need to be a gap intended to absorb mounting errors of the second positioning member 12 on the substrate 10 or machining errors of the through-hole 32 for the second positioning member. 【0029】In this example, the second positioning member 12 employs a round connector that is fixed by a screw-in connection, and a cylindrical boss portion 33 with screw grooves on its inner circumference is formed on the outer circumference of the through hole 32 for the second positioning member. This boss portion 33 is a structure for screw-in connection of a male connector that is paired with the second positioning member 12. 【0030】 Furthermore, the second housing member 30 is provided with four elongated holes 34 in this example for passing screws when fastening the second housing member 30 to the first housing member 20. These elongated holes 34 are formed so that their longitudinal direction is in the direction where the error is most likely to be greatest. Specifically, the direction parallel to the line connecting the center of the first positioning member 11 and the center of the second positioning member 12 is the direction in which the error is most likely to be greatest, so the elongated holes 34 are formed to be longer in that direction. It is also possible to make the locations of these elongated holes 34 into large-diameter round holes, but if they are made into large-diameter round holes, the contact area with the screw head will be small and the surface pressure will be large. If the surface pressure is large, there is a risk that the material will undergo plastic deformation, and if it undergoes plastic deformation, there is a risk that the screw will loosen. For this reason, it is preferable to make them elongated holes 34 in order to reduce the surface pressure of the screw while still allowing for position adjustment. 【0031】 Next, the assembly of the electronic device 100 in this embodiment will be explained with reference to Figures 1 to 4. As a prerequisite for the assembly process, it is assumed that the first positioning member 11 and the second positioning member 12 have already been mounted on the substrate 10. 【0032】 In the assembly process, the substrate 10 and the first housing member 20 are first fixed together. Specifically, the first positioning member 11 is inserted into the through hole 21 for the first positioning member, and the second positioning member 12 is inserted into the adjustment hole 22 for the second positioning member, and the substrate 10 is then fixed to the first housing member 20. The through hole 21 for the first positioning member is formed to be large enough for the first positioning member 11 to pass through, and the adjustment hole 22 for the second positioning member is provided with an adjustment allowance to absorb even large errors, so the positioning of the substrate 10 and the first housing member 20 is performed without any problems. 【0033】 Next, with the substrate 10 and the first housing member 20 assembled, the second housing member 30 is attached. Specifically, the first positioning member 11 is inserted into the adjustment hole 31 for the first positioning member, and the second positioning member 12 is inserted into the through hole 32 for the second positioning member, and the second housing member 30 is fixed to the first housing member 20. The through hole 32 for the second positioning member is formed to a size that the second positioning member 12 can pass through, and the adjustment hole 31 for the first positioning member is provided with an adjustment allowance that can absorb even large errors, so if the second positioning member 12 is inserted into the through hole 32 for the second positioning member, the positioning of the second housing member 30 can be performed without any problems. If a misalignment occurs due to an error, the relative position of the second housing member 30 with respect to the first housing member 20 will change. However, the elongated holes 34 used for screwing the second housing member 30 are oriented so that screwing can be performed even if the relative position of the second housing member 30 changes, with the direction of the change in relative position being the longitudinal direction. Therefore, there will be no problem with screwing. Once the position adjustment is complete, the second housing member 30 is fixed to the first housing member 20 with screws 40. As shown in Figure 1, it is preferable to use O-rings 25 and 35 as appropriate during assembly to improve airtightness. 【0034】 The assembly process described above is the assembly process for the location where the first positioning member 11 and the second positioning member 12 are installed in the electronic device 100. In practice, a third housing member 50 for covering the substrate 10 is assembled to the location corresponding to the first housing member 20. The internal configuration of the third housing member 50 differs depending on what the electronic device 100 is. For example, if the electronic device 100 is an industrial camera, an optical system such as a camera lens will be assembled to the third housing member 50. 【0035】Figure 5 is a perspective view showing the assembled state of an electronic device corresponding to at least one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 5, since the housing constituting the electronic device 100 is a first housing member 20 and a second housing member 30, the number of parts increases compared to the conventional method. However, compared to the case where a single housing member is used to position the two members, the first positioning member 11 and the second positioning member 12, the load on the first positioning member 11 and the second positioning member 12 due to forced assembly is eliminated. 