133results about "Movable contacts" patented technology

A surgical power tool has an actuation assembly for the actuation-force-dependent control of the tool. The actuation assembly includes a force sensor configured to sense the actuation force and a carrier component for the force sensor which is arranged upstream of the force sensor in a direction of force application and is coupled thereto in a force-transmitting manner. A mechanical damping member is arranged upstream of the carrier component in the direction of force application. The damping member protects the carrier component and the force sensor, for example, from impacts and shocks and the accompanying plastic deformations.

A two-step switch, which may be minimized in radial direction and is suitable for PCB or FPC circuit board, has a first contact spring, having outer peripheral contacts in regular contact with first fixed contacts and having an inner contact inside the outer peripheral contacts and reversed by depressing, and a second contact spring, stacked on the first contact spring via an insulation sheet, having an outer peripheral contact in regular contact with a second fixed contact and having an inner contact inside of the outer peripheral contact and reversed by depressing. Through a first depressing, the inner contact of the first contact spring is reversed and in contact with the inner contact of the second contact spring, whereby a first electric circuit is actuated. Also through a second depressing, the inner contact of the second contact spring is reversed and in contact with the third fixed contact, whereby a second electric circuit is actuated.

A dual tactile feedback, three-state, low profile pushbutton switch comprising an insulated housing, a metal dome, an extended travel molded elastomeric dome or stem having a conductive material on a bottom surface for contacting the metal dome and contacts in the switch housing, a collar having an opening for a top portion of said elastomeric dome to protrude therethrough, and a fixed contact under the metal dome on the base of the insulated housing connected to a switch terminal. A flat plate with four legs is placed above the stem which moves adjacent to the walls of the housing. The plate extends through a frame and openings on the sides of the frame snap on to the sides of the insulated housing. Greater switch reliability is achieved by having the elastomeric dome with a bottom portion comprising a conductive material for contacting the metal dome. An alternate embodiment of the three-state switch comprises a pushbutton disposed above an upper, extruded, elastomeric element for lower cost advantages having conductive material on a bottom surface for making electrical contact within the base of the switch housing and a lower metal dome, when the pushbutton is activated. The lower metal dome also makes electrical contact with contacts in the base of the switch housing.

The invention provides a force detector in which power consumption is suppressed. Four electrodes E11 through E14 are formed on a substrate, and an elastic deformable body formed of a rubber film is disposed thereon. A conductive coating is applied on the lower surface of the elastic deformable body to provide a displacing conductive layer 26. Four capacitance elements C11 through C14 are comprised by the electrodes E11 through E14 and the displacing conductive layer 26 opposed to the electrodes. The capacitance values thereof are converted into voltage values V11 through V14 by C / V converter circuit 50, and based on operation by signal processing circuit 60, an external force applied to the elastic deformable body is detected. A pair of contacting electrodes E15 and E16 are formed on the substrate, and when an external force with a predetermined strength or more is applied, the elastic deformable body deforms, and the displacing conductive layer 26 comes into contact with both electrodes E15 and E16, simultaneously. The potential of the electrode E16 is taken-in from the terminal T5, and when said potential is Vcc, the C / V converter circuit 50 is operated in a standby mode with less power consumption, and when said potential is GND, the circuit is operated in a normal mode.

A two-step push-on switch in which the operating stroke of an upper movable contact is ensured, and particularly the width of the switch is reduced while the durability of the upper movable contact is improved, the number of parts is reduced, an the operation is improved. Dome-like movable contacts are placed in two or upper and lower stages in an invertible manner in a recess of an insulative body having a plurality of stationary contacts, and the upper movable contact is formed into an oval shape.

An improved handheld electronic device having an improved keyboard provides enhanced usability with fewer keys by enabling the keys to pivot slightly to provide multiple functions to the keys. The improved keyboard may, for example, include internal strips of conductive carbon that are disposed adjacent the keys and are electrically engageable with contacts on a printed circuit board. Specifically, when a key is pressed directly downward it collapses a single dome and connects together a set of primary contacts to provide a first function. When the key is pressed at the side thereof, the key pivots slightly, collapses the dome and connects together the primary contacts, and also engages a carbon strip with a pair of secondary contacts to connect together the secondary contacts, all of which provide a second function. The keyboard may be configured to be of a QWERTY configuration while using only a relatively small number of keys.

