JPS60175326A - Key input unit - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field] The present invention is a key human power device, in particular, by arranging a printed circuit board with a contact pattern formed thereon through a slight gap, and pressing one of the printed circuit boards from the outside to connect both printed circuit boards. This invention relates to a key-powered device that performs key-powered operation by making contact with the contact patterns of the keys.

[Prior Art] In recent years, electronic devices such as electronic desk calculators (hereinafter referred to as trains) have rapidly become smaller and thinner. FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a conventional calculator.

A keyboard section 2 is provided on the front side of the top surface of the main body 1 of the calculator shown in FIG. 1 for inputting numerical values, operators, and the like. A display section 3 such as an LCD is provided above the keyboard section 2 to display input numerical values, calculation results, and the like. Further, inside the device main body 1, there is built-in an arithmetic processing unit for performing various arithmetic processes and a battery as a power source (both are not shown).

In such a conventional thin calculator, the overall thickness of the device is reduced by making the pressing stroke of the keys on the keyboard section 2 as small as possible. FIG. 2 shows an example of the structure of such a key manpower device.

In FIG. 2, the reference numeral 4 denotes an upper frame made of an insulating rigid body such as synthetic resin, and a key film 6 made of an insulating flexible member is fixed to the upper surface of the upper frame 4 by a method such as adhesive. ing. A key symbol 5 is printed on the surface of the key film 6 by silk printing or the like to indicate the function of the key. Flexible printed circuit boards 9 and 11 are stacked on the lower side of the upper frame 4 with spacers 12 in between. These flexible printed circuit boards 9゜11 and spacers 12
is sandwiched between the upper frame 4 and the lower frame 7 and fixed by screws or the like.

13.14 are formed. Opening 1 of upper frame 4
A suppressing member 15 made of an elastic body or the like is accommodated within the holding member 4 . On the other hand, the flexible printed circuit board 9.14 facing the central area of the opening 13 of the spacer 12
First and second contacts 8 and 10 are respectively provided on the surface of the substrate by printed wiring patterns formed by a known method such as vapor deposition or etching.

A cylindrical post 16 is formed on the lower surface of the center of the pressing member 15 at a position corresponding to the first contact 8 and the second contact 10. Therefore, the key symbol 5 is
When the region is pressed from above, the post 16 of the pressing member 15 presses and deforms the upper flexible printed circuit board 9, whereby the first contact 8 and the second contact 10 come into contact and the desired key force is performed.

According to the structure of the conventional key power device as described above, the post 16 of the pressing member 15 directly presses the first contact point 8 of the upper flexible lower printed circuit board 9 to the second contact point 10 of the upper flexible printed circuit board 11. It looks like this. That is, since an external force is directly applied to both contacts 8 and 10, there is a risk that the conductive layer of contacts 8 and 10 will wear out with repeated use, resulting in poor contact.

[Objective] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a keystroke device that allows reliable keystrokes to be performed over a long period of time with short keystrokes without increasing the thickness of the keyboard section. It is an object.

[Example] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on the example shown in the drawings. However, in the following, the same reference numerals will be given to the same or corresponding members as those in the conventional example, and detailed explanation thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the key manpower device of the present invention.

The difference from the conventional example shown in FIG. 2 is that the inside of the lower frame 7 of the key manpower unit is hollowed out to form an opening 19, and a cylindrical post 20 is formed in the center of the opening 19. and that the first contact 17 and the second contact 18 of the flexible printed circuit board 9.11 are formed in a ring shape. In this case, the diameter of the post 20 provided on the lower frame 7 is the same as that of the first and second contacts 17 formed in a ring shape.
It is made smaller than the inner diameter of 18. Also, the suppressing member 15
The diameter of the post 16 provided at the center of the lower part of the ring is approximately equal to the outer diameter of the ring-shaped contact 17,18.

Next, FIG. 4 shows an exploded perspective view of the key-powered device as described above. It should be noted that only the structure of the input portion corresponding to one key is shown here, and other key portions on the keyboard are not shown.

Starting from the bottom of FIG. 4, a post 20 is provided in the opening 19 of the lower frame 7.
The height of the lower frame 7 is slightly lower than the upper surface of the lower frame 7. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3, under normal conditions, the post 20 and the lower flexible printed circuit board 11 are not in contact with each other.

On this upper surface of the lower frame 7, a flexible printed circuit board 11 and a flexible printed circuit board 9 are arranged with an insulating spacer 12 in between. As shown in FIG. 4, the first and second contacts 17.18, which are respectively formed as printed patterns on the printed circuit board 9.11, have a ring-shaped outer shape.
8a, each is connected to a desired input circuit. Furthermore, an upper frame 4 having an opening 14 is laminated on the upper surface of these and fixed by screws or the like. A suppressing member 15 having a post 16 is housed in the opening 14, and then a key film 6 on which a key symbol 5 is printed is fixed onto the upper frame 4 by adhesive or the like, thereby forming a key manpower section.

FIG. 5 shows a state in which the key symbol 5 is pressed with the finger 21 in the above configuration. The key film 6 is bent by the pressing operation, the pressing member 15 is pushed down, and the post 16 deforms the upper flexible printed circuit board 9. As a result, the upper and lower flexible printed circuit boards 9,
When the first and second contacts 17 and 18 provided at 11 come into contact and the pressure is continued, the lower flexible print will be damaged in the area of the gap between the lower flexible substrate 11 and the frame and the post 20 at 7. The substrate 11 also abuts the flexible post 20. If the suppression is continued further, the lower flexible printed circuit board 11 will be pushed up by the post 20, the contact pressure of the first contact and the second contact 18 will increase, the contact resistance will rapidly decrease, and the predetermined key force will be increased. A signal is formed.

According to the embodiments described above, the first. Second contact 17.18
Since no external force is applied directly to the contact area, and the load is increased indirectly due to the flexibility of the lower flexible substrate, the possibility of key force failure due to contact wear, which is the case in the past, can be significantly reduced. can. In addition, it can be constructed at low cost simply by providing a gap below the contact area, and does not increase the key stroke or the thickness of the device.

In the above embodiment, the flexible printed circuit board having key contacts is deformed by the pressing member 15 provided on the lower surface of the key film 6. The same effect as above can also be obtained by pressing using a .

[Effects] As is clear from the above explanation, according to the present invention, two printed circuit boards on which contact patterns are formed are placed facing each other with a slight gap in between, and are bent by pressing them to create a conductive In a device that performs key operation by bringing the patterns into contact, the contact pattern is ring-shaped, and a gap area is provided in which both printed circuit boards can be deformed by the pressing force when the keys are pressed by the key force, and a post is provided in the center of this gap area. Since the key manually operated mechanism is configured, contact wear can be reduced to ensure reliable key manually operated, and an excellent key manually operated device having a short key stroke and a thin profile can be provided easily and inexpensively.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a top perspective view showing the structure of a conventional electronic desktop calculator; Fig. 2 is a sectional view showing the structure of a conventional key-powered device;
Figure 3 and the following diagrams explain one embodiment of the present invention.
4 is an exploded perspective view of the key manpower device of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the key manpower device of the present invention in an operating state. 4... Upper frame 5... Key symbol 6... Key film 7... Lower frame 9.11... Flexible printed circuit board 12... Spacer 13.14.19... Opening 15... Suppressing member 16.20...Pos 17.18
... Contacts Fig. 1 Fig. 3 Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 5r

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a key-powered device, printed circuit boards with contact patterns formed thereon are arranged facing each other with a gap in between, and a pressing force is applied to bring the contact patterns into contact with each other to perform key operation. 1. A manual key device, characterized in that the printed circuit board is deformable by pressing force, and further includes an opening in which the printed circuit board can be deformed, and a protrusion that supports the central part of the contact pattern when being pressed.