JPH0718109Y2 - Sheet input device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a sheet-shaped input device in which contacts of upper and lower sheets are turned on and off via a spacer, and more particularly,
The present invention relates to the structure of an output cable section that is led out from the switching section.

[Conventional technology]

This type of sheet input device is known as a coordinate input device such as a touch panel or a doublet membrane switch and various input devices.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part showing an example of a conventional sheet-shaped input device. As shown in FIG. 4, the sheet-shaped input device has a switching portion formed by stacking an upper sheet 1, a spacer 2 and a lower sheet 3. 4 and an output cable section 5 for external lead-out. The upper and lower sheets 1, 3 of the switching part 4 are made of a highly heat-resistant material such as polyimide polyester film, and ITO (In ₂ O ₃ , SnO ₂ ) is formed on the lower surface of the upper sheet 1 and the upper surface of the lower sheet 3. The upper contact 6 and the lower contact 7 are formed by vapor-depositing and then etching this into a desired pattern. These upper and lower contacts 6 and 7 can be contacted and separated via the through hole 8 of the spacer 2. Is facing. This switching unit 4
Is mounted and fixed on a support plate 9 made of a transparent material such as acrylic resin or glass, or an iron plate.
The lead terminals 10 are provided on the lower surface of the upper sheet 1 and the lead terminals 11 are provided on the upper surface of the lower sheet 3 in the protruding portion.
Are formed respectively. These lead terminals 10,1
Reference numerals 1 are drawn from the upper contact 6 and the lower contact 7, respectively, and can be connected to an external input.

On the other hand, the output cable section 5 comprises a pair of base films 12 and 13 made of polyethylene terephthalate or the like, and lead wires 14 and 15 formed by printing on one side of each of the base films 12 and 13, respectively. 12,13
The back side of is overlapped. Then, one end of each of the lead terminals 14 and 15 is coated with a heat-sealing means (not shown), for example, a conductive heat-sealing material in which conductive particles are dispersed in a thermoplastic resin, and is heated and pressed to form an upper sheet 1 and a lower portion. The sheet 3 is connected to the respective lead terminals 10 and 11, and the other ends of the lead wires 14 and 15 are connected to the connection terminals of a connector (not shown).

When a pressing force is applied from above the upper sheet 1 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 4, the sheet-like input device having the above-described configuration causes the upper sheet 1 to bend downward so that the upper contact 6 comes into contact with the lower contact 7 and the switch-on state. Becomes When the pressing force is removed, the upper sheet 1 returns to the state shown in FIG. 4 due to its flexibility, and the upper contact 6 is separated from the lower contact 7 to be in the switch-off state.

In addition to this, as shown in FIG.
Fold back one end of the base film 17 formed by printing
An output cable portion 16 is also known in which the vicinity of the folded portion 17a is thermocompression bonded to the switching portion 4. This output cable portion 16 is, as is apparent from the developed view of FIG.
A lead wire 18 for leading out the lead terminals 10 of the upper sheet 1 and a lead wire 19 for leading out the lead terminals 11 of the lower sheet 3 to the outside are collectively printed on the strip-shaped base film 17. The lead wire 19 is formed so as to extend beyond the folded portion 17a. That is, when the output cable section 16 is folded back as shown in FIG.
19 is routed from the upper surface side of the output cable portion 16 to the lower surface side via the folding portion 17a, and the folding portion 17a side of the output cable portion 16 is connected to the upper and lower sheets 1, 3
The lead wires 18 and 19 are connected to the lead terminals 10 and 11, respectively, by inserting them between them and performing thermocompression bonding.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, in the sheet-like input device shown in FIG. 4, when the two base films 12 and 13 of the output cable section 5 are overlapped, one end of each lead wire 14 and 15 is connected to each lead terminal 10 of the switching section 4. , 11 and the other ends of the lead wires 14, 15 must be matched with the pitch intervals of the connection terminals of the connector, which causes a problem that the alignment work is complicated. Also, two base films
In the structure where 12 and 13 are superposed, since the lead wires 14 and 15 cannot be exposed on the same side, a complicated structure in which two rows of connection terminals are arranged so as to face the upper and lower surfaces of the output cable section 5 However, there is a problem that an inexpensive connector cannot be used.

On the other hand, the output cable section 16 of the sheet-like input device shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 has the lead wire 1 on the single base film 17.
Since 8 and 19 are collectively formed, one end of both lead wires 18 and 19 can be matched in advance to the pitch interval of the connection terminals of the connector, and the connection terminals are arranged in a row at low cost. However, on the other hand, when the output cable portion 16 is thermocompression-bonded to the switching portion 4, the folded portion 17a is heated and pressed, and the folded portion 1 is used.
There is a risk that the lead wire 19 formed on 7a may be broken,
There was a problem in terms of reliability.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to solve the above problems of the prior art, to easily match the lead wire of the output cable portion with the pitch interval of the connection terminal of the connector, and It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet-shaped input device which is free from the risk of disconnection during thermocompression bonding with a switching part and which allows the use of an inexpensive connector.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a switching unit in which a spacer is interposed between a pair of upper and lower sheets having contacts formed on opposite surfaces thereof, and the contacts of these two sheets can be contacted and separated from each other, and a strip shape. Sheet-like input device having a plurality of lead wires formed on the base film, one end of the base film is thermocompression-bonded to the switching part, and the other end is an output cable part for external lead-out mounted to a connector In the above, each of the lead wires is formed on one surface of the base film so as to reach from at least opposite ends of the base film to at least the vicinity of the central portion, and the base film is formed at the central portion on the side where the lead wires are formed. Before being folded back in half as an exposed surface, each of the lead wires located at both ends of the base film is routed from the contact point. Connected to the lead terminal of the switching unit, each said respective lead wires located in the vicinity of the folded portion, characterized in that the mounting portion to the connector.

[Operation] That is, according to the present invention, it is possible to preliminarily collectively form lead wires in the vicinity of the folded portion of the base film of the output cable portion in advance so as to match the pitch intervals of the connection terminals of the connector, and in the switching portion. Since it is the lead wires located at both ends of the base film that are thermocompression bonded, there is no concern that the lead wires will break during thermocompression bonding.

〔Example〕

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

1 and 2 are for explaining one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part showing a connection structure of an output cable portion, and FIG. 2 is a developed view of the output cable portion. And
Parts that are the same as or can be considered equivalent to those in FIGS.

In FIG. 1, the sheet-shaped input device is mainly composed of a switching section 4 formed by laminating an upper sheet 1, a spacer 2 and a lower sheet 3, and an output cable section 20 for external lead-out. 4 is mounted and fixed on a support plate 9 made of a transparent material. On the lower surface of the upper sheet 1 of the switching 4, an upper contact 6 made of ITO and a lead terminal 10 routed from the upper contact 6 are formed, and similarly, on the upper surface of the lower sheet 3, an ITO contact is formed. Lower contact 7 and a lead terminal drawn from the lower contact 7
11 and are formed. The upper and lower contacts 6, 7 oppose each other via the through hole 8 of the spacer 2 so that they can come into contact with and separate from each other.

On the other hand, as is apparent from the developed view of FIG. 2, the output cable portion 20 has a lead wire 22 for leading the lead terminals 10 of the upper sheet 1 to the outside on a strip-shaped base film 21 made of polyethylene terephthalate or the like. And a lead wire 23 for leading out the lead terminal 11 of the lower sheet 3 to the outside are collectively formed by printing, and the base film 21 is folded back in half with the lead wire forming surface side as an exposed surface. It is configured. Here, the lead wire 22 extends from one end of the base film 21 to the central folded portion 21a, and the lead wire 23 extends from the other end of the base film 21 to the folded portion 21a.
As shown in FIG. 1, only the lead wire 22 is exposed on the upper surface and the lead wire 23 is exposed on the lower surface, as shown in FIG.
Then, the output cable portion 20 is inserted into the upper and lower sheets 1 and 3 on the side where the both ends of the base film 21 are superposed (the side opposite to the folded back portion 21a), and then the conductive heat seal material or the like is used to insert The lead wires 21 and 23 are thermocompression-bonded to the lead terminals 10 and 11 of the switching part 4, respectively. However, since the lead wires 22 and 23 located at both ends of the base film 21 are heated and pressed at this time, There is no risk of these lead wires 22 and 23 breaking during thermocompression bonding.

