The invention can be more fully understood by reading the following detailed description of the embodiment, with reference made to the accompanying drawings as follows:
Each key 102 has a corresponding character symbol 103 thereon. The character symbols 103 can be made by a luminous material, such as a fluorescent material, a phosphorescent material, or a combination thereof. For example, the fluorescent material can be a stilbene compound or a derivative thereof; the phosphorescent material can be a sulfide compound such as ZnS.
The keys 102 having the character symbols 103 made by luminous material can be manufactured by bi-injection molding. Since the luminous material is a part of the keys 102, rather than print on the keys, the character symbols 103 are durable and can be recognized easily.
The light source 104 can be mounted on any place that can illuminate UV light on the keys 102 to enable the luminous material to irradiate visible light. For example, the light source 104 can be mounted on the top or right/left side of the monitor 502 (in
The light source 104 can be a black-light tube, a type of small UV tube, or an UV LED. For example, the black-light tube can be a commercial product, F4T5/BLB, manufactured by Philips or Osram; the UV LED can be a commercial product NSHU550A, NSHU590A, NSHU550B, or NSHU550B manufactured by Nichia. The harmful UV light (UV-B, in 280-320 nm, and UV-C, less than 280 nm) can be filtered by a plating layer in the UV tube or a package material of the LED.
Therefore, under such arrangement, the character symbols 103 on the keys 102 can irradiate visible light under the UV light generated by the light source 104. User can recognize the character symbols 103 very easily under an environment with insufficient light.
The backlight plate 202 is disposed in the base 201 and positioned under the keys 204. The light source 203a or 203b can be disposed in the base 201 and positioned under the backlight plate 202, as shown in
The raw materials of the backlight plate 202 include a luminous material, such as a fluorescent material, a phosphorescent material, or a combination thereof. For example, the fluorescent material can be a stilbene compound or a derivative thereof; the phosphorescent material can be a sulfide compound, such as ZnS. The luminous material can be blended into a matrix material, such as a polymer or other suitable materials, and then form the backlight plate 202. If the matrix material is a polymer, such as an acrylic resin, the backlight plate 202 can be made by injection molding.
The light source 203a or 203b can be a black-light tube, a type of small UV tube, or an UV LED. For example, the black-light tube can be a commercial product, F4T5/BLB, manufactured by Philips or Osram; the UV LED can be a commercial product NSHU550A, NSHU590A, NSHU550B, or NSHU550B manufactured by Nichia. The harmful UV light (UV-B, in 280-320 nm, and UV-C, less than 280 nm) can be filtered by a plating layer in the UV tube or a package material of the LED.
Since the backlight plate 202 comprises a luminous material, the backlight plate 202 can irradiate visible light under the UV light illumination of the light source 203a or 203b. The visible light irradiated by the backlight plate 202 can then penetrate the transparent character symbols 206 of the keys 204. Hence, user can recognize the character symbols 206 clearly under environment with insufficient light.
According to the embodiments of this invention, several luminous keyboard modules are provided to allow user to easily recognize the character symbols of the keys under environment with insufficient light without increasing much production cost.
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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95122830 | Jun 2006 | TW | national |