JPH05325707A - Electrostatic protection device for keyboard - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent damage of an electric circuit of a keyboard and a device connected thereto by electrostatic discharge between an exposed part of a lead wire 41 of an illuminant of a key provided with an illuminant such as an LED on a key top and an operator or the like. CONSTITUTION:The conductors 61 to 64 are provided on a cylindrical part 21 of an upper surface panel guiding a key top 11 provided with an iluminant 4 adjacently to an exposed part 44 of a lead wire 41 of the illuminant 4 in order to ground the conductors. Concretely the structure providing a metal piece 61 in the extended direction of the lead wire 41 on the outer periphery of the cylinder part 21, the structure inserting through a metal wire rod 62 by providing a through hole 23 in the extended direction of the lead wire 41 of an LED on the wall of a cylinder part 21, the structure fitting a metal ring 63 into the outer periphery of the cylinder part 21, the structure forming a conductor pattern 64 on the outer periphery of the cylinder part 21 by plating or coating and the structure molding the cylinder part 21 out of a material, where a conductive material of metallic particles carbon particles and the like are mixed together, are adopted.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrostatic protection device for a keyboard device, and more particularly to a keyboard having a key top provided with a light emitting body such as an LED.
The present invention relates to a device that prevents damage to a keyboard due to discharge of static electricity on a lead wire of a light emitter.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some keyboards are provided with a light emitter such as an LED on a key top of a shift key, for example, in order to display a signal processing state of the device. An example of such a key with a light emitter is shown in FIG. The key 1 is supported by a stem 12 integrated with the key 1 being vertically movably fitted to a cylinder portion 21 provided on a top panel 2 of the keyboard.
A contact spring 13 and a pressing piece 14 for pressing the contact point of the membrane switch 3 arranged in the lower take-out type of the upper panel 2 from the lower end of the stem 12 are integrally provided below. A window 15 is provided in a part of the key top 11, and an LED 4 is arranged directly below the window 15. A lead wire of the LED is a groove 2 provided in a wall of a cylinder portion 21.
It is connected to the wiring pattern provided on the membrane switch 3 through the line 2. The membrane switch 3 is supported by a support panel 5 below it.

The membrane switch 3 includes an insulating sheet 32 having a plurality of parallel contact patterns 31 ... And an insulating sheet 34 having a plurality of parallel contact patterns 33 ... In a direction orthogonal to the contact patterns 31. Are arranged so as to face each other through a spacer sheet 36 having through holes 35 in each contact portion, and the pressing piece 14 of each key presses the through hole 35 portion of the spacer sheet 36 and crosses each other. The patterns 31 and 33 are brought into contact with each other. The lead wire 41 of the LED 4 is connected to the conductive pattern 37 provided on the insulating sheet 32 below the membrane switch 3,
A cutout 38 is provided in the insulating sheet 34 above the connecting portion. The lead wire 41 of the LED 4 is the cylinder portion 2
The groove 22 provided in the wall 1 is obtained and connected to the conductive pattern 37.

[0004]

In the keyboard having the light-emitting body 4 provided on the key top as described above, there is a portion where the lead wire 41 of the light-emitting body 4 is exposed inside the key-top 11. Since the key top 11 and the upper panel 2 of the keyboard are usually made of an insulating material, there is usually no possibility that the operator directly contacts the exposed portion of the lead wire 41 of the light emitter. However, if the operator is strongly charged, static electricity is discharged from the fingertip to the exposed portion of the lead wire 41 when the operator extends his / her finger to press the key with the light emitter, and this discharge current causes the LED driver 42 to be discharged. It could be destroyed, and then flowed to other places to destroy the electric circuits of the keyboard and devices connected to it.

A conductive rubber 43 is attached to the lower end of the lead wire 41 of the LED 4, and the conductive wire 43 is pressed against the conductive pattern 37 of the membrane switch, whereby the lead wire 41 and the conductive pattern 3 are formed.
And 7 are electrically connected.

According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent electric discharge from occurring between an operator or the like and an exposed portion of the lead wire 41 of the light-emitting body provided on the key top, thereby damaging the electric circuit of the keyboard or a device connected thereto. It is an object to provide a technical means for doing so.

[0007]

According to the present invention, the conductors 61 to 61 are provided in the cylinder portion 21 of the upper panel for guiding the key top 11 provided with the luminous body 4 in the vicinity of the exposed portion 44 of the lead wire 41 of the luminous body. The above problem is solved by providing 64 and grounding the conductors 61 to 64. As a concrete structure for providing the conductor in the cylinder portion 21, a structure in which a metal piece 61 in the extending direction of the lead wire 41 is provided on the outer periphery of the cylinder portion 21 and an LED is provided on the wall of the cylinder portion
The structure in which the through hole 23 in the extending direction of the lead wire 41 is provided and the metal wire 62 is inserted into the through hole, the cylinder portion 21
A structure in which the metal ring 63 is fitted on the outer peripheral surface of the, or a method of forming the conductor pattern 64 on the outer circumference of the cylinder portion 21 by plating or coating can be adopted. Further, as a structure for grounding these conductors 61 to 64, a structure in which a conductive leg 72 extending downward from the conductors 61 to 63 formed in the above-described mode is connected to the sheet metal support panel 5 through the membrane switch 3, It is possible to adopt a structure in which these conductors 61 to 64 are connected to the frame of the device or the ground wire through the wiring 75 or the conductive pattern 77.

As another structure of the present invention, the keyboard top panel 2 is formed by molding the upper panel 2 of the keyboard with a material in which a conductive material such as metal particles or carbon particles is mixed, and having a light emitting body.
It is possible to employ a structure in which the cylinder portion 21 itself for guiding 1 has conductivity, and the top panel 2 is grounded. In this case, the lead wire 41 of the light emitter is inserted into the through hole 23 of the cylinder portion 21 while being inserted into the insulating tube.

[0009]

If the above-mentioned structure is adopted, the key top 1 of the key with the light emitter is the charged fingertip of the operator.
1, the conductors 61 to 6 provided on the cylinder portion 21 before static electricity is discharged to the lead wire 41 of the light emitter.
3 and the cylinder portion 21 itself having conductivity, and the discharge current flows to the ground by obtaining the support panel 5, the cable 75 or the conductive pattern 77, so that the electric circuit of the keyboard and the device connected to the keyboard. Will not be destroyed.

[0010]

EXAMPLE An example shown in the drawings will be described below. 1 to 8, the key top 11, the stem 12,
The contact spring 13, the pressing piece 14, the window 15, the upper panel 2, its cylinder portion 21, the membrane switch 3, the support panel 5, the LED 4, and its lead wire 41 are the same as in the conventional structure, and the reference numerals are the same as those in FIG. I am using one. Structure of membrane switch 3 and LED lead wire 41
The connection structure may be the same as the conventional structure shown in FIG.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a thin metal piece 61 extending in the direction along the lead wire 41 is embedded in a cylinder portion 21 provided with the light emitting body 4 close to the position of the light emitting body 4 by molding. .. The metal piece 61 is embedded so that at least the upper end portion thereof is exposed at the outer periphery of the cylinder portion, and the exposed portion 71 is the lead wire 41 of the LED.
It is located on the outer peripheral portion of the cylinder portion 21 in the immediate vicinity of the exposed portion 44. In the structure of FIG. 1, the connection leg 72 of the metal piece 61 is extended downward to penetrate the through hole 39 provided in the membrane switch 3, and the tip thereof is joined to the support panel 5 by welding or the like. The support panel 5 is of course made of sheet metal.

In the structure shown in FIG. 2, the cylinder portion 21 of the upper panel 2 is provided with a through hole 23 extending in the direction along the LED lead wire 41, and a metal pin 62 fixed to the sheet metal support panel 5 is provided. The structure is such that the through-hole 51 of the support panel and the through-hole 39 of the membrane switch 3 are inserted into the through-hole 23 of the cylinder portion, and the tip end thereof is exposed to the outer peripheral surface or the upper end surface of the cylinder portion.
In the structure of FIG. 2, a hook 73 is provided at the lower end of the metal pin 62, and the hook 73 is engaged with the hook receiver 52 provided on the support panel 5 to move the metal pin 62 to the support panel 5.
The static electricity protection device of the present invention can be realized by inserting the metal pin 62 from below the support panel after assembling the keyboard. The cylinder portion 21 close to the exposed portion of the LED lead wire 41 as well as the exposed portion of the tip of the metal pin 62.
Outside of.

Instead of the hook 73 and the hook receiver 52 shown in FIG. 2, the bent portion 7 at the base end of the metal pin 62 as shown in FIG.
4 and the nut piece 53 formed on the support panel 5 are fastened together with the screw 54, and the metal pin 62 and the support panel 5
It is also possible to have a structure for locking and. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the metal pin 62 is preliminarily set up on the support panel 5 by welding or the like, and when the support panel 5 or the upper panel 2 is assembled, the metal pin 62 is penetrated through the cylinder portion 21. It is also possible to adopt a structure in which it is inserted into the hole 23.

In the above embodiment, the LED lead wire 41 is attached to the cylinder portion 21 near the position where the LED 4 is arranged.
The thin metal pieces 61 and 62 are provided in a direction parallel to and the tip end of the metal piece is exposed at the outer circumference and the upper end of the cylinder portion 21.
As shown in FIG. 5, it may be ring-shaped.

In the structure shown in FIG. 5, the connecting leg 7 extending downwards.
The conductor ring 63 provided with 2 is fitted to the upper end of the cylinder portion 21, and the lower end of the connecting leg 72 is joined to the support panel 5 by the structure shown in FIG. 1, for example. In the structure shown in FIG. 6, the cable 75 is connected to the conductor ring 63 fitted in the cylinder portion 21, and the cable is grounded directly or by obtaining a metal frame.
Connected to. Such a structure is adopted, for example, when the support panel 5 is formed of an insulating synthetic resin plate or the like.

In the structure shown in FIG. 7, a conductor pattern 64 is provided by plating on the outer periphery of the cylinder portion 21 of the key on which the light emitting element is provided, and a conductive pattern 77 extending integrally with the conductor pattern 64 is provided, for example, on the top panel 2. Is extended to a screw fastening portion for fixing to the metal frame and is connected to the ground 76.
The conductor pattern 64 and the conductive pattern 77 can be formed by plating, or by applying a conductive paint.

In the structure shown in FIG. 8, the upper panel 2 of the keyboard is formed by a resin mixed with a conductive material such as metal particles or carbon particles, and the cylinder portion 21 itself for guiding the key provided with the light emitter 4 is formed. It has conductivity. In such a structure, the cylinder portion 21
It is necessary to insert an insulating tube into the LED lead wire 41 of the portion penetrating the LED to prevent short circuit between the LED lead wire 41 and the top panel 2. The top panel 2 is grounded by a frame ground wire 75 of the device.
Connected to.

[0018]

According to the configuration of the present invention described above,
Even if the strongly charged operator's fingertip approaches the key top with the light emitter, the discharge current will not flow through the lead wire of the light emitter, so the discharge current due to static electricity will connect to the keyboard electric circuit or this. It is possible to prevent the electric circuit of the existing device from being destroyed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a second embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of an essential part of the third embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the key top of the fifth embodiment with the key tops omitted.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a key top of a sixth embodiment with the key tops omitted.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a key top of a seventh embodiment with a key top omitted.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of an eighth embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a conventional structure.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing an example of an electrical connection structure of a light emitter.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Top panel 4 LED (light emitter) 5 Support panel 11 Key top 21 Cylinder part 61 Metal piece 62 Metal pin 63 Conductor ring 64 Conductor pattern 72 Connection leg 75 Cable 77 Conductive pattern

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A cylinder part (21) of a top panel (2) for guiding a key top (11) provided with a light emitting body (4), at least the upper end of which is located on the outer circumference or upper end surface of the cylinder part (21). The exposed conductors (61) to (63) are provided, and the conductive legs (72) integrated with the conductors (61) to (63) are attached to the metal support panel (5) supporting the contact members of the keyboard. An electrostatic protection device for keyboards, which is connected and grounded. 2. Conductors (61) to (64) are provided on an upper outer periphery or an upper end surface of a cylinder part (21) of a top panel (2) for guiding a key top (11) provided with a light emitting body (4), An electrostatic protection device for a keyboard, characterized in that the conductors (61) to (64) are grounded via a cable (75) or a conductive pattern (77). 3. The cylinder part of the top panel in which the conductor (61) is
The electrostatic protection device for a keyboard according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises a metal piece (61) molded into the (21). 4. The cylinder part of the top panel, wherein the conductor (62) is
The electrostatic protection device for a keyboard according to claim 1 or 2, which is formed of a metal wire (62) inserted through a small hole provided in (21). 5. The cylinder part of the top panel in which the conductor (63) is provided.
The electrostatic protection device for a keyboard according to claim 1 or 2, which is formed by a ring-shaped conductor fitted in (21). 6. The cylinder portion of the top panel in which the conductor (64) is
The electrostatic protection device for a keyboard according to claim 2, wherein the electrostatic protection device is a conductor pattern formed on the outer periphery of (21). 7. The electrostatic protection device for a keyboard according to claim 2, wherein the conductor (64) is formed by molding at least the cylinder portion (21) of the top panel (2) with a conductive material.