JP4764770B2 - Input device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention includes a first switch portion and a second switch portion stacked below the first switch portion, and the first switch portion can be operated by pressing force from above, and the first switch portion and the second switch It is related with the input device which can operate both parts simultaneously.

  As described in Patent Documents 1 to 4 below, there is known an input device in which two switch parts are vertically stacked. FIG. 6 shows the general structure of this type of input device.

  The input device 100 illustrated in FIG. 6 includes a lower switch unit 110 and an upper switch unit 120. In the lower switch unit 110, a flexible sheet 111 is bonded onto the substrate 101, and the flexible sheet 112 faces the flexible sheet 111. A spacer sheet 113 is sandwiched between the flexible sheet 111 and the flexible sheet 112. A hole is formed in the spacer sheet 113, and an operation space 114 is formed in the hole. In this operation space 114, a contact portion 115 is provided on the facing surface of the flexible sheet 111, and a contact portion 116 is provided on the facing surface of the flexible sheet 112.

  In the upper switch unit 120, the flexible sheet 121 and the flexible sheet 122 face each other, and the spacer sheet 123 is sandwiched between the flexible sheet 121 and the flexible sheet 122. A hole is formed in the spacer sheet 123, and an operation space 124 is formed in the hole. In the operation space 124, a contact portion 125 is provided on the facing surface of the flexible sheet 121, and a contact portion 126 is provided on the facing surface of the flexible sheet 122.

When the flexible sheet 122 of the upper switch unit 120 is pressed, the flexible sheet 122 is bent in the upper operation space 124, and the contact part 125 and the contact part 126 come into contact with each other. Further, when the flexible sheet 122 is strongly pressed, the contact portion 125 and the contact portion 126 come into contact with each other, and the flexible sheet 112 is bent in the lower operation space 114, so that the contact portion 115 and the contact portion 116 are contacted. And contact.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 48-99462 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 60-168225 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 58-53320 JP-A-7-135546

  In the input device 100 described above, the opening width dimension A of the lower operation space 114 and the opening width dimension A of the upper operation space 124 are the same. Therefore, when the contact part 115 and the contact part 116 of the lower switch part 110 are brought into contact with each other, the flexible sheets 121 and 122 of the upper switch part 120 and the flexible sheet 112 of the lower switch part 110 are limited. It is necessary to bend in the operating space 114 of a specified size. At this time, unless the uppermost flexible sheet 122 is largely bent, the flexible sheet 112 of the lower switch section 110 cannot be sufficiently bent. Therefore, the contact part 115 and the contact part 116 in the lower switch part 110 may not be reliably contacted.

  Further, when the contact portion 115 and the contact portion 116 of the lower switch portion 110 are brought into contact with each other, the flexible sheet 121 and 122 of the upper switch portion must be greatly bent downward, so that the operation pressing force When the flexible sheet 121 is removed, the lower flexible sheet 121 of the upper switch unit 120 bends upward, so that the operation space 124 between the flexible sheet 121 and the flexible sheet 122 is formed. Even though the pressing force is removed, the contact portion 125 and the contact portion 126 are kept in contact with each other, and the problem that the output of the upper switch portion 120 is not turned off is likely to occur.

  In particular, when the input device 100 is configured to be thin and the upper operating space 124 is thin, the above problem is likely to occur.

  The present invention solves the above-described conventional problems, and it is easy to operate the second switch portion positioned on the lower side by the pressing force from above, and the first position positioned on the upper side when the pressing force is removed. An object of the present invention is to provide an input device that can be easily restored to a state in which the flexible sheet of the switch section maintains the operating space.

The present invention provides an input device that includes a first switch unit and a second switch unit that is superimposed below the first switch unit.
The first switch unit includes a pair of flexible sheets facing each other, a spacer sheet positioned between the two flexible sheets, and a portion where the spacer sheet is absent between the two flexible sheets. A first operating space formed, and a contact portion provided on the facing side of the flexible sheet in the first operating space;
The second switch portion includes a flexible reinforcing portion positioned below the first operating space, a second operating space formed below the reinforcing portion, and the second operation. A switch mechanism portion that is located in the space and is pressed by a protrusion provided on the reinforcing portion to switch the switch output ; and
The reinforcing portion covers the entire opening area of the second operating space, the width dimension thereof is larger than the inner width dimension of the first operating space, and the first operating space is a reinforcing area formed by the reinforcing section. Located in the
An inner width dimension of the first operation space is smaller than an inner width dimension of the second operation space, the first operation space is located on an opening region of the second operation space, and An auxiliary reinforcing portion having a width dimension smaller than the inner width dimension of the second operating space is provided between the switch portion and the reinforcing portion,
When pressed from above, the first switch portion causes the flexible sheet to bend in the first operation space so that the contacts come into contact with each other. The sheet and the spacer sheet are bent in the second operation space, and the switch mechanism is operated.

  In the input device, it is preferable that the bending rigidity of the reinforcing part is higher than the bending rigidity of each flexible sheet constituting the first switch part.

  In the above input device, since the reinforcing portion is provided under the flexible sheet below the first switch portion, the first switch when the pressing force is removed after the first switch portion is pressed. It becomes easy to keep the flexible sheet on the lower side of the part in a parallel state, and after removing the pressing force, it is easy to prevent the first operation space from being crushed.

  Moreover, since the inner width dimension of the second operation space is wider than the inner width dimension of the first operation space, when the first switch portion is strongly pressed, the first switch portion is Therefore, the switch mechanism portion of the second switch portion can be reliably operated.

Moreover, in this invention , it becomes easy to maintain the flexible sheet | seat of a 1st switch part in a planar state by a reinforcement part by making the width dimension of a reinforcement part larger than the internal width dimension of a 1st operation space. .

  Further, in the present invention, an operating body is integrally formed on a flexible cover sheet that covers the top of the first switch part, and an inner width dimension is provided between the first switch part and the cover sheet. However, it is preferable that an operation space wider than the inner width dimension of the first operation space is formed.

  If the operation space is formed, when the operation body is pressed, the first switch portion can be locally pressed strongly by the operation body, and the contact portions of the first switch portion can be reliably connected. Can be contacted. Furthermore, the operating body can be strongly pressed, and the switch mechanism portion of the second switch portion can be easily operated.

  For example, the switch mechanism portion includes a conductive curved body that is elastically deformed by a pressing operation, and a contact portion that faces the concave side of the curved body, and the projecting side of the curved body is the first switch portion. It is aimed at.

  When the switch mechanism portion of the second switch portion is configured as described above, when the first switch portion is pressed with a light force, the contact portions of the first switch portion can be brought into contact with each other. When pressed with a large force, the second switch unit can be operated. As a result, the operating force required to operate only the first switch unit and the operating force required to operate both the first switch unit and the second switch unit can be extremely changed. This makes it easy to distinguish the operation of only the part and the operation of both the first switch part and the second switch part.

  In the input device of the present invention, a plurality of the first switch part and the second switch part are arranged, and when the contacts of the first switch part are in contact with each other, the switch mechanism part of the second switch part is It can be configured that an operation signal generation unit that generates different operation signals depending on when it operates is provided.

  For example, the operation signal generation unit generates an operation signal for selecting one of a plurality of menus displayed on the screen when the contacts of the first switch unit are in contact with each other, and the operation signal generation unit located below the operation signal is generated. When the switch mechanism section of the second switch section operates, an operation signal for generating a display operation corresponding to the selected menu is generated.

  In the input device of the present invention, when the operating force is released, the interval between the flexible sheets of the first switch part can be maintained, and malfunction of the first switch part can be prevented. Further, when the first switch portion is strongly pressed, both the first switch portion and the second switch portion can be operated reliably.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an input device, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an operation unit of the input device, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view showing an example of a basic structure of the operation unit.

  The input device 1 shown in FIG. 1 transmits an operation signal to the apparatus main body using infrared rays or high frequency. In the input device 1, various electronic components constituting the circuit block diagram shown in FIG. 5A are built in a case 2 made of synthetic resin. An operation section 3 is provided on the surface of the case 2, and a plurality of operation bodies 4 are arranged on the operation section 3. As shown in FIG. 2, the operation unit 3 includes five operation bodies 4 arranged in five rows, five in each row, for a total of 25.

  FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a portion where one operation body 4 is provided. The operation unit 3 includes a cover sheet 5 formed of a flexible material such as rubber, in which a plurality of the operation bodies 4 are integrally formed, and a first switch unit 10 disposed below the cover sheet 5. And the 2nd switch part 20 arrange | positioned on the lower side of this 1st switch part 10 is provided. The second switch part 20 is fixed on a rigid resin substrate 30 that is a part of the case 2. In FIG. 3, the upper and lower width dimensions of each component are shown relatively large, but in the actual input device 1, all the components shown in FIG. 3 are configured to be thinner than the illustrated dimensional relationship.

  In the first switch unit 10, an upper flexible sheet 11 and a lower flexible sheet 12 that face each other are provided. The upper flexible sheet 11 and the lower flexible sheet 12 are both insulative, and are formed of, for example, a polyimide sheet or a PET (polyethylene terephthalate) sheet. A spacer sheet 13 is sandwiched between the upper flexible sheet 11 and the lower flexible sheet 12, and the upper flexible sheet 11 and the spacer sheet 13 are bonded together, and the spacer sheet 13 and the lower flexible sheet are bonded. The sheet 12 is bonded. The spacer sheet 13 is insulative and flexible, and is, for example, a PET sheet.

  In the spacer sheet 13, a hole 13 a having a circular shape or an oval shape is opened at a position overlapping with each operation body 4, and the inside of the hole 13 a is a first operation space 14. The spacer sheet 13 may be formed with a concave notch, and the first operation space 14 may be formed in the notch.

  In the central portion of the first operation space 14, an upper contact portion 15 is formed on the lower surface that is the facing surface of the upper flexible sheet 11, and the lower surface is disposed on the upper surface that is the facing surface of the lower flexible sheet 12. A contact portion 16 is formed. The upper contact portion 15 and the lower contact portion 16 are pattern-formed with a conductive resin material in which a conductive filler such as carbon is contained in a binder resin. A lead pattern conducting to the upper contact portion 15 is formed on the lower surface of the upper flexible sheet 11, and a lead pattern conducting to the lower contact portion 16 is formed on the upper surface of the lower flexible sheet 12. Yes.

  The cover sheet 5 is bonded and fixed on the first switch portion 10. An operation space 6 is formed between the cover sheet 5 and the upper flexible sheet 11. The thin portion 5a of the cover sheet 5 is located above the operation space 6, and the operation body 4 is integrally formed with the thin portion 5a. The surface 4a of the operating body 4 has a curved surface shape. In the thin portion 5a, a pressing operation protrusion 4b is integrally formed directly below the operation body 4. The pressing operation protrusion 4 b faces the central portion of the first operation space 14.

  As shown in FIG. 3, when the inner width dimension of the first operation space 14 provided in the first switch portion 10 is D1, and the inner width dimension of the operation space 6 is D2, the inner width dimension D2 is set. Is larger than the inner width dimension D1. That is, the inner edge portion of the first operation space 14 is positioned inside the inner edge portion of the operation space 6, and the first operation space 14 is positioned inside the opening area of the operation space 6.

  In the second switch unit 20, a spacer 21 is bonded and fixed on the substrate 30. The spacer 21 is insulative, and a hole 21 a such as a circle or an ellipse is formed in the spacer 21 at a position facing directly below each operation body 4. Inside the hole 21 a, a region surrounded by the substrate 30 and the lower flexible sheet 12 is a second operation space 22. The spacer 21 may be formed with a concave notch, and the inside of the notch may be the second operation space 22.

  A switch mechanism 40 is provided in the second operation space 22. In the switch mechanism portion 40, a center contact portion 41 and an outer peripheral contact portion 42 formed in a circular pattern around the center contact portion 41 are formed on the surface of the substrate 30. The center contact portion 41 and the outer peripheral contact portion 42 are patterned by a conductive resin material in which a conductive filler such as carbon is contained in a binder resin. In addition, a lead pattern that conducts to the center contact portion 41 and a lead pattern that conducts to the outer peripheral contact portion 42 are formed on the surface of the substrate 30.

  A conductive bending body 43 is provided in the second operation space 22. This curved body 43 is formed in a dome shape by a thin conductive metal plate, and this dome shape can be crushed and elastically deformed so that it can be restored to its original shape when the pressing force is removed. Is possible. The curved body 43 has a protruding side directed toward the operation body 4 and a concave side facing the center contact portion 41. Further, the skirt portion of the curved body 43 is in contact with the outer peripheral contact portion 42. The bending body 43 is positioned in the second operation space 22 so as not to move, but the positioning means is not shown.

  In the second operation space 22, a reinforcing portion 23 is provided below the first operation space 14. The reinforcing portion 23 is made of synthetic resin. One reinforcing portion 23 is provided in each of the plurality of second operation spaces 22, and each reinforcing portion 23 is connected to each other via a connecting arm 23 b. The reinforcing portion 23 is bonded to the lower surface of the lower flexible sheet 12 constituting the first switch portion 10.

  The reinforcing portion 23 has higher bending rigidity than each of the upper flexible sheet 11 and the lower flexible sheet 12 constituting the first switch portion 10, and the lower flexible sheet 12 is When bending toward the second operation space 22, the reinforcing portion 23 hardly bends. Alternatively, the reinforcing portion 23 may be slightly bent and deformed into the second operation space 22.

  In FIG. 3, the inner width dimension of the second operation space 22 is indicated by D3, and the width dimension of the reinforcing portion 23 is indicated by D4. The inner width dimension D3 of the second operation space 22 is wider than the inner width dimension D1 of the first operation space 14. That is, the peripheral edge portion of the first operation space 14 is positioned inside the peripheral edge portion of the second operation space 22, and the first operation space 14 is overlapped in the opening region of the second operation space 22. ing.

  The width dimension D4 of the reinforcing portion 23 is larger than the inner width dimension D1 of the first operation space 14, and the width dimension D4 is smaller than the inner width dimension D3 of the second operation space 22. That is, the outer edge 23a of the reinforcing portion 23 is located outside the outer peripheral edge of the first operating space 14, and the first operating space 14 is within the region of reinforcement by the reinforcing portion 23 and above the reinforcing region. Is located. Further, the outer edge 23 a of the reinforcing portion 23 is located inside the inner peripheral edge of the second operation space 22, and is movable between the outer edge 23 a of the reinforcing portion 23 and the inner peripheral edge of the second operation space 22. A margin W is formed. The width dimension of one movable margin W is preferably 1/10 or more of the width dimension D4 of the reinforcing portion 23.

  A pressing protrusion 24 is integrally formed on the lower surface of the reinforcing portion 23, and the pressing protrusion 24 is opposed to the protruding top portion of the curved body 43.

  In this input device 1, the bending body 43 of the second switch unit 20 is crushed by the pressing force necessary for bringing the upper contact part 15 and the lower contact part 16 of the first switch unit 10 into contact with each other, and the bending is performed. The pressing force required to bring the body 43 into contact with the center contact portion 41 is larger. For example, the pressing force required to operate the first switch unit 10 is 1/5 or less of the pressing force required to operate the second switch unit 20.

  When a finger is slid on the surface of the operation unit 3 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and touches the surface 4a of any one of the operation bodies 4, the pressing operation protrusions 4b provided on the back side of the operation body 4 The upper flexible sheet 11 of the first switch unit 10 is locally pushed, the upper flexible sheet 11 bends into the first operation space 14, and the upper contact part 15 contacts the lower contact part 16. The first switch unit 10 is closed. At this time, since the lower surface of the lower flexible sheet 12 is reinforced by the reinforcing portion 23 having a larger area than the first operating space 14, the upper contact portion 15 of the upper flexible sheet 11 is When the lower contact portion 16 of the lower flexible sheet 12 is touched, the lower flexible sheet 12 is difficult to bend downward. Therefore, the upper contact portion 15 and the lower contact portion 16 can be reliably brought into contact with each other only by lightly pressing the operating body 4.

  Further, since the operation space 6 is formed on the upper flexible sheet 11 of the first switch unit 10 in a range wider than the first operation space 14, the surface 4a of the operation body 4 is pressed. Sometimes, the thin portion 5a can be deformed downward. Therefore, the pressing operation projection 4b can apply a local pressing force toward the central portion of the first operation space 14 to the upper flexible sheet 11, and this also causes the upper contact portion 15 to be connected to the lower contact point. The part 16 can be reliably brought into contact with.

  Next, when a large pressing force is applied downward to the operating body 4, the upper flexible sheet 11 is bent in the first operation space 14 by the pressing operation projection 4 b, and the upper contact portion 15 and the lower contact portion 16. And the upper flexible sheet 11, the lower flexible sheet 12 and the spacer sheet 13 constituting the first switch unit 10 bend downward in the second operation space 22. . At this time, the curved body 43 is pushed by the pressing protrusions 24 provided on the lower surface of the reinforcing portion 23, and the curved body 43 is deformed so as to be crushed, and comes into contact with the curved body 43 and the central contact portion 41. At this time, the finger that presses the operation body 4 is given a click feeling when the bending body 43 is deformed. Moreover, the center contact part 41 and the outer peripheral contact part 42 of the switch mechanism part 40 are conducted, and the second switch part 20 is closed.

