JPS5971226A - Thin film switch - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a thin film switch used for input to an arithmetic device or the like.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional thin film switch;
The figure is a longitudinal cross-sectional view.

Reference numeral 1 in the figure is an upper electrode plate. The upper electrode plate 1 is made of a flexible thin film material, and a connector 2 made of the same flexible thin film material is connected to the side end of the upper electrode plate 1.

A plurality of X-thin electrodes 3 extending linearly in one direction (X-axis direction) are provided on the lower surface of the upper electrode plate 1 at regular intervals. Also, the end of the connector 2 has three connecting parts 2a, 2b, 2
c, and a plurality of connection electrodes 4 are provided on the lower surface of the tip thereof. The connecting electrode 4 and the X-thin electrode 3 are connected by a lead 5. The X-thin electrode 3, the connection electrode 4, and the lead 5 are formed by printing or the like. On the other hand, code 6! d is a lower electrode plate, and a connector 7 made of a flexible thin film material is connected to the side end of this lower electrode plate 6. A Y-axis electrode 8 is provided on the upper surface of the lower electrode plate 6 and extends linearly in one direction (Y-axis direction).

Further, a plurality of connection electrodes 9 are provided on the top surface of the tip of the connector 7, and these are connected to the Y thin electrode 8 by a lead 10.

In the thin film switch, the upper electrode plate 1 and the lower electrode plate 6 are stacked on top of each other, and an insulating spacer 11a is placed between them.

11b is interposed therebetween. Figure 1 shows both electrode plates l and 6.
FIG. 2 shows a state in which the two are in close contact with each other via spacers lla and llb, forming a thin film switch. Pressing any one point on the upper electrode plate 1 releases the spacer 11a.

The upper electrode plate 1 is bent in the hole A of 11b, and the X-thin electrode 3
One of the electrodes contacts one of the Y thin electrodes 9, and an input signal is generated.

In the conventional thin film switch, the connector 7 on the lower electrode plate 6 side
extends in the direction perpendicular to the connector 2 on the upper electrode plate 1 side, so the width dimension W of the switch as a whole is larger than the dimension of the electrode plate 1.6 itself, and when installed in an input device. has the disadvantage of wasting space. Furthermore, the arrangement orientations of the mating connector into which the connector 2 is inserted and the mating connector into which the connector 7 is inserted are also different, and there is also the problem that the arrangement of components on the board on which the mating connector is provided is restricted.

The present invention has been made by focusing on the above-mentioned conventional problems, and makes it possible to orient the connectors on the upper electrode plate side and the connectors on the lower electrode plate side in the same direction, thereby increasing the efficiency of the connector arrangement space. It is an object of the present invention to provide a thin film switch that can reduce the actual width dimension.

The thin film switch according to the present invention is characterized in that either the connector on the upper electrode plate side or the connector on the lower electrode plate side is bent so as to overlap the other electrode plate, thereby reducing the substantial width dimension. It is something to do.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. 3 and the subsequent drawings.

3 and 14 are perspective views of a membrane switch according to the present invention.

Reference numeral 21 in the figure is an upper electrode plate. This upper electrode plate 2
Reference numeral 1 is made of a flexible thin film material, and a plurality of linear X-thin electrodes (corresponding to the reference numeral 3 in FIG. 1) are provided in parallel on the lower surface of the electrode. Furthermore, a connector 22 formed of a flexible thin film material is connected to the side end of the upper electrode plate 21 . The tip of the connector 22 branches into three connecting portions 22a, 22b, and 22c. Connection electrodes 2 are provided on the lower surfaces of the tips of the connection parts 22a, 22b, and 22c.
A plurality of electrodes 3 are provided, and the connecting electrodes 23 and the X-thin electrodes are connected by leads (corresponding to the reference numeral 5 in FIG. 1). Further, the lower electrode plate 24 is also molded from a flexible thin film material, and a connector 25 also molded from the flexible thin film material is connected to the side end thereof. A connecting portion 25a of this connector 25 is formed by bending in a right angle direction, and this connecting portion 25a extends in the same direction as the connecting portions 22a, 22b, and 22c of the connector 22. A plurality of straight Y thin electrodes (corresponding to the reference numeral 8 in FIG. 1) are provided in parallel on the upper surface of the lower electrode plate 24. Further, a plurality of connection electrodes 26 are provided on the upper surface of the tip end of the connector 25a, and these are connected to the Y-thin electrodes by leads 27. This each lead 2
7 is bent at right angles along the shape of the connector 25. Moat, X thin electrode, Y thin electrode, each connection electrode 23.
26 and each lead 27 are both formed by printing means. Insulating spacers 28a and 28b are interposed between the upper electrode plate 21 and the lower electrode plate 24 in close contact with each other. These insulating spacers 28a and 28b are
This corresponds to the spacers lla and llb in the figure, and a plurality of spaces A are formed in which the X-thin electrode and the Y-thin electrode come into contact.

Next, the installation state of the thin film switch having the above structure in a device will be explained with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the state in which the thin film switch is attached, and FIG. 5 is a transparent perspective view of the keyboard.

The connector 25 on the Y-axis electrode side is bent upward from the base folding line IV-IV and folded onto the upper electrode plate 21 as shown in FIG. 14. As a result, the actual width dimension W of the switch becomes the minimum value. Further, the connecting portion 25a of the connector 25 is
Connection parts 22a, 22b, 2 of connector 22 on the X-axis electrode side
2c, and the connection part 'Wi26 is the fourth
In the figure, the connecting portion 22 is located on the lower surface of the connecting portion 25a.
a, 22b.

This means that it is located on the same side as the connection electrode 23 of 22c.

When the thin film switch shown in FIG. 4 is installed on the keyboard shown in FIG. 5, it is installed in close contact with the lower surface of the dial 31 with the lower electrode plate 24 facing upward. This dial 31 is formed of a flexible thin film material and is exposed on the upper surface of the keyboard case 30. On the surface of the dial 31, a large number of kanji characters and numbers are arranged, and the contact component of the thin film switch (the part corresponding to space A shown in Figure 2) is located below each character. There is.

Further, a plate-shaped base is provided in close contact with the lower surface of the thin-film switch to support a pressing operation on the dial 31. A circuit board 32 is disposed in the lower part of the case 30. On the circuit board 32, there are a plurality of connectors 33a to 33a.
33d are installed facing the same direction, and the connector connecting portions 22a, 22b, 22c and 25a of the thin film stitches are inserted into each connector 33a to 33d. Further, a cable 34 is connected to the rear upper surface of the circuit board 32, and this cable 34 extends outside the case 30 and is connected to the host system.

When inputting kanji, etc., the user presses the corresponding character portion on the dial 31 with a pen tip or the like. As a result, a portion of the lower electrode plate 24 located on the lower surface of the dial 31 is bent, and one of the X thin electrodes and one of the Y thin electrodes come into contact. This switch signal is transmitted to the connector connecting portions 22a, 22b, 22c,
25a, and is sent to the circuit board 32 via the mating connectors 33a to 33d. Signal conversion is performed by circuitry on circuit board 32 and transferred to the host system by cable 34.

In addition, in the illustrated embodiment, the connecting portion 25a of the connector 25
However, the other connector connection parts 22a and 22b.

22c, but when the connector 25 is bent, the connecting part 25a is aligned with the connecting part 22a.
, 22b, and 22c may face 180 degrees in the opposite 0 direction.

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be achieved.

(1) The connector on one electrode plate was bent so that it overlapped with the other electrode plate, so fold the connector.

The overall width of the switch (W in FIG. 4) is shortened by the amount of bending, allowing efficient use of space when installing it in equipment.

(2) By bending one connector, the printed surface of the connection electrode can be oriented in the same direction as the other connector, and the mating connectors can be attached in the same direction.

(3) As stated in claim (2), if the bent connectors are arranged in the same direction as the other connectors, the mating connectors can be arranged in a line;
The layout of components on the circuit board side on which the connector is installed can be easily determined, improving design efficiency.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional thin film switch, FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a developed view of a thin film switch according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the thin film switch with the connector bent, and FIG. 5 is a transparent perspective view of a keyboard equipped with the thin film switch of the present invention.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Overlapping an upper electrode plate with multiple electrodes on the lower surface and a lower electrode plate with multiple electrodes on the upper surface,
In a thin film switch in which an insulating spacer is interposed between both electrode plates, a thin film connector is connected to each of the upper electrode plate and the lower electrode plate, and a connecting electrode provided on the connector is electrically connected to each of the electrodes. 1. A thin film switch characterized in that a connector connected to either the upper electrode plate or the lower electrode plate is bent so as to be overlapped with the other electrode plate. (2) The thin film switch according to claim (1), wherein the connector is bent so as to extend in the same direction as the connector on the other electrode plate.