JP3273410B2 - Keyboard cover - 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 cover and, more particularly, to a keyboard cover which does not impair the operability of a track board or a track ball, which is a pointer operation unit in a notebook personal computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a sheet-like cover for protecting a keyboard area has been used in an electronic device such as a notebook personal computer. This keyboard cover is made of a sheet material, such as polyether block amide, which has flexibility and makes it difficult for fingers to slide on the sheet surface, so that each key can be pressed and operated without difficulty. ing.

[0003]

However, a track board, which is an operation part of a pointer used in a notebook personal computer, appears on a display by touching a fingertip and sliding the fingerboard sideways. Since the position of the pointer is changed, the pressing force and the sliding force in the lateral direction interact on the cover portion corresponding to the track board.

Therefore, if the track board is also covered with a keyboard cover using a flexible sheet material made of the above-mentioned polyether block amide or the like, when the fingertip slides while pressing the track board corresponding area, The frictional contact force acts as a deformation force that stretches the cover surface so as to cause wrinkles, which greatly impairs the operability and causes the cover surface to be partially broken. For this reason, conventionally, the trackboard has not been covered, and the waterproofing of the trackboard area,
There is no dust protection. In addition, when the operation unit is formed of a trackball, the fingertip is brought into contact with the trackball to roll the trackball. If the operation unit is covered, the trackball cannot be operated smoothly. For this reason, there has been an inconvenience that the trackball area cannot be waterproofed and dustproof.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such inconvenience, and an object of the present invention is to provide a keyboard cover which does not impair the operability of a track board or the like.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a keyboard cover having a plurality of keys and a pointer operation section, the cover being provided in such a size that the key area can be covered. A first sheet, and a second sheet provided in an area corresponding to the operation unit,
The second sheet is more rigid than the first sheet;
In addition, a configuration is adopted in which friction resistance with the finger is smaller than that of the first sheet. With such a configuration, even if the user touches the fingertip on the second sheet and slides the finger in the lateral direction, smooth movement of the finger is allowed, and the cover area corresponding to the operation unit is provided. And the cause of the breakage of the cover can be avoided.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In the present invention, it is preferable that the first sheet is provided so as to cover the operation section, and the second sheet is arranged on the first sheet. Thereby, the second sheet is placed on the first sheet that has been formed in advance.
It is only necessary to provide the above sheet, and it can be easily applied to existing products. Further, the second sheet is preferably made of polyester, a resin containing an acetate film, paper or metal flakes. Here, the thicknesses of the first and second sheets are not particularly limited,
It suffices that the pressing force by the fingertip is set to such an extent that the operation force of the key or the pointer is easily reached.

Further, a notch or a notch is formed in a portion where the second sheet is provided, and an upper peripheral surface portion of a trackball constituting an operation portion is exposed through the notch or the notch. It is advisable to adopt a configuration in which As a result, in addition to being applicable to a notebook personal computer in which the operation unit of the pointer is formed of a trackball, the periphery of the trackball except for the upper end portion is covered, and the waterproof property can be maintained. . At this time, if the second sheet is laminated on the first sheet, the first sheet can be attached to the peripheral surface of the trackball at the edge of the cutout due to its flexibility. This is advantageous in ensuring waterproofness.

Further, the present invention provides a keyboard cover having a plurality of keys and a trackball, wherein a first sheet having a size capable of covering the key area and the trackball is provided. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which a notch or a notch is provided in a portion of the first sheet corresponding to the trackball so that the upper peripheral surface of the trackball is exposed. Can be achieved by a simple configuration.

[0010] In the present specification, the term "flexibility" refers to the property that the sheet extends to some extent like rubber when the both ends of the sheet are gripped with a fingertip and pulled in a direction away from the sheet at normal temperature. Used for those with
“Stiffness” is used to mean that the transmission of the pressing force by the fingertip is hardly obstructed with almost no such “extension”.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing the entire structure according to a first embodiment in which a keyboard cover is applied to a notebook personal computer, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of the keyboard cover. ing. Also, in FIG.
FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1. In these figures, the notebook personal computer 10
Is configured to include a keyboard unit 11 and a display 12. The keyboard unit 11 includes a number of keys 11
A, and a track board 11B, which is a pointer operation unit (not shown) displayed on the display 12.

The keyboard portion 11 is provided with a transparent or translucent keyboard cover 15 having a size capable of covering the entire surface. The keyboard cover 15 is formed of one sheet formed by an appropriate forming method, for example, a vacuum forming method.
As shown in FIG.
And a second substantially rectangular second member which is arranged at the front central portion of the first sheet 16 and corresponds to the track board 11B region.
The sheet 17 is provided.

Although the first sheet 16 is not particularly limited, in the present embodiment, the first sheet 16 is molded from a flexible elastomer material such as polyether block amide, urethane or silicone. I have.
The first sheet 16 includes a number of key covers 16A corresponding to the respective keys 11A, and a board cover 16B (see FIG. 3) corresponding to the track board 11B. The key cover portion 16A is provided in a shape in which the periphery is dropped along a substantially rectangular locus so as to slightly receive the upper surface of each key 11A, while the board cover portion 16B is provided.
Are provided in a shape that is dropped into a shallow dish so as to be received in the track board 11B.

