TWI547964B - Keystroke logging device and light guide element - Google Patents

Description

Button device and light guiding element

The invention relates to a button device and a light guiding component, in particular to a button device and a light guiding component with a luminous effect.

In today's technologically advanced information age, computers have become an indispensable necessity for people. In the current computer, the keyboard is one of the indispensable input devices for entering text, symbols or numbers. When the user selects the keyboard, in addition to considering the function of the keyboard, the visual effect of the appearance of the keyboard is also valued by the user. For example, light-emitting keyboards have been introduced on the market to attract users by creating cool visual effects. In addition, when the user uses the illuminated keyboard at night or when the light is insufficient, the light source provided by the illuminated keyboard itself can also assist the user in finding the button, thereby improving the convenience of using the illuminated keyboard.

However, currently, the illuminating keyboard on the market generally has difficulty in balancing manufacturing cost and light uniformity. The reason is that if the light uniformity of the illuminating keyboard is to be increased, the number of light sources must be increased, but the increase in the number of light sources will increase the illuminating keyboard. manufacturing cost. Conversely, if the number of light sources is reduced, the manufacturing cost of the illuminated keyboard can be reduced, but the light uniformity of the illuminated keyboard is reduced. Therefore, the current illuminated keyboard has problems in that manufacturing cost and light uniformity are difficult to balance.

The invention provides a button device and a light guiding component, thereby taking into consideration the manufacturing cost and light uniformity of the illuminated keyboard.

The button device disclosed in the present invention comprises a button switch, a light source, a keycap and a light guiding component. The light source is adjacent to the key switch. The key cap covers the key switch and the light source. The key cap includes a light transmissive plate portion and a side plate portion. The light transmissive plate portion covers the light source. The side plate portion is connected to the light transmissive plate portion. The light guiding element is interposed between the light transmissive plate portion of the transparent keycap and the light source. The light guiding element comprises a light equalizing plate portion and a light guiding plate portion. The light-shading plate portion has a relatively light-emitting surface and a back surface, and has a light-splitting groove. The light-emitting surface faces the light-transmitting plate portion of the keycap. The light splitting groove is located on the light emitting surface of the light equalizing plate portion. The light guide plate portion protrudes from the back surface of the light equalizing plate portion, and the projection of the light guide plate portion on the light exit surface and the projection of the light splitting groove on the light exit surface at least partially overlap. The light-guiding plate portion has a light-integrated side close to one of the light-shielding plate portion and the light-receiving plate portion. The light source is adjacent to the light incident side of the light guide plate portion, and the width of the connection side of the light guide plate portion is larger than the width of the light incident side of the light guide plate portion.

The light guiding element disclosed in the present invention comprises a light equalizing plate portion and a light guiding plate portion. The light-shading plate portion has a relatively light-emitting surface and a back surface, and has a light-splitting groove. The light splitting groove is located on the light emitting surface of the light equalizing plate portion. The light guide plate portion protrudes from the back surface of the light-shading plate portion, and the projection of the light-guiding plate portion on the light-emitting surface and the projection of the light-splitting groove on the light-emitting surface at least partially overlap. The light-guiding plate portion has a light-incident side closer to one side of the light-shielding plate portion and away from the light-receiving plate portion, and a width of the light-collecting plate portion on the side closer to the light-incident side of the light-receiving plate portion.

According to the button device and the light guiding element disclosed in the above embodiments, the light entering from the light-incident side of the light-conducting element is diffused to the connecting side of the larger width as much as possible through the light-guiding portion of the light-guiding plate portion of the light-guiding element, and then The connecting side transmits the light guided by the light guiding plate portion of the light guiding element, so that the light is diffused as uniformly as possible to the light emitting surface of the light equalizing plate portion, and then one or a small number of light sources can be used to achieve uniform light on the entire surface of the transparent plate portion of the key cap. degree. That is to say, through the arrangement of the light guiding elements, the amount of the light source can be effectively reduced, and the required uniformity standard can be achieved, thereby achieving both the manufacturing cost and the light uniformity of the illuminated keyboard.

The above description of the present invention and the following description of the embodiments are intended to illustrate and explain the principles of the invention, and to provide a further explanation of the scope of the invention.

Please refer to Figure 1 to Figure 3. 1 is a perspective view of a key device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of Figure 1. Figure 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of Figure 1.

The button device 10 of the present embodiment is applicable to an illuminated keyboard (not shown), and includes a button switch 100, a light source 200, a keycap 300, and a light guiding member 400. In addition, a bridge (such as a scissors type pivot structure, not shown) may be additionally provided in the button device 10. Since bridging is not the focus of the present invention and is well known to those skilled in the art, the structure associated with bridging will not be described again.

The push switch 100 is, for example, a mechanical trigger switch and has a triggering projection 110. When the triggering protrusion 110 of the button switch 100 is triggered, the button switch 100 generates a corresponding text or function signal. The above-mentioned push button switch 100 is exemplified by a mechanical trigger switch, but is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the push button switch 100 may also be a light-interrupting trigger switch.

The light source 200 is adjacent to the key switch 100. In detail, the light source 200 is, for example, a light emitting diode. The light source 200 is embedded in the button switch 100 and is used to generate a light that is projected upward.

The keycap 300 covers the key switch 100 and the light source 200. In detail, the keycap 300 includes a light transmissive plate portion 310 and a side plate portion 320. The light transmissive plate portion 310 is located above the push switch 100 and covers the light source 200. The side plate portion 320 is connected to the light transmissive plate portion 310 and surrounds the light source 200. In this embodiment, the translucent plate portion 310 is printed with, for example, an English alphabet or a phonetic symbol, and the side plate portion 320 is designed to be opaque, but not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the side plate portion 320 is also The light transmissive plate portion 310 is designed to be transparent.

The light guiding element 400 is interposed between the light transmitting plate portion 310 of the keycap 300 and the light source 200, and is fixed to the keycap 300. In detail, please refer to Figures 3 to 6. 4 is an enlarged schematic view of the light guiding element of FIG. 3. Figure 5 is a partial enlarged view of Figure 4. Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of another perspective of Figure 1. The light guiding element 400 includes a light equalizing plate portion 410, a light guiding plate portion 420, and two bonding plate portions 430. The light-shading plate portion 410 has a light-emitting surface 411 and a back surface 412 opposite to each other. The light-emitting surface 411 faces the light-transmitting plate portion 310 of the keycap 300, and the size of the light-emitting surface 411 matches the size of the light-transmitting plate portion 310. The back side 412 has opposing side edges 412a, 412b. The light guide plate portion 420 protrudes from the back surface 412 of the flat plate portion 410 and is separated from the opposite side edges 412a and 412b of the back surface 412, so that the outer shape of the light guiding element 400 is, for example, a "T" type of an English letter.

In the present embodiment, the light guiding plate portion 420 has a connecting side 422 which is away from the light incident side 421 of one of the light equalizing plate portions 410 and one of the light diffusing plate portions 410. The light source 200 is adjacent to the light incident side 421 of the light guide plate portion 420, and the width D1 of the connection side 422 of the light guide plate portion 420 is larger than the width D2 of the light incident side 421 of the light guide plate portion 420, and the connection side 422 of the light guide plate portion 420. The width D1 is substantially equal to the width of the uniform plate portion 410. Furthermore, the light guide plate portion 420 has a light incident surface 423 and two light receiving surfaces 424. The light incident surface 423 is located on the light incident side 421 of the light guide plate portion 420. The light incident surface 423 faces the light source 200. The two light guiding surfaces 424 are respectively connected to opposite sides of the light incident surface 423 and extend toward the connecting side 422 of the light guiding plate portion 420. Moreover, the pitch of the two light guiding surfaces 424 near the connecting side 422 of the light guiding plate portion 420 is larger than the pitch of the second light guiding surface 424 near the light incident side 421 of the light guiding plate portion 420. The light generated by the light source 200 is used to enter the light guide plate portion 420 from the light incident surface 423, and the light is relatively uniformly introduced into the light distribution plate portion 410 by the guiding of the two light receiving surfaces 424.

The light equalizing plate portion 410 has a light splitting groove 413. The light splitting groove 413 is located on the light emitting surface 411 of the light equalizing plate portion 410 and at least partially overlaps the projection of the light guiding plate portion 420 on the light emitting surface 411. In detail, the light-shading plate portion 410 has a first inclined groove surface 413a and a second inclined groove surface 413b, and the first inclined groove surface 413a and the second inclined groove surface 413b directly intersect and form an angle θ1. The first chute surface 413a is closer to the one side edge 412a of the back surface 412 than the second chute surface 413b. The angle θ1 between the first chute surface 413a and the second chute surface 413b is 75 degrees. In this embodiment, the projection of the first oblique groove surface 413a and the second inclined groove surface 413b of the uniform plate portion 410 on the light exit surface 411 at least partially overlaps the projection of the light guide plate portion 420 on the light exit surface 411 to make the light source The light emitted by the 200 can be flooded in the light-homogenizing plate portion 410 through the reflection of the first inclined groove surface 413a and the second inclined groove surface 413b, and a part of the light is incident on the opposite side edges 412a, 412b of the back surface 412.

Further, since the distance from the side edge 412a of the light-splitting groove 413 to the back surface 412 is short, and the distance from the side edge 412b of the light-splitting groove 413 to the back surface 412 is long, the amount of light required for the light-sinking groove 413 to be close to one side of the side edge 412a It should be less than the amount of light required by the light-sinking groove 413 near one side of the side edge 412a to maintain the uniformity of light of the uniform plate portion 410 on both sides of the light-splitting groove 413. In this embodiment, the inclination angle θ2 of the first chute surface 413a closer to the side edge 412a (ie, the angle formed by the first chute surface 413a and the light exit surface 411) is greater than the second slope closer to the side edge 412b. The inclination angle θ3 of the groove surface 413b (that is, the angle formed by the first chute surface 413b and the light-emitting surface 411). In the present embodiment, the inclination angle θ2 of the first chute surface 413a is exemplified by 60 degrees, and the inclination angle θ3 of the second chute surface 413a is exemplified by 45 degrees, but is not limited thereto.

The light-receiving plate portion 410 has a first reflecting surface 414 and a second reflecting surface 415 connected to the light-emitting surface 411 and the back surface 412. The first reflecting surface 414 and the second reflecting surface 415 are opposite to each other and are respectively located at two sides of the light-splitting groove 413. The distance from the light splitting groove 413 to the first reflecting surface 414 is smaller than the distance from the light separating groove 413 to the second reflecting surface 415.

The angle θ4 formed by the extending surface of the first reflecting surface 414 and the light emitting surface 411 is 45 degrees, and the light is reflected back to the light concentrating plate portion 410 through the first reflecting surface 414 to increase the light utilization rate of the uniform plate 410. The angle θ4 formed by the extending surface of the first reflecting surface 414 and the light emitting surface 411 is not limited to the above 45 degrees. In other embodiments, the angle θ4 formed by the extending surface of the first reflecting surface 414 and the light emitting surface 411 It can also be any angle value from 40 degrees to 50 degrees.

In addition, in this embodiment, the first reflective surface 414 is not coated with a reflective coating, and the inclined first reflective surface 414 is only reflected by the principle of total reflection, but not limited thereto. For example, the first reflective surface 414 may be additionally coated with a reflective coating to enhance the reflection effect of the first reflective surface 414. Similarly, the second reflecting surface 415 may be further coated with a reflective coating to enhance the reflection effect of the second reflecting surface 415.

The angle θ5 between the second reflecting surface 415 and the extending surface of the light-emitting surface 411 is 45 degrees. The second reflecting surface 415 is capable of re-reflecting the light back to the homogenizing plate portion 410. In this way, the amount of light emitted from the light source 200 emitted from the light exit surface 411 of the light equalizing plate portion 410 can be increased, and the light use rate of the light guiding element 400 can be further increased. The angle θ5 between the second reflecting surface 415 and the extending surface of the light-emitting surface 411 is not limited to 45 degrees. In other embodiments, the angle θ5 between the second reflecting surface 415 and the extending surface of the light-emitting surface 411 is θ5. It can also be any angle value from 40 degrees to 50 degrees.

