JP2012018275A - Electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic device which is compact and excellent in easiness to hold a housing and operability of buttons.SOLUTION: An electronic device comprises: a grip part used for putting a finger when holding a housing; a key top unit 20A having a moving image button 22 which is exposed from an opening provided adjacent to the grip part to the outside of the housing; a boss 23 provided at the side of the inside of the housing of the moving image button; a metal dome provided at a position facing the boss; and an operation board to which the metal dome is provided. The key top unit is provided at the side of inside of the housing and comprises: a stopper 25 arranged at nearer side of the grip part than the boss; and support parts 28 for supporting the moving image button so that rigidity of the grip part side is higher than that of the side opposite to the grip part. When the moving image button is pushed down, the stopper abuts on the operation board prior to inputting of the metal dome by the boss.

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device.

  In electronic devices such as cameras, the gripping part (grip part) and operation buttons are placed adjacent to the back of the housing, but the space between the gripping part and the operation buttons is narrowed due to the miniaturization of the housing, and is not intended for holding. There is a risk of pressing the operation button without first. Therefore, it is required to achieve both the holding ability of the housing and the operability of the operation buttons. In particular, when a liquid crystal display unit is disposed on the back surface, the liquid crystal display unit is required to be enlarged with respect to the downsizing of the housing, so that compatibility between the holding property and the operability is particularly important.

  In this respect, Patent Document 1 discloses a step in the bank shape within a range in which the bank shape height formed along the periphery of the opening hole formed in the casing covering the side surface from which the operation button protrudes is approximately half the circumference of the operation button. Disclosed electronic devices. In Patent Document 2, the leaf spring of the operation button is made of a bimetal, and a heater is attached to the metal spring to heat the operation button, so that the operation button is moved from the external surface to a position where the switch is not depressed and the switch is not pressed. An electronic device that moves a position is disclosed.

JP 2006-276395 A JP 2008-130304 A

  However, in Patent Document 1, the width of the grip portion is narrow and the holding property is poor, and the operability of the operation button is also bad due to the bank shape. Patent document 2 requires an additional part in the conventional structure, and prevents the miniaturization of a housing | casing and becomes an expensive structure.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device that has a small structure and is excellent in retainability of a casing and operability of buttons.

  In order to achieve the above object, an electronic device according to the present invention includes a grip portion used for placing a finger when holding the housing, and an opening provided adjacent to the grip portion. An operation member partially exposed to the outside, a protrusion provided on the inner side of the housing in a region exposed from the opening of the operation member, a switch provided at a position facing the protrusion, A board provided with the switch, wherein the operation member is provided on an inner side of the housing, and is disposed on the grip portion side of the protrusion, and A support portion that supports the region exposed from the opening so that the rigidity on the grip portion side is higher than the rigidity on the side opposite to the grip portion, and the region exposed from the opening of the operation member is pressed down. The switch by the protrusion when The stopper before the force is carried out is characterized by contacting the substrate.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the electronic device excellent in the holding | maintenance property of a housing and the operativity of a button with a small structure can be provided.

It is a rear view of a digital camera. It is a partial exploded perspective view of the periphery of the moving image button of a digital camera. Example 1 FIG. 3 is a plan view and a cross-sectional view of the key top unit shown in FIG. 2. It is the rear view and sectional drawing of the digital camera shown in FIG. It is a partial top view of a digital camera. (Example 2)

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a rear view of a digital camera (electronic device, imaging device) 1 according to the first embodiment. The digital camera 1 has a housing that houses a camera assembly that is an electronic component. The housing includes a front cover (not shown), a rear cover 10, and an upper cover (not shown).

  A release button 4 for performing an imaging operation and a zoom lever 5 for performing a zooming operation of a lens barrel (not shown) are provided on the upper surface of the upper cover of the housing. A rear cover 10 is provided on the rear surface of the housing, and a grip portion (grip portion) 15 is provided on the rear cover 10. From the rear cover 10, a liquid crystal display unit 8, a moving image button 22, a setting button 27, an operation dial. 33 is exposed. There is a demand for the liquid crystal display unit 8 to be as large as possible in order to display a through image before photographing or a photographed image and improve visibility.

  2 is a partially exploded perspective view of the periphery of the moving image button 22 of the digital camera according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2A shows the front side and FIG. 2B shows the back side. As shown in FIG. 2, the digital camera includes a rear cover 10, a key top unit 20 </ b> A (operation member), and an operation board 30.

  The rear cover 10 includes a window 11 through which the liquid crystal panel of the liquid crystal display unit 8 is exposed, an opening 12 through which the operation dial 33 is exposed, an opening 13 through which the moving image button 22 is exposed, an opening 14 through which the setting button 27 is exposed, and a gripping unit (grip unit). ) 15. When the rear cover 10 is fixed to a chassis (not shown), the operation board 30 and the key top unit 20A are positioned, and the liquid crystal display unit 8, the operation dial 33, the moving image button 22, and the setting button 27 are exposed as shown in FIG. .

  The grip part (grip part) 15 is disposed in a small space between the liquid crystal display part 8 and the moving image button 22, and is used for placing a finger (especially a thumb) when holding the housing of the digital camera. It is a convex part.

  FIG. 1 shows a state in which the user's right hand is gripped by a broken line when in use, and the right index finger is above the release button 4 when performing an imaging operation and above the zoom lever 5 when performing a zooming operation. . The right thumb is on the grip 15. The thumb of the right hand is hard to slip due to the pair of convex portions of the grip portion 15, and the case can be firmly held by supporting the case from the front side of the case with the middle finger of the right hand, the ring finger attached to the middle finger, and the little finger.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the space on the rear surface of the housing is occupied by the liquid crystal display unit 8, the moving image button 22, the setting button 27, and the operation dial 33. When the grip portion 15 is narrowed, a thumb that should have pressed the grip portion 15 is applied to the moving image button 22, and an operation input may be performed even though there is no intention to press the moving image button 22.

  The key top unit 20A has a hole 21 that allows the operation dial 33 to pass therethrough, has a moving image button 22 that is an area exposed to the outside of the housing in the upper right, and a setting button 27 is integrally formed in the lower right. Yes. 3A is a single view of the key top unit 20A showing the inner side of the moving image button 22, and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 3A.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the moving image button 22 is arranged on the operation dial 33 and is pressed at the time of an input operation to quickly start moving image shooting from another mode. It is formed in a size suitable for The moving image button 22 is disposed adjacent to the grip portion 15.

  As shown in FIGS. 2B and 3A, the moving image button 22 has a boss 23 and a stopper 25, and the moving image button 22 is fixed to the key top unit 20A by three support portions 28. .

  The boss 23 is a protrusion formed at the center of the back surface (the operation board 30 side) of the moving image button 22, and the moving image button 22 pushes a metal dome 34 described later through the boss 23, and the metal dome 34 bends. Thus, the central convex portion of the metal dome 34 comes into contact with the second electrode. As a result, the first electrode and the second electrode become conductive, and an operation input signal is generated.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the stopper 25 is formed between the pair of support portions 28 on the grip portion side in the contour portion on the back surface (the operation substrate 30 side) of the moving image button 22. The position of the stopper 25 is not limited to the contour portion on the back surface of the moving image button 22 and may be formed slightly apart from the moving image button 22.

  As shown in FIG. 3B, the end surface 25 a (on the operation substrate 30 side) of the stopper 25 is higher than the height of the end surface 23 a (on the operation substrate 30 side) of the boss 23. As a result, when the user presses the moving image button 22, the stopper 25 comes into contact with the operation board 30 before the boss 23 presses the metal dome 34.

  The support unit 28 supports the moving image button 22 with respect to the key top unit 20A. The support portion 28 has a role of a spring that applies a restoring force to return the moving image button 22 to the original position after the moving image button 22 is pressed, and two support portions 28 on the right side of the moving image button 22 corresponding to the right side of FIG. One is provided on the left side.

  Thus, in this embodiment, the support portion 28 is configured as a beam having the same thickness. The spring constant is approximately doubled by the two beams, and the rigidity on the side opposite to the grip part of the moving image button 22 is configured to be higher on the grip part side. When is pushed, it tilts to the opposite side of the stopper 25 having low rigidity.

