JP2003249144A - Double click feeling key switch - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a double click feeling key switch. <P>SOLUTION: The double click feeling key switch comprises a circuit layer, a base, an elastic piece, a thin insulating film and a key plate. They are stacked in this order from bottom to top. The key plate is protruded in order to form a key having elasticity, and an electrically conductive rubber is disposed on an undersurface of the key. The elastic piece has a protruding convex arc shape corresponding to the thin insulating film which is stacked on the elastic piece. The first click feeling occurs when the key is pushed lightly. Next, the second click feeling occurs when the key is pushed by adding slightly stronger force and the convex arc of the elastic piece is pressed forcibly. Consequently, an operation for providing the double click feeling is completed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a kind of two-step click feeling key switch, and more particularly, it provides a first-step click feeling when a key is lightly pressed, and then a key is pressed with a slightly large force. The present invention relates to a two-step click feeling key switch in which a two-step click feeling operation is completed, a two-step click feeling operation is completed thereby, and a design in which thin layers are stacked is utilized to flatten the entire thickness.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Most of the switches having a multi-step click feeling that are generally found are shutter buttons of cameras,
It can be applied to mobile phone dial keys, keyboard keys, etc., and can be designed as one-push multi-function keys.

A design of a key switch having a multi-step click feeling is "Panel switch having a click feeling" of Taiwan Patent Application No. 8922927, which is composed of a substrate, first means, second means and keys. Has been done. Of these, the first means and the second means adopt an intersecting pivot connection method, and are further pivotally installed in the shaft hole and the locking groove of the substrate,
In addition, an extension arm is provided at one end of the lateral seat of the first means toward the center hole direction, a flange is provided at the bottom of the front end of the extension arm, and the center axis is provided in the frame-shaped space of the second means. The extension arm is extended corresponding to the inside of the extension arm, the surface of the extension arm is formed into an axial conical end, and the conical end of the extension arm corresponds to the flange of the extension arm provided in the first means. During the key pressing motion, the click feeling of the key is formed by pressing the flange and the conical end.

When the method of pivotally connecting the frame-shaped structures so as to intersect each other like the first means and the second means is used, the whole volume is often increased, and the design cannot be micronized. In addition, the flange and the conical tip may wear after a long-term pressing friction and the click feeling may disappear.

In addition to this, most shutter buttons for cameras are also designed with multi-step click feeling,
Due to structural design issues, the buttons often became apparently prominent, i.e. the buttons were thicker.

For this reason, the present invention provides a kind of two-step click feeling key switch, which is a switch having a flattened overall thickness due to the design of laminated thin layers.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a kind of two-step click key switch, in which the circuit layer, the base, the elastic piece, the insulating thin film and the key board are arranged in order from bottom to top. It is made up of layers, of which the key plate is projected to make it an elastic key, conductive rubber is provided on the bottom of the key, and the elastic piece is made into a circular arc convex shape, corresponding to the insulating layer stacked on it When a key that elastically protrudes is pressed down, a first-step click feeling is generated, and then the key is pressed down to forcibly recess the arcuate convex part and the elastic piece, A second-step click feeling is generated, and by pressing one key, a two-step click feeling is achieved, and the overall thickness is flattened by the design of stacking thin layers, and the camera, mobile phone, etc. To be applied to the structure having the key function of Which it is designed to be one-push type multi-function key.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a circuit layer in which a circuit is etched, a metal elastic piece having an arcuate convex shape provided on the circuit layer, and the metal elastic piece overlaid on the circuit layer are stacked. A key plate provided with a portion corresponding to the metal elastic piece that elastically protrudes, and when the elastically protruding key is pushed down, a first-step click feeling is generated, and the key is continuously pressed. While pressing down, the bottom surface of the key is brought into pressure contact with the metal elastic piece to dent the metal elastic piece and to conduct the circuit, at the same time, the second step click feeling is generated to achieve the two step click feeling. It features a two-step click feel key switch. According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the two-step click feeling key switch according to the first aspect, a surface of the metal elastic piece is covered with an insulating thin film, a circuit is connected to the surface of the insulating thin film, and a bottom surface of the key is provided. A two-step click feeling key switch is characterized in that a conductive rubber is provided and the circuit is conducted by pressing the key to forcibly press the conductive rubber against the circuit on the surface of the insulating thin film. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the two-step click feeling key switch according to the first or second aspect, the key protrusion method is such that a rib having an annular elasticity is provided obliquely downward at the bottom peripheral edge of the key. Characterized by being connected with a key plate,
It is a two-stage click key switch. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the two-step click feeling key switch according to the second aspect, there is a base further stacked on the circuit layer, and the base is provided with a hole for leaving the metal elastic piece. By exposing the arcuate convex portion of the metal elastic piece, it is possible to prevent excess air remaining in the gap between the insulating thin film and the circuit layer from affecting the two-step click feeling when the key is pressed. A two-step click feeling key switch characterized by preventing the generation of sparks in the circuit. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a two-step click key switch according to claim 1, wherein the circuit layer is a PCB, FPCB or other printed circuit board structure. There is.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The two-step click feeling key switch of the present invention comprises a circuit layer 5, a base 4, an elastic piece 3, and an insulating thin film 2.
Also, the key plate 1 is sequentially stacked from bottom to top.

