Vehicle Door Push-Button Switch With Self-Aligning Short-Stroke Actuator
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing push-button switches for vehicles, particularly in door panels, face challenges in achieving a reduced actuation stroke while maintaining high tactile stability and auditory silence.
Innovation Solution
The push-button switch design incorporates a movable actuator with two degrees of freedom, allowing for rotation and sliding movements, which enhances the lever effect and reduces misalignments, thereby achieving a shorter actuation stroke and improved sensory quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If the actuation stroke is reduced to the minimum, then the switch becomes more compact and responsive, but the tactile stability and auditory silence become difficult to maintain
Solution Approach 1:
The actuator is designed with two degrees of freedom, allowing it to rotate around an axis and slide along at least one direction in a plane orthogonal to the actuation direction. This dynamic capability enables the actuator to adapt its movement path, maintaining tactile stability and auditory silence even with a reduced actuation stroke by optimizing the force transmission path and reducing misalignments.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention adds a sliding degree of freedom in a plane orthogonal to the actuation direction, transforming a one-dimensional linear movement into a two-dimensional movement. This dimensional change allows the actuator to compensate for misalignments and maintain stable operation with a shorter stroke by utilizing the additional spatial dimension.
2Length of moving object
If a hinged slider is used to achieve lever effect, then the actuation stroke is reduced, but misalignments occur between the actuator and switch member
Solution Approach 1:
The actuator incorporates both rotational and sliding degrees of freedom, making it dynamically adaptable. The sliding capability along at least one direction in the orthogonal plane allows the actuator to self-align with the switch member during operation, compensating for manufacturing tolerances and preventing misalignments that would occur with a fixed hinged design.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the movement parameters of the actuator from a single rotational degree of freedom to two degrees of freedom (rotation plus sliding). This parameter change enables the actuator to adjust its position and orientation dynamically, maintaining precise alignment with the switch member despite variations in manufacturing precision.
3Device complexity
If the actuator is fixed with one degree of freedom only, then the structure is simpler, but the lever effect is insufficient and misalignments occur
Solution Approach 1:
The actuator is designed with two degrees of freedom (rotation around an axis and sliding along at least one direction in the orthogonal plane), creating a more complex but dynamically superior structure. This dual-degree-of-freedom design enhances the lever effect by allowing the actuator to optimize its mechanical advantage through controlled sliding movement while maintaining rotational actuation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design effectively reduces the actuation stroke, enhances tactile stability, and ensures auditory silence, providing a high-quality user experience in vehicle door panels.
Implementation Method 1
The push-button switch design incorporates a movable actuator with two degrees of freedom, allowing for rotation and sliding movements, which enhances the lever effect and reduces misalignments
Data Source
Figure 1~7
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
A push-button switch, in particular for vehicle door panels, comprising: a casing substantially box-shaped open on one side; an actuating button coupled to the casing at the open side; wherein the button comprises a possibly flat outer face; wherein the button is movably coupled with respect to the casing along a direction Z substantially orthogonal to the outer face so that during the actuation the button performs a penetration stroke into the casing; a substrate supporting an electrical circuit housed in the casing on the opposite side of the button; a pad made of an elastic polymer material applied to the substrate inside the casing; a reversibly collapsible switch member with snap action and housed between the pad and the substrate; an actuator movable inside the casing between the pad and the button, wherein the actuator is actuated by the button to move from a no-working position wherein it does not act on the switch member to a working position wherein it drives the snap of the switch member.