JPH0794137B2 - Push button and its manufacturing method - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a push button and its manufacturing method. More specifically, the present invention relates to a push button having a control operation action which is used for input / output to / from control devices such as various consumer devices, industrial machines and automobiles, and a manufacturing method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various household appliances such as electric washing machines have various functions and a control panel for controlling these functions. This control panel turns on the power
There are provided ON and OFF switches for N and OFF, a time switch for setting operation time and the like, and command buttons for operation commands. Since water is used, this control panel is required to have a waterproof property, a dustproof property, and a static electricity prevention function in order to prevent malfunction of an electric circuit on a printed circuit board. Also, pushbuttons of transceivers used outdoors are required to have similar functions. On the other hand, the actual development 60-
The vehicle operation panel described in No. 67241 and Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 62-167323 has an operation panel switch part, and a panel of this switch part is covered with a coating film integrally molded with a soft material is disclosed. ing.

Since this cover is integrally molded and has no gap, it prevents rain, dust, dust, etc. from entering the control circuit portion. Further, industrial robots, machine tools and the like used in a production factory are generally equipped with electronic control devices due to the progress of computerization. These electronic control devices are provided with an operation panel including various switches for changing programs and inputting data. In the production plant, the environment is generally bad, dust, oil, etc. are scattered,
This may enter an electric circuit in the operation panel, a contact point of a switch, or the like to cause an electrical failure.

For this reason, recently, an electric control device stores a printed circuit board on which electronic parts such as a switch are mounted in a control box, covers the control box with a panel, and exposes the switch from a part of the panel through an opening. The control panel is sealed by covering the entire panel with a thin synthetic resin sheet. There is known a flat type operation panel that drives a switch in the opening of the panel from the upper portion of the flat cover when the switch is operated. This flat type operation panel is excellent in terms of preventing water, dust, oil and the like.

In this flat type panel, in order to clarify the positions of the switch portion, which is pushed and pressed by a finger, and the panel portion, symbols and characters are printed on the sheet surface to distinguish them. Further, there are also known ones in which the switch portion on the seat surface is made slightly convex so as to be distinguished from other portions, and an outer peripheral projection type in which a small projection is provided on the outer circumference of the portion on the seat surface where a finger contacts.

On the other hand, it is also known that the control panel surface is not flat. In this type, it is also known that the display portion is manufactured by a synthetic resin of two kinds of colors for the push button without printing the symbols and characters on the surface of the control panel. Audio equipment, telephones, electronic desk calculators, etc. have relatively small pushbuttons. Some of these operation buttons utilize the spring force of silicon rubber as the return force after the switch operation (for example, USP 4,818,8).
29, USP 4,636,593, etc.).

A control panel of the type that utilizes the elastic force of silicon rubber as the return force of a push button has many steps such as a push button manufacturing process, a silicon rubber manufacturing process, a process of assembling these, and many parts. is necessary.

When the flat type control box is a metal frame, a rubber sheet is further interposed between the sheet and the metal frame to improve the touch feeling of a finger when a person pushes the switch with a finger. . The display part, which is manufactured with two colors of operation buttons, does not disappear easily,
Multi-step processing and assembly processes are required. The present invention focuses on these problems and achieves the following objects.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a push button for a control panel and a method of manufacturing the same, which can reduce the number of manufacturing steps and assembling steps.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a push button of a control panel having a good touch feeling and a click feeling, and a manufacturing method thereof.

An object of the present invention is to provide a display portion of a control panel in which characters and symbols are not easily erased.

The push button of the present invention is improved so that the click feeling at the time of operation is improved. Further, this push button manufacturing method has an effect that it can be processed mainly by injection molding, that is, the number of manufacturing steps is small. Further, since the push button main body of the present invention and the other part are heat-sealed, there are effects such as high waterproofness, dustproofness, impact resistance, and antistatic performance.

[0013]

[Means for Solving the Problems] To solve the above problems, the following means are adopted.

The first means is a push button having the following structure in a push button of a control panel for inputting / outputting an electrical symbol to / from a control circuit for controlling various devices.

A. A button body made of ABS resin, which is selectively moved between two positions by a driving force of a finger to perform a switching operation, and b. A control box that constitutes the main body of the control panel and is made of ABS resin; c. A button support body made of a thermoplastic polyester elastomer resin having a hardness lower than that of the ABS resin, heat-bonded integrally to the button body, and elastically supporting the button body so as to be vertically movable; and d. Heat fusion in which both the polymers forming the button support, the button body and the control box are adhered to each other so that the boundary surface between the button support and the button body and the control box is not easily separated. Surface.

In the first means, when the button support is formed with a thin wall portion to support the button body, and a thin portion having a trapezoidal cross section is formed, a click feeling may be further provided.

A second means is a push button having the following structure in a push button of a control panel for inputting / outputting an electric signal to / from a control circuit for controlling various devices.

A. A sheet made of a thermoplastic polyester elastomer resin, which has a finger contact surface on one surface, covers the control circuit, and has a finger contact portion for switching operation; and b. A control box that constitutes the main body of the control panel and is made of ABS resin; c. The sheet is made of the ABS resin or the thermoplastic polyester elastomer resin having a hardness higher than that of the resin of the sheet, and is selectively moved between two positions by driving the finger to perform a switching operation, and is heat-fused integrally with the sheet. An actuator supported on the seat, d. A heat-sealing surface in which both polymers are adhered and heat-sealed between the sheet and the actuator and the control box so that the boundary surface between the sheet and the actuator and the control box is not easily separated.

The first means is manufactured as follows.
That is, the button body and the control box, or the button support, which are molded in advance, are put into an injection molding die, and the button support, or the synthetic resin material of the button body and the control box, which is heated and melted, is used. It is injected into the cavity part of the injection molding die, and the button body, the control box, and the button support are fusion-bonded by the heat of fusion of the heated and melted synthetic resin itself to form a heat-fusion surface. Then, the push button is manufactured by integrally molding the button body, the control box, and the button support.

The second means is manufactured as follows.
That is, the preformed actuator and control box or the sheet is put in an injection molding die, and
Over preparative or injection the actuator and these synthetic resin material heating and melting of the control box to the key <br/> Yabyi tee portion in the injection mold, and the said actuator and the control box seat A push button is manufactured by integrally bonding the actuator, the control box, and the sheet by fusion bonding with the melting heat of the heated and melted synthetic resin itself to form a heat bonding surface.

[0021]

First Embodiment A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1A is a plan view of the desk phone 1. On the upper surface of the telephone main body 5 of the desk phone 1, a handset 2 and a plurality of dial buttons 3 are provided. The button 3 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape. On the button 3, there is a display unit 4 composed of symbols and numbers. FIG. 1B is a sectional view taken along line bb of FIG.

The button 3 comprises a box-shaped button body 9 having a hollow interior and an open lower end. This button body 9 is made of ABS resin, polycarbonate resin, PB
ABS resin is used in this embodiment although it is made of a relatively hard resin such as T resin and polypropylene resin. The upper surface of the button body 9 is the contact portion 11 of the finger, and is a surface for pushing the contact portion 11 with the finger. An actuator 10 is formed inside the button body 9. The actuator 10 is made of a thermoplastic elastic synthetic resin having excellent rubber elasticity.

This thermoplastic elastic material is selected from polyester elastomer, nylon elastomer, polyurethane elastomer, olefin resin and the like, and in this embodiment, polyester elastomer was used. The thermoplastic elastic body needs an appropriate elasticity from the viewpoint of improving a click feeling when pushing a push button as described later. In addition, above the cylindrical actuator 10,
A display portion of characters, symbols, etc., that is, a raised portion 12 is provided. Since the contact portion 11 is made of a relatively hard plastic, it has a good touch feeling and is effective for a user who desires a hard finger touch. A heat-sealing surface 8 is provided between the button body 9 and the actuator 10.

The heat-sealing surface 8 is a boundary surface where the polymer of the button body 9 and the polymer of the actuator 10 are mixed or combined with each other and adhered. Therefore, this heat-sealing surface 8 constitutes a strong joint surface. The bonding strength, that is, the tensile strength is usually higher than the tensile strength of the thermoplastic elastic body forming the actuator 10. However, although the bonding strength differs depending on the selected combination of materials, the present invention is essentially characterized in that the bonding surface has the heat-sealing surface 8.

A pressing protrusion 13 is provided on the bottom surface of the actuator 10. The outer periphery of the actuator 10 has a thin portion 15 made of a synthetic resin of a thermoplastic elastic body having excellent rubber elasticity similar to the actuator 10.
The thin portion 15 is integrally formed and connected to the actuator 10. The cross section of the thin portion 15 is higher than the thick portion 17 and has a trapezoidal shape. The thin portion 15 is easily deformed when pressed from above. That is, when the upper surface of the contact portion 11 is pressed with a finger, the thin portion 15 bends downward and dents. The relationship between the time when the thin portion 15 is dented and the applied pressure is as follows.

