TWI392324B - Portable electronic device and keypad device thereof - Google Patents

Description

Mobile electronic device and its button structure

The invention relates to a mobile electronic device and a button structure thereof, in particular to a multi-directional button structure provided in a mobile electronic device.

Mobile electronic devices such as mobile phones, global positioning devices (GPS), personal digital assistants (PDAs), etc. require an arrow key to manipulate their direction indication function during operation. The early technology was arranged in four directions with four separate buttons to operate its direction indication function, but the cost of using four buttons was higher and the installed program was more complicated.

In the following, there is a technology to improve the original four buttons into a one-piece four-way button. This improves the installation time and material cost, but it requires a large movement of the thumb to operate, for the user. Still inconvenient. In order to improve this defect, a mobile electronic device is provided to replace the aforementioned four-way button with a protruding rocker.

Such a mobile electronic device with a rocker, although the user can manipulate the direction indicating function without moving the thumb, the protruding rocker may be damaged by hooking to the foreign object, and the thinning of the mobile phone today. Design has become an important trend in product design. The structural design of such a rocker will increase the thickness of the mobile electronic device due to the need for the rocker to have a certain length, which is not conducive to its thin design.

The main object of the present invention is to provide a mobile electronic device and a multidirectional key structure provided therewith.

The invention relates to a mobile electronic device and a button structure thereof, and the translating button structure is disposed on a casing of the mobile electronic device. The translating button structure further includes a translational push plate and at least one switch. The translational push plate is laterally disposed in the opening on the outer casing, the translational push plate further has a force receiving portion and at least one pressing rib facing upward and exposed outside the outer casing, the pressing rib being The force receiving portion extends laterally inside the outer casing. The switch is disposed inside the outer casing corresponding to the pressing rib. When the force receiving portion is subjected to a lateral pushing external force, the force receiving portion drives the pressing rib to move laterally to contact and activate the switch.

For mobile electronic devices such as mobile phones, generally four pressing ribs extend laterally in the four directions below the force receiving portion, and correspondingly push the ribs to provide four switches around the translational push plate. In order to make the multi-directional translating button structure become the four-way direction key of the mobile electronic device. Therefore, with the mobile electronic device of the present invention and the multi-directional button structure disposed thereon, the pan push plate and the switch are disposed in a lateral relative position, so that the button structure can not only provide a direction indicating function, but also requires component cost and manufacturing. It is also low in time and its structure is very suitable for the thin design of mobile electronic devices.

The advantages and spirit of the present invention will be further understood from the following detailed description of the invention.

Please refer to FIG. 1 , which is a perspective view of the mobile electronic device 30 of the present invention. The mobile electronic device 30 of the present invention can be an existing mobile phone. The mobile electronic device 30 includes a housing 32, a circuit substrate 48 disposed in the housing 32, and a multi-directional button structure 34 disposed on the housing 32. There is an opening. The multi-directional button structure 34 is moved in a horizontal direction to operate its direction indicating function on the mobile electronic device 30.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3 , the multi-directional button structure 34 further includes a translational push plate 40 and at least one switch 42 .

The translating plate 40 is disposed laterally in the opening in the outer casing 32 and may be composed of a first member 60 and a second member 62. The first member 60 and the second member 62 are respectively horizontal plate members and are The lower portion is fixedly coupled to each other, and a gap is formed between the edges of the first member 60 and the second member 62 to sandwich the edge of the opening of the outer casing 32. The upper surface of the first member 60 is disposed as a force receiving portion 6002. The force receiving portion 6002 faces upward and is exposed outside the outer casing 32. The edge of the second member 62 extends laterally to form a pressing rib 6202. The pressing rib is formed. The 6202 is formed below the force receiving portion 6002 and extends laterally inside the outer casing 32.

The switches 42 are disposed inside the outer casing 32 corresponding to the pressing ribs 6202, and the illustrated switch 42 is a push switch. When the force receiving portion 6002 is subjected to a force pushing in the horizontal direction, the force receiving portion 6002 drives the pressing rib 6202 to move laterally to contact the corresponding switch 42.

At the edge of the opening of the outer casing 32, at least one reed 46 is disposed laterally corresponding to the side of the translational push plate 40. The reed 46 is located between the lower portion of the force receiving portion 6002 and the upper portion of the pressing rib 6202, when the translation plate 40 is translated. When pushed laterally, its sides will press the reed 46 to deform the reed 46. When the urging force is released, the reed 46 resets the translational push plate 40 in the horizontal direction with an elastic restoring force.

For the mobile electronic device 30 such as a mobile phone, according to its actual use, there should be four pressing ribs 6202 under the force receiving portion 6002. The horizontal direction is extended in the four directions of up, down, left, and right, respectively, and four push buttons 42 are disposed around the translational push plate 40 corresponding to the push ribs 6202, so that the multidirectional button structure 34 becomes the four direction direction key of the mobile electronic device 30, so The reed 46 should also have at least four pieces.

For the upper surface of the force receiving portion 6002 of the translational push plate 40, in order to facilitate the user to push the translational push plate 40, the upper surface of the force receiving portion 6002 can be disposed as an inclined surface 50 as shown, or a frictional texture is provided. In order to facilitate the user to push the translation push plate 40 in the horizontal direction. Further, since the legend is a four-way button structure 34, in order to facilitate the user to push the translational push plate 40 in four directions, the upper surface of the force receiving portion 6002 can be designed as a central concave inclined surface 50.

It is to be noted that the push switch 42 as shown in FIG. 2 is fixed to the upper surface of the circuit substrate 48 below the translational push plate 40 inside the casing 32.

The multi-directional button structure 34 as described above, wherein the switch can also be a metal dome 44, which is also fixed to the upper surface of the circuit substrate 48 below the translational push plate 40 inside the housing 32. At this time, the end of the pressing rib 6202 is adjacent to the metal reed switch 44, and is designed as a slope 52 facing downward. Therefore, when the ramp 52 contacts the metal reed switch 44, a vertical downward component is generated to activate the metal reed switch 44.

Referring to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, in order to obtain better technical effects, in addition to the four-way multi-directional button structure 34 of the foregoing embodiment, the multi-directional button structure 34 in the mobile electronic device 30 can also be designed in eight directions. Therefore, correspondingly, eight pressing ribs 6202a are provided in the horizontal direction below the force receiving portion 6002a in eight directions, and corresponding pressing ribs 6202a are provided around the translational pushing plate 40a. The switch 42a is such that the multi-directional button structure 34a becomes the eight-way direction key of the mobile electronic device 30a.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, the upper portion of the multi-directional button structure 34a has a circular shape or an octagonal shape. 6 shows that the first member 60a and the second member 62a are both circular, and the opening of the outer casing 32a is also circular. Further, the circuit board 48a is provided with eight push switches 42a distributed in eight directions. In operation, the principle of operation is the same as that of the four-way translation type button structure 34 described above, and only the function of the oblique movement input is added.

Therefore, the mobile electronic device 30 of the present invention and the multi-directional button structure 34 thereof are provided with the panning push plate 40 and the switch 42 for operation in the horizontal direction, so that the multi-directional button structure 34 can provide a direction indicating function, and The required component cost and manufacturing man-hour are also low, and the structure is also very suitable for the thin design of the mobile electronic device 30.

The features and spirits of the present invention are more apparent from the detailed description of the preferred embodiments. On the contrary, the intention is to cover various modifications and equivalents within the scope of the invention as claimed.

30‧‧‧Mobile electronic devices

32‧‧‧Shell

34‧‧‧Key structure

40‧‧‧Pan push board

60‧‧‧ first part

62‧‧‧ second part

6002‧‧‧ Force Department

6202‧‧‧Pushing ribs

42‧‧‧Press switch

46‧‧‧Reed

50‧‧‧ sloped surface

48‧‧‧ circuit board

44‧‧‧Metal reed switch

52‧‧‧Slope

1 is a perspective view of a portion of a mobile electronic device of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of a portion of a mobile electronic device of the present invention; FIG. Side sectional view of a multi-directional button structure of a metal reed switch; 5 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the mobile electronic device of the present invention; and FIG. 6 is a schematic exploded view of a portion of the multi-directional button structure of the mobile electronic device shown in FIG.

30‧‧‧Mobile electronic devices

32‧‧‧Shell

34‧‧‧Key structure

40‧‧‧Pan push board

60‧‧‧ first part

62‧‧‧ second part

6002‧‧‧ Force Department

6202‧‧‧Pushing ribs

42‧‧‧Press switch

46‧‧‧Reed

50‧‧‧ sloped surface

48‧‧‧ circuit board

Claims (10)

A button structure is disposed on a casing of a mobile electronic device, the button structure comprising: a translational push plate disposed in the opening on the outer casing, the translational push plate comprising a first component and a second component, the The upper surface of the first component is provided with a force receiving portion, and the peripheral edge of the second component extends in a horizontal direction to form at least one pressing rib, the force receiving portion is exposed outside the outer casing, and the pressing rib extends to the outer casing Internally; and at least one switch corresponding to the pressing rib disposed inside the outer casing; wherein a circumference of the first member passes through an opening in the outer casing to cover and hold the peripheral edge of the second member, when the When the force portion is pushed by the horizontal direction, the force receiving portion drives the second member through the circumference, thereby moving the pressing rib in the horizontal direction to contact the switch. The button structure of claim 1, wherein the first component and the second component are both plate-shaped components, and are fixedly coupled to each other in an up-down direction, and the edge of the first component and the second component are There is a gap to sandwich the edge of the housing opening. The button structure of claim 1, wherein the edge of the opening of the casing is provided with at least one reed corresponding to the side of the translational push plate, and the reed is used to reset the translational push plate after being pushed. The button structure of claim 1, wherein the switch is a push switch fixed to an upper surface of the circuit substrate below the translational push plate. The button structure according to claim 1, wherein the switch is a metal dome, and is fixed to the inside of the casing. The upper surface of the circuit substrate below the pad is pushed, and the end of the pressing rib is adjacent to the metal reed switch as a slope facing downward. A mobile electronic device includes: a casing having an opening; and a button structure disposed on the casing, the button structure comprising: a translational push plate disposed in the opening in the casing The translational push plate includes a first component and a second component. The upper surface of the first component is provided with a force receiving portion, and the peripheral edge of the second component extends in a horizontal direction to form at least one pressing rib. a force portion is exposed outside the outer casing, the pressing rib extending inside the outer casing; at least one switch corresponding to the pressing rib is disposed inside the outer casing; wherein a circumference of the first member passes through the opening on the outer casing Covering and holding the peripheral edge of the second component, when the force receiving portion is subjected to a force pushing in the horizontal direction, the force receiving portion drives the second component through the circumference, thereby moving the pressing rib in the horizontal direction to contact Start the switch. The mobile electronic device of claim 6, wherein the first component and the second component are both plate-shaped components, and are fixedly coupled to each other in an up-down direction, and the edge of the first component and the second component are There is a gap therebetween to sandwich the edge of the housing opening. The mobile electronic device of claim 6, wherein the edge of the opening of the casing is provided with at least one reed corresponding to the side of the translational push plate, the reed being used to be pushed by the elastic restoring force The pan is reset laterally. The mobile electronic device of claim 6, wherein the switch is a push switch fixed to an upper surface of the circuit substrate inside the housing below the translational push plate. The mobile electronic device of claim 6, wherein the switch is a metal dome, and is fixed to an upper surface of the circuit substrate inside the housing under the translational push plate, the pressing rib The end is adjacent to the metal reed switch at a slope that faces downwardly outward.