JP2008218137A - Button device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technology of making an operating button compact and easy to assemble, in one equipped with two or more light sources each independently lighting on and off. <P>SOLUTION: The button device is provided with a plurality of light sources each independently lighting on and off. A plurality of light guide parts guiding light of each light source toward an irradiation direction and a light-shielding part in contact with each of adjacent light guide parts and covering each of the adjacent light guide parts except an irradiation direction part are integrated. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a button device having a light source that emits light forward.

  Conventionally, there is an operation button that incorporates a light source and emits light forward. When such an operation button is pressed, the switch is turned on and off. The on / off state of the switch is indicated by whether the light of the operation button light is on or off. The technique of such an operation button is described in the cited document 1.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-228641

  An operation button having a light source of the prior art is one in which one operation button has one light source. Thus, the prior art can show only two states by turning on or off the light source. When three or more states are indicated by the light source of one operation button, it is considered that each has two or more light sources that are turned on and off independently. In this case, since it is necessary to have a light guide part and a light-shielding part for each light source, an operation button becomes large. Moreover, since it is necessary to assemble a light guide part and a light-shielding part for each light source, the assembly work becomes complicated.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and in an operation button having two or more light sources each of which is turned on and off independently, the operation button is compact, and a technique for easy assembly work is provided. The purpose is to provide.

  The present invention has been made to achieve the above object, and is a button device having a plurality of light sources each of which is turned on and off independently, and a plurality of guides for guiding each light of the light sources in the irradiation direction. A light shielding part that contacts each of the adjacent light guide parts and covers each of the adjacent light guide parts except for the irradiation direction, the light shielding part and the light guide part It is a single unit.

  According to the technique of the present invention, in the operation buttons having two or more light sources that are turned on and off independently, the operation buttons can be made compact and the assembling work is facilitated.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  First, with reference to FIG. 1, the structural example of the button apparatus 100 of this embodiment is demonstrated.

  FIG. 1 is a developed view of components constituting the button device 100 of the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, a button device 100 includes a button 101, a light guide 102, a case 103, a slider 104, a rubber contact 105, a substrate 106, a back cover 107, and the like. The button 101 is touched when the user presses the button device 100 of this embodiment. The light guide 102 guides light from the light source toward the button 101. In the present embodiment, in the light guide 102, the light shielding portion and the light guide portion are integrated. Details of this configuration will be described later. The case 103 is for holding the button 101, the light guide 102, the slider 104, and the like. The slider 104 transmits the force with which the button 101 is pressed by the user or the like backward. The rubber contact 105 receives a force from the slider 104 and comes into contact with a contact point (not shown) of the substrate 106 to realize turning on and off of the button device 100. The substrate 106 includes a contact point of the button device 100 and a plurality of light sources. The light source is not particularly limited, and may be arbitrary, for example, an LED (Light Emitting Diode). In the present embodiment, the substrate 106 has four light sources. Of these, three light is guided by the light guide 102, and one is light guided by the slider 104.

  Hereinafter, details of components constituting the button device 100 will be described. Each of the components may include a plurality of parts. In this case, each component or the like constituting the component will be described with a reference numeral, for example, “button 101-a”.

  First, the external view from the arrow A of the light guide 102 in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 2, the light guide 102 includes light guides 102-a1, 102-a2, 102-a3, a light shielding part 102-b, and the like. Each material of the light guides 102-a1, 102-a2, and 102-a3 is, for example, polycarbonate resin (PC) or the like, and is transparent or translucent and transmits light. The light shielding portion 102-b is a shaded portion. The material of the light shielding part 102-b is, for example, polycarbonate resin or the like, and has a color satisfying the light shielding function such as black or black.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 3, the external view from the arrow B of the light guide 102 in FIG. 1 is demonstrated.

  In FIG. 3, the light shielding part 102-b is a shaded part. The light shielding unit 102-b covers the surface on the slider 104 side so as not to leak light to the slider 104 side.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the light shielding portion 102-b covers the light guide portions 102-a 1, 102-a 2, and 102-a 3 except for the irradiation portions so that light does not leak. Each of the light guide portions 102-a1, 102-a2, 102-a3 and the light shielding portion 102-b are integrated. The technology for integrating each of the light guide portions 102-a1, 102-a2, 102-a3 and the light shielding portion 102-b is not particularly limited. For example, these may be bonded together with an adhesive or the like, or may be integrally formed. In the case of integral molding, after the light guide portions 102-a1, 102-a2, and 102-a3 are molded, the light shielding portion 102-b may be molded including them.

  Next, a configuration example in the assembled state of the button device 100 will be described.

  First, an example of a plan view of the button device 100 will be described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 4, the button 101 has a cover 101-a. The cover 101-a is a part that contacts when the user presses the button device 100 or the like. The cover 101-a has holes for irradiating light from the light guides 102-a1, 102-a2, and 102-a3. Further, the cover 101-a has a region 101-b. In this area 101-b, for example, characters and diagrams are displayed. In the area 101-b, there are holes that form shapes such as characters and figures, and transparent or translucent portions. The light guided by the slider 104 is transmitted through the holes, so that the characters and diagrams are displayed. Is done.

  An example of the cross section AA ′ in FIG. 4 is shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 5, the button 101 further includes a light shielding portion 101-c and the like in addition to the above-described cover 101-a and region 101-b. In the light shielding unit 101-c, the light guided to each of the light guide units 102-a1, 102-a2, and 102-a3 is a region other than the irradiation unit of the cover 101-a or other light guide units 102-a1. , 102-a 2, 102-a 3, the slider 104 and the like so as not to leak. The light shielding portion 101-c is located on the back surface of the cover 101-a. Each of the cover 101-a and the light-shielding portion 101-c has three holes that overlap when combined, and each of the light guide portions 102-a1, 102-a2, and 102-a3 passes through each of the holes. .

  The case 103 is made of, for example, polycarbonate resin, ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) resin, or the like, and has a color satisfying a light shielding function, which is black or close to black. Thereby, the light leakage to the light guide body outside or inside the button device 100 can be prevented.

  The substrate 106 includes light sources 106-a1, 106-a2, 106-a3, and the like. The light guide unit 102-a1 guides the light from the light source 106-a1 to the front surface of the cover 101-a. The light guide unit 102-a2 guides the light from the light source 106-a2 to the front surface of the cover 101-a. The light guide unit 102-a3 guides the light from the light source 106-a3 to the front surface of the cover 101-a.

  An example of the cross section BB ′ in FIG. 4 is shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 6, the material of the slider 104 is, for example, polycarbonate resin, and is transparent or translucent. The above-described region 101-b is located on the cover 101-a on the extension of the end portion of the slider 104. A rubber contact 105 is in contact with the other end of the slider 104.

  The material of the rubber contact 105 is, for example, white silicon. The rubber contact 105 is in contact with the slider 104 and is also in contact with a contact point (not shown) of the substrate 106.

  On the substrate 106, in addition to the above-mentioned light sources 106-a1, 106-a2, 106-a3, etc., a light source 106-b is further arranged. The light source 106-b is located on the substrate 106 on the extension of the other end of the slider 104.

  When the button 101 is pressed by the user or the like, the slider 104 moves in the direction of the substrate 106. By this movement, the rubber contact 105 is pressed. The rubber contact 105 pushes back the slider 104 in the direction of the button 101 by its own repulsive force, and receives the force of the pressing to press the contact point of the substrate 106, thereby realizing the button device 100 on and off.

  The lighting and extinguishing patterns of each of the light sources 106-a1, 106-a2, 106-a3, and 106-b are not particularly limited and may be arbitrary. In the present embodiment, for example, the button device 100 controls lighting and extinguishing of each of the light sources 106-a1, 106-a2, 106-a3, and 106-b according to the number of times of pressing. Specifically, for example, when the light sources 106-a1, 106-a2, 106-a3, and 106-b are all turned off and then pressed once, the light sources 106-a1 and 106-b are turned on. Then, the light source 106-a2 is further turned on by the next pressing, the light source 106-a3 is further turned on by the next pressing, and further pressed again, the light sources 106-a1, 106-a2, 106-a3, 106- All of b turns off.

  As described above, since the light guide part and the light shielding part are integrated, the button device is compact and the assembly work is facilitated. The ease of assembling work becomes more conspicuous when the light guide part and the light shielding part are integrally formed.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and includes design changes and the like without departing from the gist of the present invention. .

  Specifically, for example, in the above-described embodiment, the light guide unit and the light shielding unit of each of the three light sources are integrated, but the number of light sources is not limited thereto. The number of light sources may be plural.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the irradiation units by the respective light sources are arranged vertically has been described, but the positional relationship of the irradiation units is arbitrary.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the button cover has a hole, and the light guide portion penetrates the hole to form the light transmission portion. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the light transmitting portion may be formed by transmitting light such as transparent or translucent.

  That is, this embodiment does not limit the design. The shape of the button device, the design of the light transmission part, etc. are arbitrary.

In one Embodiment of this invention, it is a figure which shows the expanded view of a button apparatus. In the embodiment, it is an arrow view of a light guide. In the embodiment, it is an arrow view of a light guide. In the same embodiment, it is a front view of a button apparatus. In the embodiment, it is sectional drawing of a button apparatus. In the embodiment, it is sectional drawing of a button apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100: Button apparatus, 101: Button, 101-a: Cover, 101-b: Area | region, 101-c: Light-shielding part, 102: Light guide, 102-a: Light guide part, 102-b: Light-shielding part, 103 : Cover, 104: Slider, 105: Rubber contact, 106: Substrate, 106-a: Light source, 106-b: Light source, 107: Back cover

Claims (1)

A button device having a plurality of light sources each of which is turned on and off independently,
A plurality of light guides for guiding each light of the light source in the irradiation direction;
A light-shielding part that is in contact with each of the adjacent light guide parts and covers each of the adjacent light guide parts except for the irradiation direction;
The button device characterized in that the light shielding portion and the light guiding portion are integral.

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