  In this embodiment, a plurality of support portions 28 are provided and the rigidity is adjusted according to the number of the support portions 28. However, the number of support portions on the grip portion side of the moving image button 22 and the support portion on the opposite side to the grip portion is set to one. The rigidity may be varied by changing the thickness or material of the material.

  Accordingly, even when the gripping portion 15 side of the moving image button 22 is pressed and most of the operating force is divided to the gripping portion 15 side, it is pushed in while tilting to the opposite side of the gripping portion 15 and pushes the metal dome 34. The stopper 25 has a certain width and is set to be long in the up and down direction of the moving image button 22 so that the moving image button 22 does not rattle in the up and down direction after contacting the operation board 30.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the setting button 27 is arranged under the operation dial 33 and performs various settings. The setting button 27 is also formed with a size corresponding to the size of the finger to be operated. A metal dome switch is disposed immediately below the moving image button 22 and the setting button 27.

  The operation board 30 is obtained by attaching a circuit board 30b to a base plate 30a of the board. On the circuit board 30b, metal domes 34, which are dish-shaped conductors, are attached at three locations, and an operation dial 33 is provided at the center. The operation board 30 is fixed to a chassis (not shown).

  The metal dome 34 is a switch having a dome shape disposed at a position facing the boss 23. An arc-shaped first electrode (not shown) is provided under the outer arc portion of the metal dome 34 so as to match the outer arc portion. A convex portion is formed at the center of the metal dome 34, and a second electrode (not shown) is formed on the operation substrate 30 immediately below the convex portion, and the first electrode having an arc shape so as to surround the second electrode. Electrodes are arranged. The metal dome 34, the first electrode, and the second electrode constitute a metal dome switch. The metal dome switch installed on the upper side of the operation board 30 is for the moving image button 22, and the metal dome switch installed on the lower side is for the setting button 27.

  The operation dial 33 is arranged on the side of the liquid crystal display unit 8 and includes a dial for setting various parameters and a central button. The operation dial 33 is also required to be as large as possible in order to improve operability. The operation dial 33 passes through the hole 21 and is exposed from the opening 12.

  4A is an assembly state diagram of the moving image button 22, the operation board 30, and the rear cover 10, and FIGS. 4B to 4D are BB cross-sectional views in FIG. 4A. FIG. 10 is a state transition diagram when the moving image button 22 is pressed.

  FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the moving image button 22 is not pressed, and the stopper 25 shows a state where there is a clearance with respect to the operation board 30. Since the boss 23 also has a clearance with respect to the metal dome 34, no operation input is performed.

  FIG. 4C is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the moving image button 22 is pushed in until the stopper 25 contacts the operation board 30, and shows a state where a finger is placed on the moving image button 22 unintentionally. Until the metal dome 34 comes into contact with the second electrode, the boss 23 has not pushed the metal dome 34, and no operation input has been performed yet.

  FIG. 4D is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state where the moving image button 22 is intentionally pressed. The stopper 25 serves as a fulcrum from the state of FIG. 4C, and the opposite side of the grip portion 15 of the moving image button 22 is continuously pushed, so that the metal dome 34 is in contact with the second electrode. Operation input is performed in this state.

  With this configuration, even when the thumb is placed on the gripping part 15 side of the moving image button 22 with the thumb placed on the gripping part 15, the support part 28 has a high rigidity on the gripping part 15 side, so that a strong operating force is obtained. Necessary. Further, if the thumb is on the projection of the stopper 25, the fulcrum is pushed from the state of FIG. 4C, so that the opposite side of the grip portion 15 of the moving image button 22 is not pushed, and the metal dome 34 is not pushed. . As a result, an erroneous operation with the thumb placed on the grip portion 15 can be prevented.

  Further, by adjusting the relationship between the position and height of the boss 23 and the stopper 25, for example, the operation input can be performed only when the opposite half of the grip portion 15 on the appearance surface of the moving image button 22 is pressed. .