【0036】 Figure 6 is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating a position adjustment O-ring in an electronic device corresponding to at least one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 6 shows a cross-sectional view at the position of the second positioning member 12. As shown in Figure 6, the position adjustment O-ring 13 may be fitted onto the second positioning member 12. This position adjustment O-ring 13 functions as a position adjustment member in a predetermined gap between the second positioning member 12 and the through hole 32 for the second positioning member. That is, since the position adjustment O-ring 13 is an elastic member, when one point is strongly pressed, it acts to return to that direction. This force acting to return functions as a centripetal force, and as a result, the position adjustment O-ring 13 naturally adjusts the position to the center. Although Figure 6 describes an example in which the position adjustment O-ring 13 is applied to the second positioning member 12, the position adjustment O-ring may also be applied to the first positioning member 11. 【0037】 As described above, according to the electronic device of the present invention, even if two objects requiring positioning, a first positioning member and a second positioning member, are mounted on the same substrate, the first positioning member is appropriately positioned by the first housing member, and the second positioning member is appropriately positioned by the second housing member. This makes it possible to assemble the electronic device without applying unnecessary load to the first positioning member and the second positioning member after proper positioning. 【0038】100 Electronic device 10 Circuit board 11 First positioning member 12 Second positioning member 13 Position adjustment O-ring 20 First housing member 21 Through hole for first positioning member 22 Adjustment hole for second positioning member 23 Boss 24 Screw hole 30 Second housing member 31 Adjustment hole for first positioning member 32 Through hole for second positioning member 33 Boss 34 Slotted hole 40 Screw 50 Third housing member
Claims
1. Electronic device comprising: a substrate to which a first positioning member and a second positioning member are attached; a first housing member which is part of the housing that constitutes the external appearance of the device, and has a through hole for the first positioning member formed at a position corresponding to the first positioning member, which is larger than the external dimensions of the first positioning member by a predetermined gap; and an adjustment hole for the second positioning member formed at a position corresponding to the second positioning member, which is larger than the external dimensions of the second positioning member by a predetermined adjustment allowance that can absorb both errors that may occur in positioning on the first positioning member side and errors that may occur in positioning on the second positioning member side; and a second housing member which is part of the housing that constitutes the external appearance of the device, and has a through hole for the second positioning member formed at a position corresponding to the second positioning member, which is larger than the external dimensions of the second positioning member by a predetermined gap; and an adjustment hole for the first positioning member formed at a position corresponding to the first positioning member, which is larger than the external dimensions of the first positioning member by a predetermined adjustment allowance that can absorb both errors that may occur in positioning on the first positioning member side and errors that may occur in positioning on the second positioning member side.
2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is fixed to the first housing member with the first positioning member inserted into the through hole for the first positioning member and the second positioning member inserted into the adjustment hole for the second positioning member, and the second housing member is fixed to the first housing member with the first positioning member inserted into the adjustment hole for the first positioning member and the second positioning member inserted into the through hole for the second positioning member.
3. The electronic device according to claim 2, wherein an O-ring for position adjustment is fitted to the outer circumference of the first positioning member, and the O-ring for position adjustment functions as a position adjustment member in a predetermined gap between the first positioning member and the through hole for the first positioning member.
4. The electronic device according to claim 2, wherein a position adjustment O-ring is fitted around the outer circumference of the second positioning member, and the position adjustment O-ring functions as a position adjustment member in a predetermined gap between the second positioning member and the through hole for the second positioning member.
5. The electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first positioning member and the second positioning member are connectors.
6. The electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first positioning member and the second positioning member are circular connectors, and cylindrical boss portions with screw grooves on their inner circumference are formed at the locations where the through-hole for the first positioning member and the through-hole for the second positioning member are formed, so that each location functions as a female connector.