JPH10125167A - Touch panel fitting component - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the click feeling and visibility and make an input with a light touch by providing a thin section having multiple protrusions on the lower face and made of a flexible material and a key top made of a hard material. SOLUTION: A thin section 3 is swollen into a dome shape from a seat section 5 kept in contact with a touch panel 1, it has multiple lugs 4a-4d on the lower face, and it is made of a flexible material. A key top 2 is provided on the thin section 3, and it is made of a hard material. A key entry can be attained when a center lug 4b (or 4c), for example, of protrusions 4a-4d is brought into contact, and all of them are not necessarily required to be brought into contact with the touch panel 1. Since the hard material is used for the key top 2, the thickness is reduced, and its visibility is improved. The soft material and hard material are concurrently used and multiple protrusions 4a-4d are provided, then the click feeling and visibility is improved, and an input can be made with a light touch.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a touch panel mounting component.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Although a touch panel has advantages of small size and light weight, for those who are accustomed to a keyboard having mechanical contacts,
There was no clicking feeling and it was difficult to operate. In addition, since the boundary between characters is not clear, an adjacent key may be erroneously input. Therefore, a key-dop member made of a transparent material that is detachably disposed on each pressure-sensitive area of a pressure-sensitive input panel has been proposed.

A conventional touch panel mounting component will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are cross-sectional views showing an example of the related art. The key top sheet 102 attached to the touch panel 101 is made of hard transparent silicon rubber. When the key top upper part 104 is pressed by a finger, a part (106) of the key top sheet bends to give a click feeling to the finger. This click feeling is given by deformation of the dome-shaped portion 106 connecting the upper portion 104 and the lower portion (see FIG. 2B).
(See, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-75219.) The upper portion 104 has a U-shaped cross-sectional shape. Is formed.
The touch panel operation unit 10 presses the pressure-sensitive portion (hatched portion) of the touch panel 101, and the key input to the touch panel 101 is completed.

Since the key top sheet 102 is made of a transparent material, the display contents of the liquid crystal display panel 103 can be visually checked from the key top upper portion 104, so that the function of the touch panel 101 is not impaired.

[0006]

The above-mentioned conventional touch panel mounting parts have poor visibility due to the need for a thickness at the top of the key top, and require key input unless the entire touch panel operation unit is pressed down until it comes into contact with the pressure-sensitive part. However, there was a drawback that it could not be completed.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a touch panel mounting component which is formed of a transparent material detachable from the touch panel, and includes a sheet portion in contact with the touch panel, and a dome shape from the sheet portion. It comprises a thin portion made of a flexible material having a plurality of protrusions on a raised lower surface and a key top made of a hard material provided on an upper surface of the thin portion.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the touch panel mounting component according to the first aspect, the sheet portion, the thin portion, and the key top are integrally formed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the touch panel mounting component according to the first aspect, the key top is bonded to the thin portion.

[0010]

Next, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention. The touch panel mounting component shown in FIG. 1 is formed of a transparent material detachable from the touch panel 1,
A sheet portion 5 in contact with the touch panel 1, a dome-shaped rising from the sheet portion 5, a thin portion 3 made of a flexible material having a plurality of projections 4a to 4d on a lower surface, and provided on an upper surface of the thin portion 3 And a key top 2 made of a hard material.

Although the sheet portion 5, the thin portion 3, and the key top 2 can be integrally formed, it is also possible to manufacture only the key top separately and then bond the key top to the thin portion 3.

All of the projections 4 a to 4 d do not have to contact the touch panel 1. For example, if the central projection 4b (or the projection 4c) contacts, key input can be achieved, which is convenient when an elongated key such as a space key is desired to be input. (The pressing force may be small.) Since a hard material is used for the key top 2, the thickness can be reduced.
The visibility is improved. The material of the key top 2 is a transparent plastic material or the like, and the material of the thin portion 3 is a transparent and flexible silicon rubber or the like.

[0014]

According to the touch panel mounting component of the present invention, a plurality of projections are provided, and a soft material and a hard material are used in combination.
There is an effect that the click feeling is improved, the visibility is good, and the input can be performed with a light touch.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIGS. 2A and 2B are cross-sectional views showing an example of the related art.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Touch panel 2 Key top 3 Thin part 4 Projection 5 Sheet part

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A flexible material which is formed of a transparent material detachable from a touch panel and has a sheet portion in contact with the touch panel, and a plurality of projections on a lower surface rising from the sheet portion in a dome shape. A touch panel mounting component, comprising: a thin portion made of a material; and a key top made of a hard material provided on an upper surface of the thin portion. 2. The touch panel mounting component according to claim 1, wherein the sheet portion, the thin portion, and the key top are integrally formed. 3. The touch panel mounting component according to claim 1, wherein the key top is bonded to the thin portion.