JPH08255530A - Manufacturing method of membrane switch with rubber cap - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To provide a method for manufacturing a membrane switch with a rubber cap, which can accurately and easily fix the rubber cap to the membrane sheet and prevent the adhesive from protruding from the rubber cap. [Structure] A step of forming an insulating resin in a sheet shape and forming a plurality of electrical contacts on the upper surface to form a membrane sheet 3, and forming the insulating resin in a sheet shape, and the upper surface of the rubber sheet 5 A rubber cap forming step of forming a plurality of dome-shaped rubber caps 7 projecting toward each other so that their directions are aligned with each other and further providing a notch for each rubber cap 7;
And an adhesive applying step of applying the adhesive 11 to the lower surface of the rubber cap 7, and a rubber cap fixing step of fixing the rubber cap 7 to the membrane sheet 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a membrane switch with a rubber cap used for a keyboard switch of electronic equipment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, various membrane switches have been proposed as thin switch input devices in electronic devices such as personal computers and word processor keyboards.

The most basic structure of a membrane switch consists of a counter electrode and a spacer. Further, it is known that a dome-shaped rubber cap is provided above the counter electrode for the purpose of giving a click feeling.

In such a membrane switch, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, a single rubber cap 103 is fixed with an adhesive 105 for each electric contact 101a on a membrane sheet 101 provided with an electric contact 101a. The electrical contact 101a and the conductive electrode 103a are electrically connected by the conductive electrode 103a provided inside to perform a switching operation.

When manufacturing this membrane switch, the membrane sheet 10 provided with the electrical contacts 101a is used.
This is performed by printing the adhesive 105 in a ring shape on 1 (adhesive printing step) and attaching a single rubber cap 103 thereon (rubber cap attaching step) as shown in FIG.

[0006]

However, the conventional method for manufacturing a membrane switch is divided into an adhesive printing step and a rubber cap attaching step. In the adhesive printing step, the adhesive is applied to the electric contact position on the membrane sheet. It is necessary to align the printing position, and in the rubber cap printing step, it is necessary to align the rubber cap with the printing position of the adhesive on the membrane sheet, and it is troublesome to accurately align these two.

In particular, if the position of the rubber cap deviates from the position of the adhesive, the adhesion will be incomplete and the rubber cap will be easily removed. In order to prevent the rubber cap from being removed due to the gap between the adhesive and the rubber cap, the adhesive application area is made larger than the adhesive surface of the rubber cap. For this reason, the adhesive squeezes out from the outer periphery of the rubber cap, spoiling the aesthetic appearance and causing a problem in appearance.

Further, since the rubber caps are separated one by one and the directions thereof are different, it is necessary to align the direction of the rubber caps and arrange them in a desired arrangement pattern before adhering to the rubber sheet. There was also a problem that the process took a very long time.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a rubber cap-equipped membrane capable of accurately and easily fixing a rubber cap to a membrane sheet and preventing the adhesive from protruding from the rubber cap. An object of the present invention is to provide a switch manufacturing method.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the first invention of the present application is to form an insulating resin in a sheet shape, and form a plurality of electrical contacts on the upper surface of the insulating resin sheet to form a membrane sheet. And a step of forming the insulating resin in a sheet shape, and forming a plurality of dome-shaped rubber caps projecting upward on the upper surface of the sheet of the insulating resin in the same direction. A rubber cap making process in which a notch is provided for each rubber cap,
An adhesive application step of separating the rubber cap from the insulating resin sheet and applying an adhesive to the lower surface of the rubber cap, and covering the electrical contact of the membrane sheet with the rubber cap having an adhesive applied to the lower surface. The gist of the present invention is to have a rubber cap fixing step of aligning and fixing on the membrane sheet.

Further, it is desirable that the adhesive applying step is performed by dipping the lower surface of the rubber cap in an adhesive.

Further, in the rubber cap making step,
It is desirable to perform this by integrally molding an insulating resin.

[0013]

According to the method of manufacturing a membrane switch with a rubber cap of the present invention, an insulating resin is formed into a sheet shape, and a plurality of electrical contacts are formed on the upper surface of the insulating resin sheet to form a membrane sheet. A plurality of dome-shaped rubber caps protruding upward are formed on the upper surface of the resin sheet in the same direction, and a cut is provided for each rubber cap to separate the rubber cap from the insulating resin sheet. After applying an adhesive to the lower surface of the rubber cap, the rubber cap is aligned and fixed on the membrane sheet so as to cover the electrical contacts of the membrane sheet. This allows the rubber cap to be accurately and easily fixed to the membrane sheet, and further prevents the adhesive from protruding from the rubber cap.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a method for manufacturing a membrane switch with a rubber cap according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, when manufacturing the membrane switch 1 with a rubber cap using the method for manufacturing a membrane switch with a rubber cap of this embodiment, first, an insulating resin (for example, polyester) is formed into a sheet shape. Then, the membrane sheet 3 having a plurality of electric contacts 3a formed on the upper surface of the insulating resin sheet is prepared (membrane sheet forming step, see FIG. 1C).

Further, as shown in FIG. 1A, a rubber sheet 5 is formed by forming an insulating resin (for example, a silicon resin) into a sheet shape, and the upper surface of the insulating resin sheet is directed upward. A plurality of rubber caps 7 each having a protruding dome portion 7a are formed in the same direction, and a cut 9 is provided for each rubber cap 7 as shown in FIG. 2 (rubber cap making process). It is desirable to perform this rubber cap forming step by integrally molding an insulating resin, but the notch 9 may be provided after forming the dome.

Since the rubber cap 7 provides a good click feeling during a key pressing operation, so-called key switching, a groove 7c is formed on the fixing surface 7b of the rubber cap 7 with the membrane sheet 3 as shown in FIG. Is provided to prevent the air from accumulating inside the rubber cap 7. The groove 7c is formed at the same time when the rubber cap 7 is formed.

Since the rubber cap 7 covers the electric contact 3a formed on the rubber sheet 5, the rubber cap 7 has a size capable of covering the electric contact 3a. Further, before the dome portion 7a is formed on the rubber cap 7, the dome portion 7a
A conductive electrode 7d is provided on the upper surface of the inside, which is electrically connected to the electrical contact 3a by pressing the rubber cap 7 (see FIG. 2).

In this state, the rubber cap 7 is separated from the rubber sheet 5. At this time, since the rubber sheet 5 is provided with the notch 9 for each rubber cap 7, the rubber cap 7 can be easily separated from the rubber sheet 5.

Next, the adhesive 11 is applied to the fixed surface 7b of the separated rubber cap 7 with the membrane sheet 3 (adhesive applying step).

This adhesive application step is performed by a so-called dipping method in which the fixing surface 7b of the rubber cap 7 is dipped in the adhesive 11 as shown in FIG. 1 (b). As a result, as shown in FIG. 3, the adhesive 11 is applied only to the fixing surface 7b of the rubber cap 7 that is fixed to the membrane sheet 3.
In FIG. 3, the fixed surface 7b is shown facing upward for convenience of explanation, but the fixed surface 7b is not directed upward during the adhesive application process.

Then, as shown in FIG. 1C, the fixing surface 7
The rubber cap 7 having the adhesive 11 applied to b is positioned so as to cover the electrical contacts 3a of the membrane sheet 3 and placed on the membrane sheet 3 (rubber cap fixing step).

Thus, the membrane switch 1 with a rubber cap as shown in FIG. 1 (c) is produced.

As described above, in the method of manufacturing the membrane switch with the rubber cap of this embodiment, the adhesive 11 is applied to the fixing surface 7b of the rubber cap 7 with the membrane sheet 3 by the dip method. The rubber cap 7 can be accurately and easily fixed to the membrane sheet 3 without the need to position and apply the rubber sheet on the membrane sheet 3.

Further, since the adhesive 11 is applied only to the fixing surface 7b of the rubber cap 7 which is fixed to the membrane sheet 3, the appearance of the adhesive 11 is eliminated, and the appearance of the adhesive 11 is spoiled. Can also be prevented.

Further, since the rubber cap 7 is separated from the rubber sheet 5, the direction of the rubber cap 7 is constant, and the operation of aligning the directions of the rubber cap 7 is not necessary. Can be shortened.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of dome-shaped rubber caps protruding upward are formed on the upper surface of an insulating resin sheet in the same direction, and each rubber cap is formed. Cut the rubber cap from the insulating resin sheet, apply an adhesive to the lower surface of the rubber cap, and align the rubber cap so that it covers the electrical contacts of the membrane sheet. Since the rubber cap is fixed to the upper side, the rubber cap can be accurately and easily fixed to the membrane sheet, and the adhesive can be prevented from protruding from the rubber cap.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a method for manufacturing a membrane switch with a rubber cap according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state in which a cut is provided for each rubber cap.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a state in which an adhesive is applied to a surface of a rubber cap fixed to a membrane sheet.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a membrane switch with a rubber cap manufactured by a conventional method.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a conventional method of manufacturing a membrane switch with a rubber cap.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Membrane Switch with Rubber Cap 3 Membrane Sheet 3a Electrical Contact 5 Rubber Sheet 7 Rubber Cap 7a Dome 7b Fixed Surface 7c Groove 7d Conductive Electrode 9 Cut 11 Adhesive

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A step of forming an insulating resin in a sheet shape and forming a plurality of electrical contacts on an upper surface of the sheet of the insulating resin to form a membrane sheet; and forming the insulating resin in a sheet shape, A rubber cap making step of forming a plurality of dome-shaped rubber caps protruding upward on the upper surface of the insulating resin sheet with their directions aligned, and further providing a notch for each rubber cap, and the rubber cap Adhesive application step of separating from the insulating resin sheet and applying adhesive to the lower surface of this rubber cap, and aligning the rubber cap with adhesive applied to this lower surface so as to cover the electrical contacts of the membrane sheet. And a rubber cap fixing step of fixing it on the membrane sheet by Method of manufacturing a down switch. 2. The method of manufacturing a membrane switch with a rubber cap according to claim 1, wherein the adhesive applying step is performed by immersing the lower surface of the rubber cap in an adhesive. 3. The method of manufacturing a membrane switch with a rubber cap according to claim 1, wherein the step of forming the rubber cap is performed by integrally molding an insulating resin.