WO2023138568A1

WO2023138568A1 - Keyboard and electronic device

Info

Publication number: WO2023138568A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/072575
Authority: WO
Inventors: 徐卫林; 张宇; 肖杏芳; 朱明超; 夏良君; 方梦思; 刘洋; 吴金华; 何攀; 郭维琪
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2022-01-21
Filing date: 2023-01-17
Publication date: 2023-07-27
Also published as: CN116504565A

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of keyboards and discloses a keyboard and an electronic device. The keyboard comprises a plurality of keys, and a key cap assembly in each key comprises a support component, an elastic element, and a fabric that are sequentially stacked; the support component is a rigid component, and the elastic element is an elastic component; the support component is provided with a through hole; the elastic element and the fabric cover the through hole; the support component is used for supporting the elastic element, and the elastic element is used for providing a restoring force to the fabric for restoring the fabric to an initial shape when the fabric is deformed toward a side where a circuit board is located. In the present keyboard, a boundary of a key area of each key is clear, which facilitates distinguishing a support area and the key area of the key by a user, a tactile difference between the support areas and the key areas on the keyboard is increased, erroneous pressing by the user is maximally prevented, and the use experience of the user is improved.

Description

Keyboards and Electronics

This application claims the priority of a Chinese patent application with application number 202210072332.5 and application title "keyboard and electronic equipment" filed with the China Patent Office on January 21, 2022, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

technical field

The invention relates to the technical field of keyboards, in particular to a keyboard and electronic equipment.

Background technique

Laptop Computer (Laptop Computer), also known as portable computer, laptop computer, palmtop computer or laptop computer, is characterized by a compact body and is more portable than desktop computers. It has become an indispensable electronic device for people's daily work or life. With the development of the times, people pay more attention to the thinness and portability of notebook computers.

In recent years, various components in notebook computers have undergone revolutionary development, and the space occupied by electronic components in notebook computers has been basically compressed to the minimum space. In the case that the thickness space occupied by electronic components can no longer be further compressed, the notebook computer can only be further thinned by thinning mechanical components such as keyboards and support frames. Based on this, thin-film keyboards are widely used in notebook computers. However, the current thin-film keyboards generally have the problems of poor tactility and insufficient key recovery force.

Contents of the invention

Based on this, the purpose of this application is to provide a keyboard and electronic equipment. Wherein, the keyboard includes several keys, and the key cap assembly in the keys includes a support component, an elastic element and a fabric that are sequentially stacked. Wherein, the support component is a rigid component, and the elastic element is an elastic component. The support component is used to support the elastic element, and the elastic element is used to provide the fabric with a restoring force to restore the original shape when the fabric is deformed toward the side where the circuit board is located. The above-mentioned keyboard can effectively improve the user's tactile feeling and enhance the return force of the keys.

The first aspect of the present application provides a keyboard, which is applied to electronic equipment, and the keyboard includes a keycap assembly, a circuit board, and conductive contacts mounted on the circuit board. Wherein, the side of the keycap assembly facing the circuit board is provided with a conducting part, and the keycap assembly can be used to trigger the conductive contacts on the circuit board through the conducting part. The keycap assembly includes a supporting part, a fabric and an elastic element. A through hole is opened on the supporting part. The supporting part is fixed on the circuit board, and the conductive contacts are located in the through hole. The fabric is located on the side of the supporting part facing away from the circuit board and covers the through hole of the supporting part. The elastic element and the supporting part are relatively fixed. The supporting part is a rigid part used to support the elastic element, and the elastic element is used to support the fabric, and when the fabric opposite to the through hole is subjected to a load directed to the circuit board, it provides the fabric with a resilience away from the conductive contact.

Wherein, the electronic device may be any one of electronic devices such as a notebook computer, a tablet, a remote control, a TV, a smart screen, a mobile phone, a watch, and a wireless keyboard. In addition, the keyboard includes a plurality of keys arranged in rows and columns. The following will take a single button as an example for description. The elastic element may be an elastic cover or an elastic wire.

That is, in the implementation of the present application, the combination of the elastic element and the fabric is not specifically limited in the present application. The elastic element can be pasted on the fabric or woven on the fabric. The fabric in the key area moves toward the conductive contact on the circuit board with the conductive part under the action of the pressing load, and finally realizes the conduction of the signal. However, during the moving process of the fabric, the fabric in the central area of the keypad bends and deforms and arches downward, and the fabric in the surrounding area of the keypad pulls the deformable component covering the through hole to bend and deform into the through hole. When the fabric is deformed due to the pressing load, the deformable part deforms along with the fabric, and the deformation energy generated by its own deformation drives the deformed The fabric returns to its natural state. Wherein, during the process of deformation and recovery, the supporting member is not deformed, and both deformation and recovery occur in the key area.

The keys in the above-mentioned keyboard are made of fabric, which improves the user's tactile feeling and improves the air permeability and heat dissipation of the electronic equipment. In addition, by setting the support component as a rigid component and the elastic element as an elastic component, and suspending the deformable part on the upper part of the through hole of the support component, the deformation and recovery of the keycap assembly can all occur in the key area, that is, the tactile difference between the support area and the key area can be increased. Based on this, on the one hand, the above-mentioned keyboard makes the boundary of the key area of each key in the keyboard clear, so that the user can easily distinguish the support area and the key area of the key;

In a possible implementation of the above-mentioned first aspect, in the above-mentioned keyboard, the yarn in the fabric may include at least one of staple fiber single yarn, staple fiber strand, double-twisted strand, monofilament yarn, multifilament yarn, composite twisted yarn, core-spun yarn, twisted yarn or wrapped yarn. The fabric woven from the above yarns has good resilience. For example, the fabric is warp flat, the yarns in the fabric are made of 82% nylon and 18% spandex, the fineness is 40D, and the grammage is 180g/m ² .

In a possible implementation of the first aspect above, in the keyboard, each elastic wire is a metal wire, and each elastic wire includes any one of carbon steel spring steel, low manganese spring steel, silicon manganese spring steel, chromium vanadium spring steel, stainless steel wire for spring, tin bronze wire or beryllium copper wire. It can be understood that when there are multiple elastic threads passing through, the material of each elastic thread can be the same or different, which is not specifically limited in this application.

In a possible implementation of the above-mentioned first aspect, in the above-mentioned keyboard, the elastic element includes at least one elastic wire, and each elastic wire is located on the side of the support member facing away from the circuit board, straddles the through hole, and is combined with the fabric. Wherein, the elastic wire refers to a component made of elastic material, and the dimension in one direction (such as the axial direction of the elastic wire) is much larger than the size in other directions (such as the radial direction of the elastic wire).

That is, in the implementation of the present application, the elastic element in the above-mentioned keyboard includes at least one elastic thread, and the at least one elastic thread straddles the through hole, so as to realize the rebound of the fabric covering the through hole when the fabric above the through hole deforms toward the through hole. The elastic yarn is woven into the fabric. Fabrics and elastic yarns can be woven in a plain weave. The present application does not specifically limit the elastic yarn and the weaving method of the fabric.

In the above implementation, the fabric and the elastic yarn are integrally formed to form a single-layer fabric. The whole weaving process is simple and suitable for industrial applications. Compared with the existing split-type key cap assembly, it has the functions of ultra-thin, simple structure and dustproof.

In some other alternative implementation manners of the present application, the elastic thread is in contact with one of the surfaces of the fabric, for example, the elastic thread is in contact with the surface of the fabric facing the circuit board. Wherein, the way of connecting the elastic thread to the fabric may be that the elastic thread is bonded to one of the surfaces of the fabric, or the elastic thread is sewn on one of the surfaces of the fabric. Any method capable of realizing the stable combination of the elastic yarn and the fabric is within the protection scope of the present application, which is not specifically limited in the present application.

The above-mentioned implementation method, by forming the fabric and the elastic yarn separately, on the one hand increases the diversity of fabric weaving methods and increases the diversity of elastic yarn extension methods, on the other hand reduces the difficulty of combining the fabric and elastic yarn, and reduces the difficulty of subsequent molding of the fabric and elastic yarn composite fabric.

In a possible implementation of the above-mentioned first aspect, in the above-mentioned keyboard, the weaving mode of the fabric is plain weaving, and at least one elastic thread is used as a weft or warp to intersect with the warp or weft in the fabric.

That is, in the implementation manner of the present application, the fabric includes a plurality of first weaving filaments and a plurality of second weaving filaments arranged crosswise. Wherein, the crossing arrangement of the first braiding filaments and the second braiding filaments may be vertical crossing arrangement of the first braiding filaments and the second braiding filaments. At least one elastic filament is arranged parallel to the first braiding filaments, and multiple first braiding filaments are arranged between two adjacent elastic filaments. The at least one elastic yarn and the first braiding yarn are respectively cross-braided with the adjacent second braiding yarns in a one-to-one correspondence.

It can be understood that the fabric and the elastic thread can also be a fabric woven by other weaving methods, and at least one elastic thread can be woven according to the corresponding weaving method. The weaving method can be interlaced with other yarns, which is not specifically limited in the present application.

In a possible implementation of the above-mentioned first aspect, in the above-mentioned keyboard, each elastic wire has a wire diameter ranging from 0.02 mm to 1 mm. It can be understood that the above-mentioned range is a partial example of the elastic thread diameter range, and the elastic thread diameter in the present application can also be within other suitable ranges, which is not specifically limited in the present application.

In the above-mentioned keyboard, the range of the diameter of the elastic thread is reasonably set according to the mechanical properties and the diameter of the yarn in the fabric, which can effectively avoid the lack of rigidity of the elastic thread due to too small a diameter of the elastic thread, or the large rigidity of the elastic thread due to a large diameter of the elastic thread, so that the elastic thread can meet the radial resilience requirement required by the keycap assembly. In addition, setting the diameter of the elastic thread reasonably can also prevent the difference in fineness between the elastic thread and the flexible yarn from being too large, which will cause the elastic thread to protrude from the surface of the fabric, so as to improve the feel of the keycap assembly.

In addition, in some implementations of the present application, by reasonably setting the ratio of the elastic yarn to the flexible yarn in the fabric and the weaving method, the elastic silk fabric has both the high resilience of the metal material within the elastic range and the soft and shrinkable properties of the fiber product, and has the properties of electrical conductivity, rapid heat dissipation, and electromagnetic shielding.

In a possible implementation of the above-mentioned first aspect, in the above-mentioned keyboard, there are multiple keys in the keyboard, and the length direction of the orthographic projection of each elastic wire in the plane where the circuit board surface is located is parallel to the arrangement direction of the keys in the keyboard.

That is to say, in the implementation of the present application, in order to improve the stability of the elastic thread supporting the fabric, the length direction of the orthographic projection of each elastic thread on the plane of the circuit board is parallel to the arrangement direction of the keys in the keyboard. For example, when the orthographic projection of the keycap assembly on the plane of the circuit board is a rectangle or a rounded rectangle, the length direction of the orthographic projection of each elastic wire on the plane of the circuit board is parallel to one of the sides of the rectangle or the rounded rectangle.

In the above-mentioned keyboard, by setting the extending direction of the elastic wires in the key cap assembly to be parallel to the arrangement direction of the keys in the keyboard: on the one hand, according to the characteristics of the keyboard itself, the number of elastic wires can be reduced as much as possible to improve the mechanical stability of the entire keyboard under the condition that each key is guaranteed to have elastic wires. On the other hand, when the key cap assembly in the keyboard forms a raised structure, the above-mentioned keyboard also reduces the difficulty of bending and forming the elastic yarn combined with the fabric, and at the same time prevents the elastic yarn from dragging the surrounding fabric to deform during the bending forming process, thereby improving the keyboard forming quality, increasing the yield of the finished keyboard, and increasing economic benefits.

In a possible implementation of the above-mentioned first aspect, in the above-mentioned keyboard, at least one elastic thread specifically includes two elastic threads parallel to each other, and the orthographic projections of the two two elastic threads parallel to each other in the plane where the circuit board surface is located are located at a pair of opposite edge regions in the orthographic projection of the through hole in the plane where the circuit board surface is located. It can be understood that at least one elastic wire may also be 3 or more, and the present application does not specifically limit the number of elastic wires involved in a keycap assembly.

In the above-mentioned keyboard, the keycap assembly can stably support the fabric on the edge of the key area, improve the stress condition of the fabric, improve the rebound effect of the fabric, and ensure the breathability of the fabric as much as possible while ensuring the rebound effect of the fabric, thereby facilitating the guarantee of the touch of the keyboard.

In a possible implementation of the above-mentioned first aspect, in the above-mentioned keyboard, the projection of each elastic wire on the circuit board crosses, and the intersection point of the projection of each elastic wire on the circuit board is located in the orthographic projection of the through hole on the plane of the circuit board. For example, when the orthographic projection of the keycap assembly on the plane of the circuit board is a rectangle or a rectangle with rounded corners, and at least one elastic wire specifically includes two elastic wires intersecting each other, the length direction of the projection of each elastic wire on the circuit board intersects with the sides of the rectangle or the rounded rectangle. The length direction of each elastic thread is parallel to the diagonal of the rectangle or the rectangle with rounded corners.

That is to say, in the implementation method of the present application, the elastic threads are interlaced and distributed, which can improve the linkage between the elastic threads, realize the rebound effect of the single-point touch area, and further improve the support effect and rebound effect of the elastic threads on the fabric, thereby significantly improving the touch and user experience of the keyboard.

In a possible implementation of the above-mentioned first aspect, in the above-mentioned keyboard, the distance between the orthographic projections of the two parallel elastic wires on the plane where the circuit board surface is located is in the range of 2 mm to 10 mm. The orthographic projection of each elastic wire in the plane where the board surface is located, and the through hole The distance between the corresponding edges of the orthographic projection in the plane where the circuit board surface is located is in the range of 1 mm to 5 mm. It can be understood that the above are only some examples of the distribution schemes of the elastic filaments, and any distribution scheme of the elastic filaments capable of stably supporting the fabric is within the protection scope of the present application, which is not specifically limited in the present application.

In a possible implementation of the above first aspect, in the above keyboard, the keyboard further includes a surface fabric, and the surface fabric is provided on a surface of the fabric facing away from the circuit board. Wherein the surface layer fabric and the fabric may be the same kind of braided fabric, or may be different kinds of braided fabric, which is not specifically limited in this application.

In the above-mentioned keyboard, by setting the surface fabric on the surface of the fabric facing away from the circuit board, the user is prevented from directly contacting the fabric combined with the elastic yarn, and the user's tactile feeling is improved.

In a possible implementation of the above first aspect, in the above keyboard, the elastic element includes an elastic cover, and the elastic cover covers the through hole. Wherein, the elastic cover body may be elastic materials such as polyurethane and rubber. It can be understood that the above are some examples of the elastic cover, and the present application does not specifically limit the material of the elastic cover. In addition, the application does not specifically limit the shape and size of the elastic cover, and the size and size of the elastic cover and the through hole are adapted so that the elastic cover can fully cover the through hole. For example, when the elastic cover is thermoplastic polyurethane (Thermoplastic Polyurethane, TPU), the model is 1185A, extrusion grade, the number average molecular weight is 66141, the weight average molecular weight is 144588, and the molecular weight distribution is 2.18.

In a possible implementation of the above first aspect, the elastic element includes a deformable part and a mounting part, wherein the mounting part is mounted on the support member, and the deformable part is bonded to the fabric through an adhesive. For example, the adhesive is a bonding liquid, and since the fabric has numerous weaving holes, the bonding liquid mainly gathers in the weaving holes to form a immersion bond. The weaving hole refers to the gap hole that will be formed between two adjacent weaving lines even after the weaving of the fabric is completed. For another example, the above keycap assembly further includes an adhesive layer. The adhesive layer is used for bonding the deformable part and the fabric. Wherein, the adhesive layer is a double-sided adhesive tape.

In a possible implementation of the above-mentioned first aspect, in the above-mentioned keyboard, the through-hole on the support member is a stepped hole, and the stepped hole includes a first through-hole and a second through-hole arranged sequentially and coaxially along the same center line, the opening size of the first through-hole is larger than the opening size of the second through-hole, and the first through-hole is close to the fabric, and the second through-hole is close to the circuit board. The elastic cover includes a deformable part and a mounting part which are connected, and the mounting part is located around the deformable part. The orthographic projection of the deformable part on the plane of the circuit board surface is located in the orthographic projection of the through hole on the plane of the circuit board surface, and the installation part is installed on the step of the stepped hole and connected to the support component.

In other alternative implementation manners, the outer surface of the installation part is fixed to the inner surface of the stepped hole, and the bottom surface of the installation part is fixed to the stepped surface of the stepped hole.

In the above-mentioned key cap assembly, the elastic cover body is installed in the through hole, and the installation part in the elastic cover body does not need to be stacked between the fabric and the support member, so the dimension of the key cap assembly in the height direction can be further compressed, and the keys, keyboards, and electronic equipment can be further made thinner and lighter. In addition, the elastic covers in the above-mentioned keycap assembly are relatively independent, and the elastic covers in each key can be installed separately, reducing the installation difficulty of the keycap assembly.

In a possible implementation of the above first aspect, in the above keyboard, the elastic cover includes a deformable portion and a mounting portion that are connected, and the mounting portion is located around the deformable portion. The orthographic projection of the deformable part on the plane of the circuit board surface is located in the orthographic projection of the through hole on the plane of the circuit board surface, and the installation part is installed between the support component and the fabric. For example, one surface of the installation part is fixed to the surface of the fabric, and the other surface of the installation part opposite to the one surface is fixed to the second surface of the support member.

For a keyboard including multiple keys, a keyboard includes multiple keycap assemblies. The installation part of the elastic cover is sandwiched between the fabric and the support member and extends outward, so that the installation parts of the key cap components in the multiple keys can be connected to each other, and then the elastic cover in the multiple keys can be integrally formed. Based on this, the key cap assembly in the keyboard provides the possibility to reduce the number of parts, so the installation efficiency of the key cap assembly can be improved, that is, the installation efficiency of the keyboard can be improved, and the production cost can be reduced.

In a possible implementation of the above-mentioned first aspect, in the above-mentioned keyboard, the elastic cover includes a deformable part and a mounting part connected to each other. The portion is located around the deformable portion. The orthographic projection of the deformable part on the plane of the circuit board surface is located in the orthographic projection of the through hole on the plane of the circuit board surface, the installation part is located in the through hole, and the outer surface of the installation part is fixed to the hole surface of the through hole. In the above-mentioned keyboard, the supporting part and the elastic cover in the key cap assembly have a simple structure, and are less difficult to process and assemble.

In a possible implementation of the above-mentioned first aspect, in the above-mentioned keyboard, in order to improve the supporting effect of the elastic cover on the fabric, the elastic cover further includes an elastic wall, one end of the elastic wall is in contact with the deformable part, and the end surface of the other end is in contact with the board surface of the circuit board.

That is, in the implementation manner of the present application, the elastic cover includes a deformable part, a mounting part and an elastic arm. Wherein, the mounting part is arranged around the deformable part, and the elastic arm is arranged at the center of the deformable part and extends from the inner surface of the deformable part toward the surface of the circuit board. The supporting performance of the elastic cover to the fabric is improved by setting the elastic wall.

In some implementations of the present application, when the deformable part is an annular elastic cover, the elastic wall is an annular cylinder, one end of the annular cylinder is in contact with the inner edge of the annular elastic cover, and the other end of the annular cylinder extends toward the circuit board. For example, one end of the annular cylinder has a larger dimension than the other end of the annular cylinder. That is, the elastic wall gradually approaches the center line of the through hole in the direction extending toward the surface of the circuit board. Based on this, the elastic wall is combined with the annular elastic cover to form an arc-shaped support structure whose center is arched away from the circuit board. The above structure can improve the supporting effect of the elastic cover on the fabric.

In the above-mentioned keycap assembly in the keyboard, firstly, the section of the elastic cover body is a tapered structure with a large bottom and a small top, which improves the stability of the elastic cover body structure. Secondly, the projected area of the elastic cover on the surface of the circuit board is increased, and the rebound effect of the elastic cover on the fabric is improved. Finally, the elastic cover can also improve the stress of the fabric, thereby improving user experience.

In a possible implementation of the above-mentioned first aspect, in the above-mentioned keyboard, elastic holes are provided on the elastic element, and the orthographic projection of the elastic holes on the plane of the circuit board surface is located within the orthographic projection of the through hole on the plane of the circuit board surface. Or the orthographic projections of the through holes on the plane where the circuit board surface is located are all within the orthographic projections of the elastic element on the plane where the circuit board surface is located.

That is, in some implementation manners of the present application, in the keyboard, the elastic element in the key cap assembly is a cover structure that completely covers the through hole. That is, the orthographic projection of the elastic element on the plane where the board surface of the circuit board is completely coincides with the orthographic projection of the through hole on the plane where the board surface of the circuit board is located. The above-mentioned keycap can increase the force-bearing area of the deformable part by providing the fully-covered elastic element on the keycap assembly, improve the rebound effect of the keys in the keyboard, and enhance user experience.

That is, in some other implementations of the present application, in order to increase the air permeability of the keycap assembly in the keyboard, an elastic hole is opened in the central area of the elastic element in the keycap assembly, that is, the deformable part is an annular elastic cover, or a gap is reserved between the elastic threads, so that the elastic element is covered at the edge of the through hole, so that the elastic element can evenly support the fabric from all around. The above-mentioned keyboard improves the air permeability of the keycap assembly by opening elastic holes on the elastic elements in the keycap assembly, improves the stability of the fabric supported by the elastic element, and further improves the force balance of the fabric.

In a possible implementation of the above first aspect, in the above keyboard, the part of the elastic element close to the centerline of the through hole protrudes away from the circuit board.

That is, in some implementations of the present application, the elastic wire is stamped on the keyboard mold to form several key position bulges corresponding to the key areas of the keyboard and connecting parts corresponding to the non-key areas of the keyboard. That is, in some other implementations of the present application, the deformable portion may also be a bulge along the thickness direction in a direction away from the circuit board to form a cover structure buckled on the through hole. It can be understood that the shape of the fabric is adapted to the shape of the deformable part, and fits closely with the deformable part.

In the above-mentioned keyboard, the elastic element in the key cap assembly has a raised area corresponding to the key. First, it highlights the key area of each key in the keyboard, which is convenient for the user to quickly identify. Secondly, the raised structure in the keyboard improves the user's sense of touch, so that the user can quickly and accurately determine the position of the key area of the key before performing the pressing operation without observing the keyboard, reducing the probability of the user's accidental touch and further improving the user experience. Finally, the keycap components between different keys do not interfere with each other, which improves the control efficiency of each key in the keyboard. independence.

In a possible implementation of the above-mentioned first aspect, in the above-mentioned keyboard, the keycap assembly further includes a reinforcing sheet, and the reinforcing sheet is located in the through hole and relatively fixed to the fabric. The present application only limits the relative fixing of the reinforcing sheet and the fabric, and does not limit the fixing method of the reinforcing sheet and the fabric. For example, the reinforcing sheet is fixed on a surface of the fabric facing the conductive plate. For another example, the reinforcing sheet is fixed on a surface of the fabric facing the circuit board.

The above-mentioned keyboard can improve the strength of the fabric above the through hole by providing a reinforcing sheet in the keycap assembly, and improve the balance of the entire key during the fabric moving down, so that the fabric is always parallel to the circuit board surface during the downward movement.

In a possible implementation of the above first aspect, in the above keyboard, the key cap assembly includes a support member, a fabric, an elastic cover, and an elastic wire. The fabric covers the surface of the elastic cover, and the elastic yarn is woven in the fabric. In another possible implementation of the above first aspect, the keycap assembly further includes a surface fabric and a reinforcing sheet. The surface fabric is covered on the side of the fabric facing away from the circuit board, and the reinforcement sheet is located on the side of the fabric facing away from the surface fabric. In another possible implementation of the above first aspect, the reinforcing sheet in the keycap assembly is located between the surface fabric and the fabric.

In a possible implementation of the foregoing first aspect, in the foregoing keyboard, the keyboard includes at least two keys. The fabric in the key cap assembly of at least two keys is integrally formed, and the elastic element in the key cap assembly of at least two keys is integrally formed.

For example, the keys in the keyboard are arranged neatly along the horizontal direction and staggered along the vertical direction. The supporting parts of all the keys in the keyboard are integrally formed, the fabrics of all the keys in the key are integrally formed, and the elastic covers of all the keys in the keyboard are integrally formed. For another example, the fabric, the support member and the elastic cover in the key in a certain area are respectively integrally formed.

The above-mentioned keyboard can reduce the number of parts in the keyboard and improve the installation efficiency of the keyboard.

A second aspect of the present application provides an electronic device, including any keyboard in the first aspect above.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 (a) shows the structural representation of the notebook computer 01 in some embodiments of the present application;

Fig. 1(b) shows a schematic structural view of a tablet 02 with a keyboard in some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 1(c) shows a schematic structural diagram of a remote controller 03 in some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic structural diagram of a keyboard 1 in some embodiments of the present application;

Figure 3(a) shows a perspective view of one of the keys 2 in the keyboard 1 in some embodiments of the present application;

Fig. 3(b) is a structural principle diagram of one of the buttons 2;

Fig. 4 (a) shows the structural principle diagram of button 2 under the natural state;

Fig. 4 (b) shows the structural principle diagram of the button 2 in the pressed state;

Fig. 5 (a) shows the structural principle diagram of button 2 under the natural state;

Fig. 5 (b) shows the structural principle diagram of the button 2 in the pressed state;

Figure 6 shows an exploded view of the keyboard 1 in some embodiments of the present application;

Figure 7 shows an exploded view of the button 2 in some embodiments of the present application;

Fig. 8 shows a sectional view of the button 2 in some embodiments of the present application along the section A-A in Fig. 3(a);

FIG. 9 shows a cross-sectional view of the keycap assembly 10a in some other embodiments of the present application along the section A-A in FIG. 3(a);

Figure 10 shows a cross-sectional view of the keycap assembly 10a in some embodiments of the present application along the section A-A in Figure 3(a);

Figure 11 shows a cross-sectional view of the keycap assembly 10a in some embodiments of the present application along the section A-A in Figure 3(a);

Figure 12 shows a cross-sectional view of the keycap assembly 10a in some embodiments of the present application along the section A-A in Figure 3(a);

Figure 13 shows a cross-sectional view of the keycap assembly 10a in some embodiments of the present application along the section AA in Figure 3(a);

Figure 14 shows a cross-sectional view of the keycap assembly 10a in some embodiments of the present application along the section A-A in Figure 3(a);

Figure 15 shows a cross-sectional view of the keycap assembly 10a in some embodiments of the present application along the section A-A in Figure 3(a);

Figure 16 shows a cross-sectional view of the keycap assembly 10a in some embodiments of the present application along the section A-A in Figure 3(a);

Figure 17 shows an exploded view of keyboard 1 in some embodiments of the present application;

Figure 18 shows an exploded view of button 2 in some embodiments of the present application;

Fig. 19 shows a cross-sectional view of the button 2 along the section A-A in Fig. 3(a) in some embodiments of the present application;

Fig. 20 shows a schematic structural view of the elastic wire 300b in the keycap assembly 10b in some embodiments of the present application;

Figure 21(a) shows a partial enlarged view of the _S1 area in Figure 19 in some embodiments of the present application;

Figure 21(b) shows a schematic diagram of the weaving of fabric 200 and elastic filament 300b in some embodiments of the present application;

Figure 22 shows a partial enlarged view of the _S1 area in Figure 19 in some embodiments of the present application;

Figure 23 shows a top view of the keyboard 1 in some embodiments of the present application, where the dotted line 1 represents the elastic wire 300b;

Figure 24 shows a partial enlarged view of the _S2 area in Figure 23 in some embodiments;

Figure 25 shows a partial enlarged view of the _S2 area in Figure 23 in some other embodiments;

Figure 26 shows a keycap assembly 10c in some embodiments of the present application;

Figure 27 shows a keycap assembly 10d in some embodiments of the present application;

Figure 28 shows a keycap assembly 10e in some embodiments of the present application;

Fig. 29 shows the keycap assembly 10 in some embodiments of the present application to press the springback curve;

FIG. 30 shows a flow chart of the preparation of the keycap assembly 10a in some embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 31 shows a schematic diagram of a mold for forming a keycap assembly 10 in some embodiments of the present application;

Fig. 32 shows a flow chart of the preparation of the keycap assembly 10b in some embodiments of the present application.

Explanation of reference signs:

A₁- Support area; A₂-keypad; 10-keycap assembly; 100'-elastic support; 130'-through hole; 200-fabric; 01-notebook computer; 011-shell; 012-display screen; 013-keyboard; 02-tablet with keyboard; 021-keyboard; 110-first surface; 120-second surface; 130-through hole; 200-fabric; 210-first braided yarn; 220-first braided yarn; 300-elastic element; 310-deformable part; Strong sheet; 600-surface fabric; 20-circuit board; 30-conductive contact; 40-conducting parts.

Detailed ways

In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the present application clearer, the implementation manner of the present application will be further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

The technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to electronic devices with keyboards or keys. For example, the electronic device can be any one of the notebook computer 01 shown in FIG. 1(a), the tablet 02 with keyboard shown in FIG. 1(b), the remote control 03 shown in FIG. 1(c), TV, smart screen, mobile phone, watch, and wireless keyboard. For ease of understanding, in this embodiment of the present application, a notebook computer 01 is taken as an example to illustrate the basic structure of an electronic device in conjunction with FIG. 1( a ).

FIG. 1( a ) shows a schematic structural diagram of an electronic device, where the electronic device may be a notebook computer 01 . The notebook computer 01 may include a housing 011 , a display screen 012 and a keyboard 013 . Wherein, the shell 011 includes a first shell (not marked), a second shell body (not shown) and a rotating shaft (not shown), the first casing and the second casing are rotatably connected through the rotating shaft. The display screen 012 can be fixed on the first casing, and the keyboard 013 can be fixed on the second casing. The above structure can realize the side rotation of the first casing relative to the second casing, so as to realize the folding and opening of the notebook computer 01 .

When the notebook computer 01 is folded, the angle between the first casing and the second casing can be close to 0°, the display screen 012 and the keyboard 013 can approach each other, and the display screen 012 and the keyboard 013 can be accommodated in the cavity formed by the first casing and the second casing. When the notebook computer 01 is opened, the angle between the first casing and the second casing can tend to be 90°-180°, and the display screen 012 and the keyboard 013 can be separated from each other, so that the display screen 012 and the keyboard 013 can face the user at the same time for the user to use.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic structural diagram of the keyboard 1 in some embodiments of the present application. Wherein, the keyboard 1 can be the keyboard 013 in the electronic device in FIG. 1(a), and can also be the keyboard 021 shown in FIG. 1(b) or the keyboard 031 shown in FIG. 1(c). As shown in FIG. 2 , the keyboard 1 includes a plurality of keys 2 arranged in rows and columns, and the structures of different keys 2 are roughly the same. In order to clearly characterize each component in the keyboard 1 , the description below will start with a single key 2 , and after describing the specific structure of the key 2 , the specific structure of the keyboard 1 will be comprehensively described in combination with each component of the multiple keys 2 .

For subsequent description, the X direction, the Y direction and the Z direction are defined now. Wherein, the X direction is the length direction of the keyboard 1 when the electronic device is placed normally. For example, the X direction is parallel to the direction of the rotation axis of the notebook computer, and the positive X direction is from left to right. Various height dimensions or thickness dimensions in the present application are dimensions along the Z-axis direction.

Fig. 3(a) shows a perspective view of one key 2 in the keyboard 1 in some implementations of the present application. FIG. 3( b ) is a structural schematic diagram of one of the buttons 2 . Wherein, FIG. 3( b ) may be a cross-sectional view of the button 2 according to the section A-A in FIG. 3( a ) in some embodiments of the present application. As shown in conjunction with FIG. 3( a ) and FIG. 3( b ), the keyboard 1 includes a keycap assembly 10 , a circuit board 20 , conductive contacts 30 and a conducting member 40 . Wherein, the circuit board 20 may be a flexible circuit board.

The keycap assembly 10 is film-shaped and installed on the circuit board 20 , and forms a pressing space H together with the circuit board 20 . The conduction member 40 and the conductive contact 30 are relatively arranged in the pressing space H, the conduction contact 30 is installed on the circuit board 20 , the conduction member 40 is installed on the keycap assembly 10 , and the conduction member 40 is opposite to the conduction contact 30 on the circuit board 20 . Under the action of the pressing load, the keycap assembly 10 drives the conduction member 40 to approach the conductive contact 30 to realize signal conduction; when the load is removed, the keycap assembly 10 drives the conduction member 40 away from the conductive contact 30 under the action of the restoring force to realize signal disconnection.

In addition, for the convenience of subsequent descriptions, the area where the keycap assembly 10 meets the circuit board 20 is defined as the support area A ₁ , and the projection area of the pressing space H on the plane of the circuit board 20 is defined as the key area A ₂ . It can be understood that since the area where the pressing space H is located can realize the function of the key 2 in the keyboard 1, it can be called a key area.

It can be understood that the composition structure of the key 2 in the keyboard 1 shown in FIG. 3(b) is only a partial example of the key 2 in the present application, and the key 2 in the present application can also be other structures that realize conduction by pressing, and the present application does not specifically limit this.

Application Scenario 1

Fig. 4(a) shows the structural principle diagram of the button 2 in the natural state. FIG. 4( b ) shows a schematic diagram of the structure of the button 2 in the pressed state. Wherein, FIG. 4(a) and FIG. 4(b) may be cross-sectional views of the button 2 according to the section A-A in FIG. 3(a) in some embodiments of the present application.

As shown in FIG. 4( a ), in some embodiments of the present application, the key cap assembly 10 in the key 2 includes an elastic support portion 100 ′ and a fabric 200 , wherein the elastic support portion 100 ′ is provided with a through hole 130 ′ extending along the thickness direction. The elastic support part 100' can be made of fabric or Other materials are not specifically limited in this application. The fabric 200 covers the through hole 130' on the elastic supporting part 100', and is relatively fixed to the elastic supporting part 100'. The elastic supporting part 100 ′, the fabric 200 cooperate with the circuit board 20 to form a pressing space H. As shown in FIG. In the through hole 130 ′, the conductive member 40 is installed on the surface of the fabric 200 facing the circuit board 20 , and the conductive contact 30 is installed on the surface of the circuit board 20 facing the fabric 200 .

Exemplarily, as shown in FIG. 4(b), in the pressed state, the fabric 200 in the key area _A2 moves toward the conductive contact 30 on the circuit board 20 with the conduction member 40 under the action of the press load F, and finally realizes signal conduction. However, during the movement of the fabric 200, the fabric 200 in the central area of the key area _A2 bends and deforms downwards, and the fabric 200 in the surrounding area of the key area _A2 pulls the elastic support part 100' at the edge of the through hole 130' to move into the through hole 130', so that the elastic support part 100' bends toward the through hole 130' during the process of forming compressive deformation in the Z direction.

The above-mentioned keyboard 1, on the one hand, makes the boundary of _the key area A2 of each key 2 in the keyboard 1 unclear, and even if the user touches the key ₂ , _it is not easy to distinguish the boundary of the key area _A2 ; Based on this, the above-mentioned keyboard 1 is likely to cause accidental touch by the user, which affects the user experience.

Application Scenario 2

In order to solve the above problems, the present application provides a keyboard 1, wherein the keys 2 in the keyboard 1 are shown in Fig. 5(a) and Fig. 5(b). Fig. 5(a) shows the structural principle diagram of the button 2 in the natural state. FIG. 5( b ) shows a schematic diagram of the structure of the button 2 in the pressed state. Wherein, FIG. 5(a) and FIG. 5(b) may be cross-sectional views of the button 2 according to the section A-A in FIG. 3(a) in some embodiments of the present application.

As shown in FIG. 5( a ), the key cap assembly 10 in the key 2 includes a support member 100 , an elastic element 300 and a fabric 200 which are sequentially stacked. Wherein, the support member 100 is a rigid member, and the elastic element 300 is an elastic member. The support member 100 is used to support the elastic element 300 , and the elastic element 300 is used to provide a restoring force for the fabric 200 to return to its original shape when the fabric 200 is deformed toward the side where the circuit board 20 is located.

In some implementations of the present application, as shown in FIG. 5(a) and FIG. 5(b), the support member 100 includes a first surface (not marked) and a second surface (not marked) oppositely arranged, and the support member 100 is provided with a through hole 130 communicating with the first surface and the second surface. The first surface of the support member 100 is in contact with the surface of the circuit board 20 . The fabric 200 is located on one side of the support member 100 having the second surface, and covers the through hole 130 on the support member 100 . Wherein, covering means that the fabric 200 completely covers the through hole 130 on the support member 100 , that is, the orthographic projection of the through hole 130 on the surface of the circuit board 20 is within the orthographic projection of the fabric 200 on the surface of the circuit board 20 . The elastic element 300 includes a deformable portion 310 , and the orthographic projection of the deformable portion 310 on the plane of the circuit board 20 falls within the orthographic projection of the through hole 130 on the plane of the circuit board 20 . The deformable part 310 is combined with the fabric 200 at the through hole 130 . The deformable part 310 is used to support the fabric 200 and provide a restoring force to the fabric 200 away from the conductive contact 30 when the fabric 200 is subjected to a load directed to the conductive contact 30 .

In some implementations of the present application, the elastic element 300 can be an elastic cover 300a made of polyurethane, rubber, etc. (described in the figures below), and the elastic element 300 can also be an elastic wire 300b made of elastic material (described in the figures below). It can be understood that the present application does not specifically limit the shape and outline of the elastic element 300 , and any elastic element 300 that can realize the aforementioned functions falls within the protection scope of the present application.

Exemplarily, as shown in FIG. 5( b ), the fabric 200 in the keypad _A2 moves toward the conductive contact 30 on the circuit board 20 with the conduction member 40 under the action of the pressing load F, and finally realizes signal conduction. However, during the movement of the fabric 200, the fabric 200 in the central area of the key area _A2 bends and deforms to arch downward, and the fabric 200 in the surrounding area of the key area _A2 pulls the deformable member 310 covering the through hole 130 to bend and deform in the through hole 130. When the fabric 200 is deformed due to the pressing load F, the deformable component 310 deforms along with the fabric 200, and the deformed fabric 200 returns to its natural state according to its own deformation energy. It is not difficult to find that during the deformation and recovery process, the supporting member 100 is not deformed, and both the deformation and recovery occur in the key area _A2 .

For the key 2 in the above-mentioned keyboard 1, by setting the supporting member 100 as a rigid member, setting the elastic element 300 as an elastic member, and suspending the deformable part 310 on the upper part of the through hole 130 of the supporting member 100, the deformation and restoration of the keycap assembly 10 can all occur in the key area _A2 , that is, the difference in tactile sensation between the supporting area _A1 and the key area _A2 can be increased. Based on this, the above-mentioned keyboard 1 makes the boundary of the key area _A2 of _each key 2 in the keyboard 1 clear on the one hand, which is convenient for the user to distinguish the support area _A1 and the key area _A2 of the key ₂ ;

The specific structure of the application will be described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Application Scenario 2-1

Fig. 6 shows an exploded view of the keyboard 1 in some embodiments of the present application. Fig. 7 shows an exploded view of the button 2 in some embodiments of the present application. Fig. 8 shows a cross-sectional view of the button 2 in some embodiments of the present application along the section A-A in Fig. 3(a).

According to Fig. 2 and Fig. 6, a plurality of keys 2 in the keyboard 1, in order to be able to clearly understand and observe the specific structure in the keyboard 1, the following will first describe the respective components corresponding to the keys 2 shown in Fig.

As can be seen from FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 , the key 2 includes a key cap assembly 10 a , a circuit board 20 , conductive contacts 30 and a conducting member 40 . Wherein, the conductive contact 30 is installed on the circuit board 20, the conduction member 40 is installed on the keycap assembly 10a, and the keycap assembly 10a is installed on the circuit board 20, and the conduction member 40 on the keycap assembly 10a is opposite to the conductive contact 30 on the circuit board 20. The keycap assembly 10a includes a support member 100, a fabric 200 and an elastic cover 300a. The support member 100 is made of rigid material, and the elastic cover 300a is made of elastic material. The fabric 200 is located on a side of the support member 100 facing away from the circuit board 20 , and is respectively fixed to the support member 100 and the conducting member 40 .

As shown in FIG. 8 , the support member 100 includes a first surface 110 and a second surface 120 oppositely disposed, and the support member 100 is further provided with a through hole 130 communicating with the first surface 110 and the second surface 120 . The fabric 200 is located on one side of the support member 100 having the second surface 120 and covers the through hole 130 on the support member 100 . The first surface 110 of the supporting component 100 is in contact with the surface of the circuit board 20 , and the conductive contacts 30 are mounted on the surface of the circuit board 20 and located in the through holes 130 on the supporting component 100 . The conducting part 40 is fixed relative to the fabric 200 and located in the through hole 130 on the supporting part 100 . The elastic cover 300a includes a deformable portion 310a and a mounting portion 320a. The mounting part 320a is mounted on the support member 100, and the deformable part 310a is combined with the fabric 200 at the through hole 130, for providing force to the fabric 200 away from the conductive contact 30 in a pressed state.

It can be understood that the keycap assembly 10 a can drive the conduction member 40 to move away from the conductive contact 30 or move close to the conductive contact 30 to realize the conduction and disconnection of the conductive contact 30 . In some embodiments of the present application, when the keycap assembly 10a is not pressed, the deformable portion 310a is in a natural state, and the conducting member 40 is not conducting with the conductive contact 30 . When the user presses the keycap assembly 10a, the deformable portion 310a bends and stretches along with the fabric 200, so that the keycap assembly 10a can move into the through hole 130, thereby making the conducting member 40 and the conductive contact 30 close to each other and conducting. When the external force is removed, the deformable part 310 a drives the fabric 200 to return to the natural state under the action of its own deformation restoring force, so that the conducting part 40 is far away from the conductive contact 30 and disconnects the conduction.

In the above-mentioned keyboard 1, since the keycap assembly 10a in the present application can quickly and fully rebound, the rebound device under the traditional keycap assembly is subtracted, so the overall thickness of the keyboard 1 can be effectively reduced. In addition, the fabric 200 in the keycap assembly 10a is soft, skin-friendly, plump, etc., so that the keycap assembly 10 has a good touch. The fabric 200 has good air permeability, and can exchange the heat generated by the electronic components of the running notebook computer with the external environment by convection, so as to realize the cooling of the notebook computer, thereby preventing the electronic components from affecting the performance of the notebook computer due to excessive temperature, further improving the service life of the notebook computer and improving the user experience.

Material and weaving method of fabric 200

In some embodiments of the present application, the yarns in the fabric 200 may include at least one of staple fiber single yarns, staple fiber strands, double-twisted strands, monofilament yarns, multifilament yarns, composite twisted yarns, core-spun yarns, twisted yarns or wrapped yarns.

In some embodiments of the present application, the fabric 200 is a warp plain weave, the yarns in the fabric 200 are made of 82% nylon and 18% spandex, the fineness is 40D, and the grammage is 180g/m ² . It can be understood that the material, fineness, and grammage of the yarns in the fabric 200 in this application are all examples, and the technical solution in this application does not specifically limit the above parameters.

The material of the elastic cover 300a

In some embodiments of the present application, the material of the elastic cover 300a may be elastic materials such as polyurethane and rubber. It can be understood that any material capable of realizing the resilience performance of the deformable portion 310a falls within the scope of protection of the present application, which is not specifically limited in the present application. For example, when the deformable part 310a is thermoplastic polyurethane (Thermoplastic Polyurethane, TPU), the model is 1185A, extrusion grade, the number average molecular weight is 66141, the weight average molecular weight is 144588, and the molecular weight distribution is 2.18. It can be understood that the model, number-average molecular weight, weight-average molecular weight and molecular weight distribution of thermoplastic polyurethane in this application are all examples, and the technical solution in this application does not specifically limit the above parameters.

Among them, the number-average molecular weight (Number-average Molecular Weight), the polymer is composed of homologous mixtures with the same chemical composition but different degrees of polymerization, that is, a mixture of polymers with different molecular chain lengths. The average molecular weight is usually used to characterize the size of molecules. Weight-average molecular weight (Weight-average Molecular Weight): The molecular weight of all synthetic macromolecular compounds and the molecular weight of most natural macromolecular compounds are not uniform, and they are mixtures of homologues with different molecular weights. The symbol is Mw. The statistical average molecular weight averaged by the molecular weight of different molecular weights in a polymer. Wi: The weight fraction occupied by the corresponding molecule. The weight-average molecular weight is closely related to the Mooney viscosity, so the Mooney viscosity is often used to show the molecular weight of the elastomer. Unlike low-molecular-weight compounds, polymers do not have a fixed molecular weight, but a mixed system of homologues with different molecular weights. Therefore, the polymer molecular weight is an average value, and there is a concept of distribution. This inhomogeneity in molecular weight is called polydispersity of the polymer. The polydispersity of a polymer sample is usually characterized by the polydispersity coefficient α, which is the ratio of the weight-average molecular weight to the number-average molecular weight or the ratio of the Z-average molecular weight to the weight-average molecular weight.

Reinforcement sheet 500

In some embodiments of the present application, as shown in FIG. 6 to FIG. 8 , the keycap assembly 10 a further includes a reinforcing sheet 500 , and the reinforcing sheet 500 is located in the through hole 130 and combined with the fabric 200 . In some implementations, the reinforcing sheet 500 is fixed on a surface of the fabric 200 facing the conductive plate 20 . The conducting component 40 is fixed on a surface of the reinforcement sheet 500 facing the conductive plate 20 . In other alternative implementation manners, in the keycap assembly 10 a , the conduction member 40 is fixed on a surface of the fabric 200 facing the circuit board 20 . The above-mentioned keyboard 1 can improve the strength of the fabric 200 above the through hole 130 by providing the reinforcing sheet 500 in the keycap assembly 10a, and improve the balance of the fabric 200 during the downward movement, so that the fabric 200 is always parallel to the surface of the circuit board 20 during the downward movement.

It can be understood that the present application only limits the relative fixing of the conduction member 40 and the fabric 200, and does not limit the fixing method of the conduction member 40 and the fabric 200. The conduction member 40 can be fixed on the fabric 200 through other intermediate components in addition to being fixed by the reinforcing sheet 500 or directly on a surface of the fabric 200 facing the circuit board 20. This application does not specifically limit this, and all of the above are within the scope of protection of the present application.

In some implementations of the present application, the reinforcing sheet 500 may be any one of steel sheets, metal sheets, glass fiber boards, and epoxy resin boards. It can be understood that the specific form of the above-mentioned reinforcing sheet 500 is only a partial example of the reinforcing sheet 500 in the present application. The application does not specifically limit the specific material and specific structure of the reinforcing sheet 500. Any reinforcing sheet 500 that can balance the balance of the fabric 200 during the downward movement is within the protection scope of the present application.

In some implementations of the present application, the reinforcing sheet 500 is pasted on the surface of the fabric 200 facing the pressing space. In some other alternative implementation manners of the present application, the reinforcing sheet 500 is pasted on the surface of the fabric 200 facing away from the pressing space. It can be understood that the combination method between the reinforcing sheet 500 and the fabric 200 can refer to the combination method between the deformable part 310a and the fabric 200 , which will not be repeated here.

Combination of the elastic cover 300a and the fabric 200

In some embodiments of the present application, the deformable part 310a is bonded to the fabric 200 by an adhesive. It can be understood that since the fabric 200 has many weaving holes, the adhesive liquid mainly gathers in the weaving holes to form immersion bonding, so the cross-sectional view shown in FIG. 8 does not show the section formed by the adhesive. Wherein, the knitting hole refers to the gap hole formed between two adjacent knitting lines after the fabric 200 is knitted. Wherein, the adhesive solution may be a polyurethane adhesive or an epoxy resin solution, which is not specifically limited in this application. It can be understood that, the combination method between the installation part 320a and the fabric 200, the combination method between the installation part 320a and the support member 100, the combination method between the fabric 200 and the reinforcement sheet 500, and the connection method between the conductive part 40 and the reinforcement sheet 500 can refer to the connection method between the deformable part 310a and the fabric 200, and will not be repeated here.

In some implementations of the present application, the configuration method of the polyurethane adhesive is as follows: first add thermoplastic polyurethane to the N,N-dimethylformamide solution in a certain proportion, then mechanically stir for 3 hours at a rotation speed of 500r/min and 30°C, and then stand still until the defoaming is complete. It can be understood that the above-mentioned implementation methods are only some examples for preparing polyurethane adhesives, and any technical solutions capable of preparing polyurethane adhesives are within the protection scope of the present application, which is not specifically limited in the present application.

In addition, FIG. 9 shows a cross-sectional view of the keycap assembly 10a in some other embodiments of the present application along the section A-A in FIG. 3( a ). As shown in FIG. 9 , in other alternative implementation manners, the keycap assembly 10 a further includes an adhesive layer 400 . The adhesive layer 400 bonds the deformable part 310 a and the fabric 200 . Wherein, the adhesive layer 400 may be a double-sided adhesive tape. This bonding method can maintain the feel and appearance of the fabric 200 and improve user experience.

In some embodiments of the present application, in order to further improve the air permeability of the fabric 200, the adhesive layer 400 can be hollowed out. The hollowed out area is a solid area in the bonding area of the two parts, and a hollow area in the non-bonding area of the two parts. The above-mentioned adhesive layer 400 can improve the air permeability of the fabric 200 while maintaining the bonding strength between the fabric 200 and the deformable part 310a.

The specific form of the elastic cover 300a in the keycap assembly 10a

Based on the above expression, it is not difficult to find that the structural optimization of the keycap assembly 10a mainly depends on the elastic cover 300a in the keycap assembly 10a. Several kinds of elastic covers 300a and the connection manners of these elastic covers 300a in the keycap assembly 10a will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 10 shows a cross-sectional view of the keycap assembly 10a in some embodiments of the present application along the section A-A in Fig. 3(a). In order to increase the air permeability of the keycap assembly 10a, as shown in FIG. 10 , an elastic hole 301a is opened in the central area of the elastic cover 300a in the keycap assembly 10a, that is, the deformable part 310a is an annular elastic cover, so that the elastic cover 300a is covered at the edge of the through hole 130, so that the elastic cover 300a can evenly support the fabric 200 from all around.

The above-mentioned keycap assembly 10a, on the one hand, improves the air permeability of the keycap assembly 10a by opening the elastic hole 301a on the elastic cover body 300a; on the other hand, the deformable part 310a is designed as an annular elastic cover structure arranged along the edge of the through hole 130, so that the deformable part 310a can stably support the fabric 200, and further improve the force balance of the fabric 200.

Fig. 11 shows a cross-sectional view of the keycap assembly 10a in some embodiments of the present application along the section AA in Fig. 3(a). Comparing FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 , it can be seen that, in some other embodiments of the present application, the deformable portion 310 a in the keycap assembly 10 a is a cover structure that completely covers the through hole 130 . That is, the orthographic projection of the deformable portion 310 a on the plane of the circuit board 20 completely coincides with the orthographic projection of the through hole 130 on the plane of the circuit board 20 .

The above-mentioned keycap assembly 10a can increase the stress-bearing area of the deformable part 310a, improve the rebound effect of the key 2 in the keyboard, and enhance user experience.

It can be understood that, when the deformable part 310a is a cover structure that completely covers the through hole 130, and the keycap assembly 10a includes the reinforcement piece 500, the reinforcement piece 500 is provided on a surface of the deformable part 310a facing away from the fabric 200, and the conduction member 40 is provided on the surface of the reinforcement piece 500 facing away from the fabric 200. When the deformable portion 310 a is a cover structure that completely covers the through hole 130 and the keycap assembly 10 a does not include the reinforcing sheet 500 , the conducting member 40 is disposed on the surface of the deformable portion 310 a facing away from the fabric 200 .

Continuing to refer to FIGS. 10 and 11 , in order to optimize the structure of the keycap assembly 10a and improve the user experience, in some embodiments of the present application, the deformable portion 310a can also be a cover structure buckled on the through hole 130 formed by protruding away from the circuit board 20 along the thickness direction. It can be understood that the shape of the fabric 200 is adapted to the deformable part 310a, and is attached to the deformable part 310a.

On the one hand, the above-mentioned key cap assembly 10a highlights the key area A ₂ of each key 2 in the keyboard 1, which is convenient for the user to quickly identify. On the other hand, the raised structure in the keyboard 1 improves the user's sense of touch, so that the user can quickly and accurately determine the position of the key area A ₂ of the key 2 before performing the pressing operation without observing the keyboard 1, thereby reducing the probability of the user's accidental touch and further improving the user experience.

In some implementations of the present application, the size of some keys in the keyboard 1 is 16 mm×16 mm, the height of the bulge of the key 2 is 0.7 mm, and the size of the key at the top of the bulge is 12 mm×12 mm. Another part of the button 2 has a size of 16mm×35mm, the height of the bulge of the button 2 is 0.7mm, and the size of the button at the top of the bulge is 12mm×31mm.

Fig. 12 shows a cross-sectional view of the keycap assembly 10a in some embodiments of the present application along the section A-A in Fig. 3(a). In some implementations of the present application, as shown in FIG. 12 , the deformable portion 310 a of the elastic cover 300 a in the keycap assembly 10 a may be a planar structure laid flat on the support member 100 . That is, in a natural state, the deformable portion 310 a extends along a direction parallel to the surface of the circuit board 20 .

In some embodiments of the present application, continue to refer to FIG. 10 to FIG. 12 , the through holes on the support member 100 are stepped holes. Wherein, the stepped hole includes a first through hole (not marked) and a second through hole (not marked) arranged sequentially and coaxially along the same central line. The first through hole has a larger size and is closer to the second surface 120 , and the second through hole has a smaller size and is closer to the first surface 110 . The elastic element 300a includes a connected deformable part 310a and a mounting part 320a, and the mounting part 320a is located around the deformable part 310a. The mounting part 320a is mounted on the step of the stepped hole and connected to the support member 100 . In some implementations of the present application, the outer surface of the installation part 320a is fixed to the inner surface of the stepped hole. In other alternative implementation manners, the outer surface of the installation part 320a is fixed to the inner surface of the stepped hole, and the bottom surface of the installation part 320a is fixed to the stepped surface of the stepped hole.

In the above-mentioned key cap assembly 10a, the elastic cover body 300a is installed in the through hole 130, and the installation part 320a in the elastic cover body 300a does not need to be stacked between the fabric 200 and the support member 100, so the size of the key cap assembly 10a in the height direction can be further compressed, and the keys, keyboards, and electronic devices can be further made light and thin. In addition, the elastic cover body 300a in the above keycap assembly 10a is relatively independent, and the elastic cover body 300a in each key 2 can be installed separately, reducing the installation difficulty of the keycap assembly 10a.

Fig. 13 shows a cross-sectional view of the keycap assembly 10a in some embodiments of the present application along the section A-A in Fig. 3(a). Compared with FIG. 10 , in the keycap assembly 10 a in FIG. 13 , the structure and connection method of the mounting portion 320 a in the elastic cover 300 a are changed. In some embodiments of the present application, as shown in FIG. 13 , the elastic cover 300a includes a connected deformable portion 310a and a mounting portion 320a, and the mounting portion 320a is located around the deformable portion 310a. The installation part 320a is sandwiched between the support member 100 and the fabric 200 .

In some implementations of the present application, one surface of the installation part 320 a is fixed to the surface of the fabric 200 , and the other surface of the installation part 320 a opposite to the one surface is fixed to the second surface 120 of the support member 100 .

Generally speaking, a keyboard 1 includes a plurality of keys 2, that is, a keyboard 1 includes a plurality of keycap assemblies 10a. The installation part 320a of the elastic cover body 300a shown in FIG. are connected to each other, thereby realizing integral molding of the elastic cover body 300a in the plurality of keys 2 . Based on this, the above-mentioned keycap assembly 10a provides the possibility to reduce the number of parts, thus, it can improve the installation efficiency of the keycap assembly 10a in the keyboard and reduce the production cost.

Fig. 14 shows a cross-sectional view of the keycap assembly 10a in some embodiments of the present application along the section A-A in Fig. 3(a). In order to improve the supporting effect of the elastic cover 300 a on the fabric 200 , compared with FIG. 13 , in the keycap assembly 10 a in FIG. 14 , an elastic arm 330 a is added to the elastic cover 300 a. In some embodiments of the present application, the elastic cover 300a includes a deformable portion 310a, a mounting portion 320a and an elastic arm 330a. Wherein, the mounting portion 320a is disposed around the deformable portion 310a , and the elastic arm 330a is disposed at the center of the deformable portion 310a and extends from the inner surface of the deformable portion 310a toward the surface of the circuit board 20 .

In some implementations, as shown in FIG. 14 , the end surface of the elastic wall 330 a is flush with the first surface 110 of the support member 100 . Wherein, the end surface of the elastic wall 330a refers to the end surface of the end of the elastic wall 330a that is not in contact with the deformable portion 310a.

In some embodiments of the present application, as shown in FIG. 14 , when the deformable portion 310a is an annular elastic cover, the elastic wall 330 is an annular cylinder, one end of the annular cylinder is connected to the inner edge of the annular elastic cover, and the other end of the annular cylinder extends toward the circuit board 20 .

In some implementations of the present application, as shown in FIG. 14 , the size of one end of the annular cylinder is larger than the size of the other end of the annular cylinder. That is, the elastic wall 330 gradually approaches the centerline of the through hole 130 in a direction extending toward the surface of the circuit board 20 . Based on this, the elastic wall 330 a is combined with the annular elastic cover to form an arc-shaped support structure whose center is arched away from the circuit board 20 . The above-mentioned structure can improve the supporting effect of the elastic cover 300 a on the fabric 200 . In this implementation manner, the elastic hole 301a refers to the size of the end of the annular cylinder connected to the annular elastic cover.

It can be understood that, for the above elastic cover 300a, during the pressing process, the fabric 200 moves downward, and the deformable part 310a and the elastic wall 330a begin to deform under the drive of the fabric 200 . It should be noted that during the pressing process, the fabric 200 gradually moves down and gradually increases the contact area with the deformed elastic wall 330a. As the deformation of the deformable portion 310a and the elastic wall 330a increases, and the contact area between the fabric 200 and the deformed elastic wall 330a gradually increases, the damping force received by the fabric 200 during the pressing process gradually increases, so as to realize the buffering of the button 2, avoid the rigid contact between the conductive member 40 on the fabric 200 and the conductive contact 30 on the circuit board 20, and prolong the service life of the button 2. In addition, as the pressing process progresses, the supporting area of the elastic cover 300a on the fabric 200 is gradually increased, and the force in each area of the elastic cover 300a can be gradually adjusted during the pressing process, further ensuring that the force on the fabric 200 is balanced.

In the above keycap assembly 10a, firstly, the section of the elastic cover 300a is a conical structure with a large bottom and a small top, which improves the structural stability of the elastic cover 300a. Secondly, the projected area of the elastic cover 300 a on the surface of the circuit board 20 is increased, and the rebound effect of the elastic cover 300 a on the fabric 200 is improved. Finally, the elastic cover 300a can also improve the stress of the fabric 200, thereby improving user experience.

Fig. 15 shows a cross-sectional view of the keycap assembly 10a in some embodiments of the present application along the section A-A in Fig. 3(a). Compared with FIG. 13 , in the keycap assembly 10 a in FIG. 15 , the structure and connection method of the mounting portion 320 a in the elastic cover 300 a are changed. In some embodiments of the present application, as shown in FIG. 15 , the elastic cover 300a includes a deformable portion 310a and a mounting portion 320a, and the mounting portion 320a is located around the deformable portion 310a. The installation part 320 a is located in the through hole 130 , and the outer wall surface of the installation part 320 a is fixed to the hole surface of the through hole 130 . The structure of the support member 100 and the elastic element 300a in the above keycap assembly 10a is simple, and the processing and assembly are less difficult.

Fig. 16 shows a cross-sectional view of the keycap assembly 10a in some embodiments of the present application along the section A-A in Fig. 3(a). Compared with FIG. 13 , in the keycap assembly 10 a in FIG. 16 , the structure and connection method of the mounting portion 320 a in the elastic cover 300 a are changed. In some embodiments of the present application, as shown in FIG. 16 , the elastic cover 300a includes a deformable part 310a and a mounting part 320a, and the mounting part 320a is located around the deformable part 310a. A part of the structure of the installation part 320 a is located in the through hole 130 , and another part of the structure of the installation part 320 a is located between the supporting component 100 and the circuit board 20 .

Multiple keys 2 in one keyboard 1

In addition, after introducing the single key, the following will continue to introduce the keyboard 1 with multiple keys 2 .

As can be seen from FIG. 2 and FIG. 6 , the keyboard 1 includes a plurality of keys 2 . In some implementation manners of the present application, the supporting components 100 in at least two of the plurality of keys 2 are integrally formed. In some implementation manners of the present application, the fabric 200 in at least two keys 2 among the plurality of keys 2 is integrally formed. In some implementations of the present application, the elastic covers 300a of at least two of the plurality of keys 2 are integrally formed.

For example, in some implementations of the present application, as shown in FIG. 6 , the keys 2 in the keyboard 1 are arranged neatly along the horizontal direction (that is, the X direction), and arranged in a staggered manner along the vertical direction (that is, the Y direction). The supporting components 100 of all the keys 2 in the keyboard 1 are integrally formed, the fabric 200 of all the keys 2 of the keyboard 1 is integrally formed, and the elastic covers 300a of all the keys 2 of the keyboard 1 are integrally formed.

In some embodiments of the present application, in some of the keys 2 or all of the keys 2 in the keyboard 1, a connecting portion (not shown) is connected between the elastic covers 300a of two adjacent keys 2, so that several elastic covers 300a are connected as one, reducing the number of components in the keyboard, and improving the installation efficiency of the keyboard.

In some implementations of the present application, the connecting part is clamped between the fabric 200 and the supporting part 100 . In other alternative implementation manners, the support member 100 is further provided with an accommodating groove for accommodating the connecting component, and the connecting component is located in the accommodating groove. The key cap assembly 10a can realize the integral molding of the elastic cover body 300a in the plurality of keys 2 while keeping the height of the key constant, so as to reduce the number of components and improve the installation efficiency of the keyboard.

It can be understood that, in some embodiments of the present application, when the electronic device is a notebook computer, for long keys such as the enter key, the space bar, the shift key, the control key and the return key on the computer keyboard, the size of the keycap assembly 10a in one direction is relatively large. According to the size of the keycap assembly 10a and the frequency of use of each key 2 in the keycap assembly 10a, the deformable part 310a in this application can reasonably adjust the parameters such as the number, state, and distribution position of the elastic holes 301a to meet the needs of users. For example, the user's requirement is that the keycap assemblies 10a corresponding to all the keys 2 on the same keyboard have a balanced handfeel. For a key 2 with a larger size, the number of elastic holes 301a on the deformable portion 310a is increased. For another example, the user's demand is that the user is accustomed to pressing keys such as the Enter key, the space bar, the shift key, the control key, and the back space key. For the letter keys and numeric keys, the user's knocking force is relatively small. The number is large, or the area of the elastic holes 301a on the deformable portion 310a is large.

Application Scenario 2-2

After introducing the keycap assembly 10a including the elastic cover 300a, the following will continue to introduce a keycap assembly 10b including the elastic wire 300b. Fig. 17 shows an exploded view of the keyboard 1 in some embodiments of the present application. Fig. 18 shows an exploded view of key 2 in some embodiments of the present application. Fig. 19 shows a cross-sectional view of the button 2 along the section A-A in Fig. 3(a) in some embodiments of the present application.

According to Fig. 2 and Fig. 17, a plurality of keys 2 in the keyboard 1, in order to be able to clearly understand and observe the specific structure in the keyboard 1, the following will first describe each component corresponding to the key 2 shown in Fig. 18 and Fig. 19 (such as the keycap assembly 10b, circuit board 20, conductive contact 30 and conducting member 40 as an example, and then describe the various components corresponding to all the keys 2 in the entire keyboard 1 as a whole.

7 and 18, it can be seen that the elastic element 300 in the keycap assembly 10a is an elastic cover 300a, and the elastic element 300 in the keycap assembly 10b is an elastic wire 300b, that is, compared with the keycap assembly 10a and the keycap assembly 10b, the elastic element 300 is different, and other structures are roughly similar. Based on this, the difference between the elastic wire 300b and the elastic cover 300a will be described in detail below, and other structures will not be repeated.

In some embodiments of the present application, as shown in FIG. 19 , the keycap assembly 10b includes at least one elastic wire 300b, at least one elastic wire 300b spans over the through hole 130 on the support member 100, and is combined with the fabric 200 to provide resilience to the fabric 200 when the fabric 200 is pressed.

The above-mentioned keyboard 1, the fabric 200 has the characteristics of softness, skin-friendly, fullness, etc., so that the keycap assembly 10b has a good touch. at the same time The air permeability of the fabric 200 itself can further improve the heat dissipation of the notebook computer, thereby prolonging the service life of the notebook computer. In addition, in the keycap assembly 10b, the resilience to the fabric 200 is realized by the elastic thread 300b. In this way, when the keycap assembly 10b is pressed, the elastic wire 300b undergoes large elastic deformation and moves downward. When the external force is removed, the elastic wire 300b takes advantage of its high rigidity and its own radial resistance to elastic deformation, the deformation of the elastic wire 300b disappears and returns to its original shape, and the deformation energy is converted into mechanical work or kinetic energy to realize the permanent and rapid rebound of the keycap assembly 10b. In addition, the ratio of the elastic yarn 300b to the flexible yarn is reasonably set, so that the keycap assembly 10b has both the high resilience of the metal material within the elastic range and the soft and shrinkable properties of the fiber product, and has the properties of conduction, rapid heat dissipation, and electromagnetic shielding. Finally, the key cap assembly 10b has the characteristics of softness, beauty and changeable patterns, creating a new field of textile application.

It can be understood that during the description of the aforementioned elastic cover 300a, in some embodiments, the elastic element 300a and the fabric 200 at the key area _A2 bulge away from the circuit board 20 (upward) to form a protruding key. Fig. 20 shows a schematic structural view of the elastic wire 300b in the keycap assembly 10b in some embodiments of the present application. As shown in FIG. 20 , the elastic filament 300b includes a conforming section 310b and a raised section 320b. Wherein, the protruding section 320 b protrudes away from the circuit board 20 , and the bonding end 310 b is relatively bonded to the second surface 120 of the supporting member 100 .

The elastic thread 300b can improve the bonding effect between the elastic thread 300b and the fabric 200, and improve the rebound effect of the keycap assembly 10b.

The material of the yarn in the fabric 200

In some implementations of the present application, the yarns in the fabric 200 include at least one of staple fiber single yarn, staple fiber strand, multi-twisted strand, monofilament yarn, multifilament yarn, composite twisted yarn, core-spun yarn, twisted yarn or wrapped yarn.

In some implementations of the application, the yarns in fabric 200 can be flexible yarns. The raw materials of flexible yarn include but are not limited to natural fibers or chemical fibers; natural fibers include but are not limited to one or more of cotton, wool, silk or hemp, and chemical fibers include but are not limited to one or more of polyester fibers, polyamide fibers, and polyurethane elastic fibers.

Material of elastic yarn 300b

In some implementations of the present application, at least one elastic wire 300b is a metal wire, wherein the metal wire includes at least one of carbon steel spring steel wire, low manganese spring steel wire, silicon manganese spring steel wire, chrome vanadium spring steel wire, stainless steel wire for spring, tin bronze wire or beryllium copper wire. The above are only some examples, and the present application does not specifically limit the material of the elastic wire 300b.

Dimensions of elastic filament 300b

For the elastic wire 300b, the elastic wire 300b with too small wire diameter lacks rigidity and cannot meet the requirement of radial resilience required by the keycap assembly 10b. When the wire diameter of the elastic wire 300b is too large, the rigidity is relatively high, which results in excessive pressing force of the key, and also cannot meet the requirement of radial resilience required by the keycap assembly 10b. In addition, if the diameter of the elastic thread 300b is too large, the difference in fineness between the elastic thread 300b and the flexible yarn will be too large, causing the elastic thread 300b to protrude from the surface of the fabric 200, affecting the feel of the keycap assembly 10b.

Based on this, considering the weavability and the comfort of the corresponding keycap assembly 10b, in some implementations of the present application, the diameter of each elastic wire 300b ranges from 0.02 mm to 1 mm. It can be understood that the above are only some examples of the wire diameter range of the elastic wire 300b in this application, and the wire diameter of the elastic wire 300b in this application can also be within other suitable ranges, and this application does not specifically limit the wire diameter range of the elastic wire 300b.

In some embodiments of the present application, the ratio and weaving method of the elastic yarn 300b to the flexible yarn in the fabric 200 are reasonably set, so that the elastic silk fabric has both the high resilience of the metal material within the elastic range and the soft and shrinkable properties of the fiber product, and has the properties of electrical conductivity, rapid heat dissipation, and electromagnetic shielding.

It can be understood that using low-modulus soft fibers as warp yarns can not only meet the requirements for yarn mechanics and flexibility in the weaving process, but also achieve flexibility corresponding to keyboard keys. Experiments have found that during the weaving process, too much elastic yarn in the weft direction will cause the interwoven fabric to be too hard, resulting in poor hand feeling and excessive pressing force of the corresponding keyboard. Therefore, in order to satisfy the comfortable feel and strength of the keyboard keys.

Reinforcement sheet 500

In some embodiments of the present application, as shown in FIG. 17 to FIG. 19 , the keycap assembly 10 b of the keyboard 1 further includes a reinforcement sheet 500 . Wherein, the reinforcing sheet 500 is combined on the fabric 200 . In some implementations of the present application, the reinforcing sheet 500 is pasted on the surface of the fabric 200 and the elastic thread 300 b facing away from the circuit board 20 . In other alternative implementations of the present application, the reinforcing sheet 500 is pasted on the surface of the fabric 200 and the elastic thread 300 b facing the circuit board 20 .

Surface fabric 600

In order to improve the aesthetics of the keycap assembly 10b, as shown in FIGS. 17 to 19 , the keycap assembly 10b further includes a surface fabric 600 . The surface fabric 600 is disposed on the surface of the fabric 200 facing away from the circuit board 20 . The material and weaving method of the surface fabric 600 may be the same as those of the fabric 200, or may be different from the material and weaving method of the fabric 200, which are not specifically limited in this application.

In some implementations of the present application, the reinforcing sheet 500 is installed between the fabric 200 and the surface fabric 600 , that is, the reinforcing sheet 500 is installed on the surface of the fabric 200 facing the surface fabric 600 . In some alternative implementations of the present application, the reinforcing sheet 500 is installed on the surface of the fabric 200 facing away from the surface fabric 600 . The above two implementations will be illustrated later in the combination scheme of the elastic cover 300a and the elastic wire 300b.

Combination of elastic yarn 300b and fabric 200

The combination scheme of the elastic yarn 300b and the fabric 200 will be introduced in detail below. Fig. 21(a) shows a partially enlarged view of the area _S1 in Fig. 19 in some embodiments of the present application. In some embodiments of the present application, as shown in FIG. 21( a ), the elastic yarn 300b is inserted in the fabric 200 , for example, the elastic yarn 300b is woven in the fabric 200 .

In the above-mentioned keycap assembly 10b, the integrally formed fabric 200 and the elastic yarn 300b finally constitute a single-layer fabric, and the whole weaving process is simple, which is suitable for industrial applications. Compared with the existing split-type key cap assembly, it has the functions of ultra-thin, simple structure and dustproof.

Fig. 21(b) shows a schematic diagram of the weaving of the fabric 200 and the elastic filament 300b in some embodiments of the present application. As shown in FIG. 21( b ), the fabric 200 and the elastic yarn 300b in the present application are woven in a plain weave manner, and at least one elastic yarn 300b is used as a weft or warp to intersect with the warp or weft in the fabric 200 . It can be understood that the fabric 200 and the elastic yarn 300b can also be braided by other weaving methods, and at least one elastic yarn 300b is interwoven with other yarns according to the corresponding weaving method, which is not specifically limited in the present application.

In some implementations of the present application, as shown in FIG. 21( b ), the fabric 200 includes a plurality of first weaving filaments 210 and a plurality of second weaving filaments 220 arranged in a cross. At least one elastic filament 300b is arranged parallel to the first braiding filaments 210, and multiple first braiding filaments 210 are arranged between two adjacent elastic filaments 300b. At least one elastic filament 300b and the first braiding filament 210 are cross-braided with adjacent second braiding filaments 220 in a one-to-one correspondence.

FIG. 22 shows a partially enlarged view of the _S1 area in FIG. 19 in some embodiments of the present application. In some embodiments of the present application, as shown in FIG. 22 , the elastic thread 300b is in contact with one of the surfaces of the fabric 200, and the way of contact may be that the elastic thread 300b is bonded to one of the surfaces of the fabric 200, or the elastic thread 300b is sewn on one of the surfaces of the fabric 200, which is not specifically limited in the present application.

The layout of the elastic yarn 300b

Since the elastic wire 300b is a strip-shaped material, it is necessary to further define the layout scheme of the elastic wire 300b relative to the keys 2 in the keyboard 1 .

Fig. 23 shows a top view of the keyboard 1 in some embodiments of the present application, where the dotted line 1 represents the elastic wire 300b. FIG. 24 shows a partially enlarged view of the region _S2 in FIG. 23 in some embodiments. As shown in FIGS. 23 and 24 , in order to improve the stability of the support of the elastic filaments 300b to the fabric 200, the length direction of the orthographic projection (such as _l1 and _l2 ) of each elastic filament 300b on the plane of the circuit board 20 is parallel to the arrangement direction of the keys 2 in the keyboard 1.

In some implementations of the present application, when the orthographic projection of the keycap assembly 10b on the plane of the circuit board 20 is a rectangle or a rounded rectangle, the length direction of the orthographic projection (such as _l1 and _l2 ) of each elastic wire 300b on the plane of the circuit board 20 is parallel to one of the sides of the rectangle or the rounded rectangle.

As shown in FIG. 24 , in some embodiments of the present application, in a keycap assembly 10b, at least one elastic wire 300b specifically includes two parallel elastic wires 300b, and the orthographic projections of the two parallel elastic wires 300b on the circuit board 20 are located at a pair of opposite edge areas within the projection area of the through hole on the circuit board 20. The above keycap assembly 10b can stably support the fabric 200 at the edge of the key area _A2 .

In some embodiments of the present application, as shown in FIG. 24 , the distance d ₂ of the projections (such as l ₁ and l ₂ ) of two parallel elastic wires 300 b on the circuit board 20 ranges from 2 mm to 10 mm. In some embodiments of the present application, the distance d ₁ between the projections of the two elastic wires 300b on the circuit board 20 (such as l ₁ and l ₂ ) and the corresponding edge of the projection area of the through hole on the circuit board 20 ranges from 1 mm to 5 mm. The above are only some examples of the layout of the elastic filaments 300b, and any distribution scheme of the elastic filaments 300b that can stably support the fabric 200 is within the protection scope of the present application, which is not specifically limited in the present application.

It can be understood that in a keycap assembly 10b, at least one elastic wire 300b may be 3 or more, and the present application does not specifically limit the number of elastic wires 300b involved in a keycap assembly 10b.

In addition, FIG. 25 shows a partially enlarged view of the area _S2 in FIG. 23 in some other embodiments. As shown in FIG. 25 , in order to improve the stability of the support of the elastic thread 300b to the fabric 200, in some embodiments of the present application, the projections (such as ₁₃ and ₁₄ ) of each elastic thread 300b on the circuit board 20 are distributed across, and the intersection of the projections (such as ₁₃ and ₁₄ ) of each elastic thread 300b on the circuit board 20 is located within the orthographic projection of the through hole on the surface of the circuit board 20.

In some embodiments of the present application, when the orthographic projection of the keycap assembly 10b on the plane of the circuit board 20 is a rectangle or a rounded rectangle, and at least one elastic wire 300b specifically includes two elastic wires 300b intersecting each other, the length direction of the projection (such as ₁₃ and ₁₄ ) of each elastic wire 300b on the circuit board 20 intersects with the sides of the rectangle or the rounded rectangle. For example, the length direction of each elastic filament 300b is parallel to the diagonal of the rectangle or the rectangle with rounded corners.

One keyboard 1 corresponds to multiple keys 2

In addition, as can be seen from FIG. 2 and FIG. 17 , the keyboard 1 includes a plurality of keys 2 , and the elastic wires 300 b in at least two of the plurality of keys 2 are integrally formed.

In some implementations of the present application, the keys 2 in the keyboard 1 are arranged neatly along the horizontal direction (that is, the X direction), and arranged in a staggered manner along the vertical direction (that is, the Y direction). The elastic wires 300b in the keyboard 1 extend along the horizontal arrangement of the keys 2 on the keyboard. On the one hand, the number of elastic wires 300b in the keyboard 1 is reduced, and on the other hand, the difficulty of forming and assembling the keycap assembly 10b is reduced.

Application scenarios 2-3

After introducing the key cap assembly 10a including the elastic cover 300a and the key cap assembly 10b including the elastic wire 300b, the following will continue to introduce Several types of key cap assemblies are provided with the elastic cover body 300a and the elastic wire 300b at the same time.

Figure 26 illustrates a keycap assembly 10c in some embodiments of the present application. As shown in FIG. 26 , the keycap assembly 10c includes a support member 100 , a fabric 200 , an elastic cover 300a and an elastic wire 300b. Wherein, the arrangement position and manner of the elastic cover 300a relative to the support member 100 and the fabric 200, and the arrangement position and manner of the elastic wire 300b relative to the support member 100 and the fabric 200 are the same as above, and will not be repeated here. In some implementations of the present application, the fabric 200 covers the surface of the elastic cover 300 a, and the elastic filament 300 b is woven in the fabric 200 .

In some implementation manners of the present application, the keycap assembly 10 further includes a reinforcing sheet 500, and an elastic hole is opened on the elastic cover 300a. Wherein, the reinforcing piece 500 is located in the elastic hole of the elastic cover 300 a and fixed on the surface of the fabric 200 close to the circuit board 20 .

Figure 27 illustrates a keycap assembly 1Od in some embodiments of the present application. Compared with the keycap assembly 10c in FIG. 26 , the keycap assembly 10d in FIG. 27 further includes a cover fabric 600 . The surface fabric 600 is covered on the side of the fabric 200 facing away from the circuit board 20 , and the reinforcement sheet 500 is located on the side of the fabric 200 facing away from the surface fabric 600 .

Figure 28 illustrates a keycap assembly 1Oe in some embodiments of the present application. Compared with the keycap assembly 10d in FIG. 27, it is not difficult to find that the layout position of the reinforcing sheet 500 in the keycap assembly 10d in FIG. 28 has changed. The reinforcement sheet 500 in the keycap assembly 10d in FIG. 28 is located between the surface fabric 600 and the fabric 200 .

Multiple keys in one keyboard 2

In some embodiments of the present application, there are multiple keys 2 in the keyboard 1 , and each key cap assembly 10 in the multiple keys 2 is any one of the above key cap assemblies. That is, the keycap components in the same keyboard may have the same or different forms, which is not specifically limited in the present application.

29 shows the pressing rebound curve of the keycap assembly 10 in some embodiments of the present application, wherein the horizontal axis represents the key stroke of the keycap assembly 10 (such as any one of the keycap assembly 10a, the keycap assembly 10b, the keycap assembly 10c, the keycap assembly 10d and the keycap assembly 10e), and the unit is mm, and the vertical axis represents the pressing load of the keycap assembly 10, and the unit is N.

The results are shown in FIG. 29 . According to the test of the keys of the keycap assembly 10 , it can be seen that the pressing trigger force of the ultra-thin self-rebounding keycap assembly is 0.8N, the key stroke is 1mm, and the pressing recovery rate is 100% after 5 cycles. The pressing fatigue test of the keycap assembly 10 found that the keys of the keyboard can still achieve 100% rebound after 1 million times of pressing, indicating that the keyboard has good durability and can meet the fatigue requirements of the pressing recovery required by the keys of the keyboard. The heat resistance test of the keycap assembly 10 found that the keycap assembly 10 can still achieve 100% rebound when the keycap assembly 10 is pressed cyclically for 60 hours in an environment of 50° C., indicating that the keycap assembly 10 of the present invention can withstand the long-term high-temperature environment caused by the heat generated by the keyboard during use of the computer. According to FIG. 20 , it is not difficult to find that the keys including the keycap assembly 10 in the present application can have the function of the elastic curve of the traditional plastic keys, and have a similar feel in use.

Molding method of key cap assembly 10a

In addition, the present application also provides several molding methods of the key cap assembly. The molding method of the keycap assembly 10a will be introduced first below. As shown in Figure 30, the forming method of the key cap assembly 10a in this application specifically includes:

Block S301: forming the supporting member 100, the fabric 200, the elastic cover 300a, the adhesive, and the reinforcing sheet 500 respectively.

Wherein, the forming sequence of the above components is not specifically limited. It can be understood that the adhesive may be the polyurethane adhesive mentioned above, and the following description will be made by taking the polyurethane adhesive as an example.

Block S302: bonding the elastic cover 300a and the support member 100 with an adhesive.

In some implementations, the completely defoamed polyurethane adhesive is applied to the surface of the elastic cover 300a and the support member 100, and then the excess polyurethane adhesive outside the first bonding area of the elastic cover 300a and the support member 100 is scraped off with a clean scraper. Wherein, the first bonding area refers to the area where the elastic cover 300a and the support member 100 are connected after being connected to each other. Finally, the elastic cover 300a coated with the polyurethane solution and the support member 100 are immediately fixed and pressed on the mold (3 and 4 shown in FIG. 31 ), and dried at a certain temperature for several hours.

Block S303: bonding the fabric 200, the elastic cover 300a, and the support member 100 with an adhesive.

In some implementations, the completely defoamed polyurethane adhesive is applied to the surfaces of the fabric 200, the elastic cover 300a, and the support member 100, and then the excess polyurethane adhesive outside the second bonding area of the fabric 200, the elastic cover 300a, and the support member 100 is scraped off with a clean scraper. Wherein, the second bonding area refers to the area where the fabric 200 is connected to the elastic cover 300a, or the area where the fabric 200 is connected to the support member 100 after being connected to each other. Finally, the fabric 200 coated with the polyurethane solution, the elastic cover 300a and the supporting member 100 are immediately fixed and pressed on the mold (3 and 4 shown in FIG. 31 ), and dried at a certain temperature for several hours.

Block S304: Bond the reinforcement sheet 500 and the fabric 200 with an adhesive.

In some implementations, the completely defoamed polyurethane adhesive is applied to the surfaces of the fabric 200 and the reinforcing sheet 500, and then the excess polyurethane adhesive outside the third bonding area of the fabric 200 and the reinforcing sheet 500 is scraped off with a clean scraper. Wherein, the third bonding area refers to the area where the fabric 200 and the reinforcing sheet 500 are connected after being connected to each other. Finally, the fabric 20 coated with the polyurethane solution and the reinforcing sheet 500 are immediately fixed and pressed on a mold (3 and 4 as shown in FIG. 31 ), and dried at a certain temperature for several hours.

The order of the above-mentioned blocks can be adjusted mutually, and the process can be replaced, and the above only shows one of the forming methods of the keycap assembly 10a. It can be understood that any molding method capable of molding the keycap assembly 10a in the present application falls within the protection scope of the present application, and the present application does not specifically limit it.

Molding method of key cap assembly 10b

After introducing the molding method of the keycap assembly 10a, the molding method of the keycap assembly 10b will be introduced below. As shown in Figure 32, the forming method of the key cap assembly 10b in this application specifically includes:

Block 321 : forming the supporting member 100 , the fabric 200 , the elastic thread 300 b , the adhesive, and the reinforcing sheet 500 respectively.

In some implementations of the present application, the fabric 200 and the elastic yarn 300b use the flexible yarn as the warp yarn, and the elastic yarn 300b and the flexible yarn as the weft yarn, and are woven on a loom to obtain a composite braided fabric of the fabric 200 and the elastic yarn 300b. It can be understood that the forming sequence of the above components is not specifically limited. It can be understood that the adhesive may be the polyurethane adhesive mentioned above, and the following description will be made by taking the polyurethane adhesive as an example.

Block 322: forming raised structures corresponding to the keys on the fabric 200 and the elastic filament 300b.

In some implementations of the present application, the fabric 200 and the elastic yarn 300b are punched and formed on the keyboard mold, so that the elastic yarn 300b undergoes permanent deformation consistent with the shape of the keyboard mold, so as to form several key position bulges corresponding to the key area of the keyboard and connecting parts corresponding to the non-key area of the keyboard.

In some implementations of the present application, when the raised structure corresponding to the keyboard is formed on the fabric 200 and the elastic yarn 300b, one end of each elastic yarn 300b is fixed, and the other end of each elastic yarn 300b is released, so that the elastic yarn 300b can move in the fabric 200 during the punching process, avoiding the excessive stretching of the elastic yarn 300b to form wrinkles, or the elastic yarn 300b drives the knitting yarn folds in the surrounding fabric 200, and further improves the molding effect of the elastic knitting structure. Improves the tactile feel of the keycap assembly.

Block 323: Bonding the fabric 200 with raised structures and the support member 100 with an adhesive.

In some implementations, a fully defoamed polyurethane adhesive is applied to the raised structure fabric 200 and support member 100 Then use a clean scraper to scrape off the excess polyurethane adhesive outside the fourth bonding area between the fabric 200 and the support member 100 having a raised structure. Wherein, the fourth bonding area refers to the area where the fabric 200 having a raised structure and the support member 100 are connected after being connected to each other. Finally, the fabric 200 with raised structures coated with the polyurethane solution and the supporting member 100 are immediately fixed and pressed on the mold (3 and 4 shown in FIG. 31 ), and dried at a certain temperature for several hours.

Box 324: Bonding the reinforcement sheet 500 and the fabric with raised structures 200 with an adhesive.

In some implementations, the completely defoamed polyurethane adhesive is applied to the surface of the fabric with raised structure 200 and the reinforcing sheet 500, and then the excess polyurethane adhesive outside the fifth bonding area of the fabric with raised structure 200 and the reinforcing sheet 500 is scraped off with a clean scraper. Wherein, the fifth bonding area refers to the area where the fabric 200 with a raised structure is connected to the reinforcing sheet 500 after being connected to each other. Finally, the fabric 200 with raised structure coated with the polyurethane solution and the reinforcing sheet 500 are immediately fixed and pressed on the mold (3 and 4 shown in FIG. 31 ), and dried at a certain temperature for several hours.

The order of the above-mentioned blocks can be adjusted mutually, the process can be replaced, and the steps can be deleted according to the specific structure. The above only shows one of the forming methods of the keycap assembly 10b. It can be understood that any molding method capable of molding the keycap assembly 10b in the present application falls within the protection scope of the present application, and the present application does not specifically limit it.

Among the 10B molding methods of the above keycap components, by weaving with high -modular elastic wire and low -modular flexible yarn, and weaving with low -modular yarn for low -modular yarn, to obtain elastic silk fabrics, and then use molds that are consistent with keys on the keyboard, stamping the elastic silk fabric to make the high -rigid bomb in the elastic silk fabric in the elastic silk fabric. Sexual wire occurs with permanent deformation consistent with the shape of the keyboard button to form a number of key position bulges and the keyboard support area corresponding to the keyboard support area corresponding to the keyboard. When the key cap assembly is pressed within a certain height range (within the key stroke), the high rigidity elastic wire can produce large elastic deformation when loaded, and convert mechanical work or kinetic energy into deformation energy. When the external force is removed, the radial resistance of the elastic wire against elastic deformation is fully utilized, the deformation of the high-rigidity elastic wire disappears and returns to its original shape, and the ability to convert the deformation energy into mechanical work or kinetic energy realizes the permanent rapid and full rebound of the keycap assembly, and this process is without plastic deformation.

Molding method of keycap assembly 10c, keycap assembly 10d and keycap assembly 10e

It can be understood that, for the keycap assembly 10c, keycap assembly 10d, and keycap assembly 10e in the present application, since the keycap assembly 10a and the keycap assembly 10b are fused, the molding method can be the fusion of the molding method of the keycap assembly 10a shown in FIG. 30 and the molding method of the keycap assembly 10b shown in FIG.

In the description of the present application, it should be noted that the orientations or positional relationships indicated by the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "outer", "inner", "circumferential", "radial", "axial", etc. are based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the application and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the referred device or element must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood For the limitation of this application.

In the description of this application, it should be noted that unless otherwise specified and limited, the terms "installation", "installation", "connection" and "attachment" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it may be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it may be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it may be a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediary, or it may be an internal connection between two components. Those of ordinary skill in the art can understand the specific meanings of the above terms in this application in specific situations.

Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the application without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. In this way, if these modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalent technologies, the present application is also intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

A keyboard (1), characterized in that the keyboard (1) comprises a keycap assembly (10), a circuit board (20) and a conductive contact (30) mounted on the circuit board (20), the keycap assembly (10) is used to trigger the conductive contact (30) on the circuit board (20),

The keycap assembly (10) includes a support member (100), a fabric (200) and an elastic element (300),

A through hole (130) is opened on the support member (100), the support member (100) is fixed on the circuit board (20), and the conductive contact (30) is located in the through hole (130), the fabric (200) is located on the side of the support member (100) facing away from the circuit board (20), and covers the through hole (130) of the support member (100), the elastic element (300) and the support member (100 ) is relatively fixed;

The supporting part (100) is a rigid part for supporting the elastic element (300), and the elastic element (300) is used for supporting the fabric (200), and when the fabric (200) opposite to the through hole (130) receives a load directed to the circuit board (20), it provides the fabric (200) with a resilience away from the conductive contact (30).
The keyboard (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the elastic element (300) comprises at least one elastic thread (300b), each of the elastic threads (300b) is located on the side of the support member (100) facing away from the circuit board (20), straddles the through hole (130), and is combined with the fabric (200).
The keyboard (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that, the weaving method of the fabric (200) is plain weaving, and the at least one elastic thread (300b) is used as a weft or warp to cross weave with the warp or weft in the fabric (200).
The keyboard (1) according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that,

Each elastic wire (300b) includes any one of carbon steel spring steel, low manganese spring steel, silicon manganese spring steel, chrome vanadium spring steel, stainless steel wire for spring, tin bronze wire or beryllium copper wire.
The keyboard (1) according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that, the wire diameter of each elastic wire (300b) ranges from 0.02 mm to 1 mm.
The keyboard (1) according to any one of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that the number of keys (2) in the keyboard (1) is multiple,

The length direction of the orthographic projection of each elastic wire (300b) on the plane of the circuit board (20) is parallel to the arrangement direction of the keys (2) in the keyboard (1).
The keyboard (1) according to claim 6, wherein the at least one elastic wire (300b) specifically includes two elastic wires (300b) parallel to each other, and the orthographic projections of the two two elastic wires (300b) parallel to each other in the plane where the board surface of the circuit board (20) is located are located at a pair of opposite edge regions of the orthographic projection of the through hole (130) in the plane where the board surface of the circuit board (20) is located.
Keyboard (1) according to claim 7, is characterized in that,

The distance between the orthographic projections of the two parallel elastic threads (300b) on the plane where the circuit board (20) is located is in the range of 2 mm to 10 mm;

The distance between the orthographic projection of each elastic wire (300b) on the plane of the circuit board (20) and the corresponding edge of the orthographic projection of the through hole (130) on the plane of the circuit board (20) is 1 mm to 5 mm.
The keyboard (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the keyboard (1) further comprises a surface fabric (600), and the surface fabric (600) is arranged on a surface of the fabric (200) facing away from the circuit board (20).
The keyboard (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the elastic element (300) comprises an elastic cover (300a), and the elastic cover (300a) covers the through hole (130).
Keyboard (1) according to claim 10, is characterized in that,

The through hole (130) on the support member (100) is a stepped hole, and the stepped hole includes a first through hole and a second through hole arranged sequentially and coaxially along the same center line, the opening size of the first through hole is larger than the opening size of the second through hole, and the first through hole is close to the fabric (200), and the second through hole is close to the circuit board (20);

The elastic cover (300a) includes a connected deformable part (310a) and a mounting part (320a), and the mounting part (320a) is located around the deformable part (310a);

The orthographic projection of the deformable part (310a) on the plane of the circuit board (20) is located in the orthographic projection of the through hole (130) on the plane of the circuit board (20), and the mounting part (320a) is installed on the step of the stepped hole and connected to the support member (100).
Keyboard (1) according to claim 10, is characterized in that,

The elastic cover (300a) includes a connected deformable part (310a) and a mounting part (320a), and the mounting part (320a) is located around the deformable part (310a);

The orthographic projection of the deformable part (310a) on the plane of the circuit board (20) is located in the orthographic projection of the through hole (130) on the plane of the circuit board (20), and the installation part (320a) is installed between the support member (100) and the fabric (200).
Keyboard (1) according to claim 10, is characterized in that,

The elastic cover (300a) includes a connected deformable part (310a) and a mounting part (320a), and the mounting part (320a) is located around the deformable part (310a);

The orthographic projection of the deformable part (310a) on the plane of the circuit board (20) is located in the orthographic projection of the through hole (130) on the plane of the circuit board (20), the installation part (320a) is located in the through hole (130), and the outer surface of the installation part (320a3) is fixed to the hole surface of the through hole (130).
The keyboard (1) according to any one of claims 11 to 13, characterized in that,

The elastic cover (300a) further includes an elastic wall (330a), one end of the elastic wall (330) is in contact with the deformable part (310), and the end surface of the other end is in contact with the board surface of the circuit board (20).
The keyboard (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that the elastic element (300) is provided with an elastic hole, and the orthographic projection of the elastic hole on the plane of the circuit board (20) is located within the orthographic projection of the through hole on the plane of the circuit board (20); or

The orthographic projections of the through holes on the plane of the circuit board (20) are all located in the orthographic projections of the elastic element (300) on the plane of the circuit board (20).
The keyboard (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that, a part of the elastic element (300) close to the center line of the through hole (130) bulges away from the circuit board (20).
The keyboard (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that the keycap assembly (10) further comprises:

A reinforcing piece (500), the reinforcing piece (500) is located in the through hole (130) and relatively fixed to the fabric (200).
The keyboard (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 17, characterized in that the keyboard (1) comprises at least two keys (2);

The fabric (200) in the key cap assembly (10) of the at least two keys (2) is integrally formed, and the elastic element (300) in the key cap assembly (10) of the at least two keys (2) is integrally formed.
An electronic device, characterized by comprising the keyboard (1) according to any one of claims 1-18.