JPH0696641A - Illuminated push switch - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make a illuminated push switch usable stably in an automatic mounting machine, by making a terminal for a luminescent element, which vertically moves together with a push button, to be hard deformed, and stabiliz ing the terminal position, in the illuminated push switch used in an input part, an operation part and other parts of an image projection and sound machine. CONSTITUTION:Right and left flexible connecting parts 27A, 27B formed of metal thin plates and end terminal parts 28A, 28B are feeding parts for a luminescent element 29. The terminal parts 28A, 28B are inserted in resin of terminal fixing parts 30A, 30B and fixedly formed, as the soldering faces 31A, 31B are exposed. By fixing these terminal fixing parts 30A, 30B to the side faces of a switch case 21, the position of the terminal for the luminescent element 29 is stabilized, the deformation of the terminal during handing can be prevented and the switch can be stably used in an automatic mounting machine.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a small illuminated push switch used for an input section, an operation section, etc. of electronic equipment.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an illuminated push switch of a type in which a flexible metal thin plate drawn from a peripheral wall of a switch case holds a push button portion with an illuminating element so that the push button portion can be moved up and down. The configuration of this type of push switch will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 9 is an external perspective view of a conventional illuminated push switch, FIG. 10 is a side sectional view of the same, and FIG. 11 is an external perspective view showing a component structure.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a push button made of an insulating resin having a built-in light emitting element 2, which is provided inside the insulating frame 4 by left and right flexible connecting portions 3 and 3'made of a thin metal plate. It is held so that it can move up and down. This connecting part 3,
3'is also configured as a conductive path, one end of which is connected to the inside of the button 1 and the light emitting element 2 is connected to the ends 5 and 5'by a method such as wire bonding, and the other end is Each penetrates the insulating frame and connects to the outside,
The ends thereof are bent downward and serve as connection terminal portions 6 and 6'to the printed circuit board to form a power supply / emission portion.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a diaphragm type movable contact formed by processing a thin metal plate having elasticity into a dome shape, and its outer peripheral portion is mounted on an end fixed contact 9A provided at the bottom end of the box type switch case 8. The upper surface of the central protrusion is housed in the switch case 8 so as to contact the protrusion 1A on the lower surface of the push button 1 to form a switch portion.

[0006] The end fixed contact 9 is formed by inserting the insulating frame 4 and the box-shaped switch case 8 so that the outer circumference of the box-shaped switch case 8 and the outer circumference of the box-shaped switch case 8 are substantially overlapped with each other.
The power supply light emitting portion and the switch portion are integrally connected to each other by bending and crimping the tips of the switch terminals 10A and 10B which are electrically connected to A and the central fixed contact 9B, respectively.

Next, the operation of the push switch will be described. By supplying power between the terminal portions 6 and 6 ', which are the ends of the conductive paths for the light emitting element 2, the connecting portions 3 and 3'to the element connecting portion 5 are provided. A current flows through the light emitting element 2 through 5'to emit light.

Further, when the upper portion of the push button 1 is pressed and operated, the button 1 held up and down by the flexible connecting portions 3 and 3'moves downward by the operation stroke of the switch while emitting light. , The protrusion 1 on the bottom
A pushes and inverts the upper surface of the central protruding portion of the diaphragm-type movable contact 7, so that the fixed contact 9A and 9B are connected (terminals 10A and 10B).
Short circuit).

Next, when the pushing force applied to the upper portion of the push button 1 is removed, the diaphragm type movable contact 7 pushes the push button 1 back to its original position in an attempt to return to its original dome shape by its elastic force. Between the fixed contacts 9A and 9B (between the terminals 10A and 10B), the open state is restored again and the state shown in FIG. 10 is restored.

[0010]

In the recent electronic equipment, the mounting parts are highly densified and the manufacturing process is automated,
The use of automatic mounting machines has become commonplace for mounting and soldering electronic components on printed circuit boards. Therefore, electronic components used are becoming smaller and smaller, and adaptation to automatic mounting is becoming an essential condition, and the most recent method of mounting components on printed circuit boards is automatic surface mounting and reflow soldering. As a condition of electronic parts that can be applied to this mounting machine, the terminal surface to be soldered to the printed circuit board has a certain size, the position dimensions are uniform, and there is no risk of deformation during handling work. Is required.

Against this background, in the above-mentioned conventional small illuminated push switch, the terminals 6 and 6'of the power supply light emitting portion are formed by pressing a thin metal plate to form the connecting portion 3 and 3.
3 ', the light emitting element connecting portions 5, 5', are integrally formed, and the connecting portions 3, 3'are flexible in order to hold the push button 1 so that it can be moved up and down and has resilience. It is necessary to have flexibility and some elasticity, and it is common to use a metal thin plate of a material used as a hard one having a thickness of less than 0.1 mm.

Therefore, from the insulating frame 4 to the switch case 8
The terminals 6 and 6'of the power supply and light emitting unit arranged along the outside of
Because it is a narrow hard thin plate, the bending angle varies, the position dimensions and soldering area become uneven, and there is the drawback that it is easily bent outward or laterally during handling, making it difficult to automatically mount There were challenges.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and provides a small-sized illuminated push switch in which the terminals of the power feeding / emitting section are not easily deformed and the terminal position size is stable.

[0014]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention divides an insulating frame body for leading out a flexible connecting portion into left and right parts and arranges them on a side surface of a switch case as terminal fixing parts. It is intended to fix the terminal for the power supply light emitting portion to the lower surface by insert molding.

[0015]

According to the present invention described above, the terminal of the power supply light emitting unit is
Since it is reinforced by the left and right insulating frames and fixed to the outer bottom surface of the switch case, it is difficult to deform and the position dimensions are stable, which makes it possible to provide an illuminated push switch suitable for automatic mounting. Is.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the illuminated push switch of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view, FIG. 2 is a side sectional view, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view for explaining an assembling method, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are a plan view and a side sectional view for explaining a method for forming a push button and a terminal fixing portion, which are essential parts of the present invention.

In the figure, 21 is a box switch case made of an insulating resin similar to that of the prior art, and has an end fixed contact 22A, its external connection terminal 23A and a central fixed contact 22B and its outside on its bottom surface. The connection terminal 23B is fixed by insert molding, and each contact portion 22A, 22B
Has its upper surface exposed inside the bottom of the switch case 21, and the terminal portions 23A, 23B are led out to the outside of the switch case, and the lower surface thereof is set to be flush with the bottom outer surface of the switch case 21. There is.

Reference numeral 24 is also a diaphragm type movable contact formed by processing a thin metal plate into a dome shape similar to the prior art, and its outer peripheral portion is placed on the fixed end contact 22A inside the switch case 21 to form a switch portion. There is.

Numeral 25 is a box-shaped push button made of insulating resin, and its lower protrusion 25A has a diaphragm-type movable contact 24.
It is housed in the switch case 21 so as to come into contact with the upper surface of the central protrusion of the.

The box-shaped push button 25 is provided with left and right element connecting portions 26A and 26B formed by insert-molding a pressed metal thin plate, and can be integrated with each element connecting portion. Flexible connecting portion 27A,
27B extends to the left and right, bends downward along the outer periphery of the switch case 21, and the left and right light emitting unit terminals 28 are formed.
It is connected to A and 28B to form a power feeding portion.

Further, the light emitting element 29 is connected to the left and right element connecting portions 26A and 26B in the box-shaped push button 25 by a method such as wire bonding to form a light emitting portion, as in the prior art. .

Then, the above-mentioned light emitting portion terminals 28A, 28
B is fixed to the terminal fixing portions 30A and 30B made of insulating resin by insert molding, and the soldering surfaces 31A and 3B thereof are fixed.
1B is exposed downward, and the hook-shaped portions 32A, 32B of the terminal fixing portions 30A, 30B are formed in the recesses 33A, 33B on the side surfaces of the switch case so that this surface is flush with the bottom outer surface of the switch case 21. It is fixed to the switch case 21 by being fitted in.

In this way, the switch portion and the power feeding / emitting portion are integrally combined to complete an illuminated push switch.

The operation of the illuminated push switch of the above-described embodiment is similar to that of the prior art, and by supplying power between the terminals 28A and 28B for the power supply light emitting section, the flexible push sections 27A and 27B are connected. A current flows through the light emitting element 29 to emit light, and the push button 25 is pressed to operate, whereby the lower projection 25A of the button pushes and reverses the central projection upper surface of the diaphragm-type movable contact 24, and the fixed contact 22
Short-circuit between A and 22B (between the terminals 23A and 23B),
When the pushing force applied to the push button 25 is removed, the original state is restored.

