JP2010055981A - Illuminated push-button switch structure - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an illuminated push-button switch structure which has good appearance and exhibits new visibility by brightly illuminating a peripheral edge of a push-button operation member. <P>SOLUTION: The illuminated push-button switch structure includes: a circuit board 2 housed in a case 1; a push-button switch 4 mounted on the circuit board 2; a light guide body 12 which has a ring-shaped projection 11 facing the push-button switch 4 and mounted on a front panel 5, and is formed of translucent material; the push-button operation member 13 which is inserted in the ring-shaped projection 11, includes an operation shaft part 15 for pressing and operating the push-button switch 4 on the circuit board 2 by pressing a pressing part 14, and is flexible; a flange part 16 integrally formed from a peripheral edge of the pressing part 14; a suppressing member 17 which sandwiches the flange part 16 by pressing it to a light guide body 12 side and has a hole part 18 in which the operation shaft part 15 can be inserted; and a light source 20 arranged opposite to the suppressing member 17 and mounted on the circuit board 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention is equipped with a special vehicle such as a construction machine or an instrument device such as a water bike, a snowmobile, a ship, or a motorcycle, and presses a push button operation member provided on a case of the instrument device with a fingertip. The present invention relates to an illuminated pushbutton switch structure for operating a device.

  As this type of illuminated pushbutton switch structure, for example, Patent Document 1 is known. In this case, a circuit board is disposed on the front surface side of the light guide disposed in the case a, and a rubber switch having translucency and elastically deformable is provided on the circuit board. A push button serving as a translucent key top is provided, and light from the light source is transmitted and illuminated through the light guide.

By the way, the illuminated pushbutton switch structure reflects the light incident on the light guide so as to uniformly display the light on the entire pushbutton when the pushbutton is transmitted and illuminated by a reflecting surface provided on the lightguide. There is a problem that the setting of the shape of the surface, the angle of the reflecting surface, the setting of the area of the reflecting surface, etc. tends to be large, and even if it tries to uniformly illuminate the entire surface of the push button that is the key top location In some cases, unevenness may occur, and since the transmission illumination is performed through a rubber switch or the like, the overall brightness, that is, the amount of light tends to be insufficient.
No. 7-50788

  In consideration of this point, a light emitting diode that serves as a light source is arranged behind each push button to brightly transmit and illuminate the push button that serves as a key top portion. However, the part located directly above the light-emitting diode, which is the light source, is likely to become partially bright, so it is necessary to adjust the overall brightness on an average basis. Therefore, it is difficult to adjust the amount of light. In addition, since the entire push button serving as the key top portion is configured to be transparently illuminated, it is uniform and uninteresting.

  The present invention pays attention to the above-mentioned problems, and provides an illuminated pushbutton switch structure having a novel visual appearance by brightly illuminating the periphery of the pressing portion of the pushbutton operating member that is a key top portion. Objective.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention employs the following technical means.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides an illuminated pushbutton switch structure according to claim 1, a case, a front plate covering the upper surface side of the case, a circuit board accommodated in the case, A light guide made of a translucent material having a pushbutton switch mounted on a circuit board, an opening provided in the front plate portion facing the pushbutton switch, and a ring-shaped protrusion attached to the opening Body and a flexible push button operation provided with an operation shaft portion that pushes the push button switch on the circuit board by pressing the pressing portion inserted into a ring-shaped protrusion provided on the light guide A member, a flange portion integrally provided from the periphery of the pressing portion which is the pressing operation side of the push button operation member, and an outer peripheral periphery clamping portion portion of the flange portion to be pressed against the light guide side and sandwiched, and Operation shaft A pressing member made of a translucent material having a hole that can be inserted, is characterized with a light source mounted on the pressing member opposite to arranged the circuit board, in that it consists of.

