Patent Application
20130278448
The present invention relates to an illumination module and an illuminated keyboard having the same, and more particularly to an illumination module which can reduce light leakage, and an illuminated keyboard having the same.
With the progress of the times, a computer is one of the most popular electronic devices used in life. Currently, a keyboard is one of the indispensable input devices during the computer operation. The keyboard is derived from the typewriter and mainly functions as data input. The keyboard could be employed to input characters, symbols or numbers and, moreover, control the computer operation.
In order to allow users with different requirements to use the keyboard in the simplest way, the design of the keyboard is getting more and more diversified. According to the switch design, the current keyboards could be classified into a mechanical keyboard, a membrane keyboard, a conductive rubber keyboard, and a capacitives keyboard, and the like. While according to the printing manner, the present keyboards could also be classified into blank (with no inscriptions on the keys of the keyboard), ink printing, laser printing, two-color molding, and dye-sublimation printing, and the like.
In addition to the basic input function, the keyboard with visual effects may often attract one's attention. For instance, the commercially available illuminated keyboards are not only attractive but also more useful in the places with insufficient lighting. Hence, the illuminated keyboards are more competitive in the market.
As prior art, the illuminated keyboard includes a plurality of transparent keys and an illumination module (e.g. backlight module) which are both disposed on a cover, in which the illumination module is configured under the plurality of the keys. Therefore, light emitted by the illumination module will pass through the keys, thus allowing the user to see the characters of the keys clearly even in the dark or places with insufficient lighting.
However, the light of the illumination module passes through not only the keys but also a gap between the adjacent keys (light leakage), making it difficult to recognize the characters of the keys. Particularly, the gap between the adjacent keys will become brighter in contrast with the dark or insufficient lighting surrounding, which makes the problem more serious.
Furthermore, in prior art, light emitted by the illumination module is generally guided to the keys by a light guide device; however, the brightness is insufficient for the keys farther away from the illumination module. The brightness non-uniformity of the keys will cause difficulty in recognizing the characters on the keys of the illuminated keyboard.
In view of the above, the present invention provides an illumination module and an illuminated keyboard that can solve the problems of brightness non-uniformity and light leakage between adjacent keys in prior art.
The present invention discloses an illumination module for a keyboard having a plurality of keys. The illumination module includes a cover having a transparent plate and a plurality of frames, a luminescence unit and a shield member. The transparent plate is composed of a light transparent material and includes a light incident surface and a light emitting surface. The plurality of frames are disposed on the sides of the transparent plate, and the adjacent frames are connected to each other and surround the transparent plate for forming a trough. The luminescence unit emitting light is disposed on one of the frames. The light travels into the trough passing through the frames and emits outwards from the light incident surface to the light emitting surface. The shield member is disposed on the light emitting surface and provided with a plurality of openings. Each of the keys is inserted in each of the openings correspondingly, and the light is projected on the keys through the openings.
The present invention also discloses an illuminated keyboard comprising a first housing, an illumination module, a circuit board, a shield member, a plurality of keys and a second housing, wherein the illumination module is disposed on the first housing and comprises a cover and a luminescence unit, the cover includes a transparent plate and a plurality of frames, the transparent plate is composed of a light transparent material and includes a light incident surface and a light emitting surface, and the frames are disposed on the sides of the transparent plate and the adjacent frames are connected to each other and surround the transparent plate for forming a trough. The luminescence unit is disposed on one of the frames. The light travels into to the trough passing through the frames and emits outwards from the light incident surface to the light emitting surface. The circuit board is composed of the transparent material. The circuit board is disposed on the light emitting surface of the transparent plate, and electrically provided with a plurality of trigger switches. The shield member is disposed on the circuit board and provided with a plurality of openings. Each of keys is inserted in each of openings correspondingly, and the light is projected on the keys after passing through the circuit board and the openings. The second housing covers the shield member, the circuit and the illumination module. The second housing has a slot facing the plurality of openings of the shield member, through which the light is transmitted out of the second housing.
The effect of the present invention is achieved in the following way. The light generated by the luminescence unit may diffuse uniformly by the design of the cover for preventing the problem of non-uniform brightness of the keys. Moreover, the shield member is provided with multiple openings for the multiple keys to be inserted in, so that the light will not come out easily from the gaps between the adjacent keys.
The technical characteristics, realization and effects of the present invention will become apparent with the detailed description of preferred embodiments and related drawings as follows.
Please refer to
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The plurality of frames 114 are disposed on sides of the transparent plate 112, the adjacent frames 114 are connected to each other to surround the transparent plate 112 and form a trough 116. That is, the cover 110 is on the whole a hollow structure. According to this embodiment, the transparent plate 112 and the frames 114 could, but not limited to, be formed in one piece, and the luminescence unit 120 is disposed on one of the frames 114 of the cover 110.
The frames 114 of the present invention are made of a light transparent material such as transparent resin, for example but not limited to polymethyl methacrylate resin (PMMA), polycarbonate (PC), polystyrene (PS), cyclic olefin copolymers (COCs), cycloolefin polymer (COP), and the like. The frames 114 are coated with a shading material 1142 except for where the luminescence unit 120 is disposed. Therefore, when the luminescence unit 120 emits (or generates) light, the light travels into the trough 116 of the cover 110 from the frame 114. The shading material 1142 helps to keep the light from going out of the trough 116.
