EP0613582A1 - Touche plate - Google Patents

Touche plate

Info

Publication number
EP0613582A1
EP0613582A1 EP92920156A EP92920156A EP0613582A1 EP 0613582 A1 EP0613582 A1 EP 0613582A1 EP 92920156 A EP92920156 A EP 92920156A EP 92920156 A EP92920156 A EP 92920156A EP 0613582 A1 EP0613582 A1 EP 0613582A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
switching element
element according
contact
switching
sheet metal
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP92920156A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Jörg DITTRICH
Günter Murmann
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
ZF Electronics GmbH
Original Assignee
Cherry Mikroschalter GmbH
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from DE19914138339 external-priority patent/DE4138339C1/de
Priority claimed from DE19924203120 external-priority patent/DE4203120C2/de
Application filed by Cherry Mikroschalter GmbH filed Critical Cherry Mikroschalter GmbH
Publication of EP0613582A1 publication Critical patent/EP0613582A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01H—ELECTRIC SWITCHES; RELAYS; SELECTORS; EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE DEVICES
    • H01H15/00—Switches having rectilinearly-movable operating part or parts adapted for actuation in opposite directions, e.g. slide switch
    • H01H15/02—Details
    • H01H15/06—Movable parts; Contacts mounted thereon
    • H01H15/10—Operating parts
    • H01H15/102—Operating parts comprising cam devices
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01H—ELECTRIC SWITCHES; RELAYS; SELECTORS; EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE DEVICES
    • H01H1/00—Contacts
    • H01H1/12—Contacts characterised by the manner in which co-operating contacts engage
    • H01H1/14—Contacts characterised by the manner in which co-operating contacts engage by abutting
    • H01H1/24—Contacts characterised by the manner in which co-operating contacts engage by abutting with resilient mounting
    • H01H1/26—Contacts characterised by the manner in which co-operating contacts engage by abutting with resilient mounting with spring blade support
    • 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
    • H01H13/02—Details
    • H01H13/26—Snap-action arrangements depending upon deformation of elastic members
    • H01H13/36—Snap-action arrangements depending upon deformation of elastic members using flexing of blade springs
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01H—ELECTRIC SWITCHES; RELAYS; SELECTORS; EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE DEVICES
    • H01H1/00—Contacts
    • H01H1/58—Electric connections to or between contacts; Terminals
    • H01H1/5805—Connections to printed circuits

