Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01H—ELECTRIC SWITCHES; RELAYS; SELECTORS; EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE DEVICES
  • H01H13/00—Switches having rectilinearly-movable operating part or parts adapted for pushing or pulling in one direction only, e.g. push-button switch
  • H01H13/70—Switches having rectilinearly-movable operating part or parts adapted for pushing or pulling in one direction only, e.g. push-button switch having a plurality of operating members associated with different sets of contacts, e.g. keyboard
  • H01H13/84—Switches having rectilinearly-movable operating part or parts adapted for pushing or pulling in one direction only, e.g. push-button switch having a plurality of operating members associated with different sets of contacts, e.g. keyboard characterised by ergonomic functions, e.g. for miniature keyboards; characterised by operational sensory functions, e.g. sound feedback
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01H—ELECTRIC SWITCHES; RELAYS; SELECTORS; EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE DEVICES
  • H01H3/00—Mechanisms for operating contacts
  • H01H3/02—Operating parts, i.e. for operating driving mechanism by a mechanical force external to the switch
  • H01H3/12—Push-buttons
  • H01H2003/127—Details of the key cap concerning the actuation by fingernails or having provision to allow usage with long fingernails

Definitions

• the invention relates to keys in a keypad of an information processing device, in particular in a wristwatch format, in which the miniaturized keys are arranged close to one another.
• the keypad of electronic microcomputers which are often combined with an electronic watch and are produced in wristwatch format, contains miniaturized buttons, for example 1 mm in diameter, which can be actuated by means of an operating pin, for which purpose the key face is strongly concave.
• buttons for example 1 mm in diameter, which can be actuated by means of an operating pin, for which purpose the key face is strongly concave.
• the microcomputer can therefore generally be carried out in a convenient manner be operated by means of a pen-shaped replacement instrument and only in exceptional cases will it be necessary to remove the operating instrument arranged on the housing. If, for example, the electronic wristwatch is combined with some other information processing device, such as a telephone register, the situation is just reversed, i.e.
• the telephone register is generally used in situations in which no pen-shaped replacement instrument is available, so that the cumbersome removal of the Operating instrument from the housing will be the rule. In such cases, operating the keypad with a control pen is perceived as too cumbersome and annoying.
• the necessity for a safe operation of the keys of a miniaturized keypad to use a pen-shaped instru ment is therefore a disadvantage of such known keyboards, which is more or less serious but always present depending on the circumstances.
• the object of the invention was to create a key for the key fields of, in particular, information-processing miniature devices in which the safe operation is not tied to the use of a pen-shaped operating instrument.
• the object is achieved in that the end face of the key has at least one straight or concave support wall that extends transversely to the finger movement when the key is pressed, in order to support the fingernail tip.
• Keyboards with such keys are initially independent of the key size and key division for people with fashionably long fingernails easy and safe to use.
• large keys can also be actuated with the fingertip and miniaturized keys with any instrument, so that the range of simple, uncomplicated and accurate operation is significantly expanded compared to known keyboards, especially for keyboards of small devices.
• the supporting wall can be the front side wall of a notch with a substantially V-shaped cross section in the direction of the finger movement, as a result of which a correct insertion of the fingernail tip is ensured for a safe button actuation.
• the front side of the notch can also be undercut so that the support wall runs obliquely downwards in the direction of the finger movement.
• a needle can with a notch curved in the direction of the finger movement its opening width decrease from the center to one end or to both ends, so that the operating instrument cannot slide sideways, and also the button in the front, to the
• the upper edge of the area adjoining the support wall may be higher than in the rear area adjoining the upper edge of the other notch side, it being possible for the front end area of the key to be convex and the rear end area of the key to be concave.
• Figure 1 is a plan view of a keypad with 5 ⁇ 5 keys according to the invention.
• FIG. 2 shows a side view of a button on the keypad of FIG. 1 actuated by a fingernail;
• 3 to 5 show a perspective view of three different embodiments of cuboid keys each provided with a notch according to the invention
• Fig. 6 to Fig. 10 cross sections of five different buttons and
• FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a round button in a further embodiment according to the invention.
• the keypad 1 shown in FIG. 1, for example, contains 5 ⁇ 5 square keys 2, which are in lines and
• Each button 2 contains on its end face 3 for actuation with the fingernail a notch 4 which extends transversely to the direction of the finger movement when the button is actuated and into which the fingernail can be inserted.
• a button 2 of the keypad 1 of Fig. 1 is shown schematically in side view on an enlarged scale, which is actuated by the fingernail 7.
• the button 2 contains a straight notch 4 with a V-shaped cross section, of which the notch wall 5 lying in front in the direction of the finger movement is a supporting wall for the fingernail 7 and the notch wall 6 lying in the direction of movement a guide when the fingernail tip is inserted into the Notch 4 forms.
• the keys 2 can be of any shape, square as shown, or rectangular, round or oval, etc. the size of the keys arbitrary and also their mutual distance in the keypad and their arrangement. Larger keys can also have several notches on their end faces.
• the front notch wall i.e. the support wall 5a for the fingernail is convex in the direction of the finger movement and the rear notch wall, i.e. the guide wall 6a for the fingernail is concave, so that the opening width of the notch 4a decreases from its center towards the two notch ends, which also ensures a correct "button actuation with a pointed object, since this cannot slide sideways from the button.
• the cuboid button 2b shown in FIG. 4 contains a straight notch 4b, which forms a steep support wall 5b for the fingernail tip with its front notch wall and a comparatively flat guide wall 6b with its rear notch wall.
• the cuboidal key 2c shown in FIG. 5 has a notch 4c on its end face which corresponds approximately to the shape of the notch 4a shown in FIG. 3, ie with its front notch wall a steep and convex support wall 5c and with its rear notch wall a steep and concave guide wall 6c for the fingernail tip.
• the area of the key face 8 adjoining the front upper notch edge 5 ' is curved upwards, that is to say convexly, and the rear area of the key face side adjoining the rear upper notch edge 6' is curved downward, that is to say concave, As a result, the support wall for the fingernail is enlarged in the middle of the key and the guidance is better adapted to the shape of the nail.
• the straight or convex support wall can run obliquely upwards in the direction of the finger movement from the notch base, or run obliquely downwards from the front upper notch edge 5 'in the direction of the finger movement or can also be vertical. In any case, the support wall is steep, while the guide wall can run flat to horizontal.
• FIGS. 6 to 10 show key cross sections with different notch shapes.
• FIG. 6 which corresponds to a key 2 in FIG. 1 and the key 2a shown in FIG. 3, the notch lies in a flat end wall 2a of the key and its cross section has the shape of an equilateral triangle, so that the guide wall 6a and the support wall 5a have approximately the same slope.
• the support wall 5b is steep and the guide wall 6b has a much smaller slope.
• the key of FIG. 4 has such a cross section.
• the guide wall 6d which is slightly inclined downward in the direction of the finger movement leads to a steep, backward inclined support wall 5d.
• FIG. 9 shows a cross-sectional shape which has, for example, the key of FIG. 5.
• FIG. 10 shows a particularly simple design tion variant with a vertical support wall 5e and a horizontal guide wall 6e.
• the support wall for the notches can be straight or convex.
• the guide wall can be straight, less convex than the support wall, or concave.
• the key 2f has a shoulder or a recess on its end face 8f, which forms a convex support wall 5f which runs obliquely downwards from the upper edge 10 or perpendicular.
• the end face 8f is flat or curved upwards cylindrical or e.g. a spherical section.
• the guide wall 6f is flat or curved downwards.
• Buttons with such shapes can easily be made from plastic.

Landscapes

• Input From Keyboards Or The Like (AREA)
• Push-Button Switches (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=6683542

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (7)

Families Citing this family (6)

Family Cites Families (8)

• 1977
  • 1977-10-13 DE DE7731690U patent/DE7731690U1/de not_active Expired
• 1978
  • 1978-10-06 CH CH559879A patent/CH623679A5/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1978-10-06 GB GB7920317A patent/GB2023505B/en not_active Expired
  • 1978-10-06 WO PCT/CH1978/000027 patent/WO1979000203A1/de not_active Ceased
  • 1978-10-06 JP JP50002778A patent/JPS54500064A/ja active Pending
  • 1978-10-06 DE DE78CH7800027T patent/DE2857096D2/de not_active Expired
• 1979
  • 1979-04-24 EP EP78900157A patent/EP0006928A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 1979-06-13 US US06/112,311 patent/US4310753A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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