JPH0969322A - Push button device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a light guide means emit light equally. SOLUTION: An upper push button 22a is attached to a peripheral light guide part 31 by a lock 24, and the peripheral light guide part 31 is attached to a holder 51. A light emitting diode 58b is arranged between the light lead part 31 and the holder 51. And, when the upper push button 22a is pushed, a work part 65 operates a tact switch 67. Hereby, the light emitting diode 58b emits light, and the light is led to outside by the peripheral light guide part 31. Since the member of the upper push button switch 22a does not cross the area between the peripheral light guide part 31 and the light emitting diode 58b, the light of the light emitting diode 58b is not intercepted, and the peripheral light guide part 31 can emit light equally.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a push button device suitable for application to electronic equipment such as audio equipment. More specifically, the present invention relates to a push button device in which a push button is attached to a light guide means so that a member of the push button does not traverse between the light guide means and the light emission means, and the light guide means can emit light uniformly. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, some electronic devices such as audio devices employ a push button device 10 having a light emitting means for displaying an operation mode of the electronic device as shown in FIG. In this push button device 10, push buttons 2a and 2b each having a substantially rectangular shape are attached to a front panel 1 of an audio device so as to be vertically positioned. A transparent outer peripheral light guiding portion 3a surrounding the outer periphery of the push buttons 2a and 2b.
Is arranged in an elliptical shape, and a plate-shaped transparent band-shaped light guide portion 3b is arranged in the gap between the push buttons 2a and 2b.

As shown in FIG. 14, flexible pushable hinges 4a and 4b, which are thin plate-shaped and project from the upper ends of the push buttons 2a and 2b, are provided at one end of each push button 2a and 2b. The part is fixed to the back surface side of the panel 1 by mounting screws 6 and 6. At the center of the back surface of the push buttons 2a, 2b, there are provided action pieces 7a, 7b formed in a cylindrical shape.

A substrate 11 is arranged on the side facing the back surface of the push button device 10, and the push buttons 2a, 2b are arranged on the substrate 11.
The tact switch 1 at a position facing the action pieces 7a, 7b of
2a and 12b are attached respectively. Further, as shown in FIG. 13, six light emitting diodes 13a are arranged on the substrate 11 at appropriate intervals along the outer peripheral portion of the outer peripheral light guiding portion 3a so as not to interfere with the operation of the hinge portions 4a and 4b. One light emitting diode 13b is also attached to the substrate 11 facing the central portion of the strip-shaped light guide portion 3b.

The light emitting diodes 13a and 13b are of a type that emit light of different colors. In order to prevent the light emitted from the light emitting diodes 13a and 13b from being mixed, a plate-shaped light shielding portion 14b that surrounds the light emitting diodes 13b is attached to the substrate 11, and a plate shape that surrounds the six light emitting diodes 13a is provided. The light-shielding portion 14a is provided upright on the back surface side of the front panel 1.

When the main body of the audio device is turned on, the six light emitting diodes 13a emit, for example, green light, which is guided to the outside by the outer peripheral light guide portion 3a, and the surroundings of the push buttons 2a and 2b emit light. To do. Then, in FIG. 15, when the push button 2a is pressed, for example, the hinge portion 4a bends around the portion fixed by the mounting screw 6 as a fulcrum, and the action piece 7
a presses the tact switch 12a. This sets a predetermined operation mode of the electronic device. At the same time, by pressing the tact switch 12a, the light emitting diode 1
3b becomes conductive and emits red light in this example, the light is guided to the outside by the band-shaped light guide portion 3b, and red light is emitted between the push buttons 2a and 2b. By the light emission of the strip-shaped light guide portion 3b,
The user can confirm that the operation mode has been set. The same operation is performed when the push button 2b is pressed.

[0007]

By the way, in the conventional push button device 10, as shown in FIG. 13, push buttons 2a and 2b are provided.
Is attached to the front panel 1 via the hinge portions 4a and 4b. Therefore, the hinge portions 4a and 4b cross any one of the outer peripheral light guide portion 3a and the plate-shaped light guide portion 3b. Further, in order to unify the operation feeling by making the moving directions of the push buttons 2a and 2b coincide with each other, the hinge portion 4 is provided.
a and 4b are projected in the same direction. Therefore, the four hinge portions 4a and 4b are concentrated and cross one side on the upper side of the outer peripheral light guide portion 3a.

Therefore, the light emitting diodes 13a, 13b
When the light is emitted, the hinge portions 4a and 4b block the light of the light emitting diodes 13a and 13b, and the outer peripheral light guide portion 3a and the plate-shaped light guide portion 3b cannot be made to emit light uniformly.
There is a problem that the illumination effect of a and 3b is halved.

Therefore, the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and proposes a push button device capable of causing the light guide portion of the push button device to emit light uniformly.

[0010]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the present invention, there is provided a push button device for actuating a switch, which comprises a push button for pushing from the front,
A light emitting means for emitting light corresponding to the operating state of the switch, and a light guiding means for guiding the light from the light emitting means to the outside,
The push button is attached to the light guide means.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, an embodiment of a push button device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, a push button device 20 according to the present invention is mounted so as to be exposed from a through hole 23 provided in a front panel 21 of an electronic device such as an audio device. In this example, it is composed of a pair of push buttons, and a substantially rectangular upper push button 22a and lower push button 22b are arranged side by side. The upper push button 22a is for setting the audio device to the reproduction mode, and the lower push button 22b is for setting the stop mode. These push buttons 2
2a and 22b are transparent to surround the outer circumference of the light guide section 31.
And a transparent band-shaped light guide portion 41 is arranged in the gap between the push buttons 22a and 22b.

As shown in FIG. 2, each push button 22a, 22a
b is inserted inside the outer peripheral light guide 31 which is a cylinder. The outer peripheral light guide section 31 is attached to the holder 51 located on the rear side thereof, and the strip-shaped light guide section 44 is also attached to the holder 51. The holder 51 is attached to the back surface of the front panel 21 as shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the push buttons 22a and 22b as viewed from the rear. Each of the push buttons 22a and 22b is formed in a hollow shape with one surface opened, and a pair of hooking portions 24 formed by substantially wedge-shaped projections are provided on the left and right sides of the rear portion so as to function as attachment means. Each push button 22
A plurality of thin plate-shaped light-shielding plates 25 are formed on the outer edges of a and 22b. Plate-shaped vertical plate portions 26, 26 are formed along the vertical direction inside the centers of the push buttons 22a, 22b, respectively. The vertical plate portions 26, 26 are for pressing a flexible portion 61 (FIG. 5) described later. On the lower surface side of the upper push button 22a, a step portion 27 for disposing the strip-shaped light guide portion 31 (FIG. 1) is provided.

The push buttons 22a and 22b are attached to a transparent outer peripheral light guide 31 as shown in FIG. The outer peripheral light guide portion 31 has a flange portion 31b protruding in the outer peripheral direction at the rear portion of the cylindrical outer peripheral portion 31a, and a plurality of insertion portions 31c for inserting into the holder 51 at the rear portion of the outer peripheral portion 31a.
Is provided. The left and right insertion portions 31c are provided with notches 34 for engaging the engaging portions 24 of the push buttons 22a and 22b.
Is provided. Further, inside the upper and lower insertion portions 31c, hooking portions 36 (FIG. 8), which are wedge-shaped protrusions as attachment means for the holder 51, are formed.

The strip-shaped light guide portion 41 arranged between the upper push button 22a and the lower push button 22b is a flat member.
Hooking portions 42, 42 each having a substantially wedge-shaped projection are provided on the left and right sides of the rear end thereof. Left and right hooks 42, 4
A prism section 44 having a triangular cross section is provided between the two light guide sections 4
1 is formed integrally with the main body. In addition, the strip-shaped light guide unit 4
Protrusions 43, 43 for restricting the mounting position of the strip-shaped light guide portion 41 are provided on the left and right side portions of 1.

The outer peripheral light guide portion 31 and the strip-shaped light guide portion 41 are fitted in a holder 51 located behind them. As shown in FIG. 4, in the inner center portion of the frame portion 52 of the holder 51,
A light shielding wall 55 formed in a rectangular shape for separating light emitting diodes 58a and 58b, which will be described later, is provided, and eight light shielding walls 55 are provided between each of the upper, lower, left and right sides and the frame portion 52, as shown in the drawing. The partition wall 56 is provided.

Inside the light shielding wall 55, two flexible portions 61 are provided in parallel along the left-right direction. The flexible portion 61 is formed thinner than the other portions so that it can be bent as shown in FIG. A bulging portion 64 formed to be thicker than the flexible portion 61 is provided at the center of the flexible portion 61, and the vertical plate portions 26, 2 of the push buttons 22a, 22b described above are provided here.
Corresponding to 6 (FIG. 3), a groove portion 63 recessed in a substantially V shape is provided.

U-shaped bent portions 62, 62 formed in a U-shape are provided at positions symmetrical with respect to the bulging portion 64. By providing the U-shaped bent portions 62, 62, even when the flexible portion 61 is arranged in a narrow space, the hinge portions 4a, 4b in the conventional push button device 10 (see FIG. 1).
It can have the same flexibility as 3).

On the rear surface side of the bulging portion 64, a cylindrical action piece 65 for pressing the tact switch 67 (FIG. 4) is provided in a protruding manner. Further, restriction pieces 66, 66 for restricting the movement of the action piece 65 are provided on the rear surfaces of the bottoms of the left and right U-shaped bent portions 62, 62 in a protruding manner.

On the left and right wall surfaces inside the light shielding wall 55 shown in FIG. 4, the strip-shaped light guide portion 41 is provided at a position near the lower flexible portion 61.
Grooves 71, 71 into which (FIG. 2) is inserted are provided. Further, a contact portion 72 for restricting the position of the side surface of the strip-shaped light guide portion 41 (FIG. 2) is formed above the bulging portion 64 of the lower flexible portion 61. Attachment portions 53 are provided at four corners of the frame portion 52, and attachment holes 54 are provided therein.
Further, as shown in FIG. 2, on the front surface side of the light shielding wall 55, there are four protruding plate portions 73 for restricting the movement of the push buttons 22a and 22b.
There are two places.

As described above, the number of parts can be reduced by integrally forming the flexible portion 61, the light shielding wall 55 and the like on the holder 51 for mounting each part on the front panel 21.

When assembling this push button device 20,
As shown in FIG. 6, the upper push button 22a and the lower push button 22b are inserted into the insertion holes 35 of the outer peripheral light guiding portion 31, and the hook portions 24, 24 are formed in the notch 34 of the outer peripheral light guiding portion 31. It is hooked and attached to 34.

As shown in FIG. 7, the strip-shaped light guide portion 41 has its left and right edges inserted into the groove portions 71 of the holder 51,
The hook portions 42, 42 are attached by being hooked in the notches 75, 75 of the holder 51. In this state, the left and right protrusions 43, 43 of the strip-shaped light guide portion 41 come into contact with the front end of the light shielding wall 55, and the contact portion 72 of the lower flexible portion 61 is strip-shaped as shown in FIG. By contacting the lower surface of the light section 41, the strip-shaped light guide section 41 is reliably held.

As shown in FIG. 8, the outer peripheral light guide portion 31 to which the push buttons 22a and 22b are attached has the insertion portion 31c inserted outside the light shielding wall 55, and the hook portion 3 of the insertion portion 31c.
6 and 36 are notches 74 and 7 provided under the light shielding wall 55.
It is attached by being hooked on 4. At this time, the vertical plate portions 26, 26 of the push buttons 22a, 22b are inserted into and abut on the groove portions 63, 63 of the bulging portions 64, 64.

As described above, the engaging parts 24 (FIG. 6), 42 (FIG. 7), 36 are assembled without using the assembly of the respective parts for screws or the like.
Since it is carried out by hooking (FIG. 8), the mounting is easy and the number of parts can be reduced.

FIG. 9 shows a state in which the push button device 20 is attached to the front panel 21. A mounting post 81 is provided on the rear surface of the front panel 21 so as to project therefrom.
The attachment portion 53 of the holder 51 is attached to the rear end portion of the holder 51 with a screw 82. Further, the substrate 57 is arranged so as to contact the rear portion of the holder 51.

A tact switch 67 and light emitting diodes 58a (FIG. 12) and 58b are mounted on the substrate 57. The action piece 65 of the flexible portion 61 is arranged at a predetermined distance from the tact switch 67. In addition, the flexible portion 6
The first restriction pieces 66, 66 are arranged at a predetermined distance from the substrate 57.

As shown in FIG. 10, two light emitting diodes 58a are arranged inside the light shielding wall 55 of the holder 51. On the other hand, between the light shielding wall 55 and the frame portion 52, eight light emitting diodes 58b are arranged in each space partitioned by the partition wall 56. Light emitting diode 58
The a and 58b are selected to emit light of different colors. In this example, the light emitting diode 58a emits red light and the light emitting diode 58b emits green light.

The two light emitting diodes 58a are the flexible plate 6
1 and 61 are arranged in parallel with each other, and the strip-shaped light guide portion 41 is arranged on the front side thereof. On the other hand, the light emitting diode 58b
Are arranged outside the push buttons 22a and 22b as shown in FIG. Although not shown, the area of the substrate 57 corresponding to the inside of the holder 51 is painted white.
Therefore, the white holder 57 and the white painted portion of the substrate 57 reflect the light emitted from the light emitting diodes 58a and 58b to make the light emitted from the outer peripheral light guide 31 and the strip light guide 41 (FIG. 1) clear. You can

Further, the light emitting diodes 58a and 58b are separated from each other by the light shielding wall 55, and FIG.
By inserting the light shield plate 25 provided on each push button 22a, 22b into the outer side of the light shield wall 55 as shown in FIG.
The gap between each push button 22a, 22b and the holder 51 is closed. As a result, the space in which the light emitting diode 58a shown in FIG. 10 is arranged is separated from the space in which the light emitting diode 58b is arranged, and light of different colors is prevented from leaking.

Next, the operation of the push button device 20 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, when the audio device is turned on, the light emitting diode 58b emits green light, and the green light emits green light.
It is guided to the outside by 1, and the periphery of the push buttons 22a and 22b appears to emit green light. Here, the light emitting diode 58
Since b is arranged outside the push buttons 22a and 22b, the push buttons 22a and 22b do not block the green light of the light emitting diode 58b.

For example, when the upper push button 22a is pushed, the vertical plate portion 26 pushes the bulging portion 64 and moves it backward. The pressing force applied to the bulging portion 64 causes the central portion of the flexible portion 61 to bend rearward, and the acting portion 65 causes the tact switch 67 to move.
Press. At this time, the restriction portion 66 contacts the substrate 57 and the movement of the action portion 65 is restricted to a predetermined distance, so that excessive pressing force is prevented from being applied to the tact switch 67. Further, the tip of the protruding plate portion 73 of the holder 51 is prevented from coming into contact with the inner side of the upper push button 22a and applying an excessive pressing force to the flexible portion 61.

When the tact switch 67 is operated, the audio device is set to the reproduction mode, and the light emitting diode 58a (FIG. 10) emits red light. As shown in FIG. 10, the two light emitting diodes 58a include flexible plates 61, 6
The light emitting diodes 5 are arranged parallel to each other.
The light of 8a is not blocked and is guided to the outside through the band-shaped light guide portion 41, and as shown in FIG. 1, red appears between the upper push button 22a and the lower push button.

Here, the red light of the light emitting diode 58a is refracted in the forward direction by the prism portion 44 (FIG. 8) of the strip-shaped light guide portion 41 and guided to the outside, so that the strip-shaped light guide portion 41 is made clearer. It can emit light. The light emission of the strip-shaped light guide portion 41 allows the user to confirm that the reproduction mode is set. When the finger is released from the upper push button 22a in the state shown in FIG. 12, the restoring force of the flexible portion 61 causes the upper push button 22a to return to the original position shown in FIG. Although not described in detail, the lower push button 22b (FIG. 1)
Operates similarly.

As described above, in the push button device 20, the push buttons 22a and 22b and the flexible portion 61 are formed as separate members, and when the push buttons 22a and 22b are pushed, the flexible portion 6 is pressed.
1, the operating portion 66 actuates the tact switch 67. Therefore, push button 2
Since the pushbuttons 2a and 22b linearly advance and retreat along the pushing direction, the pushbuttons 2a and 2b of the conventional pushbutton device 10 (see FIG.
The discomfort in operation when rotating in an arc shape as in 4) is eliminated.

The flexible portion 61 has push buttons 22a and 22a.
The push buttons 2a, 2b are arranged on the rear side of the push button device 10b like the hinge portions 4a, 4b (FIG. 12) of the conventional push button device 10.
Since it does not project to the outside of the, the push button device 20 can be miniaturized. In addition, since the flexible portion 61 is provided with the U-shaped bent portion 62, the tact switch 67 can be operated with sufficient bending even with a light pressing force, and further downsizing can be achieved. Both ends of the flexible portion 61 are fixed, and when the push buttons 22a and 22b are pushed, the central portion bends along the pushing direction, so that the uncomfortable feeling in operation is further eliminated.

Further, by attaching the push buttons 22a and 22b to the outer peripheral light guide portion 31, the light emitting diodes 58b are arranged outside the push buttons 22a and 22b as shown in FIG. As a result, the light of the light emitting diode 58b is not blocked by the push buttons 22a and 22b, and the strip-shaped light guide portion 41 and the outer peripheral light guide portion 31 are made to uniformly emit light,
The illumination effect of the audio device can be enhanced to improve the aesthetics.

In this example, the light emitting diodes 58b shown in FIG. 10 are of the type that emits light of the same color, but they may be of the type that emits light of different colors. Even in this case, since each light emitting diode 58b is partitioned by the partition wall 56, the adjacent light emitting diodes 58b are adjacent to each other.
It is possible to display the operation mode by combining various colors without mixing the lights.

[0040]

As described above, the present invention is a push button device for actuating a switch, in which a push button that can move straight along the pushing direction and a push button are formed separately. It is provided with a flexible portion whose both ends are fixed and whose central portion is bent by pressing the push button, and an action portion which is provided on the flexible portion and acts on the switch by the bending of the flexible portion.

Therefore, according to the present invention, since the push button is attached to the light guide means instead of the front panel, the member of the push button does not traverse between the light emitting means and the light guide means, and the light of the light emitting means is not emitted. The blocked area can be minimized. Therefore, the light guide means can be caused to emit light uniformly, and the illumination effect of the electronic device can be enhanced to improve the aesthetic appearance.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a push button device 20 according to the present invention.

2 is a perspective view showing the shape of each part of the push button device 20. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the shapes of push buttons 22a and 22b.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing the shape of a holder 51.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a mounted state of a push button 22a.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a mounting state of the strip-shaped light guide section 41.

8 is a cross-sectional view taken along line CC of FIG.

9 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line DD of FIG.

FIG. 10 is a front view showing the arrangement of light emitting diodes 85a and 85b.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along line EE of FIG. 1;

FIG. 12 is a sectional view showing a state where a push button 22a is pushed.

FIG. 13 is a front view showing the configuration of a conventional push button device 10.

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

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where a push button 2a is pushed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 21 Front panel 2a, 2b Push button 3a, 31 Outer peripheral light guide part 3b, 41 Band-shaped light guide part 4a, 4b Hinge part 7a, 7b Action part 10, 20 Push button device 12a, 12b, 67 Tact switch 22a Up push Button 22b Lower push button 25 Light shielding plate 26 Vertical plate portion 34, 36, 42 Locking portion 44 Prism portion 55 Light shielding wall 56 Partition wall 57 Substrate 58a, 58b Light emitting diode 61 Flexible portion 62 U-shaped bent portion 63 Groove portion 65 Action Piece 66 Control piece 73 Projecting plate

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A push button device for actuating a switch, comprising a push button for pressing from the front, a light emitting means for emitting light corresponding to an operating state of the switch, and a light from the light emitting means. A push button device, comprising: a light guide means for guiding to the outside, wherein the push button is attached to the light guide means.