JP3200915B2 - keyboard - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a keyboard for an input device such as a word processor and a personal computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of keyboard,
For example, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 60-147037, a stem protruding downward from the lower surface of a key top is inserted into a stem guide portion formed on a holder member, and the key top is vertically movable. It was common to support it.

In order to perform high-speed keying, it is desirable that the operating distance of the finger be as small as possible. Also, a key switch in which the upper surface of the key top is formed into a curved surface that matches the movement of the human finger and arranged on a keyboard In order to improve the operability of the key and reduce the fatigue of the operator at the time of keying, from the ergonomic point of view, the upper surfaces of the arrayed key tops are arranged so as to follow the downwardly curved envelope curved surface, A so-called slope sculpture type has been developed (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.
0-89011 and JP-A-61-62117).

In this case, the vertical movement direction of the key top is preferably the normal direction of the envelope curved surface, and therefore, it is necessary that the holder member also be formed in a downwardly convex curved shape.

[0005]

[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the configuration disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 147037, if the vertical movement length of the key top is shortened in order to increase the vertical movement stroke of the key top, the vertical sliding length with the stem is insufficient, so that the key top is twisted when pressed down. As a result, key touch cannot be performed smoothly . Accordingly, the vertical length of the stem guide must be increased, and there is a disadvantage that the keyboard cannot be made thinner.

In particular, when a device using the above-described stem guide is applied to a slope sculpture type keyhole, a large number of hollow cylindrical stem guides are erected in different directions. Therefore, when molding the holder member with a resin, it is necessary to use a large number of slide dies or to perform a step of bending the holder member formed into a planar shape after the molding, and thus the manufacturing cost is increased. there were.

[0007] An object of the present invention is to improve the shape of the engaging portion when the holder member is press-formed from a thin metal plate or when the holder member is manufactured by injection molding of a synthetic resin material. be one that can be executed with means facilitating the work of engaging the holder member, in particular, it can be suitably applied in the slope scalar capture type keyboard having a curved surface, and to allow reduced manufacturing costs The purpose is to do so.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a keyboard according to the first aspect of the present invention, wherein an envelope surrounding a plurality of key tops disposed above a holder member has a downwardly convex curved surface. configured, the lower surface of each key top 2 and a guide means for guiding and supporting vertical movement of the key top connection and engaged in the the holder member thereunder, the hand bullet resistant deformable pressing input operation by the key tops a cap-shaped rubber spring such, the keyboard comprising a switching unit for switching operation, said guide means, mutually constituted by a first link and a second link that is movably coupled, in the holder member, before The first link and the second
A locking portion for movably locking each end of the link is provided, a cross-sectional shape of the holder member is formed in a downward convex curved shape similar to the envelope surface, and each locking portion in the holder member is provided. Are formed to be open at the bottom and each locking part is
It is constructed integrally with the upper wall, and the side wall of
It is characterized by being formed so as to be parallel to each other.

[0009]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of one of a large number of key switches 1 arranged on a keyboard. The key switch 1 has a key top 2, a first link 4 and a second link 5 in an X shape in a side view. Guide means 3, a cap-shaped rubber spring 6 pressed by the guide means 3, and a synthetic resin holder member 7 for supporting the guide means 3.
And a switching part 2 in the mounting hole 7a of the holder member 7.
It comprises a flexible printed circuit board 9 stretched on the lower surface of the holder member 7 so as to face 9, 29 (see FIG. 7), and a reinforcing plate 10 stretched on the lower surface side.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, the rubber spring 6 is provided with a mounting hole for the holder member 7 so as to cover above the switching portions (electric contact portions) 29, 29 (see FIG. 7) on the printed circuit board 9. 7a. The rubber spring 6 of the present invention is made of an electrically insulating silicone rubber or EPDM (ethylene propylene diene methylene) or the like, and has a substantially disk-shaped thick head in plan view and a truncated head extending downward from the periphery of the head. It is integrally formed in a downwardly open cap shape including a conical dome portion and a thick flange portion extending radially outward in a substantially horizontal direction on the outer periphery of the dome portion. When the keytop is depressed, the switching portions 29, 2 are provided on the lower surface of the head of the rubber spring 6 pressed by the pressing portion 26 on the lower surface of the connection intersection between the first link 4 and the second link 5.
Both switching parts are electrically turned on by contacting the contact part of No. 9.
The movable contact portion 30 made of conductive rubber having conductivity for turning off is fixed. The entire rubber spring 6 may be formed to have conductivity by dispersing and filling conductive particles such as carbon black in silicone rubber.

The key top 2 formed of a synthetic resin such as an ABS resin is provided with characters such as numerals and letters on the upper surface (surface) by engraving or printing. Key top 2
A longitudinal groove-shaped slide for locking the pin portions 11a, 11b on the upper free end side of the first link 4 to be described later in a substantially horizontal direction so as to be slidable in the front-rear direction of the key top 2. The locking portions 16, 16 and the hole-shaped rotation locking portions 15, 15 for locking the pin portions 13 a, 13 b at the upper free end of the second link 5 only for rotation are integrally provided. The pair of left and right locking members 17, 17 having the front and rear lengths are integrally formed or bonded to each other with an adhesive or the like to protrude (see FIG. 5).

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 4A and 4B, a first link 4 made of a synthetic resin such as a glass fiber reinforced synthetic resin is shown.
And the second link 5 will be described in detail. FIG. 4 (a) shows the first
FIG. 4B is a plan view of the link 4, and FIG. The first link 4 has a base 18 and an upper and lower free end 19,
And a support hole 21 is formed in a side surface of the base 18 in a lateral direction, and the arm 2 extends from both left and right ends of the lower free end 20.
Pin portions 12a and 12b are laterally protruded from the side surfaces of the upper and lower free ends 19a and 20b, respectively.
a, 11b are protruded sideways.

The second link 5 also has a base 22 and an upper and lower free end 2.
3 and 24 to form a substantially H-shape integrally in plan view. A pivot shaft 25 is protruded laterally from one side surface of the base 22, and the pivot shaft 25 is rotatably fitted into the support hole 21 of the first link 4.

On the side surfaces of the arm portions 24a, 24b extending from both left and right ends of the lower free end portion 24 of the second link 5, pin portions 14a, 14b are provided to project sideways, respectively, and on the side surfaces of the upper free end portion 23, respectively. Project the pin portions 13a and 13b laterally. In this embodiment, the pin portions 1 above and below the center line of the support hole 21 in the first link 4 in a side view.
The distance from the center line of the pivot shaft 25 in the second link 5 to the pin portions 13a and 14a is equal to the distance to the center line of the first link 12a. With this configuration, as described later, the key top 2 is rotated by the guide means 3 about the pin portions 12a and 12b on the lower free end side of the first link 4 so that the key top 2 is fixed to the holder member 7. It can move up and down in parallel to the upper surface.

Although not shown, downwardly convex polygon-shaped pressing portions are formed on the lower surfaces of the base portion 18 of the first link 4 and the base portion 22 of the second link 5, respectively. The upper surface of the head may be pressed.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show a part of a holder member 7 made of synthetic resin such as glass fiber reinforced synthetic resin. In this embodiment, the holder member 7 is flat. The holder member 7 is provided with a substantially rectangular mounting hole 7a into which a flange at the lower end of the cap-shaped rubber spring 6 can be inserted so as not to be displaced. The rotation locking portion 27 and the sliding locking portion 28 having a longitudinally longitudinal groove shape are integrally formed by injection so that the locking portions 27 and 28 are opened downward. In this case, the rotation locking portion 27
The downward U-shaped locking groove 27a and the longitudinally extending U-shaped locking groove 28 in the sliding locking portion 28 are formed so as to open vertically to the back surface of the holder member 7. In addition, the die cutting operation after injection molding of the synthetic resin becomes extremely easy, and there is no need to use a slide die.

Then, the links 4 and 5 are previously connected to the pivot shaft 25.
And an X-shape in side view at the position of the support hole 21, and then the upper pin portions 11 a, 11 b, 1 of both links 4, 5.
3a and 13b are connected to the rotation locking portions 15 of the key top 2;
15 and the sliding engagement portions 16, 16, the pins 12 a, 12 b, 14 a, 14 b are attached with the gap between the lower end free ends 20, 24 of the links 4, 6 narrowed. Insert so as to come out of the hole 7a to the back side of the holder member 7,
Thereafter, the distance between the lower free ends 20 and 24 of the links 4 and 5 is increased, and the pin portions 12a and 12b on the lower end side of the first link 4 are attached to the rotation locking portions 27 and 27 from below. The second link 5 is inserted into the sliding engagement portions 28, 28.
When the printed circuit board 9 is stretched and fixed to the lower surface of the holder member 7 after the lower end side pin portions 14a and 14b are inserted and slid from front to back from below, the links 4 and 5 are separated from the holder member 7. Never fall off. At this time, the holder member 7
When the work is performed with the back side up, the work becomes easier.

