This application is the national phase under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of PCT International Application No. PCT/CN2013/082735 which has an International filing date of Aug. 30, 2013, which designated the United States of America, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention generally relates to an operating button, especially to an operating button with a light source.
An operating button can output light rays to the outside of the operating button via a light source provided therein, so as to identify the state of the operating button or a device. Because of the limitation of the volume and structure of the operating button, when in operation, the output light rays of the operating button have a long light path such that the brightness of the output light rays is insufficient. In addition, the light rays output by the operating button are not in parallel such that the light rays irradiated thereby are not even and have light spots.
An embodiment of the present invention provides an operating button for improving the brightness of the light rays output by the operating button.
An embodiment of the present invention provides an operating button, comprising a light source, a push rod and an operating head. The light source can output light rays. The push rod is provided with a diverging lens and the operating head is provided with a condensing lens. The optical center of the diverging lens, the optical center of the condensing lens and the light source are in the same line, so that the light rays generated by the light source can pass through the push rod and the operating head to be irradiated out.
The following accompanying drawings are merely for illustrative description and explanation of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.
An embodiment of the present invention provides an operating button, comprising a light source, a push rod and an operating head. The light source can output light rays. The push rod is provided with a diverging lens and the operating head is provided with a condensing lens. The optical center of the diverging lens, the optical center of the condensing lens and the light source are in the same line, so that the light rays generated by the light source can pass through the push rod and the operating head to be irradiated out.
In the operating button, there is only one diverging lens and one condensing lens in the direction of propagation of the light rays generated by the light source, and therefore the distance between the light source and the diverging lens can be conveniently adjusted and the brightness of the light rays irradiated by the operating button is improved.
In another illustrative embodiment of the operating button, the push rod and the diverging lens are integrally formed and the operating head and the condensing lens are integrally formed.
In a further illustrative embodiment of the operating button, the light source is a light-emitting diode (LED).
In a yet further illustrative embodiment of the operating button, the operating button has an installation direction for connecting the push rod with the operating head. The operating head is provided with a connecting end which has a guiding part and a locking part. The push rod is provided with a locking end which has an inserting part and a snapping part, the inserting part is movable along the guiding part in the installation direction, and the snapping part is connectable to the locking part.
In a yet further illustrative embodiment of the operating button, the guiding part is a groove and the inserting part is a protrusion.
In a yet further illustrative embodiment of the operating button, the locking part has a guiding surface and a slot, the snapping part has an inserting surface and a snap-fitting surface, and the inserting surface is movable along the guiding surface in the installation direction such that the snap-fitting surface is snap-fitted with the slot.
For the sake of better understanding of the technical features, objects and effects of the present invention, particular embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the same reference numeral refers to the same part.
The term “illustrative” herein means “serving as an example, instance or description”, and any “illustrative” illustration and embodiment described herein should not be interpreted as a more preferred or a more advantageous technical solution.
For the simplicity of the figures, only parts related to the present invention are illustratively shown in each figure, and they do not represent the actual structure thereof as a product. Moreover, in order to make the drawings simple and easy to understand, in some figures, only one of components with the same structure or function is schematically depicted or marked.
The light source 10 can output light rays. The light rays output by the light source 10 pass through the push rod 20 and the operating head 30 successively and are irradiated from the operating head 30. In one illustrative embodiment of the operating button, the light source 10 is a light-emitting diode (LED) and it is certain that other light sources can also be used according to requirements.
The push rod 20 is of a hollow structure such that the light rays emitted from the light source 10 can pass through the push rod 20. The push rod 20 has a diverging lens 22, and the light rays emitted from the light source 10 pass through the diverging lens 22 when propagating in the push rod. In one illustrative embodiment of the operating button, the diverging lens 22 is a concave lens.
The operating head 30 has a condensing lens 32, and the light rays passed through the diverging lens 22 illuminate towards the outside of the operating button after passing through the condensing lens 32. In one illustrative embodiment of the operating button, the condensing lens 32 is a convex lens.
In the direction of propagation of the light rays emitted from the light source 10, the optical center of the diverging lens 22, the optical center of the condensing lens 32 and the light source 10 are in the same line. In this case, the optical center of the diverging lens 22, the optical center of the condensing lens 32 and the light source 10 are in the same line. The light rays emitted from the light source 10 (as shown by arrows in
In the above-mentioned operating button, the size of the outer diameters of the diverging lens and the condensing lens are respectively determined by the diameter of the push rod and the diameter of the operating head. In addition, the operating button can output parallel light beams by adjusting the distance between the LED and the diverging lens, the distance between the diverging lens and the condensing lens, the focal distance of the diverging lens and the focal distance of the condensing lens, thereby eliminating light spots and obtaining a sufficient light brightness. Any method in the art can be used to adjust the parameters such as the distance between the LED light source and the diverging lens, the distance between the diverging lens and the condensing lens, the focal distance of the diverging lens and the focal distance of the condensing lens. With regard to a specific operating button (mainly refers to the length and diameter thereof), a person skilled in the art could adjust the above-mentioned parameters by means of common optical knowledge to obtain desired values of these parameters to enable the operating button to output parallel light beams and obtain a sufficient light ray brightness, and the specific parameter adjusting process and method will not be described unnecessarily herein.
In one illustrative embodiment of the operating button, the condensing lens and the operating head are integrally formed, for example, the two may be plastic components and are integrally formed by means of an injection molding process. The diverging lens and the push rod may also be integrally formed, for example formed by plastic injection-molding.
Using an integral forming process to process the condensing lens and the operating head, and the diverging lens and the push rod 20, can simplify the whole assembling procedure of the operating button and prevent the changes in the relative positions of the condensing lens and the operating head, and the diverging lens and the push rod caused by processing errors. In addition, the operating head and the condensing lens may also be separated components rather than being integrally formed, for example, the condensing lens can be arranged between the push rod and the operating head and the push rod, and are clamped directly by the push rod and the operating head 30.
Referring to
Referring to
As shown in
The push rod 20 and the operating head 30 continue moving relative to each other in the installation direction as shown by the arrow in the figure, and as shown in
It should be understood that, although the description is given according to each of the embodiments, but each embodiment does not only comprise an independent technical solution, this narration manner of the description is only for clarity, and for a person skilled in the art, the description shall be regarded as a whole, and the technical solution in each of the embodiments can also be properly combined to form other implementations that can be understood by a person skilled in the art.
The series of detailed descriptions set forth above is merely directed to specific descriptions of feasible embodiments of the present invention. The series of detailed descriptions are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention, and any equivalent embodiment or alteration of the present invention, such as a combination of features, a segmentation or duplication, made without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention, shall be included within the scope of protection of the present invention.
10 Light source
20 Push rod
22 Diverging lens
24 Locking end
26 Inserting part
28 Snapping part
282 Inserting surface
284 Snap-fitting surface
30 Operating head
32 Condensing lens
34 Connecting end
36 Guiding part
38 Locking part
382 Guiding surface
384 Slot
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/CN2013/082735 | 8/30/2013 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2015/027490 | 3/5/2015 | WO | A |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20160161105 A1 | Jun 2016 | US |