TWI635525B - Keyswitch and keyboard thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A button includes a bottom plate, a key cap, a support device, a trigger bump structure, a thin film circuit board, and a buffer structure. The support device is disposed between the bottom plate and the keycap to move the keycap between the unpressed and pressed positions with the support device. The triggering bump structure is formed on the support device or on the keycap. The thin film circuit board is disposed on the bottom plate and has a trigger switch. The buffer structure is disposed on the trigger bump structure or on the thin film circuit board to be located above or below the trigger switch. When the keycap is pressed and the support device is moved to the pressing position, the triggering of the bump structure triggers the trigger switch and forces the cushioning structure to flexibly deform to provide buffering to the trigger switch.

Description

Button and its keyboard

The present invention relates to a button and a keyboard thereof, and more particularly to a button for triggering a trigger switch on a thin film circuit board using a triggering structure on a support device or a keycap and a buffer to provide a buffer to a trigger switch and a keyboard thereof.

In general, the design of the conventional illuminated button can be as shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the illuminated button 10 according to the prior art. As can be seen from Fig. 1, the light-emitting button 10 includes a bottom plate 12, a film circuit board 14, a hollow elastic body 16, a light guide plate 18, a light source 20, and a keycap 22. The thin film circuit board 14 is disposed on the bottom plate 12 and has a switch 15 disposed on the thin film circuit board 14 and having an opening 19 to accommodate the hollow elastic body 16, whereby the hollow elastic body 16 can be in the key cap 22 When pressed by an external force, the pressure is elastically deformed to touch the film circuit board 14, and the switch 15 is turned on so that the light-emitting button 10 can perform the function desired by the user. The light source 20 is disposed on one side of the light guide plate 18 for emitting light into the light guide plate 18, and then guiding the light to the upper keycap 22 through the light guide plate 18, thereby generating a button light emitting effect.

However, the above-described light-emitting configuration using lateral light emission tends to cause uneven brightness and light leakage of the light-emitting button 10. In addition, since the design of the trigger switch 15 using the hollow elastic body 16 needs to wait until the hollow elastic body 16 is elastically deformed under pressure, the thin film circuit board 14 can be pressed and the switch 15 is turned on, so that the user can easily feel it. Pressing the trigger is not sensitive enough to press the feel.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a button for triggering a trigger switch on a thin film circuit board using a triggering structure on a support device or a keycap and using a buffer structure to provide a buffer to a trigger switch and a keyboard thereof to solve the above problem.

According to an embodiment, the button of the present invention comprises a bottom plate, a keycap, a support device, a trigger bump structure, a thin film circuit board, and a buffer structure. The supporting device is disposed between the bottom plate and the key cap to move the key cap between the unpressed position and a pressing position along with the supporting device. The triggering bump structure is formed on the support device or on the keycap. The thin film circuit board is disposed on the bottom plate and has a trigger switch at a position corresponding to the bump structure. The buffer structure is disposed on the trigger bump structure or disposed on the thin film circuit board to be located above or below the trigger switch, and when the key cap is pressed, the support device moves from the unpressed position to the press In the position, the triggering bump structure is pressed to trigger the trigger switch and the buffer structure is flexibly deformed to provide buffering to the trigger switch.

According to another embodiment, the keyboard of the present invention includes a backplane and a plurality of buttons. The plurality of buttons are disposed on the bottom plate, and at least one of the plurality of buttons comprises a keycap, a supporting device, a triggering bump structure, a thin film circuit board, and a buffer structure. The supporting device is disposed between the bottom plate and the key cap to move the key cap between the unpressed position and a pressing position along with the supporting device. The triggering bump structure is formed on the support device or on the keycap. The thin film circuit board is disposed on the bottom plate and has a trigger switch at a position corresponding to the bump structure. The buffer structure is disposed on the trigger bump structure or disposed on the thin film circuit board to be located above or below the trigger switch, and when the key cap is pressed, the support device moves from the unpressed position to the press In the position, the triggering bump structure is pressed to trigger the trigger switch and the buffer structure is flexibly deformed to provide buffering to the trigger switch.

