JP2006059725A - Rubber switch - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a rubber switch appropriately sensing two step pressing force and capable of reducing a space of an operation part while having a simple structure. <P>SOLUTION: In this rubber switch 5, a keytop 3 provided with a contact electrode part 33 in a back side surface 32 of a protruded part used as a pressing part 31 is covered over a printed circuit board 4 in which a contact electrode part 41 is formed which is adjacently disposed to be conducted through it when the contact electrode part 33 contacts. The contact electrode part 33 comprises a first contact electrode part 33A arranged in a central part of a back side surface 32 of the protruded part and a second contact electrode part 33B surrounding it and arranged in a position nearer than the printed circuit board 4. When the protruded part is pressed, corresponding contact electrode part 41 is conducted in order of the second contact electrode part 33B and the first contact electrode part 33A. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a rubber switch having a two-stage contact structure that can be applied to an electronic apparatus such as a multifunction machine, a printer, or a communication device.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a shutter button of a camera employs a two-stage contact panel switch that performs exposure and focusing when half-pressed and can be imaged when fully pressed.

Thus, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-151620 discloses a panel switch having such a two-stage contact structure applied to an electronic device.
JP-A-5-74267

  However, since the panel switch requires an insulating sheet and a diaphragm, the number of parts is large, and there is a problem that it is difficult to adjust the pressing force of half pressing and full pressing.

  In electronic devices such as facsimile machines, printers, communication devices, etc., tact switches have been conventionally used. However, in recent years, with the increase in functionality of electronic devices, the number of operation switches in the operation unit has increased, and the layout of the operation unit has increased. Tends to be complicated and large.

  The present invention is proposed in order to solve such a problem, and although it has a simple configuration, it can appropriately detect a two-stage pressing force and can save space in the operation unit. The purpose is to provide a rubber switch.

  In order to achieve the above object, in claim 1 of the present invention, when the key electrode provided with the contact electrode portion on the back side surface of the convex portion serving as the pressing portion is brought into contact with the key top, it is conducted through the key top. In the rubber switch formed on the printed circuit board on which the contact electrode portions adjacent to each other are formed, the contact electrode portion includes a first contact electrode portion disposed at a central portion on the back side surface of the convex portion, and a periphery thereof. And the second contact electrode portion disposed at a position closer to the printed circuit board. When the convex portion is pressed, the second contact electrode portion and the first contact electrode portion correspond to each other in this order. A rubber switch is proposed in which the contact electrode portion is made conductive.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, each of the first contact electrode portion and the second contact electrode portion is formed as a concentric circle around the first contact electrode portion. A rubber switch is proposed.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rubber switch according to the first or second aspect, wherein the contact electrode portion corresponding to the first contact electrode portion includes two opposing comb-shaped electrical contact electrodes. .

  A fourth aspect of the present invention proposes a rubber switch according to the first to third aspects, wherein the contact electrode portion is a carbon contact.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the contact electrode portion includes a first contact electrode portion disposed in the center portion of the back side surface of the convex portion, and a second contact portion surrounding the periphery and disposed closer to the printed circuit board. When the convex portion is pressed, the contact electrode portion corresponding to each of the second contact electrode portion and the first contact electrode portion is made conductive when the convex portion is pressed. Even though the step contact switch has a simple configuration, the second contact electrode part can be surely conducted before the first contact electrode part, and can detect half-press and full-press properly. Two operations can be performed with this switch.

  In addition, even if the number of switches arranged in the operation unit of an electronic device or the like is small, the arranged switch can be provided with a double function, so that the space of the operation unit can be saved.

  According to claim 2, in claim 1, since each of the first contact electrode part and the second contact electrode part is formed as a concentric circle around the first contact electrode part. A two-stage contact switch can be easily configured.

  According to the third aspect, since the contact electrode portion corresponding to the first contact electrode portion is composed of the two comb-shaped electrical contact electrodes facing each other, a two-stage contact switch can be easily configured.

