JP2924427B2 - Key switch device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a key switch device, and more particularly, to a key switch device having a simple structure with a reduced number of parts and
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a key switch device capable of reducing costs and suitable for use in a thin keyboard attached to a notebook type word processor, a notebook type personal computer, or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various types of key switch devices of this type have been proposed.
No. 30160, a guide formed by providing two locking portions corresponding to both the lower surface of a key top and a holder plate, and pivotally supporting a hinge member having a pair of locking pins at both ends in a crossed manner. A key switch device has been proposed in which a support member is disposed between a key top and a holder plate, and each locking pin is locked to a locking portion provided on each of the key top and the holder plate.

In this key switch device, each key top, guide support member, holder plate, rubber spring, and flexible circuit board constituting the key switch device are supported on a support plate, thereby achieving the key switch device. Have been.

[0004]

However, in the key switch device described in Japanese Patent Application No. 3-330160, the lock pin formed on the hinge member of the guide support member is connected to the lock portion of the key top and the holder. The holder plate is indispensable because it is configured to be locked between the locking portions of the plate.

[0005] Such a holder plate is relatively expensive to process, and the weight of the entire key switch device is increased by the existence of the holder plate.

As a result of various improvements, the present inventors have found a key switch device which can make the holder plate unnecessary and which does not hinder any key operation.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made in order to improve the problems of the prior art, and it is possible to reduce the number of parts by eliminating the need for a holder plate, thereby simplifying the structure and reducing the cost. It is another object of the present invention to provide a key switch device having good key operability.

[0007]

[MEANS FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEMS] To achieve the above object
The key switch device according to claim 1 , wherein the key top has two first locking portions suspended from the back surface ,
Switching that performs switching operation in accordance with vertical movement
Member and the key top and the switching member.
With two locking members formed at both ends.
Proposed arrangement of the flange members so that they can move freely with each other
And the inner support member is disposed below the switching member
A flexible circuit board, the flexible times to the upper surface
And a said support plate second locking portion corresponding to each first locking portion is formed to support the road substrate, said support plate
Composed of sheet metal and cut and raised sheet metal
Forming each of the second locking portions by performing processing,
The flexible board has an insertion hole for inserting each second locking part.
It is characterized by having been formed .

[0008]

In the key switch device according to the first aspect of the present invention , when the keytop is depressed, the respective hinge members mutually move.
As it moves , locking portions formed at both ends of each hinge member
The material is moved within the first locking portion on the back surface of the key top and the second locking portion formed on the support plate .

Further, when the key top is pressed, the key
The switching operation is performed via the switching member based on the top pressing operation . On the other hand, when the keytop is released from being pressed, each hinge member is returned to the original position together with the keytop by the elastic restoring force of the switching member.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of the key switch device showing a state where the key top is slightly pressed down, and FIG. 2 is an exploded explanatory view of the key switch device.

In these figures, the key top 1 is AB
It is molded from a synthetic resin such as S resin, and letters such as alphabets are formed on the upper surface thereof by printing or the like. Further, from the back surface of the key top 1, a holding member B formed by vertically suspending the two locking portions 2, 3 is provided integrally with the key top 1 main body.

The locking portion 2 slides horizontally on locking pins 13, 14 formed at one end of one of two hinge members 7, 8 to be described later, and has an end wall. 4A is provided with a locking groove 4 capable of abutting and locking, and the locking portion 3 slides locking pins 23 and 24 formed at one end of the other hinge member 8 in the horizontal direction. At the same time, a locking groove 5 is formed in the end wall 3A so as to be able to contact and lock.

Below the key top 1, a guide support member 6 for guiding and supporting the vertical movement of the key top 1 is provided. The guide support member 6 is composed of the hinge members 7, 8.

One hinge member 7, as shown in FIG.
Two base ends 10 and 11 are integrally formed at both ends of the base 9. From one side of the central part of the base 9, the shaft 1
The shaft 12 is supported by a shaft hole 20 formed in the other hinge member 8 described later.

The locking pins 13 and 14 of the hinge member 7
The locking pins 15 and 16 are arranged in a straight line about the shaft 12, and the distances from the shaft 12 are equal. In addition, the locking pins 21 and 22 and the locking pins 23 and 24 of the hinge portion 8 are arranged in a straight line with the shaft hole 20 as a center, and the distances from the shaft hole 20 are equal.

The hinge members 7 and 8 are connected to the shaft 1
In a state where the shaft hole 20 and the shaft hole 20 are rotatably connected, the shaft hole 20 is bent upward at the positions of the base ends 11 and 18. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, the rubber spring 31 is configured to have a large space below the shaft support portion A, and a rubber spring 31 having a substantially trapezoidal shape in a side view to be described later is efficiently stored below the shaft support portion A. You can do it.

Locking pins 13 and 14 extend from the side surfaces of the both end extending portions 10A of the base end portion 10. The locking pins 13 and 14 are connected to the locking portions 2 of the key top 1 described above. Is locked in the locking groove 4 provided in the first groove. Further, the base end portion 11 is formed in a U-shape in a plan view, and the locking pin 1 similar to the above is formed from the side surface of the U-shaped extended end portion 11A.
5, 16 are extended. Such locking pins 15, 16
Is locked by a locking portion 26 formed on a support plate 25 described later.

Further, as shown in FIG.
Two base ends 18 and 19 are integrally formed at both ends of the base 17. A shaft hole 20 is formed in the center of the base 17, and the hinge member 7 is formed in the shaft hole 20 as described above.
The shaft 12 provided on the base 9 is inserted. Further, the base end portion 18 is formed in a U-shape in plan view, and locking pins 21 and 22 extend from the U-shaped both end extending portions 18A. These locking pins 21 and 22 are used for supporting plate 2 to be described later.
5 is locked by the locking portion 27 formed.

Lock pins 23 and 24 similar to the above are extended from both end extending portions 19A of the base end portion 19, and the lock pins 23 and 24 are the lock portions 3 of the key top 1 described above. Is slidably locked in the locking groove 5 formed in the groove.

As described above, the guide support member 6 is formed by inserting the shaft 12 formed in the base 9 of one hinge member 7 into the shaft hole 20 formed in the base 17 of the other hinge member 8. The two hinge members 7 and 8 are mutually rotatable via a shaft support portion A including a shaft 12 and a shaft hole 17. The shaft support A is disposed at a substantially central position of the top of the rubber spring 31 so as to be opposed to each other as described later.

When the hinge members 7, 8 are attached to the key top 1, the locking pins 13, 14, 23, 24
Are in contact with the end walls 3A, 4A, thereby preventing backlash in the direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG.

Next, a support plate 25 made of a thin metal plate such as an iron plate is provided below the guide support member 6.
On the support plate 25, locking pins 15 and 16 extending from the base end 11 of the hinge member 7 and locking pins 21 and 22 extending from the base end 18 of the hinge member 8 are respectively provided. Locking portions 26 and 27 for locking are provided.

As shown in FIG. 5, the locking portions 26 are formed on the support plate 25 on which the key switches are arranged at three corners around each key switch while keeping one side of the rectangle continuous with the support plate 25. And a locking piece 35 (see FIG. 1 and FIG. 2) formed by cutting and raising into a predetermined shape.

The locking piece 35 includes locking pins 15 and 16.
35A and a horizontal portion 35A for slidingly guiding
The horizontal portion 35A and the hanging portion 35B have a hanging portion 35B which is hung from the outer end portion.
8 are formed. In the locking groove 28, the locking pins 15, 16 of the hinge member 7 are slidably locked in the horizontal direction.

Here, two ends of a first edge portion 28A (left side in FIG. 1) and a second edge portion 28B (right side in FIG. 1) are provided at both ends of the locking groove 28. A part is formed. Of these edge portions 28A, 28B, the first edge portion 28A slides the locking pins 15, 16 of the hinge member 7 to the left in FIG. The second edge portion 28B restricts the locking pins 15 and 16 from sliding to the right in FIG. 1 when the key top 1 is pressed.

The locking portion 27 is, like the locking portion 26,
As shown in FIG. 5, on the support plate 25 on which the key switches are arranged, at three corners around each key switch, three sides are punched out while keeping one side of the rectangle continuous with the support plate 25, and cut into a predetermined shape. And a locking piece 36 (see FIGS. 1 and 2).

The locking piece 36 includes the locking pins 21 and 22.
36A and a horizontal portion 36A for slidingly guiding
The horizontal portion 36A and the hanging portion 36B have a hanging portion 36B hanging down from an outer end portion of the locking groove 2 having a long hole shape.
9 is formed. Locking pins 21 and 22 of the hinge member 8 are locked in the locking groove 29 so as to be slidable in the horizontal direction.

At both ends of the locking groove 29, similarly to the locking groove 28, a first edge 29A (right side in FIG. 1) and a second edge 29B (left side in FIG. 1). Side) is formed. Of these edge portions 29A and 29B,
The first edge portion 29A regulates the sliding of the locking pins 21 and 22 of the hinge member 8 to the right in FIG. 1 when the key top 1 is not pressed down, as will be described later. When the key top 1 is depressed, the edge 29 </ b> B is
2 restricts sliding to the left in FIG.

