TW202247218A - Key structure with dislay function - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a key structure with display function, which includes a membrane circuit board, an elastic element layer, an elastic key frame and a display module. The elastic element layer is located over the membrane circuit board, and the elastic element layer has a plurality of elastic elements separated from each other. The elastic key frame is adjacent to the elastic elements, and the elastic key frame has a plurality of openings respectively corresponding to the elastic elements. The display module is located over the elastic element layer and the elastic key frame. The display module has a circuit substrate and a plurality of light emitting elements. The light emitting elements are located over the circuit substrate. A lower surface of the circuit substrate faces the elastic element layer and the elastic key frame.

Description

Button structure with display function

The invention relates to a key structure with display function.

With the rapid development of science and technology, the vigorous development of electronic equipment has brought a lot of convenience to human life, so how to make the operation of electronic equipment more humanized is an important issue. Common input devices of electronic equipment include a mouse device, a keyboard device, and a touch device, among which the keyboard device can be used for users to directly input characters and symbols into a computer, so it is highly valued.

The general traditional keyboard device is mainly composed of a plurality of keys, which respectively represent different letters and numbers. However, the patterns (such as characters or symbols, etc.) It is printed on the keycaps, and it is mainly designed with traditional square four-corner keycaps and the front is all plastic. Therefore, the keycaps as a whole can only present monotonous colors, such as black or other single colors. The backlight module is arranged under the keycap to emit light beams to the design of the keycap, and it can only produce a single-color light-emitting effect in the pattern, which often has no sense of design and variability, so that the competitiveness of the product in the market cannot be truly improved.

Therefore, how to make the buttons display different patterns, so that the displayed images have a more design sense and variety, has become the focus of attention of relevant people in the field.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a button structure with a display function, which can be used to input or select a pattern/animation in the computer (such as a computer built-in pattern/animation or the pattern/animation downloaded by the user), so that the button structure presents a specific pattern/animation.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention can be further understood from the embodiments of the present invention.

To achieve one or part or all of the above objectives or other objectives, the present invention provides a key structure with display function, which includes a thin film circuit board, an elastic element layer, an elastic key frame and a display module. The elastic element layer is located above the film circuit board, and the elastic element layer has a plurality of elastic elements separated from each other. The elastic key frame is adjacent to the elastic elements, and the elastic key frame has a plurality of openings respectively corresponding to the elastic elements. The display module is located above the elastic element layer and the elastic key frame. The display module has a circuit substrate and a plurality of light emitting elements, and the light emitting elements are located above the circuit substrate. The lower surface of the circuit substrate faces the elastic element layer and the elastic key frame.

In some embodiments, the elastic elements are arranged along a direction, the elastic elements are a plurality of metal domes, and the elastic element layer further has a metal dome sheet, which is located above the metal domes. And cover these metal shrapnel.

In some embodiments, when the key structure is not pressed, the elastic key frame is higher than the elastic element layer, or the elastic key frame is as high as the elastic element layer.

In some embodiments, the button structure further includes an upper cover, which is located above the display module and covers the light emitting elements.

In some embodiments, the upper cover is an elastic upper cover.

In some embodiments, the light-emitting elements are a plurality of miniature light-emitting diodes (MINI LEDs), and the miniature light-emitting diodes form a miniature light-emitting diode array (MINI LED array).

In some embodiments, the circuit substrate of the display module is electrically connected to the flexible circuit board, and the circuit substrate is electrically connected to the driving control circuit board through the flexible circuit board.

In some embodiments, the circuit substrate of the display module is electrically connected to the driving control circuit board, and the driving control circuit board includes a microcontroller (microcontroller unit, MCU) and a plurality of light-emitting element drivers, and the light-emitting elements pass through the light-emitting elements The driver is electrically connected to the microcontroller.

In some embodiments, the microcontroller is configured to store at least one set of input signals, and input the at least one set of input signals to the light emitting element drivers.

In some embodiments, the light-emitting element drivers are configured to receive the at least one set of input signals and drive the corresponding light-emitting elements, so that the corresponding light-emitting elements emit light to display patterns.

The advantages and features of the present invention and methods for attaining the same will be more easily understood by more detailed description with reference to exemplary embodiments and accompanying drawings. However, the invention may be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. On the contrary, for those skilled in the art, these embodiments are provided to make this disclosure more thorough, complete and fully convey the scope of the present invention.

As mentioned in the prior art, how to make the buttons display different patterns, so that the displayed images have a sense of design and variety, has become the focus of attention of those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the present invention provides a button structure with a display function, which can be used to input or select patterns/animations in the computer (such as computer-built patterns) /animation or the pattern/animation downloaded by the user), so that the button structure presents a specific pattern/animation. Various embodiments of the key structure of the present invention will be described in detail below.

The keyboard device includes a plurality of key structures. FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a key structure according to some embodiments of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1 , the button structure 100 includes a thin film circuit board 110 , an elastic element layer 120 , an elastic key frame 130 and a display module 140 . In some embodiments, the key structure 100 of the present invention replaces the traditional whole row of function keys, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

In some embodiments, the thin film circuit board 110 may include a plurality of thin films (not shown) stacked on each other. In some embodiments, the films include an upper film (not shown) and a lower film (not shown), the lower surface of the upper film has a first circuit pattern, and the first circuit pattern has a plurality of upper contacts, and The upper surface of the lower film has a second circuit pattern, and the second circuit pattern has a plurality of lower contacts. The upper contact and the corresponding lower contact jointly form a membrane switch. In some embodiments, the films further include a middle film (not shown) disposed between the upper film and the lower film.

The elastic element layer 120 is located on the thin film circuit board 110 , and the elastic element layer 120 has a plurality of elastic elements 122 separated from each other. When the elastic element 122 is compressed, it will contact the switch of the thin film circuit board 110 to generate a corresponding input signal to the computer, and then make the computer execute the corresponding function. When the elastic element 122 is no longer compressed, the elastic force of the elastic element 122 returns the elastic element 122 to its original position. In some embodiments, the elastic elements 122 are arranged along a direction X, but the invention is not limited thereto.

In some embodiments, the elastic elements 122 are a plurality of metal domes. In some embodiments, the elastic element layer 120 further has a metal dome sheet 124 located above the metal dome sheets 122 and covering the metal dome sheets 122 . In other embodiments, the elastic element 122 can be made of rubber or other suitable elastic materials. In some embodiments, the elastic element 122 has an ultra-low stroke, which is less than or equal to 1 mm, such as 0.9 mm, 0.8 mm, 0.7 mm, 0.6 mm, 0.5 mm, 0.4 mm or 0.3 mm. In this way, although the keypad structure 100 of the present invention has a certain thickness of the display module 140 , it can still have a relatively thin overall thickness, so that it can be applied to various keyboard devices with ultra-thin requirements.

The elastic key frame 130 is adjacent to the elastic elements 122 . From the above perspective, the elastic key frame 130 surrounds each elastic element 122 . As shown in FIG. 1 , the elastic key frame 130 has a plurality of openings 130 a respectively corresponding to the elastic elements 122 . The elastic key frame 130 is configured to separate the elastic element 122 . In addition, the elastic key frame 130 can also be configured to support the display module 140 and to raise the area without the elastic element 122 . When the key structure 100 is pressed, the elastic key frame 130 will be compressed and the thickness will decrease. When the key structure 100 is no longer pressed, the elastic force of the elastic key frame 130 makes the elastic key frame 130 return to its original position. In some embodiments, the elastic key frame 130 is located above the elastic element layer 120 . In some embodiments, the elastic key frame 130 may be made of rubber, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (PC) or other suitable materials. In some embodiments, when the key structure 100 is not pressed, the elastic key frame 130 is higher than the elastic element layer 120 , or the elastic key frame 130 is as high as the elastic element layer 120 .

The display module 140 is located above the elastic element layer 120 and the elastic key frame 130 . The display module has a circuit substrate 142 and a plurality of light emitting elements 144 located on the circuit substrate 142 . The lower surface 142 u of the circuit substrate 142 faces the elastic element layer 120 and the elastic key frame 130 . In some embodiments, the circuit substrate 142 is a flexible circuit board, but the invention is not limited thereto.

