JP2565971Y2 - Push button switch - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a push button switch, and more particularly to a push button switch suitable for use as a membrane switch.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional side view showing a conventional push button switch of this kind.

As shown in FIG. 1, this type of push button switch includes two flexible substrates 101 and 102 each having a circuit pattern and contact patterns 104 and 105 printed on predetermined portions thereof on a flexible synthetic resin film. Substrate 10
1, 102 via a spacer 103, both contact patterns 104, 10
On the membrane switch having a structure in which the 5 are superimposed so as to be opposed to each other, a disc-shaped upwardly curved elastic metal click plate 106 is attached and a synthetic resin push button 107 is disposed thereon. It is configured.

When the push button 107 is pressed in the direction of arrow A, the click plate 106 is inverted and a click feeling is generated.
The space between the opposed contact patterns 104 and 105 is turned on.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, in such a conventional pushbutton switch using a membrane switch, it is necessary to dispose the click plate 106 and the pushbutton 107 on the membrane switch. When the switch is viewed from the pressing direction of the push button 107, the area occupied by the push button switch becomes large, and there is a problem that the area is too large depending on the place where such a push button switch is provided and cannot be installed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides a push button switch using a membrane switch, which can reduce the area occupied by the push button switch when viewed from the pressing direction of the push button. It is in.

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a membrane switch in which a switch contact portion is provided in a predetermined portion and an elastic plate (click plate) having a dish-shaped shape is attached on the switch contact portion. , The membrane switch portion is housed from the upper opening of the case along one side surface inside the case, and in the case, a substantially central portion of the elastic metal plate is bent so as to be formed into a substantially rectangular shape. The plate is housed in the case substantially parallel to the membrane switch so that the bent portion is located at a position facing the elastic plate of the membrane switch, and the lower end of the pressing plate is locked in the case,
The case is vertically movable along the surface of the membrane switch in the case, and a predetermined elastic force is applied to the pressing plate by pressing the upper end of the pressing plate, and at the same time, the bending portion of the pressing plate is caused by the pressing. A push button is incorporated so as to be brought into contact with the surface of the elastic plate of the switch, and the upper end of the push plate is engaged with the push button so as to move in the same direction as the pushing direction of the incorporated push button. By pressing, the pressing plate bends and its bent portion protrudes toward the elastic plate with respect to its upper and lower ends, inverts the elastic plate and simultaneously turns on the switch contact portion, while attaching a cover to the upper opening of the case, At that time, a flexible substrate protruding from the membrane switch was bent and clamped between the cover and the case.

[Action]

If the push button switch is configured as described above, pressing the push button 40 causes the pressing plate 30 to bend, and the central bent portion (the pressing portion 31) presses the switch contact portion 17 of the membrane switch 10; The switch contact 17 is turned on. Here, the pressing direction of the push button is a direction parallel to the plane of the membrane switch. Therefore, the area of the push button switch occupying in the pressing direction of the push button is reduced.

〔Example〕

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

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the push button switch according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the push button switch 1 includes a membrane switch 10 formed on a part of the flexible substrate 5,
The case 20 includes a case 20, a pressing plate 30, a push button 40, and a cover 50.

 Hereinafter, each component will be described.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an expanded state of the membrane switch 10.

As shown in FIG. 1, the membrane switch 10 is a flexible board 5 having circuit patterns 11 and 12 formed on a flexible synthetic resin film and contact patterns 13 and 14 serving as switch contact portions formed on predetermined portions thereof. The spacer layers 15 and 16 made of a thermoplastic resist are printed so as to cover the periphery of the respective contact patterns 13 and 14, and the flexible substrate 5 is folded at a portion indicated by a dotted line a in FIG. The spacers 14 and 15 are opposed to each other with the spacer layers 15 and 16 interposed therebetween, and the spacer layers 15 and 16 are heated to fuse the two.

As shown in FIG. 1, a click plate 18 made of a metal plate is affixed to the membrane switch 10 on a portion of the switch contact portion 17 constituted by the contact patterns 13 and 14 facing each other.

The flexible board 5 above the membrane switch 10 is provided with a hole 19 through which a projection 41 of a push button 40 described below is inserted.

Next, the case 20 is formed in a rectangular shape as shown in FIG.
21 and a side opening 22 are provided. Also this upper opening 21
Is provided with an insertion port 23 into which the membrane switch 10 is inserted.

The pressing plate 30 is formed by bending a substantially central portion of a substantially strip-shaped elastic metal plate to have a substantially rectangular shape. Here, the bent portion serves as a pressing portion 31 for pressing the switch contact portion 17. At the lower end of the pressing plate 30, the pressing plate 30 is
A locking piece 32 for locking to the lower end surface of the unit 20 is provided. The upper end 33 of the pressing plate 30 is slightly bent so as to engage with the upper end surface of a concave portion 42 of the push button 40 described below.

The push button 40 is integrally formed of a synthetic resin, and a protrusion 41 is provided on an upper portion thereof.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the push button 40 (showing the opposite side surface of FIG. 1).

As shown in the drawing, the push button 40 is provided with a concave portion 42. The recess 42 is formed in such a shape that the pressing plate 30 shown in FIG. 1 can be inserted and the upper end portion 33 of the pressing plate 30 can be supported on the upper end surface.

The cover 50 is made of a metal plate and has a shape that covers the open upper opening 21 and the side opening 22 of the case 20. A notch 51 is provided on the upper surface so that the projection 41 of the push button 40 projects.

 Next, how to assemble the push button switch 1 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, first, the membrane switch 10 to which the click plate 18 is attached is inserted into the case 20 from the insertion opening 23 of the case 20.

 Next, the pressing plate 30 is inserted through the side opening 22 of the case 20.

Next, the push button 40 is stored in the case 20.
The upper end portion 33 of the pressing plate 30 is resiliently incorporated into the upper surface of the concave portion 42 of 40 (see FIG. 3).

Next, the portion of the flexible board 5 above the membrane switch 10 is bent at a substantially right angle to the upper side of the push button 40, and the projection 41 of the push button 40 is inserted into the hole 19 of the flexible board 5. Next, the cover 50 is covered so as to cover the upper opening 21 and the side opening 22 of the case 20, and the four protrusions 24 provided on the case 20 are inserted into the four holes 52 provided on the cover 50 to perform heat caulking. Cover
When the case 50 is fixed to the case 20, the push button switch 1 as shown in FIG. 4 is completed.

As shown in the drawing, the push button switch 1 has a vertically long shape, and the area occupied by the push button switch 1 in the pressing direction is reduced.

 Next, the operation of the push button switch 1 will be described.

 FIG. 5 is a side sectional view of the push button switch 1.

Normally, the push button 40 is pushed upward by the elastic force of the pressing plate 30 as shown in FIG.

When the projection 41 of the push button 40 is pressed downward as shown in FIG. 3B, the pressing plate 30 is bent and the pressing portion 31 is pressed.
Moves to the left in the figure, and the pressing portion 31 inverts the click plate 18 to generate a click feeling, and presses the switch contact portion 17 to make contact between the contact patterns 13 and 14. And turn it on.

When the pressing on the protrusion 41 is released, the push button 40 returns to the original state shown in FIG. 3A by the restoring force of the pressing plate 30, and the space between the two contact patterns 13 and 14 is turned off.

In the above embodiment, the membrane switch has a structure in which the flexible substrate is folded and doubled, but the present invention is not limited to this.

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view showing a membrane switch 70 having another structure that can be used in the present invention.

As shown in the figure, the membrane switch 70 has a structure in which a resilient member 72 is mounted on a flexible substrate 71 having a circuit pattern (not shown) formed on the upper surface.

Here, this resilient member 72 has a dish-down shape,
At the center of the lower surface, a conductive plate 73 made of a conductive material is attached. The conductive plate on the top of the membrane switch 70
Two contact patterns (not shown) at the position facing 73
(The switch contact portion 74 is formed by these two contact patterns and the conductive plate 73). When the resilient member 72 is pressed by the pressing portion 31 of the pressing plate 30 shown in FIG. 1, the conductive plate 73 comes into contact with the two contact patterns and turns on between them.

As described above, the present invention can be applied to any structure of a membrane switch having a switch contact portion.

[Effect of the invention]

As described in detail above, the push button switch according to the present invention has the following excellent effects.

The area occupied by the push button switch when viewed from the pressing direction of the push button can be reduced.

The push button presses the upper end of the pressing plate to apply a predetermined resilience to the pressing plate, and at the same time, the bent portion of the pressing plate is brought into contact with the surface of the elastic plate of the membrane switch in the case. Therefore, even when the push button is not pressed, the bent portion of the press plate is in contact with the surface of the elastic plate, and at the same time, the elastic force of the press plate acts on the push button. Therefore, since the pressing plate is always in contact with both the case and the elastic plate, when pressing the push button, the force acting on the pressing plate is a force for directly pressing the elastic plate, and the pressing feeling and clicking feeling are good. In spite of this, the members constituting it may be a pressing plate having a simple structure and a generally used elastic plate having a dish-down shape, so that the cost of parts can be reduced.

The upper end of the pressing plate used in the present invention is engaged with the push button so as to move in the same direction as the pressing direction of the built-in push button, so that when the push button is pressed, the pressing plate bends and its bending portion. Projecting toward the switch contact portion with respect to the upper and lower ends thereof to turn on the switch contact portion.
In other words, the press plate is pushed in such a way that the interval between the upper and lower ends of the substantially L-shaped press plate is reduced and the bent portion is pushed out. Part can be extruded.
Therefore, the ON / OFF stroke of the push button can be shortened.

In the present invention, the switch contact portion housed in the case is constituted by a membrane switch, and the membrane switch is a part of the flexible board, so that a push button switch is provided on a part of the flexible board to which various electronic components can be attached. Can be provided directly, and assembling of the electronic device becomes easier and more reliable than when the push button switch is configured as a single item. That is, compared to a case where the push button switch is separately assembled as a single item and a metal terminal protruding from the push button switch is connected to a predetermined electrode pattern of a flexible board on which various electronic components are attached, a connection failure at the connection portion may occur. Since the connection work is not required, the manufacturing process is simplified, and the manufacturing can be performed easily and reliably.

In addition, in the present invention, the flexible board protruding from the membrane switch is bent and clamped between the cover and the case, so that the push button switch is securely attached to the flexible board, and the force for pulling out the flexible board from the push button switch is secured. Can withstand. Moreover, since the surface of the flexible substrate and the upper surface of the push button switch can be made parallel to each other, it is preferable that the pressing direction of the push button is set to a direction perpendicular to the surface of the flexible substrate when attaching the flexible substrate to the electronic device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the push button switch according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an expanded state of the membrane switch 10,
3 is a perspective view showing the push button 40, FIG. 4 is an overall perspective view of the push button switch 1 according to the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 6 is a schematic side sectional view showing a push button switch using a conventional membrane switch, and FIG. 7 is a side view showing a membrane switch 70 having another structure which can be used in the present invention. It is sectional drawing. In the figure, 1 ... push button switch, 10 ... membrane switch, 17
.., A switch contact portion, 20 ... a case, 30 ... a pressing plate, 31 ... a pressing portion (bent portion), 40 ... a push button.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Masahiko Fujita 335 Kariyuku, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Teikoku Communication Industry Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-2-112119 (JP, A) JP-A-60 JP-A-236418 (JP, A) JP-A-62-283509 (JP, A) JP-A-1-255119 (JP, A) JP-A-52-145377 (JP, U) JP-A-61-158038 (JP, U) ) Jigyo Hei 1-38834 (JP, Y2) Jigyo Sho 59-39389 (JP, Y2)

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] A membrane switch having a switch contact portion provided in a predetermined portion and an elastic plate having a dish-down shape attached to the switch contact portion is provided in a part of a flexible substrate, and the membrane switch portion is provided in a case. The upper portion of the membrane switch is accommodated along one side surface thereof, and a substantially central portion of the elastic metal plate is bent to form a substantially plate-shaped pressing plate in the case. It is housed in a case substantially parallel to the membrane switch so as to face the elastic plate, the lower end of the pressing plate is locked in the case, and it can move up and down along the membrane switch surface in the case. And pressing the upper end of the pressing plate to apply a predetermined elastic force to the pressing plate, and at the same time, pressing the bent portion of the pressing plate against the surface of the elastic plate of the membrane switch. The push button is incorporated so that the push button is in a state of being pushed, and the upper end of the push plate is engaged with the push button so as to move in the same direction as the push direction of the incorporated push button. The bent portion protrudes toward the elastic plate with respect to the upper and lower ends thereof, thereby turning over the elastic plate and simultaneously turning on the switch contact portion. At the same time, a cover is attached to the upper opening of the case. A push button switch characterized in that a flexible substrate protruding from a connector is bent and clamped.