JPH10199361A - Electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the number of part items, and simplify the assembly work. SOLUTION: This electronic apparatus is provided with a wrist watch case 1; a push-button provided in the wrist watch case 1; a watch module having a pair of fixed contacts 19 at the position corresponding to the push-button 18; and a buffer member 5 installed on the outer periphery of the watch module 4 to protect the watch module. In this case, a conductive movable contact 20 separating and opposing to the pair of fixed contacts 19 of the watch module 4, and conducting between the pair of fixed contacts 19 being squeezed to the pair of fixed contacts 19 when it is pushed by the push-button 18, is formed integrally. Consequently, it is not necessary to use a contact rubber as a separate part as in the conventional system, and the number of part items can be reduced, and at the same time, the movable contact 20 can be assembled only by assembling a buffer member 5. As a result, the assembly work can be simplified.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an electronic device such as an electronic wristwatch.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is an electronic wrist watch in which a timepiece module is housed in a timepiece case via a buffering member, and the buffering member protects the timepiece module from external impact. In such an impact-resistant electronic wristwatch, a switch is provided on the upper surface or side surface of the watch case. Among such switches, for example, an upper surface switch provided on the upper surface portion of the watch case is provided with a push button on the upper surface of the watch case, a contact rubber is provided on a watch module corresponding to the push button, and a contact rubber is provided. When a pair of fixed contacts are provided on the circuit board of the watch module at the point where the contact is made, and the contact rubber is pressed by the push button, the contact rubber is elastically deformed and the movable contact provided in the contact rubber is pressed against the pair of fixed contacts on the circuit board. As a result, the switch is turned on. The side switch provided on the side surface of the watch case includes a push button provided on a side surface of the watch case, a contact spring provided on a main plate of the watch module corresponding to the push button, and a watch module corresponding to the contact spring. When a contact electrode is provided on the circuit board and the contact spring of the ground plate is pressed by a push button, the contact spring is bent and comes into contact with the contact electrode of the circuit board, thereby turning on the switch.

[0003]

However, in the switch structure of such an electronic wristwatch, in the former upper switch, a contact rubber for conducting a pair of fixed contacts on a circuit board in accordance with a pressing operation of a push button is used. Since it must be provided in the timepiece module, the number of parts is increased by the amount of the contact rubber, and there is a problem that the assembling work becomes complicated. In the latter side switch, a contact spring is provided on the main plate, which not only complicates the structure of the main plate, but also when an impact is applied to the push button, the impact acts on the contact spring and the contact spring is plastically deformed. And cause poor contact. In addition, if a protector for the push button is provided on the watch case or on the bezel of the watch case in order to prevent the push button from receiving an impact, there is a disadvantage that the protector is subject to design restrictions on the watch case and the like.

An object of the present invention is to reduce the number of parts and to simplify the assembling work. Another object of the present invention is to prevent a contact failure from occurring even when a push button receives an impact.

[0005]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
An equipment case, a push button provided in the equipment case, an equipment module housed in the equipment case, and provided with a pair of fixed contact portions at locations corresponding to the push button, and protecting the equipment module from external impact A buffer member mounted on the outer periphery of the device module.The buffer member is separated from and opposed to the pair of fixed contact portions, and is pressed against the pair of fixed contact portions when pressed by the push button. And a conductive movable contact portion for conducting between the pair of fixed contacts is integrally formed. Therefore, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the conductive movable contact portion which is pressed by the push button and pressed against the pair of fixed contact portions is provided on the buffer member which is mounted on the outer periphery of the device module and protects the device module. The contact rubber is not required as a separate part as in the past, so that the number of parts can be reduced. As a result, the assembling work can be simplified.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an equipment case, a push button provided in the equipment case, an equipment module housed in the equipment case, and provided with a contact portion at a location corresponding to the push button. A conductive buffer member for protecting the device module from external impact, the conductive buffer member being connected to a power supply or a ground of the device module, and being movable against a contact when pressed by a push button. It is characterized in that the contact portion has a structure formed integrally. Therefore, according to the third aspect of the present invention, the movable contact portion pressed by the push button and pressed against the contact portion is integrally formed on the conductive buffer member for protecting the device module. It is not necessary to provide a contact spring on the ground plate, which not only simplifies the structure of the ground plate, but also prevents the movable contact part from being plastically deformed by the shock even if an impact is applied to the push button, resulting in poor contact. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a protection section for the push button on the device case or the like so that the push button is not subjected to an impact, so that the device case is not restricted in design and the degree of freedom of design of the device case can be increased. it can.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

First Embodiment A first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an electronic wristwatch will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the electronic wristwatch. In this figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a synthetic resin watch case (equipment case). A watch glass 2 is mounted on an upper portion of the watch case 1 via a packing 2a, and a bezel 3 made of synthetic resin is provided on an outer peripheral surface of the watch case 1.
A watch module (equipment module) 4 is housed inside the watch case 1 via a buffer member 5. A back cover 6 is attached to the lower surface of the watch case 1 via a waterproof ring 6a.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the timepiece module 4 has a housing 7 made of synthetic resin, a liquid crystal display device 8 is provided on the housing 7, and a circuit board 9 is provided inside the housing 7. The housing 7 has a structure in which a metal base plate 10 such as stainless steel is provided on the lower surface of the housing 7, and a metal interior cover 11 is provided on the outer periphery of the housing 7. In this case, the liquid crystal display device 8 displays information such as time, and is electrically connected to the circuit board 9. In the housing 7, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, a button-type battery 12 is housed, and an electrode plate 10 a provided on the base plate 10 is in contact with the button-type battery 12. The electrode plate 1 provided on the base plate 10
0b comes into contact with the back cover 6.

The buffer member 5 is for protecting the timepiece module 4 from external impact, and is made of conductive rubber. As shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b), the whole 1 and 2, it is arranged between the outer peripheral surface of the interior cover 11 of the timepiece module 4 and the inner peripheral surface of the watch case 1. As shown in FIG. In this case, “12:00”, “3
Around each position of "hour", "6:00", and "9:00", a flange 15 is integrally formed inward.
In addition, "1 o'clock and 2 o'clock" at the upper end of the cushioning member 5,
"4:00 and 5:00", "7:00 and 8:00", and "10:00 and 1"
As shown in FIG. 3A, a notch recess 16 for a side push button, which will be described later, is provided at a location located between the "1 o'clock" positions.

On the other hand, in the vicinity of the watch case 1 corresponding to the position of "6 o'clock", as shown in FIG.
7 are provided. The upper surface switch 17 corresponds to the push button 18 provided on the watch case 1, a pair of fixed contact portions 19 provided on the circuit board 9 of the timepiece module 4 corresponding to the push button 18, and the fixed contact portion 19. And a movable contact portion 20 provided on the flange portion 15 of the buffer member 5 at each location. The push button 18 includes a button shaft 22 inserted into a through hole 21 provided on the upper surface of the watch case 1, and a button provided on an upper end of the button shaft 22 and arranged in the opening 3 a of the bezel 3. A coil spring 24 is provided on the outer periphery of the button shaft 22 between the button head 23 and the upper surface of the watch case 1, and is urged upward by the spring force of the coil spring 24. Thus, the stopper ring 25 provided at the lower end of the button shaft 22 is in contact with the inner surface of the watch case 1.

As shown in FIG. 5, the fixed contact portion 19 comprises a substantially ring-shaped power contact 26 and a switch contact 27 located at the center of the power contact 26.
6 and switch contacts 27 are connected to predetermined electrodes (not shown) of the circuit board 9 by lead wires 28, respectively. In this case, the power contact 26 is partially connected to the intermittent portion 2.
6a is provided, and the lead wire 28 of the switch contact 27 is led out through the intermittent portion 26a. The movable contact portion 20 includes a cylindrical electrode portion 29 corresponding to the ring-shaped power contact 26 of the fixed contact portion 19, and a columnar movable portion 30 located at the center of the electrode portion 29 and corresponding to the switch contact 27. These are integrally formed on the lower surface of the flange portion 15 corresponding to the position of “6 o'clock” of the cushioning member 5. In this case, the movable portion 30 is formed to be shorter than the length of the electrode portion 29 in the vertical direction.
For this reason, the electrode part 29 is always in contact with the ring-shaped power contact 26, and the movable part 30 faces the switch contact 27 so as to be able to come and go. In addition, the movable contact portion 20
Has a structure in which, when pressed by the push button 18, the movable portion 30 is elastically deformed and the movable portion 30 contacts the switch contact 27.

[0012] Note that "1" on the side of the watch case 1
As shown in FIG. 2, a side switch is provided between each of the hours and two o'clock, four o'clock and five o'clock, seven o'clock and eight o'clock, and ten o'clock and eleven o'clock. 31 are provided. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, each side switch 31 includes a push button 32 provided in the watch case 1 and inserted into the cutout recess 16 for each side push button of the cushioning member 5,
0, and a contact portion (not shown) provided on the circuit board 9. When the push button 32 presses the contact spring 33 through the cutout recess 16 of the cushioning member 5,
The contact spring 33 bends and comes into contact with the contact portion, whereby the switch is turned on.

In such an electronic wristwatch, since the watch module 4 is housed in the watch case 1 via the buffer member 5, the buffer module 5 can reliably protect the watch module 5 from external impact. It has excellent impact resistance. Also, the top switch 1 of this electronic wristwatch
In 7, the cushioning member 5 is made of rubber having conductivity, and the movable contact portion 20 is formed integrally with the cushioning member 5, so that the movable contact portion 20 has conductivity and elasticity. When the push button 18 is pressed against the spring force of the coil spring 24 and presses the movable contact part 20, the movable contact part 20 is elastically deformed, and the movable part 30 is switched to the switch contact 27.
, Whereby the switch contact 27 and the power contact 26 are electrically connected via the movable portion 30 and the electrode portion 29, so that the switch can be reliably and satisfactorily turned on. As described above, according to the top switch 17, since the movable contact portion 20 is formed integrally with the conductive buffer member 5 for protecting the timepiece module 4, the contact rubber as a separate component as in the related art can be used. This is unnecessary, so that the number of parts can be reduced, and the movable contact portion 20 can be incorporated at the same time by merely attaching the buffer member 5, so that the assembly work can be simplified.

In the first embodiment, the case where the cushioning member 5 is formed of rubber having conductivity is described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the cushioning member is formed of rubber having insulating properties, Alternatively, at least the movable contact portion 20 may be integrally formed of a conductive rubber by a two-color molding. Further, in the first embodiment, the fixed contact portion 19 provided on the circuit board 9 has a structure in which the ring-shaped power contact 26 and the circular switch contact 27 are formed concentrically.
The present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG.
The fixed contact portion 37 may be formed in a comb-tooth shape with the switch contact 36 and meshed so as not to contact each other. In this case, the fixed contact portion 37 is surrounded so that the cylindrical electrode portion 29 of the movable contact portion 20 does not contact the fixed contact portion 37, and the electrode portion 29 of the movable contact portion 20 is
The movable contact portion may be configured so that the contact portion contacts both the power contact 35 and the switch contact 36 of the fixed contact portion 37, and the electrode portion 29 of the movable contact portion 20 is formed by two-color molding.
A structure in which only the conductive rubber is formed may be used.

[Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an electronic wristwatch will be described with reference to FIGS. The same parts as those in the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted. This electronic wristwatch has the same structure as that of the first embodiment except that the side switch 40 is different. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the side switch 40 switches “1 o'clock and 2 o'clock”, “4 o'clock and 5 o'clock”, “7 o'clock and 8 o'clock”, and “1 o'clock” and “1 o'clock”.
0:00 and 11:00 ”. As shown in FIG. 8, the side switch 40 includes a push button 41 provided on the side
It comprises a movable contact portion 42 provided on the buffer member 5 at a location corresponding to the push button 41 and a contact plate 43 for an electrode provided on the circuit board 9 and corresponding to the movable contact portion 42.

The push button 41 has a button shaft 45 inserted into a through hole 44 provided in the side surface of the watch case 1 and an opening 46 of the bezel 3 provided at an outer end of the button shaft 45. The button shaft 45 is urged to the outside by a movable contact portion 42 described later, whereby a stopper ring 48 provided at an inner end portion of the button shaft 45 is provided.
Is in contact with the inner surface of the watch case 1.
The electrode contact plate 43 is electrically connected to the electrode 9 a of the circuit board 9, and the push button 41 is sandwiched between the movable contact portions 42.
It corresponds to.

The buffer member 5 provided with the movable contact portion 42
Is for protecting the timepiece module 4 from external impact, as in the first embodiment, and is made of conductive rubber. As shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B,
The whole is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape. In this case, the upper end of the cushioning member 5 is provided with a flange 15 in substantially the same manner as in the first embodiment.
Are formed integrally, and among these flange portions 15, "6
The movable contact portion 20 of the upper surface switch 17 is provided on the lower surface of the flange portion 15 corresponding to the "time" position, as in the first embodiment. Also, at the upper end of the cushioning member 5, between “1 o'clock and 2 o'clock”, “4 o'clock and 5 o'clock”, “7 o'clock and 8 o'clock”, and “10 o'clock and 11 o'clock”, , FIG. 9
As shown in (a), cutout recesses 16 for side push buttons are provided.

The movable contact portion 42 is formed such that a substantially "U" -shaped movable portion 49, whose outer peripheral side is open, is protruded toward the inner peripheral side in each cutout recess 16 of the buffer member 5 having conductivity. A contact projection 50 is formed on the inner peripheral outer surface of the movable portion 49 so as to protrude toward the inside of the cushioning member 5. When the movable portion 49 is pressed by the push button 41, the movable portion 4
9 is elastically deformed so that the contact protrusion 50 is formed on the contact plate 4 of the circuit board 9.
3 is pressed. In this case, the buffer member 5 is connected to the power supply or the ground of the timepiece module 4, and is configured to conduct electricity to the circuit board 9 when the contact protrusion 50 of the movable portion 49 contacts the contact plate 43. The movable portion 49 of the movable contact portion 42 has a structure in which the push button 41 is urged outward in a normal state in which the movable portion 49 elastically returns to the original state.

Such an electronic wristwatch has the same functions and effects as those of the first embodiment. In addition, the side switch 40 has a structure in which the movable contact portion 42 is integrally formed with the buffer member 5 having conductivity. Therefore, unlike the first embodiment, there is no need to provide the contact spring 33 on the main plate 10, so that the structure of the main plate 10 can be simplified. As described above, the movable contact portion 42 is not plastically deformed and does not cause poor contact.
For this reason, there is no need to provide a protective portion for the push button 41 on the watch case 1 or the bezel 3 so that the push button 41 is not subjected to an impact. The degree of freedom in the design of the bezel 3 and the like can be increased.

In the first and second embodiments, the case where the digital timepiece module 4 having the liquid crystal display device 8 is used has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the analog timepiece having the analog movement is provided. May be used, or a clock module having both of them may be used. In the first and second embodiments,
Although the case where the present invention is applied to an electronic wristwatch has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to an electronic timepiece such as a travel watch, and can be widely applied to other electronic devices.

[0021]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a pair of fixed contact portions when pressed by the push button are provided on the cushioning member mounted on the outer periphery of the equipment module to protect the equipment module. The conductive movable contact portion that is pressed against the fixed contact to conduct the pair of fixed contacts is integrally formed, so that the conventional contact rubber as a separate component is not required, thereby reducing the number of components. Since the movable contact portion can be incorporated at the same time simply by assembling the buffer member, the assembling work can be simplified.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, a conductive buffer member for protecting the equipment module is connected to the power supply or the ground of the equipment module, and the conductive cushion member is provided with a push button. Since the movable contact portion pressed by the contact portion and pressed against the contact portion is integrally formed, there is no need to provide a contact spring on the base plate as in the related art,
Therefore, the structure of the main plate can be simplified, and even if an impact is applied to the push button, the impact does not cause the movable contact portion to be plastically deformed to cause a contact failure, so that the push button does not receive the impact. It is not necessary to provide a push button protection portion on the device case or the like, so that the device case or the like is not subject to design restrictions, and the degree of freedom in designing the device case or the like can be increased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a first embodiment in which a switch structure of the present invention is applied to an electronic wristwatch.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the electronic wristwatch of FIG. 1 with a back cover removed.

FIG. 3 shows the cushioning member of FIG. 2, (a) is a plan view thereof,
(B) is the bottom view.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged plan view of a fixed contact portion in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged plan view showing a modification of the fixed contact portion.

FIG. 7 is a bottom view of a second embodiment in which the switch structure of the invention is applied to an electronic wristwatch with a back cover removed.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 shows the cushioning member of FIG. 7, (a) is a plan view thereof,
(B) is the bottom view.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Watch case 4 Watch module 5 Buffer member 9 Circuit board 17 Top switch 18, 41 Push button 19 Fixed contact part 20, 42 Movable contact part 26 Power contact 27 Switch contact 40 Side switch 43 Contact plate

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An equipment module comprising: a device case; a push button provided in the device case; a device module housed in the device case; and a pair of fixed contact portions provided at positions corresponding to the push button; And a buffer member mounted on the outer periphery of the device module to protect the device module from external impact, wherein the buffer member is spaced apart from the pair of fixed contact portions, and is pressed by the push button. An electronic device, wherein a conductive movable contact portion that is pressed against the pair of fixed contact portions and conducts between the pair of fixed contacts is integrally formed. 2. A portion of the buffer member other than the conductive movable contact portion is made of an insulating material,
2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the other portion having the insulating property and the conductive movable contact portion are integrally formed by two-color molding. 3. An equipment case, a push button provided on the equipment case, an equipment module housed in the equipment case and provided with a contact portion at a position corresponding to the push button, and an equipment module connected to an external device. A conductive buffer member for protecting the device from shocks, wherein the conductive buffer member is connected to a power supply or a ground of the device module, and is pressed against the contact portion when pressed by the push button. Has a structure integrally formed with the electronic device.