JPH0319650B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to the structure of a key top member of a keyboard device suitable for implementation as a pushbutton dial of a telephone.

[Conventional technology]

Traditionally, telephones have employed rotary dials and pushbutton dials. Among these, push-button dials operate switches and connect telephone lines by pressing key buttons, and do not require mechanical mechanisms compared to rotary dials, reducing the number of parts and making assembly work easier. This makes it possible to improve thinner, lighter weight, etc.
In addition to dial key buttons up to 9, memory,
Since it is equipped with function key buttons such as redial, it has the advantage of being highly functional and convenient. There are two types of key buttons: one in which each key button is formed separately, and one in which a plurality of key buttons are integrally formed and adjacent key buttons are connected to each other.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

In such conventional push-button dials, the former has disadvantages such as an increase in the number of parts, troublesome manufacturing and assembly work, and the need to be very careful as there is a risk of incorrect assembly; Although it has the advantage of being able to eliminate this inconvenience, since adjacent key buttons are connected, when one key button is pressed, other adjacent key buttons also move, resulting in lack of independence and malfunction. The disadvantage is that it is easy to occur.

Furthermore, since each type uses a spring to return each key button, it is necessary to assemble the spring, and furthermore, it is difficult to provide a uniform operating feel due to variations in the elastic force.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to solve this problem, the key top member of the keyboard device according to the present invention has key buttons arranged within a section divided by a frame and a partition plate spanned between the side plates of the frame. It is equipped with a pair of left and right elastic support arms that are wrapped around each other and elastically supported, and the base end of each of the left and right elastic support arms is protruded from a frame or partition plate located on one side of the corresponding key button. The key button circumferential surface is extended substantially in the direction of the frame surface so as to surround the key button circumferential surface from both sides at a predetermined interval, and its free end side is connected to the key button circumferential surface portion on the opposite side from the frame or the partition plate. The frame, partition plate, and key buttons are integrally molded from synthetic resin material.

[Effect]

Therefore, each key button is operated independently via a pair of left and right elastic support arms.
Moreover, its operating stroke can also be set relatively large.

〔Example〕

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be explained in detail below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a telephone set incorporating the keyboard member according to the present invention. It is connected to the indoor wiring via a telephone cord 5.

The telephone housing 2 is composed of a shallow box-shaped lower housing 2A with an open upper surface, and an upper housing 2B that is integrally connected to the lower housing 2A. In the first half of the top surface, there are three buttons in the horizontal direction and four in the vertical direction, corresponding to the push button dial 4.
A total of 12 round holes 6 are formed.

The pushbutton dial 4 is made of plastic material such as ABS and has a cylindrical shape, and numbers from 0 to 9 are displayed on the top surface by two-color molding, thereby forming a dial key button. 10a to 10j, and function key buttons 10k and 10l, which are also formed in a cylindrical shape and have symbols * and # displayed on the upper surface by two-color molding. They are inserted into the round holes 6 of the housing 2B from the inside so as to be freely slidable in the axial direction, and their upper ends are exposed to the outside. These key buttons 10a-1
As shown in detail in FIGS. 1 and 2, 0l is integrally made of synthetic resin material as part of a key top member consisting of a frame 13, a partition plate 14, and a pair of left and right elastic support arms 25, 26. It is molded into. The frame 13 is the left and right side plates 13
a, 13b and upper and lower side plates 13c, 13d. One piece is placed in the center of the left side plate 13a, and two pieces are placed vertically apart on the right side plate 13b.
Elastic engagement pieces 16 are integrally provided in a protruding manner, and a pair of left and right screw attachment portions 17 are provided on the upper side plate 13c. Therefore, this frame 13 uses the engaging piece 16 to attach the printed circuit board 1 to the bottom of the frame 13.
8 is assembled and attached to the inner surface of the lower housing 2B via the screw attachment portion 17. Frame 13
The internal space surrounded by each of the side plates 13a to 13d includes a partition plate 14 which is integrally spanned between the left and right side plates 13a and 13b in parallel with the upper and lower side plates 13c and 13d.
It is divided into four horizontally long boundaries A to D by a to 14c. The ward boundary A has key buttons 10b to 10d corresponding to numbers 1 to 3, and the ward boundary B has key buttons 10e to 10d corresponding to numbers 4 to 6.
10g, key buttons 10h to 10j corresponding to numbers 7 to 9 are arranged in area C, and key buttons 10a, 10k, and 10l are provided in area D, respectively. Pins 23 are provided protruding from the lower surface of each of the partition plates 14a to 14c, and although not shown, these pins are fitted into small holes provided in the printed circuit board 16, respectively.

Each of the key buttons 10a to 10l is connected to the upper frame plate 13c or each of the partition plates 14a to 14c via a pair of support arms 25 and 26, respectively. That is, each support arm 25, 2
6 is a keyboard group (10b, 10c, 10d) to (10d) between each row, as is clear from FIG.
curved arm portions 25a, 26a whose respective base ends protrude integrally from the upper frame upper plate 13 and each partition plate 14a to 14c corresponding to the upper frames (a, 10k, 10l) and are curved approximately symmetrically to each other; extends substantially in the surface direction of the frame 13 so as to surround the peripheral surface of the corresponding keyboard 10a to 10l from both sides at a predetermined interval, and the linear arm portions 25b and 26b on the free end side are arranged to surround each key. The frame 13 or each partition plate 14 from which the lower peripheral surface of the buttons 10a to 10l, that is, the base end portion protrudes
The frame 13 and the key button 1 are connected to the peripheral surface portion on the opposite side from a to 14c.
Together with 0a to 10l, it is integrally formed from a synthetic resin material. Here, these left and right support arms 2
5 and 26 are each formed thin and configured to be elastically deformable in the axial direction of each key button. According to such support arms 25 and 26, when a key button is pressed, the curved arm portions 25a and 26a of each arm 25 and 26 move toward the frame 13 or the partition plates 14a to 14c as the key button is pressed. The linear arm portion 2 is elastically deformed to bend around the base end of the
5b, 26b are elastically deformed in a twisting manner, so that the key button is lowered, and when the pressing force is released, the key button returns to its original state. In addition, in the embodiment, the support arm 25,
26 has an appropriate angle, for example, about 4 degrees, with respect to the upper surface of the frame 13 or the partition plate 14, so that each of the key buttons 10a to 10l
The joint side is slightly raised. Also,
Although not shown, operating portions are provided on the bottom surfaces of the key buttons 10a to 10l, respectively, and are opposed to the switches formed on the printed circuit board 18.

The key top member configured as described above is fixed to the inner surface of the upper housing 2B with a set screw 19, and the push button dial 4 is configured by assembling a printed circuit board 18 to the bottom surface of the key top member.
Further, the telephone is assembled by joining the upper housing 2B and the lower housing 2A. Thus, the pushbutton dial 4 is housed within the telephone housing 2, and the upper end portions of each of the key buttons 10a to 10l are projected and exposed to the outside through each of the round holes 6 of the upper housing 2B. When a predetermined key button 10 is pressed during dial operation, the key button is pressed against the partition plate 14.
The support arms 25 and 26 are lowered by elastic deformation using the support arms 25 and 26 as a fulcrum, and a dial signal is sent out. By releasing the key button 10, the support arms 25, 26 elastically return to their natural state, and their upper ends are restored to their initial state. At this time, each support arm 25, 26 supporting each key button 10 is attached to the frame side plate 13c or the partition plate 14 as described above.
Since the free ends of each of the key buttons from a to 14c are connected to each other on the opposite circumferential surface of the key button so as to enclose each key button, they can operate independently of each other, and the support arms 25 and 26 are compared. Since the key button can be formed for a long time, the stroke amount of the key button is guaranteed and the stability is high.

It goes without saying that the present invention can be applied not only to the above-described keyboard member of the pushbutton dial of the telephone, but also to keyboard devices of various electric devices.
In addition, the internal space of the frame 13 is divided by the partition plate 14 into row boundaries of the key button groups.
It may be divided into different divisions.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained in detail above, according to the present invention, each key button is formed integrally with the frame via a pair of left and right elastic support arms, so there is no need for a return spring and the number of parts is small. The structure is simple. Furthermore, each key button is independent from each other, providing excellent operability and preventing malfunctions. Furthermore, the left and right pair of elastic support arms have their respective proximal ends protruding from the frame and partition plate located on one side of the corresponding key button, so as to surround the circumferential surface of the key button from both sides at a predetermined interval. The frame, the partition plate, the key button, and the synthetic resin material extend substantially in the direction of the frame surface, and the free end side is connected to the key button peripheral surface on the opposite side from the frame or the partition plate. Since it is integrally molded, it has a relatively long dimension, and the stroke amount of the key button can be set large, ensuring stable push button operation.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The attached drawings show a case where the keyboard member according to the present invention is applied to a push button dial of a telephone set, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of the keyboard member, Fig. 2 is an exploded side view of the push button dial, and Fig. 3 is a view of the telephone set. The perspective view and FIG. 4 are enlarged views of essential parts showing the support structure of the key top member. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Telephone, 2...Telephone housing, 4...Push button dial, 10...Key button, 13...Frame, 14...Partition plate, 25, 26...Pair of left and right elastic support arms.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A keytop member for a keyboard device in which a plurality of key buttons are appropriately arranged within a plurality of zones divided by a frame-like frame and a partition plate spanned between side plates thereof, wherein each of the key buttons a pair of left and right elastic support arms that elastically support the
These left and right pairs of elastic support arms have base ends protruding from the frame or partition plate located on one side of the corresponding key button, and are arranged so as to surround the circumferential surface of the key button from both sides at a predetermined interval. It extends substantially in the direction of the frame surface, and
The frame, the partition plate, and the key button are integrally formed of a synthetic resin material so that the free end side thereof is connected to the peripheral surface of the key button on the opposite side from the frame or the partition plate. A keytop member in a keyboard device characterized by: