JPH0770273B2 - keyboard - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a keyboard used in a computer terminal, a word processor, or the like, and a plurality of keyboards for the purpose of reducing the manufacturing cost and providing a keyboard that does not impair the workability of assembling the keyboard. In a keyboard in which switches are arranged, a housing for holding a key top and a slider hung vertically on the key top is vertically and independently provided for each keyboard switch. Has elastically deformable locking claws and position-fixing legs, and has elastically deformable flanges with a tip as an abutting part on both side surfaces of the housing. The leg portion is fitted and positioned in the mounting hole of the panel, and the flange and the locking claw elastically move the panel. The housing is fixed on the panel in a state of being sandwiched between.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a keyboard, and more particularly to a keyboard used in a computer terminal, a word processor, or the like.

With the recent diversification of computer and word processor models, it is required to reduce the manufacturing cost per model.

Therefore, it is desired that the parts used for the keyboard can be easily adapted to the change of the specifications and the assembling workability is not impaired.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of an example of a conventional keyboard, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line VII-VII in FIG.

In each figure, reference numerals 10, 10-1, 10-2, 10-3 denote keyboard switches, which are arranged in parallel according to a predetermined key arrangement.

The panel 11 is composed of a panel body 11a and a membrane switch 11b placed on the panel body 11a. Depending on the arrangement of the keyboard switch group of the keyboard 1, each keyboard switch has a contact portion 11d at its center and both sides thereof. A pair of rectangular mounting holes 11c for position determination are provided at equal intervals.

Further, the panel 11 has a plurality of holes 11e for tap screws 20 for fixing the housing assembly 12 described later.

The housing assembly 12 is made of molded synthetic resin and has a flat plate portion 12e having a size corresponding to a keyboard and housing portions 12a, 12a arranged on the upper surface thereof in accordance with each key arrangement.
-1,12a-2,12a-3.

The housing portion 12a has a substantially box shape, and has guide grooves 12c on the inner surface sides on both sides. Other housing parts 12a-1, 12a-2, 1
2a-3 has the same structure.

Further, on the lower surface of the flat plate portion 12e, each housing portion 12a, 1
A pair of positioning legs 12b are provided at positions corresponding to both ends of 2a-1, 12a-2, 12a-3.

The housing assembly 12 is screwed and fixed to the panel 11 from the lower surface side of the panel 11 with a tap screw 20 in a state where the leg portion 12b is fitted and positioned in the mounting hole 11c.

Next, the configuration of the keyboard switch 10 will be briefly described.

Reference numeral 15 is a slider, and ribs 15a for vertical movement are provided on both sides.
And a protrusion 15b for preventing removal.

A coil spring 14 for pressing is provided at the center of the bottom of the slider 15.

The slider 15 includes the rib 15a and the housing portion 12a.
It is fitted in the guide groove 12c and is vertically movable in the housing.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a coil spring for returning the key top 16, which is provided inside the housing portion 12c.

Reference numeral 16 is a key top, which is attached to the upper portion 15d of the slider 15.

The other keyboard switches 10-1, 10-2, 10-3 have the same configuration as the keyboard switch 10 and will not be described.

For convenience of illustration, in FIG. 6, the key top 16, the slider 15, the pressing coil spring 14, and the returning coil spring 13 for the keyboard switches 10-1, 10-2, 10-3 are shown. Is omitted.

In FIG. 7, when the key top 16-2 of the keyboard switch 10-2 is pushed down, the slider 15-2 descends and the coil spring 14-2 moves to the contact portion 11d-2 of the membrane switch 11b.
Press to close the contact.

When the pressing force is removed, the coil spring 13-2 for returning causes the slider 15-2 and the key top 16-2 to return upward.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

In the keyboard 1 having the above structure, the housing assembly 12
Is a part that can be used by specifying only one model,
It cannot be used for keyboards of other models with different keyboard switch arrangements.

Therefore, there is a problem that a molding die for housing assembly is required for each keyboard model, which increases the manufacturing cost of the keyboard.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a keyboard that reduces the manufacturing cost and does not impair the workability of assembling the keyboard.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

According to the present invention, in a keyboard in which a plurality of keyboard switches are arranged, a housing for holding a key top and a slider hung vertically on the key top is provided independently for each keyboard switch, The housing has locking claws and position-fixing legs that are elastically deformable on both sides of the lower surface of the housing. The flange is fitted into a mounting hole of a panel and positioned, and the flange and the locking claw elastically sandwich the panel, The housing is fixed on the panel.

[Action]

By providing a housing provided separately for each keyboard switch, each housing may be attached to the position of each keyboard switch, and the housing is commonly used for the keyboards of all models.

Due to the claws and the flanges provided on the housing, the work of attaching the housing to the panel can be done simply by pushing.

Therefore, even if the housings are made independent, the assembling workability is not deteriorated.

Moreover, the individual housings are firmly attached to the panel by the legs on the lower surface of the housing, and the feel of the keyboard switch operation is stable.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an embodiment of the keyboard of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, 10A, 10-1A, 10-2A, 10-3A are keyboard switches, respectively, and have housings 30, 30-1, 30-2, 30-3 described later, It has the same structure.

The keyboard switch 10A has the same structure as the conventional one except for the housing 30, and the parts corresponding to the components shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

The housings 30, 30-1, 30-2, 30-3 are independent and identical parts, and are attached to the upper surface of the panel 11 at positions corresponding to a predetermined keyboard switch arrangement.

Next, the configuration of the housing 30 will be described.

The housing 30 includes a housing 31 and a flange 32.
A leg portion 33, a locking claw 34, and a bottom plate portion 35.

The housing portion 31 is the housing portion 12a in the conventional example.
It has the same structure as in FIG. 6 and the same reference numerals are given to corresponding portions of the housing portion 12a.

The flanges 32 project laterally from the lower portions of both side surfaces of the housing portion 31, and as shown in FIG. 3, the flange 32 is slightly downward from the horizontal direction so that the tip end thereof becomes the contact portion 32a with the panel 11. It is inclined.

The flange 32 has elasticity in the Z-axis direction.

The bottom plate portion 35 is provided at the height position of the root portion of the flange 32 so as to have a gap with the panel 11 in the mounted state.

The leg portion 33 and the locking claw 34 form a pair, have the same width dimension in the Y-axis direction, and are provided at both side ends of the lower surface of the bottom plate portion 35, respectively.

Since the leg portion 33 has a positioning function, it is formed thick and has rigidity.

The locking claw 34 includes an arm 34b and a claw 34a at the lower end thereof.
The arm portion 34b is formed thinner than the leg portion 33, and
It has elasticity in the axial direction.

The claw portion 34a is attached to the panel 11 when the housing 30 is attached.
Has a locking surface 34c for locking the lower surface of the.

Other housings 30-1, 30-2, 30-3 are
It has the same structure as 30.

In addition, as shown in FIG.
Distance a in the Z-axis direction between a and the locking surface 34c of the claw 34a
Is set to be slightly smaller than the thickness t of the panel 11.

The width dimension b of the leg portion 33 is set to be equal to the width dimension c of the rectangular mounting hole 11c for mounting the housing of the panel 11 in the Y-axis direction. The dimension d between the outer surface of each of the leg portion 33 and the locking claw 34 is set to be equal to the width dimension e of the mounting hole 11c in the X-axis direction.

Further, the dimension f between the leg portions 33, 33 on both sides is set to be equal to the dimension g between the mounting holes 11c, 11c with which the leg portions 33, 33 engage.

Next, the mounting dimensions of the housing 30 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, the housing 30 is mounted by positioning the legs 33 on both sides so as to face the corresponding mounting holes 11c and pressing them against the panel 11 as shown by an arrow F.

Looking at the leg portion 33 on the right side in FIG. 1, as shown in detail in FIG. 4, the leg portion 33 is formed by the action of the inclined surface on the lower end side.
Enter the mounting hole 11c smoothly.

Further, the locking claw 34 is such that the arm portion 34b is located at the center side of the upper housing 30 in the X-axis direction from the time when the inclined surface 34d contacts the inner wall surface of the mounting hole 11c, as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. When it is elastically deformed to and comes out from the mounting hole 11c to the lower surface side of the panel 11, the arm portion 34b elastically restores, and the locking surface 34c locks the lower surface of the panel 11.

Another leg 33 provided on the left side of the housing 30 and a locking claw
34 are also engaged with the corresponding mounting holes 11c in the same manner as above.

As described above, the housing 30 is attached to the panel 11 only by pressing the housing 30 from above, and the operation from the lower surface side of the panel 11 is unnecessary. Therefore, in the present application, although the work of attaching the housing 30 is required for each keyboard switch, the workability of assembling the keyboard is not impaired.

Next, regarding the state where the housing 30 is attached,
Description will be made with reference to FIG. 5 and FIG.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view showing the vicinity of the legs in the mounted state.

As shown in FIG. 2, the two legs 33, 33 of the housing 30 are shown.
Are in contact with the surfaces of the mounting holes 11c, 11c that face each other on the X axis. As a result, the housing 30 is positioned in the X-axis direction.

Further, as described above, the width dimension b of the leg portion 33 is determined by the Y of the mounting hole 11c.
Since the dimension is equal to the dimension c in the axial direction, the housing 30 is also positioned in the Y-axis direction.

Therefore, the position of the housing 30 is restricted in the plane direction of the panel 11.

Due to the relationship of a <t as described above, the contact portion 32a of the flange 32 contacts the panel 11 immediately before the locking claw 34 is inserted through the mounting hole 11c, and in the mounting completed state, the one-dot chain line in FIG. As indicated by the solid line, the state shown by is elastically deformed in the Z-axis direction.

Due to the elastic deformation of the flange 32, the elastic force generated in the flange 32 itself causes the contact portion 32a of the flange 32 and the claw portion 3
The panel body 11a and the membrane switch 11b are sandwiched by the locking surface 32c of 2a.

As a result, the housing 30 is regulated in position in the Z-axis direction and fixed without rattling.

The bottom plate portion 35 is provided at the same height as the root portion of the flange 32, and has a slight gap 36 with the upper surface of the panel 11.

The return coil spring 13, the pressing coil spring 14, the slider 15, and the key top 16 are assembled to the housing 30 mounted as described above in the same manner as in the conventional case.

The other keyboard switches 10-1A, 10-2A, 10-3A are also assembled in the same manner as the above keyboard switch 10A.

Next, the keyboard switch 10-
The operation when 2A is operated will be described with reference to FIG.

When the key top 16-2 is pressed down, the slider 15-2 moves downward along the housing 30-2, and the coil spring 14-2 presses the contact portion 11d-2. The downward movement of the key top 16-2 is limited when the lower surface 16a-2 is in contact with the housing upper surface 12d-2, and a pressing force beyond that is transmitted to the housing portion 31-2 in the Z-axis direction.

Here, in the flange 32-2, the contact portion 32a-2 at the tip thereof is in contact with the panel 11, and the bottom plate portion 35-2 of the housing 30-2 is floated from the panel 11, so that the housing 30-2 -2, the flange 32-2 is further elastically deformed slightly by the mounting state shown in FIG. 5, and the housing 30-2 is slightly depressed.

The elastic deformation of the flange 32-2 cushions the shock, and the membrane switch 11 passes through the housing 30-2.
The shock transmitted to b is alleviated accordingly.

This prolongs the life of the membrane switch 11b and improves the feel of the key.

The flange 32-2 is effective especially when the key top 16 is struck hard.

That is, even if a strong impact force acts on the housing 30-2, this impact force causes the flange 32-2 to elastically deform,
Well absorbed. With this, in the conventional case, even if the key operation is performed so strongly that the adjacent keyboard switch is erroneously operated due to the impact, the impact is sufficiently mitigated and the keyboard switch does not malfunction. . The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and for example, the flange 32 may have a substantially L-shape that extends horizontally and has its tip bent downward.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, since the housing can be a common part of keyboards of all models, a molding die for the housing of each model is not necessary and the workability of assembling the keyboard is not impaired. From that,
It is possible to reduce the manufacturing cost as a whole.

Further, it is possible to improve the feel of the key operation as compared with the related art, and it is possible to surely prevent the malfunction when the key is operated particularly strongly.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an embodiment of the keyboard of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a view around one leg of a housing in FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view showing a part, FIG. 4 is a view for explaining a housing mounting method, FIG. 5 is a view showing a housing mounted state, FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of an example of a conventional keyboard, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line VII-VII in FIG. 6. In the figure, 1 is a keyboard, 10 and 10A are keyboard switches, 11 is a panel, 11c is a mounting hole, 12 is a housing assembly, 15 is a slider, 16 is a keytop, 30 is a housing, 32 is a flange, and 32a is abutting. Part, 33 is a leg part, and 34 is a locking claw.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A keyboard having a plurality of keyboard switches arranged therein, wherein a key top (16) and a slider (15) suspended from the key top (16).
Housing (30) to hold and to move up and down
Are provided separately for each keyboard switch (10A), and the housing (30) has elastically deformable locking claws (34) and position fixing legs (33) on both sides of the lower surface thereof. And a flange (3) which is elastically deformable and has a tip as an abutting portion (32a) on both side surfaces of the housing (30).
2), the leg portion (33) is fitted and positioned in the mounting hole (11c) of the panel (11), and the flange (32) and the locking claw (34) are A keyboard characterized in that the housing (30) is fixed on the panel (11) in a state where the panel (11) is elastically sandwiched.