JP2001084868A - Dome switch - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify a manufacturing process by forming grooves along the outer circumference of a projecting part on a sheet part. SOLUTION: This dome switch comprises a dome switch body 3 comprising a sheet part 1 formed into the shape of a sheet, and a projecting part 2 projecting into the shape of a dome, and a sheet-shaped button 5 formed into the shape of a sheet, contacted with a top part 2a of the projecting part 2 at its back surface, and having an information input key 4 for displaying a position of the top part 2a of the projecting part 2 on its surface. The dome switch body 3 is made of polyethylene terephthalate, and has the flexibility, and grooves 6 along the outer circumference of the projecting part 2 are formed on the sheet part 1. An electrode 7 made of carbon, silver carbon, or the like is printed on a rear surface of the top part 2a of the projecting part 2. The sheet-shaped button 5 is made of polyethylene terephthalate similarly as the dome switch body 3, and formed integrally with the sheet part 1 of the dome switch 3 through plural spacers 8 among grooves 6 formed on the sheet part 1 of the dome switch 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dome switch made of a flexible synthetic resin having a sheet portion formed in a sheet shape and a protruding portion projecting from the sheet portion in a dome shape.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a dome switch made of a flexible synthetic resin has been used as a switch component of an electric appliance to make a printed wiring portion separated from a printed circuit board conductive. As shown in FIG. 10, the dome switch includes a sheet portion 1 made of a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) sheet, and a dome switch main body 3 having a dome-shaped protrusion 2 projecting from the sheet portion 1. Carbon on the back surface of the vertex 2a
The electrode 7 such as silver carbon is printed.

The dome switch is normally interposed between the separated portion 11a of the printed wiring 11 of the printed circuit board 10 and the information input key 4, and when pressed by the information input key 4, its apex portion 2a is depressed. The part 1 where the electrode 7 such as carbon is separated from the printed wiring 11
1a, and the printed wiring 12 becomes conductive. When the pressed state is released, the protruding portion 2 of the dome switch body 3 is restored, and the separated portion 11a of the printed wiring 11 is again insulated.

[0004]

However, since this synthetic resin dome switch has a weak restoring force, generally a spacer 18 is interposed between the dome switch body 3 and the printed circuit board 10 as shown in FIG. Thus, the restoring force of the dome switch body 3 is improved. For this reason, after the sheet-shaped dome switch main body 3 is formed, the sheet-shaped spacer 18 must be attached to the back surface of the dome switch main body 3, resulting in a problem that the manufacturing process is complicated.

The information input key 4 is connected to the dome switch main body 3 via a silicon sheet 19 as shown in FIG.
However, the dome switch body 3 and the silicon sheet 19 are separated from each other, so that when manufacturing a switch component including the dome switch, the silicon sheet 19 is attached to the dome switch body 3. In particular, as shown in FIG. 10, the silicon sheet 19 is placed on the dome switch main body 3 so that the protrusion 20 formed on the back surface of the silicon sheet 19 contacts the apex portion 2a of the dome switch. The work is complicated because it needs to be put on top.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a dome switch in which the manufacturing process of a dome switch or a switch component including the dome switch is simple.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to achieve the above object, and comprises a sheet portion formed in a sheet shape, and a projecting portion projecting from the sheet portion in a dome shape. In the above-mentioned dome switch made of a flexible synthetic resin, a groove is formed in the sheet portion along an outer periphery of the protruding portion.

As described above, by forming a groove in the seat portion along the outer periphery of the protruding portion, the restoring force of the dome switch can be improved, so that a dome switch with a simple manufacturing process can be provided. it can. Also, since there is no need to provide a spacer, material costs can be reduced,
Further, the dome switch can be formed thinner by the thickness of the spacer.

The present invention further provides a sheet formed of a sheet-like flexible synthetic resin, the back surface of which is in contact with the apex of the protruding portion, and the front surface of which is provided with a display portion for displaying the position of the apex. Preferably, the sheet-shaped button is provided, and the sheet-shaped button is preferably integrated with the sheet portion.

As described above, since the sheet-like button provided with the display section such as the information input key is integrated with the sheet section of the dome switch, the display section such as the information input key is installed via silicon or the like. This eliminates the need and simplifies the manufacturing process of the switch component including the dome switch. Further, by making the sheet-like button thinner than silicon, the entire switch section including the dome switch can be made thinner. That is, if the silicon is thin, there is a problem in durability. However, if a sheet-like flexible synthetic resin such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is selected, the switch section including the dome switch can be used. The entire book can be made thinner.

It is preferable that a protrusion is provided on the back surface of the sheet-shaped button, and the sheet-shaped button is configured to be in contact with a vertex of the protrusion through the protrusion. When the sheet-like button is configured to be in contact with the apex portion of the protruding portion via the protruding portion, the pressure when the display portion of the sheet-shaped button is pressed can be concentrated on the apex portion of the protruding portion.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the sheet-like button is made of the same material as that of the sheet portion. In this way, by forming the sheet-like button and the sheet portion of the same material, an inexpensive adhesive can be obtained. The sheet-like button and the sheet portion can be adhered with an agent. As a material for forming the sheet-shaped button and the sheet portion, for example, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is used.

Further, in the present invention, a slit may be formed along the outer periphery of the protruding portion instead of the groove formed in the sheet portion. In this case, the sheet-like button may be connected to the sheet portion. It is preferable that the spacer is integrated with the sheet portion via a spacer interposed therebetween, and the spacer is configured to seal a space including the protrusion and the slit. By sealing the space including the protruding portion and the slit in this manner, dust from the slit to the substrate is reduced.
It is possible to prevent dust and moisture from entering.

Further, in the present invention, the rising portion of the projecting portion is preferably formed in a straight line, and the projecting portion includes a first projecting portion projecting in a dome shape, and the first projecting portion. A second protruding portion having a smaller diameter than that of the first protruding portion, and protruding in a dome shape.
It is preferable to make the projection further project than the projection.

As described above, by forming the rising portion of the projecting portion in a straight line or by forming the projecting portion from a two-step dome, the projecting portion is combined with the groove formed along the outer periphery of the projecting portion. Of the dome switch can be further improved, and a good click feeling of the dome switch can be obtained.

[0016]

Next, an embodiment of a dome switch according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front sectional view of a dome switch according to the present invention. The dome switch according to the present embodiment includes a sheet portion 1 formed in a sheet shape, and a protruding portion 2 projecting from the sheet portion 1 in a dome shape.
And a dome switch main body 3 having a sheet shape, and an information input key 4 for displaying the position of the vertex portion 2a of the protruding portion 2 on the front surface, the back surface being in contact with the vertex portion 2a of the protruding portion 2. Provided sheet-shaped buttons 5.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the dome switch main body 3, FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of the dome switch main body 3 including the projecting portion 2, and FIG. 4 is a plan view of the sheet-like button 5. FIG. 5 shows a bottom view of the sheet-like button 5. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the information input keys 4 are provided in a state in which a total of twelve information input keys 4 are provided in the horizontal direction and four in the vertical direction. Twelve parts 2 are provided as shown in FIG.

The dome switch body 3 is made of polyethylene terephthalate and has a thickness (0.075 to 0.188 mm) having flexibility. A groove 6 is formed in the seat portion 1 of the dome switch main body 3 along the outer periphery of the protruding portion 2. An electrode 7 made of carbon, silver carbon, or the like is printed on the back surface of the apex portion 2a of the protrusion 2.

The sheet-like button 5 is made of polyethylene terephthalate, similarly to the dome switch body 3, and has a flexible thickness (0.05 to 0.188 mm).
Is formed. Further, the sheet-like button 5 is formed integrally with the seat portion 1 of the dome switch 3 via a plurality of spacers 8 located between the grooves 6 formed in the seat portion 1 of the dome switch 3 (FIG. 5). At this time, since the sheet-like button 5 and the dome switch main body 3 are both made of polyethylene terephthalate, the sheet-like button 5 and the dome switch main body 3 can be integrated with an inexpensive adhesive. As shown in FIG. 5, a columnar projection 9 is formed on the back side of the information input key 4 of the sheet-like button 5. Is formed so as to be in contact with the vertex portion 2b.

As shown in FIG. 1, the dome switch according to the present embodiment, in which the dome switch body 3 and the sheet-shaped button 5 are integrated, has a dome switch body 3 above a printed wiring portion 11 which is separated from a printed circuit board 10. Is disposed so that the electrode 7 of the projection 2 is located. In the dome switch according to the present embodiment, when the information input key 4 is pressed, the apex portion 2a of the protruding portion 2 is depressed, and the electrode 7 contacts the separated portion 11 of the printed wiring to make the printed wiring conductive. be able to. At this time, since the groove 6 is formed along the outer periphery of the projecting portion 2 of the seat portion 1 of the dome switch body 3, the projecting portion 2 has a sufficient restoring force and obtains a good click feeling. Can be.

Next, a second embodiment of the dome switch body 3 is shown in FIG. The projecting portion 2 of the second embodiment of the dome switch main body 3 includes a curved portion 2a formed in a dome shape and a straight portion 2c formed from the curved portion 2a to the seat portion 1.
And is composed of Further, in this embodiment, the groove 6 formed in the sheet portion 1 is a notch groove having almost no width.

FIG. 7 shows a third example of the dome switch body 3.
Is shown. The projection 2 of the third aspect of the dome switch main body 3 includes a first projection 14 projecting in a dome shape,
A second protrusion 15 having a smaller diameter than the first protrusion 14 and protruding in a dome shape. The second protrusion 15 makes the center of the first protrusion 14 the same,
It is formed so as to project further upward than the first projecting portion 14. Further, in the present embodiment, the groove 6 is not formed in the sheet portion 1, and the slit 16 is formed along the outer periphery of the projecting portion 2. At this time, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the spacer 8 formed on the back surface of the sheet
Is configured to seal a space including the protrusion 2 and the slit 16.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, the restoring force of the dome switch can be improved by forming a groove in the seat portion along the outer periphery of the protruding portion.
A dome switch whose manufacturing process is simple can be provided.

Further, according to the present invention, since the sheet-like button provided with the display section such as the information input key is integrated with the sheet section of the dome switch, the display section such as the information input key is made of silicon or the like. It is not necessary to install the dome switch, and the manufacturing process of the switch component including the dome switch can be simplified.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view of an embodiment of a dome switch according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the dome switch body of the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view including a protruding portion of the dome switch body of the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the sheet-like button of the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the sheet-like button of the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a front sectional view of a second embodiment of the dome switch main body.

FIG. 7 is a front sectional view of a third embodiment of the dome switch main body.

FIG. 8 is a bottom view of a sheet-like button used in a third embodiment of the dome switch main body.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line IX-IX in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a front sectional view of a conventional dome switch.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Sheet part 2 Projection part 3 Dome switch main body 4 Information input key (display part) 5 Sheet-shaped button 6 Groove 8 Spacer 9 Projection 13 Linear part (rise part) 14 First projection part 15 Second projection part 16 Slit

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A sheet part (1) formed in a sheet shape,
A protruding portion (2) protruding in a dome shape from the seat portion (1)
And a groove (6) is formed in the sheet portion (1) along the outer periphery of the protruding portion (2). Dome switch to do. 2. A sheet-shaped flexible synthetic resin,
A sheet-like button (5) having a back surface in contact with a vertex portion (2a) of the protruding portion (2) and a front surface provided with a display portion (4) for displaying a position of the vertex portion; The dome switch according to claim 1, wherein the button (5) is integrated with the seat portion (1). 3. A projection (9) is provided on the back surface of the sheet-like button (5), and the sheet-like button (5) is provided with the projection (2) through the projection (9). ) (2a)
2. The device of claim 1, wherein
Dome switch as described. 4. A sheet portion (1) formed in a sheet shape,
A protruding portion (2) protruding in a dome shape from the seat portion (1)
And a display unit (4) formed of a sheet-shaped flexible synthetic resin, the back surface of which is in contact with the apex portion (2a) of the protruding portion (2), and the front surface indicating the position of the apex portion (2a) And a sheet-like button (5) provided with a dome switch, the dome switch comprising a flexible synthetic resin, wherein the sheet portion (1) has a slit along an outer periphery of a protruding portion (2). (1
6) is formed, and the sheet-like button (5) is integrated with the sheet portion (1) via a spacer (8) interposed between the sheet-like button (5) and the sheet-like button (5). The dome switch, wherein the spacer (8) is configured to seal a space including the protrusion (2) and the slit (16). 5. The dome switch according to claim 2, wherein said sheet-like button (5) is made of the same material as said sheet portion (1). 6. A rising portion (13) of said projecting portion (2).
Is formed in a straight line.
A dome switch according to any one of claims 1 to 5. 7. The protruding portion (2) has a first protruding portion (14) protruding from the seat portion 1 in a dome shape, and has a smaller diameter than the first protruding portion (14), and protrudes in a dome shape. Second
And a second protrusion (1).
The dome switch according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein 5) further protrudes from the first protruding portion (14).