TW201807728A - Keyswitch and keyboard thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A keyswitch includes a cap, a support device, a board having an opening, a film attached under the board for forming a containing slot with the opening, a magnet disposed in the containing slot, and a membrane disposed on the board and covering at least one part of an upper surface of the magnet for fixing the magnet. The support device is disposed between the board and the cap and includes a first support member movably connected to the board and the cap. A magnetic sheet extends from the first support member and is located above the containing slot. When the cap is pressed to make the magnetic sheet away from the magnet with rotation of the first support member, the cap moves to a pressed position. When the cap is released, a magnetic force between the magnetic sheet and the magnet drives the magnetic sheet to approach the magnet.

Description

Button and its keyboard

The invention relates to a button and a keyboard thereof, in particular to a magnet disposed in a receiving groove formed by the opening of the diaphragm and the bottom plate and at least partially covering the upper surface of the magnet with the thin film circuit board to fix the magnet in the receiving position. The buttons in the slot and their keyboard.

In terms of current personal computer usage habits, the keyboard is one of the indispensable input devices for entering text, symbols or numbers. Moreover, the consumer electronics products that are in contact with everyday life or the large-scale processing equipment used in the industry need to have a button structure as an input device to operate the above-mentioned electronic products and processing equipment.

Generally, the conventional keyboard adopts a pressing design in which the assembly structure of the scissor foot supporting device and the elastic member is disposed between the key cap and the bottom plate, thereby, when the key cap is pressed by the user, the elastic member provides elastic restoring force to the key cap. The drive key cap is returned to the position before pressing with the mechanism of the scissor foot support device. In practical applications, the design of the scissor-foot mechanism used in the above-mentioned scissor-foot supporting device may cause a large height space for the button, which is not conducive to the application of thin keyboard. At present, a common method for solving the above problem is to use a magnetic member respectively provided on the supporting device and the bottom plate to generate a magnetic attraction force as a driving force for the resetting of the key cap instead of the scissor foot design. However, the above-mentioned button magnetic design often causes the problem that the magnetic member is not easily positioned when the bottom plate is composed of a weak magnetic material or a non-magnetic material (such as plastic), thereby causing the magnetic keyboard to be time-consuming and labor-intensive in assembly and manufacture.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a magnet disposed in a receiving groove formed by the opening of the diaphragm and the bottom plate and at least partially covering the upper surface of the magnet with the thin film circuit board to fix the magnet in the receiving groove. Buttons and their keyboards to solve the above problems.

According to an embodiment, the button of the present invention comprises a bottom plate, a keycap, a diaphragm, a support device, a magnet, and a thin film circuit board. The bottom plate has an opening. The diaphragm is attached to the bottom plate to form a receiving groove together with the opening. The supporting device is disposed between the bottom plate and the keycap and includes a first supporting member movably connected to the bottom plate and the key cap, so that the key cap is accompanied by the supporting device Moving between the pressing position and a pressing position, a magnetic plate member is bent and extended from the first supporting member to be located above the receiving groove. The magnet is disposed in the receiving groove. The thin film circuit board is disposed on the bottom plate and at least partially covers an upper surface of the magnet to fix the magnet in the receiving groove. When the keycap is not pressed, a magnetic attraction between the magnet and the magnetic plate maintains the keycap in the undepressed position. When the key cap is pressed by an external force to cause the magnetic plate member to move away from the magnet as the first support member pivots, the key cap is moved to the pressing position by the support device from the unpressed position. When the external force is released, the magnetic attraction causes the magnetic plate member to approach the magnet such that the keycap moves from the pressed position back to the undepressed position with the pivoting of the first support member.

According to another embodiment, the keyboard of the present invention includes a backplane and a plurality of buttons. The bottom plate has an opening. The plurality of buttons are disposed on the bottom plate, and at least one of the plurality of buttons comprises a keycap, a diaphragm, a supporting device, a magnet, and a thin film circuit board. The diaphragm is attached to the bottom plate to form a receiving groove together with the opening. The supporting device is disposed between the bottom plate and the keycap and includes a first supporting member movably connected to the bottom plate and the key cap, so that the key cap is accompanied by the supporting device Moving between the pressing position and a pressing position, a magnetic plate member is bent and extended from the first supporting member to be located above the receiving groove. The magnet is disposed in the receiving groove. The thin film circuit board is disposed on the bottom plate and at least partially covers an upper surface of the magnet to fix the magnet in the receiving groove. When the keycap is not pressed, a magnetic attraction between the magnet and the magnetic plate maintains the keycap in the undepressed position. When the key cap is pressed by an external force to cause the magnetic plate member to move away from the magnet as the first support member pivots, the key cap is moved to the pressing position by the support device from the unpressed position. When the external force is released, the magnetic attraction causes the magnetic plate member to approach the magnet such that the keycap moves from the pressed position back to the undepressed position with the pivoting of the first support member.

In summary, the present invention employs a magnet disposed in a receiving groove formed by the opening of the diaphragm and the bottom plate and at least partially covers the upper surface of the magnet using the thin film circuit board to fix the magnet in the receiving groove. The magnet is fixedly designed, so that even if the bottom plate is composed of a weak magnetic material (or a non-magnetic material), the present invention can firmly fix the magnet to the bottom plate, thereby effectively solving the problems mentioned in the prior art. The button magnetic design can cause the magnetic member to be difficult to locate when the bottom plate is composed of a weak magnetic material or a non-magnetic material (such as plastic), thereby improving the convenience of assembling and manufacturing the magnetic keyboard.

The advantages and spirit of the present invention will be further understood from the following embodiments and the accompanying drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, FIG. 1 is a partially enlarged schematic view of a keyboard 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a bottom plate 16 and a diaphragm 15, a magnet 20, and a film of FIG. A partial exploded view of the circuit board 22, in order to clearly show the mechanism design of the button 12, the key cap 14 is shown schematically in dashed lines in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the keyboard 10 includes a plurality of buttons 12 (one shown in FIG. 1, but not limited thereto) and a bottom plate 16. The button 12 is disposed on the bottom plate 16 for a user to press and perform a corresponding input operation. The button 12 includes a key cap 14, a diaphragm 15, a supporting device 18, a magnet 20, and a thin film circuit board 22. It should be noted that the keyboard 10 can be preferably applied to a portable electronic device (such as a notebook computer or a folding keyboard device) generally having an opening and closing mechanism composed of an upper cover and a lower cover, but not Limited.

Next, please refer to FIG. 1 , FIG. 2 , FIG. 3 , FIG. 4 , FIG. 5 , and FIG. 6 , and FIG. 3 , the magnet 20 of FIG. 2 and the thin film circuit board 22 are disposed on the bottom plate 16 . FIG. 4 is an enlarged schematic view of the first support member 26 and the second support member 28 of FIG. 1 in another view, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the keyboard 10 of FIG. 1 along the section line A-A'. Fig. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the key cap 14 of Fig. 5 pressed. The bottom plate 16 has an opening 17, and the diaphragm 15 is preferably a mylar diaphragm (but not limited thereto, which may also be other common flexible fixed protective film) and attached to the bottom plate 16 The accommodating groove 24 is formed together with the opening 17. The support device 18 is disposed between the bottom plate 16 and the keycap 14, and the key cap 14 is moved relative to the bottom plate 16 via the support device 18 between the unpressed position as shown in FIG. 5 and the pressed position as shown in FIG. In more detail, the support device 18 includes a first support member 26 and a second support member 28. The first support member 26 and the second support member 28 are opposite to each other, and the first support member 26 is movably coupled to the bottom plate 16 and the key cap 14 (for example, the bottom plate 16 portion is inserted into the first receiving opening 27 of the first support member 26 to The first support member 26 is movably connected to the bottom plate 16, but not limited thereto. The magnetic plate member 30 is bent and extended from the first support member 26 to be located above the accommodating groove 24, and the second support member 28 is movable. Connected to the bottom plate 16 and the key cap 14 (eg, the bottom plate 16 and the key cap 14 portion into the second receiving opening 29 of the second support member 28 to movably connect the second support member 28 to the bottom plate 16 and the key cap 14 However, without limitation, the abutting portion 32 extends from the second support member 28 toward the first support member 26 to be supported under the magnetic plate member 30 (as shown in FIG. 4). It should be noted that the second support member 28 is an omitting component, thereby simplifying the configuration of the button structure and reducing the space required for the support device.

