TWI810999B - Keyswitch and keyboard thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A keyswitch includes a cap, a bottom board, a connection base, a membrane circuit board and a support mechanism. The bottom board has a first hole. The connection base is fixed to the first hole by a hot melt forming process or an insert molding process. The membrane circuit board has a second hole corresponding to the first hole. The second hole has a hole edge portion. The hole edge portion is sandwiched between the connection base and the bottom board when the connection base is fixed to the first hole, so as to make the membrane circuit board fixed to the bottom board. The support mechanism is connected to the connection base and the cap to make the cap movable upward and downward relative to the bottom board together with the support mechanism.

Description

Keys and their keyboards

The present invention relates to a key and its keyboard, in particular to a key and its keyboard using a connecting seat to clamp the edge of a hole in a film circuit board.

As far as current personal computer usage habits are concerned, the keyboard is one of the indispensable input devices for inputting characters, symbols or numbers. Not only that, but all consumer electronic products or large-scale processing equipment used in the industry need to be provided with a key structure as an input device to operate the above-mentioned electronic products and processing equipment.

Generally speaking, the keyboard uses a thin film circuit board (membrane) to trigger the key signal, wherein the thin film circuit board is composed of an upper circuit membrane, an insulating membrane and a lower circuit membrane. In short, as long as the user presses down the key on the keyboard, the corresponding contact point on the upper circuit diaphragm can be conducted with the corresponding contact point on the lower circuit diaphragm through the hole in the insulating diaphragm, thereby generating a corresponding Corresponding key signal.

In practical application, corresponding perforations are generally required to be formed on the film circuit board corresponding to the positions of the supporting mechanisms of each button (such as the scissor foot supporting mechanism, etc.), so that the connecting seat on the base can pass through the perforations to connect to the supporting mechanism. However, under this design, if the user accidentally spills liquid (such as water, drinks, etc.) on the keyboard during the use of the keyboard, the liquid will flow into the thin film circuit board through the edge of the hole. Diaphragm gap, resulting in circuit short circuit damage occurs.

The object of the present invention is to provide a key and keyboard which utilizes a connection seat to clamp the edge of the perforated film circuit board, so as to solve the above-mentioned problems.

According to an embodiment, the button of the present invention includes a keycap, a bottom plate, at least one connecting seat, a thin film circuit board, and a supporting mechanism. The bottom plate has at least one first hole. The at least one connection seat is fixed on the at least one first hole by hot melt molding or insert injection molding. The film circuit board has at least one second hole corresponding to the at least one first hole, and the at least one second hole has a hole edge, and the hole edge is fixed on the at least one connecting seat A first hole is clamped between the at least one connecting seat and the base plate, so that the thin film circuit board is fixed on the base plate. The supporting mechanism is connected between the at least one connecting base and the keycap, so that the keycap can move up and down relative to the bottom plate along with the supporting mechanism.

According to another embodiment, the keyboard of the present invention includes a base plate, a thin film circuit board, and a plurality of keys. The bottom plate has a plurality of first perforations. The film circuit board has a plurality of second perforations corresponding to the plurality of first perforations, and each second perforation has a perforation edge. Each button includes a key cap, at least one connecting seat, and a supporting mechanism. The at least one connecting seat is fixed on the corresponding first hole by hot-melt molding or insert injection molding, and clamps the edge of the hole together with the base plate, so that the film circuit board is fixed on the base plate. The supporting mechanism is connected between the at least one connecting base and the keycap, so that the keycap can move up and down relative to the bottom plate along with the supporting mechanism.

Through the above design, if the user accidentally spills liquid (such as water, beverage, etc.) Between the seat and the bottom plate, the liquid can be reliably prevented from flowing into the diaphragm gap of the thin film circuit board from the perforation edge of the second perforation, thereby effectively avoiding short circuit damage to the thin film circuit board.

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

10, 10': keyboard

12, 12': Bottom plate

14, 14': thin film circuit board

16, 16': button

18: The first hole

20: The second hole

21: Perforated edge

22: Keycap

23, 23': upper clamping skirt

24, 24': connecting seat

25, 25': lower clamping skirt

26: Support mechanism

FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of a keyboard proposed according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged schematic view of the button in Figure 1.

Fig. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the button in Fig. 2 along the section line A-A.

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a key of a keyboard according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Please refer to FIG. 1 , which is a perspective view of a keyboard 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1 , the keyboard 10 includes a bottom plate 12 , a thin film circuit board 14 , and a plurality of keys 16 . Both the button 16 and the thin film circuit board 14 are disposed on the bottom plate 12 , and the button 16 is used for the user to press, and then execute the function that the user wants to input. The design of the connecting seat proposed by the present invention can be applied to each key 16. The following is a description for one of the keys 16 with this design. As for the structural design of other keys 16, it can be deduced by analogy.

