JP2000182461A - Manufacture of key top plate - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for manufacturing a key top plate, whereby mounting of key tops on a pressing part forming member can be achieved easily and accurately. SOLUTION: A key top forming member 50 provided with key tops 60 and a pressing part forming member 10 provided with pressing parts located in positions corresponding to the key tops 60 for pressing switch contacts are prepared. After the key top forming member 50 is mounted on top of the pressing part forming member 10 by means of an adhesive layer 40, the outer periphery of each key top 60 of the key top forming member 50 is cut so as to manufacture a key top plate.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a key top plate comprising a pressing portion formed with a pressing portion for pressing a switch contact and a key top mounted on the pressing portion.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 12, there is a key top plate 200 having a key top 230 mounted on a plate-shaped pressing portion forming member 210. FIG.

The pressing portion forming member 210 is a plate made of a transparent or translucent elastic material (for example, rubber), and has a pressing portion 211 protrudingly provided at a predetermined position on the lower surface side. The key top 230 is formed of a transparent or translucent synthetic resin material, and a desired print layer 231 is formed by printing on the lower surface thereof. The key top 230 is attached to a portion directly above each pressing portion 211 of the pressing portion forming member 210 via a transparent or translucent adhesive layer 240.

The key top plate 200 is placed on the switch substrate 250 to form a switch plate. At this time, each pressing portion 211 is connected to the switch substrate 250.
Click plate 251 mounted on switch contact provided at
Located on top. Although not shown, the switch board 2
A light-emitting element is mounted at a predetermined position on 50.

When a desired key top 230 is pressed, the pressing portion 211 immediately below the key top 230 is moved to the click plate 25 immediately below the key top 230.
1 is pressed and reversed to turn on the switch contact. When the light emitting element on the switch substrate 250 emits light, the light passes through the pressing portion forming member 210, passes through the printing layer 231 and also passes through the key top 230, and is emitted from the surface thereof. Display patterns and the like clearly.

The key top plate 200 does not have a structure in which the click plate 251 is directly pressed by the lower surface of the key top 230 for the following reason.

That is, the printing layer 2 is formed on the lower surface of the key top 230.
In the case where the base plate 31 is provided, the lower surface needs to be flat.
This is because, if the key top 230 is configured to be pressed, it is necessary to provide a pressing portion for pressing the click plate 251 on the lower surface of the key top 230, and the lower surface is not planar so that the printed layer cannot be provided.

Alternatively, the lower surface of the key top 230 may be formed in a planar shape to provide a print layer 231, and the click plate 251 may be directly pressed by the planar lower surface on which the print layer 231 is provided. Then, since the click plate 251 is located directly below the print layer 231, it becomes difficult to uniformly introduce light to the entire surface of the print layer 231.
This is because there is a possibility that 1 may be scraped by contact with the click plate 251.

However, the key top plate 20 having the above structure
In order to manufacture the “0”, it is necessary to paste a large number of key tops 230 one by one with an adhesive on the pressing portion forming member 210 one by one with an adhesive. The cost could not be reduced.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a method of manufacturing a keytop plate in which a keytop can be easily and accurately attached to a pressing portion forming member. Is to provide.

[0011]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a key top forming member provided with a key top and a pressing portion for pressing a switch contact at a position corresponding to the key top. And a pressing portion forming member,
After attaching the key top forming member on the pressing portion forming member, the key top plate is manufactured by cutting the outer periphery of the key top of the key top forming member. Further, the present invention provides a key top forming member provided with a key top, and a pressing portion forming member provided with a pressing portion for pressing a switch contact at a position corresponding to the key top, and forming the key top in advance. After cutting the periphery of the key top of the member so that the respective key tops are connected by the connecting portion, the cut key top forming member is mounted on the pressing portion forming member to manufacture a key top plate. It was configured to be.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. First Embodiment FIGS. 1 to 3 are views showing a method for manufacturing a keytop plate according to a first embodiment of the present invention. That is, in the present embodiment, first, the pressing portion forming member 10, the adhesive layer 40, and the key top forming member 50 are prepared.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a cross section of the pressing portion forming member 10 taken along line AA shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the pressing portion forming member 10 is formed by molding a transparent or translucent elastic material such as rubber or elastomer into a substantially rectangular flat plate.

The pressing portion forming member 10 has a plurality of key top mounting portions 11 which are substantially oval and protrude upward (however, shapes other than the oval type may or may not be protruded). Are provided, and each key top mounting portion 11 is provided.
Is provided with a protruding pressing portion 13 on the lower surface thereof. The shape of the pressing portion 13 can be variously modified, and may be a simple flat surface that does not protrude. The lower side of each key top mounting portion 11 is a recess 15 for accommodating a click plate 73 of a switch board 70 described below. Further, an outer edge 17 is provided on the entire outer periphery of the pressing portion forming member 10, and the lower surfaces of the outer edge 17 are all the same surface and are located further below the lower surface of the pressing portion 13. It is configured.

Next, the adhesive layer 40 shown in FIG. 1 is configured to be transparent or translucent. Before bonding, the adhesive layer 40 is stored with protective sheets (not shown) attached to both surfaces thereof.

Next, FIG. 5 shows the key top forming member 50 in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a view showing a cross section cut along a line BB shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the key top forming member 50 is provided at a position opposite to each of the key top mounting portions 11 of a transparent or translucent synthetic resin film 51 having flexibility.
0 is provided. As shown in FIG. 5, each key top 60 is formed by curving the synthetic resin film 51 upward to form the outer shape of the key top 60, and is transparent or translucent in the concave portion on the lower surface side of the curved portion. It is formed by molding and fixing a mold resin 63. The lower surface of the key top 60 (that is, the mold resin 63)
The lower surface 65 is formed in a planar shape, and the lower surface 65 is formed by printing a printing layer 67 in which desired numbers, symbols, and the like are formed as characters (cut patterns).

When the key top forming member 50 is adhered to the pressing portion forming member 10 shown in FIG. 1 via the adhesive layer 40, the state shown in FIG. 2 is obtained. At this time, each of the key tops 60 is exactly adhered to the upper surface of the corresponding key top mounting portion 11 only once by sticking so that the outer shape of the pressing portion forming member 10 and the outer shape of the key top forming member 50 match. It can be easily attached by work.

Then, the synthetic resin film 51 on the outer periphery of each key top 60 of the key top forming member 50 in the state shown in FIG. 2 is cut by a laser beam. At this time, the laser beam is focused on the synthetic resin film 51, and the lower pressing portion forming member 10 is separated from the synthetic resin film 51 by the height dimension of the key top mounting portion 11. There is no possibility that the pressing portion forming member 10 is cut. Of course, even if the synthetic resin film 51 and the pressing portion forming member 10 are configured to be stuck together, there is no problem as long as the pressing portion forming member 10 is slightly cut in the thickness direction but is not cut.

Then, when only the cut synthetic resin film 51 is peeled off, the key top plate 1 as shown in FIG. 3 is completed. Here, FIG. 6 is a view showing a cross section of the key top plate 1 taken along the line CC shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, each key top 60 has a structure in which it is independently adhered on the key top mounting portion 11.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a state in which the key top plate 1 is mounted on the switch substrate 70, and FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the key top plate 1 is mounted on the switch substrate 70 (portion DD in FIG. 7). FIG.

Here, as shown in FIG. 7, the switch board 70 is placed on each switch contact provided on the flat board 71 at a position facing the pressing portion 13 (see FIG. 6) of each of the key top plates 1. A dome-shaped click plate 73 is adhered, and a light emitting section 75 made of a light emitting element or the like is provided at a predetermined position. Note that this may be used as one movable contact of the switch contact instead of the click plate 73.
Further, the click plate 73 is not always necessary, and the switch contact may be directly pressed by the pressing portion 13. The portion of the pressing portion forming member 10 without the key top 60 is actually covered with a case (not shown) from above.

Any one of the key tops 60 shown in FIG.
Is pressed, the pressing portion 13 presses the click plate 73 to invert it, and at the same time, the switch contact thereunder is turned on. On the other hand, when the light emitting unit 75 shown in FIG.
The light is introduced into the transparent or translucent pressing portion forming member 10, is introduced into the transparent or translucent key top 60 via the adhesive layer 40 and the printing layer 67, and is emitted from the surface thereof. The cut characters (cut patterns) of the print layer 67 are clearly displayed.

In this embodiment, the entire lower surface of the outer edge 17 abuts on the entire upper surface of the outer periphery of the switch substrate 70 so as to surround it, and since the outer edge 17 is made of elastic material,
Simply by making the outer edge portion 17 elastically contact the switch board 70, the inside thereof can be easily sealed and a waterproof structure can be obtained. In addition, in order to ensure sealing (or when the pressing portion forming member 10 is a hard material), the outer edge portion 17 is connected to the switch substrate 70.
Needless to say, the adhesive may be adhered to.

In the above embodiment, the synthetic resin film 51 around the key top 60 is cut by a laser. However, the synthetic resin film 51 may be cut by another heat ray (light beam) or cut by a mechanical means such as a cutter. May be used.

[Second Embodiment] FIGS. 9 and 10 are views showing a method of manufacturing a keytop plate 1-2 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. That is, in the case of this embodiment, first, as shown in FIG. 9, the key top forming member 50 having the same shape and structure as the key top forming member 50 of the first embodiment shown in FIG.
Is prepared and various key cutting means such as a laser beam, another light beam, a mechanical cutter, or the like are used.
The synthetic resin film 51 on the outer periphery is cut, but at this time, a connecting portion 55 for connecting the key tops 60 is left so that the key tops 60 do not fall apart. Thereby, the key top forming member 50-2 of the present embodiment is completed.

Next, as shown in FIG. 10, a pressing portion forming member 10-2 and an adhesive layer 40-2 are prepared in addition to the key top forming member 50-2. Here, the pressing portion forming member 10-2
Has exactly the same shape and structure as the pressing portion forming member 10 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. The adhesive layer 40-2 is transparent or translucent, and the key top forming member 50-
2 is formed in substantially the same shape as the lower surface shape.

The pressing portion forming member 10- shown in FIG.
2 and a key top forming member 50-2 on the adhesive layer 40-2.
Then, the key top plate 1-2 according to the present embodiment as shown in FIG. 11 is completed. Also in the case of this embodiment, since each key top 60 is not disjointed and is integrally connected by the connecting portion 55, each key top 60
Can be easily adhered to the upper surface of the corresponding key-top attachment portion 11 with a single attachment operation, and the attachment workability is improved as compared with the case where the individual key tops 60 are individually attached.

If the key top plate 1-2 shown in FIG. 11 is placed on the same switch board 70 as shown in FIG.
By pressing each keytop 60, the switch contact of the switch board 70 can be turned on and off. Each key top 60
Are connected only by the connecting portion 55, so that the operation of each key top 60 is substantially independent.

If the connecting portion 55 of the key top plate 1-2 shown in FIG. 11 is cut by various cutting means such as a laser beam, another light beam, a mechanical cutter, or the like, each key top 60 is completely different from the first embodiment. It also works independently reliably.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications as described below are possible, for example. In the above embodiment, an example in which a curved portion is provided in a synthetic resin film as a keytop forming member and a molding resin is molded in the curved portion has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this structure. Alternatively, a key-top may be formed by providing a through-hole at a portion where the key top is formed, and molding a molding resin above and below the hole. Instead of using a synthetic resin film, a key top formed member may be formed by integrally molding a key top on a plate body made of a mold resin. In this case, the thickness of the plate body made of the mold resin may be set to a thickness that can be easily cut by, for example, laser cutting (for example, the plate thickness is about 0.5 mm or less). When the sheet is cut by another cutting means, the sheet thickness that can be cut is different, but the sheet thickness may be set according to each condition.

In the above embodiment, the key top forming member 5
Although the periphery of the key top 60 of 0 was cut in a shape substantially the same as the outer shape of the key top 60, the shape of the cut is not particularly limited, and the point is that each key top 60 is completely or almost completely independent. Any shape may be used as long as it cuts the periphery of each key top 60. For example, only one cut line may be used to separate the key tops 60 from each other. In the first embodiment, the connecting portion as in the second embodiment may be left at the time of cutting.

The attachment of the key top forming member 50 to the pressing portion forming member 10 is not limited to the adhesive layer 40 adhered to the protective sheet. For example, it is performed by directly applying an adhesive or by mechanical fixing means. Or other various attachment means (attachment method).

In the above embodiment, an elastic material such as rubber or elastomer is used as the pressing portion forming member 10, but the present invention is not limited to this, and an elastic material made of other materials may be used. Depending on an elastic material, a hard material (for example, a mold resin) may be used instead of an elastic material. Further, for example, the pressing portion forming member 10 may be made of two or more kinds of materials such as a molded resin which is formed into a pressing portion in a synthetic resin film.

In the above embodiment, the pressing portion forming member 10, the key top forming member 50, and the adhesive layer 40 are made of a transparent or translucent material. good.

[0035]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, a plurality of key tops can be easily and accurately attached to the pressing portion forming member at a time, thereby facilitating the manufacture of the key top plate. And an excellent effect that the production cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing a method for manufacturing a key top plate 1 according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a method of manufacturing the key top plate 1 according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a key top plate 1 according to the present invention.

4 is a cross-sectional view of the pressing portion forming member 10 taken along line AA shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the key top forming member 50 taken along line BB shown in FIG.

6 is a cross-sectional view of the key top plate 1 taken along the line CC shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a state in which the key top plate 1 is attached to the switch board 70.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the key top plate 1 is attached to the switch board 70.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a method of manufacturing the key top forming member 50-2 according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a method of manufacturing the key top plate 1-2 according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a key top plate 1-2.

FIG. 12 shows a conventional key top plate 200 and a switch substrate 2
FIG. 5 is a side cross-sectional view showing a state of being placed on a reference numeral 50.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 key top plate 10 pressing portion forming member 11 key top attaching portion 13 pressing portion 17 outer edge portion 40 adhesive layer 50 key top forming member 55 connecting portion 60 key top 70 switch board 1-2 key top plate 10-2 pressing portion forming member 40-2 adhesive layer 50-2 key top forming member

Claims (2)

[Claims] A key top forming member provided with a key top; and a pressing portion forming member provided with a pressing portion for pressing a switch contact at a position corresponding to the key top, wherein the pressing portion forming member is provided. A key top plate is manufactured by cutting the outer periphery of the key top of the key top forming member after attaching the key top forming member to the key top plate. 2. A key top forming member provided with a key top and a pressing portion forming member provided with a pressing portion for pressing a switch contact at a position corresponding to the key top are prepared, and the key top forming member is formed in advance. After cutting the periphery of the key top of the member so that the respective key tops are connected by the connecting portion, the cut key top forming member is mounted on the pressing portion forming member to manufacture a key top plate. A method for manufacturing a key top plate.