JP3722061B2 - Character display board with convex characters and its operation panel - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a dial plate that has good visibility for healthy people and good tactile recognition by a finger or the like for visually handicapped people, and particularly relates to a dial plate used for an operation panel such as an elevator. Is.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, operation panels that are easy to use for all users have been indispensable for operation panels used for various public equipment. For example, a floor display button employed in an operation panel of an elevator is required to display characters with good visibility for a healthy person and good tactile recognition with a finger or the like for a visually impaired person.
[0003]
In the prior art, a technique is widely used in which convex characters (including codes) are provided at specific locations of a container and the item of the container is recognized by tactile recognition using a finger or the like.
[0004]
Moreover, in public equipment, in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the unevenness of the operation button used on the operation panel is devised, or the character is raised from the surrounding button surface by about 1 mm. Those using letters in combination are known.
[0005]
Examples of the prior art include Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-247153 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-73145.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the field of the elevator, in the United States, for the convenience of the visually impaired, it is stipulated that floor numbers made up of convex characters having a character height of 15 mm or more are arranged beside the buttons on the operation panel. (ADA method). Needless to say, in order to improve the visibility, the character height is better as the height of the character is larger than 15 mm.
However, when the line width of the protruding portion of the convex character increases in proportion to the height of the convex character, there is a problem that it becomes difficult to recognize with a tactile sensation with a finger or the like.
[0007]
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an operation panel that uses characters with good visibility and good tactile recognition with a finger or the like.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In the operation panel of the present invention, in order to solve the problem, a convex character portion protruding from the character display surface is formed, and the character width of the base surface of the character portion on the character display surface side is set to the character portion. It is made larger than the character width of the top surface formed in the top part of.
[0009]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. In addition, the same site | part, an arrow, a direction, etc. are shown with the same code | symbol etc., and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.
[0010]
1 to 8 show an operation panel of an elevator according to the first embodiment, and FIGS. 9 and 10 show other application examples.
[0011]
First, with reference to FIG. 1, an outline of a dial plate employed in the operation panel of the elevator according to the first embodiment will be described. 1A and 1B are structural diagrams of an operation switch according to the first embodiment, in which FIG. 1A is a perspective view of the operation switch including a partial cross section, and FIG. 1B is a plan view of the operation switch.
[0012]
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 generally indicates an operation switch for an operation panel according to this embodiment. The operation switch 1 is attached to a plurality of openings 101 formed in the operation panel 100, and is used for instructing specific operation instructions relating to the operation of the elevator 150, for example, stopping each floor or opening / closing a door. .
[0013]
The operation switch 1 includes a button case 2 that is fitted and attached to the opening 101, a pressing portion 3 that is detachably attached to the button case 2, and a switch board that is disposed below the pressing portion 3. 4, the light emitting unit 5 disposed on the switch substrate 4 below the pressing unit 3, the switch element 6 disposed on the switch substrate 4 around the light emitting unit 5, and the pressing unit 3. The stress is transmitted to the switch element 6 and acts in a direction to separate the reflecting plate 7 disposed so as to reflect the light of the light emitting unit 5 toward the opening 101 and the pressing unit 3 and the switch substrate 4. And a spring (not shown).
[0014]
The pressing portion 3 includes a substantially flat character display surface 8 on the upper surface thereof, and is arranged so that the character display surface 8 is substantially flush with the operation base surface 100a in a normal state. When the user pushes the character display surface 8 into the button case 2 with a finger or the like, the pressing unit 3 including the character display surface 8 switches the switch element 6 from the OFF state to the ON state via the reflector 7. Can be operated. In this ON state, the light emitting unit 5 is in a lighting state.
[0015]
Here, the character display surface 8 is formed of a translucent resin material such as an acrylic material. The character display surface 8 is provided with convex characters 9 formed or arranged so as to protrude from the character display surface 8. The convex character 9 is provided with a material having a different transparency from the surrounding character display surface 8 or a coating, a surface treatment, a sheet or the like which makes the transparency different.
[0016]
For this reason, when the issuing unit 5 is lit in the ON state, the convex character 9 shields light from the surrounding translucent character display surface 8, so that the convex character 9 is the character display surface. 8 can be clearly identified as being in the ON state.
