CN111081489A

CN111081489A - Key, keyboard and electronic device

Info

Publication number: CN111081489A
Application number: CN201811217568.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王克成
Original assignee: Silitek Electronic Dongguan Co Ltd
Current assignee: Silitek Electronic Dongguan Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-10-18
Filing date: 2018-10-18
Publication date: 2020-04-28
Anticipated expiration: 2038-10-18
Also published as: CN111081489B

Abstract

The application discloses button, keyboard and electron device, it includes casing, elastic component and key cap. The shell is provided with a feedback convex part, and the elastic part is arranged on the shell and contacts with the feedback convex part. The key cap is arranged on the shell and provided with a driving convex part, and the driving convex part is contacted with the elastic part. The keycap moves relative to the shell, after the driving convex part twists the elastic part, the elastic part is separated from the driving convex part, the elastic part generates elastic force to impact the feedback convex part, and after the elastic part and the feedback convex part impact each other, feedback sound can be generated on one hand, and feedback knocking hand feeling can be generated on the other hand. Therefore, when the user presses the key, the feedback of the key can be beneficial to the user to have better use feeling.

Description

Key, keyboard and electronic device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of key technologies, and in particular, to a key with feedback, a keyboard, and an electronic device.

Background

The keyboard mainly functions to input text, and the keyboard can be divided into a membrane keyboard and a mechanical keyboard. The general pressing hand feeling of the film keyboard is that the rubber cap below the key is matched with the mechanical structure of the scissor feet, and when a user presses the key, the rubber cap is compressed by the pressing force to press the key. After the pressing force is recovered, the restoring force of the rubber cap can cause rebounding, so that the keycap provides feedback force to lift the keycap, and the hand feeling of pressing the keyboard key is formed. The mechanical keyboard is arranged by matching the axis below the keys with the spring structure, and the mechanical keyboard provides the hand feeling for pressing the keys of the keyboard by the compression and the restoring force of the spring.

However, the above-mentioned key structures all have disadvantages, and if the thin film type key is used, the feedback force of the key is slightly insufficient. If a mechanical keyboard is used, the cost of the keys is too high.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a key, a keyboard and an electronic device, which are used for solving the problem that the feedback of the key is not good in the prior art or the problem that the cost is too high although a mechanical keyboard has feedback hand feeling.

In order to solve the above problem, the present application provides a key, including: casing, elastic component and key cap. The shell is provided with a feedback convex part; the elastic piece is arranged on the shell and contacts the feedback convex part; the key cap is arranged on the shell and provided with a driving convex part, and the driving convex part is contacted with the elastic part; the keycap moves relative to the shell, the elastic piece is separated from the driving convex part after the driving convex part twists the elastic piece, and the elastic piece generates elastic force to impact the feedback convex part.

The present application further provides a keyboard using keys.

The application further provides an electronic device using the keyboard with the keys.

According to an embodiment of the application, the key cap moves relative to the key structure when the user presses the key cap, the driving protrusion of the key cap twists the elastic member of the key structure, and when the elastic member is disengaged from the driving protrusion, the elastic member generates elastic force to impact the feedback protrusion of the key structure, so that feedback sound is generated after the impact, and feedback knocking hand feeling is generated. Therefore, when a user presses the key, the feedback of the key can be beneficial to the user to have better use hand feeling. In addition, the keyboard using the keys with feedback has lower cost compared with the traditional mechanical keyboard.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the application and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the application and together with the description serve to explain the application and not to limit the application. In the drawings:

fig. 1 is a perspective view of a key of the present application.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a key of the present application.

Fig. 3 is an exploded view of the key of the present application.

Fig. 4 is a side view of a key of the present application.

FIG. 5 is another cross-sectional view of a key of the present application.

Fig. 6 is a first schematic view of a key usage state of the present application.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a use state of the key of the present application.

Fig. 8 is a third schematic view of the use state of the key of the present application.

Fig. 9 is a fourth schematic view of the use state of the key of the present application.

Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of a use state of the key of the present application.

Detailed Description

In the following description, numerous implementation details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It should be understood, however, that these implementation details should not be used to limit the application. That is, in some embodiments of the present application, such practical details are not necessary. In addition, some conventional structures and components are shown in simplified schematic form in the drawings.

The terms "first," "second," and the like, as used herein, do not denote any order or importance, nor do they denote any order or importance, but rather are used to distinguish one element from another.

Please refer to fig. 1 and fig. 2, which are a perspective view and a cross-sectional view of a key of the present application. As shown in the drawings, the present embodiment provides a key 1, which is one of the keys in the keyboard, when a user presses the key 1, the key 1 can provide a sound and a striking hand for the user to feedback, so that the feedback of the key 1 can be beneficial to improving the user's better use feeling. The key 1 of the present embodiment includes a key structure 11, an elastic member 13, and a key cap 15.

Please refer to fig. 3, which is an exploded view of the key of the present application. As shown in the drawings, in the present embodiment, the key structure 11 includes a housing 119, and the housing 119 has the feedback protrusion 111. The elastic element 13 is disposed on the housing 119 of the key structure 11 and contacts the feedback protrusion 111. The key top 15 is disposed on the housing 119 of the key structure 11, the key top 15 has a driving protrusion 151, and the driving protrusion 151 contacts with the elastic member 13. The key cap 15 moves relative to the housing 119 of the key structure 11, and after the driving protrusion 151 compresses the elastic member 13, the elastic member 13 is separated from the driving protrusion 151, and the elastic member 13 generates an elastic force to hit the feedback protrusion 111.

Please refer to fig. 4 and fig. 5, which are a side view and another cross-sectional view of the key of the present application. As shown in the drawings, in the present embodiment, the key structure 11 includes a base 113, a circuit unit 115, an elastic protrusion 117 and a housing 119. The circuit unit 115 is disposed on the base 113, the circuit unit 115 includes a plurality of signal transmission points, and the elastic protrusion 117 is disposed on the circuit unit 115 and corresponds to the signal transmission points. The housing 119 is disposed on the base 113 and covers the circuit unit 115. The elastic projection 117 is exposed from the case 119, and the key top 15 is provided in the case 119. In addition, the circuit unit 115 may be a printed circuit board, a flexible circuit board, or a thin film circuit.

Furthermore, the housing 119 has a positioning portion 1191, the positioning portion 1191 has a through hole 1190, and the elastic protrusion 117 is located in the through hole 1190. The key cap 15 has a pressing shaft 153, the pressing shaft 153 penetrates through the through hole 1190, the pressing shaft 153 corresponds to the elastic protruding member 117, and the key cap 15 covers the positioning portion 1191. The key cap 15 further includes two position-limiting portions 155, the two position-limiting portions 155 are disposed on two sides of the pressing shaft 153, the hole wall of the through hole 1190 has two position-limiting grooves 1193 corresponding to the two position-limiting portions 155, and the two position-limiting portions 155 are fastened in the two position-limiting grooves 1193. The key cap 15 further includes an elastic supporting member 157, the elastic supporting member 157 is sleeved on the pressing shaft 153, and the elastic supporting member 157 is located between the key cap 15 and the housing 119. The elastic support 157 is a compression spring. In this embodiment, one end of the elastic supporting member 157 is disposed on the housing 119, and the other end of the elastic supporting member 157 supports the key cap 15, so that the key cap 15 is supported above the key structure 11. In addition, the two limit portions 155 of the pressing shaft 153 of the key cap 15 are engaged with the two limit grooves 1193 of the hole wall of the through hole 1190, so as to prevent the key cap 15 from being separated from the key structure 11.

In addition, the elastic element 13 and the feedback protrusion 111 are disposed on the outer sidewall of the positioning portion 1191, the feedback protrusion 111 is disposed above the elastic element 13, and the driving protrusion 151 is disposed on the inner side of the key cap 15. the driving protrusion 151 is disposed above the elastic element 13, wherein the surface of the driving protrusion 151 away from the key structure 11 is an inclined surface 110, and the inclined surface 110 serves as a guiding structure for guiding the end of the elastic element 13 to move and return to the position below the driving protrusion 151. The elastic member 13, the feedback protrusion 111, and the driving protrusion 151 are located between the key cap 15 and the housing 119. The outer side wall of the positioning portion 1191 is further provided with a fixing shaft 1195, the elastic member 13 is sleeved on the fixing shaft 1195, one end of the elastic member 13 is in contact with the driving protrusion 151, and the other end of the elastic member 13 is fixed to the housing 119, wherein the housing 119 further includes a limiting member 1197, the limiting member 1197 is disposed outside the positioning portion 1191 and located on one side of the elastic member 13, the other end of the elastic member 13 is fixed to the limiting member 1197, and the elastic member 13 may be a torsion spring or a spring plate, etc.

Please refer to fig. 6 to fig. 10, which are schematic views illustrating a first to a fifth usage states of the key of the present application. As shown, in the present embodiment, when the key 1 is not in use (see fig. 6), the key cap 15 is supported by the elastic supporting member 157. Meanwhile, the other end of the elastic element 13 is fixed, and one end of the elastic element is upwardly abutted against the feedback protrusion 111 and the driving protrusion 151, wherein the middle section of one end of the elastic element 13 is abutted against the feedback protrusion 111, and the tail end of one end of the elastic element is abutted against the driving protrusion 151.

When the user presses the key 1 (see fig. 7), the key cap 15 moves relative to the key structure 11, i.e. the key cap 15 moves downward, the key cap 15 compresses the elastic support 157, and at the same time, the driving protrusion 151 presses the end of the elastic member 13 to torsionally compress the elastic member 13, and the elastic member 13 is torsionally compressed about the fixed shaft 1195. When the driving protrusion 151 moves vertically downward, the distance of the driving protrusion 151 with respect to the fixed shaft 1195 gradually increases, and the portion of the end of the elastic member 13 abutting against the driving protrusion 151 gradually decreases without changing the length of the end of the elastic member 13.

When the key cap 15 is fully pressed (see fig. 8), the driving protrusion 151 cannot abut against the end of the elastic member 13, i.e., the end of the elastic member 13 is separated from the driving protrusion 151, and the torsional elasticity of the elastic member 13 is released, i.e., the elastic restoring force (i.e., torsional elasticity) of the elastic member 13 urges the elastic member 13 to return to the original state (see fig. 6). In addition, the pressing shaft 153 of the key cap 15 presses against the elastic protrusion 117, and the elastic protrusion 117 deforms and presses against a corresponding signal transmission point on the circuit unit 115, thereby completing a signal transmission.

As mentioned above, the elastic restoring force urges the elastic element 13 to restore from the torsional compression state to the original state, and the elastic element 13 is under the elastic restoring force, which causes one end of the elastic element 13 to directly impact the feedback protrusion 111 (as shown in fig. 9), and at the same time, one end of the elastic element 13 abuts against the feedback protrusion 111. When the elastic element 13 and the feedback protrusion 111 collide with each other, a feedback sound is generated, and a feedback knocking feeling is generated.

When the key is no longer pressed (see fig. 10), the elastic supporting member 157 releases the compression elastic force, so that the elastic supporting member 157 jacks up the key cap 15 again, and meanwhile, the elastic protruding member 117 in the housing 119 also restores to the original state, and the elastic protruding member 117 also jacks up the pressing shaft 153, thereby driving the key cap 15 upward. Although the end of the elastic element 13 will block the moving path of the driving protrusion 151, the elastic element 13 itself is made of soft material, and the surface of the driving protrusion 151 opposite to the end of the elastic element 13 is the inclined surface 110, the end of the elastic element 13 will move along the inclined surface 110 of the driving protrusion 151, and the compression elasticity of the elastic supporting element 157 and the restoring force of the elastic protrusion 117 are limited to be enough to push the driving protrusion 151 back (as shown in fig. 5). So that the keys can be used again. In the present embodiment, the key with feedback can also be applied to a keyboard, and the keyboard with feedback can also be applied to an electronic device.

In summary, the technical solution according to the present application is improved according to the shortcomings of the prior art, most of the key feedback methods in the prior art rely on the design of the axis, which is too high in cost, and most of the feedback force of the key with the axis design is slightly insufficient. Therefore, the present application provides a key, a keyboard and an electronic device, which includes a key structure, an elastic member and a key cap. The button structure comprises a shell, wherein the shell is provided with a feedback convex part, and the elastic part is arranged on the shell of the button structure and contacts with the feedback convex part. The key cap is arranged on the shell of the key structure and is provided with a driving convex part which is contacted with the elastic part. The keycap moves relative to the shell of the key structure, the elastic part is separated from the driving convex part after the driving convex part twists the elastic part, the elastic part generates elastic force to impact the feedback convex part, and after the elastic part and the feedback convex part are impacted, feedback sound can be generated on one hand, and feedback knocking hand feeling can be generated on the other hand. Therefore, when a user presses the key, the feedback of the key can be beneficial to the user to have better use hand feeling, and meanwhile, the cost of the key with the feedback is lower compared with that of the key with the axis.

The above description is only an embodiment of the present application, and is not intended to limit the present application. Various modifications and changes may occur to those skilled in the art. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement or the like made within the spirit and principle of the present application shall be included in the scope of the claims of the present application.

Claims

1. A key, comprising:

a housing having a feedback lobe;

the elastic piece is arranged on the shell and contacts the feedback convex part; and

the key cap is arranged on the shell and provided with a driving convex part, and the driving convex part is in contact with the elastic part;

the keycap moves relative to the shell, the elastic piece is separated from the driving convex part after the driving convex part compresses the elastic piece, and the elastic piece generates elastic force to impact the feedback convex part.

2. The key of claim 1, further comprising a key structure comprising:

a base connected with the housing;

a circuit unit disposed on the base; and

and the elastic convex piece is arranged on the circuit unit.

3. The key of claim 2, wherein the housing has a positioning portion, the positioning portion has a through hole, the elastic protrusion is located in the through hole, the key cap has a pressing shaft, the pressing shaft penetrates the through hole, the pressing shaft corresponds to the elastic protrusion, the key cap covers the positioning portion, the elastic member and the feedback protrusion are disposed on an outer side wall of the positioning portion, the feedback protrusion is disposed above the elastic member, and the driving protrusion is located above the elastic member.

4. The key of claim 3, wherein the key cap further comprises two position-limiting portions disposed at two sides of the pressing shaft, the wall of the through hole has two position-limiting grooves corresponding to the two position-limiting portions, and the two position-limiting portions are fastened in the two position-limiting grooves.

5. The key of claim 3, wherein a fixing shaft is further disposed on an outer side wall of the positioning portion, the elastic member is sleeved on the fixing shaft, one end of the elastic member contacts with the driving protrusion, and the other end of the elastic member is fixed to the housing.

6. The key according to claim 5, wherein the housing further comprises a limiting member, the limiting member is disposed outside the positioning portion and located at one side of the elastic member, and the other end of the elastic member is fixed to the limiting member.

7. The key of claim 2, wherein the pressing shaft further comprises a resilient supporting member, and the resilient supporting member is located between the key cap and the housing.

8. The key of claim 2, wherein the surface of the driving protrusion remote from the key structure is beveled.

9. A keyboard using the keys of any one of claims 1-8.

10. An electronic device using the keyboard of claim 9.