JP2001272485A - Portable information apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a portable information apparatus with simple constitution capable of suppressing generation of erroneous functioning. SOLUTION: Inside an electronic wristwatch 100, an operation spring 30 for a front switch F11 is embedded. A conduction member 50 is inserted between the tip end of the shaft 20 of a switching member 40 constituting the front switch F11 and the upper surface of a shaft receiver member 61 touching the upper end of the operation spring 30. If a button 10 is pressed against the urging force of the spring 30, the operation spring 30 inserted in a guide 25 elastically deforms and the projection 51 provided to the conduction member 50 contacts a switching point 55 of a circuit substrate 250. In this manner, the switching point 55 conducts by way of the conduction member 50 and the on/off of the front switch F11 are turned over.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a portable information device such as an electronic timepiece.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, electronic wristwatches that have been widely used include a time display function, which is an original function of a timepiece,
Some have a monthly schedule display, date and time setting, comment creation function, and the like. Such a multifunctional electronic wristwatch is provided with a large number of switches. Switches are provided not only on the side of the electronic wristwatch but also on a display surface on which time and the like are displayed. FIG. 8 is a side sectional view of a multifunction electronic wristwatch showing a configuration of a switch (hereinafter, referred to as a front switch) provided on a display surface of the multifunction electronic wristwatch. The front switch F1 includes a button unit 10 pressed by a user, a shaft unit 20 integrally formed with the button unit 10, and a coil-shaped operation spring 30 wound around the shaft unit 20. The button portion 10 and the operation spring 30 of the front switch F1
01 is housed in a concave portion 210 formed outside the front surface (hereinafter referred to as an exterior side). An operation spring 30 provided between the button portion 10 and the bottom surface 210a of the concave portion 210 urges the button portion 10 upward in the drawing. When is pressed, the conductive member 21 attached to the tip of the shaft portion 20 comes into contact with the switch contact 22 of the circuit board 250. The front switch F1 is configured to switch on / off when the conductive member 21 attached to the tip of the shaft portion 20 contacts the switch contact 22 of the circuit board 250 as described above.

[0003]

However, in the front switch having such a configuration, since the operation spring 30 is housed in the concave portion 210 formed on the exterior side, a cause such as water droplets entering the concave portion 210 may be caused. Accordingly, corrosion of the operation spring 30 may occur. When the operation spring 30 is corroded, the operation spring 30 elastically deformed by the pressing operation of the button unit 10 is not restored, and an input failure such as maintaining a switch on state may occur.
Further, when dust or dirt accumulates in the concave portion 210, an input failure such as a switch not being turned on even when the button section 10 is pressed may occur. The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances described above, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a portable information device that has a simple configuration and can suppress occurrence of a malfunction.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a portable information device having an internal space, a device case having a through-hole formed in a front surface thereof, and the through-hole. An operating member having a shaft portion one end of which is slidably inserted in the space, and a button portion provided at the other end of the shaft portion and exposed on the front side of the device case; Switching trigger means disposed at the one end of the shaft portion and moving with movement of the operation member, pressing means for urging the switching trigger means toward the operation member, and a position corresponding to the position of the switching trigger means Switch means for switching on / off.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the portable information device according to the first aspect, the switching trigger is constituted by a conductive member, and the switch is in contact with the switching trigger. Alternatively, a non-contact switch contact portion is provided.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the portable information device according to the second aspect, a conductive member is provided between the back surface of the device case in the internal space and the pressing means, and The back surface of the device case in contact with the conductive member and at least a part of the pressing means are made of a conductive material, and a conduction path from the switching trigger means to the back surface of the device case is formed.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below to make the present invention easier to understand. Such an embodiment shows one aspect of the present invention, and does not limit the present invention, and can be arbitrarily changed within the scope of the present invention.

