JPH11260184A - Lighting type switch - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To integrate a display part and a spring part and to reduce the thickness and weight of a switch and the number of parts of the switch by mounting a conductive portion on a rear face of an elastically deformable surface light emitter, and forming a resin dome comprising the characters for display on an upper face side in such manner that it is aligned just above the conductive portion. SOLUTION: A conductor portion 3 is formed on a base 7 through a spacer 9, an elastically deformable surface emitter layer 1 which presses the conductive portion 3 and is kept into contact with and separated from the same, is formed on the same, and the surface emitter layer 1 comprises a partial emitting portion 12 corresponding to the conductive portion 3. A click type resin dome 4a formed by hemispherically emboss molding a light transmitting thermoplastic resin film, is mounted on the surface emitter layer 1 in a condition that it is located just above the conductive part 3 to form a spring part 4. The character or graphic for display formed by a discharging character layer 10 of the light shielding ink and a light transmitting color layer 11 formed under the layer 10, is formed on a rear face of the resin dome 4a. Further the light transmitting thermoplastic resin film is preferably polyethylene terephthalate or the like, and an acrylic light shielding ink is preferable.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a mobile communication device,
The present invention relates to an illuminated switch used for an operation panel of a measuring device, a medical device, an in-vehicle electronic device, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-50728 discloses an illuminated switch in which displayed characters and figures can be visually recognized even in a dark place.
There is what was disclosed in the issue. In the illuminated switch of this conventional example, as shown in FIG. 3, a conductive portion 3 is provided on the back surface of an elastic planar luminous layer 1 such as electroluminescence (hereinafter, EL) via an insulating layer 2 and on the upper surface. A spring portion 4 having a click-type transparent resin dome embossed in a semi-spherical shape with a translucent thermoplastic resin film is disposed so that the resin dome portion 4a is aligned right above the conductive portion 3. And an illuminated switch in which a display unit 5 made of partially transparent rubber or translucent resin is arranged on the upper surface of the spring unit 4.

[0003]

However, in recent developments in the field of mobile communication equipment, there has been an increasing demand for smaller, lighter, and thinner devices. The display unit becomes bulky and cannot meet these demands.

[0004]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a hemispherical display unit in which characters or figures for display are printed and coated on the front or back surface of a translucent thermoplastic resin film. It was embossed into a shape and arranged on a click type spring portion. When forming characters or graphics on the display portion on the surface, a protective layer is provided as necessary in consideration of peeling due to abrasion of the ink.

Further, a light-transmitting colored layer is provided under a blank character layer in which characters and figures for display are formed with light-shielding ink, and are arranged so as to emit light only in a portion where the EL matches the resin dome.

Further, the light-transmitting thermoplastic resin film is not particularly limited as long as it has light-transmitting properties, but it is a polyethylene terephthalate film, a polyethylene naphthalate film, a polybutylene terephthalate film, a polyurethane film, a polyamide film. Preferably, at least one film selected from a polypropylene film, a polystyrene film, a fluorine film, an ionomer film, a polycarbonate film, and a polyvinyl chloride film, and form characters and figures for display on the translucent thermoplastic resin film. The ink is not particularly limited in consideration of adhesiveness, but is preferably at least one ink selected from acrylic, PVC, urethane, ester, and epoxy.

The thickness of the translucent thermoplastic resin film is preferably from 75 μm to 250 μm. If the thickness is less than 75 μm, the repulsive force is reduced, and the reversal phenomenon is likely to occur.
If it exceeds μm, the embossability deteriorates.

According to the structure of the present invention, by further integrating the display section and the spring section, it is possible to further reduce the thickness and weight.
Furthermore, since the number of parts can be reduced, the work process can be shortened,
Cost can be reduced.

In addition, the distance between the display unit and the EL is reduced due to the reduction in thickness, and the illumination brightness of the EL can be reduced.
Further, in the case where the above-mentioned character layer is provided, power consumption can be reduced by about 10% by reducing the illuminated area of the EL. Furthermore, in the case of having the blank character layer, an expensive phosphorescent layer material for forming the EL can be saved, so that the cost can be reduced.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention is applied to an upper surface side of a bendable and elastically deformable planar luminous body 1 such as an EL having a conductive portion 3 provided with an insulating layer 2 on the back surface. In a switch in which a click-type resin dome 4a in which a translucent thermoplastic resin film is embossed in a hemispherical shape is aligned so that it is directly above the conductive portion 3, characters for display are provided on the front surface or the back surface of the resin dome 4a. An illuminated switch characterized in that a character layer 10 for drawing and figures is formed.

Accordingly, the present invention can reduce the thickness and weight by integrating the punched character layer 10 and the spring portion 4 having the resin dome 4a, and can reduce the number of parts by this integration, thereby shortening the work process. And cost can be reduced. Further, by reducing the thickness, the distance between the display unit and the planar light-emitting body 1 is reduced, so that the illumination luminance of the planar light-emitting body can be reduced, the power consumption can be reduced, and the EL has a longer life.

[0012]

Embodiment 1 FIG. 2 shows Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

A display unit 6 for displaying characters and figures on the surface of a polyethylene terephthalate film is formed by screen printing using an acrylic ink, and a resin obtained by embossing the polyethylene terephthalate film having the display unit into a hemispherical shape. An elastic EL planar light-emitting layer 1 is disposed below a spring portion 4 having a dome 4a with a spacer 8 interposed therebetween. A conductive portion 3, a spacer 9, and a substrate 7 are arranged on the back surface of the planar light-emitting layer 1 via an insulating layer 2, and the resin dome 4a of the spring portion 4 is aligned directly above the lower conductive portion 3. It is arranged to do. Since the display unit 6 is printed on the surface of the polyethylene terephthalate film, it is preferable to provide the protective layer 13 directly above the display unit 6 in consideration of the peeling of the display unit 6 due to the abrasion of the ink.

[0014]

Embodiment 2 FIG. 1 shows another embodiment of the present invention.

As a display portion for displaying characters and figures on the back surface of the polyethylene naphthalate film, a light-shielding cut-out character layer 10 is formed by screen printing using an epoxy-based ink, and a light-transmitting layer is formed under the cut-out character layer. Colored layer 1
1 is formed. The EL planar light-emitting layer 1 is arranged via a spacer 8 on a spring portion 4 formed by embossing a polyethylene naphthalate film having this display portion.
A conductive portion 3, a spacer 9, and a substrate 7 are arranged on the back surface of the insulating layer 2 via an insulating layer 2, and a spring portion 4 made of a resin dome is provided.
Are arranged so as to match directly above the lower conductive portion 3.

The EL structure of the planar light emitting layer 1 is formed by sequentially printing or depositing a transparent electrode, a light emitting layer, a dielectric layer, a back electrode, and an insulating layer. Since the EL can partially emit light by partially printing the light-emitting layer and the back electrode, the partial light-emitting portion 12 is disposed only directly below the translucent colored layer 11, and the expensive phosphorescent layer material is used. We are saving.

Comparative Example 1 FIG. 3 shows a comparative example.

A click type formed by providing a conductive portion 3 on the back surface of an elastic planar light emitting layer 1 such as an EL layer with an insulating layer 2 interposed therebetween and embossing a hemispherical shape with a translucent thermoplastic resin film on the upper surface. Part 4 having a transparent resin dome 4a
The resin dome portion is arranged so as to match directly above the conductive portion 3, and the display portion 5 made of partially transparent rubber is arranged on the upper surface of the spring portion 4.

With the configuration of the above embodiment, the thickness of the illuminated switch of the comparative example is 1.55 mm, whereas the thickness of the illuminated switch of the comparative example is 0.85 mm in the first and second embodiments. While the illuminated switch weighs 5 g, the weight of the illuminated switch is 2.4 g in the case of the first and second embodiments.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, by integrating the display unit and the spring unit, the thickness and weight can be reduced, and the number of parts can be reduced by this integration. Cost can be reduced. Further, the distance between the display unit and the planar light-emitting layer is reduced by the reduction in thickness, and the illumination luminance of the planar light-emitting layer can be reduced.
Power consumption can be reduced, and EL life can be extended.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Planar light-emitting body layer 2 Insulating layer 3 Conductive part 4 Spring part 5, 6 Display part 7 Substrate 8, 9 Spacer 10 Cut-out character layer 11 Transparent colored layer 12 Partial light-emitting part

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] April 3, 1998

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Claims]

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A click type formed by embossing a translucent thermoplastic resin film into a hemispherical shape on the upper surface side of a bendable and elastically deformable planar light-emitting body having a conductive portion provided on the back surface via an insulating layer. An illuminated switch, characterized in that characters and / or graphics for display are formed on the front or back surface of the resin dome, wherein the resin dome is arranged so as to be aligned directly above the conductive portion. 2. A resin, wherein a character or a graphic for display is formed with a cut-out character layer using a light-shielding ink, and a light-transmitting colored layer is provided under the cut-out character layer. 2. The illuminated switch according to claim 1, wherein only the portion that matches the dome emits light. 3. The light-transmitting thermoplastic resin film is a polyethylene terephthalate film, a polyethylene terephthalate film, a polybutylene terephthalate film, a polyurethane film, a polyamide film, a polypropylene film, a polystyrene film, a fluorine film, an ionomer film, a polycarbonate film, At least one film selected from a polyvinyl chloride film, and an ink for printing characters and figures for display on a light-transmitting thermoplastic resin film, acrylic, PVC, urethane, ester, epoxy The illuminated switch according to claim 1, wherein the illuminated switch is made of at least one ink selected from a system.