JPH051856Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention is an anti-glare key top for illuminated switches, especially for preventing the light of illuminated switches used inside automobiles from reflecting on window glass, etc. This invention relates to an anti-glare key top for illuminated switches with good visibility.

(Prior art) Illuminated switches for automobiles, ships, aircraft, etc., or switches with indicators used in various instruments, indicators, etc., such as A/C indicating air conditioner, letters indicating defroster, A switch with a symbol or picture is composed of a keytop member, a flexible conductive electrode member, and a fixed electrode member, but the keytop member does not contain unnecessary external elements that reduce contrast even though the necessary light passes through. Since it is necessary to block out internal light that causes light or window reflection, there is a demand for anti-glare products.

Therefore, the anti-glare key top for illuminated switches is made of an anti-glare sheet, such as a sheet of cellulose acetate butyrate (cellulose acetate butyrate), with minute louvers inside.
There are commercially available products in which transparent silicone rubber layers and colored silicone rubber layers are alternately arranged in parallel, and a key top is adhered to the top.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, as shown in FIG. Since it is attached with adhesive or double-sided tape 26, the adhesive part peels off during use, and the anti-glare sheet falls off, making it impossible to use for a long period of time and lacking in reliability. In addition to being disadvantageous in that dust and dirt accumulate in the gap 27 created when the anti-glare sheet and the key top are adhered, causing problems in terms of hygiene and appearance, there is also a disadvantage in that the letters are illuminated because double-sided tape is used on the outer periphery. This has the disadvantage that the case size is limited and visibility is poor.Additionally, there is less freedom in the shape of the top surface of the key top, and this anti-glare sheet mainly made of silicone rubber has low rigidity.
Since the pressure resistance is weak, there is a disadvantage that deformation and distortion of the visible angle occurs when hot pressurized.If this anti-glare sheet is made of cellulose acetate butyrate, this sheet has a low heat resistance temperature of 70 to 80 degrees Celsius, so it may deform when heated. However, it has the disadvantage of producing a strange odor.

In addition, key tops using this type of anti-glare sheet have poor light transmittance, and as shown in Figure 4, the display area of pictures, letters, etc. that is displayed below the anti-glare sheet when viewed from the surface. When the key top is far away from the top plate, daytime visibility is poor and the illuminated part has the disadvantage of creating a shadow.To compensate for this disadvantage, some models have white printing on the surface, but this one The disadvantage is that the anti-glare effect is lost due to the light diffusion of the white pigment particles, and both visibility and anti-glare effects are not satisfied.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention relates to an anti-glare key top for illuminated switches that solves these disadvantages and disadvantages. This device is characterized in that the light shielding plate is integrated by fusion bonding, and is further characterized in that a thin metal film portion is provided on the front side of the top plate.

That is, the inventors of the present invention made various studies to develop a key top for illuminated switches that does not have the disadvantages mentioned above, and as a result, they made the key top member from a synthetic resin with high light transmittance, and created a fine sag-like pattern on the back of the top plate. When we integrated the light-shielding plate by fusion bonding, we found that this product had excellent anti-glare properties and good visibility.This product can be used for a long time because the light-shielding plate does not peel or fall off during use. can,
We confirmed that there was no accumulation of dust or dirt on the key top, that it was highly visible during the day, and that it was possible to prevent window reflections during night lighting. The present invention was completed by discovering that the above-mentioned effects are even more pronounced when a metal thin film portion is provided on the surface.

This will be explained below based on the attached drawings. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a light shielding plate used in the anti-glare key top for an illuminated switch of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the anti-glare key top for an illuminated switch of the present invention. A light shielding plate 1 used in the anti-glare key top for an illuminated switch of the present invention has a transparent part 2 and a colored part 3, for example, as shown in FIG.
may be arranged in parallel and alternately, but transparent resin sheets or films 4 may be laminated above and below. In addition, the anti-glare key top for an illuminated switch of the present invention basically has a key top part 5 molded from a transparent synthetic resin as shown in FIG. The light shielding plate 1 is integrated by welding, and as shown in FIG. It may also be done. Also,
Regarding the anti-glare key top for this illuminated switch, the key top part 5 that constitutes this illuminated switch is
As shown in FIG. 2c, the illumination part 8 is removed and metal plating 9 is applied, or the key top part 5 is printed 10 without the illumination part 8 as shown in FIGS. 2d and e. This light-shielding plate may have white printing 11 on its cross section as shown in FIG. 2c, and then blue printing 12 thereon, as shown in FIG. The printing 13 may be applied to the light shielding plate as shown in d, but in either case, the key top portion 5
The light shielding plate 1 can be fused and integrated on the back side of the top plate to form an anti-glare key top for an illuminated switch. The anti-glare key top for an illuminated switch of the present invention has a light-transmissive sheet and a flexible anti-glare material on the inner peripheral part 15 of the key top member having a hole 14 in the top surface, as shown in Fig. 2 f). The outer peripheral portion of the laminated sheet member may be heat-sealed to the member.

Further, the anti-glare key top for an illuminated switch of the present invention may be provided with a metal thin film portion on the top plate surface of the key top shown in FIG. 2, as described above, and these are shown in FIG. 3. has been done. The one shown in FIGS. 3a and 3b is the top plate surface 16 of the key top part 5 of the one shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b.
with a metal thin film 17 adhered to it, c and d in Fig. 3.
The one shown in FIG. 2c and d has a metal thin film 17 on the metal plating 9 or the printing 10, and the one shown in FIG. 3e is the key top part in FIG. 2e. 5, a metal thin film 17 is provided on top of the metal thin film 17, and printing 10 is further applied thereon;
Figure f is the same as shown in figure 2 f, but a metal thin film 17 is provided on the top plate surface, and this metal thin film 17 is applied to the top plate surface of the key top part 5 as shown in figure 3 f. Even if it is not provided on the entire surface of the key top part 5, it is provided on the inner peripheral part 15 of the key top part 5 as shown in FIG. 3g and as shown in FIG. It may be provided on the upper surface of the plate 1, and its periphery may be covered with black ink 18 or the like as shown in FIG. 3g.
Further, since the metal thin film may be oxidized, it may be protected by transparent or colored transparent plastic 19 as shown in FIG. 3h.

The key top part 5 used in the illuminated switch type anti-glare key top of the present invention has good transparency and therefore needs to be made of resin or rubber with good light transmittance. ,
Thermoplastic resins such as polycarbonate resins, polyethylene resins, polypropylene resins, ABS resins, etc. or conventionally known ethylene-propylene resins
It may be made by molding thermoplastic elastomer such as diene rubber, silicone rubber, NBR, acrylic rubber, etc., but polyether sulfon, polysulfon resin, and polyetherimide with a Tg point of 150°C or higher are transparent. This use is not preferable because it is thermally degraded and its strength decreases when it is integrated with the resin constituting the flexible sheet member under heat and pressure.

In addition, it is preferable that the fine sag-like light shielding plate that is fused and integrated with the back surface of the top plate of the key top part 5 has transparent parts and colored parts arranged in parallel and alternately, as described above. , this may be a publicly known one; therefore, this may be one in which the material is a cellulose acetate butyrate sheet provided with linear louvers, or a transparent silicone rubber layer and a silicone rubber layer colored black or the like in parallel. An example of this is a structure in which they are arranged alternately and laminated with polycarbonate side plates, but it is preferable to use silicone rubber, which has good heat resistance.

The fusion of the key top portion 5 and the fine blind-like light shielding plate can be achieved by placing the light shielding plate 1 on the underside of the top plate of the key top portion 5 and heat-pressing them to heat-seal them. In order to prevent deformation, optical distortion, cloudiness, etc. due to distortion, it is preferable to heat-seal the light shielding plate and the resin for molding the key top at the same time as molding the key top. For this purpose, a light shielding plate prepared in advance is positioned and placed on a laminated sheet receiving stand provided on the top of the split die of the key top molding die using a positioning mechanism, and then another split die of the key top molding die is placed on top of it. Next, the resin for molding the key top is pressed into the cavity formed by this split die and the other split die from an injection molding machine or an extrusion molding machine, and the resin for molding the key top is pressed into the cavity formed by this split die and the other split die at 250 to 400°C and 500 to 1500 kg/cm. After hot pressing at ² and cooling, the other split mold is opened and the molded key top part is removed. In this way, an anti-glare key top for an illuminated switch can be easily obtained in which a light-shielding plate is molded integrally onto the back side of the top plate of the key top part.

Further, the key top of the present invention may be one in which a fine sag-shaped light shielding plate is fused and integrated on the back side of the top plate of the key top member, and then a metal thin film portion is provided on the front side of the top plate, as described above. , this metal thin film can be made of aluminum, silver, gold, copper, titanium, chromium,
It may be made of nickel, stainless steel or a composite thereof. Note that this is often made of low-cost aluminum or corrosion-resistant chrome, and these are made of
It is preferable to have a thickness of approximately 2.0×10 ⁻³ μm to 5 μm, and the light transmittance of this material may be approximately 3 to 50%.

The anti-glare key top for illuminated switches thus obtained is said to be particularly useful for automotive applications;
In this case, for example, on the surface of the key top, letters, symbols, and pictures indicating the air conditioner, A/C, and defroster are pad-printed, and printed with a film thickness of 10 to 25 μm using synthetic resin printing ink. To color the side part of the key top part, you can mask the key top surface and color the side part, or paint the entire surface black or other color, and use etching or CO ₂ laser to remove text. It is also possible to mark only the painted surface by adjusting the output of the marker or YAG laser marker, but for this anti-glare key top for illuminated switches, screen printing is performed on at least one side of the fine sag-like light-shielding plate described above. You may.

[Effect of idea]

The anti-glare keytop for illuminated switches of the present invention is a transparent keytop member with a fine sagging light plate integrated on the back side of the top plate, so it has high rigidity and pressure resistance, and the light shielding plate does not peel off. It can be used for a long time because there is no dust or dirt accumulated, and there are no problems in terms of hygiene and appearance. Since it blocks external light when not illuminated, it has good contrast and visibility, and is therefore useful as a lighting switch indoors or in a car.

The anti-glare key top for illuminated switches of the present invention has a metal thin film part on the top plate surface of the above-described one, so in addition to having the above-mentioned effects, which are noticeable, This has the additional effect of improving visibility, making its practicality even more advantageous.

(Example) Next, examples of the present invention will be given.

Example 1 A transparent silicone rubber layer and a black silicone rubber layer were arranged in parallel and alternately and sandwiched between two polycarbonate sheets, with a thickness of 0.95 mm.
mm Shin-Etsu VC film (trade name manufactured by Shin-Etsu Polymer Co., Ltd.) was cut into a size of 16 x 9 mm, and this was molded with transparent polycarbonate resin H-3000 (trade name manufactured by Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Co., Ltd.). Surface size is 16×
After heat-sealing it to the back of the top of a 9mm key top member, I printed a character stamp on the surface of the key top with black ink that has hiding power, and painted the outer periphery of the key top with the same black ink. An anti-glare key top for a vehicle-mounted illuminated switch that is seamless, rigid, and has good visibility was obtained.

Example 2 White screen printing was performed on one side of the Shin-Etsu VC film used in Example 1, and blue screen printing was performed on top of that, then cut into a size of 16 x 9 mm, and this unprinted side was ABS
It was heat-sealed to the back side of the top of a key top molded with Toyoratsuk 920 resin (trade name manufactured by Toray Industries, Inc.).

Next, apply plating to the surface of this key top,
When characters were printed with a laser marker, the illuminated part of the characters was white when not illuminated and blue when illuminated, and otherwise had a metallic luster, resulting in an anti-glare key top for a car-mounted illuminated switch with good visibility. It was done.

Example 3 A transparent silicone rubber layer and a black silicone rubber layer were arranged in parallel and alternately, and these were sandwiched between two polycarbonate sheets, and the thickness was 0.95.
mm Shin-Etsu VC film (product name manufactured by Shin-Etsu Polymer Co., Ltd.) is cut to a size of 16 x 9 mm, and then molded with transparent polycarbonate resin.The through-hole size on the top surface is 16 x 9 mm. 0.95mm
After heat-sealing the side surface of the VC film to the side wall of the through hole of the key top member, screen printing with black ink with hiding power is performed on the surface of the key top, and the outer periphery of the key top is injected with the same black ink. When painted with this, an anti-glare key top for a vehicle-mounted illuminated switch was obtained that was seamless, rigid, and had good visibility.

Example 4 Shin-Etsu VC film used in Example 1 was 16
The size of the top surface is 16 x 9 mm and then molded from transparent polycarbonate resin.
After heat-sealing it to the back side of the top of a 9mm key top, I printed a character stamp on the surface of the key top with black ink that has hiding power, and painted the outer periphery with the same black ink, so there was no seam. An anti-glare key top for a vehicle-mounted illuminated switch was obtained which was rigid, had good visibility, and had a flexible surface.

Example 5 Shin-Etsu VC film was heat-sealed to the back surface of the top surface of the polycarbonate resin key top obtained in Example 1. The top surface of the key top was hot-stamped with chromium vapor deposition with a light transmittance of 20%. After transferring the chromium-deposited layer to the foil at 150℃ for 2 seconds, the outer periphery was painted with black ink and letters were cut out using a YAG laser marker. The key points have been obtained.

Example 6 After performing blue screen printing on one side of the Shin-Etsu VC film used in Example 1, 16×
It was cut to a size of 9 mm, and the unprinted side was heat-sealed to the back side of the top surface of a key top molded from polycarbonate resin Corpilon PL-2 (trade name, manufactured by Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Co., Ltd.).

Next, the light transmittance on the surface of this keytop is 15.
%, the outer surface was painted with black ink, and characters were cut out only from the painted area using a laser marker. When the illuminated parts were not illuminated, they had a nickel luster and when illuminated, they were blue. An anti-glare key top for a vehicle-mounted illuminated switch with good visibility was obtained.

Example 7 Shin-Etsu VC film was heat-sealed to the back side of the top surface of the polycarbonate resin key top obtained in Example 1. An aluminum thin film with a light transmittance of 10% was formed by vacuum evaporation on the top surface of the key top. Afterwards, the surface is printed with character-cutting pads using black ink with shading power, the outer periphery is coated with black ink, and the outer surface is then coated with a transparent matte coating to create an anti-glare key top for illuminated switches. As a result, an anti-glare key top for a vehicle-mounted illuminated switch that has good visibility even in the daytime was obtained.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a fine sag-like light shielding plate used in the anti-glare sheet for illuminated switches of the present invention;
Figures a to f and a to h in Figure 3 are longitudinal cross-sectional views of the anti-glare key top for illuminated switches of the present invention, and Figure 4 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a conventionally known anti-glare key top for illuminated switches. It is something. 1, 21... Light shielding plate, 2, 22... Transparent part,
3, 23... Colored part, 4... Transparent resin sheet or film, 5, 24... Key top part, 6...
...Top plate back part, 7, 25... Concave part, 8... Lighting part, 9... Plating part, 10, 13... Printing part, 1
1... White printing section, 12... Blue printing section, 14...
... Hole, 15 ... Inner circumference, 16 ... Top plate surface, 17
...Thin metal film, 18...Black ink, etc., 19...
...Transparent or colored transparent protective layer, 26...Adhesive portion, 27...Gap.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] 1. An anti-glare key top for an illuminated switch, characterized in that a fine sag-like light shielding plate is fused and integrated on the back side of the top plate of a key top member molded from a transparent resin. 2. Anti-glare property for an illuminated switch, characterized in that a fine sag-shaped light-shielding plate is fused and integrated on the back side of the top plate of a key top member molded from transparent resin, and a metal thin film portion is provided on the front side of the top plate. Keytop.