JPH06251652A - Contact device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a touch most suitable as a pad switch, such as a keyboard switch in an electronic musical instrument, by the reaction force at the operator due to a resultant force at its origin rising first to a specific value, then becoming nearly constant, resulting in good touch feel. CONSTITUTION:According as an elastic member 16 is pushed, the bend portion in a third connection wall 10h moves downward. Therefore, a portion corresponding to E form is first bent, so that the reception of force is this equivalent. Then, when the push advances a certain extent, the bend portion goes down, so that a portion corresponding to D form is bent, and thus the reaction force rapidly decreases. Accordingly the reaction force to the operator rises initially to a specific value, then becomes nearly constant.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a contact device applied to a keyboard switch of an electronic piano or a pat switch of a rhythm machine, and more particularly to a contact device having two or more contacts that contact each other with a time difference.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 15, two movable contacts 2 and 3 are concentrically provided on an elastic member 1 such as rubber that generates a main reaction force against a pressing operation, and the central top of the elastic member 1 is an actuator ( For example, by pressing with a white key or a black key) 4, the first movable contact 2 on the outer peripheral side comes into contact with the corresponding first fixed contact 6 on the substrate 5, and then the second movable contact 3 with a time lag. Contact devices for contacting the corresponding second fixed contacts 7 on the substrate 5 are known.

The elastic member 1 has a bottomed first cylindrical portion 1a whose upper and lower end surfaces are open, and an upper end portion integrally connected to an outer peripheral surface of a substantially vertical portion of the first cylindrical portion 1a and a lower end thereof. The portion has a second cylindrical portion 1d integrally connected to the base portion 1c via a connecting wall 1b. Then, the first movable contact 2 is attached to the lower end of the second cylindrical portion 1d, and the second movable contact 3 is attached to the lower surface of the bottom of the first cylindrical portion 1a.

[0004]

By the way, as shown in FIG. 15, the connecting wall 1b is a portion A, and the peripheral wall of the second cylindrical portion 1d is a portion B.
16 and FIG. 16 shows reaction force characteristics with respect to displacement of each part when the peripheral wall between the middle part and the bottom of the first cylindrical part 1a is a part C and these parts A to C are individually separated and independent. become. That is, the contact pressure applied during one make-up (when the first stage is on) is (reaction force of portion B-final reaction force of portion A) / contact area.

In order to obtain a stable contact state of the contact,
It is preferable that the characteristic curve of the B section is in a standing state as much as possible and the difference between the final reaction force of the A section and the peak reaction force of the B section is large. Further, it is preferable that the characteristic curve of the holding state of the B portion be upwardly rising. Further, it is preferable that the characteristic curve of the C portion also rises to the right.

FIG. 15 in which the characteristics of the parts A to C are combined.
17 shows the reaction force characteristic with respect to the displacement of the elastic member 1 as shown in FIG. 17, and such an elastic member 1 is used by incorporating it under the key such as the white key or the black key. .

The reaction force characteristic with respect to the preferable displacement of the key is that the reaction force is constant regardless of the displacement amount as shown in FIG.

Particularly in the case of a keyboard of an electronic musical instrument, performance fatigue is severe unless the reaction force characteristic against displacement is close to the ideal characteristic shown in FIG.

In order to bring the reaction force characteristic with respect to the displacement close to the ideal characteristic shown in FIG. 18, when the elastic member 1 is incorporated under the key by applying the precompression shown in FIG. 17, the reaction force characteristic with respect to the displacement is shown in FIG. It looks like 19.

In the case of the characteristics as shown in FIG. 19, the "rise 1" characteristic gives a crisp touch feeling, and the "rise 2" characteristic gives a sticky touch feeling, which is not preferable.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a contact device having a good touch feeling and suitable as a keyboard switch of an electronic musical instrument or a pad switch of a rhythm machine. Especially.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides at least two movable contacts on an elastic member which generates a main reaction force against a pressing operation, and the elastic member resists the urging force thereof. In the contact device in which each of the movable contacts comes into contact with the corresponding fixed contact with a time lag by pressing by pressing, the elastic member generates a force that rises to a predetermined value and then decreases when the pressing force is first applied. A force generating part and a second force generating monotonically increasing force in response to the first movable contact coming into contact with the corresponding fixed contact in the vicinity where the force generated by the first force generating part turns to decrease; Of the force generator and a force that monotonically increases in response to contact of the second movable contact with the corresponding fixed contact after the force generated by the second force generator reaches a predetermined value. With the third force generator And, the resultant force of force generated by at least said first to third force generating portion, the reaction force given to the operator is characterized in that it has after increased to a predetermined value, so that substantially constant.

