TWI671772B - Keyswitch - Google Patents

Abstract

A key comprises a bottom plate, a key cap and a supporting device. The bottom plate has first and second pivoting portions. The supporting device is disposed on the bottom plate and supports the keycap, and includes first and second supporting plates opposite to each other and having first and second bottom edges, respectively. The first and second supporting plates are pivotally connected to the first and second supporting plates, respectively. The second pivoting portion, the first and second supporting pieces extend from the first and second bottom edges to support the second and first bottom edges, respectively, and are offset from each other. When the keycap is pressed, the first and second supporting pieces swing upwards against the second and first bottom edges, respectively, and the first and second supporting pieces interfere with the second and first bottom edges to bias each other. The first and second supporting plates are flexibly deformed to generate an elastic restoring force.

Description

button

The present invention relates to a key, and more particularly to a key that uses a support plate to interfere with each other to provide a key resetting force.

In terms of current personal computer usage habits, the keyboard is one of the indispensable input devices for entering text, symbols or numbers. Not only that, for example, all consumer electronics products or large-scale processing equipment used in industry need to be provided with a key structure as an input device to operate the above-mentioned electronic products and processing equipment.

Generally, the traditional keyboard adopts a pressing design in which the assembly structure of the scissor foot supporting device and the elastic member is disposed between the keycap and the bottom plate. Thus, when the keycap is pressed by the user, the elastic member provides elastic restoring force to the keycap. The keycap is driven to return to the position before pressing with the mechanism of the scissor foot support device. However, because the design of the scissor foot mechanism used in the scissor foot support device described above will cause a large height space for the keys, it is not conducive to the application of a thin keyboard. In addition, since the elastic member is usually made of rubber, the rubber will have a fatigue condition under long-term use, thereby reducing the service life of the keys.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a key that uses a support plate to interfere with each other to provide a key resetting force to solve the above problems.

According to an embodiment, the key of the present invention includes a bottom plate, a keycap, and a supporting device. The bottom plate has at least a first pivot joint portion and at least a second pivot joint portion. The keycap is disposed above the bottom plate. The supporting device is arranged on the bottom plate and supports the keycap to move the keycap up and down between an unpressed position and a pressed position. The supporting device includes a first supporting plate and a second support. A supporting plate member, the first supporting plate member and the second supporting plate member facing each other and having a first bottom edge and a second bottom edge, respectively, the first supporting plate member is pivotably connected to the at least one first A pivoting portion, the second supporting plate is pivotably connected to the at least one second pivoting portion, and at least one first supporting piece extends from the first bottom edge toward the second supporting plate to form a support. Abutting under the second bottom edge, at least one second supporting piece extends from the second bottom edge to the first supporting plate member to be supported under the first bottom edge and contact the at least one first supporting edge. The film is misaligned. When the keycap is not pressed, the at least one first supporting piece supports the second bottom edge of the second supporting plate and the at least one second supporting piece supports the first supporting plate. The first bottom edge keeps the keycap in an unpressed position. When the keycap is pressed to the pressing position by an external force, the at least one first supporting piece is supported against the second bottom edge with the pivoting of the first supporting plate relative to the at least one first pivoting portion. Swing upward, the at least one second supporting piece swings upward with the second supporting plate relative to the at least one second pivoting portion pivoting against the first bottom edge, and the at least one first supporting piece The sheet and the at least one second supporting piece interfere with the second bottom edge and the first bottom edge to bias the first support plate and the second support plate to flex and deform to generate an elastic restoring force. When the external force is released, the elastic restoring force drives the keycap to return to the unpressed position.

In summary, under the design that the support plates interfere with each other to provide the key resetting force, the key system provided by the present invention can omit the configuration of the scissor foot support device and the elastic member, thereby effectively reducing the overall occupation of the key Space to facilitate subsequent application of thin keyboard, and effectively extend the life of the keys.

The advantages and spirit of the present invention can be further understood through the following detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings.

10‧‧‧ button

12‧‧‧ floor

14‧‧‧Keycap

16, 16’‧‧‧ support device

18‧‧‧ the first pivot joint

20‧‧‧Second pivot joint

22、22’‧‧‧first support plate

24‧‧‧Second support plate

26, 26’‧‧‧ first bottom edge

28‧‧‧ second bottom

30‧‧‧ the first support piece

32‧‧‧ the second supporting piece

34‧‧‧Accommodation opening

36‧‧‧ recessed structure

38‧‧‧ convex hull elastomer

40‧‧‧Trigger switch

42‧‧‧Folding structure

44‧‧‧ Stop ear

46‧‧‧Support sheet

48‧‧‧ Bend Hole Sheet

50‧‧‧ limit ear

FIG. 1 is a schematic partial explosion diagram of a button according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is an explosion diagram of the button in Figure 1.

Fig. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the button of Fig. 1 along the section line A-A.

Fig. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the button of Fig. 1 along the section line B-B.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the keycap of FIG. 3 being pressed to a pressing position.

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the keycap of FIG. 4 being pressed to a pressing position.

FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged schematic diagram of a supporting device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. FIG. 1 is a partial explosion diagram of the button 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explosion diagram of the button 10 of FIG. 1. It is preferably applied to portable electronic devices (such as notebook computers) generally having an opening and closing mechanism composed of an upper cover and a lower case, but is not limited thereto. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the key 10 includes a bottom plate 12, a key cap 14, and a support device 16. The bottom plate 12 has at least one first pivoting portion 18 and at least one second pivoting portion 20 (two are shown in the first figure, but not limited to this). The keycap 14 is disposed above the bottom plate 12. The supporting device 16 is disposed on the bottom plate 12 and supports the keycap 14. The supporting device 16 includes a first supporting plate 22 and a second supporting plate 24. The first supporting plate 22 and the second supporting plate 24 are comparable. It is preferably composed of metal materials and has substantially the same support plate structure (but not limited to this) to facilitate the manufacture of the support device 16. The first support plate 22 and the second support plate 24 are opposite each other and each has a first A bottom edge 26 and a second bottom edge 28. The first support plate 22 is pivotably connected to the first pivot portion 18, and the second support plate 24 is pivotally connected to the second pivot portion. 20, the first supporting piece 30 extends from the first bottom edge 26 to the second supporting plate 24 to be supported under the second bottom edge 28, and the second supporting piece 32 extends from the second bottom edge 28 to the first The support plate 22 is extended to support under the first bottom edge 26 and is offset from the first support piece 30, whereby the keycap 14 can be opposed to each other via the first support plate 22 and the second support plate 24, respectively. The pivoting of the bottom plate 12 is accompanied by the support device 16 moving up and down between the unpressed position and the pressed position.

In more detail, in this embodiment, the first pivotal portion 18 is preferably a bent hook formed by protruding upward from the bottom plate 12, and the position of the first supporting plate 22 corresponding to the bent hook can be formed. Have accommodation The opening 34 and the first pivoting portion 18 can be fastened in the receiving opening 34 so that the first support plate 22 can be pivotally connected to the bottom plate 12. Furthermore, the first supporting plate 22 can be recessed downward toward the first pivoting portion 18 at a portion corresponding to the receiving opening 34 to form an indented structure 36 (for example, formed by punching and recessing). Therefore, the present invention can not only improve the structural rigidity of the first support plate 22, but also reduce the assembly height of the first support plate 22 pivoted on the bottom plate 12 to facilitate the thin design of the key 10.

As for the switch trigger design, the present invention can adopt a convex hull structure to resist the trigger design of the trigger switch. For example, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the bottom plate 12 is located on the first support plate 22 and the first The position between the two supporting plates 24 may protrude to form a convex hull elastic body 38. The key 10 may further include a trigger switch 40. The trigger switch 40 is connected to the position of the keycap 14 corresponding to the convex hull elastic body 38. In this way, when the external force presses the keycap 14 to the pressing position, the convex hull elastic body 38 can press the trigger switch 40 to cause the button 10 to perform the corresponding input function. On the other hand, when the external force is released, The compressed convex hull elastic body 38 can provide an elastic force to drive the keycap 14 back to the unpressed position to generate an automatic return effect, so that the user can perform subsequent key pressing operations.

In addition, it can be seen from FIG. 2 that the bottom plate 12 is bent toward the first support plate 22 to form at least one hemming structure 42 (four are shown in the second figure, but not limited to this). When the keycap 14 is pressed to the pressing position by an external force, the hemming structure 42 can stop the first supporting plate 22 from pivoting relative to the first pivoting portion 18 to prevent the first supporting plate 22 from being excessively pivoted. As a result, the internal components of the button 10 are damaged. In addition, in order to prevent the supporting plate from pivoting downwardly and excessively under the influence of gravity in the state of no pressure, the first supporting piece 30 may extend laterally to form a stop ear 44, and the bottom plate 12 corresponds to the stop ear 44. A support piece 46 may be formed at the position, so that when the keycap 14 is in an unpressed position as shown in FIG. 1, the support piece 46 can support the stop ear 44 to restrict the first support plate 22 relative to The bottom plate 12 pivots downwards, thereby preventing the first support plate 22 from colliding with other elements of the key 10 (such as the bottom plate 12) to generate structural noise or damage the components. It should be noted that the above-mentioned configuration of the receiving opening, the concave structure, the folded structure, and the support limit design of the stop ear and the support piece can also be applied to the second support plate 24. For related descriptions, please refer to Said above The analogy will not be repeated here.