Definitions

  • the invention relates to a push button switch according to the preamble of claim 1.
  • membrane keyboards can be e.g. be particularly flat, since the stroke required for contacting itself is only a fraction of a millimeter.
  • a pushbutton according to DE-OS 3 921 632 satisfies this requirement.
  • a movable contact is pressed against fixed contacts and thus produces a conductive connection.
  • the movable contact is designed as a resilient membrane.
  • Such a push button is thus constructed in a very similar way to the known membrane keyboards.
  • Both types of short-stroke modules only allow a short stroke. This is particularly disadvantageous in terms of ergonomics.
  • the ideal stroke should be 2-4 mm.
  • ergonomic keyboards should have a special force behavior, namely with a greater force at the beginning of the actuation and a defined switchover point, in which the contact actuation then takes place.
  • the object of the invention is to provide a flat push button switch that has as many switching operations as possible with a flat design and ergonomic favorable stroke enables.
  • the principle of the switch structure should also be usable in general for other switches.
  • a push button switch is actuated by the movement of a plunger.
  • cams are attached to the plunger, by means of which a movable contactor is moved relative to a stationary contact piece.
  • the contactor moves perpendicular to the direction of movement of the plunger.
  • the contactor is an approximately ring-shaped sheet.
  • the sheet is correspondingly long so that the mechanical load per unit length can be kept low.
  • such a ring can be mounted lying flat within the switching element, so that the area required for the favorable design of the spring forces can be realized largely independently of the selected stroke.
  • the sheet can also be of different widths so that the forces per length are absorbed unevenly. This allows you to optimize the force curve along the curved ring.
  • the ring-shaped sheet can be extended further by providing further bends for the ring shape in addition to the course of the bend.
  • the rigidity is also reduced and better spring behavior is achieved.
  • pressure points and switching points can be introduced ergonomically.
  • the pressure point is determined by the spring force of the annular plate and by the shape of the switching cams.
  • beads are expediently in the annular sheet attached, by which a sudden triggering of the push button switch occurs when a certain switching distance is exceeded.
  • a further improvement can be achieved in that the free ends of the annular sheet are bent together so that they overlap, so that connecting lugs, which are attached to each of the two legs, lie one above the other. This results in connection tabs of double sheet width. This increases the rigidity of the connection.
  • FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a button according to the invention in an exploded view
  • FIG. 2 shows a section through a key according to FIG. 1 in the rest position
  • FIG. 3 shows a section through a button according to FIG. 1 in a switching position just before the switching point
  • FIG. 4 shows a section through a button according to FIG. 1 after the switching point has been exceeded
  • FIG. 5 shows a section through a button according to FIG. 1 in section after reaching the end position
  • FIG. 6 shows a key lower part with another embodiment of the annular sheet according to the invention.
  • FIG. 8 is a plan view of an annularly bent sheet metal to illustrate further possible embodiments
  • FIG. 9 shows a plan view of an annular sheet with overlapping legs to illustrate further improved embodiments
  • Fig. 10 shows a part of a button lower part with a further embodiment of the invention.
  • a housing which essentially consists of a lower part 10, on which a cover part 20 is placed.
  • Notches 12 which are cast on the cover part during the injection molding process, engage in corresponding recesses or holes 14 in the lower part 10 and thus hold the push button together by the mutual fastening of the lower part and the cover part.
  • a movably mounted plunger 30 in the button the movement being guided by a hollow cylinder 32 which is attached in the lower part 10.
  • lateral tappet guides 34 are available in the lower part 10, which engage in a cavity on the underside of the tappet 30 and both guide the tappet and secure it against rotation.
  • the plunger is guided through the hollow cylinder 32 in the lower part 10 by a round plunger element 36, which is attached to the underside of the plunger 30 in the interior of the cavity.
  • a spring 38 which is guided by the hollow cylinder 32, is received in the cavity on the underside of the tappet. The spring 38 presses the plunger 30 against the upper part 20.
  • the contact elements required for making contact are fastened in the lower part. They consist of a fixed contact piece 44 and a contactor 46. According to the invention, the contactor 46 is bent in a ring from a sheet metal. On the annular sheet 50 there are contact parts 51 which together with other contact parts make the contact on the fixed contact piece 44. The contact part on the fixed contact piece can be crowned and thus make good contact with the contact part 51 on the contactor 46. Another possibility for realizing good contact is provided by two contact parts which are perpendicular to one another and are designed as cutting edges, as is known to the person skilled in the art from the prior art.
  • the annular sheet 50 is made of elastic material.
  • the resilient contactor is fastened to the lower part 10 and is biased relative to the fixed contact piece 44.
  • the switching cams 40 of the plunger engage the contactor 46 and control its movement.
  • There are beads 54 on the annular sheet which can be produced by an embossing step. In conjunction with the switching cams 40, these beads 54 serve to define a switching point, as will be described in more detail later.
  • the contactor 46 is fastened to the lower part 10 via the annular sheet metal 50 by two clamping parts 60 and 62 located in the lower part 10. Both from the annular sheet 50 and from the fixed contact piece 44, extensions are led out of the lower part 10, which are available as soldering lugs 56 and 58 for connection to electrical lines or for installation in printed circuits.
  • FIGS. 2 to 5 These figures represent cuts with plungers in different switching depths.
  • Fig. 2 shows the rest position.
  • the cover part 20 is placed on the lower part 10 and fixes the plunger 30 to a stop (not shown) by the compression spring.
  • the switching cam 40 rests on the annular plate 50, so that the two contact parts are kept at a distance.
  • Fig. 5 shows the end position of the key actuation. Since the contact 51 is now held back by the contact 52, the spring force of the annular sheet does not affect the switching cams 40 and only the spring force of the spring 38 has to be taken into account for moving to the end position. After releasing the key, the spring 38 drives the plunger 30 back into the end position according to FIG. 2, the cams 40 pushing back the annular plate via the bevel 41 and the bead edge.
  • FIGS. 2 to 5 show that an ergonomically favorable switching behavior can be produced with the aid of a button according to the invention.
  • the force is increased at the beginning of the ram movement.
  • the force curve is reduced and the switching process takes place suddenly and in a defined manner at a switching point caused by the construction.
  • This switching behavior is essentially achieved by the shape of the switching cam 40 and the beads 54.
  • FIGS. 2 to 5 also make it clear that a certain minimum stroke is required to implement such a switching behavior. Such a behavior is only possible by converting the tactile action with the aid of the cam 40 into a contact movement perpendicular to the tactile movement, without requiring much space for the stroke.
  • the contactor 46 Due to the shape of the contactor 46 according to the invention, namely, that the contact part is attached to a long annular sheet, the forces occurring during the switching process can be distributed over a corresponding length, so that a reduced bending force acts on each surface element. This ensures according to the invention that material fatigue that occurs is only slight and that despite the small and flat construction several million switching operations can be carried out safely.
  • a lower part 10 is shown again, but with a slightly different design of the contactor 46.
  • FIG. 8 Another measure is shown in FIG. 8, which modifies the rigid straight sections to better absorb larger forces.
  • the contactor 80 in FIG. 8 is shown in a top view. It can be seen that this contactor not only has the curves 82 required for the bend, but also routes with additional curves 84 that perform two tasks. First of all, the total length of the sheet is thereby increased, so that less force is absorbed per surface. Second, this additional rounding 84 also reduces overall rigidity.
  • FIG. 9 shows a further improvement for a contactor according to the invention.
  • the contactor 90 shown in FIG. 9 has free legs 92 and 93.
  • the annular contactor 90 is bent together in such a way that the sheet overlaps on the legs 92 and 93. As a result, a greater length of the annularly bent sheet is again achieved.
  • the overlapping shape offers yet another advantage. If flags are provided on each leg for connection, which come to lie one above the other when they overlap, the solder lug 56 in FIG. 1 has twice the thickness of the sheet 50. This is the stiffness of the solder lug compared to the above-described embodiments elevated.
  • FIG. 10 shows a further embodiment of the annular sheet.
  • the contactor 100 is shown in FIG. 10 in a section of the lower part 10 with a fixed contact piece 44.
  • the spring length for absorbing the forces is further increased in this example in that the annular sheet metal 100 is bent at its ends in a U-shaped manner. As a result, a further deformation of the annular sheet 100 is possible if the clamping is designed accordingly.
  • each U-shape is created in that a section 102 is bent at right angles at the ends of the annular sheet, from which an end section 104 is then bent at a right angle.
  • the length of the spring is then at b • -.
  • the annular sheet 100 is inserted into the lower part 10 in a recess 110 from above.
  • the recess 110 can have different shapes, with easy assembly taking into account, among other things.
  • the embodiment which is particularly evident from FIG. 10 has the advantage that a maximum of the possible spring length is used to absorb the forces.
  • the sections 102 are also subjected to a force component to the left.
  • the sheet metal cannot deflect in this direction since the system 114 is located there.
  • the spring also deviates perpendicular to the force effect, where the lugs 112 formed in the housing bear against the sections 102.
  • the flags 112 are resilient and thereby absorb part of the force.
  • the entire length of the spring is effective except for a small piece of the end section for force absorption.
  • the load per unit area is therefore further reduced.
  • part of the force effect is absorbed by the resilience of the flags 102, which additionally relieves the spring.
  • annularly closed contactors have a greater resistance to deflection in the direction of the plunger movement than contactors clamped on one side according to the prior art. This has a particularly positive effect on the switching hysteresis.

Landscapes

  • Push-Button Switches (AREA)

Abstract

La touche selon l'invention convient particulierement à un clavier plat, le mouvement produit sur un poussoir (30) par une telle touche étant transformé par des cames de commande (40) en un mouvement perpendiculaire au mouvement de la touche. Pour la commutation, un contacteur (46) est déplacé par rapport à une pièce de contact fixe. Le contacteur est une tôle anulaire (50) qui, grâce à sa longueur, peut absorber d'importants efforts, en ne souffrant que d'une faible fatigue du matériau.
EP92920156A 1991-11-21 1992-09-23 Touche plate Withdrawn EP0613582A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (5)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
DE19914138339 DE4138339C1 (en) 1991-11-21 1991-11-21 Flat push-button switch e.g. for lap-top PC keyboard - has plunger assembly that reacts against coil spring providing actuation of contacts
DE4138339 1991-11-21
DE4203120 1992-02-04
DE19924203120 DE4203120C2 (de) 1992-02-04 1992-02-04 Flacher Tastschalter
PCT/EP1992/002205 WO1993010546A1 (fr) 1991-11-21 1992-09-23 Touche plate

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0613582A1 true EP0613582A1 (fr) 1994-09-07

Family

ID=25909361

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP92920156A Withdrawn EP0613582A1 (fr) 1991-11-21 1992-09-23 Touche plate

Country Status (4)

Country Link
US (1) US5488213A (fr)
EP (1) EP0613582A1 (fr)
JP (1) JPH08504050A (fr)
WO (1) WO1993010546A1 (fr)

Families Citing this family (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5734373A (en) * 1993-07-16 1998-03-31 Immersion Human Interface Corporation Method and apparatus for controlling force feedback interface systems utilizing a host computer
JPH113627A (ja) * 1997-06-10 1999-01-06 Alps Electric Co Ltd スイッチ
JP5857988B2 (ja) 2013-03-08 2016-02-10 オムロン株式会社 スイッチ
US20160071662A1 (en) * 2014-09-05 2016-03-10 Dongguan Zen-tech Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. Keyboard switch
CN106783327A (zh) * 2017-01-23 2017-05-31 东莞市集贤电子有限公司 一种矮轴键盘开关

Family Cites Families (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US1006394A (en) * 1911-10-24 Lee Morrell Jackson Electric push-button.
US3770923A (en) * 1972-01-14 1973-11-06 Cherry Electrical Prod Alternate-action switch actuator with pawl stop plate also providing a guide for stroke-control means
US3912894A (en) * 1974-04-26 1975-10-14 Westinghouse Electric Corp Convertible switch
DE2756668A1 (de) * 1977-12-19 1979-06-28 Baer Elektrowerke Kg Elektrischer schalter
DE2943855C2 (de) * 1979-10-30 1982-10-21 Siemens AG, 1000 Berlin und 8000 München Drucktaste
DE2952107A1 (de) * 1979-12-22 1981-06-25 Cherry Mikroschalter Gmbh, 8572 Auerbach Tastenschalter
US4370529A (en) * 1981-11-16 1983-01-25 Amp Incorporated Switch having switch contacts engageable directly with circuit board contacts
US4600819A (en) * 1985-03-08 1986-07-15 Mechanical Enterprises, Inc. Switch assembly
CH671648A5 (en) * 1987-02-13 1989-09-15 Contraves Ag Electric contact device for keyboard switch - uses double armed contact element between pushbutton operating element and fixed counter contact pin

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
See references of WO9310546A1 *

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
WO1993010546A1 (fr) 1993-05-27
US5488213A (en) 1996-01-30
JPH08504050A (ja) 1996-04-30

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