When a predetermined pressing force is applied to the contact portion 11, the reaction force of the thin portion 15 against the pressing force sharply decreases when the contact portion 11 is dented to a certain position or more. The feel of the finger at this time is
This is called the click feeling. It is necessary to determine the peak value of the pressing force to an optimum value for a human finger.
The peak value of this pressing force is determined by the thickness and shape of the thin portion 15. The outer periphery of the upper surface of the thick portion 17 is the telephone body 5
Is heat-sealed to the lower surface of the. That is, the button 3, the thin portion 15, the thick portion 17, and the telephone body 5 are integrally formed. Therefore, there is an advantage that the telephone main body 5 can be assembled only by assembling the integrally molded case body, that is, the control box and the printed board 20.

On the other hand, the conductive material 2 is formed on the printed board 20.
1 is formed by well-known means such as printing and plating, which are usually used when forming an electric circuit on a printed board. An insulating plate 22 made of a synthetic resin or a rubber plate is placed on the printed board 20. The insulating plate 22 is open only at the contact circuit 21 portion. On the insulating plate 22, a thin plate-shaped conductive sheet 23 made of a conductive material is placed. The conductive sheet 23 is a rubber material containing a conductive material inside,
It is a conductor made of synthetic resin, etc. that conducts electricity.

With the above structure, when the contact portion 11 of the button body 9 is pushed, the thin portion 15 bends downward and the actuator 10 descends. As a result of this lowering, the lower end surface 16 of the pressing protrusion 13 of the actuator 10 is moved to the conductive sheet 2
Press 3. The conductive sheet 23 electrically connects the flexure contact circuit 21 slightly. When the pressing on the contact portion 11 is stopped, the thin portion 15 is elastically deformed, so that the original shape is restored, and the lower end surface 16 returns to the upper position.

[0029]

Second Embodiment FIGS. 2A and 2B show a part of a control panel and show a second embodiment. 2 (a),
This is an embodiment of a telephone set in which a matrix-shaped frame 25 is provided for each button 3 as shown in (b). Framework 25
Is a control panel, that is, a telephone body 5 (not shown)
It is molded integrally with. The frame 25 is made of the same hard plastic resin as the button body 9.
In the case of this embodiment, by providing the matrix-shaped frame 25 for each button 3, each button becomes independent.

The thin portion 15 and the thick portion 17 of the first embodiment described above are continuously and integrally formed. Thick part 17
Since the portions other than the outer peripheral portion are not fixed, the thick portion 17 may move and deform even when the button body 9 is pressed, and a sufficient click feeling may not be obtained. This embodiment is an improvement on this point. Since the thick portion 17 is fixed to the frame 25, the click feeling is good.

In addition, since this embodiment has the framework 25, it also serves as an accent in terms of design, and since the framework 25 has a matrix-shaped frame structure, distortion in the molding process in the manufacturing process can be reduced. . A switch 26 is provided on the printed board 20 in this example. Switch 2
6 is for electrically turning on and off when the upper end is pushed. The switch 26 has a spring inside, and is a well-known switch structure that is restored to its original position by the spring force of the spring. When button 3 is pressed, the thin part 15
Is modified in the same manner as in the above-described embodiment, and click operation is performed.

[0032]

Third Embodiment FIG. 3 shows a third embodiment. This embodiment is similar to the second embodiment except that it has a matrix-like framework 25.
Is provided between the thick portion 17 and the printed board 20. The frame 25 is formed integrally with a main body case (not shown) of the control panel. The upper portion of the frame 25 and the thick portion 17 are heat-sealed to each other as described above to form a heat-sealed surface. In this example, the framework 25 is not visible from the outside, so the appearance of the control panel is simpler than that of the above example. Also in this third embodiment, the button is molded integrally with the control panel body, so the number of assembling steps is small.

[0033]

Fourth Embodiment FIG. 4A shows a fourth embodiment and is a cross-sectional view of only the push button portion. Telephone body 5
There are as many holes as there are pushbuttons. A thin portion 28 made of a thermoplastic elastic material is heat-sealed to this hole. At the lower end of the thin portion 28, the pressing protrusion 13 is integrally formed. A conductive material 29 is provided on the tip of the pressing protrusion 13. The conductive material 29 turns on and off a contact circuit (not shown) on the printed board as in the case of the fifth embodiment described later. The button body 27 is heat-sealed to the upper surface of the thin portion 28. When the button body 27 is pressed, the thin portion 28 flexes downwards and the conductive material 29 contacts the contact circuit, actuating the circuit. In FIG. 4B, the raised portion 1 is formed on the button body 27.
It is a modification in which 2 is provided to form a display unit. In the case of this embodiment, the button body 27 does not require characters or the like. Also in this fourth embodiment, since the push button and the telephone body 5 are integrally formed, the number of assembling steps of the telephone can be reduced.

FIG. 4C shows a modification in which the thin portion 28 has a U-shaped cross section so that the thin portion 28 can be easily bent and a click feeling can be obtained. The pressing protrusion 13 and the thin portion 28 are made of the same material,
Only the outer periphery of the thin portion 28 is heat-sealed to the lower surface of the telephone body 5. FIG. 4D shows a modified example in which the button body 27 and the pressing protrusion 13 are formed of the same synthetic resin material as the thin portion 28.

[0035]

Fifth Embodiment FIG. 5A shows the appearance of a desk computer 30. FIG. 5B is a sectional view taken along line bb of FIG. 5A and shows a fifth embodiment. The main body case 31 includes a liquid crystal display unit 32, a plurality of buttons 33 for inputting data, and the like. The body case 31 is made of the same material as the button body 37 and is made of a relatively hard resin. On the lower surface of the main body case 31, a thick portion 34 and a thin portion 35 made of integrally molded thermoplastic elastic body are fusion-bonded. The main body case 31, that is, the boundary surface between the housing and the thick portion 34 has a heat-sealing surface as in the above-described embodiment.

The upper end of the thin portion 35 is fusion-bonded to the lower end surface 36 of the button body 37. The button body 37 of the button 33 is made of a hard resin having the same material as that of the above-mentioned embodiment. The inside of the button body 37 is filled with another resin, and this resin constitutes the actuator 38. The resin colors of the button body 37 and the actuator 38 are different from each other. Another pigment is mixed in each resin. Therefore, the exposed portion on the surface of the button body 37 serves as a display portion for displaying characters / symbols.

A conductive material 39 is provided on the lower end surface of the actuator 38 by a known means such as printing or adhesion. Since the contact circuit 21 is formed on the printed board 20, it is connected by driving the button 33 downward as in the above-described embodiment to form an electric circuit. Also in the fifth embodiment, the push button and the body case 3 are the same as in the above embodiment.
Since 1 and 1 are integrally formed, it is basically sufficient to assemble with the printed board 20.

[0038]

[Embodiment 6] In the above-described embodiment, the portions where the fingers contact, that is, the button bodies 9 and 37 are made of ABS resin, and the button bodies 9 and 37 are supported by the thin portions 15 and 35.
The thin portion 15 uses a thermoplastic polyester elastomer which is a resin softer than the button bodies 9 and 37. In the sixth embodiment shown below, contrary to the above-mentioned embodiment, the portion where the finger comes into contact is made of a relatively soft polyester elastomer resin, and the supporting member is made of ABS resin. The above-mentioned embodiment and the following embodiment are basically the same in that ABS resin and polyester elastomer resin are used in combination, but the resin of the portion to be brought into contact with the finger is soft and planar. Differences in points.

The embodiment of FIG. 6 will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 6A is an external view in which a part of the display unit of the control panel is removed. FIG. 6B is a bb sectional view of the control panel surface of FIG. 6A. FIG. 6C is the same as FIG. 6B.
FIG. The mold frame 61 is a frame that constitutes the control panel body. In this embodiment,
It is a synthetic resin made of ABS resin. The switch portion of the mold frame 61 has a display portion 69 such as characters and symbols, and a protrusion 62 in which only the display portion 69 is raised is formed integrally with the mold frame 61.

An opening 63, which is a through hole, is formed in the mold frame 61 on the outer periphery of the display section 69 (FIG. 6 (c)). A part of the opening 63 is connected to the mold frame 61 via a connecting portion 64. Below the display portion 69 of the mold frame 61, a cylindrical actuator 65 is provided so as to project. Since the connecting portion 64 is formed to be thinner than the other portions of the mold frame 61, it is easy to bend in the vertical direction when the actuator 65 is pushed from above. The sheet 60 is joined to the surface of the mold frame 61 by integrally heat-sealing the flat surface.

The sheet 60 is a thermoplastic synthetic resin having excellent rubber elasticity. On the surface of the mold frame 61,
The sheet 60 is integrally covered by injection molding so as to be heat-sealed. However, only the protrusion 62 of the display unit 69 is not covered by the sheet 60. The mold frame 61 and the sheet 60 are mixed with pigments having different colors. When the sheet 60 is integrally heat-bonded to the mold frame 61 by injection molding to cover it, only the protrusions 62 have the same surface as the sheet 60. Projections 62 on this surface
Has a color different from that of the other surface, so that it becomes a display portion 69 which is a character / symbol distinguished from the other portion.

A pressing protrusion 67 is provided at the lowermost end of the actuator 65. The pressing protrusion 67 is provided on the printed circuit board 2
Press the switch 26 mounted on 0 to turn on the switch,
Turn off. That is, when the display section 69 is pushed, the actuator 65 is supported only by the connecting section 64 in a cantilever manner, and the sheet 60 is an elastic material which is easily bent, so that the bending switch 26 is pushed downward.

[0043]

Seventh Embodiment FIGS. 7A, 7B and 7C show a seventh embodiment. A circular penetrating opening 70 is provided at a required key position of the mold frame 61. On the surface of the mold frame 61, the sheet 60 is integrally fused and molded in the same manner as in the sixth embodiment. Opening 7
On the upper side, the hemispherical switch 71 is formed so as to integrally project with the seat 60. A cylindrical actuator 72 is integrally formed on the lower surface of the switch protrusion 71. The lowermost end of the actuator 72 is in contact with the switch 26.

Since the sheet 60 is a thermoplastic elastomer having elasticity, when the upper surface of the switch protrusion 71 is pushed, the actuator 72 moves up and down in the opening 70. A display unit 69 is formed near the switch protrusion 71. The display portion 69 is formed by forming the protrusions 62 on the mold frame 61 by the same method as in the eighth embodiment. Similarly, in the seventh embodiment, since the push button and the mold frame 61 are integrally formed, the number of assembling steps is small.

[0045]

[Embodiment 8] FIGS. 8A, 8B and 8C show an eighth embodiment. A cylindrical opening 81 is opened in a mold frame 61, and an actuator 80 manufactured in another process is inserted into this opening 81. Further, the sheet 60 has
The upper surface of the actuator 80 is heat-sealed.
Since the actuator 80 is directly heat-sealed to the elastic seal 60, that is, the actuator 80 is independent of the mold frame 61, the actuator 80 has a characteristic of being easy to move in the vertical direction. The actuator 80 is made of the same material or different material of the mold frame 61 at the same time by the same mold or separately by a known method.

The sheet 60 is made by the injection molding method using the same mold in which the mold frame 61 and the actuator 80 are inserted. 9A and 9B show an eighth modified example. The point that the display unit 69 is provided on the upper surface of the actuator 80 is the same as the embodiment of FIG. A wavy concavo-convex deformation portion 91 is concentrically provided on the outer periphery of the actuator 80. Since the deflection of the actuator 80 can be made relatively large, the vertical movement can be made large.
This modified example has an effect of creating a click feeling as compared with the embodiment of FIG.

[0047]

Embodiment 9 FIGS. 10A and 10B show a ninth embodiment using a light emitting diode. The seed 60 is heat-sealed on the mold frame 61. The actuator 110 of this embodiment is made of transparent resin. A light emitting diode 111 is fitted in the actuator 110. A plurality of light emitting diodes 111 are provided along the display unit 69 (ON display in the figure). This light emitting diode 1
The number of 11 is selected according to the number and size of characters. The letters / symbols form projections on the spherical surface to form the lens 112. The lens 112 effectively emits the light of the light emitting diode 111 to the outside.

Similarly, although not shown, the light emitting diode 11
It is obvious to those skilled in the art to incorporate No. 1 into the actuator and mold frame 61 of each of the above-described embodiments to make the display emit light as in this embodiment, and details thereof will not be disclosed. In this embodiment, the light emitting diode 11
With 1, the letters and symbols were illuminated so that they were easy to see. The light emitting method may be a method in which a fluorescent pigment is mixed with the resin of the display unit 69 so that it can be easily seen even at night.

[0049]

[Manufacturing Method of Control Panel] The nine embodiments of the push button of the control panel of the present invention have been described in detail above. Next, the manufacturing method of the present invention will be described. A detailed description will be given by taking the fourth embodiment as an example.
First, the button body 9 and the desk phone main body 5 are molded from ABS resin by a known injection molding method. The button body 9 and the desk phone body 5 were made of ABS resin. ABS
Resin has good impact resistance, mechanical strength, and moldability in the shape of a fine portion. Further, the ABS resin must be one in which a thermoplastic elastic body, which is a soft material, is heat-sealed.
This ABS resin is a known resin made by copolymerizing acrylonitrile, butadiene, and styrene. In the resin of this example, "Cycrack T" (registered trademark) manufactured by Ube Cycon Co., Ltd. was used.

The button body 9 and the telephone body 5 are injection molded. The ABS resin used at this time is 8
Those dried at 0 to 85 ° C. for 2 hours or more are desirable. The resin temperature of ABS resin in the injection molding machine is 220 to 250 ° C.
Set within the range. Injection molding resin pressure is 700-140
Set within the range of 0 Kg / cm ² . The mold temperature is preferably set to 65 ° C. However, it is better to slightly change the temperature depending on the shape of the molded product. After the button body 9 and the telephone body 5 are injection-molded, they are put into the next mold. Figure 1
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a mold for injection molding a button support portion, that is, a thin portion 28. Mold 1 of this example
20 is a so-called sleep rate mold, which is a well-known mold structure that is often used in injection molding.
At the time of molding, the mold is closed as shown in the cross section of FIG. The cavity portion is the thin portion 28 and the pressing protrusion 13, and these portions are spaces before molding. In this state, the polyester elastomer resin, which is a thermoplastic elastic body heated and melted, is caused to flow into the space from the sprue 121.

The thermoplastic polyester elastomer resin is
It is known as a material having flexibility and rubber elasticity. The polyester-based thermoplastic elastomer used in this production example has a hard segment and a soft segment. Polyester thermoplastic elastomers of this type include polyester segments (hard segments) prepared from aromatic dicarboxylic acids and short chain glycols, and polyethers prepared from aromatic carboxylic acids and polyalkylene glycols (long chain glycols). Polyether-polyether-ester type copolymers having segments (soft segments) are well known. Also known are polyester-ester type copolymers in which the soft segment is prepared using polycaprocton.

Typical of the above-mentioned polyester type thermoplastic elastomer is dimethyl terephthalate, 1.4-
There is a compound represented by the following general formula prepared by subjecting butanediol and peri (oxytetramethylene) glycol as a starting material to a polycondensation reaction and a transesterification reaction.

[0053]

[Chemical 1] However, m and n show the degree of polymerization.

By using the polyester thermoplastic elastomer represented by the above general formula, the telephone main body 15 and the button main body 27 are made of ABS resin having a high hardness, and the elastic and soft polyester thermoplastic elastomer is used. The thin-walled portion 28 is strongly bonded by heat fusion. The reason for this joining is not clear, but the hard segment, soft segment, O of the polyester-based thermoplastic elastomer and O
It is considered that the result is that functional groups such as H and COOH effectively act on each other.

The properties of the polyester-based thermoplastic elastomer vary depending on the ratio of the hard segment and the soft segment, or the type of the constituent components of each segment. The general characteristics are flex resistance and oil resistance. It has excellent wear resistance and heat resistance.

Commercially available products of the above-mentioned polyester-based thermoplastic elastomer include perprene (P40H, P70B, P150B, P150M
, Toyobo Co., Ltd. product name), Grelax (E-12
0, E-200, E-320, E-500, manufactured by Dainippon Ink and Chemicals, Inc., etc., and these were used alone in this example.

The inflowing polyester elastomer resin is passed from the sprue 121 through the runner 122 to the gate 1
23 to fill the cavity. The material of the pressing protrusion 13 and the thin portion 28 is selected from the thermoplastic elastic bodies that are heat-sealed. It is also possible to put a pigment in this thermoplastic material to make it different from the color of the button body so that the display section is displayed as sharply as possible. Only the raised part of the display,
It is exposed from the surface of the button body 27. The exposed portion directly forms the display portion.

The heated and melted thermoplastic elastic body is pressurized and injected from the sprue 121 (nozzle (not shown)). Thermoplastic polyester elastomer resin is runner 1
22 and the gate 123 to flow into the cavity portion 134. The thermoplastic polyester elastomer that has flowed into the cavity portion 134 partially melts the surface portions of the button body 27 and the telephone body 5 by its own heat of fusion, and both are mixed or adhered to form a heat-sealing surface. create. When this molding is completed, the surface of the mold 120 between the fixed side mounting plate 124 and the runner stripper plate 127 is guided by the guide pin 125 to open. At the same time, the surface 128 between the runner stripper plate 127 and the template 130 opens. Furthermore, the dividing surface 131 between the template 130 and the movable receiving plate 132
Opens.

As a result, the runner stripper plate 12
7 pushes out the runner 122 and removes it from the mold 120.
At the same time, the template 130 also separates from the movable receiving plate 132. At this time, the tips of the edge ejector pins 135, 135 are integrally formed with the telephone body 5, the button body 27, and the thin portion 28.
Is extruded from the movable core 132 and removed from the mold 120.
As described above, the molding and assembling of the telephone 5 is completed mainly by only the injection molding steps 2 and 3. Since the other embodiments can be manufactured in substantially the same manner as the fourth embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted.

Although this manufacturing method is an injection molding method, the method of heat-sealing the button body 27 and the button support 28 may be any other known means. For example, ultrasonic welding method,
Other methods such as extrusion molding, blow molding, calendar molding, compression molding, and transfer molding may be used as long as they are fused by heat. In the method of manufacturing the push button, first, the button body 27 of the telephone body 5 is molded, and the button body 27 is put into the mold 120 to mold the button support portion 28. However, as is clear from the above description, the push button of the present invention can be manufactured by reversing the order of the molding steps.

As described in detail above, the use of the thermoplastic polyester elastomer resin and the ABS resin has the following advantages.

A. Polyester elastomers have the best high temperature properties of thermoplastic elastomers, ie, a softening point of 110 ° C to 208 ° C. When used in the low strain region, the elastic recovery is complete under a wide temperature range from low temperature to high temperature. Therefore, it is most suitable for push buttons used in any atmosphere.

B. Polyester elastomer is less likely to crack under repeated bending loads at high and low temperatures,
Ideal for push buttons.

C. The tensile strength of polyester elastomer resin is higher than that of other polymers under low strain. Usually 20%
Used in the areas of elongation below. Further extension, 300
Although it is extended to ˜500%, the permanent set becomes large, so it is not usually used in this range, but a thinner wall thickness design than other polymers is possible. Therefore, the support of the push button,
That is, it is most suitable for a thin portion having elastic properties and strength.

D. Generally, the compressive modulus of a polymer increases with hardness. Since the compression modulus of polyester elastomer is 50-100% larger than that of other polymers having the same hardness because it has excellent compression characteristics, it has excellent load-bearing characteristics. , Click feeling is good.

E. Polyester elastomer is 170-
A wide range of molding temperatures of 270 ° C provides stable mass productivity.

F. Since polyester elastomer has similar molding conditions to ABS resin, it is more productive when combined to manufacture pushbuttons.

[0068]

[Other Thermoplastic Elastic Body] The button body 9 is made of ordinary synthetic resin. However, synthetic resin products usually use thermoplastic engineering plastics such as polycarbonate and nylon when high heat resistance and mechanical strength are required. However, in order to bond the conventionally used thermoplastic elastic body to these engineering plastics by the force of heat, it is limited to a relatively hard thermoplastic elastic body. There was no resin or method for heat-sealing a thermoplastic elastic body made of a synthetic resin having excellent elasticity to engineering plastics.

The present applicant has applied this method to Japanese Patent Application No. 62-3.
The application was filed as No. 00006 (JP-A-1-139240). The gist of the invention is as follows. A thermoplastic elastic body composition of a molded body having a hardness lower than that of the synthetic resin molded body, which is molded in advance and has a relatively high hardness, is joined by heat fusion. Alternatively, a composite molded body is obtained by applying the molded body having a hardness higher than that of the molded body of the thermoplastic elastic composition in a molten state to the molded body formed of the thermoplastic elastic composition and bonding the two by heat fusion. Is a method of manufacturing.

The thermoplastic elastomer composition comprises: (i) thermoplastic elastomer: 100 parts by weight (ii) polyether block amide: 25 to 185
It consists of parts by weight. The thermoplastic elastic body of (i) has a hardness of 70 to 35 degrees (JIS Shore effect A unit),
This thermoplastic elastomer is a hydrogenated SBS block copolymer,
It is a type selected from urethane-based elastomers, diene-based elastomers, urethane-based elastomers, and plasticized polyvinyl chloride.

The hardness of the molded product having high hardness is 70 degrees or more. This synthetic resin is a kind selected from polycarbonate, nylon 11, nylon 12, ABS resin, and methacrylic resin. The method of joining by heat fusion is preferably an injection molding method in terms of productivity.

Further, the present applicant has found that a polyester type thermoplastic elastomer in place of the above polyether block amide is also excellent in the heat fusion property in the same manner as described above, and Japanese Patent Application No. 1-235620. (September 1, 1991
3 days). Therefore, this thermoplastic elastic resistant composition may be used.

This production method and composition are used as the thermoplastic elastic body in the above-mentioned examples. Since this composition has excellent mechanical strength and elasticity, a control panel having a good click feeling can be manufactured. Specifically, the first to fifth aspects of the above embodiment
A hard synthetic resin is used for the button main body and the control panel main body of the embodiment. The thermoplastic elastic composition is used for a button support, that is, a thin part and an actuator part. The materials of the sixth to ninth embodiments of the above-described embodiment are examples in which the materials of the sixth embodiment are reversed.

[0074]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the number of manufacturing steps and assembling steps can be extremely reduced. Also, a push button on the control panel with a good touch and click feeling was created. Further, according to the present invention, since the push button body and the other portion are integrally heat-sealed, there are effects such as high waterproofness, dustproofness, impact resistance, and antistatic performance.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is a plan view showing a first embodiment.

FIG. 1 (b) is a sectional view taken along line bb of FIG. 1 (a).

FIG. 2 (a) is a plan view showing a second embodiment.

2 (b) is a sectional view taken along line bb of FIG. 2 (a).

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view showing a third embodiment.

FIG. 4A is a sectional view showing a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 4 (b) is a sectional view showing a modification of the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 4 (c) is a cross-sectional view showing another modification of the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 4 (d) is a sectional view showing still another modification of the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 5 (a) is a perspective view of a desk calculator showing a fifth embodiment.

5 (b) is a sectional view taken along line bb of FIG. 5 (a).

FIG. 6 (a) is a plan view showing a sixth embodiment.

6 (b) is a sectional view taken along line bb of FIG. 6 (a).

6 (c) is a sectional view taken along line cc of FIG. 6 (b).

FIG. 7 (a) is a plan view showing a seventh embodiment.

7 (b) is a sectional view taken along line bb of FIG. 7 (a).

7 (c) is a sectional view taken along line cc of FIG. 7 (b).

FIG. 8 (a) is a plan view showing an eighth embodiment.

FIG. 8 (b) is a sectional view taken along line bb of FIG. 8 (a).

8 (c) is a sectional view taken along line cc of FIG. 8 (b).

FIG. 9A is a diagram showing a modification of the ninth embodiment.

9 (b) is a sectional view taken along line bb of FIG. 9 (a).

FIG. 10A is a plan view showing a tenth embodiment.

FIG. 10 (b) is a sectional view taken along line bb of FIG. 10 (a).

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of an injection molding die for molding an operation button.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Desk phone, 3 ... Button, 8 ... Heat-bonding surface, 9 ... Button body, 10 ... Actuator, 11 ... Contact part, 13 ...
Pressing protrusion, 15 ... Thin portion, 17 ... Printed board, 25 ... Frame, 27 ... Button body, 35 ... Thin portion, 37 ... Button body, 38 ... Actuator, 61 ... Mold frame

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location // B29K 55:02 105: 20 B29L 31:34

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A push button of a control panel for inputting / outputting an electrical symbol to / from a control circuit for controlling various devices, the push button having the following configuration: a. A button body made of ABS resin, which is selectively moved between two positions by a driving force of a finger to perform a switching operation, and b. A control box that constitutes the main body of the control panel and is made of ABS resin; c. A button support body made of a thermoplastic polyester elastomer resin having a hardness lower than that of the ABS resin, heat-bonded integrally to the button body, and elastically supporting the button body so as to be vertically movable; and d. Heat fusion in which both the polymers forming the button support, the button body and the control box are adhered to each other so that the boundary surface between the button support and the button body and the control box is not easily separated. Surface. 2. The push button according to claim 1, wherein the button support has a thin wall portion with a trapezoidal cross section for supporting the button body. 3. A push button of a control panel for inputting / outputting an electric signal to / from a control circuit for controlling various devices, the push button having the following configuration: a. A sheet made of a thermoplastic polyester elastomer resin, which has a finger contact surface on one surface, covers the control circuit, and has a finger contact portion for switching operation; and b. A control box that constitutes the main body of the control panel and is made of ABS resin; c. The sheet is made of the ABS resin or the thermoplastic polyester elastomer resin having a hardness higher than that of the resin of the sheet, and is selectively moved between two positions by driving the finger to perform a switching operation, and is heat-fused integrally with the sheet. An actuator supported on the seat, d. A heat-sealing surface in which both polymers are adhered and heat-sealed between the sheet and the actuator and the control box so that the boundary surface between the sheet and the actuator and the control box is not easily separated. 4. The button body and the control box, which have been molded in advance, are put into an injection molding die according to claim 1 , wherein the button support or the button support These synthetic resin materials that are heated and melted in the button body and the control box are injected into the cavity in the injection molding die, and the button body and the control box are
Forming a heat-bonding surface by fusion-bonding the button support with the heat of fusion of the heat-melted synthetic resin itself, integrally molding the button body, the control box, and the button support. Characteristic push button manufacturing method. 5. The actuator according to claim 3, wherein the preformed actuator and the control box or the sheet are put into an injection molding die, and the sheet or the actuator and
Injection of these synthetic resin material is melted pressurized heat of the control box to Kyabyi tee portion in said injection mold, the pressure and the actuator and the front Symbol the control box and the front Stories sheet
A method for manufacturing a push button, characterized in that the actuator, the control box and the sheet are integrally formed by fusion bonding with the melting heat of the heat-melted synthetic resin itself to form a heat-bonding surface.