JPH0574268A - Keyboard inside structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To decrease push-pressing force in the case of operating a switch by communicating all openings to house contact point disks with each other by means of air passages arranged in two spacers, and forming a single closed space. CONSTITUTION:Contact point disks 3, 3' and 3'' are placed on a switch board 2 where switch contact point patterns 1 are arranged in a matrix shape. The first spacer 5a and the second spacer 5b, where openings 4 capable of housing the disks 3 and so on in positions corresponding to the patterns 1 are arranged in a matrix shape, are laminated on this board. In the spacer 5a, the mutual openings 4 adjacent in the row direction are communicated with each other by means of air passages 7, and in the spacer 5b, the mutual openings 4 adjacent in the line direction are communicated with each other by means of air passages 7', and these are constituted so as to form respectively parallel closed opening rows. Thereby, these board 2, disks 3, 3' and 3'' and spacers 5a and 5b are laminated upon each other.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a structure of a thin hermetically sealed keyboard using disk-shaped contacts applied to a small communication device or the like, and more particularly to a kind of hermetically sealed switch in which the space of a switch part is shielded from the outside It relates to a thin keyboard forming a structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 4, a thin keyboard using disk-type contacts has a contact pattern 1 consisting of a set of an outer peripheral land A and a central land B, which is electrically conductive on a switch substrate 2 printed in a matrix. 1. A reverse dish type contact disk 3 made of a flexible elastic material is arranged, and the contact disk 3 is covered with a spacer 5 having an opening 4 corresponding to each contact disk 3, and the entire surface is covered with a cover film 6. There is.

As shown in FIG. 5, individual contact disks 3
Is in contact with the outer region on the outer peripheral land A, and the central region is floating from the central land B.
It is enclosed in a narrow enclosed space surrounded by and. Corresponding key top (not shown) when the switch is activated
When the center of the contact disk 3 is pressed downward at, the central region of the disk 3 contacts the central land B and becomes conductive with the outer peripheral land A. When the pressing force is released, the disk 3 elastically returns to the original state and the conduction is cut off.

[0004]

When the disk 3 is pushed down, the volume of the enclosed space is reduced, so that the air enclosed in this space is compressed and resists the pushing down, increasing the pressure required for operation. According to the experiment, this pressure is increased by several tens of g as compared with the case of the bare disk contact 3, which hinders the operation.

In order to solve this problem, it is conceivable that an exhaust port communicating with the outside is provided by a spacer so that the air in the space is discharged to the outside when the switch is operated. In this method, the disc contact 3 is pressed. When I left
It is not preferable because it sucks external dust into the space and causes the contact reliability of the switch to deteriorate. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, each row of the openings 4 provided in the spacer 5 is made to communicate with each other by a passage 7 to form a sealed space which is shielded from the outside of the keyboard for each row. A proposal in which, when the contact disk 3 is pressed, the air in the space to which the contact disk 3 belongs is escaped through the passage 7 to the area of the adjacent contact disk to prevent the operating pressure from rising. Has been done.

However, it has been found that even with this structure, the volume of the closed space is small and the desired effect of lowering the operating pressure cannot be obtained. The present invention solves the above drawbacks of the prior art,
It is an object of the present invention to provide an internal structure of a keyboard that uses a disk-shaped contact that has excellent airtightness and a small pressing force when the switch is operated.

[0007]

This object is to arrange a contact disk corresponding to the contact pattern on a switch substrate on the surface of which a contact pattern is printed in a matrix shape, and to place the contact disk at a position corresponding to the contact disk. An internal structure of a keyboard configured by laminating two sheet-like spacers (hereinafter, referred to as first and second spacers) having an opening for accommodating the contact disk, and further covering this with a cover film. The adjacent openings provided in the spacer are communicated with each other by an air flow path to form parallel rows of openings, and the directions of the openings are different between the first spacer and the second spacer. This is achieved by the internal structure of the keyboard, which is characterized by being tightened.