The present invention relates to an EL metal dome keypad which comprises a plurality of domes which are disposed at positions corresponding to fixed contact terminals of a printed circuit board and are brought into contact with or separated from the fixed contact terminals by means of elastic deformation; a base tape which is laminated on the printed circuit board, has a plurality of holes formed at positions corresponding to the domes, and is used to mount the domes to the printed circuit board by inserting and holding the domes into the formed holes; double-sided adhesive tape which is laminated in the base tape and the domes inserted into and held to the holes formed in the base tape, and used to attach and hold the base tape and the dome thereon; and an EL sheet which is attached and laminated on the double-sided adhesive tape.

A light emitting sheet module includes a light guiding sheet to cover a plurality of key switches, at least one LED disposed on at least one end portion of the light guiding sheet, and a circuit board disposed on the one end portion of the light guiding sheet on which the LED is disposed. When the light emitting sheet module is, mounted on a switch board, it is capable of adaptation to key switches in a wide variety of forms and to illuminate the key switches with light emission of high brightness.

A multi-contact tactile sensor including an elastically deformable interaction layer and a supporting layer, a lower surface of the interaction layer including an array of strip conductors and an upper surface of the supporting layer including an array of strip conductors that are not parallel to the array of strip conductors on the interaction layer. The interaction layer and the supporting layer are separated by a first series of rigid insulating spacers. A second series of conducting spacers is in contact with at least one of the two arrays of strip conductors. The impedance and dimensions of the spacers of the second series are determined to prevent contact at rest and enable local contact during deformation of the interaction layer between the spacers of the second series and the array of strip conductors of the layer opposite the spacers. A controller can control one such sensor, a multi-contact tactile screen can include one such sensor, and a keyboard including a set of discrete keys can be formed by one such sensor.

A switch integrated type housing includes a housing body, a switch button sheet, a conductor and a cover sheet. The housing body is provided with a plurality of concave sections on an outer surface of the housing body. The switch button sheet is provided on the outer surface to cover the plurality of concave sections. The conductor has a dome shape downwardly projecting and is provided in each of the plurality of concave sections to contact the switch button sheet. The cover sheet is provided between the switch button sheet and the outer surface of the housing body in a portion of the outer surface of the housing body other than the plurality of concave sections and to cover a lower surface of the conductor in each of the plurality of concave sections.

The invention provides a method for manufacturing a panel switch with reduced man hour, improved operability and lowered cost. The panel switch and a method of manufacturing the same are provided. The panel switch includes insulating films and a base layer having a stationary contact. Each insulating film includes an adhesive layer, and an apex portion of a moving contact adhered to the adhesive layer. The insulating films are aligned and adhered on top of each other and the adhered insulating films are aligned and adhered to the base layer such that the locations of the moving contacts of the respective insulating films align with the stationary contact of the base layer. The method includes applying an adhesive layer to an insulating film; adhering a moving contact onto the adhesive layer; aligning the moving contact with a stationary contact of a base member and adhering the insulating film to the base member; and cutting and removing an excess portion from the insulating film with a laser.

A handheld electronic device and an associated method are provided. The handheld electronic device includes a keyboard assembly, a display positioned adjacent the keyboard assembly, a processor structured to receive inputs from the keyboard assembly and to output to the display as a function of the inputs, the processor further structured to run a disambiguation routine. The keyboard assembly includes a printed circuit board, a primary conductor portion, a secondary conductor portion, and a keyboard assembly. The printed circuit board has a plurality of electrical contacts. The conductor assembly has a plurality of primary conductors and a plurality of secondary conductors, each the primary conductor and secondary conductor structured to correspond to, and engage and close, at least one of the plurality of electrical contacts. The keyboard assembly has a plurality of keys each having one or more indicia thereon. The plurality of keys are disposed in a first set of keys and a second set of keys, wherein each key in the first set of keys is coupled to, and structured to engage, a first number of conductors, and, each key in the second set of keys is coupled to, and structured to engage, a second number of conductors wherein the second number is different than the first number.

A telephone including a case; an operation part, located at a front of the case, having a light transmission property and a plurality of key tops arranged on a front surface thereof; a circuit substrate, provided inside the case and having a sheet-luminescent-member driving circuit; and a sheet luminescent member, provided at a rear of the operation part, between the circuit substrate and the case. Light emitted by the sheet luminescent member fully illuminates each key top from the rear surface thereof.

A lighted switch sheet of the invention has a structure, which comprises a sheet having a plurality of movable contacts of a hemispherical shape disposed in a plurality of fixing holes, and an EL element affixed on an upper surface of the sheet. The EL element has an optically transmitting substrate provided with an optically transmitting electrode layer, light-emitting layer and back electrode layer formed in an overlapping manner on an underside surface thereof, and through holes of a size slightly smaller than an outer diameter of the movable contacts formed above their respective movable contacts. The invention provides for the lighted switch sheet with a small number of structural components and a simple structure at low cost.

The invention relates to a tactile keyboard assembly providing at least one key and constructed on a plurality of foil layers stacked one upon the other, with one layer thereof composed of a dome layer having for each key an elastically deformable dome positioned underneath the respective key. For providing a new and improved structure of a such tactile multi-layered foil keyboard assembly enabling an effective reduction of the thickness, the invention proposes a tactile keyboard assembly for an electronic device, the assembly is constructed on a plurality of foil layers stacked one upon the other and providing the basic structure for at least one tactile key, with one layer of the plurality of layers composed of a dome layer (120, 125) having an elastically deformable dome (125) for each key, and with each dome (125) positioned underneath a respective user area for the key actuation such that the surface of the dome (125) is forming a convex surface with regard to the user area for the key actuation.

The sheet with movable contacts comprises a first sheet formed by an insulating film, the first sheet having an adhesive surface formed by applying an adhesive to a lower surface of the first sheet, a plurality of domed, metallic, movable contacts whose upper surfaces are covered with and affixed to the adhesive surface of the first sheet, and a second sheet formed by an insulating film, the second sheet being affixed to the lower surface of the first sheet and having a plurality of receptacle holes for receiving the movable contacts therein, with an adhesive being applied to a lower surface of the second sheet, wherein the second sheet has connecting slots formed therein for connecting adjacent such receptacle holes with each other.

A two-step switch, which may be minimized in radial direction and is suitable for PCB or FPC circuit board, has a first contact spring, having outer peripheral contacts in regular contact with first fixed contacts and having an inner contact inside the outer peripheral contacts and reversed by depressing, and a second contact spring, stacked on the first contact spring via an insulation sheet, having an outer peripheral contact in regular contact with a second fixed contact and having an inner contact inside of the outer peripheral contact and reversed by depressing. Through a first depressing, the inner contact of the first contact spring is reversed and in contact with the inner contact of the second contact spring, whereby a first electric circuit is actuated. Also through a second depressing, the inner contact of the second contact spring is reversed and in contact with the third fixed contact, whereby a second electric circuit is actuated.

A machine method for providing a dome switch sub-assembly used for providing a keyboard-type user input to electronic devices. A spacer layer, attached to a retaining layer, having a plurality of spacer layer openings for receiving a plurality of dome switches is placed upon a moveable machine table. The dome switches, arranged in reel form, are machine removed and placed into the spacer layer openings. A removable release liner is then attached to the spacer layer. Also a complete dome switch assembly is provided. A spacer layer, attached to a circuit board, having a plurality of dome switch openings is placed on a moveable machine table. The dome switches, arranged in reel form, are machine removed and placed into the spacer layer openings. A retaining cover is attached to the spacer layer. An overlay layer, attached to the retaining cover layer, may also be provided.

The invention provides a force detector in which power consumption is suppressed. Four electrodes E11 through E14 are formed on a substrate, and an elastic deformable body formed of a rubber film is disposed thereon. A conductive coating is applied on the lower surface of the elastic deformable body to provide a displacing conductive layer 26. Four capacitance elements C11 through C14 are comprised by the electrodes E11 through E14 and the displacing conductive layer 26 opposed to the electrodes. The capacitance values thereof are converted into voltage values V11 through V14 by C / V converter circuit 50, and based on operation by signal processing circuit 60, an external force applied to the elastic deformable body is detected. A pair of contacting electrodes E15 and E16 are formed on the substrate, and when an external force with a predetermined strength or more is applied, the elastic deformable body deforms, and the displacing conductive layer 26 comes into contact with both electrodes E15 and E16, simultaneously. The potential of the electrode E16 is taken-in from the terminal T5, and when said potential is Vcc, the C / V converter circuit 50 is operated in a standby mode with less power consumption, and when said potential is GND, the circuit is operated in a normal mode.

A switch element for surface mounting onto a printed circuit board which has a bearer element (2) and a contact element (1). Both the bearer element and the contact element are formed from an electrically conductive material and the contact element being formed from a resilient material. The bearer element and the contact element can be of an integral construction or are separate components assembled together. By this construction the bearer element comprises a peripheral retainer for the contact element. In one arrangement the bearer element has an inwardly facing C-shaped cross sectional shape to provide a recess to act as a peripheral retainer for the contact element by receiving at least a portion of the rim of the contact element in the C-shaped member recess.

The invention relates to a soft plastic and hard sheet integrated injection-molded keyboard, a keycap assembly and a production method. The keyboard is composed of an integrated keycap assembly formed by soft plastic and hard sheets, a key grid support, a printed circuit film under the integrated keycap assembly, and a keyboard bottom plate which supports the printed circuit film from below; the integrated keycap assembly formed by soft plastic and hard sheets are composed of a plurality of adjacent soft plastic key surfaces, hard sheets bonded to the soft plastic key surfaces, a soft plastic base, soft plastic supporting bodies which are connected between the soft plastic base and the soft plastic key surfaces, and soft plastic protruding elastic switching bodies which extend downwards from the soft plastic key surfaces to passes through via holes of the hard sheets and are integrally connected with the bottom surfaces of the soft plastic key surfaces. According to the production method, the production equipment includes an injection machine, a male mold and a female mold; the keycap assembly is obtained by performing integrated injection molding on soft plastic and hard plastic sheets. The keyboard and the keycap assembly of the invention have the advantages of low cost, simple assembling, waterproof and dustproof performance and excellent press deformation recovery performance.

A socket having an overheating destructive limiting element includes a housing, a live wire conductive plate, a neutral wire conductive plate, at least one live wire terminal, at least one neutral wire terminal, and at least one limiting element. The live wire terminal includes a live wire contact portion in contact with the live wire conductive plate. The neutral wire terminal includes a neutral wire contact portion in contact with the neutral wire conductive plate. The limiting element is an insulating body, and is placed at contact parts of the live wire conductive plate and the live wire contact portion, and / or at contact parts of the neutral wire conductive plate and the neutral wire contact portion. When an operating temperature becomes excessively high, the limiting element becomes deformed and destructed to form a turn-off position.

A surgical power tool has an actuation assembly for the actuation-force-dependent control of the tool. The actuation assembly comprises a force sensor configured to sense the actuation force and a carrier component for the force sensor which is arranged upstream of the force sensor in a direction of force application and is coupled thereto in a force-transmitting manner. A mechanical damping member is arranged upstream of the carrier component in the direction of force application. The damping member protects the carrier component and the force sensor, for example, from impacts and shocks and the accompanying plastic deformations.

Parts of a base film that correspond to respective movable contacts are formed into projections. Operating projections each including a projecting member fixed to a top surface of the base film by an adhesive resin are formed and correspond to the movable contacts, respectively. The adhesive resins have different fixed diameters.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a remote control device which allows various operations and prevents complicated operations. A remote control device for remotely controlling an AV (audio visual) device includes an analog switch (30) formed of an operating element (31 or 41) and a pressure-sensitive resistor (35) which outputs a signal with various levels depending upon a pressing force applied to the operating element (31 or 41). By employing the analog switch (30) in a control button of the remote control device, it becomes possible to output a signal having various levels depending upon a pressing force applied to the control button (31 or 41). This allows a single control button to be used for a plurality of functions. Thus, it is possible to reduce the number of buttons, and a user can easily operate the remote control device in a simpler fashion.

A luminous switch using an inorganic EL material is provided with a plurality of switch sections so as to reduce acoustic noise. The switch sections are provided with a plurality of protruding parts (112) and a plurality of supporting sections (113) formed on a surface of a structure (101); an elastic deformable conductor (124) arranged to have a convex surface opposed the protruding parts (112); a wiring sheet (102A) for covering the conductor (124); a luminous sheet (160) for covering the wiring sheet (102A); and a plurality of switch buttons (125) arranged above the luminous sheet (160). The luminous switch has a structure in which at least two supporting sections (113) are arranged around the protruding parts (112), and a space (111) is formed between the protruding parts (112) and a switch sheet (102). The conductor (124) is accommodated in the space (111). In a case main body (101), an electronic component (103) is mounted and a substrate (104) provided with wiring is arranged. The switch buttons (125) are fixed on a key sheet (129). A top plate (106) is arranged on the key sheet (129) by surrounding the switch buttons (125). The top plate (106) is arranged to cover lower components.