1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a supporting structure for supporting a keycap of a keyswitch, and more particularly, the invention relates to a novel scissor-type supporting structure, keyswitch, and keyboard using the supporting structure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A keyboard is an essential device for operating a computer. Generally, the keyboard is constituted by a plurality of keyswitches. Each keyswitch includes a base, a keycap, a supporting structure, an elastic object, and a switch. The switch is configured on the base, and the keycap is configured on the base and connected to the base through the supporting structure. The elastic object is configured between the keycap and the base, and normally above the switch.
When the keycap is pressed by a user, it moves toward the base and oppresses the elastic object to make the elastic object to trigger the switch. When the keycap is no longer pressed, the restoring force of the elastic object pushes the keycap back to the original position, and the elastic object stops triggering the switch. Besides, the supporting structure can assist the keycap to move in a predetermined range to prevent the keycap from deviating caused by pressing.
One of the popular supporting structures is the scissor-type supporting structure including two supporting members pivotally connected to each other. Please refer to
Besides, the first supporting member 11 has a first arm 111 with a shaft 1110, and the second supporting member 13 has a second arm 131 with a hole 1310. When the supporting structure 1 is assembled, the shaft 1110 of the first arm 111 is aligned and pivotally connected to the hole 1310 of the second arm 131. Accordingly, the first supporting member 11 and the second supporting member 13 can rotate relative the shaft 1110 and the hole 1310, and then support the keycap to move perpendicularly to the base.
In the prior art, the assembling process must be done by hand, and the disassembling process must be done by hand too. Therefore, in the process of assembling or disassembling, the supporting structure is easily damaged by contrived force to raise the cost. On the other hand, the contrived force in assembling process may not put the shaft into the hole to cause that the first supporting member and the second supporting member could not rotate.
Therefore, a scope of the invention is to provide a novel supporting structure for supporting a keycap to solve the problem in the prior art.
According to an embodiment, the supporting structure of the invention includes a first supporting member and a second supporting member. The first supporting member has a first arm, and the first arm has a first shaft perpendicularly protruded from the first arm. Besides, the second supporting member has a second arm, and the second arm includes a first hook part. The first hook part forms a first containing space and a first opening connected to the first containing space. The first shaft can pass through the first opening and being rotatably contained in the first containing space by the first hook part, so that the first supporting member and the second supporting member are capable of rotating relative to the first shaft.
In practice, the second arm forms a hole corresponding to the first containing space of the first hook part, and a part of the first shaft is contained in the hole when the shaft is rotatably contained in the first containing space of the first hook part. Besides, the second arm forms a groove near the hole, and the groove is used for guiding the first shaft to pass through the first opening to be contained in the first containing space and the hole.
Another scope of the invention is to provide a keyswitch to solve the problem in the prior art.
According to an embodiment, the keyswitch includes a base, a keycap, and a supporting structure. The keycap is configured on the base, and the supporting structure is configured between the keycap and the base to supporting the keycap. The supporting structure is the same as described above.
Another scope is to provide a keyboard to solve the problem in the prior art.
According to an embodiment, the keyboard includes a base, a plurality of keycaps, and a plurality of supporting structures respectively corresponding to the plurality of keycaps. The keycaps are configured on the base, and the supporting structures are configured between the keycaps and the base to supporting the keycaps. The supporting structures are the same as described above.
The supporting member of the supporting structure of the invention has the above-mentioned hook part, so that the supporting structure is provided with the advantages of convenient and speedy assemble. Besides, according to the invention, the supporting structure is not easily damaged by contrived force in the assembling processes. Furthermore, compared to the prior art, the supporting structure of the invention could rotate more smoothly.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings.
This invention provides a supporting structure, keyswitch, and keyboard using the supporting structure. The supporting structure can support the keycap of the keyswitch, and the supporting structure can be a scissor-type supporting structure.
Please refer to
As shown in
The second supporting member 23 has a second arm 231 and a fourth arm 233 corresponding to the second arm 231. The second arm 231 includes a first hook part 2310 forming a first containing space 2311 and a first opening 2313 connected to the first containing space 2311. The fourth arm 233 includes a second hook part 2330 with the same structure as the first hook part 2310, and, in other words, the second hook part 2330 forms a second containing space (not shown in the figures) and a second opening (not shown in the figures) connected to the second containing space.
In this embodiment, the first shaft 2111 passes through the first opening 2313 and is rotatably contained in the first containing space 2311 by the first hook part 2310, so that the first supporting member 21 and the second supporting member 23 are capable of rotating relative to the first shaft 2111. Besides, the second shaft 2131 passes the second opening 2330 and is rotatably contained in the second containing space by the second hook part, so that the first supporting member 21 and the second supporting member 23 are capable of rotating relative to the second shaft 2131. In practice, the first shaft 2111 and the second shaft are located on an axis, so the first supporting member 21 and the second member 23 can rotate relative to the line connecting the first shaft 2111 and the second shaft 2131.
It should be noted that the second opening can face the same as or different direction from that of the first opening 2131 in practice. For example, if the first opening 2313 faces the first direction, the second opening can face the first direction or the second direction opposite to the first direction. Therefore, the first shaft 2111 and the second shaft 2131 can pass through the first opening 2313 and the second opening along the same direction or along different directions to be contained in the first containing space 2311 and the second containing space.
Besides, as shown in
Please further refer to
Besides, as shown in
Please refer to
The difference from the supporting structure 2 in
The invention further provides a keyswitch including the above-mentioned supporting structure. Please refer to
Besides, the invention further provides a keyboard including the above-mentioned supporting structure. Please refer to
To summarize, the invention is to provide a novel supporting structure for supporting a keycap of a keyswitch. A plurality of the supporting structure of the invention can be used for supporting a plurality of keycaps on a base to form a keyboard. The supporting structure is provided with the advantages of convenient and speedy assemble. Besides, according to the invention, the supporting structure is not easily damaged by contrived force in the assembling processes. Furthermore, compared to the prior art, the supporting structure of the invention could rotate more smoothly.
Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, the disclosure is not for limiting the scope of the invention. Persons having ordinary skill in the art may make various modifications and changes without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred embodiments described above.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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097221720 | Dec 2008 | TW | national |