TWM657216U - Touchpad device - Google Patents

Abstract

A touch panel device includes a base unit, a touch unit and an elastic unit. The base unit includes a bottom plate and a support member. The touch unit includes a touch panel, a circuit board and a push switch. The elastic unit includes an elastic plate and a reinforcement frame connected between the elastic plate and the circuit board. The elastic plate has two elastic sheet parts and a supporting part connected to the elastic sheet parts and supported by the support member. The reinforcement frame is in the shape of a closed ring frame and is connected to the elastic sheet parts. By setting up the reinforcement frame, the structural strength can be strengthened all around and the travel limit can be provided.

Description

Touch panel device

The invention relates to an electronic input device, in particular to a touch panel device.

Today's laptops usually include a touch pad (Touch Pad or Track Pad) as an alternative to a mouse.

There is a touch panel device (TW certificate number M631146), which includes a base unit, a linkage unit, and a touch unit. The base unit includes a base body, a fixing portion arranged on the base body, and four hook holes formed at four corners of the base body. The linkage unit includes an elastic plate, two gaskets connected to the elastic plate, and four hook members connected to the elastic plate and respectively abutted against the hook holes. The elastic plate includes a supporting member corresponding to the fixing portion. The touch unit includes a circuit board, a push switch connected to the bottom of the circuit board, and a cover connected to the top of the circuit board. When the cover is pressed, at least one of the hook members is used as a fulcrum to tilt the elastic plates, the circuit board and the cover relative to the base body, and the abutment member of the elastic plate is pushed by the fixing portion, so that the push switch is triggered by the abutment member.

However, the connection structure between the touch unit and the linkage unit is only connected by the circuit board and the pads, and the effect of the full-circle travel limit and the strength of the elastic plate structure need to be strengthened.

Therefore, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a touch panel device that can solve the problems of the prior art.

Therefore, the touch panel device of the present invention comprises a base unit, a touch unit and an elastic unit. The base unit comprises a bottom plate and a support member disposed on the bottom plate. The touch unit comprises a touch panel, a circuit board connected to the bottom of the touch panel, and a push switch disposed at the bottom of the circuit board, and the push switch corresponds to the support member. The elastic unit is arranged between the base plate and the circuit board, and includes an elastic plate connected to the base plate, and a reinforcement frame connected between the elastic plate and the circuit board. The elastic plate has two elastic sheet parts and a supporting part connected to the elastic sheet parts and supported by the supporting member. The supporting part is located between the push switch and the supporting member. The reinforcement frame is in the shape of a closed ring frame and is connected to the elastic sheet parts.

The effect of the present invention is that the reinforcing frame is in the shape of a closed ring frame and is connected to the hook parts of the elastic plate, so that the elastic plate can be limited in the entire stroke and stabilize the stroke, and the structural strength of the elastic plate can be enhanced.

1 to 3 , an embodiment of the novel touch panel device 1 is suitable for being installed at the bottom of a keyboard casing of a notebook computer (not shown), and comprises a base unit 2 , a touch unit 3 , and an elastic unit 4 .

The base unit 2 is disposed at the bottom of the keyboard housing and includes a bottom plate 21 , four hook holes 22 spaced apart at four corners of the bottom plate 21 , and a supporting member 23 disposed at the center of the bottom plate 21 .

The touch unit 3 includes a touch panel 31, a circuit board 32 connected to the bottom of the touch panel 31, and a push switch 33 disposed at the bottom of the circuit board 32.

The elastic unit 4 is disposed between the bottom plate 21 and the circuit board 32 and includes an elastic plate 41 connected to the bottom plate 21 and a reinforcing frame 42 connected between the elastic plate 41 and the circuit board 32.

Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 , the elastic plate 41 has two elastic sheet portions 411 spaced apart along a left-right direction X, a supporting portion 412 connected to the elastic sheet portions 411 and supported by the support member 23, four hook portions 413 connected to the elastic sheet portions 411 and respectively hooked in the hook holes 22, and two reinforcing sheet portions 414 connected to the elastic sheet portions 411. Each elastic sheet portion 411 is substantially U-shaped, and has a connecting section 415 connected to the supporting portion 412, and two extending sections 416 extending from the connecting section 415 away from the supporting portion 412 along the left-right direction X. The extending sections 416 are spaced apart along a front-rear direction Y perpendicular to the left-right direction X, and are respectively connected to two of the hook portions 413. Each reinforcing sheet portion 414 is located between the elastic sheet portions 411 , and each reinforcing sheet portion 414 connects two adjacent extension sections 416 of the elastic sheet portions 411 along the left-right direction X. The reinforcing sheets 414 are fixed to the bottom plate 21 .

The reinforcement frame 42 is in the shape of a closed ring frame and is connected to the elastic sheet parts 411. The reinforcement frame 42 has two first frame rods 421 and two second frame rods 422 respectively connected to the first frame rods 421. Each first frame rod 421 is connected to two of the corresponding hook parts 413, and the second frame rods 422 are respectively located on the outer sides of the elastic sheet parts 411 and the reinforcement sheet parts 414. The first frame rods 421 of this embodiment are joined to the corresponding hook parts 413 by spot welding. The first frame rods 421 and the second frame rods 422 are joined to the circuit board 32 by adhesive bonding.

Referring to FIG. 1 , FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 , when the touch panel device 1 is assembled, the touch unit 3 is spaced relative to the bottom plate 21 and is located at an initial position by the upward elastic force provided by the elastic plate 41, and the push switch 33 has not been triggered and has not generated a signal. The hook portions 413 use the elastic force provided by the elastic sheet portions 411 to press upward against the periphery of the bottom plate 21 corresponding to the hook holes 22.

When the touch panel 31 is pressed toward the bottom plate 21, the abutting portion 412 of the elastic plate 41 is supported by the supporting member 23 and does not tilt relative to the bottom plate 21, so that the push switch 33 is pushed by the abutting portion 412 when the circuit board 32 moves relative to the bottom plate 21 and is triggered to generate a signal (not shown).

When the pressing force applied to the touch panel 31 is released, the touch unit 3 returns to the initial position by utilizing the elastic restoring force provided by the elastic sheet portions 411.

Therefore, by utilizing the closed ring frame 42 connected to the hook portions 413 of the elastic plate 41, the reinforcing frame 42 provides the elastic plate 41 with a full-circle travel limit relative to the bottom plate unit 10, which not only stabilizes the downward and upward travel of the touch unit 3, but also enhances the structural strength of the elastic plate 41.

In summary, the novel touch panel device 1 has a simple overall structure and is easy to manufacture and assemble, so it can truly achieve the purpose of the novel device.

However, the above is only an example of the implementation of the present invention, and it cannot be used to limit the scope of the implementation of the present invention. All simple equivalent changes and modifications made according to the scope of the patent application of the present invention and the content of the patent specification are still within the scope of the present patent.

1: Touch panel device 2: Base unit 21: Bottom plate 22: Hook hole 23: Supporting part 3: Touch unit 31: Touch panel 32: Circuit board 33: Push switch 4: Elastic unit 41: Elastic plate 411: Elastic sheet 412: Abutment section 413: Hook section 414: Reinforcement sheet 415: Connecting section 416: Extension section 42: Reinforcement frame 421: First frame bar 422: Second frame bar X: Left and right direction Y: Front and back direction

Other features and functions of the present invention will be clearly presented in the implementation method with reference to the drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional assembly diagram of an embodiment of the touch panel device of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a three-dimensional exploded diagram of the embodiment; FIG. 3 is a three-dimensional assembly diagram of the embodiment with a touch unit omitted; FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram along line IV-IV of FIG. 1; and FIG. 5 is a partial enlarged schematic diagram of FIG. 4.

1: Touch panel device

2: Base unit

21: Base plate

22: Hook hole

23: Support parts

3: Touch unit

31: Touch panel

32: Circuit board

33: Press switch

4: Elastic unit

41: Elastic board

411: Shrapnel Department

412: Abutment

413: Hook section

414: Reinforcement sheet

415: Connection segment

416: Extension section

42: Reinforcement frame

421: First frame

422: Second frame

X: left and right direction

Y: front and back direction

Claims (3)

A touch panel device comprises: A base unit, including a bottom plate and a support member disposed on the bottom plate; A touch unit, including a touch panel, a circuit board connected to the bottom of the touch panel, and a push switch disposed at the bottom of the circuit board, the push switch corresponding to the support member; and An elastic unit is arranged between the bottom plate and the circuit board, and includes an elastic plate connected to the bottom plate, and a reinforcing frame connected between the elastic plate and the circuit board. The elastic plate has two elastic sheet parts, and a supporting part connected to the elastic sheet parts and supported by the supporting member. The supporting part is between the push switch and the supporting member. The reinforcing frame is in the shape of a closed ring frame and is connected to the elastic sheet parts. As described in claim 1, the base unit further includes a plurality of hook holes arranged on the bottom plate, and the elastic plate also has a plurality of hook portions connected to the elastic sheet portions and respectively hooked in the hook holes. A touch panel device as described in claim 2, wherein the elastic plate also has two reinforcing sheet parts connected to the elastic sheet parts, each elastic sheet part has a connecting section connected to the supporting section, and two extending sections extending from the connecting section in a direction away from the supporting section, the extending sections are respectively connected to two of the hook parts, the reinforcement frame has two first frame rods, and two second frame rods respectively connected to the first frame rods, each first frame rod is connected to two of the corresponding hook parts, and the second frame rods are located on the outside of the reinforcing sheet parts.

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