JPH09204843A - High intensity illuminating switch - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To irradiate the light of a light emitting diode to a illuminating part without waste by putting the light emitting diode in the illuminating part of a switch, and using a flexible printed circuit(FPC) in wiring to the illuminating part to absorb the expansion and contraction in switching operation. SOLUTION: A flexible printed circuit(FPC) 10 for wiring to a light emitting diode 7 is formed by bending part of an FPC 11, and the diode 7 is fixed to the FPC 10. The diode 7 fixed and the tip part of the FPC 10 are fit to a recess in the lower right of an illuminating part 1. Almost all light of the diode 7 directly illuminates the inside of the illuminating part 1 without any leakage of the light to the outside. Compared with such a case that the light emitting diode 7 is apart from the illuminating part 1, the illuminating part as viewed from the surface side looks far bright. A switch contact 8, a circuit connected to the switch contact 8, and a light emitting power source supply circuit to the light emitting diode 7 are formed in the FPC 11.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement in illumination technology of an illumination switch in which an operating portion is made to emit light in order to improve visibility in operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an illuminated switch of this type,
There is a rubber switch as shown in FIG. The rubber switch includes an illuminating part 1, a skirt 2, a mounting part 4 and contact points 3.
It is composed of The material is synthetic rubber. A case 5 having such a structure is fixed by pressing the mounting portion 4 against the printed circuit board. The operation is as follows: Pushing the illumination unit 1 down causes the skirt 2 to bend and the illumination unit 1
And the contact 3 provided below it contacts the two contacts 8, 8 on the printed circuit board 6. Since the contact 3 of the rubber switch is made of conductive rubber,
The contact points 8 and 8 are brought into a conductive state (on state).

When the illuminating part 1 is stopped from being pushed, the illuminating part 1 and the contact 3 are lifted up by the elasticity of the skirt 2 to return to the initial state, and the non-conducting state (off state) is established between the contacts 8 and 8. Light emitting diodes 7, 7 are provided on the printed circuit board 6 below the illuminating section 1 to emit light. The illuminating unit 1 is milky white, and when illuminated by light from a light emitting diode from below, it becomes bright like a milky white incandescent lamp and is easily visible.

[0004]

However, in the above conventional device, the light emitting diodes 7 and 7 and the illuminating section 1 are used.
There is a problem that all the emitted light does not reach the illuminating part and a loss occurs because there is a distance between and.

In view of the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide an illumination switch in which light loss is reduced as much as possible and the illumination section looks brighter even with light emitting diodes having the same amount of light emission.

[0006]

The present invention has the following means in order to achieve the above object. That is, the high-brightness illumination switch of the present invention has a light emitting diode in the illumination portion of the rubber switch fixed on the substrate by the case,
A high-brightness illumination switch characterized in that a flexible printed circuit (FPC) is connected between the light emitting diode and a light emitting power supply circuit.

[0007]

As described above, the features of the present invention are:
By putting the light emitting diode in the illuminating part, the light loss will be greatly reduced compared to the conventional one, while the flexibility of the wiring to the light emitting diode at the time of switch operation will be secured by using the flexible printed circuit (FPC). It is what

The number of light emitting diodes to be inserted in the illuminating section may be one or more, and the way of inserting is not particularly limited. Further, the wiring to the light emitting diode may have a configuration in which an FPC is provided between the printed circuit on the substrate and the light emitting diode, or an FPC is provided along the substrate and the FPC is started up. It may be.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1A is a sectional view of an embodiment of the high-brightness illumination switch of the present invention. A recess is provided in the lower right part of the illuminating unit 1, and a light emitting diode 7 is provided in the recess. Wiring to this is performed by an FPC 10.

An FPC 1 as shown in FIG. 2 is provided on the substrate 9.
1 is closely attached, and the circled part is this F
The PC 11 and the support portion 4 of the rubber switch are fixed so as to be sandwiched between the case 5 and the substrate 9. An enlarged view of this portion is shown in FIG.

The FPC 11 is provided with a contact 8 and a circuit connected to the contact 8 and a light emission power supply circuit 13 for the light emitting diode 7. In this embodiment, the FPC 10 in the wiring portion to the light emitting diode 7 is formed by making a U-shaped cut in a part of the FPC 11. Then, since the light emitting diode 7 is mounted on the bent back, the light emitting power supply circuit 13 coming from the left side is once taken to the lower side (back side) through the through hole 12 and then connected to the light emitting diode 7. It is like this. Light-emitting diode 7 and FPC 10 thus mounted
The tip portion of is fitted into the recess at the lower right of the illumination unit 1.

In this way, the light of the light emitting diode 7 illuminates the inside of the illuminating section 1 directly without leaking to the outside, so that the light emitting diode 7 is far from the illuminating section 1 as in the conventional case. Thus, the illuminated part when viewed from above (front side) will appear much brighter.

In this embodiment, the FPC 11 is used not only for the rising portion to the light emitting diode but also for the other portion, which is held by the board 9. However, the printed circuit board 6 is used in place of the FPC 11 and the board 9. Alternatively, the FPC may be provided only in the rising portion to the light emitting diode 7.

[0014]

As described above, in the high-brightness illumination switch of the present invention, the light emitting diode is placed in the illumination portion of the switch, and the wiring to the light emitting diode uses the FPC to absorb the expansion and contraction caused by the switch operation. Therefore, the light of the light emitting diode is directed to the irradiation of the illuminating part with almost no waste, and the illuminating part viewed from the front side is far farther than in the conventional case where the light emitting diode is located away from the illuminating part. It has the advantage that it looks bright.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an embodiment of a high-brightness illumination switch of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a detailed perspective view of the FPC used in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of an example of a conventional illumination switch.

[Explanation of symbols] 1 Illumination part 2 Skirt 3 Contact point 4 Mounting part 5 Case 6 Printed circuit board 7 Light emitting diode 8 Contact point 9 Board 10 FPC 11 FPC 12 Through hole 13 Light emitting power supply circuit

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A light emitting diode is provided in an illuminating part of a rubber switch fixed on a substrate by a case, and the light emitting diode and the light emitting power supply circuit are connected by a flexible printed circuit. High brightness illumination switch.