JPH0741889U - Manual operation button - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] The operation button is made to oppose the actuator of the switch equipped with the light emitting part which is built in the operation panel and emits light when the switch is in conduction, and the light from the light emitting part is scattered on the surface of the operation button. The operation buttons shall not be defective in operation regardless of which part of the operation buttons is operated. [Configuration] Operation button 1 is exposed from surface plate 21 of operation panel 2 and It is composed of a main button 1a that can be pushed against the 21 and an auxiliary button 1b that contacts this back surface.The main button 1a is made of a transparent material of a relatively hard material, and the auxiliary button 1b is flexible and elastic. A semi-transparent body having an annular thin portion 11 protruding from the peripheral edge of the auxiliary button 1b, and an annular seal portion 12 is continuously provided on the outer periphery of the annular thin portion 11 to form the annular seal portion 12 on the back surface of the surface plate 21. The auxiliary button 1b is attached to the actuator so that the back surface of the auxiliary button 1b faces the actuator 31 of the switch 3 built in the operation panel 2 so as to face it.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Usage field]

 The present invention has a built-in operation button, in particular, a switch having a light emitting part, and the actuator of this switch can be operated by the operation part provided on the operation panel, and the light from the light emitting part is transmitted to the operation part. It relates to the operation buttons on the operation panel that are scattered around.

[0002]

[Prior art and problems]

 A plurality of operation units are arranged on the operation panel of the device. Recently, the operation unit having a light emitting function has become widespread. In this type of operating mechanism, a switch equipped with a light emitting unit is arranged on an electronic board built into the operation panel, and the actuator of this switch is mounted on the surface plate of the operation panel and is made of a flexible elastic material. It is configured to turn on and off with a button. Further, by making the operation button a translucent body, the light from the light emitting portion of the switch is scattered by the operation button. Therefore, even when installed in a dark place, it is easy to determine which operation button was operated.

In this conventional device, the entire structure can be simplified because the operation part can be composed of only the operation buttons made of a flexible material. If the operation panel is used as it is, which is often operated roughly, it is likely that an operation error will occur. Since the operation buttons made of a flexible material are exposed as they are and become the operation part, if you operate the part off the center of the surface of the operation buttons, the operation buttons will be made of a flexible material. Therefore, the amount of movement of the operation button pushed, particularly the amount of movement of the central portion facing the actuator, may be insufficient, in which case malfunction of the switch may occur.

The present invention has been made in view of the above point, and "the operation button provided so as to be exposed on the surface of the operation panel is made to face the actuator of the switch built in the operation panel, Is equipped with a light-emitting part that emits light when the switch is in a conductive state, and the light from the light-emitting part is scattered on the surface of the operation button. ” The task is to prevent malfunctions.

[0005]

[Technical means]

 The technical means of the present invention taken to solve the above-mentioned problem is that the operation button 1 is exposed from the surface plate 21 of the operation board 2 and is paired with the main button 1a that can be pushed into the surface board 21 and is mateable. , The auxiliary button 1b facing the back surface, the main button 1a is made of a transparent material of a relatively hard material, and the auxiliary button 1b is made of a semi-transparent material having flexibility and elasticity. When the annular thin portion 11 is extended from the peripheral edge, the annular seal portion 12 is continuously provided on the outer periphery of the annular thin portion 11, and the annular seal portion 12 is attached to the back surface of the face plate 21 so as to be in contact with the back surface of the auxiliary button 1b. Was made to face the actuator 31 of the switch 3 built in the operation panel 2 ”.

[0006]

[Action]

 The above technical means of the present invention operates as follows. When the main button 1a is pushed in, the annular thin portion 11 is continuously provided on the outer circumference of the auxiliary button 1b.Therefore, the auxiliary button 1b that contacts the back surface of this main button 1a is pushed in and the back surface of this button is built into the operation panel 2. Push in the actuator 31 of switch 3. As a result, the switch 3 is turned on, and the light emitting portion provided therein is turned on.

When the pushing operation is released, the main button 1a returns to its original position by being restored by the elastic restoring force of the annular thin portion 11 of the auxiliary button 1b. Since the auxiliary button 1b is made of a semitransparent material, the whole of the auxiliary button 1b is in a state of scattering light. This scattered light passes through the main button 1a composed of a transparent body. Therefore, when the switch 3 is in the conductive state, the operation button 1 including the main button 1a and the auxiliary button 1b is in a state of scattering light. The portion directly touched by the finger during operation is the main button 1a made of a relatively hard material, and the main button 1a mates with the surface plate 21 in a retractable manner. Therefore, even if the part of the main button 1a that is deviated from the center is pressed, the entire main button 1a is pressed in a fixed posture by the pair, and the center part of the main button 1a and the center part of the auxiliary button 1b are pressed. The auxiliary button 1b is pushed in a state of being in contact with each other, and the back surface of the auxiliary button 1b is accurately in contact with the actuator 31 and is pushed by a predetermined stroke. That is, even if a portion deviated from the center of the main button 1a is pushed in at the time of operation, it is reliably pushed in by the stroke required for the actuator 31 to operate.

