JP2012212549A - Illumination device, and input device using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an illumination device which can apply light emitted from light sources to an operation section and can be formed to be thin by the least number of components.SOLUTION: The illumination device 30 is formed by making a light guide sheet 3 piled up on a reflection sheet 4. Diffused reflection sections faced to an illumination indication section of the operation section are formed on the light guide sheet 3. Reflection coating films respectively faced to the diffused reflection sections are formed on the surface 4a of the reflection sheet 4. The light sources 8 are fixed to the reflection sheet 4 via a spacer layer 44, and wiring layers 42g for conducting current to the light sources 8 are formed on the surface 4a of the reflection sheet 4. Thus, the illumination device 30 can be formed to be thin by using two sheets.

Description

  The present invention relates to an illumination device that provides illumination light to an illumination instruction unit provided in an operation unit, and an input device that uses the illumination device.

  A keyboard device for a personal computer, a portable device and other electronic devices, a remote operation device, a plurality of input devices for performing a pressing operation and the like on an operation unit of an automobile, and an illumination device for providing illumination light to the input device are provided. It has been.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a keyboard device including an illumination device. The keyboard device includes a light guide member facing the key top and a reflection sheet disposed on the back side of the light guide member. The LED as the light source is supported by the FPC and faces the end face of the light guide member.

  In the key switch device described in Patent Document 2, a back plate having a light guiding function is opposed to a key top, a reflective sheet is disposed on the back side of the back plate, and an LED sheet is further provided on the back side. The LED is mounted on the LED sheet, and the LED protrudes from the hole formed in the reflection sheet and enters the hole formed in the back plate.

JP 2010-267203 A JP 2010-86907 A

  Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 both have a reflection sheet provided on the back side of a light guide member that gives light to a key top, and an FPC or LED sheet on which a light source is further mounted. And the reflection sheet are provided separately. Therefore, there is a drawback that the number of parts increases. Or, there is an obstacle to miniaturization and thinning.

  In the keyboard device described in Patent Document 1, since the FPC on which the light source is mounted is arranged outside the end face of the light guide member, the FPC support structure is complicated.

  The key switch device described in Patent Document 2 has a complicated structure because a hole through which an LED protrudes is formed in the reflection sheet and a hole into which the LED enters the back sheet. Further, since it is necessary to align the hole of the reflection sheet with the LED mounting position, the assembly work is also complicated.

  The present invention solves the above-described conventional problems, and provides an illumination device capable of effectively providing illumination light to an illumination instruction unit with a minimum number of parts and an input device using the illumination device. It is aimed.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide an illuminating device that can be mounted on an input device by thinning the illuminating device into a unit, and an input device using the illuminating device.

The present invention has a light guide layer and a reflective layer disposed on the back side thereof, and the light guide layer is formed with an irregular reflection portion that emits light traveling inside from the surface, and a reflective surface is formed on the surface of the reflective layer. In the illumination device in which is formed,
A light source facing the input surface of the light guide layer is fixed on the surface of the reflective layer, and a wiring layer for supplying power to the light source is formed on the surface of the reflective layer. is there.

  In the illumination device of the present invention, since the light source is fixed to the reflection layer and the wiring layer is formed, parts such as an FPC that supports the light source and energizes are unnecessary, and the structure is simple and the thickness can be reduced. .

  The present invention is a light guide sheet in which the light guide layer is formed of a light-transmitting synthetic resin, and the reflection layer is a reflection sheet formed of a light-transmitting synthetic resin.

  In the said structure, what laminated | stacked two light guide sheets and reflective sheets can be completed as a thin unit of an illuminating device. By incorporating this thin unit into the input device, it is possible to illuminate the illumination instruction section of the input device.

In the illumination device of the present invention, for example, the reflective surface is a reflective coating film.
In the present invention, the irregular reflection portions are formed at a plurality of locations of the light guide layer, and the reflective coating film is partially formed at a location facing each of the irregular reflection portions.

  By partially forming the reflective coating film at a location facing the irregular reflection portion, it is possible to reduce the formation area of the reflective coating film and to manufacture at a low cost.

  The present invention can be configured such that the irregular reflection portion is located on the wiring layer, and the reflective coating film is formed on the wiring layer. Alternatively, the wiring layer may be covered with an insulating layer, and the reflective coating film may be formed on the insulating layer.

  With the above configuration, the irregular reflection portion can be disposed on the routing region of the wiring layer, and the area of the reflection layer can be effectively used.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that a spacer layer is provided on the surface of the reflective layer, the light source is fixed on the spacer layer, and the light source faces the input surface of the light guide layer.

  By providing the spacer layer, even when the light guide layer is formed thin, light emitted from the light source can be effectively incident from an input surface such as an end face of the light guide layer.

  Further, the present invention can be configured such that a drawer piece is formed integrally with the reflective layer, and a tip portion of the drawer piece is a connector portion.

  When the connector portion is integrally formed on the reflective layer, it is not necessary to separately provide a wiring member such as a flexible cable for connecting to the plug of the input device.

  The input device of the present invention includes a plurality of operation units having an illumination instruction unit, an operation unit that changes an electrical signal when the operation unit is operated from the front side, and the illumination device provided on the back side of the operation unit. The light reflected by the irregular reflection part is given to the illumination instruction part.

  In the illumination device of the present invention, by arranging the light source and the wiring layer on the surface of the reflection layer, the number of layers can be minimized, and the number of parts can be reduced and the thickness can be reduced.

  In addition, a thin illumination unit can be completed by overlapping the wiring sheet as the wiring layer and the reflection sheet as the reflection layer, and the illumination instruction unit of the input device is illuminated by incorporating the thin illumination unit into the input device. It becomes possible.

Sectional drawing which shows a part of input device of embodiment of this invention, The top view which shows arrangement | positioning of the key top which is an operation part of the input device of embodiment of this invention, The top view of the light guide layer which comprises the illumination device of embodiment of this invention, The top view of the reflective layer which comprises the illumination device of embodiment of this invention, FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of the structure of the illumination device in which the reflection sheet and the light guide sheet are stacked, cut at the position indicated by the line VV in FIG. FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of the structure of the illumination device in which the reflection sheet and the light guide sheet are stacked, cut at the position indicated by the line VI-VI in FIG.

  The input device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention is a keyboard device equipped in a book-type, laptop-type, or desktop-type personal computer.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the input device 1 has a chassis 2. The chassis 2 is composed of a bottom plate which is a part of a main body case of a personal computer or a metal plate installed on the bottom plate.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an illumination device 30 is provided on the chassis 2. The illumination device 30 includes a light guide sheet 3 that is a light guide layer, and a reflection sheet 4 provided between the light guide sheet 3 and the chassis 2. The light guide sheet 3 is a film formed of a light-transmitting synthetic resin such as polycarbonate. In the light guide sheet 3 and the reflection sheet 4, the surface facing the key top 15 is the front surface, and the opposite surface is the back surface. As shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of light sources 8 are fixed to the surface 4 a of the reflection sheet 4. The light source 8 is a light emitting diode.

  In this specification, translucency is preferably so-called transparent having a total light transmittance of 90% or more, but has a function of propagating light inside even if the total light transmittance is lower than that. If so, it may be so-called translucent. For example, the total light transmittance may be 40% or more.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the membrane laminate 20 is installed on the illumination device 30. The membrane laminate 20 has a front side base material 21 and a back side base material 22, and a spacer 23 provided between the front side base material 21 and the back side base material 22. The front side base material 21 is translucent and flexible, and is formed of a resin film such as PET. The back side base material 22 is translucent. Although the back side base material 22 does not need to be flexible, in this embodiment, it is formed of the same PET film as the front side base material 21, and the membrane laminate 20 is configured to be thin.

  The spacer 23 is formed of the same PET film as the front side base material 21 and the back side base material 22. However, the spacer 23 may be an organic insulating layer printed on the back surface of the front substrate 21 or the surface of the back substrate 22.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the support plate 5 is provided on the membrane laminate 20. The support plate 5 is formed of a metal plate, and a pair of first support pieces 6a and a pair of second support pieces 6b are bent upward.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the input device 1 is provided with a plurality of pressing operation units 10 arranged. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II of FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, each pressing operation unit 10 includes a key top 15 and a support mechanism that supports the key top 15 on a support plate 5 so as to be movable up and down. The support mechanism includes a first movable support member 16 and a second movable support member 17.

  One end 16a of the first movable support member 16 is rotatably supported by a first support piece 6a bent on the support plate 5, and the other end 16b is freely rotatable on the lower part of the key top 15. 1 is supported so as to be slidable in the horizontal direction of the figure. The second movable support member 17 has one end 17 a rotatably supported on the lower portion of the key top 15, and the other end 17 b pivotable to a second support piece 6 b bent on the support plate 5. It is slidably supported in the direction. The central portions of the first movable support member 16 and the second movable support member 17 are rotatably connected to each other. The first movable support member 16 and the second movable support member 17 are X-shaped. The support link is configured.

  As shown in FIG. 1, in each pressing operation unit 10, an elastic member 18 is provided between the surface of the front substrate 21 of the membrane laminate 20 and the key top 15. The elastic member 18 is made of synthetic rubber, and each key top 15 is urged upward by the elastic member 18 so as to be separated from the membrane laminate 20. The inside of the lower side of the elastic member 18 is a cavity, and a downward pressing protrusion 18a is integrally formed in the cavity.

  As shown in FIG. 1, in each pressing operation unit 10, an operation unit 25 facing the pressing convex portion 18 a is provided on the membrane laminate 20. In the operating unit 25, a circular space 23 a is formed in the spacer 23. Inside the circular space 23 a, a fixed electrode is provided on the surface of the back side base material 22, and a movable electrode is formed on the back side of the front side base material 21. The fixed electrode and the movable electrode are a conductive layer containing carbon or a conductive layer containing a low-resistance metal material such as silver or copper.

  When the key top 15 is pressed, a part of the front substrate 21 is pressed by the pressing convex portion 18a of the elastic member 18 in the operating portion 25 of the membrane laminate 20, and the movable electrode provided on the front substrate 21 is backside. The electrical signal is switched to ON by contacting with the fixed electrode provided on the base material 22.

  The movable electrode and the fixed electrode are formed of resistors having different resistance values. When the pressing force of the key top is changed, the contact area between the movable electrode and the fixed electrode changes, and the resistance value changes. You may do.

  The key top 15 shown in FIG. 1 is formed of a light-transmitting synthetic resin material. On the front surface 15s of the key top 15, a white base layer and a surface layer such as black or dark green covering the white base layer are formed. The underlayer and the surface layer are formed by painting or plating.

  As shown in FIG. 2, an illumination instruction unit 31 is provided on a part of the front surface 15s of the key top 15. In the illumination instruction unit 31, a part of the surface layer is removed by laser processing or the like, and characters and symbols are displayed. A display unit is formed. As shown in FIG. 2, the formation position of the illumination instruction section 31 and the display contents thereof are different for each key top 15.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the light guide sheet 3 constituting the illumination device 30 has irregular reflection portions 35 formed at a plurality of locations on the back surface thereof. Each of the irregular reflection portions 35 faces the lower side of the illumination instruction portion 31 formed on the plurality of key tops 15.

  In the key top 15a, which is one of the plurality of key tops 15 shown in FIG. 2, the illumination instruction unit 31 is formed with three display units indicating characters and symbols. As shown in FIG. 3, the irregular reflection portion 35 a facing below is divided into three circular regions 36, and the circular region 36 faces each of the three display units. Three circular regions 36 are formed in the illumination instruction section 31 of the key top 15b shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, three circular regions 36 are formed in the irregularly reflecting portion 35 b located below the key top 15 b, and each circular region 36 corresponds to each of the illumination instruction portions 31 of the key top 15 b. Is facing the display.

  On the back surface of the light guide sheet 3, a plurality of fine recesses 37 are formed inside the circular region 36. The concave portion 37 is a continuous straight line, an intermittent line, a dot, or the like, and is finely formed on the back surface of the light guide sheet 3 so as to exhibit an irregular reflection function. The recess 37 is formed by, for example, laser processing. The circular region 36 only means that the region in which the plurality of concave portions 37 are accommodated is a circle, and the circular region 36 has a concave portion, a convex portion, or a print formed on the outline thereof. is not.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of quadrangular recesses 38 are formed on the edges 30 a and 30 b facing the lower side of the light guide sheet 3. The light source 8 mounted on the surface 4a of the reflection sheet 4 is positioned inside the recess 38 and faces the inner end 38a of the recess 38 serving as an input surface.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of reflective coating films 41 are provided on the surface 4 a of the reflective sheet 4, that is, the surface 4 a facing the back surface of the light guide sheet 3. The portion provided with the reflective coating film 41 functions as a reflective surface. The reflective coating film 41 is formed with a hue having a high light reflection function such as white or metallic color. The reflective coating film 41 is formed by screen printing or the like.

  The reflective coating film 41 is formed in a shape that can individually face each of the irregular reflection portions 35 formed on the light guide sheet 3 positioned thereon. Of the plurality of reflective coatings 41, the reflective coatings 41a and 41b have a triangular shape, and face each other under the irregular reflection portions 35a and 35b shown in FIG. The reflective coating films 41a and 41b have areas that can be opposed to the three circular regions 36 constituting the irregular reflection portions 35a and 35b, respectively. The reflective coating film 41c shown in FIG. 4 has an oval shape, and has an area that can be opposed to the two circular regions 36 that constitute the irregular reflection part 35c while facing the irregular reflection part 35c shown in FIG. The reflective coating film 41d shown in FIG. 4 has a rectangular shape, and has an area that can be opposed to the six circular regions 36 constituting the irregular reflection portion 35d so as to oppose the irregular reflection portion 35d shown in FIG.

  The light source 8 is fixed to the inside of the edge portions 40a and 40b facing the lower side of the reflection sheet 4 in the figure. In addition, a wiring layer 42 is formed in a range of a predetermined width inside the edge portions 40 a and 40 b of the reflection sheet 4. The wiring layer 42 is formed of a resin such as ink containing a low-resistance filler such as silver paste. The wiring layer 42 is formed by screen printing or the like.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the wiring layer 42 includes a ground layer 42g and a plurality of power layers 42a, 42b, 42c, 42d, 42e,. The ground layer 42g is connected to all the ground-side terminals of the plurality of light sources 8. The power layer 42a is connected to the power supply side terminal of the light source 8 located at the right end of FIG. Similarly, the power layers 42b, 42c, 42d, 42e,... Are connected to the power supply side terminals of the second and subsequent light sources 8 from the right side of FIG. Each electrode of the light source 8 is electrically connected to the wiring layer 42. The electrical connection means is soldering, low-temperature soldering, conductive adhesive, metal clip, or the like.

  5 and 6 are cross-sectional views of the laminate of the reflection sheet 4 and the light guide sheet 3 cut at the positions indicated by the VV line and the VI-VI line in FIG. As shown in this cross-sectional view, each wiring layer 42 is covered with an insulating layer 43 such as an organic insulating layer. As shown in FIG. 5, a spacer layer 44 is formed on the surface 4 a of the reflection sheet 4, and each light source 8 is installed on the spacer layer 44. When a part of the light guide sheet 3 is overlaid on the insulating layer 43 or on another layer formed on the surface 4 a of the reflective sheet 4, an inner end surface that is an input surface of the light guide sheet 3 38 a is slightly separated from the surface 4 a of the reflection sheet 4. However, when the light source 8 is installed on the spacer layer 44, the height is set such that the light emitted from the light source 8 can be efficiently incident from the inner end surface 38a as the input surface.

  As shown in FIG. 4, several reflective coating films 41a, 41e, 41f, and 41g are formed at positions overlapping the routing area of the wiring layer. As shown in FIG. 6, these reflective coating films 41 a, 41 e, 41 f, and 41 g are printed on the surface of an insulating layer 43 that covers the wiring layer 42. The irregular reflection portions 35a, 35e, 35f, and 35g of the light guide sheet 3 shown in FIG. 3 are located on the reflective coating films 41a, 41e, 41f, and 41g, and the irregular reflection portions 35a, 35e, 35f, and 35g are located on the irregular reflection portions 35a, 35e, 35f, and 35g. Are opposed to the illumination instruction units 31a, 31e, 31f, and 31g of the key tops 15a, 15e, 15f, and 15g shown in FIG.

  As described above, by forming the reflective coating films 41a, 41e, 41f, and 41g on the surface of the wiring layer 42 via the insulating layer 43 by printing, the irregular reflection portion and the illumination instruction portion can be disposed thereon. That is, the operation unit having the illumination instruction unit can be disposed on the routing area of the wiring layer 42, and it is not necessary to provide an extra space for routing the wiring layer 42.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the reflective sheet 4 is integrally formed with a drawing piece 45 that protrudes downward in the figure. The drawer piece 45 protrudes from the edge portion 30b of the light guide sheet 3 shown in FIG. The lead piece 45 is formed with lead layers 42h and 42i that are individually connected to the ground layer 42g and the power layers 42a, 42b, 42c, 42d,. A connector piece 45a is integrally formed at the tip of the drawer piece 45, and a land portion is formed on the connector piece 45a so as to be electrically connected to the drawer layers 42h and 42i.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the illumination device 30 is a thin unit of the illumination device 30 in which the reflection sheet 4 to which the light source 8 is fixed and the light guide sheet 3 are overlapped and partially joined. Can be handled as Since the thin unit of the illumination device 30 is composed of two sheets, it can be configured with a minimum number of parts and can be configured to be thin. The thin unit can be incorporated into the input device 1 simply by incorporating it into the input device 1 such as a keyboard device and inserting the connector piece 45a into a plug provided in the input device 1.

  When the input device 1 needs to be illuminated, the light source 8 is energized from the wiring layer 42 and the light source 8 emits light. The light emitted from the light source 8 enters the sheet from the inner end 38 a of the light guide sheet 3. Illumination light propagating in the light guide sheet 3 is diffusely reflected by the concave portion 37 of the irregular reflection portion 35, and a part of the reflected light is transmitted upward through the surface of the light guide sheet 3. The light exiting the light guide sheet 3 passes through the membrane laminate 20 and the opening of the support plate 5 and is given to the illumination instruction unit 31 of the key top 15, and the characters and symbols of the illumination instruction unit 31 are illuminated brightly. It is.

  In addition, in any layer between the light guide sheet 3 and the key top 15, there is an aperture hole for limiting the range of light diffused by the irregular reflection unit 35 and emitted upward to the range of the illumination instruction unit 31. A shielding sheet or the like may be provided. Alternatively, a hole may be opened in the light guide sheet 3, the light source 8 may be positioned inside the hole, and light may enter the light guide sheet 3 from the inner peripheral end surface of the hole.

  The input device of the present invention is not limited to the keyboard device as in the above-described embodiment, and may be an operation device for various electronic devices such as portable devices, a remote operation device, or an operation device mounted on an automobile. In these operation devices, a key top is not provided in the pressing operation unit, but a normal push button or a dome-shaped pressing unit that reverses the metal and presses the front substrate 21 is provided.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Input device 2 Chassis 3 Light guide layer (light guide sheet)
5 Support plate 6a 1st support piece 6b 2nd support piece 8 Light source 10 Press operation part 15 Key top 16 1st movable support member 17 2nd movable support member 18 Elastic member 20 Membrane laminated body 25 Operation | movement part 30 Illumination Device 31 Illumination instruction portion 35 Diffuse reflection portion 36 Circular region 37 Recess 41 Reflective coating 42 Wiring layer 45 Draw piece 45a Connector piece

Claims (9)

The light guide layer has a reflective layer disposed on the back side thereof, and the light guide layer is formed with an irregular reflection portion that emits light traveling inside from the surface, and a reflective surface is formed on the surface of the reflective layer In the illumination device,
A light source facing the input surface of the light guide layer is fixed to the surface of the reflective layer, and a wiring layer for supplying power to the light source is formed on the surface of the reflective layer. .   The illumination device according to claim 1, wherein the light guide layer is a light guide sheet formed of a light-transmitting synthetic resin, and the reflection layer is a reflection sheet formed of a light-transmitting synthetic resin.   The illumination device according to claim 1, wherein the reflective surface is a reflective coating film.   The illumination device according to claim 3, wherein the irregular reflection portions are formed at a plurality of locations of the light guide layer, and the reflective coating film is partially formed at a location facing each of the irregular reflection portions.   The illumination device according to claim 4, wherein the irregular reflection portion is located on the wiring layer, and the reflective coating film is formed on the wiring layer.   The illumination device according to claim 5, wherein the wiring layer is covered with an insulating layer, and the reflective coating film is formed on the insulating layer.   The spacer layer is provided on the surface of the reflective layer, the light source is fixed on the spacer layer, and the light source faces the input surface of the light guide layer. Illuminator.   The illumination device according to claim 1, wherein a drawer piece is formed integrally with the reflective layer, and a tip portion of the drawer piece is a connector portion.   The plurality of operation units having an illumination instruction unit, an operation unit that changes an electric signal when the operation unit is operated from the front side, and a back side of the operation unit. An input device, comprising: an illumination device, wherein the light reflected by the irregular reflection unit is provided to the illumination instruction unit.

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