JPH05101736A - Push button device with illumination - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a push button device with illumination, in which a light source is installed to a narrow space to made a device compact and a key top part itself is made to emit the light at a high luminance to improve the operability. CONSTITUTION:A key top part 6 and a dome part 8 in the back of the key top part 6 are made of the light transmitting material. A LED 13 is provided in the back of the dome part 8. A contact point part 9 of the inner surface of the dome part 8 is provided at a position, where the light emitted from the LED 13 to the key top part 6 is not cut by the contact point part 9. The contact point part 9 is made to contact to a contact point part 11 of a printed wiring board 2 by the curvature of the dome part 8 with the push down of the key top part 6 to make the LED 13 emit the light, and the emitted light is transmitted through the dome part 8 to make the key top part 6 itself emit light.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lighted push button device used as an input display portion of in-vehicle electronic equipment, portable electronic equipment and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a structure as shown in FIG. 4 has been known as a push button device with illumination. As shown in FIG. 4, a sheet 53 and a film (or sheet) 54 are sandwiched between a case 51 and a printed circuit board 52. The sheet 53 is made of silicon rubber or the like, and has a diaphragm portion 5
A key top portion 56 is provided so as to extend through the key 5. The key top portion 56 projects outward from a hole 57 formed in the case 51. The film 54 has a dome portion 58 corresponding to the key top portion 56 and protruding toward the key top portion 56, and a movable contact portion 59 made of a conductive material such as carbon is provided on the inner surface of the dome portion 58. Printed circuit board 5
A fixed contact portion 60 corresponding to the movable contact portion 59 is provided on the second portion 2. An LED (light emitting diode) 61 is supported on the printed circuit board 52 at the side of the dome portion 58 and the key top portion 56 and is wired to the printed circuit board 52. The LED 61 is a hole formed in the sheet 53 and the film 54. 62 and recessed hole 6 formed on the back surface of the case 51
It is paid in 3. In the case 51, a light transmitting portion 64 is formed above the LED 61.

The operation of the above configuration will be described below. When the key top portion 56 is pushed down, the diaphragm portion 55 bends, and the key top portion 56 moves to the dome portion 5.
Press 8. The pressed dome portion 58 elastically deforms,
The movable contact portion 59 on the inner surface thereof contacts the fixed contact portion 60 on the printed circuit board 52. Accordingly, the printed circuit board 52
The upper LED 61 is made to blink, and the light transmitting portion 64 of the case 51 is
Can emit light to the outside of the case 51. On the contrary, when the pressing force of the key top portion 56 is released, the diaphragm portion 55 expands due to the resilience, and the pressing force of the dome portion 58 is released. The released dome portion 58 restores to a dome shape, and the movable contact portion 59 on the inner surface of the dome portion 58 has the printed circuit board 5
It is separated from the fixed contact part 60 on the upper part 2 and cut off. Along with this, the emission of the LED 61 stops.

As described above, also in the conventional example, the blinking of the LED 61 can be displayed outside the case 51 by pressing the key top portion 56.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional illuminated push button device, the LED 61 for displaying the disconnection signal by the operation of the key top portion 56 is not provided behind the key top portion 56. Since the light emitting position of the LED 61 is different from the key top portion 56, there is a problem in that operation is hindered, a large space is required, and miniaturization cannot be achieved.

The present invention solves such a conventional problem. The light source can be mounted in a narrow space for downsizing, and the key top portion itself emits light to improve operability. It is an object of the present invention to provide a lighted push button device capable of improving the above.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a key top portion made of a light transmissive material and a light transmissive material, and is elastically deformed by pressing the key top portion. A dome portion, a light source provided behind the dome portion, a position inside the dome portion that does not block light emitted from the light source with respect to the key top portion, and the dome portion is depressed. , A contact portion that can be disconnected by being released.

Then, the contact portion inside the dome portion is
It is provided in a frame shape so as to have one light transmitting portion, and one light source is arranged corresponding to this one light transmitting portion, or the contact portion on the back of the dome portion has two light transmitting portions. As described above, the frame-shaped portion and the partition are formed, and two light sources having different colors can be arranged corresponding to the two light transmitting portions.

[0009]

Therefore, according to the present invention, the key top portion is pushed down, the dome portion is bent to bring the contact portion into contact, and the light source provided behind the dome portion is caused to emit light. The light-transmitting dome portion is transmitted without being blocked, and the light-transmitting key top portion is caused to emit light with high brightness.
In this way, the light source can be mounted in a narrow space,
Further, the key top portion itself can be made to emit light with high brightness.

[0010]

(Embodiment 1) A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2 show an illuminated push button device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a sectional view and FIG. 2 is a rear view of a dome portion and a movable contact portion.

As shown in FIG. 1, a sheet 3 and a film (or sheet) 4 are sandwiched between a case 1 and a printed circuit board 2. The sheet 3 is made of a transparent or translucent material having a light-transmitting property such as silicon rubber, and a key top portion 6 is provided so as to protrude through the diaphragm portion 5. The key top portion 6 projects outward from a hole 7 formed in the case 1. The film 4 is made of a transparent or semitransparent light-transmitting material, has a dome portion 8 that protrudes toward the keytop portion 6 side in correspondence with the keytop portion 6, and the inside surface of the dome portion 8 is made of carbon or the like. The movable contact portion 9 made of the conductive material is provided. As is clear from FIG. 2, the movable contact portion 9 is formed in a frame shape, in the illustrated example, a ring shape, and the central portion thereof is a light transmitting portion 10. A fixed contact portion 11 corresponding to the movable contact portion 9 is provided on the printed circuit board 2. A hole 12 is formed in the central portion of the dome portion 8, that is, behind the light transmitting portion 10, on the printed circuit board 2, and an LED (light emitting diode) 13 that is a light source is inserted and supported in the hole 12 to form a printed circuit board. Wired to 2.

The operation of the above arrangement will be described below. When the key top portion 6 is pushed down, the diaphragm portion 5 bends and the key top portion 6 pushes down the dome portion 8. The depressed dome portion 8 elastically deforms, and the movable contact portion 9 on the inner surface thereof contacts the fixed contact portion 11 on the printed circuit board 2. Along with this, the LED 13 wired on the printed circuit board 2 is turned on. Since the LED 13 is arranged behind the dome portion 8 and corresponding to the light transmitting portion 10 at the center of the dome portion 8, the light emitted from the LED 8 passes through the light transmitting portion 10 of the dome portion 8, Then, the light passes through the key top portion 6 and emits light from the key top portion 6. On the contrary, when the pressing force of the key top portion 6 is released, the diaphragm portion 5 expands due to the resilience and the pressing force of the dome portion 8 is released. The released dome portion 8 returns to a dome shape,
The movable contact portion 9 on the inner surface thereof is separated from the fixed contact portion 11 on the printed circuit board 2 and cut off. Along with this, LED1
The light emission of 3 stops.

As described above, according to the above embodiment, the LEDs 13 are provided behind the key top portion 6 and the dome portion 8,
Since the light emission of the LED 13 can be transmitted to the key top portion 6 without any obstacle, it is possible to emit light with higher brightness than the key top portion 6. Moreover, since the LED 13 is provided in the hole 7 of the printed circuit board 2 behind the dome portion 8, the object can be achieved in a small space.

(Second Embodiment) A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the dome portion and the movable contact portion used in the illuminated push button device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

In the present embodiment, the movable contact portion 9 provided on the inner surface of the dome portion 8 is composed of a ring-shaped frame-shaped portion and a partition which divides the frame-shaped portion into an intermediate portion. It is divided into parts 10a and 10b. Then, two LEDs (not shown) of different colors are inserted and supported in the holes of the printed circuit board corresponding to the respective light transmission parts 10a and 10b, and are wired to the printed circuit board. Is the same as in the first embodiment.

According to this embodiment, by pressing the key top portion 6, the two LEDs can be turned on, and the key top portion 6 can be divided to emit light.

In each of the above embodiments, the contact portion 9 is provided on the inner surface of the dome portion 8. However, if the contact portion 9 is inside the dome portion 9, it is provided in a ring shape using a membrane sheet or the like. May be.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, the key top portion is pushed down, the dome portion is bent to bring the contact portion into contact, and the light source provided behind the dome portion is caused to emit light. Accordingly, the light-transmitting dome portion is transmitted without being blocked by the contact portion, and the light-transmitting key top portion is caused to emit light with high brightness. In this way, the light source can be mounted in a narrow space, and therefore the size can be reduced.
Further, the key top portion itself can be made to emit light with high brightness, and therefore, operability can be improved. Further, it is not necessary to add the number of parts to the conventional structure, and the above effect can be realized at low cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a lighted push button device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of a dome portion and a movable contact portion used in the illuminated push button device.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the dome portion and the movable contact portion used in the illuminated push button device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a conventional illuminated push button device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Case 2 Printed Circuit Board 5 Diaphragm Section 6 Key Top Section 8 Dome Section 9 Moving Contact Section 10 Light Transmission Section 11 Fixed Contact Section 13 LED

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A key top portion made of a light transmissive material,
A dome portion made of a light-transmissive material, which can be elastically deformed by pressing the key top portion, a light source provided behind the dome portion, and light emitted from the light source inside the dome portion to the key. A push button device with illumination, which is provided at a position that does not block the top portion and has a contact portion that can be connected and disconnected by pushing and releasing the dome portion. 2. A contact portion inside the dome portion is provided in a frame shape so as to have one light transmitting portion, and one light source is arranged corresponding to this one light transmitting portion. Illuminated push button device. 3. The dome portion comprises a frame-shaped portion and a partition so that the inner contact portion has two light transmitting portions, and two light sources of different colors are arranged corresponding to the two light transmitting portions. The illuminated push button device according to claim 1.