CN111009435B

CN111009435B - Key structure

Info

Publication number: CN111009435B
Application number: CN201811169203.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 蔡胜安; 简立仁; 郑祥文
Original assignee: Primax Electronics Ltd
Current assignee: Primax Electronics Ltd
Priority date: 2018-10-08
Filing date: 2018-10-08
Publication date: 2023-03-21
Anticipated expiration: 2038-10-08
Also published as: CN111009435A

Abstract

The invention provides a key structure, which comprises a key base, a key supporting shaft, a key cap, a rotating piece and an elastic element. The key base is provided with a sleeve structure, the pressing piece of the key supporting shaft is arranged in the sleeve structure, and the rotating piece and the elastic element are arranged in the sleeve structure and positioned below the pressing piece. When the key cap is pressed by external force, the pressing piece presses the rotating piece to drive the rotating piece to rotate so as to generate sound.

Description

Key structure

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to input devices, and particularly to a key structure.

Background

In the modern society, the use of electronic products has become an indispensable part of life, and all foods, clothes, live, walk, breed and happiness are related to electronic products. Generally, electronic products are equipped with a key structure, and in order to make the key structure easier to assemble, the configuration of the supporting structure in the key structure is simplified, but the simplification of the supporting structure may also cause the key to lose the sense of paragraph of the original pressing stroke, and the feedback sound when the key is pressed causes uncomfortable pressing feeling for the user, so that the user cannot maintain the original good typing rhythm.

Therefore, how to generate proper paragraph pressing feeling and knocking sound by the key structure under the condition of simplifying the design of the key structure is the technical subject to be solved by the invention.

Disclosure of Invention

The main objective of the present invention is to provide a key structure with paragraph pressing feeling and clicking sound, which enables a user to generate comfortable pressing feeling and maintain good typing rhythm.

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a key structure, including:

the key base is provided with a key pressing groove and a sleeve structure adjacent to the key pressing groove, the inner surface of one end of the sleeve structure is provided with a first limiting flange, and the other opposite end of the sleeve structure is provided with a stopping structure;

the key supporting shaft is provided with a pressing piece and a pressing piece connected with the pressing piece, the pressing piece can be arranged in the key pressing groove in a vertically-movable mode, the pressing piece is arranged in the sleeve structure and is linked with the pressing piece, and the pressing piece is provided with a first ratchet part;

a key cap coupled to the pressing member;

rotate the piece, set up in the sleeve structure to be located the holding part below, rotate the piece and include:

a second ratchet portion corresponding to the first ratchet portion; and

the second limit flange is arranged on the peripheral surface of the rotating part and is used for being embedded with the first limit flange to limit the rotating part to rotate; and

the elastic element is arranged in the sleeve structure, positioned between the rotating part and the stopping structure and used for abutting against the rotating part;

when the key cap is pressed by external force, the pressing piece presses the rotating piece, so that the rotating piece gradually breaks away from the limit of the first limit flange to rotate to generate sound.

In the above preferred embodiment, the bottom of the key base has an annular base.

In the above preferred embodiment, the switch module is disposed in the annular base.

In the above preferred embodiment, the switch module includes a thin film circuit board and an elastic body disposed on the thin film circuit board.

In the above preferred embodiment, when the key cap is pressed by an external force, the pressing member presses the elastic body to enable the switch module to generate a corresponding key signal.

In the above preferred embodiment, when the external force is released, the elastic body elastically recovers and provides an elastic restoring force to the pressing member, so as to restore the key supporting shaft, and the elastic element elastically extends to restore the rotating member to rotate, thereby generating a sound.

In the above preferred embodiment, the first ratchet portion and the second ratchet portion are one-way ratchets.

In the above preferred embodiment, the first position-limiting flange has a plurality of first position-limiting inclined surfaces, the second position-limiting flange has a plurality of second position-limiting inclined surfaces, and the first position-limiting inclined surfaces and the second position-limiting inclined surfaces are engaged with each other to limit the rotation of the rotating member.

In the above preferred embodiment, the center of the first ratchet portion has a limiting hole penetrating through the pressing member, the center of the second ratchet portion protrudes with a limiting shaft, and the limiting shaft movably penetrates through the limiting hole, so that the rotating member can rotate about the limiting shaft.

In the above preferred embodiment, the key cap has a first engaging structure, the pressing member has a second engaging structure, and the first engaging structure and the second engaging structure are engaged with each other to detachably couple the key cap to the pressing member.

In the above preferred embodiment, the elastic element is a spring.

In the above preferred embodiment, the rotating member has a limiting seat opposite to the second ratchet portion and a limiting groove circumferentially disposed on the limiting seat, and one end of the elastic element extends into the limiting groove and is sleeved on the limiting seat.

In the above preferred embodiment, one side of the pressing member has a groove structure, the groove structure is used to partially accommodate the sleeve structure, and the pressing member is located in the groove structure and connected to the pressing member through the connecting portion.

In the above preferred embodiment, the casing adjacent to the key slot has a guide slot, and the connecting portion is disposed through the guide slot and can move along the guide slot.

Drawings

FIG. 1A is a schematic perspective view of a key structure according to the present invention;

FIG. 1B is an exploded perspective view of the key structure of the present invention;

fig. 2A is a partial cross-sectional view of a perspective of a key pad provided by the present invention;

fig. 2B is a schematic perspective view of another view angle of the key base provided in the present invention;

FIG. 3A is a perspective view of a key supporting shaft according to the present invention;

FIG. 3B is a perspective view of another perspective of the key supporting shaft according to the present invention;

FIG. 4A is a perspective view of a rotating member according to the present invention;

FIG. 4B is a perspective view of another perspective view of the rotating member of the present invention; and

fig. 5 (i) to 5 (v) are schematic views of the key structure operation according to the present invention.

Description of reference numerals:

f: external force

P1: first pressing position

P2: second pressing position

P3: third pressing position

10: key cap

101: first clamping structure

20: key base

21: side wall

22: sleeve structure

221: guide groove

222: first limit flange

2221: first limit inclined plane

2221S: first tip

223: stop structure

23: annular base

24: key pressing groove

30: supporting shaft for push button

31: pressing piece

311: second engaging structure

32: pressing piece

321: first ratchet part

322: limiting hole

33: connecting part

34: groove structure

40: rotating member

41: second ratchet part

42: limiting shaft

43: second limit flange

431: second limit inclined plane

431S: second tip

44: limiting seat

45: limiting groove

50: elastic element

60: switch module

61: thin film circuit board

62: elastic body

Detailed Description

The advantages and features of the invention and the manner of attaining them will be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments and the accompanying drawings. This invention may, however, be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

First, please refer to fig. 1A and 1B, wherein fig. 1A is a schematic perspective view of a key structure according to the present invention; fig. 1B is an exploded perspective view of the key structure of the present invention. The key structure 1 of the present invention includes a key cap 10, a key base 20, a key supporting shaft 30, a rotation member 40, an elastic member 50, and a switch module 60.

The lower surface of the key cap 10 has a first engaging structure 101. The key base 20 has a circumferential sidewall 21, a sleeve structure 22 connected to the sidewall 21, and a circumferential base 23 located at the bottom of the key base 20. The annular sidewall 21 is formed with a key slot 24 extending through the key base 20, and the sleeve structure 22 is adjacent to the key slot 24 and partially protrudes from the key slot 24. The key supporting shaft 30 has a pressing member 31 and a pressing member 32 connected to the pressing member 31, and the pressing member 31 has a second engaging structure 311 corresponding to the first engaging structure 101. The switch module 60 includes a membrane circuit board 61 and an elastic body 62 disposed on the membrane circuit board 61, wherein the elastic body 62 corresponds to a switch (not shown in the figure) on the membrane circuit board 61, and can contact the switch through deformation of the elastic body 62 to generate a corresponding key signal.

With reference to fig. 1A and 1B, the pressing member 31 is disposed in the key slot 24 in a vertically displaceable manner, and the pressing member 32 is disposed in the sleeve structure 22 and is displaceable in synchronization with the pressing member 31. The first engaging structure 101 of the key cap 10 can engage with the second engaging structure 311 of the pressing member 31, so that the key cap 10 can be detachably coupled to the pressing member 31, and thus a user can replace the key cap with different colors, shapes or materials according to the requirement or preference. The rotating member 40 and the elastic element 50 are both disposed in the sleeve structure 22, the rotating member 40 is located below the pressing member 32, and the elastic element 50 can be a spring and is used for pressing against the rotating member 40, so that the rotating member 40 has a potential of moving toward the pressing member 32 and can perform reciprocating displacement in the sleeve structure 22. The switch module 60 is disposed in the annular base 23, and the elastic body 62 is used for providing elastic restoring force to the pressing element 31 of the key supporting shaft 30.

Referring to fig. 2A and fig. 2B, fig. 2A is a partial cross-sectional view of a key base according to a view angle provided by the present invention; fig. 2B is a perspective view of another perspective view of the key base provided in the present invention. The inner surface of one end of the sleeve structure 22 is provided with a raised first position-limiting flange 222, the first position-limiting flange 222 is provided with a plurality of first position-limiting inclined surfaces 2221, and each first position-limiting inclined surface 2221 is provided with a first tip 2221S; the opposite end has a stop structure 223. In addition, the housing of the sleeve arrangement 22 adjacent to the key slot 24 has a guide groove 221 arranged in the axial direction.