  According to the above-described configuration, the light from the light source is guided to the suppression member made of a translucent material by turning on the light source, and then enters the light guide from the suppression member, and then provided to the light guide. From the viewpoint of decorative lighting of the pushbutton switch structure, the light beam is further guided to the ring-shaped protrusion, and the periphery of the pressing portion of the pushbutton operating member that becomes the key top portion is brightly illuminated in a ring shape. The ring-shaped protrusion appears to be three-dimensionally raised to the surface side of the push button operation member, and as a result, from the viewpoint of decorative illumination display for the illuminated push button switch structure, the push portion of the push button operation member It is possible to provide an illuminated pushbutton switch structure in which the ring-shaped protrusions provided around are visually recognized with a presence, and an interesting and novel appearance can be secured.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the illuminated pushbutton switch structure according to the first aspect of the present invention, at least one of the light guide body and the holding member is colored and formed.

  By configuring in this way, the color of the ring-shaped protrusion is transmitted and illuminated with the color obtained by coloring and molding at least one of the light guide and the suppressing member by turning on the light source. Thereby, the effect of the invention of claim 1 can be further improved.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the illuminated pushbutton switch structure according to the first aspect, as the light source, light sources having different illumination colors are mounted and arranged on the circuit board, and the respective light sources can be switched and lit. It is characterized by.

  By configuring in this way, it is possible to change the illumination color of the ring-shaped protrusion by providing the light source with a different illumination color so that the light source can be switched and turned on automatically or manually. Thus, it is possible to provide an illuminated pushbutton switch structure that can ensure a novel appearance.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the illuminated pushbutton switch structure according to the first aspect, a colored layer is applied to an end face of the ring-shaped protrusion.

  By comprising in this way, it permeate | transmits illumination with the hue of the colored layer formed on the end surface of a ring-shaped protrusion by lighting of a light source, and, thereby, the effect of the invention of Claim 1 can be improved further.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the illuminated pushbutton switch structure according to the first aspect of the present invention, in the pressing member, a pressing stroke of the operation shaft portion is set at a position surrounding the hole portion of the pressing member, and the pushbutton is set. It is characterized in that a restricting portion for reducing an excessive load on the switch is provided.

  With this configuration, when the pressing portion of the push button operation member is pressed, the push button switch that is pressed by the operation shaft portion of the push button operation member is pressed by the restriction portion provided on the holding member. The dynamic stroke can be set to a predetermined stroke, whereby an excessive load on the push button switch can be reduced, and the problem of damaging the push button switch and the circuit board can be solved.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the illuminated pushbutton switch structure according to the first aspect of the present invention, an annular protrusion is provided at the light guide portion that sandwiches the outer peripheral rim sandwiching portion of the flange portion. It is.

  By comprising in this way, since an annular protrusion partly bites into and presses the outer periphery periphery pinching part location of a flange part, the effect of waterproofing resistance can be anticipated.

  In the present invention, a case, a front plate covering the upper surface side of the case, a circuit board accommodated in the case, a push button switch mounted on the circuit board, and the push button switch facing the push button switch A frame body (light guide body) made of a translucent material having an opening portion provided at the front plate portion, a ring-shaped protrusion mounted on the opening portion, and the frame body (light guide body). A flexible push button operating member having an operating shaft portion that is inserted into the ring-shaped protrusion and presses the push button on the circuit board to operate the push button switch, and a pressing operation side of the push button operating member The flange part integrally provided from the peripheral edge of the pressing part and the outer peripheral peripheral edge clamping part of the flange part are pressed against the frame (light guide) side and can be inserted, and the operation shaft part can be inserted. From a translucent material having holes And a light source disposed on the circuit board so as to be opposed to the restraining member. The light beam from the light source is guided to the holding member, and then enters the light guide from the holding member, and then the light beam is further guided to the ring-shaped protrusion provided on the light guide. Since the peripheral edge of the pressing portion of the push button operation member that becomes the key top portion is brightly illuminated in a ring shape, from the viewpoint of decorative illumination of the push button switch structure, the ring-shaped protrusion is three-dimensionally toward the surface side of the push button operation member. As a result, from the viewpoint of decorative lighting display for the pushbutton switch, the ring-shaped protrusion is visually recognized with a sense of presence, ensuring an interesting and innovative appearance. It is those that can provide a illuminated push button switch structure capable of bets, which makes it possible to achieve the initial purpose.

  As an illuminated pushbutton switch structure that is the subject of the present invention, in a motorcycle instrument device or the like, a display unit such as a clock, a odometer that displays a travel distance, a trip meter, or the like is installed in a meter case of the instrument device. An illuminated pushbutton switch structure for performing display correction of a watch in a display state, switching display such as odd trip, etc. will be described in detail. Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 to 4 show a first embodiment of the present invention, in which a circuit board 2 is disposed in a case 1 for housing a motorcycle meter and the like, and a display 3 made of liquid crystal or the like is provided on the circuit board 2. A circuit component or the like (not shown) is assembled, and a push button switch 4 composed of a plurality of tact switches for switching the display of the display 3 and correcting the display value of the display 3 is assembled on the circuit board 2. Yes.

  Further, a first front plate 5 made of an upper cover made of synthetic resin is provided so as to cover the upper surface side of the case 1 made of synthetic resin, and the display device 3 and the like are provided on the first front plate 5. An opening window portion 6 for visual recognition is provided, and an opening portion 7 is provided at a position facing each position of the plurality of push button switches 4 provided.

  Behind the first front plate 5 is provided a second front plate 8 that also serves as an upper case made of synthetic resin. The second front plate 8 visually recognizes the display 3 and the like. Therefore, a cover glass 9 made of a transparent resin plate is integrally formed by means such as insert molding, and a mounting hole 10 is provided at a location facing the push button switch 4.

  Further, a light guide body 12 made of a translucent material having a plurality of ring-shaped protrusions 11 respectively mounted along the inner surface side of the plurality of openings 7 provided in the first front plate 5 is formed. The light guide 12 is provided so as to be set and fixed to the mounting hole 10 of the second front plate 8 from the upper surface side.

  A push button operation member 13 made of an elastic member such as a synthetic rubber is provided corresponding to each position of the opening 7 of the first front plate 5, and the pressing portion 14 of the push button operation member 13 is pressed. Thus, the push button switch 4 mounted and fixed on the circuit board 2 is configured to be pressed through an operation shaft portion 15 provided on the push button operation member 13.

  In this case, the push button operating member 13 is provided with an operating shaft portion 15 for pressing the push button switch 4 by pressing the pressing portion 14, and a flange portion 16 is integrally provided from the periphery of the pressing portion 14. It has been.

  Further, a pressing member 17 made of a transparent material made of synthetic resin is disposed behind the push button operating member 13, and the pressing member 17 has a hole 18 through which the operation shaft portion 15 can be inserted. And the outer peripheral edge clamping portion 16A of the flange portion 16 is pressed against the second front plate 8 side at the outer peripheral portion of the holding member 17 so as to be clamped. In this case, the holding member 17 is provided so as to be set from the lower surface side of the second front plate 8 via the mounting hole 10 of the second front plate 8 and attached and fixed to the second front plate 8. ing.

  Further, the pressing member 17 disposed on the rear side of the push button operation member 13 has an excessive stroke to the push button switch 4 by setting the pushing stroke of the operation shaft portion 15 at a position surrounding the hole 18 of the pressing member 17. A restricting portion 19 for reducing the load is integrally formed to protrude.

  Further, facing the holding member 17 made of a translucent material, light sources 20 each made of a light emitting diode are mounted on the circuit board 2 at positions appropriately set behind the holding member 17.

  In the illuminated pushbutton switch structure according to the first embodiment configured as described above, the pushbutton switch 4 mounted and fixed on the circuit board 2 is operated by pushing the pressing portion 14 of the pushbutton operating member 13. Pressing operation is performed via an operation shaft portion 15 provided on the member 13, and for example, display correction of the display 3 such as a clock, an odometer, a trip meter, or a trip meter, and a switching display such as an od trip are displayed. Done.

  At this time, the restriction portion 19 provided on the holding member 17 disposed behind the push button operation member 13 restricts the stroke in which the push portion 14 of the push button operation member 13 moves in the depth direction. Since the push stroke of the operation shaft portion 15 that is the operation member 13 is set as a predetermined movement amount, an excessive load that is easily applied to the push button switch 4 can be reduced. That is, the push stroke of the push button operation member 13 is set to an arbitrary stroke by setting the dimension due to the gap between the back surface side of the push portion 14 of the push button operation member 13 and the upper end surface side of the restriction portion 19 to a predetermined dimension. Thus, the push button switch 4 can be pressed and the switching operation state can be set to the best state, and the problem of damaging the push button switch 4 and the circuit board 2 can be solved. .

  Further, when the light source 20 is turned on such as at night, the light beam from the light source 20 is guided to the suppressing member 17 made of a translucent material, and then the light beam incident on the suppressing member 17 is guided to the light guide 12. Subsequently, the light beam is further guided to the ring-shaped protrusion 11 integrally formed with the light guide 12 through the reflection surface 12A provided on the light guide 12, and the push button serving as the key top portion. Since the peripheral edge of the pressing portion 14 of the operation member 13 is brightly illuminated in a ring shape, the ring-shaped protrusion 11 appears to be three-dimensionally raised to the surface side of the push button operation member 13, and as a result, illumination From the viewpoint of decorative illumination display for the pushbutton switch structure, the ring-shaped protrusion 11 provided around the pressing portion 14 of the pushbutton operating member 13 is visually recognized with a presence, and a novel appearance is ensured. It is possible to provide a illuminated push button switch structure capable of.

  In this case, since the ring-shaped protrusion 11 illuminated and displayed by the light beam from the light source 20 is illuminated in a ring shape, there is also an effect that the position of the pressing portion 14 of the push button operation member 13 can be easily determined. Thereby, it is possible to easily press and operate the 14 pressing portions that are in the central opaque state illuminated in a ring shape.

  In addition, when the light source 20 is turned on, the conventional structure has a problem that brightness variation becomes conspicuous unless the brightness of the entire pressing portion of the push button operation member is averagely transmitted and illuminated. As in the configuration of the embodiment, the illumination is transmitted in a ring shape (linear shape) following the shape of the ring-shaped protrusion 11, so even if there is a slight variation in luminance, the push button operation member 13 Since the ring-shaped protrusion 11 provided around the pressing portion 14 appears to rise, there is an effect that a novel appearance can be secured.

  Further, as the illumination color of the ring-shaped protrusion 11 that is illuminated and displayed in a ring shape, for example, as shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 5, at least one of the light guide 12 and the restraining member 17 that are translucent materials, In the exemplary embodiment, the suppressing member 17 is colored and molded with an orange pigment, whereby the irradiation light from the light source 20 can be guided to the light guide body 12 with an orange transmission color. The ring-shaped protrusion 11 provided in the can be transmitted and illuminated in orange. When the light source 20 is not lit, the ring-shaped protrusion 11 appears as a transparent ring, and the ring-shaped protrusion 11 has a different hue when the light source 20 is turned on and off. It is possible to provide an illuminated pushbutton switch structure that can ensure shine.

  Further, as another means, for example, as shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 6, a blue colored layer 30 is formed on the upper end surface portion of the ring-shaped protrusion 11 of the light guide 12 by means such as printing. When the light source 20 is turned on, the ring-shaped protrusion 11 is transmitted and illuminated with the color of the colored layer 30, and the color of the colored layer 30 may be arbitrarily selected. By changing the transmittance on the outer periphery side and the transmittance on the inner periphery side of the projection 11, it is possible to perform transmitted illumination by light and darkness, and since a depth feeling due to the illumination effect comes out, ensure a novel appearance can do.

  Although not shown, the light source 20 groups with different illumination colors are mounted and arranged on the circuit board 2, and the illumination color of the ring-shaped protrusion 11 is changed by switching and lighting the light source 20 groups with different illumination colors. In this case, the light source 20 is manually switched as means for switching the illumination color, or the group of light sources 20 having different illumination colors is automatically switched and turned on when a predetermined time has elapsed. The illumination color can be changed, and an interesting and innovative appearance can be secured. In some cases, when the pressing portion 14 of the push button operation member 13 is pressed, it is possible to easily determine whether or not the pressing operation is performed by switching lighting of the light source 20 group having different illumination colors.

  Further, when the illuminated pushbutton switch structure as an object of the present invention is applied to an instrument device for motorcycles exposed to an external atmosphere, the flange portion 16 provided on the pushbutton operation member 13 as shown in FIG. By providing the annular protrusions 40 at the 12 light guides that sandwich the outer peripheral edge sandwiching portion 16A, the annular protrusion 40 partially bites into and presses the outer peripheral periphery sandwiching portion 16A of the flange portion 16. Therefore, it is possible to block rainwater or the like that enters from the outside, and it can be expected to be waterproof.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention. For example, in each embodiment, the first front plate 5 (upper cover) and the second front plate 8 (upper case) are formed as the front plate covering the upper surface side of the case 1 made of synthetic resin. Only the front plate having the function as the upper case is disposed on the front side of the case 1, and the light guide body 12 having the ring-shaped protrusion 11, the push button operating member 13, and the holding member 17 are assembled and fixed to the front plate. In this way, the same effect can be obtained, and the ring-shaped protrusion 11 provided on the light guide 12 that is transmitted and illuminated around the pressing portion 14 of the push button operating member 13 includes The amount of light to be guided can be adjusted by appropriately setting the thickness dimension and the depth dimension, etc. Also, the surface of the ring-shaped protrusion 11 can be subjected to a textured process to reduce the fine irregularities caused by the textured process. Yo Te are those capable of diffusing light, it is also possible to carry out uniformly transmissive illumination. Although the tact switch has been described as an example of the push button switch 4, a similar effect can be obtained even with a push button switch made of conductive rubber.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an illuminated pushbutton switch structure in an instrument device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an illuminated pushbutton switch structure in the instrument device of FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a main part of FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part showing a portion along line AA in FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing an embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Case 2 Circuit board 3 Indicator 4 Pushbutton switch 5 1st front board 6 Opening window part 7 Opening part 8 2nd front board 9 Cover glass 10 Mounting hole part 11 Ring-shaped protrusion 12 Light guide 12A Reflecting surface 13 Push button operation member 14 Press part 15 Operation shaft part 16 Flange part 16A Outer peripheral edge clamping part 17 Holding member 18 Hole part 19 Restriction part 20 Light source (light emitting diode)
30 colored layer 40 annular protrusion

Claims (6)

  A case, a front plate covering the upper surface side of the case, a circuit board housed in the case, a push button switch mounted on the circuit board, and provided at the front plate portion facing the push button switch A light guide made of a light-transmitting material having a ring-shaped protrusion attached to the opening, and a pressing operation performed on the pressing portion inserted through the ring-shaped protrusion provided on the light guide. Accordingly, a flexible push button operation member having an operation shaft portion for pressing and operating the push button switch on the circuit board, and a flange integrally provided from the periphery of the press portion on the push operation side of the push button operation member And a restraining member made of a translucent material that has a hole portion that allows the outer peripheral edge sandwiching portion of the flange portion to be pressed against the light guide and sandwiched therethrough and that allows the operation shaft portion to be inserted therethrough. Facing the member Location by a light source is mounted on the circuit board, illuminated push button switch structure which is characterized in that it consists of.   2. The illuminated pushbutton switch structure according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the light guide and the holding member is colored and molded. 3.   2. The illuminated pushbutton switch structure according to claim 1, wherein light sources having different illumination colors are mounted and arranged on the circuit board as the light sources, and the respective light sources can be switched and lit.   The illuminated pushbutton switch structure according to claim 1, wherein a colored layer is applied to an end face of the ring-shaped protrusion.   The restraining member is provided with a restricting portion for setting a pushing stroke of the operation shaft portion at a position surrounding the hole portion of the restraining member to reduce an excessive load on the push button switch. The illuminated pushbutton switch structure according to claim 1.   2. The illuminated pushbutton switch structure according to claim 1, wherein an annular protrusion is provided at the light guide portion that sandwiches the outer periphery sandwiching portion of the flange portion.

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