CN112241209A

CN112241209A - Touch control panel structure

Info

Publication number: CN112241209A
Application number: CN201910644069.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 白廷文; 刘志钧; 王友史; 陈乾园
Original assignee: Acer Inc
Current assignee: Acer Inc
Priority date: 2019-07-17
Filing date: 2019-07-17
Publication date: 2021-01-19
Anticipated expiration: 2039-07-17
Also published as: CN112241209B

Abstract

The invention provides a touch pad structure which comprises a first shell, a second shell, a touch pad, an elastic piece, a button and an adjusting element. The first housing has an opening. The first case is disposed on the second case. The touch pad is arranged in the opening. The touch pad has a pivot portion and a movable portion opposite to the pivot portion. The pivoting part is pivoted with the first shell. The side of the movable part facing the second shell is provided with a trigger element. The elastic piece is positioned between the first shell and the second shell. The elastic member has opposite first and second ends. The button is opposite to the trigger element and is abutted against the first end of the elastic piece. The adjusting element is rotatably and movably arranged in the second shell in a penetrating way and is opposite to the button. The adjusting element abuts against the second end of the elastic member.

Description

Touch control panel structure

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to touch panel structures, and particularly to a touch panel structure for an electronic device.

Background

In a conventional electronic device such as a notebook computer, a main body of the electronic device is provided with a keyboard and a touch pad as a physical operation interface for a user. On the other hand, the keyboard and the touch pad are also commonly found in a docking station (docking station), wherein the docking station can be installed with a tablet computer or a smart phone, and a user can select to operate the tablet computer or the smart phone through the keyboard and the touch pad.

Generally, the pressing hand feeling or the feedback force of the touch pad is not constant, but different users have different operation habits, and the pressing hand feeling or the feedback force of the touch pad preset by a factory is not suitable for all users. Therefore, how to enable the user to adjust the pressing feel or feedback force of the touch pad according to the personal operation habit has become one of the research and development projects actively invested by related manufacturers.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a touch pad structure which can provide different pressing handfeel for a user.

The touch pad structure of an embodiment of the invention includes a first housing, a second housing, a touch pad, an elastic member, a button, and an adjusting element. The first housing has an opening. The first case is disposed on the second case. The touch pad is arranged in the opening. The touch pad has a pivot portion and a movable portion opposite to the pivot portion. The pivoting part is pivoted with the first shell. The side of the movable part facing the second shell is provided with a trigger element. The elastic piece is positioned between the first shell and the second shell. The elastic member has opposite first and second ends. The button is opposite to the trigger element and is abutted against the first end of the elastic piece. The adjusting element is rotatably and movably arranged in the second shell in a penetrating way and is opposite to the button. The adjusting element abuts against the second end of the elastic member.

The touch pad structure of another embodiment of the present invention includes a first housing, a second housing, a touch pad, an elastic button, and an adjusting element. The first housing has an opening and a bearing portion located in the opening. The first case is disposed on the second case. The touch pad is arranged in the opening. The touch pad has a pivot portion and a movable portion opposite to the pivot portion. The pivoting part is pivoted with the first shell. The side of the movable part facing the second shell is provided with a trigger element. The elastic button is arranged on the bearing part and is opposite to the trigger element. The adjusting element is rotatably and movably arranged in the second machine shell in a penetrating way. The adjusting element is opposite to the elastic button and abuts against the elastic button.

Based on the above, in the touch pad structure of the present invention, the user can adjust the pre-compression amount of the elastic member or the elastic button according to the personal operation habit, so as to obtain a specific operation feel when operating the touch pad structure.

In order to make the aforementioned and other features and advantages of the invention more comprehensible, embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a touch pad structure according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2A is a schematic cross-sectional view of the touch pad structure of FIG. 1 along line A-A';

FIG. 2B is an enlarged partial schematic view of region A of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the touch pad structure of FIG. 1 from another perspective;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged partial schematic view of region B of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged partial schematic view of region C of FIG. 3;

fig. 6 is a partially enlarged schematic view of a touch pad structure according to another embodiment of the invention.

