TWI682266B - Key device - Google Patents

Abstract

A key device includes a bottom plate, a keycap, and a restoring member. The bottom plate includes an upper surface, the upper surface has an assembly area, the assembly area is provided with a pivoting seat and an elastic arm, the pivoting seat has a pivot axis, the elastic arm extends in a direction parallel to the pivot axis, and the end of the elastic arm is provided with a limiting member. The limiting member protrudes from the upper surface. The keycap is disposed above the assembly area, one side of the keycap extends out of the connecting arm, the connecting arm is provided with a pivoting portion, and the pivoting portion is pivoted on the pivoting seat, so that the keycap can be rotated relative to the bottom plate with the pivot axis as an axis. The bottom of the keycap is provided with a limiting groove to correspond to the limiting member so that the keycap is limited in the radial direction of the pivot axis. The restoring member is disposed between the bottom plate and the keycap, and the restoring member has a restoring force to provide a returning rotation of the keycap relative to the bottom plate.

Description

Key device

The invention relates to an input device, in particular to a key device.

Buttons are one of the very common input devices of current electronic devices. For example, a keyboard or a touch panel of a notebook computer generally has buttons. The user can press the buttons to generate corresponding signals.

At present, there are many types of keys on the market. For a swing-type key, the structure generally includes a key cap and a base plate. One side of the key cap is pivotally connected to the base plate, so that the key cap can swing up and down relative to the base plate. The bottom is further provided with a first group of connectors, and the substrate is provided with a second group of connectors corresponding to the first group of connectors. In the assembly process of the keycap, the first set of connecting pieces can be brought close to and combined with the first set of connecting pieces by swinging the keycap to obtain the limit.

However, since the keycap swings the first set of connectors to the second set of connectors, during assembly or disassembly of the keycap, the first set of connectors and the second set of connectors are easily accessible to each other Interference or squeezing occur, causing damage to the second set of connectors.

In view of the above, in one embodiment, a key device includes a bottom plate, a key cap, and a reset member. The bottom plate includes an upper surface. The upper surface has an assembling area. The assembling area is provided with a pivot base and an elastic arm. The pivot base has a pivot axis. The elastic arm extends parallel to the pivot axis. , The stopper protrudes from the upper surface. The keycap is set above the assembly area, the keycap A connecting arm extends from one side of the connecting arm, the connecting arm is provided with a pivoting portion, and the pivoting portion is pivotally arranged on the pivoting seat, so that the keycap can swing relative to the bottom plate about the pivot axis, and the bottom of the keycap is further provided with a limit The groove corresponds to the looper to the limiting member, so that the key cap is limited in the radial direction of the pivot axis, and the pivoting direction of the key cap with the pivot axis as the axis is not limited by the limiting member. The reset member is disposed between the bottom plate and the key cap, and the reset member has a restoring force to provide the key cap to recover the swing relative to the bottom plate.

In summary, the key device of the embodiment of the present invention extends through the elastic arm provided on the bottom plate in the direction parallel to the pivot axis of the pivot base, so that when the key cap is assembled or disassembled in the swinging swing, when the limit groove and When the limiters interfere with each other, the elastic arm can generate moderate sway or swing to synchronously drive the displacement of the limiters, so as to avoid the situation that the limiters are damaged due to excessive force. In addition, compared with the past keys, the embodiments of the present invention can omit the connecting member for guiding the lifting of the keycap, such as a Scissor connector, to achieve the advantages of simple structure, easy assembly and cost saving. Moreover, the weight and thickness of the key device can be further reduced, which is beneficial to the weight reduction and thinning of the product.

1‧‧‧Key device

2‧‧‧Note PC

3‧‧‧Touchpad

10‧‧‧Bottom plate

11‧‧‧Upper surface

12‧‧‧Assembly area

121‧‧‧Side

13‧‧‧Pivot seat

131‧‧‧Pivot hook

132‧‧‧Hook piece

133‧‧‧lower edge

14, 14A, 14B‧‧‧Elastic arm

141‧‧‧First side edge

142‧‧‧Second side edge

15‧‧‧Limiting parts

151‧‧‧Standing board

152‧‧‧Horizontal

16‧‧‧Broken hole

17‧‧‧The first hook

18‧‧‧The third hook

20‧‧‧Keycap

21‧‧‧Connecting arm

22‧‧‧Pivot Department

221‧‧‧Curved top surface

23‧‧‧Limit groove

24‧‧‧Notch

241‧‧‧First edge

242‧‧‧Second edge

243, 244‧‧‧Guide slope

25‧‧‧Extension

26‧‧‧Bump

261‧‧‧Curved bottom

27‧‧‧Second card hook

28‧‧‧The fourth hook

30‧‧‧Reset

P‧‧‧ pivot axis

[FIG. 1] It is an application schematic diagram of the first embodiment of the key device of the present invention.

[Fig. 2] A perspective view of the first embodiment of the key device of the present invention.

[Fig. 3] An exploded perspective view of the first embodiment of the key device of the present invention.

[Fig. 4] Another exploded perspective view of the first embodiment of the key device of the present invention.

[FIG. 5] It is a partial top view of the first embodiment of the key device of the present invention.

[Fig. 6] It is an assembly diagram of the first embodiment of the key device of the present invention.

[Fig. 7] It is an action diagram of the first embodiment of the key device of the present invention.

[Fig. 8] A-A sectional view of Fig. 5.

[Fig. 9] A partial cross-sectional view of B-B in Fig. 5.

[FIG. 10] It is the C-C sectional view of FIG. 5. [FIG.

[Fig. 11] A partial top view of a second embodiment of the key device of the present invention.

[Fig. 12] A partial top view of a third embodiment of the key device of the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the key device 1 of this embodiment includes a bottom plate 10, a key cap 20 and a reset member 30. The key device 1 can be applied to various electronic products (such as input devices of desktop computers, notebook computers, or other electronic devices) for the user to press to generate corresponding signals. For example, in this embodiment, the key device 1 may be a key of the keyboard of the notebook computer 2 for the user to press to enter text, symbols, or instructions. Alternatively, the key device 1 can also be a key of the touch panel 3 of the notebook computer 2 for the user to press to perform operations such as clicking, dragging, or opening a function menu, but this is not limited.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the bottom plate 10 may be a hard plate made of metal (such as iron, aluminum, or alloy) or plastic material. The bottom plate 10 has an upper surface 11, and the upper surface 11 has an assembly area 12. The assembly area 12 is an area on the bottom plate 10 for the key cap 20 to assemble correspondingly (for example, the assembly area 12 is indicated by a dotted frame area in FIG. 3 ). In addition, in this embodiment, two pivot joints 13 and two elastic arms 14 are provided in the assembly area 12, wherein the two pivot joints 13 are close to one side 121 of the assembly area 12, and the two pivot joints 13 are mutually In a spaced configuration (in this case, spaced along the Y-axis direction), the two elastic arms 14 are also spaced apart in the Y-axis direction and are away from the side 121 of the assembly area 12 relative to the second pivot base 13, but this is not limited. The elastic arms 14 may not be on the same axis. In addition, a limiter 15 is provided at the end of each elastic arm 14 and protrudes from the upper surface 11 for the corresponding group of the keycap 20 Outfit. However, the above embodiment is only an example, and it is not limited to this. The number of the pivot base 13 and the elastic arm 14 can be changed according to the actual product demand. For example, the number of the pivot base 13 and the elastic arm 14 can also be One or more.

As shown in FIG. 3 again, the two pivot joints 13 on the bottom plate 10 have a pivot axis P, where the pivot axis P is parallel to the Y axis, so that the corresponding structure of the keycap 20 is pivotally connected to the two pivot joints After the seat 13, the pivot axis P can be used as an axis to swing up and down relative to the bottom plate 10, which will be described in detail later. In this embodiment, each pivot base 13 includes a pivot hook 131 integrally bent upward from the bottom plate 10, and a top end of the pivot hook 131 extends laterally from a hook piece 132, where the hook piece 132 is elastic The direction of the arm 14 (ie, the X-axis direction) extends laterally, but this is not limited. In other embodiments, each pivot seat 13 may also be a bearing seat or a shaft fixing seat (the drawing is omitted).

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, it should be particularly noted that in FIG. 5, the keycap 20 is hidden to clearly show the structure on the bottom plate 10. Each elastic arm 14 of the bottom plate 10 extends in a direction parallel to the pivot axis P (ie, the Y-axis direction). For example, as shown in FIG. 5, in this embodiment, the bottom plate 10 is provided with two broken holes 16, and the two elastic arms 14 are respectively located in the broken holes 16 and are integrally bent and extended from the bottom plate 10, for example, each elastic arm 14 and the broken hole 16 can be formed by stamping. In addition, the elastic arm 14 has a first side edge 141 and a second side edge 142. The first side edge 141 and the second side edge 142 are located on two opposite sides of the extending direction (ie, the Y-axis direction) of the elastic arm 14, and the first The side edge 141 and the second side edge 142 are respectively spaced from the edge of the hole 16 so that each elastic arm 14 can have a space for elastic displacement when it is stressed, but this is not limited. Each elastic arm 14 can also be directly bent upward and extended integrally from the upper surface 11 of the bottom plate 10.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 again, in this embodiment, each limiter 15 provided at the end of each elastic arm 14 includes a vertical plate 151 and a horizontal plate 152. The vertical plate 151 is formed by the end of the elastic arm 14 The body is bent and extended upward, and the horizontal plate 152 is integrally bent and extended from the top end of the vertical plate 151, so that each limiting member 15 has an overall L shape. However, this embodiment is only an example, and each limiting member 15 may also be bent into other shapes (for example, U-shaped, Z-shaped, or each limiting member 15 may only include the vertical plate 151 to form an I shape), or each limiting member The member 15 can also be a piece and fixed to the end of the elastic arm 14 in combination, which is not limited.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the keycap 20 is disposed above the assembly area 12. One side of the keycap 20 extends out of two connecting arms 21 corresponding to the two pivoting seats 13. Each connecting arm 21 is provided with a pivoting portion 22 at the end In this embodiment, the two pivoting portions 22 are respectively pivoted on the two pivoting seats 13, in this embodiment, each pivoting portion 22 is a cross bar and extends toward the Y-axis direction, forming the axial direction of the cross bar The pivot axis P of the pivot base 13 is the same, and each pivot portion 22 abuts against the lower edge 133 of the hook piece 132 of each pivot hook 131 (please refer to FIG. 6), so that the keycap 20 can swing about the pivot axis P with respect to the bottom plate 10. In addition, the bottom of the key cap 20 is further provided with two limiting grooves 23 corresponding to the outer sleeves of the two limiting members 15 respectively, so that the key cap 20 is limited at least in a radial direction of the pivot axis P The direction refers to the direction perpendicular to the pivot axis P (for example, the X-axis direction in FIGS. 2 and 3).

As shown in FIG. 3, the reset member 30 is disposed between the bottom plate 10 and the key cap 20. The reset member 30 has a restoring force to provide the key cap 20 with respect to the bottom plate 10 to return to the swing. In this embodiment, the reset member 30 is a metal dome and abuts against the bottom of the key cap 20. Here, the reset member 30 is close to the side of the key cap 20 away from the pivot base 13, but this Not limited. When the keycap 20 is pressed, the keycap 20 can swing downward with the pivot axis P as the axis to approach the bottom plate 10, and press the reset member 30 to accumulate the restoring force. A circuit board (not shown) may be provided above or below the bottom plate 10, such as a general circuit board (Printed Circuit Board, PCB), a flexible circuit board (Flexible Print Circuit Board, FPCB), or a rigid-flex composite circuit board (Rigid-Flex PCB) and other various circuit boards, when the resetting member 30 is pressed, the circuit board can be triggered to generate corresponding signals. When the keycap 20 is released, the return force accumulated by the resetting member 30 can be used to return the keycap 20 to its natural uncompressed position with the pivot axis P as the shaft swinging upward. In some embodiments, the reset member 30 may also be a reset member such as a rubber dome, a metal dome, a spring, a mechanical switch, or a magnetic element, which is not limited in this embodiment.

In this way, according to the key device 1 of the embodiment of the present invention described above, the elastic arm 14 provided on the bottom plate 10 extends in a direction parallel to the pivot axis P of the pivot base 13, so that the key cap 20 is assembled or disassembled during the swing In the middle, when the limiting groove 23 and the limiting member 15 interfere with each other, the elastic arm 14 can generate moderate sway or swing to synchronously drive the limiting member 15 to displace, so as to avoid the situation that the limiting member 15 is damaged due to excessive force . In addition, compared with the past keys, the embodiments of the present invention can omit the connecting member for guiding the lifting of the keycap 20, such as a Scissor connector, to achieve the effect of simple structure, easy assembly and cost saving And, the weight and thickness of the key device 1 can be further reduced, which is beneficial to the weight reduction and thinning of the product. The following is a detailed description through the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 6, in the process of assembling the keycap 20 on the bottom plate 10, the keycap 20 can be pivotally connected to the two pivoting seats 13 of the bottom plate 10 with the two pivoting portions 22, and then the keycap 20 can be pivoted The line P (shown in FIG. 3) is a shaft swing to move toward the bottom plate 10 (as shown by arrow L1 in FIG. 6). As shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, since the keycap 20 approaches the bottom plate 10 in a swinging manner, the portion of the bottom of the keycap 20 adjacent to the limiting groove 23 will first hit the limiter at the end of the elastic arm 14 15 and interference occurs. Since the elastic arm 14 of the embodiment of the present invention extends parallel to the pivot axis P of the pivot base 13, when the key cap 20 is further downwardly applied, the elastic arm 14 can be forced to move away The direction of the pivot joint 13 is moderately shaken or oscillated (as shown by the arrow L2 in FIG. 7) and synchronously drives the displacement of the limiter 15 to prevent the limiter 15 from being squeezed and damaged due to excessive force, and the limit The groove 23 can It is smoothly sleeved on the outside of the limiting member 15. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 8, during the process that the limiting groove 23 is sleeved outside the limiting member 15, since the force of the limiting member 15 interfered by the key cap 20 gradually becomes smaller, the elastic arm 14 will gradually move toward the pivot The direction of the socket 13 shakes or swings back (as shown by the arrow L3 in FIG. 8), so that the limiting groove 23 can be movably fitted outside the limiting member 15 so that the key cap 20 is limited at least in the X-axis direction In particular, the keycap 20 can be limited by at least two sides of the limiting member 15 to avoid shaking and deflection, but it can still perform a swinging up and down movement relative to the limiting member 15 to make the keycap 20 pivot The axis of rotation P is the position of the unrestricted positioning member 15 of the swing direction of the shaft.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 8, when the keycap 20 needs to be detached from the bottom plate 10, the keycap 20 can be pivoted about the pivot axis P (as shown in FIG. 3) to move away from the bottom plate 10, because The keycap 20 is away from the bottom plate 10 in a swinging manner. Therefore, the inner wall of the limiting groove 23 of the keycap 20 will interfere with the limiter 15 at the end of the elastic arm 14 and interfere. When the keycap 20 exerts upward force At this time, the elastic arm 14 can be forced to move towards the direction of the pivot base 13 (as shown by the arrow L3 in FIG. 8) with moderate shaking or swinging to synchronously drive the displacement of the limiter 15 to avoid excessive overload of the limiter 15 The force squeezes to cause damage, and enables the limiting groove 23 to smoothly detach from the limiting member 15 for subsequent disassembly. In addition, after the limiting groove 23 is separated from the limiting member 15, the elastic arm 14 can swing or swing back to the direction away from the pivot base 13 (as shown by the arrow L2 in FIG. 7 ).

As shown in FIG. 6 again, in an embodiment, the notch 24 of the limiting groove 23 at the bottom of the keycap 20 has a first edge 241 and a second edge 242 opposite to each other. The first edge 241 is opposite to the second edge 242 Adjacent to the pivot base 13, the first edge 241 and the second edge 242 are respectively provided with guide slopes 243, 244, where the guide slopes 243, 244 are respectively provided at the bottom of the keycap 20 and connected to the first edge 241 and The second edge 242 enables the keycap 20 to smoothly guide the elastic arm 14 to generate moderate sway or swing during the assembly or disassembly process through the guide slopes 243 and 244. In some In the embodiment, the length or slope of the two guide slopes 243 and 244 can be designed according to actual product requirements, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, in this embodiment, the length of the guide slope 243 is greater than the length of the guide slope 244, and The slope of the guiding slope 243 is smaller than the slope of the guiding slope 244.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 again, in an embodiment, each pivoting portion 22 of the keycap 20 may have an arc-shaped top surface 221, and the pivoting portion 22 is pressed against the pivotal connection by the arc-shaped top surface 221 The lower edge 133 of the hook piece 132 of the seat 13 enables the key cap 20 to swing about the pivot portion 22 as the axis relative to the bottom plate 10, which can reduce the interference between the pivot portion 22 and the pivot hook 131 to make the key The cap 20 is smoother in the process of swinging up and down.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 9, in an embodiment, each connecting arm 21 of the keycap 20 may further extend an extension 25, wherein each extension 25 extends away from the limiting groove 23, and each A protrusion 26 is provided at the bottom of the extension 25, and the protrusion 26 abuts on the upper surface 11 of the bottom plate 10, that is, the protrusion 26 provided in each extension 25 of the keycap 20 is relative to the pivot provided by the connecting arm 21 The connecting portion 22 is further away from the limiting groove 23. Thereby, through the bumps 26 abutting against the upper surface 11 of the bottom plate 10, the key cap 20 can be prevented from swinging upward and detaching from the bottom plate 10 easily when not pressed.

As shown in FIG. 9 again, in an embodiment, the protrusions 26 provided on the extensions 25 of the keycap 20 may have an arc-shaped bottom surface 161, and the protrusion 26 is in contact with the bottom plate 10 by the arc-shaped bottom surface 161 Top surface 11. As a result, when the key cap 20 is pivoted relative to the bottom plate 10 about the pivot portion 22 as an axis, the interference between the protrusion 26 and the bottom plate 10 can be reduced, and the key cap 20 can be more smoothly in the process of swinging up and down.

As shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 10, the assembly area 12 of the bottom plate 10 may further include a first hook member 17 and a third hook member 18, wherein the first hook member 17 and the third hook member 18 is located on the opposite side of the side 121 of the assembly area 12, but this is not limited. In this embodiment, the first hook 17 and the third hook member 18 are spaced apart from each other (in this case, spaced apart along the Y-axis direction), and the first hook member 17 and the third hook member 18 are the cards that are integrally bent upward and extended from the bottom plate 10, respectively Hook (here U-shaped hook, but also L-shaped hook). The bottom of the keycap 20 is further provided with a second hook member 27 and a fourth hook member 28. In this embodiment, the second hook member 27 and the fourth hook member 28 are integrally provided on the bottom of the keycap 20 The hooks are hooked to the first hook member 17 and the second hook member 27 respectively. In this way, it is possible to prevent the keycap 20 from swinging upward and detaching easily from the bottom plate 10 when it is not pressed. In some embodiments, the first hook member 17 and the third hook member 18 may also be an inverted hook integrally provided on the upper surface 11 of the bottom plate 10, and the second hook member 27 and the fourth hook member 28 may be This hook is integrally protruding from the bottom of the keycap 20, and this embodiment is not limited.

As shown in FIG. 3 again, in an embodiment, the reset member 30 may be located between the first hook member 17 and the third hook member 18 to be further affected by the first hook member 17 and the third hook member 18 To avoid deviation.

