JPH0650912Y2 - Keyboard switch with click - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial field of application] The present invention relates to a keyboard switch used in a keyboard device such as a computer typewriter word processor, and more particularly to a keyboard switch with a click having a click feeling and a click sound. It is a thing.

[Conventional technology]

Among the keyboard switches, when the contact is closed, the operator's fingertip pressing the keyboard switch gives an appropriate feel or sound to notify the operator that the contact is closed. There is something I did. A keyboard switch having such an action is called a clickable keyboard switch. In this way, keyboard switches are broadly divided into those with a click and those without a click.The keyboard switches with a click include a switch with only a click feeling, a switch with both a click feeling and a click sound, and a click sound. Only switches that occur and are classified as. As an example of a switch having only a click feeling, a switch in which a contact is pressed by a rubber dome-shaped spring is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 63-143832. As an example of a switch that provides both a click feeling and a sound, a switch using a metal dome-shaped spring is used.
No. 64-56124 discloses a switch using a curved leaf spring.

[Problems to be solved by the device]

In recent years, keyboard switches have been widely used by men and women of all ages, and are used in various places. Therefore, the feeling required by the operator for the key operation is diversified. However, according to the conventional keyboard switch with a click, since a metal spring or the like for generating a click feeling or a sound is incorporated in the case, the feeling of the click feeling or the click sound is different for each keyboard switch. It was fixed at and could not be changed. For this reason, in order to change the feeling during operation, the switch itself had to be replaced, but this was not easy even for the manufacturer, and was rarely done. Therefore, there is an inconvenience that a new keyboard must be purchased in order to obtain a feeling of different key operation.

Further, the conventional structure in which a click is generated by a spring or the like has a problem in that it is difficult for the manufacturer to finely respond to various requests from the user regarding the feeling of key operation.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a keyboard switch capable of easily changing the feeling of key operation on both the manufacturer side and the user side.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

The clickable keyboard switch of the present invention is provided with a switch element disposed in a case, a key stem slidably guided with respect to the case, and provided at a lower end portion of the key stem to press the switch element. In a keyboard switch having a pressing portion, a click arm formed integrally with the key stem and made of resin, interlockingly connected to the key stem in the case, and having an engagement protrusion formed on an upper end portion protruding to the outside of the case, And a feeling block detachably attached to a fitting groove provided at a position outside the case facing the click arm and having a guide convex portion that engages with the engagement protrusion of the click arm. It is characterized by doing.

[Action]

When the key stem is pushed down to the lower limit position, the pushing portion pushes the switch element to close the contact. At this time, the click arm descends in conjunction with the key stem. When the click arm descends, the engagement protrusion of the click arm on the outside of the case engages with the guide projection of the feeling block provided on the outside of the case from above. When the key stem is further pushed down, the click arm is deformed as the engaging projection descends while being guided by the guide convex portion, and a click feeling is given to the pressing of the key stem.

If the feeling block is attachable / detachable to / from the fitting groove of the case, the feeling block to be fitted to the case can be selected from among a plurality of feeling blocks having guide projections of various shapes. The shape of the guide convex portion can be arbitrarily set.

〔Example〕

A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a keyboard switch 1 according to the present embodiment has a case 2 as a switch base and a membrane as a switch element attached to a lower end surface of the opened case 2 by a contact plate 3. It has a switch 4 and a sliding portion 6 provided in the case 2 so as to be vertically movable and pressing the contact portion 5 of the membrane switch 4.

The slide 6 is a member formed by integral molding of plastic as a whole, and has a cylindrical key stem 8 guided vertically slidably on a boss-shaped stem guide 7 formed on the upper surface of the case 2. I am trying. Key stem 8
Requires a length such that the upper end thereof projects outside the case 2 even when it is pushed in, and the key top 9 is inserted and fixed to the upper end protruding outside the case 2. The key stem 8
The columnar shape is cylindrical, but of course it may be prismatic.

A bar-shaped base member 11 is horizontally provided at the lower end of the key stem 8 via a connecting portion 10. The base member 11 is a member for attaching a pressing member 13, a leaf spring portion 18, and a click arm 23, which will be described later, and also a member for transmitting the movement of the key stem 8 of each of these members. The base member 11 is configured to have an appropriate thickness to obtain rigidity. Therefore, the base member 11 performs the same movement as the key stem 8 but does not deform. A pair of sound deadening projections 12 are provided on the lower surface of the base member 11 so as to buffer the collision between the sliding portion 6 and the membrane switch 4.

The base member 11 has a substantially U-shaped elastic pressing portion 13 formed in a cantilever shape so as to surround the key stem 8. The pressing portion 13 has a pair of horizontal portions 14 extending horizontally from the base member 11 and an inclined portion 15 extending obliquely downward from the horizontal portion 14. Inclined part 15
A pressing projection 16 having a spherical contact portion is formed on the lower surface of the tip end of the contact point 5 so as to come into contact with the contact portion 5 of the membrane switch 4. The inclination angle of the inclined portion 15 is 45 °
It is well within, and the inclined part extended from the horizontal part 14 in this way
With the structure in which the pressing protrusion 16 is provided on the lower surface of 15, the height of the pressing protrusion 16 can be made shorter than that of a horizontal pressing portion, and when the contact 6 is pressed by pushing down the slide 6. The length of sliding contact between the pressing protrusion 16 and the membrane switch 4 can be shortened. Further, a sound deadening protrusion 17 is provided on the upper surface of the horizontal portion 14. The sound deadening protrusions 17 project above the upper surfaces of the base member 11 and the connecting portion 10, and when the entire sliding portion 6 is pushed back upward, the sound deadening protrusions 17 come into contact with the upper end surface of the case 2 and slide. Moving part 6 and case 2
It is designed to buffer the collision of.

A substantially U-shaped leaf spring portion 18 is formed on the base member 11 so as to surround the pressing portion 13. This leaf spring portion 18 is
The plastic is formed integrally with the base member 11 and the key stem 8, but has appropriate elasticity by appropriately adjusting the thickness and by making the shape inclined obliquely downward. That is, the leaf spring portion 18 has a pair of horizontal portions 19 extending horizontally from the base member 11 and a pair of inclined portions 20 extending obliquely downward from the horizontal portion 19. There is.
A connecting member in which the tips of the pair of inclined portions 20 are substantially parallel to the base member 11.
21 connected, and the contact part 5 of the membrane switch 4
It is in contact with other parts. In addition, a pair of protrusions 22 are provided on the lower surface of the connecting member 21 to prevent wear by reducing the contact area with the membrane switch 4. As described above, if the leaf spring portion 18 is configured by the horizontal portion 19 and the inclined portion 20, the spring length can be set as large as possible within the limited allowable dimensions in the case 2, and the stress can be dispersed. Thus, the life of the leaf spring portion 18 can be extended. Further, with such a bent shape, the protrusion 22 can be always in contact with the membrane switch 4. Further, if the structure in which the pair of inclined portions 20 and 20 are integrally connected by the connecting member 21 is adopted, and when integrally formed of plastic, the deformation of the two inclined portions 20 and 20 in the vertical direction when the mold is released from the mold. The difference between
It is possible to avoid the inconvenience that the spring property is different.

When the sliding portion 6 is assembled in the case 2, the leaf spring 19 is slightly bent so that the sliding portion 6 is lifted in the case 2.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a click arm 23 is erected at the center of the upper surface of the base member 11. The click arm 23 is in the shape of a prism or a cylinder parallel to the key stem 8, and a cylindrical engagement protrusion 24 is formed on the upper end of the click arm 23 on the side of the key stem 8. And the click arm 23
The key stem 8, the connecting portion 10 and the base member 11 are integrally formed.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the click arm 23
A through hole 25 is formed in a key portion of the case 2 corresponding to the click arm 23 when the key stem 8 is not pressed.
A large part of the above is projected from the through hole 25 to the outside of the case 2. On the outside of the case 2, a fitting groove 26 is formed in a part of the outer peripheral surface of the stem guide 7 facing the click arm 23. This mating groove 26
Is defined by a pair of holding frames 27, 27 integrally formed with the outer peripheral surface of the stem guide 7, and the pair of holding frames 27, 27 are opposed to each other at a predetermined interval with an opening 28. At the communication with the through hole 25. And each holding frame
A step portion 29 is formed inside each of the 27, and a feeling block is provided inside the fitting groove 26 through the step portion 29.
30 are provided.

As shown in FIG. 3, the feeling block 30 has a locking portion 31 that is hooked on the step portion 29 of the fitting groove 26, and a spring property that gets over the step portion 29 and engages with the back surface side of the case 2. It has a pair of locking pieces 32 provided and is detachably inserted into the fitting groove 26. A guide projection 34 that contacts the engaging projection 24 of the click arm 23 is formed on the central plate portion 33 that appears in the opening 28 of the fitting groove 26. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, when the feeling block 30 is attached to the fitting groove 26, the engaging projection 24 of the click arm 23 is located above the guide projection 34 when the key stem 8 is not pressed. It is like this. Note that at least the guide convex portion 34 of the feeling block 30 is made of a wear-resistant material.

As shown in FIG. 5, the guide projection 34 has an upper slope 35 for guiding the descending engaging projection 24 and a lower slope 36 for guiding the ascending engaging projection 24. Both slopes 35, 36 are parallel to each other, the upper slope 35 having a curved surface 37 connected to the lower slope 36 at the lower edge 38, and the lower slope 36 having a phase 39 continuing to the upper slope 35 at the upper edge 40. The intersection angle θ between the line connecting the upper and lower edges 38, 40 and the center line 41 of the click arm 23 is
Although it is set in the range of 0 ° to 45 °, it is set in the more preferable range of 20 to 30 ° in this embodiment.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. here,
The operation of the click arm 23 and the feeling block 30 will be mainly described with reference to FIG.

When the key top 9 is pushed and the key stem 8 is pushed down to the lower limit position, the pushing portion 13 becomes the contact portion 5 of the membrane switch 4.
Press to turn it on. When the key stem 8 descends in this manner, the click arm 23 also descends together with the key stem 8.

As shown in FIG. 5, the engaging protrusion 24a of the click arm 23 located above the guide convex portion 34 descends together with the click arm 23 along the center line 41 of the click arm 23 to guide the click arm 23. It contacts the upper slope 35 of the protrusion 34.

Further, the key stem 8 is pushed down and the click arm 23
When is lowered, the engaging protrusion 24b moves obliquely downward along the upper slope 35, and the click arm 23 (not shown) deviates from the center line 41 and starts to bend. Click arm like this
The resistance due to the bending of 23 gradually increases, and gives a preferable click feeling to the finger of the operator who presses the key top 9.

Then, when the engaging projection 24c gets over the curved surface 37 of the upper slope 35 and reaches the lower end edge 38, the deflection of the click arm 23 becomes maximum. Further, when the key stem 8 is pushed all the way to the lower limit position, the engagement projection 24d is engaged with the lower edge 38 of the guide projection 34.
It returns to the position on the center line 41 away from, and at this time, the click arm 23 vibrates to generate a metallic click sound.

When the finger is released from the key top 9 after the keyboard switch 1 is pressed down, the entire sliding portion 6 is lifted by the elastic force of the leaf spring portion 18. The engaging protrusion 24d of the click arm 23 below the guide protrusion 34 ascends along with the click arm 23 along the center line 41 of the click arm 23 and contacts the lower slope 36 of the guide protrusion 34.

When the key stem 8 is further pushed up by the restoring force of the leaf spring portion 18, the engagement protrusion 24e moves obliquely upward along the lower slope 36, and the click arm 23 (not shown) begins to bend off the center line 41. Then, the engagement projection 24 rides over the curved surface 39 of the lower slope 36, moves away from the upper edge 40, and returns to the position on the center line 41 again. Also at this time, a click sound corresponding to the amount of bending of the click arm 23 is generated.

In the above operation, the inclination angle θ of the guide convex portion 34 with respect to the click arm 23 is related to the click feeling and the magnitude of the click sound. That is, when the tilt angle θ is increased, the feel and the sound are increased, and when the tilt angle θ is decreased, the feel and the sound are decreased.

Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, since the center line 41 of the click arm 23 passes through substantially the center of the guide convex portion 34, the click sound when pressing the key and the return of the key when the key returns. The click sounds are almost the same. Here, if the position of the guide convex portion 34 in the feeling block 30 is changed and the guide convex portion 34 is displaced to the left side with respect to the center line 41 of the click arm 23 in FIG. 5, the key is pressed. At this time, the deflection of the click arm 23 is increased, and the click sound on the ON side can be made louder than that on the OFF side. In the present embodiment, the feeling block 30 is attachable to and detachable from the case 2. Therefore, if various feeling blocks 30 having different positional relationships of the guide projections 34 with respect to the click arm 23 are prepared, the feeling block The feeling of clicking and the clicking sound can be easily selected simply by replacing the feeling block 30 according to a request.

Further, since the click sound is the vibration sound of the click arm 23, the quality of the click sound generated can be changed by selecting the material of the click arm 23.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 6, this keyboard switch 50 has a return spring between a base member 51 provided at the lower end of the key stem 8 and a membrane switch 4 which is a switch element.
It has 52 and an actuator spring 53. The other structures including the structure of the click arm 23 and the structure for attaching and detaching the feeling block 54 are the same as those of the first embodiment, and the same reference numerals as those in FIG.

In this embodiment, the guide projection 55 of the feeling block 54 is different from that of the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 7, the engaging projection 24 of the click arm 23 is almost at the highest point of the guide protrusion 55 when no key is pressed, and the lowest point of the guide protrusion 55 when the key stem 8 is completely pressed. It is located in. In this way, the engagement protrusion 24 of the click arm 23 only moves on the guide surface 56 on one side of the guide protrusion 55 and does not come off from the guide protrusion 55. Therefore, since the click arm 23 does not vibrate, no click sound is generated, and only the click feeling due to the bending of the click arm 23 is obtained.

The click feeling can be adjusted by changing the shape of the guide convex portion 55. For example, Figures 8 (a) to 13 (a)
With the shape as shown in FIG. 5, the relationship between the moving distance and the load (generally referred to as a load curve) as shown in each figure (b) can be obtained.

In each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the membrane switch is used as an example for blocking the switch, but the switch may have any structure. Further, the pressing structure of the switch element is not limited to that of the embodiment.

[Effect of device]

According to the keyboard switch with a click of the present invention, the engaging protrusion of the click arm on the outside of the case engages with the guiding projection of the feeling block on the outside of the case to perform the click operation. . Therefore, it is possible to change not only the click feeling and the click sound, but also the keyboard switch having no click feeling, only by changing the shape of the guide convex portion outside the case.

Further, since the feeling block is detachably attached to the outside of the case, a click desired by the operator can be easily provided on the keyboard switch.

Further, since the click arm and the key stem are integrally molded with resin, the number of parts can be reduced as compared with the case where separate parts are used.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of a sliding portion in the same embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a detaching structure of a feeling block in the same embodiment, FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a click structure of the same embodiment, FIG. 5 is an operation view showing an engagement relationship between an engaging projection and a guide convex portion in the same embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing an example, FIG. 7 is a view showing the feeling block of the same embodiment, and an operation view showing the engagement relationship between the guide projection and the engagement projection, FIG. 8, FIG. 9, FIG. Figures 11, 12 and
In FIG. 13, each figure (a) is a diagram showing another example of the shape of the guide convex portion in the second embodiment, and each figure (b) is a corresponding guide convex portion of each figure (a). It is a figure which shows the load curve in. 1,50 ... Keyboard switch, 2 ... Case, 4 ... Membrane switch as switch element, 8 ... Key stem, 13 ... Pressing part, 23 ... Click arm, 24 ... Engaging protrusion, 26 ... Fitting groove, 30,54 …… Feeling block, 34,55 …… Convex part for guide.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A switch element arranged in a case, and a key stem slidably guided with respect to the case.
A keyboard switch having a pressing portion that is provided at a lower end portion of the key stem and presses the switch element, wherein the key stem is integrally formed of resin and is interlockingly connected to the key stem in the case and protrudes to the outside of the case. A click arm having an engagement protrusion formed on the upper end thereof, and a guide protrusion that engages with the engagement protrusion of the click arm, and is provided at a position outside the case facing the click arm. A keyboard switch with a click, comprising: a feeling block detachably attached to the groove.