JPH0817064B2 - Thin keyboard - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Outline] With regard to a keyboard for inputting information to a personal computer or a word processor, it is an object to provide a thin keyboard suitable for a portable personal computer or a word processor. The elastic body is fitted and the through hole is provided at the center of the circular groove so that the key top is fitted into the through hole from the upper end face side. Further, a sub-guide portion is provided at the lower end of the guide portion of the slider, and the sub-guide portion, which is projected so as not to come into contact with the peripheral edge of the rubber elastic body, is brought into contact with the switch panel together with the body portion and the guide portion. Further, the sheet-shaped switch element is sandwiched between the switch panel and the support plate made of resin. Further, instead of the rubber elastic body, the first coil spring is fitted into the circular groove, and the second coil spring is mounted on the key top. Further, instead of the support plate, a support plate made of a resin plate and a metal foil is used, and the switch element is sandwiched between the switch panel and the support plate.

[Industrial applications]

The present invention relates to a keyboard for inputting information to a personal computer or word processor.

In recent years, with the spread of personal computers and word processors not only in factories and offices, but also in general households, the size of the tabletop occupies most of the tabletop It has been reduced to a laptop type that can be stored in a laptop, and has been further reduced from a laptop type to a portable type.

Keyboards have been made thinner along with the miniaturization of personal computers and word processors, but the keyboard is the part where the operator directly touches when entering information. The feeling when doing is bad. Therefore, there is a demand for the development of a keyboard that can be made thinner and lighter without sacrificing the feel of pressing the keytop.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view showing a main part of a conventional keyboard.

In the figure, the conventional keyboard is composed of an operating unit 1 and a sheet-shaped switch element 2, and the operating unit 1 is composed of a cylindrical body portion 11 and a guide portion 12 protruding laterally.
A slider (14) having a through hole (13) in the center of (11) and a switch panel (15) slidably holding the side surface of the slider (14).
A key top 16 inserted into the through hole 13 from the upper end surface side of the slider 14, and the through hole 13 from the lower end surface side of the slider 14.
It is composed of a rubber elastic body 17 inserted into.

On the other hand, the sheet-shaped switch element 2 includes a pair of flexible printed boards (hereinafter referred to as FP boards) 21 and a pair of FP boards.
It is composed of a spacer 22 sandwiched between the substrates 21,
The contact points 23 formed on the respective FP boards 21 face each other with a gap. The switch element 2 is arranged such that the contact portion 23 is directly below the rubber elastic body 17, and is sandwiched between the support plate 3 provided on the back surface of the switch element 2 and the switch panel 15. The support plate 3 provided on the back surface of the switch element 2 is made of an iron plate or an aluminum plate,
It is fixed to the switch panel 15 by screwing or caulking.

When the key top 16 is pressed on such a keyboard, the slider 14 is lowered. When the pressing force of the key top 16 exceeds a predetermined value, the rubber elastic body 17 is inverted, and the thick portion 18 provided at the center of the rubber elastic body 17 contacts the switch element 2 to further press the key top 16. Then, the contact portion 23 of the switch element 2
The space closes. There is a difference in the pressing force of the key top 16 before and immediately after the rubber elastic body 17 is inverted, and a change in the pressing force due to the inversion of the rubber elastic body 17 produces a snap feeling.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

There is a demand for thinner keyboards as personal computers and word processors become smaller. However, if the conventional structure is used and the keyboard is made thinner, there are various problems as described below. That is, as the keyboard becomes thinner, the total length of the slider becomes shorter, and the conventional structure in which the key top and the rubber elastic body are fitted and inserted from both sides of the through hole does not connect the slider and the key top or the slider and the rubber elastic body. Sufficient and reduces reliability. In addition, as the overall length becomes shorter, the slider tends to tilt when the corner of the key top is pushed down, for example, friction between the slider and the switch panel increases, and the feel becomes worse.

Further, in a portable personal computer or word processor, a printed board that constitutes an arithmetic unit, a control unit, etc. is usually arranged under the keyboard. However, the conventional keyboard has a support plate on the back surface of the switch element, and the support plate is composed of an iron plate or an aluminum plate having a thickness of 0.5 to 1 mm. Therefore, when the keyboard is brought into close contact with the printed board, the conductor patterns are short-circuited, and it is necessary to separate the printed board and the keyboard. That is, the support plate made of metal hinders downsizing and weight reduction of the device.

An object of the present invention is to provide a thin keyboard suitable for portable personal computers and word processors.

[Means for solving the problem]

1 to 3 are sectional perspective views showing an embodiment of a keyboard according to the present invention. Note that the same object is denoted by the same symbol throughout the drawings.

To achieve the above object, the thin keyboard according to the present invention includes a slider 44 including a body portion 41 and a guide portion 42, a panel 43 slidably holding the slider 44, and a switch panel as shown in FIG. 43 and a sheet-shaped switch element 2 sandwiched by a support plate 5 made of resin,
A slider 44 has a through hole 47 formed in the center of a cylindrical body portion 41 for inserting a key top 48, and a rubber elastic body.
The lower end surface of the body portion 41 for inserting the 46 has a circular groove 45 formed so as to surround the through hole 47, and the key top 48.
The mounting portion projecting to the back surface of is fitted into the through hole 47 from the upper end face side of the body portion 41, and the annular mounting portion provided in the rubber elastic body 46 is fitted into the circular groove 45.

Further, the slider 44 is provided with a sub-guide portion 49 protruding from the lower end of the guide portion 42 so as not to contact the peripheral edge portion of the rubber elastic body 46, and a lower end surface thereof facing the switch element 2 apart from each other. Part 41, guide part 42 and sub guide part 49
And are in contact with the switch panel 43.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the rubber elastic body 46 is replaced by the first
By inserting the coil spring 61 of No. 1 into the circular groove 45 and mounting the second coil spring 62 on the key top 48, it is possible to configure the keyboard without snapping feeling by making the other components common. As shown in FIG. 5, a support plate 7 made of a resin plate 71 and a metal foil 72 is used in place of the support plate 5, the switch element 2 is sandwiched between the switch panel 43 and the support plate 7, and a calculation unit, a control unit, etc. are provided. It is also possible to electromagnetically shield between the constituent printed board and the keyboard.

[Action]

In FIG. 1, a slider having a body portion and a guide portion, and a switch panel for slidably holding the slider are provided, and a circular groove is provided on the lower end face of the body portion to insert a rubber elastic body, and the circular groove A keyboard according to the present invention in which a through hole is provided at the center and a key top is fitted into the through hole from the upper end surface side is provided with the entire length of the slider without deteriorating the bondability between the key top and the slider and the rubber elastic body and the slider. Can be shortened.

According to the present invention, a sub-guide portion is provided at the lower end of the guide portion of the slider, and the sub-guide portion, which is projected so as not to come into contact with the peripheral edge portion of the rubber elastic body, is brought into contact with the switch body together with the body portion and the guide portion of the slider. The keyboard is
It is possible to correct the reduction in feel when the key top is pressed due to the reduction in the total length of the slider.

Further, the keyboard according to the present invention, which has a sheet-shaped switch element and a support plate made of resin, and the switch element is sandwiched between the switch panel and the support plate, is in close contact with a printed board that constitutes an arithmetic unit, a control unit, etc. It can be arranged, and is advantageous in reducing the size and weight of the device incorporating the keyboard.

That is, a thin keyboard suitable for a portable personal computer or word processor can be realized.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the effect of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, an embodiment of a thin keyboard according to the present invention is composed of a thinned operation section 4 and a sheet-shaped switch element 2, and is provided between a pair of FP boards 21 and 21. The switch element 2 having a spacer 22 sandwiched between the contact parts 23 formed on the FP substrate 21 and facing each other with a gap therebetween.
Are sandwiched between the switch panel 43 and the support plate 5.

The support plate 5 is formed of a resin sheet such as a polyester film, a polyethylene film, polypropylene, or vinylidene chloride. The support plate 5 can be placed in close contact with a printed board that constitutes an arithmetic unit, a control unit, or the like. It is fixed to the switch panel 43 by adhesion. In addition, special olefin resin (Mitsui Petrochemical brand name Lübmer)
The film formed by molding has a specific gravity as low as 30% while having strength equivalent to that of a polyester film, and is extremely advantageous in terms of downsizing and weight reduction of the device.

The operation portion 4 has a slider 44 including a body portion 41 and a guide portion 42, and a switch panel 43 that slidably holds the slider 44, and a circular groove 45 is provided in a lower end surface of the body portion 41 to provide rubber elasticity. The body 46 is inserted. A rectangular through hole 47 is provided at the center of the circular groove 45, and a key top 48 is fitted into the through hole 47 from the upper end surface side of the body portion 41.
Unlike the conventional slider, the slider 44 has a sub-guide portion 49 at the lower end of the guide portion 42, and the sub-guide portion 49 protruding so as not to contact the peripheral edge of the rubber elastic body 46, the body portion 41 and the guide. It is slidably brought into contact with the switch panel 43 together with the portion 42.

The effect of the thin keyboard according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. That is, when assembling the conventional thin keyboard as shown in FIG. 5A, the key top 16 and the rubber elastic body 17 are fitted and inserted from both sides of the through hole 13, and the key top 16 and the rubber elastic body 17 are penetrated. Even if the portion inserted into the hole 13 is minimized, the length of the slider 14 cannot be made shorter than the total value of the inserted portions.

On the other hand, in the thin keyboard according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), the rubber elastic body 46 is inserted into the circular groove 45 provided on the lower end surface of the body portion 41 and is provided at the center of the circular groove 45. The key top 48 is inserted into the through hole 47 from the upper end surface side. Therefore, the length of the slider 44 can be made shorter than the total value of the parts to be fitted.

Further, if the slider 44 is shortened, the slider tends to tilt when the corner of the key top is pushed down, for example, the friction between the slider and the switch panel increases, and the feel becomes bad. However, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), the auxiliary guide portion is provided at the lower end of the guide portion 42.
By providing 49, the length of the guide portion of the slider 44 becomes the same as that of the conventional thin keyboard, and the reduction in feeling is corrected.

In this way, it has a slider consisting of a body and a guide, and a switch panel that slidably holds the slider.A circular groove is provided on the lower end face of the body to insert a rubber elastic body, and the center of the circular groove is inserted. The keyboard according to the present invention in which the key top is inserted into the through hole from the upper end face side by providing the through hole in the keyboard can shorten the total length of the slider without deteriorating the binding property between the key top or the rubber elastic body and the slider.

According to the present invention, a sub-guide portion is provided at the lower end of the guide portion of the slider, and the sub-guide portion, which is projected so as not to come into contact with the peripheral edge portion of the rubber elastic body, is brought into contact with the switch body together with the body portion and the guide portion of the slider. The keyboard is
It is possible to correct the reduction in feel when the key top is pressed due to the reduction in the total length of the slider.

Further, the keyboard according to the present invention, which has a sheet-shaped switch element and a support plate made of resin, and the switch element is sandwiched between the switch panel and the support plate, is in close contact with a printed board that constitutes an arithmetic unit, a control unit, etc. It is possible to arrange the device, and it is possible to reduce the size of the device incorporating the keyboard.

In another embodiment of the thin keyboard according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, the rubber elastic body 46 is replaced by a first coil spring.
By inserting 61 into the circular groove 45 and pushing up the key top 48 after the pressing force is removed to the original position, and attaching the second coil spring 62 to the center of the lower surface of the key top 48, The pressing force of is transmitted to the switch element 2 to close the space between the contact points 23.

The thin keyboard using the rubber elastic body 46 is usually the fifth
As shown in FIG. 6C, when the pressing force of the key top 48 exceeds a predetermined value, the rubber elastic body 46 is inverted. There is a difference in the pressing force of the key top 48 before and immediately after the rubber elastic body 46 is inverted, and the change in the pressing force due to the inversion of the rubber elastic body 48 produces a snap feeling.

However, by mounting the first coil spring 61 and the second coil spring 62 in place of the rubber elastic body 46, the snap feeling associated with the reversal of the rubber elastic body is eliminated as shown in FIG. 5 (d). That is, it is possible to configure a keyboard having no snap feeling by making the other parts common.

Yet another embodiment of the thin keyboard according to the present invention is the third embodiment.
As shown in the figure, instead of the support plate 5, a resin plate 71 and a metal foil are used.
The support plate 7 made of 72 is used, and the switch element 2 is sandwiched between the switch panel 43 and the support plate 7. By attaching a metal foil such as an aluminum foil or a copper foil to the support plate in this way, it is possible to electromagnetically shield between the keyboard and the printed board that configures the calculation unit, the control unit, etc. This is advantageous for downsizing the device to be incorporated.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a thin keyboard suitable for a portable personal computer or a word processor.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional perspective view showing an embodiment of a keyboard according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional perspective view showing another embodiment of a keyboard according to the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a sectional perspective view showing another embodiment, FIG. 4 is a side sectional view showing a main part of a conventional keyboard, and FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the effect of the present invention. In the figure, 2 is a switch element, 4 is an operating part, 5 and 7 are support plates, and 21 is
FP board, 22 spacer, 23 contact point, 41 body, 42 guide, 43 switch panel, 44 slider, 45 circular groove, 46 rubber elastic body, 47 through hole, 48 key Top,
49 is a sub guide part, 61 and 62 are coil springs, 71 is a resin plate, 72
Represents metal foil, respectively.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-48-104082 (JP, A) JP-A-49-117981 (JP, A) Practical application Sho-59-105726 (JP, U)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A slider (44) comprising a body (41) and a guide (42), a switch panel (43) slidably holding the slider (44), and the switch panel (4).
3) and a sheet-shaped switch element (2) sandwiched by a support plate (5) made of resin, and the slider (44) has a cylindrical shape for inserting the key top (48). A through hole (47) formed in the center of the body portion (41) and a rubber elastic body (46) are fitted and formed so as to surround the through hole (47) on the lower end surface of the body portion (41). And a mounting portion projecting to the back surface of the key top (48) is fitted into the through hole (47) from the upper end surface side of the body portion (41), and A thin keyboard, wherein an annular mounting portion provided on a rubber elastic body (46) is fitted into the circular groove (45). 2. The slider (44) projects from the lower end of the guide portion (42) so as not to contact the peripheral edge of the rubber elastic body (46), and the lower end face thereof faces the slider element (2) at a distance. A body part (41) of the slider (44), a guide part (42) and the sub guide part (49) are provided with a sub guide part (49).
The thin keyboard according to claim 1, which abuts on the switch panel (43). 3. A first coil spring (61) is inserted into a circular groove (45) of the body portion (41) in place of the rubber elastic body (46) to form a second coil spring (62). The thin keyboard according to claim 1, wherein the key top (48) is attached to a mounting portion of the key top (48). 4. A support plate (5) made of the resin,
The thin type according to claim 1, wherein the switch element (2) is sandwiched between a support plate (7) composed of a resin plate (71) and a metal foil (72) and the switch panel (43). keyboard.