JP6099084B2 - Teach pendant sheet key - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet key of a teach pendant.

  Teaching playback type industrial robots mainly teach using a teach pendant. More specifically, while the operator directly looks at the control point of the tool attached to the wrist of the industrial robot, the robot main body is moved by key operation of the operation unit of the teach pendant to teach the movement target position and the like. In many teaching pendants, the operation unit used for teaching or the like is composed of a sheet key having a plurality of switch units.

  A general sheet key used for the teach pendant will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in the figure, the sheet key has a transparent surface sheet 20 fixed so as to cover the surface of the membrane keyboard 10, and the membrane keyboard 10 and the surface sheet 20 constitute a membrane switch.

  In the membrane keyboard 10, a base plate 11, a lower contact sheet 12, an upper contact sheet 13, and a polydome 14 are laminated in order from the bottom. The base plate 11 is fixed to a teach pendant casing (not shown). The lower contact sheet 12 is fixed to the base plate 11. Sheet spacers 15 and 16 are interposed and fixed between the lower contact sheet 12 and the upper contact sheet 13 and between the upper contact sheet 13 and the polydome 14, respectively.

  In each of the upper surface of the lower contact sheet 12 and the lower surface of the upper contact sheet 13, a lower contact 12 a and an upper contact 13 a are provided at mutually opposed portions, and a switch portion is configured by these contacts 12 a and 13 a.

  In the polydome 14, a dome-shaped pressing portion 14 a that protrudes upward is formed at a portion facing the switch portion. Further, the top sheet 20 is adhered and fixed to the polydome 14 via a sheet spacer 17. Further, on the top sheet 20, on the back surface of the relative area facing the switch unit, a key frame for partitioning the switch unit, and characters, icons, and key frames for displaying various functions performed by operating the switch unit Etc. (not shown) are printed. Further, on the front sheet 20, characters (not shown) for displaying various functions performed by operating the switch unit are provided on the back surface of the peripheral area outside the key frame of some switch units. It is printed.

  In Patent Document 1, a mobile phone with a multilingual function is proposed. This mobile phone has a front sheet on which function names of keys are displayed in multi-languages, and a key operation unit that selectively displays the function names of multi-languages described on the front sheets so as to be visible from the front. The language described on the top sheet can be selected according to the language of the user to be used.

  Further, Patent Document 2 proposes a sheet that covers a keyboard having a key provided with a reference key display based on an arbitrary language environment, and has an option key teaching based on a language environment different from the language environment. Has been.

JP 2001-326713 A JP 2012-168991 A

  By the way, conventionally, in order to enable the use of the teach pendant in a plurality of countries having different languages, characters used in each language are printed on the back surface of the top sheet 20. As described above, since the surface key 20 is fixed so as to cover the surface of the membrane keyboard 10, the sheet key is different for each language. As a result, the sheet key is manufactured and managed for each language, which is a cause of an increase in the manufacturing and management cost of the sheet key.

Note that Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 are not sheet keys related to the teach pendant, and no proposal is made as a countermeasure for reducing the manufacturing and management costs of the sheet keys.
An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet key for a teach pendant that eliminates the need for the sheet key to correspond to a language, can be manufactured and managed in a centralized manner, and can reduce the management cost for each language. There is.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the teach pendant sheet key of the present invention has a plurality of switch parts, and each of the switch parts is a teach pendant comprising a membrane switch covered with a common surface sheet. In the sheet key, a transparent protective sheet is further affixed to the top sheet, and an operation area of the top sheet corresponding to at least a part of the plurality of switch parts corresponds to that area. Icons for displaying various functions performed by operating the switch unit to be operated are printed, and the operation region and the operation region of the protective sheet corresponding to at least a part of the switch units among the plurality of switch units The switch part corresponding to that area is operated in one or both of the peripheral areas of Ri-character language for displaying various functions performed are those which are described.

Moreover, it is preferable that the said protective sheet has heat resistance .

Also, the protective sheet, which is preferably capable of adhering repositioned relative to the topsheet.

  Further, a relative area of each of the topsheets facing each of the switch portions is disposed to face an operation area of the protective sheet, and both the relative area and the operation area are formed with an emboss projecting to the surface side. Preferably it is.

The front Symbol language is preferably printed on the back surface of the protective sheet.
Moreover, it is preferable that the said protective sheet has the external shape of the same magnitude | size as the said surface sheet.

  According to the present invention, the characters for each language in the country or region where the teach pendant is used are printed not on the top sheet but on the protective sheet attached to the top surface of the top sheet. There is no need to support language. That is, the sheet key can be integrated and manufactured and managed, and the management cost for each language can be reduced.

Sectional drawing of the sheet | seat key of one Embodiment which actualized this invention. Front view of teach pendant. The front view of the state which stuck the protective sheet on the sheet key. The front view of the surface sheet of a sheet key. The front view of a protection sheet. Sectional drawing of the conventional sheet | seat key.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and demonstrated about the same structure as a prior art example.
As shown in FIG. 2, a teach pendant TP used in an industrial robot is provided with an operation unit 100 on the lower side from the center of the casing TPa and a display unit comprising a liquid crystal display device or the like from the center to the upper side. 110 is provided.

The operation unit 100 includes a sheet key.
As shown in FIG. 1, the sheet key includes a membrane keyboard 10 and a surface sheet 20 fixed on the surface of the membrane keyboard 10 so as to cover the surface, and the membrane switch is formed by the membrane keyboard 10 and the surface sheet 20. It is configured.

  In the present embodiment, a configuration different from the conventional one is that a protective sheet 30 is laminated on the surface of the top sheet 20 of the sheet key. The protection sheet 30 will be described later.

  The membrane keyboard 10 has a base plate 11, a lower contact sheet 12, an upper contact sheet 13 and a polydome 14 laminated in order from the bottom. The base plate 11 is made of, for example, a hard plate material made of synthetic resin, and is bonded and fixed to the casing TPa with an adhesive (not shown).

  The lower contact sheet 12 is fixed to the base plate 11 with an adhesive. The lower contact 12a is made of, for example, a PET (polyethylene terephthalate) material. On the upper surface of the lower contact sheet 12, a switch circuit (not shown) having a desired pattern is formed of a conductive paste, and the lower contact 12a of the switch circuit is provided. The conductive paste is made of, for example, a mixture of carbon and silver, but the material is not limited.

A sheet spacer 15 is interposed and bonded between the lower contact sheet 12 and the upper contact sheet 13. The sheet spacer 15 made of, for example, a synthetic resin sheet made of a port triethylene terephthalate (PET) or polyethylene naphthalate (PEN).

  The upper contact sheet 13 is spaced apart from the lower contact 12 a by the sheet spacer 15. The upper contact sheet 13 is made of a synthetic thin sheet member made of synthetic resin made of, for example, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), and a portion pressed downward is formed by the sheet spacer 15. It is possible to return to the original position when the gap is allowed to move downward and the pressure is released.

  On the lower surface of the upper contact sheet 13, a switch circuit (not shown) having a desired pattern is formed of the conductive paste, and the upper contact 13a of the switch circuit is provided so as to face the lower contact 12a.

  The switch part S is comprised by the lower contact 12a and the upper contact 13a. In FIG. 1, for convenience of explanation, one switch unit S is representatively shown. However, the sheet key of the teach pendant TP in the present embodiment has a plurality of switch units S as shown in FIG. It has switch parts 41-96. For convenience of explanation, in FIGS. 2 to 4, reference numerals 41 to 96 are attached to a relative area (described later) of the topsheet 20 corresponding to the switch unit and an operation area 30 a (described later) of the protective sheet 30.

  In the present embodiment, the number of switch units is 56 as an example, but the number is not limited. Further, FIG. 3 shows details of characters, icons, etc., which will be described later, when the operation unit 100 is viewed from above the protective sheet 30 and attached to the area facing each switch unit.

As shown in FIG. 1, the upper contact sheet 13 and the polydome 14 are bonded via a sheet spacer 16. The sheet spacer 16 is made of, for example, a synthetic resin sheet made of a port triethylene terephthalate (PET) or polyethylene naphthalate (PEN).

  The polydome 14 is composed of a synthetic resin sheet member made of, for example, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), and has a plurality of pressing portions 14a by performing hot pressing. The pressing portions 14a are respectively provided at portions facing the switch portions 41 to 96, and are formed in a dome shape that protrudes on the front surface (outer surface) side and can be reversed on the back surface (inner surface) side.

