CN107463266B

CN107463266B - Conducting strip assembly, key module comprising conducting strip assembly and keyboard

Info

Publication number: CN107463266B
Application number: CN201610387798.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 黄顺治; 毛黛娟; 吕景豫
Original assignee: Giga Byte Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Giga Byte Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2016-06-02
Filing date: 2016-06-02
Publication date: 2020-08-07
Anticipated expiration: 2036-06-02
Also published as: CN107463266A

Abstract

The application discloses conducting strip subassembly, key module and keyboard that contain this conducting strip subassembly, wherein the conducting strip subassembly is applicable to the key module, and it contains fixed conducting strip, elastic conducting strip and buffer structure. The fixed conducting strip is inserted in the circuit board and is provided with a fixed piece contact part. The elastic conducting sheet is provided with an elastic sheet contact part, an assembling section and a movable section. The assembly section is inserted in the circuit board. The movable section can be connected to the other end of the assembling section in a swinging mode and can be movably arranged between the fixed conducting strip and the assembling section. When the movable section is relatively close to the fixed conducting strip and is electrically conducted with the fixed conducting strip, the contact part of the fixed sheet is contacted with the contact part of the elastic sheet, the buffer structure is extruded between the movable section and the fixed conducting strip and is contacted with the elastic conducting strip or the fixed conducting strip before the contact part of the fixed sheet is contacted with the contact part of the elastic sheet. The buffer structure bears the pressure transmitted by the keycap pressing, so that the abrasion between the contact part of the fixing piece and the contact part of the elastic piece is reduced, and the service life of the key is prolonged.

Description

Conducting strip assembly, key module comprising conducting strip assembly and keyboard

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a key module, and more particularly to a conductive sheet assembly for operating an electronic product, a key module including the conductive sheet assembly, and a keyboard including the conductive sheet assembly.

Background

With the progress of technology, various electronic products, such as desktop computers and notebook computers, have become one of the essential tools for people to live and work. The keyboard is one of the main operation devices of the electronic product. The common keyboards in the market are mainly classified into mechanical keyboards and membrane keyboards. The mechanical keyboard is popular with consumers because of its better pressing hand feeling and longer service life.

However, as the market competition becomes more and more intense, in order to increase the competitiveness, it is necessary to improve the problems of the current mechanical keyboard. For example, in a conventional mechanical keyboard, each key is usually provided with two conductive sheets inserted into a circuit board located under the key, and when the key cap is pressed each time, the two conductive sheets are in collision contact with each other to electrically connect the circuit board, so as to trigger a signal preset by the key. However, as the number of times of use is accumulated, the contact points between the conductive sheets are worn, so that the problem of poor induction and even failure is caused when the key is pressed, and the service life of the key is further influenced.

Disclosure of Invention

The present disclosure provides a conductive sheet assembly, and a key module and a keyboard including the same, so as to prolong the service life of a mechanical keyboard.

The conductive sheet assembly disclosed in the application is suitable for triggering a key module. The conductive sheet assembly comprises a fixed conductive sheet, an elastic conductive sheet and at least one buffer structure. The fixed conducting plate is used for being inserted into a circuit board positioned below the key module. The fixed conducting sheet is provided with a fixed sheet contact part. The elastic conductive sheet has an elastic sheet contact portion, an assembly section and a movable section. The contact part of the elastic sheet is opposite to the contact part of the fixed sheet. One end of the assembling section is used for being inserted into the circuit board. The movable section is connected to the other end of the assembling section in a swinging mode and is movably located between the fixed conducting strip and the assembling section. When the movable section is relatively close to the fixed conducting strip and is electrically conducted with the fixed conducting strip, the contact part of the fixed sheet is contacted with the contact part of the elastic sheet, and the buffer structure is extruded between the movable section and the fixed conducting strip and is contacted with the elastic conducting strip or the fixed conducting strip before the contact part of the fixed sheet is contacted with the contact part of the elastic sheet.

The key module described in the present application includes a key switch, a key cap, and a conductive sheet assembly as described above. The key switch comprises a base with a cavity, a key shaft, the conductive sheet component and an elastic component. The key shaft, the conductive sheet assembly and the elastic piece are arranged in the base, and the key shaft can move relative to the base. The keycap is sleeved on the key shaft and moves towards or away from the bottom of the base along with the key shaft.

The keyboard disclosed by the application comprises a keyboard shell, a plurality of key modules and a circuit board. The key modules and the circuit board are both located in the keyboard shell, and the key modules are electrically connected to the circuit board.

The application provides a conducting strip subassembly, contain its button module and keyboard have following beneficial effect: in the conducting strip subassembly disclosed in this application and the button module and the keyboard that contain it, through the buffer structure who is located between the movable segment of fixed conducting strip and elastic conducting strip, can reset at the movable segment and bounce to the in-process of fixed conducting strip, it is said to absorb the impact force that the movable segment brought to reduce the wearing and tearing of the contact point between fixed conducting strip and elastic conducting strip when pressing down at every turn, and then prolong conducting strip subassembly's life.

The foregoing description of the disclosure and the following detailed description are presented to illustrate and explain the principles and spirit of the disclosure and to provide further explanation of the scope of the invention as claimed.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a key module according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 2 is an exploded view of the key module of fig. 1 according to the present application.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of a conductive sheet assembly of the key module of fig. 2 according to the present application.

Fig. 4A is a cross-sectional side view of the key cap of the key module of fig. 1 according to the present application when not pressed.

FIG. 4B is a top view of the conductive pad assembly of the key module of FIG. 1 according to the present application when the key cap is not pressed.

Fig. 5A is a cross-sectional side view of the key cap of the key module of fig. 1 being pressed according to the present application.

Fig. 5B is a top view of the conductive sheet assembly when the key cap of the key module of fig. 1 is pressed according to the present application.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a keyboard according to an embodiment of the present application.

Wherein the reference numerals are as follows:

1 push-button module

9 keyboard

10 push-button switch

11 base

12 key shaft

13 conductive sheet assembly

14 elastic member

20 keycap

30 circuit board

91 keyboard case

131 fixed conducting strip

133 elastic conductive sheet

133a Assembly stage

133b curved section

133c active segment

134 anchor tab contact area

137 elastic sheet contact part

139 buffer structure

Height of H1 buffer structure

H2 height of contact part of fixing sheet

Height of contact part of H3 elastic sheet

S1 Cavity

Detailed Description

The embodiment of the application provides a key module suitable for prolonging the service life of keys and a keyboard using the key module. The key module comprises a key switch and a key cap which is detachably or fixedly sleeved above the key switch, and the key cap moves towards or away from a circuit board below the key switch along with the key switch so as to convert pressing force on the key cap into a switch signal. The key switch comprises a base, a key shaft, a conducting strip assembly and an elastic piece. The key shaft, the conductive sheet assembly and the elastic piece are all arranged in the containing cavity of the base. The key shaft is detachably or fixedly connected with the keycap, compresses the elastic piece along with the pressing of the keycap and forces the conductive piece assembly to be electrically connected with the circuit board below the base, and the key shaft is reset along with the elastic action of the elastic piece after the keycap is pressed. The conductive sheet assembly comprises a fixed conductive sheet and an elastic conductive sheet which are oppositely arranged. When the keycap is pressed, the contact part of the fixing piece arranged on the fixing conducting strip is contacted with the contact part of the elastic strip arranged on the elastic conducting strip, so that the conducting strip component is connected with the circuit board. Because stationary blade contact site and flexure strip contact site contact each other when the key cap is pressed, after using a period, the two will have certain wearing and tearing, for this reason, improve the conducting strip subassembly in this application embodiment, increase promptly and have elastic buffer structure and reduce the button and press the wearing and tearing of stationary blade contact site and flexure strip contact site when being pressed at every turn.

In one improvement, a buffer structure is additionally arranged on the fixed conducting strip, the buffer structure and the contact part of the fixed sheet are positioned on the same side, and when a keycap is pressed, the elastic conducting strip firstly contacts the buffer structure on the fixed conducting strip and then contacts the contact part of the fixed sheet on the fixed conducting strip. Therefore, the buffer structure bears the pressure transmitted by the keycap in a pressing mode, and the excessive pressure is neutralized in the buffer structure, so that the abrasion between the contact part of the fixing piece and the contact part of the elastic piece is relieved, and the possibility of prolonging the service life of the key is provided.

The other improvement is that a buffer structure is added on the elastic conducting sheet, the contact part of the buffer structure and the elastic sheet is positioned on the same side, and when the keycap is pressed, the fixed conducting sheet firstly contacts the buffer structure on the elastic conducting sheet and then contacts the contact part of the elastic sheet on the elastic conducting sheet. Similarly, the abrasion between the contact part of the fixed sheet and the contact part of the elastic sheet is slowed down through the buffer structure, thereby providing possibility for prolonging the service life of the key.

Still another improvement is to coat the surface of the contact part of the fixed sheet and/or the contact part of the elastic sheet with a plating layer, such as silver plating, so that the layer coated on the surface of the contact part of the fixed sheet and/or the contact part of the elastic sheet is a wear-resistant and highly conductive material, thereby reducing the contact resistance between the contact part of the fixed sheet and the contact part of the elastic sheet and making the key response more sensitive.

The detailed features and advantages of the present application are described in detail below with reference to specific embodiments, which are sufficient for anyone skilled in the art to understand the technical content of the present application and to implement the same, and the related objects and advantages of the present application can be easily understood by those skilled in the art from the content, the claims and the drawings described in the present specification. The following examples further illustrate the aspects of the present application in detail, but are not intended to limit the scope of the present application in any way. In addition, for the purpose of convenience of description, reference axes are attached to the drawings attached to the present application.

First, referring to fig. 1 to 3, fig. 1 is a perspective view of a key module according to an embodiment of the present application, fig. 2 is an exploded view of the key module of fig. 1 according to the present application, and fig. 3 is an enlarged view of a conductive sheet assembly of the key module of fig. 2 according to the present application. The present embodiment provides a key module 1, which can be applied to a keyboard of an electronic product such as a notebook computer or a desktop computer, for triggering a specific signal on the keyboard. As shown in fig. 1, in the present embodiment, the key module 1 includes a key switch 10 and a key cap 20. The key switches 10 are disposed on a circuit board 30 in the keyboard. The key cap 20 is disposed on the key switch 10. The circuit board 30 may be connected to the system signals in the electronic product through wires (not shown) or wireless transmission, but the present application is not limited thereto. It is understood that more key modules may be disposed on the circuit board 30 for triggering signals predetermined by other keys, but the present application is not limited thereto.

Next, as shown in fig. 2, the key switch 10 includes a base 11, a key shaft 12, a conductive sheet assembly 13 and an elastic member 14.

The base 11 includes an upper housing 111 and a lower housing 113. The upper housing 111 and the lower housing 113 can be assembled together to enclose a cavity S1 (i.e., the aforementioned cavity, as shown in fig. 4A). The key shaft 12 is disposed in the cavity S1 movably up and down, and is detachably or fixedly coupled to the base 11. The top of the key shaft 12 is detachably inserted into or fixedly connected with the key cap 20.

The conductive sheet assembly 13 includes a fixed conductive sheet 131 and a flexible conductive sheet 133. As best shown in fig. 3, the conductive sheet assembly 13 further includes a fixing sheet contact portion 134, an elastic sheet contact portion 137 and two buffering structures 139.

In detail, the fixed conductive sheet 131 is made of a metal material with conductive property, and is inserted into the lower housing 113 to electrically connect with the circuit board 30 below the lower housing 113 after the key cap 20 is pressed.

The elastic conductive sheet 133 is made of a metal material having elastic and conductive properties, and has an assembling section 133a, a bending section 133b and a moving section 133 c. One end of the assembling segment 133a is inserted into the lower housing 113 to be electrically connected to the circuit board 30 below the lower housing 113 after the key cap 20 is pressed. The bending section 133b is engaged between the assembling section 133a and the moving section 133 c. The movable segment 133c is swingably connected to the other end of the assembling segment 133a via the bent segment 133b, so that the movable segment 133c is movably located between the fixed conductive sheet 131 and the assembling segment 133a (as shown in fig. 4A and 5A). In this way, the movable segment 133c may be relatively close to or relatively far from the fixed conductive sheet 131 via the bent segment 133 b.

The fixed sheet contact portion 134 is disposed on a side of the fixed conductive sheet 131 facing the movable section 133c, and a surface thereof is plated with a wear-resistant material having a high conductive property, such as silver. However, the present application is not limited to the design or method of forming the anchor sheet contact portion 134.

The elastic piece contact portion 137 is disposed at a side of the movable segment 133c facing the fixed conductive sheet 131, and corresponds to the fixed piece contact portion 134. It can also be said that the fixed plate contact portion 134 and the elastic plate contact portion 137 are opposite to each other and are located between the fixed conductive plate 131 and the movable section 133 c. The elastic sheet contact portion 137 may be made of the same material as the fixed sheet contact portion 134, or may be formed from the movable section 133c by a press process, which is not limited in the present application.

Note that the present application is not limited to the positions of the fixing piece contact portion 134 and the elastic piece contact portion 137. For example, in other embodiments, the fixed sheet contact portion 134 may be disposed on the side of the movable segment 133c facing the fixed conductive sheet 131, and the elastic sheet contact portion 137 may be disposed on the side of the fixed conductive sheet 131 facing the movable segment 133 c.

Two buffer structures 139 are also located between the fixed conductive sheet 131 and the movable segment 133 c. Specifically, in the present embodiment, the two buffering structures 139 are disposed on one side of the fixed conductive sheet 131 facing the movable segment 133c, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, in other embodiments, the buffer structure 139 may also be disposed on the side of the movable segment 133c facing the fixed conductive sheet 131. In addition, the buffer structure 139 is made of a compressible and electrically insulating material, such as rubber or plastic, but the application is not limited thereto. For example, in other embodiments, the buffer structure 139 may be a compression spring made of an electrically insulating material. In addition, the number of the buffer structures 139 is not limited in the present application, for example, in other embodiments, the number of the buffer structures 139 may be more than two or only one.

Next, with continued reference to fig. 2, the elastic element 14 is located in the cavity S1 and connected between the key shaft 12 and the lower housing 113. In the present embodiment, the elastic element 14 is a compression spring, one end of which is disposed on the lower housing 113, and the other end of which is disposed on the key shaft 12, and can provide elastic pushing force to the key shaft 12 for compressing or restoring the key shaft 12.

Next, referring to fig. 4A to 4B, fig. 4A is a cross-sectional side view of the key cap of the key module of fig. 1 according to the present application when not pressed, and fig. 4B is a top view of the conductive sheet assembly when the key cap of the key module of fig. 1 according to the present application is not pressed.

As shown in fig. 4A to 4B, when the key top 20 and the key switch 10 are assembled, the key shaft 12 is held at a position relatively far from the lower case 113 of the base 11 by the elastic pushing force of the elastic member 14 when the key top 20 is not pressed. In this case, the key shaft 12 may push against the movable segment 133c of the elastic conductive sheet 133, so that the movable segment 133c is relatively far away from the fixed conductive sheet 131 to drive the bending segment 133b to bend and accumulate the elastic potential energy. Thereby, the elastic sheet contact part 137 on the movable section 133c of the elastic conductive sheet 133 is separated from the fixed sheet contact part 134 on the fixed conductive sheet 131, so that the fixed conductive sheet 131 is not conducted with the elastic conductive sheet 133. In addition, the two buffer structures 139 on the fixed conductive sheet 131 are separated from the movable section 133 c.

The heights of the cushion 139, stator contact 134 and spring contact 137 need only satisfy: when the key cap 20 is pressed to make the fixed conductive sheet 131 contact the elastic conductive sheet 133, the buffer structure 139 is contacted first, and then the fixing sheet contact portion 134 contacts the elastic sheet contact portion 137. For example, in the embodiment, the heights of the buffer structure 139, the fixing piece contact portion 134 and the elastic piece contact portion 137 only need to be such that the elastic conductive piece 133 contacts the buffer structure 139 first and then the fixing piece contact portion 134 contacts the elastic piece contact portion 137 in the process of pressing the key cap 20. In one implementation, as seen in fig. 4B, when the key cap is not pressed, the height of each buffer structure 139 when not pressed is H1, the height of the fixing piece contact portion 134 is H2, and the height of the elastic piece contact portion 137 is H3, and at this time, the height H1 of each buffer structure 139 is greater than the sum of the height H2 of the fixing piece contact portion 134 and the height H3 of the elastic piece contact portion 137, that is, the following conditions are satisfied:

H1>(H2+H3)。

it should be understood that this condition may also be changed if, in the pressed state, the fixed conductive sheet is in contact with the elastic conductive sheet through the buffer structure, and then the fixed sheet contact portion is in contact with the elastic sheet contact portion.

Referring to fig. 5A to 5B, fig. 5A is a cross-sectional side view of the key cap of the key module of fig. 1 according to the present application when pressed, and fig. 5B is a top view of the conductive sheet assembly of the key module of fig. 1 according to the present application when pressed.

As shown in fig. 5A to 5B, when the key cap 20 is pressed and pressed, the key cap 20 drives the key shaft 12 to move toward the lower housing 113 of the base 11, so that the key shaft 12 does not push against the movable section 133c of the elastic conductive sheet 133. In this case, the bending section 133b releases the elastic potential energy to drive the movable section 133c to spring toward the fixed conductive sheet 131, so that the elastic sheet contact portion 137 on the movable section 133c can impact and contact the fixed sheet contact portion 134 on the fixed conductive sheet 131, so that the fixed conductive sheet 131 and the elastic conductive sheet 133 are electrically conducted via the fixed sheet contact portion 134 and the elastic sheet contact portion 137, thereby triggering a signal preset by the key module 1.

As can be seen from a comparison between fig. 4B and fig. 5B, since each buffer structure 139 is made of an elastic material and has a height H1 greater than the sum of the heights of the contact portions of the fixed plate and the elastic plate (i.e., H2+ H3), the buffer structure 139 disposed on the fixed conductive plate 131 is first impacted by the movable segment 133c and is deformed by compression when the movable segment 133c is ejected toward the fixed conductive plate 131. In this case, the buffer structure 139 can absorb the impact force from the movable segment 133c to reduce the wear of the fixed piece contact portion 134 and the elastic piece contact portion 137 during pressing, thereby prolonging the service life of the conductive sheet assembly 13.

It should be noted that the present application is not limited to the height of the buffer structure 139, the fixed piece contact portion 134 and the elastic piece contact portion 137, and it is within the scope of the present application as long as the height of the buffer structure 139 is satisfied to enable the fixed conductive piece 131 and the elastic conductive piece 133 to contact the buffer structure 139 first, and then the fixed piece contact portion 134 contacts the elastic piece contact portion 137, and the fixed piece contact portion contacts the elastic piece contact portion, and the user can adjust the height of the above elements within this range according to the actual requirement.

In addition, the shape of the contact portion of the elastic sheet and the contact portion of the fixing sheet is not limited, the contact portion of the fixing sheet may be a bump or a bump, the contact portion of the elastic sheet may also be a bump or a bump, even the contact portion of the elastic sheet and the movable section are located on the same plane, in this case, the contact portion 134 of the fixing sheet on the fixed conductive sheet 131 can directly bear the impact of the movable section 133c and is electrically connected with the movable section 133c, and the height H1 of the buffer structure 139 only needs to be slightly higher than the height H2 of the contact portion 134 of the fixing sheet.

Next, referring to fig. 6, fig. 6 is a perspective view of a keyboard according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown, a keyboard 9 is provided, which includes a keyboard housing 91, a plurality of key modules 1 as described above, and a circuit board 30 as described above. The key modules 1 and the circuit board 30 are disposed in the keyboard casing 91. The key modules 1 are electrically connected to the circuit board 30 for triggering respective predetermined signals.

Therefore, in the conductive sheet assembly, the key module and the keyboard comprising the same, through the buffer structure between the movable sections of the fixed conductive sheet and the elastic conductive sheet, the impact force caused by the movable section can be absorbed in the process of resetting and bouncing the movable section to the fixed conductive sheet, so that the abrasion of the contact point between the fixed conductive sheet and the elastic conductive sheet during each touch is reduced, and the service life of the conductive sheet assembly is prolonged.

Although the present application has been described with reference to the above embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present application. All changes and modifications that come within the spirit and scope of the application are desired to be protected. For the protection defined in this application, reference should be made to the appended claims.

Claims

1. A conductive sheet assembly adapted to activate a key module, the conductive sheet assembly comprising:

the fixed conducting strip is inserted into a circuit board positioned below the key module and is provided with a fixed sheet contact part;

the elastic conducting strip is provided with an elastic strip contact part, an assembling section and a movable section, the elastic strip contact part is opposite to the fixed strip contact part, one end of the assembling section is used for being inserted into the circuit board, and the movable section is connected to the other end of the assembling section in a swinging mode and is movably located between the fixed conducting strip and the assembling section; and

at least one buffer structure which is positioned on the fixed conductive sheet, is positioned at the same side with the contact part of the fixed sheet and is separated from the movable section;

when the movable section of the elastic conducting strip is relatively close to the fixed conducting strip and is electrically conducted with the fixed conducting strip, the movable section firstly touches the at least one buffer structure and then touches the fixed piece contact part through the elastic piece contact part, and the at least one buffer structure is extruded between the movable section and the fixed conducting strip and is in contact with the elastic conducting strip before the fixed piece contact part is in contact with the elastic piece contact part.

2. The conductive strip assembly according to claim 1, wherein the surface of the stator contact portion and/or the elastic sheet contact portion is coated with a wear-resistant and electrically conductive material.

3. The conductive strip assembly of claim 1, wherein the height of the at least one buffer structure, the height of the stator contact area and the height of the spring contact area satisfy: when the fixed conducting strip is contacted with the elastic conducting strip, the fixed conducting strip firstly touches the at least one buffering structure and then contacts the elastic strip through the contact part of the fixed piece.

4. The conductive sheet assembly of claim 1, wherein the at least one buffer structure is comprised of a compressible and electrically insulating material.

5. The conductive sheet assembly of claim 1, wherein the at least one buffer structure is a compression spring formed of an electrically insulating material.

6. The conducting strip assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the elastic conducting strip further has a bending section connected between the assembling section and the movable section, when the movable section is pushed by a key shaft of the key module, the movable section is relatively far away from the fixed conducting strip to drive the bending section to bend and accumulate elastic potential energy, and when the movable section is no longer pushed by the key shaft, the bending section releases the elastic potential energy to drive the movable section to spring toward the fixed conducting strip.

7. A key module, comprising:

a key switch comprising a base having a cavity, a key shaft, a conductive sheet assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 6, and a resilient member, wherein the key shaft, the conductive sheet assembly, and the resilient member are disposed in the cavity of the base, and the key shaft is movable relative to the base; and

and the keycap is sleeved on the key shaft and moves towards or away from the bottom of the base along with the key shaft.

8. A keyboard, comprising:

a keyboard housing;

a plurality of key modules according to claim 7; and

the plurality of key modules and the circuit board are all positioned in the keyboard shell, and the plurality of key modules are electrically connected with the circuit board.