JP2532919Y2 - Input device - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] <Industrial application fields> This input device is used for keyboards for calculators, input devices for computer terminals, operation units for home appliances such as VTRs and TVs, and operation units for various industrial equipment. ing.

<Prior Art> In a conventional input device, there has been known a method of forming a spacer or the like on an outer periphery of a key input portion so as to have a certain interval between a pair of substrates.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> As described above, the spacer is formed on the outer peripheral portion between the pair of substrates. That is, the area of the key input section is surrounded by the spacer. Therefore, when an input is performed by pressing the key input unit with a finger or the like, a change occurs such that the air layer existing in the key input unit is compressed by the pressing. When such a change is repeated many times, there is a problem that the substrate is distorted, and furthermore, the distance between the pair of substrates cannot be maintained.

In view of the above, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an input device which maintains a constant substrate interval even when performing key input many times and does not cause distortion of the substrate. Is to do.

<Means for Solving the Problems> The input device of the present invention includes a pair of substrates having a plurality of transparent electrodes formed to be orthogonal to each other on an inner surface of an opposing substrate, the input device being sandwiched between the substrates, and An input device having a spacer formed on an outer periphery of a substrate and defining an interval between the substrates, and performing input by contacting a pair of the transparent electrodes facing each other, wherein one substrate is a glass substrate and the other substrate is a plastic substrate. The spacer includes a resin material for joining the pair of substrates into which fine particles having a uniform particle size are mixed, and the spacer is formed in a region on the one substrate or the other substrate where the transparent electrode is not formed. The spacer is divided without being continuous so that air between the pair of substrates can flow in both directions inside and outside.

<Operation> According to the present invention, when the input device is depressed, the air in the input device flows out and the pressure does not change.

<Embodiments> FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b) are views showing an embodiment of the input device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a configuration example using the input device of the present invention.

5 is a key input device unit, 1a and 1b are transparent glass or plastic substrate, 2a is a transparent electrode formed on the substrate 1a, 2b is a transparent electrode formed on the substrate 1b, 11
Is a convex portion formed on the substrate 1b. 6 is a display panel unit placed under the key input device 5, 7 is a detection circuit unit,
Reference numeral 8 denotes a display driver, and 9 denotes a controller that controls the key input device 5 and the display panel 6. 10 is said 1a, 1
This is a spacer for integrally configuring b.

The portion surrounded by the two-dot chain line 100 is a valid key input section. As shown in the figure, the spacer 10 is discontinuous, and when a valid key input press indicated by 100 is applied, air inside the spacer 10 escapes from the discontinuity of the spacer, and after the press, the spacer 10 reappears. The deformation of the substrate 1a returns, and the air returns accordingly. Therefore, the pressing pressure of the key depends on the rigidity of the upper substrate 1a and is not obstructed by the internal air pressure. For example, the substrate 1a is a glass substrate, and the substrate 1b is a flexible plastic film. Examples of the plastic film include a polyester film (eg, polyethylene terephthalate) having a thickness of 80 μm to 0.5 mm, polysulfone, cellulose acetate, and the like.

The hatched portions of the spacer 10 in the figure are portions for joining the substrates 1a and 1b together, and the portions without the hatched portions are discontinuous portions. Examples of the spacer 10 include a resin such as silicon, epoxy, urethane, polyimide, polyamide, and acrylic, or a double-sided adhesive tape. In addition, fine particles made of an insulating material such as plastic balls, glass balls, glass fibers, plastic fibers, etc. having a uniform diameter may be mixed into the resin, and the protrusions 11 may also be made of the resin, glass fibers, or the like. However, it may be provided on the substrate 1a side, or may be provided so as to be in contact with or joined to the substrates 1a, 1b, or the convex portion 11 may be omitted. About 30
Keep from μ to 80μ.

In order to operate this, display data necessary for input from the controller 9 to the display drive unit 8 as shown in FIG.
For example, the contents of items, keys, function keys, and the like are transmitted and displayed on the display panel unit 6 on a screen. Next, the operator finds a necessary key from the content and presses a position displayed on the display panel unit 6. At the pressed position, as shown in FIG. 1, the substrate 1a is deformed, and the transparent electrodes 2a and 2b formed on the substrates 1a and 1b come into contact with each other. At this time, the detection panel is sent from the detection circuit section 7 to the key input device section 5, and the input position is known in the detection circuit section 7 from the transparent electrode 2b at which the pulse is received and the timing thereof, and the position is notified to the controller 9; In step 9, the input position is compared with the instruction content of the display data, and the operation shifts to the next operation corresponding to the key.

 Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

FIGS. 3 (a) to 3 (i) respectively show and take out portions of the spacer 10 of the input device of the present invention. (A) has linear spacers 10 formed at different levels, (b) has a T-shaped spacer 10 formed so as to engage, (c) is the same, (d) )
Is a bent shape of each spacer, (e) is composed of a number of U-shaped spacers, (f) is the simplest form, and is a continuous spacer divided.
(G) is in the direction intersecting the direction in which the spacer is extended,
Spacers are provided. In (b), the shape of the spacer may be S-shaped. (H) shows individual spacers 10
Is different from the shape shown in Fig. (G).
(I) A large number of U-shaped spacers are arranged at angles other than °. In the above embodiment, it goes without saying that the shape of the spacer 10 may be any combination of (a) to (i). Further, the three sides of the spacer 10 may be continuous, and may be discontinuous on only one side or only a part of one side. In addition, a discontinuous portion may be formed on the corner portion of the spacer (the above embodiment has four corners). May be provided.

Note that the input unit of the input device of the present invention is a liquid crystal, ECD, EL, CRT
The display and input device can be configured by installing the display unit on the display unit of the display device.

Further, the input section may be of any type as long as it is a pressure contact type. For example, the input electrode may be formed on the entire surface of the opposing substrate, and the voltage may be applied in the cross direction.

Alternatively, the pressed side of the input substrate may be a flexible plastic film, and the opposite side may be a glass substrate.

<Effects of the Invention> As described above, according to the present invention, one substrate is made of a glass substrate, and the other substrate is made of a plastic film substrate.
In the spacer, fine particles having a uniform particle diameter are mixed in a resin material for joining the pair of substrates, and a discontinuous portion that allows air between the pair of substrates to flow in both directions between the inside and the outside is formed. Since it is arranged in the section, the shape of the input device does not easily change even in a high-temperature or high-humidity environment.

That is, the spacers are continuously formed so as to be sealed on the outer periphery of the substrate, and if the base materials of the pair of substrates are different from each other, the substrate changes due to a difference in thermal expansion coefficient. There is a problem that the input becomes uniform and some parts cannot be input due to the input load. However, in the present invention, since the discontinuous portion is formed in a part of the spacer, the air between the substrates flows between the inside and the outside to eliminate the difference between the inside and the outside. Therefore, the above-described deformation of the substrate is unlikely to occur.

In addition, since the spacers are made of resin material for joining the pair of substrates into which fine particles having a uniform particle diameter are mixed, the spacing between the substrates can be kept constant at the same time as the joining between the substrates. When a large number of parts are arranged, the spacers are separately arranged. Even in this case, the distance between the substrates can be kept constant by the fine particles having a uniform particle diameter. Therefore, even if the input operation (pressing) is performed many times, the substrate interval can always be kept constant without causing the substrate to be distorted.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 (a) and 1 (b) are a plan view and a side view showing an embodiment of an input unit of the input device of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory view of an embodiment of the input device of the present invention. 3 (a) to 3 (i) are views showing another embodiment of the spacer of the input device of the present invention. 10 …… Spacer

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A pair of substrates having a plurality of transparent electrodes formed orthogonally to each other on an opposing inner surface of a substrate, and a gap between the substrates sandwiched between the substrates and formed on an outer periphery of the substrate. An input device having a defining spacer and performing input by contacting a pair of the transparent electrodes facing each other, wherein one substrate is made of a glass substrate, and the other substrate is made of a plastic film substrate. Fine particles having a uniform particle size are mixed in a resin material for joining the substrates, and a convex portion is formed in a region where the transparent electrode is not formed on the one substrate or the other substrate, and The input device, wherein the spacer is divided without being continuous so that air between the substrates can flow in both directions between the inside and the outside.