JP2000011790A - Lighted-type key and its manufacture - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a useful lighted-type key and its manufacturing method, enabling a voided letter part to be finished more simply and beautifully without light coming out of a light-transmitting part. SOLUTION: An opaque layer 5 is formed on a back surface of a keytop 2, and a voided letter part 5a is formed therein. It is preferable to form the voided letter part 5a by irradiating the opaque part 5 with laser light, and a back surface thereof is covered by a light-transmitting primer layer 6. A colored light-transmitting layer 3 is not directly superposed on the voided latter part 5a, in other words, the light-transmitting primer layer 6 and a light- transmissive adhesive layer 4 lie between the two, and therefore ink or paint of the colored light-transmitting layer 3 can be surely prevented from undesirably infiltrating into the voided latter part 5a, and a pattern of the voided letter part (light-transmitting part) can be finished more accurately and beautifully than by existing methods.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an illuminated key used mainly as various push-button switches of a cellular phone or the like, and more particularly to a character-cut portion (light-transmitting portion) which is simpler and more beautiful than a conventional manufacturing method. ) And a method of manufacturing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as such an illuminated key, for example, a key disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2627692 is known as a conventional example. The illuminated key in this conventional example has a key top formed of a translucent hard resin, a flat back surface, a blank character printing layer on the flat back surface, and a further blank character portion on the back surface of the blank character printing layer. And a keypad is formed of translucent silicone rubber, has a non-operating part and an operating part integrally formed, and has a key on the upper surface of the operating part. The top is placed and adhered by a translucent adhesive.

[0003]

However, in the illuminated key disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2627692 described above, the back surface of the printed character printing layer is colored so that the inside of the printed character portion is further filled. Since the light-transmitting printing layer is formed, there is a problem that the ink or paint of such a colored light-transmitting printing layer not only bleeds out but also oozes on the lower surface of the keytop, unintentionally. It is feared that the outline of the blank character will be disturbed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a useful illuminated key and a method of manufacturing the same, which can easily and beautifully finish a blank character portion without leaking light outside the light transmitting portion. The purpose is to provide.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems and to achieve the intended object, an object of the present invention is to provide an illuminated key having a keypad and a keytop. In the above, the keypad comprises a colored translucent layer formed on the upper surface of the operating portion formed of a translucent material, and a translucent layer formed by applying a surface treatment to the colored translucent layer with ultraviolet rays. An adhesive; and the key top has a light-transmitting layer formed on a back surface, a light-transmitting portion formed by irradiating the light-transmitting layer with laser light, and a light-transmitting portion. And a light-transmitting primer layer formed on the back surface of the illuminated key fixed to the upper surface of the transparent adhesive.

The present invention also provides a step of forming an opaque layer on the back surface of a key top formed of a desired material such as a translucent resin material, and a method of forming a predetermined character, symbol, etc. on the opaque layer. A step of engraving the cut character portion with a laser beam to form a light transmitting portion,
Forming a light-transmitting primer layer on the back surface of the light-transmitting portion, forming a colored light-transmitting layer on the upper surface of the operating portion of the keypad, treating the surface with ultraviolet light, Fixing the key top via a conductive adhesive.

According to the illuminated key of the present invention, the keypad is formed on the upper surface of the operating portion formed of a suitable light-transmitting material. A light-transmissive adhesive applied by surface-treating the layer with ultraviolet light, and the key top is formed of a light-transmissive layer formed on the back surface, and a laser beam is applied to the light-transmissive layer. The colored light-transmitting layer is provided with a light-transmitting portion formed by irradiation and a light-transmitting primer layer formed on the back surface of the light-transmitting portion and fixed to the upper surface of the transparent adhesive. The light-transmitting portion is not directly polymerized, in other words, since the light-transmitting primer layer and the light-transmitting adhesive are interposed therebetween, the colored light-transmitting layer is unintentionally contained in the light-transmitting portion. Can be reliably prevented from bleeding.

[0008]

Next, an embodiment of an illuminated key according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. A in the figure is
An illuminated key according to the present invention, wherein the illuminated key A is
It comprises a keypad 1 and a keytop 2.

The keypad 1 is, as shown in FIG.
The non-operating portion 1a and the operating portion 1b, which are formed of translucent silicone rubber, are integrally formed, and the colored light transmitting layer 3 is formed on the upper surface of the operating portion 1b via the bulging portion 1c. I have.

On the upper surface of the colored light transmitting layer 3, a light transmitting adhesive 4 is formed. This translucent adhesive 4
The surface of the colored translucent layer 2 is treated with ultraviolet rays (hereinafter simply referred to as UV surface treatment) and applied.

On the other hand, the key top 2 is made of a light-transmitting resin material, and has an opaque layer 5 formed on the back surface.

The light-impermeable layer 5 is made of a paint or ink that does not transmit light, and is applied to the entire surface of the lower surface of the keytop to form a light-shielding coating film having a predetermined thickness.

The light-shielding paint or ink is, for example, a silicon-based paint or ink, and is formed into a film thickness of 10 to 50 μm.

Further, the opaque layer 5 includes characters, numerals,
A light-transmitting portion 5a such as a symbol or code is formed. The light-transmitting portion 5a is formed by irradiating the non-light-transmitting layer 5 with a laser beam, and a light-transmitting primer layer 6 is formed on the back surface thereof.

The light-transmitting primer layer 6 is made of, for example, a transparent surfactant, a protective film made of a synthetic resin, or a base treatment agent such as a urethane-based material. The entire lower surface of the optical layer 5 is subjected to a surface treatment.

Next, a method for manufacturing an illuminated key according to the present invention will be briefly described with reference to FIG. For easy understanding, the same parts as those in the embodiment of the illuminated key described above are denoted by the same reference numerals and will be described below.

First, the first step of the method of the present invention will be described. The key top 2 is injection-molded with a translucent resin material.
Since the key top 2 is a portion directly hit by a finger, it is molded from a hard translucent resin material.

Next, the second step will be described. An opaque layer 5 is formed on the back surface of the key top 2 obtained in the first step.
The opaque layer 5 is formed by applying, spraying, or printing a paint or ink serving as a display color on the back surface of the key top 2, and prevents leakage of light other than required portions (cut character portions described later). Is what you do.

The opaque layer 5 includes, for example,
Uses silicon-based paints such as white, red, and green,
It is formed into a coating thickness of about 5 to 30 μm. Incidentally, it goes without saying that the light-impermeable layer 5 has good adhesion and is difficult to peel off.

Next, the third step will be described. A light-transmitting portion 5a such as a predetermined character or symbol is formed on the light-impermeable layer 5 obtained in the previous step. This light transmitting portion is preferably formed by engraving with a laser beam.

As the laser light, for example, a beam of laser light oscillated by a mask-type YAG laser is passed through a mask of an appropriate shape such as letters, numbers, symbols, and symbols to be used as a light transmitting portion, and then a lens is formed. It is possible to sculpt into a beautiful pattern (light-transmitting part) with a well-defined contour by irradiating with a focus or by irradiating a laser beam squeezed finely into a shape such as a sign that you want as a light-transmitting part. it can.

Next, the fourth step will be described. A light-transmitting primer layer 6 is formed on the back side of the light-transmitting portion 5a obtained in the previous step. The primer layer 6 is a primer applied beforehand on the base material in order to improve adhesion with the base material (opaque layer) when applying a paint or an adhesive.

Incidentally, the primer may be an opaque layer 5
When the key top 2 is made of silicone rubber as long as it is firmly adhered to the key top 2, a silicone-based material such as a transparent surfactant or a urethane-based resin paint is used. After coating so as to cover the entire lower surface of the portion (light transmitting portion), it is preferable to perform pressure molding once.

Next, the fifth step will be described. The colored translucent layer 3 is printed on the upper surface of the operation unit 1b of the keypad 1.
As a material for the keypad 1, silicon rubber, which is mainly excellent in translucency, heat resistance, weather resistance, and electrical insulation, is used. However, other materials such as synthetic rubber such as NBR are used. A transparent or translucent rubber material may be used.

The colored translucent layer 3 uses a transparent or translucent ink or paint, and is formed by an appropriate means such as spraying, coating or screen printing.

Next, the sixth step will be described. The surface of the colored translucent layer 3 obtained in the previous step is treated with ultraviolet rays. Such UV surface treatment is 400 to 300 (specifically, 395 to
295) The surface treatment is carried out with a light having a short wavelength of μm. It is preferable that the colored translucent layer 3 is once subjected to pressure molding and then subjected to UV treatment.

Next, the seventh step will be described. A translucent adhesive 4 is formed on the upper surface of the colored translucent layer 3 after the UV surface treatment obtained in the previous step. As the adhesive 4, a conventional adhesive is used, and if necessary, a primer may also be used.

Next, the eighth step will be described. The final product (illuminated key) is completed by placing the key tops 2 having undergone the third step on the translucent adhesive 4 obtained in the previous step and fixing them together (see FIG. 1).

As described above, according to the method of the present invention, the lower colored light transmitting layer 3 is formed by forming the primer layer 6 directly below the light transmitting portion 5a of the character or figure engraved by the laser beam and covering the entire surface. There is no room for the ink or paint to enter, and the pattern of the blank character portion (light-transmitting portion) is accurately and beautifully finished.

The illuminated key and the method of manufacturing the same according to the present invention are not limited to the present embodiment, but can be freely designed and changed within the scope of the present invention. It encompasses everything.

[0031]

According to the present invention, the colored light transmitting layer and the light transmitting portion are not directly polymerized, in other words, the light transmitting primer layer and the light transmitting Since the ink or paint of the colored translucent layer can be prevented from inadvertently seeping into the translucent portion due to the interposition of the conductive adhesive, the character portion (translucent portion) can be removed compared to the conventional method. This has the effect that the pattern can be finished more accurately and beautifully.

As described above, the present invention can provide a novel and original illuminated key, and can be supplied to customers as a low-priced one suitable for mass production because of its simple structure. Implementing the present invention has tremendous practical value.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of an illuminated key according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a manufacturing process diagram of the illuminated key.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 keypad 1 a non-operating portion 1 b operating portion 1 c bulging portion 2 keytop 3 colored translucent layer 4 translucent adhesive 5 translucent layer 5 a translucent portion 6 translucent primer layer

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An illuminated key comprising a keypad and a keytop, wherein the keypad is a colored light-transmitting layer formed on an upper surface of an operating portion formed of a light-transmitting material.
A light-transmitting adhesive applied by applying a surface treatment to the colored light-transmitting layer with ultraviolet light, and the key top is formed of a light-transmitting layer formed on a back surface; and the light-transmitting layer. And a light-transmitting portion formed by irradiating a laser beam to the light-transmitting portion, and a light-transmitting primer layer formed on the back surface of the light-transmitting portion. Expression key. 2. A step of forming an opaque layer on the back surface of a key top formed of a desired material such as a translucent resin material, and forming a character portion such as a predetermined character or symbol on the opaque layer. Forming a light-transmitting portion by engraving with a laser beam, forming a light-transmitting primer layer on the back surface of the light-transmitting portion, and forming a colored light-transmitting layer on the upper surface of the operating portion of the keypad. A process of treating the surface with ultraviolet light, and a step of fixing a key top on the upper surface of the key with a light-transmitting adhesive.