CN117766319A - Electronic equipment and key assembly thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The application provides an electronic equipment and button subassembly thereof, this button subassembly includes: the touch device comprises a shell, a touch device and a key cap; the shell is provided with a through hole for communicating the inner side and the outer side of the shell; the touch device is arranged on the inner side of the shell and corresponds to the through hole, and a plurality of elastic contacts are convexly arranged on the touch device; the button cap is inserted and is located the through-hole, just the relative both ends of button cap protrude respectively in the through-hole, the button cap can be followed radial first direction of through-hole slides, the button cap is close to the inboard one end of casing is used for supporting corresponding elastic contact when the button cap slides to different positions, and then triggers corresponding function. According to the key assembly provided by the embodiment of the application, through designing the touch device based on the mechanical touch principle, the problem that a Hall element is adopted in a conventional toggle key to cause interference to a magnetic sensitive device in electronic equipment is solved; in addition, the small-sized design of the key assembly is facilitated.

Description

Electronic equipment and key assembly thereof

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of key structures of electronic equipment, in particular to electronic equipment and a key assembly thereof.

Background

For electronic devices such as smart watches, mobile phones, tablet computers, side keys are a common design structure. However, in the conventional technical scheme, the side key (taking the three-section side key as an example) generally adopts the hall element as the touch position to detect and trigger the corresponding function, but because the hall element has the magnetic element, the magnetic element can cause interference to the magnetic sensitive devices in the electronic equipment such as the camera, the sensor and the like, and the normal use of other devices is affected.

Disclosure of Invention

A first aspect of embodiments of the present application provides a key assembly, including:

the shell is provided with a through hole for communicating the inner side and the outer side of the shell;

the touch device is arranged on the inner side of the shell and corresponds to the through hole, and a plurality of elastic contacts are convexly arranged on the touch device;

the button cap is inserted in the through hole, the opposite ends of the button cap protrude out of the through hole respectively, the button cap can slide along the radial first direction of the through hole, and one end, close to the inner side of the shell, of the button cap is used for propping against corresponding elastic contacts when the button cap slides to different positions, so that corresponding functions are triggered.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an electronic device, including a display screen, a control circuit board, and a key assembly according to any one of the foregoing embodiments; the display screen and the shell of the key assembly are matched to form an accommodating space, the control circuit board and the touch device are arranged in the accommodating space, and the control circuit board is electrically connected with the display screen and the touch device.

According to the key assembly provided by the embodiment of the application, through designing the touch device based on the mechanical touch principle, the problem that a Hall element is adopted in a conventional toggle key to cause interference to a magnetic sensitive device in electronic equipment is solved; in addition, the small-sized design of the key assembly is facilitated.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings required for the description of the embodiments will be briefly described below, and it is apparent that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and other drawings may be obtained according to these drawings without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an overall structure of an embodiment of a key assembly of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the key assembly according to another view of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the key assembly of the embodiment of FIG. 1 in a split configuration;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the structural separation of a key cap according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the embodiment of FIG. 4 from another perspective;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an overall structure of the touch device in the embodiment of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a split structure of the touch device in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the support plate and the spring plate in the embodiment of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the bracket plate and the spring plate according to another view angle of the embodiment of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the structure of the embodiment of FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of the housing of the embodiment of FIG. 3 from another perspective;

FIG. 12 is a schematic overall structure of an embodiment of the electronic device of the present application;

fig. 13 is a block diagram illustrating the structural components of an embodiment of the electronic device of the present application.

Detailed Description

The invention is described in further detail below with reference to the drawings and examples. It is specifically noted that the following examples are only for illustrating the present invention, but do not limit the scope of the present invention. Likewise, the following examples are only some, but not all, of the examples of the present invention, and all other examples, which a person of ordinary skill in the art would obtain without making any inventive effort, are within the scope of the present invention.

The terms "first," "second," "third," and the like in the embodiments of the present application are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defining "a first", "a second", and "a third" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one such feature. In the description of the present invention, the meaning of "plurality" means at least two, for example, two, three, etc., unless specifically defined otherwise. All directional indications (such as up, down, left, right, front, back … …) in the embodiments of the present application are merely used to explain the relative positional relationship, movement, etc. between the components in a particular gesture (as shown in the drawings), and if the particular gesture changes, the directional indication changes accordingly. The terms "comprising" and "having" and any variations thereof in the embodiments of the present application are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not limited to only those listed steps or elements but may alternatively include other steps or elements not listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

Reference herein to "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of such phrases in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Those of skill in the art will explicitly and implicitly appreciate that the embodiments described herein may be combined with other embodiments.

As used herein, an "electronic device" (or simply "terminal") includes, but is not limited to, a device configured to receive/transmit communication signals via a wireline connection, such as via a public-switched telephone network (PSTN), a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), a digital cable, a direct cable connection, and/or another data connection/network, and/or via a wireless interface, such as for example, for a cellular network, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), a digital television network, such as a DVB-H network, a satellite network, an AM-FM broadcast transmitter, and/or another communication terminal. A communication terminal configured to communicate through a wireless interface may be referred to as a "wireless communication terminal", "wireless terminal", or "mobile terminal". Examples of mobile terminals include, but are not limited to, satellites or cellular telephones; a Personal Communications System (PCS) terminal that may combine a cellular radiotelephone with data processing, facsimile and data communications capabilities; a PDA that can include a radiotelephone, pager, internet/intranet access, web browser, organizer, calendar, and/or a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver; and conventional laptop and/or palmtop receivers or other electronic devices that include a radiotelephone transceiver. The mobile phone is the electronic equipment provided with the cellular communication module.

The existing toggle switch is lack of limitation ON specific gears when the toggle handle is toggled, so that the existing toggle switch can only realize a single-function structure of connection or disconnection, but cannot realize multifunctional operation requirements such as ON-OFF-ON or OFF-ON-ON, and the like, and the existing toggle switch is limited in specific application. In addition, the existing toggle switch has the potential safety hazard that the water cannot be prevented. The use of hall element solutions creates magnetic interference problems during cameras and the like.

In view of this, the embodiment of the present application provides a key assembly, please refer to fig. 1 to 2 together, fig. 1 is a schematic overall structure of an embodiment of the key assembly of the present application; FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the key assembly according to another view of the embodiment of FIG. 1; fig. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a split structure of the key assembly in the embodiment of fig. 1. It should be noted that, the key assembly in the embodiments of the present application is used for an electronic device, and the electronic device may include an electronic device having keys, such as a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a bluetooth speaker, an earphone, a watch, and a wearable device. The key assembly for the electronic device in the present embodiment includes, but is not limited to, the following structures: the device comprises a housing 100, a touch device 200 and a key cap 300.

Specifically, the case 100 is provided with a through hole 110 that communicates the inside and the outside of the case 100, wherein the case 100 in this embodiment may be a side frame or a portion of a middle frame of an electronic device that is located on the side, which is not particularly limited herein. The touch device 200 is disposed inside the housing 100 and corresponds to the through hole 110, and a plurality of elastic contacts 201 are protruding on the touch device 200.

The key cap 300 is inserted into the through hole 110, and opposite ends of the key cap 300 protrude from the through hole 110, the key cap may slide along a first radial direction (Y direction in the drawing) of the through hole, and one end of the key cap 300 near the inner side of the housing 100 is used for abutting against the corresponding elastic contact 201 when the key cap 300 slides to different positions, so as to trigger a corresponding function.

Referring to fig. 3 and fig. 4 together, fig. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure separation of the key cap according to the embodiment of the present application, the key cap 300 in the embodiment of the present application includes an operation member 310 and a supporting member 320, one end of the operation member 310 protrudes out of one end of the through hole 110 of the housing 100 near the outer side, the other end of the operation member 310 is connected to the supporting member 320, and referring to fig. 5 together, fig. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of the supporting member according to another view of the embodiment of fig. 4. Alternatively, the propping piece 320 is provided with an engaging groove 321, one end of the operating piece 310 facing the propping piece 320 is provided with an engaging convex part 311, and the engaging convex part 311 is in locking fit with the engaging groove 321, so as to realize connection between the operating piece 310 and the propping piece 320. The end of the holding member 320 facing away from the operating member 310 is provided with a plurality of holding grooves 322, and the holding grooves 322 are used for holding and matching with the plurality of elastic contacts 201 of the touch device 200, and the detailed structure will be described later.

Alternatively, referring to fig. 3, fig. 6 and fig. 7 together, fig. 6 is a schematic overall structure of the touch device in the embodiment of fig. 3, and fig. 7 is a schematic split structure of the touch device in fig. 6, where the touch device 200 includes a support plate 210, a spring plate 220, a flexible circuit board 230 and a plurality of connection posts 240.

Optionally, referring to fig. 8 to 10, fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a support plate and a spring plate in the embodiment of fig. 7, fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of another view of the support plate and the spring plate in the embodiment of fig. 8, fig. 10 is a schematic structural sectional diagram of the embodiment of fig. 8, wherein the support plate 210 includes a first surface 211 and a second surface 212 disposed opposite to each other, the spring plate 220 is fixedly disposed on the first surface 211, the flexible circuit board 230 is disposed on one side of the second surface 212, a metal connecting member 250 communicating the first surface 211 and the second surface 212 is embedded in the support plate 210, one end of the metal connecting member 250 is connected with the flexible circuit board 230 disposed on one side of the second surface 212 of the support plate 210, the other end of the metal connecting member is exposed on the first surface 211 of the support plate 210, and is disposed corresponding to the spring plate 220, and the connecting post 240 is disposed on one end of the spring plate 220 facing away from the metal connecting member 250 for supporting the spring plate 220.

With continued reference to fig. 7 and 9, a positioning post 2123 is further disposed on the second surface 212 of the support plate 210, and the positioning post 2123 is configured to cooperate with a positioning hole 2301 on the flexible circuit board 230 to position the flexible circuit board 230.

Optionally, referring to fig. 7, the touch device 200 in this embodiment further includes a protective case 260, in which the support plate 210 and the elastic sheet 220 are disposed, and the connection post 240 partially protrudes from the protective case 260. The protective shell 260 includes an upper shell 261 and a lower shell 262, the upper shell 261 and the lower shell 262 are connected in a clamping manner, and form a cavity for accommodating the support plate 210 and the elastic sheet 220 in a matching manner, and the connecting column 240 penetrates through the upper shell 261 and forms a plurality of elastic contacts 201; the portion of the flexible circuit board 230 located in the protective case 260 is adhered and fixed to the lower case 262 by the adhesive layer 231.

Optionally, referring to fig. 3 and 7, lugs 2621 are provided on opposite sides of the lower case 262, and the lugs 2621 are provided with through holes 2620 for fixedly connecting with the housing 100 by screws 2630.

Optionally, with continued reference to fig. 7, 8 and 10, the first surface 211 of the support plate 210 is further provided with a receiving groove 2110, and the spring 270 is disposed in the receiving groove 2110; optionally, in this embodiment, the number of the connecting posts 240 is three (241, 242, 243), the number of the elastic pieces 220 is two, and the two connecting posts (241, 243) are respectively in one-to-one correspondence with the elastic pieces 220 and the other connecting post 242, which are inserted into the accommodating groove 2110 and support the spring 270. Wherein the three connection posts (241, 242, 243) are arranged offset from each other in the first direction (Y direction in the drawing), i.e., the arrangement lines of the three connection posts (241, 242, 243) are not parallel to the first direction.

With continued reference to fig. 5, the end of the propping member 320 facing away from the operating member 310 is provided with three propping grooves 322, the three propping grooves 322 are arranged in parallel along the first direction, the three propping grooves 322 are all used for propping and matching with the middle connecting column 242 (aligned with the spring 270), the connecting column 242 forms a vacancy in an electric control manner, and the structure is used for positioning or defining the position of the propping member 320 (i.e. the button cap) and forming a pause feeling of the switch.

Optionally, a first supporting inclined plane 3201 and a second supporting inclined plane 3202 are respectively provided at opposite ends of the supporting member 320, and the first supporting inclined plane 3201 and the second supporting inclined plane 3202 are used for respectively supporting and matching with the connecting columns (241, 243) at the two ends so as to move the supporting connecting columns towards the direction of the elastic sheet 220, thereby enabling the elastic sheet 220 to be in touch connection with the metal connecting member 250, and realizing triggering of corresponding functions of the electronic device. The key assembly in this embodiment can realize ON-OFF-ON functions, and in some other embodiments, by providing a structure in which a plurality of connection posts are matched with the spring pieces, multiple functions can be triggered.

Optionally, referring to fig. 7, a waterproof ring 2401 is provided around the connecting post 240, and the waterproof ring 2401 is sandwiched between the connecting post and the upper shell 261 to realize sealing and waterproof at this position. Referring to fig. 11, fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of the housing according to another view angle of the embodiment of fig. 3, in which the through hole 110 on the housing 100 is a stepped hole structure with a multi-stage structure, the through hole 110 near the inner side is matched with the upper housing 261 of the touch device 200, and the through hole 120 is shown as a threaded hole for connecting the screw 2630.

With continued reference to fig. 7, optionally, a waterproof rubber ring 2611 is disposed on the outer periphery of the upper shell 261, and the waterproof rubber ring 2611 is sandwiched between the upper shell 261 and the shell 100 to realize waterproof sealing between the touch device 200 and the shell 100, where the waterproof rubber ring 2611 may be made of silica gel.

According to the key assembly, through designing a touch device based on a mechanical touch principle, the problem that a Hall element is adopted by a conventional toggle key to cause interference to a magnetic sensitive device in electronic equipment is solved; in addition, the small-sized design of the key assembly is facilitated. Further, through the waterproof rubber ring structure of design in many places, effectively solved the complete machine waterproof problem of corresponding button subassembly position department, improve the holistic waterproof performance of electronic equipment.

An electronic device is further provided in the embodiments of the present application, please refer to fig. 12, fig. 12 is a schematic diagram of an overall structure of an embodiment of the electronic device of the present application; it should be noted that, the electronic device in the embodiment of the present application may include any electronic device with keys, such as a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, and a wearable device. The present embodiment is illustrated by taking a mobile phone as an example. Optionally, the electronic device in the embodiment of the present application includes a display screen 20a, a control circuit board 30a, and a housing 10a (which may be the housing 100 in the foregoing key assembly embodiment), and a key assembly 40a; the display 20a and the housing 10a cooperate to form an accommodating space (not shown), and the control circuit board 30a is disposed in the accommodating space and electrically connected to the display 20a and the touch device of the key assembly 40 a. The control circuit board 30a is used for controlling the display screen 20a and receiving a trigger signal of the touch device of the key assembly 40 a. For the detailed structure and the working principle of the key assembly 40a, please refer to the related description of the foregoing embodiments, and the detailed description is omitted herein.

Referring to fig. 13, fig. 13 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the structural components of an embodiment of an electronic device of the present application, where the electronic device may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a wearable device, and the like. The structure of the electronic device may include an RF circuit 910, a memory 920, an input unit 930 (which may include the key assembly 40a in the foregoing embodiment), a display unit 940 (which may be the display 20a in the foregoing embodiment), a sensor 950, an audio circuit 960, a wifi module 970, a processor 980 (which may be the control circuit board 30a in the foregoing embodiment), a power source 990, and the like. Wherein, the RF circuit 910, the memory 920, the input unit 930, the display unit 940, the sensor 950, the audio circuit 960, and the wifi module 970 are respectively connected to the processor 980; the power supply 990 is used to supply power to the entire electronic device.