In summary, with the above trigger design, the present invention can greatly improve the trigger sensitivity and the pressing feel of the button, thereby solving the problem that the hollow elastic body mentioned in the prior art needs to be elastically deformed under pressure to touch the film circuit board. Turning on the switch causes the user to feel the problem that the button press trigger is not sensitive enough, and effectively prevents the biased keycap from being unable to trigger the button. In addition, the triggering design of the triggering bump triggering thin film circuit board of the supporting device or the key cap of the present invention and using the buffer structure to provide buffering to the trigger switch can further avoid the triggering of the thin film circuit board. The switch is subjected to wear and tear by being pressed by the supporting device (or the key cap), thereby prolonging the service life of the button and achieving the silent effect of pressing.

The advantages and spirit of the present invention will be further understood from the following embodiments and the accompanying drawings.

Please refer to FIG. 2, which is a perspective view of a keyboard 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the keyboard 100 includes a bottom plate 102 and a plurality of buttons 104 (only one in FIG. 2) The button 104 is shown in the figure. A plurality of buttons 104 are disposed on the bottom plate 102 for the user to press to perform the function that the user desires to input. It should be noted that the keyboard 100 can be preferably applied to a portable electronic device (such as a notebook computer or a folding keyboard device) generally having an opening and closing mechanism composed of an upper cover and a lower cover, but not Limited.

The button trigger design proposed by the present invention can be applied to at least one of the plurality of buttons 104, the number of which is dependent on the actual application of the keyboard 100. For the sake of simplicity, the following is for one of the buttons. The design of the button 104 is described. As for other structural designs of the button 104 of the same design, it can be deduced. Please refer to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 . FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the explosion of the button 104 of FIG. 2 . As can be seen from FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 , the button 104 can preferably adopt a button illumination design (but is not subject to this). The button 104 may include a keycap 106, a support device 108, a thin film circuit board 110, a trigger bump structure 112, a buffer structure 114, and a light emitting diode. The circuit board 116, the light emitting diode 118, and the light transmissive hollow elastic body 120. The support device 108 is disposed between the bottom plate 102 and the key cap 106. The key cap 106 moves between the pressed position and the unpressed position relative to the bottom plate 102 via the support device 108. In more detail, in this embodiment, the support device 108 The first support member 122 is movably coupled to the keycap 106 and the bottom plate 102, and the second support member 124 is movable. The first support member 122 is movably coupled to the keycap 106 and the bottom plate 102. The grounding cap 106 and the bottom plate 102 are connected to and pivoted to the first support member 122. The keycap 106 can be connected to the bottom plate 102 through the scissor-foot connection design of the first support member 122 and the second support member 124. Move between the pressed position and the unpressed position.

For the push trigger design of the button 104, reference can be made to FIG. 3, FIG. 4, and FIG. 5, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the keyboard 100 of FIG. 2 along the section line A-A', FIG. The cross-sectional view of the key cap 106 of FIG. 4 is pressed to the pressing position. In order to clearly show the internal structural design of the button 104, the illustration of the light-transmissive hollow elastic body 120 is omitted in FIGS. 4 and 5. As shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 4, and FIG. 5, the thin film circuit board 110 is disposed on one side of the bottom plate 102 facing the keycap 106, and the thin film circuit board 110 includes a first substrate layer 126 and a second base. The material layer 128 has a trigger switch 111 at a position corresponding to the trigger bump structure 112. The trigger bump structure 112 includes a first trigger bump 130 and a second trigger bump 132. The buffer structure 114 includes a first buffer pad 134 and a first Two cushions 136.

In more detail, the first substrate layer 126 and the second substrate layer 128 are preferably composed of (but not limited to) polyethylene terephthalate (PET) materials. The first substrate layer 126 has a first inner surface 127 and the second substrate layer 128 has a second inner surface 129, the first inner surface 127 and the second inner surface 129 being opposite each other. The trigger switch 111 includes a first trigger switch point 138 and a second trigger switch point 138. The first trigger switch point 138 includes a first conductive point structure 142 and a second conductive point structure 144, a first conductive point structure 142 and a second The via structures 144 are formed on the first inner surface 127 of the first substrate layer 126 and the second inner surface 129 of the second substrate layer 128, respectively, and opposite each other. The first triggering bump 130 is formed at a position where the first support member 122 is coupled to the keycap 106 and opposite to the first trigger switch point 138, and the second triggering bump 132 is formed on the second support member 124 and the keycap The 106 is connected to the position and is opposite to the second trigger switch point 140. The first buffer pad 134 is disposed at a position corresponding to the first trigger switch point 138 of the thin film circuit board 110, and the second buffer pad 136 is disposed at a position corresponding to the second trigger switch point 140 of the thin film circuit board 110, wherein the first buffer is disposed. The pad 134 and the second pad 136 are preferably formed of a silicone rubber material and formed on the film circuit board 110 by a printing process, but are not limited thereto. In addition, the first buffer pad 134 and the second buffer pad 136 may be formed on the thin film circuit board 110 by using a UV glue and using a printing process.

It should be noted that the configuration of the trigger bump, the cushion pad and the trigger switch point can also be applied to other positions of the support device 108 (for example, the position where the first support member 122 and the second support member 124 are pivotally connected), or Applied to the keycap 106. For example, in this embodiment, the first triggering bumps 130 may be further formed on the two sides of the first supporting member 122 to be pivotally connected to the second supporting member 124, and corresponding to the first cushioning pad. 134 and the first trigger switch point 138 are opposite each other (as shown in FIG. 2), as for other derivative variations (eg, the first trigger bump 130 may be additionally formed on the second support 124 and the first support 122) The position of the cross-pivoting, or the trigger switch can be formed on the key cap 106 to trigger the corresponding switch point via the corresponding cushion, which can be referred to the analogy of this embodiment. Let me repeat.

As for the illumination design of the button 104, as can be seen from FIG. 3, FIG. 4, and FIG. 5, the bottom plate 102 has a first opening 103, and the thin film circuit board 110 has a second opening 146 corresponding to the first opening 103. The light emitting diode circuit board 116 is disposed under the bottom plate 102, and the light emitting diode 118 is disposed at a position corresponding to the first opening 103 of the light emitting diode circuit board 116, and the light transmitting hollow elastic body 120 is disposed on the bottom plate. The light is applied between the keycap 106 and the keycap 106 to cover the light-emitting diode 118 for automatically driving the keycap 106 from the pressed position to the un-pressed position and allowing the light generated by the light-emitting diode 118 to penetrate. Thereby, the light generated by the LEDs 118 through the control of the LED board 116 can be incident on the transparent hollow elastic body 120 through the first opening 103 and the second opening 146, and is transparent through the light transmission. The elastomer 120 is fired to achieve a button illumination effect.

Through the above design, when the keycap 106 is pressed by an external force from the unpressed position as shown in FIG. 4 to the pressing position as shown in FIG. 5, the first support member 122 and the second support member 124 follow the key. The cap 106 moves downward to be relatively pivoted, so that the first triggering bump 130 at the position where the first support member 122 is connected to the keycap 106 is pressed down the first cushion pad 134, thereby causing the first cushion pad 134 to be subjected to The force is flexibly deformed and the first conductive point structure 142 is pressed to contact the second conductive point structure 144 to turn on the first trigger switch point 138, thereby generating a corresponding trigger signal, so that the button 104 can be executed accordingly. The function that the user wants to input. Similarly, in the above process, the first trigger bump 130 located at a position where the first support member 122 and the second support member 124 are pivotally connected to each other is also turned on by the flexible deformation buffer of the corresponding first cushion pad 134. The corresponding first trigger switch point 138 is triggered, and the second trigger bump 132 located at the position where the second support member 124 is connected to the key cap 106 is also turned on by the flexible deformation buffer of the second cushion pad 136. The second trigger switch point 140.

In this way, by using the above four-point trigger design, the present invention can greatly improve the trigger sensitivity and the pressing feel of the button, thereby solving the problem that the hollow elastic body mentioned in the prior art needs to be subjected to compression and elastic deformation before the film can be pressed. The circuit board turns on the switch, causing the user to feel that the button press trigger is not sensitive enough, and effectively preventing the biased keycap from being unable to trigger the button. In addition, since the present invention uses the triggering of the supporting device (or the keycap) to trigger the buffering design of the trigger switch point of the thin film circuit board through the cushion, the present invention can further avoid the thin film circuit board. The trigger switch point is subjected to wear and tear by the direct pressing force of the supporting device (or the key cap), and the sound of the supporting device (or the key cap) colliding with the thin film circuit board is reduced, thereby prolonging the service life of the button and reaching Press the mute effect.

It is worth mentioning that the support device depression triggering design provided by the present invention is not limited to the four-point trigger design as shown in FIG. 3, that is, the trigger bump structure triggers the triggering of the thin film circuit board via the buffer structure. The number of configurations of the switches may be increased or decreased depending on the practical application of the present invention. For example, in another embodiment, the present invention may use only the triggering convex formed at the position where the support member is coupled to the keycap. Pointing, or using only the triggering bumps formed at the positions where the supporting members are pivotally connected to each other, the pressing triggering action of triggering the switch point of the thin film circuit board by the cushion is performed, thereby achieving the purpose of simplifying the design of the button structure. In addition, the configuration of the cushion may not be limited to the design formed on the thin film circuit board, and the present invention may also adopt a design in which the buffer structure is disposed on the trigger bump structure of the support member. In short, in another embodiment, A cushion 134 can be disposed on the first triggering bump 130 and opposite to the first triggering switch point 138, whereby when the keycap 106 is pressed, the first support member 122 and the second support member 124 are The first triggering bump 130 is pressed down by the first buffer pad 134 to trigger the first triggering switch point 138, thereby generating the same buffer protection effect as the above embodiment. . For other related descriptions of this embodiment, reference is made to the above embodiments, and details are not described herein again.

It should be noted that the configuration of the cushion pad can also adopt a design under the trigger switch. For example, please refer to FIG. 6 , which is a cross-sectional view of the keyboard 100 ′ according to another embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment has the same number as the components described in the above embodiments, and has the same structure or function, and the related description thereof will not be repeated here. As shown in FIG. 6, the keyboard 100' includes a bottom plate 102 and a plurality of buttons 104' (shown by only one button 104' in FIG. 6). The button 104' includes a key cap 106, a supporting device 108, and a thin film circuit. The board 110, the LED board 116, the LEDs 118, the transparent hollow elastomer 120, the first trigger bumps 130, the second trigger bumps 132, the first cushion 134', and the second cushion 136 . In this embodiment, the first cushion 134' can be disposed below the first trigger switch point 138, whereby when the keycap 106 is pressed, the first support member 122 and the second support member 124 follow The pivoting movement of the keycap 106 is relatively pivoted, whereby the first triggering bump 130 is depressed to trigger the first triggering switch point 138 and the first cushioning pad 134' is flexibly deformed to provide buffering to the first triggering. The switch point 138 is turned on, thereby producing the same buffer protection effect as the above embodiment. For the related descriptions of other derivative variant embodiments (such as setting the cushions above and below the trigger switch points respectively), reference may be made to the analogy of this embodiment, and details are not described herein again. The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and all changes and modifications made to the scope of the present invention should be within the scope of the present invention.

10‧‧‧Lighting button
12, 102‧‧‧ bottom plate
14,110‧‧‧film circuit board
15‧‧‧ switch
16‧‧‧ hollow elastomer
18‧‧‧Light guide
19‧‧‧opening structure
20‧‧‧Light source
22, 106‧‧‧ keycap
100, 100'‧‧‧ keyboard
103‧‧‧First opening
104, 104'‧‧‧ button
108‧‧‧Support device
111‧‧‧Trigger switch
112‧‧‧triggered bump structure
114‧‧‧buffer structure
116‧‧‧Lighting diode board
118‧‧‧Lighting diode
120‧‧‧Transparent hollow elastomer
122‧‧‧First support
124‧‧‧second support
126‧‧‧First substrate layer
127‧‧‧ first inner surface
128‧‧‧Second substrate layer
129‧‧‧Second inner surface
130‧‧‧First trigger bump
132‧‧‧second trigger bump
134, 134'‧‧‧ first cushion
136‧‧‧Second cushion
138‧‧‧First trigger switch point
140‧‧‧Second trigger switch point
142‧‧‧First conduction point structure
144‧‧‧Second conduction point structure
146‧‧‧Second opening

Figure 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a luminescent button provided in accordance with the prior art. 2 is a perspective view of a keyboard according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the explosion of the button of Figure 2. Figure 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the keyboard of Figure 2 taken along section line A-A'. Fig. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the key cap of Fig. 4 pressed to the pressing position. Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of a keyboard according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (12)

A button comprising: a bottom plate; a key cap; a supporting device disposed between the bottom plate and the key cap to move the key cap between the unpressed position and a pressed position with the supporting device a trigger bump structure formed on the support device or the keycap; a thin film circuit board disposed on the bottom plate and having a trigger switch at a position corresponding to the bump structure; and a buffer structure Provided on the trigger bump structure, or disposed on the thin film circuit board to be located above or below the trigger switch, when the key cap is pressed and the support device moves from the unpressed position to the pressed position The triggering bump structure is pressed to trigger the trigger switch and the buffer structure is flexibly deformed to provide buffering to the trigger switch. The button of claim 1, wherein the supporting device comprises a first supporting member and a second supporting member, the first supporting member is pivotally connected to the second supporting member and is movably connected to the bottom plate and the a key cap, the trigger bump structure includes at least one first trigger bump, the trigger switch includes at least one first trigger switch point opposite to the at least one first trigger bump, and the at least one first trigger bump is formed The buffer structure includes at least one first cushion, at least one of a position at which the first support member is coupled to the keycap and a position at which the first support member and the second support member are pivotally connected. The at least one first buffer pad is disposed on the at least one first trigger bump or on the thin film circuit board to be located above or below the at least one first trigger switch point. The button of claim 2, wherein the at least one first buffer pad is formed on the thin film circuit board by a printing process to be located above or below the at least one first trigger switch point. The button of claim 2, wherein the thin film circuit board comprises a first substrate layer and a second substrate layer spaced apart from each other, the at least one first trigger switch point comprising a first conductive point structure and a second conductive dot structure, the first conductive dot structure and the second conductive dot structure are respectively formed on one of the first inner surface of the first substrate layer and the second inner surface of the second substrate layer Opposite each other, when the keycap is pressed to the pressing position, the at least one first triggering bump depresses the first conductive point structure, so that the first conductive point structure contacts the second conductive point structure to be turned on. The at least one first trigger switch point. The button of claim 2, wherein the triggering bump structure further comprises at least one second triggering bump, the triggering switch further comprising at least one second triggering switch point to be opposite to the at least one second triggering bump, The at least one second triggering bump is formed on at least one of a position at which the second support member is coupled to the keycap and a position at which the second support member is pivotally coupled to the first support member, the buffer structure Further comprising at least one second buffer pad, the at least one second buffer pad is disposed on the at least one second triggering bump, or disposed on the thin film circuit board to be located above or below the at least one second trigger switch point . The button of claim 1, wherein the bottom plate has a first opening, the thin film circuit board has a second opening corresponding to the first opening, the button further comprises: a light emitting diode circuit board, The light emitting diode is disposed at a position corresponding to the first opening of the light emitting diode circuit board to generate light from the first through the control of the light emitting diode circuit board. And a light-transmissive hollow elastic body disposed between the bottom plate and the key cap, the light-transmissive hollow elastic body covering the light-emitting diode to make the light-emitting diode The generated light is incident on the light transmissive hollow elastic body through the first opening and the second opening, and is emitted through the transparent hollow elastic body. A keyboard comprising: a bottom plate; and a plurality of buttons disposed on the bottom plate, at least one of the plurality of buttons comprising: a key cap; a support device disposed on the bottom plate and the key cap In order to move the keycap between the unpressed position and a pressed position; a triggering bump structure formed on the support device or the keycap; a thin film circuit board, which is disposed a trigger switch is disposed on the bottom plate and corresponding to the bump structure; and a buffer structure is disposed on the trigger bump structure or disposed on the thin film circuit board to be located above the trigger switch or Bottomly, when the keycap is pressed and the supporting device moves from the unpressed position to the pressed position, the triggering bump structure is pressed to trigger the trigger switch and the buffer structure is flexibly deformed to provide buffering to The trigger switch. The keyboard of claim 7, wherein the supporting device comprises a first supporting member and a second supporting member, the first supporting member is pivotally connected to the second supporting member and is movably connected to the bottom plate and the a key cap, the trigger bump structure includes at least one first trigger bump, the trigger switch includes at least one first trigger switch point opposite to the at least one first trigger bump, and the at least one first trigger bump is formed The buffer structure includes at least one first cushion, at least one of a position at which the first support member is coupled to the keycap and a position at which the first support member and the second support member are pivotally connected. The at least one first buffer pad is disposed on the at least one first trigger bump or on the thin film circuit board to be located above or below the at least one first trigger switch point. The keyboard of claim 8, wherein the at least one first buffer pad is formed on the thin film circuit board above or below the at least one first trigger switch point by a printing process. The keyboard of claim 8, wherein the thin film circuit board comprises a first substrate layer and a second substrate layer spaced apart from each other, the at least one first trigger switch point comprising a first conductive point structure and a second conductive dot structure, the first conductive dot structure and the second conductive dot structure are respectively formed on one of the first inner surface of the first substrate layer and the second inner surface of the second substrate layer Opposite each other, when the keycap is pressed to the pressing position, the at least one first triggering bump depresses the first conductive point structure, so that the first conductive point structure contacts the second conductive point structure to be turned on. The at least one first trigger switch point. The keyboard of claim 8, wherein the triggering bump structure further comprises at least one second triggering bump, the triggering switch further comprising at least one second triggering switch point to be opposite to the at least one second triggering bump, The at least one second triggering bump is formed on at least one of a position at which the second support member is coupled to the keycap and a position at which the second support member is pivotally coupled to the first support member, the buffer structure Further comprising at least one second buffer pad, the at least one second buffer pad is disposed on the at least one second triggering bump, or disposed on the thin film circuit board to be located above or below the at least one second trigger switch point . The keyboard of claim 7, wherein the bottom plate has a first opening, the thin film circuit board has a second opening corresponding to the first opening, the button further comprises: a light emitting diode circuit board, The light emitting diode is disposed at a position corresponding to the first opening of the light emitting diode circuit board to generate light from the first through the control of the light emitting diode circuit board. And a light-transmissive hollow elastic body disposed between the bottom plate and the key cap, the light-transmissive hollow elastic body covering the light-emitting diode to make the light-emitting diode The generated light is incident on the light transmissive hollow elastic body through the first opening and the second opening, and is emitted through the transparent hollow elastic body.