Switching device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9694789-B2
Application number	US-201414548562-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 20, 2014
Priority date	Jul 13, 2012
Publication date	Jul 4, 2017
Grant date	Jul 4, 2017

Abstract

A switching device includes an operation lever capable of being turned in a first direction and in a second direction with respect to a neutral position, a first switch to detect a condition when the operation lever is moved to a first operation position, a second switch to detect a condition when the operation lever is moved to a second operation position symmetric to the first operation position, and a control unit to control a multistage function in a stepwise manner to switch operating states in a stepwise manner such that the condition of control of the multistage function is switched up in a stepwise manner based on a condition detected by the first switch and such that the condition of control of the multistage function is switched down in a stepwise manner based on a condition detected by the second switch.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A switching device comprising:
an operation lever capable of being turned in a first direction and in a second direction opposite to the first direction with respect to a neutral position;
a first switch to detect that the operation lever is moved to a first operation position disposed in the first direction with respect to the neutral position;
a second switch to detect that the operation lever is moved to a second operation position symmetric to the first operation position with respect to the neutral position;
a control unit to control a multistage function having a plurality of operating states and provided in a vehicle such that the operating states are switched in a stepwise manner,
a switch unit in which the first switch and the second switch are mounted; and
a connection unit connecting the switch unit and the operation lever in a detachable manner,
wherein the control unit switches up an operating state of the multistage function in a stepwise manner based on a condition detected by the first switch and switches down the operating state of the multistage function in a stepwise manner based on a condition detected by the second switch.

2. The switching device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a third switch to detect that the operation lever is moved to a third operation position disposed in the first direction with respect to the first operation position; and
a fourth switch to detect that the operation lever is moved to a fourth operation position symmetric to the third operation position with respect to the neutral position,
wherein the control unit switches the operating state of the multistage function to an operating state in accordance with a condition detected by the third switch and a condition detected by the fourth switch.

3. The switching device according to claim 2 , wherein the multistage function is a wiper function for switching an operating state of a wiper, and
wherein the control unit switches to an operating state in which an operation of the wiper is stopped based on a change of the condition detected by one of the third switch and the fourth switch and switches to an operating state in which the operation of the wiper is performed at highest speed based on a change of the condition detected by the other of the third switch and the fourth switch.

4. The switching device according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit determines the number of operations performed within a given period of time based on a change of at least one of the condition detected by the first switch and the condition detected by the second switch and switches the operating state of the multistage function to an operating state in accordance with a result of the determination.

5. The switching device according to claim 1 , wherein the operation lever has a shape extending straight in a direction intersecting the directions in which the operation lever turns.

6. The switching device according to claim 1 , comprising:
at least two of the operation levers,
wherein the operation levers are provided to protrude from both sides of a steering column, respectively.

7. The switching device according to claim 1 , wherein a rotation angle of the operation lever from the neutral position to the first operation position and a rotation angle of the operation lever from the neutral position to the second position are equal to each other.

8. The switching device according to claim 1 , wherein the first switch is turned on when the operation lever is in the first operation position, the first switch is turned off when the operation lever is not in the first operation position, the second switch is turned on when the operation lever is in the second operation position, the second switch is turned off when the operation lever is not in the second operation position.

9. A switching device for a multistage function of a vehicle, the multistage function having a plurality of operating states, the switching device comprising:
an operation lever movable in a first direction from a neutral position to a first position, and the operation lever is movable in a second direction from the neutral position to a second position, where the second direction is opposite to the first direction, and the second position is symmetric to the first position with respect to the neutral position;
a first switch configured to detect the operation lever in the first position;
a second switch configured to detect the operation lever in the second position;
a switch unit in which the first switch and the second switch are mounted;
a connection unit detachably connecting the switch unit to the operation lever; and
a control unit configured to control the plurality of operating states of the multistage function based on a selected one of a plurality of predetermined state values, where the each of the state values corresponds to a respective one of the operating states, the control unit being configured to select one of the predetermined state values by,
incrementing a control value if the first switch detects the operation lever in the first position,
decrementing the control value if the second switch detects the operation lever in the second position, and
subsequently selecting one of the state values that corresponds to the control value, and

the control unit being further configured to output a control signal to the multistage function to engage one of the plurality of operating states that corresponds to the selected one of the state values.

10. The switching device according to claim 9 , wherein the operation lever is movable in the first direction from the neutral position to a third position that is spaced away from the first position, and the operation lever is movable in the second direction from the neutral position to a fourth position that is spaced away from the second position, where the fourth position is symmetric to the third position with respect to the neutral position,
the switch device further comprising:
a third switch configured to detect the operation lever in the third position; and
a fourth switch configured to detect the operation lever in the fourth position,

wherein the control unit is configured to,
select a first predetermined one of the state values if the third switch detects the operation lever in the third position, and
select a second predetermined one of the state values if the fourth switch detects the operation lever in the fourth position.

11. The switching device according to claim 9 , wherein a movement amount of the operation lever from the neutral position to the first position and a movement amount of the operation lever from the neutral position to the second position are equal to each other.

12. The switching device according to claim 9 , wherein the first switch is turned on when the operation lever is in the first position, the first switch is turned off when the operation lever is not in the first position, the second switch is turned on when the operation lever is in the second position, the second switch is turned off when the operation lever is not in the second position.

Assignees

• Yazaki Corp

Inventors

• Mizuno Yoshiyuki

Classifications

• H01H21/60

  Change-over switches with stable intermediate position · CPC title

• B60Q1/1461 Primary

  Multifunction switches for dimming headlights and controlling additional devices, e.g. for controlling direction indicating lights · CPC title

• Y10T307/76

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• H01H21/22

  Operating parts, e.g. handle · CPC title

• B60R16/005

  Electro-mechanical devices, e.g. switched (electric switches in general H01H) · CPC title