The other end of the output cable portion 20 whose one end is connected to the switching portion 4 in this manner, that is, the folded portion 21a side is inserted into the connector 24 as shown in FIG. 1, and the lead wires 22 and 23 are connected to the connector 24, respectively. Although connected to the terminals 25 and 26, the pitch intervals of the ends of the lead wires 22 and 23 on the folded-back portion 21a side are formed in advance so as to match the pitch intervals of the connection terminals 25 and 26 of the connector 24. Cable part 20 to connector
The alignment work when connecting to the 24 is easy.

FIG. 3 is a development view of an output cable portion according to another embodiment of the present invention, and the portions corresponding to those in FIG. 2 are designated by the same reference numerals.

The output cable portion 20 shown in FIG. 3 is the upper surface of the output cable portion 20 which is folded back in half, unlike the previous embodiment in that one lead wire 23 extends beyond the folded portion 21a. On the side (the right half of the figure), the entire lead wire 22 and the tip of the lead wire 23 are exposed. That is, the lead wire 23 is routed from the lower surface side of the output cable portion 20 to the upper surface side via the folded-back portion 21a, and therefore, in the vicinity of the folded-back portion 21a of the output cable portion 20 which is the connection portion with the connector. Since the lead wires 22 and 23 are exposed on the same surface side, it is possible to use an inexpensive connector in which the connection terminals are arranged in one row.

Needless to say, in the above embodiment, the lead wire 22 may be routed to the lower surface side of the output cable portion 20 instead of the lead wire 23.

[Effect of device]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the lead wire located near the folded portion of the output cable portion can be matched in advance with the pitch interval of the connection terminals of the connector, the output cable portion can be connected to the connector. Positioning work can be easily performed at the time of connection, and since the output cable portion thermocompression-bonds the lead wires located at both ends of the base film to the switching portion, there is no fear of disconnection of the lead wire during thermocompression bonding. Moreover, in the output cable portion, since each lead wire can be exposed on the same surface side in the vicinity of the folded portion which is a connection portion with the connector, it is possible to use an inexpensive connector having the connection terminals arranged in one row. Is possible, etc.
Has various effects.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 and 2 relate to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an essential part showing a connection structure of an output cable portion, FIG. 2 is a developed view of the output cable portion, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a development view of an output cable portion according to another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a main portion of a conventional example, FIGS. 5 and 6 are related to another conventional example, and FIG. A sectional view and FIG. 6 are developed views of the output cable portion. 1 ... Top sheet, 2 ... Spacer, 3 ... Bottom sheet, 4 ... Switching part, 6 ... Top contact, 7 ... Bottom contact, 10,11 ... Lead terminal, 20 ... Output cable part, 21 ... Base film, 21a ... Folded part, 22, 23 ...
… Lead wire, 24 …… connector, 25,26 …… connecting terminal.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A switching unit in which a spacer is interposed between a pair of upper and lower sheets having contacts formed on opposite surfaces thereof, the contacts of the sheets can be contacted and separated from each other, and a plurality of strip-shaped base films are provided. A lead wire is formed, one end of this base film is thermocompression-bonded to the switching portion, and the other end is an output cable portion for external extraction that is attached to a connector. The base film is formed on one side of the base film so as to reach at least the vicinity of the central portion from opposite ends of the base film, and the base film is folded back in half at the central portion with the lead wire forming surface side as the exposed surface. , The leads of the switching unit routed from the contacts to the respective lead wires located at both ends of the base film. A sheet-shaped input device, wherein each of the lead wires connected to a terminal and located in the vicinity of the folded-back portion serves as a mounting portion to the connector.