JPH0636649A - Keyboard device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To provide a keyboard device capable of reducing the thickness of a keyboard while ensuring a keystroke amount necessary for key operation. A switch supporting portion 40 having a switch opening 41 is formed on a holder plate 25, and holder openings 42 are formed at four locations around each switch supporting portion 40, and the spaces between the switch supporting portions 40 are projected downward. The flexible circuit board 30 and the switch support plate 32 are connected to each other through the protrusions 43, and a board insertion hole 44 and a support plate insertion hole 45 are formed in the flexible circuit board 30 and the switch support plate 32, respectively. The protrusions 43 are inserted. As a result, the thickness of the entire keyboard device is reduced by using the rubber spring 31 having a low height while securing the minimum required amount of 4 mm as the key stroke S.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a keyboard device in which a plurality of key switches are arranged on a holder plate, and more particularly, it is possible to reduce the thickness of the entire keyboard while ensuring a key stroke required for key operation. The present invention relates to a keyboard device suitable for use in a thin keyboard attached to a word processor, a notebook personal computer, or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, note-type word processors and personal computers have been actively developed.
Along with this, there has been a trend toward thinning keyboards attached to word processors of this type.

In order to cope with such a thinner keyboard, the applicant of the present invention, as shown in FIG.
It proposes a keyboard device in which a plurality of key switch devices described in the above item are arranged on a holder plate. Figure 7
FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of a main part of the keyboard device, and the detailed configuration of each key switch is described in Japanese Patent Application No. 3-3.
The outline will be described with reference to No. 30160.

In FIG. 7, a key top 1 has a locking hole 4 and a locking groove 5 of two locking portions 2 and 3 (each locking portion 2 and 3 is a pair) provided on the back surface of the key top 1. And the two locking portions 26, 27 of the holder plate 25 (each locking portion 26,
27 are present as a pair) locking groove 28 and locking hole 2
A guide support member 6 (formed of two hinge members 7 and 8 and provided with locking pins 13 and 14 provided at one end of the hinge member 7 at the locking hole 4 and at the other end thereof). The locking pins 15 and 16 are locked in the locking groove 28, and the locking pins 23 and 24 provided at one end of the hinge member 8 are locked in the locking groove 5 and at the other end. Pins 21 and 22 are locking holes 2
It is guided to move up and down. Then, the shaft supporting portions A of both the hinge members 7 and 8 are arranged on the top of the rubber spring 31 placed on the flexible circuit board 30 supported on the supporting plate 32, and the key top 1 is depressed to push the shaft. The rubber spring 31 is buckled via the fulcrum A to perform the switching operation.

At this time, when the key top 1 is pressed, the key stroke amount is restricted by the distance S between the lower end of the key top 1 and the upper surface of the holder plate 25.

[0006]

Generally, in a keyboard, from the ergonomic point of view, it is possible to reliably detect a key input due to the pressing of the key top and to reduce the fatigue associated with the operation of the key top. It is known that it is necessary to provide a predetermined key stroke (the amount of pressing of the key top), and it is empirically known that such a key stroke amount is about 4 mm.

Therefore, even in the key switch provided in the conventional keyboard device, it is necessary to secure a keystroke amount S of about 4 mm, but in order to further reduce the height H of the entire keyboard device, A rubber spring smaller (lower in height) than the rubber spring 31 shown in FIG. 7 is used to lower the position of the key top 1 according to the amount of the rubber spring lowered, or the hinge member 7 The positions of the locking hole 4 of the locking portion 2 in which the locking pins 13 and 14 of the above and the locking groove 5 of the locking portion 3 in which the locking pins 23 and 24 of the hinge member 8 are locked are set relative to each other. It is necessary to lower the position of the key top 1 in correspondence with the higher positions of the locking hole 4 and the locking groove 5 as a result.

However, when a small rubber spring is used or when the positions of the locking hole 4 and the locking groove 5 are set to high positions, the height of the rubber spring is lowered and the locking hole 4, As the position of the locking groove 5 is increased, the key stroke amount S also decreases. With this, the keystroke amount S required for key operation cannot be secured, and as a result, the operator cannot reliably detect the key input from the ergonomic point of view described above. It is easy to get tired in operation. As described above, in the conventional keyboard device, there is naturally a limit to lowering the height H of the entire keyboard device while ensuring the amount of keystrokes required for key operation.
Therefore, it is difficult to further reduce the height H of the keyboard device.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and it is possible to reduce the height of the entire keyboard while ensuring the amount of key strokes required for key operation, and therefore the keyboard An object of the present invention is to provide a keyboard device which is thin and has good key operability.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a key top having an engaging portion formed on the back surface thereof, and an upper end of the key top engaging with an engaging portion of the key top to move the key top up and down. A plurality of key switch devices each including a guide support member that guides and supports and a switching member that performs a switching operation in accordance with the vertical movement of the key top, and a switch opening is formed at a position corresponding to the switching member of each of the key switch devices. And a holder member for supporting each key switch device by locking the lower end of the guide supporting member on a switch supporting portion provided around each switch opening, and a predetermined circuit pattern is formed on the upper surface of the holder member. A circuit board which is disposed below the member and on which the switching member is mounted through each of the switch openings; and a support plate which supports the circuit board. In the keyboard device having the holder member, the holder openings are formed at a plurality of positions around each switch support portion, and the switch support portions are connected to each other by a projecting portion projecting downward and corresponding to the position of the projecting portion. The circuit board and the support plate are formed with insertion holes through which the protrusions are inserted.

[0011]

According to the present invention having the above-described structure, when the key top is depressed during the switching operation by the key switch device supported on the switch support portion of the holder member, the key top is guided by the depression when the key top is depressed. Will be guided downwards via. By pressing the key top,
The guide support member is also moved downward, and thereby the switching member mounted on the circuit board supported on the support plate via the guide support member is switched.

At this time, the projecting portions formed between the switch supporting portions of the holder member are inserted into the circuit board and the insertion holes formed in the supporting plate, and at a plurality of positions around each switch supporting portion. Since the holder opening is formed, the key stroke amount when pressing the key top is
It is regulated by the distance between the lower end of the key top and the upper surface of the projecting portion of the holder member, and the key stroke amount is sufficiently secured corresponding to the amount by which the projecting portion projects downward.
In addition, the necessary minimum keystroke amount is left from the keystroke amount secured in this way, and the height of the switching member is reduced in accordance with the excess keystroke amount, and the guide support is provided. By making the locking position between the upper end of the member and the locking portion of the key top relatively high, the overall thickness of the keyboard can be reduced.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Here, in order to facilitate understanding, the same members and the like as those in the conventional keyboard device described with reference to FIG. 7 are described with the same reference numerals.

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of the main part of the keyboard device according to this embodiment.
Is molded from a synthetic resin such as ABS resin, and letters such as alphabets are formed on the upper surface by printing or the like. Further, from the back surface of the key top 1, there are two locking portions 2 and 3 (each locking portion 2 and 3 has a pair in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface, and only one of them is shown in FIG. 1). ) Is provided integrally with the main body of the key top 1 facing downward.

The locking portion 2 has locking holes for rotatably locking locking pins 13 and 14 formed at one end of one of two hinge members 7 and 8 to be described later. 4 is bored, and the locking portion 3 is provided with a locking groove 5 for locking the locking pins 23 and 24 formed at one end of the other hinge member 8 so as to be slidable in the horizontal direction. Has been formed. A guide support member 6 that guides and supports the vertical movement of the key top 1 is disposed below the key top 1, and the guide support member 6 includes two hinge members 7 and 8.

One hinge member 7 is, as shown in FIG.
Two base end portions 10 and 11 are integrally formed at both ends of the base portion 9. The shaft 1 is seen from one side surface of the central portion of the base portion 9.
2 is extended, and the shaft 12 is axially supported by a shaft hole 20 formed in the other hinge member 8 described later. In addition, the locking pins 13 and 14 of the hinge member 7 and the locking pins 15 and 16
Are arranged on a straight line with the axis 12 as the center, and are arranged so that the distance from the axis 12 is equal.

Further, locking pins 13 and 14 are extended from the side surfaces of the extending portions 10A at both ends of the base end portion 10. The locking pins 13 and 14 are the locking portions 2 of the key top 1 described above. It is locked in the locking hole 4 formed in the. Further, the base end portion 11 is formed in a U shape in a plan view, and the locking pin 1 similar to the above is formed from the side surface of the U-shaped both-end extension portion 11A.
5 and 16 are extended. Such locking pins 15, 16
Is a locking portion 26 formed on a holder plate 25 described later.
Locked in.

Further, the hinge member 8 is, as shown in FIG.
Two base end portions 18 and 19 are integrally formed at both ends of the base portion 17. A shaft hole 20 is formed in the center of the base 17, and the hinge member 7 is formed in the shaft hole 20 as described above.
The shaft 12 provided on the base 9 of the is inserted. Further, the base end portion 18 is formed in a U-shape in a plan view, and locking pins 21 and 22 are extended from the U-shaped both-end extension portions 18A. The locking pins 21 and 22 are locked to a locking portion 27 formed on a holder plate 25 described later.

The locking pins 21 and 22 and the locking pins 23 and 24 of the hinge member 8 are arranged in a straight line with the shaft hole 20 as the center and are arranged so that the distance from the shaft hole 20 is equal. .

Further, locking pins 23 and 24 similar to the above are extended from both end extending portions 19A of the base end portion 19. The locking pins 23 and 24 are the locking portions 3 of the key top 1 described above. It is slidably locked in the locking groove 5 formed in the.

As described above, the guide support member 6 is constructed by inserting the shaft 12 formed in the base portion 9 of the one hinge member 7 into the shaft hole 20 formed in the base portion 17 of the other hinge member 8. The hinge members 7 and 8 are rotatable with respect to each other via a shaft support portion A including a shaft 12 and a shaft hole 20.

Next, a holder plate 25 made of resin is disposed below the guide support member 6. The holder plate 25 has a plurality of key switches as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. Correspondingly, each switch support portion 40 is provided by integral molding, and a switch opening 41 is formed inside each switch support portion 40. A rubber spring 31 placed on a flexible circuit board 30 described later is arranged in the switch opening 41.

Further, holder openings 42 are formed at four locations around the switch support portion 40. These holder openings 42 not only reduce the weight of the holder plate 25, but also reduce the resin material required for molding the holder plate 25 to reduce the cost.

Further, in the holder plate 25, a protruding portion 43 (see FIG. 1) protruding downward is formed between the switch supporting portions 40 excluding the holder openings 42. The support parts 40 are connected to each other via the respective protruding parts 43.

Holder plate 2 constructed as described above
In each switch supporting portion 40 of No. 5, the hinge member 7
Locking pins 15 and 16 extending to the base end portion 11 and locking pins 21 extending to the base end portion 18 of the hinge member 8,
Locking portions 26 and 27 for locking the respective 22 are provided.

The engaging portion 26 is formed integrally with the switch supporting portion 40 of the holder plate 25 in a protruding manner and is provided with an elongated hole-like engaging groove 28. The engaging groove 28 has the hinge member. Locking pins 15 and 16 of 7 are locked so as to be slidable in the horizontal direction. Further, the locking portion 27 is formed integrally with the switch supporting portion 40 of the holder plate 25 in a projecting manner like the locking portion 26, and a locking hole 29 is provided in the locking hole 29. The locking pins 21 and 22 of the member 8 are rotatably locked.

In the above structure, the engaging portion formed on the locking portion 2 and the key holder plate 25 formed on the back surface of the key top 1 existing on the left side in FIG. 1 with reference to the perpendicular line L passing through the center of the shaft support portion A. Each of the stoppers 27 has a locking pin 1
Locking hole 4 for locking 3, 14 and 21, 22 rotatably
And the locking hole 29 is provided. Further, the locking portions 3 formed on the back surface of the key top 1 and the locking portion 26 formed on the key holder plate 25 on the right side of the perpendicular line L in FIG. The locking groove 5 and the locking groove 28 for locking the locking pins 15 and 16 so as to be slidable in the horizontal direction are provided.

A flexible circuit board 30 on which a predetermined circuit pattern (not shown) including switch electrodes is formed is disposed below the holder plate 25, and a reverse cup serving as a switching member is provided at a position corresponding to the switch electrodes. A rubber spring 31 is placed. This rubber spring 31 has a known movable electrode inside,
Further, at the center of the upper surface thereof, a shaft support portion A that axially rotatably supports the two hinge members 7 and 8 is arranged so as to face each other.

As a result, when the shaft support portion A moves downward with the depression of the key top 1, the shaft support portion A pushes down the rubber spring 31, and when the pushing amount exceeds a certain limit, the rubber spring 31 buckles, The switch electrode is short-circuited by the movable electrode in the rubber spring 31.

Further, in the flexible circuit board 30, as shown in FIG. 5, a board insertion hole 44 is provided at a position facing each of the protrusions 43 formed on the holder plate 25.
As a result, each protrusion 43 is inserted downward through each board insertion hole 44.

Further, a switch support plate 32 is disposed below the flexible circuit board 30, and each switch support plate 32 has each board insertion hole formed in the flexible circuit board 30 as shown in FIG. A support plate insertion hole 45 is formed at a position corresponding to 44. Accordingly, as described above, each board insertion hole 4 of the flexible circuit board 30
Each protruding portion 4 of the holder plate 25 inserted through
3 will be inserted further downward through each support plate insertion hole 45. As described above, the switch support plate 32 has the protrusions 4 of the holder plate 25 through the support plate insertion holes 45.
The guide support member 6 supporting the flexible circuit boards 30, the rubber springs 31, and the key tops 1 is supported while inserting 3 downward.

With the above structure, the key stroke S of the key top 1 is restricted by the distance between the lower end 1A of the key top 1 and the upper surface of the protrusion 43 (see FIG. 1). As a result, the upper surface of the key holder plate 25 that regulates the key stroke S becomes the upper surface of the protruding portion 43 that is located below by the amount corresponding to the thickness of the flexible circuit board 30 and the switch support plate 32. S is for ensuring a sufficient key stroke amount of 4 mm or more.

Along with this, while securing the required amount of 4 mm as the key stroke S, based on the residual amount of the stroke S obtained by exceeding 4 mm as described above, as shown in FIG. As 31, a rubber spring having a height lower than that of the rubber spring used in the conventional keyboard device shown in FIG. 7 can be used. Therefore, the thickness of the entire keyboard device can be reduced by the amount that the height of the rubber spring 31 can be reduced, and a thin keyboard can be realized.

Next, the operation of the key switch device having the above construction will be described. When the key top 1 is pushed down, the locking pins 13 and 14 of the hinge member 7 rotate counterclockwise in the locking holes 4 of the locking portion 2 as the key top 1 moves downward. The locking pins 23 and 24 of the hinge member 8 slide horizontally in the locking groove 5 of the locking portion 3 (rightward in FIG. 1). At the same time, the hinge member 8
Locking pins 21 and 22 of the hinge plate 7 rotate clockwise in the locking holes 29 of the locking portion 27 of the holder plate 25, and the locking pins 15 and 16 of the hinge member 7 lock the locking groove of the locking portion 26. It slides horizontally in 28 (rightward in FIG. 1).

As a result, the pivotal support portion A for pivotally supporting the hinge members 7 and 8 moves downward and gradually pushes down the rubber spring 31, and when the pushing amount exceeds a certain limit, the rubber is pushed. The spring 31 is buckled.
As a result, the movable electrode in the rubber spring 31 short-circuits the switch electrode on the flexible circuit board 30 to perform a predetermined switching operation.

When the depression of the key top 1 is released, the shaft supporting portions A of both the hinge members 7 and 8 are pushed upward by the elastic restoring force of the rubber spring 31. Along with this, the lock pins 13, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22 perform the reverse operation to the above, and as a result, the key top 1 is returned to the original position.

Here, the locking pins 13 and 14 and the locking pins 21 and 22 do not move in the horizontal direction, but only rotate in the locking holes 4 and 29, respectively. The key top 1 is vertically moved without being moved in the horizontal direction while maintaining the horizontal state of the key surface of the key top 1.

