JPH046103Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Technical Field This invention relates to a keyboard for inputting signals to electronic devices and the like.

Prior Art This type of keyboard is designed to improve key operability by forming a key operation surface constituted by the top surfaces of a plurality of keys arranged on the keyboard into a curved surface.

Conventionally, in the case of the above-mentioned type of keyboard, a predetermined contact circuit is printed on the upper surface of a metal regulating plate 1 which has been plastically deformed into a curved surface having a predetermined curvature as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. A hard switch substrate 2 made of paper-phenol, glass-epoxy, etc., and a rubber-like elastic body 3 integrally formed with a large number of cup-shaped parts 3a having electrodes attached to the inner surface of the top are mounted, and these regulating plates 1 are placed. , the hard switch board 2 and the rubber-like elastic body 3 are inserted into the stem guide 6 through the key stem 5 to which the key top 4 is fixed in advance, and the setscrews 8, 9 are inserted from below the key array plate 7 integrally molded with the upper case 12. Upper case 1 by 10 and 11
The rigid switch board 2 is curved along the curved surface of the regulating plate 1 by screwing it to the bosses 13, 14, 15, 16 formed on the regulating plate 1, and the regulating plate 1 is fixed to the set screws 17, 18, 16 from below. 19,20
The bosses 21, 2 formed on the upper case 12 by
2, 23, and 24 to form a curved key arrangement plate 7 along the curved surface of the hard switch board 2, and a curved surface is formed on the key operation surface 25 constituted by the top surface of each key top 4. was. However, since the rigid switch board 2 is curved along the curved surface of the regulation plate 1 by screwing at multiple locations,
The increase in the number of parts has led to higher costs and lower assembly work efficiency.

Purpose of the invention The purpose of the present invention is to improve the operability of keys by forming a curved surface on the key operation surface with a simple structure, in view of the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a keyboard that can reduce costs by reducing the number of parts and improving assembly work efficiency.

Example The present embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the structure of the keyboard, FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing the assembled state of the keyboard,
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an enlarged view of the key switch section.

In the figure, the keyboard main body 30 is composed of an upper case 31 made of synthetic resin and a lower case 32 also made of synthetic resin. A rectangular opening 33 is formed in the upper case 31, and hanging portions 34, 35 are formed that curve downward from the left and right side edges of the opening 33. A key arrangement plate 36 is integrally formed at the center of the lower end of the hanging parts 34, 35.
The key array plate 36 is formed into a flat plate shape during molding, and then a key operation surface 47 connecting the top surfaces of a plurality of key members 40, which will be described later, is formed into a curved surface during assembly. Further, the key array plate 36 has a key top 37 and a key stem 38 on its upper surface, and a stem guide 41 for inserting a key member 40 having an actuation plate 39 integrally formed at the lower end of the key stem 38 is provided on the key member 40. The same number of pieces are molded in one piece. The opening 3 is provided on the lower surface of the key arrangement plate 36.
A plurality of concave grooves 36a are formed along the front and rear side edges of 3. This concave groove 36a gives the key arrangement plate 36 curvature when assembling the keyboard, and is formed so that the depth of the groove gradually increases from the center of the key arrangement plate 36 to both the front and back sides. has been done. The key stem 38 hangs integrally from the lower surface of the key arrangement plate 36 and is guided so as to be movable in the vertical direction by a partition plate 42 partitioned to have approximately the same size as the actuation plate 39.

Bosses 43, 4 formed on the back surface of the upper case 31
4, 45, and 46, a rigid metal regulation plate 50 that has been plastically deformed in advance to have a curved surface with a predetermined curvature in the front-rear direction is attached to the setscrews 51, 5.
2, 53, and 54 are screwed. Screw holes 59 are provided at both front and rear ends of the regulating plate 50 in the curved direction.
A mounting portion 60 having a perforation is integrally formed therein, and an engaging portion 55 having an acute angle with respect to the curved surface is provided on both front and rear sides in the curved direction, and extends a predetermined width l ₂ in the front and rear direction of the curved surface. It is formed by bending. In addition, 56 in the figure is a relief hole formed in the regulation plate 50 corresponding to each key member 40, and the relief hole 56 is a jumper wire soldered on the hard switch board 61 so as to extend in a direction perpendicular to the curve. This is to avoid contact between the lead end of the lead 57 and the regulating plate 50. Reference numeral 58 in the figure represents a support wall integrally formed on the bottom wall of the lower case 32, and the upper surface connecting the respective support walls 58 is formed into a curved surface having approximately the same curvature as the regulation plate 50. It accepts the bottom side.

A hard switch board 6 is provided on the upper surface of the regulation plate 50.
1 is disposed, and the width l ₁ in the front-rear direction of the hard switch board 61 is equal to the width _{l 2} in the front-rear direction of the curved surface between the engaging portions 55 formed at the front and rear ends of the regulating plate 50, respectively. is set to approximately match. Further, the front end and the rear end of the hard switch board 61 form engaged parts with the corresponding engaging parts 55. The hard switch board 61 is connected to the regulating plate 5 with respect to the regulating plate 5.
The curved surface of the regulating plate 50 is elastically deformed in the front-rear direction so as to match the curved surface of the regulating plate 50, and the engaged portions of the front end and rear end of the regulating plate 50 are engaged with the corresponding engaging portions 55, respectively. It can be installed in line with the curved surface of the A predetermined contact circuit is formed on the hard switch board 61 by printed wiring.

A rubber-like elastic body 71 having a plurality of cup-shaped parts 70 integrally formed thereon is adhered to the upper surface of the hard switch board 61 at a location corresponding to the partition plate 42 .
As shown in FIG. 5, the cup-shaped portion 70 is attached to the lower surface of a sponge member 72 fixed to the inner surface of the top portion thereof, and has a flexible portion facing a pair of fixed contacts 73 formed on the rigid switch substrate 61. The electrode plate 74 is made of aluminum foil or the like, and an insulating film 75 made of a flexible synthetic resin is attached to the lower surface of the electrode plate 74. A pair of fixed contacts 73, an electrode plate 74, and an insulating film 75 constitute a capacitor type key switch.

The key arrangement plate 36 closes the opening 33 of the upper case 31 during assembly, and the operating plate 39 provided at the lower part of the key stem 38 inserted through the stem guide 41 is located above the upper surface of a cup-shaped portion 70 to be described later. , is held in the non-operating position shown in FIG. 5 by the elastic restoring force of the cup-shaped portion 70.

Next, a method of assembling the keyboard according to this embodiment will be explained.

First, after placing and adhering the rubber-like elastic body 71 on the upper surface of the hard switch board 61, the hard switch board 61 is attached.
1 is curved along the curved surface of the regulating plate 50, and its front and rear ends in the curved direction are locked to the engaging portion 55. As a result, the hard switch board 61 is connected to the regulation plate 5.
It is maintained in a curved state with approximately the same curvature as the zero curved surface. At this time, since the engaging part 55 is bent into an acute angle, the engaging part 55 and the hard switch board 61
This prevents the engagement between the front and rear ends from being released. 4, the key stem 38 of the key member 40 is attached to the stem guide 4 in advance.
When the key array plate 36 inserted into the upper case 31 is screwed to the bosses 43, 44, 45, 46 of the upper case 31 from below the regulation plate 50 using the setscrews 51, 52, 53, 54, the key array plate 36 is inserted into the concave groove. 36a, the hard switch board 61 is regulated in a curved state by the regulating plate 50, and is held in the upper case 31 in a curved state with substantially the same curvature as the curved surface of the hard switch board 61. As a result,
A key operation surface 47 constituted by the top surface of the key tops 37 arranged on the key arrangement board 36 is formed into a curved surface having approximately the same curvature as the curved surface of the key arrangement board 36. Thereafter, the upper case 31 and lower case 32 assembled by the above operations are assembled together to assemble the keyboard.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the regulating plate 5 is curved in advance.
By engaging the front and rear ends of the hard switch board 61 in the curved direction with the engaging portions 55 at 0, it is possible to form the hard switch board 61 into a curve with substantially the same curvature as the curved surface of the regulating plate 50. Compared to a conventional keyboard in which a hard switch board is curved along the curved surface of a regulating plate using a set screw, the number of parts can be reduced and assembly work efficiency can be improved.

Further, by screwing the regulation plate 50, the curved hard switch board 61, and the rubber-like elastic body 71 to the upper case 31, the key arrangement board 36 is curved along the curved surface of the hard switch board 61, and each key top 37 It is possible to form a curved surface on the key operation surface 47 constituted by the top surface of.

Note that the engaging portion 55 in this embodiment is the regulating plate 50.
The front and rear sides of the regulating plate 50 in the curve direction are bent at acute angles with respect to the curved surface, but the engaging portion 55 in the present invention has the front and rear sides of the regulating plate 50 in a U-shape as shown in FIG. It is also possible to implement a structure in which the structure is bent.

Effects of the Invention As explained above, the present invention includes a rigid regulating plate that has a mounting portion for attaching to a keyboard frame and is curved, and a rigid regulating plate that is curved along the curved surface of the regulating plate. provided on the arranged hard switch board and the regulation plate with substantially the same distance between the engaged parts on both front and rear sides in the curved direction of the curved hard switch board,
With the configuration including the engaging portion that engages with the engaged portion of the hard switch board, it is possible to form a curved surface on the key operation surface to improve key operability, and to reduce the number of parts. This is a keyboard that can reduce costs by reducing the number of parts and improving assembly work efficiency.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 and 2 are explanatory diagrams showing conventional examples;
4 is an exploded perspective view showing the assembled state of the keyboard, FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing an enlarged key switch section, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a modified embodiment. It is. In the figure, 31 is an upper case as a keyboard frame, 32 is a lower case as a keyboard frame, 36 is a key arrangement plate, 50 is a regulation plate, 55 is an engaging part, 60 is a mounting part, and 61 is a hard switch board.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] A curved and rigid regulation plate having a mounting portion for attachment to a keyboard frame; and a rigid regulation plate arranged on the regulation plate in a curved manner along the curved surface thereof. a switch board; and a switch board provided on the regulation plate with substantially the same distance between the engaged parts on both front and rear sides of the curved hard switch board in the curved direction; A keyboard comprising: an engaging portion that engages;