JP2005071716A - Keying device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a keying device capable of closing a key contact with an excellent click feeling even if the end of an operating key having a slender shape is pushingly operated. <P>SOLUTION: This keying device is equipped with a flexible key base 81 having a metal dome 82 protrusively provided on its surface, and an elastic sheet 9 disposed so as to cover the surface of the flexible key base 81. A pusher 91 is protruded toward the metal dome 82 on the rear surface of the elastic sheet 9, and an operating key 13 slenderly extending to both sides with the protruded position of the pusher 91 as a center is installed on the surface of elastic sheet 9. A plurality of ribs to catch the flexible key base 81 are disposed in the lower location of the flexible key base 81, and a plurality of the ribs 21 are composed of a plurality of higher ribs 21a to catch the position facing the metal dome 82 back to back, and a plurality of lower ribs 21b placed side by side on both sides of the higher rib 21a. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a key input device provided in an electronic device such as a mobile phone.

  In the foldable mobile phone shown in FIG. 1, the main body case (1) and the lid case (4) are connected to each other by a hinge mechanism (20) so that they can be opened and closed, and the inner surface of the main body case (1) includes a numeric keypad. A plurality of operation keys (11) and (12) and a transmitter (10) are provided, and a display (41) and a receiver (40) are provided on the inner surface of the outer case half (2). . Two operation keys (13) and (14) are also provided on the side surface of the main body case (1).

  One operation key (13) arranged on the side surface of the main body case (1) is a push button type operation key having a single key contact, and the other operation key (14) has two operation keys. This is a seesaw type operation key that has a key contact and can selectively close one of the key contacts.

The above-mentioned operation keys (11), (12), (13), and (14) all close the key contact by reversing the metal dome protruding from the surface of the key board so that it can be elastically restored by pressing. In order to obtain a good click feeling with the pressing operation, various structures are employed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2000-243188 A [H04H25 / 04]

By the way, downsizing of mobile phones is progressing, and accordingly, the operation keys (11), (12), (13), and (14) are also required to be downsized. In particular, the operation keys (13) and (14) provided on the side surface of the main body case (1) must be elongated with the thinning of the main body case (1). In this case, in order to improve the operability as much as possible, these operation keys (13) and (14) are increasingly elongated.
However, in the seesaw-type operation key (14), since two pressing operation parts are provided at both ends of the key, the user deploys below the pressing operation part by pressing one of the end parts. The key contact can be closed by reliably reversing the metal dome, but the push button type operation key (13) with a single key contact is good when its shape is elongated There was a problem that the key contact could not be closed reliably with a click feeling.

  That is, in a push button type key input device having a single key contact, as shown in FIG. 6, a flexible key substrate (81) having a metal dome (82) protruding on the surface thereof on the case wall (24). ) And an elastic sheet (9) is installed to cover the surface of the flexible key substrate (81). On the back surface of the elastic sheet (9), a pusher ( 91) and an operation key (13) is installed on the surface of the elastic sheet (9). The operation key (13) is centered on the protruding position of the pusher (91). If the user presses the end of the operation key (13) as shown by an arrow in FIG. 7 when it is formed in an elongated shape extending to both sides, the operation key (13) is inclined as shown in FIG. The end of (9) abuts the flexible key board (81) on the case wall (24), and the operation key (13) can be pushed down further. Since this is not possible, the amount of lowering of the pusher (91) becomes insufficient, the metal dome (82) does not reverse, and the key contact cannot be closed reliably with a good click feeling.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a key input device capable of reliably closing a key contact with a good click feeling even when one end of an operation key having an elongated shape is pressed.

A key input device according to the present invention includes a flexible key substrate (81) having a metal dome (82) projecting on a surface thereof, and an elastic sheet (9) disposed so as to cover the surface of the flexible key substrate (81). And a pusher (91) projecting toward the metal dome (82) on the back surface of the elastic sheet (9), and the pusher (91) on the surface of the elastic sheet (9). An elongated operation key (13) is provided which extends to both sides centering on the protruding position of 91).
A receiving member for receiving the flexible key substrate (81) is provided at a lower position of the flexible key substrate (81), and the receiving member has a high-level receiving portion that should receive the back-to-back position with the metal dome (82). At the same time, low-level receiving portions lower than the high-level receiving portion are formed on both sides of the high-level receiving portion at positions corresponding to both ends of the operation key (13).

  For example, the high level receiving part is formed by one or a plurality of high level ribs (21a), and the low level receiving part is formed by a plurality of low level ribs (21b) lower than the high level rib (21a). The receiving member is formed by a part of the case in which the flexible key substrate (81) is stored.

  In the key input device of the present invention, when the user presses the end of the operation key (13), the operation key (13) is tilted around the pusher (91), and the operation key The elastic sheet (9) is partly elastically deformed and pressed against the flexible key substrate (81) by being pressed by the end of (13), and below the pressing operation position, the flexible key substrate (81) and A gap corresponding to the height difference between the high level receiving part and the low level receiving part is formed between the low level receiving part, and a part of the flexible key substrate (81) is elastically deformed within the range of the gap. In accordance with the elastic deformation, the operation key (13) further tilts and the whole sinks downward, whereby the pusher (91) is further lowered. When the pusher (91) is lowered, the metal dome (82) on the flexible key substrate (81) is pushed down and inverted so as to be elastically restored, and the key contact is closed.

  According to the key input device of the present invention, the key contact can be reliably closed with a good click feeling even when the end of the operation key is pressed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention applied to a key input device for a foldable mobile phone will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, in a foldable mobile phone according to the present invention, a main body case (1) and a lid case (4) are connected to each other by a hinge mechanism (20) so that they can be opened and closed. The case half (2) and the inner case half (3) are joined together, and the lid case (4) is constructed by joining the outer case half (5) and the inner case half (6). Yes.

On the inner surface of the main body case (1), a plurality of operation keys (11) (12) including a numeric keypad and a transmitter (10) are provided, and on the inner surface of the outer case half (2), a display ( 41) and receiver (40) are provided.
Also, on the side of the body case (1), a push button type operation key (13) having a single key contact and two key contacts can be selectively closed. A seesaw-type operation key (14) is provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, a key substrate (8) and a key sheet (7) are installed on the outer case half (2) constituting the main body case (1).
The key sheet (7) is configured by arranging a plurality of operation keys (11) and (12) including a numeric keypad on the surface of the elastic sheet (90).

The key board (8) includes a main flexible key board (80) extending on the surface thereof, and a plurality of metal domes (85) project from the surface of the main flexible key board (80).
The key board (8) has a sub-flexible key board (81) on its side, and the surface of the sub-flexible key board (81) is pressed by the push button type operation key (13). One metal dome (82) to be pressed and two metal domes (83) and (84) to be pressed by the seesaw type operation key (14) are provided.

The push button type operation key (13) and the seesaw type operation key (14) are fixed on a common elastic sheet (9), and the elastic sheet (9) is a sub-flexible key of the key board (8). It is attached to the outer case half (2) so as to face the surface of the substrate (81).
The outer case half (2) is formed with two openings (22) and (23) from which the two operation keys (13) and (14) should appear. The outer case half (2) has a plurality of strips extending in the thickness direction of the outer case half (2) at the back of the opening (22) where the push button type operation key (13) should protrude. The ribs (21) protrude from the opening (22) at a predetermined height.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b), the plurality of ribs (21) projecting from the outer case half (2) are divided into two central high ribs (21a) (21a) and both sides thereof. A plurality of low-order ribs (21b) to (21b) arranged in parallel to each other, and the low-order rib (21b) is formed lower than the high-order rib (21a) by a slight dimension S (for example, 0.1 mm).

As shown in FIG. 4, a pusher (91) projects from the back surface of the elastic sheet (9) toward the metal dome (82) on the sub-flexible key substrate (81). The two high ribs (21a) and (21a) are in contact with the back surface area of the flexible key substrate (81) opposite to the metal dome (82) to receive the flexible key substrate (81). As a result, the height difference S between the high rib (21a) and the low rib (21b) between the plurality of low ribs (21b) to (21b) on both sides and the back surface of the flexible key substrate (81) is increased. A corresponding gap is formed.
In the relationship with the conventional key input device shown in FIG. 6, the front end surface of the high-order rib (21a) according to the present invention is set at the same height as the surface of the conventional case wall (24).

  When the user presses the central portion of the operation key (13), the operation key (13) sinks in a horizontal posture, and the pusher (91) of the elastic sheet (9) receives the pressing operation force, so that the metal Push down the dome (82) directly below. As a result, the metal dome (82) is inverted so as to be elastically restored, and the key contact is closed.

  On the other hand, when the user presses one end of the operation key (13) as shown in FIG. 5, the operation key (13) is pushed by the pusher (91) as the elastic sheet (9) is elastically deformed. The pusher (91) comes into contact with the surface of the metal dome (82) while slightly sinking around the center. At this time, the end portion of the elastic sheet (9) located below the pressing operation portion comes into contact with the surface of the flexible key substrate (81).

Further, when the user continues to press the operation key (13), the end of the elastic sheet (9) located below the pressing operation portion presses the flexible key substrate (81), thereby the flexible key substrate (81). The end portion is elastically deformed toward the front end surface of the lower rib (21b), and further tilting and sinking of the operation key (13) are allowed. The tilting and sinking of the operation key (13) proceeds until the end of the flexible key board (81) finally comes into contact with the front end surface of the lower rib (21b).
As a result, the pusher (91) is further lowered from the position where it is in light contact with the surface of the metal dome (82), and the metal dome (82) is pushed deeply by the pusher (91). As a result, the metal dome (82) is inverted so as to be elastically restored as shown in the figure, and the key contact is closed.

  As described above, according to the foldable mobile phone according to the present invention, when the operation key (13) provided on the side surface of the main body case (1) is formed in an elongated shape, one of the operation keys (13) is provided. Even when the end portion is pressed, the key contact can be reliably closed with a good click feeling.

  In addition, each part structure of this invention is not restricted to the said embodiment, A various deformation | transformation is possible within the technical scope as described in a claim. For example, the key input device of the present invention is not limited to the operation key (13) provided on the side surface of the main body case (1), but is applied to the operation key (11) provided on the inner surface of the main body case (1). Is also possible.

It is a perspective view of a foldable mobile phone according to the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the state which decomposed | disassembled the key board | substrate and the key sheet | seat from the outer side case half body of the main body case. It is a top view which shows the principal part of an outer side case half. It is sectional drawing of the key input device arrange | positioned by this foldable mobile telephone. It is sectional drawing same as the above which shows the state which pressed the end part of the operation key in this key input device. It is sectional drawing of the key input device arrange | positioned at the conventional foldable mobile telephone. It is sectional drawing same as the above which shows the state which pressed the end part of the operation key in this key input device.

Explanation of symbols

(1) Body case
(13) Operation keys
(2) Outer case half
(21) Rib
(3) Inner case half
(4) Lid case
(5) Outer case half
(6) Inner case half
(7) Key sheet
(8) Key board
(81) Flexible key board
(82) Metal Dome
(9) Elastic sheet
(91) Pusher

Claims (3)

  A flexible key board (81) having a metal dome (82) projecting on the surface thereof, and an elastic sheet (9) disposed so as to cover the surface of the flexible key board (81), the elastic sheet (9) A pusher (91) is projected from the back surface of the metal dome (82) toward the back surface of the elastic sheet (9), and the projecting position of the pusher (91) is centered on the surface of the elastic sheet (9). In the key input device in which the operation key (13) extending long on both sides is installed, a receiving member for receiving the flexible key substrate (81) is disposed at a position below the flexible key substrate (81), and the receiving member Is formed with a high-level receiving portion that should receive the back-to-back position with the metal dome (82), and on both sides of the high-level receiving portion, a high-level receiving portion is provided at a position corresponding to both ends of the operation key (13). A lower receiving part lower than the part is formed That key input device.   The high level receiving portion is formed by one or a plurality of high level ribs (21a), and the low level receiving portion is formed by a plurality of low level ribs (21b) lower than the high level rib (21a). The key input device described in 1. 3. The key input device according to claim 1, wherein the receiving member is formed by a part of a case in which the flexible key substrate (81) is accommodated.

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