JP2775661B2 - Control key device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the display of a display.
Control keys for performing control operations corresponding to the
-Control operations, especially direction and direction.
About the structure of the key for cormorants.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the Japanese Patent Application No. 4-173020, the applicant of the present invention discloses a wiring board having at least a pair of electrical contact portions symmetrically arranged on a predetermined same circumference, and an electrical contact portion of the wiring substrate. A conductive elastic member that has a conductive portion disposed directly above, makes the conductive portion contact the electrical contact portion by being elastically deformed by receiving a pressing force, and conducts the electrical contact portion,
A front case that covers the surface of the wiring board on the electrical contact portion side,
In a control key device including a key portion exposed from the front case, and a pad including a contact pressing portion capable of contacting the conductive elastic member and pressing the conductive elastic member, wherein the front case has the circumference. A through hole coaxial with the center line of the pad, has a spherical dome portion protruding on the wiring board side outward of the through hole, and a key portion of the pad and a contact point pressing portion are provided. A control key device is proposed in which the key portion slides on the outer surface of the dome portion and the contact pressing portion slides on the inner surface of the dome portion while being connected through the through hole of the front case.

[0003]

The control key device described above has a structure in which the key portion always comes into sliding contact with the outer surface of the dome portion, and the contact pressing portion always comes into sliding contact with the inner surface of the dome portion. Therefore, during operation, the pad always slides on the upper and lower surfaces of the dome portion. In order to press the contact by pressing the pad to tilt the contact pressing portion, the pad must slide and tilt the dome portion, and a certain stroke is required until the contact is pressed. For this reason, the operation takes time and there is a problem in operability. It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-described problems and to provide a control key device that has improved responsiveness during operation and has a small space around a key portion.

[0004]

According to the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a wiring board having at least a pair of electrical contact portions symmetrically arranged on a predetermined same circumference, and each electrical contact of the wiring board are provided. A conductive elastic member that has a conductive portion disposed immediately above the portion, and that is elastically deformed by receiving a pressing force, thereby bringing the conductive portion into contact with the electrical contact portion to make the electrical contact portion conductive, and an electrical contact of the wiring board A control key comprising: a front case that covers the surface of the portion; a key portion that is exposed from the front case; and a pad that includes a contact pressing portion that contacts the conductive elastic member and presses the conductive elastic member. In the apparatus, the front case has a through-hole coaxial with the center line of the circumference, and has a spherical dome portion that is concave on the upper side of the front case outward of the through-hole.

The key portion of the pad and the contact pressing portion are connected to each other through a through hole of the front case, and the key portion has a sliding contact portion on the back surface for sliding contact with the concave spherical surface of the dome portion. It is placed on the conductive part of the member. Therefore, a control key device is provided in which the upper surface of the contact pressing portion contacts the rear surface of the front case, and the sliding portion on the lower surface of the key top is provided with a gap from the outer surface of the dome portion of the front case.

[0006]

The operation of the above arrangement will be described. A concave spherical dome portion is provided on the upper side of the front case, a through hole is provided at the center of the dome portion, and the key top and the contact pressing portion are fixed through the through hole. The sliding contact portion of the top is made slidable on the surface of the dome portion, the contact pressing portion is placed on the conducting portion of the conducting elastic portion, and the key top is lifted upward. At this time, the contact pressing portion comes into contact with the back surface of the dome portion, and the key top is lifted with a gap from the dome portion.

When the hand is placed on the key top at the time of the operation, the key top is lowered, and the sliding portion of the key top comes into contact with the surface of the dome portion to enter a standby state. When a force is applied in the direction in which the key top is pressed, the key top can be tilted at substantially the same position along the center of curvature of the dome of the concave spherical surface, and the contact pressing portion is tilted to make the conductive elastic portion conductive. The part is brought into contact with the wiring board to make the electrical contact conductive.

[0008]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a control key device, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the control key device, and FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the control key device with a part of the device cut away. The control key device 1 includes a key top 2, a front case 3, a contact pressing portion 4,
It comprises a conductive elastic part 5, a wiring board 6 and a back case 7. The wiring board 6 has two pairs of electrical contact portions 6a, 6b and 6c, 6d symmetrically arranged on the circumference E of FIG.
An opening 6e is provided at the center of each electrical contact. The back case 7 is integrated with the front case 3 and incorporates a control key device. An annular wall 7 a is provided below the electrical contact portion of the wiring board 6 to support the wiring board 6.

As shown in FIG. 3, the conductive elastic portion 5 has conductive portions 5a to 5d disposed immediately above the respective electric contact portions 6a to 6d of the wiring board 6, and receives elastic force by receiving a pressing force from above. By the deformation, the conductive portions 5a to 5d are brought into contact with the corresponding electric contact portions 6a to 6d, respectively, so that the electric contact portions are conducted. The conductive elastic portion 5 has an opening 5e at the center. As shown in FIG. 2, the conductive portions 5a to 5d
A gap g is provided in the vertical direction between the gaps a to 6d.

The front case 3 covers the surface of the wiring board 6, and the surface of the front case is dug down into a short cylinder, and the bottom surface is slightly inclined upward toward the center, and penetrates coaxially with the center line L of the circumference E. It has a hole 3a and a spherical dome portion 3b that is concave on the upper side outward of the through hole 3a. The center of curvature P of the dome is located at the center of the upper surface of the keytop. The key top 2 has a circular protruding shape exposed from the front case 3 and has cross projections 2a to 2d on the upper surface. The lower surface of the key top 2 is a part of a convex spherical surface inscribed in the dome portion 3b of the front case. A certain sliding contact portion 2e is provided, a round hole 2f is provided in the center of the lower surface of the key top toward the lower side, and a protrusion 2g is provided in the vertical direction in the round hole 2f. The projections are to be fitted when the is inserted.

The contact pressing portions 4 are provided with horizontal foot portions 4a to 4d which are in contact with the conductive portions 5a to 5d of the conductive elastic portion 5, respectively.
d is a concave spherical portion 4 inscribed on the back surface of the dome portion 3b of the front case.
It is provided horizontally on all sides above e. Foot parts 4a-4d
Is provided close to the height of the center of curvature of the dome. The contact pressing portion 4 is provided with a cylinder 4f at the upper center, and the cylinder 4f is provided with a notch 4g in the height direction. Therefore, the contact pressing portion 4 inserts the cylinder 4f through the through hole 3a of the front case into the round hole 2f of the key top above the through hole 3a, and the upper end of the cylinder abuts on the ceiling 2h of the round hole 2f and is fixed. Are kept at a certain distance and are connected to each other. Through hole 3
The diameter of a is larger than the diameter of the cylinder 4f, and the key top 2 can be tilted.

An annularly cut-out wall surface 3c is formed on the lower side of the outer periphery of the dome portion 3b of the front case.
d is provided at four locations where there is no d.
The foot portions 4a to 4d of the contact pressing portion are located from between. The contact pressing portion 4 includes a foot portion 4 provided on all four sides above the concave spherical portion 4e.
The conductive portions 5a to 5d can be pressed from above by contacting the conductive elastic portions 5 from above by a to 4d. At this time, when the foot portions 4a to 4d are close to the height of the center of curvature of the dome 3b, the feet 4a to 4d press the conductive portions 5a to 5d substantially horizontally.

The cross projections 2a to 2d of the key top 2 are
It is formed at a position corresponding to the electric contact portions 6a to 6d. The sliding portion 2e of the key top 2 has a vertical gap s between itself and the outer surface of the dome portion 3b, and the contact pressing portion 4 connects the foot portions 4a to 4d to the conductive portions 5a to 5d of the elastic portion 5 for conduction. And the concave spherical portion 4e is in sliding contact with the inner surface of the dome portion 3b.

When the operator holds the control key device and puts his hand lightly on the key top 2, the foot portion 4 of the contact pressing portion 4 fixed to the key top 2 lightly held by the hand
a to 4d are lowered downward against the elasticity of the conductive elastic portion 5, and the sliding contact portion 2e of the key top is replaced with the dome portion 3b of the front case.
Abuts the surface. In this state, the foot portions 4a to 4d of the contact pressing portion 4 uniformly push down the conductive portions 5a to 5d of the conductive elastic portion 5, but all the conductive portions 5a to 5d come into contact with the electrical contacts 6a to 6d of the wiring board 6. do not do.

This is because the key top 2 is lowered by the gap s between the sliding contact portion 2e of the key top and the dome portion 3b of the front case. Even if the conductive portions 5a to 5d are lowered by the gap s, the vertical gap g between the conductive portion and the wiring board is larger, and the conductive portions 5a to 5d do not abut on the electrical contact portions 6a to 6d of the wiring board 6. .

If the operator intends, for example, to conduct the electrical contacts 6c, the operator presses the corresponding cross-shaped projection 2c from a state in which a finger is placed on the upper surface of the key top 2. Due to this pressing force, the sliding contact portion 2e of the key top 2 slides on the surface of the dome portion 3b, tilts at the center of curvature P of the dome 3b, and the contact pressing portion 4 fixed to the key top 2 tilts.
The foot part 4c of the contact pressing part 4 is the conductive part 5 of the elastic part 5 for conduction.
Press part c so that it slides toward the center. As a result, the conducting elastic portion 5 is elastically deformed, and the electric contact portion 6c is conducted by the conductive portion 5c.

In this case, the operator previously sets his hand on the key top 2
In this state, the sliding portion 2e of the keytop is in contact with the dome portion 3b of the front case, so that the distance between the conductive portion 5c and the electrical contact portion 6c is g-s. In this state, the projection 2c of the key top is pushed down, the convex spherical portion 2g slides and tilts the outer surface of the dome portion 3b, and the foot portion 4c of the contact pressing portion is pushed down by the distance gs to make the electrical contact. The part 6c conducts. At this time, the opposite foot portion 4d tilts upward between the wall surfaces 3c on both sides thereof.

On the other hand, when the pressing force on the key top 2 by the operator's finger is removed, the foot portion 4c of the contact pressing portion 4 is lifted by the restoring force of the conductive portion 5c of the conductive elastic portion 5. As a result, the contact pressing portion 4 is lifted upward, the key top 2 is lifted until the concave spherical portion 4e of the contact pressing portion contacts the inner surface of the dome portion 3b of the front case, and the sliding contact portion 2e of the key top is moved to the dome portion 3b. The key top 2 returns to the center position away from the surface, and a gap s is opened between the key top 2 and the dome portion 3b.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, the operator can
When you put your hand on the top,
The sliding contact portion contacts the dome portion of the front case. And conduction
Conductive part of the elastic member for the board and the electrical contact part of the wiring board approached
State. When the operator performs key operations from this state,
Even if the key top is slightly tilted, electrical contact with conductive parts
Since the points come in contact with each other, the responsiveness of the key operation is improved. Ma
Also, since the key top moves slightly,
The gap between the periphery of the front case and the front case can be reduced.
Make sure that no garbage or hands are trapped here.
Can be.

Further, the key top 2 extends along the dome portion 3b.
It is not necessary to provide a pivot point on the substrate.
No. Therefore, a large impact from above on the key top operation surface
Is applied to the wiring board through the pivot point.
Can be distributed to the table case without being transmitted to
You. Therefore, the wiring and the wiring joint on the wiring board are damaged.
Can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a control key device.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a control key device.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view in which a part of the control key device is cut out.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Control key device 2 ... Key top 3 ... Front case 4 ... Contact pressing part 5 ... Elastic member for electric conduction 6 ... Wiring board 7 ... Back case

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A wiring board having at least a pair of electric contact portions arranged symmetrically on a predetermined same circumference, and a conductive portion arranged just above each electric contact portion of the wiring board, and a pressing force is provided. A conductive elastic member that makes the conductive portion contact the electrical contact portion by receiving and elastically deforming the electrical contact portion, a front case that covers the surface of the wiring substrate on the electrical contact portion side, and is exposed from the front case. A key portion, and a pad formed of a contact pressing portion capable of contacting the conductive elastic member and pressing the conductive elastic member, wherein the front case has a center line of the circumference. It has a coaxial through-hole and a spherical dome that is concave on the upper side of the front case outside the through-hole, and the key part of the pad and the contact pressing part are connected through the through-hole of the front case. With the back of the key The contact pressing portion is placed on the conductive portion of the conductive elastic member, and the upper surface of the contact pressing portion contacts the holding portion on the back side of the front case. A control key device, wherein a sliding portion of a key top is provided with a gap from a dome portion of the front case.