JPH0722018Y2 - Membrane switch - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Industrial Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a membrane switch used as an input device of an electronic device.

2. Prior Art FIG. 2 shows the configuration of a conventional membrane switch. In FIG. 2, a contact 31 is provided on an insulating substrate 30, and a flexible insulating substrate 33 is provided with a contact 33 arranged to face the contact 31 via an insulating spacer 32. .

Next, the operation of the above-mentioned conventional switch will be described. When the flexible insulating substrate 34 is pressed, the contact 33 is opposed to the contact 31.
The switch is turned on electrically by touching. Here, the contact 34 and the contact 34 form a key matrix.

However, as the number of keys in the conventional switch increases, the area of the input device increases and the number of signal lines forming the key matrix increases, resulting in the electrical components required for processing. Will increase. For example, 64
In case of key, first input 64 key as switch and switch 1
It is necessary to lay out one to one. Furthermore, since it is necessary to configure 8 × 8 as the key matrix, the number of signal lines requires 8 + 8 = 16 signal lines. As the number of keys increases, there is a problem in that the system cannot be made smaller, lighter and less costly.

The present invention solves such conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a membrane switch that is compact and lightweight and has excellent cost performance.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a contact on an insulating substrate and a contact arranged to face the contact via an insulating spacer. A flexible insulating substrate provided with contacts on the flexible insulating substrate, the contacts being arranged so as to face the contacts via an insulating spacer. And a switch having a two-story structure in which the switches are arranged to face each other, and further, at least one of the three flexible insulating substrates has a slit. is there.

Action The present invention has the following effects due to the above-mentioned configuration. In other words, the switch has a two-story structure, so when you press one key lightly, the upper switch turns on.
However, if you press it harder, the lower switch will turn on, so you can set two functions for one key, and you can configure more than that number of keys with a small number of keys, compact and lightweight as an input device. Can be realized.

Furthermore, by sharing the signal line of the key matrix of the upper switch and the key matrix of the lower switch,
The number of processing signal lines can be reduced, and as a result, it is possible to reduce the cost of the electric components used.

Embodiment FIG. 1 shows the construction of an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, on a switch 6 composed of a contact 2 provided on an insulating substrate 1 and a flexible insulating substrate 5 provided with a contact 4 arranged to face the contact 1 via an insulating spacer 3. , A contact 10 provided on the flexible insulating substrate 7 so as to face the contact 8 via an insulating spacer 9.
A switch 12 composed of a flexible insulating substrate 11 provided with is arranged facing each other to form a two-story switch.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described. In the above embodiment, when a certain force is applied on the flexible insulating substrate 11, the contact 10 comes into contact with the contact 8 and the switch 12 is turned on. When the force is further applied, the flexible insulating substrates 11, 7 and 5 are flexed so that the contact 4 comes into contact with the contact 2 and the switch 6 is turned on.

In such an embodiment, since the switch 12 is turned on by the first load and the switch 6 is turned on by the stronger load, one key can be provided with two functions.

The switches 12 and 6 are similar to those described in the prior art, and the contacts 8 and 10 and the contacts 2 and 4 form a key matrix composed of a plurality of signal lines. That is, the upper contacts such as the contact 10 and the contact 4 form a plurality of signal lines above the respective switches, and the lower contacts such as the contact 8 and the contact 2 form a plurality of signal lines below the respective switches. The upper signal line and the lower signal line form a key matrix for the upper switch by the switch 12 and a key matrix for the lower switch by the switch 6. Then, by making either the upper signal line or the lower signal line of one of the key matrices of the respective key matrix and the upper signal line or the lower signal line of the other key matrix common, It is possible to reduce the number of signal processing lines connected to. For example, in the case of a matrix of 64 keys, 8 + 8 = 16 signal processing lines were conventionally required, but it is also possible to form 64 keys with less than 16 signal lines. At this time, by providing the slits 13 on the flexible insulating substrates 5 and 7, the contacts 4 and 2 can be turned on with a smaller load. Needless to say, the flexible insulating substrates 5 and 7 may be a single flexible insulating substrate.

Effect of the Invention As is apparent from the above-described embodiment, the present invention has a switch on a flexible insulating substrate having a two-story structure, and one key can have two functions. By making the key matrix line of the upper switch and the key matrix line of the lower switch common, it is possible to reduce the number of signal processing lines, and thus it is possible to reduce the number of electric components required for signal line processing.
Therefore, it is possible to reduce the size, weight and cost of the input device. Further, by providing the slit on the flexible insulating substrate located in the middle, the load during operation of the second-stage switch can be small, and excellent operability can be achieved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial sectional view of a membrane switch according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view of a conventional membrane switch. 1 ... Insulating substrate, 2,4,8,10 ... Contact, 3,9 ... Spacer, 5,7,11 ... Flexible insulating substrate, 6,12 ... Switch, 13 ...
…slit.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A switch comprising a flexible insulating substrate having a contact provided on an insulating substrate and having a contact arranged so as to face the contact through an insulating spacer. A contact is provided on the insulating substrate of, and a switch made of a flexible insulating substrate provided with a contact arranged so as to face the contact via an insulating spacer is arranged to face the switch.
A slit is formed in at least one flexible insulating substrate of the flexible insulating substrate, and a key matrix line is formed above and below a plurality of signal lines above and below the upper switch formed by the above configuration. A membrane switch in which one of a plurality of signal lines and a plurality of signal lines above and below a lower switch are commonly used as a key matrix line.