[0008]

When the contact disk is pressed to perform the switch operation, the air in the opening containing the disk is compressed and the pressure increases. However, this air immediately escapes through the air passage into the four rows of openings communicating with it, so that the pressure is relieved and the rise in operating pressure is prevented.

Based on the preferred embodiment shown in the drawings,
The present invention will be described in more detail.

[0010]

1 is an exploded perspective view of the internal structure of a keyboard according to the present invention, in which a switch contact pattern 1 consisting of a set of an outer peripheral land A and a central land B is arranged in a matrix of 4 columns × 4 rows. On the switch substrate 2 which is present, the contact plate 3,3 ', which is made of a conductive elastic material and has a reverse dish shape,
3 "is placed on the first spacer 5a and the second spacer 5a in which circular openings 4 for accommodating the contact disk 3 and the like are arranged in a matrix at positions corresponding to the contact pattern 1. 5b are stacked.

The first spacer 5a is constructed so that the openings 4 adjacent to each other in the row direction are communicated with each other by the air passages 7 to form four closed rows of parallel openings. On the other hand, the second spacer 5b is configured such that the openings 4 adjacent to each other in the row direction are communicated with each other by the air passages 7 ', thereby forming a row of four closed openings parallel to each other. Therefore, the first and second spacers 5
The superposition of a and 5b results in the formation of one closed space in which the adjacent openings 4 communicate with each other in the row and column directions by the air passages 7 or 7 '.

When the switch substrate 2, the contact disks 3, 3 ', 3 ", the first and second spacers 5a and 5b are laminated and the surface thereof is covered with the cover film 6,
The internal structure of the keyboard as shown in FIG. 2 is completed.
Since the operation mode of this structure is substantially the same as that of the conventional structure already described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, only the difference from it will be described here.

As is apparent from the plan view shown in FIG. 3, in the present invention, since the air passages 7 and 7'communicate from the arbitrary opening 4 to the adjacent opening 4 around the arbitrary opening 4, the inside of the opening 4 is shown. When the contact disk 3 is pressed, the air in the opening is expelled into a large enclosed space formed by all the openings 4 communicating with each other through these air passages 7, 7 '. Therefore, the pressure rise caused by the pressing of the contact disk is immediately mitigated and the increase in operating pressure is substantially prevented.

In the drawings, reference numeral 8 is a reinforcing plate, 9 is an insulating film, and 10 is a back surface pattern.

[0015]

As described above, according to the present invention, all the openings for accommodating the contact disks communicate with each other by the air passages provided in the first and second spacers to form one closed space. Therefore, the increase in the internal pressure locally generated by the operation of one contact disk is immediately reduced, and the increase in the operating pressure is substantially suppressed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of an internal structure of a keyboard of the present invention.

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

FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view of a part of the internal structure of the assembled keyboard of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of an internal structure of a conventional keyboard.

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing an internal structure of the assembled conventional keyboard.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing another example of the structure of a conventional spacer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Contact pattern 2 ... Switch substrate 3, 3 ', 3 "... Contact disk 4 ... Opening 5 ... Spacer 6 ... Cover film 7 ... Air passage 8 ... Reinforcing plate 9 ... Insulating film 10 ... Back surface pattern

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A contact disk (3) corresponding to the contact pattern (1) on a switch substrate (2) on the surface of which a contact pattern (1) is printed in a matrix.
3 ', 3 ") and two sheet-like spacers (5a, 5b) (hereinafter, first and second) having openings (4) for accommodating the contact disk at positions corresponding to the contact disk.
The inner structure of the keyboard is formed by laminating a spacer (referred to as a spacer) thereon and further covering the same with a cover film (6), and the adjacent openings () provided in the spacer (5a, 5b) are provided. 4) Communicate the air flow passages (7) with each other to form parallel rows of openings, and the directions of the rows of openings are the first spacer (5a) and the second spacer (5b).
The internal structure of the keyboard, which is different from each other. 2. The opening row of the first spacer (5a) and the opening row of the second spacer (5b) are orthogonal to each other.
Internal structure of the keyboard described in.