A. First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a side cross-sectional view of a front switch F11 portion of an electronic wristwatch 100 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the electronic wristwatch 100 shown in FIG. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic wristwatch 100 includes a body 101 made of stainless steel, a back cover (not shown), an electronic unit (not shown) housed in an internal space formed by the body 101 and the back cover, and a watch band 300. This is roughly configured. Note that the device case described in the claims section is a device case configured by the body 101 and the back cover. The electronic wristwatch 100 having such a configuration includes a display unit 110 that displays the current time and the like,
An operation unit 120 and the like are provided for performing operations such as time setting change. The display unit 110 is configured by a liquid crystal panel or the like, and digitally displays the date and time and visually displays information such as a comment on the schedule. Operation unit 12
Reference numeral 0 denotes a left switch L and a right switch R disposed on the left and right side surfaces of the trunk 101, and front switches F11 and F12 disposed on the front surface of the trunk 101. The user who owns the electronic wristwatch 100 operates each switch constituting the operation unit 120 to change the display mode displayed on the display unit 110 (for example, switch from the time display mode to the schedule display mode), Set schedule date and time, comment, etc.

Next, the switch structure of the front switch F11 of the electronic timepiece 100 having such a configuration will be described.
This will be described with reference to FIG. The front switch F11 shown in FIG. 2 is a switch corresponding to the front switch F1 shown in FIG. Here, the front switch F1 shown in FIG. 8 has a configuration in which the operation spring 30 is provided on the exterior side. In contrast, the front switch F11 shown in FIG.
Has a configuration in which the operation spring 30 is provided inside the electronic wristwatch 100.

The front switch F11 according to the present embodiment, in which the operation spring 30 is provided inside the electronic wristwatch 100, includes a switching member 40, a conducting member 50, and a pressing unit 6.
0. The switching member 40 is
It has a button portion 10 that is pressed by a user, and a shaft portion 20 having a circular cross section extending downward from substantially the center of the lower surface of the button portion 10.

The button section 10 is housed in a recess 210 formed on the exterior side of the body 101, which is the case of the electronic timepiece 100. As described above, the button section 10 is exposed on the exterior side of the body 101, and the user presses the button section 10 from the exterior side to thereby operate the front switch F1.
1 is turned on / off. The shaft portion 20 is slidably inserted into a circular through hole 23 formed in the body 101. The lower end of the shaft portion 20 inserted into the through hole 23 projects into an internal space S formed by the body 101 and the back cover. A ring portion 20a having a slightly larger diameter is provided. The ring portion 20a provided on the shaft portion 20 prevents the switching member 40 from coming out of the body 101 upward by the urging force of the operation spring 30, and also allows the switching member 40 when the button portion 10 is not pressed down. It plays the role of positioning at the illustrated position.

The conductive member 50 is a disc-shaped conductive member inserted between the switching member 40 and the pressing unit 60. The conducting member 50 is arranged at a position facing the switching contact 55 provided on the circuit board 250, and is separated from the switching contact 55 when the button unit 10 is not pressed (shown). are doing. A ring-shaped protrusion 51 is provided on the lower surface of the conductive member 50.
1 contacts the switching contact 55 of the circuit board 250, whereby the front switch F11 is turned on / off.

The pressing unit 60 is an urging means for urging the conducting member 50 upward in the drawing, and
1, an operation spring 30, and a guide 25. Holes 23 a and 261 communicating with each other are formed in the circuit board 250 and the metal base plate 260.
The pressing unit 60 is arranged in 3a, 261.

The shaft receiving member 61 is a rod-like member slidably inserted into the guide 25 fixedly arranged in the hole 261, and is provided between the conducting member 50 and the operation spring 30. The shaft receiving member 61 is provided on an extension of the shaft of the switching member 40 and plays a role of transmitting the urging force of the operation spring 30 to the conduction member 50 and the switching member 40. The operation spring contact portion 61a on the lower side of the shaft receiving member 61 in the figure is attached to the operation spring 30, thereby applying the above-described urging force to the conduction member 50 and the like.

The operation spring 30 is a coil-shaped spring and urges the operation spring contact portion 61a of the shaft receiving member 61 upward. The operation spring 30 is disposed inside the guide 25 provided in the hole 261, and the operation spring 30
Is attached to the bottom surface 261a of the hole 261.

FIG. 3 shows a front switch F1 shown in FIG.
Electronic wristwatch 10 showing a state in which the button section 10 of the first button is pressed
0 is a side sectional view. As shown in FIG.
When the button portion 10 is pressed down against the urging force of the above, the operation spring 30 in the guide 25 is contracted, and the protrusion 51 provided on the conductive member 50
Contact As a result, the switching contact 55 conducts through the conduction member 50, and the on / off state of the front switch F11 is switched.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the pressing unit 60 having the operation spring 30 is connected to the electronic timepiece 1.
00, specifically, into a hole 261 provided in the main plate 260. Water droplets do not enter the holes 261 provided in the main plate 260 of the electronic timepiece 100, so that corrosion of the operation spring 30 can be prevented. In addition, since no dust or the like enters the hole 261, an input error (for example, even if the user presses the button unit 10) caused by an improper operation of the operation spring 30.
The operation spring 30 is not elastically deformed by dust accumulated in
Switch does not turn on) can be prevented. Further, in a conventional electronic wristwatch (for example, the electronic wristwatch 100 shown in FIG. 8), since the operation spring 30 of the front switch F1 is provided on the exterior side, the operation spring 30 to be used is
Was constrained. Specifically, it is as follows.

Conventional front switch F1 (see FIG. 8)
In an electronic wristwatch equipped with a high pressure (for example, 3
If the user does not press the button 10, the operation spring 30 is elastically deformed in the contracting direction, and the button 10 is pressed, that is, the front switch F1 is pressed. In some cases, the on / off state was switched. This is due to the weak spring force of the operation spring 30 used for the conventional front switch F1. If an operation spring having a larger spring force than the conventional operation spring 30 can be used, such a problem can be solved. However, in the conventional switch structure, as shown in FIG. However, the height h1 of the recess 210 formed in the body 101 accommodating the button portion 10 is limited. For this reason, it was not possible to increase the length L1 of the operation spring 30 any longer, that is, to increase the spring force.

On the other hand, in the electronic wristwatch 100 according to the present embodiment, the operation spring 30 is provided inside the electronic timepiece 100 (see FIG. 5). Therefore, a spring (a spring having a length L2 shown in FIG. 5) longer than the length L1 of the conventional operation spring 30 can be used as the operation spring 30 without being restricted by the above-described restrictions. As described above, in the front switch F11 according to the present embodiment, the spring force of the operation spring 30 can be improved without changing the thickness of the body 101 that houses the button unit 10. In addition, in FIG.
Although the height of 0 is the same height h1 as the height of the concave portion 210 shown in FIG. 4, it is not intended to be limited to this. In the front switch F11 according to the present embodiment, since the operation spring 30 is provided inside the electronic wristwatch, for example, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 6, the distance d1 at which the button 10 is pressed (from the end of the button 10 shown in FIG.
Height h of the concave portion 210 in consideration of only the distance h
2 can be determined. By configuring the front switch F11 in this manner, the operation spring 3 can be held in a state where the thickness of the body 101 that accommodates the button unit 10 is smaller than that of the related art.
The spring force of 0 can be improved.

B. Application Example FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration of a front switch F11a of an electronic wristwatch 100a according to an application example. The electronic timepiece 100a according to the applied embodiment is intended to prevent the destruction of the clock circuit and the like formed on the circuit board 250 even when external static electricity enters the electronic wristwatch 100a from the button section 10. It is an electronic watch. The front switch F11a is obtained by providing the grounding conductive member 500 to the front switch F11 according to the above-described embodiment. Further, each member constituting the front switch F11a is disposed on the same axis, and all members other than the guide 25 have conductivity.

The grounding conductive member 500 shown in FIG.
This is provided to form a direct earth path to the ground. The grounding conductive member 500 is interposed between the operation spring 30 and the back cover 550, the upper surface 501 is in contact with the lower end of the operation spring 30, and the lower surface 502 is in contact with the upper surface of the back cover 550. .

By configuring the front switch F11a in this manner, even when external static electricity enters the electronic wristwatch 100a from the button section 10, static electricity is applied to the input pins of the IC chip mounted on the circuit board 250. The induced static electricity does not destroy a clock circuit or the like formed on the IC chip. Specifically, even when external static electricity enters the electronic timepiece 100a from the button section 10, the button section 10 → the shaft section 2
0 → conductive member 50 → shaft receiving member 61 → operating spring 3
Static electricity can be released to the ground via a route such as 0 → ground conductive member 500 → back cover 550. In this way, by inserting the grounding conductive member 500 between the operation spring 30 and the back cover 550, it is possible to prevent the transistor formed on the IC chip from being electrostatically damaged.

