JPH1139993A - Rubber contact switch - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide a rubber contact switch capable of obtaining a good operation feeling without a feeling of crushing. SOLUTION: A first contact portion 12 is adhered to a substrate 11, and an operation portion 14 provided with a skirt portion 16 at a lower portion is disposed so as to cover the first contact portion 12. Operation unit 1
Reference numeral 4 denotes an upper and lower two-layer structure of the upper operation layer 20 and the lower operation layer 15. The operation lower layer portion 15 has a second contact portion 13 adhered to the lower surface side thereof, and a skirt portion 16 extending in a hem-spreading shape from a lower peripheral edge. These operation lower part 1
5 and the skirt portion 16 are integrally formed of a rubber material. The operation upper layer portion 20 is formed of a material harder than a rubber material. An engagement protrusion 21 is formed on the operation upper layer portion 20, and an engagement recess 18 is formed on the upper surface of the operation lower layer portion 15, so that the operation upper layer portion 20 and the operation lower layer portion 14 are detachable by engagement of both. To be fixed.

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 a remote controller or a switch of a general home appliance such as a television or a navigation system of an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 5, a rubber contact switch of this type has a first contact portion 51 made of a conductive material adhered to a substrate 50 and the first contact portion 51 formed on the substrate 50. Rubber contact 5 so as to cover the contact 51
2 is attached. The rubber contact portion 52 has a second contact portion 55 adhered to a lower surface of a substantially short prismatic operation portion 53 and a skirt portion 54 provided on the operation portion 53.
Of the first contact portion 51 on the substrate 50 from the peripheral edge of the lower surface.

When the top of the operation section 53 is pressed downward with a finger or the like, the skirt section 54 is elastically deformed so as to be crushed downward, and the first contact section 51 and the second contact section 55 are connected to each other. When the contact is stopped and the downward pressing is stopped, the skirt portion 54 is elastically returned to its original shape, and the first contact portion 51 and the second contact portion 55 are separated from each other.

[0004]

However, according to the rubber contact switch as described above, the entire rubber contact portion 52 is integrally formed of rubber. There is a problem in that the operation unit 53 is in a cramped state and operation feeling is deteriorated.

In order to avoid this, the rubber contact portion 52 may be formed of a resin harder than rubber, but in this case, the elastic force of the skirt portion 54 is almost eliminated, and the repulsive force required as a switch is required. In addition, the elastic restoring force is lacking.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and has as its object to provide a rubber contact switch capable of obtaining a good operation feeling without a feeling of crushing.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a rubber contact switch according to the present invention has a first contact portion provided on an upper surface side of a substrate, and a skirt portion flared at a peripheral edge of an operation portion. A rubber contact portion is provided on the substrate in a state where a second contact portion provided on the lower surface side of the operation portion is positioned above the first contact portion. In rubber contact switches,
The operation unit has an upper and lower two-layer structure of an operation lower layer portion and an operation upper layer portion, and the operation lower layer portion is integrally formed of the same rubber material as the skirt portion, and the operation upper layer portion is formed of the operation lower layer portion. It is made of a material harder than the rubber material.

An engagement recess is formed on an upper surface of the operation lower layer portion, and an engagement protrusion is formed on a lower surface of the operation upper layer portion, and the engagement protrusion is detachably attached to the engagement recess. The upper operation part may be detachably attached to the lower operation part by being engaged.

It is preferable that the operation upper layer is formed of a resin.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the rubber contact switch according to the present invention will be described below.

This rubber contact switch is used, for example, as a switch panel of a remote control for a car navigation system. As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of rubber contact switches 10 are arranged vertically and horizontally in a matrix. It is composed.

Each rubber contact switch 10 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, an operation unit 14 having a skirt portion 16 provided at a lower portion is arranged so as to cover a first contact portion 12 made of a conductor adhered on a substrate 11. You.

An appropriate wiring pattern (not shown) is formed on the substrate 11 and a first contact portion 12 is provided at each position corresponding to each rubber contact switch 10.
Is affixed.

The operation section 14 is formed in an upper / lower two-phase structure of an operation upper layer section 20 and an operation lower layer section 15.

The operation lower layer 15 is formed in a substantially short prismatic shape.
A second contact portion 13 made of a conductor is attached to the lower surface side. Further, the lower surface of the operation lower layer 15 is
A skirt portion 16 is extended in a skirt toward the periphery of the first contact portion 12 on the upper surface, and the operation lower layer portion 15 and the skirt portion 16 are integrally formed of a rubber material.

The skirt portion 16 of each rubber contact switch 10 has a connecting portion 1 extending along the upper surface of the substrate 14 around the skirt portion of the skirt portion 16.
7, and the connecting portion 17 is adhered to the upper surface of the substrate 14.

On the upper surface of the operation lower layer portion 15, an engagement recess 18 is formed in which an engagement protrusion 21 on the operation upper layer portion 20 described later is detachably engaged. A concave portion 19 is formed in the lower end portion of the engaging projection 21 to be engaged with an arrowhead portion 22 at the tip of an engaging projection 21 described later.

The operation upper layer 20 is formed of a resin harder than the rubber material, and is formed in a substantially short columnar shape corresponding to the shape of the operation lower layer 15 in a plan view. An engagement projection 21 removably engaged with the engagement recess 18 on the lower surface thereof.
The engagement protrusion 21 has a tip end formed with an arrowhead portion 22.
Is formed.

Then, the engaging protrusion 21 is engaged with the engaging recess 18.
, The arrowhead portion 22 engages with the concave portion 19, and the operation upper layer portion 20 is detachably fixed to the upper surface side of the operation lower layer portion 15.

The operation of the rubber contact switch 10 will be described, that is, when the operator presses the upper operation part 20 downward with a finger or the like. The skirt portion 16 is deformed to be crushed downward, and the first contact portion 12 and the second contact portion 12 are deformed.
And the contact portions 13 are closed. When the downward pressing is stopped, the skirt 16
Is elastically restored to its original shape, the first contact portion 12 and the second contact portion 13 are separated from each other, and both contact portions 12, 13 are opened.

According to the switch panel constructed as described above, since the lower operation portion 15 and the skirt portion 16 of each rubber contact switch 10 are integrally formed of a rubber material, the repulsive force required as a switch and At the same time as the elastic restoring force is obtained, the operation portion 20 formed of a resin harder than the rubber material is fixed to the upper surface of the operation lower layer portion 15, so that the feeling of cramping when pressing the switch is prevented, and the feeling of cramping is reduced. No good operation feeling can be obtained.

Further, conventionally, since the portion corresponding to the above-mentioned operation upper layer portion 20 is formed of a flexible rubber material, there is a problem that the rubber is worn and silk printing printed on the switch surface is easily erased. However, in the above embodiment, since the operation upper layer portion 20 is formed of a resin harder than the rubber material, there is an advantage that the operation upper layer portion 20 is not easily worn and silk printing is not easily erased.

The operation upper layer portion 20 does not need to be made of resin as long as it is harder than rubber material, and may be made of, for example, metal.

Further, since the lower operation layer 15 and the upper operation layer 20 are separated from each other, if it is desired to change the display content of the silk print on the surface of the upper operation layer 20 (for example, display in Japanese) Is displayed in a foreign language, or the function of the switch is changed, etc.).

Further, the engagement projections 21 of the operation upper layer 20 are fitted into the engagement recesses 18 of the operation lower layer 15 formed of rubber material.
Are engaged, it is possible to pull out the engagement protrusion 21 from the engagement recess 18 and remove the operation upper layer portion 20 from the operation lower layer portion 15. Therefore, for example, when the operation upper part 20 is soiled or damaged,
Only can be easily replaced.

If the exchangeability of the lower operation part 15 and the upper operation part 20 is not taken into consideration, both may be fixed with an adhesive or the like.

Next, a case where the rubber contact switch according to the above embodiment is applied to another type of switch panel will be described.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the switch panel includes a rubber contact switch 10b having the same configuration as the rubber contact switch 10 shown in FIGS.
Conventional type rubber contact switch 60 shown in FIG.
And the rubber contact switches 60b having the same configuration as in the above are alternately arranged in a matrix.

The skirt portion of the skirt portion 16b of the rubber contact switch 10b and the skirt portion of the skirt portion 54b of the rubber contact switch 60b are connected to each other via a connection portion 17b, and the skirt portion of the rubber contact switch 10b is connected. Part 16b and operation lower part 15b
The operation part 53b and the skirt part 54b of the rubber contact switch 60b are integrally formed of a rubber material.

As described above, even in a switch panel in which the switch 10b for obtaining a good operation feeling without the feeling of crushing and the switch 60b for which the feeling of crushing is acceptable are mixed. If the rubber contact switch 10b is applied, the skirt portion 16b and the operation lower layer portion 15 of the rubber contact switch 10b
b and the operation portion 53b and the skirt portion 54b of the rubber contact switch 60b are integrally formed of a rubber material and the operation upper layer portion 20b is fixed to the operation lower layer portion 15b. Can be

[0031]

As described above, according to the rubber contact switch of the present invention, the lower layer of the operation is integrally formed of the same rubber material as the skirt, so that the repulsive force and elastic return force required for the switch are obtained. At the same time, since the operation upper layer portion is formed of a material harder than the rubber material, the feeling of cramping when pressing the switch is prevented,
It is possible to obtain a good operation feeling without a feeling of crushing.

Further, an engaging concave portion is formed on the upper surface of the operation lower layer portion, an engaging protrusion is formed on the upper operating portion, and the engaging protrusion is detachably engaged with the engaging concave portion to form the upper operating portion. If the operation unit is detachably attached to the operation lower layer unit, for example, when it is desired to change a predetermined display attached to the operation unit to another display, or when the operation unit is dirty or damaged, the operation unit is Can be easily exchanged.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a switch panel to which a rubber contact switch according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a partially exploded sectional view showing the rubber contact switch according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the rubber contact switch according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a side view showing another switch panel to which the rubber contact switch of one embodiment according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Rubber contact switch 11 Substrate 12 1st contact part 13 2nd contact part 14 Operation part 15 Operation lower layer part 16 Skirt part 18 Engaging recessed part 20 Operation upper layer part 21 Engagement projection

Claims (3)

[Claims] A first contact portion is provided on an upper surface side of a substrate, and a rubber contact portion formed by connecting a skirt portion to a peripheral edge of the operation portion so as to spread hem is provided on a lower surface side of the operation portion. A rubber contact switch disposed on the substrate with the second contact portion positioned above the first contact portion, wherein the operation portion is formed of an upper and lower layer of an operation lower layer portion and an operation upper layer portion In the structure, the operation lower layer portion is formed integrally with the same rubber material as the skirt portion, and the operation upper layer portion is formed of a material harder than the rubber material of the operation lower layer portion. Rubber contact switch. 2. An engagement concave portion is formed on an upper surface of the operation lower layer portion, and an engagement protrusion is formed on a lower surface of the operation upper layer portion. The engagement protrusion is detachably attached to the engagement concave portion. 2. The rubber contact switch according to claim 1, wherein said operation upper layer portion is detachably attached to said operation lower layer portion by being engaged. 3. The rubber contact switch according to claim 1, wherein the operation upper layer is formed of a resin.