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4B, the shape is set so that the portion that becomes the boundary between the moving image button 22 and the grip portion 15 becomes a valley. As a result, even when the thumb is placed on the grip portion 15 by placing the thumb on the grip portion 15, force is easily applied to the grip portion 15 to which the finger first hits, and force is applied to the video button 22. Since it becomes difficult, erroneous operation can be prevented.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the rigidity of the grip portion 15 side of the support portion 28 connected to the moving image button 22 is increased, the stopper 25 is provided on the grip portion side of the moving image button 22, and the moving image button 22 is turned on. First, the stopper 25 is brought into contact with the operation substrate 30. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent erroneous input of the moving image button 22 when the digital camera 1 is held.

  FIG. 5 is a plan view of the state in which the key top unit 20B and the operation board 30 according to the second embodiment are overlapped, and only a part where the components are overlapped is illustrated using hidden lines. In addition to the configuration of the key top unit 20A of the first embodiment, the key top unit 20B of the present embodiment is provided with an index 24 that functions as a mark for the user to press the moving image button 22 on the appearance portion of the surface of the moving image button 22. ing. The index 24 is arranged on the opposite side (right side in the figure) to the grip portion 15 with respect to the position of the boss 23. As described in the first embodiment, the metal dome 34 is pushed by the index 24 because the metal dome 34 is difficult to be pushed even if the grip portion 15 side of the movie button 22 is pushed in order to prevent an erroneous operation of the movie button 22. The easy position is understood. The index 24 arranged at such a position can be used as a target where the user presses the moving image button 22 and leads the user to press the moving image button 22 with a good feel.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5, by shifting the center position of the metal dome 34 to the opposite side (right side in the figure) to the grip portion 15 with respect to the center position of the boss 23, 15 and the amount of deflection of the metal dome 34 decreases. For this reason, the sound when the moving image button 22 is pressed is reduced while maintaining the minimum pressing feeling. In particular, since it is a button related to moving image operation, it is effective for reducing the operation sound of the switch and making it difficult to influence the recording during recording. Further, since the clearance between the boss 23 and the metal dome 34 is increased, even when the thumb is placed on the grip portion 15 and the thumb is hung on the grip portion 15 side of the movie button 22, it is difficult to perform an operation input, and the movie button 22 Erroneous input can be prevented.

  As mentioned above, although preferable embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to these embodiment, A various deformation | transformation and change are possible within the range of the summary. Electronic devices to which the present invention can be applied are not limited to digital cameras, and include other electronic devices such as PDAs, notebook PCs, and game machines. The present invention is particularly effective when the liquid crystal display unit is provided on the rear surface of the housing. However, even if there is no liquid crystal display unit, the operability and the retaining property can be easily achieved while maintaining the miniaturization of the housing. So effective.

  Electronic equipment can be applied to electronic processing applications.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Digital camera 10 Rear cover 15 Grip part 20A, 20B Key top unit 22 Movie button 23 Boss 24 Index 25 Stopper 28 Support part 30 Operation board 34 Metal dome

Claims (4)

A grip used to place a finger when holding the housing; and
An operation member partially exposed outside the housing from an opening provided adjacent to the gripping portion;
A protrusion provided on the inner side of the housing in a region exposed from the opening of the operation member;
A switch provided at a position facing the protrusion,
An electronic device comprising a substrate provided with the switch,
The operating member is
A stopper provided on the inner side of the housing and disposed closer to the grip portion than the protrusion; and
A support part for supporting the region exposed from the opening so that the rigidity on the grip part side is higher than the rigidity on the side opposite to the grip part;
The electronic device, wherein when the region exposed from the opening of the operation member is pressed, the stopper comes into contact with the substrate before the input of the switch by the protrusion is performed.   The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the switch has a dome shape, and is arranged so that a vertex of the dome shape is located on the opposite side of the grip portion from the protrusion.   3. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein there are a plurality of the support portions, and the number of the grip portions is larger than the number of the grip portions on the opposite side.   In the region exposed from the opening of the operation member, an index that is a target when the button is pressed is provided, and the index is arranged to be located on the opposite side of the grip portion from the protrusion. The electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein