TW201717234A - Key structure - Google Patents

Abstract

A key structure includes a base; a thin-film circuit board set on the base; a conduction dome set on the thin-film circuit board; a key cap; a bent portion, fixed on the key cap; a elastic member, disposed on the thin-film circuit board and against the key cap; and a linkage rod, movably disposed between the thin-film circuit board and the key cap, the linkage rod includes an operating arm and an engaging portion, the engaging portion is selectively engaged with the bent portion; wherein when the operating arm is moved along a direction which is parallel to the surface of the key cap, the operating arm drives the engaging portion to disengage from the bent portion and the elastic member provides a force to the key cap so that the key cap is moved away from the conduction dome.

Description

Button structure

The invention relates to a button structure, in particular a detachable button structure.

A keyboard that is currently used in an electronic device (for example, a notebook computer) is one in which a flexible switch is provided on the film circuit, and the key cap is placed on the switch. By pressing the keycap to drive the conduction switch, the conduction switch turns on the corresponding button circuit on the thin film circuit, so that the corresponding button sends the signal.

In order to allow the keycap to move up and down within a certain distance, a scissor-type positioning structure is used to be disposed between the film circuit and the keycap. When the keycap is to be removed for cleaning, it is often necessary to apply a force to pull up the keycap to disengage the keycap from the scissor-type positioning structure. Or use special tools to remove the keycap. However, the key cap structure is often damaged due to too much force or wrong disassembly.

In one embodiment, the present invention provides a button structure, including: a bottom plate; a thin film circuit disposed on the bottom plate; a conductive switch disposed on the thin film circuit; a key cap; a bent portion fixed to the key a cap; an elastic member disposed on the film circuit and abutting against the key cap; and a linkage rod movably disposed between the film circuit and the keycap, the linkage bar including an operating arm and a fastening portion, the operation The arm is connected to the fastening portion, and the fastening portion is selectively buckled to the bending portion; wherein, when the operating arm moves in the direction of the surface of the parallel keycap, the operating arm drives the fastening portion away from the bending portion and the elastic member provides the key The cap acts to keep the keycap away from the conduction switch.

Therefore, when the user wants to remove the keycap to clean the inside of the keyboard or the keycap, it is only necessary to pull the operating arm to cause the operating arm to drive the engaging portion out of the bending portion. When the snap-fit relationship between the keycap and the linkage bar disappears, the originally pre-compressed elastic member provides a force to cause the keycap to be flipped up or ejected. After the cleaning is finished, only the keycap is pressed down or the operating arm is moved so that the engaging portion of the linking rod is fastened to the engaging arm again, that is, the resetting of the keycap is completed.

Please refer to FIG. 1 to FIG. 4 , FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a button structure according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a button structure of the embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a view of the embodiment. The rear schematic diagram, FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the operation of the button structure of the embodiment. The key structure in the embodiment is described by taking a button as an example. It can be used on a single button or on a keyboard with multiple buttons. The invention is not limited thereto.

As shown in FIG. 2, the key structure of the present embodiment includes a bottom plate 11, a film circuit 12, a conduction switch 13, a key cap 14, a bent portion 15, an elastic member 16, and a linkage rod 17. As can be seen from FIGS. 2 and 3, the thin film circuit 12 is disposed above the bottom plate 11. The bottom plate 11 has two positioning members 111 which protrude through the film circuit 12 to above the film circuit 12. The positioning member 111 is used to fix the elastic member 16 above the film circuit 12, and will be pressed against the key cap 14 when the key cap 14 is mounted and positioned. In the present embodiment, the elastic member 16 is a compression spring type elastic member to provide a force of the key cap 14, so that it can be ejected under the elastic force when the keycap 14 is disassembled, and the detailed operation principle will be described later. .

The turn-on switch 13 is disposed above the thin film circuit 12. When the switch 13 is assembled, the turn-on switch 13 and the thin film circuit 12 are first fixed and fixed so that the control circuit on the thin film circuit 12 can be turned on when the conductive switch 13 is pressed downward. The linkage rod 17 is disposed above the membrane circuit 12 and adjacent to the conduction switch 13. A bent portion 15 is fixed below the keycap 14. When the keycap 14 is pressed against the conduction switch 13 and the elastic member 16, the interlocking lever 17 can be moved, and the interlocking lever 17 can be engaged with the bent portion 15 to fix the keycap 14.

As shown in FIG. 2, the bending portion 15 includes a connecting arm 151 and a latching arm 152. The two ends of the connecting arm 151 are respectively connected to the keycap 14 and the engaging arm 152, and the engaging arm 152 is not connected to the connecting body. The end of the arm 151 has a guiding surface 153. In the present embodiment, the connecting arm 151 extends downward from the surface of the vertical keycap 14, and the engaging arm 152 is parallel to the surface of the keycap 14. Here, the lower part is based on the direction shown in FIG. The connecting rod 17 includes an operating arm 171 and a fastening portion 172, and the operating arm 171 is coupled to the engaging portion 172. In the embodiment, the engaging portion 172 is n-shaped to be engaged with the engaging arm 152, so that the key cap 14 can move up and down under the limit of the engaging portion 172.

The linkage rod 17 is positionable through the bottom plate 11 to move in the direction of the surface of the parallel keycap 14. In an embodiment, a limiting member is protruded from the bottom plate 11 and connected to the operating arm 171. Thereby, the interlocking rod 17 is connected to the bottom plate 11 by the stopper, and the moving direction and the moving distance of the operating arm 171 can be restricted. In addition, a button 18 is disposed on the operating arm 171 of the interlocking lever 17 for convenient operation and use.

Referring to FIG. 4 again, when the operation button 18 drives the operation arm 171 of the linkage lever 17 to move in a direction parallel to the surface of the keycap 14 (in the direction indicated by the arrow on the surface), the operation arm 171 drives the engagement. The portion 172 moves in a direction away from the bent portion 15 such that the engaging portion 172 is disengaged from the engaging arm 152 of the bent portion 15. At this time, the elastic member 16 provides an upward force of the keycap 14 to move the keycap 14 away from the conduction switch 13 to facilitate the user to remove the keycap 14 for cleaning.

When the keycap 14 is assembled and assembled after cleaning, the keycap 14 is aligned and pressed down on the conduction switch 13 and the elastic member 16. Then, the operation button 18 is operated to move the operating arm 171 of the interlocking lever 17 in a direction parallel to the surface of the keycap 14. The moving direction at this time is opposite to the direction in which the keycap 14 is detached, that is, the engaging portion 172 is moved toward the direction close to the bent portion 15 until the engaging portion 172 is engaged with the bent portion 152. At this time, after the downward force applied to the keycap 14 is released, the keycap 14 can be fixed by the fastening of the engaging portion 172 and the engaging arm 152, and the assembly of the keycap 14 is completed.

With the above configuration, when the user wants to remove the key cap 14 to clean the inside of the keyboard or the key cap 14, the only need to pull the button 18 to drive the operating arm 171 to cause the operating arm 171 to drive the engaging portion 172 out of the bent portion 15. Engagement arm 152. When the snap-fit relationship between the keycap 14 and the linkage rod 17 disappears, the originally pre-compressed elastic member 16 provides a force to cause the keycap 14 to be flipped up or ejected. After the cleaning is completed, only the keycap 14 is pressed down and the operating arm 171 is moved, so that the engaging portion 172 of the linking rod 17 is again engaged to the engaging arm 152, that is, the reset of the keycap 14 is completed. When the keycap 14 is removed, only the linkage rod 17 needs to be operated, and the keycap 14 can be easily removed without using brute force or special tools. In the clean assembly, it is only necessary to press the keycap 14 and move the linkage rod 17 to complete the assembly.

Further, in the present embodiment, in order to make the engaging portion 172 more easily and accurately aligned when the engaging portion 172 is moved and engaged to the engaging arm 152, the guiding surface 153 is provided at the end of the engaging arm 152. Thus, when the engaging portion 172 moves toward the engaging arm 152, it can be aligned and slidably disposed in the engaging arm 152 by the guiding surface 153.

Next, please refer to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a keyboard according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Figure 6 is a partial perspective view of the keyboard of the embodiment. The keyboard of the present example is an external keyboard, but the invention is not limited thereto, and the application can also be used in a keyboard of a notebook computer. In this embodiment, the key structure of the first embodiment is applied to the housing 40 of the keyboard. Therefore, the same components and structures as those of the first embodiment will be denoted by the same component symbols in the present embodiment, and Let me repeat. As shown in Fig. 5, the keys 18 for operational use can be disposed on the outer side of the housing 40 of the keyboard for ease of use. The embodiment is disposed on one side of the housing 40. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be disposed on any side surface of the housing 40 as long as it is convenient to use.

Referring to FIG. 6 , when a plurality of button structures are used, all the connecting rods 17 can be connected, so that all the connecting rods 17 can be simultaneously driven through one button 18 to complete all the keys at one time. The removal of the cap 14. In this way, it is more convenient for the user to disassemble the keycaps 14 for cleaning, without the need to disassemble each of the keycaps 14 one by one, saving time and effort.

In addition, the linkage rod 17 may further include a tension spring 173 disposed near the operating arm 171 connected to the button 18, and one end of the tension spring 173 is connected to the operating arm 171, and the other end is fixed to the base. 11. As shown in FIG. 6, a fixing hook 112 can be protruded from the base 11 so that one end of the tension spring 17 can be pierced and fastened to the fixing hook 112. In some embodiments, the tension spring 173 can also be disposed adjacent the operating arm 173 at any of the positions in the keyboard. Further, one end of the tension spring 173 is connected to the operating arm 171, but the other end may be fixed to the housing 40 instead of the base 11.

Next, please refer to FIG. 7 and FIG. 8. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a button structure according to a third embodiment of the present invention. Figure 8 is a schematic view showing the assembly of the button structure of the embodiment. The same components and structures as those in the first embodiment will be denoted by the same reference numerals and will not be described again. The key structure of this embodiment differs from the first embodiment in the bent portion 25 and the interlocking lever 27. In this embodiment, the bending portion 25 includes a connecting arm 251 and a locking arm 252. One end of the connecting arm 251 is connected to the keycap 14 and the other end is connected to the engaging arm 252. In the present embodiment, the connecting arm 251 extends downward from the surface of the vertical keycap 14, and the engaging arm 252 is parallel to the surface of the keycap 14. The engaging arm 252 has a guiding surface 253 on a side away from the key cap 14 . That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the guide surface 253 is positioned below the engaging arm 252. Here, the lower part is based on the direction shown in Fig. 7.

As shown in FIG. 8, the interlocking lever 27 in this embodiment includes an operating arm 271 and a latching portion 272. The fastening portion 272 includes a resilient arm 2721 and a hook 2722 at the end of the resilient arm 2721. An inclined surface 2723 is provided on the side of the hook 2722 adjacent to the keycap 14. As in the first embodiment, when the operating button 18 drives the operating arm 271 of the interlocking lever 27 to move in a direction parallel to the surface of the keycap 14, the operating arm 271 drives the engaging portion 272 to move away from the bending portion 25. The engaging portion 272 is disengaged from the engaging arm 252 of the bent portion 25. At this time, the elastic member 16 will provide the upward force of the key cap 14 to move the keycap 14 away from the conduction switch 13 to facilitate the user to remove the keycap 14 for cleaning.

When the keycap 14 is to be assembled and reset, it is only necessary to align the keycap 14 downwardly at the position where the keycap 14 is to be mounted. At this time, the guiding surface 253 of the bending portion 25 pushes the inclined surface 2723 of the engaging portion 272, so that the elastic arm 2721 of the engaging portion 272 moves outward until the hook portion of the hook 2722 rebounds to the engagement. Arm 252. In this way, the assembly of the keycap 14 is completed.

Next, please refer to FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, which is a schematic diagram of a button structure according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a schematic view showing the assembly of the button structure of the embodiment. The same components and structures as those in the third embodiment will be denoted by the same reference numerals and will not be described again. The key structure of this embodiment is different from the third embodiment in the interlocking lever 37. In this embodiment, the linkage lever 37 includes an operating arm 371 and a latching portion 372. The fastening portion 372 includes two elastic arms 3721, 3722 arranged in parallel. The end of the elastic arm 3721 has a hook 3723. There is an inclined surface 3724 on the side of the hook 3723 adjacent to the keycap 14. The end of the resilient arm 3722 also has a hook 3725. An inclined surface 3726 is provided on one side of the hook 3725 adjacent to the keycap 14. In the present embodiment, the hook portions of the hooks 3723, 3725 provided at the ends of the two elastic arms 3721, 3722 are disposed facing each other. That is, the two hooks 3723 and 3725 form an n-shaped shape to snap the engaging arm 252 from the left and right sides of the engaging arm 252.

As in the first embodiment, when the operating button 18 drives the operating arm 371 of the interlocking lever 37 to move in a direction parallel to the surface of the keycap 14, the operating arm 371 drives the engaging portion 372 to move away from the bending portion 25. The engaging portion 372 is disengaged from the engaging arm 252 of the bent portion 25. At this time, the elastic member 16 will provide the upward force of the key cap 14 to move the keycap 14 away from the conduction switch 13 to facilitate the user to remove the keycap 14 for cleaning.

When the keycap 14 is to be assembled and reset, it is only necessary to align the keycap 14 downwardly at the position where the keycap 14 is to be mounted. At this time, the guiding surface 253 of the bending portion 25 pushes the inclined surfaces 3724, 3726 of the engaging portion 372, so that the two elastic arms 3721, 3722 of the engaging portion 372 move to the outside until the two hooks 3723, 3725 The hook is snap-fitted to the engaging arm 252. In this way, the assembly of the keycap 14 is completed. In this embodiment, in order to enable the guiding surface 253 to simultaneously push the two inclined surfaces 3724 and 3726, each of the two sides below the engaging arm 252 has a guiding surface 253 for respectively pushing the two inclined surfaces 3724, 3726.

While the present invention has been described above in the foregoing embodiments, it is not intended to limit the invention, and the invention may be modified and modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The scope of patent protection shall be subject to the definition of the scope of the patent application attached to this specification.

11‧‧‧floor
111‧‧‧ Positioning parts
112‧‧‧Fixed hook
12‧‧‧Film circuit
13‧‧‧Switch
14‧‧‧Key Cap
15, 25‧‧‧ bends
151, 251‧‧‧ connecting arms
152, 252‧‧‧ clamping arm
153, 253‧‧ ‧ guiding surface
16‧‧‧Flexible components
17, 27, 37‧‧‧ linkage rod
171, 271, 371‧‧‧ operating arm
172, 272, 372 ‧ ‧ 扣 部
173‧‧‧ stretching spring
18‧‧‧ button
2721, 3721, 3722‧‧‧ elastic arm
2722, 3723, 3725‧‧‧ hooks
2723, 3724, 3726‧‧‧ sloped surface
40‧‧‧shell

[Fig. 1] is a schematic view showing a key structure of a first embodiment of the present invention; [Fig. 2] is an exploded view of a key structure of a first embodiment of the present invention; [Fig. 3] [Fig. 4] is a schematic view showing the operation of the key structure of the first embodiment of the present invention; [Fig. 5] is a schematic view of a keyboard according to a second embodiment of the present invention; [Fig. 6] [FIG. 7] FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing a key structure of a third embodiment of the present invention; [FIG. 8] FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing the assembly of a key structure according to a third embodiment of the present invention; [FIG. 9] A schematic diagram of a button structure according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention; [Fig. 10] is a schematic view showing the assembly of a button structure according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

11‧‧‧floor

111‧‧‧ Positioning parts

12‧‧‧Film circuit

13‧‧‧Switch

14‧‧‧Key Cap

15‧‧‧Bending

151‧‧‧Connecting arm

152‧‧‧ clamping arm

153‧‧‧ Guide surface

16‧‧‧Flexible components

17‧‧‧ linkage rod

171‧‧‧Operator arm

172‧‧‧Withholding department

18‧‧‧ button

Claims (10)

A key structure includes: a bottom plate; a thin film circuit disposed on the bottom plate; a conductive switch disposed on the thin film circuit; a key cap; a bent portion fixed to the key cap; And disposed on the film circuit and abutting against the keycap; and a linkage rod movably disposed between the film circuit and the keycap, the linkage bar comprising an operating arm and a fastening portion, The operating arm is coupled to the fastening portion, and the fastening portion is selectively buckled to the bending portion; wherein when the operating arm moves in a direction parallel to the surface of the keycap, the operating arm drives the fastening portion to disengage The bent portion and the elastic member provide the keycap to force the keycap away from the conduction switch. The button structure of claim 1, wherein the fastening portion is of an n-shape, the bending portion includes a connecting arm and a latching arm, the connecting arm is connected to the keycap at one end, and the engaging arm is connected to the other end . The button structure as claimed in claim 2, wherein the end of the engaging arm has a guiding surface. The button structure of claim 1, wherein the fastening portion includes a resilient arm and a hook at the end of the resilient arm, the bent portion includes a connecting arm and a latching arm, and the connecting arm is connected at one end to The key cap has the other end connected to the engaging arm. The button structure of claim 4, wherein the connecting arm is perpendicular to a surface of the keycap, the engaging arm is parallel to a surface of the keycap, and the engaging arm has a guide away from a side of the keycap Leading. The button structure of claim 4, wherein the hook has an inclined surface on a side adjacent to the keycap. The button structure of claim 1, wherein the fastening portion comprises two elastic arms disposed in parallel and has a hook at each end of the elastic arm, the bending portion comprising a connecting arm and a engaging arm, the connecting portion One end of the arm is connected to the keycap and the other end is connected to the engaging arm. The button structure of claim 7, wherein the connecting arm is perpendicular to a surface of the keycap, the engaging arm is parallel to a surface of the keycap, and the engaging arm has a guide away from a side of the keycap Leading. The button structure of claim 7, wherein each of the hooks has an inclined surface on a side adjacent to the keycap. The button structure of claim 1, wherein the linkage rod further comprises a tension spring, the tension spring is connected to the operating arm at one end, and the other end is fixed to the base.