In some embodiments, the lengths of the first side edge 141 and the second side edge 142 of the elastic arm 14 provided on the bottom plate 10 may be the same or different, so that the elastic arm 14 may generate different elastic displacements when subjected to force. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the length of the first side edge 141 and the second side edge 142 of the elastic arm 14 of this embodiment is the same. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 11, the length of the first side edge 141 of the elastic arm 14A of this embodiment is greater than the length of the second side edge 142. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 12, the length of the first side edge 141 of the elastic arm 14B of this embodiment is shorter than the length of the second side edge 142.

Although the technical content of the present invention has been disclosed as above with preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Anyone who is familiar with this art and makes some changes and retouching without departing from the spirit of the present invention should be covered in the present invention. The scope of protection of the present invention shall be subject to the scope of the attached patent application.

1‧‧‧Key device

10‧‧‧Bottom plate

11‧‧‧Upper surface

12‧‧‧Assembly area

121‧‧‧Side

13‧‧‧Pivot seat

131‧‧‧Pivot hook

132‧‧‧Hook piece

14‧‧‧Elastic arm

15‧‧‧Limiting parts

151‧‧‧Standing board

152‧‧‧Horizontal

16‧‧‧Broken hole

17‧‧‧The first hook

18‧‧‧The third hook

20‧‧‧Keycap

21‧‧‧Connecting arm

22‧‧‧Pivot Department

30‧‧‧Reset

P‧‧‧ pivot axis

Claims (11)

A key device includes: a bottom plate, including an upper surface, the upper surface has an assembly area, the assembly area is provided with a pivot seat and an elastic arm, the pivot seat has a pivot axis, the elastic arm is Along the direction parallel to the pivot axis, a limiter is provided at the end of the elastic arm, the limiter protrudes from the upper surface; a key cap is provided above the assembly area, and a side of the key cap extends a A connecting arm, the connecting arm is provided with a pivoting part, and the pivoting part is pivotally arranged on the pivoting base, so that the keycap can swing with respect to the bottom plate about the pivot axis, and the bottom of the keycap is further provided There is a limit groove corresponding to the looper, so that the key cap is limited in a radial direction of the pivot axis, and the pivot direction of the key cap with the pivot axis as the axis is not affected. The limiter is limited; and a resetting member is disposed between the bottom plate and the key cap. The resetting element has a restoring force to provide the key cap to recover the swing relative to the bottom plate. The key device according to claim 1, wherein the position-limiting member comprises a vertical plate, and the vertical plate is integrally bent and extended upward from the end of the elastic arm. The key device according to claim 2, wherein the limiting member further includes a horizontal plate, and the horizontal plate is integrally bent and extended from the top of the vertical plate. The key device according to claim 1, wherein the elastic arm has a first side edge and a second side edge, the first side edge and the second side edge are located on opposite sides of the extending direction of the elastic arm, And the length of the first side edge is different from the length of the second side edge. The key device according to claim 1, wherein the limiting groove has a notch, the notch has a first edge and a second edge opposite to each other, the first edge is opposite to the first The two edges are adjacent to the pivot base, and at least one of the first edge and the second edge is provided with a guiding slope. The key device according to claim 1, wherein the pivot base includes a pivot hook, a hook piece extends laterally from the top of the pivot hook, the hook piece has a lower edge, and the pivot portion presses against the pivot Connected to the lower edge. The key device according to claim 6, wherein the pivotal portion has an arcuate top surface, and the pivotal portion presses the arcuate top surface against the lower edge of the hook piece. The key device according to claim 1, wherein the connecting arm further extends with an extension section, and a protrusion is provided at the bottom of the extension section, and the protrusion contacts the upper surface of the bottom plate. The key device according to claim 8, wherein the convex block has an arc-shaped bottom surface, and the convex block abuts against the upper surface of the bottom plate with the arc-shaped bottom surface. The key device according to claim 1, wherein a first hook member is further provided in the assembly area of the bottom plate, and a second hook member is further provided at the bottom of the key cap, the first hook member and the second The hook parts are engaged with each other. The key device according to claim 10, wherein a third hook member is further provided in the assembly area of the bottom plate, and a fourth hook member is further provided at the bottom of the key cap, the third hook member and the fourth The hook members are correspondingly engaged with each other, and the reset member is located between the first hook member and the third hook member.

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