JP3295049B2 - Key switch - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a key switch used for a keyboard or the like which is an input device of a word processor, a personal computer or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a key switch used in this type of keyboard, a key stem protruding downward is formed on a lower surface of a key top having characters and symbols printed on an upper surface thereof, formed on a keyboard housing. A key switch in which a switching member is disposed below a key stem while being supported by being inserted into a key holder portion is generally used. Then, in such a key switch, the key stem is slid up and down in the key holder portion, and when the key top is pressed, the key stem is moved,
The switching member is pressed by the lower part of the key stem,
As a result, a switching operation has been performed.

[0003]

However, in the conventional key switch as described above, if the vertical length of the key holder is shortened in order to increase the vertical stroke of the key top, the sliding length with the key stem is reduced. Is insufficient, causing a twist when the key top is pressed. Therefore, the key touch cannot be performed smoothly, so that the vertical length of the key holder cannot be reduced, and the keyboard cannot be made thinner.

In order to solve this problem, the present applicant has filed Japanese Patent Application No. Hei.
In the specification of JP-A-310242), the guide means for vertically moving the key top is constituted by a first link and a second link which are arranged in an X-shape in a side view, and an intersecting portion between the two links is rotated. Freely connected, one of the free ends of the first link and the second link is rotatably locked to the lower surface of the keytop and the holder member, and the other free end slides to the lower surface of the keytop and the holder member. A key switch that locks as much as possible and performs a switching operation by depressing the rubber spring with the two links has been proposed.

[0005] In this key switch, each link is composed of two locking pins that are rotatably locked and two locking pins that are slidably locked.
And four sets of locking portions for each key switch had to be provided on the holder member.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem, and eliminates the need for a configuration in which a key stem is slid up and down by means of a holder portion. It is an object of the present invention to provide a key switch that can be maintained, in which a locking portion of a holder member that holds a first link and a second link is simplified.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems To this end, the holder key switch according to claim 1 is that a key Toppu, is disposed below the key top, a plurality of engaging portions are formed Member, the lower surface of the key top and the holder member
It is connected and locked to a plurality of locking portions and connected to be movable with each other.
It is binding, the first link to guide the vertical movement of the key top and
And a second link, a line Umono a switching operation in accordance with the vertical movement of the key top, the Holder member, three locking portions for locking the lower end of the first link and the second link There is arranged to be positioned at the vertices of the plan view triangle, the first link or the second link is held in a substantially immovable in the direction perpendicular to the sliding direction by the locking portion to be locked
I have.

According to a second aspect of the present invention , there is provided a key switch according to the first aspect, wherein the holder member is locked.
When the first link or the second link slides, the side of the
Sliding direction by contacting the side of the first link or the second link
It is held substantially immovably in a direction perpendicular to the direction.

[0009] The key switch according to claim 3, claim 1,
Or the key member according to claim 2, wherein
Are engaged with the lower end of the first link so as to be rotatable.
Slide the two rotation locking parts to stop and the lower end of the second link
And one sliding locking portion that locks as possible.

The key switch according to the fourth aspect is the third aspect of the present invention.
In the key switch described above , three locking of the holder member
The center of the part is from one sliding locking part to two rotating locking parts
Are located on the vertices of an isosceles triangle with equal distances
Have been.

The key switch according to the fifth aspect is the third aspect of the present invention.
5. The key switch according to claim 4, wherein the holder member comprises:
The side surfaces of the two rotation locking portions are the first link or the second link.
Contact the side of the first link when sliding
That are substantially immovable in the direction perpendicular to the sliding direction
It is.

[0012]

[0013]

According to the key switch of the present invention having the above structure, when the key top is not pressed, the key top is urged upward and held upward. When the keytop is pressed from such a state , the keytop resists the biasing force.
And descend. As the keytop descends , the first
Each end of the link and the second link their respective pivots or sliding in each locking portion, as well as guide the downward movement of the key top, switching operation is performed. On the other hand, when the keytop is released from being pressed, the keytop is linked to the first link and the
It is pushed upward while being supported by the two links , and returns to its original position.

[0014]

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

The key switch 2 has a key top 4 on which characters, symbols and the like are printed on the upper surface, a guide support member 6 in which a first link 8 and a second link 10 are arranged in an X shape in side view, a cap-shaped rubber spring 12 is pressed by the support member 6, a synthetic resin holder 14 for supporting the proposal in the support member 6, flexible that the switching portion 20 is provided on the lower surface of La bar spring 12 It is composed of a printed board 16 and a reinforcing plate 18 stretched on the lower surface side.

[0016] As shown in FIG. 2, La bar spring 12
Is fitted into the mounting hole 21 of the holder member 14 so as to cover the upper side of the switching unit 20 on the printed board 16 or is bonded to the printed board 16 .
La bar spring 12 is electrically insulating silicone rubber, or are composed of EPDM or the like, in a plan view substantially disc-shaped head, a conical dome portion extending downwardly from the periphery of the head portion, the dome It is integrally formed in the shape of a downwardly open cap comprising a flange portion extending substantially horizontally and radially outward on the outer periphery of the portion. When pressing the key top 4 on the lower surface of the head portion of the rubber spring 12 is pressed by the pressing portion 22 of the guide supporting member 6, electrically to ON · OFF contact with the contact portion of the switching portion 20 A movable contact 24 made of conductive rubber having the above-mentioned conductivity is fixed.

[0017] Incidentally, the flexible printed board 16 forming the switching unit 20 may be a substrate such as a membrane switch circuit board. In this case, rubber spring 1
It is not necessary to fix the movable contact 24 to 2.

The key Toppu 4 is molded of a synthetic resin such as ABS resin, have a triangular operating surface as shown in FIG. 1, the lower surface thereof, engagement of the upper end of the first link 8 to be described later A longitudinal groove-shaped sliding locking portion 28 for locking the stopping portion 26 so as to be slidable in a substantially horizontal direction, and a locking pin 30a, 30b on the upper end side of the second link 10 are rotatable only. A hole-shaped rotation locking part 32 for stopping is projected.

Next, the structure of the first link 8 and the second link 10 made of synthetic resin such as POM resin will be described. FIG.
3A is a plan view of the first link 8, and FIG. 3B is a plan view of the second link 10. The first link 8 is formed integrally with the base 34 and the locking pins 26 and the locking pins 36a and 36b so as to be substantially triangular in plan view.
The support hole 38 is oriented sideways on the side surface of FIG.
( Up and down direction) , and locking pins 36a and 36b are laterally provided on the outer surface of the lower end (upper and lower in FIG. 3 (a)).
And a locking pin 26 is provided at the upper end.

The second link 10 also has a base 40 and a locking pin 30.
a, 30b and the locking pin 42 are integrally formed in a substantially triangular shape in plan view . Pivot shaft 44 sideways (vertical direction in FIG. 3 (b)) on the inner surface of the base portion 40 is protruded,該枢shaft 44 supporting hole 3 in the first link 8
8 is rotatably fitted. A locking pin 42 is provided at the lower end of the second link 10, and the locking pins 30a and 30b are laterally arranged on the outer surface of the upper end (see FIG. 3B).
Projecting vertically) . The first link 8 and the second link 10 assembled as described later are arranged so as to overlap the operation surface of the key top 4 in plan view.

In this embodiment, when viewed from the side , the upper and lower locking pins 2 extend from the center line of the support hole 38 in the first link 8.
6, 36a, and the distance from the center line of the pivot 44 in the second link 5 to the locking pins 30a, 42 are formed to be equal to each other. With the above-described configuration, the guide support member 6 is provided at the lower end side of the first link 8 with the locking pins 36 a and 36 b and the second link 1.
The key top 4 is rotated about the locking pins 30a and 30b on the upper end side of the key top 4 so that the key top 4 is
4 can be moved up and down while maintaining a horizontal state with respect to the upper surface.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a part of the holder member 14 made of a synthetic resin such as an ABS resin.
Mounting holes 21 which can be placed caps shaped rubber spring 12 is bored to, the one side edge of the attachment hole 21, the rotation locking portion 46 of the pair (2), the other side edge Is integrally injection-molded with one sliding groove 48 in the form of a longitudinal groove. The pair of rotation locking portions 46 and one sliding locking portion 48 constitute an isosceles triangle in plan view.
Are located on two vertices.

Next, the assembling process of the key switch having the above configuration will be described.
10 is assembled in an X-shape in side view at the position of the pivot shaft 44 and the support hole 38, and then, in the assembled state, the lower end locking pins 36 a, 36 b of the first link 8 are turned. After the lower locking pin 42 of the second link 10 is fitted into the sliding locking part 48 and the lower locking pin 42 of the second link 10 respectively, the locking pin 26 on the upper end of the first link 8 is key-topped. 4, the upper locking pins 30a, 30b of the second link 10 are locked to the rotation locking portions 32, respectively.

At this time, the locking pins 36a, 36b and 4
2 and the shape and dimensions of the rotation locking portion 46 and the sliding locking portion 48 are such that the first link 8 and the second link 10 are substantially immovable in the left-right direction in FIG. to 2
It is determined so as not to interfere with the sliding of the definitive lateral direction.

With this configuration, when the key top 4 is pressed, the first link 8 is connected to the rotation locking portion 46 of the holder member 14.
Position to the lower direction rotated around the (right times in FIG. 2
Ri rotates) while the second link 10 is counterclockwise rotation in FIG. 2 about the point of pivot shaft 44. Then, the rubber spring 1 is pressed by the pressing portion 22 of the first link 8.
2 is pressed downward, and the movable contact 24 on the lower surface thereof contacts the switching unit 20 to perform a switching operation.

When the locking pins 26 of the first link 8 and the locking pins 30a, 30b of the second link are arranged around the key top 4 having a triangular operation surface as in this embodiment, The key top 4 is a triangle connecting the locking pins with a straight line.
It almost matches the operation surface of. In other words, there is no area that cannot be surrounded by each locking pin, and even if any part of the operation surface is pressed, the key top 4 is held by the holder member 1.
4 can be moved up and down while maintaining a horizontal state with respect to the upper surface.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described in detail above, and various changes can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the present invention can be applied to a key top 60 having an L-shaped operation surface such as a return key. The first link 8 and the second link in this case
Since the structure and arrangement relationship of the link 10 and the rubber spring 12 are substantially the same as those in the above embodiment,
Detailed description is omitted.

[0028]

As described above in detail, according to the key switch of the first aspect, the first link and the second link movably connected guide and support the vertical movement of the key top. together, along with the vertical movement of the key top, is configured so as to perform switcher <br/> quenching operation. Therefore, a configuration in which the key stem is slid up and down by the holder portion can be eliminated, and the keyboard can be reduced in thickness while maintaining the size of the key stroke. In addition, the locking portion that locks the lower ends of the first link and the second link,
It is only provided three in the holder member, since these three locking portions are arranged to be positioned at the vertices of the plan view triangle, the first link及 while reducing the number of the locking portion
And the second link can be stably supported. Furthermore,
Since the first link or the second link is held substantially immovably in the direction orthogonal to the sliding direction by the locking portion of the holder member to be locked, the key top connected and locked to the first and second links Can be prevented from laterally displacing in this direction. Therefore, it is possible to guide the vertical movement of the key top while fixing the key top in the direction.

According to the key switch of the second aspect, in addition to the effect of the key switch of the first aspect,
The side surface of the locking portion of the holder member is the first link or the second link.
Contact the side surface of the first or second link when sliding
Of the first or second link in the direction orthogonal to the sliding direction.
Since holding the kinematic coupling engagement with the first and second links
Preventing the key top to be stopped from laterally shifting in this direction.
Can be.

[0030] According to the key switch according to claim 3, wherein, 請
In addition to the effects of the key switch according to claim 1 or 2, the lower ends of the first link and the second link are locked.
The three locking portions of the holder member are
And one sliding engagement portion. That is, the first link or
Has two rotation locking parts that can securely lock the second link
Therefore, even if the three locking portions, the first link and
The second link can be stably supported.

According to the key switch according to claim 4, wherein, 請
In addition to the effects of the key switch described in claim 3 ,
The center of the three locking portions of the holder member is one sliding locking portion
Isosceles with the same distance from the to the two rotation locking parts
Arranged on the vertices of the triangle. Therefore, the first link
And the second link are symmetrically (equally) supported in plan view.
To reduce the play of the key top
Can be.

According to the key switch of the fifth aspect, in addition to the effects of the key switch of the third or fourth aspect , further, the side surfaces of the two rotation locking portions of the holder member are
Contact with the side of the first link when sliding the first or second link
Then, the first link is not substantially displaced in the direction orthogonal to the sliding direction.
The first link and the second link are connected
Preventing the key top to be stopped from laterally shifting in this direction.
Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment embodying the configuration of a key switch according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the key switch shown in FIG. 1;

[Figure 3] is a plan view of the guide support member used in the key switch of the present invention, (a) is a plan view of a first link,
(B) is a plan view of the second link.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a mounting hole portion of a holder member in the key switch of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the key switch shown in FIG. 2 taken along line AA.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a configuration of a return key according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Key switch 4 Key top 6 Guide support member 8 First link 10 Second link 12 Rubber spring 14 Holder member 20 Switching section 28 Sliding locking section 32 Rotating locking section 46 Rotating locking section 48 Sliding locking Department

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-64-7441 (JP, A) JP-A-4-76224 (JP, U) JP-A-2-5236 (JP, U) JP-A-63 172028 (JP, U) Jpn. Sho 62-200220 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01H 13/14

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] (1)Ki-And the key top, Multiple locking partsFormed
Holder member,Plural locking of the lower surface of the key top and the holder member
Connected to the part and movably connected to each other, Ki
-Move the top up and downFirst and second links to guide
With  A switching operation is performed in accordance with the vertical movement of the key top.
UA key switch,  The holder member has a firstLinkAnd of the second link
Each of the three locking portions for locking the lower end has a triangular top in a plan view.
The first link or the second link
The link is perpendicular to its sliding direction by the locking part that is locked
Is held almost immobile in the directioningA key characterized by
-Switch. 2. A side surface of a locking portion of the holder member,
When the first link or the second link slides, the first link or
One that contacts the side surface of the second link and is orthogonal to the sliding direction
Characterized by being held substantially immovably in the direction
Item 1. The key switch according to item 1. Three engaging portion according to claim 3, wherein said holder member includes sliding two rotation locking part for locking the lower end of the first link rotatably, the lower end portion of the second link key switch according to claim 1 or claim 2 capable, characterized in that it has a single sliding locking portion for locking. Three central locking portion of claim 4, wherein said holder member is disposed from said one sliding locking portion on the apex of the two isosceles triangles distance equal each to pivot locking portion The key switch according to claim 3 , wherein the key switch is provided. 5. A side of two holders of said holder member.
When the first link or the second link slides, the surface
Contact the side surface of one link and move the first link in the sliding direction
That it is held almost immovably in the direction perpendicular to
The key switch according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the key switch is a key switch.