JPH0917268A - Rubber contact switch - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To provide a rubber contact switch in which the brightness of the illumination display part of the key top is increased and the uneven brightness of the illumination is reduced. A light source 23 is attached to an illumination display portion 28 of an upper surface portion 18a of the keytop 18, and circuit means 4, 9 for conducting the light source 23 from the circuit board 3 to the upper surface of the rubber contact sheet 7 and inside the keytop 18, 1
0, 11, 25, 26, 27 are formed, and the current from the circuit board 3 flows from the circuit means to the light source 23, and the light source 23 emits light to illuminate the illumination display portion 28 of the key top 18.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rubber contact switch used for automobiles and the like, and more particularly to a rubber contact switch having a key top provided with an illumination display portion.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 7 shows a first conventional example of this type of rubber contact switch.

The rubber contact switch 31 includes a rubber contact sheet 7 made of translucent silicon rubber provided on the circuit board 3, and a pair of pressing members 32 and 33 are vertically movable on the rubber contact sheet 7. It is located in. The upper ends of the pressing members 32 and 33 come into contact with the key top 34, and the key top 34 is swung around the support shaft 35 to turn the switch on and off. The pressing member 32 on the left side is made of a translucent member such as polycarbonate or acrylic, and the light of the light source 23 formed of a chip-shaped LED mounted on the circuit board 3 passes through the translucent rubber contact sheet 7. It is transmitted to the pressing member 32 and illuminates the illumination section 36 of the key top 34.

FIG. 8 shows a rubber contact switch 31 of a second conventional example, in which an illumination display section 28 is provided on a key top 34, and a light source 23 is LE with a lead wire 37.
D, the light source 23 is arranged below the illumination display portion 28, and the lead wire 37 is soldered to the circuit board 3. Other configurations are substantially the same as those of the first conventional example.

[0005]

In both the first and second conventional examples, since there is a distance between the illumination section 36 of the key top 34 or the illumination display section 28 and the LED which is the light source 23, the illumination section 36 or Illumination display section 2
8 is difficult to achieve high brightness. In addition, the relative position between the illumination unit 36 and the light source 23 or the illumination display unit 28 and the light source 23 varies due to an assembly error of the switch component, and the light source 23 (LED, bulb, etc.) itself also varies. In addition, uneven brightness is likely to occur in the illumination of the illumination unit 36 and the illumination display unit 28.

Furthermore, since the distance between the light source and the upper surface of the key top fluctuates due to the key top operation, there is a problem that the luminance changes during the key top operation.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a rubber contact switch in which the illumination display portion of the key top is made to have high luminance and the luminance unevenness of the illumination is reduced. To do.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to claim 1 presses a rubber contact sheet provided on a circuit board with a pressing member of a key top to switch the switch of the board. In the rubber contact switch to be turned on and off, a light source is attached to an illumination display portion on the upper surface of the key top, and circuit means for conducting from the circuit board to the light source is formed on the upper surface of the rubber contact sheet and inside the key top. It is a feature.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the rubber contact switch according to the first aspect, the light source is attached to a step portion of a window hole formed in an upper surface portion of the key top, and the light source is provided above the light source. It is characterized in that an illumination display part is configured by fitting an illumination plate.

[0010] The third aspect of the present invention is the first or second aspect.
The rubber contact switch according to claim 1, wherein the circuit means includes a circuit body formed on the circuit board, a conductor that communicates with the front and back of the rubber contact sheet, and between the conductor and a contact on a top surface of the contact portion. A formed circuit body,
A contact provided on the lower surface of the pressing member, a three-dimensional circuit body extending from the contact to the upper surface of the key top through a side portion of the pressing member, and the three-dimensional circuit body formed on the back surface of the upper surface. To a circuit body from the light source to the light source.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is the rubber contact switch according to the third aspect, wherein the conductor is pressed against the circuit board by a convex portion of an upper case that supports the key top in a swingable manner. The contact point on the top surface of the section is pressed against the lower end surface of the pressing member.

A fifth aspect of the present invention is the rubber contact switch according to the third aspect, wherein the key top is formed by integrating the pressing member, and the pressing member is formed in a guide hole of the upper case. It is inserted and attached so as to be movable up and down, and a concave groove is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the guide hole so as to face the three-dimensional circuit body provided on the side portion of the pressing member. It is a feature.

[0013]

The invention according to claims 1 to 5 has the above-mentioned structure, and therefore has the following effect.

That is, according to the first aspect of the invention, since the light source is attached to the illumination display section on the upper surface of the key top, light diffusion and dimming are eliminated, and high-luminance illumination of the illumination display section is possible. Since there is no displacement of the light source with respect to the illumination display section, it is possible to eliminate unevenness in luminance and also to eliminate fluctuations in luminance due to operation of the key top.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the illumination display unit integrated with the light source is constructed by installing the light source on the stepped portion of the window hole and fitting the illumination plate thereon.

Further, in the invention of claim 3, the current from the circuit board is transferred from the conductors passing through the front and back of the rubber contact sheet to the circuit body on the upper surface of the contact portion, the contact, the contact on the lower surface of the pressing member, and the side portion of the pressing member. The illumination circuit, which is supplied to the light source through the three-dimensional circuit body and extends from the circuit board to the light source, can be kept in a conductive state at all times. Therefore, the illumination display section is always illuminated regardless of the operation of the key top.

Further, according to the invention of claim 4, the conductor is pressed against the circuit board by the convex portion of the upper case, and the contact point on the top surface of the contact portion is pressed against the lower end surface of the pressing member. Non-lighting can be eliminated.

Further, according to the invention of claim 5, a concave groove is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the guide hole of the pressing member so that the three-dimensional circuit body is in a non-contact state. It is possible to prevent damage to the three-dimensional circuit body due to.

[0019]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. The same members as those in FIGS. 7 and 8 are designated by the same reference numerals.

In FIG. 1, a rubber contact switch 1 comprises a case body 2 composed of an upper case 2a and a lower case 2b, and a locking hole 5 formed in the upper case 2a and a locking hole formed in the lower case 2b. The case body 2 is configured by locking the convex piece 6. The circuit board 3 is attached on the lower case 2b. As shown in FIG. 6, the circuit board 3 has contacts 4a and a ground pattern 4b.
The circuit body 4 including the plus side pattern 4c and the illumination power source pattern 4d is formed. The connector 30 inserted into the hole 29 of the lower case 2b is inserted into the circuit board 3, and the connector terminal 30a is inserted into the connection hole 4e of the circuit board 3 to be connected to the circuit body 4.

A rubber contact sheet 7 is mounted on the circuit board 3. As shown in FIG. 6, a dome-shaped contact portion 8 is formed on the rubber contact sheet 7, a contact 9 made of a carbon conductor is integrally formed on the top surface of the contact portion 8, and the contact portion 8 is formed. Contact points 9 on both sides of the rubber contact sheet 7
A circuit body 10 that communicates with is formed. Since the contact portion 8 bends when the switch is operated, the circuit body 10 is formed by applying a conductive paste or the like so as to withstand the bending. The other end of the circuit body 10 is filled in the rubber contact sheet 7 and
It communicates with the carbon conductor 11 exposed on the upper and lower surfaces.

A convex portion 12 is formed on the lower surface of the upper case 2a, and the convex portion 12 presses the portion of the carbon conductor 11 so that the carbon conductor 11 comes into contact with each of the earth pattern 4b and the illumination power source pattern 4d. Electrically connected to the circuit body 10.

A projecting portion 13 is formed on the upper part of the upper case 2a, and locking projections 14 are formed on both side surfaces of the projecting portion 13 and a guide hole 15 is formed in the center thereof. A groove 16 is formed on the inner wall (FIGS. 1, 5 and 5).
And FIG. 6).

Locking holes 17 are provided on both sides of the key top 18,
A pressing member 20 is formed at the center. The key top 18 is fitted into the protrusion 13 of the upper case 2a, and the pressing member 20 is slidably inserted into the guide hole 15. The locking projection 14 of the protrusion 13 is the key top 1.
The key top 18 is locked in the locking hole 17 to prevent the key top 18 from coming out upward.

An illumination display section 28 is formed on the upper surface 18a of the key top 18. The illumination display unit 28 is provided on the upper surface 18a of the key top 18.
The illumination plate 24 is fitted in the window hole 21 formed in the. Then, the light source 23 is attached to the step portion 22 of the window hole 21 (see FIG. 3). As the light source 23, a chip type LED is used as an example. An illumination plate 24 is fitted in the window hole 21 so as to cover the light source 23.

As shown in FIG. 2, a circuit body 25 which is electrically connected to the light source 23 is formed on the back side of the upper surface portion 18a of the key top 18, and the tertiary members connected to the circuit body 25 are formed on both side surfaces of the pressing member 20. The original circuit body 26 is formed. The three-dimensional circuit body 26 is formed on the side surface along the longitudinal direction of the pressing member 20 so as to be connected to the contact point 27 formed on the lower surface of the pressing member 20. The three-dimensional circuit body 26 is provided so as to face the concave groove 16 formed in the longitudinal direction on the inner wall of the guide hole 15 of the key top 18, and due to this positional relationship, when the pressing member 20 moves vertically, It is possible to avoid contact with the inner wall. As a result, damage to the three-dimensional circuit body 26 can be prevented.

The rubber contact switch 1 is assembled as follows (see FIG. 6). The connector 30 is connected to the circuit board 3, the circuit board 3 is assembled to the lower case 2b, and the rubber contact sheet 7 is attached thereon. Next, the upper case 2a is fitted into the lower case 2b, and the locking hole 5 is locked to the locking projection 6 to form the case body 2.

At this time, the convex portion 12 of the upper case 2a strongly pushes the rubber contact sheet 7, whereby the carbon conductor 11 of the rubber contact sheet 7 is pressed against the circuit body 4 of the circuit board 3, and the circuit body 4 of the circuit board 3 is pressed. And the circuit body 10 of the rubber contact sheet 7 are electrically connected. In this way, the convex portion 12 has the rubber contact sheet 7
The locking positions of the locking holes 5 and the locking projections 6 are set so that is pressed firmly.

Next, the light source 23 and the illumination plate 24
The key top 18 in which is set is fitted into the projecting portion 13 of the upper case 2a, and the locking hole 17 is locked to the locking projection 14. The contact 27 at the lower end of the pressing member 20 is in pressure contact with the contact 9 of the contact portion 8. In this way, the locking positions of the locking projection 14 and the locking hole 17 may be set so that the contacts 9 and 27 are in a pressure contact state.

With the above configuration, the circuit body 4 of the circuit board 3
From carbon conductor 11 → circuit body 10 → contact 9 → contact 2
An illumination circuit is formed from 7 → three-dimensional circuit 26 → circuit 25 → light source 23. As described above, since the contact point 9 of the contact portion 8 and the contact point 27 of the pressing member 20 are always in contact with each other, the circuit body 4 of the circuit board 3 and the illumination circuit of the light source 23 are always in a conductive state, and therefore, the illumination display portion. Two
8 is always illuminated regardless of the operation of the key top 18.

Further, the circuit body 4 of the circuit board 3, the circuit body 10 of the rubber contact sheet 7, the contact point 27 of the lower end of the pressing member 20 and the contact point 9 of the contact portion 8 are in contact with each other in a pressure contact state, so that conduction is established. The state is good, and it is possible to prevent the light source from not lighting due to poor conduction.

According to this rubber contact switch 1, since the light source 23 is directly attached to the upper surface portion 18a of the key top 8 on which the illumination display portion 28 is formed, high-luminance illumination is possible and the illumination display is provided. Since there is no displacement of the light source with respect to the portion 28,
It is also possible to eliminate uneven brightness, and also to eliminate variation in brightness due to operation of the key top 8. When the key top 18 is pressed, the contact portion 8 is pressed by the pressing member 20, the contact 19 of the contact portion 8 contacts the contact 4a of the circuit body 4 of the circuit board 3, and the switch is turned on. When the key is released, the key top 18 is lifted by the restoring force of the contact portion 8 and is switched off.
The illumination circuit of the illumination display unit 28 is irrelevant to the switch operation, and the brightness does not change due to the switch operation.

In the above embodiment, an example of a vehicle push switch is shown as a rubber contact switch.
The present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to any switch having a rubber contact sheet and a key top.

[0034]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention,
The following effects are obtained.

That is, according to the invention of claim 1,
Since the light source is attached to the illumination display section on the upper surface of the key top, light diffusion and dimming are eliminated, and high-luminance illumination of the illumination display section is possible,
Since there is no displacement of the light source with respect to the illumination display section, it is possible to eliminate unevenness in brightness and also to prevent fluctuations in brightness due to operation of the key top.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the light source is attached to the step portion of the window hole formed in the upper surface of the key top, and the illumination plate is fitted on the stepped portion to form the illumination display portion. Therefore, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 1, the illumination display unit integrated with the light source can be easily configured.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the current from the circuit board is supplied from the conductors passing through the front and back of the rubber contact sheet to the circuit body on the upper surface of the contact portion, the contact, the contact on the lower surface of the pressing member, and the pressing member side. The illumination circuit, which is supplied to the light source through the three-dimensional circuit body of the section, from the circuit board to the light source, can always be in the conductive state. Therefore, in addition to the effect of the invention according to claim 1 or 2, the illumination display section is provided. Is always illuminated regardless of the keytop operation.

Further, according to the invention of claim 4, the carbon conductor is pressed against the circuit board at the convex portion of the upper case, and the contact point on the top surface of the contact portion is pressed against the lower end surface of the pressing member. Since the contact portion is always in the pressure contact state, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 3, non-lighting due to poor contact can be eliminated.

Furthermore, in the invention according to claim 5, the inner peripheral surface of the guide hole of the pressing member is formed with a concave groove through which the three-dimensional circuit body passes in a non-contact manner. In addition to the effect of the invention described above, damage to the three-dimensional circuit body due to operation of the key top can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional side view showing an embodiment of a rubber contact switch of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of a key top of the rubber contact switch shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional side view showing an illumination display portion of the rubber contact switch of FIG. 1 in an enlarged manner.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the rubber contact switch of FIG. 1 in an assembled state.

5 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing a key top and a case body of the rubber contact switch of FIG. 4 in an exploded manner.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the rubber contact switch of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a vertical cross-sectional side view of a rubber contact switch of a first conventional example.

FIG. 8 is a vertical sectional side view of a rubber contact switch of a second conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 rubber contact switch 2 case body 2a upper case 3 circuit board 4 circuit body (circuit means) 7 rubber contact sheet 8 contact part 9 contacts (circuit means) 10 circuit body (circuit means) 11 carbon conductor (conductor, circuit means) 12 Convex part 15 Guide hole 16 Concave groove 18 Key top 18a Upper surface part 20 Pressing member 23 Light source 25 Circuit body (circuit means) 26 Three-dimensional circuit body (circuit means) 27 Contact (circuit means) 28 Illumination display part

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A rubber contact switch for pressing a rubber contact sheet provided on a circuit board with a pressing member of a key top to turn on / off a switch of the circuit board, wherein a light source is provided on an illumination display section on an upper surface of the key top. A rubber contact switch, characterized in that circuit means is formed on the upper surface of the rubber contact sheet and inside the key top, the circuit means being electrically connected from the circuit board to the light source. 2. The illumination source is attached to a stepped portion of a window hole formed on the upper surface of the key top, and an illumination plate is fitted on an upper portion of the light source to form an illumination display portion. The rubber contact switch according to claim 1. 3. The circuit, wherein the circuit means is formed between a circuit body formed on the circuit board, a conductor communicating with the front and back of the rubber contact sheet, and a contact between the conductor and a contact on the top surface of the contact portion. A body, a contact provided on the lower surface of the pressing member, a three-dimensional circuit body extending from the contact to the upper surface of the key top through a side portion of the pressing member, and the three-dimensional circuit formed on the back surface of the upper surface. The rubber contact switch according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the rubber contact switch comprises a circuit body extending from an original circuit body to the light source. 4. The conductor is pressed against the circuit board by a convex portion of an upper case that swingably supports the key top, and a contact on a top surface of the contact portion is pressed on a lower end surface of the pressing member. The rubber contact switch according to claim 3, wherein: 5. The key top is formed by integrating the pressing member, and the pressing member is inserted into a guide hole of an upper case so as to be movable up and down. The rubber contact switch according to claim 3, wherein a concave groove is formed on the surface so as to face the three-dimensional circuit body provided on the side portion of the pressing member.