JP3059896B2 - Switch mounting structure - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mounting structure of a switch, and more particularly to a mounting structure of a pointing device provided on a keyboard of an O / A device such as a personal computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the widespread use of O / A equipment, the functions of personal computers, word processors, and the like have been actively expanded, miniaturized, and reduced in price. In particular, the spread of small and portable laptop O / A devices has been remarkable, and peripheral devices have been enhanced. O as above
As input means for the / A device, a keyboard and an input from an external input device called a mouse are mainly used. However, as described above, the mouse function is provided to the O / A device main body along with portability and miniaturization. The one to be mounted is being developed. FIG. 3 shows a laptop personal computer (hereinafter simply referred to as a personal computer) 30 having a mouse function.

The personal computer 30 has a floppy disk drive, a CPU, and the like inside, and a personal computer main body 34 having a keyboard 32 on the upper surface, and a liquid crystal display device which is connected to the personal computer main body 34 by a hinge 36 and the like, and can be opened and closed. And a display 38. A pointing device 40 that functions as a mouse is arranged at a substantially central portion on the front side of the keyboard 32. The pointing device 40 includes a cursor movement switch 40a for moving a cursor 38a on the liquid crystal display 38 instead of a ball provided on the bottom of the mouse;
Function selection / confirmation switch 40b for confirming the range specified by the position movement of the cursor 38a and selecting the function
And both are arranged in the proximity position. Therefore, by tilting the cursor movement switch 40a with a thumb or the like in a desired direction by a desired amount, the liquid crystal display 3 is turned on.
8, various functions can be executed by pressing a function selection / confirmation switch 40b.

[0004]

However, conventionally, when a pointing device is arranged on or near a keyboard, a board on which a cursor movement switch and a function selection / confirmation switch are mounted and each switch cover are separately fixed with screws or the like. Was fixed by means. The individual fixing of each component causes a problem of increasing the number of components such as screws, and also has a problem that alignment of each component is required and assembly is complicated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and a pointing device capable of reducing the number of components for fixing the pointing device and facilitating the fixing operation. It is an object of the present invention to provide a switch mounting structure.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention is a cursor movement switch provided on a keyboard of an O / A device for moving a position of a cursor on a screen. And a switch mounting structure for a pointing device including a function selection / confirmation switch, the switch mounting body having a surface cover portion of the function selection / confirmation switch at one end and a fixing piece for fixing the cursor movement switch at the other end. The switch mounting body has a substantially crank-shaped cross section, wraps around from the keyboard front side to the back side, forms a front cover on the keyboard front side, and holds and fixes the cursor movement switch body on the back side. I do.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the switch mounting structure according to the first aspect, at least two positioning portions for positioning the switch mounting body are provided on the fixed piece of the switch mounting body. It is characterized by.

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the cross section has a substantially crank shape, the one end has a surface cover portion of the function selection / determination switch, and the other end fixes the cursor movement switch. A switch mounting body having a piece wraps around from the keyboard front side to the back side to form a front cover on the keyboard front side, and holds and fixes the cursor movement switch body on the back side. Therefore, by fixing the switch mounting body, it is possible to simultaneously arrange the front cover portion of the function selection / determination switch and fix the cursor movement switch.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the fixing piece of the switch mounting body has at least two positioning portions for positioning the switch mounting body, the surface cover at one end of the switch mounting body. Positioning of the cursor and fixing of the cursor movement switch can be accurately performed.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

O / A mounting a pointing device
The external configuration of the laptop personal computer as the device is the same as that of the conventional example shown in FIG. 3, and thus the description thereof is omitted, and the internal structure will be described in detail below.

FIG. 1 shows an upper cabinet 1 of a personal computer 30.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory view illustrating a cursor board 12 having a cursor movement switch fixed to the upper cabinet 10 and a selection / fixation board 14 having a function selection / fixation switch and a switch mounting body 16. The upper cabinet 1
Numeral 0 denotes a keyboard opening 10a for exposing a large number of keys placed on a personal computer main body (not shown) (generally, the upper cabinet and the keys are collectively referred to as a keyboard). A stick opening 10b for exposing a swing stick 12a as a cursor movement switch that can be swung to a predetermined position, a switch opening 10c for exposing a push switch 14a provided on the selection / determination board 14, and a switch mounting described in detail later. A mounting opening 10d and the like for guiding the body 16 from the front side to the back side of the upper cabinet 10 are provided.

The switch mounting body 16 is integrally formed of a material such as resin, and has a substantially crank-shaped cross section as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and has a push switch 14a projecting from the switch opening 10c at one end. Are formed, and front covers 16a and 16b for protecting the push switch 14a are formed. This front cover 1
6a and 16b are independently connected to the crank portion 16c of the switch mounting body 16. Therefore, due to the elasticity of the crank part 16c, the front covers 16a, 1
6b oscillates moderately and independently from the push switch 14a
Can be satisfactorily pressed. The switch mounting body 16 has a front cover 16 with the crank portion 16c interposed therebetween.
cursor board 12 on the other side (the other end side) of
1 that presses the back of the upper cabinet 10
6d are formed. A screw 1 for fixing the switch mounting body 16 to the upper cabinet 10 and fixing the cursor substrate 12 at a predetermined position is provided on the fixing piece 16d.
8 is provided. Further, the crank portion 16c is provided with at least two guide holes 16f as positioning portions for positioning the switch mounting body 16 with respect to the upper cabinet 10.
A guide pin 10e is provided on the lower surface of the upper cabinet 10 at a position corresponding to the guide hole 16f. Due to the engagement between the plurality of guide holes 16f and the guide pins 10e, a mounting error in the rotating direction at the time of mounting the switch mounting body 16 is suppressed, and accurate mounting work can be easily performed, and the front covers 16a, 16b can be easily mounted. It is possible to assemble so that the swinging, that is, the pressing operation can be performed smoothly.

A procedure for attaching the pointing device having the above-described configuration to the upper cabinet 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. First, as shown in FIG. 2A, the switch mounting body 16 is inserted from the mounting opening 10d of the upper cabinet 10 in the direction of arrow A. At this time, the front covers 16a and 16b are placed on the front side of the front cabinet 10,
The fixing piece 16 d is made to come to the back side of the front cabinet 10. Next, the upper cabinet 10 is turned upside down in the state of FIG. 2A, and the selection / fixed substrate 14 is fixed to a predetermined position on the back surface of the upper cabinet 10 by fixing means such as screws 18. Further, the swinging stick 12a of the cursor board 12 is connected to the stick opening 10 of the upper cabinet 10.
b so as to be exposed to the surface through the upper surface cabinet 10
At a predetermined position on the back surface of. Then, as shown in FIG. 2B, the switch mounting body 16 is slid in the direction of arrow C while being tilted in the direction of arrow B to engage the guide hole 16f with the guide pin 10e. At this time, by providing one or both of the guide holes 16f and the guide pins 10e with a taper, the positioning and the engagement of the two can be easily performed. When the cursor board 12 and the switch mounting body 16 are positioned at predetermined positions with respect to the upper cabinet 10, the cursor board 12 and the switch mounting body 1 are fixed by fixing members such as screws 18.
6 is fastened to the back of the upper cabinet 10 together.

As described above, by simultaneously fixing the switch mounting body 16 having the cursor substrate 12 and the front covers 16a and 16b, the number of fixing members such as screws can be reduced, the assembling efficiency can be improved, and the space for mounting parts can be improved. Can be reduced. Further, since the cursor board 12 is fixed via the guide portion 16e of the switch mounting body 16 accurately positioned by the guide hole 16f and the guide pin 10e, the positioning and fixing of the cursor board 12 can be easily performed, and As described above, the positioning of the front covers 16a and 16b can be performed accurately. Note that the positioning of the cursor substrate 12 is as follows.
In addition to the above, the cursor board 12 and the upper cabinet 10
May be provided by providing a guide groove or the like on the back surface.

In this embodiment, the switch mounting structure is described using the swing stick type cursor movement switch mounted on the laptop personal computer. However, the switch mounting structure is applied to the laptop personal computer and the swing stick type cursor movement switch. Without being limited, it can be applied to desktop PCs and word processors and to ball type cursor movement switches.
Similar effects can be obtained.

Further, in this embodiment, the description has been made using the one provided with two function selection / confirmation switches. However, the present invention can be applied to a single or two or more switches. Can be changed according to the number of switches.

[0018]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the cross section has a substantially crank shape, one end has the surface cover portion of the function selection / determination switch, and the other end has the surface cover. A switch mounting body having a fixing piece for fixing the cursor movement switch wraps around from the keyboard front side to the back side to form a front cover on the keyboard front side, and holds and fixes the cursor movement switch body on the back side. Therefore, by fixing the switch mounting body, it is possible to simultaneously arrange the surface cover portion of the function selection / determination switch and fix the cursor movement switch, thereby reducing the number of fixing members and fixing each component. Easier,
The efficiency of assembly work can be improved. According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the fixing piece of the switch mounting body has at least two positioning portions for positioning the switch mounting body, the positioning of the front cover at one end of the switch mounting body can be achieved. Since the cursor movement switch can be fixed accurately, the assembly work efficiency can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a main part for explaining a switch assembling structure according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a shape and an assembling method of a switch mounting body of a switch assembling structure according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a general laptop personal computer equipped with a pointing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Upper cabinet 12 Cursor board 14 Selection / fixed board 16 Switch mounting body 18 Screw

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-6-290678 (JP, A) JP-A-3-97977 (JP, U) JP-A-62-140633 (JP, U) JP-A 5- 55428 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01H 21/00 H01H 13/70 H01H 25/00

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An O / A device provided on a keyboard,
In a switch mounting structure for a pointing device including a cursor movement switch for moving a position of a cursor on a screen and a function selection / confirmation switch, one end has a surface cover portion of the function selection / confirmation switch, and the other end has the cursor movement. A switch mounting body having a fixing piece for fixing the switch, wherein the switch mounting body has a substantially crank-shaped cross section, wraps around from the keyboard front side to the back side, forms a front cover on the keyboard front side, and forms a front cover on the back side. A switch mounting structure characterized by holding and fixing a cursor movement switch main body. 2. The switch mounting structure according to claim 1, further comprising at least two positioning portions for positioning the switch mounting body on the fixed piece of the switch mounting body.