JPH0877885A - Control key device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To simultaneously and correctly bring a movable conductive part into contact with a fixed electrode arranged under the movable conductive part. CONSTITUTION: A case of a control key device 3 is composed of an upper case 1a and a lower case 1b, and bored holes 17 are arranged in the upper case 1a in response to pressing parts 4a of a key top 4, and ribs 20 are arranged on the reverse of the upper case 1a along hole edge parts of these bored holes 17. A circular lower member 4b is arranged so as to continue with the pressing parts 4a of the key top 4. The pressing parts 4a of the key top 4 are inserted in the bored holes 17 from an under surface of the upper case la, and the pressing parts 4a are respectively projected to upper surfaces of the bored holes 17, and the circular lower member 4b is brought into contact with the ribs 20.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control key device, and more particularly, to a control provided with a key top and applied to a directional switch for designating an arbitrary direction based on a movement of a fingertip of an operator. It relates to a key device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional control key device of this type, one described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-50594 is known. Thus, in the control key device described in the publication, when the pressing surface of the key top is vertically pressed downward by the finger tip, a fulcrum member protruding in a hemispherical shape at the center of the lower surface of the key top is provided. The key top is supported by contacting the wiring board against the elastic force of the holding member. At this time, any conductive portion held by the holding member is configured not to contact the lower fixed electrode corresponding to the husband or the like. Further, when one end of the cross piece of the key top is pressed, the hemispherical fulcrum member comes into contact with the wiring board to form a fulcrum, and the key top is moved around the fulcrum in the pressed direction. It is constructed so that it is tilted and pressed by a disk provided under the key top so that the conductive portion comes into contact with the fixed electrode on the wiring board to establish electrical conduction.

[0003]

The control key device described in the above publication has a structure in which the key top is tilted with a hemispherical fulcrum member projecting on the lower surface of the key top serving as a rotation fulcrum. In order to simultaneously contact two or more conductive parts with the corresponding fixed electrodes, the positions of the conductive parts and the fixed electrodes must be left as they are, and the key tops must be shifted by 45 degrees. It is complicated.

Therefore, the corresponding conductive portion can be connected to the adjacent fixed electrode without changing the arrangement direction of the conductive portion, the fixed electrode and the key top, and the pressing direction can be obtained by combining two adjacent contact points. Therefore, a technical problem to be solved in order to be able to discriminate is generated, and an object of the present invention is to solve the problem.

[0005]

The present invention has been proposed in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, and the fixed electrode is provided directly above the fixed electrode symmetrically arranged on a predetermined circumference on the wiring board. A movable conductive portion that connects and disconnects with the movable conductive portion is provided on the lower surface of a holding portion that is elastically deformed by receiving a pressing force from above. A control key device having a control key top that is in contact with an upper surface to apply the pressing force, and the control key top is exposed from a perforated hole provided in an upper case and formed with a pressing portion. Where
A rib is provided so as to project along a hole edge portion inside the perforated hole provided in the upper case, and a circular lower member continuously provided below the pressing portion of the control key top is provided on the rib. A control key device provided by abutting from the lower surface.

[0006]

According to the present invention, when any one pressing portion of the control key top is pressed vertically downward, the upper case has an upper surface portion of the lower member located on the opposite side of the pressing portion provided on the upper case. Of the control key top is elastically pressed against the elastic force of the holding member. It moves downward while deforming, so that the movable conductive portion comes into contact with the fixed electrode corresponding to the movable conductive portion. At this time, since the upper surface portion of the lower member of the control key top and the outer side of the rib are in pressure contact with each other in a line contact state, the control key top is pivoted downward without swinging left and right. As a result, the fixed electrodes are electrically conducted accurately.

Further, when the middle portion of the adjacent pressing portions of the control key top is pressed, or when the adjacent pressing portions are simultaneously pressed, the central portion of each pressed pressing portion is opposite to the pressed central portion. Two points on the upper surface portion of the lower member located on the side respectively press-contact with each corner of the outer side of the adjacent rib. The control key top can bring the movable conductive portions into contact with the fixed electrodes corresponding to the adjacent pressing portions at the same time by the same operation as described above with the two pressure contacts as the rotation centers. Therefore, the pressing direction of the control key top can be accurately determined.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a controller. The controller 1 is connected to, for example, an electronic game device (not shown) via a cable 2, and is covered with an upper case 1a and a lower case 1b. And
On the upper case 1a of the controller 1, a cross-shaped key top 4 as an example of the control key device 3, a select key 5, a start key 6, and trigger keys 7, 7,
7 and 7, and trigger keys 8 and 8 are provided on the side surface. The control key device 3 is used as a character movement switch of an electronic game device or the like, and has a circumference C of the wiring board 12 provided in the lower case 1b.
Fixed electrodes 13, 13, 1 with the center line part slightly above
3, 13 are provided.

Further, FIG. 2 shows a cross section of the control key device 3, in which a holding member 14 is placed on the wiring board 12, and the fixed electrodes 13, 13,
Movable conductive portions 15, 15, 15, 15 are arranged immediately above the positions facing the electrodes 13, 13 and having a constant space. Thus, the movable conductive parts 15, 15, 15, 1
5 are holding portions 16 and 1 provided on the holding member 14, respectively.
6, 16 and 16 are provided on the lower surface of each, and
Since the holding member 14 is composed of an elastic member such as rubber, the movable conductive portion 15 on the side pressed by elastically deforming by receiving a pressing force from above is fixed to the opposite side. The electrode 13 is configured to be in electrical contact with the electrode 13 so that the character is selectively displayed on the display unit (not shown) according to the pressing direction.

The peripheral portion 14a of the holding member 14
The upper case 1a to the wall portion 1c so as to be tightly fitted to
And is placed on the holding member 14. Further, the pressing portions 4a, 4a, 4a, 4a of the cross-shaped key top 4 can be exposed on the upper case 1a, and the pressing portions 4 can be moved vertically and slightly tilted.
a, 4a, 4a, 4a with a gap S between them, open perforation 1
7 are provided. Thus, the lower member 4b connected to the pressing portions 4a, 4a, 4a, 4a of the cross-shaped key top 4 is formed in a circular shape in bottom view.

Further, the cross-shaped key top 4 has a central shaft 4c having a columnar shape and a semi-spherical tip at the center of the pressing portions 4a, 4a, 4a, 4a. When the substantially central portion of 4a, 4a, 4a, 4a is pressed down with the fingertip, the lower end of the central shaft 4c is locked to the central hole 14b of the holding member 14 and the wiring board 12, and the cross-shaped key top 4 is stopped, and the movable conductive parts 15, 1
5, 15 and 15 are fixed electrodes 13 facing each other,
It is formed so as not to come into contact with 13, 13, 13.

On the other hand, FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the open perforation 17 portion provided in the upper case 1a. A rib 20 is projected along the hole edge of the open perforation 17 toward the inside of the upper case 1a. Has been done. The rib 20 has outer sides 20a, 20a, 20a, 20a and corners 20b,
20b ... are provided.

The lower surface portion of the lower member 4b of the cross-shaped key top 4 is in contact with the upper surface of the holding portion 16 provided on the holding member 14. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the cross-shaped key top 4 is constantly urged upward by the elastic force of the holding member 14 so that the pressing portions 4a, 4a, 4a, 4a are exposed from the perforation 17 and the lower member is formed. The upper surface of 4b is the perforated hole 1
7 abuts on a rib 20 provided at the edge of the hole.

When any one of the pressing portions 4a of the cross-shaped key top 4 is pressed with the fingertip, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, the right side is pressed, the upper surface portion of the lower member 4b and the ribs. With the outer side 20a of 20 as the fulcrum of rotation, the pressing direction of the cross-shaped key top 4 inclines downward against the elastic force of the holding member 14, and the fixed electrode facing the movable conductive portion 15 in the pressing direction. 13 is brought into electrical connection with each other, and the characters are selected and displayed on the display unit according to the pressing direction.

Further, when the middle portion of the adjacent pressing portions 4a, 4a of the cross-shaped key top 4 is pressed, or when the adjacent pressing portions 4a, 4a are simultaneously pressed, the lower member 4 is formed.
Two points on the upper surface of b are pressed against the corners 20b, 20b of the outer side of the adjacent rib 20, respectively, and the corners 20b, 20b
The cross-shaped key top 4 tilts with b as a fulcrum,
Then, the movable conductive parts 15 of the adjacent pressing parts 4a, 4a,
15 contact the fixed electrodes 13 and 13 respectively facing each other to establish electrical conduction, and the character is selected and displayed on the display unit according to the intermediate direction of the adjacent pressing units 4a and 4a.

The elastic force of the holding member 14, the distance between the movable conductive portion 15 provided on the lower surface of the holding portion 16 and the fixed electrode 13, the stroke of the vertical movement when the cross-shaped key top 4 is pressed, and Naturally, the lengths of the lower member 4b and the central shaft 4c of the cross-shaped key top 4 and the heights of the ribs 20 are properly determined in advance in order to make the above-described action effective.

In the present embodiment, the 8-way operation cross type key top provided with the 4-direction pressing portions is used.
Even when a key top for directional operation or 32 direction operation is used, the same operational effect as in the case of 8-direction operation can be obtained, and it is not limited to 8-direction operation.

Therefore, the present invention can be variously modified without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and it goes without saying that the present invention extends to the modified version.

[0019]

As described in detail in the above-mentioned one embodiment of the present invention, ribs are provided so as to project at the edge portions of the perforated holes into which the control key tops are loosely fitted, and the pressing portions of the control key tops are depressed. At this time, one side or two corners of the rib are pressed against the upper surface portion of the lower member of the control key top, and the pressed portion of the control key top is tilted downward with the pressure contact portion as a pivot. The movable conductive portions of the pressed portions come into contact with the fixed electrodes facing each other to establish electrical conduction. Thus, even when the adjacent pressing parts of the control key top are simultaneously pressed to conduct the fixed electrodes facing the movable conductive parts of the pressing parts in two directions, the control key top of the control key top is Since the lower member is supported by the corners of the adjacent ribs, the control key top is tilted about the corners of the ribs without swinging to the left or right, and the pressing parts of the adjoining two directions are pressed. The movable conductive portions are brought into proper contact with the fixed electrodes facing each other at the same time for electrical conduction, and the operability of the control key top is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a main part of the control key device when the pressing part of the key top is not pressed.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view showing an open perforated portion of the upper case.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the pressing portion of the key top is pressed down from the state of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1a Upper case 3 Control key device 4 Cross-shaped key top 4a Pressing part 12 Wiring board 13 Fixed electrode 14 Holding member 15 Movable conductive part 16 Holding part 17 Open perforation 20 Rib

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A movable conductive portion, which is connected to and disconnected from the fixed electrode, is arranged directly above the fixed electrode symmetrically arranged on a predetermined circumference on a wiring board, and the movable conductive portion is arranged from above. A control key top is provided on the lower surface of a holding portion that is elastically deformed by a pressing force, and is further provided with a control key top that is in contact with the upper surface of the holding member to apply the pressing force. In the control key device in which the control key top is exposed from the perforated hole provided in the upper case to form a pressing portion, along the inner edge of the perforated hole provided in the upper case, A control key device in which a rib is projectingly provided, and a circular lower member continuous with the lower portion of the pressing portion of the control key top is in contact with the rib from the lower surface.