Electricity: circuit makers and breakers – Electric switch details – Actuators
Reexamination Certificate
2003-03-24
2004-04-20
Friedhofer, Michael A. (Department: 2832)
Electricity: circuit makers and breakers
Electric switch details
Actuators
Reexamination Certificate
active
06723935
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a keyswitch device suitable for use as an input switch device or in a keyboard device used as an input/output device of, for example, a word processor or a personal computer, and a keyboard device including the keyswitch device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hereunder, a related X-shaped keyswitch device used in a keyboard device will be described with reference to
FIGS. 4 and 5
. A mount member
31
is formed of, for example, a metallic plate and comprises a bottom wall
31
a
, a plurality of relatively long supporting sections
31
b
, and a plurality of semi-circular arc shaped holding sections
31
c
. In order to form the supporting sections
31
b
, cuts are formed in the bottom wall
31
a
and the cut portions that are joined at two sides are raised. These cut-and-raised portions are disposed side by side and correspond to the supporting sections
31
b
. In order to form the holding sections
31
c
, cuts are formed in the bottom wall
31
a
in a cantilever manner and the cut portions that are joined at one side are raised. These cut-and-raised portions are disposed side by side and correspond to the holding sections
31
c
, each of which forms a pair with its associated supporting section
31
b
. A flexible substrate (not shown) having a plurality of stationary contacts is disposed on the top surface of the bottom wall
31
a
. A movable contact member
33
comprises a cup-shaped movable section
33
a
, formed of resin or the like, and a contact section
33
b
, disposed on the upper surface of the inner portion of the movable section
33
a
. The movable contact member
33
, opposing stationary contacts
32
, is mounted to the flexible substrate. When the movable section
33
a
is pushed and moved, the contact section
33
b
comes into contact with the stationary contacts
32
, whereas, when the movable section
33
a
is released, the movable section
33
a
returns to its original state by itself, causing the contact section
33
b
to move out of contact with the stationary contacts
32
. A first lever
34
is molded out of synthetic resin and has a U shape. It comprises a pair of arms
34
a
, a connecting section
34
b
connected to one end of each arm
34
a
, and a circular cylindrical engager
34
c
disposed at the other end of each arm
34
a
. A second lever
35
is molded out of synthetic resin and has an H shape. It comprises a pair of arms
35
a
, a connecting section
35
b
connected to the central portion of each arm
35
a
, and circular cylindrical engagers
35
c
and
35
d
disposed at respective ends of each arm
35
a
. By positioning the second lever
35
inside the first lever
34
and placing them so that their central portions are aligned, the first and second levers
34
and
35
are rotatably combined in the form of a cross by a rotary shaft
34
d
, so that the combined form of the first and second levers
34
and
35
has an X-shaped pantograph structure. With the rotary shaft
34
d
as a fulcrum, the upper sides of the first and second levers
34
and
35
can move vertically. The first and second levers
34
and
35
combined in this manner are mounted to the mount member
31
in the following way. First, as shown in
FIG. 4
, one end of one arm
35
a
and one end of the other arm
35
a
of the second lever
35
are pushed towards each other in the directions of arrows X. With these ends of the arms
35
a
moved towards each other, the engagers
35
c
are aligned with their respective holding sections
31
c
. When, after the alignment, the ends of the arms
35
a
that have been pushed towards each other in the directions of arrows X are released, the arms
35
a
return to their original states by themselves, causing the engagers
35
c
to be engaged inside the respective holding sections
31
c
. Next, as shown in
FIG. 4
, one end of one arm
34
a
and one end of the other arm
34
a
of the first lever
34
are pushed towards each other in the directions of arrows Y. With these ends of the arms
34
a
moved towards each other, the engagers
34
c
are aligned with the respective supporting sections
31
b
. When, after the alignment, the ends of the arms
34
a
that have been pushed towards each other in the directions of arrows Y are released, the arms
34
a
return to their original states by themselves, causing the engagers
34
c
to be engaged inside the respective supporting sections
31
b
. In this way, both the first and second levers
34
and
35
are mounted to the mount member
31
with the pairs of arms
34
a
and
35
a
in pushed states. When the first and second levers
34
and
35
are mounted to the mount member
31
, the movable contact member
33
is positioned below the central portions of the crossing portions of the first and second levers
34
and
35
, so that the movable contact member
33
can be pushed by the second lever
35
. A keytop
36
is molded out of synthetic resin and has the shape of an inverted boat. It comprises guides
36
a
and
36
b
. The guide
36
a
is a vertical groove disposed at the inner portion of the lower surface of the keytop
36
. The guide
36
b
is a horizontal groove disposed at the inner portion of the lower surface of the keytop
36
. The keytop
36
is mounted to and supported by the first and second levers
34
and
35
by fitting the connecting section
34
b
of the first lever
34
to the guide
36
a
and fitting the engagers
35
d
of the second lever
35
to the guide
36
b
. The one keytop
36
having such a structure, the pair of first and second levers
34
and
35
, the movable contact member
33
, the stationary contacts
32
, and the mount member
31
form one keyswitch device. By disposing a plurality of such keyswitch devices, a keyboard device is formed. Next, the operation of such a related keyswitch device will be given. First, when the top surface of the keytop
26
is pressed, the first and second levers
34
and
35
are pushed, so that, with the rotary shaft
34
d
as a fulcrum, the first and second levers
34
and
35
are rotated and moved downward. At this time, the engagers
35
c
of the second lever
35
are rotated while they are held by their respective holding sections
31
c
, and the engagers
34
c
of the first lever
34
are slid horizontally while they are supported by their respective supporting sections
31
b
. At the keytop
36
, the engagers
35
d
of the second lever
35
are slid horizontally inside the guide
36
b
, and the connecting section
34
b
of the first lever
34
is slid vertically inside the guide
36
a.
By the downward movement of the first and second levers
34
and
35
, the movable section
33
a
of the movable contact member
33
is pushed downward, causing the contact section
33
b
to come into contact with the stationary contacts
32
, so that the keyswitch device is turned on. Next, when the keytop
36
is released, the movable section
33
a
returns to its original state, causing the first and second levers
34
and
35
to be pushed back upward. This causes the keytop
36
to move upward, so that the first and second levers
34
and
35
and the keytop
36
return to their original states before being pushed, so that the keyswitch device is turned off.
The keyswitch device having the above-described structure is widely used in, for example, keyboard devices of personal computers. However, size reduction of electronic devices in recent years has resulted in an increased tendency for a demand for smaller and thinner keyswitch devices. However, in the keyswitch device having the structure shown in
FIGS. 4 and 5
, the rotary shaft
34
d
serving as the center of rotation of the levers
34
and
35
is at the centers in the lengthwise direction of the levers
34
and
35
, the keytop
36
is connected to the top sides of the levers
34
and
35
with the rotary shaft
34
d
as the center, and the bottom sides of the levers
34
and
35
are connected to the mount member
31
, so that, as the levers
34
and
35
are shortened for the purpose of formin
Alps Electric Co. ,Ltd.
Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione
Friedhofer Michael A.
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