JP2000311546A - Push-button switch and its manufacture - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a display part for a three-dimensional display by an inexpensive and easy manufacturing method, by providing a recessed display part with a depth of not less than a specific value on the back surface of a transparent key top, by coloring the peripheral wall surface of the recessed part slanted inward to the bottom surface, and in addition by bonding a key pad of rubber-like elastic body to its underneath. SOLUTION: A recessed part with a depth of not less than 0.3 mm is formed on the back surface of a key-top 1 of a transparent resin so that it turns toward its surface side from the back surface, and is shaped so that the peripheral wall surface of this recessed part slantingly gets narrower as it gets closer toward the bottom surface. The inside of the recessed part is colored by a coloring part 9 to form a display part, and the key pad 2 of a rubber-like elastic body is bonded to the underneath of the colored layer 10 provided on the back surface of the key top 1 by an adhesive 3. The recessed part on the back of the key top 1 can be easily molded by protrusively processing a molding die of the key top 1 to a desired shape in advance, and the coloring part 9 is obtained from a substance formed by hardening a liquid organic high polymer. Thereby, a high quality three-dimensional display part can be obtained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a key top and a rubber made of a resin having an aesthetic appearance and a high quality, which are used for a cellular phone, a portable information terminal, a remote controller for various home appliances, a card remote controller and various keyboards. The present invention relates to a push-button switch to which a keypad made of an elastic body is adhered.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a push button switch for a portable communication device such as a cellular phone or a car phone, a push button switch composed of a resin key top having a display portion and an elastic key pad is often used. Above all, an illuminated push button switch in which a key top made of a transparent resin having a display portion on the back surface and a keypad made of a translucent rubber-like elastic body are bonded with a translucent adhesive is preferred.

[0003] In Japanese Patent No. 2627692, a display portion that illuminates only a character portion is printed on the back surface of a key top formed of a light-transmitting hard resin, and is bonded to a light-transmitting silicone rubber with a light-transmitting adhesive. Illuminated keys are described.
In recent years, the design of the display unit provided on the key top has diversified, and not only the illumination function but also the metallic tone design with metallic tone and reflection function has been demanded, and the design that letters can be seen in three dimensions has been demanded. I have.

[0004]

However, according to the conventional method of forming the display portion on the back surface of the resin, the display portion is formed by printing or thin film transfer, so that the display portion has a metallic tone or a metallic tone having a reflection function. Design can be realized,
A design in which the display section looks three-dimensional could not be realized.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention forms a desired concave portion on the back surface of a key top to serve as a display portion, thereby providing a three-dimensional structure by an inexpensive and easy manufacturing method. An object of the present invention is to provide a push button switch having a design of a visible display section.

That is, in a push-button switch in which a key top made of a transparent resin and a key pad made of a rubber-like elastic body are bonded, a display portion having a depth of 0.3 mm or more is formed on the back surface of the key top. Further, a push button switch in which the peripheral wall surface of the concave portion of the display portion is inclined inward toward the bottom surface, and the inside of the concave portion of the display portion is colored. Further, the push button switch has a curved bottom surface corner of the concave portion of the display unit.

Further, there is provided a push button switch in which a colored layer is provided on the back surface of the key top. Further, a key top made of a transparent resin having a display portion with a depth of 0.3 mm or more recessed on the back surface is molded, the inside of the display portion is colored, and the push button switch is bonded to a key pad made of a rubber-like elastic material. It is a manufacturing method.

The display section of the present invention preferably has a depth of 0.3 mm or more from the back surface of the key top to the front surface side. If the depth of the recess is less than 0.3 mm, the display may not be three-dimensionally visible depending on the color tone.
A more preferred depth is at least 0.5 mm.

The display portion of the present invention has a concave portion having a depth of 0.3 mm or more from the rear surface of the key top to the front surface side, and the peripheral wall surface of the concave portion is inclined inward toward the bottom surface. is there. For example, the longitudinal cross-sectional shape of the concave portion includes a semicircle, a triangle, a trapezoid, a polygon, and the like. Further, the corner in the concave portion may be curved.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A typical embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention is a push button switch in which a key top 1 made of a transparent resin and a keypad 2 made of a rubber-like elastic body are adhered by an adhesive 3. A concave portion 5 having a depth of 0.3 mm or more is formed from the back surface 4 to the front surface side, and the concave portion becomes narrower toward the bottom surface (upward in the figure).
That is, the peripheral wall surface 6 of the concave portion extends from the opening 7 of the concave portion to the bottom surface 8.
The shape is inclined so that it approaches inward toward
Further, the inside of the concave portion is colored (colored portion 9). Furthermore, a colored layer 10 was provided on the back surface of the key top 1.
The colored portion of the present invention is provided on the bottom surface and the peripheral wall surface in the concave portion, and the colored portion may be depressed or protruded from the back surface of the keytop, or may be on the same plane. FIG. 2 shows a vertical cross section of a key top according to another embodiment of the present invention.

According to the method of manufacturing a push button switch of the present invention, a key top made of a transparent resin having a concave portion having a depth of 0.3 mm or more formed on the back surface is formed, and the inside of the concave portion is coated, embedded, and embedded.
This is a manufacturing method in which the display portion is colored by vapor deposition or the like, and a coloring layer is formed on the rear surface by printing or the like as necessary, and is adhered to a keypad made of a rubber-like elastic body. The method of forming the concave portion of the display portion on the back surface of the key top according to the present invention can be easily performed by projecting a key top forming die into a desired shape.

The colored portion of the present invention can be appropriately selected from materials such as a liquid organic polymer cured product, a thermoplastic material, and an inorganic material according to the design of the display portion. The method of forming the colored portion of the present invention is a method of printing and injecting a colored liquid organic polymer to which an organic solvent is added in an appropriate amount, applying by dropping, etc., and curing the same, with a colored thermoplastic material. Examples thereof include a method using two-color molding and a method in which an inorganic substance is deposited as a thin film by vapor deposition, sputtering, or the like in a vacuum. The method can be appropriately selected depending on the design of the display unit, manufacturing cost, and the like.

[0013]

Example 1 A key top was formed by using a polycarbonate resin to form a recess having a triangular cross section with a depth of 0.5 mm on the back surface. An aluminum thin film was formed as a colored portion 9 in the concave portion by vacuum evaporation, and a colored layer 10 was provided on the back surface of the keytop by screen printing. The key top was bonded to a silicone rubber keypad with an epoxy adhesive to obtain a push button switch as shown in FIG. In this push button switch, the display portion looked metallic and three-dimensional.

[0014]

Example 2 A key top having a semicircular cross section with a depth of 1.0 mm formed on the back surface thereof was formed using a polycarbonate resin. A liquid ultraviolet curable resin colored blue was injected into the concave portion to the back surface and cured by ultraviolet rays to form a colored portion 9, and a colored layer 10 was provided on the back surface of the keytop by screen printing. The key top was bonded to a silicone rubber keypad with a silicone adhesive to obtain a push button switch as shown in FIG. This push button switch
The display part looked blue and three-dimensional.

[0015]

Comparative Example 1 A printed display portion 11 having a thickness of 0.1 mm was formed on the top surface of a silicone rubber keypad by screen printing, and an ultraviolet curable resin was applied to the top surface and cured to form a key top. Thus, a push button switch as shown in FIG. 6 was obtained.
The display of this push button switch did not look three-dimensional.

[0016]

COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 2 A key top having a concave section 12 having a rectangular cross section with a depth of 1.0 mm was formed on the back surface using a polycarbonate resin. A black colored ink was injected into the concave portion and cured by heat to form a colored portion. Further, a colored layer was provided on the back surface of the keytop by screen printing. The key top was bonded to a silicone rubber keypad with a silicone adhesive to obtain a push button switch as shown in FIG. In this push button switch, the air 13 remained on the display unit and the appearance was poor.

[0017]

According to the present invention, a concave portion having a desired shape is formed on the back surface of a key top, and the concave portion is colored to form a display portion. Pushbutton switch having the following design.

Since the shape of the concave portion of the present invention is an inclined surface shape approaching inward toward the bottom surface, the liquid portion to which a suitable amount of an organic solvent is added as necessary when forming the colored portion in the concave portion is formed. Even if the organic polymer is applied by printing, pouring, dropping, or the like, it can be cured without air remaining in the concave portion, and a thin inorganic film can be formed around the concave portion using a vapor deposition method or the like. It can be uniformly attached to a wall surface or a bottom surface, and becomes a high-quality three-dimensional display portion.

Further, since the coloring layer is provided on the back surface of the key top, the adhesive layer between the key top and the key pad becomes invisible during operation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a typical embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the key top of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the key top according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of Comparative Example 1.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of Comparative Example 2.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Key top 2 Keypad 3 Adhesive 4 Back surface 5 Depression 6 Peripheral wall surface 7 Opening 8 Bottom 9 Coloring part 10 Coloring layer 11 Print display part 12 Rectangular concave part 13 Air

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A push-button switch comprising a transparent key top and a rubber-like elastic keypad, wherein a display portion having a depth of 0.3 mm or more is provided on the back surface of the key top, and the display portion further comprises A push button switch characterized in that the inside of the recess is colored. 2. The push button switch according to claim 1, wherein a peripheral wall surface of the concave portion of the display section is inclined inward toward the bottom. 3. The push button switch according to claim 1, wherein a corner of a bottom surface of the concave portion of the display section is curved. 4. The push button switch according to claim 1, wherein a color layer is provided on the back surface of the key top. 5. A key top made of a transparent resin having a display portion with a depth of 0.3 mm or more recessed on the back surface, and the inside of the display portion is colored and then bonded to a key pad made of a rubber-like elastic material. A method for manufacturing a push button switch, characterized in that: