KR100953299B1 - optical sheet and optical sheet manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

The waveguide sheet which transmits light to a plurality of buttons of a personal portable terminal including a plurality of buttons is formed by curing a liquid transparent resin, and a waveguide body and a border of the waveguide body including a scattering pattern corresponding to each of the plurality of buttons. It is provided along with a sheet reinforcement is formed by curing the light-transparent resin with a waveguide body. The liquid translucent resin forming the waveguide body has an advantage in that the thickness of the waveguide body can be formed very thin. However, the waveguide body may be dried because the thickness is very thin. In this case, the sheet reinforcement provided along the edge of the waveguide body is formed to be thicker than the thickness of the waveguide body, and is formed on the edge of the waveguide body, thereby preventing the edge of the waveguide body from curling, thereby facilitating the waveguide body to maintain its shape. .

Waveguide, Waveguide Body, Sheet Reinforcement

Description

Optical sheet and optical sheet manufacturing method

The present invention relates to a waveguide sheet and a method for manufacturing a waveguide sheet, and more particularly, to a waveguide sheet and a waveguide sheet manufacturing method capable of maintaining a shape by providing a guide sheet at one end of the transparent film to maintain a certain intensity. .

Personal portable devices such as mobile phones and portable game consoles are provided with a keypad for inputting transmission and reception states. A light emitting device may be provided on the bottom of the keypad, and the light emitting device enables a user to check letters, numbers, and the like on the keypad. As the light emitting device, an LED or the like may be used, and the LED makes it possible to write the bottom of the keypad with a small number.

A waveguide may be provided on the bottom surface of the keypad so that the light emitting device can be efficiently written. The waveguide sheet is an optical film that minimizes light source loss by enabling constant adjustment of the light source of the light emitting device on the bottom of the keypad. The waveguide may be formed by injection or mold using a plastic film, or alternatively, may be formed using a liquid light-transmissive resin.

Since the waveguide sheet formed of the plastic film has a higher hardness than other materials, the key input sensitivity may be deteriorated depending on the hardness of the waveguide sheet, and the waveguide sheet made of the plastic film may provide sufficient luminance compared to other materials. none.

In this case, the waveguide may be formed using a liquid light-transmissive resin. In this case, the luminance of the light source of the light emitting device is higher than that of other materials, and the pressure of the keypad may be improved because the liquid light-transmissive resin is a soft material. Although there is an advantage that the thickness is very thin, there is also a problem that the waveguide is well bent or difficult to maintain the shape.

The present invention is easy to maintain the shape of the waveguide body of the waveguide sheet, and provides a waveguide and a waveguide sheet manufacturing method that can increase the brightness of the keypad and the button of the keypad can be recognized more accurately.

The present invention provides a waveguide body and a waveguide sheet manufacturing method with improved key feeling according to the pressing operation of the keypad by providing a soft waveguide body.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the waveguide for transmitting light to a plurality of buttons of a personal handheld terminal including a plurality of buttons is formed by curing the light-transparent resin, and includes a scattering pattern corresponding to each of the plurality of buttons Is provided along the edge of the waveguide body and the waveguide body and has a sheet reinforcement portion formed by curing the light-transmissive resin with the waveguide body. The liquid translucent resin forming the waveguide body has an advantage in that the thickness of the waveguide body can be formed very thin. However, the waveguide body may be dried because the thickness is very thin. In this case, the sheet reinforcement provided along the edge of the waveguide body is formed to be thicker than the thickness of the waveguide body, and is formed on the edge of the waveguide body, thereby preventing the edge of the waveguide body from curling, thereby facilitating the waveguide body to maintain its shape. .

Inside the seat reinforcement may be provided a reinforcement core along the inside of the seat reinforcement. The reinforcing core may be formed of a metal or plastic film, or the like, and may be provided along the edge of the waveguide body to support the edge region of the waveguide body.

In particular, the reinforcing core may be partially disconnected at a location corresponding to the ambient light source, which may comprise a reinforcing core disc formed to bypass out in a c-shape. The reinforcing core disc may be cut in the process of forming the waveguide, and the light source may be positioned close to the cut region.

That is, the reinforcing core may be partially cut during the forming process, and the waveguide body may be exposed through the cut region. Providing the light source in close proximity to the exposed waveguide body allows the light of the light source to directly enter the waveguide body. Thus, the brightness of the leaking keypad can be increased.

As described above, the waveguide body may be formed using a liquid light-transmissive resin, but the waveguide body formed of the liquid light-transmissive resin may have a thin edge so that the edge may curl. In this case, when the edge area of the waveguide body is formed thicker than the inside of the waveguide body or a supporting member such as a reinforcing core is provided, the waveguide body edge may be prevented from curling.

The light transmitting film may be further provided on the waveguide body. Since the waveguide body is formed of a liquid translucent resin, dust or foreign matter may be easily adsorbed on the upper portion. Since the button press operation of the keypad may not be performed accurately by dust or foreign matter, it is possible to protect the upper surface of the waveguide sheet by providing a light-transmitting film.

On the other hand, the waveguide sheet manufacturing method for transmitting light to the plurality of buttons of the personal portable terminal including a plurality of buttons according to another embodiment of the present invention by providing a liquid light-transmissive resin, by curing the light-transmissive resin Forming a waveguide body, forming a sheet reinforcement portion by curing a liquid translucent resin along with the waveguide body along an edge of the waveguide body, and forming a scattering pattern corresponding to each of the plurality of buttons of the waveguide body. do. According to the waveguide manufacturing method, the edge of the waveguide body may be prevented from curling by the sheet reinforcement provided along the edge of the waveguide body, and the waveguide body may be easily maintained.

In the step of forming the sheet reinforcement by curing the waveguide body and the liquid light-transmissive resin along the edge of the waveguide body may further include a step of providing a reinforcing core inside the sheet reinforcement, the reinforcement core is a hardness, such as metal, plastic film Can be used as a material with In addition, the reinforcement core may be provided along the edge of the sheet reinforcement to assist in maintaining the shape of the edge of the waveguide body.

The method may further include providing a reinforcing core partially cut at a position corresponding to a light source surrounding the sheet reinforcing part in the step of forming the sheet reinforcing part by curing the liquid translucent resin along with the waveguide body along the edge of the waveguide body. The light may enter the waveguide body from the surrounding light source through the partially disconnected region.

In other words, the reinforcing core may further include a reinforcing core disc capable of bypassing the light source, wherein the reinforcing core disc may be removed through cutting in the process of manufacturing the waveguide. Through the area where the reinforcing core disc is removed, the waveguide body and the light source directly correspond to each other, thereby increasing the brightness of the keypad.

According to the waveguide and the waveguide sheet manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention, the waveguide body can be easily maintained in the shape, it is easy to maintain the shape on the bottom surface of the keypad. The easy-to-shape waveguide can increase the brightness of the keypad because it can minimize the leakage of incoming light, and the button can be more accurately recognized by the user.

According to the waveguide and the waveguide sheet manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention, by providing a soft waveguide body can be improved the key feeling according to the pressing operation of the keypad. The waveguide according to the embodiment of the present invention may be formed by curing the liquid transparent resin, and the liquid transparent resin may be a soft material to deliver a soft touch to the user when the pressing operation is performed. As a result, the key feeling can be further improved according to the pressing operation of the keypad.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited or limited by the embodiments. For reference, in the present description, the same numbers refer to substantially the same elements, and may be described by quoting the contents described in other drawings under the above rules, and the contents repeated or deemed apparent to those skilled in the art may be omitted.

1 is an exploded perspective view of a personal portable terminal equipped with a wave guide sheet according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the wave guide sheet of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a line I-I of FIG. 1. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a modified example of the first embodiment of the present invention.

Prior to the description of the present invention, in the present specification, a personal portable device (Personal Portable Device) refers to a portable electronic device such as a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a smart phone, a handheld PC, a mobile phone, an MP3 player, or the like. As an electronic device, a predetermined communication module such as a code division multiplexing access (CDMA) module, a Bluetooth module, an infrared communication module (IrDA), a wired / wireless LAN card can be provided, and by mounting a predetermined microprocessor for performing a multimedia playback function, It can be used as a concept that collectively refers to a terminal having a predetermined computing power. In addition, in addition to the structure consisting of the dome switch and the electrode, the keypad may be selected according to the applied technology level, and may be changed to suit the terminal.

Hereinafter, the personal portable terminal of the mobile phone will be described as an example, and in particular, a personal portable terminal having a structure that is opened and closed in a folder manner will be exemplified, but in another embodiment of the present invention, a slide method and a bar are provided. A personal portable terminal such as a scheme may be provided.

1 to 4, the personal portable terminal 100 includes a front body 120, a keypad 140, a dome switch 160, and a rear body 180. The keypad 140 and the dome switch 160 may be mounted in the front and rear body 180, and the keypad 140 may be exposed to the outside through the keypad hole 150 of the front body 120.

The keypad 140 may be provided with a button 142 that allows a user to push. The button 142 may be formed by printing, indexing, or the like. For example, the button 142 may be attached with a film printed with letters or numbers, or may be indexed using a laser or the like. The conditions for forming such a button may be variously changed according to conditions or design specifications required by the invention.

A waveguide sheet 200 may be provided on the bottom of the keypad 140, and a dome switch 160 may be positioned on the bottom of the waveguide sheet 200. In this case, the wave guide sheet 200 may be provided with a sheet reinforcement portion 240 along the edge of the wave guide body 220, the light source for irradiating light to the wave guide sheet 200 may be included on the dome switch 160. .

The waveguide body 220 may be formed by curing a liquid translucent resin, and in general, may be cured in a mold by using liquid silicone. In particular, the wave guide body 220 may be formed of a material that can be transferred to the light so that it can be recognized, such as letters or numbers of the button 142.

The edge of the waveguide body 220 may be provided with a sheet reinforcement portion 240 cured by using a liquid light transmitting resin together with the waveguide body 220. The sheet reinforcement part 240 may be formed relatively thicker than an inner thickness of the waveguide body 220 along the edge of the waveguide body 220 to facilitate the shape of the waveguide body 220. That is, the waveguide body 220 is formed of a liquid light-transmissive resin can be manufactured to be quite thin in thickness. The thinly manufactured waveguide body 220 may not be accurately transferred even when the light of the light source is introduced due to a curled edge. The edge of the waveguide body 220 may be prevented from being curled by providing the sheet reinforcement 240 manufactured thicker than the waveguide body 220 along the edge of the waveguide body 220.

In this case, the sheet reinforcement part 240 may be formed using the same material as the waveguide body 220. For example, the sheet reinforcement part 240 may be formed by curing a liquid translucent resin, and may be formed together with the waveguide body 220. Of course, in the present specification, the waveguide body 220 and the sheet reinforcement part 240 will be described using, for example, liquid silicone, but may be formed using a soft material such as liquid urethane.

Referring to FIG. 4 again, a light transmitting film 300 may be provided on the waveguide body 220. The light transmitting film 300 may prevent dust or foreign matter from adsorbing on the waveguide body 220, and may prevent the waveguide body 220 from coming into close contact with the bottom surface of the keypad 140. In addition, the light-transmitting film 300 may be provided as a plastic film, such as PET, PC, it is generally formed of a transparent material can pass the light of the light source.

A scattering pattern 222 may be formed on the bottom surface of the waveguide sheet 200. The scattering pattern 222 may serve to scatter the light of the light source, and may be formed using laser engraving, a mold, or the like. Hereinafter, in the present invention, an example of forming the scattering pattern 222 by using a laser will be described.

The scattering pattern 222 may be formed in an intaglio, an embossed shape, or a combination thereof. For example, the scattering pattern may be formed to protrude in the bottom direction of the waveguide body as the protrusions are formed, or may have a protrusion shape that rises upward in the waveguide body. Since the scattering pattern 222 is formed to maximize the scattering action of light, the shape, the formation method, and the like may be variously changed according to the conditions, design specifications, and the like required by the present invention.

5 is a perspective view illustrating a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 shows a second modified example of FIG. 5.

5 to 7, the sheet reinforcement part 240 may be provided along the edge of the waveguide body 220, and the reinforcement core 242 may be further included in the sheet reinforcement part 240.

Here, the waveguide body 220 may be formed using a liquid transparent resin as in the first embodiment of the present invention, and may be formed by curing the liquid silicone in a mold.

The sheet reinforcement part 240 may be provided along the edge of the waveguide body 220, and the reinforcement core 242 in the sheet reinforcement part 240 may use a material having a relatively hardness than the waveguide body 220. . For example, the reinforcing core 242 may be a metal, a plastic film, or the like, and may be provided on the liquid light transmitting resin and formed together with the waveguide body 220. When the reinforcing core 242 in the sheet reinforcement 240 is provided, the edge region of the waveguide body 220 may be made relatively harder than the inner region of the waveguide body 220, and as a result, The phenomenon that the shape is deformed can be minimized.

As described above, the waveguide body 220 may be formed by curing a liquid translucent resin. The liquid translucent resin may be formed of a soft material with a considerably low hardness and a considerably thin thickness. As a result, the edge of the waveguide body may be curled, and the light of the light source around the waveguide body may not be correctly introduced into the waveguide body, and thus the brightness of the keypad may be considerably reduced. At this time, if the sheet reinforcement portion 240 is provided along the edge of the waveguide body 220, it can support the edge of the waveguide body 220, the light is correctly introduced into the waveguide body 220 of the keypad 140 The brightness can be improved.

Meanwhile, the light transmitting film 300 may be further provided on the waveguide body 220. The light transmitting film 300 may prevent dust or foreign matter from being adsorbed on the waveguide body 220 formed by using the liquid transparent resin. Transmissive film 300 may be formed of a plastic film, such as PET, PC, it is preferable to have a suitable hardness to facilitate the pressing operation of the button 142.

8 is a plan view modified from the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of FIG. 8.

8 and 9, the reinforcing core 242 provided inside the sheet reinforcing part 240 may be formed to be partially disconnected at a position corresponding to the ambient light source. For example, the reinforcing core 242 may have a reinforcing core disc 244 bypassing the light source, and the reinforcing core disc 244 is cut in the process of forming the waveguide sheet 200 to form one of the reinforcing cores 242. The part can be disconnected.

Referring to the drawings, the waveguide sheet 200 may be manufactured in a large number on the waveguide sheet 200 to be cut according to the size of the keypad 140, and a part of the sheet reinforcement portion 240 during the cutting process. This can be done. For example, the sheet reinforcement part 240 may include a reinforcing core disc 244 extending in a c-shape, and the reinforcing core disc 244 is formed to bypass a light source provided on the side of the waveguide body 220. Can be. That is, since the extended reinforcement core disk 244 may be formed to bypass the waveguide body 220 relatively outwards, the waveguide body 220 is cut together while being cut, so that a part of the sheet reinforcement 240 may be disconnected. It becomes possible.

When the reinforcing core disc 244 is cut, the waveguide body 220 may be exposed, and the light source may be provided in proximity to the exposed waveguide body 220. The provided light source may be irradiated with light directly to the waveguide body 220. As a result, the transfer of the light source can be improved, and the brightness of the keypad 140 can be improved.

On the other hand, Figure 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a waveguide sheet manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 11 is a flow chart showing a waveguide sheet manufacturing method of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 10 and 11, the method for manufacturing a waveguide includes providing a liquid light transmitting resin (S111), curing the liquid light transmitting resin to form a waveguide body (S112), and waveguide along the edge of the waveguide body. Hardening the liquid transparent resin together with the body to form a sheet reinforcement (S113) and forming a scattering pattern corresponding to each of the plurality of buttons of the waveguide body (S114).

In order to manufacture the waveguide 200, an upper mold 30 and a lower mold 50 are provided. The upper mold 30 is liftably positioned on the lower mold 50 and includes a groove for forming the plurality of push protrusions 224. The manufacturing method according to the present embodiment is described with an example in which the pressing protrusion is integrally formed on the waveguide 200, but the pressing protrusion may be provided separately without being integrally formed with the waveguide. In addition, the upper and lower positions of the upper mold lower mold may be changed.

The liquid translucent resin 20 may be provided on the lower mold 50 (S111). The liquid translucent resin 20 may generally be provided with liquid silicone, but may also be provided with liquid urethane.

In addition, the light transmitting film 300 may be provided on the bottom of the liquid transparent resin 20. The light transmissive film 300 may prevent dust or foreign matter from being adsorbed on the waveguide body 220 after the liquid translucent resin 20 is cured. In addition, an adhesive layer may be further provided on the light-transmitting film 300, and the adhesive layer may be in close contact with the waveguide body 220 and the light-transmitting film 300 in which the liquid light-transmissive resin 20 is hardened.

The upper mold 30 is lowered to apply heat and pressure to the liquid transparent resin 20 together with the lower mold 50. The liquid translucent resin 20 may be converted into a light transmitting sheet by heat and pressure, and the light transmitting sheet may be the waveguide body 220 (S112). In addition, the pressing protrusion 224 of the waveguide 200 may be formed by the groove formed in the upper mold 30 in the process of manufacturing the waveguide body 220. In this case, the sheet reinforcement part 240 may be formed by curing the liquid transparent resin 20 together with the waveguide body 220 at the edge of the waveguide body 220 (S113).

Sheet reinforcement portion 240 may be formed thicker than the inner thickness of the waveguide body 220, the waveguide body 220 may serve to maintain the shape. As described above, the waveguide body 220 may be formed by using the liquid transparent resin 20, and the thickness of the waveguide body 220 formed as described above may be considerably thin. As a result, there is a problem that the edge of the waveguide body 220 may be curled. Therefore, the sheet reinforcement portion 240 is formed on the edge portion of the waveguide body 220, in particular, the sheet reinforcement portion 240 is formed thicker than the inner thickness of the waveguide body 220, so that the edge portion of the waveguide body 220 Drying can be minimized.

Referring back to the drawing, the waveguide body 220 may be separated from the molds 30 and 50 to form a scattering pattern 222 (S114). The scattering pattern 222 may be formed using a laser, or may be formed in the process of forming the waveguide body 220 by forming a pattern on a mold. In the embodiment of the present invention, for example, the scattering pattern 222 is formed by using a laser, the scattering pattern 222 may be formed to be intaglio, embossed or a combination thereof. The scattering pattern 222 scatters the light when the light of the light source is introduced to a position corresponding to the button 142 so that letters or numbers formed on the button 142 can be more accurately recognized.

Referring to the drawings again, when curing the light-transparent resin 20 along the rim of the waveguide body 220 to form a sheet reinforcement portion 240, the sheet reinforcement portion 240 is provided to the reinforcement core 242 Can be. The reinforcing core 242 is provided with a material that is relatively harder than the liquid translucent resin 20 such as metal or plastic film to support the edge of the waveguide body 220 so that the waveguide body 220 can maintain its shape.

As described above, although described with reference to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, those skilled in the art various modifications and variations of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention described in the claims below I can understand that you can.

1 is an exploded perspective view of a personal portable terminal equipped with a waveguide according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the waveguide of FIG. 1. FIG.

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II of FIG. 1.

4 is a cross-sectional view showing a modification of the first embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 illustrates a second modification of FIG. 5.

8 is a plan view modified from the second embodiment of the present invention.

9 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of FIG. 8.

10 is a cross-sectional view showing a waveguide manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

11 is a flowchart illustrating a method for manufacturing a waveguide according to the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

100: personal portable terminal 200: waveguide

220: wave guide body 240: sheet reinforcement

242: reinforcing core 244: reinforcing core disc

Claims (12)

In the wave guide sheet for transmitting light to the plurality of buttons of the personal mobile terminal including a plurality of buttons, A waveguide body formed by curing a liquid light transmitting resin and including a scattering pattern corresponding to each of the plurality of buttons; And A sheet reinforcement part provided along an edge of the waveguide body and formed by curing a liquid translucent resin together with the waveguide body;  Waveguide having a. The method of claim 1, The sheet reinforcement part further comprises a reinforcement core provided along the inside of the sheet reinforcement part. The method of claim 2, The reinforcing core is partially cut off at a position corresponding to an ambient light source to allow light to enter the waveguide body from the ambient light source. The method of claim 3, The partially cut off portion of the reinforcing core provides a reinforcing core disc having a portion bypassing in response to the position of the ambient light source, and together with the reinforcing core and a liquid light transmitting resin for the waveguide body and the sheet reinforcing portion. And curing the bypass portion of the reinforcing core disc together with an outer portion of the sheet reinforcing portion. The method of claim 2, The reinforcing core is a waveguide, characterized in that formed of a metal or plastic film. The method of claim 1, A light transmitting film is further provided on the upper surface of the waveguide body, wherein the light transmitting film is formed of a plastic film. In the waveguide sheet manufacturing method for transmitting light to the plurality of buttons of the personal mobile terminal comprising a plurality of buttons, Providing a liquid light transmitting resin; Curing the liquid light transmitting resin to form a waveguide body; Forming a sheet reinforcement part by curing a liquid transparent resin along with the waveguide body along an edge of the waveguide body; And Forming a scattering pattern corresponding to each of the plurality of buttons of the waveguide body; Waveguide sheet manufacturing method comprising a. The method of claim 7, wherein The sheet reinforcement in the step of forming a sheet reinforcement by curing the liquid transparent resin along with the waveguide body along the edge of the wave guide body further comprises the step of providing a reinforcing core provided along the interior of the transparent liquid resin Waveguide sheet manufacturing method characterized in that. The method of claim 8, In the step of forming a sheet reinforcement by curing the liquid transparent resin along with the wave guide body along the edge of the wave guide body, the reinforcement core is further formed to be partially disconnected at a position corresponding to the ambient light source, A method of manufacturing a wave guide sheet that allows light to enter the waveguide body from the surrounding light source through a partially disconnected region. 10. The method of claim 9, The reinforcing core disc providing a reinforcing core disc having a portion bypassed in correspondence with the position of the peripheral light source partially disconnected from the reinforcing core after forming the portion to be partially disconnected at a position corresponding to the ambient light source, The reinforcing core disc further includes a step of cutting together with the outer portion of the sheet reinforcing part after the step of forming a sheet reinforcing part by curing a liquid translucent resin along with the waveguide body along the edge of the waveguide body. Sheet manufacturing method. The method of claim 8, The sheet reinforcing part is a waveguide manufacturing method, characterized in that the reinforcing core is formed of a metal or plastic film in the step of providing a reinforcing core provided along the inside of the sheet reinforcement. The method of claim 7, wherein Before providing the liquid light-transmissive resin further comprises the step of providing a light-transmitting film on the bottom of the liquid light-transmissive resin, the light-transmitting film is to cure the liquid light-transmissive resin to scatter corresponding to each of the plurality of buttons Waveguide sheet manufacturing method characterized in that formed with the waveguide body in the step of forming a waveguide body including a pattern.

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