Further, since the auxiliary button 1b is made of a flexible material and the annular seal portion 12 at the periphery thereof is attached to the back surface of the face plate 21 in a state of being in contact with the auxiliary button 1b, the auxiliary button 1b and the annular thin portion 11 are attached. Also, the entire area of the penetrating portion of the main button 1a is hermetically sealed by the annular seal portion 12, and the airtightness inside the operation panel 2 is secured.

[0009]

【effect】

 The present invention, having the above-mentioned configuration, has the following unique effects. Even if the part of the main button 1a that is deviated from the center is pressed, the back surface of the auxiliary button 1b reliably presses the actuator 31, and malfunction of the switch 3 is unlikely to occur. Moreover, since the scattered light on the auxiliary button 1b is seen through from the transparent main button 1a, the brightness of the light emitting region is sufficient.

[0010]

【Example】

 Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the operation panel 2 of the embodiment is configured to have a plurality of operation buttons 1, 1, and the surface plate 21 has a number of through holes corresponding to the number of the operation buttons 1, 1. 22, 22 are formed. The through hole 22 is formed as a through hole having an enlarged hole portion 23 on the back surface.

Each through hole 22 accommodates a main button 1 a having a flange 13 protruding from the back surface. At this time, the flange 13 is housed in the enlarged hole portion 23. The back surface of the main button 1a has a convex lens shape in which the inner peripheral region of the flange 13 is a downwardly convex spherical surface, and the boundary between the spherical portion and the flange 13 is enlarged downward. It is a tapered surface T.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the plurality of auxiliary buttons 1b, 1b of this embodiment are integrally connected so that the connecting body S has a plate-like shape as a whole, and the whole is semi-transparent. It is made of silicon resin and has flexibility and elasticity. Then, the connected body S 1 is integrally formed by injection molding or the like. Therefore, the annular seal portions 12, 12 that are continuously provided in the outer peripheral area of each auxiliary button 1b are connected by the connecting piece 14, and each auxiliary button 1b has a substantially conical back surface as shown in FIG. In addition, the surface is a convex lens shape with a gentle spherical surface, and the substantially conical top cross section of the back surface is an arc shape. An annular extension 15 is formed around the periphery of the auxiliary button 1b, and the upper surface of the annular extension 15 and the center of the spherical portion of the upper surface of the auxiliary button 1b are set to be on the same plane. There is.

The annular thin portion 11 is formed in a taper shape that expands downward from the peripheral edge of the annular extension portion 15, and the annular seal portion 12 is connected to the peripheral edge thereof. Therefore, there is a certain level difference between the upper surface of the annular seal portion 12 and the upper surface of the annular extension portion 15. Further, the inner diameter of the annular extension 15 and that of the flange 13 are matched. The main button 1a and the auxiliary button 1b having the above-mentioned configuration are mounted on the surface plate 21 of the operation panel 2, but in this embodiment, the main button 1a is housed in each through hole 22 and a plurality of auxiliary buttons 1b, 1b are connected. The connected body S is attached and fixed to the back surface of the front plate 21.

Therefore, the mounting plate 4 as shown in FIG. 4 is adopted. The mounting plate 4 is a plate-shaped body having a plurality of openings 41, 41 that match the inner diameter of the annular seal portion 12 as shown in the figure, and is screwed to the back surface of the front plate 21 at a plurality of locations. Therefore, the through hole or notch for screwing is formed in the connecting body S. The operation panel 2 has a configuration in which an electronic substrate 30 is housed in a casing composed of a dish-shaped front surface plate 21 that opens downward and a dish-shaped rear surface plate 24 that opens upward. A plurality of switches 3 having a light emitting portion 32 such as an LED is arranged at a position facing each auxiliary button 1b.

In the operation panel 2 having the above structure, the electronic board 30 is attached to the back plate 24 in a state where the front plate 21 and the back plate 24 are separated. On the other hand, when the main button 1a is housed in each through hole 22 of the surface plate 21 and the connecting body S is attached from the rear surface of the main button 1a and the connecting body S is attached to the surface plate 21 by the attaching plate 4, each auxiliary button is 1b and its peripheral members are fixed in a state where the through hole 22 is closed, and in this state, the annular seal portion 12 is brought into close contact with the back surface of the front plate 21. Then, the auxiliary button 1b projects from each opening 41 of the mounting plate 4.

At this time, there is a difference in height between the upper surface of the annular seal portion 12 and the upper surface of the annular extension portion 15, and the annular thin portion 11 is attached in a compressed state. The urging force of the mushroom is working. Since the diameter of the flange 13 and that of the annular extension 15 match, the upper surface of the flange 13 is set in contact with the upper wall of the enlarged hole 23, as shown in FIG. That is, the main button 1a is lifted upward by the urging force corresponding to the elastic force of the annular thin portion 11.

As described above, the operation panel 2 is completed by covering the front plate 21 having the connecting body S mounted thereon with the rear plate 24 having the electronic substrate 30 and connecting the two. At this time, as shown in the same figure, the conical top on the back surface of the auxiliary button 1b is set in a state of facing and approaching the actuator 31 of the switch 3, and when the main button 1a is pushed in, the auxiliary button 1b is interlocked with this. The cone-shaped top pushes the actuator 31, the light emitting portion 32 lights up, and the switch is operated.

In this structure, the main button 1a is made of a transparent material made of a hard acrylic resin, and its front and back surfaces are textured. The auxiliary button 1b is semi-transparent. Therefore, the light from the light emitting portion 32 of the switch 3 is uniformly scattered on the entire exposed portion of the main button 1a. Even if the operation button 1 has a double structure consisting of the main button 1a and the auxiliary button 1b, since both are convex lenses, the light from the light emitting part of the switch 3 can be efficiently and surely within the range of the main button 1a. Since they are collected, the brightness of the scattered light of the main button 1a is also sufficient.

Further, in this embodiment, since the inner peripheral area of the flange 13 is the tapered surface T, the light passing through the convex button-shaped auxiliary button 1b is transmitted to the outer peripheral surface of the body portion of the main button 1a. As a result, the shadow is less likely to occur on the surface peripheral portion of the main button 1a. Further, since the convex portions of the back surface of the main button 1a and the top surface of the auxiliary button 1b are in contact with each other, even if the main button 1a is pressed against the top surface of the auxiliary button 1b made of a flexible material, the main button 1a There is no concern that will be adsorbed on the upper surface of the auxiliary button 1b, ensuring smooth operation.

The height difference between the both ends of the cross section of the annular thin portion 11 with the operation button 1 attached to the surface plate 21 is a predetermined value in relation to the operation stroke of the operation button 1 for operating the switch 3. The inner peripheral edge of the annular thin portion 11 is located above the outer peripheral edge even when the operation button 1 is pushed in. Therefore, when the operating force of the operation button 1 is released, the main biasing button 1a, which overlaps with the auxiliary button 1b made of an elastic material, is automatically returned to the initial position by the returning biasing force of the annular thin portion 11.

Even if the main button 1a is pushed for a predetermined stroke or longer, the auxiliary button 1b has flexibility, so that the switch 3 is not overloaded.

[Brief description of drawings]

[Figure 1] Cross-sectional view of the main part of the operation panel 2

FIG. 2 is a connection body S having a plurality of auxiliary buttons 1b and 1b.
Top view of

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a connecting body S.

[Fig. 4] Plan view of the mounting plate 4

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... ・ Operation button 2 ・ ・ ・ ・ Operating panel 21 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Surface plate 1a ・ ・ ・ ・ Main button 1b ・ ・ ・ ・ Auxiliary button 11 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Thin annular portion 12 ・ ・ ・Part 3 ・ ・ ・ ・ Switch 31 ・ ・ ・ ・ Actuator

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An operation button provided so as to be exposed on a surface of an operation panel is opposed to an actuator of a switch incorporated in the operation panel, and the switch is provided with a light emitting portion which emits light in a switch conducting state. In the operation button of the operation panel in which the light from the light emitting portion is scattered on the surface of the operation button, the operation button 1 is exposed from the surface plate 21 of the operation panel 2 and is movably paired to the surface plate 21. A main button 1a and an auxiliary button 1b facing the back surface of the main button 1a, the main button 1a is made of a transparent material of a relatively hard material, and the auxiliary button 1b is a flexible and elastic semi-transparent material. An annular thin portion 11 is projected from the peripheral edge of 1b, and an annular seal portion 12 is continuously provided on the outer periphery of the annular thin portion 11 so that the annular seal portion 12 is attached to the back surface of the face plate 21 in a contacting state, The back of the button 1b operation panel
The operation button that is located close to the actuator 31 of the above switch 3 built in 2.