TWI760181B - Lighting keyswitch and lighting keyboard with low intensity - Google Patents

Abstract

A lighting keyswitch with low intensity is applied to a lighting keyboard and includes a base, a key unit, a circuit substrate, an isolation component, a light penetrating component and a light sheltering unit. The base has an opening. The key unit is disposed on the base. The circuit substrate is disposed under the base, and has a lighting unit corresponding to the opening. The isolation component is disposed on the circuit substrate and has a hole for accommodating the lighting unit. The light penetrating component is disposed between the isolation component and the base. The light sheltering unit is disposed on the light penetrating component and aligns with the lighting unit and the opening, and used to prevent a part of light emitted by the lighting unit from passing the opening, so as to decrease intensity of the key unit.

Description

Low-brightness illuminated keys and illuminated keyboards

The present invention provides a light-emitting key and a light-emitting keyboard, especially a low-brightness light-emitting key and a light-emitting keyboard.

In the traditional light-emitting keyboard, light-emitting units are arranged under each key, and all light-emitting units are connected to an arithmetic processor. In the keyboard, the purpose of adjusting the light-emitting brightness of the light-emitting keys is achieved by adjusting the circuit impedance of the corresponding light-emitting units of each key. However, using the computing processor to adjust the lighting brightness of the light-emitting unit will increase the computing burden of the computing processor, which may also increase the power consumption and heat generation of the lighting keyboard. Using the line impedance to adjust the lighting brightness of the lighting unit requires calibration. The design parameters of the related circuits will increase the manufacturing cost of the product. Therefore, how to design a brightness adjustment mechanism for light-emitting keys and light-emitting keyboards with a simple structure and low cost is one of the development goals of the related institutional design industry.

The present invention provides a low-brightness light-emitting key and a light-emitting keyboard to solve the above problems.

The scope of the patent application of the present invention is to disclose a low-brightness light-emitting key, which includes a bottom plate, a key unit, a circuit substrate, a separator, a light-transmitting member, and a light-shielding unit. The bottom plate has an opening. The button unit is arranged on the bottom plate. The circuit substrate is located under the bottom plate. The circuit substrate has a light emitting unit corresponding to the opening. The separator is arranged on the circuit substrate and has a hole. The perforated hole accommodates the light-emitting unit. The light-transmitting member is located between the separating sheet and the bottom plate. The light-shielding unit is disposed on the light-transmitting member and is positioned opposite to the light-emitting unit and the opening, and is used to partially block the output light of the light-emitting unit from passing through the opening, so as to reduce the light-emitting brightness of the key unit.

The claimed scope of the present invention further discloses a low-brightness light-emitting keyboard, which includes a bottom plate, a plurality of keys, a circuit substrate, a separator, a light-transmitting member, and a plurality of light-shielding units. The bottom plate has a plurality of openings. A key unit of each key is disposed on the bottom plate to correspond to one of the plurality of openings. The circuit substrate is located under the bottom plate. The circuit substrate has a plurality of light-emitting units corresponding to the plurality of openings respectively. The separator is disposed on the circuit substrate and has a plurality of holes, and the plurality of holes are respectively accommodating the plurality of light-emitting units. The light-transmitting member is located between the separating sheet and the bottom plate. The plurality of light-shielding units are disposed on the light-transmitting member, and their positions are respectively opposite to the plurality of light-emitting units and the plurality of openings. Each light-shielding unit is used to partially block the output light of one of the plurality of light-emitting units from passing through the corresponding opening, so as to reduce the light-emitting brightness of the key unit.

In the present invention, a light-shielding unit is arranged above the light-emitting unit to block part of the illumination light of the light-emitting unit to reduce the brightness of the light-emitting keys and the light-emitting keyboard. The location of the shading unit will vary with the structural design of the light-emitting key. If a light-transmitting member is laid above the separator, the light-shielding unit can be arranged on the upper surface or the lower surface of the light-transmitting member, or a part of the light-transmitting member can be processed as a light-shielding unit; if the light-transmitting member is in a fluid form Filled in the holes of the separator, the light-shielding unit is disposed on the upper surface of the hardened light-transmitting member, or the upper surface of the hardened light-transmitting member is processed to be regarded as a light-shielding unit.

10: Illuminated keyboard

12: Illuminated buttons

14: Bottom plate

16: circuit substrate

18: Separator

20: Translucent parts

22: Shading unit

24: Thin film circuit board

26: Button unit

28: Keycaps

30: Lifting support mechanism

32: reset piece

34: Opening

36: Switch

38: light-transmitting hole

40: Lighting unit

42: Hole

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the appearance of a light-emitting keyboard according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the components of one of the light-emitting keys of the light-emitting keyboard according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the structure of a light-emitting key according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the structure of a light-emitting key according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 to FIG. 7 are schematic diagrams of light-shielding units according to different embodiments of the present invention, respectively.

Please refer to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the appearance of the light-emitting keyboard 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the structure of the light-emitting key 12 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The light-emitting keyboard 10 may include light-emitting keys 12 , a bottom plate 14 , a circuit substrate 16 , a separator 18 , a light-transmitting member 20 , a light-shielding unit 22 and a thin-film circuit board 24 . The number of the light-emitting keys 12 and the light-shielding units 22 is plural, and the actual number thereof will be correspondingly changed according to the language setting of the light-emitting keyboard 10 .

The key unit 26 of each light-emitting key 12 may include a key cap 28 , a lifting support mechanism 30 and a reset member 32 . The lifting support mechanism 30 supports the keycap 28 to move up and down, and the reset member 32 provides elastic restoring force so that the keycap 28 can be reset instantly. The bottom plate 14 may have a plurality of openings 34 , the number and distribution of which are determined according to the number and distribution of the light-emitting keys 12 . The thin film circuit board 24 can be located above the bottom plate 14 and has a plurality of switches 36 and a plurality of light-transmitting holes 38 . The positions of the plurality of switches 36 can respectively correspond to the reset members 32 of the light-emitting keys 12 , and the positions of the plurality of light-transmitting holes 38 can respectively correspond to the plurality of openings 34 . The circuit substrate 16 may be located under the bottom plate 14 and has a plurality of light emitting units 40 corresponding to the plurality of openings 34 respectively. The light-emitting unit 40 can be a light-emitting diode, but the practical application is not limited thereto.

Further, the separator 18 may be provided on the circuit substrate 16 between the bottom plate 14 and the circuit substrate 16 . The size of the spacer sheet 18 may be roughly equivalent to the base plate 14 or the circuit board 16 , or only a small size that can just cover the light-emitting keys 12 . The separator 18 may have a plurality of holes 42 for accommodating a plurality of light emitting units 40 respectively. The light-transmitting member 20 may be disposed between the bottom plate 14 and the separator 18 . The plurality of light-shielding units 22 are respectively disposed on the light-transmitting member 20 at positions relative to the plurality of light-emitting units 40 and the plurality of holes 42 . The illumination light output by each light-emitting unit 40 can pass through the holes 42 of the separator 18 , the openings 34 of the bottom plate 14 , and the light-transmitting holes 38 of the thin film circuit board 24 to be irradiated to the keycaps 28 of the key units 26 , so that the keys 12 are illuminated. Lighting decoration can be provided according to the light transmission pattern on the keycap 28 .

The illumination light output by the light-emitting unit 40 will pass through the hole 42, the light-transmitting member 20, the opening 34 and the light-transmitting hole 38 in sequence to reach the key unit 26; therefore, the light-emitting keyboard 10 uses the light-shielding unit 22 to block part of the illumination light, Thus, the light-emitting brightness of the light-emitting key 12 is reduced. Generally speaking, the size of the shading unit 22 of the present invention is preferably smaller than the apertures of the hole 42 and the opening 34 to avoid completely blocking the transmission path of the illumination light; however, the size of the shading unit 22 can also be equal to or larger than the hole 42 and the aperture of the opening 34, and by adjusting the light transmittance of the shading unit 22, the purpose of blocking part of the illumination light is achieved. The light-shielding unit 22 can be selected to be made of a material that can completely shield light, or a material that can filter out light in a specific wavelength range, and the variation thereof depends on actual needs. Correspondingly, the light-transmitting member 20 can be made of a transparent material, or a filter material that allows specific color light to pass through.

The light-shielding unit 22 may be a plastic sheet, an ink coating, or other materials with similar properties, as long as the material can be stably attached to the light-transmitting member 20 and has a light-shielding effect, it is within the scope of application of the present invention. Furthermore, the light-transmitting member 20 can be a sheet-like structure, which is laid on the separator 18 to cover the hole 42, as shown in FIG. 2 . shown; however, the practical application is not limited to this. Please refer to FIG. 4, which is a cross-sectional view of the structure of the light-emitting key 12' according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the elements with the same numbers as those in the previous embodiment have the same structure and function, so the description is not repeated. The light-transmitting member 20 ′ of the light-emitting button 12 ′ can be made of a gel-like material, which is filled in the hole 42 of the separator 18 to cover the light-emitting unit 40 ; at this time, the shading unit 22 is laid or coated on the light-transmitting member 20 ′ It corresponds to the upper surface of the light-emitting unit 40 .

Please refer to FIGS. 5 to 7 , which are schematic diagrams of the light-shielding unit 22 according to different embodiments of the present invention, respectively. The shading effect of the shading unit 22 not only changes according to its material properties, but also can be determined by the pattern design of the shading unit 22 . For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the light-shielding unit 22 may be a pattern formed by a plurality of straight lines staggered; as shown in FIG. 6, the light-shielding unit 22 may be a pattern formed by a plurality of adjacent curved lines. In the present invention, the width and density of the lines (eg, straight lines or curves) can be changed to adjust the light transmittance of the shading unit 22 . Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 7 , the light-shielding unit 22 may be a pattern formed by a plurality of dot-shaped marks aggregated and arranged; the present invention can change the size of the dot-shaped marks and the distance between the dot-shaped marks to adjust the transparency of the light-shielding unit 22 light rate.

To sum up, in the present invention, a light-shielding unit is arranged above the light-emitting unit to block part of the illumination light of the light-emitting unit to reduce the brightness of the light-emitting keys and the light-emitting keyboard. The location of the shading unit will vary with the structural design of the light-emitting key. If a light-transmitting member is laid above the separator, the light-shielding unit can be arranged on the upper surface or the lower surface of the light-transmitting member, or a part of the light-transmitting member can be processed as a light-shielding unit; if the light-transmitting member is in a fluid form Filled in the hole of the separator, the shading unit will be arranged on the upper surface of the light-transmitting part after hardening, or the upper surface of the light-transmitting part after hardening is processed to be regarded as a shading unit, and the change depends on the design requirements. Depends.

The above descriptions are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and all changes made according to the scope of the patent application of the present invention are equivalent. All modifications and modifications should fall within the scope of the present invention.

12: Illuminated buttons

14: Bottom plate

16: circuit substrate

18: Separator

20: Translucent parts

22: Shading unit

24: Thin film circuit board

26: Button unit

28: Keycaps

30: Lifting support mechanism

32: reset piece

34: Opening

36: Switch

38: light-transmitting hole

40: Lighting unit

42: Hole

Claims (10)

A low-brightness light-emitting key, comprising: a base plate with an opening; a key unit arranged on the base plate and above the opening; a circuit substrate located below the base plate, the circuit substrate having a corresponding to the opening a light-emitting unit; a separator, which is disposed on the circuit substrate and has a hole, the hole is for accommodating the light-emitting unit; a light-transmitting member is located between the separator and the bottom plate; and a light-shielding unit is provided The light-transmitting member is positioned opposite to the light-emitting unit and the key unit for partially blocking the output light of the light-emitting unit from passing through the opening, so as to reduce the light-emitting brightness of the key unit. The light-emitting key according to claim 1, wherein the light-transmitting member is a sheet-like structure and is laid on the separating sheet to shield the hole. The light-emitting key according to claim 1, wherein the light-transmitting member is a gel-like material, which is filled in the hole of the separator to cover the light-emitting unit. The light-emitting key according to claim 1, wherein the light-transmitting member is made of a transparent material, or a filter material that allows specific color light to pass through. The light-emitting key according to claim 1, wherein the shading unit is a pattern formed by a plurality of straight lines staggered, or a pattern formed by a plurality of adjacent curves, or a pattern formed by a plurality of dot marks arranged together. A low-brightness light-emitting keyboard, comprising: a base plate with a plurality of openings; a plurality of light-emitting keys, a key unit of each light-emitting key is arranged on the base plate to correspond to one of the plurality of openings; a circuit substrate, Below the bottom plate, the circuit substrate has a plurality of light-emitting units, respectively corresponding to the plurality of openings; a separator is disposed on the circuit substrate and has a plurality of holes, and the plurality of holes are respectively accommodating the plurality of holes a light-emitting unit; a light-transmitting member located between the partition sheet and the bottom plate; and a plurality of light-shielding units disposed on the light-transmitting member and positioned respectively relative to the plurality of light-emitting units and the plurality of light-emitting buttons, each light-shielding unit It is used to partially block the output light of one of the plurality of light-emitting units from passing through the corresponding opening, so as to reduce the light-emitting brightness of the key unit. The light-emitting keyboard as claimed in claim 6, wherein the light-transmitting member is a sheet-like structure and is laid on the separating sheet to cover the hole. The light-emitting keyboard as claimed in claim 6, wherein the light-transmitting member is a gel-like material, which is filled in the hole of the separator to cover the light-emitting unit. The light-emitting keyboard according to claim 6, wherein the light-transmitting member is made of a transparent material, or a filter material that allows a specific color light to pass through. The light-emitting keyboard as claimed in claim 6, wherein the shading unit is a pattern formed by a plurality of straight lines staggered, or a pattern formed by a plurality of adjacent curves, or a plurality of dots Mark the pattern formed by the aggregated arrangement.

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