As described in detail above, in the keyboard device according to the present embodiment, the switch support portion 40 having the switch opening 41 is formed in the holder plate 25, and
Holder openings 42 are provided at four locations around each switch support portion 40.
The switch supporting portions 40 are connected to each other via the protruding portions 43 protruding downward, and the flexible circuit board 30 and the switch supporting plate 32 are respectively connected to the substrate inserting holes 44 and the supporting plates corresponding to the protruding portions 43. Since the insertion holes 45 are formed so that the protrusions 43 are inserted into the insertion holes 44, 45, it is possible to secure a sufficient key stroke amount of 4 mm or more as the key stroke S. is there.

Accordingly, while ensuring the minimum required amount of 4 mm for the key stroke S, it is 4 mm as described above.
It is possible to use the rubber spring 31 having a height lower than that of the rubber spring used in the conventional keyboard device based on the remaining amount of the stroke S obtained by exceeding the above. Therefore, the rubber spring 3
The thickness of the entire keyboard device can be reduced by the amount that the height of 1 can be lowered, and thus a thinner keyboard can be realized as compared with the conventional keyboard.

Further, in the keyboard device according to the present embodiment, the holder plate 25 has the switch opening 41 inside the switch support portion 40 and the holder openings 42 at four locations outside the switch support portion 40. Since the board insertion hole 44 and the support plate insertion hole 45 are formed in both the flexible circuit board 30 and the switch support plate 32 so as to correspond to the protruding portion 43 of the holder plate 25, the weight of the entire keyboard device is significantly increased. Can be reduced. At this time, since the support plate insertion hole 45 is formed in the switch support plate 32, the rigidity of the switch support plate 32 is reduced accordingly. However, the protrusion 43 of the holder plate 25 is formed in the support plate insertion hole 45. Since it will be inserted,
The rigidity of the switch support plate 32 is high as a whole, and there is no problem in the keyboard device.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and it goes without saying that various modifications and improvements can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the rubber spring 31 having a low height is used in order to reduce the thickness of the keyboard as the key stroke S can be increased. However, as shown in FIG. 6, the rubber spring 31 is used. Is the same as the conventional one, and the locking pins 13, 14 of the hinge member 7 are used.
Locking hole 4 of the locking portion 2 and the hinge member 8
Locking groove 5 of the locking portion 3 in which the locking pins 23, 24 of
If the position of is set relatively higher than the conventional locking hole 4 and the locking groove 5, the position of the key top 1 can be lowered corresponding to the increased position. The overall thickness of the keyboard device can be made thinner to support the reduction in thickness.

[0042]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the height of the entire keyboard while ensuring the amount of key strokes required for key operation. Therefore, the keyboard can be made thin and the key operability is good. It is possible to provide a simple keyboard device, and the industrial effect thereof is great.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a main part of a keyboard device.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of one hinge member.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the other hinge member.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a keyboard device schematically showing the key tops removed.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of the keyboard device.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of a keyboard device according to another embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view of a main part of a conventional keyboard device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Key Tops 2, 3, 26, 27 Locking Part 4, 29 Locking Hole 5, 28 Locking Groove 6 Guide Support Member 7, 8 Hinge Member 13, 14, 15, 1621, 22, 23, 24
Locking pin 25 Holder plate 30 Flexible circuit board 31 Rubber spring 32 Switch support plate 40 Switch support part 41 Switch opening 42 Holder opening 43 Projection part 44 Board insertion hole 45 Support plate insertion hole

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A key top having an engaging portion formed on its back surface, a guide support member having an upper end engaged with an engaging portion of the key top for guiding and supporting the vertical movement of the key top, and a vertical movement of the key top. A plurality of key switch devices each including a switching member that performs a switching operation, and a switch support formed at a position corresponding to the switching member of each of the key switch devices and provided around the switch openings. A holder member for supporting the respective key switch devices by locking the lower end of the guide support member on the upper side, and a predetermined circuit pattern formed on the upper surface, arranged below the holder member and through the respective switch openings. In a keyboard device having a circuit board on which a switching member is mounted and a support plate supporting the circuit board, the holder unit While forming a holder opening at a plurality of places around each switch support part in the above, the switch support parts are connected by a projecting part projecting downward, and projecting to the circuit board and the supporting plate corresponding to the position of the projecting part. A keyboard device, wherein an insertion hole for inserting the portion is formed.