JPH08123596A - Keyboard device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To save the space in the range of area of a flat keyboard in addition to an increase in the number of keys and to enable its installation by the wall by arranging a momentary key unit with a numeric pad in a bridge manner on the back and front rails above the flat keyboard so that the unit may be slidable sideways. CONSTITUTION: A display part 2 consisting of a liquid crystal display panel or the like is provided on the back inclination surface of a main cabinet 1 of an electronic cash register. On a control surface tilted slightly forward, a flat keyboard 3 with the layout of the flat key is provided. A back rail 4a is provided parallel with near the back of the flat keyboard 3. A front rail 4b is provided parallel with near the front of the flat keyboard 3. Between them, a momentary key unit 6 on which plural numeric keys, CL(clear) key, X key, numeric keys 5 such as (point) key or the like are arranged from the left side of the main cabinet 1 is inserted like a bridge to slide sideways.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The keyboard device of the present invention is used for an electronic money register, a POS terminal, a bank machine, and other information equipment having a flat keyboard surface on its operation surface.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-313799 discloses a keyboard body having a first keyboard group for inputting predetermined data and a second body located below the keys of the keyboard body.
It has been proposed that the slide keyboard has a group of keys and a storage section for storing the slide keyboard, and that the second keyboard can be mounted without taking a separate storage space. However, when the second keyboard is used, it is necessary to secure a space that has been pulled out, and the second keyboard cannot be moved to the left side of the first keyboard depending on the purpose of use and the frequency of use.

Further, conventionally, in a keyboard device used in an electronic cash register, all the keys are generally arranged on the same plane, and the types of keys are ten keys with numbers, function keys, and departments. There are keys, menu keys and special keys.

There are two types of keyboards, a flat key with a small stroke, which can be changed by changing the key layout immediately, and a momentary key with a large stroke, which is independent of each key and has a high operability. Normally, the above key types need to be placed on the same keyboard, even though they are infrequently used.
It is necessary to mount either a flat key or a momentary key, and the advantages of the above-mentioned keyboards cannot be shared. Also, a keyboard with a frequently used numeric keypad on the same keyboard surface as a momentary keyboard and other keys as a flat keyboard has been put into practical use, but the numeric keypad moves the key location like other flat key groups. Or, it cannot be detached.

[0005]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention
In the keyboard described in Japanese Patent No. 799,
The problem is that the second keyboard is located below the keys of the first keyboard and is pulled out, but it is necessary to always secure a space that can be pulled out to the side of the set, so it is a space-saving in use. Absent. Since the second keyboard is located on one side, it cannot be moved to any left or right position according to the usage frequency and operability of the first and second keyboards. Since the second keyboard is located on one side, it is unstable when a key is input in a cantilever state.

Further, in the prior art, the layout of the flat keyboard can be changed immediately, but the stroke when pressed is smaller than that of the momentary keyboard, and therefore the usability is poor and the key is frequently used (numerical keypad).
Is a momentary key, and the type that has a flat keyboard and a momentary keyboard on the same operating surface is
Since the momentary key is fixed, for example, when the momentary keyboard is on the right, if you often press the numeric keypad and then the function key or menu key in the keystroke order, the numeric keypad It should be located at, but the key position is fixed, so the operability is poor and the numeric keypad cannot be moved easily.

Further, when it is desired to increase the number of flat keys, the momentary keyboard occupies a space, and the number of keys cannot be increased. In addition, there are many keys that are rarely used or rarely used by users.
This case can be collected in one place by changing the layout of the flat keyboard, but the keys that are rarely used become dead spaces.

As a second problem, when the second keyboard is stored, it is locked, but when it is pulled out, it is not locked, and therefore the keys move left and right, which is very unstable.

As a third problem, the cable of the above-mentioned momentary keyboard has a flat key at the bottom, and the momentary key unit moves, so it is common to wire from the momentary key unit to the main body. It is bad, and the cable interferes with key input.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A keyboard device of the present invention is an information device having a flat keyboard capable of replacing sheets in which key layouts are written, and is rearward in parallel with the rear side of the flat keyboard. A rail and a front rail are provided in parallel with each other in the vicinity of the front side of the flat keyboard, and a momentary key unit having numeric keys on the rear rail and the front rail can be slid left and right above the flat keyboard. It is characterized by being bridged like this.

Further, a lock knob is provided on the side of the keyboard cabinet of the momentary key unit, and a lock cam that is moved by pressing the lock knob is mounted so as to be pushed out of the keyboard cabinet. It is characterized in that a meshing portion is provided on the side opposite to the rail, the meshing between the lock cam and the rail is released by pressing the lock knob, and the momentary key unit can be slid to the left and right.

Further, a cable cover is provided in the longitudinal direction of the rear rail, a slit is provided in the cable cover, and the cable connected to the momentary key unit is connected to the device body through the slit of the cable cover. It is characterized by becoming.

[0013]

As a first function, the momentary keyboard unit located above the flat keyboard on which the key layout except the numeric keypad is arranged can be operated at any left and right positions.

As a second action, when the lock knob provided on the side of the momentary key unit is pushed, the lock is released, and the momentary key unit can be moved left and right while the lock knob is kept pushed. When the knob is released, it can be fixed at any position.

As a third action, the cable from the momentary key unit can move left and right through the slits of the cable cover extending to the left and right of the main body cabinet as the momentary key unit moves.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A keyboard device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an ECR in which the present keyboard device is implemented in an electronic cash register (ECR) having a flat keyboard, and FIG. 2 is a state in which the momentary key unit having numeric keys is removed from the ECR in the state of FIG. It is an ECR perspective view in the case. 1 and 2 above,
The ECR main body cabinet 1 is provided with a display section 2 including a liquid crystal display panel on a rearwardly inclined surface, and a flat keyboard 3 on which a layout of flat keys is written is provided on a frontally inclined operation surface. A rear rail 4a is provided in parallel with the vicinity of the rear side of 3 and a front rail 4b is provided in parallel with the vicinity of the front side of the flat keyboard 3. Between the rails 4a and 4b, the main body cabinet 1
From the left side towards multiple numbers (0-9,00,00
A momentary key unit 6 having numeric keys 5 such as 0) key and CL (clear) key, × key, and (point) key is inserted like a bridge and slidably mounted.

As shown in the sectional view of FIG. 7 (C-C section of FIG. 2), the flat keyboard 3 has a transparent sheet 3a and a transparent sheet 3c attached to the main body cabinet 1 from the upper surface. An operator inserts a key sheet 3b in which a key layout is entered between 3c, for example, from the right side. In addition, the resin key frame 7 is provided on the substrate 36.
Is provided, and the transparent sheet 3c is brought into contact with the rubber key 8 supported by the key frame 7. Therefore, when inputting with the flat keyboard 3, by pressing the necessary key of the key written on the key sheet 3b from the transparent sheet 3a, the contact point of the rubber key 8 is lowered through the transparent sheet 3c and comes into contact with the substrate 5 to be energized. It

If the operator of the flat keyboard 3 wants to arrange the momentary key unit 6 on the left side as shown in FIG. 1, a frequently used key group is written on the right side of the key sheet 3b. Below the momentary key unit 6, namely the key sheet 3
It is assumed that a key group that is rarely used is written on the left side of b. Also, depending on the operator, if the momentary key unit 6 is to be placed on the right side, the key sheet 3
The key group may be entered so that b is in the opposite state.

In order to move and fix the momentary key unit 6 on the rails 4a and 4b, while pushing the lock knob 9 provided on the side of the unit 6, for example, from the state shown in FIG. 1 to the right. The momentary key unit 6 is fixed by moving the momentary key unit 6 in the direction and releasing the lock knob 9 while reaching the right end. The momentary key unit 6 is fixed at an arbitrary position according to the method of arranging the keys on the key sheet 3b of the flat keyboard 3.

The keyboard device of the present invention generally has the structure and operation described above, and FIGS. 3 to 7 will be described below as an example of individual structures capable of coping with these structures and operations. FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 1, showing the structure of each part when the momentary key unit 6 is arranged above the flat keyboard 3. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 3 and shows a state in which the lock knob 9 of the momentary key unit 6 is pressed to release the fixing of the momentary key unit 6. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 3, showing a state in which the slide knob 10 of the momentary key unit 6 can be slid and the lock knob 9 can be pushed to remove the momentary key unit 6 from the main body cabinet 1. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 3, in which the momentary key unit 6 is removed and the momentary key unit 6 is
It shows a state in which the connector 11 connected to the main body cabinet 1 side is mounted. FIG. 7 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along line CC of FIG. 2, showing a state in which the momentary key unit 6 is about to be removed.

The momentary keyboard 6 has a keyboard cabinet 12 as a housing, and a momentary keyboard 13 and an interface board 14 are housed therein. Further, the keyboard cabinet 12 is provided with recesses 15a and 15b corresponding to the rear rail 4a and the front rail 4b at both ends parallel to each other, and the rear portion extending left and right across the flat keyboard 3 of the main body cabinet 1. The rail 4a, the front rail 4b and the convex portion 16 provided on the upper portion of the rail 4b are fitted and slid.

A lock mechanism is provided on the front rail 4b side in the keyboard cabinet 12. That is, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a lock cam 17 that responds to the pressing of the lock knob 9 is mounted so as to be pushed out of the keyboard cabinet 12 by a lock spring 18, and the lock cam 17 has a serrated portion. A (meshing portion) 19 is provided, and a sawtooth portion 20 is also provided inside the front rail 4b facing the sawtooth portion 19, and in the state where the sawtooth portions 19 and 20 are meshed, the keyboard cabinet 12 Is fixed to the front rail 4b so as not to move left and right. The lock knob 9 is stopped (fixed) at a fixed position by a lock spring 18 via a lock cam 17.

Mount the momentary key unit 6 on the rail 4
As shown in FIG. 4, when the lock knob 9 is pushed in the direction of the arrow in order to move the lock cam 17a and 4b, the lock cam 17 is moved.
Moves to the left in the figure, and the serrated portion 19 of the lock cam 17 is moved.
Is disengaged from the serrated portion 19 of the front rail 4b and the lock knob 9 is pushed, the momentary key unit 6
Can be moved left and right. When the pressing of the lock knob 9 is stopped, the lock spring 18 extends and the lock spring 1
With the stress of 8, the serrated portion 19 of the lock cam 17 meshes with the serrated portion 20 of the front rail 4b, and the momentary key unit 6 is fixed at that position. The limit of movement of the momentary key unit 6 is the position where the side portion of the momentary key unit 6 comes into contact with the stopper 21 provided inside the main body cabinet 1, and the stopper 22
This is the position where the side of the lock cam 17 abuts. A stopper similar to the stoppers 21 and 22 is provided on the opposite side to the inside of the main body cabinet 1.

In FIG. 3, the cable 23 from the momentary keyboard 13 is connected to the interface board 14 by the connector 24. Further, the connector 25 of the interface board 14 is connected to the connector 11 with the cable 26, and the cable 26 passes through the above-mentioned hole of the keyboard cabinet 12 and the cable cover 2
It is connected to the connector 29 of the flat keyboard 3 through the slit 28 of 7. As shown in FIG. 1, the slit 28 of the cable cover 27 is opened in a range where the momentary key unit 6 moves to the left and right, and as the momentary key unit 6 moves to the left and right,
The cable 26 also moves in the slit 28 of the cable cover 27.

The operation of detaching the momentary key unit 6 from the main body cabinet 1 will be described below. In FIG.
The slide knob 9 is fixed by the elastic claw 30 coming into contact with the convex portion 31 in the keyboard cabinet 11. At this time, when the lock knob 9 is pushed, the arm 32 of the slide knob 10 serves as a stopper and the lock cam 17
Does not come off from the front rail 4b.

When the slide knob 10 is slid to the left in the figure (rearward direction of the main body cabinet), the claw 30 of the slide knob 10 moves over the projection 31 and moves to the position where the left projection 33 serves as a stopper. Then stopped. At this time, if the lock knob 9 is pushed further, the slide knob 9
The stopper of the arm 31 is released, the lock cam 17 is largely moved to the left in the drawing, and the lock cam 17 can be disengaged from the front rail 4b.

As shown in FIG. 7 showing a vertical cross section of CC of FIG.
After performing the above operation, the momentary key unit 6
The momentary key unit 6 is removed by rotating so as to raise the front side of the. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the rails 4a and 4b when the momentary key unit 6 is removed. The connector 11 connected to the momentary key unit 6 stores the cable slit provided in the main body cabinet 1. Left and right ribs 35 of the space 34
It is fitted and fixed to a and 35b. When the above-mentioned momentor key unit 6 is attached to the main body cabinet 1, it is attached in the reverse order of the above.

[0028]

As an effect of the present invention, since the keys of the momentary key unit can be used in addition to the keys of the flat keyboard on the entire operation surface, the number of keys can be increased and the space can be saved within the area of the flat keyboard. Plan
It can be installed near the wall. By changing the key layout of the flat keyboard on the operation surface (changing different key sheets), you can easily move the momentor key unit to any position that has the best usability. Since the numeric keys that are most frequently used, that is, the ten-key pad, is a momentor key that has a large press stroke of key input, all keys have higher operability of key input than a flat keyboard device having small key input.

As an effect of claim 2, since the momentor key unit is fixed at an arbitrary position above the flat keyboard, the operability of the momentor key unit is improved. The momentum key unit can be moved while pressing the lock knob with one hand, so movement is easy and quick. Since there is a lock knob on the side of the momentor key unit and the key is pressed vertically on the side, there is less chance of accidentally pressing the lock knob during key input.

As the effect of claim 3, since the cable of the momentor key unit is arranged inside, the appearance of the operation surface is improved, the cable does not obstruct, and the operability of key input is improved. With the movement of the momentor key unit to the left and right, the cable of the momentor key unit moves through the upper slit of the flat keyboard, so the possibility of trouble such as cable entanglement is low,
You can move the momentum key unit smoothly.

In addition, a lock keyboard and a slide knob are provided on a momentor key unit which has a flat keyboard on the operation surface on which a key layout can be replaced, and which has numerical keys that can be moved to the left and right and can be detached on the upper part of the flat keyboard. Since the device has the following effects. If you do not need the momentor key unit, you can easily remove it by moving the slide knob and pressing the lock knob. If the momentum key unit is needed again after the momentum key unit has been removed, it can be easily fixed again by moving the slide knob and pressing the lock knob. With the removal of the momentor key unit, the connector connected to the device body can be easily attached to the device. When the momentor key unit is removed, the cable does not interfere with the operation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electronic cash register in which a keyboard device of the present invention is implemented.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the electronic cash register when the momentor key unit having numeric keys is removed from the state of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 1;

4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 3 in a state in which the momentor key unit can be removed from the device body.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 3 with the momenter key unit removed from the device body.

7 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG. 2, showing a state in which the momentor key unit is about to be removed from the device body.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Main body cabinet 3 Flat keyboard 4a, 4b Rail 6 Momentor key unit 9 Lock knob 10 Slide knob 12 Keyboard cabinet 17 Lock cam 19,20 Serrated portion 23,26 Cable 27 Cable cover

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An information device having a flat keyboard capable of replacing a sheet with a key layout written therein, wherein a rear rail parallel to the rear side of the flat keyboard and a front rail of the flat keyboard are provided. A keyboard device comprising parallel front rails and a momentary key unit having numerical keys on the rear rails and front rails above the flat keyboard so as to be slidable left and right. . 2. A lock knob is provided on a side of a keyboard cabinet of the momentary key unit, and a lock cam that is moved by pressing the lock knob is mounted so as to be pushed out of the keyboard cabinet. 2. The keyboard device according to claim 1, wherein an engagement portion is provided on a side facing the rail, the engagement between the lock cam and the rail is disengaged by pressing the lock knob, and the momentary key unit can be slid left and right. . 3. A cable cover is provided in a longitudinal direction of the rear rail, a slit is provided in the cable cover, and a cable connected to the momentary key unit is connected to a device main body through a slit of the cable cover. The keyboard device according to claim 1, wherein: