[ detailed description ] embodiments
Fig. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a modular keyboard with a display function according to an embodiment of the invention. Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of the modular keyboard with display function of fig. 1. Referring to fig. 1 and 2, the modular keyboard 100 with display function of the present embodiment includes a display 110, a supporting layer 120, a first conductive layer 130, a conductive touch feedback sheet 140, a housing 150, and a transparent barrier layer 160. The display 110 is suitable for displaying virtual keys, the display 110 can be, for example, a liquid crystal display (liquid crystal) 110 or an Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) display 110, the invention is not limited to the type of the display 110; the virtual keys may have symbols or characters corresponding to input methods of language systems such as chinese, english, japanese, korean, german or french, for example, in other words, the display 110 may make the virtual keys have characters or patterns of a specific language system according to user requirements. The supporting layer 120 is disposed above the display 110 and has a first gap 121, the first conductive layer 130 is disposed on the bottom surface of the supporting layer 120, and the tactile feedback conductive sheet 140 is disposed on the top surface of the supporting layer 120 and corresponds to the first gap 121, in other words, the supporting layer 120 separates the first conductive layer 130 and the tactile feedback conductive sheet 140. The housing 150 accommodates the display 110, the supporting layer 120, the first conductive layer 130 and the conductive touch feedback sheet 140, and the housing 150 has an opening 151. The transparent barrier layer 160 closes the opening 151 and abuts the tactile feedback pad 140. The material of the transparent barrier layer 160 may be, for example, silicone rubber (silicone rubber), but is not limited thereto. In addition, the material of the tactile feedback conductive sheet 140 may be a conductive metal such as gold, silver, copper, etc., but not limited thereto, and the material of the tactile feedback conductive sheet 140 may also be a conductive polymer.
The transparent barrier layer 160 is transparent, the virtual keys can be displayed through the transparent barrier layer 160, and the user can see the virtual keys and the characters or symbols on the virtual keys from the outer side of the transparent barrier layer 160. The user presses the transparent blocking layer 160 with a hand to make the touch feedback conductive sheet 140 elastically deform and electrically contact the first conductive layer 130, so as to form a path and transmit a pressing signal, thereby inputting characters or symbols to a desktop computer, a notebook computer, a mobile phone, etc.; as shown in fig. 2, the conductive tactile feedback pad 140 deforms after being pressed to pass through the first opening 121 and electrically contact the first conductive layer 130. After the user presses, the touch feedback conductive sheet 140 can be electrically separated from the first conductive layer 130 by the elastic restoring force of the touch feedback conductive sheet and return to the state before pressing; wherein, when the tactile feedback conductive sheet 140 returns, the user's hand can feel the press feedback tactile sensation; accordingly, the user can elastically deform the tactile feedback conductive sheet 140 by pressing the transparent barrier layer 160, so as to repeatedly and electrically contact the first conductive layer 130 through the first gap 121 to transmit a pressing signal. In addition, the text or pattern of the virtual key can be controlled by the firmware associated with language input in the electronic device, such as desktop computer, notebook computer, mobile phone, and the user can switch the text or pattern of the first language system in the virtual key to the text or pattern of the second language system by the language input firmware in the electronic device according to the requirement to input the text or pattern of the second language system.
The conductive tactile feedback pad 140 may further have a convex surface 141 and a concave surface 142 opposite to the convex surface 141, wherein the convex surface 141 is adjacent to the transparent barrier layer 160 and the concave surface 142 faces the first conductive layer 130. When the user presses the transparent blocking layer 160, the transparent blocking layer 160 presses down on the convex surface 141 and deforms the tactile feedback conductive sheet 140 to electrically contact the first conductive layer 130 to transmit the pressing signal.
The aforementioned modular keyboard 100 with display function may further include a tactile feedback reinforcement sheet 170, and the supporting layer 120 may further include a second notch 122, the tactile feedback reinforcement sheet 170 is disposed on the top surface of the supporting layer 120 and is opposite to the second notch 122, and a space is formed between the tactile feedback reinforcement sheet 170 and the tactile feedback conductive sheet 140. When the user presses the transparent blocking layer 160, the haptic feedback reinforcement sheet 170 deforms after pressing and then enters the second notch 122, or contacts the display 110 through the second notch 122. After the user presses, the haptic feedback reinforcement piece 170 may be separated from the second notch 122 by its elastic restoring force and return to the pre-pressing state. The tactile feedback enhancing sheet 170 is used in cooperation with the tactile feedback conductive sheet 140 to enhance the tactile feedback of the pressing. In addition, the tactile feedback reinforcing sheet 170 may have a structure similar to that of the tactile feedback conductive sheet 140, for example, the tactile feedback reinforcing sheet 170 in the embodiment may further have a convex surface 171 and a concave surface 172 opposite to the convex surface 171, wherein the convex surface 171 is adjacent to the transparent barrier layer 160, and the concave surface 172 faces the second gap 122, but not limited thereto. In addition, the material of the tactile feedback reinforcement piece 170 in the present embodiment may be the same as that of the tactile feedback conductive piece 140, but the material of the tactile feedback reinforcement piece 170 may be different from that of the tactile feedback conductive piece 140.
The support layer 120 is transparent, and the virtual keys can be displayed through the support layer 120 and the transparent barrier layer 160. In addition, the haptic feedback reinforcement pieces 170 and the haptic feedback conductive pieces 140 may be disposed on opposite sides of the penetration region T of the corresponding virtual key on the support layer 120, and the interval between the haptic feedback reinforcement pieces 170 and the haptic feedback conductive pieces 140 and the penetration region T of the corresponding virtual key on the support layer 120; thereby, the virtual keys may be displayed through the support layer 120, the spacers, and the transparent barrier layer 160.
In addition, a first abutting block 161 and a second abutting block 162 may be protruded from the side of the transparent barrier layer 160 facing the touch feedback conductive sheet 140 and the touch feedback reinforcing sheet 170, where the first abutting block 161 is opposite to the touch feedback conductive sheet 140, and the second abutting block 162 is opposite to the touch feedback reinforcing sheet 170. When the user presses the transparent blocking layer 160, the first pushing block 161 and the second pushing block 162 push down the touch feedback conductive sheet 140 and the touch feedback reinforcing sheet 170, so that the touch feedback conductive sheet 140 and the touch feedback reinforcing sheet 170 are elastically deformed.
In addition, the modular keyboard 100 with the display function may further include a base layer 190, the base layer 190 is disposed between the display 110 and the first conductive layer 130, and the first conductive layer 130 is sandwiched between the base layer 190 and the support layer 120. The base layer 190 may be transparent and the virtual keys may be displayed through the base layer 190, the support layer 120, the spacer and transparent barrier layer 160.
The modular keyboard 100 with display function of the present embodiment can be connected to a desktop computer, configured on a notebook computer or embedded in a mobile phone as an input device of the desktop computer, the notebook computer and the mobile phone in use, and the symbols or characters of a specific language system on the virtual keys displayed by the display 110 are not fixed but can be switched according to the user's requirements, so that the user can input multiple languages by switching the language system to which the virtual keys belong without additionally replacing the keyboard or memorizing the key positions of the symbols or characters of different language systems, which is very convenient. In addition, dust and moisture are blocked by the transparent blocking layer 160 that closes the opening 151, and thus the touch feedback conductive sheet 140, the touch feedback reinforcing sheet 170, the supporting layer 120, the first conductive layer 130, the display 110, and other components disposed in the housing 150 are prevented from being affected by moisture or damaged.
Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a modular keyboard 100 with a display function according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of the modular keyboard 100 with display function of fig. 3. Referring to fig. 3 and 4, in the modular keyboard 100 with display function of the present embodiment, the touch feedback conductive sheet 140 further includes a through hole 143, the through hole 131 is formed on the first conductive layer 130, the through hole 143, the through hole 131 and the first notch 121 are disposed along the same axial direction, and the aperture of the through hole 143 and the aperture of the through hole 131 are smaller than the aperture of the first notch 121, so that the virtual key can be displayed through the base layer 190, the through hole 131, the first notch 121, the through hole 143 and the transparent blocking layer 160. Since the aperture of the through hole 143 and the aperture of the through hole 131 are smaller than the aperture of the first notch 121, and the through hole 143, the through hole 131 and the first notch 121 are disposed along the same axial direction, when the user presses the transparent blocking layer 160 to elastically deform the tactile feedback conductive sheet 140, the tactile feedback conductive sheet 140 elastically deforms and can repeatedly electrically contact the first conductive layer 130 through the first notch 121 to transmit a pressing signal.
Referring to fig. 1 to 4, in the above embodiments, the modular keyboard 100 with display function further includes a second conductive layer 135, the second conductive layer 135 is disposed on the top surface of the supporting layer 120 and electrically connected to the tactile feedback conductive sheet 140, and the first conductive layer 130 and the second conductive layer 135 can be formed on the supporting layer 120 by coating, printing, adhering, plating, etc., but not limited thereto; the first conductive layer 130 can also be formed on the display 110 by coating, printing, adhering, plating, etc.
In addition, in the above embodiments, the modular keyboard 100 with display function may further include a transparent key cap 180 and a color layer 185, the transparent key cap 180 and the feedback conductive sheet 140 are respectively located on two opposite sides of the transparent blocking layer 160, the transparent key cap 180 is fixed on the transparent blocking layer 160, and the color layer 185 is partially disposed on a surface of the transparent key cap 180 away from the transparent blocking layer 160. The virtual keyboard can be displayed through the base layer 190, the transparent barrier layer 160 and the transparent key cap 180, or the base layer 190, the through hole 131, the first gap 121, the through hole 143, the transparent barrier layer 160 and the transparent key cap 180. The user can press the transparent keycap 180 and the transparent barrier layer 160 to elastically deform the tactile feedback conductive sheet 140, so as to repeatedly and electrically contact the first conductive layer 130 through the first gap 121 to transmit a pressing signal; the transparent key cap 180 can be fixed on the transparent barrier layer 160 by a fixing method such as adhesion or fastening, and the fixing method of the transparent key cap 180 is not limited in the present invention.
In summary, in the modular keyboard with display function of the embodiment of the invention, the symbol or character of the specific language system on the virtual key displayed on the display is not fixed but can be switched according to the user's requirement, so when the modular keyboard with display function of the embodiment of the invention is used as an input device of a desktop computer, a notebook computer and a mobile phone, the user can input a plurality of languages by switching the language system to which the virtual key belongs without additionally replacing the keyboard or memorizing the key positions of the symbols or characters of different language systems, which is quite convenient. In addition, through the transparent barrier layer for sealing the opening part, dust and moisture can be blocked and can not enter the shell, so that the touch feedback conducting strip, the supporting layer, the first conducting layer and the display which are arranged in the shell are prevented from being affected with damp or damaged. Therefore, the modular keyboard with the display function provided by the embodiment of the invention has the advantages of convenience in use, water resistance and dust resistance.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the above embodiments, it should be understood that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," and the like in the description and in the claims are used for naming elements or distinguishing between different embodiments or ranges and are not intended to limit the upper or lower limit on the number of elements.