JPH10169264A - Key with built-in electronic component - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate and ensure temporary locking of a key plate with an electronic component and to miniaturize a bow part. SOLUTION: The tongue part 9 of a printed board 7 is laid on top of the base 4 of a key plate 2 and a screw 12 is tightened to temporarily lock the printed board 7 to the base 4. Since the end 11a of an arm part 11 is curved, the end 11a approaches the side face of a mounting part 8. Thereby the printed board 7 is restrained from rotating about the screw 12. Thereafter, the base 4 and the printed board 7 (electronic component 6) are molded and then put in molding dies, and soft vinyl chloride is injected therein to mold a bow part, thereby completing a vehicular key.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a key with a built-in electronic component having a knob portion with a built-in electronic component.

[0002]

Conventionally, in a key for a vehicle, for example, electronic parts such as a transponder for remotely controlling locking and unlocking of a door and electronic parts for identifying an owner are provided at a knob. A built-in one is provided. In this case, the knob portion is formed by integrally molding the base of the key plate and the electronic component and insert-molding, but is mounted on a printed circuit board so as to withstand heat and pressure during insert molding. The electronic component is molded (resin-sealed) in a rectangular box shape. Also, in order to integrate the electronic component molded in a rectangular box shape with the base of the key plate, both are housed in a holder and the holder is insert-molded with a synthetic resin.

However, according to the above configuration, since a holder for integrating the electronic component and the base of the key plate is required, the number of components is increased by that much and the cost is increased. Further, since the size of the holder for accommodating the key plate base and the electronic components needs to be larger than that of the electronic component, there is a problem that the size of the knob is increased by insert-molding the holder.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to easily and securely fix a key plate to an electronic component, and to reduce the size of a knob by incorporating an electronic component. The key is to provide.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, an electronic component built-in key according to a first aspect of the present invention is provided with a key plate and an electronic component temporarily fixed to a base of the key plate and mounted. It is characterized by comprising a printed circuit board whose parts are molded by a protection member, and a knob section molded so as to surround the printed circuit board temporarily fixed to the key plate.

According to this structure, the printed circuit board on which the electronic components are mounted is temporarily fixed to the base of the key plate.
Since the knob portion is formed by molding so as to surround them, the base portion of the key plate and the electronic component are housed in a holder as in the related art, and compared with a case where the molding is performed so as to surround the holder. The size of the knob can be reduced. Moreover, even in a configuration in which the base of the key plate and the printed board are directly molded, the electronic components mounted on the printed board are molded in advance, so that when the mold for forming the knob is formed. It is possible to prevent the function of the electronic component from deteriorating due to heat or pressure of the electronic component.

In this case, the printed circuit board is temporarily fixed to the base portion of the key plate at one position, and a restricting portion for restricting the printed circuit board from rotating about the temporary fixing portion is provided at the base portion of the key plate. With this configuration (the electronic component built-in key of claim 2), the labor for temporarily fixing the printed circuit board can be reduced, and the strength of the printed circuit board due to the temporary fixing can be reduced by minimizing the temporarily fixed portion. It can be suppressed as much as possible. In addition, the provision of the restricting portion at the base of the key plate allows the provisional fixing to be one.
The printed circuit board does not rotate even at the location.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the electronic component built-in key, the printed board is formed in a rectangular shape, and the base of the key plate has a U-shape having an arm corresponding to the outer shape of the temporarily fixed printed board. And the restricting portion is formed by forming the arm portion so as to protrude at a position close to or in contact with the side surface of the printed circuit board.

With this configuration, the printed board temporarily fixed to the base of the key plate is sandwiched from both sides by the restricting portions formed on the arms, so that the printed board is reliably prevented from rotating. Can do it, and
Since the printed circuit board and the base of the key plate do not overlap, the size of the knob can be reduced.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the electronic component built-in key of the present invention is applied to a vehicle key will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 2 showing the overall configuration of a vehicle key
, The vehicle key 1 includes a key plate 2 and a knob 3
It is composed of The key plate 1 is made of metal and includes a base portion 4 located inside the knob portion 3 and an insertion portion 5 which is narrower than the base portion 4 and extends outside the knob portion 3.

The key plate 1 is provided in the knob 3.
Printed circuit board 7 on which electronic component 6 is mounted in addition to base 4
Are built in such a manner as to surround the base 4 of the key plate 1 and the printed circuit board 7, that is, in a state where the base 4 of the key plate 1 and the printed circuit board 7 are integrated as described later in detail. The knob 3 is molded by placing it in a molding die and injecting, for example, soft vinyl chloride.

Next, the configuration of the printed circuit board 7 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the printed board 7 includes a mounting portion 8 having a substantially rectangular shape, on which the electronic components 6 are mounted, and a rectangular tongue 9 integrally provided on one side of the mounting portion 8. ing.

FIG. 3 shows the key plate 1 shown in FIG.
1 is a view of the base 4 and the printed circuit board 7 as viewed from below in FIG. 1, while FIG. 4 is a view as viewed from the left side in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the electronic components 6 are mounted on both sides of the mounting section 8.
The electronic component 6 is, for example, a microcomputer 6a or a ferrite coil 6b, and at the time of starting a vehicle (not shown), communication by an electromagnetic induction method is performed between an antenna coil provided in the vehicle and the ferrite coil 6b. Owner identification is performed.

On the other hand, the base 4 of the key plate 2 is a portion that is continuous with the insertion
The tongue 9 is formed in a U-shape including a temporary fixing portion 10 to be temporarily fixed and a pair of arms 11 and 11 extending from both ends of the temporary fixing portion 10. The distance between the pair of arms 11, 11 corresponds to the outer shape of the mounting portion 8 of the printed circuit board 7, and the tongue 9 of the printed circuit board 7 is
Is temporarily fixed, the mounting portion 8 faces the side surface of the base portion 4. Also, the tip 11 of the arm 11
a has a notch on the inside and has a narrow width, and as shown in FIG. 3, the front end 11a is bent to the side where the printed circuit board 7 is temporarily fixed.

The tongue 9 and the temporary fixing part 10 have holes 9
The printed circuit board 7 is temporarily fixed to the base 4 of the key plate 2 by inserting and screwing the screws 12 into the holes 9a and 10a. Therefore, the screw 12 functions as a temporary fixing portion according to the present invention.

Further, the ferrite coil 6b is formed as shown in FIG.
As is clear from FIG. 7, the electronic component 6 is the tallest of the electronic components 6 mounted on the mounting section 8, and the printed circuit board 7 is mounted such that the surface on which the ferrite coil 6b is mounted faces down.
Are temporarily fixed to the base 4 of the key plate 2. In this way, since the ferrite coil 6b is located between the arms 11 of the key plate 2, the ferrite coil 6b protruding outside the base 4 of the key plate 2
Is smaller than the actual height of the ferrite coil 6b by the thickness of the key plate 2, and the thickness of the knob 3 can be reduced.

Therefore, of the tongue 9 of the printed circuit board 7, a white marking M indicating that the surface on which the microcomputer 6a is mounted is on the front side, that is, the upper side when temporarily fixed. Are applied by silk printing (shown by oblique lines in FIGS. 1 and 2).

Here, when forming the knob 3,
As described above, a method of temporarily fixing the printed circuit board 7 to the base 4 of the key plate 2 and then molding them is used. Hereinafter, this procedure will be described.

First, the tongue 9 of the printed board 7 is placed on the base 4 of the key plate 2 so that the white marking M is on the front side, and the screws 12 are tightened to temporarily fix the printed board 7 to the base 4. I do. At this time, the mounting portion 8 of the printed circuit board 7 is attached to the both arms 11, 11 of the base 4 of the key plate 2.
The printed circuit board 7 is temporarily fixed to the base 4 so as to be located therebetween. Then, a pair of arms 11,
11 will be close to each other. Therefore, the mounting portion 8 is provided with the distal ends 11a, 1 of the arms 11, 11.
1a, and the printed circuit board 7 is
The rotation about is restricted. Therefore, the tip portion 11a functions as a regulating portion in the present invention.

Then, after temporarily fixing the printed board 7 to the base 4 of the key plate 2, this portion is immersed (dipped) in a protective member, for example, epoxy resin, so that the base 4 and the printed board 7 ( The electronic component 6) is molded (hereinafter, referred to as a primary mold). After the epoxy resin is cured, the key plate 2
The knob portion 3 is formed by molding the base portion 4 and the printed circuit board 7 to complete the vehicle key 1.

Incidentally, instead of immersing the base portion 4 of the key plate 2 and the printed board 7 in epoxy resin as a primary mold, it is also possible to apply or spray an epoxy resin on the electronic components 6 of the printed board 7.

According to the present embodiment, the printed circuit board 7 is temporarily fixed to the base 4 of the key plate 2, and the knobs 3 are formed by molding them.
As compared with the conventional case where the holder in which the base of the key plate and the electronic component are housed is molded, the knob 3
Can be reduced in size.

In addition, after the printed circuit board 7 is temporarily fixed to the base 4 of the key plate 2, these are firstly molded with epoxy resin and the electronic components 6 are protected with epoxy resin. When molding is performed, even if heat or pressure is applied to the electronic component 6, the influence thereof can be reduced, and a decrease in the function of the electronic component 6 can be prevented as much as possible.

The printed circuit board 7 includes the key plate 2
Since the base 4 is temporarily fixed with one screw 12, the time required for the temporary fixing work can be reduced,
In addition, a decrease in the strength of the printed circuit board 7 due to the tightening of the screw 12 can be suppressed as much as possible.

Since the ferrite coil 6a mounted on the printed circuit board 7 is configured to receive energy due to electromagnetic induction from the antenna coil provided on the vehicle side, the direction of the ferrite coil 6a with respect to the key plate 2 is changed. When the angle is inclined, the communication performance between the ferrite coil 6a and the antenna coil is reduced. However, in the present embodiment, the printed circuit board 7 temporarily fixed to the base 4 is in a state in which both side surfaces are sandwiched by the distal end portions 11a of the arms 11 of the base 4, so that the temporarily fixed printed circuit board 7 is Rotation around the screw 12 can be prevented. Therefore, the direction of the ferrite coil 6a mounted on the printed circuit board 7 with respect to the key plate 2 is
With the printed circuit board 7 temporarily fixed to the base 4, the knob 5 can be maintained until it is molded.

Moreover, in this embodiment, the base 4 of the key plate 2 is formed into a U-shape, and the tip 11a of the arm 11 is bent to the side where the printed board 7 is temporarily fixed, thereby rotating the printed board 7. Since the regulation is performed, the regulation unit can be completed with a simple configuration.

The present embodiment is not limited to the embodiment described above and shown in the drawings, and the following modifications or extensions are possible. In the above embodiment, the restricting portion is configured by bending the distal end portion 11a of the arm portion 11. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the middle portion of the arm portion 11 may be bent in a mountain shape, or the arm portion 11 may be bent. Protrusions may be provided. In short, it is sufficient that the protrusions have a configuration that protrudes to a position close to or in contact with the side surface of the printed circuit board 7 to be temporarily fixed.

The temporary fixing portion is not limited to the screw 12 but may be a rivet. Alternatively, a convex portion may be provided on the base portion 4 of the key plate 2 in advance, and a hole formed in the tongue portion 9 of the printed circuit board 7 may be formed in the convex portion. Various changes are possible, for example, the 9a may be inserted. Further, the present invention is not limited to a vehicle key, but can be applied to all keys having electronic parts built in a knob.

[0029]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the electronic component built-in key of the present invention, the printed circuit board on which the electronic component is mounted is temporarily fixed to the base of the key plate.
The electronic component was molded with a protective member, and the knob was formed by molding so as to surround the printed circuit board temporarily fixed to the base of the key plate. The size of the knob can be reduced as compared with the case where components are stored and molded. In addition, since the electronic component temporarily fixed to the base of the key plate is molded by the protective member, even if pressure or heat is applied to the electronic component when molding the knob, the effect is minimized. Therefore, the deterioration of the function of the electronic component can be suppressed as much as possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention, in which a printed circuit board is temporarily fixed to a base of a key plate.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a knob portion of the vehicle key, partially cut away;

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a state where a printed circuit board is temporarily fixed to a base of a key plate;

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a state where a printed circuit board is temporarily fixed to a base of a key plate.

[Explanation of symbols]

In the figure, 1 is a vehicle key (key with built-in electronic components), 2 is a key plate, 3 is a knob, 4 is a base, 6 is an electronic component, 7 is a printed circuit board, 11 is an arm, and 11a is a tip (regulation). Parts) and 12 indicate screws (temporary fixing parts).

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Sadao Kokubu 1 Noda, Toyota, Oguchi-machi, Oguchi-machi, Niwa-gun, Aichi Prefecture Tokai Rika Electric Works, Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A key plate, a printed board temporarily fixed to a base of the key plate, and a mounted electronic component molded by a protective member; and a printed board temporarily fixed to the key plate. An electronic component built-in key comprising: a knob portion molded so as to surround the key. 2. The printed circuit board is temporarily fixed to a base portion of the key plate at one position, and a restricting portion for restricting rotation about the temporarily fixed portion of the printed circuit board is formed at the base portion of the key plate. The electronic component built-in key according to claim 1, wherein the electronic component built-in key is provided. 3. The printed circuit board is formed in a rectangular shape, and a base of the key plate is formed in a U-shape having an arm corresponding to an outer shape of the temporarily fixed printed circuit board. 3. The electronic component built-in key according to claim 2, wherein the restricting portion is formed by being formed in a shape protruding at a position close to or in contact with a side surface of the printed circuit board. 4.