  The top sheet 20 is stuck and fixed to the surface of the polydome 14 via a sheet spacer 17. The sheet spacer 17 is made of, for example, a transparent sheet member made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) and made of a thin synthetic resin having flexibility. Moreover, in the surface sheet 20, the relative area | region 20a facing the switch parts 41-96 is embossed by three-dimensional shaping | molding by performing hot press, and it protrudes to the outer surface (front surface) side, and back surface (inner surface) by a softness | flexibility. It can move to the side.

  Further, the peripheral edge portion of the surface sheet 20 is formed so as to protrude from the outer shape of the membrane keyboard 10, and the back surface of the protruded portion is adhered to the surface of the housing TPa via the adhesive sheet 21.

  As shown in FIG. 4, characters, icons, key frames, and the like for displaying various functions performed by the switch units 41 to 96 are printed on a part or the entire back surface of the relative area 20 a of the top sheet 20. Yes. In the present embodiment, key frames are printed on the back surface of all the relative areas 20a, and characters, icons (graphics), etc. for displaying various functions are printed on the back surface of some of the relative areas 20a. In the present embodiment, the characters printed on the back surface of the top sheet 20 are common symbols used in a plurality of countries. Common symbols include common characters. For example, Arabic numerals, alphabets (“R”, “X”, “Y”, “Z” in the example of FIG. 4) are used. Further, the characters printed on the back surface of the top sheet 20 are characters (for example, “ON”, “OFF”, etc.) constituting words that can be understood in a plurality of countries having different languages, although they are not in the language of the country. Alternatively, it also includes characters constituting an abbreviation (for example, “I / F”, “BS”, “FN”, etc.). For example, “I / F” is an abbreviation for interface, “BS” is an abbreviation for backspace, and “FN” is an abbreviation for function.

  Further, a thin contact 20b is attached to the back surface of the relative area 20a of the top sheet 20, and is always in contact with the surface of the pressing portion 14a. The contact 20b is formed of a flexible resin material such as acrylic or urethane, but the material is not limited.

  As shown in FIG. 1, in this embodiment, the LEDs 32 are fixed to the peripheral area of some switch parts (for example, the peripheral area of the switch part 43 in FIG. 3) on the upper surface of the lower contact sheet 12. Are electrically connected to a switch circuit (not shown). The LED 32 passes through the sheet spacer 15, the upper contact sheet 13, the sheet spacer 16, the polydome 14, and the sheet spacer 17, and the upper part thereof is covered with the surface sheet 20. The LED 32 emits light when the switch unit is turned on, and the light emission state is visible from the outside through the top sheet 20 and the protective sheet 30.

  The operation unit 100 of the teach pendant TP is configured as described above, and the protective sheet 30 is not attached to the surface of the top sheet 20 at the factory shipment stage of the teach pendant TP.

The protective sheet 30 is attached, for example, locally before being used in the country or region where the teach pendant TP is used. The configuration of the protection sheet 30 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, the protective sheet 30 is adhered and fixed to the surface of the topsheet 20 via a sheet spacer 19. The pressure-sensitive adhesive used when sticking the protective sheet 30 to the surface sheet 20 is preferably a material that can be replaced with the surface sheet 20 of the protective sheet 30, that is, a pressure-sensitive adhesive. Examples of the pressure-sensitive adhesive having peel-up property include acrylic adhesives, but are not limited to acrylic adhesives. The sheet spacer 19 is made of a thin synthetic resin sheet member made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) and having flexibility.

  The protective sheet 30 is made of a transparent synthetic resin having heat resistance. The heat resistance is preferably a material resistant to instantaneous heat, such as at least welding spatter or grinder powder. Examples of such a transparent synthetic resin having heat resistance include, but are not limited to, a PVC (polyvinyl chloride) -based synthetic resin. The thickness of the protective sheet 30 is, for example, 100 μm, but this thickness is not limited.

  Further, the size of the outer shape of the protective sheet 30 is formed to the same size as that of the top sheet 20, and is matched with each other at the time of sticking. In the protective sheet 30, the operation region 30 a opposite to the relative region 20 a is hot-pressed so that the emboss is three-dimensionally formed and protrudes to the outer surface (front surface) side and moves to the rear surface (inner surface) side by flexibility. Is possible.

  Various functions executed by the teach pendant TP by operating the switch unit or by a robot controller (not shown) through communication from the teach pendant TP on the back of the operation area 30a of the protection sheet 30 or the back of the peripheral area. The characters of the language that displays are printed.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, English is used as the language. In the example illustrated in FIG. 5, “ENABLE”, “MOTOR ON”, “PWR”, “ERR”, “SYNC”, “INTERP”, “CHK.SPD”, “ENABLE”, “MOTOR ON”, “PWR”, “ERR”, “CHK. TCH.SPD ”,“ STOP ”,“ CONT ”,“ CLOSE ”,“ SHIFT ”,“ OUT ”,“ IN ”,“ CLAMP ”,“ ARC ”,“ SPEED ”,“ ACC ”, and“ TIMER ” It is printed.

  In addition, “GO”, “BACK”, “OW”, “REC”, “INS”, “MOD”, “HELP”, “DEL”, “PROG.”, “STEP” and “END” are printed.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 5, the switches 41 to 49, 64, 71, 78, 85, 89, and 70 are examples in which characters are printed in the peripheral area. Moreover, the switch parts 54, 63, 68, 75 to 77, 83 are examples in which characters are printed in the operation area 30a.

  It should be noted that printing of the language characters on the operation area 30a or the back of the peripheral area is not limited, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are merely examples. Further, the words and abbreviations in the language shown in FIG. 5 are examples, and some or all of them may be changed.

(Operation of the embodiment)
The teach pendant TP having the sheet key configured as described above has the protective sheet 30 attached to the surface of the surface sheet 20 in the country or region where English is used as a language in FIG. In this case, since the surface sheet 20 and the protective sheet 30 are embossed in three dimensions corresponding to the switch portions 41 to 96, it is easy to match the protective sheet 30 to the surface sheet 20. it can. When the protective sheet 30 is attached to the surface of the top sheet 20 as shown in FIG. 1, characters, icons, key frames, and the protection sheet 30 printed on the back surface of the top sheet 20 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The English characters printed on the back surface can be visually recognized from the outside.

  Thus, according to the local language in which the teach pendant TP is used, the protective sheet 30 is attached, for example, locally. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the management of the teach pendant TP depends on the language. When making it correspond to a country and an area, it is only necessary to stick only a protective sheet, and it is not necessary to make the teach pendant TP and the sheet key correspond to each language. In addition, the place where the protective sheet 30 is attached is not limited to the place where the teach pendant TP is used, and can be done at an appropriate place.

  In addition, when the teach pendant is used in a language area different from the English language, as in the case of the English language, the operation is performed by operating the switch unit in an area (operation area or peripheral area) corresponding to the switch unit. What is necessary is just to print the character of the language which shows the various functions displayed on the back surface of the protection sheet 30. FIG. In addition to the English, the local language in which the teach pendant TP is used includes, for example, Japanese, German, Italian, French, Chinese, Arabic, etc., but any language may be used.

The sheet key of this embodiment has the following features.
(1) The sheet key of this embodiment is a sheet key for a teach pendant that includes a plurality of switch portions, and each of the switch portions is a membrane switch covered with a common surface sheet 20. And the protective sheet 30 is stuck to the surface sheet 20, The operation area | region 30a of the protective sheet 30 corresponding to a part of switch part among several switch parts, and the peripheral area | region of the operation area | region 30a in that area | region Characters in a language for displaying various functions performed by operating the corresponding switch unit are described (printed). As a result, the characters for each language in the country or region where the teach pendant is used are printed not on the top sheet but on the protective sheet that is attached to the top surface of the top sheet. That is, since the sheet key itself does not need to correspond to the language, it can be integrated and manufactured and managed, and the management cost for each language can be reduced. In particular, since the protective sheet 30 can use, for example, an inexpensive sheet-like resin film, management and manufacturing costs for each language can be reduced.

  (2) The protective sheet 30 attached to the sheet key of this embodiment has heat resistance. As a result, according to the present embodiment, since a material that is resistant to instantaneous heat such as welding spatter and grinder powder is used, it can be easily adopted in, for example, a teach pendant connected to a controller of a welding robot. Can do.

  (3) The protective sheet 30 attached to the sheet key of the present embodiment is attached to the top sheet 20 so as to be replaceable. As a result, when the surface of the protective sheet 30 becomes dirty, the surface sheet 20 is protected and the surface of the surface sheet 20 is not dirty. Further, since the protective sheet 30 can be replaced, the printed part of the sheet key and the front sheet can be seen clearly as in the case of a new article.

In addition, since the protective sheet 30 can be replaced, the protective sheet 30 can be managed with consumables, and the maintainability is improved.
(4) In the present embodiment, the relative area 20a facing each of the switch portions of the top sheet 20 is arranged facing the operation area 30a of the protective sheet 30, and both the relative area 20a and the operation area 30a are on the surface side. A protruding emboss is formed. As a result, according to the present embodiment, when the protective sheet 30 is stretched on the surface of the topsheet 20, the embossed portions of the three-dimensionally formed can be matched, and the touch feeling is improved when the switch unit is operated. be able to.

  (5) In this embodiment, the protection sheet 30 is transparent, and the language is printed on the back surface of the protection sheet 30. As a result, according to this embodiment, the language characters printed on the protective sheet do not get dirty or disappear when operated from the outside.

  (6) In this embodiment, since the protective sheet 30 has the same outer shape as the surface sheet 20, when the protective sheet 30 is attached to the surface sheet 20, the surface sheet 20 matches the outer shape portion. If it arrange | positions so that it may be made, it can stick easily.

In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, You may comprise as follows.
In the above embodiment, the membrane keyboard 10 is an embossed type, but is not limited to the embossed type. The entire surface of the topsheet 20 may be a flat type.

  -In the said embodiment, although the icon for displaying the various functions performed by a switch part was printed on the back surface of the relative area | region 20a of the surface sheet 20, the icon was printed on the back surface of the surrounding area. May be.

  In the embodiment, the protective sheet 30 can be re-stretched, but may be attached to the top sheet 20 via the sheet spacer 19 with a non-replaceable adhesive.

  -In the said embodiment, the switch part corresponding to the area | region is operated to either one of the operation area | region 30a of the protection sheet 30 corresponding to a part of switch parts, and the peripheral area | region of the operation area | region 30a. The characters of the language for displaying the various functions performed by the above are described (printed). However, the present invention is not limited to this configuration.

For example, the character may be described in one or both of the operation area and the peripheral area of all the switch units 41 to 96.
Moreover, you may describe a character in both the operation area | region 30a of the protection sheet 30 corresponding to a one part or all part switch part, and a peripheral area | region.

  -In the said embodiment, although the magnitude | size of the external shape of the surface sheet and the protective sheet 30 was made the same, it is good also considering a protective sheet as an external shape larger than a surface sheet. Alternatively, the protective sheet may have a smaller outer shape than the top sheet.

  -In the said embodiment, although the single protective sheet 30 was stuck on the surface of the surface sheet 20, the whole surface area | region of the surface sheet 20 is divided into several suitably, and the protection sheet for every divided surface You may make it stick. In this case, the protective sheet may be replaceable as in the above embodiment.

10 ... Membrane keyboard,
11 ... Base plate, 12 ... Lower contact sheet, 13 ... Upper contact sheet,
14 ... polydome, 15, 16, 17, 19 ... sheet spacer,
20 ... surface sheet, 20a ... relative area,
30 ... Protective sheet, 30a ... Operation area,
S, 41-96 ... switch part.

Claims (6)

In a sheet key for a teach pendant comprising a plurality of switch parts, each of the switch parts being a membrane switch covered with a common surface sheet,
A transparent protective sheet is further attached to the surface sheet,
In the operation area of the topsheet corresponding to at least a part of the plurality of switch parts, icons for displaying various functions performed by operating the switch part corresponding to the area are printed. And
Of the plurality of switch parts, one or both of the operation area of the protective sheet corresponding to at least a part of the switch parts and the peripheral area of the operation area are switch parts corresponding to the areas. A sheet key for teach pendant in which characters in a language for displaying various functions performed by operating the are described.   The teach pendant sheet key according to claim 1, wherein the protective sheet has heat resistance.   The sheet key for the teach pendant according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the protective sheet is attached to the top sheet so as to be re-placeable.   Relative areas facing each of the switch portions of the top sheet are arranged facing the operation area of the protective sheet, and both the relative area and the operation area are formed with an emboss projecting to the surface side. The sheet key for the teach pendant according to any one of claims 1 to 3. Before SL language, sheet key for teach pendant according to any one of claims 1 to 4 is printed on the back of the protective sheet.   The teach pendant sheet key according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the protective sheet has an outer shape having the same size as the top sheet.