JP2003283634A - Portable terminal device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a portable terminal device that cannot easily generate irregularities due to light intensity or quantity of light even if an operating button is thinned down, and hence prevents width in the selection of a printing color, a printing density, and the like in the formation of a printing layer from being narrowed. <P>SOLUTION: The portable terminal device is equipped with a scroll button 8, and a light source 3 for lighting a scroll key 83 that is directly pressed down by a finger being provided in the scroll button 8. A transmission light restriction means 92 is provided, which transmits illumination light from the light source 3 only to one portion of the scroll key 83. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an operation button,
The present invention relates to a mobile terminal device including a light source that illuminates this operation button.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 shows a conventional mobile phone 100. The mobile phone 100 includes an operation button 200 and a multidirectional operation button 300 having a scroll function on a front surface 101A side of a housing 101. ing.

The structure of such a button will be described below.
A description will be given with reference to the drawings. In the multidirectional operation button 300 shown in FIG. 5, a confirm button 310 having the same configuration as the operation button 200 is provided in the central portion, and a scroll button 320 is provided around the confirm button 310 in the central portion.
It has a structure in which

Further, the confirmation button 310 has a substrate 102.
A key switch 311 including an electrode 103A provided on the upper pattern wiring 103 and a metal diaphragm 104 immediately above the electrode 103A, and the key switch 311.
An insulative and flexible stroke member 312 provided with a protrusion 312A projecting downward toward the arrow, and an enter key 313 having a flange 313A sandwiched between the stroke member 312 and a scroll key 322 described later. ing.

On the other hand, the scroll button 320 also has the same structure as the confirm button 310, and a key switch having the same structure (not visible in the state of FIG. 4),
The stroke member 321 is provided integrally with the stroke member 312 on the side of the confirm button 310 and provided with a protrusion (also not visible) protruding toward the key switch, and is sandwiched between the stroke member 321 and the housing 101. And a scroll key 322 having a flange 322A.

By the way, in recent years, with the widespread use of mobile terminal devices such as mobile phones, a wide variety of designs and decorations have also been applied to key lighting and the like in response to a wide range of demands from users. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, in the multidirectional operation button 300 of the mobile phone, a light emitting diode (LED) 105 that emits illumination light is mounted on the substrate 102, and the stroke member 321 has good translucency. The scroll key 322 is made of a material, and the scroll key 322 is made of a transparent resin, and a colored and transparent printing layer 322B is provided on the entire lower surface so that the scroll key 322 can be seen to emit light. .

[0007]

By the way, in recent years, along with the trend toward thinner housings for mobile phones, the operation buttons have been made thinner, but the thinner the buttons, the more
A light emission unevenness phenomenon of the scroll key 322, that is, a difference in brightness between the outer peripheral edge portion near the light emitting diode which is the light source and the inner peripheral edge portion far from the light emitting diode is noticeable.

Therefore, when selecting the type of the decorative color of the printing layer 322B and the density of the color ink, it is necessary to take measures such as selecting those which are less likely to cause unnecessary light emission unevenness in the light emitting area. That much,
The selection range for colors and densities is narrowing.

In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, the present invention is less likely to cause light intensity or light amount unevenness in the illumination of the operation button even when the operation button is made thin, and as a result, when forming the print layer. It is an object of the present invention to provide a mobile terminal device in which selection widths such as print color and print density are not narrowed.

[0010]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a portable terminal device of the present invention is a portable terminal device provided with an operation button and a light source for illuminating the operation button. It is characterized in that there is provided a transmitted light limiting means for transmitting the illumination light of (1) only from a part of an operation key that is pressed with a finger provided on the operation button.

As a result, even if the operation button is made thin, unnecessary unevenness in illumination of the operation button is unlikely to occur, and as a result, the selection range of the print color and print density when forming the print layer is narrowed. You can avoid that.

Further, in the portable terminal device of the present invention, the operation button is composed of a multi-function button having a confirmation button provided in the central portion and a scroll button provided in the peripheral portion surrounding the confirmation button for lighting. In addition, as the transmitted light limiting means, a non-translucent portion or a semi-transparent portion having a low transmittance and a high reflectance may be provided on the back surface of the scroll key that is pressed with a finger provided on the scroll button.

As a result, even with the scroll buttons of the multi-function buttons, as with the operation buttons, unnecessary unevenness in illumination is unlikely to occur, and as a result, the selection range such as the print color and print density when forming the print layer is increased. Can be prevented from being narrowed.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows a lower housing 10 of a mobile phone 1 according to the present invention.
The transmitter unit 2, the light source 3, the key operation unit 4, and the like are provided.

Of these, the key operation section 4 is provided with operation buttons 5 and multi-function buttons 6. Further, the multi-function button 6 is provided with an enter button 7 provided on the center side and a scroll button 8 provided on the peripheral side surrounding the enter button 7.

The operation button 5 includes LEDs (light emitting diodes) 31, 32 as a light source 3 for illuminating an operation key 51 which is directly pressed by a finger, and a substrate 11 near the operation key 51.
It is provided above. The operation key 51 is an LED
In order to transmit the illumination light from the (light emitting diodes) 31, 32, etc., it is made of an appropriate transparent resin having a good light transmitting property.

The operation key 51 is provided with a colored printing layer (light-transmitting layer) provided on the entire bottom surface so that the illumination light from the LEDs (light emitting diodes) 31, 32 and the like is transmitted to only a part of the operation key 51. Section) and the operation key 51
A transmitted light limiting means for transmitting the illumination light may be provided in only a part of the above.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the confirm button 7 provided on the center side which constitutes a part of the multi-function button 6 has an electrode 11B of the pattern wiring 11A on the substrate 11 and a metal immediately above this. A key switch 71 constituted by a diaphragm 12 made of a material, a stroke member 72 having insulation and flexibility provided with a protrusion 72A protruding downward toward the key switch 71, the stroke member 72 and a scroll key described later. And an operation key 73 having a flange 73A sandwiched between 83 and 83 at the lower outer peripheral edge. Also,
As a light source 3 for illuminating the operation key 73, an LED (light emitting diode) 33 or the like is provided on the substrate 11 near the operation key 73.

On the other hand, the scroll button 8 and the confirm button 7
As shown in FIG. 2, the key switch 81, the stroke member 82 having a projection 82A on the lower portion and having insulation properties and flexibility, and the stroke member 82 and the housing 10 are provided. A scroll key 83 having a sandwiched flange 83A at the lower outer peripheral edge is provided.

The scroll key 83 is made of a transparent resin material having a good light-transmitting property, and in order to strongly emit the decorative color only to the outer peripheral portion, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the scroll key 83 is scrolled. With respect to the bottom surface of the key 83, a four-direction pictogram (index) 91, a light projecting portion 92 shown by a broken line, a semi-transparent portion (or a light shielding portion) 93 shown by a solid line, and a white printing portion 94 shown by a dashed line are shown on the bottom surface ( Layers are stacked in order from the one closest to the back side). Also, this scroll key 83 is provided on the bottom surface (back surface).
Since it is formed in a flat shape, as compared with a conventional bottom surface provided with a step portion, a four-direction pictogram (index) 91, a light projecting portion 92, a semi-transparent portion (or a light shielding portion) 93, a white printing portion 94.
Are easy to form.

Of these, the four-direction pictogram (index) 91 is
For example, in the case of a mobile phone having a GPS function, it serves as an index indicating the presence of a key corresponding to the direction during GPS operation, and is composed of a narrow print layer having a light-shielding property, etc. It is provided radially in four directions or eight directions, and if the semi-transmissive portion (or light-shielding portion) 93 is in a semi-transmissive state, it can be visually confirmed from the outside.

The light-transmitting portion 92 is for imparting a unique color or pattern, is formed on the entire bottom surface of the scroll key 83, and emits strong light when receiving illumination light from a light source. In the embodiment, the light is emitted in orange.

The semi-light-transmitting portion (or light-shielding portion) 93 is the light-transmitting portion 9.
In order to prevent the light from being emitted as strongly as 2, the printed layer is formed by using a material having the same structure as the light-transmitting portion 92 mixed with a light-shielding material such as aluminum or carbon. Further, the semi-light-transmitting portion (or the light-shielding portion) 93 is composed of a print layer colored in the same color as the light-transmitting portion 92 in order to prevent the appearance from being unnatural.
In this embodiment, it is formed in a region avoiding the outer peripheral edge portion. As a result, the outer peripheral edge portion emits light strongly, and the other regions can emit light dimly.

When the illumination light from the light source 3 is not emitted, the white printing portion 94 is designed to hide various parts inside it so that they cannot be seen outside. When the illumination light from the
It is configured as a background of the semi-transparent portion (or the light shielding portion) 93.

[0025]

As described above, the present invention is
A portable terminal device comprising an operation button and a light source for illuminating an operation key directly pressed by a finger provided on the operation button, wherein illumination light from the light source is limited to a part of the operation key and is transmitted therethrough. A transmission limiting means is provided, and for example, by providing this transmission limiting means at either a portion near the light source or a portion far from the light source where a large difference in brightness is likely to occur, a light amount difference or a light intensity difference in the illumination area can be reduced. You will be able to suppress as much as possible.

Therefore, according to the present invention, even if the operation button is made thinner, it is
It is difficult to cause unevenness in the intensity or quantity of illumination light,
As a result, the selection range such as the print color and print density when forming the print layer is not narrowed. In other words, the print color and print density when forming the print layer are less restricted. Therefore, the degree of freedom in printing when designing and manufacturing increases accordingly. Further, according to the present invention, since the lighting efficiency is increased, high efficiency light emission can be realized with less electric power,
It can also bring about a power saving effect.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a key unit and the like of a mobile phone according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows an A- in the mobile phone of the present invention shown in FIG.
It is an A line sectional view.

FIG. 3 is a B-portion of the mobile phone of the present invention shown in FIG.
It is a B line sectional view.

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing the appearance of a general mobile phone.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a structure of an operation button in a conventional mobile phone.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 mobile phone 10 Lower housing 11 board 11A pattern wiring 11B electrode 12 diaphragm 2 transmitter 3 Light source (LED; light emitting diode) 31-33 LED (light emitting diode) 4 key operation part 5 operation buttons 6 Multi-function button 7 Confirm button 71 key switch 72 Stroke member 72A protrusion 73 Operation keys 73A flange 8 scroll buttons 81 key switch 82 Stroke member 82A protrusion 83A flange 83 Scroll key 91 4-way pictograph (index) 92 Projector 93 Semi-translucent part (or light-shielding part) 94 White printing section

Front page continuation (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) // H01H 25/04 H01H 25/04 F J F term (reference) 5B087 AA09 AB04 AB14 BC02 5G052 AA21 BB01 BB03 BB10 JA02 JA08 JB05 JC04 JC10 5K023 AA07 BB02 GG04 GG08 MM07

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A portable terminal device comprising an operation button and a light source for illuminating the operation button, wherein a part of an operation key for pressing the illumination light from the light source with a finger provided on the operation button. A portable terminal device comprising a transmitted light limiting means for transmitting only the light. 2. The operation button is composed of a multi-function button having a confirmation button provided in a central portion and a scroll button provided in a peripheral portion surrounding the confirmation button to illuminate, and as the transmitted light limiting means. 2. The mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein a non-light-transmitting portion or a semi-light-transmitting portion having a low transmittance and a high reflectance is provided on a back surface of a scroll key which is provided on the scroll button and is pressed with a finger. apparatus.