Thus, when the key top 1 is not pressed down, the locking pins 15 of the hinge member 7 are attached to the first edge 28A of the locking groove 28 and the first edge 29A of the locking groove 29, respectively. 1
6 and the respective locking pins 21 and 22 of the hinge member 8 abut,
In cooperation with each other, the hinge members 7 and 8 move leftward in FIG.
The key top 1 is held in a non-pressed state in combination with an upward elastic force of a rubber spring 31 described later, which functions to restrict the sliding in the right direction.

When the key top 1 is pressed down, the second edge 28 B of the locking groove 28 and the second edge 29
5A and 5B, the locking pins 15 and 16 of the hinge member 7 and the locking pins 21 and 22 of the hinge member 8 abut, and cooperate with each other to move the hinge members 7 and 8 rightward and leftward in FIG. The key top 1 performs a switching operation by depressing the rubber spring 31 via the shaft support portion A as described later. Further, it is intended to prevent sliding in the horizontal direction.

In any case, the locking piece 3
The backlash of the hinge members 7 and 8 is prevented by 5 and 36, and the shaft 12 is prevented from coming out of the shaft hole 20.

Further, a flexible circuit board 30 on which a predetermined circuit pattern (not shown) including switch electrodes is formed above the support plate 25, and a switching member is provided at a position corresponding to the switch electrodes. An inverted cup-shaped rubber spring 31 is placed. The rubber spring 31 has a well-known movable electrode inside, and a shaft supporting portion A which supports the two hinge members 7 and 8 so as to be rotatable with each other is provided at the center of the upper surface thereof. Be placed. The top of the rubber spring 31 is formed to a thickness that does not deform even when pressed by the shaft support A.

The flexible circuit board 30 is formed with an insertion hole 30A (see FIGS. 1 and 2) corresponding to each of the locking pieces 35 and 36 for inserting the locking pieces 35 and 36 upward . As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the locking pieces 35 and 36 are inserted upward through the insertion holes 30 </ b> A and arranged above the flexible circuit board 30. here
In addition, the flexible circuit board 30 is
Is supported by the insertion of the locking pieces 35 and 36
It is positioned at an appropriate position on the plate 25.
is there.

As a result, when the key support 1 is pressed and the shaft support A moves downward, the shaft support A presses the rubber spring 31. When the pressing amount exceeds a certain limit, the rubber spring 31 buckles, The switch electrode is short-circuited by the movable electrode in the rubber spring 31.

At this time, the locking pins 13 and 14 are slid horizontally on the flexible circuit board 30 along the locking grooves 4 and the like. As a result, the rubber spring 31 moves up and down while being in contact with a substantially central position at the top of the rubber spring 31, so that the rubber spring 31 can be pressed vertically.

Next, the operation of the key switch device having the above configuration will be described. First, when the key top 1 is not pressed down, the locking pins 15 and 16 of the hinge member 7 abut and lock on the first edge portion 28A of the locking groove 28 in combination with the upward elastic force of the rubber spring 31. The locking pins 21 and 22 of the hinge member 8 are
9, the key top 1 is kept in the non-pressed state without being moved in the horizontal direction.

When the key top 1 is pressed down, the locking pins 13 and 14 of the hinge member 7 are moved horizontally (in the locking groove 4 of the locking portion 2) as the key top 1 moves downward. While sliding in the left direction in FIG. 1, the locking pins 23 and 24 of the hinge member 8 slide in the horizontal direction (right direction in FIG. 1) within the locking groove 5 of the locking portion 3. At the same time, the locking pins 21 and 22 of the hinge member 8 slide in the horizontal direction (left direction in FIG. 1) within the locking groove 29 of the locking portion 27 of the support plate 25, and Stop pin 1
Reference numerals 5 and 16 denote horizontal directions in the locking groove 28 of the locking portion 26 (FIG. 1).
Slide to the right (middle right).

As a result, the shaft supporting portion A for supporting the hinge members 7 and 8 with each other moves downward and gradually presses down the rubber spring 31. When the amount of pressing down exceeds a certain limit, the rubber support 31 is pushed down. The spring 31 is buckled.
Thereby, the movable electrode in the rubber spring 31 short-circuits the switch electrode on the flexible circuit board 30, and a predetermined switching operation is performed.

After the switching operation, the key top 1
Is further depressed by the key operation. At this time, the locking pins 13 and 14 of the hinge member 7 slide in the locking groove 4 to abut and lock on the end wall 4A and the hinge member 8 The locking pins 23 and 24 slide in the locking groove 5 and abut and lock on the end wall 5A. At the same time, the locking pins 15 and 16 of the hinge member 8 slide in the locking groove 28 to abut and lock on the second end portion 28B, and the locking pins 21 and 22 slides in the locking groove 29 and slides in the second edge 29
B is abutted and locked.

As a result, the key top 1 performs a switching operation by the movable electrode in the rubber spring 31 and the fixed electrode on the flexible circuit board 30 by depressing the rubber spring 31 via the shaft support A. Since the locking pins 13 and the like and the end walls 4A, 5A and the edge portions 28B, 29B cooperate with each other, the positioning is made at the pressed position, so that there is no unnecessary movement in the horizontal direction.

When the key top 1 is released from being depressed, the shaft supports A of the hinge members 7 and 8 are pushed upward by the elastic restoring force of the rubber spring 31. Accordingly, the locking pins 13, 14, 15, 16, 21, and 22 perform the reverse operation to the above, and as a result, the key top 1 is returned to the original non-pressed state.

As described above in detail, in the key switch device according to the present embodiment, the locking piece 3 is directly attached to the support plate 25.
5 and 36, locking portions 26 and 27 having locking grooves 28 and 29 are provided, and these locking pieces 35 and 36 are provided.
Since the locking grooves 28, 29 and the locking groove 4 and 5 of the engaging portion 2 formed in the key top 1 by the respective locking pin 13 or the like was set to respectively slidably engaging, conventional The required holder plate can be completely eliminated.

When the key top 1 is not pressed down, the locking pins 15 and 16 of the hinge member 7 are
The hinge member 8 is brought into contact with and locked at the edge portion 28A.
The first and second locking pins 21 and 22 are connected to the first edge portion 29A of the locking groove 29.
When the key top 1 is not depressed, the key top 1 is prevented from moving in the horizontal direction in combination with the upward elastic force of the rubber spring 31 and positioned.

Further, when the key top 1 is pressed,
The locking pins 13 and 14 of the hinge member 7 and the locking pins 23 and 24 of the hinge member 8 are respectively connected to the end walls 4A of the locking groove 4,
The locking pins 5 are brought into contact with the end wall 5A of the locking groove 5 and the locking pins 15 and 16 of the hinge member 7 and the locking pins 21 and 22 of the hinge member 8 are respectively connected to the second edge of the locking groove 28. 28
B, since the key groove 1 is brought into contact with and locked to the second edge portion 29B of the locking groove 29, the switching operation is performed between the movable electrode of the rubber spring 31 and the fixed electrode of the flexible circuit board 30 by pressing the key top 1. Is performed, the key top 1 is prevented from moving in the horizontal direction, and the key top 1 is positioned at the pressed position.

As described above, in the key switch device according to the present embodiment, the key top 1 is prevented from being unnecessarily moved in the horizontal direction both when the key top 1 is not pressed and when it is pressed. Further, it is possible to realize a key switch device which has good key operability and enables a reliable switching operation.

As a result, the number of parts can be reduced, the structure can be simplified, and the cost can be reduced.
Thus, it is possible to provide a key switch device having good key operability.

The flexible circuit board 30
The locking pieces 35 and 36 are inserted through the inserted insertion holes 30A.
Therefore, the flexible circuit board 30 is provided with the insertion hole 30A.
Based on the insertion relationship with the locking pieces 35 and 36,
It is positioned at an appropriate position on the seat 25.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.
Improvements are possible. For example, it is a matter of course that the same effect can be obtained by using the same kind of members that are combined in a pantograph shape for the hinge members 7 and 8 in this embodiment.

When the coefficient of friction of the flexible circuit board 30 is higher than that of the support plate, the support pins 15, 16, 21, 22 of the hinge member are supported through the insertion holes 30A of the flexible circuit board 30. You may make it slide with a plate.

[0050]

As described above, according to the present invention, the number of parts can be reduced by eliminating the need for a holder plate, the structure can be simplified, and the cost can be reduced. Key switch device can be provided, and the industrial effect is great.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a key switch device showing a state in which a key top is slightly pressed down.

FIG. 2 is an exploded explanatory view of the key switch device.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of one hinge member.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the other hinge member.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a locking portion formed on a support plate.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Key top 2, 3, 26, 27 Locking part 4, 5, 28, 29 Locking groove 6 Guide support member 7, 8 Hinge member 13, 14, 15, 16 21, 22, 23, 24 Locking pin 25 Support plate 30 Flexible circuit board 30A insertion hole 31 Rubber spring 35, 36 Locking piece A Axle support

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A key top having two first locking portions suspended from a back surface, and a switching operation is performed in accordance with the vertical movement of the key top.
A switching member , disposed between the keytop and the switching member,
Two hinge members each having a locking member formed at both ends
Guide support parts arranged so that they can move freely with respect to each other
Material and a flexible member disposed below the switching member.
A circuit board, and a support plate supporting the flexible circuit board on an upper surface and having a second locking portion formed corresponding to each of the first locking portions, wherein the support plate is made of a thin metal plate; , Metal sheet
By performing the cut-and-raising process, the respective second locking portions are
Formed, and each second locking portion is inserted into the flexible substrate.
A key switch device characterized by having an insertion hole formed therein .