Please refer to FIG. The circuit layer 5 is formed of a hard card (plate) or a soft rubber sheet, and a circuit 51 having positive and negative two poles is printed or etched on the surface of the circuit layer 5, for example, a printed circuit board (PC).
B, FPCB). Among them, the base 4 overlaid on the circuit layer 5 has a through hole 41, and when the base 4 is overlaid on the surface layer of the circuit layer 5, a concave hole 42 is formed, and the concave hole 42 is just on the surface of the circuit layer 5. The metal elastic piece 3 whose upper surface is aligned with the circuit 51 and has an arcuate convex shape is placed, and the upper surface of the arcuate convex portion of the metal elastic piece 3 protrudes from the concave hole 42. Another point to note is that the base 4 does not necessarily have to be installed.
The main purpose of is to prevent a slight amount of air remaining in the gap between the insulating thin film 2 and the circuit layer 5 from affecting the two-step click feeling when the key 11 is pressed. This is to prevent the occurrence of this phenomenon, and for this reason, when the base 4 is not installed, no significant influence is formed on the overall operation effect.

The insulating thin film 2 laminated on the base 4 is in the form of a rubber thin film, and a circular arc convex portion 21 is provided at a portion corresponding to the upper surface of the circular arc convex portion of the metal elastic piece 3 of the sheet. When the thin film 2 is overlaid on the base 4, the inner bottom of the arc-shaped convex portion 21 just tightly adheres to the upper surface of the arc-shaped convex portion of the elastic piece 3 to form a cover, which is as shown in FIG. Moreover, the circuit 2 is formed on the surface of the arc-shaped convex portion 21 of the insulating thin film 2.
11 is etched, and the positive and negative two poles of the thin film circuit 211 are drawn out.

The key plate 2 overlaid on the insulating thin film 2 is
A key 11 is provided by forming a portion of the insulating thin film 2 corresponding to the arc-shaped convex portion 21 of the synthetic thin film 2 and providing a key 11, which is provided with an obliquely downward annular rib 12 on the periphery of the bottom surface of the key 11 and a key plate. An internal space is formed between the bottom portion of the protruding key 11 and the insulating thin film 2 which are connected to each other.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the key 11 is pushed down, the rib 12 is made of synthetic rubber and has appropriate elasticity and flexibility, so that the rib 12 bends and elastically deforms, and the key 11 is pushed down. And the conductive rubber 13 is brought into pressure contact with the circuit 211 etched on the surface of the arc-shaped convex portion 21 of the insulating thin film 2 to electrically connect the positive and negative electrodes of the circuit 211. , This conduction action can be defined as a functional action.

As shown in FIG. 4, after the first-step click feeling operation, a pressing force is continuously applied to press the conductive rubber 13 on the circuit 211, and the circuit 211 is completely covered. At a moment, the arcuate convex portion 21 of the insulating thin film 2 receives the pushing down force of the conductive rubber 13 and sinks downward, so that the metal elastic piece 3 is deformed in a joint manner, and the metal elastic piece 3 instantaneously deforms. At the same time, a second-stage click feeling is generated, and the metal elastic piece 3 is electrically connected to the plus and minus poles of the circuit 211, and this operation can be defined as one more functional action.

As shown in FIG. 5, since the metal elastic piece 3 is made of a metal material having an appropriate elasticity after the two-step click feeling switch pressing operation is completed, the metal elastic piece 3 is promptly released after the pressed state of the key 11 is released. The original circular arc convex shape is restored, and the circular arc convex portion 21 is restored to the original position. See also Figure 6. Due to the elastic recovery force, the rib 12 that exhibits elastic deformation is
Elastically recovers upward and recovers the original convex state.

[0016]

As can be seen from the above, the present invention has a two-step click feeling in addition to the design in which the circuit layer, the base, the metal elastic piece, the insulating thin film and the key plate are sequentially stacked from bottom to top. The entire thickness is flattened, and some designs of cameras, mobile phones, etc. are applied to one-push multi-function keys, for example, mobile phone keys. When it occurs (circuit continuity), one function is executed, then, when the key is continuously pressed to generate the second-stage click feeling (another circuit continuity), another function can be executed, thus one push It achieves multi-functionality and is quite practical.

Taken together, the two-step click key switch of the present invention completely eliminates the drawbacks of the prior art, certainly enhances the function, and meets the requirements of the patent. Any modification or alteration of details that can be made based on the present invention shall fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view of an insulating thin film of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a continuous pressing operation according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a continuous pressing operation according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a continuous pressing operation according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a continuous pressing operation according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols] 1 key board 11 keys 12 ribs 13 Conductive rubber 2 insulating thin film 21 arc convex 211 circuits 3 elastic pieces 4 base 41 through hole 42 recess 5 circuit layers 51 circuits

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A circuit layer in which a circuit is etched, a metal elastic piece having an arcuate convex shape provided on the circuit layer, and a portion corresponding to the metal elastic piece provided overlying the circuit layer. And a key plate which is elastically projected to serve as a key, and when this elastically projecting key is pressed down, a first-step click feeling is generated, and further, when the key is further pressed down, the bottom surface of the key is moved to the metal elastic A second step click sensation and a two-step type click sensation are achieved at the same time when the metal elastic piece is depressed to bring the circuit into conduction and the circuit is conducted.
Two-step click key switch. 2. The two-step click feeling key switch according to claim 1, wherein a surface of the metal elastic piece is covered with an insulating thin film, a circuit is connected to the surface of the insulating thin film, and a conductive rubber is provided on the bottom surface of the key. A two-step click feeling key switch, characterized in that the circuit is conducted by pressing down the key and forcibly pressing the conductive rubber against the circuit on the surface of the insulating thin film. 3. The two-step click feeling key switch according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the key projection method is such that a rib having an annular elasticity is provided obliquely downward at the bottom peripheral edge of the key, In addition, a two-step click feeling key switch characterized by being connected to a key plate. 4. The two-step click feeling key switch according to claim 2, further comprising a base laminated on the circuit layer, the base being provided with perforations for leaving the metal elastic piece. By exposing the arcuate convex portion of one piece, this prevents excess air remaining in the gap between the insulating thin film and the circuit layer from affecting the two-step click feeling when pressing the key, and at the same time, the circuit A two-step click feeling key switch characterized by preventing the generation of sparks. 5. The two-step click feeling key switch according to claim 1, wherein the circuit layer has a printed circuit board structure such as PCB, FPCB or the like.