TWI518725B - button - Google Patents

Description

button

The invention relates to a button, in particular to a button which can be oscillated up and down by the protruding bending arm of the bottom plate and abutting the key cap so that the key cap can move up and down relative to the bottom plate.

In terms of the current usage habits of notebook computers, the keyboard is one of the indispensable input devices for entering text, symbols or numbers. Recently, due to the trend of thinning notebook computers, the keyboards applied to notebook computers have also become thinner.

Conventional keys are often provided with elastic elements, such as rubber rubber (Rubber Dome), etc., as a source of elastic force for the keycap to be reset when used as a button. However, the conventional elastic member has a specific height, so that the button needs to have a large space for the elastic member to be disposed therein. In other words, the conventional buttons are provided with elastic components, which limits the structural size of the keyboard, and is not conducive to the thinning trend of the notebook computer.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a button that can be pivoted up and down by the protruding member of the bottom member of the bottom plate and abuts the key cap to move the key cap up and down relative to the bottom plate to solve the above problem.

According to an embodiment, the button of the present invention includes a bottom plate, a keycap, an actuating member, and a magnet. The bottom plate is extended to form a protruding bending arm, and the protruding bending arm has a through hole. The key cap forms a pressing portion toward the bottom plate and is movable relative to the bottom plate between a pressing position and a releasing position. The actuating member has a bending arm portion and a carrying arm portion, the carrying arm portion abuts against the pressing portion, the bending arm portion movably penetrates the through hole so that the carrying arm portion can be opposite to the through hole Swing down. The magnet is fixed on one of the carrying arm portion and the protruding bending arm and detachably adsorbed on the other of the carrying arm portion and the protruding bending arm, when the key cap is pressed by an external force And moving from the release position to the pressing position, the pressing portion presses the carrying arm portion to separate the other of the carrying arm portion and the protruding bending arm from the magnet, when the external force is released, An attractive force generated between the magnet and the carrying arm portion and the other of the protruding bending arms attracts the carrying arm portion to swing upward to drive the pressing portion to move the keycap back from the pressing position. The release position.

According to another embodiment, the button of the present invention includes a bottom plate, a keycap, an actuating member, and a spring. The bottom plate is extended to form a protruding bending arm, and the protruding bending arm has a through hole. The key cap forms a pressing portion toward the bottom plate and is movable relative to the bottom plate between a pressing position and a releasing position. The actuating member has a bent arm portion and a carrying arm portion, the carrying arm portion abuts against the pressing portion, the bending arm portion is movably penetrated through the through hole so that the carrying arm portion can be up and down relative to the through hole swing. The spring is connected between the carrying arm portion and the protruding bending arm. When the key cap is pressed by the external force and moved from the releasing position to the pressing position, the pressing portion presses the carrying arm portion to stretch the a spring, when the external force is released, the elastic restoring force provided by the spring pulls the carrying arm portion to swing upward to drive the pressing portion to move the keycap from the pressing position back to the releasing position.

According to another embodiment, the button of the present invention includes a bottom plate, a keycap, and an actuator. The bottom plate is extended to form a protruding bending arm, and the protruding bending arm has a through hole. The key cap forms a pressing portion toward the bottom plate and is movable relative to the bottom plate between a pressing position and a releasing position. The actuating member has a bent arm portion, a carrying arm portion, and a magnetic portion. The carrying arm portion abuts against the pressing portion, and the bending arm portion movably penetrates the through hole to make the carrying arm portion The magnetic portion is detachably attached to the protruding hole, and the magnetic portion is detachably adsorbed to the protruding bending arm, and the bending arm portion and the carrying arm portion are formed by injection molding by a plastic material, and the magnetic portion is made of permanent magnet The material powder is injection molded together with the bent arm portion and the carrying arm portion, and when the key cap is pressed by an external force, When the release position is moved to the pressing position, the pressing portion presses the actuating member to separate the protruding bending arm from the magnetic portion, and when the external force is released, between the magnetic portion and the protruding bending arm The resulting attraction drives the carrier arm such that the keycap moves from the depressed position back to the release position.

In summary, the present invention utilizes the actuating member to pierce the protruding bending arm of the bottom plate to swing up and down and abut the key cap so that the key cap can move up and down relative to the bottom plate. In this way, by omitting the arrangement of the elastic element and replacing the actuating member, the present invention can effectively reduce the space required for the whole button, so that the keyboard can have a larger design in the internal structural space. Flexibility to facilitate the trend of thinning the keyboard.

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

10‧‧‧ keyboard

12, 12’, 12” ‧ ‧ buttons

14‧‧‧floor

16‧‧‧Outstanding bending arm

17‧‧‧Perforation

18‧‧‧Key Cap

19‧‧‧Resistance Department

20, 20’‧‧‧ Actuator

22‧‧‧ magnet

24‧‧‧ Lifting support device

26‧‧‧Bent arm

28‧‧‧ carrying arm

29‧‧‧Bending clamping structure

30‧‧‧First chute

32‧‧‧First card slot

34‧‧‧Second chute

36‧‧‧Second card slot

38‧‧‧First support

40‧‧‧second support

42‧‧‧First sliding part

44‧‧‧First pivotal

46‧‧‧Second sliding part

48‧‧‧Second pivotal

50‧‧‧Magnetic Department

52‧‧‧ Spring

1 is a perspective view of a keyboard according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the key of the keyboard of Fig. 1 along the section line X-X.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a portion of the button of Fig. 2 with the lifting support device omitted.

Fig. 4 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing the button of Fig. 3 when the key cap is at the pressing position.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a portion of the button according to another embodiment of the present invention, omitting the lifting support device.

Figure 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a portion of the push button omitting the lifting support device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a perspective view of a keyboard 10 according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the keyboard 10 includes a plurality of buttons 12 for pressing by the user to perform the functions desired by the user. The keyboard 10 is preferably generally applied to a personal computer. Keyboard, but not limited to this. For example, the keyboard 10 can also be applied to a portable electronic device (such as a notebook computer or a folding keyboard) generally having an opening and closing mechanism composed of an upper cover and a lower casing.

The design of the present invention for utilizing magnetic force to drive button reset can be applied to at least one of a plurality of buttons 12, the number of which depends on the actual application of the keyboard 10. For the sake of simplicity, the following is for One of the buttons 12 having a magnetically driven reset design is described. As for the other structural design of the button 12 of the same design, it can be deduced.

Please refer to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 , FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the button 12 of the keyboard 10 of FIG. 1 along the section line XX, and FIG. 3 is a part of the button 12 of FIG. 2 omitting the lifting and supporting device 24 . An enlarged view of the section. As shown in FIG. 3, the button 12 includes a bottom plate 14 extending to form a protruding bending arm 16, a key cap 18, an actuating member 20, a magnet 22, and a lifting support device 24 having a perforation 17 (in It is indicated by a broken line in Fig. 3). In this embodiment, the actuating member 20 has a bent arm portion 26 and a carrying arm portion 28 that movably extends through the through hole 17 of the protruding bending arm 16 so that the carrying arm portion 28 can be relatively perforated. 17 swings up and down to support the keycap 18. The magnet 22 is fixed to the carrying arm portion 28 and detachably adsorbed to the protruding bending arm 16. In this embodiment, the keyboard 10 is fixed to the carrying arm portion 28 by structural fixing, for example, for example. As shown in FIG. 3, the carrying arm portion 28 has at least one bent clamping structure 29 (one shown in FIG. 3, but not limited thereto) to clamp and fix the magnet 22 to the carrying arm portion 28. In addition, in practical applications, the keycap 18 may be formed with a pressing portion 19 toward the bottom plate 14 to allow the keycap 18 to reliably abut the carrier arm portion 28.

As for the mechanism design of the lifting support device 24, the present invention adopts a scissor-foot mechanism design (but not limited thereto). For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the lifting support device 24 is disposed on the bottom plate 14 and the key cap. 18, in this embodiment, the key cap 18 has a first sliding slot 30 and a first locking slot 32, the bottom plate 14 has a second sliding slot 34 and a second clamping slot 36, and the lifting support device 24 The first support member 38 and the second support member 40 are included, wherein the second support member 40 is pivotally connected to the first support member 38. The first support member 38 has a first sliding portion 42 and a first pivoting portion 44. The first sliding portion 42 is slidably disposed in the first sliding slot 30 , and the first pivoting portion 44 is rotatably pivoted in the second locking slot 36 . The second support member 40 has a second sliding portion 46 and a second pivoting portion 48. When the second support member 40 is assembled, the second sliding portion 46 is slidably disposed in the second sliding slot 34 , and the second pivoting portion 48 is rotatably pivoted in the first locking slot 32 . In this way, through the mechanism connection design described above, the key cap 18 can be moved up and down relative to the bottom plate 14 by the lifting support device 24.

The following is a detailed description of the operation of the button 12. Referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing the button 12 of FIG. 3 when the keycap 18 is at the pressing position. When the keycap 18 is in the release position as shown in FIG. 3, the user can apply a force to press the keycap 18 to move the keycap 18 downward to the pressing position of the triggerable button signal as shown in FIG. Completing the button pressing operation to perform the corresponding input function, and more specifically, in the process of the user pressing the keycap 18 downward from the release position as shown in FIG. 3 to the pressing position as shown in FIG. The magnet 22 fixed to the carrying arm portion 28 is driven by the pressing portion 19 of the keycap 18 to be pressed against the carrying arm portion 28 to overcome the magnetic attraction between the magnet 22 and the protruding bending arm 16 and then bends with the protrusion. The arms 16 are separated (as shown in Figure 4).

On the other hand, when the user stops pressing the keycap 18, the carrying arm portion 28 is driven upward by the magnetic attraction between the magnet 22 and the protruding bending arm 16, and swings back to the release position as shown in FIG. Thereby, the keycap 18 is driven to move back to the release position as shown in FIG. 3 via the pressing portion 19 and the magnet 22 is again attracted to the protruding bending arm 16, thereby achieving the effect that the keycap 18 can be automatically returned for the user. The next button press operation can be performed.

It is worth mentioning that the configuration of the magnet 22 is not limited to the above embodiment, and it may be modified. The design is fixed to the protruding bending arm, that is, in another embodiment, the magnet 22 can be fixed to the protruding bending arm 16 (for example, the bending clip can be used as mentioned in the above embodiment). The structure is fixed and detachably adsorbed to the carrying arm portion 28, whereby when the user presses the keycap 18, the carrying arm portion 28 can swing downward relative to the through hole 17 to be separated from the magnet 22, and when the user When the keycap 18 is stopped, the magnetic attraction generated between the magnet 22 and the carrying arm portion 28 can attract the carrying arm portion 28 to swing upward to drive the keycap 18 to move from the pressing position back to the releasing position. In addition, the present invention can also be modified to have a magnetic portion directly on the carrying arm portion 28 instead of the additional configuration of the magnet 22. For example, please refer to FIG. 5, which is a button according to another embodiment of the present invention. 12' is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of the lifting support device 24, and the components described in this embodiment are identical to the component numbers described in the above embodiments, indicating that they have similar functions or structures, and will not be described herein. . The keyboard 10' includes a plurality of buttons 12' including a bottom plate 14, a keycap 18, an actuating member 20', and a lifting support device 24 (not shown). As shown in FIG. 5, the actuating member 20' has a bent arm portion 26, a carrying arm portion 28, and a magnetic portion 50, wherein the bent arm portion 26 and the carrying arm portion 28 are preferably molded by injection molding of plastic material. The magnetic portion 50 is preferably formed by injection molding of a permanent magnetic material powder such as neodymium iron boron powder or the like, together with the bent arm portion 26 and the carrying arm portion 28. As a result, when the user presses the keycap 18 through the above design, the pressing portion 19 presses the carrying arm portion 28 to separate the protruding bending arm 16 from the magnetic portion 50, and when the user stops pressing the key cap 18, The attraction force generated between the magnetic portion 50 and the protruding bending arm 16 can attract the carrying arm portion 28 to swing upward to drive the key cap 18 from the pressing position via the pressing portion 19 to return to the releasing position as shown in FIG. In order to achieve the function of the key cap 18 being automatically returned, the user can perform the next button press operation.

In addition, the design for automatically returning the driving carrying arm portion 28 is not limited to the above embodiment, and the design of the driving force required for the resetting of the key cap by the elastic restoring force of the spring may also be adopted. For example, please refer to Figure 6 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing the button 12" according to another embodiment of the present invention, omitting the lifting support device 24, the components described in the embodiment and the above The same component numbers are used in the embodiments to indicate that they have similar functions or structures, and are not described herein again. The keyboard 10" includes a plurality of buttons 12" including a bottom plate 14, a keycap 18, an actuating member 20, a lifting support device 24 (not shown), and a spring 52. As shown in Figure 6, In this embodiment, the button 12" can be connected to the carrier arm portion 28 and the projection between the bending arm 16 in place of the magnet 22, whereby the user can press the keycap 18 when the user presses the keycap 18. 28 will swing downward to stretch the spring 52 to cause the spring 52 to generate an elastic restoring force. Thus, when the user stops pressing the keycap 18, the elastic restoring force provided by the spring 52 can pull the carrying arm portion 28 upward. The function of automatically returning is achieved by moving the keycap 18 via the pressing portion 19 from the pressing position back to the release position as shown in FIG.

Compared with the prior art, the present invention utilizes the actuating member to pierce the protruding bending arm of the bottom plate to swing up and down and abut the design of the key cap so that the key cap can move up and down relative to the bottom plate. In this way, by omitting the arrangement of the elastic element and replacing the actuating member, the present invention can effectively reduce the space required for the whole button, so that the keyboard can have a larger design in the internal structural space. Flexibility to facilitate the trend of thinning the keyboard.

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.

12‧‧‧ button

14‧‧‧floor

16‧‧‧Outstanding bending arm

17‧‧‧Perforation

18‧‧‧Key Cap

19‧‧‧Resistance Department

20‧‧‧Acoustic

22‧‧‧ magnet

26‧‧‧Bent arm

28‧‧‧ carrying arm

29‧‧‧Bending clamping structure

Claims (7)

A button includes: a bottom plate extending from a protruding bending arm, the protruding bending arm having a through hole, the bottom plate having a second sliding slot and a second clamping slot; and a key cap facing the bottom plate Forming a pressing portion and movable relative to the bottom plate between a pressing position and a releasing position, the key cap having a first sliding slot and a first clamping slot; and an actuating member having a bent arm portion a carrying arm portion, the carrying arm portion abuts against the pressing portion, the bending arm portion movably penetrates the through hole to enable the carrying arm portion to swing up and down with respect to the through hole; and a lifting support device disposed at the The first and second support members have a first support member a sliding portion and a first pivoting portion, the first sliding portion is slidably disposed in the first sliding slot, the first pivoting portion is rotatably pivotally connected to the second card slot; and a second a support member pivotally connected to the first support member The second sliding portion is slidably disposed in the second sliding slot, and the second pivoting portion is rotatably pivotally connected to the first clamping slot; And a magnet fixed to one of the carrying arm portion and the protruding bending arm and detachably adsorbing on the other of the carrying arm portion and the protruding bending arm, when the key cap is When an external force is pressed to move from the release position to the pressing position, the pressing portion presses the carrying arm portion to separate the other of the carrying arm portion and the protruding bending arm from the magnet when the external force When released, an attractive force generated between the magnet and the other of the carrying arm portion and the protruding bending arm attracts the carrying arm portion to swing upward to drive the pressing portion to cause the keycap to be pressed from the button The position moves back to the release position. The button of claim 1, wherein the magnet is fixed to the carrying arm and detachably adsorbed to the protruding bending arm, and when the key cap is pressed by the external force, moving from the releasing position to the pressing position When the pressing portion presses the carrying arm portion to separate the magnet from the protruding bending arm, when the external force is released, the attraction force generated between the magnet and the protruding bending arm attracts the carrying arm portion upward swing. The button of claim 2, wherein the carrying arm has at least one bent clamping structure to clamp the magnet to the carrying arm. The button of claim 1, wherein the magnet is fixed to the protruding bending arm and detachably adsorbed to the carrying arm, and when the key cap is pressed by the external force, moving from the releasing position to the pressing position The pressing portion presses the carrying arm portion to separate the magnet from the carrying arm portion. When the external force is released, the attraction force generated between the magnet and the carrying arm portion attracts the carrying arm portion to swing upward. A button includes: a bottom plate extending from a protruding bending arm, the protruding bending arm having a through hole, the bottom plate having a second sliding slot and a second clamping slot; and a key cap facing the bottom plate Forming a pressing portion and movable relative to the bottom plate between a pressing position and a releasing position, the key cap having a first sliding slot and a first clamping slot; and an actuating member having a bent arm portion a carrying arm portion, the carrying arm portion abuts against the pressing portion, the bending arm portion movably penetrates the through hole to enable the carrying arm portion to swing up and down with respect to the through hole; and a lifting support device disposed at the Between the bottom plate and the key cap, the key cap is movable relative to the bottom plate between a pressing position and a release position by the lifting support device, the lifting support The device includes: a first supporting member having a first sliding portion and a first pivoting portion, the first sliding portion being slidably disposed in the first sliding slot, the first pivoting portion being rotatably Pivotly connected to the second card slot; and a second support member pivotally connected to the first support member and having a second sliding portion and a second pivot portion, the second sliding portion being slidably disposed In the second sliding slot, the second pivoting portion is rotatably pivotally connected to the first card slot; and a spring is coupled between the carrying arm portion and the protruding bending arm, when the button When the cap is pressed by an external force and moved from the release position to the pressing position, the pressing portion presses the carrying arm portion to stretch the spring, and when the external force is released, the elastic restoring force provided by the spring pulls the carrying arm The portion swings upward to drive the pressing portion to move the keycap from the pressing position back to the release position. A button includes: a bottom plate extending from a protruding bending arm, the protruding bending arm having a through hole, the bottom plate having a second sliding slot and a second clamping slot; and a key cap facing the bottom plate Forming a pressing portion and moving relative to the bottom plate between a pressing position and a releasing position, the key cap having a first sliding slot and a first card slot; and a lifting support device disposed on the bottom plate and the bottom plate Between the key caps, the key cap is movable relative to the bottom plate between a pressing position and a release position by the lifting support device, the lifting support device comprising: a first supporting member having a first sliding portion and a first pivoting portion, the first sliding portion is slidably disposed in the first sliding slot, the first pivoting portion is rotatably pivotally connected to the second card slot, and a second supporting member The first support member is pivotally connected to the first support member and has a second sliding portion and a second pivot portion. The second sliding portion is slidably disposed in the second sliding slot. The connecting portion is rotatably pivoted in the first card slot; and the actuating member has a bent arm portion, a carrying arm portion, and a magnetic portion, the carrying arm portion abuts against the pressing portion, The bending arm portion is movably penetrated through the through hole so that the carrying arm portion can swing up and down with respect to the through hole, and the magnetic portion is detachably adsorbed to the protruding bending arm, and the bending arm portion and the carrying arm portion are The plastic material is formed by injection molding, and the magnetic portion is injection molded together with the bent arm portion and the carrying arm portion, and the key cap is moved from the release position to the When the position is pressed, the pressing portion presses the actuating member to separate the protruding bending arm from the magnetic portion, and when the external force is released, the attraction force generated between the magnetic portion and the protruding bending arm drives the The arm portion is carried so that the keycap moves from the pressing position back to the release position. The button of claim 6, wherein the permanent magnetic material powder is NdFeB powder.