JPH075227U - Key button structure - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] In the key button structure that puts a menu sheet that displays the function of the key on the key button that constitutes the keyboard of the electronic device and puts the cap on it, the function of each key is small The menu sheet for displaying can be changed easily. [Structure] A printed menu sheet 9 for displaying the function of each key is placed on a key button 6 for switching the contacts of the circuit board 1 by a pressing operation, and the menu sheet 9 is transparent. It is sandwiched so as to cover it, and the key button 6 is fitted with the cap 7 to be assembled. The cap 7 itself or at least the part covering the menu sheet 9 having a transparent portion is resin-molded integrally with the key button 6. Between the key button 6 and the cap 7, the key button 6
On the other hand, an elastic bent portion 8 which forms a bendable hinge portion into which the cap 7 can be fitted is formed.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a structure of a key button constituting a keyboard of an electronic device, and more particularly to a key button structure having a cap which is placed on the key button and which variably covers a menu sheet displaying the function of each key.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 In the key buttons that make up the keyboard of electronic devices, conventionally, a menu sheet with the function of each key printed is placed on top of the key button, and the menu sheet is sandwiched between the caps made of transparent resin and the key buttons. It was fitted and assembled on the top. The menu sheet can be changed by removing this cap.

[0003]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 As described above, conventionally, the key button and the cap are separately required, and there is a drawback that the number of parts is large and the cost of manufacturing and assembling the parts is high.

An object of the present invention is to provide a key button structure in which a menu sheet is placed on a key button and covered with a cap so that the menu sheet displaying the function of each key can be easily changed with a small number of parts. It is to be.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In order to solve the above problems, the present invention comprises a keyboard or the like of an electronic device, in which printing is performed in order to display the function of each key on a key button that causes a switching operation of a contact of a circuit board by pressing operation. In a key button structure in which a menu sheet provided with a key sheet is placed, and the menu sheet is sandwiched so as to be covered with a transparent portion and the key button is fitted with a cap, the cap itself or at least the menu sheet The cap is formed integrally with the key button by resin molding, and the cap is freely fitted into the key button between the key button and the cap. An elastic bent portion forming a free hinge portion is formed.

[0006]

[Action]

 Since the key button and the cap are integrally resin-molded, the number of parts is reduced, the production cost of parts can be reduced, and the assembly cost can also be reduced. Moreover, since the key button is provided with the cap via the elastic bent portion, the cap can be bent using the elastic bent portion as a hinge portion, that is, the cap is fitted to the key button while sandwiching the menu sheet. You can also change the menu key by matching or removing the cap from the key button. Since the cap itself or at least the part covering the menu sheet is transparent, the functions displayed on the menu sheet can be seen.

[0007]

【Example】

 An embodiment of the key button structure according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8. First, referring to FIG. 1 showing main components of a keyboard as an example to which the present invention is applied, 1 is a button circuit board, 2 is a spacer, 3 is a common sheet, 4 is a bearing plate, 5 is a contact rubber, and 6 is a contact rubber. Key buttons, 7 is a cap, 8 is an elastic bent portion, and 9 is a menu sheet.

A predetermined pattern wiring 11 is formed on the button circuit board 1 and its terminal electrodes 12, 12, 12, ... Are provided, and the common sheet 3 is provided on the button circuit board 1 via a spacer 2. Are stacked. The spacer 2 is an insulating sheet having round holes 22, 22, 22, ... Corresponding to the terminal electrodes 12, 12, 12 ,. A predetermined pattern wiring 31 is formed on the common sheet 3, and common electrodes 32, 32, 32, ... Corresponding to the terminal electrodes 12, 12, 12 ,.

Further, the bearing plate 4 is superposed on the common sheet 3. The bearing plate 4 includes button mounts 42, 42, 42, ... Corresponding to the terminal electrodes 12, 12, 12, ... And the common electrodes 32, 32, 32 ,. The button mount 42 has a substantially box shape that opens upward. The contact rubber 5 is inserted into the button mount 42, and the key button 6 according to the present invention is slidably assembled in the vertical direction. There is. A support shaft 51 for supporting the key button 6 is provided at the center of the contact rubber 5.

The key button 6 according to the present invention, as shown in an enlarged view in FIGS. 2 to 4, includes a sliding portion 62 which is fitted in the button mounting base 42 and is movable up and down. The foot portions 62, 62, 62, 62 are provided at the four corners, and the sliding projections 63, 63, 63, 63 are provided on the upper four surfaces. Further, a substantially trapezoidal upper surface portion 64 is provided above the sliding portion 62. Under the trapezoidal portion of the upper surface portion 64, fitting holes 65, 65 are formed on the left and right, and a skirt portion 66 that covers the button mounting base 42 is provided. The skirt portion 66 has a skirt extension portion 67 that extends further downward.

Further, the key button 6 is integrally provided with a cap 7 which covers the upper surface portion 64 thereof. The cap 7 has a peripheral wall portion 72 continuous with an upper surface portion 71 overlapping the upper surface portion 64 of the key button 6, and is elastically bent at one side below the trapezoidal portion of the upper surface portion 64 of the key button 6. One side of the cap 7 below the peripheral wall 72 of the cap 7 is continuous through the portion 8. That is, the key button 6 and the cap 7 and the elastic bent portion 8 forming a hinge portion that is bendable are integrally molded with resin. Become. The peripheral wall 72 of the cap 7 is provided with fitting hooks 73, 73 corresponding to the fitting holes 65, 65 on its left and right inner surfaces, and at the front surface opposite to the elastic bent portion 8. An opening notch 74 is formed.

In the above-described key button structure, in the first embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the key button 6 is made of the first molding material using an appropriate opaque resin material having slidability. The sliding portion 61, the upper surface portion 64, and the skirt portion 66 are formed, and the entire cap 7 and elastic folds are formed by the second molding material using an appropriate transparent resin material having flexibility for the hinge function. The curved portion 8 and the skirt extension 67 of the key button 6 are formed. On the upper surface 64 of the key button 6 thus obtained, as shown in FIG. 1, the menu sheet 9 on which a predetermined print is displayed to display the function of the key is placed, and the fitting hole 65 of the key button 6 is placed. , 65 are fitted with the fitting hooks 73, 73 of the cap 7, respectively, and the menu sheet 9 is sandwiched under the upper surface portion 71 of the cap 7, as shown in FIG.

The key button 6 assembled as described above is assembled by inserting the contact rubber 5 into the button mounting base 42 of the bearing plate 4 and fitting the sliding portion 61, as shown in FIG. Can be attached. Therefore, a predetermined switching operation is performed by pressing the upper surface portion 64 of the key button 6. That is, the contact rubber 5 is elastically deformed through the support shaft 51 by pressing the upper surface portion 71 of the cap 7 that covers the menu sheet 9 in between, and the button circuit through the round hole 22 of the spacer 2. The contact between the terminal electrode 12 of the substrate 1 and the common electrode 32 of the common sheet 3 is opened and closed. The cap 7 can be easily opened by the opening notch 74.

Next, FIGS. 7 and 8 show a second embodiment. As shown in the drawing, a suitable opaque resin material having slidability and hinge characteristics (flexibility) is used. The entire molding of the key button 6, the elastic bent portion 8 and the peripheral wall portion 72 of the cap 7 are formed by one molding material, and the inside of the upper surface portion 71 of the cap 7 is formed by the second molding material using an appropriate transparent resin material. Transparent window part 75 is formed. In this way, the key button 6 formed by resin integral molding in which only the upper surface portion 71 of the cap 7 is used as the transparent window portion 75 may be adopted.

Further, in each of the above-mentioned embodiments, two kinds of molding materials are integrally molded, but if an appropriate transparent resin material having slidability and hinge characteristics (flexibility) is used, a single material is formed. It can also be formed by a material. In this case, the key button 6 can be made to look like a key button by, for example, making the outer surface wrinkled to make it whitish. As a molding method, for example, the mold surface corresponding to the outer surface of the key button 6 may be formed into a fine rough surface. Then, by making the first molding material and the second molding material the same kind of material, the recyclability of resources can be improved.

In the above embodiments, the square key button is used, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a round key button may be used. Further, the resin material forming the key button, the button mounting base to which the key button is attached, the configuration of the key contact, and the like are arbitrary, and it is needless to say that the specific detailed structure can be appropriately changed. is there.

[0017]

[Effect of device]

 As described above, according to the key button structure of the present invention, since the key button and the cap are integrally molded, the number of parts can be reduced, so that the production cost and assembly cost of parts can be reduced. it can. Also, due to the structure in which the key button is provided with the cap via the elastic bent portion, the cap can be bent using the elastic bent portion as a hinge portion, and the cap can be attached to and detached from the key button. It can be changed freely.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing main components of a keyboard as an example to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing a key button structure according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 also shows a key button structure according to the present invention,
It is a top view in the state where the cap was opened.

4 shows a key button structure to which the first embodiment of the present invention is applied, and is a side view of the central longitudinal section taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing a difference in molding material in the key button structure according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the key button structure according to the present invention with a cap fitted thereto.

7 shows a key button structure to which a second embodiment of the present invention is applied, and is a central longitudinal side view taken along the line AA of FIG. 3 similarly to FIG.

FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view showing a difference in molding material in the key button structure according to the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Button Circuit Board 12 Terminal Electrode 2 Spacer 22 Round Hole 3 Common Sheet 32 Common Electrode 4 Bearing Plate 42 Button Mounting Base 5 Contact Rubber 51 Support Shaft 6 Key Button 61 Sliding Part 64 Top Part 65 Fitting Hole 7 Cap 71 Top Part 73 Fitting Hook 74 Opening Notch 75 Transparent Window 8 Elastic Bent 9 Menu Sheet

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A key button for performing a switching operation by a pressing operation, a menu sheet that is placed on the key button to display the function of each key, and a cap that covers the menu sheet and is fitted to the key button. In a key button structure formed by assembling the above, at least a portion of the cap that covers the menu sheet is a transparent portion, the cap is integrally molded with the key button, and a key is formed between the key button and the cap. A key button structure characterized in that an elastic bent portion is formed so that the cap can be freely fitted to the button.