  When the pressing force to the operating body 4 is removed, the curved body 43 is restored to the original shape, and the curved body 43 is separated from the center contact portion 41. Furthermore, the reinforcement part 23 is lifted by the curved body 43, and the lower flexible sheet 12 of the first switch part 10 is restored to a planar shape. Further, the upper flexible sheet 11 is restored to a flat state, and the upper contact portion 15 and the lower contact portion 16 are separated.

  At this time, since the lower flexible sheet 12 is reinforced by the reinforcing portion 23 having a larger area than the first operation space 14 on the lower side, the lower flexible sheet 12 maintains a flat state. The phenomenon that the lower flexible sheet 12 bends upward toward the first operation space 14 is less likely to occur. Therefore, the upper contact portion 15 and the lower contact portion 16 can be reliably separated in the first operation space 14. Therefore, even if the thickness dimension inside the first operation space 14 is thin, a malfunction that the upper contact portion 15 and the lower contact portion 16 keep in contact with each other when not pressed is unlikely to occur.

  In addition, since the second operation space 22 has a sufficiently larger area than the reinforcement portion 23, the reinforcement portion 23 is lowered in the second operation space 22 when the operation body 4 is strongly pressed. Can move to the side. In addition, since the upper flexible sheet 11 and the lower flexible sheet 12 as well as the spacer sheet 13 bend toward the second operation space 22, the curved body 43 is reliably deformed by the pressing protrusion 24. Can do.

FIG. 4 is a partial enlarged cross-sectional view showing the operation unit 3A of the input device 1A according to the embodiment of the present invention.

In the operation unit 3A shown in FIG. 4, the structure other than the second switch unit 20 is the same as the example of the basic structure shown in FIG. The spacer 35 provided in the second switch unit 20 is made of rubber and can itself be elastically deformed. The spacer 35 is formed with a concave portion 35 b that is recessed from the substrate 30 side, and the inside of the concave portion 35 b is a second operation space 22. In the second operation space 22, a switch mechanism 40 having the same structure as that shown in FIG. 3 is provided. The relationship between the inner width dimension D1 of the first operation space 14 and the inner width dimension D3 of the second operation space 22 is the same as that shown in FIG.

  The spacer 35 is integrally formed with a reinforcing portion 35 a located above the second operation space 22. The reinforcing portion 35 a is formed by thinning a part of the spacer 35 and covers the entire opening area of the second operation space 22. Therefore, the reinforcing portion 35 a has a sufficiently larger area than the first operation space 14. The reinforcement part 35a has a thickness dimension larger than each of the upper flexible sheet 11 and the lower flexible sheet 12 constituting the first switch part 10, and the bending rigidity of the reinforcement part 35a is higher than the upper flexible sheet. 11 and the bending rigidity of the lower flexible sheet 12 is higher. A pressing protrusion 36 that is opposed to the top of the curved body 43 is integrally formed under the reinforcing portion 35a.

  Also in the operation part 3A shown in FIG. 4, when the operation body 4 is pressed and the upper contact part 15 and the lower contact part 16 of the 1st switch part 10 contact, the lower side reinforced by the reinforcement part 35a is possible. Since the flexible sheet 12 can maintain a flat state, the upper contact portion 15 and the lower contact portion 16 can be reliably brought into contact with each other. Even when the pressing force of the operating body 4 is removed, the lower flexible sheet 12 reinforced by the reinforcing portion 35 a can easily maintain a flat state, so that the upper contact portion 15 is separated from the lower contact portion 16. You can definitely leave.

