TWI412049B - Keymat and method of making the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A keymat comprises a light guide board and an elastic pushing body. The light guide board is made of polycarbonate. The elastic pushing body is made of thermoplastic elastomers. The light guide board and the elastic pushing body is fused together by injection molding.

Description

Button and its manufacturing method

The present invention is a button and a method of manufacturing the same.

The environment has become the focus of people's attention and has become an important factor affecting the competitiveness of various products in the market.

The buttons are used in a variety of electronic products, and the pressing body and the light guide plate are indispensable parts of the button. Most of the previous pressing bodies are made of silicone materials, which generate more harmful substances during molding and assembly, which are harmful to the environment. The light guide plates used to improve the light guiding properties of the buttons are generally made of polycarbonate material. In the prior art, when the silicone rubber was combined with the polycarbonate material, it could not be separated, and the material could not be reused, resulting in a large waste. Therefore, in some button structures, the pressing body and the light guide plate are not in direct contact, but there is a certain distance between the pressing body and the light guide plate, which affects the light guiding property of the button.

In view of the above, a button and a manufacturing method thereof that overcome the above drawbacks are specially designed.

The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a button capable of realizing material reuse and having good light guiding performance of a button and a manufacturing method thereof.

In order to solve the above technical problem, the button of the present invention comprises a light guide plate and an elastic pressing body, the light guide plate is made of a high transparent polycarbonate material, and the elastic pressing body is made of thermoplastic. The elastomer material is made, and the light guide plate and the elastic pressing body are fused together by injection molding.

In order to solve the foregoing technical problem, the manufacturing method of the button of the present invention comprises: a first step of preparing two sets of molds, a mold 1 for forming a light guide plate, a mold 2 for forming an elastic pressing body, and a second step of the mold 1 The two are placed in different positions of the injection molding machine, the injection molding machine can shoot two different materials, and the high-transparent polycarbonate material is injected into the mold to form the light guide plate; the third step is to rotate the mold 180 degrees to the mold 2 At the position, the light guide plate is injected twice, and the injection molding machine emits a thermoplastic elastomer to form an elastic pressing body, and after the molding is completed, the product is taken out on the second shooting side.

Compared with the prior art, the pressing body of the present invention is made of a thermoplastic elastomer material, can be recycled, and the thermoplastic elastomer material and the polycarbonate material can be fused together by injection molding, which is more convenient to manufacture.

1‧‧‧Light guide plate

100‧‧‧ button

11‧‧‧ upper surface

12‧‧‧ bottom

121‧‧‧ Groove

13‧‧‧through hole

2‧‧‧ Pressing body

21‧‧‧Flexible wall

211‧‧‧Flexible protrusions

22‧‧‧Depression

23‧‧‧Elastic column

The first figure is a combination view of the keys of the present invention; the second figure is an exploded view of the keys of the present invention; the third figure is an exploded view of another view of the keys of the present invention; and the fourth figure is the key of the present invention shown in the first figure. - Sectional view of the -IV line.

Specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

Referring to the first figure, the button 100 of the present invention comprises a plurality of elastic pressing bodies 2 and a light guide plate 1. The elastic pressing body 2 is made of a thermoplastic elastomer material, and the light guiding plate 1 is made of a polycarbonate material, and the elastic pressing body 2 And the light guide plate 1 is fused to one by injection molding Start. Since the elastic pressing body 2 is made of a thermoplastic elastomer material, it can be recycled to avoid waste of materials and environmental pollution. At the same time, since the thermoplastic elastomer material can be injection molded, the elastic pressing body 2 and the light guide plate 1 can be fused together by injection molding, which is more convenient to manufacture.

Referring to the second to fourth figures, the light guide plate 1 has an upper surface 11 and a bottom surface 12. The light guide plate 1 is formed with a plurality of through holes 13 extending through the upper surface 11 and the bottom surface 12. The elastic pressing body 2 is injection-molded in the through hole 13, and each of the elastic pressing bodies 2 includes an elastic wall 21 attached to the inner wall of the through hole 13 and a pressing portion 22 protruding from the upper surface 11 of the light guiding plate 1, due to the light guiding plate 1 and The elastic pressing body 2 is substantially on one plane, and the light guiding property of the button 100 is better. An elastic protrusion 21 is formed on one side of the elastic wall 21 of the elastic pressing body 2 away from the pressing portion 22, and a gap exists between the elastic protrusion 211 and the elastic wall 21. The bottom surface 12 of the light guide plate 1 is formed to receive the elastic protrusion. The groove 121 of the portion 211 extends outward from the through hole 13. The elastic pressing body 2 further has a resilient post 23 extending downward from a central position of the pressing portion 22, and the elastic post 23 is not in contact with the elastic wall 21.

Next, a manufacturing process in which the elastic pressing body 2 and the light guiding plate 1 of the present invention are fused together by injection molding will be described. In the first step, two sets of molds are prepared, namely, a mold 1 and a mold 2, a mold 1 is used for forming the light guide plate 1, and a mold 2 is used for molding the elastic pressing body 2. In the second step, the molds one and two are respectively placed in different positions of the injection molding machine, the injection molding machine has two nozzles, the nozzle one is used for emitting high transparent polycarbonate material, and the second nozzle is used for emitting thermoplastic elastomer material. . In the third step, the light guide plate 1 is formed by aligning the nozzle with the mold. Then, the mold is rotated 180 degrees to the position where the mold 2 is located, and the light guide plate 1 is aligned with the nozzle 2 to perform secondary injection molding of the elastic pressing body 2 of the button 100, so that the elastic pressing body 2 and the light guide plate 1 are fused together. After the molding is completed, the product is taken out, and the mold is rotated in the opposite direction. It can be recycled by rotating 180°. The elastic pressing body 2 and the light guide plate 1 are injection molded from the same injection molding machine, which simplifies the manufacturing process.

The technical content and technical features of the present invention have been disclosed as above, but those skilled in the art can still make various alternatives and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention based on the teachings and disclosures of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should not be limited to The disclosure of the embodiments, including the various alternatives and modifications of the invention, are covered by the scope of the claims.

1‧‧‧Light guide plate

100‧‧‧ button

2‧‧‧ Pressing body

Claims (4)

A button comprising: a light guide plate made of a high transparent polycarbonate material; an elastic pressing body made of a thermoplastic elastomer material, wherein the elastic pressing body and the light guide plate are fused together by injection molding; wherein the light guide plate is formed with Each of the elastic pressing bodies has an elastic wall attached to the inner wall of the through hole, and the elastic wall of the elastic pressing body is formed with an elastic protruding portion, and a gap exists between the elastic protruding portion and the elastic wall. The button of claim 1, wherein the light guide plate is provided with a groove for receiving the elastic protrusion, and the groove extends outward from the through hole. The button of claim 2, wherein the light guide plate has two opposite faces, and the elastic pressing body protrudes one of the faces of the light guide plate, and the groove is located on the other surface of the light guide plate. A button manufacturing method comprising: a first step of preparing two sets of molds, a mold 1 for forming a light guide plate, a mold 2 for forming an elastic pressing body, and a second step of respectively placing the molds 1 and 2 separately in an injection molding machine Position, the injection molding machine can shoot two different materials, and a high transparent polycarbonate material is injected into the mold to form a light guide plate; in the third step, the mold is rotated 180 degrees to the position where the mold 2 is located, and the light guide plate is rotated. After the second injection, the injection molding machine emits a thermoplastic elastomer to form an elastic pressing body, and after the molding is completed, the product is taken out on the second shooting side; The light guide plate is formed with a through hole, and each of the elastic pressing bodies has an elastic wall attached to the inner wall of the through hole. The elastic wall of a part of the elastic pressing body is formed with an elastic protruding portion, and a gap exists between the elastic protruding portion and the elastic wall. .