C. Others In the present embodiment and the applied embodiment described above, the case where the front switch is used in the electronic wristwatch has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the above-described front switch may be used in an analog wristwatch. Is also possible. In addition, the front switch according to the present embodiment and the application embodiment is not limited to an electronic or analog wristwatch, but can be applied to a portable watch and the like, and all portable electronic devices including a switch such as a mobile phone. Widely applicable to In the present embodiment and the applied embodiment, the conductive member 50 is brought into contact with the switch contact 22 on the circuit board 250 to switch on / off the switch.
Instead of 0, a shutter member or the like may be provided at the lower end side of the shaft portion 20 and the switch may be turned on / off based on a detection result of a photo sensor that optically detects the shutter member. As described above, by providing the non-contact sensor inside the electronic wristwatch, it is possible to switch on / off the switch. Further, in the above-described present embodiment and the applied embodiment, a coil-shaped spring is exemplified as the operation spring 30 configuring the front switches F11 and F11a, but an elastic body, for example, a leaf spring or the like may be used. Can also. However, the spring accommodating space required when a front switch is configured using a leaf spring is wider than the spring accommodating space required when a front switch is configured using a coil-shaped spring. It is preferable to configure the front switch using the spring. In addition, the configuration of the pressing unit can be configured only by the operation spring 30. Further, instead of the pressing unit 60, the pressing operation of the button unit 10 is elastically deformed to the same degree as a coil-shaped spring, and It is also possible to provide an electronic wristwatch with a front switch in which holes 261 are filled with a material such as a synthetic resin that can be restored. Further, each member constituting the front switch may be integrally formed (for example, the switching member 40, the conductive member 50, the shaft receiving member 61 and the like may be integrally formed).
Except for example 1, modifications such as configuring a front switch are possible. In addition, in the present embodiment and the applied embodiment, the components constituting the front switch are arranged on the same axis. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It is also possible to configure a front switch that is not coaxial.
Further, in the front switch F11a according to the applied embodiment, the description has been given assuming that all the members (excluding the guide 25) constituting the front switch F11a have conductivity. This is an example of a switch having a structure for discharging static electricity to the ground. For example, among the members forming the front switch F11a, only a member disposed below the conductive member 50 may have conductivity.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention,
There is an effect that it is possible to provide a portable information device that can suppress occurrence of a malfunction while having a simple configuration.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of an electronic wristwatch 100. FIG.

FIG. 2 shows a front switch F11 according to the embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a front switch F11 according to the embodiment.
3 is a diagram showing a state in which a button unit 10 is pressed.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a conventional front switch F1.

FIG. 5 shows a front switch F11 according to the embodiment.
FIG.

FIG. 6 shows a front switch F11 according to the embodiment.
FIG.

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view of an electronic wristwatch 100a according to an application embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional front switch F1.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 100 electronic wristwatch F11 front switch F11a front switch 10 button part 20 shaft part 40 switching member 50 conduction member 30 operation spring 60 ..Pressing unit 500
Grounding conductive member 250 ... circuit board

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2F002 AA12 AB02 AB04 AB06 AC01 AC02 AC03 BA04 BA26 BC01 EA01 EH01 3J070 AA07 BA67 CA06 DA31 EA01 5G006 AA02 AB38 AC02 AZ01 AZ04 BA01 BB01 CB03 CD05 5G067 AA46 AA53 DA02

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An equipment case having an internal space and having a through hole formed in a front surface thereof; a shaft part slidably inserted into the through hole, one end of which is located in the space; and the shaft part. An operation member provided at the other end of the device case and having a button portion exposed on the front side of the device case; and a switching trigger means provided at the one end of the shaft portion and moving with the movement of the operation member. A portable information device comprising: pressing means for urging the switching trigger means toward the operation member; and switch means for switching on / off in accordance with the position of the switching trigger means. . 2. The portable device according to claim 1, wherein the switching trigger means is formed of a conductive member, and the switch means includes a switch contact portion that makes contact with or does not contact the switching trigger means. Type information equipment. 3. A conductive member is provided between the back surface of the device case and the pressing means in the internal space, and the back surface of the device case contacting the conductive member and at least a part of the pressing means are electrically conductive. 3. The portable information device according to claim 2, wherein the device is made of a material, and a conduction path from the switching trigger means to a back surface of the device case is formed.