  When the operating body 4 is strongly pressed, the upper contact portion 15 and the lower contact portion 16 of the first switch portion 10 are in contact with each other, and the upper flexible sheet 11, the lower flexible sheet 12, and the spacer sheet 13 are further contacted. Further, the reinforcing portion 35a is bent toward the second operation space 22, and the switch mechanism portion 40 operates. When the pressing force to the operating body 4 is removed, the reinforcing portion 35a is restored to the flat state by the elastic force, and the lower flexible sheet 12 is restored to the flat state together with the reinforcing portion 35a. Therefore, the lower flexible sheet 12 is unlikely to be deformed upward, and the upper contact portion 15 and the lower contact portion 16 are easily maintained in a separated state.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, an auxiliary reinforcing portion 37 is further provided between the reinforcing portion 35a and the lower flexible sheet 12, and the auxiliary reinforcing portion 37 is connected to the reinforcing portion 35a and the lower flexible sheet. The adhesive sheet 12 is bonded to both sides. The width dimension D5 of the auxiliary reinforcing portion 37 is the same as the width dimension D4 of the reinforcing portion 23 shown in FIG. 3, is smaller than the inner width dimension D3 of the second operating space 22 and is within the first operating space 14 It is larger than the width dimension D1.

  The auxiliary reinforcing part 37 is a flexible sheet such as a PET sheet. By providing the auxiliary reinforcing portion 37, when the pressing force to the operating body 4 is removed, the lower flexible sheet 12 can be more easily restored to the flat state, and the upper contact portion 15 and the lower contact portion 16 are restored. It becomes easy to leave. As described above, by providing the auxiliary reinforcing portion 37, when the pressing force is removed, the contacts of the first switch portion 10 are easily maintained in the open state. However, in the present invention, the auxiliary reinforcing portion 37 is not provided. Alternatively, the reinforcing portion 35a and the lower flexible sheet 12 may be directly bonded.

  FIG. 5A shows a circuit configuration of the input device 1 (or 1A). The contact state between the upper contact portion 15 and the lower contact portion 16 of the first switch portion 10 is detected by the first detection portion 51, and the contact state between the curved body 43 of the second switch portion 20 and the center contact portion 41. Is detected by the second detector 52. Although the input device 1 is provided with a plurality of first switch units 10 and second switch units 20, only one of each is illustrated in FIG.

  The detection output detected by the first detection unit 51 and the detection output detected by the second detection unit 52 are provided to the operation signal generation unit 53, and only the first switch unit 10 is provided in the operation signal generation unit 53. Different operation signals are generated when the closed state and when both the first switch unit 10 and the second switch unit 20 are closed. In addition, the operation signal is generated as a signal that can be identified for each of the first switch unit 10 and the second switch unit 20 provided in plurality. This operation signal is sent to the transmission unit 54, transmitted from the transmission unit 54 as an infrared signal, or transmitted as a high-frequency signal.

  The operation signal is transmitted to the device main body 60 shown in FIG. The device main body 60 is a multifunctional television receiver. The device main body 60 includes a receiving unit 61 that receives the operation signal and a reception processing unit 62 that analyzes the received operation signal. The device main body 60 is provided with an image control unit 63. The image control unit 63 is provided with a control signal from the reception processing unit 62 and also with a video signal and an audio signal received by the TV tuner. Then, the screen display of the display unit 65 is controlled by the image control unit 63.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of operation bodies 4 are arranged in the operation unit 3 (or 3A) of the input device shown in FIG. The operation unit 3 is not provided with a display indicating an input location, and is not provided with a display device such as a display.

  A multi-channel image received by the TV tuner 64 can be displayed on the screen of the display unit 65 of the device main body 60. First, when the device main body 60 is set to the menu display mode, the menu is displayed in a plurality of sections on the screen of the display unit 65. The menu may be a channel number or a program display that can be received at that time. Alternatively, it may be an advertisement image of a plurality of programs. Alternatively, the menu may be a program name recorded in an image recording device such as an HDD or a DVD, or may be a display for setting the image recording device.

  When the device main body 60 is set to the menu display mode, if a finger is lightly touched on the operation unit 3 of the input device 1 (or 1A) and one of the operation bodies 4 is lightly pressed, the first switch unit 10 The upper contact portion 15 and the lower contact portion 16 come into contact with each other. At this time, when the receiving unit 61 of the device main body 60 receives the operation signal transmitted from the input device 1, the image control unit 63 performs display control for selecting a menu displayed on the display unit 65. In this display control, among the menus displayed on the screen, the menu corresponding to the pressed operation tool 4 is displayed in a color and brightness different from those of other menus.

  When one of the menus is selected, if the same operating body 4 as that when the menu is selected is further pressed, the upper contact portion 15 and the lower contact portion 16 of the first switch portion 10 are in contact with each other. Further, the curved body 43 of the switch mechanism unit 40 of the second switch unit 20 and the center contact part 41 come into contact with each other. At this time, when the receiving unit 61 receives the operation signal transmitted from the input device 1, the image control unit 63 selects a program display or other display corresponding to the selected menu and displays it on the display unit 65.

  In this input device 1, when a plurality of operation bodies 4 are arranged in the operation section 3 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the first switch section 10 and the second switch section 20 corresponding to each operation body individually. In addition, the pressing force necessary to operate only the first switch unit 10 and the pressing force necessary to operate both the first switch unit 10 and the second switch unit 20 are extremely large. It is different. Therefore, when only the first switch unit 10 is operated, the menu screen is displayed and both the first switch unit 10 and the second switch unit 20 are operated by strongly pressing the operation body at the position where the menu is selected. Thus, it is possible to reliably execute program display corresponding to the selected menu.

The perspective view which shows an input device, The top view which shows the operation part of the said input device, An enlarged sectional view showing an example of the basic structure of the operation unit, The expanded sectional view which shows a part of operation part of embodiment of this invention , (A) is a circuit block diagram of the input device, (B) is a circuit block portion of the device body, Partial sectional view of an input device for explaining a conventional problem,

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,1A Input device 2 Case 3, 3A Operation part 4 Operation body 5 Cover sheet 6 Operation space 10 First switch part 11 Upper flexible sheet 12 Lower flexible sheet 13 Spacer sheet 14 First operation space 15 Upper Contact part 16 Lower contact part 20 Second switch part 21 Spacer 22 Second operating space 23 Reinforcement part 24 Pressing protrusion 35 Spacer 35a Reinforcement part 37 Auxiliary reinforcement part 40 Switch mechanism part 41 Central contact part 42 Outer peripheral contact part 43 Curved body

Claims (8)

In an input device having a first switch part and a second switch part superimposed under the first switch part,
The first switch unit includes a pair of flexible sheets facing each other, a spacer sheet positioned between the two flexible sheets, and a portion where the spacer sheet is absent between the two flexible sheets. A first operating space formed, and a contact portion provided on the facing side of the flexible sheet in the first operating space;
The second switch portion includes a flexible reinforcing portion positioned below the first operating space, a second operating space formed below the reinforcing portion, and the second operation. A switch mechanism portion that is located in the space and is pressed by a protrusion provided on the reinforcing portion to switch the switch output ; and
The reinforcing portion covers the entire opening area of the second operating space, the width dimension thereof is larger than the inner width dimension of the first operating space, and the first operating space is a reinforcing area formed by the reinforcing section. Located in the
An inner width dimension of the first operation space is smaller than an inner width dimension of the second operation space, the first operation space is located on an opening region of the second operation space, and An auxiliary reinforcing portion having a width dimension smaller than the inner width dimension of the second operating space is provided between the switch portion and the reinforcing portion,
When pressed from above, the first switch portion causes the flexible sheet to bend in the first operation space so that the contacts come into contact with each other. An input device, wherein a sheet and the spacer sheet are bent in the second operation space, and the switch mechanism is operated. The second switch portion is provided with a spacer that can be elastically deformed, and a concave portion that is recessed from the lower surface side is formed in the spacer, and the inner space of the concave portion is the second operating space, and the ceiling of the concave portion input device according to claim 1, wherein parts are the reinforcing portion. The input device according to claim 2 , wherein the spacer is made of rubber. Input device according to any one of to auxiliary reinforcing portion claims 1 a flexible sheet 3. An operating body is integrally formed on a flexible cover sheet that covers the top of the first switch portion, and an inner width dimension between the first switch portion and the cover sheet is the first width. input device according to any one of claims 1 wide operation space than the inner width of the operating space is formed to 4. The switch mechanism portion includes a conductive curved body that is elastically deformed by a pressing operation, and a contact portion that faces the concave side of the curved body, and the projecting side of the curved body is directed to the projection. input device according to any one of claims 1 to 5. A plurality of the first switch part and the second switch part are arranged, and it is different when the contacts of the first switch part are in contact with each other and when the switch mechanism part of the second switch part is operated. input device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 the operation signal generator for generating an operation signal is provided. The operation signal generation unit generates an operation signal for selecting one of a plurality of menus displayed on the screen when the contacts of the first switch unit come into contact with each other, and the second operation signal is positioned below the operation signal. The input device according to claim 7 , wherein when the switch mechanism unit of the switch unit is operated, an operation signal for generating a display operation corresponding to the selected menu is generated.

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