Electricity: circuit makers and breakers – Electric switch details – Actuators
Reexamination Certificate
2002-04-11
2004-08-17
Luebke, Renee (Department: 2833)
Electricity: circuit makers and breakers
Electric switch details
Actuators
Reexamination Certificate
active
06777634
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a key-switch device for use as various input devices of personal computers and word processors, etc., and in particular it relates to a key-switch device corresponding to miniaturization and reduction in thickness of notebook-size personal computers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Along with demands for reduction in size and miniaturization of the entire device, various key-switch devices have been proposed, in which a key-top is attached at the upper end of a pair of lever members crosswise linked together so as to change the angle between the pair of lever members link-crossing each other by moving the key-top up-and-down.
The type of conventional key-switch device will be described below with reference to
FIGS. 26
to
29
.
As shown in
FIG. 26
, the conventional key-switch device principally comprises a key-top
101
, a holder member
130
disposed beneath the key-top
101
, a guide-supporting member
106
for guiding and supporting the key-top
101
between an elevated position separated from the holder member
130
and a lowered position coming close to the holder member
130
, and a rubber spring
131
arranged between the key-top
101
and the holder member
130
.
The key-top
101
, as shown in
FIGS. 26 and 27
, is provided with a character (not shown) formed on the top surface thereof by printing, and a pair of rotational retainers
101
a
and a pair of slide-retainers
101
b
, which are respectively arranged on the back surface. The pair of rotational retainers
101
a
are provided with retaining slots
104
respectively formed thereon while the pair of slide-retainers
101
b
are provided with retaining slots
105
respectively formed thereon.
The guide-supporting member
106
is formed of two resin-made lever members
107
and
108
. As shown in
FIG. 28
, one U-shaped lever member
107
comprises a pair of arms
107
a
and a base-end part
107
b
connecting one end of one arm
107
a
to that of the other arm
107
a
. The other end of each arm
107
a
is provided with a retainer pin
107
d
protruded therefrom, and the central part of each arm
107
a
is provided with a shaft
107
c
formed inside thereof to protrude therefrom.
The other lever member
108
, as shown in
FIG. 29
, comprises a pair of arms
108
a
, a base-end part
108
b
connecting one end of one arm
108
a
to that of the other arm
108
a
, retainer pins
108
d
formed at the other end of each arm
108
a
, and a depressing shaft
110
for connecting inside central parts of the arms
108
a
together. The central part of each arm
108
a
is provided with a hole
108
c
formed outside thereof, and at one end of each arm
108
a
, a retainer pin
108
e
is formed to protrude from outside.
The holder member
130
, as shown in
FIGS. 26 and 27
, is formed of a metallic flat plate and comprises a pair of fitting parts
126
and a pair of retainers
127
, which are cut-up from the surface. In addition, on the top surface of the holder member
130
, a metallic frame
132
having plural openings
132
a
is arranged, and the fitting parts
126
and the retainers
127
protrude upwardly from the openings
132
a
of the frame
132
.
The base-end part
107
b
of the one lever member
107
is rotatably retained in the retaining slots
104
of the rotational retainers
101
a
while the retainer pins
107
d
are slidably retained to the fitting parts
126
of the holder member
130
.
Also, the retainer pins
108
d
of the other lever member
108
are slidably retained in the retaining slots
105
of the slide-retainers
101
b
of the key-top
101
, while the retainer pins
108
e
are rotatably retained in the retainers
127
of the holder member
130
.
Next, assembling of the key-switch device will be described: a conductive film sheet (not shown) is placed on the holder member
130
. In addition, the sheet has the rubber spring
131
bonded thereon in advance. From the sheet, the fitting parts
126
of the holder member
130
and the retainers
127
protrude upwardly through the openings
132
a
of the frame
132
.
Next, the one lever member
107
and the other lever member
108
are crosswise combined together so that each shaft
107
c
is rotatably inserted into the hole
108
c
so as to complete the guide-supporting member
106
. Then, while the retainer pins
108
e
of the lever member
108
are press-fitted into holes of the retainers
127
of the holder member
130
, the retainer pins
107
d
are slidably retained in the fitting parts
126
. At this time, the depressing shaft
110
is positioned on the rubber spring
131
.
Next, the key-top
101
is prepared so as to elastically abut the retainer pins
108
d
of the lever member
108
by depressing them from an obliquely upper direction (upper right part of FIG.
26
), and the retainer pins
108
d
of the lever member
108
are inserted into the retaining slots
105
of the key-top
101
by trial and error.
Furthermore, the key-top
101
is urged to an upper part (the base-end part
107
b
and the retainer pins
108
d
) of the lever members
107
and
108
from the upper part so as to snap the retaining slots
104
of the key-top
101
into the base-end part
107
b
of the lever member
107
.
In such a manner, the key-switch device is completed.
Next, operation of the key-switch device will be described: referring to
FIG. 26
, when pushing down the key-top
101
, the base-end part
107
b
of the one lever member
107
rotates within the retaining slots
104
of the rotational retainers
101
a
while the retainer pins
108
d
of the other lever member
108
slides within the retaining slots
105
of the slide-retainers
101
b
horizontally (the lateral direction in FIG.
26
). Simultaneously, the base-end part
108
b
of the lever member
108
rotates within retaining holes of the retainers
127
of the holder member
130
while the retainer pins
107
d
of the lever member
107
slides within the fitting parts
126
for slidably retaining the pin horizontally (the lateral direction in FIG.
26
).
As a result, a bearing A for mutually journaling the lever members
107
and
108
on bearings moves downwardly while the depressing shaft
110
pushes the rubber spring
131
down gradually so as to be buckled. Thereby, a movable contact (not shown) within the rubber spring
131
establishes a short circuit in a fixed-contact pattern (not shown) on the holder member
130
so as to perform a predetermined switching operation.
When the pushing-down of the key-top
101
is canceled, the bearing A of both the lever members
107
and
108
is pushed up due to an elastic restoring force of the rubber spring
131
so as to perform the reverse operation (switching-off operation) to that mentioned above, resulting in returning the key-top
101
to the original position.
As mentioned above, various different characters or symbols may be printed on the key-tops
101
attach to the lever members
107
and
108
.
A number of problem exist with the conventional key-top thus described. For example, after the key-switch device is assembled in advance, it may need to be changed to that of a different kind according to demand during assembling or after assembling. When removing the key-top
101
from the lever members
107
and
108
, the key-top
101
has to be changed while maintaining the intersecting angle between the lever members
107
and
108
. This is an extremely complicated operation unless a specially designed jig is used.
Another problem occurs when assembling the key-switch device: first, after assembling the guide-supporting member
106
, in which the lever members
107
and
108
are crossed with each her, both the retainer pins
108
e
and
108
e
of the lever member
108
are press-fitted into the retainers
127
of the holder member
130
.
Then, the retainer pins
107
d
and
107
d
of the one lever member
107
are inserted into both the fitting parts
126
and
126
so as to assemble the lever members
107
and
108
into the holder member
130
. However, since the slend
Ito Takayuki
Narusawa Tsuyoshi
Yaginuma Sadayuki
Yakoyama Kazuhiro
Alps Electric Co. ,Ltd.
Brinks Hoffer Gilson & Lione
Luebke Renee
LandOfFree
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