Referring to fig. 3A and 3B, fig. 3A is a perspective view of a key supporting shaft according to the present invention; fig. 3B is a perspective view of another angle of view of the key supporting shaft provided in the present invention. The pressing member 31 has a groove structure 34 on one side thereof corresponding to the shape of the sleeve structure 22 and is configured to partially receive the sleeve structure 22. The pressing member 32 is located in the groove structure 34 and connected with the pressing member 31 by the connecting portion 33. It should be further noted that, when the pressing member 31 is disposed in the key slot 34 and the pressing member 32 is disposed in the sleeve structure 22, the connecting portion 33 is disposed through the guiding slot 221 (as shown in fig. 2A) of the sleeve structure 22 and can move along the guiding slot 221, so that the pressing member 32 disposed in the sleeve structure 22 can be linked with the pressing member 31. The pressing member 32 has a first ratchet portion 321 and a limiting hole 322 located at the center of the first ratchet portion 321 and penetrating the pressing member 32, and the first ratchet portion 321 is a one-way ratchet. Although the present invention only proposes the embodiment in which the pressing member 31 has the groove structure 34, in practical applications, if the sleeve structure 22 does not partially protrude into the key slot 24, then the corresponding groove structure 34 is also required to be disposed on one side of the pressing member 31.

Referring to fig. 4A and 4B, fig. 4A is a perspective view of a rotating member according to an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 4B is a perspective view of another view angle of the rotating member according to the present invention. The rotating member 40 has a second ratchet portion 41 corresponding to the first ratchet portion 321 (as shown in fig. 3A and 3B), and the second ratchet portion 41 is also a one-way ratchet. A limiting shaft 42 protrudes from the center of the second ratchet portion 41, and the limiting shaft 42 movably passes through the limiting hole 322 (as shown in fig. 3A and 3B) of the pressing member 32, so that the rotating member 40 can rotate about the limiting shaft 42. In addition, the outer circumferential surface of the rotation member 40 is provided with the second position-restricting flange 43, the second position-restricting flange 43 has a plurality of second position-restricting inclined surfaces 431 corresponding to the first position-restricting inclined surfaces 2221 (shown in fig. 2A) of the first position-restricting flange 222, and each of the second position-restricting inclined surfaces 431 has a second tip 431S. The first inclined limiting surface 2221 may be engaged with the second inclined limiting surface 431 to limit the rotation of the rotation member 40. The other end of the rotating member 40 opposite to the second ratchet portion 41 has a limiting seat 44 and a limiting groove 45 annularly disposed on the periphery of the limiting seat 44, such that one end of the elastic element 50 (as shown in fig. 1B) can abut against the stopping structure 223 (as shown in fig. 2A and 2B), and the opposite end extends into the limiting groove 45 and is sleeved on the limiting seat 44 to abut against the rotating member 40, so that the rotating member 40 has a potential of moving toward the abutting member 32, and the rotating member 40 can perform a reciprocating displacement in the sleeve structure 22. It should be further noted that when the rotating member 40 is pressed by the pressing member 32, such that the second pointed end 431S of the second inclined limiting surface 431 is separated from the first pointed end 2221S along the first inclined limiting surface 2221 (as shown in fig. 2A and 2B), the rotating member 40 can rotate.

Referring to fig. 5, fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of the operation of the key structure of the present invention. In fig. 5 (i), the key cap 10 is located at the first pressing position P1, one end of the elastic element 50 abuts against the stopping structure 223, the opposite end extends into the limiting groove 45 and is sleeved on the limiting seat 44 to abut against the rotating element 40, so that the rotating element 40 has a latent force moving towards the abutting element 32, at this time, the first ratchet part 321 of the abutting element 32 and the second ratchet part 41 of the rotating element 40 are engaged with each other, the plurality of second limiting inclined surfaces 431 of the second limiting flange 43 of the rotating element 40 and the first limiting inclined surface 431 of the first limiting flange 222 are engaged with each other, so that the rotating element 22240 cannot rotate, and the limiting shaft 42 passes through the limiting hole 322. Next, referring to fig. 5 (ii), when the key cap 10 is pressed by the external force F to move the key cap 10 to the second pressing position P2, the pressing member 31 drives the pressing member 32 to press the rotating member 40, and at this time, the second tip 431S (as shown in fig. 4A and 4B) of the second inclined limiting surface 431 of the rotating member 40 is separated from the first tip 2221S (as shown in fig. 2A and 2B) along the first inclined limiting surface 2221 to rotate, and the first ratchet portion 321 and the second ratchet portion 41 are in a state of being abutted to each other and not meshed with each other. Referring to fig. 5 (iii), when the key cap 10 is pressed by the external force F to move the key cap 10 to the third pressing position P3, the first ratchet portion 321 of the pressing member 32 and the second ratchet portion 41 of the rotating member 40 are engaged with each other, and thereby the rotating member 40 is driven to rotate, so that the user can generate a section sense of pressing the key, and simultaneously generate a sound similar to a button-pressing operation by using the rotating and jumping of the rotating member 40, and in addition, the pressing member 31 also presses the elastic member 62, so that the switch module 60 generates a corresponding key signal. Referring to fig. 5 (iv), when the external force F stops pressing the key cap 10, the elastic body 62 elastically recovers and provides an elastic restoring force to the pressing member 31, so that the key supporting shaft 30 is restored to drive the key cap 10 to move to the second pressing position P2, and at this time, the pressing member 32 is also synchronously restored, and the elastic element 50 elastically extends to rotationally restore the rotating member 40. Finally, referring to fig. 5 (v), when the rotating member 40 is reset, the rotating member 40 again impacts the first position-limiting flange 222 of the sleeve structure 22 to generate a sound similar to that generated when the key is reset, and meanwhile, the plurality of second position-limiting inclined surfaces 431 of the second position-limiting flange 43 of the rotating member 40 are again engaged with the first position-limiting inclined surfaces 2221 of the first position-limiting flange 222, so that the rotating member 40 cannot rotate.