In actual application, it can be seen from FIG. 1 that the bottom plate 12 can be extended to form at least one bent hole piece 48 (four are shown in FIG. 1, but not limited to this), and the keycap 14 can correspond to One side of the bending hole piece 48 protrudes outward to form a limiting ear portion 50, whereby the limiting ear portion 50 is detachably inserted in the bending hole piece 48 to support the limiting keycap 14 against the first The support plate 22 and the second support plate 24 prevent the structure of the keycap 14 from shaking during the pressing operation or accidentally falling off from the first support plate 22 and the second support plate 24. .

Here, the pressing and returning mechanism of the button 10 is described in detail. Please refer to FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5, and FIG. 6. FIG. 3 is the section of the button 10 in FIG. Sectional schematic diagram, FIG. 4 is a sectional schematic diagram of the key 10 of FIG. 1 along the section line BB, FIG. 5 is a sectional schematic diagram of the key cap 14 of FIG. 3 being pressed to the pressing position, and FIG. 6 is the key of FIG. A schematic sectional view of the cap 14 being pressed to the pressing position. When the keycap 14 is not pressed, the first support piece 30 supports the second bottom edge 28 of the second support plate 24 and the second support piece 32 supports the first bottom edge 26 of the first support plate 22 As a result, the keycap 14 is maintained in the unpressed position as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. When the keycap 14 is pressed to the pressing position by external force, the first support plate 22 pivots with respect to the bottom plate 12 using the first pivot portion 18 as a fulcrum, and the second support plate 24 uses the second pivot portion 20 as a fulcrum. Pivot relative to the bottom plate 12. In this process, the first support piece 30 swings upward with the pivot of the first support plate 22 against the second bottom edge 28, and the second support piece 32 follows the second The pivoting support of the support plate 24 swings upward against the first bottom edge 26 (At the same time, the first support piece 30 and the second support piece 32 interfere with the second bottom edge 28 and the first bottom edge 26 to offset (Press the first support plate 22 and the second support plate 24 to flex and deform to generate an elastic restoring force), so that the keycap 14 can follow the pivot of the first support plate 22 and the second support plate 24 The pivoting moves from the unpressed position shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 to the pressed position shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, so that the trigger switch 40 is pressed by the convex hull elastic body 38. And trigger to perform the corresponding input function.

On the other hand, when the external force is released, the first supporting piece 30 and the second supporting piece 32 The first support plate 22 and the second support plate 24 which respectively interfere with the second bottom edge 28 and the first bottom edge 26 and flex and deform correspondingly can provide an elastic restoring force to drive the first support plate 22 to the first A pivoting portion 18 pivots the fulcrum and drives the second support plate 24 to pivot with the second pivoting portion 20 as the fulcrum (at the same time, the convex hull elastic body 38 can also provide elastic force to drive the keycap 14 upward) Therefore, the keycap 14 is driven to move from the pressed position shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 back to the unpressed position shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 to generate an automatic return effect.

In this way, under the design that the supporting plates interfere with each other to provide the key resetting force, the key system provided by the present invention can omit the configuration of the scissor foot support device and the elastic member, thereby effectively reducing the space required for the key as a whole. , In order to facilitate the subsequent application of thin keyboard, and effectively extend the life of the keys.

It is worth mentioning that the design of the bottom edge of the supporting plate is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, please refer to FIG. 7, which is a partially enlarged schematic diagram of the supporting device 16 ′ according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the elements with the same numbers as those described in the above embodiments represent that they have the same structure or function, and the related descriptions will not be repeated here. As can be seen from FIG. 7, the supporting device 16 ′ includes a first supporting plate member 22 ′ and a second supporting plate member 24. The first supporting plate member 22 ′ and the second supporting plate member 24 are opposed to each other and each have a first bottom edge 26. 'And the second bottom edge 28, the first supporting piece 30 extends from the first bottom edge 26' to the second supporting plate 24 to be supported under the second bottom edge 28, and the second supporting piece 32 extends from the first The two bottom edges 28 extend toward the first support plate 22 ′ to support the first bottom edge 26 ′ and are offset from the first support piece 30. In this embodiment, the first bottom edge 26 ′ may preferably have an outwardly curved shape (but not limited to this, it may also be used to reduce the size of the first bottom edge 26 ′ and the second supporting piece 32). Design of the shape of the bottom edge of the supporting length, such as a bump-shaped or wavy bottom edge, etc.) to reduce the supporting length between the first bottom edge 26 'and the second supporting piece 32, thereby reducing the first bottom edge The contact friction force between 26 'and the second supporting piece 32 ensures that the pivoting of the first supporting plate 22' and the second supporting plate 24 can be smoother. Similarly, the above-mentioned bottom edge design can also be applied to the second support plate. For related descriptions, refer to the above description and so on, and will not be repeated here.

The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and all equivalent changes and modifications made in accordance with the scope of patent application of the present invention shall fall within the scope of the present invention.

Claims (9)

A key comprises: a bottom plate having at least a first pivoting portion and at least a second pivoting portion, the bottom plate extending outwardly forming at least one bent hole piece; a key cap provided on the bottom plate Above; and a support device, which is disposed on the bottom plate and supports the keycap to move the keycap up and down between an unpressed position and a pressed position, the support device includes a first support plate and a A second support plate, the first support plate and the second support plate being opposite to each other and having a first bottom edge and a second bottom edge, respectively, the first support plate is pivotably connected to the at least A first pivoting portion, the second supporting plate is pivotably connected to the at least one second pivoting portion, and at least one first supporting piece extends from the first bottom edge to the second supporting plate. To support under the second bottom edge, at least one second supporting piece extends from the second bottom edge to the first support plate member to support under the first bottom edge and is connected to the at least one first The supporting piece is dislocated, and the keycap protrudes outward from one side of at least one bent hole piece. A limiting ear, which is detachably inserted in the at least one bent hole piece to limit the keycap to abut against the first support plate and the second support plate; Wherein, when the keycap is not pressed, the at least one first supporting piece supports the second bottom edge of the second supporting plate and the at least one second supporting piece supports the first supporting plate. The first bottom edge to maintain the keycap in an unpressed position; when the keycap is pressed to the pressed position by an external force, the at least one first supporting piece is moved relative to the first supporting plate with respect to the The pivotal support of at least one first pivotal portion swings upward against the second bottom edge, and the at least one second support piece follows the pivotal support of the second support plate relative to the at least one second pivotal portion. Swing upward against the first bottom edge, and the at least one first support piece and the at least one second support piece interfere with the second bottom edge and the first bottom edge to bias the first support plate An elastic restoring force is generated by flexing and deforming with the second support plate; when the external force is released, the elastic restoring force drives the keycap to return to the Pressing position. The button according to claim 1, wherein the first support plate and the second support plate have substantially the same support plate structure. The button according to claim 1, wherein the at least one first pivoting portion is a bent hook formed by protruding upward from the bottom plate, and the first supporting plate is formed with a receiving opening corresponding to a position of the bent hook. A hole, the bent card is hooked into the accommodating opening, so that the first supporting plate is pivotably connected to the bottom plate. The button according to claim 3, wherein a portion of the first supporting plate corresponding to the opening is recessed downward toward the bending hook to form an indented structure. The button according to claim 1, wherein the bottom plate is bent toward the first support plate to form at least one hemming structure, and when the external force presses the keycap to the pressing position, the at least one hemming structure stops The first supporting plate is pivoted relative to the at least one first pivoting portion. The button according to claim 1, wherein the bottom plate protrudes to form a convex hull elastic body at a position between the first support plate and the second support plate, and the button further includes: a trigger switch, which is connected At the position where the keycap corresponds to the convex hull elastomer; when the external force presses the keycap to the pressed position, the convex hull elastomer presses to trigger the trigger switch; when the external force is released, the pressurized The convex hull elastic body provides elastic force to drive the keycap back to the unpressed position. The key according to claim 1, wherein the at least one first supporting piece laterally extends to form a stop ear, and the bottom plate is formed with a supporting piece at a position corresponding to the stop ear, and when the keycap is located on the unpressed In the position, the support piece supports the stop ear portion to restrict the first support plate from pivoting downward relative to the bottom plate. The button according to claim 1, wherein the first bottom edge is in an outward arc shape. The button according to claim 1, wherein the first support plate and the second support plate are made of a metal material.