Next, the method of forming the power feeding and emitting portion will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. The left and right optical element connecting portions 2 are formed into a flat plate by pressing a thin metal plate.
6A, 26B, the flexible connecting portions 27A, 27B and the terminal portions 28A, 28B (colored portions in the figure) are insert-molded into the box-shaped push button 25 and the resin (hatched portions in the figure) of the left and right terminal fixing portions 30A, 30B. In this state, the light emitting element 29 is attached to the element connecting portions 26A and 26B in the box-shaped push button 25.
Is attached and connected by a wire bonding method, and then the unnecessary connecting portion as the main power supply light emitting portion is cut and removed, and then the flexible connecting portions 27A and 27B are bent as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 5 and combined with the switch portion. To combine.

As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, the terminals 28A and 28B of the power feeding portion are the terminal fixing portions 30 made of molded resin.
Insert molding is fixed to A and 30B.
Since A and 30B are securely fixed to the side surface of the switch case 21, they are hard to be deformed and their positional dimensions are stable.

Another embodiment for strengthening the coupling between the switch section and the power feeding / emitting section will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

That is, the upper surface 34 and the left and right side surfaces 35.
A cover 37 made of a thin metal plate having a U shape composed of A and 35B and having a projecting hole 36 for the push button 25 at the center of the upper surface 34 is covered from above the illuminated push switch,
The left and right terminal fixing portions 30A and 30B of the power feeding portion are pressed against the side surface of the switch case 21 so as not to come off.

FIG. 8 also shows another embodiment of the illuminated push switch of the present invention, in which two light emitting elements 37, 38 are provided in the push button 25, and each of the light emitting elements 37, 38 has a power supply terminal 39A. , 39B, 40A, 40B are connected and configured in the same manner as the embodiment of FIG. 1, the power supply terminals 39A, 39B, 40A, 40B can be held at stable positions.

[0031]

According to the present invention, as is apparent from the above-described embodiment, the terminals of the power feeding / emitting section made of a thin metal plate are fixed to the switch case through the terminal fixing sections fixed by insert molding. The position dimensions are stable, there is no risk of bending or deforming during handling, and the soldering surface of the power supply light emitting part can be widely and stably provided on the bottom surface of the terminal fixing part made of molded resin. Since it can be on the same surface as the bottom surface of the case and the soldering surface of the switch terminal, it can be stably used in an automatic surface mounting machine.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an embodiment of an illuminated push switch according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the same side.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the assembling method.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a method of forming the push button and the terminal fixing portion.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the same side.

FIG. 6 is an external perspective view of the other embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the same side.

FIG. 8 is an external perspective view of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an external perspective view of a conventional illuminated push switch.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of the same side.

FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of the same.

[Explanation of symbols]

 21 switch case 22 fixed contact 24 movable contact 25 push button part 26A, 26B element connecting part 27A, 27B flexible connecting part 28A, 28B light emitting part terminal 30A, 30B terminal fixing part

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A switch case made of an insulating resin whose bottom surface has a plurality of fixed contacts connected to a terminal portion and whose top surface is open, and between the fixed contacts accommodated in this switch case and pushed from above. A switch part consisting of movable contacts that come in and out of contact, an element connection part in the center, a terminal part on the left and right, and a flexible connection part that connects this element connection part and the light emitting terminal part are integrally formed by a thin metal plate A box-shaped push button part having a projection on the bottom and a terminal fixing part for fixing the terminal part are formed by insert molding on this thin metal plate, and the push button part is put in the switch case by covering it from above the switch case. Illuminated push switch that accommodates up and down movement, bends the left and right flexible connecting parts, and fixes the left and right terminal fixing parts to the outside of the switch case. 2. The soldering surface of the terminal connected to the fixed contact and the soldering surface of the terminal portion connected to the flexible connecting portion are formed to be substantially flush with the outer bottom surface of the switch case.
Illuminated push switch described. 3. A cover made of a thin metal plate, which is composed of an upper surface having a push button projecting hole in the center and left and right bent portions for pressing the terminal fixing portion against the switch case, and is covered from above. Illuminated push switch described in 2.