JPH01239715A - Manufacture of panel switch - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the number of processes and the number of metal molds, and to improve the waterproof and the dustproof qualities, by punching and separating panel switch members in the lump after a specific size of films of each part are pasted, and connecting the upper and the lower wiring conductors at the terminals. CONSTITUTION:After an original roll of polyester film 6 is cut in a specific length, plural upper conductor patterns 6b are lined up on the cut sheet 6a with a conductive paste, printed, dried, and covered with an Si rubber 6c, while a panel display pattern 7b is printed from an original roll 7, and an upper label sheet 5 is formed by using an adhesive 7c. Then, to a specific length sheet 8a of an original polyester roll 8, a lower conductive pattern 8b which consists of switch contacts and a wiring conductor, and a specific length of lower conductor forming sheet 8a which consists of the other components are pasted, and panel switch members 9 are punched and separated. Furthermore, the conductors of connector tails 11 formed of polyester film are connected to the upper and the lower wiring conductors at the switch contacts respectively.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a panel switch used in an operating section of an electronic device or the like.

(Prior art) The conventional method of manufacturing a panel switch is shown in FIGS. 12 and 1.
This will be explained using Figure 3.

First, in FIG. 12, a pattern is formed using a large number of component parts on a film of a fixed length.

1 is a panel display section, which is printed side by side,
A punched outer frame is also formed. Reference numeral 2 represents an adhesive film, which forms a required punched outer frame. 3 is a flexible substrate on which switch contacts, wiring conductors, and a punched outer frame are formed.

Reference numeral 4 denotes an insulating spacer, which has a hole and a punched outer frame formed at a position corresponding to the contact point of the flexible substrate 3.

As described above, each of the component parts formed on the fixed length film is individually punched out using a mold according to the outer frame, and then stacked and assembled as shown in FIG. 13. Note that the flexible substrate 3 is folded back and bonded together with the spacer 4 interposed therebetween.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, the above conventional manufacturing method has the following problems.

(1) There are many steps for bonding each component to each other, which takes time to assemble and increases manufacturing costs.

(2) A punching die is required for each part.

All models are expensive.

(3) Since wiring conductors run on the flexible board 3 that is folded back, it is necessary to curve the folded part with a radius, and as a result, the panel display part 1 is in a floating state and lacks water resistance and dust resistance. , the appearance is also not good.

(4) Since the connector connection portion of the flexible board 3 is long and requires twice the area of other parts, the number of connections required for binding is small, resulting in high costs.

The present invention solves these conventional problems, and aims to provide a method for manufacturing a panel switch with excellent quality at low cost.

(Means for solving the problem) In order to achieve the above purpose, after pasting together in advance a fixed length film of each component on which a plurality of component patterns are formed, panel switch parts are individually punched out at once. The process involves separating the wires and then connecting the upper and lower wiring conductors at terminals.

(Function) According to this process, the number of punching processes is reduced, and therefore,
The number of molds is reduced, and since there is no folding of the flexible substrate, water resistance and dust resistance are improved, and the appearance is also improved.

(Example) Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

First, in Figure 1, a fixed-length sheet with a plurality of upper conductor patterns formed thereon and a fixed-length sheet with a plurality of panel display patterns formed on it are laminated together, and holes are punched in the required areas to form terminals. It shows the process of forming the outer shape. That is, a plurality of upper conductor patterns 6b consisting of switch contacts and wiring conductors as shown in FIG. 2 are lined up and screen-printed using conductive paste on a fixed-length sheet 6a obtained by cutting an original polyester film 6 into a fixed length. After drying, silicone rubber 6C is screen printed to cover the parts excluding the contact and terminal parts. In addition, a plurality of panel display patterns 7b as shown in FIG. 3 are screen printed on a fixed size sheet 7a obtained by cutting the original polyester film 7 into a fixed length, and after drying, an adhesive 7c is printed on the back side. . Then, the regular size sheets 6a and 7a are aligned and overlapped, and passed between two rubber rollers 21 and 22 to bond the regular size sheets together.

This is used as the upper adhesive sheet 5. Next, as shown in FIG. 4, a hole 5a is punched in a predetermined portion to form the outer shape of the terminal portion 5b.

FIG. 5 shows the process of producing a regular size sheet on which a plurality of lower conductor patterns are formed. That is, a plurality of lower conductor patterns 8b consisting of switch contacts and wiring conductors as shown in FIG. 6 are lined up and screen-printed using conductive paste on a fixed-length sheet 8a obtained by cutting an original polyester film 8 into a fixed length. After drying, an adhesive insulating layer 8c made of silicone rubber is formed by screen printing on the portions excluding the contact portions and terminal portions. Further, an anisotropic conductive adhesive layer 15 is formed in a required range of the terminal portion 8d by screen printing.

Furthermore, a hole 8e is punched in a predetermined portion to form the outer shape of the terminal portion.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the upper adhesive sheet 5 produced in FIG. 1 and the lower conductor pattern forming regular sheet 8a produced in FIG. The two sheets are pasted together by passing them between rubber rollers 21 and 22.

The individual panel switch parts 9 are punched out and separated from this bonded body 9a at once.

Furthermore, FIG. 8 shows the process of forming the connector tail portion. A plurality of wiring conductors 10b are formed by screen printing a conductive paste on a fixed-length sheet 10a obtained by cutting an original polyester film 10 into a fixed length, and pre-punched adhesive-coated polyester is applied to the required portions. After pasting the insulating tape 10c made of film, the pieces are punched out into individual members all at once. The connector tail 11 produced in this way is as shown in FIG.
The anisotropically conductive adhesive layer 15 is melted and connected to the terminal portion 9b of the panel switch portion 9 by hot pressing. FIG. 10 shows the connected state.

The method of connecting the connector tail 11 will be further explained. In FIG. 11, the conductor portion 11 of the connector tail 11
a and the terminal portion 13a of the upper conductive substrate 13 are bonded by hot press to the portion of the terminal portion 12a of the lower conductive substrate 12 on which the anisotropic conductive adhesive layer 15 has been formed in advance.

In this bonded state, the conductor pattern llb of the connector tail 11 is connected to the conductor pattern 12b of the lower conductive substrate 12 via the anisotropic conductive adhesive layer 15, and connected to the switch contact 12d connected to the extension thereof. There is. Further, the conductor pattern lie of the connector tail 11 is connected to the conductor pattern 12c of the lower conductive substrate 12 via the anisotropic conductive adhesive layer 15, and furthermore, the conductor pattern 12c of the lower conductive substrate 12
A switch contact 13d is connected to the conductive pattern 13c of the upper conductive substrate 13 via
is connected to. Therefore, when the mutually opposing switch contacts 12d and 13d come into contact through switching, the conductor patterns llb and llc of the connector tail 11 are electrically connected.

(Effects of the Invention) As is clear from the above embodiments, the present invention (1) reduces the punching process and bonding process, resulting in a significant reduction in the number of man-hours, resulting in lower manufacturing costs.

(2) The number of punching dies is reduced compared to the conventional example, resulting in a significant reduction in die costs.

(3) Since the flexible circuit board is not folded back,
Since there is no curvature in the folded portion and therefore no lifting of the panel display portion, water resistance and dust resistance are improved, and the appearance is also good.

It has the following effects.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the process of producing an upper adhesive sheet by pasting together an upper conductor pattern-forming regular-length sheet and a panel display pattern-forming regular-length sheet in one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. Diagram showing one section of the conductor pattern, 3rd
4 shows a section of the panel display pattern, FIG. 4 shows a section of the upper adhesive sheet, FIG. 5 shows a lower conductor pattern forming standard sheet, and FIG. 6 shows a section of the panel display pattern. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a section of the lower conductor pattern, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the process of laminating the upper adhesive sheet and the lower conductor pattern forming regular sheet to produce a bonded body, and FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the connector tail. Figures 9 and 10 showing the process of manufacturing
The figures show the process of connecting the connector tails to the terminals of the individually separated panel switch parts, Figure 11 is a detailed diagram of the connector tail connection method, Figures 12 and 13
The figure is a diagram showing a conventional manufacturing method. 5... Upper adhesive sheet, 5a... Hole, 6a.
・Standard size sheet, 6b...Top conductor pattern, 6c・
...Silicone rubber, 7a...Standard length sheet, 7b...
・Panel display pattern, 7c...adhesive, 8a...
・Standard size sheet, 8b...lower conductor pattern, 8c
... Adhesive insulating layer, 8e... Hole, 9... Panel switch portion, 9a... Bonded body, 11... Connector tail, 15... Anisotropic conductive adhesive layer. Patent applicant: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.Figure 2Figure 3Figure 4Figure 4aLFigure 5Figure 6Figure 8Figure 9Figure 10Figure 11Figure 12Figure 13

Claims (1)

[Claims] A plurality of upper conductor patterns each consisting of a switch contact and a wiring conductor are arranged and formed on a first insulating sheet of a predetermined size, and then a portion of the switch contact and the wiring conductor excluding the terminal portion is formed. a step of forming an insulating layer; a step of arranging and forming a plurality of panel display patterns on a second insulating sheet of a predetermined size, and then forming an adhesive layer on the back surface of the first sheet; A step of pasting the second sheet together to produce an upper adhesive sheet, then punching out holes in required areas to form the outer shape of the terminal portion, and a third sheet of a predetermined size.
Arrange and form a plurality of lower conductor patterns consisting of switch contacts and wiring conductors on an insulating sheet, then form an insulating layer on the parts other than the terminal parts of the switch contacts and wiring conductors, and further punch holes in required parts. forming the outer shape of the terminal portion; and producing a bonded body by aligning and bonding the upper adhesive sheet and the third sheet with the lower conductor pattern formed thereon so that the switch contacts face each other. a step of punching out and separating individual panel switch sections from the bonded body in a batch; and connecting a connector tail to a terminal section of an upper conductor pattern and a terminal section of a lower conductor pattern in the punched and separated panel switch section. A method for manufacturing a panel switch, comprising the steps of: