TW201705167A - Keyswitch with noise reducing function and related keyboard - Google Patents

Abstract

A keyboard has a plurality of keyswitches with noise reducing function. Each keyswitch includes a base, a keycap, a balance bar, a noise reducing component and a resilient buffer. The base has a constraining structure. The keycap is movably disposed on the base. The balance bar is rotatably disposed on the base by the constraining structure and further connected to the keycap. The noise reducing component is disposed adjacent to the constraining structure to support the balance bar. The resilient buffer is disposed under the noise reducing component to apply an upward supporting force to the noise reducing component, so as to contact the balance bar against the constraining structure.

Description

Button with noise reduction effect and its keyboard

The invention provides a button and a keyboard thereof, in particular a button with a noise reduction effect and a keyboard thereof.

Traditional buttons include a bottom plate, a keycap, a balance bar, and an elastomer. The end rod of the balance bar is rotatably inserted into the hole structure of the bottom plate, the key cap is mounted on the upper rod portion of the balance bar, and the elastic body is disposed between the key cap and the bottom plate. When the user presses the key cap, the key cap stably moves downwardly relative to the bottom plate by the support of the balance bar, and compresses the elastic body to simultaneously store the elastic restoring force; when the external force is removed from the key cap, the elastic body releases the elastic restoring force. Pushing up the keycap, the keycap will stabilize against the bottom plate by the balance bar. For the convenience of assembly, the size of the balance bar is usually smaller than the inner diameter of the hole structure; however, when the balance bar rotates relative to the hole structure, the balance bar will occasionally collide with the inner wall of the hole structure to generate annoying noise, so how to design a kind The button that effectively reduces this collision noise is one of the development topics of the related keyboard industry.

The invention provides a button with a noise reduction effect and a keyboard thereof to solve the above problems.

The patent application scope of the present invention discloses a button having a noise reduction effect, which comprises a bottom plate, a key cap, a balance bar, a piece body and an elastic spacer. The bottom plate has a limit structure. The keycap activity is disposed on the bottom plate. The sheet has a noise reduction portion. The balance bar is rotatably disposed on the bottom plate via the limiting structure and is connected to the key cap. The sheet body is adjacent to the limiting structure to support the balance bar. The elastic spacer is disposed on the noise reduction portion. The resilient spacer provides an upward support force to the noise reduction portion such that the balance bar substantially contacts the limit structure.

The patent application scope of the present invention further discloses a keyboard having a noise reduction effect, which comprises a bottom plate and a plurality of buttons. The bottom plate has a plurality of limit structures. The plurality of buttons are disposed on the bottom plate. Each button includes a keycap, a balance bar, a piece of body, and a resilient spacer. The bottom plate has a limit structure. The keycap activity is disposed on the bottom plate. The sheet has a noise reduction portion. The balance bar is rotatably disposed on the bottom plate via the limiting structure and is connected to the key cap. The sheet body is adjacent to the limiting structure to support the balance bar. The elastic spacer is disposed under the noise reduction portion of the sheet. The elastic gasket provides an upward supporting force to the noise reduction portion of the sheet body, so that the balance rod substantially contacts the limiting structure.

The button of the invention utilizes the setting of the elastic gasket to effectively solve the annoying noise problem of the traditional button during operation, and has the advantages of simple assembly, low material cost, smooth overall operation and high noise reduction effect.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a keyboard 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an exploded view of components of the button 12 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The keyboard 10 can include a plurality of buttons 12 at the same time, and the bottom plate 14 of the keyboard 10 has a plurality of limit structures 16, each of which is disposed on the corresponding limit structure 16. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the button 12 includes a key cap 18, a balance bar 20, a sheet body 22, an elastic spacer 24, a lifting support mechanism 26, and an elastic body 28. The sheet body 22 has a noise reduction portion 30. The two ends 201 of the balance bar 20 are rotatably disposed on the bottom plate 14 by the limiting structure 16, and the intermediate portion 202 of the balance bar 20 is coupled to the key cap 18 in a snapping manner to allow the key cap 18 to be moved through the balance bar 20 On the bottom plate 14. The lifting support mechanism 26 and the elastic body 28 are selective elements disposed between the keycap 18 and the bottom plate 14 for providing supporting force and operating feeling to the button 12.

The sheet 22 is made of a soft material, for example, made of a polyester film (Mylar). The sheet 22 is used to shield the metal portion between the keys 18 to make the appearance of the keyboard look more beautiful. The stop structure 16 is generally a buttonhole structure into which the end edge 201 of the balance bar 20 is inserted to provide relative freedom of rotation. The size of the rod of the balance bar 20 is necessarily slightly smaller than the aperture size of the limiting structure 16 to facilitate the combination of the two; however, when the button 12 is operated, the balance bar 20 occasionally collides with the inner wall of the limiting structure 16 to generate noise. Therefore, in the present invention, the noise reduction portion 30 extending from the sheet body 22 is adjacent to the limiting structure 16 and supported under the balance bar 20. The noise reduction portion 30 can slightly raise the balance bar 20, reduce the gap between the balance bar 20 and the inner wall of the limiting structure 16, and try to make the balance bar 20 closely adhere to the inner wall of the limiting structure 16 to avoid a collision sound.

Please refer to FIG. 3 to FIG. 5 . FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are respectively a partial structural diagram of the button 12 in different viewing angles according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional line A- along the button 12 shown in FIG. 2 . A schematic cross-section of A'. As can be seen from FIGS. 3 and 4, the noise reduction portion 30 is a block near the limit structure 16 (the portion for supporting the balance bar 20), and the noise reduction portion 30 can raise the balance bar 20 to the height. The inner wall of the limiting structure 16 is affixed. However, a gap is formed between the noise reduction portion 30 and the bottom plate 14. When the weight of the balance bar 20 exceeds the support capacity of the sheet body 22, the noise reduction portion 30 of the sheet body 22 is pressed down to approach the bottom plate 14, and it is difficult to provide sufficient support force to lift the balance bar 20. Therefore, in the present invention, the elastic spacer 24 is disposed under the noise reduction portion 30, and the elastic spacer 24 fills the gap between the noise reduction portion 30 and the bottom plate 14, and can provide an upward supporting force to the noise reduction portion 30, and strengthen the sheet. The overall supporting force of 22 allows the balance bar 20 to substantially contact the inner wall of the limiting structure 16 to avoid collision and noise.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, since the noise reduction portion 30 is located at the edge of the sheet 22 and a space is formed between the bottom plate 14 below the noise reduction portion 30, the noise reduction portion 30 can be regarded as the free end of the sheet 22, and the elastic pad The sheet 24 is disposed below the free end. In addition, the noise reduction portion 30 of the sheet 22 is offset between the limiting structure 16 to support the bridging portion 203 of the balance bar 20, that is, the noise reduction portion 30 is not disposed beside the aperture of the limiting structure 16, nor is it set in the limit. Below the aperture of the bit structure 16. In the embodiment of the present invention, the elastic spacer 24 is generally a separate member of the separable bottom plate 14, such as foam, sponge, rubber cushion, elastic colloid, polyester film, etc.; however, the elastic gasket 24 can be formed by two-shot molding. The method is combined with the bottom plate 14. The application of the elastic spacer 24 is not limited to that described in the foregoing embodiments, and depending on the actual needs, it is within the design scope of the present invention to support the free end of the sheet 22 to raise the balance bar 20.

In summary, the sheet body 22 of the button 12 supports the balance bar 20 by the noise reduction portion 30 at the free end. Since the noise reduction portion 30 and the lower bottom plate 14 have a gap, it is difficult for the noise reduction portion 30 to provide a stable and sufficient force to lift the balance bar 20. Therefore, the present invention provides an elastic spacer 24 under the noise reduction portion 30 to increase the thickness. In order to fill the gap, the balance bar 20 can be in close contact with the inner wall of the limiting structure 16 through the elastic recovery characteristics of the noise reducing portion 30 and the elastic spacer 24. In this way, when the user operates the button 12, the balance bar 20 does not jump up and down the inner wall of the limiting structure 16 to generate noise. In particular, the height of the total structure of the noise reduction portion 30 and the elastic spacers 24 preferably needs to be greater than the difference between the aperture size of the limiting structure 16 and the size of the shaft of the balance bar 20. The noise reduction portion 30 and the elastic spacer 24 are made of a soft material, and can completely fill the gap between the limiting structure 16 and the balance bar 20 through the elastic deformation amount thereof, without hindering the smooth assembly of the balance bar 20 into the limiting structure 16 . Sex, of course, does not limit the rotation of the balance bar 20 and affects the operational feel.

Compared with the prior art, the button of the present invention utilizes the setting of the elastic gasket to effectively solve the annoying noise problem of the conventional button during operation, and has the advantages of simple assembly, low material cost, smooth overall operation and high noise reduction effect. The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and all changes and modifications made to the scope of the present invention should be within the scope of the present invention.

10‧‧‧ keyboard
12‧‧‧ button
14‧‧‧floor
16‧‧‧Limited structure
18‧‧‧Key Cap
20‧‧‧Balance rod
201‧‧‧End
202‧‧‧middle section
203‧‧‧Bridge section
22‧‧‧pie
24‧‧‧elastic gasket
26‧‧‧ Lifting support mechanism
28‧‧‧ Elastomers
30‧‧‧ Noise Reduction Department
A-A'‧‧‧ hatching

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a keyboard according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is an exploded view of the components of the button of the embodiment of the present invention. 3 and 4 are schematic views showing the structure of a button at different viewing angles according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the key 12 shown in Fig. 2.

12‧‧‧ button

14‧‧‧floor

16‧‧‧Limited structure

18‧‧‧Key Cap

20‧‧‧Balance rod

201‧‧‧End

202‧‧‧middle section

203‧‧‧Bridge section

22‧‧‧pie

24‧‧‧elastic gasket

26‧‧‧ Lifting support mechanism

28‧‧‧ Elastomers

30‧‧‧ Noise Reduction Department

A-A’‧‧‧ hatching

Claims (12)

A button with a noise reduction effect, comprising: a bottom plate having a limiting structure; a key cap movably disposed on the bottom plate; a balance bar rotatably disposed on the bottom plate via the limiting structure and connecting the key a noise reduction portion adjacent to the limiting structure to support the balance bar; and an elastic spacer disposed under the noise reduction portion, the elastic gasket providing an upward supporting force to the noise reduction portion, so that The balance bar substantially contacts the limit structure. The button of claim 1, further comprising: a lifting support mechanism disposed between the keycap and the bottom plate; and an elastic body disposed between the key cap and the bottom plate. The button of claim 1, wherein the elastic spacer is disposed on the bottom plate and is located in an area of the limiting structure. The button of claim 1, wherein the elastic spacer is disposed below a free end of the noise reduction portion. The button of claim 1, wherein the elastic spacer fills a gap between the bottom plate and the noise reduction portion. The button of claim 1, wherein the elastic gasket is formed on the bottom plate by injection molding, or is a separate member that can separate the bottom plate. A keyboard with a noise reduction effect, comprising: a bottom plate having a plurality of limit structures; and a plurality of buttons disposed on the bottom plate, each button comprising: a key cap disposed on the bottom plate; a balance bar is disposed on the bottom plate and connected to the key cap through the limiting structure; a noise reduction portion is disposed adjacent to the limiting structure to support the balance bar; and an elastic spacer is disposed under the noise reduction portion The elastic gasket provides an upward supporting force to the noise reduction portion, so that the balance bar substantially contacts the limiting structure. The keyboard of claim 7, wherein the button further comprises a lifting support mechanism and an elastic body disposed between the key cap and the bottom plate. The keyboard of claim 7, wherein the elastic spacer is disposed on the bottom plate and is located in an area of the limiting structure. The keyboard of claim 7, wherein the elastic spacer is disposed below a free end of the noise reduction portion. The keyboard of claim 7, wherein the elastic spacer fills a gap between the bottom plate and the noise reduction portion. The keyboard of claim 7, wherein the elastic gasket is formed on the bottom plate by injection molding, or is a separate member that can separate the bottom plate.