JPH044331Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed explanation of the invention] <Industrial application fields> This invention is applicable to various applications such as VTRs, video disks and other audio equipment, telephones, measuring equipment, and various other applications.
This invention relates to illuminated push button switches applied to office automation equipment.

<Summary of the invention> This invention consists of a recess in the upper opening that houses the light source,
A slit for taking out the terminal of the light source is formed on the opposite side wall of the recess, a reflective surface that expands upward on the upper periphery of the recess, and a sheet locking groove is formed on the upper periphery of the reflective surface. A light diffusion sheet treated with a reflective film is selectively attached to the entire surface of the control shaft, and a cap for surface illumination, a cap for point illumination or partial illumination, or a cap for light shielding is selectively fitted to the upper end of the operating shaft. This realizes an illuminated push button switch with surface illumination, point illumination, partial illumination, and light shielding in a small and same size switch.

<Background of the invention> Conventionally, this type of push-button switch uses an illuminated push-button switch that has an integrated light-emitting display part to provide operation display and status feedback to the operator based on external signals, while using a large number of keys. Ru.

In this case, the shape and height of the pushbuttons, so-called keytops, are the same, and there are various types of pushbuttons, such as point-illuminated pushbuttons in which a part of the keytop emits light for signals, and surface-illuminated pushbuttons in which the entire surface emits light for power supply. An illumination style is required from the viewpoint of recognition and visibility.

Conventionally, as an illuminated push button switch of this type, one has been proposed in which a light source 71 is provided in the center of an operating shaft 75, as shown in FIG.
However, since this switch is a point-illumination type with a light-transmitting window 73 provided in the center of the key top 7, it cannot serve as surface illumination as well.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 8, it has been proposed that the key top 7 is made of a translucent material, a loading space for a light source 71 is provided on one side, and a switch mechanism 74 is configured on the other side. (Sho 59-5831). Although this switch is capable of point illumination or partial illumination, it is difficult to illuminate the front surface of the key top 7, and since the switch mechanism 74 is pressed on one side, the reliability of the opening/closing operation of the contacts is poor.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 9, there is a switch case in which a holder 81 is provided on one side of the switch case 8 to hold the light source 71 (Utility Model Application No. 193421/1983), but this switch has a complicated structure. It requires a lot of effort to assemble, and like the previous example, it cannot be used in common with surface illumination.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 10, it has been proposed that a light source 71 is built into the center of the operating shaft 9, a lens 91 is provided on the upper part of the operating shaft 9, and a key top 7 made of a translucent material is attached. (Jitsukai 59-59422
In this switch, the presence of the lens 91 increases the total height of the switch and causes directivity, so it may be difficult to see through the illumination state depending on the viewing angle. Moreover, point illumination is difficult with this switch.

<Purpose of the invention> In view of the above-mentioned problems, this invention is an illuminated push button switch that can realize any of the illumination styles of surface illumination, point illumination or partial illumination, and blackout by replacing parts in a small and same-sized switch. The purpose is to provide

<Structure and effects of the invention> The illuminated push button switch of this invention is composed of a case, an operation shaft, a light diffusion sheet, and caps for surface illumination, light shielding, point illumination, or partial illumination, and has the above-mentioned features. The case has a built-in switch mechanism.

The operation shaft is supported by the case so as to be movable up and down in correspondence with the switch mechanism, and includes a recess for housing the light source, a slit on an opposite side wall of the recess for taking out the terminal of the light source, and an upper peripheral surface of the recess extending upward. A sheet locking groove is formed on the open reflective surface and the upper peripheral edge of the reflective surface.

A reflective film is formed on the entire surface of the light diffusion sheet except for the light-transmitting part, and the reflective film is positioned on the light source side and is removably locked in the locking groove at the upper end of the operating shaft.

The surface illumination cap is made of a light-transmitting material, the light-shielding cap is made of a light-shielding material, and the point-illumination or partial illumination cap has a light-transmitting window, all of which have a light-transmitting window. It is replaceably fitted to the upper end of the operating shaft.

The surface illumination cap is replaceably fitted onto the upper end of the operating shaft without interposing the light diffusion sheet in the middle, and the point illumination or partial illumination cap has the light diffusion sheet in the middle. is interposed therebetween, and a light-transmitting window is aligned with the light-transmitting portion, and is replaceably fitted to the upper end portion of the operating shaft.

According to the above configuration, in this invention, the light diffusion sheet can be attached and removed according to the illumination style, and an appropriate cap can be selectively fitted to the operating shaft, thereby making it possible to adapt to several illumination styles. A push-button switch can be obtained, and manufacturing costs for molds etc. can be significantly reduced by sharing the push-button parts.
In particular, since the switch has the same external shape and size and has a variety of illumination styles, the reliability of the switch opening/closing operation is high, and the design and manufacturing of the switch mounting panel are further simplified, resulting in a simple configuration and practical advantages. It has a great effect.

<Description of Embodiments> FIGS. 1 to 6 show the structure of an illuminated push button switch according to the present invention.

This push button switch consists of a switch case 1 with an open top, fixed contacts 21, 21 with the upper ends of fixed terminals 2, 2 insert-molded in the case 1 protruding from the bottom surface 10 of the case, and an elastic rubber 22 above the switch case 1. A switch mechanism 24 having a supported movable contact 23, a recess 30 with an upper opening that is supported by the case 1 so as to be able to rise and lower and open and close the switch mechanism 24, and into which the light source 4 is loaded; A slit 31 for taking out the terminal 42 of the light source 4, a conical reflecting surface 32 formed by expanding the upper circumferential surface of the recess 30 upward, and an operating shaft 3 having a sheet locking groove 33 formed on the upper circumferential edge of the reflecting surface 32.
A light emitting diode or the like is loaded into the bottom surface of the recess 30 of the operating shaft 3 with the light emitting part 41 facing upward, and both terminals 42 are inserted through the opposing slits 31 and protrude downward from the terminal conduction hole 11 of the case 1. light source 4
Then, a reflective film (for example, 30μ
A light diffusing sheet 5 is formed with a silver coating 52 of a certain degree, the reflective film 52 is directed toward the light source 4, and the peripheral edge is removably locked in the locking groove 33 at the upper end of the operating shaft 3; It is composed of a plurality of caps 6, 6a for surface illumination, point illumination or partial illumination, and light shielding, which are replaceably fitted onto the upper end of the shaft 3 to form a key top.

Both the surface illumination and light shielding caps 6 are made by integrally forming a cylindrical portion 62 that fits on the upper end of the operating shaft 3 on the periphery of a flat presser surface 61, and the surface illumination caps are transparent or colored. The light-shielding cap is made of a transparent light-transmitting synthetic resin material, and the light-shielding cap is made of a light-shielding material.

In addition, a cap 6a for point illumination or partial illumination
is a molded body having the same external shape as the surface illumination cap 6, and has a light-transmitting window 63 formed in the holding surface 61 corresponding to the light-transmitting portion 51 of the light diffusing sheet 5.

In addition, in implementation, a reflective film such as a silver coating may be formed on the reflective surface 32 formed on the operating shaft 3.

As shown in FIG. 2, the peripheral edge of the light diffusing sheet 5 is engaged with the locking groove 33 at the upper end of the operating shaft 3, and the transparent window 63 is aligned with the transparent portion 51 of the light diffusing sheet 5. By fitting the cap 6a for point illumination or partial illumination to the upper end of the operating shaft 3, a push button switch for point illumination or partial illumination can be constructed. When this switch is pressed, the light diffusion sheet 5 including the cap 6a is close to the light source 4 and reflects and diffuses the light from the light source 4 downward, so there is no leakage of light and it is uniformly reflected on the reflective surface 32. The converted light passes through the transparent window 63 from the transparent part 51 of the sheet 5.
It transmits light and realizes point or partial illumination.

Next, as shown in FIG.
By fitting it, you can create a push button switch with surface illumination. In this case, direct light from the light source 4 and reflected light from the reflective surface 32 act on the cap 6.
Therefore, by selecting the cap 6 to be transparent or to have a transparent color that acts as a filter for the color of light emitted from the light emitting diode, a surface-illuminated push button switch of various colors can be obtained.

In this way, the upper opening recess 3 into which the light source 4 is loaded is connected to the operating shaft 3 that operates the switch mechanism 24.
0. A slit 31 for taking out the terminal 42 of the light source 4 is formed on the opposite side wall of the recess 30, a reflective surface 32 that expands upwardly on the upper periphery of the recess 30, and a sheet locking groove 33 on the upper periphery of the reflective surface 32. , this locking groove 33
On the other hand, a light diffusion sheet 5 coated with a reflective film 52 is selectively attached to the entire surface except for the transparent part 51, and the upper end of the operating shaft 3 is provided with a light diffusion sheet 5 for surface illumination, point illumination or partial illumination, and light shielding. Since the caps 6 and 6a are selectively fitted, it is possible to realize a surface-illuminated, spot-illuminated, partially-illuminated, and light-blocking illuminated push button switch, especially in a small push button switch of the same size. Furthermore, since the components can be shared, production costs such as molds can be significantly reduced, and since the switches for various lighting styles are the same size, the design and manufacture of the mounting panel can be simplified, making the configuration simpler. The practical effects are remarkable.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an illuminated push button switch according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the present invention configured as a push button switch for spot illumination, and Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the present invention configured as a switch for surface illumination. Fig. 4 is a plan view with the cap removed, Fig. 5 is a plan view of the light diffusion sheet, Fig. 6 is a sectional view along the line shown in Fig. 5, and Fig. 7 to 7 are 10
The figure is a sectional view showing a conventional illuminated push button switch. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Case, 2...Fixed terminal, 24...Switch mechanism, 3...Operation shaft, 30...Recess, 31...
...slit, 32...reflection surface, 33...locking groove,
4...Light source, 42...Light source terminal, 5...Light diffusion sheet, 51...Transparent part, 52...Reflection film, 6,
6a...cap, 63...transparent window.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] A case with a built-in switch mechanism, a recess that is movably supported by the case in correspondence with the switch mechanism and houses a light source, and a slit on the opposite side wall of the recess for taking out a terminal of the light source. , a reflective surface formed by expanding the upper circumferential surface of the recess upward, an operating shaft having sheet locking grooves formed on the upper circumferential edge of the reflective surface, and a reflective film formed on the entire surface except for the transparent portion; a light diffusing sheet that is removably locked in a locking groove at the upper end of the operating shaft with a reflective film located on the light source side; and a translucent material that is replaceably fitted to the upper end of the operating shaft. A surface illumination cap formed with
A light-shielding cap formed of a light-shielding material and a point-lighting or partial-lighting cap having a light-transmitting window are provided, and the surface-lighting cap is configured to illuminate the light without interposing the light diffusing sheet in between. The cap for point illumination or partial illumination is replaceably fitted to the upper end of the operating shaft.
An illuminated push button switch that is replaceably fitted to the upper end of the operating shaft with the light diffusion sheet interposed in the middle and a light transmitting window aligned with the light transmitting portion.