Air existing in the trough 116 of the cover 110 of the present invention facilitates the light to spread and diffuse more evenly in the trough 116 after entering the trough 116, followed by being directed by the transparent plate 112. This allows a more uniform distribution of brightness of the light over the transparent plate 112. In other words, the light from the luminescence unit 120 can diffuse more evenly by using the trough 116 of the cover 110. This can eliminate a situation that the brightness is not uniform for the keys 240 located over the illumination module 100.
By means of the structure of the cover 110 in the present invention, the light from the luminescence unit 120 could be uniformly diffused in the trough 116 of the cover 110. The keys 240 may be disposed over the cover 110 when mounted on the illumination module 100. In this way, the keys 240, when illuminated by the light of the luminescence unit 120, show a uniform brightness due to the optical effect of the cover 110. This can improve a situation that the brightness of the keys 240 is not uniform.
Moreover, in the present invention, the shield member 130 is disposed on the light emitting surface 1124 of the cover 110, and a plurality of openings 132 are formed on the shield member 130 for the keys 240 of the keyboard 200 to be inserted therein. When diffusing to emit from the light emitting surface 1124 of the cover 110, the light will be projected on the keys 240 through the openings 132 without passing through the gap between adjacent keys 240. The keyboard 200 of the present invention is thus radiant and shining. Hence, the user will have no problem in operating the keyboard 200 in the dark or insufficient lighting surroundings because the characters on the keys 240 are readily recognizable.
Furthermore, a plurality of sidewalls 133 are disposed on the cover 110 along sides of the openings 132 in this embodiment with the adjacent sidewalls 133 connected to each other for forming a continuous bulkhead. As a result, when the light diffuses and irradiates from the light emitting surface 1124 of the cover 110, the sidewalls 133 may prevent the light from passing through the gap between the adjacent keys 240 effectively and thus improve light concentration.
Besides, the light emitting surface 1124 of the transparent plate 112 could be a polished mirror surface for preventing the internal reflection or total reflection of the transparent plate 112. Thus, light is allowed to pass through the light emitting surface 1124 of the transparent plate 112 as much as possible and luminous intensity at the side of the light emitting surface 1124 is increased. As an alternative, the light emitting surface 1124 of the transparent plate 112 could be an arc like a convex lens and a concave mirror to concentrate the light to be emitted outwards from the light emitting surface 1124.
As shown in
When the luminescence unit 120 is operative to irradiate light, the light travels into the trough 116 of the cover 110 through the frame 114 and diffuses in the trough 116. The diffusing light subsequently passes through the light emitting surface 1124 from the light incident surface 1122 of the transparent plate 112 and appears to be emanating outwards. Since the circuit board 220 of the embodiment is composed of light transparent material and is disposed at the side of the light emitting surface 1124 of the transparent plate 112, the light could travel smoothly from the light emitting surface 1124 through the circuit board 220.
A plurality of trigger switches 222 are disposed on the circuit board 220 electrically on which the shield member 130 is provided. The shield member 130 has a plurality of openings 132 corresponding to the plurality of trigger switches 222, and the plurality of keys 240 are respectively inserted in the plurality of openings 132. The light passing through the circuit board 220 will go through the openings 132 and illuminate the keys 240.
In this exemplary embodiment, the second housing 250 of the illuminated keyboard 200 is further configured for covering the shield member 130, the circuit board 220 and the illumination module 100. One or more slots 252 are formed corresponding to the opening(s) 132 of the shield member 130 on the second housing 250 for the light to pass through. However, it is to be noted that the number of the slot 252 could be determined arbitrarily or as the case may be.
Although a common mechanical keyboard is illustrated as an example in the embodiment, the present invention is not limited thereto. A membrane keyboard, a conductive rubber keyboard, or a capacitive keyboard or the like may be used as the keyboard 200 of the present invention. In order to avoid unnecessary confusion of the present invention, the principle and action of the keyboard 200 will not be described herein.
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Moreover, this embodiment could also be applied to other kinds of keyboard such as a membrane keyboard, a conductive rubber keyboard, a capacitive keyboard, and the like, as describe in the first embodiment.
As shown in
For example, one luminescence unit 120 could be disposed respectively on each of two opposite or adjacent frames 114 or each of any three frames 114 of the cover 110. Alternatively, a number of luminescence units 120 could even be disposed on a single frame 114 of the cover 110 as desired. Similarly, the fourth embodiment could also be applied to other kinds of keyboard such as a membrane keyboard, a conductive rubber keyboard, a capacitive keyboard, and the like, as described above.
Briefly speaking, in the illuminated keyboard of the present invention, light irradiated from the luminescence unit may diffuse uniformly by means of the cover of the illumination module, and the keys of the illuminated keyboard are inserted in the openings of the shield member of the illumination module for sheltering effectively the light from leaking out through the gaps between adjacent keys.
The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied or modified in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.