[0017]
The most significant feature of this embodiment is that the cross-sectional shape of the convex character 9 is formed in a substantially trapezoidal shape. That is, in this embodiment, the top surface 11 (the trapezoidal top surface) is formed smaller than the base surface 10 (the trapezoidal base) of the convex character 9. Thereby, when a healthy person visually recognizes this convex character 9, this convex character 9 can be recognized by the said base surface 10 provided with a large area. On the other hand, when a visually handicapped person recognizes the convex character 9 with a finger or the like, the convex character 9 can be recognized by the top surface 11 having a small area.
[0018]
In this kind of equipment, in order to make it easy for the user to recognize the convex character 9, it is desirable to make it as large as possible. For example, in an elevator, it is desirable that the character has such a size that the convex character 9 can be recognized from anywhere in the car. Of course, in an elevator operation panel 100 provided with a plurality of operation switches 1, it is not necessary to be large, and it is necessary to consider downsizing of the entire apparatus.
[0019]
For example, the standard for elevators in the United States stipulates that the height H0 of characters used for the operation panel 100 is 15 mm or more. However, on the other hand, it is necessary to consider visually impaired people in these highly public equipment. Generally, in these equipment, braille is used together, but the use of convex characters in which the characters themselves are raised can also be very useful for tactile recognition by the visually impaired's fingers. However, this convex character has a problem that it becomes difficult to recognize a tactile sensation by a finger if the tactile area (contact area) is too large.
[0020]
In this embodiment, by making the cross-sectional shape of the convex character 9 taper from the base surface 10 to the top surface 11, visibility and recognizability by touch (contact) can be improved.
[0021]
Hereinafter, the operation switch 1 according to this embodiment will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. First, with reference to FIG. 2, a schematic structure of an operation panel of an elevator in which the operation switch 1 is employed will be described. 2A and 2B are external views of the elevator, in which FIG. 2A is a view of the interior of the car with the wall facing the door removed, and FIG. 2B is an enlarged front view of the first operation panel. The figure is a front enlarged view of the second operation panel.
[0022]
In FIG. 2, an elevator car denoted by reference numeral 150 includes a cubic room, and an entrance / exit 151 is provided on one of the peripheral side surfaces thereof. A first operation panel 152 is provided on one of the wall surfaces constituting the entrance / exit 151, and the first operation panel is mainly used for operations in a standing posture. Further, a handrail 153 and a second operation panel 154 are provided on both peripheral side surfaces adjacent to the peripheral side surface including the entrance / exit 151. The second operation panel is mainly intended for operation by a wheelchair user. Further, a lighting device 159 is provided on the ceiling surface.
[0023]
The first operation panel 152 is formed in a vertically long position at a relatively high position on the wall surface according to a user in a standing posture. The first operation panel 152 has a plurality of operation switches 1 for floor display arranged at the center thereof, and a speaker 155 and an emergency call operation switch 156 arranged thereon. In this embodiment, the plurality of operation switches 1 for floor display are provided with two rows of operation switches 1 for floor display, and are provided with a pair of opening / closing operation switches 157 below.
[0024]
The second operation panel 154 is provided in the vicinity of the waist position in the standing posture, and has a slightly horizontally long front shape. In this embodiment, a plurality of operation switches 1 for displaying two floors are provided below the second operation panel 154, a speaker 155 and an emergency call operation switch 156 are provided on one side of the upper side, A display portion 158 and a pair of open / close buttons 157 are arranged on the other side. In this embodiment, the convex characters 9 described in FIG. 1 are attached to the operation switches 1 for floor display, opening / closing, and emergency call.
[0025]
Next, the shape of the convex character will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. FIGS. 3A and 3B are explanatory diagrams showing a specific shape of the convex character “4”, in which FIG. 3A is a front view and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view. 4 and 5 show examples of characters. FIG. 4 shows an example of numerical values, and FIG. 5 shows an example of alphabets.
[0026]
In FIG. 3, in this embodiment, the convex character 9 is formed so as to be continuous with the base surface 10 with inclined surfaces 12 on both sides of the top surface 11. And since this top surface 11 is formed in the substantially same width | variety, when this top surface 11 is traced with a finger | toe, since there is no unevenness | corrugation in the width direction, the recognizability by tactile sense (contact) can be improved. . In this embodiment, since the top surface 11 is located in the center of the base surface 10 in the width direction, the top surface 11 appears to overlap the base surface 10 when visually recognized ( (Viewing from an oblique direction) is reduced, and the base surface 10 can be seen as it is, so that the visibility can be improved. Furthermore, it can be finished in beautiful characters.
[0027]
The convex character 9 is formed so as to protrude from the character display surface 8 and has a character width L 0 of the base surface 10 and a character width L 1 of the top surface 11. Further, the height of the convex character 9 is set to H0, and the angle of the inclined surface 12 is set to Θ. Here, in this embodiment, the height H0 of the convex character 9 is set to 15 mm, the character width L1 of the top surface 11 is set to 0.8 mm, and the angle Θ of the inclined surface 12 is set to 45 mm. Set to degrees. Furthermore, the top surface 11 is formed with an inclined surface 12 having the same width in the left-right direction with respect to the character width of the base surface 10. As a result, the visually impaired person improves the tactile sensation by making the finger touch as uniform as possible, and further improves the visual accuracy by improving the visual accuracy.
[0028]
Furthermore, in this embodiment, the inclined surface width Z1 of the inclined surface 12a other than the end portion 13 of the convex character 9 is made substantially equal, and the inclined surface width Z0 of the inclined surface 12b of the end portion 13 of the convex character 9 is changed to other values. By forming the inclined surface width smaller than the inclined surface width Z1 (the angle Θ is larger than 45 degrees), it is easy to tactilely recognize that the end of the convex character 9 (end portion 13), and visually convex. The character 9 is accented to improve visibility.
[0029]
In this embodiment, Θ is 45 degrees. However, in the embodiment, Θ is larger than 45 degrees, for example, the protrusion dimension T0 is 1.73 mm, the inclined surface width Z1 is approximately 1 mm, and the character width of the top surface 11 More effect can be obtained by adopting a configuration in which L1 is 1 mm and the angle Θ of the inclined surface is 60 degrees.
In FIG. 4, the inclined surface width Z0 of the convex character 9 changes its width depending on the character. For example, in the case of “1”, the top left portion 11 is not provided in the upper left brush portion 14 to distinguish it from “7”, and only the base surface 10 is provided in order to improve visibility. For “2”, “5”, “7”, and “8”, the end portion 13 is formed in the same manner as in “4”. Further, the turning portion 15 on the left side of the center of “3” is formed to have a large inclined surface width Z2 of 1.5 mm. Similarly, the turning portion 16 on the upper right of “6” and the turning portion of “9” are formed. The portion 17 is set to Z3 (0.8 mm), which is larger than the other inclined surface width Z1, thereby improving visibility and tactile discrimination. Since “0” and “8” do not have the end portion 13, the inclined surface width Z <b> 1 is approximately equal.
[0030]
For the alpha bed shown in FIG. 5, for example, for “P”, “R”, “L”, and “M” with cornered end portions, the end portions 13 are formed in the same manner as in “4”. On the other hand, both end portions 18 of “G” are formed by the same method as “6”. Furthermore, since “B” does not have the end portion 13, the width of the inclined surface 12 is substantially the same.
[0031]
Thus, the convex character 9 according to this embodiment is effective when H0 is 15 mm or more and T0 is 1 mm or more. However, there is an upper limit just because H0 and T0 are larger than the setting. From an experimental point of view, when the L1 is set to be larger than 0.5 mm and smaller than 1.5 mm, discrimination by tactile sensation is good. In particular, if L1 is 0.6 mm ≦ L1 1.2 mm, or 0.7 mm ≦ L1 0.9 mm, the identification is further facilitated. The ridgeline (corner R) between the top surface 11 and the inclined surface 12 shown in FIG. 3B makes it easy to identify the top surface 11 by tactile sense by raising an edge (decreasing the corner R). be able to. However, it is not always necessary to reduce the ridgeline (angle R), and even if the angle R is increased, the same effect can be obtained if the continuity of the top surface 11 is obtained.
[0032]
Therefore, the area Q1 of the top surface 11 is smaller than the area Q2 of the base surface 10, and more specifically, if the value obtained by dividing the area Q1 by the area Q2 is smaller than 0.5, the visibility and tactile sensation are further improved. Thus, the distinguishability can be improved.
[0033]
Furthermore, in the convex character 9 according to this embodiment, the character width L1 of the top surface is narrower than the character width L0 of the base surface, so that “3” is identified in the tactile sense of “3” and “8”. The discriminability can also be improved in that the opening width of the open portion of the is increased.
[0034]
6A and 6B show another application example of the first embodiment, in which FIG. 6A is a sectional view of the operation switch 1 and FIG. 6B is a front view. In FIG. 6, in this embodiment, the peripheral frame 2a of the button case 2 surrounding the periphery of the pressing portion 3 is formed so as to protrude from the operation base surface 100a, and the character display surface 8 is formed on the peripheral frame 2a. Form more depressed. And the shape of the operation switch 1 is formed circularly.
[0035]
According to this embodiment, the location of the operation switch 1 can be clearly identified by the peripheral frame 2a with respect to the tactile sense. Moreover, since the character display surface 8 is formed deeper than the surrounding frame body 2a, erroneous operations can be reduced. Therefore, such an operation switch 1 is suitable for the second operation panel 154. In addition, the feeling of the fit of a finger can be improved by making the shape of the operation switch 1 circular and forming the character display surface 8 in the back. And in the operation switch 1 of this embodiment, by providing the convex character 9, the character in the surrounding frame 2a can be made into one character and the visibility and the discrimination by tactile sense can be improved.
[0036]
FIG. 7 shows another embodiment relating to the method of manufacturing the convex character 9. FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view of the operation switch. In FIG. 7, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, the convex character 9 is provided with a material having a different transmittance from the surrounding character display surface 8, or a coating, a surface treatment, a sheet or the like for making the transmittance different. As described above, the embodiment shown in FIG. 7A is an embodiment in which convex characters 9 formed of an opaque material are formed on the transparent character display surface 8. In this embodiment, since the light from the light emitting portion 5 is reflected on the base surface 10 of the opaque convex character 9 and is transmitted through the character display surface 8 other than the convex character 9, the visibility of the convex character 9 is improved. Can be improved. In this embodiment, the same effect as that of the opaque convex character 9 can be obtained by sticking an opaque sheet (not shown) between the convex character 9 and the character display surface 8. Further, by forming the convex characters with a colored transparent material or using a colored transparent sheet, an identification effect by color can be obtained.
[0037]
Further, as shown in FIG. 5B, the pressing portion 3 is formed of an opaque material, characters are cut out on the character display surface 8, and convex characters 9 formed of a transparent material are fitted into the cut-out portions. By doing so, the portion of the convex character 9 can be lifted by light and the visibility can be improved.
[0038]
In this embodiment, the transparent and opaque portions may be reversed. Moreover, the same effect can be obtained even if it is formed with a colored transparent material with a different feeling of discrimination. Further, the convex character 9 and the character display surface 8 are formed of the same translucent material, and the convex character 8 is made non-translucent on the surface, or a sheet on which the translucent printing is performed is reversed. The same effect as described above may be obtained by pasting or integrally molding.
[0039]
Next, FIG. 8 explains the cross-sectional shape of the convex character. 1A is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1 according to this embodiment, FIG. 1B is a convex character having a regular triangular cross section, FIG. 2C is a convex character having an arc-shaped cross section, (d) ) A convex character having an inclined surface with a biased figure, and (e) a convex character having a conventional cross-sectional shape.
[0040]
In this embodiment, as described above, the effect of the present invention is achieved by tapering the cross-sectional shape of the convex character 9 from the base surface 10 to the top surface 11. Therefore, the same effect can be obtained with the convex character 9 shown in FIGS. However, the convex character 9 having the cross section of the equilateral triangle in FIG. 5B is recognized as a line by the finger, so that the tactile recognition is reduced, and the reflection of light on the inclined surface is also visually simplified. Therefore, the effect of visibility is lower than that of FIG. Further, the convex character 9 having an arcuate cross-sectional shape shown in FIG. 6C can be received by a finger with a soft touch, so that the identification by tactile sense is slightly lower than that shown in FIG. However, it is visually soft and is inferior to sharp characters. Further, the convex character 9 having the inclined surface that is biased in (d) has the same defects as in (b), and it is difficult to make various expressions visually.
[0041]
Further, in FIG. 5E, the cross-sectional shape of the convex character of the conventional example is slightly exaggerated. The conventional convex character 9 'can be formed without a taper when the protruding dimension is about 1 mm. For this reason, it is not necessary to attach an inclined surface. (E) The drawing shows the drawing taper in an exaggerated manner. However, when such a protruding dimension is small, the drawing taper is almost indistinguishable. The present invention includes an inclined surface 12 that can be clearly recognized or consciously formed with the cross-sectional shape of the conventional convex character 9 'shown in FIG. Thereby, the effects as described above can be obtained.
[0042]
Next, FIGS. 9 and 10 show the application of the convex character 9 to other fields. FIG. 9 is an external view adopted for an electronic desk calculator equipped with a large operation key, and FIG. 10 shows a car number at the entrance of a train.
[0043]
In FIG. 9, in recent years, the number of devices having large operation keys 201 is increasing among the devices. FIG. 9 shows an electronic desk calculator 200 having a plurality of large operation keys 201. According to the electronic desk calculator 200, a numerical value can be input with the large operation key 201 and the result can be displayed on the large display unit 202. By providing the convex character 9 on the key surface of such a large operation key 201, the same effect as the operation key of the elevator can be obtained.
[0044]
Further, FIG. 10 shows a case where a car number 302 by the convex character 9 is attached in the vicinity of the entrance / exit 301 of the train 300. In this case, an example of application to the train 300 has been shown, but the same effect can be applied to a room number or a guide board posted on the wall surface of the hallway.
[0045]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an operation panel using characters with good visibility and good tactile recognition with a finger or the like.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a structural diagram of an operation switch according to a first embodiment.
FIG. 2 is an external view of the elevator car interior according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific shape of a convex character “4”.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a numerical convex character.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a convex character of an alphabet.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating another application example of the first embodiment.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another embodiment relating to a method for producing convex characters.
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a cross-sectional shape of a convex character.
FIG. 9 is an external view of an electronic desk calculator that employs convex characters as operation keys.
FIG. 10 is an external view of the vicinity of a passenger car entrance and exit of a train adopting convex characters for displaying a car number.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Operation switch, 2 ... Button case, 3 ... Press part, 4 ... Switch board, 5 ... Light emission part, 6 ... Switch element, 7 ... Reflecting plate, 8 ... Character display surface, 9 ... Convex character, 10 ... Base surface 11 ... Top surface, 12 ... Inclined surface, 12a, 12b ... Inclined surface, 13 ... End portion, 14 ... Brushed portion, 15 ... Folded portion, 16 ... Folded portion, 17 ... Folded portion, 18 ... End part, 150 ... elevator car, 100 ... operation panel, 100a ... operation base surface, 101 ... opening, 150 ... elevator, 151 ... doorway, 152 ... first operation panel, 153 ... handrail, 154 ... second operation panel 155 ... Speaker, 156 ... emergency call operation switch, 157 ... a pair of open / close buttons, 158 ... display unit, 159 ... illuminating device, Z0 ... width of the inclined surface at the end of the convex character, Z1 ... other than the end of the convex character Inclined surface width, H0 ... convex character Height, T0: Projection dimension of convex character, L0: Character width of base surface, L1: Character width of top surface, R: Edge line (corner) between top surface and inclined surface, Q1: Area of top surface, Q2 ... The area of the base surface.

Claims (2)

A button case fitted and attached to the opening of the operation panel, a pressing part attached so as to be able to appear and retract in the button case, a switch board disposed below the pressing part, and a switch below the pressing part A light emitting unit disposed on the substrate, a switch element disposed on the switch substrate around the light emitting unit, and a stress applied to the pressing unit are transmitted to the switch element, and light from the light emitting unit is transmitted to the switch element. An operation panel comprising a plurality of operation switches configured to include a reflecting plate arranged to reflect on the opening side, and a spring acting in a direction separating the pressing portion and the switch substrate,
A character display surface is formed on the pressing portion exposed from the button case,
A character portion protruding from the character display surface is formed on the character display surface,
The character part is
A base surface formed on the character display surface side of the character portion;
A top surface formed at the top of the character portion;
Having an inclined surface formed between the base surface and the top surface;
The elevator operation panel characterized in that the cross section of the character portion is a tapered cross section toward the top surface side. The operation panel according to claim 1,
The operation panel for an elevator, wherein the character display surface is formed of a translucent material, and the character portion is formed of a non-translucent material.

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