JP2011210402A - Electronic component - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic component in which the moving stroke of a moving body can be made long, and its resolution of the electric output can be made large.SOLUTION: The electronic component is equipped with a case 80; a moving body 30 which is housed in the case 80 in free slide movement; an electric functional part consisting of a slider 40, or the like, which changes the electric output by slide movement of the moving body 30; a keytop 130 which is installed at the upper part of the moving body 30 in free rocking, and a moving body driving mechanism 50 which connects a first and a second links 51, 61 at the connecting portion 71 in a freely rotatable manner. One end side of the first link 51 is installed on the case 80 in freely rotatable manner; and the other end side of the second link 61 is installed on the moving body 30 in a freely rotatable manner. A pressing contact part 135 provided in the keytop 130 is contacted to a contact portion 75. By making the keytop 130 and moving the contact portion 75 move, the moving body 30 is moved slidingly.

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic component having a structure in which a key top is swingably installed on an upper portion of a sliding electronic component, and the sliding electronic component is operated by the key top.

  Conventionally, a seesaw type electronic component has been used as an operation member for zooming a video camera or a digital camera, for example. In this type of seesaw type electronic component, for example, as shown in FIG. 2 of Patent Document 1, a key top (150) is swingably installed on an upper portion of a sliding electronic component (130), and the key top (150) is attached. The pressing contact portion (157) provided on the lower surface of the key top (150) on the lower side when swinging comes into contact with the contact portion (47) provided on the moving body (40) to move the moving body (40). Is pushed in one slide moving direction to be slid to change the electrical output of the sliding electronic component (130).

JP 2009-21407 A

  However, in the seesaw type electronic component shown in Patent Document 1, the contact portion (47) of the movable body (40) of the slide electronic component (130) is directly pressed by the pressing contact portion (157) provided on the key top (150). ) Is pressed, the sliding movement distance (stroke) of the moving body (40) cannot be increased so much with respect to the vertical movement distance by the swing of the key top (150). If the stroke of the moving body (40) cannot be made large, the resolution of the electrical output of the sliding electronic component (130) will be reduced. This problem becomes more serious as the seesaw type electronic component is made smaller.

  In order to increase the stroke of the moving body (40), the height of the swing shaft (105, 153) of the key top (150) is set higher than the sliding electronic component (130). Thus, the vertical movement distance due to the swing of the key top (150) may be increased. However, when configured in this manner, the height dimension (thickness dimension) of the seesaw type electronic component increases, and the thickness reduction of the seesaw type electronic component is hindered.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and the object thereof is to increase the moving stroke of the moving body and increase the resolution of its electrical output even if the swinging dimension of the key top is short. An object is to provide an electronic component suitable for downsizing.

  The invention according to claim 1 of the present application includes a fixed member, a movable body that is slidably installed with respect to the fixed member, and an electrical function unit that changes an electrical output by sliding movement of the movable body. And a key top that is swingably installed on the upper part of the moving body, and at least one moving body drive mechanism in which the first and second links are rotatably connected by a connecting portion. One end side of the movable body drive mechanism is rotatably attached to the fixed side member, the other end side is pivotally attached to the movable body, and a pressing contact portion provided on the key top is provided. The electronic component is characterized in that the moving body is slid by moving the abutment portion by abutting against the abutment portion provided at the connecting portion, and swinging the key top.

  The invention according to claim 2 of the present application is the electronic component according to claim 1, wherein the pressing contact portion of the key top is formed in a curved shape.

  The invention according to claim 3 of the present application is the electronic component according to claim 2, wherein the elastic means is provided with an insertion portion at the center in a substantially ring shape and provided with a resilient portion at a pair of opposed positions. And the movable body is installed in the insertion portion of the elastic means, and the pair of elastic portions are elastically applied to a pair of elastic contact portions provided on both sides of the key top swinging central axis. The electronic component is characterized in that the key top is held in a neutral position by contact.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the sliding movement of the moving body is performed by the pressing contact portion of the key top pressing the abutting portion provided at the connecting portion of the moving body drive mechanism and moving it downward. Since it is converted into motion, the moving stroke of the moving body can be increased with respect to the rocking distance of the key top. For this reason, to reduce the thickness of electronic components, the keytop's swing center axis is lowered to shorten its swing stroke, and the keytop's external dimensions are reduced to reduce the overall external dimensions of the electronic components. Even if the size is reduced and the swing stroke is shortened, the resolution of electrical output can be maintained large, and the electronic components can be made thinner and smaller.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the pressing contact portion can be kept in contact with the contact portion of the moving body drive mechanism regardless of the swing position of the key top. When the top is swung, it is possible to prevent a sound or an impact from being generated due to the contact and separation between the two.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the elastic means is installed at the position surrounding the moving body, the key top can be reliably elastically held and held at the neutral position without increasing the thickness of the electronic component. it can.

1 is a perspective view of a seesaw type electronic component 1. FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a seesaw type electronic component 1. FIG. It is a disassembled perspective view of the seesaw-type electronic component 1 (the component of the upper part). It is a disassembled perspective view of the seesaw-type electronic component 1 (the component of the lower part). It is the disassembled perspective view which looked at the seesaw-type electronic component 1 (component of the upper part) from the lower side. It is the disassembled perspective view which looked at seesaw-type electronic component 1 (components of the lower part) from the lower side. 3 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of a moving body drive mechanism 50. FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the state in the middle of the assembly of the seesaw-type electronic component. FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory diagram of the seesaw type electronic component 1.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electronic component (hereinafter referred to as “seesaw type electronic component”) 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the seesaw type electronic component 1 (AA sectional view of FIG. 1). 3 is an exploded perspective view of the seesaw type electronic component 1 (the upper part), FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the seesaw type electronic component 1 (the lower part), and FIG. 5 is the seesaw type electronic component 1 (the upper part). FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the seesaw type electronic component 1 (a lower part thereof) viewed from the lower side. As shown in these drawings, the seesaw type electronic component 1 is moved by mounting a circuit board (hereinafter referred to as “flexible circuit board”) 20 and a slider 40 on a mounting member (hereinafter referred to as “mounting board”) 10. The body 30, a pair of moving body drive mechanisms 50, a case 80, a bulleting means (hereinafter referred to as “bounce spring”) 110, and a key top 130 are installed. In the following description, “up” refers to the direction of viewing the key top 130 from the moving body 30, and “down” refers to the opposite direction. A moving direction in which the moving body 30 described below moves in the case 80 is referred to as a slide moving direction C, and a direction orthogonal to the sliding moving direction C on the horizontal plane is referred to as a left-right direction.

  The mounting plate 10 is a hard plate, and is made of, for example, a metal plate or a synthetic resin plate. At predetermined positions (four locations) of the mounting plate 10, there are provided mounting portions 11 made of small holes that pass therethrough.

  The flexible circuit board 20 is formed with a pair of sliding contact patterns 23 on the surface of a flexible insulating substrate 22, and each mounting portion is arranged at a predetermined position (four positions facing each mounting portion 11) around the flexible circuit board 20. 11 is formed by forming an attachment fixing portion 21 composed of a small hole having the same shape as that of the through hole 11. The sliding contact pattern 23 is an electrical function part, and one of the pair of sliding contact patterns 23 is a resistor pattern and the other is a conductor pattern. A circuit pattern (not shown) is wired on the flexible circuit board 20 and connected to the sliding contact pattern 23.

  The moving body 30 is formed by molding a synthetic resin into a substantially rectangular flat plate shape and projecting a pair of mounting projections 33 from a slider mounting surface 31 on the lower surface thereof. A pair of bearing portions 35 are formed at positions near both ends of the upper surface of the moving body 30 (positions near both ends in the front-rear direction when facing the slide movement direction C). The bearing portion 35 is configured by a substantially semicircular concave groove extending in a direction orthogonal to the slide movement direction C.

  The slider 40 protrudes a pair of arm portions 43 from one side of a slider base 41 formed by forming an elastic metal plate in a substantially rectangular shape, and the root portions of the slider 40 are folded back 180 °, and the folded vicinity of the tip is elastically contacted. The unit 45 is configured. A pair of mounting holes 47 is provided in the slider base 41. The slider 40 is an electrical function unit.

  FIG. 7 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of the moving body drive mechanism 50. As shown in the figure, the moving body drive mechanism 50 includes a first link 51 and a second link 61. The first link 51 is a synthetic resin molded product, and is provided with a columnar shaft portion 55 projecting in the left-right direction on one end side of the columnar arm portion 53 and opening in the left-right direction on the other end side. A circular bearing portion 57 is provided. The second link 61 is a molded product of a synthetic resin, and is provided with a columnar shaft portion 65 projecting in one of the left and right directions on one end side of the columnar arm portion 63, and left and right on the other end side. A columnar shaft portion 67 protruding in the direction is provided. That is, the central axis of the shaft part 55, the central axis of the bearing part 57, the central axis of the shaft part 65, and the central axis of the shaft part 67 are parallel to each other. The shaft portion 55 is formed in such a size that it is rotatably inserted into a bearing portion 85 provided in the case 80 described below. The bearing portion 57 is formed to have a size that allows the shaft portion 65 to be inserted into the shaft 65 so as to freely rotate. The shaft portion 67 is formed to have a size that can be inserted into the bearing portion 35 provided on the movable body 30 so as to be freely rotatable.

  Then, the connecting portion 71 is formed by inserting the shaft portion 65 of the second link 61 into the bearing portion 57 of the first link 51 so as to be freely rotatable, and the moving body drive mechanism 50 as shown in FIG. 4 is formed. Is done. A pressing contact portion 135 of the key top 130 described below is applied to the outer peripheral surface of the upper portion that is a convex portion of the connecting portion 71 that rotatably connects the first and second links 51 and 61. It is the contact part 75 which touches.

  The case 80 is formed by integrating a substantially rectangular case main body 81 that is elongated in the slide movement direction C and a substantially rectangular key top mounting portion 101 that is connected to both the left and right sides of the case main body 81. It is formed by molding. The case main body 81 has a moving body storage portion 83 that is recessed in a substantially rectangular shape on the lower surface thereof, and semicircular concave bearing portions 85 that extend in a direction perpendicular to the sliding movement direction C are located near both ends thereof. Further, a pair of insertion portions 87 each having a linear hole extending in the sliding movement direction C are provided on the same straight line at the center of the upper surface of the case main body 81.

  The key top mounting portion 101 is provided with a key top shaft support portion 103 in the vicinity of the center of the left and right outer periphery, and a pair of small protrusions protruding downward near the outer corners of their lower surfaces. An attachment fixing portion 105 is provided, and a pair of small protrusion-like spring attachment portions 107 are provided on the upper surfaces thereof. The key top shaft support portion 103 is provided with an arch-shaped shaft support portion 109 on the upper surface of the key top mounting portion 101, so that a shaft support hole 111 for inserting and supporting the shaft portion 131 of the key top 130 described below at the center is provided. Formed and configured. Each mounting fixing portion 105 is provided at a position facing each mounting fixing portion 21 of the flexible circuit board 20, and each spring mounting portion 107 is provided at a position facing each mounting portion 115 of the elastic spring 110 described below. Yes.

  The elastic spring 110 is formed by forming a metal elastic plate into a substantially oval ring shape, and thereby an insertion portion 111 is provided at the center. A pair of elastic portions 113 are provided at positions facing 180 ° along the slide movement direction C of the elastic spring 110, and a pair of small portions are disposed at positions opposing the horizontal direction of the elastic spring 110 at 180 °. A mounting portion 115 made of a hole is provided. The elastic portion 113 is formed by curving a substantially rectangular plate portion in an arc shape so as to protrude upward. Both side portions of the attachment portion 115 of the elastic spring 110 are bent, and the portion ahead thereof is an arm portion 119 that rises obliquely upward.

  The key top 130 is formed by molding a synthetic resin into a substantially oval plate shape. The shaft portion 131 protrudes outward from the center of the left and right sides of the key top 130, and in the slide movement direction C at the center of the lower surface. A ridge 133 extending in a substantially bar shape is formed. A pair of pressing contact portions 135 made of a curved concave surface is formed at the same distance from the center of the lower surface of the protrusion 133 along the slide movement direction C, and further along the slide movement direction C, the outer sides thereof. At the position, a ball contact portion 137 is formed which is a straight line and has an inclined surface which is inclined upward toward the outside. The curved shape of the pressing contact portion 135 is formed in a concave curved shape in which the contact portion 75 of the moving body drive mechanism 50 contacts at each position where the key top 130 swings as described below.

  Next, a method for assembling the seesaw type electronic component 1 will be described. First, the slider base 41 of the slider 40 is installed in advance on the slider mounting surface 31 of the moving body 30, and then the mounting protrusion 33 of the moving body 30 is inserted into the mounting hole 47 of the slider 40. The tip of one of the mounting projections 33 is fixed by heat caulking. Further, as described above, the movable body drive mechanism 50 is assembled using the first and second links 51 and 61. On the other hand, the portion of the case 80 where the mounting portion 115 of the spring spring 110 is formed is placed on the surface of the key top mounting portion 101, and each spring mounting portion 107 of the case 80 is placed on each mounting portion 115 of the spring spring 110. Insert and heat crimp the tip of each spring mounting portion 107.

  Next, the pair of moving body drive mechanisms 50 and the moving body 30 are housed in the moving body storage portion 83 on the lower surface of the case 80, and at this time, the shaft portion 55 of each moving body drive mechanism 50 is replaced with the bearing portion 85 of the case 80. The shaft portion 67 of each moving body drive mechanism 50 is inserted into the bearing portion 35 of the moving body 30 so as to be rotatable.

  The state at this time is shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the case main body 81 of the case 80, that is, the moving body 30 is installed in the insertion portion 111 of the elastic spring 110. At the same time, the connecting portion 71 of the moving body drive mechanism 50 protrudes to the upper surface side of the case 80 through the insertion portion 87 of the case 80 while being bent so as to protrude upward (to the key top 130 side).

  Then, the flexible circuit board 20 and the mounting plate 10 are installed on the lower surface side of the case 80 containing the moving body 30 and the like, and each mounting fixing part 105 provided on the case 80 is attached to the mounting fixing part 21 of the flexible circuit board 20. It inserts in the attachment part 11 of the board 10, and fixes the front-end | tip of each attachment fixing | fixed part 105 with a heat caulking. Then, the key top 130 is placed on the case 80, and at that time, the shaft portion 131 of the key top 130 is rotatably engaged with the shaft support hole 111 of the case 80 by snap-in. Thus, the seesaw type electronic component 1 is completed. The above assembling procedure is an example, and it goes without saying that the assembly may be performed using other various assembling procedures. In the seesaw-type electronic component 1, the case 80, the flexible circuit board 20, and the mounting plate 10 are referred to as fixed members.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 2, both of the contact portions 75 of the pair of moving body drive mechanisms 50 are in contact with the pair of press contact portions 135 of the key top 130. Further, each of the pair of resilient portions 113 of the resilient spring 110 is elastically contacted with the pair of impacted portions 137 of the key top 130 so that the key top 130 is resiliently held and held in a neutral position (position where the key top 130 is horizontal). is doing. That is, at this time, the pair of contact portions 75 are at the same height, and the moving body 30 is located in the center of the moving body storage portion 83 of the case 80.

  Then, for example, if the upper surface on the left side of the key top 130 shown in FIG. 2 is pressed downward (in the direction of arrow E), the key top 130 swings about the shaft portion 131 (the central swing central axis). Then, the left side descends as shown in FIG. As a result, the contact portion 75 of the left-side moving body drive mechanism 50 is pressed downward, and the first link 51 rotates downward about the shaft portion 55, and at the same time, the second link 61. The shaft part 67 presses the moving body 30 horizontally in the right direction (arrow G direction) and moves it, and the elastic contact part 45 of the slider 40 slides on the sliding contact pattern 23 by the distance moved. Change its electrical output. At this time, the shaft portion 67 of the second link 61 of the other moving body drive mechanism 50 also moves in the right direction. At the same time, the contact portion 75 of the moving body drive mechanism 50 rises upward. Since the contact portion 135 is formed in a curved shape in which the contact portion 75 contacts at each position where the key top 130 swings as described above, the raised contact portion 75 is the pressing contact portion 135 of the key top 130. The state where it abuts is maintained. That is, regardless of the swing position of the key top 130, the abutting portions 75 of both the moving body drive mechanisms 50 abut against the pressing abutting portion 135 of the key top 130.

  At this time, the resilient portion 113 of the resilient spring 110 projecting the left-side impacted contact portion 137 of the key top 130 is pressed down and lowered by the resilient force of the arm portion 119 that is bent more greatly. In 130, an automatic return force to the neutral position is generated. Accordingly, when the pressing on the key top 130 is released, the key top 130 automatically returns to the original neutral position, the moving body drive mechanism 50 performs the reverse operation, and the moving body 30 is returned to the original central position. Automatically recovers. Note that, as shown in FIG. 9, the resilient portion 113 of the resilient spring 110 projecting the impacted portion 137 on the right side as the key top 130 swings and rises rises following the rise of the impacted portion 137. ing. That is, regardless of the swing position of the key top 130, the two bullets 113 of the bullet spring 110 are in contact with the ball contact part 137 of the key top 130.

  As described above, the seesaw-type electronic component 1 includes the case 80, the movable body 30 that is slidably movable with respect to the case 80, and the slider that changes the electrical output by the sliding movement of the movable body 30. 40, etc., a key top 130 swingably installed on the upper portion of the moving body 30, and first and second links 51, 61 are connected by a connecting portion 71 so as to be rotatable. The movable body drive mechanism 50 is configured such that one end side of the movable body drive mechanism 50 is rotatably attached to the case 80, and the other end side is rotatably attached to the movable body 30 and is attached to the key top 130. A configuration in which the provided pressing contact portion 135 is brought into contact with the contact portion 75 provided in the portion of the connecting portion 71, and the moving portion 30 is slid by moving the contact portion 75 by swinging the key top 130. It has become.

  In the seesaw-type electronic component 1, as described above, the pressing contact portion 135 of the key top 130 presses the contact portion 75 provided in the connecting portion 71 of the moving body drive mechanism 50 to lower it. Since the movement is converted into the sliding movement of the moving body 30, the moving stroke of the moving body 30 can be increased with respect to the rocking distance of the key top 130. For this reason, in order to reduce the thickness of the seesaw type electronic component 1, the position of the swing center axis of the key top 130 is lowered to shorten the swing stroke (vertical movement dimension at the time of swing), or the seesaw type electronic component 1 Even if the outer dimensions of the key top 130 are reduced to reduce the overall outer dimensions and the swing stroke thereof is shortened, the resolution of the electrical output can be kept large. That is, the seesaw type electronic component 1 can be reduced in thickness and size.

  Further, as described above, since the pressing contact portion 135 of the key top 130 is formed in a curved shape, the pressing contact portion 135 is always moved to the movable body drive mechanism 50 regardless of the swing position of the key top 130. Therefore, when the key top 130 is swung, it is possible to prevent a sound from being generated or an impact from being generated due to the contact between the two. . Further, in the seesaw type electronic component 1, the elastic portion 113 of the elastic spring 110 is always in contact with the elastic contact portion 137 of the key top 130, and therefore, this portion is also generated when they are in contact from a distant position. Generation of sound and impact can be prevented.

  Further, as described above, the insertion portion 111 is provided in the center in a substantially ring shape, and the elastic spring 110 is provided with the elastic portion 113 provided at a pair of opposing positions, and the insertion portion 111 of the elastic spring 110 is provided. The moving body 30 (and the pair of moving body drive mechanisms 50) are installed, and the pair of elastic portions 113 are elastically contacted with a pair of elastic contact portions 137 provided on both sides of the swinging central axis of the key top 130. By doing so, the key top 130 is held in the neutral position, so that the key top 130 can be reliably repelled and held in the neutral position without increasing the thickness of the seesaw type electronic component 1.

  In the above embodiment, the linear direction is shown as the slide movement direction C. However, the slide movement direction C is a concept including various directions other than the linear direction, such as an arc direction and other curved directions.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims and the specification and drawings. Is possible. Note that any shape, structure, or material not directly described in the specification and drawings is within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention as long as the effects and advantages of the present invention are exhibited. For example, in the seesaw-type electronic component 1, the case 80, the flexible circuit board 20, and the mounting plate 10 are fixed-side members, but any member other than the case 80 or the like as long as the member is stationary with respect to the moving body 30. The fixed side member may be constituted by the members. In short, the movable body may be slidably installed with respect to the fixed member.

  In the seesaw type electronic component 1, the resistor pattern and the conductor pattern are used as the sliding contact pattern 23, but a sliding contact pattern having other functions such as a switch pattern may be used. In the seesaw type electronic component 1, the slider 50 and the sliding contact pattern 23 are used as the electrical function unit. However, an electrical function unit including components other than these may be used. In short, any electrical functional unit that changes electrical output by sliding movement of the moving body 30 may be used.

  In addition to installing two moving body drive mechanisms 50, one or three or more may be installed. That is, at least one or more may be installed. In the seesaw-type electronic component 1, the contact portion 75 of the moving body drive mechanism 50 is the outer peripheral surface of the connecting portion 71 that rotatably connects the first and second links 51 and 61. A protrusion may be protruded upward from the portion of the connecting portion 71 and its tip portion or the like may be used as a contact portion.

  In the seesaw type electronic component 1, the pressing contact portion 135 of the key top 130 is formed in a curved shape in which the contact portion 75 contacts at each position where the key top 130 swings. You may form in.

1 Seesaw type electronic parts (electronic parts)
10 Mounting plate (Mounting member, Fixed side member)
20 Flexible circuit boards (circuit boards, fixed-side members)
23 Sliding contact pattern (electrical function part)
30 Moving body 40 Slider (electrical function part)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 50 Moving body drive mechanism 51 1st link 61 2nd link 71 Connection part 75 Contact part 80 Case (fixed side member)
110 Bounce spring (Bounce means)
111 Insertion part 113 Bullet part 130 Key top 135 Press contact part 137 Bullet contact part

Claims (3)

A stationary member, a movable body installed slidably with respect to the stationary member, an electrical function unit that changes an electrical output by the sliding movement of the movable body, and swings above the movable body A key top that can be freely installed,
It has at least one moving body drive mechanism in which the first and second links are rotatably connected by a connecting portion, and one end side of the moving body drive mechanism is rotatably attached to the fixed side member. , And the other end side is rotatably attached to the moving body,
The pressing contact portion provided on the key top is brought into contact with the contact portion provided on the connecting portion, and the moving body is slid by moving the contact portion by swinging the key top. Features electronic components. The electronic component according to claim 1,
An electronic component, wherein the pressing contact portion of the key top is formed in a curved shape. The electronic component according to claim 2,
It is provided with a bullet means that is provided with an insertion portion at the center in a substantially ring shape, and provided with a bullet portion at a pair of opposed positions,
The movable body is installed in the insertion portion of the elastic means, and the pair of elastic portions are elastically contacted with a pair of elastic contact portions provided on both sides of the key top swinging central axis. An electronic component that holds the key top in a neutral position.

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