  According to the fourth aspect, since the contact electrode portion is a carbon contact, durability and cost can be reduced.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

  FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a rubber switch according to the present invention.

  Here, the operation unit of the facsimile apparatus is shown as an example in which the rubber switch of the present invention is adopted. However, the operation unit can be applied to an operation unit of an electronic apparatus such as a multifunction machine, a printer, or a communication device.

  In the figure, 1 is an operation unit comprising various switches, 2 is an operation panel constituting the exterior of the operation unit 1, 3 is a key top, 4 is a printed circuit board, and 5 is a rubber comprising a key top 3 and a printed circuit board 2. Switch.

  The key top 3 is made of an insulating rubber material such as silicon, and the front surface side forms a convex portion that becomes the pressing portion 31, and the back surface side 32 corresponding to the position of the convex portion has a conductive contact electrode portion. 33 is provided.

  The printed circuit board 4 is made of an insulating material such as epoxy resin or phenol resin as a base material, and is composed of a pair of terminals adjacent to each other on the surface. When the key top 3 is pressed down and the contact electrode portion 33 comes into contact therewith, The contact electrode portion 41 is formed so as to be conductive.

  The rubber switch 5 is formed by covering the key top 3 on the printed circuit board 4 so that the contact electrode portion 33 and the contact electrode portion 41 face each other, and through holes corresponding to the arrangement of the pressing portions 31 of the rubber switch 5 are provided. The operation unit 1 of the facsimile apparatus is configured by combining with the operation panel 2 to be formed.

  FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of the key top of the present invention. FIG. 2 (a) is a perspective view showing the front side of the key top, and FIG. 2 (b) is a view showing the back side of the key top.

  As shown in FIG. 2 (a), the key top 3 has a convex portion that becomes the pressing portion 31 on the surface side, and is made of an insulating rubber material having elasticity so that it can be pressed with a finger.

  A contact electrode portion 33 is provided on the back surface side 32 of the key top 3, and includes a first contact electrode portion 33A and a second contact electrode portion 33B. That is, as shown in FIG. 2B, the first contact electrode portion 33A disposed in the center portion of the back side surface 32 and the second contact electrode portion 33B formed so as to surround the first contact electrode portion 33B are provided. . The contact electrode portion 33 is formed by attaching a conductive comb chip or printing a conductive layer.

  FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams showing a configuration example of the printed circuit board of the present invention.

  The conductor pattern formed on the printed circuit board 4 is composed of terminal pairs adjacent to each other.

  In the example of the conductor pattern shown in FIG. 3A, two opposing comb-shaped electrical contacts are formed corresponding to the first contact electrode portion 33A formed in the center portion, and the first contact electrode portion 41A is formed. In correspondence with the second contact electrode portion 33B formed so as to surround the first contact electrode portion 33A, a pair of electrodes are formed adjacent to each other to form a second contact electrode portion 41B. ing. In the drawing, a dotted contact a indicates a position where the first contact electrode portion 33A contacts, and a dotted contact b indicates a position where the second contact electrode portion 33B contacts.

  An example of the conductor pattern shown in FIG. 3 (b) is different from FIG. 3 (a) in that the first contact electrode portion 41A is formed in a semicircular shape so that the electrodes are paired. The rest will have a common configuration.

  In addition, the first contact electrode part 41A that conducts by contact with the first contact electrode part 33A and the second contact electrode part 41B that conducts by contact with the second contact electrode part 33B are formed. If it is, it will not be restricted to the example shown to Fig.3 (a) (b).

  If the conductor pattern of the printed circuit board 4 is formed in this way, the contact electrode portion 33 comes into contact with the contact electrode portion 41 according to the pressing force of the key top 3 and becomes conductive, so that the switch is turned on and the desired operation is performed. Can be executed.

  Here, the contact electrode portion 41 formed on the printed circuit board 4 may be a carbon contact. According to this, the rubber switch 5 with good durability can be configured, and the cost can be reduced.

  FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the rubber switch of the present invention. Here, for the sake of explanation, a sectional view in a state where the operation panel 2 is not attached is shown.

  4A is a normal state of the rubber switch 5, FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view of the rubber switch 5 half-pressed, and FIG. 4C is a cross-sectional view of the rubber switch 5 fully pressed.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a circuit configuration of two-stage operation with one circuit and two contacts in such a conductor pattern. In the figure, 6 is a microcomputer part (CPU) of the circuit, R1 and R2 are pull-up resistors, SW1 is a switch when conducting at the contact b, and SW2 is a switch when conducting at the contact a. Although FIG. 5 shows a circuit configuration of two-stage operation with one circuit and two contacts connected with a pull-up resistor, the present invention is not limited to this.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the second contact electrode portion 33B of the key top 3 is configured at a position closer to the printed circuit board 4 than the first contact electrode portion 33A. Accordingly, the second contact electrode part 41B can be reliably conducted before the first contact electrode part 41A, and the two-stage contact switch (half-pressed and fully-pressed) has a simple configuration, but is appropriate. Can be detected.

  In a normal state (FIG. 4A), that is, when SW1 and SW2 are OFF, the IN side is connected to Vcc and is at the Hi level, and the potentials at both ends are equal.

When the user half-presses the key top 31 (FIG. 4B), the second contact electrode portion 33B comes into contact with the second contact electrode portion 41B (contact point b) and becomes conductive. Referring to the circuit diagram of FIG. 5, SW1 (contact point b) is turned ON, IN is connected to GND and becomes Lo level, and the microcomputer 6 determines this signal and executes the set operation.
Subsequently, when the user fully presses the key top 31 (FIG. 4 (c)), the second contact electrode portion 33B becomes conductive, and the first contact electrode portion 33A contacts the first contact electrode portion 41A ( Contact a) and conduct. Referring to the circuit diagram of FIG. 5, SW1 (contact point b) is turned ON, SW2 (contact point a) is also turned ON, IN is connected to GND and becomes Lo level, and this signal is determined and set by the microcomputer 6. Execute the specified action.

  That is, since two operations can be executed by two operations in one switch, the operation is simplified for the user, and one switch arranged in the operation unit 1 has a double function. Therefore, space saving of the operation unit 1 can be achieved.

  For example, if the rubber switch 5 of the present invention is used for a one-touch dial, a document is read when it is half-pressed, and then normal facsimile transmission is performed. When the button is fully pressed, the read document is mailed. This can be done with a single switch.

It is a figure which shows the disassembled perspective view of the rubber switch of this invention. (A) The figure which shows the surface side of the keytop used for this invention, (b) The figure which shows the back side surface of the keytop used for this invention. (A) (b) It is a figure which shows the structural example of the printed circuit board used for this invention. (A) (b) (c) It is a figure which shows sectional drawing of the rubber switch of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the circuit structure of the rubber switch of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Operation part 2 Operation panel 3 Keytop 33A 1st contact electrode part 33B 2nd contact electrode part 4 Printed circuit board 41A 1st contact electrode part 41B 2nd contact electrode part 5 Rubber switch

Claims (4)

A key top provided with a contact electrode part on the back side of the convex part that serves as a pressing part is covered with a printed circuit board on which a contact electrode part is formed so as to be conductive through the key electrode when the contact electrode part comes into contact therewith. In the rubber switch
The contact electrode part is composed of a first contact electrode part arranged in the center part of the back side surface of the convex part, and a second contact electrode part surrounding the periphery and arranged closer to the printed circuit board, A rubber switch that causes the corresponding contact electrode portions to conduct in the order of the second contact electrode portion and the first contact electrode portion when the convex portion is pressed. In claim 1,
Each of the first contact electrode portion and the second contact electrode portion is formed as a concentric circle around the first contact electrode portion. In any one of Claims 1, 2.
The rubber switch according to claim 1, wherein the contact electrode portion corresponding to the first contact electrode portion is composed of two opposing comb-shaped electrical contact electrodes. In any one of Claim 1 thru | or 3,
The rubber switch, wherein the contact electrode portion is a carbon contact.

Images