In this embodiment, as can be seen from FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5, and FIG. 6, the button 12 is of a magnetic reset design, and the magnet 20 is disposed by the diaphragm 15 and the opening 17. In the accommodating groove 24 formed together, the film circuit board 22 is preferably disposed on the bottom plate 16 by adhesive adhesion and at least partially covers the upper surface 21 of the magnet 20 to fix the magnet 20 to the accommodating groove 24 . Further, the magnet 20 is further fixed to the bottom plate 16. Through the above design, when the keycap 14 is not pressed, the restoring force generated by the magnet 20 magnetic magnetic plate member 30 can maintain the keycap 14 in the unpressed position as shown in FIG. When the key cap 14 is pressed by an external force to cause the magnetic plate member 30 to move away from the magnet 20 as the first support member 26 and the second support member 28 pivot relative to the bottom plate 16 and the abutment portion 32 is lifted, the key cap 14 The corresponding input function can be performed with the support device 18 being moved from the unpressed position as shown in FIG. 5 to the pressed position as shown in FIG. 6 to complete the press triggering action. On the other hand, when the external force is released, the restoring force generated by the magnetic magnetic plate member 30 of the magnet 20 causes the magnetic plate member 30 to be attracted to the magnet 20 by being brought close to the magnet 20, whereby the keycap 14 is accompanied by the supporting device 18. The pressing position shown in Fig. 6 is returned to the unpressed position as shown in Fig. 5, thereby producing the effect that the key cap 14 can be automatically returned.

As for the push trigger design of the key cap 14, reference can be made to FIG. 4, FIG. 5, and FIG. 6. As can be seen from FIGS. 4 to 6, the first support member 26 has a trigger bump 34, and the thin film circuit board 22 Corresponding to the triggering bump 34 having the trigger switch 36, when the keycap 14 is moved relative to the bottom plate 16 via the supporting device 18 to the pressing position as shown in FIG. 6, the triggering bump 34 presses the trigger switch 36 to The thin film circuit board 22 is turned on to perform a pressing triggering action to perform a corresponding input function. The above-mentioned press-trigger design can also be applied to the second support member 28. The related description can be referred to the analogy of the above description, and details are not described herein again.

In summary, the present invention employs a magnet disposed in a receiving groove formed by the opening of the diaphragm and the bottom plate and at least partially covers the upper surface of the magnet using the thin film circuit board to fix the magnet in the receiving groove. The magnet is fixedly designed, so that even if the bottom plate is composed of a weak magnetic material (or a non-magnetic material), the present invention can firmly fix the magnet to the bottom plate, thereby effectively solving the problems mentioned in the prior art. The button magnetic design can cause the magnetic member to be difficult to locate when the bottom plate is composed of a weak magnetic material or a non-magnetic material (such as plastic), thereby improving the convenience of assembling and manufacturing the magnetic keyboard.

In practical applications, the fixing between the thin film circuit board and the bottom plate may not be limited to the adhesive attaching method mentioned in the above embodiments, and other pieces may be fixedly designed. For example, refer to FIG. It is an assembly diagram of the magnet 20 and the thin film circuit board 22' disposed on the bottom plate 16' according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the thin film circuit board 22' has at least one positioning hole 38 (in the first 7 shows two, but not limited to this, the bottom plate 16' is formed with a positioning buckle structure 40 corresponding to the positioning hole 38. When the thin film circuit board 22' is disposed on the bottom plate 16', the positioning buckle structure 40 The film can be snapped into the positioning hole 38 to fix the film circuit board 22' to the bottom plate 16'.

It is worth mentioning that the magnet fixing design provided by the present invention can also be applied to a long button (also referred to as a multiple button). For example, please refer to FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 , and FIG. 8 is another embodiment according to the present invention. FIG. 9 is a schematic exploded view of the bottom plate 16, the key cap 104, and the scissor foot support mechanism 106 of FIG. 8, wherein in order to clearly show the mechanism design of the button 102, the key cap 104 In the eighth embodiment, the same reference numerals are given to the components mentioned in the above embodiments, which have the same structures or functions, and the related description will not be repeated here. The keyboard 100 includes a plurality of buttons 102 (one shown in FIG. 8, but not limited thereto) and a bottom plate 16. The button 102 is disposed on the bottom plate 16 for the user to press and perform a corresponding input operation. The button 102 includes a key cap 104 and at least one scissor foot support mechanism 106 (two are shown in FIG. 8 but are not limited thereto) The diaphragm 15, the supporting device 18, the magnet 20, and the thin film circuit board 22, wherein the diaphragm 15, the magnet 20, and the thin film circuit board 22 are not shown in the drawings, the related description can be analogized with reference to the above embodiment.

In this embodiment, the first support member 26, the second support member 28, and the keycap 104 may be in the form of a long strip, and the scissor foot support mechanism 106 is located between the first support member 26 and the second support member 28. And movably connected to the keycap 104 and the bottom plate 16, and in more detail, as shown in FIG. 9, the scissor foot support mechanism 106 can include a first bracket 108 and a second bracket 110, and the keycap 104 can have the first The first slot 108 can have a second sliding slot 116 and a second latching slot 118. The first bracket 108 can have a corresponding first sliding portion 120 and a first pivoting portion 122. The sliding portion 120 is slidably disposed in the first sliding slot 112. The first pivoting portion 122 is rotatably pivotally connected to the second slot 118. The second bracket 110 can have a corresponding second sliding portion 124 and a second portion. The second pivoting portion 126 is slidably disposed in the second sliding slot 116 , and the second pivoting portion 126 is rotatably pivoted in the first locking slot 114 . In this way, the structural connection design can guide the side portions of the keycap 104 through the first bracket 108 and the second bracket 110 along with the keycap 104 not only when the keycap 104 moves between the unpressed position and the pressed position. The central portion is co-actuated, and the first sliding portion 120 of the first bracket 108 is connected to the first sliding slot 112 of the keycap 104 and the second pivoting portion 126 of the second bracket 110 and the keycap 104 are The connection of a card slot 114 increases the pulling force of the key cap 104, thereby effectively solving the problem that the key cap of the double button is easy to fall off.

In practical applications, the keyboard 100 can further adopt the configuration of the auxiliary bracket to improve the flatness of the pressing stroke of the keycap 104. For example, refer to FIG. 8 and FIG. 10, and FIG. 10 is the button 102 of FIG. A part of the enlarged explosion diagram, as shown in FIG. 8 and FIG. 10, the button 102 may further include at least one auxiliary bracket 128 (two shown in FIG. 8 but not limited thereto), and the auxiliary bracket 128 is disposed on The keycap 104 is spaced apart from the bottom plate 16 and spaced apart from the scissor foot support mechanism 106. The auxiliary bracket 128 is movably coupled to the bottom plate 16 and the keycap 104. In more detail, in this embodiment, the auxiliary bracket 128 corresponds to the bottom plate. 16 may have a first engaging structure 130, the bottom plate 16 may have a second engaging structure 132 corresponding to the first engaging structure 130, and the first engaging structure 130 is engaged with the second engaging structure 132 (such as the 10th The sliding portion (the first engaging structure 130) shown in the figure cooperates with the sliding groove (the second engaging structure 132), but is not limited thereto, so that the auxiliary bracket 128 can be movably connected to the bottom plate 16, and further, The auxiliary bracket 128 corresponds to the third engagement at the keycap 104 The first accommodating structure 134 is affixed to the fourth engaging structure 136, and the third engaging structure 134 is engaged with the fourth engaging structure 136 (such as the pivoting portion shown in FIG. 10). (The third engaging structure 134) cooperates with the card slot (fourth engaging structure 136), but is not limited thereto) to enable the auxiliary bracket 128 to be movably coupled to the keycap 104. 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, 100‧‧‧ keyboard
12, 102‧‧‧ button
14, 104‧‧‧ key cap
15‧‧‧ diaphragm
16, 16'‧‧‧ bottom plate
17‧‧‧ openings
18‧‧‧Support device
20‧‧‧ magnet
21‧‧‧ upper surface
22, 22'‧‧‧ film board
24‧‧‧ accommodating slots
26‧‧‧First support
27‧‧‧First accommodation opening
28‧‧‧second support
29‧‧‧Second accommodation opening
30‧‧‧Magnetic plates
32‧‧‧Support Department
34‧‧‧trigger bump
36‧‧‧Trigger switch
38‧‧‧Positioning holes
40‧‧‧Locating hook structure
106‧‧‧Scissor foot support mechanism
108‧‧‧First bracket
110‧‧‧second bracket
112‧‧‧First chute
114‧‧‧First card slot
116‧‧‧Second chute
118‧‧‧Second card slot
120‧‧‧First sliding part
122‧‧‧First pivotal
124‧‧‧Second sliding part
126‧‧‧Second pivotal
128‧‧‧Auxiliary bracket
130‧‧‧First engagement structure
132‧‧‧Second snap-in structure
134‧‧‧ third clamping structure
136‧‧‧fourth snap structure

1 is a partially enlarged schematic view of a keyboard according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a partial exploded view of the bottom plate and diaphragm, magnet and thin film circuit board of Figure 1. Fig. 3 is a schematic view showing the assembly of the magnet of Fig. 2 and the thin film circuit board on the bottom plate. Fig. 4 is an enlarged schematic view showing the first support member and the second support member of Fig. 1 in another view. Fig. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the keyboard of Fig. 1 taken along section line A-A'. Fig. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the key cap of Fig. 5 pressed. Figure 7 is a schematic view showing the assembly of a magnet and a thin film circuit board disposed on a bottom plate according to another embodiment of the present invention. Figure 8 is a perspective view of a keyboard according to another embodiment of the present invention. Figure 9 is a schematic exploded view of the bottom plate, the key cap and the scissor foot support mechanism of Figure 8. Figure 10 is a partial exploded view of the button of Figure 8.

Claims (14)

