JPH0119208B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a contact conductive material printing device for forming contacts on the inside of rubber keys when used as keys for terminals such as various communication devices and electronic devices. Regarding.

[Prior Art] Generally, a rubber key is integrally formed on a single insulating rubber sheet by molding a plurality of keys so as to bulge upward at predetermined intervals. It is necessary to form movable contacts on the inside of each of the rubber keys using a conductive material so as to face the fixed contacts formed on the printed circuit board for on/off operation.

As described above, since the rubber sheet having the rubber key is not flat but has an uneven shape, it is difficult to print a conductive material on the rubber sheet.

Conventionally, when forming movable contacts on a rubber key, conductive rubber for the contacts is molded in advance.
Next, each piece of conductive rubber is set in one of the rubber molds, a rubber fabric for a rubber sheet with an unvulcanized rubber key is prepared in the other rubber mold, and both molds are pressurized. The desired rubber key was obtained by heat vulcanization.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As mentioned above, since the movable contacts of conventional rubber keys were formed of conductive rubber, one
The conductive rubber must be set in place, which is not only a troublesome work but also takes a lot of time and is a cause of high costs.

Therefore, in view of the above points, the present inventors have actively utilized the rubber elasticity of the rubber sheet to keep the printing surface flat, regardless of the unevenness of the rubber sheet having the rubber key, and to We have developed a device that can print conductive materials for contacts on surfaces.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide conductive material printing for the contacts of a rubber key, which enables the contacts formed inside the rubber key to be uniformly and easily formed using a conductive coating by screen printing, thereby increasing production efficiency and making it possible to manufacture the contacts at a low cost. The goal is to provide equipment.

[Means for Solving the Problems] A conductive material printing device for rubber key contacts according to the present invention has window holes formed directly below the screen printing surface at positions corresponding to each of a plurality of rubber keys formed on a rubber sheet. Attach the fixed frame, place the rubber key of the rubber sheet at a position corresponding to the window hole below the fixed frame, with the inside facing up, and with the key part of the rubber sheet located in the through-hole part, insert the rubber A support plate on which the sheet is placed is installed below the fixing frame, and a push-up plate is provided below the support plate with a convex portion that passes through the through hole and pushes up the key top surface of the rubber key. It is installed so that it can be raised and lowered freely through.

[Operation] Place the rubber sheet on the receiving plate with the inside of the rubber key facing up, and with the rubber key portions set in the through holes of the receiving plate, place the rubber sheet portions on the lower surface of the fixed frame and the receiving plate. Clamp it between the top surface of the Next, the push-up plate is raised, the protrusion formed on the push-up plate is passed through the hole in the receiving plate, and when the key top surface is pushed upward by the protrusion, the inner contact forming surface of the rubber key touches the window of the fixed frame. It passes through the hole and comes close to the screen printing surface. Therefore, it is sufficient to apply the conductive material to a uniform thickness on the close contact formation surfaces.

After printing is completed, the convex portion is lowered to its original position and the receiving plate is also lowered to take out the rubber sheet on the receiving plate from the apparatus.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

Reference numeral 1 indicates screen printing, 1a indicates the printed surface, and 2 indicates a fixed frame attached directly below the printed surface 1a. The fixed frame 2 has a plurality of rubber keys 1, which will be described later.
Window holes 2a are formed at positions corresponding to 0 and 0, and the lower surface of the remaining fixed frame 2 excluding the window holes 2a is blind, so that printing is not performed on areas other than the window frame 2a. .

Reference numeral 3 denotes a push-up plate installed below the fixed frame 2, and the push-up plate 3 is fixed on a movable body 4 that moves up and down. The push-up plate 3, which serves as a lever, moves up and down together with the movable body 4.
Further, on the upper surface of the push-up plate 3, there are formed convex portions 5 that stand up vertically at positions corresponding to the plurality of rubber keys 10, and the convex portions 5 are located at positions facing the window frame 2a of the fixed frame 2. It is in.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a receiving plate installed between the fixed frame 2 and the push-up plate 3, and a rubber sheet 9 having a rubber key 10 is placed on the receiving plate 6. This receiving plate 6 is supported with coil springs or other buffer components 7 provided at predetermined locations on the push-up plate 3. Further, the receiving plate 6 is normally supported by the buffer component 7 at a distance corresponding to the height of the convex portion 5 from the upper surface of the push-up plate 3, and simultaneously moves up and down as the push-up plate 3 moves up and down. do. Furthermore, through holes 8 are formed in the receiving plate 6 at positions corresponding to the window holes 2a of the fixed frame 2 and the convex portions 5 on the push-up plate 3, respectively. Thus, the window hole 2a that exposes the printed surface 1a of the screen printing 1, the through hole 8 of the receiving plate 6, and the convex portion 5 of the push-up plate 3 are located on the same axis. The upper surface of the through-hole 8 provided in the receiving plate 6 widens in a truss-like shape, and a rubber key 1 having a chevron shape is provided in the portion of the through-hole 8 that expands in the rasp-like shape.
I try to accept the 0 part loosely.

The rubber key 10 is made of an insulating rubber material such as silicone rubber and is integrally formed on a rubber sheet 9 so that a plurality of keys bulge upward at predetermined intervals, and a conductive material that becomes a movable contact is inside the rubber key 10. It has not yet been formed. The rubber sheet 10 is placed on the receiving plate 6 with the key top surface 10a of the rubber key 9 facing downward, and the through hole 8 is configured to receive the rubber key 10 portion, and the key top surface 10a is placed on the convex portion 5 of the push-up plate 3. so that they are positioned facing each other, and each rubber key 9
A contact protrusion 11 protruding from the center of the dome-shaped recess 10b is opposed to the printing surface 1a of the screen printing 1.

The above-mentioned movable body 4 has a cylindrical support 13 fixed to the plate 12 of the printing device to support the push-up plate 3 and the enlarged portion 14, and a push-up rod 15 is inserted into the support post 13. The upper end of the push-up rod 15 is fixed to the center of the lower part of the enlarged portion 14, and the lower end of the push-up rod 15 is brought into contact with the upper end of the reciprocating rod 16.

The reciprocating rod 16 has a structure that is interlocked with a cam mechanism, a structure that is interlocked with a hydraulic mechanism, etc., and is used to move up and down and push up the pusher rod 15 when moving upward.

17 is a motor built into the printing device, and 18 is an intermediate component that transmits power from the motor to a cam, hydraulic mechanism, etc.

Next, the operating state of the above embodiment will be explained.

First, the rubber sheet 9 is placed on the receiving plate 6 with the inside of the rubber key 10 facing up (contact protrusion 11 facing up). Next, with the rubber keys 10 set in the through holes 8 of the receiving plate 6, the motor 17 is driven to raise the reciprocating rod 16 via an intermediate part 18 such as a cam mechanism, and the push rod 16 is raised. 15 rises accordingly, pushing up the push-up plate 3. As the push-up plate 3 rises, the support plate 6 supported by the buffer component 7 on the push-up plate 3 also rises, and the rubber sheet 9 portion connects the bottom surface of the fixed frame 2 with the top surface of the support plate 6. It is held elastically.
Then, when the push-up plate 3 is further raised, the push-up plate 3 rises against the buffer component 7, and the convex portion 5 formed on the push-up plate 3 is moved to the receiving plate 6.
is inserted into the through hole 8 of. When the rubber key 10 part attached to the through hole 8 part pushes up the key top surface 10a upwardly by the convex part 5, the contact convex part 11 inside the rubber key 10 penetrates the window hole 2a of the fixed frame 2. Printing surface 1 of screen printing 1
It will be close to a. Therefore, it is sufficient to apply a conductive material to a uniform thickness on the contact convex portions 11 that are close to each other by screen printing. After printing is completed, the convex portion 5 is lowered to its original position, and the receiving plate 6 is also lowered to release the rubber key 1 on the receiving plate 6.
It is only necessary to take out the rubber sheet 9 having a value of 0 from this device.

[Effects of the Invention] As can be seen from the above description, the present invention provides a fixing frame in which window holes are formed at positions corresponding to each of a plurality of rubber keys formed on a rubber sheet, and a fixing frame is attached directly below the screen-printed surface. A receiving plate on which a rubber key of a rubber sheet is placed at a position corresponding to the window hole below the frame with the inside facing up, and the rubber sheet is placed with the key part of the rubber sheet positioned in the through hole part. is installed below the fixing frame, and a push-up plate is installed below the receiving plate with a convex portion penetrating the through hole and capable of pushing up the key top surface of the rubber key so that it can be raised and lowered via a buffer part. Therefore, the rubber sheet sandwiched between the fixed frame and the receiving plate utilizes rubber elasticity so that only the rubber key part is pushed up by the convex part of the push-up plate and comes into contact with the screen printed surface, causing the conductive material to contact the contact part. can be printed evenly.

Furthermore, since the present invention employs screen printing means, the film thickness can be freely adjusted, production efficiency can be increased, and highly accurate rubber keys can be manufactured at low cost.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the main parts of a printing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a part of the rubber key set when the device is not in operation, and FIG. is a vertical sectional view of the main part during the same operation. 1...screen printing, 1a...printing surface, 2...
...Fixed frame, 2a... Window hole, 3... Push-up plate,
5...Convex portion, 6...Buffer plate, 7...Buffer part, 8...Through hole, 9...Rubber sheet, 10...
Rubber key, 11...Protrusion for contact.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Directly below the screen printing surface, install a fixed frame with window holes formed at positions corresponding to each of the plurality of rubber keys formed on the rubber sheet, and below the fixed frame, install a rubber sheet at the position corresponding to the window holes. With the rubber key facing up and the key part of the rubber sheet positioned in the through-hole part, a receiving plate on which the rubber sheet is placed is installed below the fixed frame and below the receiving plate. A conductive material printing device for contacts of a rubber key, characterized in that a push-up plate having a convex portion penetrating through the through hole and forming a convex portion capable of pushing upward the key top surface of the rubber key is installed so as to be movable up and down via a buffer part.