Patent Application
20200411253
This present invention generally relates to the field of a keyswitch and, more particularly, to the structure of a keyswitch assembly.
Keyboards are generally used for inputting texts. According to the mechanism design under a keyswitch of a keyboard, the keyboard can be generally divided into two categories, which are a thin film keyboard and a mechanical keyboard respectively. The pressing feeling of a general thin film keyboard lies in the cooperation of the mechanical structure between the rubber cap and the scissor-like linkage below the keyswitch. When the user presses the keyswitch, the rubber cap is compressed by the pressing force, so that the keyswitch is pressed down. While the user stops pressing the keyswitch, the restoring force of the rubber cap would cause a rebound to provide the restoring force, so as to raise the keyswitch. Accordingly, the pressing feeling is formed. The pressing feeling of a mechanical keyboard lies in the cooperation of the shaft and the spring structure under the keyswitch, and accordingly, the pressing feeling is through the combination of pressing force and restoring force of the spring.
However, when a keyswitch has a larger pressing area (such as a space bar), the restoring force of the keyswitch is insufficient, or the pressing feeling on the middle surface of the keyswitch is inconsistent with the pressing feeling at both ends of the keyswitch. Thus, the pressing feeling is poor. Also, the corner of the keyswitch is easily deformed due to the insufficient supporting force, resulting in poor electrical connection of the keyswitch and bad experience of using the keyboard.
The embodiments of the present invention provides a keyswitch assembly to solve the problems of deformation, poor electrical conduction or poor pressing feeling of the keyswitch in the prior art.
In one embodiment, the keyswitch assembly includes a base plate, at least one pressing mechanism disposed on the base plate, a plurality of elastic members disposed on the base plate, a keycap covering the at least one pressing mechanism and the plurality of elastic members and a first supporting member disposed on the keycap.
In the embodiments, the first supporting member is disposed on the keycap, whereby the rigidity of the keycap is increased. When a user presses the keycap at any position, particularly either at a corner or at the center of the keycap, he/she can experience substantially the same or similar pressing feeling. In the meanwhile, the problem of the poor electrical conduction resulted from the deformation of the keycap can be solved by the increased rigidity.
It should be understood, however, that this summary may not contain all aspects and embodiments of the present invention, that this summary is not meant to be limiting or restrictive in any manner, and that the invention as disclosed herein will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to encompass obvious improvements and modifications thereto.
The features of the exemplary embodiments believed to be novel and the elements and/or the steps characteristic of the exemplary embodiments are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The Figures are for illustration purposes only and are not drawn to scale. The exemplary embodiments, both as to organization and method of operation, may best be understood by reference to the detailed description which follows taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown. This present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this present invention will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the present invention to those skilled in the art.
Certain terms are used throughout the description and following claims to refer to particular components. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, manufacturers may refer to a component by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish between components that differ in name but function. In the following description and in the claims, the terms “include/including” and “comprise/comprising” are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be interpreted as “including but not limited to”. “Substantial/substantially” means, within an acceptable error range, the person skilled in the art may solve the technical problem in a certain error range to achieve the basic technical effect.
The following description is of the best-contemplated mode of carrying out the invention. This description is made for the purpose of illustration of the general principles of the invention and should not be taken in a limiting sense. The scope of the invention is best determined by reference to the appended claims.
Moreover, the terms “include”, “contain”, and any variation thereof are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. Therefore, a process, method, object, or device that includes a series of elements not only includes these elements, but also includes other elements not specified expressly, or may include inherent elements of the process, method, object, or device. If no more limitations are made, an element limited by “include a/an . . . ” does not exclude other same elements existing in the process, the method, the article, or the device which includes the element.
In the following embodiments, the same reference numeral is used to refer to the same or similar elements throughout the application.
The present application provides a keyswitch assembly, which demonstrates as one of the keys in the keyboard. The plurality of elastic members of the keyswitch assembly provide adequate supporting for the keycap. When pressing a multi-unit keycap having a length substantially greater than a width (such as the “space bar” key), a user would not feel distinct tactile feedbacks no matter where the user presses the keycap. Also, the corner of the keycap will not be deformed by pressing, and each elastic member can trigger the corresponding circuit switch on the circuit board.
In this embodiment, the number of the pressing mechanism 13 and the elastic member 15 are two. The two pressing mechanisms 13 are symmetrically disposed on the base plate 11. The two elastic members 15 are respectively dispose in the corresponding pressing mechanisms 13. Each of the elastic members 15 is, for example, positioned within an aperture confined by the corresponding pressing mechanism 13. The detailed structure of the base plate 11, the pressing mechanism 13, and the keycap 17 will be further described below.
The base plate 11 includes a fixing portion 111 and a limiting portion 113 at the position corresponding to the pressing mechanism 13. The fixing portion 111 is disposed at one side of the limiting portion 113. The fixing portion 111 is a combined structure having a plurality of fixing hooks 1111 and a plurality of fixing blocks 1112. The limiting portion 113 includes a plurality of limiting hooks 1131. In an embodiment, a surface of the base plate 11 is provided with an identifier 500, as shown in
The circuit board 19 disposed on the base plate 11 includes a plurality of hollow portions 193. The fixing portion 111 and the limiting portion 113 pass through the hollow portion 193. That is, the plurality of fixing hooks 1111, the plurality of fixing blocks 1112, and the plurality of limiting hooks 1131 pass through the hollow portion 193.
The pressing mechanism 13 further includes a first bracket 131 and a second bracket 133. The two outer sides 1331 of the second bracket 133 are pivotally disposed on two inner sides 1311 of the first bracket 131 respectively. That is the first bracket 131 and the second bracket 133 are interlocked. The two outer sides 1331 of the second bracket 133 respectively includes bumps 1332. The two inner sides 1311 of the first bracket 131 respectively includes notches 1312. The bumps 1332 are fitted in the notches 1312. The first bracket 131 and the second bracket 133 are relatively pivotable. The first bracket 131 further includes a first outer side 1313 and a second outer side 1315. The second bracket 133 further includes a first inner side 1333 and a second inner side 1335. The first outer side 1313 and the first inner side 1333 are adjacent to the base plate 11, while the second outer side 1315 and the second inner side 1335 are adjacent to the keycap 17.
The first outer side 1313 of the first bracket 131 is disposed to the fixing portion 111. That is the inner side of the first outer side 1313 hooks to the plurality of fixed hooks 1111. The outer side of the first outer side 1313 is confined by the plurality of fixing blocks 1112. The first bracket 131 is pivoted to the base plate 11. The first inner side 1333 of the second bracket 133 engages with the limiting portion 113. That is, the inner side of the first inner side 1333 is confined by the limit hook 1131, such that the first inner side 1333 of the second bracket 133 is restricted to move inwardly.
Referring to
When the user presses the keycap 17 of the keyswitch assembly 1, the keycap 17 moves downward and drives the pressing mechanism 13 and the elastic member 15. As the keycap 17 moves downward, the keycap 17 drives the first bracket 131 of the pressing mechanism 13 to pivot relative to the second bracket 133 of the pressing mechanism 13, such that a cross configuration of the first bracket 131 and the second bracket 133 transforms into an overlap configuration of the first bracket 131 and the second bracket 133. At the same time, the elastic member 15 is compressed by the keycap 17 downwardly to contact the switches 191 of the circuit board 19 on the base plate 11, so as to achieve electrical conduction inside the circuit board 19 and complete an input of the keyswitch. When the elastic member 15 is compressed, an upward supporting force for the keycap 17 can also be provided, and the deformation of the keycap 17 due to pressing can be effectively mitigated. When the user stops pressing the keycap 17, the compressed elastic member 15 restores to its original state. The elastic force of the elastic member 15 drives the keycap 17 to move upward. The keycap 17 drives the first bracket 131 and the second bracket 133 of the pressing mechanism 13 to return to the original cross configuration. By way of such configuration, the pressing force applied to the keycap 17 and the restoring force that the elastic member 15 restores the keycap 17 account for the pressing feeling.
The two elastic members 15 of the keyswitch assembly 1 in this embodiment are disposed under the keycap 17 with an interval therebetween. The two elastic members 15 stably provide the supporting force for the keycap 17, to provide sufficient restoring force for the keycap 17. When the user presses any spot/area or corner of the keycap 17, the pressing feeling is the same throughout the entire surface of the keycap 17, so that there should be no difference in the pressing feeling while directly pressing the middle or two distal sides of the keycap 17. The two pressing mechanisms 13 are connected between the base plate 11 and the keycap 17 to maintain the stability of the up-and-down movement of the keycap 17. The number of the pressing mechanisms 13 may be two or more. The number of the elastic members 15 should be equal to the number of the pressing mechanisms 13. The plurality of the elastic members 15 may be disposed on the base plate 11 at equal intervals or at different intervals, which should not limit the scope of the embodiment. In the embodiment that the plurality of the elastic members 15 are disposed on the base plate 11 at equal intervals, the plurality of elastic members 15 stably provide sufficient supporting force for multiple parts of the keycap 17. In other words, the parts located between two distal sides of the keycap 17 and the central part of the keycap 17 may be supported stably by the supporting force. The keyswitch assembly 1 of the present embodiment can also be provided with a single pressing mechanism 13 and a plurality of elastic members 15 separately disposed in the pressing mechanism 13. The plurality of the elastic members 15 may be disposed inside the pressing mechanism 13 at equal intervals or at different intervals.
It can be seen from the above embodiments that the plurality of the elastic members 15 can be disposed at equal intervals (as shown in
In addition, the two fixing portions 231 of the balance supporting frame 23 can be selectively disposed on one side corresponding to the pressing mechanism 13. In other words, the two fixing portions 231 can be selectively disposed on the outer side of the pressing mechanism 13 (as shown in
The supporting member 25 is disposed on the surface of the keycap 17 facing the base plate 11 and disposed at the periphery of the two pressing mechanisms 13. The supporting member 25 might be located at a relatively central area of the keycap 17 between the two pressing mechanisms 13. The keycap 17 has an outer latching member 173 corresponding to the elastic bracket 233. The elastic bracket 233 is latched to the outer latching member 173 of the keycap 17. The supporting member 25 mainly increases the strength of the keycap 17 to avoid deformation resulting from the pressing. In this embodiment, the supporting member 25 could be a frame-like bar defining a rectangular loop with an opening. The supporting member 25 is, for example, made of a bent metal rod of which the cross section has a curved outline.
Referring to
The first supporting member 30 includes a first main body 31 and first ribs 32. In the present embodiment, the first main body 31 is made of a rectangular metal plate, and the first ribs 32 are disposed on a surface of the first main body 31 facing the pressing mechanisms 13 and the elastic member 15. The first ribs 32 protruding from the surface of the first main body 31 could be located between the two pressing mechanisms 13. In the present embodiment, the first ribs 32 are constituted by multiple connected hexagons, but the structure of the first ribs 32 is not limited thereto. An orthographic projection area of the first ribs 32 projected on the circuit board 19 in a pressing direction of the keyswitch assembly does not overlap an orthographic projection area of the elastic member 15 projected on the circuit board 19, so that the first ribs 32 could not interfere with the elastic member 15 when the keycap 17 is pressed down. In addition, the first supporting member 30 further includes a flange 314 disposed on the peripheral rim of the first main body 31 as shown in
The first main body 31 has a through hole 311, a plurality of first joining holes 312 and a plurality of first positioning holes 313. The through hole 311 is formed at a position corresponding to the elastic member 15. The elastic member 15 extends through the through hole 311 and props against the keycap 17. The keycap 17 includes joining members 174 and positioning members 175. The positioning member 175 extends through the first positioning holes 313, whereby the first main body 31 is positioned to the keycap 17. In the present embodiment, the positioning member 175 is a projecting post which has a diameter substantially equal to or less than that of the first positioning hole 313. When the first main body 31 is positioned to the keycap 17 through the positioning members 175 and the first positioning holes 313, the joining members 174 are disposed in the first joining holes 312 respectively. In the present embodiment, the joining member 174 is a hot-melt column. The joining member 174 is pressed and heated to be turned into the melt state. The melted joining member 174 then fills the first joining holes 312 and covers a portion of the first main body 31. When the melted joining member 174 is cured, a T-shaped joining member 174 is formed, and the first main body 31 is secured to the keycap 17 by the T-shaped joining member 174.
As the first supporting member 30 is secured to the keycap 17, the rigidity of the keycap 17 is increased, whereby the user can experience the same or similar pressing feeling when he/she presses the keycap 17 at any position thereof, particularly either at the corner or at the center. In addition, the problem of the poor electrical conduction resulted from the deformation of the keycap can be solved by the increased rigidity. The first ribs 32 can further enhance the rigidity of the first supporting member 30. Since the first ribs 32 are disposed at the middle portion of the first supporting member 30 and the elastic member 15 props against the center of the keycap 17, the first ribs 32 can prevent the deformation of the keycap 17 when the corner of the keycap 17 is pressed. In the present embodiment, the keycap 17 has two opposite long lateral sides 176 and two opposite short lateral sides 177 connected to the long lateral sides 176. The keycap 17 has an upward curved shape along the long lateral sides 176 so that a distance of each short lateral side 177 to the base plate 11 is larger than that of the center of the keycap 17 to the base plate 11. Such a keycap 17 of the present embodiment collocating the elastic member 15 at the center of the keycap 17 provides the same or similar pressing feeling either at the corner or at the center.
Referring to
Referring to
The first supporting member 30 and the second supporting member 40 together can further increase the rigidity of the keycap 17, whereby the user can experience the same or similar pressing feeling when he/she presses the keycap 17 at any position thereof, particularly either at the corner or at the center. In addition, the problem of the poor electrical conduction resulted from the deformation of the keycap 17 can be solved by the increased rigidity.
The second main body 41 includes a plurality of second joining holes 411 and a plurality of second positioning holes 412. The second positioning holes 412 are aligned with the first positioning holes 313, and the positioning members 175 extend through the second positioning holes 412 and the first positioning holes 313 to position the first supporting member 30 and the second supporting member 40. The second joining holes 411 are aligned with the first joining holes 312. The joining member 174 are disposed in the second joining holes 411 and the first joining holes 312 when the first supporting member 30 and the second supporting member 40 are positioned to the keycap 17. The joining member 174 is pressed and heated to be turned into the melt state. The melted joining member 174 fills the first joining holes 312 and the second joining holes 411, and covers a portion of the second main body 41 as well. When the melted joining member 174 is cured, a T-shaped joining member 174 is formed, and the first main body 31 and the second main body 41 are secured to the keycap 17 by the T-shaped joining member 174. The keycap 17 has a downward curved shape along the long lateral sides 176 so that a distance of each short lateral side 177 to the base plate 11 is smaller than that of the center of the keycap 17 to the base plate 11. Such a keycap 17 of the present embodiment collocating the two elastic members 15 at the position of the pressing mechanism 13 provides the same or similar pressing feeling either at the corner or at the center.
Referring to
It is noted that the configuration of the supporting member fasten to the keycap 17 is not limited by the above description. In another embodiment, the first supporting member 30 elaborated in
In summary, according to the embodiments, the first supporting member is disposed on the keycap, whereby the rigidity of the keycap is increased. When a user presses the keycap at any position, particularly either at a corner or at the center of the keycap, he/she can experience substantially the same or similar pressing feeling. In the meanwhile, the problem of the poor electrical conduction resulted from the deformation of the keycap can be solved by the increased rigidity.
It is to be understood that the term “comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variants thereof, is intended to encompass a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or device of a series of elements not only includes those elements but also includes other elements that are not explicitly listed, or elements that are inherent to such a process, method, article, or device. An element defined by the phrase “comprising a . . . ” does not exclude the presence of the same element in the process, method, article, or device that comprises the element.
Although the present invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it does not intend to limit the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art having regard to this present invention that other modifications of the exemplary embodiments beyond those embodiments specifically described here may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, such modifications are considered within the scope of the invention as limited solely by the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201820438380.0 | Mar 2018 | CN | national |
This application is a continuation in part of the U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/368, 349, filed on Mar. 28, 2019, which claims priority to China patent application 201820438380.0 filed on Mar. 29, 2018. These and all other referenced extrinsic materials are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 16368349 | Mar 2019 | US |
| Child | 17015604 | US |