A button includes: a bottom plate having an opening; a key cap; a diaphragm attached to the bottom plate to form a receiving groove together with the opening; a supporting device disposed on the bottom plate and the Between the keycaps and including a first support member, the first support member is movably coupled to the bottom plate and the key cap to move the key cap between the unpressed position and a pressed position with the support device a magnetic plate member extending from the first support member to be formed above the accommodating groove; a magnet disposed in the accommodating groove; and a thin film circuit board disposed on the bottom plate and at least partially Covering an upper surface of the magnet to fix the magnet in the accommodating groove; wherein, when the key cap is not pressed, a magnetic attraction between the magnet and the magnetic plate member maintains the key cap The unpressed position; when the key cap is pressed by an external force to cause the magnetic plate member to move away from the magnet as the first support member pivots, the key cap is moved to the pressing by the support device from the unpressed position Position; when the external force is released The magnetic attraction causes the magnetic plate member to approach the magnet such that the keycap moves from the pressed position back to the undepressed position with the pivoting of the first support member. The button of claim 1, wherein the film circuit board is disposed on the bottom plate in an adhesive manner. The button of claim 1, wherein the film circuit board has at least one positioning hole, and the bottom plate is formed with a positioning buckle hook corresponding to the position of the at least one positioning hole, and the positioning buckle hook structure is engaged in the positioning hole The film circuit board is fixed to the bottom plate. The button of claim 1, further comprising: at least one auxiliary bracket disposed between the keycap and the bottom plate and spaced apart from the supporting device, the at least one auxiliary bracket being movably connected to the bottom plate and The key cap. The button of claim 1, wherein the first support member has a trigger bump, the thin film circuit board is disposed on the bottom plate and has a trigger switch corresponding to the trigger bump, when the key cap is pressed to When the position is pressed, the triggering bump triggers the trigger switch. The button of claim 1, wherein the supporting device further comprises a second supporting member, the second supporting member and the first supporting member are opposite to each other and movably connected to the bottom plate and the key cap, and abutting a portion extending from the second support member to the first support member to be supported under the magnetic plate member, and the magnetic cap member is pressed by the external force to cause the magnetic plate member to follow the first support member and the second support member When the member pivots away from the magnet and causes the abutment to be lifted, the keycap moves to the pressing position from the unpressed position with the support device. The button of claim 6, wherein the key cap, the first support member and the second support member are in the form of a long strip, the button further comprising at least one scissor foot support mechanism, the at least one scissor foot support mechanism being located The first support member and the second support member are movably coupled between the keycap and the bottom plate. A keyboard comprising: a bottom plate having an opening; and a plurality of buttons disposed on the bottom plate, at least one of the plurality of buttons comprising: a key cap; a diaphragm attached to the Forming a receiving groove together with the opening; a supporting device disposed between the bottom plate and the key cap and including a first supporting member, the first supporting member is movably coupled to the bottom plate and the a key cap for moving the keycap between the unpressed position and a pressing position, a magnetic plate member extending from the first support member and located above the receiving groove; a magnet, Provided in the accommodating groove; and a thin film circuit board disposed on the bottom plate and at least partially covering an upper surface of the magnet to fix the magnet in the accommodating groove; wherein, when the key cap is not When pressed, a magnetic attraction between the magnet and the magnetic plate member maintains the key cap in the unpressed position; when the key cap is pressed by an external force, the magnetic plate member is pivoted with the first support member Turning away from the magnet When the keycap is moved from the unpressed position to the pressed position; when the external force is released, the magnetic force causes the magnetic plate to approach the magnet, so that the keycap is accompanied by the first support The pivoting is moved back to the undepressed position by the pressed position. The keyboard of claim 8, wherein the thin film circuit board is disposed on the bottom plate in an adhesive manner. The keyboard of claim 8, wherein the thin film circuit board has at least one positioning hole, and the bottom plate is formed with a positioning buckle hook corresponding to the position of the at least one positioning hole, and the positioning buckle hook structure is engaged in the positioning hole The film circuit board is fixed to the bottom plate. The keyboard of claim 8, wherein the at least one of the plurality of buttons further comprises: at least one auxiliary bracket disposed between the keycap and the bottom plate and spaced apart from the supporting device, the at least one An auxiliary bracket is movably coupled to the base plate and the keycap. The keyboard of claim 8, wherein the first support member has a trigger bump, and the thin film circuit board is disposed on the bottom plate and has a trigger switch corresponding to the trigger bump when the key cap is pressed to When the position is pressed, the triggering bump triggers the trigger switch. The keyboard of claim 8, wherein the supporting device further comprises a second supporting member, the second supporting member and the first supporting member are opposite to each other and movably connected to the bottom plate and the key cap, a portion extending from the second support member to the first support member to be supported under the magnetic plate member, and the magnetic cap member is pressed by the external force to cause the magnetic plate member to follow the first support member and the second support member When the member pivots away from the magnet and causes the abutment to be lifted, the keycap moves to the pressing position from the unpressed position with the support device. The keyboard of claim 13, wherein the key cap, the first support member and the second support member are in the form of a long strip, the button further comprising at least one scissor foot support mechanism, the at least one scissor foot support mechanism being located The first support member and the second support member are movably coupled between the keycap and the bottom plate.