Patent Grant
9040856
The present invention relates to a keyboard device, and more particularly to a luminous keyboard device.
Generally, the widely-used peripheral input device of a computer system includes for example a mouse device, a keyboard device, a trackball device, or the like. Via the keyboard device, characters and symbols can be inputted into the computer system directly. As a consequence, most users and most manufacturers of input devices pay much attention to the development of keyboard devices.
With the maturity of the computing technologies, the keyboard manufacturers make efforts in designing novel keyboard devices with special functions in order to meet diversified requirements of different users. For this reason, a luminous keyboard device has been introduced into the market. The outer appearance of the conventional luminous keyboard device is substantially similar to the outer appearance of the conventional keyboard device 1. Since the luminous keyboard device provides the function of illuminating the keys, the inner structure of the luminous keyboard device is different from the inner structure of the keyboard device without the illuminating function. Hereinafter, the inner structure of the luminous keyboard device will be illustrated in more details.
In the key 20, the keycap 201 is exposed outside the conventional luminous keyboard device 2, so that the keycap 201 can be depressed by the user. The scissors-type connecting element 202 is used for connecting the keycap 201 and the supporting plate 24. The elastic element 203 is penetrated through the scissors-type connecting element 202. In addition, both ends of the elastic element 203 are contacted with the keycap 201 and the membrane switch circuit module 21, respectively. The membrane switch circuit module 21 comprises an upper wiring board 211, a spacer layer 212, and a lower wiring board 213. The upper wiring board 211, the spacer layer 212 and the lower wiring board 213 are all made of a light-transmissible material. The light-transmissible material is for example polycarbonate (PC) or polyethylene (PE). The upper wiring board 211 has plural upper contacts 2111. The spacer layer 212 is disposed under the upper wiring board 211, and comprises plural spacer layer openings 2121 corresponding to the plural upper contacts 2111. The lower wiring board 213 is disposed under the spacer layer 212, and comprises plural lower contacts 2131 corresponding to the plural upper contacts 2111. The plural lower contacts 2131 and the plural upper contacts 2111 are collectively defined as plural key switches 214.
The backlight module 23 comprises an illumination circuit board 231 and plural light-emitting elements 232. For clarification and brevity, only two light-emitting elements 232 are shown in the drawing. The illumination circuit board 231 is disposed under the membrane switch circuit module 21 for providing electric power to the plural light-emitting elements 232. The plural light-emitting elements 232 are disposed on the illumination circuit board 231. In addition, the plural light-emitting elements 232 are inserted into plural reflecting plate openings 251 of the reflecting plate 25 and plural light guide plate openings 221 of the light guide plate 22, respectively. By acquiring the electric power, the plural light-emitting elements 232 are driven to emit plural light beams B. Moreover, the plural light beams B are introduced into the light guide plate 22. For example, the plural light-emitting elements 232 are side-view light-emitting diodes. The light guide plate 22 is used for guiding the plural light beams B to the keycaps 201. As shown in
In the conventional luminous keyboard device 2, each keycap 201 has a light-outputting zone 2011. The light-outputting zone 2011 is located at a character region or a symbol region of the keycap 201. Moreover, the position of the light-outputting zone 2011 is aligned with the position of a corresponding light-guiding dot 223 of the light guide plate 22. The light beams can be guided upwardly to the light-outputting zone 2011 by the corresponding light-guiding dot 223. The supporting plate 24 comprises plural supporting plate openings 241. The plural supporting plate openings 241 are aligned with corresponding light-guiding dots 223 and corresponding light-outputting zones 2011. On the other hand, since the membrane switch circuit module 21 is made of the light-transmissible material, the plural light beams B can be transmitted through the membrane switch circuit module 21. Consequently, after the plural light beams B are guided by the light-guiding dots 223, the plural light beams B are sequentially transmitted through the plural supporting plate openings 241 and the membrane switch circuit module 21 and directed to the plural light-outputting zones 2011, thereby illuminating the character region or the symbol region of the keycap 201. Under this circumstance, the illuminating function is achieved.
Generally, the supporting plate 24 is made of an opaque material. For example, the supporting plate 24 is made of a metallic material. Consequently, the plural light beams B are hindered by the supporting plate 24. In other words, the supporting plate 24 should have the plural supporting plate openings 241 for allowing the plural light beams B to go through.
Recently, the general trends in designing electronic devices are toward slimness, and thus the conventional luminous keyboard device needs to meet the requirements of slimness. For achieving this purpose, the manufacturers of the keyboard devices make efforts in minimizing the thickness of the luminous keyboard devices. In accordance with the conventional approach, the thicknesses of some components (e.g. the light guide plate and the light-emitting element) of the luminous keyboard device should be as small as possible. However, some drawbacks may occur. For example, the luminous efficiency of a thinner light-emitting element (e.g. the light-emitting element having a thickness smaller than 0.3 mm) is lower than a thicker light-emitting element (e.g. the light-emitting element having a thickness of 0.4 mm or 0.6 mm), and the thinner light-emitting element is more expensive than the thicker light-emitting element. In other words, the conventional luminous keyboard device with the thinner light-emitting element has reduced luminous efficiency and increased cost.
Therefore, there is a need of providing a luminous keyboard device with reduced thickness and enhanced luminous efficiency.
The present invention provides a luminous keyboard device with reduced thickness and enhanced luminous efficiency.
The present invention also provides a luminous keyboard device with reduced thickness and reduced cost.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a luminous keyboard device. The luminous keyboard device includes plural keys, a supporting plate, a light-emitting element, a membrane switch circuit module, and a light guide plate. The plural keys are exposed outside a top surface of the luminous keyboard device. Each of the keys includes at least one light-outputting zone. The supporting plate is disposed under the plural keys and connected with the plural keys for fixing the plural keys. The supporting plate has a first opening and plural second openings. The light-emitting element is disposed under the plural keys and inserted into the first opening for emitting plural light beams. The membrane switch circuit module is arranged between the supporting plate and the plural keys. When the membrane switch circuit module is triggered by the plural keys, plural key signals are correspondingly generated. The light guide plate is disposed under the supporting plate for guiding the plural light beams to the plural light-outputting zones of the plural keys through the plural second openings.
The above objects and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art after reviewing the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, in which:
For overcoming the drawbacks of the conventional luminous keyboard device, the present invention provides an improved luminous keyboard device.
The supporting plate 31 is disposed under the membrane switch circuit module 34 and connected with the plural connecting elements 302 for fixing the plural keys 30. The supporting plate 31 comprises plural first openings 311 and plural second openings 312. The plural first openings 311 are aligned with the plural light-outputting zones 3011 of the keycaps 301, respectively. The plural light-emitting elements 32 are disposed under the plural keys 30. Moreover, the plural light-emitting elements 32 are inserted into the plural first openings 311, respectively. The plural light-emitting elements 32 are used for emitting plural light beams B*. The light guide plate 33 is disposed under the supporting plate 31 for guiding the plural light beams B* to the plural light-outputting zones 3011 of the plural keys 30 through the plural second openings 312. The light guide plate 33 comprises plural first light-guiding parts 331 and plural third openings 332. The plural first light-guiding parts 331 are disposed on a bottom surface of the light guide plate 33, and located under the plural second openings 312, respectively. The plural first light-guiding parts 331 are used for guiding the plural light beams B* to be directed upwardly to the plural light-outputting zones 3011 of the plural keys 30 through the plural second openings 312. The plural third openings 332 run through the light guide plate 33. Moreover, the plural third openings 332 are aligned with the plural first openings 311, respectively. The plural light-emitting elements 32 are inserted into the plural third openings 332, respectively. Consequently, the plural light beams B* from the plural light-emitting elements 32 can be directed to the light guide plate 33. In this embodiment, the plural light-emitting elements 32 are large-sized side-view light-emitting diodes (e.g. the side-view light-emitting diodes having a thickness larger than 0.4 mm). Moreover, the plural first light-guiding parts 331 are V-cut microstructures, and the supporting plate 31 is made of an opaque material.
As shown in
The membrane switch circuit module 34 further comprises plural receiving parts 345 and plural second light-guiding parts 346. The plural receiving parts 345 are exposed to a bottom surface of the lower wiring board 343, and aligned with the plural first openings 311, respectively. Consequently, the plural light-emitting elements 32 are penetrated through the corresponding first openings 311 and inserted into the corresponding receiving parts 345, respectively. The plural second light-guiding parts 346 are disposed on the bottom surface of the lower wiring board 343, and arranged between the plural second openings 312. The portion of the plural light beams B* that are transferred within the lower wiring board 343 are guided by the plural second light-guiding parts 346 to be directed upwardly to the plural light-outputting zones 3011 of the plural keys 30. From the above discussions, the lower wiring board 343 has a light-guiding function for guiding the plural light beams B* to the plural light-outputting zones 3011. In other words, the lower wiring board 343 is made of a light-guiding material, so that the plural light beams B* within the lower wiring board 343 are subjected to total internal reflection.
In this embodiment, the receiving parts 345 do not run through the lower wiring board 343. For clarification and brevity, the top parts of the receiving parts 345 are not shown in the drawings. After the light-emitting elements 32 are inserted into the corresponding receiving parts 345, the plural light beams B* from the light-emitting elements 32 can be introduced into the lower wiring board 343 (see
Please refer to ”.
The illumination of the luminous keyboard device 3 will be illustrated as follows. When the luminous keyboard device 3 is driven and thus enabled, the plural light-emitting elements 32 that are sequentially inserted into the corresponding third openings 332, the corresponding first openings 311 and the corresponding receiving parts 345 will emit the plural light beams B*. A first portion of the plural light beams B* are traveled along the path under the supporting plate 31 and introduced into the light guide plate 33. A second portion of the plural light beams B* are traveled along the path over the supporting plate 31 and introduced into the lower wiring board 343. After the first portion of the plural light beams B* are introduced into the light guide plate 33, the total internal reflection occurs within the light guide plate 33. When the plural light beams B* are projected onto the plural first light-guiding parts 331, the total internal reflection of the plural light beams B* is destroyed by the plural first light-guiding parts 331, and the plural light beams B* are directed upwardly. Under this circumstance, the plural light beams B* are directed to the plural light-outputting zones 3011 through the plural second openings 312, the membrane switch circuit module 34 and plural light-transmissible zones 371 in order to illuminate the plural keys 30.
On the other hand, after the second portion of the plural light beams B* are introduced into the lower wiring board 343, the total internal reflection occurs within the lower wiring board 343. When the plural light beams B* are projected onto the plural second light-guiding parts 346 near the second openings 312, the total internal reflection of the plural light beams B* is destroyed by the plural second light-guiding parts 346, and the plural light beams B* are directed upwardly. Then, the plural light beams B* are departed from the membrane switch circuit module 34 and directed to the plural light-outputting zones 3011. Under this circumstance, the luminous efficiency of the plural keys 30 will be enhanced.
The present invention further provides a luminous keyboard device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
Except for the following three items, the structures and the operations of the luminous keyboard device 4 of this embodiment are substantially identical to those of the luminous keyboard device 3 of the first embodiment, and are not redundantly described herein.
Firstly, the membrane switch circuit module 44 comprises an upper wiring board 441, a spacer layer 442, a lower wiring board 443, plural receiving parts 445, and plural second light-guiding parts 446. The structures of the upper wiring board 441, the spacer layer 442 and the lower wiring board 443 are substantially identical to those of the luminous keyboard device 3 of the first embodiment, but are and somewhat distinguished. In comparison with the first embodiment, the plural receiving parts 445 are exposed to a bottom surface of the lower wiring board 443, and run through the lower wiring board 443. The plural receiving parts 445 are aligned with the plural first openings 411, respectively. Consequently, the plural light-emitting elements 42 are penetrated through the corresponding first openings 411 and inserted into the corresponding receiving parts 445, respectively. Moreover, the plural light beams B* from the light-emitting elements 42 can be introduced into the spacer layer 442. The plural second light-guiding parts 446 are disposed on a bottom surface of the spacer layer 442 and a bottom surface of the lower wiring board 443, and located near the plural second openings 412. The portions of the plural light beams B* transferred within the spacer layer 442 and the lower wiring board 443 are guided by the plural second light-guiding parts 446 to be directed upwardly to the plural light-outputting zones 4011 of the plural keys 40. Moreover, in this embodiment, the plural first light-guiding parts 431 of the light guide plate 43 are texturing structures, and the plural second light-guiding parts 446 of the spacer layer 442 and the lower wiring board 443 are V-cut microstructures.
Secondly, the plural light-emitting elements 42 are disposed on the illumination circuit board 45, and located at a side of the light guide plate 43 and a side of the membrane switch circuit module 44. In addition, the light-emitting elements 42 are inserted into corresponding first openings 411 and corresponding receiving parts 445, respectively. Consequently, the plural light beams B* from the light-emitting elements 42 are introduced into the light guide plate 43 and the spacer layer 442 of the membrane switch circuit module 44. In this embodiment, the illumination circuit board 45 is a printed circuit board.
Thirdly, each of the first light-guiding part 431 of the light guide plate 43 is aligned with two light-outputting zones 4011 of a keycap 401 and two second openings 412 of the supporting plate 41.
The present invention further provides a luminous keyboard device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
Except for the following four items, the structures and the operations of the luminous keyboard device 5 of this embodiment are substantially identical to those of the luminous keyboard device 3 of the first embodiment, and are not redundantly described herein.
Firstly, the membrane switch circuit module 54 comprises an upper wiring board 541, a spacer layer 542, a lower wiring board 543, and plural receiving parts 545. The structures of the upper wiring board 541, the spacer layer 542 and the lower wiring board 543 are substantially identical to those of the luminous keyboard device 3 of the first embodiment, but are and somewhat distinguished. In comparison with the first embodiment, the plural receiving parts 545 run through the lower wiring board 543, the spacer layer 542 and the upper wiring board 541. The plural receiving parts 545 are aligned with the plural first openings 511, respectively. Consequently, the plural light-emitting elements 52 are penetrated through the corresponding first openings 511 and inserted into the corresponding receiving parts 545, respectively. Moreover, the plural light-emitting elements 52 are shielded by the flexible film 57 without being exposed outside the membrane switch circuit module 54. Consequently, the plural light beams B* from the light-emitting elements 52 can be introduced into the upper wiring board 541, the spacer layer 542 and the lower wiring board 543. That is, the plural light beams B* are subjected to total internal reflection within the upper wiring board 541, the spacer layer 542 and the lower wiring board 543. Moreover, the membrane switch circuit module 54 of the luminous keyboard device 5 of this embodiment does not comprise plural second light-guiding parts. Although the membrane switch circuit module 54 fails to guide the plural light beams B* to the plural light-outputting zones 5011, a small portion of the light beams B* may be leaked out from the membrane switch circuit module 54 during the total internal reflection of the plural light beams B* within the upper wiring board 541, the spacer layer 542 and the lower wiring board 543. Due to the small portion of the light beams B*, the luminous efficiency of the luminous keyboard device 5 is slightly increased. Alternatively, in some other embodiments, the membrane switch circuit module comprises plural second light-guiding parts, and the plural second light-guiding parts are disposed on a bottom surface of the upper wiring board for guiding the plural beams. Consequently, the luminous efficiency of the luminous keyboard device is further enhanced.
Secondly, a lateral edge 561 of the reflecting part 56 is formed as a bent structure to enclose a lateral edge 533 of the light guide plate 53. Due to the bent structure, the problem of causing light leakage through the lateral edge 533 of the light guide plate 53 can be eliminated. Moreover, the reflecting part 56 comprises plural fifth openings 562. The plural fifth openings 562 are aligned with the plural light-emitting elements 52, respectively. After the plural light-emitting elements 52 on the illumination circuit board 55 are sequentially penetrated through the corresponding fifth openings 562 of the reflecting part 56, the corresponding third openings 532 of the light guide plate 53, the corresponding first openings 511 of the supporting plate 51 and the corresponding receiving parts 545 of the membrane switch circuit module 54, the plural light beams B* from the plural light-emitting elements 52 are introduced into the light guide plate 53 and the membrane switch circuit module 54. In this embodiment, the reflecting part 56 is a reflecting plate.
Thirdly, each keycap 501 has only one light-outputting zone 5011. In addition, the plural second openings 512 of the supporting plate 51 are aligned with the plural light-outputting zones 5011 of the plural keycaps 501, respectively. In other words, each key 50 of the luminous keyboard device 5 of this embodiment has a single character region or a single symbol region. For example, the luminous keyboard device 5 is a US keyboard device.
Fourthly, the plural first light-guiding parts 531 of the light guide plate 53 are ink-guiding ink layers, which are printed on the bottom surface of the light guide plate 53.
From the above descriptions, the present invention provides a luminous keyboard device. The luminous keyboard device of the present invention utilizes thicker light-emitting elements. Consequently, the luminous efficiency of the light beams from the light-emitting elements will be enhanced. Moreover, the opaque supporting plate has plural first openings corresponding to the light-emitting elements. The light-emitting elements are penetrated through the first openings, so that the light beams from the light-emitting elements can be introduced into the membrane switch circuit module. Under this circumstance, the luminous efficiency of the luminous keyboard device is slightly increased. Moreover, the luminous keyboard device of the present invention may use a thinner light guide plate in order to meet the requirement of slimness. In other words, the uses of the thicker light-emitting elements can increase the luminous efficiency and reduce the cost while reducing the overall thickness of the luminous keyboard device.
While the invention has been described in terms of what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention needs not be limited to the disclosed embodiment. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims which are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all modifications and similar structures.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102121385 A | Jun 2013 | TW | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20070235307 | Liao et al. | Oct 2007 | A1 |
| 20100128427 | Iso | May 2010 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20140369020 A1 | Dec 2014 | US |