Please refer to Fig. 1, Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, Fig. 2 is an enlarged schematic view of the button 16 in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the key 16 in Fig. 2 along the section line A-A, wherein for clarity It shows the configuration relationship between the connecting base 24 and the supporting mechanism 26, the thin film circuit board 14 and the base plate 12, and the drawing of other elements of the key 16 (such as the keycap 22, etc.) is omitted in FIG. 2 . As shown in Figure 1, Figure 2 and Figure 3, the bottom plate 12 has a plurality of first holes 18 (only one is shown in Figure 3, and the relevant descriptions for the remaining first holes 18 can be deduced by analogy) , the film circuit board 14 has a plurality of second perforations 20 corresponding to a plurality of first perforations (only one is shown in Figure 3, and the relevant descriptions for the remaining second perforations 20 can be deduced by analogy), each of the first perforations The second perforation 20 has a perforation edge portion 21 . The button 16 includes a keycap 22, at least one connecting seat 24 (four are shown in the second figure, but not limited thereto), and a support mechanism 26. In this embodiment, the support mechanism 26 can preferably be scissors Foot lifting mechanism (but not limited thereto, it can also be other common button lifting mechanism, such as butterfly lifting mechanism) and is connected between the connection seat 24 and the keycap 22, so that the keycap 22 can follow the support mechanism 26 relative to The bottom plate 12 moves up and down for the user to press, and then execute the function that the user wants to input. As for the related description of the connection design of the supporting mechanism 26, the keycap 22 and the connecting seat 24, it is common in the prior art, and will not be repeated here.

Here is a detailed description of the fixing design between the connection seat 24 and the base plate 12 and the thin film circuit board 14. In this embodiment, the thin film circuit board 14 is arranged on the base plate 12 and is located between the base plate 12 and the keycap 22. The connection seat 24 can be fixed to the first hole 18 by hot melt forming or insert molding and clamps the hole edge 21 of the second hole 20 together with the bottom plate 12 to The thin film circuit board 14 is fixed on the base plate 12. In short, during the process of performing the above molding process to fix the connecting seat 24 on the base plate 12, the base plate 12 and the thin film circuit board 14 can be placed into the molding mold at the same time. The hole edge 21 of the second hole 20 is clamped between the connection seat 24 and the bottom plate 12 when the connection seat 24 is fixed to the first hole 18 through the above molding process, so that the film circuit board 14 is fixed on the Bottom plate 12. More specifically, in this embodiment, the position of the connecting seat 24 corresponding to the first hole 18 can have an upper clamping skirt 23 and a lower clamping skirt 25, whereby, as can be seen from Figure 3, when the connecting seat 24 is fixed to the first hole 18 through the above-mentioned molding process, the upper clamping skirt 23 and the lower clamping skirt 25 can press the edge of the hole 21 up and down, so as to fix the thin film circuit board 14 on the bottom plate 12 the goal of.

Through the above-mentioned design, if the user accidentally spills liquid (such as water, beverage, etc.) on the keyboard 10 during the operation of the keyboard 10, at this time, because the hole edge 21 of the second hole 20 of the thin film circuit board 14 is already The clamping skirt 23 and the lower clamping skirt 25 are clamped up and down by the connecting seat 24, so that the liquid can be reliably prevented from flowing into the diaphragm gap of the thin film circuit board 14 from the perforation edge 21 of the second perforation 20 In this way, the short-circuit damage of the thin film circuit board 14 can be effectively avoided.

It is worth mentioning that the configuration of the thin film circuit board used in the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments. For example, please refer to FIG. 4, which is the key 16 of the keyboard 10' proposed according to another embodiment of the present invention ’, the components mentioned in this embodiment and the above-mentioned embodiments have the same number, which means they have the same structure or function, and the related description will not be repeated here. In this embodiment, the keyboard 10' includes a bottom plate 12', a thin film circuit board 14', and a plurality of keys 16', and the keys 16' include a keycap 22 (not shown in Figure 4), a connecting seat 24', and Support mechanism 26. The support mechanism 26 is connected between the connection seat 24' and the keycap 22, so that the keycap 22 can be relative to the bottom plate with the support mechanism 26 12' moves up and down for the user to press, and then execute the function that the user wants to input. The thin film circuit board 14' is arranged under the bottom plate 12', and the connecting seat 24' can be fixed to the first hole 18 by hot-melt molding or insert injection molding and clamps the hole of the second hole 20 together with the bottom plate 12'. The edge portion 21 of the hole enables the film circuit board 14' to be fixed on the base plate 12'. More specifically, in this embodiment, the position of the connecting seat 24' corresponding to the first hole 18 can have an upper clamping skirt 23' and a lower clamping skirt 25', whereby, as can be seen from FIG. 4, When the connection seat 24' is fixed to the first hole 18 through the above molding process, the upper clamping skirt 23' and the lower clamping skirt 25' can respectively clamp the bottom plate 12' and the edge of the hole 21, so that the bottom plate 12' and the lower clamping skirt 25' clamp the hole edge 21 up and down, so as to achieve the purpose of fixing the thin film circuit board 14' on the bottom plate 12'.

Through the above design, if the user accidentally spills liquid (such as water, beverage, etc.) on the keyboard 10' during the operation of the keyboard 10', at this time, the edge of the second hole 20 of the thin film circuit board 14' will 21 has been clamped up and down by the clamping skirt 25' under the bottom plate 12' and the connecting seat 24', so that the liquid can be reliably prevented from flowing into the film circuit board 14' from the edge 21 of the second hole 20 In the diaphragm gap, the short-circuit damage of the thin film circuit board 14' can be effectively avoided.

The above descriptions are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and all equivalent changes and modifications made according to the scope of the patent application of the present invention shall fall within the scope of the present invention.

10: keyboard

12: Bottom plate

14: Thin film circuit board

16: Button

18: The first hole

20: The second hole

21: Perforated edge

23: upper clamping skirt

24: Connecting seat

25: Lower clamping skirt

26: Support mechanism

Claims (8)

A button, which includes: a key cap; a bottom plate, which has at least one first hole; a film circuit board, which has at least one second hole corresponding to the at least one first hole, and the at least one second hole The perforation has a perforation edge; at least one connection seat, which fills up the at least one first perforation by hot-melt molding or insert injection molding when the base plate and the thin film circuit board are put into a molding mold; The at least one second hole is formed along the edge of the hole, so that the edge of the hole is clamped by the at least one connection seat when the at least one connection seat is fixed on the at least one first hole. between the base plates, so that the thin film circuit board is fixed on the base plate; and a support mechanism, which is connected between the at least one connecting seat and the keycap, so that the keycap can be relative to the base plate with the support mechanism Moving up and down. The button according to claim 1, wherein the thin film circuit board is arranged on the base plate and is located between the base plate and the keycap, and the at least one connecting seat has an upper clamping position corresponding to the at least one first hole The skirt and the lower clamping skirt, the upper clamping skirt and the lower clamping skirt press the edge of the perforation up and down when the at least one connecting seat is fixed on the at least one first perforation. The button according to claim 1, wherein the thin film circuit board is arranged under the bottom plate, and the at least one connection seat has an upper clamping skirt and a lower clamping skirt corresponding to the position of the at least one first hole, the When the upper clamping skirt and the lower clamping skirt are fixed to the at least one first hole, the bottom plate and the edge of the hole are pressed respectively, so that the bottom plate and the lower clamping skirt Hold the perforated edge up and down. The button according to claim 1, wherein the supporting mechanism is a scissors lift mechanism or a butterfly lift mechanism. A keyboard, which includes: a base plate with a plurality of first holes; a film circuit board with a plurality of second holes corresponding to the plurality of first holes, each second hole has a hole The edge of the hole; and a plurality of keys, each of which includes: a key cap; at least one connection seat, which is filled by hot-melt molding or insert injection molding when the base plate and the film circuit board are placed in a molding mold The first hole and the second hole are formed along the edge of the hole, so that the edge of the hole is clamped on the at least one when the at least one connecting base is fixed on the first hole. Between the connecting seat and the bottom plate, so that the thin film circuit board is fixed on the bottom plate; and a supporting mechanism, which is connected between the at least one connecting seat and the keycap, so that the keycap can be relative to the supporting mechanism Move up and down on the base. The keyboard according to claim 5, wherein the thin film circuit board is arranged on the base plate and is located between the base plate and the keycap, and the at least one connecting seat has an upper clamping position corresponding to the at least one first hole The skirt and the lower clamping skirt, the upper clamping skirt and the lower clamping skirt press the edge of the perforation up and down when the at least one connecting seat is fixed on the at least one first perforation. The keyboard as described in claim 5, wherein the thin film circuit board is arranged under the bottom plate, the At least one connecting seat has an upper clamping skirt and a lower clamping skirt corresponding to the position of the at least one first hole, and the upper clamping skirt and the lower clamping skirt are fixed on the at least one connecting seat. When at least one first hole is formed, the bottom plate and the edge of the hole are respectively clamped, so that the bottom plate and the lower clamping skirt clamp the edge of the hole up and down. The keyboard as described in claim 5, wherein the support mechanism is a scissor foot lifting mechanism or a butterfly lifting mechanism.

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