CN109390177B

CN109390177B - Thin key with pressing section falling sense

Info

Publication number: CN109390177B
Application number: CN201710676211.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 梁徽湖
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Dongguan Xuyou Plastic Technology Co ltd
Priority date: 2017-08-09
Filing date: 2017-08-09
Publication date: 2020-05-26
Anticipated expiration: 2037-08-09
Also published as: CN109390177A

Abstract

A thin key with a pressing section falling feeling comprises a bearing component, a character key, a linkage unit, an elastic piece and a reset piece; the character key moves back and forth along with the linkage unit relative to the bearing component, the linkage unit is provided with a driving piece, and the driving piece moves back and forth along with the linkage unit; the elastic piece is positioned between the bearing component and the character key and corresponds to the position of the driving piece, and the driving piece enables the elastic piece to act according to the moving state of the linkage unit; the reset piece is arranged between the bearing component and the character key, when the character key moves from the non-pressed position to the pressed position, the driving piece contacts and pushes the elastic piece to generate a pressed section falling feeling, and until the character key moves to the pressed position, the reset elastic force of the reset piece can enable the character key to move back to the non-pressed position from the pressed position.

Description

Thin key with pressing section falling sense

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a key, and more particularly, to a thin key with a press-section falling feeling.

Background

The keyboard keys of various 3C electronic devices are increasingly thinned, the overall height is greatly reduced, and the conventional large mechanical keyboard cannot be matched with the thinning design trend, so that the common design mode is to change a key mechanism with smaller pressing amount or a touch key.

The user often cannot feel the feedback feeling of pressing obviously when pressing the key mechanism or the touch key, so that the user cannot know whether the pressing operation is completed during the actual operation, thereby causing operational troubles.

For example, the chinese application No. 201610802371.0 discloses a keyboard switch capable of improving the touch feeling of pressing, which utilizes the guiding slope of the base and the elastic member to match with the action of the pressing block, so as to realize the feeling of generating touch feeling and sound during the pressing process. However, the elastic member can only be simply placed in the base, and cannot be stably positioned and generate elastic force, which easily affects the normal operation of the entire keyboard switch.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE

Therefore, the primary objective of the present invention is to provide a key assembly with better quality and clear pressing feeling, lighter and thinner overall size, simplified and stable structure, and flexible arrangement of various additional functions.

In order to achieve the above object, the thin key with a press-section falling feeling provided by the present invention comprises a bearing component, a key, a linkage unit, a driving component, an elastic component, and a reset component; the character key is arranged above the bearing component; the linkage unit is movably connected with the character key and the bearing component, and the character key moves back and forth between a non-pressing position and a pressing position along with the linkage unit relative to the bearing component; the linkage unit is provided with a driving piece which moves back and forth along with the linkage unit; the elastic piece is positioned between the bearing component and the character key and corresponds to the position of the driving piece, and the driving piece enables the elastic piece to act according to the moving state of the linkage unit; the reset piece is arranged between the bearing component and the character key; therefore, when the character key moves from the non-pressed position to the pressed position, the driving piece contacts and pushes the elastic piece to generate a pressing paragraph feeling, and the character key can move back to the non-pressed position from the pressed position by the restoring elastic force of the resetting piece until the character key moves to the pressed position; therefore, the invention aims of lighter and thinner overall size, simpler and more stable structure and the like are achieved.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a perspective assembly view of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective assembly view of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention 1, in which the keys are omitted;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 1 with the word key in the non-depressed position;

FIGS. 5 to 7 are schematic views showing the operation of the preferred embodiment 1 of the present invention, which mainly shows the movement of the keys toward the pressed positions;

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the preferred embodiment of FIG. 2 of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the preferred embodiment of FIG. 2;

FIG. 10 is similar to FIG. 9 and shows primarily the movement of the keys toward the depressed position;

FIG. 11 is similar to FIG. 9 and shows primarily the movement of the keys to a depressed position;

FIG. 12 is another cross-sectional view of the preferred embodiment of FIG. 2 showing primarily the keys moved to the depressed position;

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of the preferred embodiment of the invention 2 showing primarily another embodiment of the drive member;

FIG. 14 is a view similar to FIG. 13, but showing primarily the movement of the keys to a depressed position;

FIG. 15 is like FIG. 13 and shows generally a further embodiment of the drive member;

fig. 16 is similar to fig. 15 and primarily shows the movement of the keys to the depressed position.

Detailed Description

Referring to fig. 1 to 3, a thin key 10 with a pressing section sense according to the preferred embodiment 1 of the present invention mainly includes a carrier 12, where the carrier 12 may be a bottom plate 13 laminated with a middle plate, or any combination of the bottom plate 13 laminated with a light guide plate, and the bottom plate 13 may be a circuit board, a metal plate, or a plastic plate. The surface of the bottom plate 13 is provided with a circuit switch 17, the circuit switch 17 may be a membrane circuit switch or other types of thin switches, for example, membrane key switches (membrane switches), flexible printed circuits (fpcs), or flexible printed circuits (fpcs) commonly used in 3C products or electronic devices, the circuit switch 17 may have an upper circuit and a lower circuit, the upper circuit may be configured as a membrane switch, and the lower circuit may be configured as a membrane switch and a PCB, or a circuit may be directly disposed on the bottom plate 13 by using a Laser Direct Structuring (LDS).

The word key 14 is disposed above the carrier 12, a linkage unit 15 is disposed between the word key 14 and the bottom plate 13 of the carrier 12, the linkage unit 15 of the preferred embodiment is a scissor-foot mechanism, the linkage unit 15 has a first linkage 16 and a second linkage 18, the first linkage 16 and the second linkage 18 respectively have a section combined with the word key 14 and another section combined with the bottom plate 13 of the carrier 12, the first linkage 16 and the second linkage 18 can be combined between the word key 14 and the bottom plate 13 in a cross or non-cross manner, so that the word key 14 reciprocates up and down between a non-pressed position (as shown in fig. 4) and a pressed position (as shown in fig. 7) along with the linkage unit 15 relative to the carrier 12.

As shown in fig. 2 and 3, the first linking member 16 has a fixing portion 30 and a supporting portion 35, the fixing portion 30 and the supporting portion 35 are both disposed at a position adjacent to the first linking member 16 and combined with the bottom plate 13, the second linking member 18 has a driving member 20, the driving member 20 is disposed at a position corresponding to the supporting portion 35 and extends toward an outer side of the second linking member 18, the driving member 20 has a first guiding surface 22 and a second guiding surface 23, and an included angle is formed between the first guiding surface 22 and the second guiding surface 23, and the included angle can be a specific angle to adjust a touch feeling pressed on the key 14.

The fixing portion 30 is in a cylindrical shape, and the fixing portion 30 is used for disposing an elastic member 40, in which the elastic member 40 of the embodiment is a torsion spring, and may also be a cantilever spring. The elastic member 40 has a ring-shaped body 42, and a positioning section 44 and a pressing section 46 extend from the body 42. The body 42 can be stably sleeved on the fixing portion 30, the positioning section 44 is clamped on the side wall 31 adjacent to the fixing portion 30, and the compression section 46 extends to the position corresponding to the supporting portion 35. The outer end of the pressed section 46 of the elastic member 40 has a bent portion 19. The fixing portion 30 and the supporting portion 35 are not only disposed on the first linking member 16 to position the elastic member 40, but also disposed on other positions corresponding to the driving member 20, such as the bottom plate 13 of the carrying assembly 12, and the technical features and effects of the present invention can be achieved.

The supporting portion 35 of the first linking member 16 is located at the lower side of the end portion corresponding to the pressed section 46, the first linking member 16 is further provided with a stopping portion 33 located at the upper side of the corresponding pressed section 46, the supporting portion 35 has a supporting plane 37 with a substantially inclined shape, the stopping portion 33 is located between the main body 42 of the elastic member 40 and the end portion of the pressed section 46, as shown in fig. 3 and 4, the pressed section 46 extends from the main body 42 to between the stopping portion 33 and the supporting portion 35, when the driving member 20 is driven by the word key 14 and the second linking member 18 to reciprocate between the non-pressed position and the pressed position, the driving member 20 pushes the pressed section 46 by using the first guiding surface 22 or the second guiding surface 23, and the pressed section 46 is pushed by the first guiding surface 22 or the second guiding surface 23, so as to reciprocally offset from the supporting portion 35 along the supporting plane 37 of the supporting portion 35. The support plane 37 may be horizontal as well as inclined.

A reset element 50 is disposed between the key 14 and the carrier 12, the reset element 50 of the present embodiment is a silicone elastomer and is disposed on a surface of the circuit switch 17, and the reset element 50 can actuate the circuit switch 17 according to a moving state of the key 14. The reset member 50 has a reset spring force to reset and move the key 14 directly from the pressed position to the non-pressed position.

With the above-described components, as shown in fig. 4 to 7, when the key 14 is located at the non-pressed position, the driving member 20 is located above the pressed section 46 of the elastic member 40, when the key 14 is pressed down, the key 14 will drive the linking unit 15, so that the driving member 20 of the second linking member 18 contacts the pressed section 46 of the elastic member 40 by the first guiding surface 22, so that the movement of the key 14 is resisted, and the pressing force of the key 14 must be slightly increased, so that the driving member 20 is driven to continuously push the pressing section 46 by the first guiding surface 22, the pressing section 46 of the elastic member 40 is pushed to be deviated from the driving member 20 along the supporting plane 37, the key 14 and the driving member 20 can continue to move downwards, thereby generating a pressing step feeling, the pressed section 46 of the elastic member 40 rebounds to the upper position corresponding to the second guiding surface 23, and the pressed section 46 can also abut against the stopper 33 to generate sound. When the key 14 moves to the pressed position, the reset element 50 can move the key 14 from the pressed position to the non-pressed position directly, and the pressed section 46 of the elastic element 40 is pushed by the driving element 20 and deflects along the second guiding surface 23 to return to the position below the corresponding first guiding surface 22.

In addition, the invention can also arrange a light-emitting component on the bearing component, and the light-emitting component can be an LED arranged on the circuit switch or a light guide plate.

Because the driving member 20 moves along with the second linking member 18 to push the pressed section 46 of the elastic member 40, the elastic member 40 is disposed at the position corresponding to the first linking member 16 of the driving member 20, and the character key 14 must be pressed and then force is applied to make the driving member 20 push the pressed section 46 of the elastic member 40, so as to generate a pressing section sense when the character key 14 is pressed, if the matching circuit switch 17 is a film switch, the height of the whole keyboard can be greatly reduced, and meanwhile, the keyboard has a clear pressing section sense. The component composition of the invention is easier to meet the production and manufacturing simplicity.

As shown in fig. 8, a preferred embodiment of the invention 2 is characterized in that the driving member 200 is disposed on an inner peripheral wall of one of the link members 204 of the link unit 202, the bottom plate 201 has a fixing portion 210 for disposing the elastic member 206, the bottom plate 201 is disposed with a blocking portion 205 and a supporting portion 207 respectively on an upper side and a lower side of the pressed section 208 corresponding to the elastic member 206, the supporting portion 207 has a substantially horizontal supporting plane 212, the supporting portion 207 is disposed at an end of the pressed section 208, the blocking portion 205 is disposed at a position corresponding to the pressed section 208 of the elastic member 206, the pressed section 208 of the elastic member 206 extends on the supporting plane 212, as shown in fig. 9 and 10, the driving member 200 has a first guiding surface 214 and a second guiding surface 216 extending toward an inner direction of the link member 204, and an included angle is formed between the first guiding surface 214 and the second guiding surface 216, and the included angle can be adjusted to have other angles according to a touch. When the key 218 is pressed, the linking unit 202 drives the driving member 200 to move downward until the first guiding surface 214 pushes the pressed section 208 of the elastic member 206, so that the pressed section 208 is shifted along the supporting plane 212 in parallel, as shown in fig. 11 to 12, until the pressed section 208 moves away from the first guiding surface 214 of the driving member 200, the key 218 and the driving member 200 can move downward again, and the pressed section 208 simultaneously separates from the first guiding surface 214 to return to the original state of the second guiding surface 216, and the process of the linking unit 202 driving the driving member 200 to push the elastic member 206 can also generate the feature of falling feeling of the pressed section. If the first guiding surface 222 of the driving member 220 is disposed approximately perpendicular to the supporting plane 224 as shown in fig. 13 and 14, or the second guiding surface 232 of the driving member 230 is disposed approximately perpendicular to the supporting plane 234 as shown in fig. 15 and 16, different pressing touch feeling of the key 218 can be obtained.

Claims

1. A thin key with a press-to-step feel, comprising:

a bearing assembly;

a character key arranged above the bearing component;

the linkage unit is movably connected with the character key and the bearing component, and the character key moves back and forth between a non-pressing position and a pressing position along with the linkage unit relative to the bearing component; the linkage unit is provided with a driving piece, the driving piece is provided with a first guide surface, and the driving piece moves back and forth along with the linkage unit;

an elastic piece, which is positioned between the bearing component and the key and corresponds to the position of the driving piece, and the driving piece enables the elastic piece to act according to the moving state of the linkage unit;

a reset piece arranged between the bearing component and the character key;

therefore, when the character key moves from the non-pressed position to the pressed position, the driving piece pushes the elastic piece by the first guide surface, so that the elastic piece is separated from the first guide surface to generate a pressing paragraph feeling, and the character key can move back to the non-pressed position from the pressed position by the restoring elastic force of the resetting piece until the character key moves to the pressed position;

the bearing assembly or the linkage unit is provided with a supporting part, the elastic part is provided with a pressed section, the pressed section is provided with a stopping part and the supporting part respectively corresponding to the upper side and the lower side of the position of the supporting part, and the pressed section is pressed and then rebounded to abut against the stopping part.

2. The thin key with pressing paragraph feeling as claimed in claim 1, wherein the linkage unit comprises at least two linkage members coupled between the key and the carrier assembly, and the driving member is disposed on one of the at least two linkage members.

3. The thin key with press-to-paragraph feeling as claimed in claim 2, wherein the elastic member is disposed on another of the at least two linking members.

4. The thin key as claimed in claim 3, wherein another of the at least two linking members has a supporting portion, the supporting portion has a supporting plane, and when the key drives the driving member to move from the non-pressed position to the pressed position, the driving member pushes the elastic member to deviate from the first guiding plane along the supporting plane corresponding to the position of the supporting portion, thereby generating a paragraph pressing feeling.

5. The thin key with press paragraph feeling of claim 1, wherein the supporting component has the supporting portion, the supporting portion has a supporting plane, the elastic member is disposed on the supporting component, when the key drives the driving member to move from the un-pressed position to the pressed position, the driving member pushes the elastic member to offset from the supporting portion along the supporting plane corresponding to the position of the supporting portion, thereby generating the press paragraph feeling.

6. The thin key with pressing paragraph feeling as claimed in claim 4 or 5, wherein the supporting plane is inclined or horizontal.

7. The thin key with press-to-fall feeling of claim 4 or 5, wherein the first guiding surface of the driving member is disposed approximately perpendicular to the supporting plane.

8. The thin key with press-to-fall feeling of claim 4 or 5, wherein a second guiding surface of the driving member is disposed approximately perpendicular to the supporting plane.

9. The thin key with push-to-drop effect as claimed in claim 1, wherein the elastic member is located below the first guide surface or above a second guide surface along with the movement of the driving member.

10. The thin key with push-down section sense as claimed in claim 1, wherein the outer end of the push-down section has a bending portion, and the bending portion has an inclined angle.

11. The thin key with press-to-paragraph effect as claimed in claim 1, wherein the carrier assembly is provided with a light emitting assembly, and the light emitting assembly can be an LED or a light guide plate.

12. The thin key with press-drop feeling of claim 1, wherein a circuit switch is disposed above the carrier assembly, the circuit switch has an upper circuit, the upper circuit is configured as a membrane switch, the key is reciprocally movable toward or away from the membrane switch, and the reset member actuates the membrane switch according to a moving state of the key.