Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Hollow or container type article – Polymer or resin containing
Reexamination Certificate
1998-08-07
2002-07-02
Dye, Rena L. (Department: 1772)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Hollow or container type article
Polymer or resin containing
C428S036800, C428S195100, C200S314000, C362S024000, C362S028000, C362S088000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06413598
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a cover member for an illuminated push button switch which is used for a data input unit for a mobile communication equipment, a switch unit therefor or the like, and more particularly to a cover member wherein hard resin is applied onto a top surface of key tops to improve the touch with fingers and a method for manufacturing the same.
In a mobile communication equipment, an illuminated data input unit such as an illuminated push button switch has been used in order to meet the convenience of a night service. In general, such a data input unit is so constructed that press members are mounted directly on a circuit board which is provided thereon with fixed contacts, LEDs and the like. Also, the unit includes a cover member including a substrate made of an elastomeric rubber material and provided with a plurality of movable sections. The movable sections of the substrate each are provided on a front surface thereof with a key top and a rear surface thereof a movable contact.
Such a conventional cover member as described above is typically disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 5-83347. In the cover member disclosed in the patent, key tops each are made of a hard resin material and formed on a rear surface thereof with a punched character printed layer and a colored light-permeable printed layer. Also, the cover member includes key pads each made of a silicone rubber material and including an operation section and a non-operation section. The key pads each are bonded on a surface of the operation section thereof to each of the key tops.
In the cover member disclosed in the patent, it is considered that the key tops each are formed by charging a liquid resin composition in a die and heating it without applying a pressure thereto, to thereby cure it. Thus, the conventional cover member substantially fails to render a top or upper surface of each of the key tops flat, resulting in printing of the punched character printed layer and light-permeable printed layer being highly difficult, so that a display section fails to provide distinct display.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made in view of the foregoing disadvantage of the prior art.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cover member for an illuminated push button switch which is capable of providing the hard touch with fingers when it is incorporated in a switch unit or the like.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a cover member for an illuminated push button switch which is capable of facilitating formation of a symbol/character display section exhibiting distinct display and aesthetic properties.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing a cover member for an illuminated push button switch which is capable of manufacturing a cover member accomplishing the above-described objects.
In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, a cover member for an illuminated push button switch is provided. The cover member includes a substrate made of a light-permeable elastomeric rubber material and including a plurality of movable sections, as well as key tops arranged on the movable sections of the substrate, respectively. The key tops each include a rubber section made of a light-permeable elastomeric rubber material and a resin section made of a light-permeable hard resin material. The rubber sections each are fixed on a surface of each of the movable sections of the substrate and provided on a surface thereof fixed to the movable section with a display section. The resin sections each are fixed on a surface of the rubber section opposite to the surface thereof on which the display section is formed.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the rubber sections fixed on the resin sections each include a flange arranged so as to radially outwardly extend from a lower end of an outer periphery of the resin section.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the rubber sections each have hardness set between hardness of the substrate and that of the resin section.
In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, a method for manufacturing a cover member for an illuminated push button switch is provided. The method includes the steps of pouring a flowable light-permeable hard resin composition into forming recesses of a forming die, curing the light-permeable hard resin composition in the forming recesses to form resin sections, pouring a flowable light-permeable rubber composition onto the resin sections in the forming recesses, curing the light-permeable rubber composition to form rubber sections of which one surface is fixed to the resin sections, respectively, forming a display section on the other surface of each of the rubber sections, forming a light-permeable rubber composition into a substrate including a plurality of movable sections, and bonding an upper surface of each of the movable sections of the substrate and the other surface of each of the rubber sections on which the display section is formed to each other by means of an adhesive.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the display section is formed by providing a light-shielding colored layer formed with a symbol/character-like punched hole on the one surface of each of the rubber sections and charging a light-permeable colored layer onto the light-shielding colored layer in the punched hole.
Also, in accordance with the first aspect of the present invention, a cover member for an illuminated push button switch is provided. The cover member includes a substrate made of a light-permeable elastomeric rubber material and including a plurality of movable sections, as well as key tops arranged on the movable sections of the substrate, respectively. The key tops each include a rubber section made of a light-permeable elastomeric rubber material and a resin section made of a light-permable hard resin material. The rubber section has a flat surface through which the rubber section is fixed on a surface of each of the movable sections of the substrate and provided on the flat surface thereof fixed onto the movable section with a display section. The resin section is fixed on a surface of the rubber section opposite to the flat surface thereof on which the display section is formed. The substrate, rubber section and resin section are made so as to have Shore A hardness of 30 to 65, Shore A hardness of 60 to 80 and Shore D hardness of 50 to 80, respectively.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the rubber section fixed on the resin section includes a flange arranged so as to radially outwardly extend from a lower end of an outer periphery of the resin section.
Further, in accordance with the second aspect of the present invention, a method for manufacturing a cover member for an illuminated push button switch is provided. The method includes the steps of pouring a flowable light-permeable hard resin composition into forming recesses of a forming die, curing the light-permeable hard resin composition in the forming recesses while heating it without applying a pressure thereto, to thereby form resin sections, pouring a flowable light-permeable rubber composition onto the resin sections in the forming recesses, curing the light-permeable rubber composition while heating and pressurizing it, to thereby form rubber sections of which one surface is fixed to the resin sections, respectively, forming the other surface of each of the rubber sections into a flat surface, forming a display section on the flat surface of each of the rubber sections by a screen printing means, forming a light-permeable rubber composition into a substrate including a plurality of movable sections, and bonding an upper surface of each of the movable sections of the substrate and the flat surface of each of the rubber sections to each other by means of a light-permeable adhesive.
Moreover, in accordance with this aspect of the present invention, a method for
Motoki Toshihiro
Nakano Sadao
Dye Rena L.
Lerner David Littenberg Krumholz & Mentlik LLP
Shin-Etsu Polymer Co. Ltd.
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