JP2001236855A - Material for push-button switch - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a material giving a sense of high fouvcing clicking, while being very thin and miniature in form. SOLUTION: For the push-button switch equipped with movable points 21, 29 at the bottom of the pushing portion 13 sensitive to pressing, a leaf spring 24 to generate sense of clicking is installed at the press portion 13.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a small and thin push-button switch member which generates a click feeling when operated in various switches such as construction equipment, industrial operation panels, and switches for automobiles.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a push button switch capable of generating a click feeling when operating the switch, as shown in FIG. 4, a push button 1 and a mechanical functional component ( And a mechanical switch 3 comprising a switch function unit 2. The mechanical switch 3 is turned on and off by a repeated pressing operation of the push button 1.

As shown in FIG. 5, a push button 1 and a dome-shaped rubber member 4 are arranged on the lower surface of the push button 1, and a movable contact 5 is provided on the lower surface of the rubber member 4. There is a rubber elastic switch 8 which constitutes a switch function part in which a fixed contact 7 is arranged on the opposing substrate 6,
The switching between ON and OFF is performed by following the repeated pressing operation by the repulsive force of the rubber member 4.

In addition to these, in order to meet the demand for small size and thinness, the push button 1 and the cover member 9 are molded from the same urethane resin as shown in FIG. A movable contact 5 is provided at the center of a metal disc spring 10, and a switch function unit in which a fixed contact 7 is disposed on a substrate 6 opposed to the movable contact 5 is configured to generate a click feeling. There were eleven.

[0005]

In these conventional pushbutton switches which generate a click feeling during operation, a pushbutton 1 which is directly pressed and a switch function which operates by receiving a pressing force of the pressed pushbutton 1 are provided. And a switch function part that fulfills the requirements, exists as a separate member, and in any switch, the push button switch itself requires a certain height and volume, and can respond to the demand for a further small and thin. Did not.

In the small mechanical switch 3,
In order to satisfy the condition that the mechanical functional component 2 repeats up and down movement in a small volume, a mechanism that can obtain a click feeling with high repulsion cannot be incorporated.

In the case of the rubber elastic switch 8 utilizing the elastic force of the dome-shaped rubber member 4, it is difficult to obtain a high repulsive click feeling because the repulsive force utilizes the characteristic of the rubber member 4 itself. .

A metal elastic switch 11 which is attached to the lower surface of the push button 1 and is integrally formed of urethane resin
In this case, since the push button 1 and the cover member 9 are formed of a thin-walled molded article of urethane resin, the soft push button 1 presses the metal disc spring 10 having a high repulsive force. , And did not lead to a click feeling with good high resilience.

Further, there is a problem that the push button 1 and the cover member 9 are discolored due to the characteristics of the urethane resin, and the commercial value is inferior.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the conventional push-button switch, the present invention provides a member for a push-button switch which is small and thin and which can provide a good click feeling with high repulsion. Is an issue.

[0011]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, an invention according to claim 1 is a member for a push button switch having a movable contact on a bottom surface of a pressing portion that receives a pressing operation. A leaf spring for generating a click feeling at the time of the pressing operation is embedded.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the first aspect, a function display portion is provided on a surface of the pressing portion, and a through hole is provided in a central portion of the leaf spring. Features.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect, an elastic projection provided with the movable contact is formed below a central portion of the leaf spring.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

[First Embodiment of the Invention] FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part showing a first embodiment of a member for a push button switch according to the present invention.

The cover member main body 12 has a pressing portion 13 which receives a pressing operation, a thick cylindrical leg 14 extending downward from the peripheral edge of the pressing portion 13, and an outer side of a bottom peripheral edge of the leg portion 14. A black coating film 16 covering the entire surface is formed on the outer surfaces of the pressing portion 13, the leg portion 14, and the cover portion 15.

A downwardly projecting portion 18 slightly shorter than the height of the leg portion 14 is formed at the center of the back surface 17 of the pressing portion 13, and the tip of the projecting portion 18 has a movable contact made of conductive rubber. 19 are provided.

The pressing portion 13, the leg portion 14, the cover portion 15, and the projecting portion 18 are integrally formed of the same transparent or translucent elastic resin.

The push button 20 including the pressing portion 13, the leg portion 14, and the movable contact 19 provided on the projecting portion 18 is used singly or plurally with respect to the cover member main body 12.
The cover member main body 12 itself is attached to a device main body (not shown) or the like so as to cover a substrate 22 provided with a fixed contact 21 facing the movable contact 19.

A part of the surface of the pressing portion 13 is coated with a coating film 1.
6 is provided with a light-transmissive function display section 23 formed by etching using a laser or the like to form a character, code or figure.

The central portion of the pressing portion 13 of the push button 20,
An inverted bowl-shaped metal leaf spring 24 is embedded in the pressing portion 13. The metal leaf spring 24 has a substantially circular shape when viewed from the top, and its outer peripheral portion 25 has a size that hangs on the leg portion 14.

A through hole 26 is formed at the center of the metal leaf spring 24.
Is provided as a passage for irradiating the function display unit 23 with light emitted from a light source (not shown) provided inside the push button 20.

The through-hole 26 may be formed by projecting a rib 33 toward the concave side of the metal leaf spring 24 by burring or the like, and may be used for positioning during molding as described later.

Hereinafter, the operation of the first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

When a finger is pressed on the pressing portion 13 of the push button 20 and the push button 20 is pressed down, the movable contact 19 comes into contact with the fixed contact 21 on the substrate 22 side, and the switch is turned on.

Then, when the push button 20 is further depressed, the protruding portion 18 is compressed. Then, the metal leaf spring 24
Of the metal leaf spring 24 is supported by the thick and high rigidity of the leg 14.
When the metal leaf spring 24 is greatly deformed when it is pressed down with the descending of 3, the click feeling is generated.

The timing at which the metal leaf spring 24 is deformed is preferably set when the movable contact 19 at the tip of the projection 18 comes into contact with the fixed contact 21 on the substrate 22 side and the projection 18 is compressed.

When this click feeling is felt, the finger that has been depressing until then is released from the pressing portion 13, and the elastic restoring force of the compressed protruding portion 18 and the metal leaf spring 2
The repulsion force of 4 works to restore the position of the push button 20 to the original position.

In the first embodiment, the metal leaf spring 24
Since a click feeling due to the rebound resilience performance can be obtained, a higher resilience can be obtained as compared with the case where only the resilience performance of a single resin material is used.

Further, since the metal leaf spring 24 which generates a high click feeling is contained within the height (thickness) of the pressing portion 13 of the push button 20, the space for obtaining the click feeling as in the prior art is reduced. There is no need to provide a separate switch, and the switch can be reduced in size and thickness accordingly. Further, the pressing portion 13
Since the structure itself generates a click feeling, there is no sense of incongruity during operation.

In the first embodiment, the metal leaf spring 24 is employed in order to obtain high rebound resilience performance. However, other materials may be used as long as they have the same rebound resilience performance and can be embedded in the pressing portion 13. Of course, it is good.

[Second Embodiment of the Invention] Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the member for a push button switch according to the present invention will be described.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part showing a second embodiment of a member for a push button switch according to the present invention.

In the second embodiment, the back surface 17 of the pressing portion 13
In the center portion of the, a downward projecting portion 18 slightly shorter than the height of the leg portion 14 is formed, and a single annular projection 27 is formed around the projecting portion 18.

The annular projection 27 is slightly longer than the projection 18 and has a larger thickness, and a movable rubber contact 28 made of conductive rubber is provided at the tip of the annular projection 27.

The movable contact 19 of the projection 18 is
And the movable contact 2 of the annular protrusion 27
8 and a fixed contact 29 opposed thereto.

At the center of the pressing portion 13 of the push button 20,
An inverted bowl-shaped metal leaf spring 24 is embedded in the pressing portion 13. The metal leaf spring 24 has a substantially circular shape when viewed from the top, and its outer peripheral portion 25 has a size that hangs on the annular protrusion 27.

The other components are the same as those of the first embodiment, and therefore the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

Hereinafter, the operation of the second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

When a finger is pressed on the pressing portion 13 of the push button 20 and the push button 20 is pressed down as it is, the annular projection 27 of the pressing portion 13 is pressed.
The ring-shaped thin portion hitting between the arm and the leg 14 bends downward, and the movable contact 28 of the ring-shaped projection 27 first contacts the fixed contact 29 on the substrate 22 side, and the corresponding circuit is turned on. .

Then, when the push button 20 is further depressed,
The movable contact 19 of the protrusion 18 is fixed to the fixed contact 21 on the substrate 22 side.
, And the corresponding circuit is turned on.

When the pressing portion 13 is further pressed down, the protruding portion 18 descends while being compressed, so that the outer peripheral portion 25 of the metal leaf spring 24 becomes an annular protrusion 27 having high rigidity.
, The central portion of the metal leaf spring 24 is pushed down as the pressing portion 13 descends, and the metal leaf spring 2
At the moment when 4 is greatly deformed, a click feeling is generated.

When this click feeling is felt, the finger that has been depressing until then is released from the pressing portion 13, and the elastic restoring force of the compressed protruding portion 18 and the metal leaf spring 2
With the repulsion force of 4, the position of the push button 20 is restored to the original position.

According to the second embodiment, even a push button switch having two switch functions in one push button can be reduced in size and thickness, and can be clicked with good repulsion force. A feeling is obtained.

[0045]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a method for manufacturing a member for a push button switch according to the present invention will be described below.

Embodiment 1 FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part of a mold for molding a member for a push button switch according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

In Embodiment 1 of the method for manufacturing a member for a push button switch according to the present invention, the material of the metal leaf spring 24 is SUS
304.

The male side (core side) mold 30 has a push button portion 1
A hollow column 32 having a hole 31 for molding the third protrusion 18 is formed.

First, the metal leaf spring 24 embedded in the push button portion 13 is mounted on the upper end of the hollow column 32 in the male (core) mold 30 as shown in FIG. At this time, if the rib 33 of the through hole 26 provided at the center of the metal leaf spring 24 is inserted into the hole 31 for the projecting portion 18, the positioning of the metal leaf spring 24 is performed automatically.

In order to improve the adhesion to the silicone rubber or the elastomer, the metal leaf spring 24 is preferably spray-coated with a primer C (manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) to a thickness of about 15 μm in advance.

The pressing portion 13, the leg portion 14, the cover portion 15, and the projecting portion 18 are made of liquid silicone rubber KE-1980 (manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) as a material and have a temperature of 150.degree. Molding was performed integrally under the conditions of a pressure of 150 Pa for 50 seconds.

Hytrel 30 ° to 80 ° which is a polyester, urethane or polyamide elastomer and has a low hardness.
Molding is also possible with perprene of ° (ASTM, D-2240, Shore D). The molding conditions in this case are a temperature of 140 ° C., a time of 35 seconds, and a pressure of 150 Pa.

When the molded product of the cover member main body 12 is completed, a conductive material in which carbon particles (Denka Black manufactured by Denki Kagaku Kogyo Co., Ltd. or EC-DJ600 manufactured by Lion Akzo Co., Ltd.) is blended at the tip of the projection 18. The movable contact 17 is formed from the carbon ink by the silk screen method, and the solvent is removed in an infrared hot air drying oven and cured, thereby completing the member for the push button switch.

A part of the surface of the pressing portion 13 of the cover member main body 12 is formed by etching the coating film 16 using a laser or the like to form a light-transmitting function in the form of characters, codes or figures. The display section 23 is formed, but surface treatment by silicone printing is also possible.

[Second Embodiment] In a second embodiment of the method for manufacturing a member for a push button switch according to the present invention, the metal leaf spring 24 is made of SUS301 as the material and the through hole 2 without the rib 33 is used.
6 was adopted.

Hereinafter, only the differences between the second embodiment and the first embodiment will be described.

The method of setting the metal leaf spring 24 in the mold according to the second embodiment is as follows. A bakelite jig having a recess that matches the outer shape of the metal leaf spring 24 is previously set on a metal by using a vibration arrangement machine or the like. When the leaf springs 24 are arranged and the metal leaf springs 24 are placed on the target pillars 32 with the positions of the hollow pillars 32 in the mold 30 on the male side (core side), the male side ( The mold 30 on the core side is fixed by applying a magnetic force.

The pressing portion 13, the leg portion 14, the cover portion 15, and the projecting portion 18 are made of liquid silicone rubber KE- having a high fluidity.
9511U (manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) was added to 100 material parts and vulcanizing agent C-8 (manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) was added in an amount of 0.5 material part and kneaded with a mixing roll for 30 minutes.
The sheet material cut to a predetermined size is placed in a mold,
A desired molded product was obtained under molding conditions of 0 ° C., a time of 160 seconds, and a pressure of 150 Pa.

[0059]

As described above, according to the inventions described in the respective claims, it is possible to provide a member for a push button switch which is extremely small in size and extremely thin and has a click feeling with high repulsion.

According to the invention described in claim 2, according to claim 1
In addition to the above effects, even if a material having no translucency is used as the leaf spring, the function display provided on the surface of the push button by the light emitted from the light source provided inside the push button when the light passes through the through hole. Section can be illuminated.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the first aspect is provided.
In addition to the effect of the above, since the elastic protrusion that generates the elastic restoring force is located in the central portion of the pressing portion and the maximum deformation portion of the central portion of the leaf spring, the elasticity is required to restore the push button to the original position. The elastic restoring force of the protrusion can be effectively used.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a main part of a member for a push button switch according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part of a member for a push button switch according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part of a mold for molding the member for a push button switch according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of a main part of a conventional mechanical switch having a click feeling.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part of a conventional rubber elastic switch having a click feeling.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part of a conventional metal elastic switch having a click feeling.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1,20 push button 5,19,28 movable contact 13 pressing part 18 protruding part 7,21,29 movable contact 24 metal leaf spring (leaf spring) 26 through hole 28 annular projection

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A push button switch member provided with a movable contact on a bottom surface of a pressing portion receiving a pressing operation, wherein a leaf spring for generating a click feeling at the time of the pressing operation is embedded in the pressing portion. Switch member. 2. The member for a push button switch according to claim 1, wherein a function display portion is provided on a surface of said push button portion, and a through hole is provided in a central portion of said leaf spring. 3. The member for a push button switch according to claim 1, wherein an elastic protruding portion provided with the movable contact is formed below a central portion of the leaf spring.