Description of the reference numerals

100. 100A: touch control panel structure

110: first housing

111: bearing part

111 a: base plate

111 b: stop part

111 c: side wall

112: bracket

113: engaging part

120: second casing

130: touch control panel

131: pivoting part

131 a: rotating shaft

132: movable part

133: trigger element

134: clamping hook

140: push button

140 a: the top surface

140 b: bottom surface

141: projecting part

150: elastic piece

151: first end

152: second end

160: adjusting element

161: locking part

162: column part

170: linkage piece

171: rod part

172: bearing part

240: elastic push button

A-A': line segment

A. B, C: region(s)

O: opening of the container

R: gap

T: lock hole

V, V1: perforation

ID: inner diameter

OD: outer diameter

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a touch pad structure according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2A is a schematic cross-sectional view of the touch pad structure of FIG. 1 along line A-A'. Fig. 2B is a partially enlarged schematic view of the region a of fig. 2A. Referring to fig. 1, fig. 2A and fig. 2B, in the present embodiment, the touch pad structure 100 can be applied to a notebook computer or a docking station (docking station) and integrated into a housing of a host of the notebook computer or a housing of the docking station. The touchpad structure 100 may include a first housing 110 and a second housing 120, wherein the first housing 110 and the second housing 120 may be a part of a housing of a host of a notebook computer or a part of a housing of a docking station, and fig. 1, 2A and 2B show a state that the touchpad structure 100 is not pressed by a force, i.e., an initial state.

Specifically, the first housing 110 is disposed on the second housing 120, and the touch pad structure 100 further includes a touch pad 130, a button 140, an elastic member 150, and an adjusting element 160. The first housing 110 has an opening O, and the touch pad 130 is disposed in the opening O. The touch pad 130 has a pivot portion 131 and a movable portion 132 opposite to each other, wherein the pivot portion 131 pivots the first housing 110, so that the movable portion 132 can rotate relative to the first housing 110 with the pivot portion 131 as a rotation fulcrum. In response to different operation states, if the user applies force to press the movable portion 132, the movable portion 132 can rotate to approach the second housing 120 with the pivot portion 131 as a rotation fulcrum. On the contrary, if the acting force applied to the movable portion 132 is removed, the movable portion 132 can rotate away from the second housing 120 with the pivot portion 131 as a rotation fulcrum, and return to the initial position (see fig. 2A).

In the present embodiment, a trigger element 133 is disposed on a side of the movable portion 132 of the touch pad 130 facing the second housing 120, wherein the trigger element 133 may be a metal dome switch, a rubber dome switch, or other types of contact switches or non-contact switches, and the trigger element 133 substantially falls at an end of the movable portion 132. On the other hand, the button 140, the elastic member 150 and the adjusting element 160 fall within the orthographic projection range of the opening O, wherein the elastic member 150 is located between the first housing 110 and the second housing 120, and the button 140 is located between the movable portion 132 (or the triggering element 133) and the elastic member 150.

To ensure that the movable portion 132 rotated close to the second housing 120 can trigger the triggering element 133 by the triggering element 133 abutting the button 140, the triggering element 133 is opposite the button 140. For example, before the movable portion 132 is not pressed by a force, the triggering element 133 and the button 140 maintain a gap, or slightly contact with the button 140 but are not triggered, and fig. 2B illustrates an example in which the triggering element 133 and the button 140 maintain a gap, but the invention is not limited thereto. After the force applied to the movable portion 132 is removed, the touch pad 130 can be returned to the initial state by a corresponding return element (e.g., a torsion spring or other type of spring).

Further, the elastic element 150 may be a compression spring, and the elastic element 150 has a first end 151 and a second end 152 opposite to each other, wherein the first end 151 of the elastic element 150 abuts against the button 140, and the second end 152 abuts against the adjusting element 160 penetrating through the second housing 120. Further, the adjusting element 160 may be an adjusting screw, and the second housing 120 may be provided with a locking hole T for locking the adjusting element 160. Based on the engagement of the external threads of the adjusting element 160 and the internal threads of the locking hole T, the user can rotate the adjusting element 160 to adjust the depth of the adjusting element 160 locked (or moved) into the second housing 120. As the depth of the adjusting element 160 locked into (or moved into) the second housing 120 varies, the compressed elastic member 150 can be deformed to different degrees, so as to set the pre-compression amount of the elastic member 150. On the other hand, to ensure that the adjusting member 160 locked into (or moved into) the second housing 120 can press the elastic member 150 toward the button 140, the adjusting member 160 is aligned with the button 140.

For example, if the pre-compression amount of the elastic member 150 is larger, the elastic potential energy accumulated by the elastic member 150 is larger, and accordingly, the reaction force of the elastic member 150 acting on the button 140 is larger. Accordingly, when the user presses the movable portion 132 to make the triggering element 133 abut against the button 140, the pressing feeling felt by the user is more solid. Conversely, if the precompression amount of the elastic member 150 is smaller, the elastic potential energy accumulated by the elastic member 150 is smaller, and accordingly, the reaction force of the elastic member 150 acting on the push button 140 is smaller. Accordingly, when the user presses the movable portion 132 to make the trigger element 133 abut against the button 140, the user feels a softer pressing feeling. In other words, the user can adjust the pre-compression amount of the elastic member 150 according to the personal operation habit to obtain a specific operation feeling when operating the touch pad structure 100.

Referring to fig. 2B, in order to limit the moving direction and the moving stroke of the button 140, the first housing 110 includes a bearing portion 111 located in the opening O, and the bearing portion 111 is located on a straight line connecting the adjusting element 160 and the button 140. Specifically, the supporting portion 111 includes a bottom plate 111a, a stopping portion 111b, and a sidewall 111c located between the bottom plate 111a and the stopping portion 111b, wherein the bottom plate 111a is connected to an inner edge of the opening O, and the sidewall 111c is connected to the bottom plate 111a and the stopping portion 111 b. In the present embodiment, the sidewall 111c may be a ring structure, and the button 140 may be a column structure matching with the ring structure. On the other hand, the top surface 140a of the button 140 abuts against the stopping portion 111b, and the bottom surface 140b of the button 140 opposite to the top surface 140a is pushed by the first end 151 of the elastic member 150 to maintain a gap R with the bottom plate 111 a. Accordingly, the button 140 disposed in the supporting portion 111 has a freedom of movement to slide relative to the supporting portion 111, and the button 140 is configured to slide in a direction perpendicular to the bottom plate 111a when the sidewall 111c surrounds the button 140 and the sidewall surface of the button 140 contacts the inner wall surface of the sidewall 111 c.

Further, the bottom plate 111a has a through hole V for the first end 151 of the elastic member 150 to pass through and abut against the bottom surface 140b of the button 140, wherein the stopping portion 111b opposite to the bottom plate 111a is provided with a through hole V1, and the through hole V is opposite to the through hole V1. The top surface 140a of the button 140 is provided with a protrusion 141 (or the protrusion 141 protrudes from the top surface 140a), wherein the protrusion 141 protrudes out of the stopping portion 111B through the through hole V1 to be opposite to the triggering element 133, and a gap is maintained between the protrusion 141 and the triggering element 133, or the protrusion 141 slightly contacts the triggering element 133 but does not trigger the triggering element 133, and fig. 2B illustrates an example in which a gap is maintained between the protrusion 141 and the triggering element 133, but the invention is not limited thereto.

In the present embodiment, the inner diameter ID of the through hole V of the bottom plate 111a is smaller than the outer diameter OD of the button 140, that is, the button 140 moving close to the bottom plate 111a cannot be separated from the bearing part 111 through the through hole V. Once the bottom surface 140b of the button 140 abuts against the bottom plate 111a, the bottom plate 111a stops moving. Since the movement stroke of the button 140 is limited to the reciprocating sliding between the bottom plate 111a and the stopping portion 111b, it is helpful to prevent the trigger element 133 from being damaged or the entire mechanism from being damaged due to the excessive force applied by the user to the movable portion 132 of the touch pad 130, and at the same time, the hand feeling for operating the touch pad 130 is prevented from being too soft.

In addition, the adjusting element 160 has a male screw portion as a locking portion 161, and the post portion 162 extends from the locking portion 161. The locking part 161 is used for screwing and locking the lock hole T of the second housing 120, and has a head exposed out of the second housing 120, so that a user can rotate the adjusting element 160 by a corresponding tool (e.g., a screwdriver). On the other hand, since the second end 152 of the elastic member 150 is sleeved on the post portion 162 and abuts against the locking portion 161, the post portion 162 can limit the deformation or the return direction of the elastic member 150, thereby preventing the elastic member 150 from twisting or deviating.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view of the touch pad structure of fig. 1 from another viewing angle. Fig. 4 is a partially enlarged schematic view of a region B of fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a partially enlarged schematic view of a region C of fig. 3. For convenience of illustration and clarity, the elastic member 150 and the adjusting member 160 are omitted from fig. 3, and the second housing 120 is shown in dotted lines. Referring to fig. 2B, fig. 3 and fig. 4, in the present embodiment, the first housing 110 further includes a bracket 112 located in the opening O, and the supporting portion 111 and the bracket 112 may be integrally formed. On the other hand, the touch pad structure 100 further includes a linkage member 170, wherein the bracket 112 and the linkage member 170 are located between the touch pad 130 and the second housing 120, and the bracket 112 can be integrally formed on the first housing 110. In detail, the linkage 170 includes a rod portion 171 and two bearing portions 172 connected to the rod portion 171, wherein the rod portion 171 of the linkage 170 is pivoted to the bracket 112, so that the linkage 170 can rotate relative to the bracket 112. The two supporting portions 172 are symmetrically disposed on two opposite sides of the triggering element 133, and are used for supporting the movable portion 132 of the touch pad 130. Based on the arrangement of the linkage 170, the rotational stability of the movable portion 132 of the touch pad 130 is improved.

Further, two hooks 134 are disposed on a side of the movable portion 132 of the touch pad 130 facing the second housing 120, and two bearing portions 172 movably penetrate through the two hooks 134 respectively. For example, when the force application point of the movable portion 132 of the touch pad 130 is biased to a single side (e.g., close to one of the two hooks 134), the sinking of one of the two hooks 134 drives the corresponding bearing portion 172, so that the linkage member 170 sinks as a whole, and meanwhile, the other bearing portion 172 drives the other of the two hooks 134, so that the movable portion 132 of the touch pad 130 rotates smoothly and is not prone to shaking or deflection. In other words, no matter where the user presses the movable portion 132 of the touch pad 130, the touch pad 130 can be smoothly rotated due to the coupling member 170.

Referring to fig. 3 and 5, in the present embodiment, the pivot portion 131 of the touch pad 130 includes a rotation shaft 131a, wherein the first housing 110 has an engaging portion 113 for positioning the rotation shaft 131a, and the rotation shaft 131a has a rotational freedom degree relative to the engaging portion 113. For example, the number of the rotating shafts 131a may be two, and the rotating shafts are symmetrically disposed on two opposite sides of the pivoting portion 131. Accordingly, the number of the engaging portions 113 may be two, and the engaging portions are symmetrically disposed on two opposite sides of the touch pad 130 (or the opening O). In other embodiments, the positions of the rotating shaft and the engaging portion arranged in pairs may be reversed, for example: the first housing is provided with a rotating shaft, and the touch pad is provided with a clamping part for pivoting the rotating shaft.

Fig. 6 is a partially enlarged schematic view of a touch pad structure according to another embodiment of the invention. Referring to fig. 6, in the present embodiment, the design principle of the touch pad structure 100A is substantially similar to that of the touch pad structure 100 of the previous embodiment, and only the differences between the touch pad structure 100A and the touch pad structure 100 will be described below.

In the present embodiment, the touch pad structure 100A is not provided with the elastic member 150 (see fig. 2B), but employs the elastic button 240. On the other hand, the adjusting element 160 directly abuts against the elastic button 240, and the pressed elastic button 240 may be deformed to different degrees according to the depth of the adjusting element 160 locked (or moved) into the second housing 120, so as to set the pre-compression amount of the elastic button 240. On the other hand, in order for the adjusting member 160 locked into (or moved into) the second housing 120 to firmly press the elastic button 240, the adjusting member 160 is opposite to the elastic button 240.

For example, if the pre-compression amount of the elastic button 240 is larger, the accumulated elastic potential energy or reaction force is larger. Accordingly, when the user presses the movable portion 132 to make the triggering element 133 abut against the elastic button 240, the pressing feeling felt by the user is solid. Conversely, the smaller the precompression amount of the elastic button 240, the smaller the elastic potential energy or reaction force it accumulates. Accordingly, when the user presses the movable portion 132 to make the triggering element 133 abut against the elastic button 240, the user feels a softer pressing feeling. In other words, the user can adjust the pre-compression amount of the elastic button 240 according to the personal operation habit, so as to obtain a specific operation feeling when operating the touch pad structure 100A.

In summary, in the touch pad structure of the embodiment of the invention, the adjusting element can be used to adjust the pre-compression amount of the elastic element, and when the user presses the touch pad and makes the movable portion of the touch pad contact the button, the pre-compression amount of the elastic element can be fed back to the user for different pressing handfeel. In another embodiment of the touch pad structure of the present invention, the adjusting element can be used to adjust the pre-compression amount of the elastic button, and when the user presses the touch pad and makes the movable portion of the touch pad contact the elastic button, the pre-compression amount of the elastic button can be fed back to the user for different pressing handfeel. That is, the user can adjust the pre-compression amount of the elastic member or the elastic button according to the personal operation habit, so as to obtain a specific operation feeling when operating the touch pad structure. In addition, the touch pad structure is provided with a linkage part for improving the overall stability when the touch pad is pressed.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the above embodiments, it should be understood that various changes and modifications can be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A touchpad structure, comprising:

a first housing having an opening;

a second housing, the first housing being disposed on the second housing;

the touch pad is arranged in the opening, the touch pad is provided with a pivoting part and a moving part which are opposite, the pivoting part is pivoted with the first shell, and one side of the moving part facing the second shell is provided with a trigger element;

an elastic member located between the first housing and the second housing, wherein the elastic member has a first end and a second end opposite to each other;

the button is opposite to the trigger element and abuts against the first end of the elastic piece; and

the adjusting element is rotatably and movably arranged in the second machine shell in a penetrating mode and is just opposite to the button, and the adjusting element abuts against the second end of the elastic piece.

2. The touchpad structure of claim 1, further comprising a linkage member, wherein the first housing further comprises a bracket located in the opening, and the linkage member and the bracket are located between the touchpad and the second housing, the linkage member comprises a rod portion and two bearing portions connected to the rod portion, wherein the rod portion of the linkage member is pivotally connected to the bracket, and the movable portion bears against the two bearing portions.

3. The touchpad structure of claim 2 wherein the two bearing portions are located on opposite sides of the activation element.

4. The touchpad structure as claimed in claim 2, wherein the movable portion of the touchpad has two hooks on a side facing the second housing, and the two support portions are movably disposed through the two hooks respectively.

5. The touchpad structure of claim 4 wherein the two hooks are located on opposite sides of the trigger element.

6. The touchpad structure of claim 1, wherein the first housing comprises a bearing portion located in the opening, the triggering element faces the bearing portion, and the button is disposed in the bearing portion, wherein the button comprises a protruding portion protruding out of the bearing portion, and the protruding portion faces the triggering element.

7. The touchpad structure as claimed in claim 6, wherein the supporting portion comprises a bottom plate, a stopping portion and a sidewall between the bottom plate and the stopping portion, the sidewall connects the bottom plate and the stopping portion, the sidewall surrounds the button, the protruding portion of the button passes through the stopping portion, and the first end of the elastic member passes through the bottom plate.

8. The touchpad structure as claimed in claim 7, wherein the base plate has a through hole for the first end of the resilient member to pass through, and the through hole has an inner diameter smaller than the outer diameter of the button.

9. The touchpad structure as claimed in claim 7, wherein the button has a top surface and a bottom surface opposite to each other, the protrusion protrudes from the top surface, the top surface abuts against the stop portion, a gap is formed between the bottom surface and the bottom plate, and the first end of the elastic member abuts against the bottom surface.

10. The touchpad structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the adjustment element comprises a locking part and a post part connected to the locking part, the second end of the elastic member is sleeved on the post part and abuts against the locking part, the second housing has a lock hole, and the locking part is screwed with the lock hole.

11. A touchpad structure, comprising:

the first case is provided with an opening and a bearing part positioned in the opening;

a second housing, the first housing being disposed on the second housing;

the elastic button is arranged on the bearing part and is opposite to the trigger element; and

and the adjusting element is rotatably and movably arranged in the second shell in a penetrating way, wherein the adjusting element is right opposite to the elastic button and is abutted against the elastic button.