JP2006107821A - Operating switch - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an operating switch obtaining a characteristics matched to an intended operating feeling of a knob with a simple structure. <P>SOLUTION: The operating switch is provided with a base plate 2 with switching contacts 8 arranged; a first reversing plate 3 with a dome part 9 formed so as to cover the switching contacts 8 with a gap in a state of having movable contacts 10 corresponding to the switching contacts 8, composed of resin sheets overlapped on the substrate 2; a second reversing plate 4 with a dome part 13 formed so as to cover the dome part 9 of the first reversing plate 3 with a gap, and composed of an elastic material overlapped on the first reversing plate 3; and a knob 6 press-operated, arranged so as to correspond to the dome part 13 of the second reversing plate 4. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an operation switch used for equipment such as an audio, an air conditioner, and a car navigation system.

  In the devices described above, an operation switch having a structure in which a large number of switches are arranged to input or switch various types of signals is used (see Patent Document 1).

  FIG. 8 shows a conventional structure of such an operation switch, which includes a substrate 100, a plurality of knobs 110, and a case 120 for housing them. A plurality of tact switches 130 are arranged in an array on the substrate 100. The plurality of knobs 110 are arranged so as to correspond to the respective tact switches 130, and are accommodated and used in a state of being partitioned in the base 140.

  The tact switch 130 includes a switch main body 131 formed in a box shape rising from the substrate 100, and a switch contact (not shown) formed on the substrate 100 so as to be positioned inside the switch main body 131. The switch body 131 is provided with elasticity that can be deformed and restored. The switch body 131 is buckled so as to be crushed when the knob 110 is pressed, and switching is performed by contacting the switch contact by this buckling. On the other hand, when the pressing force to the knob 110 is released, the switch body 131 is restored to the state of FIG. 8 by its own restoring force.

  Reference numeral 140 denotes a light emitting member such as a light emitting diode mounted on the substrate 100 so as to be close to each tact switch 130, and emits light to illuminate the knob 110 and its vicinity.

In such a switch device, the substrate 100 is accommodated in the case 120, and the base 140, in which the knobs 110 are accommodated in alignment, is accommodated in the case 120 so as to be positioned on the substrate 100. In this state, the case 120 is fixed to a predetermined position of the above-described device, and used in the device.
JP 2000-268662 A

  In recent operation switches, various demands for the feeling of switch operation are increasing. However, in the conventional operation switch described above, the elastic force of the tact switch 130 is determined by the material, structure, or size of the tact switch 130 itself. It is difficult to respond to. For this reason, it is necessary to select a switch suitable for the operation feeling or to develop a new operation switch according to the operation feeling, which is troublesome and costs more than necessary.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an operation switch having various characteristics capable of responding to a required operation feeling.

  The operation switch according to the first aspect of the present invention has a substrate on which the switch contact is disposed and a dome portion that covers the switch contact with a gap in a state of having a movable contact corresponding to the switch contact. A first reversing plate made of an elastic material formed with a first reversing plate made of a resin sheet to be overlaid and a dome portion covering the dome portion of the first reversing plate with a space therebetween. And a knob that is disposed so as to correspond to the dome portion of the second reversing plate and is pressed.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the operation switch according to claim 1, wherein the light emitting member is mounted on the substrate, the first reversing plate is transparent, and the second reversing plate is translucent. Features.

  A third aspect of the invention is the operation switch according to the second aspect, wherein the first reversing plate and the second reversing plate are formed with cover portions that cover the light emitting member with a space therebetween. .

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the dome portion of the first reversing plate made of a resin sheet and the dome portion of the second reversing plate made of an elastic material are overlapped to correspond to the switch contact on the substrate. Therefore, it is possible to cope with the operation feeling with the characteristic that the dome portion of the first inversion plate and the dome portion of the second inversion plate are combined. For this reason, it becomes a wide and various characteristic, and it becomes possible to respond to the operation feeling requested | required.

  According to the invention described in claim 2, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 1, the first reversing plate is transparent and the second reversing plate is translucent. Can pass through the first reversing plate and the second reversing plate. For this reason, it can be provided with an illumination function.

According to invention of Claim 3, in addition to the effect of invention of Claim 2, since the cover part of a 1st inversion board and a 2nd inversion board has a space | interval and covers a light emitting member, protection of a light emitting member It can be performed.

  1 is an exploded perspective view showing an operation switch according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a main part, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view before operation, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view during operation, and FIGS. 7 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between the displacement of the knob and the pressing force.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the operation switch of this embodiment includes a case 1, a substrate 2, a first reversing plate 3, a second reversing plate 4, a base 5, and a plurality of knobs 6. .

  The case 1 is fixed to a predetermined position of a device such as an audio, an air conditioner, or a car navigation system, and is formed in a horizontally long box shape with resin.

  The substrate 2 outputs a signal, and a wiring pattern therefor is formed. A switch contact 8 for switching is formed on one surface of the substrate 2 in a state of being connected to a wiring pattern. The switch contact 8 is constituted by, for example, a positive pole 8a and a negative pole 8b. A plurality of the switch contacts 8 are arranged in an aligned manner on one surface of the substrate 2.

  In this embodiment, a light emitting member 7 such as a light emitting diode (LED) is mounted at a position close to each switch contact 8. The light emitting member 7 performs illumination by emitting light.

  The first reversing plate 3 is superposed on the substrate 2, and a dome portion 9 is formed at a position facing each switch contact 8 on the substrate 2. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the dome portion 9 is raised in an arc shape from the overlapping portion with the substrate 2, so that the dome portion 9 is spaced from the switch contact 8 on the substrate 2. Yes. A movable contact 10 facing the switch contact 8 on the substrate 2 is formed at a position facing the substrate 2 in the dome portion 9. When the movable contact 10 comes into contact with the switch contact 8, a signal is output from the switch contact 8.

  In addition to the dome portion 9, a cover portion 11 that covers the light emitting member 7 is formed on the first reversing plate 3. The cover portion 11 covers the light emitting member 7 with a space therebetween, thereby protecting the light emitting member 7.

  The first inversion plate 3 described above is formed of a thin resin sheet, and as the resin, PET resin, aramid resin, or other resin is used. Therefore, the 1st inversion board 3 has characteristics, such as elasticity resulting from the used resin material and its thickness. The first reversing plate 3 is superposed on the substrate 2 so as to cover the entire surface of the substrate 2, and the portions other than the dome portion 9 and the covering portion 11 are joined to the substrate 2 by adhesion, welding, screwing or the like. In addition, as resin of the 1st inversion board 3, transparent resin is selected from the resin mentioned above.

  The second reversing plate 4 is superimposed on the first reversing plate 3, and a dome portion 13 that covers the dome portion 9 is formed at a position facing the dome portion 9 of the first reversing plate 3. The dome portion 13 rises from the periphery of the corresponding dome portion 9 of the first reversing plate 3 and is formed in a shape that covers the dome portion 9, and covers the dome portion 9 with an interval. .

  The top portion of the dome portion 13 is thick, and a pressing portion 13 a that protrudes toward the dome portion 9 side of the first reversing plate 3 is formed. When the pressing portion 13a presses the dome portion 9, the dome portion 9 is buckled so as to be crushed. In this case, the first reversing plate 3 made of a resin sheet has an elastic force that restores to its original shape by itself when the pressing force from the pressing portion 13a is released.

  The second reversing plate 4 is formed with a covering portion 14 that covers the covering portion 11 of the first reversing plate 3, and the light emitting member 7 of the substrate 2 is covered with the covering portion of the first reversing plate 3 and the second reversing plate 4. The cover 14 is covered.

  The second reversing plate 4 is formed of rubber or elastic resin, and is deformed in the buckling direction when a pressing operation force is applied to the knob 6, and when the pressing operation force is released, The original shape is restored. The second reversing plate 4 is superposed on the first reversing plate 3 so as to cover the entire surface of the first reversing plate 3, and the portions other than the dome portion 13 and the covering portion 14 are first reversed by bonding, welding, screwing, or the like. Overlaid on the plate 3. As the second reversing plate 4, a translucent resin is selected.

  The base 5 is formed in a rectangular bowl shape with a hard resin, and acts to press the second reverse plate 4 by being placed on the second reverse plate 4. Inside the base 5, partition walls 15 are formed in the vertical and horizontal directions, and by being partitioned by the partition walls 15, hollow knob chambers 16 are formed in alignment. The knob chamber 16 corresponds to a position surrounding the switch contact 8 of the substrate 2.

  The knob 6 is accommodated in each partition wall 15 of the base 5 and is pressed by a finger or the like in this accommodated state. By accommodating the knobs 6 in the partition wall 15, each knob 6 corresponds to the switch contact 8 of the substrate 2. The knob 6 is formed with a pressing bar 6a extending so as to contact the top of the dome portion 13 of the second reversing plate 4. By pressing the knob 6, the pressing bar 6a pushes the dome portion 13 to deform. Let

  FIG. 3 shows a state before the pressing operation to the knob 6, and the dome portion 9 of the first reversing plate 3 covers the switch contact 8 of the substrate 2 with a space therebetween, and the second reversing plate 4 The dome part 13 is covered with a corresponding dome part 9 in a spaced state.

  FIG. 4 shows a state where the knob 6 is pressed. When the knob 6 is pressed, the knob 6 moves in the direction of the substrate 2, and the pressing bar 6a presses the dome portion 13 of the second reversing plate 4 to deform it in the buckling direction. Due to the buckling deformation of the dome part 13, the pressing part 13 a of the dome part 13 presses the corresponding dome part 9 of the first reversing plate 3, so that the dome part 9 is buckled and deformed. Due to this buckling deformation, the movable contact 10 formed on the dome portion 9 comes into contact with the switch contact 8 of the substrate 2, so that switching by the switch contact 8 is performed.

  In the state of FIG. 4, the dome portion 9 of the first reversing plate 3 and the dome portion 13 of the second reversing plate 4 are overlapped on the substrate 2 in a deformed state, and the knob 6 is based on these elasticity. Reaction force is acting. Therefore, when the pressing force to the knob 6 is released, the knob 6 returns to the original position by the reaction force of the reaction force of the first reversing plate 3 and the second reversing plate 4, and the state shown in FIG. 3 is obtained.

  In such an embodiment, since the dome portion 9 of the first reversing plate 3 and the dome portion 13 of the second reversing plate 4 are in an overlapping state, the reversing plates 3 and 4 are combined. be able to. For this reason, by changing only the combination of the first reversing plate 3 and the second reversing plate 4, a wide variety of characteristics can be obtained, the required operation feeling can be easily accommodated, and the cost is low. It can be.

  FIG. 5 is a characteristic diagram in which the amount of displacement of the knob 6 is plotted with respect to the second reversing plate 4 corresponding to the pressing force by the pressing operation on the knob 6, and FIG. 6 similarly shows the amount of displacement of the knob 6. FIG. 6 is a characteristic diagram plotted with respect to the 1 reversal plate 3. In this embodiment, since the first reversing plate 3 and the second reversing plate 4 are overlaid, the characteristic diagram of FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, the peak P1 is when the knob 6 is displaced by a certain amount or more from the beginning of the pressing operation. After the peak P1, the knob 6 is displaced even if the pressing operation force is small. Thereby, an operation with a click feeling can be performed.

  In addition, it is not necessary to use metal as the first reversing plate 3 and the second reversing plate 4, and it is not necessary to incorporate metal parts such as metal springs in these reversing plates 3 and 4, so that an operation sound is generated. And noise generation to the surroundings can be prevented.

  In addition to the above, in this embodiment, since the transparent resin is used as the first reversing plate 3 and the translucent resin is used as the second reversing plate 4, the light from the light emitting member 7 on the substrate 2 is the first. The reversing plate 3 and the second reversing plate 4 can be transmitted. For this reason, it can be provided with the illumination function which makes the light emitting member 7 vicinity bright, and it becomes possible to perform the press operation to the knob 6 without error.

  The present invention can be variously modified without being limited to the above embodiment, and can be similarly applied to, for example, a structure in which the light emitting member 7 is not mounted on the substrate 2. The first reversal plate 3 may be a resin other than transparent, and the second reversal plate 4 may be a resin other than translucent.

It is a disassembled perspective view of the operation switch in one Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the principal part of an operation switch. It is sectional drawing before the press operation to a knob. It is sectional drawing at the time of the press operation to a knob. It is a characteristic view which shows the relationship between the displacement of a knob and pushing force in a 2nd inversion board. It is a characteristic view which shows the relationship between the displacement of a knob and pushing force in a 1st inversion board. It is a characteristic view which shows the relationship between the displacement of a knob and pushing force at the time of combining a 1st inversion board and a 2nd inversion board. It is a disassembled perspective view of the conventional operation switch.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Case 2 Board | substrate 3 1st inversion board 4 2nd inversion board 5 Base 6 Knob 7 Light emitting member 8 Switch contact 9 Dome part 10 Movable contact 11 Cover part 13 Dome part 14 Cover part

Claims (3)

A substrate (2) on which a switch contact (8) is arranged;
A resin sheet on which a dome portion (9) is formed which covers the switch contact (8) with a gap in a state where the movable contact (10) corresponding to the switch contact (8) is provided, and is superimposed on the substrate (2). A first reversing plate (3) comprising:
A dome portion (13) that covers the dome portion (9) of the first reversing plate (3) with a gap is formed, and a second reversing plate made of an elastic material that is superimposed on the first reversing plate (3) 4) and
An operation switch comprising: a knob (6) disposed to correspond to the dome portion (13) of the second reversing plate (4) and operated to be pressed.   The light emitting member (7) is mounted on the substrate (2), the first reversing plate (3) is transparent, and the second reversing plate (4) is translucent. Operation switch. The cover (11, 14) covering the light emitting member (7) with a space is formed on the first reversing plate (3) and the second reversing plate (4). Operation switch.

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