JP3451080B2 - Key switch - 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 used for a keyboard which is an input device of a word processor, a personal computer or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a key switch used for a keyboard of this type, a key stem which is projected downward is formed on a lower surface of a key top having characters and symbols printed on the upper surface of a keyboard housing. A key switch is generally used which is supported by being inserted into a key holder part and in which a switching member is arranged below a key stem. In such a key switch, the key stem is slidably guided up and down in the key holder portion , and when the key top is pressed, the switching member is pressed by the lower part of the key stem along with the movement of the key top , thereby performing the switching operation. Was there.

[0003]

However, in the conventional key switch as described above, when the vertical length of the key holder portion is shortened in order to lengthen the vertical stroke of the key top, the sliding length with the key stem is increased. Lack of
Twisting occurs when pressing the key top. Therefore, since the key touch cannot be performed smoothly, the vertical length of the key holder portion cannot be shortened, and the keyboard cannot be made thin.

[0004]

[0005]

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, in which the key stem is provided by a key holder portion.
The structure of sliding up and down
Keeping keystrokes large while supporting thinning
It is possible to maintain stability while reducing the number of locking parts.
It is intended to provide a key switch capable of supporting a key top .

[0007]

To achieve this object, a key switch according to a first aspect of the present invention is provided with a key top and a holder provided below the key top and having a plurality of locking portions. and member, locked coupling engaged with the plurality of engaging portions of the lower surface及beauty holder member key Toppu, and a first link member and a second link member for guiding the vertical movement of the key top, key <br/> key to perform the switching operation in accordance with the up and down movement of the Toppu
It is a switch, and the holder member includes the first link member.
Two pivot locking portions that pivotally lock, and a second link portion
One slide locking part that locks the material slidably is provided.
One of the slide locking parts of the holder member stands on the holder member.
The standing wall and the upper wall that extends outward from the standing wall
It is provided with and opened to the outside of the key top .

Further, the key switch according to claim 2 is a contractor.
In the key switch according to claim 1, the sliding engaging portion is
It is formed in an inverted L shape. Claim 3
The key switch is the key switch according to claim 1 or 2.
In the above, in the above-mentioned
It is composed of a sandwiching wall.

[0009]

According to the key switch of the present invention having a [action] of the above configuration, when pressing the key top, the first link member and the second link member is movable, the key top without being displaced in the horizontal direction, of a certain Vertically descends while maintaining the state. Then, the switching operation is performed as the key top is lowered. On the other hand, if you release the key top pressing operation,
The first link member and the second link member return to their original positions together with the key top.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The key switch 2 has a key top 4 on the upper surface of which characters, symbols, etc. are printed, a guide support member 6 in which a first link 8 and a second link 10 are arranged in an X shape in a side view, and the guide. A flexible printed board having a cap-shaped rubber spring 12 pressed by the support member 6, a holder member 14 made of synthetic resin for supporting the guide support member 6, and a switching unit 20 on the lower surface of the rubber spring 12. 16 and a reinforcing plate 18 stretched on the lower surface side thereof.

As shown in FIG. 2, the rubber spring 12
Is inserted into the mounting hole 21 of the holder member 14 or is bonded to the printed board 16 so as to cover the switching portion 20 of the printed board 16.
The rubber spring 12 is made of electrically insulating silicone rubber, EPDM, or the like, and has a substantially disk-shaped head in plan view, a conical dome portion extending downward from the periphery of the head, and the dome portion. Is integrally formed into a downwardly-opening cap-like shape including a flange portion that extends radially outward in a substantially horizontal direction on the outer periphery of the. When the key top 4 is pressed, the lower surface of the head of the rubber spring 12 that is pressed by the pressing portion 22 of the guide support member 6 contacts the contact portion of the switching portion 20 to electrically turn it on and off. The movable contact 24 made of conductive rubber having conductivity is fixed.