In some embodiments, the light-emitting elements 144 are a plurality of miniature light-emitting diodes (MINI LEDs), and these miniature light-emitting diodes are arranged to form a miniature light-emitting diode array (MINI LED array). In some embodiments, the miniature LEDs are fixed on the circuit substrate 142 by surface mount technology (SMT). In some embodiments, the display module 140 further includes a protective layer (not shown) covering the miniature light emitting diodes to avoid direct exposure of the micro light emitting diodes.

In some embodiments, the button structure 100 further includes an upper cover 150 located above the display module 140 and covering the light emitting elements 122 . The upper cover 150 can protect the display module 140 . In some embodiments, the upper cover 150 contacts the display module 140 . In some embodiments, the upper cover 150 is an elastic upper cover. In some embodiments, the upper cover 150 may be made of rubber, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (PC) or other suitable materials. In this way, when the key structure 100 is pressed, the elastic upper cover 150 will not damage the light emitting element 122 in the display module 140 . In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 1 , the upper cover 150 has a uniform thickness. In other embodiments, the upper cover 150 has a higher thickness corresponding to the opening 130a, and the upper cover 150 has a lower thickness corresponding to the elastic key frame 130, so that the user can easily know the position that can be pressed.

In some embodiments, the key structure 100 further includes a support base (or may be called a key base) 160, which is disposed under the thin film circuit board 110 to support the thin film circuit board 110 and the elastic element layer 120 and the elastic key frame 130 above it. and a display module 140 . In some embodiments, the supporting base 160 is made of metal or other suitable materials.

In some embodiments, the key structure 100 does not include a scissor structure, but the invention is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the button structure 100 may include a scissors structure.

FIG. 2 is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of a key structure electrically connected to a driving control circuit board according to some embodiments of the present invention. In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 , the circuit substrate 142 of the display module 140 is electrically connected to the flexible circuit board 200 , and the circuit substrate 142 is electrically connected to the driving control circuit board 300 through the flexible circuit board 200 . In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 2 , the flexible circuit board 200 is connected to a connector (connector) 302 of the driving control circuit board 300 . In some embodiments, the flexible circuit board 200 and the circuit substrate 142 are integrally formed.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the circuit substrate 142 of the display module 140 is electrically connected to the driving control circuit board 300 . In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 2 , the circuit substrate 142 is electrically connected to a connector 302 of the driving control circuit board 300 .

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of components of a drive control circuit board according to some embodiments of the present invention. In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 3 , the drive control circuit board 300 includes a microcontroller (microcontroller unit, MCU) 304 and a plurality of light-emitting element drivers 306, and the light-emitting elements 122 in FIG. 1 pass through these light-emitting element drivers. 306 is electrically connected to microcontroller 304 . In some embodiments, each light-emitting element driver 306 has multiple lead angles, and each lead angle can be electrically connected to one light-emitting element 122 .

In some embodiments, the microcontroller 304 is configured to store at least one set of input signals, and input the at least one set of input signals to the light emitting device drivers 306 . In some embodiments, the light-emitting element drivers 306 are configured to receive the at least one set of input signals and drive the corresponding light-emitting elements 122, so that the corresponding light-emitting elements 122 emit light according to the at least one set of input signals. Display pattern.

Several examples of how the button structure of the present invention displays patterns/animations are provided below. In some embodiments, the user can design a specific pattern/animation through a man-machine interface (such as a keyboard, mouse or touch), and input a signal to a system controller (such as a system embedded controller, system EC)), and then transmitted to the system driver (system driver), then transmitted to the microcontroller 304 in FIG. 3 and stored, and then transmitted to the light-emitting element driver 306 in FIG. 122 is illuminated to display a pattern/animation. The above-mentioned pattern may be, for example, a character or a specific pattern. The above-mentioned animation can be composed of different patterns (dots) displayed at different points in time.

In some embodiments, the user can select the pattern/animation built in the computer through the human-machine interface, input the signal to the system controller, then transmit it to the system driver, and then transmit it to the microcontroller 304 in FIG. 3 and store it, and then The signal is transmitted to the light-emitting element driver 306 in FIG. 3 , and the corresponding light-emitting element 122 is driven to emit light through the light-emitting element driver 306 to display patterns/movements.

In some embodiments, the user can download the pattern/animation through the man-machine interface, convert it into a signal through specific software in the computer and input it to the system controller, then transmit it to the system driver, and then transmit it to the microcomputer shown in Figure 3. The controller 304 stores and stores the signal, and then transmits the signal to the light-emitting element driver 306 in FIG. 3 , and drives the corresponding light-emitting element 122 to emit light through the light-emitting element driver 306 to display patterns/animations.

In some embodiments, the above-mentioned system controller and system driver may be disposed on the system motherboard or the drive control circuit board 300 in FIG. 3 , but the present invention is not limited thereto.

From the above, it can be seen that the button structure with display function of the present invention not only has the feeling of pressing and rebounding, but also allows users to design patterns/animations or select patterns/animations in the computer, so that the display screen of the button structure is more vivid. The sense of design and variability successfully solves the above-mentioned problems in the prior art.

But what is described above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and should not limit the scope of implementation of the present invention with this, that is, all simple equivalent changes and modifications made according to the patent scope of the present invention and the content of the description of the invention, All still belong to the scope covered by the patent of the present invention. In addition, any embodiment or scope of claims of the present invention does not necessarily achieve all the objectives or advantages or features disclosed in the present invention. In addition, the abstract and the title are only used to assist the search of patent documents, and are not used to limit the scope of rights of the present invention.

100: Button structure 110: thin film circuit board 120: Elastic element layer 122: elastic element 124: metal shrapnel film 130: elastic key frame 130a: opening 140: display module 142: circuit substrate 142u: lower surface 144: Light emitting element 150: upper cover 160: support bottom plate 200: flexible circuit board 300: Drive control circuit board 302: Connector 304: microcontroller 306: Light-emitting element driver X: direction

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a key structure according to some embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of a key structure electrically connected to a driving control circuit board according to some embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of components of a drive control circuit board according to some embodiments of the present invention.

none

100: Button structure

110: thin film circuit board

120: Elastic element layer

122: elastic element

124: metal shrapnel film

130: elastic key frame

130a: opening

140: display module

142: circuit substrate

142u: lower surface

144: Light emitting element

150: upper cover

160: support bottom plate

X: direction

Claims (10)

A button structure with a display function, comprising: a thin film circuit board; an elastic element layer, located above the film circuit board, the elastic element layer has a plurality of elastic elements separated from each other; An elastic key frame, adjacent to the elastic elements, the elastic key frame has a plurality of openings respectively corresponding to the elastic elements; and A display module, located above the elastic element layer and the elastic key frame, the display module has a circuit substrate and a plurality of light-emitting elements, the light-emitting elements are located above the circuit substrate, wherein the lower surface of the circuit substrate faces The elastic element layer and the elastic key frame. The button structure as described in claim 1, wherein the elastic elements are arranged along one direction, the elastic elements are a plurality of metal domes, and the elastic element layer further has a metal dome sheet, It is located above the metal shrapnel and covers the metal shrapnel. The key structure according to claim 1, wherein when the key structure is not pressed, the elastic key frame is higher than the elastic element layer, or the elastic key frame is as high as the elastic element layer. The button structure according to claim 1 further includes a cover, which is located above the display module and covers the light emitting elements. The key structure according to claim 4, wherein the upper cover is an elastic upper cover. The button structure according to claim 1, wherein the light-emitting elements are a plurality of miniature light-emitting diodes (MINI LEDs), and these miniature light-emitting diodes form a miniature light-emitting diode array (MINI LED array). The button structure according to claim 1, wherein the circuit substrate of the display module is electrically connected to a flexible circuit board, and the circuit substrate is electrically connected to a driving control circuit board through the flexible circuit board. The button structure as described in claim 1, wherein the circuit substrate of the display module is electrically connected to a drive control circuit board, and the drive control circuit board includes a microcontroller (microcontroller unit, MCU) and a plurality of light-emitting element drivers , the light emitting elements are electrically connected to the microcontroller through the light emitting element drivers. The button structure according to claim 8, wherein the microcontroller is configured to store at least one set of input signals, and input the at least one set of input signals to the light emitting element drivers. The key structure according to claim 9, wherein the light emitting element drivers are configured to receive the at least one set of input signals and drive the corresponding light emitting elements, so that the corresponding light emitting elements emit light to display a pattern.

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