Specifically, RF circuitry 910 is used to send and receive signals; memory 920 is used to store data instruction information; the input unit 930 is used for inputting information, and may specifically include a touch panel 931 and other input devices 932 such as operation keys; the display unit 940 may include a display panel 941, etc.; the sensor 950 includes an infrared sensor, a laser sensor, etc., for detecting a user proximity signal, a distance signal, etc.; a speaker 961 and a microphone 962 are coupled to the processor 980 by an audio circuit 960 for receiving and transmitting audio signals; the wifi module 970 is configured to receive and transmit wifi signals, and the processor 980 is configured to process data information of the electronic device.

According to the electronic equipment provided by the embodiment of the application, the key assembly solves the problem that a conventional toggle key adopts a Hall element to cause interference to a magnetic sensitive device in the electronic equipment by designing a touch device based on a mechanical touch principle; in addition, the small-sized design of the key assembly is facilitated.

The foregoing description is only a partial embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, and all equivalent devices or equivalent processes using the descriptions and the drawings of the present invention or directly or indirectly applied to other related technical fields are included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims (10)

1. A key assembly, the key assembly comprising:

the shell is provided with a through hole for communicating the inner side and the outer side of the shell;

the touch device is arranged on the inner side of the shell and corresponds to the through hole, and a plurality of elastic contacts are convexly arranged on the touch device;

the button cap is inserted in the through hole, the opposite ends of the button cap protrude out of the through hole respectively, the button cap can slide along the radial first direction of the through hole, and one end, close to the inner side of the shell, of the button cap is used for propping against corresponding elastic contacts when the button cap slides to different positions, so that corresponding functions are triggered.

2. The key assembly of claim 1, wherein the touch device comprises a support plate, a spring plate, a flexible circuit board, and a plurality of connection posts; the support plate comprises a first surface and a second surface which are arranged in a back-to-back mode, the elastic sheet is fixedly arranged on the first surface, the flexible circuit board is arranged on one side of the second surface, a metal connecting piece which is communicated with the first surface and the second surface is buried in the support plate, one end of the metal connecting piece is connected with the flexible circuit board which is positioned on one side of the second surface of the support plate, the other end of the metal connecting piece is exposed out of the first surface of the support plate and corresponds to the elastic sheet, and the connecting column is arranged on one end of the elastic sheet, which is away from the metal connecting piece, and is used for propping against the elastic sheet.

3. The key assembly according to claim 2, wherein the touch device further comprises a protective case, the support plate and the spring plate are provided in the protective case, and the connection post portion protrudes from the protective case.

4. The key assembly according to claim 3, wherein the first surface of the support plate is further provided with a receiving groove, and a spring is arranged in the receiving groove; the number of the connecting columns is three, the number of the elastic sheets is two, the two connecting columns correspond to the elastic sheets one by one and the other connecting column is inserted into the accommodating groove and supports the springs.

5. The key assembly of claim 4, wherein the three connecting posts are offset from one another in the first direction.

6. The key assembly according to claim 3, wherein the protective shell comprises an upper shell and a lower shell, the upper shell and the lower shell are in clamping connection and form a cavity for accommodating the support plate and the elastic sheet in a matching manner, and the connecting column penetrates through the upper shell and forms a plurality of elastic contacts; and the part of the flexible circuit board in the protective shell is adhered and fixed with the lower shell.

7. The key assembly of claim 6, wherein the opposite sides of the lower case are respectively provided with lugs, and the lugs are provided with through holes for fixedly connecting with the housing by screws.

8. The key assembly of claim 6, wherein a waterproof rubber ring is arranged on the periphery of the upper shell, and the waterproof rubber ring is clamped between the upper shell and the shell.

9. The key assembly according to claim 1, wherein the key cap comprises an operation member and a holding member, one end of the operation member protrudes out of the through hole of the housing, the other end of the operation member is connected with the holding member, one end of the holding member, which is away from the operation member, is provided with a plurality of holding grooves, and the holding grooves are used for holding and matching with a plurality of elastic contacts of the touch device.

10. An electronic device comprising a display screen, a control circuit board, and the key assembly of any one of claims 1-9; the display screen and the shell of the key assembly are matched to form an accommodating space, the control circuit board and the touch device are arranged in the accommodating space, and the control circuit board is electrically connected with the display screen and the touch device.