Further, the pin portions 11a, 11b and 14a,
14b and the shape and dimensions of the sliding engagement portions 16 and 28
The link 4 and the second link 5 are determined so as to be substantially immobile in the left-right direction in FIG. 3 and not to hinder the sliding of the pin portions 11a, 14a in the left-right direction in FIG. More specifically, in the present embodiment, the tip of each pin portion slides substantially in contact with the outer side surface of the corresponding sliding engagement portion.
Therefore, the pivot shaft 25 is prevented from coming out of the support hole 21.

With this configuration, when the key top 2 is pressed, the first link 4 rotates downward (clockwise in FIG. 1) around the rotation locking portion 27 of the holder member 7.
On the other hand, the second link 5 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 1 around the pivot shaft 25. Then, the head of the rubber spring 6 is pressed downward by the pressing portion 26 near the cross connection portion of the two links 4 and 5, and the movable contact 30 on the lower surface thereof contacts the switching portions 29 and 29 to perform a switching operation. It is.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 8 shows the pivot 2 of the second link 5.
5, a large-diameter head 25 a is formed at the distal end, and a substantially C-shaped holding member 31 is formed on the intermediate lower surface of the base portion 18 of the first link 4 and opened downward and viewed from the side. By fitting the support shaft 25 in a direction crossing the axis thereof, it is possible to prevent the pair of links 4 and 5 from coming off after assembling them in an X-shape and to prevent the lateral displacement (the interval between the links 4 and 5 is expanded). In this case, the holder member 7
Link 4 to the rotation locking portion 27 and the sliding locking portion 28
The work of mounting the pin portion 5 is further facilitated.

FIGS. 9 to 12 show a case in which the holder member 7 'is formed in a downwardly convex curved shape, and the upper surface of the key tops 2 of the key switches 1 arranged in a large number on the keyboard is provided with a downwardly convexly curved envelope surface 35.
In this embodiment, a downwardly curved holder member 7 ′ similar to the envelope surface 35 is attached to the operation portion hole 33 of the synthetic resin upper case 32 of the keyboard with screws 34.

Since the shapes and structures of the key top 2, the first link 4, the second link 5, and the rubber spring 6 in this embodiment are the same as those in each of the above embodiments, detailed description will be omitted.

Conventionally, a stem protruding downward from the lower surface of a key top is inserted into a stem guide formed on a holder member to guide and support the key top so as to be vertically movable. In order to make the moving direction the normal direction of the envelope curved surface, when injection molding integrally with the holder member so as to insert the guide hole of the stem guide portion in the normal direction, a pair of upper and lower molding dies is used. Of these, a large number of slide dies corresponding to the guide holes are radially mounted on one of the molding dies in a slidable manner. Then, the operation of injecting the molten synthetic resin into the cavity formed by the pair of upper and lower molding dies and solidifying the resin, and extracting the slide dies in the normal direction must be performed.

In order to form the guide hole of the stem guide portion so as to be inserted in the normal direction as described above, a molding die becomes complicated, and a process of mounting and extracting a slide die is required. The problem is that the production cost of the keyboard rises.

In this embodiment, the rotation locking portion 27 'and the sliding locking portion 28' formed integrally on the left and right side edges of the mounting hole 7'a in the synthetic resin holder member 7 'are shown in FIG. and as shown in FIG. 12, all of the locking portion 27 ', 28' downward U-shaped pivoting locking groove 27 in 'a and Suridogakari groove so that the opening direction of the 28'a is parallel It is formed in. That is, the rotation locking portion 27 'and the sliding locking portion 28'
To a pair of sides as shown in FIGS.
It is constructed integrally with the wall and the upper wall connecting each side wall
A rotation locking groove 27 'surrounded by each side wall and the upper wall.
a, forming a sliding locking groove 28'a,
The side walls of the portion 27 'and the sliding engagement portion 28' are mutually connected.
They are formed in parallel.

[0027] formed as an opening direction of the thus all of the engagement portion 27 ', 28' downward U-shaped pivoting locking groove 27 in 'a and Suridogakari groove 28'a is parallel However, the pin portions 12a, 12b, 14a,
The height position of 4b is located on an envelope surface similar to the envelope surface 35. Therefore, the upper surfaces of all the key tops 2 arranged on the holder member 7 'are also substantially along the envelope surface 35. And the vertical movement direction of each key top 2 is the normal direction of the envelope surface 35. Also in this embodiment, the lower surface (back surface) of the holder member 7 'is
And a reinforcing plate 10 is provided on the lower surface thereof.

One embodiment of the method of forming the holder member 7 'is, for example, a pair of upper and lower molding dies 36, 3 shown in FIG.
When the synthetic resin is injected into the cavity 38 between the mating surfaces of the holder 7 and the holder member 7 ′ and the rotation locking portion 27 ′ and the sliding locking portion 28 ′ are integrally formed, Projection 3 corresponding to dynamic locking groove 27a 'and sliding locking groove 28'a
The direction in which the lower mold 36 having the components 9 and 40 is removed is set so that the side surfaces of all the projections 39 and 40 are parallel to each other.

[0029] In this way, since the the lower mold 36 can be integrally formed projections 39 and 40, and opening direction of the mold can be at once its work in one direction,
The work of molding the holder member 7 'becomes extremely easy, and the cost for manufacturing the mold is reduced. The upper case 32 of the keyboard
Needless to say, the present embodiment can also be applied to the case where the and the holder member 7 'are integrally formed.

Further, in the embodiment in which the holder member is formed in a flat shape or a downwardly convex curved shape, the material of the holder member is a thin metal plate such as aluminum, steel plate or the like, and this is rotated with the mounting hole 7a by pressing. Even when the locking portions 27, 27 'and the sliding locking portions 28, 28' are molded at once, the invention of each of the above embodiments can be applied by using the same molding die as described above.

Further, a substrate such as a membrane switch circuit board may be used in place of the flexible printed board 9 forming the switching section 29, and the present invention can be applied to a variable capacity keyboard.

[0032]

In summary, according to the first aspect of the present invention, in a slope sculpture type keyboard having a curved surface, even if the holder member is formed in a downwardly convex curved shape, the key top can be used. Link and second link for supporting the vertical movement guide and support with respect to the holder member.
When the lower free end of the link is mounted on the locking portion provided on the holder member, the locking portion formed on the holder member is open bottom surface.
Because it is formed to be inserted into the respective engaging portions after which projects from the open side of once the engaging portion lower <br/> free ends of the pair links assembled on the back side of the holder member With such an extremely simple operation, both links can be mounted on the holder member. Further, all of the locking portions are connected to a side wall portion.
It is composed integrally with the upper wall, and the side wall of each locking part is mutually
By forming them so as to be parallel to each other, there is an effect that a molding die is simplified and a molding operation is also facilitated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a key switch.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing a pressed state of a key top.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG. 1;

4A is a plan view of a first link, and FIG. 4B is a plan view of a second link.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the key top.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a rubber spring and a mounting hole.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a mounting hole of a holder member.

FIG. 8 is a side view of another embodiment of the connecting means of the pair of links.

FIG. 9 is a side sectional view of another embodiment of the keyboard.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged side sectional view of a main part of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a downwardly convex curved holder member.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view of a molding die.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Key switch 2 Key top 3 Guide means 4 1st link 5 2nd link 6 Rubber spring 7, 7 'Holder member 7a, 7'a Mounting hole 9 Printed circuit board 10 Reinforcement board 11a, 11b, 12a, 12b Pin part 13a, 13b, 14a, 14b Pin portion 15, 27, 27 'Rotating locking portion 16, 28, 28' Sliding locking portion 27a, 27'a Rotating locking groove 28a, 28'a Sliding locking groove 18 , 22 Base 21 Support hole 25 Pivot shaft 31 Holder 32 Upper case 35 Envelope 36, 37 Mold 38 Cavity 39, 40 Projection

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Isao Mochizuki 15-1 Naeshiro-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya-shi Inside Brother Industries, Ltd. Field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01H 13/14 H01H 13/52 H01H 13/70

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An enveloping surface surrounding a plurality of key tops disposed above a holder member is configured to have a downwardly convex curved surface, and is connected and locked to a lower surface of each key top and a holder member therebelow. and guide means for guiding and supporting vertical movement of the key top and the rubber spring of the key tops hand bullet resistant deformable cap shape pressing input operation by, in a keyboard comprising a switching unit for switching operation, It said guide means, mutually constituted by a first link and a second link that is movably coupled, in the holder member, movably locking the respective end portions of the front Symbol first link and second link an engagement portion provided for each engaging with the cross-sectional shape of the holder member is formed on the envelope surface with similar downwardly convex curved shape, and to form the respective locking portions in the holder member to the lower surface opening shape The stop is the side wall and the upper wall
And the side walls of the locking portions are formed so as to be parallel to each other.
A keyboard characterized by that.