[0013]

When the pressing force is first applied to the elastic member, the first force generating portion generates a force that rises to a predetermined value and then decreases.
Then, in the vicinity of the force generated by the first force generating portion turning into a decrease, the second force generating portion monotonically increases in response to the contact of the first movable contact with the corresponding fixed contact. To occur. Furthermore, after the force generated by the second force generating section reaches a predetermined value, the third force generating section responds to the contact of the second movable contact with the corresponding fixed contact.
Generates a monotonically increasing force. These at least first
By the resultant force of the forces generated by the third force generator, the reaction force applied to the operator rises to a predetermined value and then becomes substantially constant. This improves the touch feeling.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a plan view of a contact device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line DD of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is shown in FIG. It is a bottom view of a contact device.
In each figure, 10 is an elastic member that generates a main reaction force against the pressing operation, and is made of rubber or the like.

The elastic member 10 has concentric first and second cylindrical portions 10a and 10b and a square base portion 10c. Below the first cylindrical portion 10a located inside, a disc-shaped first contact mounting seat 10e is integrally formed via a cylindrical first connecting wall 10d. Further, between the lower end portions of the first cylindrical portion 10a and the second cylindrical portion 10b located outside, the cylindrical second connecting wall 1 having a substantially U-shaped cross section.
A ring-shaped second contact mounting seat 10g is integrally formed via 0f. Further, the lower end portion of the second cylindrical portion 10b and the peripheral edge of the central circular hole portion of the base portion 10c have a cylindrical third connecting wall 1.
They are integrally connected via 0h.

The first movable contact 12 is mounted on the lower surface of the first contact mounting seat 10e, and the second movable contact 13 is mounted on the lower surface of the second contact mounting seat 10g.

The elastic member 10 is used by being assembled between the key (actuator) 14 of the electronic musical instrument and the substrate 16 on the upper surface of the keyboard frame 15 as shown in FIG. 4 in a state where pre-compression (see FIG. 6) is applied. . That is, the elastic member 1
The base portion 10c of 0 is fixed to the upper surface of the substrate 16, and the lower surface pressing body 17 of the key 14 is in contact with the upper end portions of the first and second cylindrical portions 10a and 10b of the elastic member 10. Also the substrate 16
First and second fixed contacts 18 and 19 are provided on the upper surface of the first and second movable contacts 12 and 13, respectively.

When the key 14 shown in FIG. 4 is not pressed, the elastic member 10 is in the initial state shown in FIG. 5A due to its own elastic force. In this state, the first and second movable contacts 1
Both 2 and 13 have first and second fixed contacts 18 and 19.
Is separated from and is in an off state.

In this state, by pressing the key 14, the first and second cylindrical portions 10a and 10b of the elastic member 10 are pressed.
First, a pressing force is applied to the upper end of the third connecting wall 10h to bend the first movable contact 12 to the first position, as shown in FIG.
The fixed contact 18 is contacted, and the first makeup state is established.

When a pressing force is further applied to the first and second cylindrical portions 10a and 10b of the elastic member 10 from this state, FIG.
As shown in (c), the third connecting wall 10h further bends,
The first connecting wall 10d bends so that the second movable contact 13 becomes the second movable contact 13.
The fixed contact 19 of is contacted and the second makeup state is established.

When a pressing force is continuously applied to the first and second cylindrical portions 10a and 10b of the elastic member 10 from this state, the first and third connecting walls 10d and 10h further bend as shown in FIG. 5D. At the same time, the second connecting wall 10f is bent, and the first and second movable contacts 12 and 13 and the first and second fixed contacts 18 and 19 are bent.
The contact pressure with becomes maximum.

When the pressing of the key 14 is released from this state,
The key 14 returns to the initial position by the urging force of the urging means (not shown), the elastic member 10 returns to the initial state by its own elastic force, and the first and second movable contacts 12 and 13 are fixed to the first and second fixed positions. The contacts are separated from the contacts 18 and 19 and turned off.

In the elastic member 10 performing such an operation, the third connecting wall 10h is a portion A and the first connecting wall 10d is a portion B.
Section and the second connecting wall 10f as C section, reaction force characteristics against displacement of these A section to C section will be described with reference to FIG.

The portion A is a first force generating portion that generates a force that rises to a predetermined value and then turns to decrease when a pressing force is first applied to the elastic member 10. Its characteristic curve is shown by (I) in FIG. ). Further, the portion B has the first movable contact 1 near the point where the force generated by the first force generating portion (A portion) turns to decrease.
2 is a second force generating portion that generates a monotonically increasing force in response to the contact with the first fixed contact 18 (first make), the characteristic curve of which is (II) in FIG. . Further, in the portion C, the second movable contact 13 comes into contact with the second fixed contact 19 (second make) after the force generated by the second force generating portion (B portion) reaches a predetermined value. In the third force generating portion that generates a force that monotonically increases in response to, the characteristic curve is (III) in FIG.

Here, the characteristic curve (I) of the third connecting wall 10h, which is the first force generating portion (A portion), bends downward at the time of the second makeup, as shown in FIG. The reason for the bending will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9.

The reaction force when the third connecting wall 10h is pushed down changes depending on the thickness and shape of the third connecting wall 10h. That is, when the thickness shape of the third connecting wall 10h is a substantially uniform D shape from the upper end side to the lower end side as shown in FIG. 7A, the reaction force is once determined as shown by the solid line in FIG. After increasing to the value, it decreases at a steep angle (the degree of decrease of the reaction force with respect to the amount of displacement increases).

Further, if the thickness of the third connecting wall 10h is an E shape which gradually increases from the upper end side to the lower end side as shown in FIG. 7 (b), the thicker the part is bent, the more it is reversed. Since the force increases, the decrease angle of the reaction force becomes gentler than in the case of the D shape described above, as shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. In the first place, the elastic member 10 of this type has a characteristic that the reaction force is gradually weakened.
By making the thickness shape of the connecting wall 10h into an E shape that gradually becomes thicker from the upper end side toward the lower end side, the angle at which the reaction force decreases can be moderated.

Further, the thickness shape of the third connecting wall 10h is the same from the upper end portion to the substantially middle portion as the shape from the upper end portion to the substantially middle portion in the above-mentioned E shape, and from the substantially middle portion to the lower end portion is the above. The F shape, which is the same as the shape from the substantially middle portion to the lower end portion in the D shape, that is, the shape adopted in the present invention has the following characteristics.

That is, as the elastic member 10 is pushed in, the bent portion of the third connecting wall 10h moves downward. For this reason, since the portion corresponding to the E shape is bent at the beginning, the force is received correspondingly. On the other hand, when the push-in progresses to some extent, the bending position is lowered and the portion corresponding to the D shape is bent, so that the reaction force suddenly weakens.

Therefore, the characteristic curve of the F-shaped third connecting wall 10h adopted in the present invention is an E-shaped characteristic curve (one-dot chain line) above the intersection 0 between the solid line and the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. And D below the intersection 0 (rear side)
It is the same as the shape characteristic curve (solid line).

Therefore, the characteristic curve (I) of the third connecting wall 10h is bent downward at the time of the second make as shown in FIG.

In the above-mentioned FIG. 5, characteristic curves (I) to (II
The characteristic curve obtained by combining I) becomes the state shown in FIG. 10, which is substantially the same as the ideal characteristic curve shown in FIG. 18 described above, and the touch feeling is improved.

[Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, the same parts as those in the first embodiment described above will be described with the same reference numerals in the drawings.

FIG. 11 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the contact device according to this embodiment. This embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that
A concentric third cylindrical portion 10j is provided between the first cylindrical portion 10a and the second cylindrical portion 10b, and a second connecting wall is provided between lower end portions of the first cylindrical portion 10a and the third cylindrical portion 10j. 10f
That the second contact mounting seat 10g is integrally formed via
A fourth connecting wall (fourth force generating portion: G) having a U-shaped cross section between the lower ends of the second cylindrical portion 10b and the third cylindrical portion 10j.
Part) 10k through the ring-shaped third contact mounting seat 10l
Is integrally formed, the third movable contact 20 is attached to the lower surface of the third contact attachment seat 101, and the third fixed contact 21 with which the third movable contact 20 is brought into contact with and separated from is provided on the substrate 16. That is.

The other structure and operation of this embodiment are the same as those of the above-mentioned first embodiment.

[Third Embodiment] Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment, the same parts as those in the first embodiment described above will be described with the same reference numerals in the drawings.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of the contact device according to this embodiment, FIG. 13 is a sectional view taken along the line HH of FIG. 12, and FIG. 14 is a bottom view of the device. In each drawing, reference numeral 22 denotes an elastic member, which has an elliptical head portion 22a, and circular holes 22b and 22c arranged side by side are formed in the head portion 22a.

Below the one circular hole 22b, there is a cylindrical first member.
Disc-shaped first contact mounting seat 22e via the connecting wall 22d
Are integrally formed. Further, a disc-shaped second contact mounting seat 22g is integrally formed below the other circular hole 22c via a cylindrical second connecting wall 22f. Further head 22
The outer peripheral edge of the lower end of a and the base portion 22h form the third connecting wall 22.
They are integrally connected via j.

The first movable contact 24 is mounted on the lower surface of the first contact mounting seat 22e, and the second movable contact 25 is mounted on the lower surface of the second contact mounting seat 22g. Corresponding to the first and second movable contacts 24, 25, first and second fixed contacts 26, 27 are provided on the upper surface of the substrate 16, and the first and second fixed contacts 26, 27 are provided with a first contact. The first and second movable contacts 24 and 25 are in contact with and separated from each other.

The third connecting wall 22j serves as the first force generating portion (A
Part), the first connecting wall 22d is the second force generating part (B part), and the second connecting wall 22f is the third force generating part (C part).

The other structure and operation of this embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment.

[0043]

As described above, according to the contact device of the present invention,
After the reaction force given to the operator rises to a predetermined value by the resultant force of at least the first to third force generating portions,
Since it becomes substantially constant, the touch feeling becomes good, and it is suitable as a keyboard switch of an electronic musical instrument or a pad switch of a rhythm machine.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a contact device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along the line DD of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the device.

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a state in which the same device is incorporated in an electronic musical instrument.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a deformed state of an elastic member in the same device.

FIG. 6 is a characteristic diagram showing a relationship between a displacement of each part of the elastic member and a reaction force.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the reason why the characteristic curve (I) of the elastic member bends.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the reason why the characteristic curve (I) of the elastic member bends.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the reason why the characteristic curve (I) of the elastic member bends.

FIG. 10 is a characteristic diagram showing a relationship between a displacement and a reaction force obtained by combining respective parts of the elastic member.

FIG. 11 is a vertical sectional view of a contact device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of a contact device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

13 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line HH of FIG.

FIG. 14 is a bottom view of the device.

FIG. 15 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a conventional contact device.

FIG. 16 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between the displacement of each part of the device and the reaction force.

17 is a characteristic diagram showing a relationship between displacement and reaction force obtained by combining the respective parts shown in FIG.

FIG. 18 is a characteristic diagram showing a relationship between ideal displacement of an elastic member and reaction force.

FIG. 19 is a characteristic diagram showing a relationship between displacement and reaction force of the contact device shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Elastic member 10d 1st connection wall (2nd force generation part) 10f 2nd connection wall (3rd force generation part) 10h 3rd connection wall (1st force generation part) 12 1st movable contact 13th 2 movable contact 18 1st fixed contact 19 2nd fixed contact 20 3rd movable contact 21 3rd fixed contact 22 elastic member 22d 1st connection wall (2nd force generation part) 22f 2nd connection wall ( 3rd force generation part) 22g 3rd connection wall (1st force generation part)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An elastic member that generates a main reaction force to a pressing operation is provided with at least two movable contacts, and by pressing the elastic member against its biasing force, each movable contact is fixed with a corresponding time difference. In the contact device that contacts the contact, the elastic member is generated by the first force generating unit that generates a force that rises to a predetermined value and then decreases when the pressing force is first applied, and the first force generating unit. A second force generating portion that generates a force that monotonically increases in response to the contact of the first movable contact with the corresponding fixed contact in the vicinity where the force turns to decrease, and the second force generating portion. A third force generating portion that generates a monotonically increasing force in response to the second movable contact coming into contact with the corresponding fixed contact after the predetermined force reaches a predetermined value. ~ Generated by the third force generator A contact device in which the reaction force applied to the operator is increased to a predetermined value by the resultant force, and then becomes substantially constant.