The second sheet 17 is made of polyester,
A resin having rigidity compared with the first sheet 16 such as an acetate film is used as a molding material. The second sheet 17 is integrated in a state of being stacked on the board cover portion 16B of the first sheet 16, whereby the second sheet 17 is smoothly moved in the lateral direction while pressing the second sheet 17 with a fingertip. Is allowed.

Therefore, according to such an embodiment, the cover surface corresponding to the track board 11B is covered by the second sheet 17 having rigidity.
Even if the fingertip is slid in the lateral direction with the fingertip resting on the sheet 17 of the above, the board cover portion 16B underlying this
Will not be transmitted as a force that makes them squeeze. Therefore, the track board 11B can be protected without hindering the operability of the track board 11B.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

The second embodiment shows an application example in which the operation section of the pointer is constituted by a trackball. That is, since the trackball 19 rolls the trackball 19 in a state where the fingertip is applied, the trackball 1 is moved to allow the operation.
9 so that the upper peripheral part of the board 9 can be exposed.
Notches 20 and 21 in 6B and second sheet 17
Is provided. These notches 2
Reference numerals 0 and 21 each have a substantially circular shape in a plan view, and are provided so that the formation edge of the cutout portion 20 in the board cover portion 16B is attached to the peripheral surface of the trackball 19. In this case, for example, a cutout having a cross shape in a plan view may be provided instead of the cutouts 20 and 21.

Therefore, according to such an embodiment, the trackball 19 can be partially exposed to achieve a waterproof and dustproof effect without impairing the operability of the trackball 19.

FIG. 5 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the trackball 19 is partially exposed only by the first sheet 16 without using the second sheet 17 shown in the above embodiment.
In this case, the exposed portion of the trackball 19 is the upper peripheral surface portion, as in the second embodiment, and the trackball 19 is formed by forming the cutout portion 20 or the cutout portion in the first sheet 16. Partially exposed.

Therefore, according to such an embodiment, an effect is obtained that the waterproof property of the trackball 19 area can be ensured by one sheet material.

Although the second sheet 17 in the first embodiment is laminated on the first sheet 16, the area where the second sheet 17 is laminated is firstly punched. A configuration in which the second sheet 17 is integrated with the sheet 16 so as to be closed by composite molding may be employed.

The second sheet 17 only needs to be made of a material that can smoothly move in the lateral direction while applying a pressing force with the fingertip applied thereto. Therefore, in addition to the resin sheet, paper, metal flakes, or the like that can be attached via an appropriate adhesive or the like can also be used.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The second sheet is provided in an area corresponding to an operation unit such as a track board, and the second sheet is formed of a rigid sheet material. Even if the user slides in the direction, the operability is maintained satisfactorily by allowing smooth movement of the finger, and the second sheet area is prevented from being deformed such that the second sheet is stretched. The effect is obtained that the cause can be avoided.

In the case where the second sheet is laminated on the first sheet, the first sheet can act so as to ensure the close contact with the operating section, and the keyboard cover can be used. A lateral displacement can also be prevented. In addition, by adopting the laminated structure, the second sheet can be easily applied to existing products by attaching the second sheet on the first sheet that has been formed in advance.

Further, according to the structure in which the notch or the cutout for exposing the upper peripheral surface of the trackball for operating the pointer is formed in the second seat portion, the operation section of the pointer is formed by the trackball. It can be applied even when it is configured. At this time, when the trackball is covered with only the first sheet without using the second sheet, the structure can be simplified.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a mounted state of a keyboard cover according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view of the keyboard cover.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 3, showing a second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 3, showing a third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11A key 11B Track board (operation section) 15 Keyboard cover 16 First sheet 17 Second sheet 19 Trackball (operation section) 20 Notch section 21 Notch section

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A keyboard cover including a plurality of keys and a pointer operation unit, wherein a first sheet provided in a size capable of covering the key area and an area corresponding to the operation unit are provided. The second provided
A keyboard cover, wherein the first sheet is made of a flexible sheet, and the second sheet is made of a rigid sheet. 2. The keyboard cover according to claim 1, wherein the first sheet is provided so as to cover the operation unit, and a second sheet is arranged on the first sheet. . 3. The keyboard cover according to claim 1, wherein the second sheet is made of a resin containing polyester, an acetate film, paper, or a thin metal sheet. 4. A notch or a notch is formed in a portion where the second sheet is provided, and an upper peripheral surface portion of a trackball constituting an operation unit is exposed through the notch or the notch. 4. The keyboard cover according to claim 1, wherein the keyboard cover is provided. 5. A cover for a keyboard having a plurality of keys and a trackball, comprising: a first sheet having a size capable of covering the key area and the trackball;
A notch or a notch is provided in a portion of the seat corresponding to the trackball to expose an upper peripheral portion of the trackball.