KR20070081513A - Keypad for a mobile phone embodying tectile impression by elasticity of a film and method for manufacturing thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A keypad for a mobile phone embodying tactile impression by elasticity of a film and a manufacturing method thereof are provided to reduce the thickness of the keypad by reducing the thickness of a key top and a base without a front housing structure. A keypad for a mobile phone embodying tactile impression by elasticity of a film includes a keypad rubber(121), and a thin film(111). The keypad rubber(121) has a plurality of contact protrusions protruded downward to press dome switches(50) on a PCB(Printed Circuit Board) of the mobile phone. A part of a lower surface of the thin film(111) is adhered on an upper surface of the keypad rubber(121), and the rest of the lower surface thereof which surrounds the surface contacted to the upper surface of the keypad rubber(121) is adhered on an upper surface of an upper casing frame(101) of the mobile phone. The thin film(111) has a printed surface(113) which displays numbers and letters at one or both sides.

Description

KEYPAD FOR A MOBILE PHONE EMBODYING TECTILE IMPRESSION BY ELASTICITY OF A FILM AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THEREOF}

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a cross section of a keypad of a portable terminal according to the prior art;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a cross section of the keypad of the portable terminal according to the present invention.

3 is a plan view showing a top surface of a portable terminal according to the present invention;

4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a method for manufacturing a keypad of a portable terminal according to the present invention.

※ Explanation of symbols for main parts of drawing

100: window 101: upper casing frame

111: film 113: printing surface

121: keypad rubber 122: locking jaw

123: protrusion 200: top cover

300: keypad

The present invention relates to a keypad of a portable terminal, and more particularly, to a keypad of a portable terminal embodying a key feeling by elasticity of a film bonded to cover an upper surface of an upper casing frame of the portable terminal by a film insert method.

The keypad of a portable terminal is a switching device for generating a signal by a mobile phone user. The main body of the portable terminal is composed of an upper casing frame and a lower casing frame, Figure 4 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a keypad assembly of a portable terminal embedded in the main body, the conventional keypad for mobile phones printed letters or figures, etc. The key top 10 and the base 20 connected to the adhesive layer 30 on the bottom surface of the key top 10 are coupled to the front housing 40, and the key top 10 protrudes out of the hole formed in the front housing 40. The base 20 has a printed circuit board 60 with a dome switch 50 attached thereto, and a dome switch 50 can be pressed below the base 20. The projection 11 is formed so that the light source 70 is generally provided under the base 20 so that the user can identify the character or figure printed on the upper surface of the key top 10 at night. The base 20 may be made of plastic, but silicone rubber is generally used and is commonly referred to as keypad rubber. The key top 10 may be made of plastic and combined with the base 20, or may be integrally formed with the same material as the base 20.

A top surface of the key top 10 is formed on a printing surface. In recent years, a thin film is coated to prevent damage to the top surface of the key top 10. As a method of coating a thin film on the top of the key top 10, first print a color, text, picture, etc. on the film, so that the print surface is located on the inside, and the silicon film on one side of the printing film There is a coating method through this method, and when printing in this way, the printing surface inside is not easily peeled off or contaminated, and it is possible to apply colors that match well according to the color of the main body of the phone, and also to apply metallic treatment to give a metallic texture. There is this.

However, in the conventional keypad, a base coated with a film of a constant thickness is bonded to the bottom of the front housing, so that a plurality of layers such as a front housing layer, a film layer, and a base layer are stacked, and the key top protrudes upward through the holes of the front housing. In addition, in order to have elastic restoring force for a key touch feeling, as shown in FIG. 5, the key top and the base should be manufactured in a complex form having bends and grooves, but the thickness of the key top and base must be greater than a certain thickness. There is a problem that there is a big limitation.

In addition, conventionally, the key top portion of the portable terminal is printed, colored and metallic treated by coating with a film as described above, and the other casing frame portions need to be separately printed, colored and metallic treated from the key top portion, so that both portions are There is a concern that the heterogeneity may be different from each other, and the number of processes is increased and the manufacturing cost is high because the surface treatment must be performed several times for each component.

In addition, the manufacturing method of the top cover of the conventional portable terminal is a window, the keypad and the upper casing frame, each of which is empty of the space in which the window and the keypad is mounted is separately molded and then bonded, which is a work process There is a problem that the productivity is lowered, the assembly step is easy to occur and the durability is lowered.

The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the prior art, the present invention is responsible for the function of implementing the key feeling using the elasticity of the film itself, which was previously only the function of surface protection and decoration of the key top. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a keypad having a very thin thickness while having a printed surface that is preserved vividly and semi-permanently, and to provide a method of manufacturing a keypad of a portable terminal having excellent touch feeling of a key.

In addition, the present invention is excellent in productivity by providing a structure and a manufacturing method in which the main body and the window of the portable terminal is integrally injection-molded with the film sheet, the possibility of assembling defects in the top cover of the mobile phone is eliminated and the portable terminal having a beautiful appearance The purpose is to enable the production of.

The present invention for achieving the above object is a part of the keypad rubber and the lower surface is provided with a plurality of contact protrusions projecting downward to press each of the dome switch on the printed circuit board of the portable terminal in the keypad of the portable terminal. Is bonded to the upper surface of the keypad rubber, and the remaining part of the lower surface surrounding the surface bonded to the upper surface of the keypad rubber is bonded to the upper surface of the upper casing frame of the portable terminal, and displays numbers and letters on one or both sides. It is comprised including the film of the thin film in which the printing surface was formed.

In addition, the upper casing frame is preferably integrally molded to the window without leaving a space for the window assembly.

In addition, the thickness of the film is 0.1 ~ 0.8mm, the material of the film is preferably one material selected from the group consisting of urethane, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polycarbonate (PC).

Moreover, it is preferable that the printing surface of the said film is formed in the lower surface of the said film.

In addition, the printing surface of the film is preferably applied with a metallic paint to exhibit a metal texture.

In addition, the upper surface of the film may be a hard coating treatment.

In addition, the keypad rubber is preferably made of silicon.

In addition, the lower end of the keypad rubber, it is preferable that the locking step is formed so as to contact the lower surface of the upper casing frame.

In addition, in the method of manufacturing a keypad according to the present invention, the manufacturing method comprises the steps of forming a printing surface by printing and coloring letters and patterns on the film, and inserting the film between the amount, intaglio of the mold, Fabrication of the upper casing frame of the portable terminal by injecting a synthetic resin on the printing surface of the film by the injection molding machine, a through hole is formed in the portion where the keypad of the portable terminal is located, and one side of the outside of the through hole is vacuum injection molded to be bonded to the film. And bonding an upper surface of the keypad rubber to a lower surface of the film exposed through the through-hole of the upper casing frame.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings a specific embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

2 is a cross-sectional view of a portion in which a keypad is located, and the structure of the keypad according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the figure.

The keypad of the present invention is composed of a film 111 and a keypad rubber 121 in which a printing surface 113 is largely formed. As shown in FIG. 2, a portion of the upper casing frame 101 in which the keypad rubber 121 is located is bored, and the film 111 having the printing surface 113 is formed on the upper surface of the upper casing frame 101 and the keypad rubber ( 121) is combined to cover the top surface. The film 111 is composed of two layers, the film surface 112 and the printing surface 113, of which the printing surface 113 is bonded to the upper surface of the upper casing frame 101 and the upper surface of the keypad rubber 121. . Letters and figures are printed on the printing surface 112 of the film 111 and colored with a paint of metal color to give a feeling of metal material. If necessary, a hard coating may be applied to the upper surface of the film surface 112 to prevent surface scratches. Since the film surface 112 of the film 111 is transparent, the characters, figures, and colors printed on the printing surface 113 are shown on the outer surface of the mobile phone.

The upper surface of the keypad rubber 121 to which the printing surface 113 of the film 111 is adhered is flat, and at the bottom edge thereof, a part of the keypad rubber 121 is caught on the lower surface of the upper casing frame 101 to support the mobile phone body. A locking jaw 122 is formed to prevent it from coming out, and a protrusion 123 for pressing the dome switch 50 of the printed circuit board 60 on the bottom surface of the keypad rubber 121 at a position corresponding to the dome switch 50. ) Is formed.

The upper casing frame 101 may be formed of a synthetic resin such as acrylic, polycarbonate, or ABS resin, and may be injected at a thickness required to maintain durability. The material of the keypad rubber 121 is preferably silicon rubber, and the thickness of the keypad rubber 121 corresponds to the thickness of the locking jaw 122 in the thickness of the upper casing frame 101 except for the protrusion 123. It's like adding thickness.

The material of the film 111 is preferably one of urethane, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polycarbonate, and the film 111 has a thickness of 0.1 to 0.8 mm, most preferably 0.4 mm. The film 111 configured as described above has elasticity to be returned to its original position when the keypad rubber 121 is pressed down.

3 illustrates an upper cover 200 of a portable terminal having the upper casing frame 101 as a skeleton.

Conventional portable terminals are manufactured by separately manufacturing a window, which is a transparent window provided to check the information displayed on the upper casing frame and the display unit, but in the present embodiment, up to the window 100 when injection molding the upper casing frame is integrated. By doing so, no separate assembly process is required.

The outer surface of the upper cover 200 is coated with a film, including the window 100 and the keypad 300, all of which are printed on the printed surface of the inside of the film with colored letters, numbers, symbols, etc. It is seen from the outside through the transparent film surface above. A predetermined line 311 is displayed on the printing surface of the film so that the buttons are separated from each other along the perimeter of each key button.

Since the window 100 should be transparent, the upper casing frame itself should have a transparent material, and it is preferable to mask the portion of the window 100 when coloring the printing surface.

A method of manufacturing a keypad according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 4.

The manufacturing method is applied to the film insert (film insert) method, first printing and coloring, hard coating, heat-bonding bonding, etc. on the film 111 to form a printing surface 113 on the film 111, The film 111 is inserted between the positive and negative portions of the mold 500, and vacuum-adsorbed into the printing surface 113 of the film 111 through a gate 501 to inject a synthetic resin into the film 111. The integrated upper casing frame is injection molded. At this time, the portion of the upper casing frame where the keypad is positioned is molded so that a through hole is formed, and the through hole is blocked by the film 111 and the keypad rubber is formed on the printing surface 113 of the film 111 exposed through the through hole. The keypad is completed by engaging the upper surface of 121.

The operation of the keypad prepared as described above is as follows.

The keypad rubber 121 adhered to a certain portion of the film 111, that is, a number or a sign, that is, a key button is pressed with a finger, also adheres to the film 111. With the bend down, the projection 123 beneath it operates the dome switch 50 on the printed circuit board 60 to generate a signal. Since the film 111 constituting the upper layer of the keypad 300 is tightly supported by the upper casing frame 101 around the keypad 300 in a non-pressurized state, when the film 111 is pressed, the elasticity of the film 111 may be reduced. By the force to be unfolded again to act, thereby delivering a certain sense of key every time the user presses a key.

As described above, the present invention has been described only with respect to specific examples, but it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the technical spirit of the present invention based on the above specific examples. And modifications belong to the appended claims.

As described above, according to the keypad of the portable terminal according to the present invention, the printing surface is formed inside the film covering the keypad so that the printing surface can be kept clear without peeling off, while exerting elasticity when the film is pressed. It has a structure that makes it easy to press the key button without the structure for extra elasticity, and there is no front housing structure, and the part of the keypad's key top and base can be made thin in flat form. Compared to the past, it can be greatly reduced.

In addition, the printing, coloring, and surface treatment required for the entire top cover in advance in one film sheet, instead of printing on each key top surface as in the prior art, has the advantage that the number of processes is saved and the productivity is high.

In addition, because the upper casing frame and the window are integrally molded to reduce the process, manufacturing cost is reduced, and there is no assembly step between the frame and the window, and a sheet of film covers both the upper casing frame and the window and the keypad rubber. There is an advantage that the printing and coloring of the top cover of the portable terminal can be performed uniformly and simply.

Claims (11)

In the keypad of a portable terminal, A keypad rubber having a plurality of contact protrusions projecting downward to press each of the dome switches on the printed circuit board of the portable terminal; And A portion of the lower surface is adhered to the upper surface of the keypad rubber, and the remaining portion of the lower surface surrounding the surface bonded to the upper surface of the keypad rubber is adhered to the upper surface of the upper casing frame of the portable terminal. A film of a thin film having a printing surface formed thereon; Keypad of a portable terminal implementing a key feeling by the film elasticity, characterized in that comprising a. The method of claim 1, The upper casing frame, Keypad of a portable terminal implementing a key feeling by the elasticity of the film, characterized in that the window is integrally molded without leaving a space for assembling the window. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The keypad of the portable terminal implementing the key feeling by the film elasticity, characterized in that the thickness of the film is 0.1 ~ 0.8mm. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The material of the film is a keypad of a portable terminal embodying a sense of key by elasticity of the film, characterized in that the material selected from the group consisting of urethane, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polycarbonate (PC). The method according to claim 1 or 2, The keypad of the portable terminal implementing the key feeling by the film elasticity, characterized in that the printing surface of the film is formed on the lower surface of the film. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The keypad of the mobile terminal embodying the key feeling by the elasticity of the film, characterized in that the printing surface of the film is coated with a metallic paint to exhibit a metal texture. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The upper surface of the film is a keypad of a portable terminal implementing a key feeling by the elastic film, characterized in that the hard coating process. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The keypad rubber material is a keypad of a portable terminal implementing a key feeling by the elastic film, characterized in that the silicon. The method according to claim 1 or 2, Keypad of the portable terminal embodied the key sense by the elastic film, characterized in that the locking jaw is formed on the bottom edge of the keypad rubber in contact with the lower surface of the upper casing frame. In the manufacturing method of the keypad of the portable terminal, Printing and coloring letters and patterns on the film to form a printed surface; Inserting the film between the positive and negative portions of the mold; Fabrication of the upper casing frame of the portable terminal by injecting a synthetic resin on the printing surface of the film by the injection molding machine, a through hole is formed in the portion where the keypad of the portable terminal is located, and one side of the outside of the through hole is vacuum injection molded to be bonded to the film. step; And Bonding an upper surface of the keypad rubber to a lower surface of the film exposed through the through-hole of the upper casing frame; Method of manufacturing a keypad of a portable terminal implementing a key feeling by the film elasticity, characterized in that comprising a. The method of claim 10, The thickness of the film is 0.1 ~ 0.8mm, the material of the film is made of a material selected from the group consisting of urethane, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polycarbonate (PC) by the elasticity of the film, characterized in that Method for manufacturing a keypad of a mobile terminal implemented.

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