JPH1072958A - Key with built-in electronic parts and manufacture thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the number of part items and prevent the generation of a surface defect in a key with built-in electronic parts and its manufacturing method. SOLUTION: This key with built-in electronic parts has a key head part 5 with its surface layer covered with a molded resin layer 4 and with electronic parts 3 held in a chip storage part 20 formed in a hard resin case 2 holding one end part of a key blade 1. In this case, the hard resin case 2 is integrally formed in cylindrical shape, insertable from the other end of a key blade 1 and having a locking piece elastically locked to a heat part 10 formed at one end part of the key blade 1 at the time of insertion to the key blade 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a key having a built-in electronic component in which an electronic component such as a transponder chip is built in a key head, and a method of manufacturing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An electronic component built-in key in which an electronic component such as a transponder chip is built in a key head portion is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 8-93282.

In this conventional example, the key head portion has a case portion (hard resin case) in which a pair of case pieces are connected, and an electronic component is held in the hard resin case.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, since the hard resin case is composed of two members, the management of parts is troublesome, and the two members are provided with locking means on a key blade. Since it is used and connected to the key blade, it is easy for resin to flow in from the connection interface when molding the mold resin layer to be the outer skin, which may cause sink marks on the surface, There is a disadvantage that the case pieces are likely to be displaced by the repeated twisting operation to the case.

[0005] In order to solve such a drawback, it is possible to integrate the case pieces by ultrasonic bonding or the like, but there is a problem that the number of working steps is increased. The present invention
An object of the present invention is to provide a key with a built-in electronic component which has a small number of components and has no surface defects or the like.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided the above-mentioned object, in which an electronic component 3 is held in a chip accommodating portion 20 formed in a hard resin case 2 surrounding one end of a key blade 1 and a surface layer is formed. An electronic component built-in key having a key head portion 5 covered by a mold resin layer 4, wherein the hard resin case 2 is integrally molded in a cylindrical shape, can be inserted from the other end of the key blade 1, and is connected to the key blade 1. This is achieved by providing a key with a built-in electronic component having a locking piece 21 which resiliently locks to the head portion 10 formed at one end of the key blade 1 at the time of insertion.

A key head 5 formed at one end of the key blade 1 has a hard resin case 2 mounted on the tip end of the key blade 1 and then a molded resin layer 4 is molded on the outer surface thereof, and the chip of the hard resin case 2 is accommodated. It is formed by housing the electronic component 3 in the portion 20. The hard resin case 2 is integrally formed of a synthetic resin material into a cylindrical shape, more specifically, a shape having a hollow portion (blade insertion hole 23) having an open side wall, and unnecessary connection portions into which the mold resin flows are generated. Is prevented.

The key blade 1 has a head portion 10 at one end, and the hard resin case 2 has, as shown in FIG.
The other end of the key blade 1, that is, the end opposite to the head portion 10, can be mounted by inserting it into the blade insertion hole 23 of the hard resin case 2. It is elastically locked to the head portion 10 and is prevented from falling off.

The chip accommodating portion 20 is formed by opening the front end face 2a from which the key blade 1 projects so that the electronic component 3 can be inserted after the molding resin layer 4 is molded. Blade insertion hole 2
3 and the pulling direction of the sliding core for forming the blade insertion hole 23 coincides with the pulling direction of the sliding core for forming the chip accommodating portion 20 so that the structure of the mold is reduced. It is desirable to keep it simple.

The electronic component 3 is held in the chip housing portion 20 by inserting the electronic component 3 through the opening of the chip housing portion 20 and then closing the opening with an appropriate cap member.
Alternatively, it can be achieved by fixing the chip holder 6 holding the electronic component 3 in the chip housing portion 20 by means such as adhesion or the like. This eliminates the need for bonding work and the like, and improves workability.

That is, in the invention according to claim 2,
The chip housing portion 20 is formed so as to penetrate from the front end surface 2a of the hard resin case 2 to the rear end surface 2b. By forming the chip accommodating portion 20 as a through hole, the front end surface 2a
A locking projection that resiliently locks the chip holder 6 at an abutting portion between the sliding core inserted from the side and the sliding core inserted from the rear end face 2b side, that is, an intermediate portion of the chip housing portion 20. 22 can be raised, and in a state where the electronic component 3 is held in the chip holder 6, the chip holder 6 is
The electronic component 3 can be easily loaded simply by inserting the electronic component 3 into the electronic component 3.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the opening 20a on the rear end side of the chip accommodating portion 20, more precisely, on the top side of the key head portion 5, is formed to be narrower than the thickness dimension of the key blade 1, and The opening 20a is closed by the head portion 10 of the key blade 1 in a state where the opening 20a is disposed in the molding die. The opening 20a on the head section 10 side is the key blade 1
, The molding operation can be performed without applying masking or the like to the opening 20a, so that the molding workability can be improved.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the key head portion 5 has a keying insertion hole 50 formed by covering the hole portion 11 formed in the head portion 10 of the key blade 1 with the mold resin layer 4, and the locking piece 21 is provided. It is locked on the peripheral wall of the hole 11. At the time of molding the mold resin layer 4, the end surface of the locking piece 21 abuts on the molding portion of the molding die of the molding resin layer 4 to position the hard resin case 2 and the key blade 1 in the mold. This prevents displacement due to the resin injection pressure during molding. The locking piece 2 exposed from the mold resin layer 4 when the mold resin layer 4 is molded.
Since the end face of 1 is arranged on the inner peripheral wall of the discreet keying insertion hole 50, the appearance is not impaired.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a key having a built-in electronic component. That is, according to the present invention, the hard resin case 2 formed in
To form a sub-assembly body 7 by inserting it from the other end of the key blade 1 and forming the sub-assembly body 7, and forming a soft mold resin layer 4 on one end of the sub-assembly body 7 And forming a key head portion 5.

By forming the hard resin case 2 integrally in advance, it becomes easier to manage the parts and to reduce the number of mounting steps, as compared with the conventional example in which the case pieces are mounted on the key blade 1 in an assembled manner. be able to.

The hard resin case 2 can adopt the constitutions of claims 1 to 4 as it is, but is not necessarily formed by integral molding, but is formed by joining separately formed case pieces in advance. It may be.

[0017]

1 to 3 show an embodiment of the present invention. The electronic component built-in key has a key head 5 formed at the tip of the key blade 1, and the key head 5 is a hard resin case 2 for housing the electronic component 3.
And a soft mold resin layer 4 constituting an outer skin.

The key blade 1 has a head portion 10 at one end, and a hole portion 11 for forming a later-described keying insertion hole 50 is formed in the center of the head portion 10. The hard resin case 2 is obtained by molding a hard resin material such as polyacetal resin, and has a blade insertion hole 23 penetrating from the front end face 2a to the rear end face 2b at the center. Blade insertion hole 2
Reference numeral 3 corresponds to the cross-sectional shape of the key blade 1 and communicates with the head accommodating portion 24 formed on the rear end face 2b side. A pair of U-shaped notches 24a are provided on the ceiling wall surface of the head accommodating portion 24,
A locking piece 21 is formed by 24a. The locking piece 21
At the free end, there is a hook 21a protruding inward of the head accommodating portion 24.

On the other hand, a chip accommodating portion 20 is formed beside the blade insertion hole 23. Chip storage section 20
Penetrates through the inside of the hard resin case 2 from the front end surface 2a to the head accommodating portion 24 along the blade insertion hole 23, and a locking projection 22 is protruded from the opposite side wall. Further, in the present embodiment, in which the thickness of the electronic component 3 is larger than the thickness of the key blade 1, the space behind the locking projection 22 is made shorter than the space on the front edge 2a side, and the head housing portion is formed. The height of the opening 20 a to the head housing 24 is adjusted so as not to exceed the height of the head housing portion 24.

The above hard resin case 2 can be molded by using, for example, a molding die that is divided in the thickness direction of the hard resin case 2. , Front end face 2a side and rear end face 2b
By using a pair of sliding cores which enter from the side and advance and retreat in a direction perpendicular to the mold-separating direction, molding can be performed without generating an undercut portion.

In manufacturing the electronic component built-in key, first, the hard resin case 2 is mounted on the key blade 1, and then the mold resin layer 4 is molded on the sub-assembly body 7 to form the key head portion 5. This is performed by housing the electronic component 3 in the housing section 20.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the hard resin case 2 is mounted on the key blade 1, the other end of the key blade 1, that is, the end on the insertion side into the lock device is connected to the hard resin case 2.
Is inserted from the side of the head housing portion 24 into the blade insertion hole 23. While the hard resin case 2 is moved toward the head portion 10 of the key blade 1, the locking piece 21 that has been elastically deformed upward by interfering with the key blade 1
The wall of the head housing portion 24 is the head portion 1 of the key blade 1
At the slide end position where it comes into contact with zero, it returns to the original position by the elastic restoring force and is elastically locked to the peripheral wall of the hole 11 of the key blade 1 to prevent the key blade 1 from detaching in the pull-out direction.

The formation of the mold resin layer 4 on the sub-assembly 7 of the key blade 1 and the hard resin case 2 formed as described above is performed using a molding die for the mold resin layer 4. In the assembled state, the opening 20a of the chip housing section 20 to the head housing section 24 is completely closed by the head section 10 of the key blade 1. Therefore, only the opening on the front end face 2a side is closed by a mold, and the chip housing is performed. Inflow of the resin material into the portion 20 can be prevented.

The setting of the sub-assembly 7 in the molding die of the molding resin layer 4 is performed by bringing the end surface of the locking piece 21 into contact with the projection of the die forming the through hole 50. The positioning in the longitudinal direction in the molding die is accurately performed.

The loading of the electronic component 3 into the key head unit 5
As shown in FIG. 4A, this is performed using the chip holder 6. The chip holder 6 can hold the electronic component 3 by press-fitting the electronic component 3 into the central housing portion 60, and is inserted from the opening on the front end face 2 a side of the chip housing portion 20. Further, the tip holder 6 has an elastic leg 61 at a tip end on the insertion side, which has a height capable of being inserted into the space on the rear end face 2b side of the chip accommodating portion 20, and engages the hook 61a of the elastic leg 61 with a locking projection. 22 to prevent falling off.

[0026]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the number of parts can be reduced, and the occurrence of sink marks on the surface can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIGS. 1A and 1B are diagrams showing the present invention, wherein FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view along the surface of a key blade, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB of FIG.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a hard resin case.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing a method of forming a sub-assembly body.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are views showing a loaded state of an electronic component, wherein FIG. 4A is an exploded perspective view and FIG. 4B is a perspective view showing a chip holder.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Key blade 10 Head part 11 Hole part 2 Hard resin case 20 Chip accommodating part 21 Locking piece 22 Locking projection 3 Electronic component 4 Mold resin layer 5 Key head part 50 Keying insertion hole 6 Chip holder 7 Sub-assembly body

Claims (5)

[Claims] An electronic component built-in key having a key head portion, wherein an electronic component is held in a chip accommodating portion formed in a hard resin case enclosing one end portion of a key blade, and a surface layer is covered by a mold resin layer, The hard resin case is integrally molded into a cylindrical shape, and can be inserted from the other end of the key blade, and has a locking piece that resiliently locks a head portion formed at one end of the key blade when inserted into the key blade. Keys with built-in electronic components. 2. The chip accommodating portion is formed in a penetrating shape from a front end surface to a rear end surface of a hard resin case, and is resiliently engaged with a locking projection formed on a wall surface of the chip accommodating portion. The electronic component built-in key according to claim 1, wherein the electronic component is held by the chip holder held by the electronic component. 3. The electronic component built-in key according to claim 2, wherein the opening on the rear end side of the chip accommodating portion is closed by a head portion of the key blade to prevent the mold resin layer from flowing into the chip accommodating portion. 4. The key head portion has a keying insertion hole formed by covering a hole portion formed in the head portion of the key blade with a mold resin layer, and the locking piece is locked on a peripheral wall of the hole portion. 4. The electronic component built-in key according to claim 1, wherein an end surface of the locking piece is brought into contact with a keying insertion hole forming portion of a molding die of the molding resin layer to perform positioning during molding. 5. A method for manufacturing an electronic component built-in key having a key head portion in which an electronic component is held in a hard resin case enclosing one end of a key blade and a surface layer is covered with a mold resin layer. Inserting the formed hard resin case from the other end of the key blade and mounting it on the head formed at one end of the key blade to form a sub-assembly body; and forming a soft mold resin on one end of the sub-assembly body. A method for manufacturing a key with a built-in electronic component, comprising a step of forming a key head portion by molding a layer.