The present invention relates to a switch pin for SMD manufacturing processes and particularly to a signal pin which has a coupling end exposed outside a switch housing that includes a horizontal portion and a bend portion bending from the horizontal portion towards the switch housing to increase electric connection area of the signal pin and a circuit board to achieve a desired electric effect and prevent interfering with other electronic elements on the circuit board.
With the advance of technology, the size of electronic devices (such as mouse) becomes smaller. The electronic elements used on those smaller electronic devices also have to be miniaturized. A great portion of these electronic elements are switches. Refer to
1. Due to shrinking of the electronic device, the interior space is limited. The space available to accommodate the circuit board also decreases. Hence the space occupied by the exposed signal pins is limited. As shown in
2. To remedy the aforesaid shortcoming, some producers have shortened the length of the exposed portion or even keep the exposed portion on the bottom of the switch. While such an approach can reduce the occupied space, it also reduces the soldering paste attached thereon during the SMD processes and results in not secure bonding and not desirable electric effect of the switch. Moreover, when the electronic device is under functional test, if defects of the switch occur and replacement is needed, unsoldering for replacement is difficult because of the exposed portion is hidden on the bottom of the switch.
Therefore the primary object of the present invention is to solve the aforesaid disadvantages. The invention provides a signal pin which includes a connection end located inside a switch housing and a coupling end extended outside the switch housing from the connection end. The coupling end has a horizontal portion and a bend portion bending towards the switch housing from the horizontal end. Thus, electric connection area between the signal pin and a circuit board can increase to achieve the desired electric effect. Moreover, bending of the bend portion toward the switch housing can prevent interference on other electronic elements mounted onto the circuit board.
The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Please referring to
The signal pins 4a and 4b have respectively a connection end 41 located inside the switch housing 30, the tip of the connection end being furthest from the bottom surface of the switch housing 30 and a coupling end 42 extended from the connection end 41 and exposed outside the switch housing 30. The coupling end 42 has a horizontal portion 421 and a bend portion 422 bending towards the switch housing 30. A height of the bend portion 422 being greater than a width W thereof. The horizontal portion 421 is located beneath the switch housing 30. The bend portion 422 is located on one side of the switch housing 30 (also referring to
Refer to
While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been set forth for the purpose of disclosure, modifications of the disclosed embodiments of the invention as well as other embodiments thereof may occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to cover all embodiments which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
4283609 | Schadow | Aug 1981 | A |
4948376 | Penning | Aug 1990 | A |
6030240 | Duff | Feb 2000 | A |
6099334 | Togashi | Aug 2000 | A |
6280214 | Chang | Aug 2001 | B1 |
6399908 | Mueller et al. | Jun 2002 | B1 |
6520785 | Hida | Feb 2003 | B2 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20070108031 A1 | May 2007 | US |