JPH0569831U - Key switch structure - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To improve portability while maintaining the operability of electronic devices. [Structure] This key switch structure is a key switch in which a stem 16 provided on the rear surface of a key top 13 is slidably engaged with a silo 7 on the keyboard frame 6, A movable fulcrum member 9 slidably provided in the vicinity of the silo 7, a groove portion 12 engaged with the movable fulcrum member 9, a base portion 11 fixed on the keyboard frame 6, and a back surface of the key top 13 are brought into contact with each other. The movable fulcrum member 9 is engaged with the groove portion 12, the contact portion 14 urges the back surface of the key top 13 with the groove portion 12 as a fulcrum, and the movable fulcrum member 9 is moved from the groove portion 12. And a leaf spring 10 that releases the bias to the back surface of the key top 13 when the key is slid.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a key switch structure used in a laptop electronic device such as a book type personal computer.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, laptop electronic devices, such as book-type personal computers (hereinafter referred to as book personal computers), have been required to be thin in terms of portability, while in terms of operability, for example, key switches. It is better to have some keystrokes when operating the.

In recent years, a book personal computer with improved portability while maintaining operability in this way, for example, a key switch that can be carried with the height of the keytop lowered and can secure a keystroke during use What has a structure is desired.

Here, a conventional key switch structure will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an arbitrary key switch on the keyboard.

In the figure, reference numeral 51 is a back plate of the keyboard. A membrane sheet 52 is attached to the upper surface of the back plate 51. In this membrane sheet 52, wiring patterns are provided on two polyester films in accordance with the key arrangement, the wiring patterns are arranged to face each other, and electrical contacts 53 are scattered on each wiring pattern to form a switch. It is a flexible switch. A keyboard frame 55 having a silo 54 as a key top mounting hole protruding from each of the electric contacts 53 is arranged on the membrane sheet 52. A step portion 56 is provided on the silo 54, and a cylindrical rubber material 57 is attached to the step portion 56. On the other hand, a stem 59 as a guide pillar is provided on the back surface of the key top 58, and this stem 59 is inserted into the silo 54 of the keyboard frame 55.

That is, the key top 58 is attached by the silo 54 and the stem 59 so as to be slidable in the axial direction (up and down).

In this key switch structure, when the upper surface of the key top 58 is pushed in, the rubber material 57 is crushed on the back surface of the key top 58 while the stem 59 moves down in the silo 54, and the stem 59 makes electrical contact with the membrane sheet 52. Press 53 to turn on the switch. When the keytop 58 is released, the return force of the rubber material 57 causes the keytop 58 to return to the upper position (original position). As a result, the electrical contact 53 of the membrane sheet 52 is separated and the switch is turned off.

By the way, in order to lower (store) the key top only when carrying the book personal computer, it is necessary to provide a lock mechanism for holding the key top 58 in the pressed state in the keyboard frame 55. This lock mechanism can be provided, for example, by providing a book personal computer with a lid that presses a plurality of key tops 58 all at once by a surface and an engaging portion that engages the lids.

However, in this case, the restoring force of the rubber material 57 attached to the plurality of key tops 58 is very strong, and it is necessary to close the lid with a pressing force exceeding this restoring force. This impairs operability and is not suitable for practical use.

[0011]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 In this way, with the conventional key switch structure, in order to reduce the height of the key top only when it is carried, a large amount of pressing force is required to keep the height of the key top low, which is not practical. There was a problem.

The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object thereof is to provide a key switch structure capable of improving portability while maintaining operability of an electronic device.

[0013]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the key switch structure of the present invention is a key switch structure in which a guide post provided on the back surface of the key top is slidably engaged with a key top mounting hole on the frame. A movable fulcrum member slidably provided on the frame in the vicinity of the keytop mounting hole, a groove engaged with the movable fulcrum member, a base fixed on the frame, and a back surface of the keytop. The movable fulcrum member is engaged with the groove portion, the contact portion urges the back surface of the key top with the groove portion as a fulcrum, and the movable fulcrum is moved from the groove portion. And a leaf spring for releasing the biasing force applied to the back surface of the key top by slidingly moving the member.

[0014]

[Action]

 According to the present invention, when the movable fulcrum member is engaged with the groove of the leaf spring, the key top is urged by the leaf spring to increase its height and a predetermined key stroke can be obtained. When the movable fulcrum member is slid to release the engagement of the movable fulcrum member from the groove of the leaf spring, the bias of the leaf spring to the key top is released and the key top is lowered by its own weight and lowered.

That is, by disengaging the movable fulcrum member from the groove portion of the plate spring when carrying the electronic device, the key top is lowered without being biased by the plate spring, so that the operability of the electronic device is maintained. While improving portability.

[0016]

【Example】

 Hereinafter, details of embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a keyboard of a book type personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a book personal computer) using a key switch structure according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a keyboard provided with a plurality of key switches. An operation knob 2 is projectingly provided on a side portion of the keyboard 1.

Next, an arbitrary key switch of the keyboard 1 will be described with reference to FIG. This figure is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

In the figure, 3 is a back plate of the keyboard 1. A membrane sheet 4 is attached on the back plate 3. This membrane sheet 4 is provided with wiring patterns on two base films, for example, a polyester film, etc., according to the key arrangement, and the wiring patterns are arranged to face each other, and the electrical contacts 5 are scattered on the respective wiring patterns. This is a flexible switch in which the switch is configured. A keyboard frame 6 is arranged on the membrane sheet 4. The keyboard frame 6 is provided with a silo 7 as a cylindrical keytop mounting hole according to the key arrangement, and a locking portion 8 near the silo 7.

As shown in FIG. 3, a movable fulcrum member 9 is arranged on the keyboard frame 6 so that it can slide in a predetermined direction.

The movable fulcrum member 9 is continuously provided in a frame shape so as to surround the silo 7, and is connected to the operation knob 2 protruding from the keyboard 1. Further, a leaf spring 10 is attached on the keyboard frame 6. The leaf spring 10 includes a base portion 11 fixed to the locking portion 8 of the keyboard frame 6, a groove portion 12 that engages with the movable fulcrum member 9, an abutting portion 14 that abuts on the back surface of the key top 13, and a membrane seal. It is a metal plate composed of a pressing portion 15 for turning on / off the electric contact 5 of the gate 4. The leaf spring 10 may use an elastic resin plate or the like as a substitute for the metal plate.

On the other hand, on the back surface of the key top 13, a stem 16 as a guide pillar is provided. The stem 16 is inserted into the silo 7 and prevented from coming off by an unillustrated coming-out preventing mechanism, and is slidable within the silo 7 at a predetermined stroke. This disengagement prevention mechanism can be configured, for example, by providing a locking claw and a guide groove with each other and engaging them.

In the book personal computer using this key switch structure, the book personal computer is used in a state in which the operating knob 2 of the keyboard 1 is pushed in and the groove 12 of the leaf spring 10 is engaged with the movable fulcrum member 9.

In this case, the contact portion 14 is lifted with the base portion 11 of the leaf spring 10 fixed to the keyboard frame 6 as a fulcrum. The key top 13 is urged by the abutting portion 14 to urge the back surface thereof to be lifted up to a predetermined position, for example, a position where the key top 13 is prevented from coming off. As a result, the key switch can obtain the same key stroke as the conventional one.

When carrying a book computer, the operation knob 2 of the keyboard 1 is pulled out, and the movable fulcrum member 9 is slid in the direction of arrow a as shown in FIG. The engagement of the movable fulcrum member 9 is released.

Then, the leaf spring 10 lowers to the height of the uppermost portion of the moved movable fulcrum member 9 by its own weight, and releases the bias to the back surface of the key top 13. The key top 13 also goes down and becomes lower accordingly (arrow b).

That is, the entire keyboard 1 is thinned by one operation of the operation knob 2. At this time, if the height of the uppermost portion of the movable fulcrum member 9 is adjusted in advance so that a gap is formed between the pressing portion 15 of the leaf spring 10 and the electric contact 5 of the membrane sheet 4, it is possible to use the key for carrying. The top 13 will not rattle and the key switch will not malfunction.

As described above, according to the key switch structure of the present embodiment, the key top 13 can be changed into two states by the operation. One is a state where the key top 13 is released from the bias of the leaf spring 10 and the height of the key top 13 is lowered when carrying a book type personal computer, and the other one is a book type personal computer. When the data is used, the leaf spring 10 urges the back surface of the key top 13 to increase the height of the key top 13.

That is, the book type personal computer can be made thin while ensuring the keystrokes of the book type personal computer.

In addition, in the key switch structure of the present embodiment, when the operation knob 2 of the keyboard 1 is pulled out, the key top 13 is lowered by its own weight and becomes lower. Can always be kept in good condition.

The present invention is applicable to a word processor, an EWS (engineering work station), etc. as a laptop electronic device in addition to the book type personal computer of the embodiment.

Further, in the above embodiment, the keyboard is provided with the operation knob, but in the present invention, the movable fulcrum is interlocked with the opening / closing operation of the electronic device, for example, the lid of the book type personal computer or the opening / closing display. If the member is slid, the operability of the electronic device can be further improved.

[0033]

[Effect of the device]

 As described above, according to the key switch structure of the present invention, the key top can be urged or released by sliding the movable fulcrum member, so that when the electronic device is carried, for example. Can lower the height of the keytop, and when used it can raise the height of the keytop.

As a result, portability can be improved while maintaining the operability of the electronic device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a thin keyboard using a key switch structure of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a main configuration of the key switch structure of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the operation of the key switch structure of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional keytop mounting structure.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Keyboard, 7 ... Silo, 6 ... Keyboard frame, 9 ... Movable fulcrum member, 10 ... Leaf spring, 11 ... Leaf spring base, 12 ... Leaf spring groove, 13 ... Key top, 16 ...
Stem.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A key switch structure in which a guide pillar provided on the back surface of a key top is slidably engaged with a key top mounting hole on a frame, and slides on the frame near the key top mounting hole. A movable fulcrum member that is movably provided, a groove portion that is engaged with the movable fulcrum member, a base portion that is fixed on the frame, and an abutting portion that abuts on the back surface of the key top, and When the movable fulcrum member is engaged with the groove portion, the contact portion biases the back surface of the key top with the groove portion as a fulcrum, and the movable fulcrum member is slid from the groove portion to cause the back surface of the key top to slide. A key switch structure comprising: a leaf spring that releases the bias against the.