JP2002196880A - Pointed device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simply attain a pointing device for inputting a signal of an X-Y direction by sliding operation to an external substrate without using soldering or a connector. SOLUTION: A pair of moving bodies 30A, 30B to be linearly moved in the X-Y direction in accordance with the sliding operation of an operation body 20 are stored in a case 10. An internal substrate 40 is stored under the moving bodies 30A, 30B. Aperture parts 16a, 16b are formed on the sidewall part of the case 10. The terminal part 41 of the internal substrate 40 is inserted from the inside into the aperture part 16a. The one end part 71 of a connection armature 70 is inserted from the outside into the aperture part 16b and pressurized contact with the terminal part 41. The other end part 72 of the armature 70 is crept below the case 10.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pointing device used for inputting signals in the X and Y directions in various electronic devices such as a remote controller, a game machine, and a mobile phone. The present invention relates to a sliding operation type pointing device that slides an operation body along a plate surface of the electronic device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is a slide operation type pointing device as an XY signal input device. The pointing device generally includes a case fixed to an external mounting board, and a slide mounted on the case for inputting signals in the X and Y directions and slidably operated in all directions around the surface of the mounting board. An operating body, a pair of moving bodies that move linearly in the X direction and the Y direction in the case with a sliding operation of the operating body, and provided in the case below the pair of moving bodies. And an internal substrate.

[0003] The internal substrate is usually made of a flexible substrate, and has a pair of resistance circuits in which contacts mounted on a pair of moving bodies are in sliding contact. The pair of resistance circuits constitute a pair of volumes together with the pair of contacts, and output an electric signal corresponding to the position of the pair of moving bodies in the XY direction.

In such a pointing device, it is necessary to supply the power supply voltage of the volume from an external circuit.
Further, it is necessary to supply an electric signal in the XY directions to an external circuit. For these reasons, the internal substrate is electrically connected to an external mounting substrate. As one of the connection forms, a terminal portion of an internal board is pulled out of a case and inserted into a connector mounted on an external mounting board.

[0005]

According to such a connection form between the internal substrate and the external substrate, the internal substrate is securely connected to the external substrate via the connector. However, in assembling a device using the pointing device, in addition to the operation of mounting the pointing device on the external board, a soldering operation for mounting the connector on the external board, and attaching the terminal portion of the internal board to the connector. It is necessary to perform an insertion operation, and these two extra operations cause a reduction in assembly workability of the device.

[0006] In addition, an increase in mounting area and an increase in parts cost due to the use of the connector also pose problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to reliably connect an internal substrate to an external substrate with a simple operation, and to reduce a mounting area and a component cost. It is an object of the present invention to provide a pointing device capable of performing the following.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a pointing device according to the present invention is mounted on a case fixed to an external board and mounted on the case for inputting signals in the X and Y directions. A sliding operation body that is slid in all directions around the surface of the external board; and an X-direction and a Y-direction inside the case in accordance with the sliding operation of the operation body.
A pair of moving bodies that move linearly in the direction, an internal substrate provided in the case located below the pair of moving bodies, and one end in an opening provided in a side edge of the case. While being held in the case by being inserted,
A connection contact piece is provided, the one end of which is in pressure contact with the internal substrate, and the other end of which is a pressure contact terminal for the external substrate and protrudes out of the case.

In the pointing device according to the present invention, when the case is fixed on the external substrate, the press contact terminal portion (the other end) of the connection piece held by the case elastically contacts the external substrate. On the other hand, one end of the connection piece is elastically in contact with the internal substrate as a pressure contact terminal portion for the internal substrate in the case. Therefore, the internal substrate is connected to the external substrate simply by fixing the case on the external substrate. Also,
Eliminates the need for connectors.

[0010] The connection structure between the internal substrate and the connection piece is as follows.
The terminal portion of the internal substrate is inserted into the opening provided in the side wall portion of the case from inside the case, and one end of the connection piece is inserted from outside the case so as to overlap the terminal portion, so that both of the openings are opened. It is preferable that the elastic contact is made within the part from the viewpoint of assembling workability, downsizing, and the like.

The connecting piece has a V-shape or U-shape formed by bending a strip-shaped metal plate at a substantially central portion, and one flat plate portion sandwiching the bent portion serves as a first press-contact terminal portion as a side edge of the case. It is preferable that the other flat plate portion is inserted into the opening of the portion and the other flat plate portion protrudes toward the bottom surface side of the case as a second press contact terminal portion in terms of miniaturization and the like.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view of a pointing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective plan view of the pointing device, and FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional front view of the pointing device. FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway side view of the pointing device, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a connecting piece used in the pointing device.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the pointing device according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a case 10 fixed on an external mounting board and a case 10 for inputting signals in the X and Y directions. A slide-type operation body 20 attached,
With the sliding operation of the operating body 20, X-
A set of upper and lower moving bodies 30A, 3 that move linearly in the Y direction
0B, an internal substrate 40 accommodated in the case 10 to constitute a volume switch in the XY direction and a push-down switch in the Z direction perpendicular to the XY direction, and an XY volume together with the internal substrate 40. A set of contacts 50A, 50B attached to each side end of the moving bodies 30A, 30B, and a XY direction for automatically returning the moving bodies 30A, 30B to the origin position. A pair of springs 60A, 60B incorporated in the volume portion, and a plurality of connection pieces 70, 70,... Held in the case 10 for connecting the internal substrate 40 to an external mounting substrate are provided.

Here, the volume portion in the X-Y direction is formed on two orthogonal sides of the case 10. The upper moving body 40A and the contact 50A perform signal input in the Y direction, and the lower moving body 40B and the contact 50B perform signal input in the X direction.

The case 10 has a two-piece structure in which an upper case 10a forming a top plate and a lower case 10b forming a bottom plate are combined. The upper case 10a is a substantially rectangular flat resin cap having an open lower surface. A circular opening 12 is provided in the top plate 11 of the upper case 10a so that a part of the operating body 20 protrudes upward.

At two orthogonal sides of the top panel 11, overhangs 13A and 13B are provided to extend laterally with respect to the opening 12 to form a volume. Also,
The other side of the upper case 10a is connected with connecting pieces 70, 70.
An extension 13C is formed by extending the side wall to the side in order to attach.

On the lower surfaces of the overhang portions 13A and 13B, shallow recesses into which the springs 60A and 60B are fitted are provided along each side. Further, in order to compress the springs 60A, 60B when the moving bodies 30A, 30B move, a pair of stop portions 15A, 15A, 1
5B and 15B are provided at both ends of the recess.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the extension portion 13C has two first openings 16a, 16a into which the terminals 41, 41 of the internal substrate 40 are inserted, and each opening 16a.
a plurality of second openings 16 provided continuously above
b, 16b. The first opening 16a,
16a is a slit formed through the side wall of the upper case 10a and parallel to the upper and lower surfaces of the case 10, and is provided side by side. The second openings 16b, 16b
The recesses are formed side by side on the ceiling surface of the opening 16 a and open to the outside of the case 10.

As will be described in detail later, the second opening 16
The connection pieces 70, 70 are inserted into the b, 16b,. Then, the connection contact pieces 70, 70,... Elastically contact the upper surface of the terminal portion 41 of the internal substrate 40 inserted into the first opening 16a from the inside, so that both are electrically connected. . For this connection, the internal substrate 4
0 on the upper surfaces of the terminal portions 41, 41,
A plurality of contact portions are formed so as to correspond to 0.

To facilitate the operation of inserting the terminal portions 41, 41 of the internal substrate 40 into the first openings 16a, 16a, the extension portion 13C has a horizontally long opening 19 penetrating between the upper and lower surfaces. Are provided in contact with the main body of the upper case 10a. The lower surface of the extension 13C is provided with a concave portion 14 into which each of the connection pieces 70 fits when the case 10 is fixed on the mounting board.

The lower case 10b is a molded product of a metal plate, and is a cover that fits from below into the main body except the extension 13C of the upper case 10a. With this cover, the lower surface of the main body portion is covered with the bottom plate portion 17, but the lower surface of the extension portion 13C is exposed downward. At three sides of the bottom plate 17, fixing portions 18 formed by raising each edge upward are provided. The fixing portion 18 fixes the lower case 10b to the upper case 10a by engaging with a claw provided on the outer surface of the side wall of the upper case 10a.

The operating body 20 includes a disk-shaped operating portion 21, a shaft portion 22 protruding downward from the center of the operating portion 21, a retaining member 23 attached to the shaft portion 22, and a retaining member 23. And a fixing member 24 for fixing. Operation unit 2
1 protrudes above the top plate 11 of the upper case 10a. The retaining member 23 is made of a metal plate,
Is allowed to move in the Z direction, and is prevented from being pulled upward. The fixing member 24 is a ring fitted to the lower part of the shaft 22, and fixes the retaining member 22 between the fixing member 24 and the upper part of the shaft 22. In addition, together with the lower portion of the shaft portion 22, the moving body 30
A and 30B also operate as an operation unit.

Of the upper and lower moving bodies 30A and 30B,
The upper moving body 30A inputs a signal in the Y direction and can move only in the Y direction. The lower moving body 30B inputs a signal in the X direction and can move only in the X direction. Although both are combined at right angles, the actual configuration of each is the same. This configuration will be described with reference to FIG. 2 for the upper movable body 30A shown in FIG.

The upper moving body 30A includes a metal portion 31A made of a metal plate, and a pair of resin portions 32A and 33A attached to both ends of the metal portion 31A. The metal portion 31A is a substantially flat plate extending in the X direction perpendicular to the moving direction (Y direction). The metal part 31A is provided with a rectangular long hole 34A through which the shaft part 22 of the operating body 20 penetrates. Slot 34A
Is to allow the relative movement of the operating body 20 in the X direction,
It extends long in the X direction. Both ends in the X direction of the metal part 31A are joined to the resin parts 32A, 33A by being molded on the resin parts 32A, 33A.

The pair of resin portions 32A and 33A are
A slider holding the metal portion 31A in the inner case 0. The slider slides in parallel between the upper case 10a and the lower case 10b of the case 10, more precisely on the internal substrate 40 arranged on the bottom plate 17 of the lower case 10b. Slide in the Y direction along the two sides. While one resin part 32A is a pure slider, the other resin part 33A also serves as a component of the volume part and the origin return mechanism.

That is, the other resin portion 33A is
0a and the corresponding overhang of the lower case 10b, more precisely, the bottom plate 1 of the lower case 10b.
7 are arranged on the edge of the internal substrate 40 arranged on the same. A concave first accommodating portion 35A that accommodates the spring 60A in a compressed state is provided on the upper surface of the resin portion 33A. The projecting portions 13A are provided at both ends of the first accommodation portion 35A.
A pair of slits into which the stoppers 15A, 15A provided on the lower surface of the first housing are movably inserted are continuously provided in the first housing 35A.

On the other hand, a second housing portion 37A for housing the contact 50A is provided on the lower surface of the resin portion 33A. The second storage portion 37A is provided inside the first storage portion 35A so as not to overlap with the first storage portion 35A in order to avoid an increase in the thickness of the resin portion 33A. The contact 50A is provided in the second housing 3
It is fixed to the ceiling surface of 7A downward.

The lower moving body 30B is formed so as to be arranged at a right angle to the upper moving body 40A and the metal part 31B does not interfere with the metal part 31A of the upper moving body 40A. Mobile unit 4 in the upper row except for
Since the configuration is substantially the same as 0A, the corresponding portions are denoted by the same reference numerals (however, the suffix is B) and the description is omitted.

The internal substrate 40 is a flexible substrate,
It is arranged from above the bottom plate 17 of the lower case 10b to inside the extension 13C of the upper case 10a. On the upper surface of two orthogonal sides of the internal substrate 40, a set of resistance circuits for forming a volume portion is formed.
A and 50B elastically contact this set of resistance circuits from above. A switch circuit is formed on the upper surface of a substantially central portion of the internal substrate 40 to constitute a push-down switch, and a dome-shaped elastic contact piece 42 called a snap plate is fixed by tape. Elastic contact piece 42
Urges the operating body 20 upward and short-circuits the lower switch circuit by deforming downward.

A part of the internal substrate 40 includes terminal portions 41, 41.
, Is inserted into the first openings 16a, 16a of the extension 13C. A plurality of contact portions connected to the resistor circuit and the switch circuit are provided on the upper surfaces of the terminal portions 41, 41, respectively. The second openings 16b, 16b.
Contact pieces 70, 70.

Of the pair of springs 60A and 60B,
One spring 60A is connected to the overhang portion 1 of the upper case 10a.
It is arranged between 3A and the resin part 33A of the moving body 30A, and more specifically, is accommodated in a first accommodation part 35A provided on the upper surface of the resin part 33A in a slightly compressed state. The spring 60A has an overhang 13
Stop portions 15A, 15A provided on the lower surface of A are in contact from both ends.

Similarly, the other spring 60B is connected to the projecting portion 13B of the upper case 10a and the resin portion 33 of the moving body 30B.
B, and more specifically, the resin portion 33
It is housed in a first housing part 35B provided on the upper surface of B in a slightly compressed state. And this spring 6
0B, a stop 15 provided on the lower surface of the overhang 13B.
B and 15B are in contact from both ends.

As shown in FIG. 5, each connection contact piece 70 is a V-shaped elastic piece formed by bending a strip-shaped metal plate substantially at the center. One flat plate portion sandwiching the bent portion of each connection contact piece 70 is a first press-contact terminal portion 71 that presses against the upper surface of the terminal portion 41 of the internal substrate 40, and the upper case 10a
Is inserted from the outside into the second opening 16b provided in the extension portion 13C. By this insertion, a downwardly convex dome-shaped projection 7 called fukurin formed on the press contact terminal portion 71 is formed.
By pressing the contact 3 against the contact portion formed on the upper surface of the terminal portion 41, the connection piece 70 is securely connected to the internal substrate 40 and is securely held by the case 10.

One flat plate portion sandwiching the bent portion of each connection piece 70 is a second press contact terminal portion 72 that elastically contacts an external mounting board. The press contact terminal portion 72 is in a state where the first press contact terminal portion 71 is inserted into the second opening 16b.
It goes down through the side of the extension part 13C, and the tip part projects below the lower surface of the case 10. Therefore, by fixing the case 10 to the surface of the mounting substrate, the second press contact terminal portion 72 is pressed against the surface of the mounting substrate.

Next, the function of the pointing device according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

As described above, the terminal 4 of the internal substrate 40
1, 41 are inserted from inside into first openings 16a, 16a provided in the extension 13C of the case 10. Also,
The second opening portions 16b, 16b. Formed continuously above the first opening portions 16a have connection pieces 70, 7 from outside.
The first press contact terminal portions 71, 71. of 0. are inserted. As a result, the first press contact terminals 71, 71. are pressed against the upper surfaces of the terminal portions 41, 41 of the lower internal substrate 40, and the connection pieces 70, 70 are electrically connected to the internal substrate 40. .

In this state, the case 10 is fixed to the surface of the mounting board, so that the second connecting pieces 70, 70
Are pressed against the surface of the mounting board, and the inner board 40 in the case 40 is connected to the connecting pieces 70, 70.
・ Electrically connected to an external mounting board via

That is, in the case of the pointing device according to the embodiment of the present invention, the work of inserting the terminal portions 41, 41 of the internal board 40 into the connector on the mounting board, and also the soldering for mounting the connector on the mounting board. The internal substrate 40 can be electrically connected to an external mounting substrate only by a simple operation of fixing the case 10 to the surface of the mounting substrate without performing any operation. Therefore, the assembling work of the equipment using the pointing device is simplified.

Also, since the connector is more expensive than the connecting pieces 70, 70, the connector is omitted,
The parts cost is reduced, and the mounting area is also reduced.

In the pointing device mounted on the mounting board, when no external force in the XY directions is applied to the operating body 20, the moving body 30 is moved by the springs 60A and 60B.
A and 30B are elastically held at the origin position. As a result, the operating body 20 is also elastically held at the origin position. Further, the operating body 20 is moved to the upper limit position (the retaining member 23 is moved to the top plate portion 11 of the upper case 10a by the bias of the elastic contact piece 42).
(A position where it abuts from below).

When the operating body 20 is operated in the X direction, the lower moving body 30B moves in the X direction. Accordingly, the contact 50B slides on the corresponding resistance circuit on the internal substrate 40. As a result, an electric signal corresponding to the amount of movement in the X direction is output and input to an electronic device using the device.
Further, with the movement of the moving body 30B, the first housing 3
The spring 60B accommodated in the inner case 5B attempts to move in the axial direction, but the movement is prevented by one of the stoppers 15B, 15B provided on the lower surface of the overhang 13B of the upper case 10a. Are pressed in the axial direction and compressed. Therefore, when the external force applied to the operating body 20 is removed, the moving body 30B automatically returns to the origin position, and thereby the operating body 20 also automatically returns to the origin position.

When the operating body 20 is operated in the Y direction, the upper moving body 30A moves in the Y direction. Accordingly, the contact 50A slides on the corresponding resistance circuit on the internal substrate 40. As a result, an electric signal corresponding to the movement amount is output and input to an electronic device using the device. Also,
The spring 60A moves in the axial direction with the movement of the moving body 30A. However, the movement of the spring 60A is prevented by one of the stoppers 15A provided on the lower surface of the overhang 13A of the upper case 10a. Are pressed in the axial direction and compressed. Therefore, when the external force applied to the operating body 20 is removed, the moving body 30A automatically returns to the origin position, and accordingly, the operating body 20 also automatically returns to the origin position.

By combining these operations, the operating body 2
An electric signal corresponding to the moving direction and the moving amount in the X and Y directions of 0 is input to a device using the pointing device.

When the operating body 20 is pressed downward against the urging force of the elastic contact piece 42, the elastic contact piece 42 is deformed, and the switch circuit formed on the upper surface of the lower internal substrate 40 is short-circuited. Thereby, a function as a push-down switch is obtained.

The volume section as the signal output means is built in two orthogonal sides of the case 10. For this reason, the number of parts is reduced as compared with the case where an external volume is used. In particular, since one of the resin portions 23A and 23B of the movable bodies 30A and 30B also serves as a component member of the volume portion and a component member of the origin return mechanism together with the slider.
The number of parts is particularly small. In addition, since the internal substrate 40 is used for both the volume part and the push-down switch, the number of parts is reduced from this point as well.

Then, the volume is accommodated in the case 10 together with the internal substrate 40, and the moving bodies 30A and 30
B uses plate-shaped metal parts 32A and 32B, and the lower case 1
Since Ob is formed of a metal plate, the height of the apparatus is suppressed to be low.

That is, the pointing device according to the embodiment of the present invention is thin despite having multiple functions.

The spring 60A is connected to the upper case 10
a is accommodated in parallel between the overhang portion 13A and the resin portion 33A of the moving body 30A, and the spring 60B is connected to the upper case 10a.
Is accommodated in parallel between the overhanging portion 13B of the moving body 30B and the resin portion 33B of the moving body 30B, so that an increase in the outer dimensions of the apparatus due to the provision of the springs 60A, 60B is avoided as much as possible.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing another example of the connection piece. In the connection contact piece 70 shown here, a tongue-shaped cut-and-raised piece 74 is formed in the first pressure contact terminal portion 71 instead of a downwardly convex dome-shaped projection 73 called fukurin. The cut-and-raised piece 74 is inclined downward, and thereby elastically contacts the terminal portion 41 below.

In the above embodiment, the spring 60
A housing section for housing A, 60B is provided on the upper surface of the resin portions 33A, 33B of the moving bodies 30A, 30B.
Although the stopping portion for compressing the springs 60A and 60B when the OB is moved is provided on the lower surface of the overhanging portions 13A and 13B of the upper case 10a, the housing for accommodating the springs 60A and 60B is provided at the overhanging portion 13A of the upper case 10a. 13B, a spring 60 is provided when the moving bodies 30A and 30B move.
It is also possible to provide a stopping portion for compressing A, 60B on the lower surface of the resin portions 33A, 33B of the moving bodies 30A, 30B.

It is also possible to constitute an origin return mechanism on one of the resin parts 32A, 32B of the moving bodies 30A, 30B and to constitute a volume part on the other resin parts 33A, 33B.

[0052]

As described above, in the pointing device according to the present invention, only by fixing the case on the external substrate, the internal substrate in the case is externally connected to the external substrate via the connection piece held by the case. Can be connected to the board. This eliminates the need for inserting the terminals of the internal board into the connector on the external board and soldering the connector on the external board, greatly simplifying the work of connecting the internal board to the external board. Is done. Therefore, the assembling work of the equipment using the pointing device is simplified. Further, since the connector is not required, the mounting area and the component cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a pointing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective plan view of the pointing device.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional front view of the pointing device, taken along the line AA in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway side view of the pointing device.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a connection piece used in the pointing device.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another connection piece.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Case 10a Upper case 10b Lower case 11 Top plate part 13A, 13B Overhang part 13C Extension part 15A, 15B Suppression part 16a 1st opening 16b 2nd opening 17 Bottom plate 18 Fixed part 20 Operating body 30A, 30B Moving body 31A, 31B Metal part 32A, 32B, 33A, 33B Resin part (slider) 34A, 34B Opening 40 Internal substrate 41 Terminal part 42 Elastic contact piece 50A, 50B Contact element 60A, 60B Spring 70 Connection contact piece 71 First pressure contact Terminal 72 Second insulation displacement terminal

Claims (3)

[Claims] A case fixed to an external substrate;
A sliding-type operating body mounted on the case for inputting a direction signal and slidably operated in all directions around the surface of the external board; and an X-direction in the case with the sliding operation of the operating body. And a pair of moving bodies that move linearly in the Y direction, an internal substrate located below the pair of moving bodies and provided in the case, and one end provided at an opening provided at a side edge of the case. A connection contact piece that is held by the case by inserting the part, the one end part is pressed against the internal substrate, and the other end part protrudes out of the case as a pressure contact terminal part for the external substrate. A pointing device. 2. A terminal portion of the internal substrate is inserted into an opening provided in a side wall portion of the case from inside the case, and one end of the connection contact piece is inserted from outside the case so as to overlap the terminal portion. The pointing device according to claim 1, wherein the two elastically contact each other in the opening. 3. The connecting contact piece is formed in a V-shape or U-shape obtained by bending a strip-shaped metal plate at a substantially central portion, and one of the flat portions sandwiching the bent portion is a first press contact terminal portion. 3. The pointing device according to claim 1, wherein the second flat plate portion protrudes toward the bottom surface side of the case as a second press contact terminal portion. 4.