In this embodiment, the light equalizing plate portion 410 further has a plurality of microstructures. These microstructures are located on the back side 412 of the planing plate portion 410. The microstructures are, for example, a recess 416 recessed inwardly from the back surface 412, and are distributed from one side of the light-shading plate portion 410 near the light-trapping plate portion 420 toward one side away from the light-receiving plate portion 420, and the distribution density of the microstructures is One side of the light guide plate portion 420 is gradually tapered toward one side away from the light guide plate portion 420. With these microstructures, the light emitted from the light-emitting surface 411 toward the light-transmitting plate portion 310 can be further made uniform.

Further, the planing plate portion 410 has a plurality of pairs of groove side faces 416a forming the grooves 416. The angle θ6 formed by each pair of groove sides 416a is 90 degrees, but is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the angle θ6 formed by each pair of groove sides 416a may be 40 degrees or more, and less than Any angle value equal to 90 degrees.

Moreover, the microstructure of the embodiment is the groove 416, but is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the microstructure may also be a bump.

The second bonding plate portion 430 protrudes from the back surface 412 of the light-shielding plate portion 410 and is engaged with the trigger portion of the push button switch 100. In this way, when the key cap 300 is pressed by an external force, the key cap 300 can drive the light guiding component 400 to trigger the key switch 100 to generate a text or function signal. In the present embodiment, the number of the bonding plate portions 430 is exemplified by two, but not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the number of the bonding plate portions 430 may be one or three or more.

Through the light guiding of the light guide plate portion 420, the light emitted from the light source 200 can be uniformly and uniformly entered into the light equalizing plate portion 410 as much as possible, and then the light diffusing plate portion 410 can be uniformly diffused and emitted from the light emitting surface 411 to the key cap. The light transmissive plate portion 310 of 300. Therefore, the button device 10 of the embodiment can use only one or a small number of the light source 200 or the lower power source 200 to achieve the uniform light effect of the entire transparent plate portion 310, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost and consumption of the button device 10. Electricity.

In the above embodiment, the light-emitting surface 424 is an example of a curved surface, but is not limited thereto. Please refer to Figure 7. Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a key device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In the key device 10' of this embodiment, the light guiding surface 424 may also be a flat surface. In addition, the rest of the structure of the key device 10' of the present embodiment is similar to that of the first embodiment, and therefore will not be described again.

According to the button device and the light guiding device disclosed in the above embodiments, the light is uniformly diffused through the light guiding portion of the light guiding member, and then the light guiding through the light guiding portion of the light guiding member is allowed to spread the light uniformly. Further, one or a small number of light sources can be used to achieve the light uniformity of the entire surface of the light-transmitting plate portion of the keycap. That is to say, through the arrangement of the light guiding elements, the amount of the light source can be effectively reduced, and the required uniformity standard can be achieved, thereby achieving both the manufacturing cost and the light uniformity of the illuminated keyboard.

Although the embodiments of the present invention are disclosed above, it is not intended to limit the present invention, and those skilled in the art, regardless of the spirit and scope of the present invention, the shapes, configurations, and features described in the scope of the present application. And the number of modifications may be made, and the scope of patent protection of the present invention shall be determined by the scope of the patent application attached to the specification.

10, 10'‧‧‧ button device
100‧‧‧Key switch
110‧‧‧trigger convex
200‧‧‧Light source
300‧‧‧Key Cap
310‧‧‧Transparent board
320‧‧‧Side plate department
400‧‧‧Light guiding elements
410‧‧‧Light Board Department
411‧‧‧Glossy
412‧‧‧ back
412a, 412b‧‧‧ side edge
413‧‧‧Spots
413a‧‧‧First chute surface
413b‧‧‧Second chute surface
414‧‧‧First reflective surface
415‧‧‧second reflective surface
416‧‧‧ Groove
416a‧‧‧Slot side
420‧‧‧Lighting plate department
421‧‧‧light side
422‧‧‧Connected side
423‧‧‧Into the glossy surface
424‧‧‧ illuminating surface
430‧‧‧Combined board
D1, D2‧‧‧width θ1~θ6‧‧‧ angle

1 is a perspective view of a key device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of Figure 1. Figure 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of Figure 1. 4 is an enlarged schematic view of the light guiding element of FIG. 3. Figure 5 is a partial enlarged view of Figure 4. Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of another perspective of Figure 1. Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a key device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

10‧‧‧Key device

100‧‧‧Key switch

110‧‧‧trigger convex

200‧‧‧Light source

300‧‧‧Key Cap

310‧‧‧Transparent board

320‧‧‧Side plate department

400‧‧‧Light guiding elements

410‧‧‧Light Board Department

416‧‧‧ Groove

420‧‧‧Lighting plate department

430‧‧‧Combined board

Claims (11)

A button device comprises: a button switch; a light source adjacent to the button switch; a key cap covering the button switch and the light source, the key cap comprising a light transmissive plate portion and a side plate portion, the light transmissive plate The light guide member is connected to the light-transmitting plate portion; and a light guiding member is interposed between the light-transmitting plate portion of the key cap and the light source, and the light guiding member comprises: a light-averaging plate portion. Having a light emitting surface and a back surface, and having a light dividing surface facing the light transmitting plate portion of the keycap, the light separating groove is located on the light emitting surface of the light shielding plate portion; and a light guiding plate portion, convex The light-emitting plate portion has a projection on the light-emitting surface and at least partially overlaps the projection of the light-splitting groove on the light-emitting surface, and the light-guiding plate portion has a connection side close to the light-emitting plate portion The light source is adjacent to the light incident side of the light guide plate portion, and the light source is adjacent to the light incident side of the light guide plate portion, and a width of the connection side of the light guide plate portion is greater than a width of the light incident side of the light guide plate portion. The button device of claim 1, wherein the light guide plate portion has a light incident surface and a second light guide surface, the light incident surface is located on the light incident side of the light guide plate portion, and the light incident surface faces the light source, The two light-receiving surfaces are respectively connected to the opposite sides of the light-incident surface, and extend toward the connecting side of the light-guiding plate portion, and the distance between the two light-collecting surfaces adjacent to the connecting side of the light-receiving plate portion is larger than the two light-emitting surfaces The distance from the light incident side of the light guide plate portion. The button device of claim 2, wherein the light guiding surface is a plane or a curved surface. The button device of claim 1, wherein the light-shading plate portion further has a plurality of microstructures, and the microstructures are located on the back surface of the light-balancing plate portion. The button device of claim 4, wherein the density of the microstructures is gradually reduced from a side close to the light guide plate portion toward a side away from the light guide plate portion. The button device of claim 4, wherein each of the microstructures is a recess recessed inwardly from the back surface. The button device of claim 6, wherein the light-shading plate portion has a plurality of pairs of groove sides forming the grooves, and each of the pair of groove sides forms an angle of 40 degrees or more and 90 degrees or less. The button device of claim 1, wherein the light-shading plate portion has a first reflecting surface and a second reflecting surface on opposite sides of the light-splitting groove, and the distance from the light-splitting groove to the first reflecting surface is smaller than the The distance from the light splitting groove to the second reflecting surface. The button device of claim 8, wherein the light-shading plate portion has a first inclined groove surface and a second inclined groove surface, and the first inclined groove surface and the second inclined groove surface are formed. The angle is 75 degrees. The button device of claim 9, wherein the first chute surface is closer to the first reflecting surface than the second chute surface, and the angle between the first chute surface and the light emitting surface is 60 degrees. The angle between the second oblique groove surface and the light exit surface is 45 degrees. A light guiding component comprises: a light concentrating plate portion having an opposite light emitting surface and a back surface, and a light dividing groove, wherein the light separating groove is located on the light emitting surface of the light absorbing plate portion; and a light guiding plate portion protruding from The rear surface of the light-receiving plate portion, and the projection of the light-receiving plate portion on the light-emitting surface and the projection of the light-splitting groove on the light-emitting surface at least partially overlap, the light-guiding plate portion having a connection side away from the one of the light-shielding plate portions and away from the One of the light-receiving plate portions is on the light-incident side, and a width of the connecting side of the light-guiding plate portion is larger than a width of the light-incident side of the light-trapping plate portion.