This application claims priority to Taiwan Application Serial Number 105211129, filed Jul. 22, 2016, which is herein incorporated by reference.
The present disclosure relates to a keyswitch device and a keyboard.
Currently, the keyboard is one of the indispensable input devices to enter text or numbers while using a PC. Moreover, consumer electronic products used in daily life or large-scale processing equipment used in the industrial sector all require key structure units input devices to operate.
Currently, regarding the conventional keyboard commonly includes a bottom plate, a membrane circuit broad, a connecting assembly, a keycap and a restoring member (for example, a rubber elastic member) and the connecting assembly is connected between the bottom plate and the keycap. However, for a well-developed consumer electronic product, if a new framework can be provided to reduce the overall amount of the components while with the original functionality preserved, the relative manufacturing costs can be further reduced. Accordingly, how to provide a keyswitch device and a keyboard to solve the aforementioned problems becomes an important issue to be solved by those in the industry.
Accordingly, an aspect of the disclosure is to provide a keyswitch device and a keyboard that can effectively reduce the overall amount of components.
According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a keyswitch device includes a circuit board, a fixing bracket, a micro switch, a keycap and a connecting assembly. The circuit board has a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface. The fixing bracket includes a main body and a first hook. The main body abuts against the first surface. The first hook is connected to the main body and is fixed to the circuit board. The micro switch is disposed on the circuit board passing through the main body and configured to generate a pressing signal to the circuit board while being pressed. The keycap is supported on the micro switch and configured to press the micro switch toward the circuit board. The connecting assembly is connected between the fixing bracket and the keycap and configured to guide the keycap to move upward and downward relative to the circuit board.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, the circuit board further includes a through hole communicating the first surface and the second surface. The first hook abuts against the second surface via the through hole.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, the main body slidably abuts against the first surface, so as to make the first hook selectively abut against or leave the second surface.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, the fixing bracket further includes a second hook. The micro switch includes a pedestal and a push button. The pedestal is disposed on the circuit board and has a positioning hole. The push button supports the keycap and is engaged with the pedestal. The push button is configured to move toward or away from the pedestal. The second hook is engaged with the positioning hole when the first hook abuts against the second surface. The second hook is separated from the positioning hole when the first hook is separated from the second surface.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, the first hook and the second hook located at opposite side of the main body.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, the positioning hole is located at a peripheral edge of the pedestal.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, the circuit board further includes an engaging hole. The engaging hole is configured to be engaged with the peripheral edge of the pedestal.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, the fixing bracket further includes a plurality of third hooks. The third hook is connected to the main body and configured to be engaged with the connecting assembly.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, the push button has an abutting portion. The abutting portion extends to the pedestal. The micro switch further includes a first terminal and a second terminal. The first terminal is disposed on the pedestal and electrically connected to the circuit board. The second terminal is disposed on the pedestal, electrically connected to the circuit board and is opposite to the first terminal. When the push button moves toward the pedestal to make the abutting portion abut against the second terminal, the second terminal is then moved toward the first terminal to electrically connect to the first terminal, so as to generate a pressing signal.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, the micro switch further includes a restoring member. The restoring member is disposed between the pedestal and the push button.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, the fixing bracket comprises metal. The circuit board further includes a grounding pad. The grounding pad is disposed on the second surface and adjacent to the through hole. The grounding pad is configured to electrically contact to the first hook abutting against the second surface.
According to another embodiment of the disclosure, a keyboard includes a circuit board and a plurality of keyswitch assemblies. The circuit board has a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface. Each of the keyswitch assemblies includes a fixing bracket, a micro switch, a keycap and a connecting assembly. The fixing bracket includes a main body and a first hook. The main body abuts against the first surface. The first hook is connected to the main body and fixed to the circuit board. The micro switch is disposed on the circuit board passing through the main body and configured to generate a pressing signal to the circuit board while being pressed. The keycap is supported on the micro switch and configured to press the micro switch toward the circuit board. The connecting assembly is connected between the fixing bracket and the keycap and configured to guide the keycap to move upward and downward relative to the circuit board.
Accordingly, in the keyswitch device and the keyboard of the present disclosure, the micro switch is used to support the keycap and generate a pressing signal correspondingly while the keycap is pressed. Therefore, the conventional membrane circuit board and restoring member can be replaced by the micro switch. Also, a hook is designed on the fixing bracket of the keyswitch device and the keyboard to hook downward to the circuit board, so the conventional adhesive layer used to fix the circuit board and the fixing bracket can be omitted. Moreover, in the keyswitch device and the keyboard of the present disclosure, a hook is designed on the fixing bracket to engage with the positioning hole set on the micro keyswitch, so as to prevent the micro switch disposed on the circuit board from floating or skewing. Furthermore, the keyswitch device and the keyboard of the present disclosure, a grounding pad can be disposed on the location where the circuit board is hooked by the hook of the fixing bracket, so as to gain some additional properties such as grounding and anti-static.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are by examples, and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.
