JPH069396Y2 - Push-button switch - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention relates to a push button switch used for a keyboard or the like.

[Conventional technology]

Generally, in order to reduce the cost of a push-button switch used for a keyboard or the like, it is extremely important to simplify its configuration to reduce the number of parts even one and to reduce the number of assembling steps.

Conventionally, as such a push button switch, there is one as shown in FIG.

In this push button switch, a key stem 2 having a key top 1 mounted thereon is arranged in a frame 3 so as to be vertically movable, and a key top 1 restoring piece is provided between a lower surface of the key top 1 and a switch mounting frame 3. Coil spring 4
Is independently provided, and another coil spring 5 for pressing a contact, which is a component independent of the coil spring 4, is attached to the lower side of the key stem 2.

Then, when the key top 1 is pressed, the coil spring 5 for pressing the contacts presses the film 8 having the contacts 8a, 8b arranged on the lower contact plate 6 via the spacers 7 and between the contacts 8a, 8b. Are configured to connect.

Further, in another conventional push button switch shown in FIG. 2, the key top 9a and the key stem portion 9b are integrally formed of plastic, whereby the number of parts is further reduced. In FIG. 2, parts having the same functions as those of the push button switch shown in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

[Problems to be solved by the device]

By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional push button switch, one coil spring for pressing the contact point and another coil spring for returning the key top, which is an independent component separate from the one coil spring for pressing the contact point, are used. Since a spring is used, the number of parts is large, and thus the number of steps for assembling the push button switch is large.

Incidentally, in order to solve such a difficulty, in the prior art, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 59-105726 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 59-1956.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 28, some coil springs for pressing a contact and a coil spring for returning a key top are integrally formed. However, in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 59-105726 and Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 59-195628, a large-diameter portion of one coil spring corresponding to the coil spring portion for returning the key top is provided. Any formation position,
It is below the formation position of the small diameter part corresponding to the coil spring for pressing the contact point.Therefore, in such a push button switch, the exclusive space on the lower side, that is, the contact side is the coil spring part for returning the key top. Since a certain large-diameter portion is accommodated and arranged, the size of the switch becomes large, and there is an inevitable difficulty in increasing the size of the switch alone. For this reason,
In such a keyboard or the like having a plurality of push button switches (described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 59-105726 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 59-195628) arranged in parallel, even if the key top is made small. The arrangement pitch between the switches cannot be shortened, and as a result, it may be difficult to achieve miniaturization of the keyboard.

In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, the present invention aims to reduce the number of parts and provide a small push button switch.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned problems, in the present invention, by pressing and releasing the key having a key top portion and a key stem portion, the key is moved up and down along a switch mounting frame over a predetermined stroke range, In a push button switch configured to open and close a contact portion arranged facing the lower surface of the key stem portion, the push button switch is disposed below the key stem portion between the lower surface of the key top portion and the contact portion. A small-diameter coil spring portion for pressing a contact that follows the downward movement of the key stem portion, and a small-diameter coil spring portion that surrounds the key stem portion and is arranged closer to the key top portion than the small-diameter coil spring portion, and presses. One coil integrally formed with a large diameter coil spring part for returning the released key to its initial position for returning to the key top And to arrange the pulling.

[Action]

According to the push button switch according to the present invention described above, the coil spring for pressing the contacts and the coil spring for returning the key top are integrally formed into one coil spring, so that the number of parts is reduced and the key top is reduced. Since the large-diameter coil spring portion for returning is located above the small-diameter coil spring portion, that is, on the keytop side, there is a large space for housing and arranging the large-diameter coil spring portion for returning the keytop under the switch. This is unnecessary, and therefore, the switch as a single unit can be downsized.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the push button switch according to the present invention will be described in detail.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the push button switch according to the present invention.

This push button switch is composed of a key 10, a single coil spring 11 formed integrally, a frame 12 for mounting the switch, and a film contact portion 20 arranged on a lower contact plate 13. .

Of these, the key 10 is made of plastic and includes a key top 10a, a key stem 10b, and a sliding portion 10.
Both c are integrally formed.

In this key 10, the sliding portion 10 c has a hole 1 in the frame 12.
The key 10 is inserted into the frame 2a and attached to the frame 12, and the key 10 has a base portion of the sliding portion 10c from a position where a locking portion 10d formed at the tip of the sliding portion 10c abuts the lower surface 12b of the frame 12. It is movable up and down until the engaging portion 10e formed on the upper end contacts the upper surface 12c of the frame 12.

On the other hand, one coil spring 11 formed integrally as described above
Is roughly divided into a small-diameter coil spring portion 11a and a large-diameter coil spring portion having a diameter larger than that of the small-diameter coil spring portion 11a. The large-diameter coil spring portion further includes first and second large-diameter coil spring portions. 11
b and 11c.

The first and second large-diameter coil spring portions 11b and 11c forming the large-diameter coil spring portion are formed above the small-diameter coil spring portion 11a, that is, on the key 10 side so as to surround the key stem 10b. There is.
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the second large-diameter coil spring portion 11b is larger than the first large-diameter coil spring portion 11b.
The diameter of c is larger. Note that, of the one-piece coil spring 11 having integrally formed parts having different diameters, the small-diameter coil spring portion 11a is for pressing the film contact 20.
The large-diameter coil spring portion composed of the second large-diameter coil spring portions 11b and 11c is for returning the key 10 to the original initial position.

On the other hand, the film contact portion 20 includes a film 21 having an upper contact 21a and a film 22 having a lower contact 22a.
And the contacts 21 disposed between the films 21 and 22.
It is composed of a spacer 23 which forms a predetermined gap between 1a and 22a.

Next, the operation of the push button switch shown in FIG. 3 will be described in detail.

In the initial position where the key 10 is not pressed, as shown in FIG. 3, the key 10 is moved upward by the elastic force of the second large-diameter coil spring portion 11c of the large-diameter coil spring portion forming the coil spring 11. Pushed up, so that the pushbutton switch remains in the initial position of switch off.

Here, when the key 10 is gradually pushed down, first, the second large-diameter coil spring portion 11c of the large-diameter coil spring portion of the coil spring 11 is compressed, and then the tip of the key stem 10b is the upper end of the small-diameter coil spring portion 11a. The second large-diameter coil spring portion 11c of the coil spring 11 is compressed, and the first large-diameter coil spring portion 11b is elastically expanded. Therefore, the small-diameter coil spring portion 11a of the coil spring 11 is
Is lowered, and this lowered small-diameter coil spring portion 11a
When the tip of the presses the film 21, the film 21 is deformed and the upper contact 21a and the lower contact 22a are brought into contact with each other to electrically connect the contacts. When the key 10 is further pressed after the contacts are connected, the small-diameter coil spring portion 11a is compressed by the pressed amount.

It should be noted that the pressing force with respect to the stroke of the key 10 changes from the time when only the second large-diameter coil spring portion 11c is compressed to the second
Since the large-diameter coil spring portion 11c is compressed and the first large-diameter coil spring portion 11b is expanded in a stepwise manner, this abrupt change in the pressing force gives the finger a switch-on feeling. In addition, since the stroke after the contacts are connected can be absorbed by the deformation of the small-diameter coil spring portion 11a, it is possible to prevent chattering when the switch is turned on and off. .

On the other hand, FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the push button switch according to the present invention.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the same parts as those of the push button switch shown in FIG. 3 are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

This push button switch has a single coil spring 30 formed integrally as compared with the push button switch described above.
Are arranged in different positions.

That is, the coil spring 30 is roughly divided into a small-diameter coil spring portion 30a and a large-diameter coil spring portion having a diameter larger than that of the small-diameter coil spring portion 30a, similarly to the above-mentioned one-piece integrally formed coil spring 11. Further, the large-diameter coil spring portion is composed of first and second large-diameter coil spring portions 30b and 30c.

It should be noted that the first and second parts constituting the large-diameter coil spring part
The large-diameter coil spring portions 30b and 30c of the small-diameter coil spring portion 30a surround the key stem 10b.
Is formed above, that is, on the key 10 side. In addition,
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the second large-diameter coil spring portion 30c has a larger diameter than the first large-diameter coil spring portion 30b in the large-diameter coil spring portion. The small-diameter coil spring portion 30a of the one integrally formed coil spring 30 having a different diameter is for pressing the film contact 20.
In addition, the first and second large-diameter coil spring portions 30b, 3
The large diameter coil spring part composed of 0c is the key 1
This is for returning 0 to the original initial position. The second
The large-diameter coil spring portion 30 c is locked to the frame 12.

Further, the upper end of the small-diameter coil spring portion 30a of the one coil spring 30 formed integrally, that is, the lower end of the first large-diameter coil spring portion 30b is always the key stem portion 11
The first large-diameter coil spring portion 30b is in contact with the lower end of b, and exerts a restoring force that always pushes the key 10 upward together with the second large-diameter coil spring portion 30c.

Therefore, according to the push button switch shown in FIG. 4 described above, when the key 10 is pressed against the restoring force of the first and second large-diameter coil spring portions 30b and 30c which are large-diameter coil spring portions, the key 10 Mainly descends while extending the first large-diameter coil spring portion 30b, so that the small-diameter coil spring portion 30a for pressing the contact, which is located below the key stem 10b, presses the film contact portion 20 and is switched on. .

In the above embodiment, the key top of the key, the key stem,
Although the sliding parts are integrally formed, they may be formed separately, and then joined together. The contact parts are not limited to film contacts, and the contact parts are formed by the vertical movement of the coil spring for pressing the contact parts. Anything can be used as long as it can open and close.

[Effect of device]

As described above, in the present invention, the contact point pressing coil spring and the key restoring coil spring, which have been separately provided in the related art, are integrally formed into one component, so that the number of components is reduced accordingly. It is possible to reduce the cost by reducing it, and the large diameter coil spring part for key restoration of one integrally formed coil spring is located above the small diameter coil spring part for pressing the contact part, that is, on the key side. Therefore, there is no need for a large space at the bottom of the switch to accommodate the large-diameter coil spring portion for key restoration, and therefore the switch as a single unit can be downsized, and such a push button It is also possible to reduce the size of a keyboard provided with a plurality of switches.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 and 2 are sectional views showing a conventional push button switch, FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the push button switch according to the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the push button switch according to the present invention. It is sectional drawing which shows another Example. 10 ... Key, 10a ... Key top part, 10b ... Key stem part, 11, 30 ... One coil spring, 11a,
30a ... small-diameter coil spring portion, 11b, 11c, 3
0b, 30c ... Large-diameter coil spring portion, 12 ... Frame, 20 ... Contact portion.

Claims (3)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A key having a key top portion and a key stem portion is pressed and released to move the key up and down along a switch mounting frame over a predetermined stroke range to face a lower surface of the key stem portion. A push-button switch configured to open and close a contact portion provided in a lower part of the key top portion and the contact portion, the push button switch being disposed below the key stem portion and being driven by the downward movement of the key stem portion. Then, a small-diameter coil spring portion for pressing the contact portion and a small-diameter coil spring portion for surrounding the key stem portion are arranged closer to the key top portion side than the small-diameter coil spring portion, and the released key is Characterized by arranging a single coil spring integrally formed with a large diameter coil spring part for returning the key top to return to the initial position And push button switch. 2. A large-diameter coil spring portion of the one integrally formed coil spring is elastically arranged between the lower surface of the key top portion and the switch mounting frame, The push-button switch according to claim (1), wherein a restoring force proportional to the stroke of the key is generated over the entire stroke of the key. 3. An upper end of a large-diameter coil spring portion of the one coil spring engages with the switch mounting frame, and a lower end of the single coil spring pushes the lower surface of the key stem portion upward together with the upper end of the small-diameter coil spring portion. The large-diameter coil spring portion generates a restoring force proportional to the stroke of the key over the entire stroke of the key, according to claim (1). Button switch.