The flexible printed board 16 forming the switching section 20 may be a board such as a membrane switch circuit board. In this case, rubber spring 1
It is not necessary to fix the movable contact 24 to 2.

The key top 4 is made of a synthetic resin such as ABS resin and has a triangular operation surface as shown in FIG. 1, and the lower surface thereof has a first link as a first link member which will be described later. 8 has a longitudinal groove-shaped sliding locking portion 28 for locking the locking portion 26 on the upper end side in a slidable manner in a substantially horizontal direction.
And a hole-shaped rotation locking portion 32 for locking the locking pins 30a, 30b on the upper end side of the second link 10 as the second link member so as to be rotatable only.

Next, the structure of the first link 8 and the second link 10 made of synthetic resin such as POM resin will be described. Figure 3
3A is a plan view of the first link 8, and FIG. 3B is a plan view of the second link 10. The first link 8 is integrally formed by the base 34, the locking pin 26, and the locking pins 36a and 36b in a substantially triangular shape in a plan view.
3 has a support hole 38 formed laterally (upward and downward in FIG. 3A), and locking pins 36a and 36b are formed laterally (upward and downward in FIG. 3A) on the outer surface of the lower end portion. ), And a locking pin 26 is provided at the upper end.

The second link 10 also has a base portion 40 and a locking pin 30.
The a and 30b and the locking pin 42 are integrally formed into a substantially triangular shape in a plan view. On the inner side surface of the base portion 40, a pivot shaft 44 is provided so as to project laterally (vertical direction in FIG. 3B), and the pivot shaft 44 is rotatably fitted into the support hole 38 of the first link 8. Has been done. A locking pin 42 is provided at the lower end of the second link 10, and locking pins 30a and 30b are laterally provided on the outer surface of the upper end (see FIG. 3B).
In the up and down direction). The first link 8 and the second link 10 assembled as described later are arranged so as to overlap the operation surface of the key top 4 in a plan view.

In this embodiment, the locking pin 2 above and below the center line of the support hole 38 in the first link 8 in a side view.
The distances from the center lines of 6, 36a, and the distances from the center line of the pivot shaft 44 in the second link 5 to the locking pins 30a, 42 are equal to each other. With the above-described configuration, the guide support member 6 has the locking pins 36a and 36b on the lower end side of the first link 8 and the second link 1.
By pivotally displacing the locking pins 30a and 30b on the upper end side of 0, the key top 4 is held by the holder member 1
It is possible to move up and down while maintaining a horizontal state with respect to the upper surface of 4.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a part of the holder member 14 made of a synthetic resin such as ABS resin.
A mounting hole 21 in which a cap-shaped rubber spring 12 can be placed is formed in the mounting hole 21. One side edge of the mounting hole 21 has a pair of (two) rotation locking portions 46 and the other side edge. One slide locking portion 48 having a long groove shape is integrally injection-molded. As shown in FIG. 4, the pair of (two) rotation locking portions 46 and one sliding locking portion 48 are arranged on three vertices forming an isosceles triangle in a plan view. .

Next, the assembling process of the key switch having the above structure will be described. First, both links 8,
10 is assembled in a side view X shape at the location of the pivot 44 and the support hole 38, and then, in the assembled state, the locking pins 36a, 36b on the lower end side of the first link 8 are rotated by the holder member 14. After the locking pin 42 on the lower end side of the second link 10 is fitted into the sliding locking part 48 in the dynamic locking part 46, the upper locking pin 26 of the first link 8 is inserted.
Is engaged with the sliding engagement portion 28 of the key top 4, and the upper engagement pins 30a and 30b of the second link 10 are engaged with the rotation engagement portion 32, respectively.

At this time, the locking pins 36a, 36b and 4
2, and the shape dimensions of the rotation locking portion 46 and the sliding locking portion 48 are such that the first link 8 and the second link 10 are substantially immovable in the left-right direction in FIG. It is determined so as not to hinder the sliding in the left-right direction in 2.

With this configuration, when the key top 4 is pressed down, the first link 8 rotates downward (rotates clockwise in FIG. 2) around the position of the rotation locking portion 46 of the holder member 14, while The second link 10 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 2 around the pivot shaft 44. Then,
The head portion of the rubber spring 12 is pressed downward by the pressing portion 22 of the first link 8, and the movable contact 24 on the lower surface thereof comes into contact with the switching portion 20 to perform a switch operation.

When the locking pin 26 of the first link 8 and the locking pins 30a and 30b of the second link are arranged in the peripheral portion of the key top 4 having a triangular operation surface as in the present embodiment, each The key top 4 is a triangle that connects the locking pins with a straight line.
It is almost the same as the operation surface of. In other words, there is no area that cannot be surrounded by each locking pin, and no matter which part of the operation surface is pressed, the key top 4 is held by the holder member 1.
It is possible to move up and down while maintaining a horizontal state with respect to the upper surface of 4.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described in detail above, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the present invention can be applied to a key top 60 having an L-shaped operation surface such as a return key. In this case, the first link 8 and the second
Since the structure and the arrangement relationship of the link 10 and the rubber spring 12 are substantially the same as those in the above-mentioned embodiment,
Detailed description is omitted.

[0024]

As is apparent from the above description,
According to the key switch of the present invention, the first and second link parts
While supporting the vertical movement of the key top with a material,
With the vertical movement of the key top, switching operation
It is configured to be performed. Therefore, the key stem is
Eliminate the need for sliding guides up and down by the rudder section
The keystroke can be maintained while maintaining the size of the keystroke.
The card can be made thinner. Also, the first and second re
The holder member for locking the link member is provided with three locking portions.
It is only necessary to reduce the number of locking parts,
The link member can be stably supported. Furthermore, the first
And three locks of the holder member for locking the second link member
The part has two pivot locking parts and one sliding locking part
There is. That is, the first or second link member can be securely locked.
Since there are two rotation locking parts,
However, the first and second link members can be stably supported.
You can In addition, one slide locking part of the holder member
Is the standing wall that is erected on the holder member and outward from the standing wall.
It has a top wall that extends toward
Since it is released, insert the second link member from that opening
And easily lock the second link member to the holder member.
In addition to being able to
The system is additionally provided with a configuration to limit the rising position of the key top
There is no need for
The rising position can be regulated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment embodying the configuration of a key switch of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the key switch shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a guide support member used in the key switch of the present invention, (a) is a plan view of a first link,
(B) is a plan view of the second link.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a mounting hole portion of a holder member in the key switch of the present invention.

5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of the key switch shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the structure of a return key as another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 key switch 4 key tops 6 Guide support member 8 first link 10 Second link 12 Rubber spring 14 Holder member 20 Switching unit 28 Sliding locking part 32 Rotation locking part 46 Rotation locking part 48 Sliding locking part

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (56) Bibliography 2-5236 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01H 13/52 H01H 13/14 H01H 13 / 20

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A key top, It is arranged under the key top, and multiple locking parts are formed.
Holder member, Plural locking of the lower surface of the key top and the holder member
The first part that is connected and locked to the upper part to guide the vertical movement of the key top
A link member and a second link member, Switching operation is performed as the key top moves up and down.
It ’s a key switch,The first link member can be rotated on the holder member.
Slide the two rotation locking parts that lock and the second link member.
And one sliding locking portion that locks so as to be movable, One sliding engagement portion of the holder member is the holder member.
The standing wall that was erected on the wall and extended outward from that wall
It has an upper wall and is open to the outside of the key top.
A key switch characterized by that. 2. The sliding engagement portion is formed in an inverted L shape.
The key switch according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The rotation locking portion has an opening at the top.
A contract characterized by being constituted by a pair of sandwiching walls
The key switch according to claim 1 or 2.