Compared with the prior art, the key structure provided by the invention can form the key pressing section sense through the rotating part in the sleeve structure, and meanwhile, the pressing rotating part is pressed to generate the sound similar to the key pressing and key resetting, so that a user has comfortable pressing hand feeling, and the original good typing rhythm can be maintained.

The invention may be modified in various ways by anyone skilled in the art without however departing from the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A key structure comprising:

the key base is provided with a key pressing groove and a sleeve structure adjacent to the key pressing groove, the inner surface of one end of the sleeve structure is provided with a first limiting flange, the other end opposite to the sleeve structure is provided with a stopping structure, and the bottom of the key base is provided with an annular base;

a key supporting shaft having a pressing member and a pressing member connected to the pressing member, the pressing member being disposed in the key slot in a vertically displaceable manner, the pressing member being disposed in the sleeve structure and being interlocked with the pressing member, the pressing member having a first ratchet portion;

a key cap combined with the pressing piece;

a rotating member disposed in the sleeve structure and located below the pressing member, the rotating member including:

a second ratchet part corresponding to the first ratchet part; and

the second limit flange is arranged on the peripheral surface of the rotating part and is used for being embedded with the first limit flange so as to limit the rotating part to rotate;

the elastic element is arranged in the sleeve structure, positioned between the rotating part and the stopping structure and used for abutting against the rotating part; and

the switch module is arranged in the annular base and comprises a film circuit board and an elastic body arranged on the film circuit board;

when the key cap is pressed by an external force, the pressing piece presses the elastic body to enable the switch module to generate a corresponding key signal.

2. The key structure of claim 1, wherein when the external force is released, the elastic body elastically restores and provides an elastic restoring force to the pressing member to restore the key supporting shaft, and the elastic element elastically extends to restore the rotating member to rotate and generate a sound.

3. The key structure of claim 1, wherein the first and second ratchet portions are one-way ratchets.

4. The key structure of claim 1, wherein the first position-limiting flange has a plurality of first position-limiting slopes, the second position-limiting flange has a plurality of second position-limiting slopes, and the plurality of first position-limiting slopes are engaged with the plurality of second position-limiting slopes to limit the rotation of the rotating member.

5. The key structure of claim 1, wherein the first ratchet portion has a limiting hole extending through the pressing member at the center thereof, and the second ratchet portion has a limiting shaft protruding from the center thereof, the limiting shaft being movably disposed through the limiting hole, such that the rotating member can rotate about the limiting shaft.

6. The key structure of claim 1, wherein the key cap has a first engaging structure, the pressing member has a second engaging structure, and the first engaging structure and the second engaging structure engage with each other to detachably couple the key cap to the pressing member.

7. The key structure of claim 1, wherein the elastic element is a spring.

8. The key structure of claim 7, wherein the rotating member has a limiting seat disposed opposite to the second ratchet portion and a limiting groove circumferentially disposed on the limiting seat, and one end of the elastic element extends into the limiting groove and is sleeved on the limiting seat.

9. The key structure of claim 1, wherein one side of the pressing member has a groove structure for partially receiving the sleeve structure, and the pressing member is disposed in the groove structure and connected to the pressing member through a connecting portion.

10. The key structure of claim 9, wherein the housing of the sleeve structure adjacent to the key slot has a guide slot, and the connecting portion is disposed through the guide slot and movable along the guide slot.