The disclosure can be more fully understood by reading the following detailed description of the embodiment, with reference made to the accompanying drawings as follows:
Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments of the disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.
Reference is made to
Reference is made to
Reference is made to
According to the aforementioned configuration, in the keyswitch device and the keyboard 100 in the embodiment, a hook is designed on the fixing bracket 130 to hook downward to the circuit board 110, so the conventional adhesive layer used to fix the circuit board 110 and the fixing bracket 130 can be omitted.
Moreover, as shown in
According to the aforementioned configuration, the keyswitch device and the keyboard 100 in the embodiment not only use the engaging hole 114 of the circuit board 110 to limit the relative horizontal displacement of the micro switch 140 and the circuit board 110, but also designed a hook on the fixing bracket 130 to hook into the positioning hole 141a on the micro switch 140 to limit the relative vertical displacement of the micro switch 140 and the circuit board 110. As a result, the floating or skewing problems of the micro switch 140 disposed on the circuit board 110 can be effectively prevented.
Furthermore, the peripheral contour of the micro switch 140 is non-circular and is matched with the inner contour of the engaging hole 114 of the circuit board 110, so as to prevent the micro switch 140 from rotating relative to the engaging hole 114 of the circuit board 110.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
In practical application, the pedestal 141 of the micro switch 140 can be combined with the circuit board 110 by welding, but the disclosure is not limited in this regard.
As shown in
In practical application, the connecting assembly 160 can be replaced by other bracket structures with similar functionality (that is, to guide the keycap 150 to move upward or downward relative to the circuit board 110), i.e., V-shape, A-shape, or two parallel linkage mechanism.
Moreover, beneath the keycap 150 and inside the inner edge of the second connecting member 162, there forms a holding space for the micro switch 140 to be disposed within. While the keycap 150 is pressed by an external force, there is a resistant force generated by the micro switch 140 to provide the user a feeling of pressing, and the keycap 150 is moved to the minimum position guided by the connecting assembly 160. When the external force on the keycap 150 is released, the keycap 150 is restored to the maximum position by the resistant force generated by the micro switch 140. The working principle of generating resistant force by the micro switch 140 will be explained in the following.
Reference is made to
As shown in
In practical details, in the embodiment, the restoring member 145 is disposed between the pedestal 141 and the push button 142. In this way, when the keycap 150 is pressed by an external force, the restoring member 145 can generate a resistant force to support the keycap 150 (through the push button 142), so as to provide the user a feeling of pressing. When the external force being released from the keycap 150, the keycap 150 will be restored to the maximum position by the resistant force generated by the restoring member 145.
Moreover, the pedestal 141 further includes a limit column 141b. The limit column 141b is hollow and suits the abutting portion 142a of the push button 142, so the abutting portion 142a can move upward and downward relative to the limit column 141b, by this way to guide the push button 142 to move toward or away from the pedestal 141. In addition, the push button 142 further includes an enclosure portion 142b. The enclosure portion 142b encloses the abutting portion 142a and is set outside the limit column 141b. The restoring member 145 is set outside the limit column 141b and limited within the enclosure portion 142b, so as to maintain the position of the restoring member 145 in the micro switch 140.
In an embodiment, the restoring member 145 can be a compression spring, but the disclosure is not limited in this regard. In other embodiments, the restoring member 145 can also be an elastic rubber hollow cone or a magnetic element to provide a restoring force.
From the aforementioned details of the embodiments of the disclosure, obviously, in the keyswitch device and the keyboard of the disclosure, it is the micro switch used to support the keycap and generating pressing signals correspondingly while the keycap is pressed, so the micro switch can replace the membrane circuit and the restoring member in the conventional keyswitch device. Moreover, in the keyswitch device and the keyboard of the disclosure, there is a hook designed on the fixing bracket to hook downward to the circuit board, thus the conventional adhesive layer used to fix the circuit board and the fixing bracket can be omitted. Furthermore, the keyswitch device and the keyboard in the disclosure, there is a hook designed on the fixing bracket to hook into the positioning hole set up on the micro switch, so as to prevent the micro switch disposed on the circuit board from floating and skewing. Also, a grounding pad 115 can be disposed on the location where the circuit board is hooked by the hook of the fixing bracket to add some additional properties such as grounding and anti-static.
Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain embodiments thereof, other embodiments are possible. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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105211129 U | Jul 2016 | TW | national |
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3678424 | Iwashima | Jul 1972 | A |
4678880 | Koizumi | Jul 1987 | A |
5813778 | Shih | Sep 1998 | A |
5874696 | Hayashi | Feb 1999 | A |
5901837 | Aimi | May 1999 | A |
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9767970 | Jhuang | Sep 2017 | B2 |
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20160322180 | Jhuang | Nov 2016 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20180025863 A1 | Jan 2018 | US |