Key structure and keyboard thereof

Abstract

The application provides a key structure and a keyboard thereof. The key structure comprises a key cap, an elastic body, a scissors leg support, a piezoresistive film sensor and a bottom plate. The piezoresistive film sensor is arranged on the bottom plate. The scissors leg support and the elastic body are arranged between the key cap and the piezoresistive film sensor. The piezoresistive film sensor comprises a first pressure sensing area and a second pressure sensing area. The elastic body corresponds to the first pressure sensing area. The scissors leg support corresponds to the second pressure sensing area. When the key cap is pressed to generate pressure, the downward pressure of the elastic body acts on the first pressure sensing area, and the downward pressure of the scissors leg support acts on the second pressure sensing area.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of key structure design, in particular to a key structure and a keyboard thereof. BACKGROUND

[0002] The pressure sensing type keyboard structure is provided with a pressure sensing module below the key, which is used to sense the pressure with which the keys are pressed by the user, and outputs corresponding signal instructions according to the size of the force received by the sensing module.

[0003] The existing pressure sensing key simply relies on the silica gel elastic body in the key to apply force to the pressure sensing module for pressure detection. Such a design that simply relies on the silica gel elastic body as the force point cannot accurately reflect the pressure of the key applied by the user, thereby reducing the accuracy of the pressure detected by the pressure sensing module. SUMMARY

[0004] The purpose of the embodiments of the present application is to provide a key structure and a keyboard thereof to solve the above problems.

[0005] In a first aspect, the present application provides a key structure, which comprises a key cap, an elastic body, a scissors leg support, a piezoresistive film sensor and a bottom plate. The piezoresistive film sensor is arranged on the bottom plate, the scissors leg support and the elastic body are arranged between the key cap and the piezoresistive film sensor, the piezoresistive film sensor comprises a first pressure sensing area and a second pressure sensing area, the elastic body corresponds to the first pressure sensing area, and the scissors leg support corresponds to the second pressure sensing area, so that when the key cap is pressed to generate pressure, the downward pressure of the elastic body acts on the first pressure sensing area, and the downward pressure of the scissors leg support acts on the second pressure sensing area.

[0006] In the above-mentioned key structure, the first pressure sensing area is arranged on the piezoresistive film sensor corresponding to the elastic body, and the second pressure sensing area is arranged on the piezoresistive film sensor to detect the pressure received by the scissors leg support, so that the pressure detected by the piezoresistive film sensor is the combination of the pressure of the scissors leg support and the pressure of the elastic body, and the combination of the pressure of the scissors leg support and the pressure of the elastic body can well reflect the external force received by the key cap. Therefore, the design of the present application can detect more obvious and accurate force changes, thereby improving the accuracy of the piezoresistive film sensor in detecting and identifying the force size.

[0007] In an optional implementation of the first aspect, the scissors leg support includes an inner scissors leg and an outer scissors leg, the inner scissors leg and the outer scissors leg are rotationally connected at a middle part, a first edge part of the inner scissors leg and the outer scissors leg is connected with the piezoresistive film sensor, and a second edge part of the inner scissors leg and the outer scissors leg is connected with the key cap, wherein the first edge part and the second edge part are opposite.

[0008] In an optional implementation of the first aspect, the second sensing area corresponds to the second edge part of the inner scissors leg and the outer scissors leg.

[0009] In an optional implementation of the first aspect, the second sensing area includes a first long strip sensing area and a second long strip sensing area, the first long strip sensing area corresponds to the second edge part of the inner scissors leg, and the second long strip sensing area corresponds to the second edge part of the outer scissors leg.

[0010] In an optional implementation of the first aspect, the outer scissors leg and the inner scissors leg are both quadrilateral supports, the second sensing area includes a first contact sensing area, a second contact sensing area, a third contact sensing area, and a fourth contact sensing area, two edge angles of the second edge part of the outer scissors leg correspond to the first contact sensing area and the second contact sensing area respectively, and two edge angles of the second edge part of the inner scissors leg correspond to the third contact sensing area and the fourth contact sensing area respectively.

[0011] In an optional implementation of the first aspect, the inner scissors leg includes a hollow part, and the elastic body is arranged between the piezoresistive film sensor and the key cap through the hollow part of the inner scissors leg.

[0012] In an optional implementation of the first aspect, the key structure further includes a film circuit layer, the film circuit layer is arranged on the piezoresistive film sensor, and is used for transmitting the pressure of the elastic body and the scissors leg support to the piezoresistive film sensor.

[0013] In an optional implementation of the first aspect, the elastic body includes a top part, a ring wall, a lead-through column, and a bottom part, the ring wall is connected with the top part and the bottom part at two ends respectively and forms an inner space in the ring wall, the lead-through column is located in the inner space and is arranged between the top part and the bottom part, a first end of the lead-through column is connected with the top part, and an opposite end of the first end of the lead-through column is spaced apart from the bottom part by a preset distance, and the bottom part is connected with the first pressure sensing area.

[0014] In an optional implementation of the first aspect, the top is provided with a recessed space, the recessed space comprises a first side wall, a second side wall and a recessed bottom wall, the first side wall and the second side wall are connected to the recessed bottom wall respectively, and an included angle formed by the first side wall and the second side wall with the recessed bottom wall is an obtuse angle.

[0015] In a second aspect, the application provides a keyboard comprising the key structure according to any one of the preceding embodiments.

[0016] In the keyboard designed above, since the keyboard is composed of the key structure in the first embodiment, the keyboard not only sets the first pressure sensing area on the piezoresistive film sensor corresponding to the elastic body, but also sets the second pressure sensing area on the piezoresistive film sensor to detect the pressure received by the scissors leg support, so that the pressure detected by the piezoresistive film sensor is the combination of the pressure of the scissors leg support and the pressure of the elastic body, and the combination of the pressure of the scissors leg support and the pressure of the elastic body can well reflect the external force received by the keycap. Therefore, the design of the application can make the piezoresistive film sensor detect more obvious and accurate force changes, thereby improving the accuracy of the piezoresistive film sensor in detecting and identifying the force size. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0017] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the application, the following will briefly introduce the drawings needed to be used in the embodiments of the application. It should be understood that the following drawings only show some embodiments of the application, and therefore should not be regarded as a limitation on the scope. For those skilled in the art, other related drawings can also be obtained without creative labor on the basis of these drawings.

[0018] Figure 1 The first structural diagram of the key structure provided by the embodiments of the application;

[0019] Figure 2 The second structural diagram of the key structure provided by the embodiments of the application;

[0020] Figure 3 The structural diagram of the scissors leg support provided by the embodiments of the application;

[0021] Figure 4 The third structural diagram of the key structure provided by the embodiments of the application;

[0022] Figure 5 The fourth structural diagram of the key structure provided by the embodiments of the application;

[0023] Figure 6 The structural diagram of the elastic body provided by the embodiments of the application;

[0024] Figure 7 The fifth structure diagram of the key structure provided by the embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0025] Icon: 10-key cap; 20-elastic body; 201-top; 2011-recessed space; 20111-first side wall; 20112-second side wall; 20113-recessed bottom; 202-ring wall; 203-conductive column; 204-bottom; 205-embedded space; 30-shears leg support; 301-inner shears leg; 302-outer shears leg; 40-resistive thin film sensor; 401-first pressure sensing area; 402-second pressure sensing area; 4021-first long strip sensing area; 4022-second long strip sensing area; 4023-first contact sensing area; 4024-second contact sensing area; 4025-third contact sensing area; 4026-fourth contact sensing area; 50-bottom plate; 60-thin film circuit layer. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

[0027] First embodiment

[0028] The present application provides a key structure, as shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2 The key structure includes a key cap 10, an elastic body 20, a shears leg support 30, a resistive thin film sensor 40, and a bottom plate 50. The resistive thin film sensor 40 is arranged on the bottom plate 50. The shears leg support 30 and the elastic body 20 are arranged between the key cap 10 and the resistive thin film sensor 40. The resistive thin film sensor 40 includes a first pressure sensing area 401 and a second pressure sensing area 402. The elastic body 20 corresponds to the first pressure sensing area 401. The shears leg support 30 corresponds to the second pressure sensing area 402.

[0029] When the keycap 10 receives external pressure, for example, the keycap 10 is pressed by a finger, the keycap 10 moves along the vertical direction relative to the bottom plate 50 through the scissors leg support 30, the scissors leg support 30 also moves with the movement of the keycap 10 and contacts the piezoresistive film sensor 40. Since the scissors leg support 30 corresponds to the second pressure sensing area 402, under the action of sufficient pressure, the scissors leg support 30 will press the second pressure sensing area 402 of the piezoresistive film sensor 40. At the same time, with the vertical movement of the keycap 10, the keycap 10 will exert a force on the elastic body 20, and the force will make the elastic body 20 also contact the piezoresistive film sensor 40. Since the elastic body 20 corresponds to the first pressure sensing area 401, under the action of sufficient pressure, the elastic body 20 will press the first pressure sensing area 401. In this way, the piezoresistive film sensor 40 can detect the pressure from the scissors leg support 30 and the pressure from the elastic body 20 through the first pressure sensing area 401 and the second pressure sensing area 402, and then the piezoresistive film sensor 40 outputs an electrical signal corresponding to the combined pressure of the scissors leg support 30 and the elastic body 20.

[0030] In the above-mentioned key structure, the present application not only sets the first pressure sensing area on the piezoresistive film sensor 40 corresponding to the elastic body, but also sets the second pressure sensing area on the piezoresistive film sensor to detect the pressure received by the scissors leg support. The pressure detected by the piezoresistive film sensor is the combined pressure of the scissors leg support and the elastic body. The combined pressure of the scissors leg support and the elastic body can well reflect the external force received by the keycap 10. Therefore, the design of the present application can detect more obvious and accurate force changes, thereby improving the accuracy of the piezoresistive film sensor in detecting and identifying the force size.

[0031] In an optional embodiment of the present embodiment, as shown in Figure 3 The scissors leg support 30 includes an inner scissors leg 301 and an outer scissors leg 302. The middle parts of the inner scissors leg 301 and the outer scissors leg 302 are rotationally connected. The first edges A1 of the inner scissors leg 301 and the first edges B1 of the outer scissors leg 302 are connected with the piezoresistive film sensor 40. The second edges A2 of the inner scissors leg 301 and the second edges B2 of the outer scissors leg 302 are connected with the keycap 10. The first edges and the second edges are opposite to each other. When the keycap 10 is subjected to an external force, the keycap 10 exerts a pressure on the second edges A2 of the inner scissors leg 301 and the second edges B2 of the outer scissors leg 302. Since the middle parts of the inner scissors leg 301 and the outer scissors leg 302 are rotationally connected, the second edges A2 of the inner scissors leg 301 and the second edges B2 of the outer scissors leg 302 will gradually decrease and contact the piezoresistive film sensor 40.

[0032] On the basis of the structure of the scissors leg support 30 in the above design, the second pressure sensing area 402 can correspond to the second edge A2 of the inner scissors leg 301 and the second edge B2 of the outer scissors leg 302, so that when the second edge A2 of the inner scissors leg 301 and the second edge B2 of the outer scissors leg 302 gradually lower and then come into contact with the piezoresistive thin film sensor 40, the second edge A2 of the inner scissors leg 301 and the second edge B2 of the outer scissors leg 302 come into contact with the second pressure sensing area 402, so that the second edge A2 of the inner scissors leg 301 and the second edge B2 of the outer scissors leg 302 generate pressure on the second pressure sensing area 402, which is then detected by the piezoresistive thin film sensor 40.

[0033] As a possible implementation, as shown in FIG. 4, the second sensing area 402 can include a first long strip sensing area 4021 and a second long strip sensing area 4022, the first long strip sensing area 4021 corresponding to the second edge portion A2 of the inner scissors leg 301, and the second long strip sensing area 4022 corresponding to the second edge portion B2 of the outer scissors leg 302, so that the pressure of the second edge A2 of the inner scissors leg 301 is detected by the piezoresistive thin film sensor 40 through the first long strip sensing area 4021, and the pressure of the second edge B2 of the outer scissors leg 302 is detected by the piezoresistive thin film sensor 40 through the second long strip sensing area 4022. Figure 4 As another possible implementation, as shown in FIG. 5, the inner scissors leg 301 and the outer scissors leg 302 are both quadrilateral supports, and the second sensing area 402 can include a first contact sensing area 4023, a second contact sensing area 4024, a third contact sensing area 4025, and a fourth contact sensing area 4026, two edge angles B21 and B22 of the second edge B2 of the outer scissors leg 302 corresponding to the first contact sensing area 4023 and the second contact sensing area 4024 respectively, and two edge angles A21 and A22 of the second edge A2 of the inner scissors leg 301 corresponding to the third contact sensing area 4025 and the fourth contact sensing area 4026 respectively.

[0034] Figure 5 In an optional implementation of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the outer scissors leg 302 and the inner scissors leg 301 both have hollow portions, the inner scissors leg 301 is arranged in the hollow portion of the outer scissors leg 302, the elastic body 20 is arranged in the hollow portion of the inner scissors leg 301, and the shape of the hollow portion of the outer scissors leg 302 can be adapted to the shape of the inner scissors leg 301; the shape of the hollow portion of the inner scissors leg 301 can be adapted to the shape of the elastic body 20.

[0035] In an optional implementation of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the outer scissors leg 302 and the inner scissors leg 301 both have hollow portions, the inner scissors leg 301 is arranged in the hollow portion of the outer scissors leg 302, the elastic body 20 is arranged in the hollow portion of the inner scissors leg 301, and the shape of the hollow portion of the outer scissors leg 302 can be adapted to the shape of the inner scissors leg 301; the shape of the hollow portion of the inner scissors leg 301 can be adapted to the shape of the elastic body 20. Figure 4 In an optional implementation of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the outer scissors leg 302 and the inner scissors leg 301 both have hollow portions, the inner scissors leg 301 is arranged in the hollow portion of the outer scissors leg 302, the elastic body 20 is arranged in the hollow portion of the inner scissors leg 301, and the shape of the hollow portion of the outer scissors leg 302 can be adapted to the shape of the inner scissors leg 301; the shape of the hollow portion of the inner scissors leg 301 can be adapted to the shape of the elastic body 20.

[0036] Figure 6 ​​As shown, the elastic body 20 can include a top portion 201, a ring wall 202, a conducting column 203, and a bottom portion 204, the ring wall 202 is connected to the top portion 201 and the bottom portion 204 at both ends and forms an inner space 205 in the ring wall 202, the conducting column 203 is arranged in the inner space 205 of the ring wall 202, the first end of the conducting column 203 is connected to the top portion 201, and the opposite end of the first end of the conducting column 203 is spaced apart from the bottom portion 204 by a predetermined distance, and the bottom portion 204 is connected to the first pressure sensing area 401.

[0037] The elastic body 20 designed as above, the force of the keycap 10 acts on the top portion 201 of the elastic body 20, and the top portion 201 moves downward with the conducting column 203 in the ring wall 202 after receiving the force, thereby making the conducting column 203 contact the bottom portion 204 and generating a downward force on the bottom portion 204 to generate pressure on the first pressure sensing area 401 of the piezoresistive thin film sensor 40 connected to the bottom portion.

[0038] In an optional embodiment of the present embodiment, on the basis of the elastic body 20 designed as above, as shown, Figure 6 The top portion 201 of the elastic body 20 can also be provided with a recessed space 2011, the recessed space 2011 includes a first side wall 20111, a second side wall 20112, and a recessed bottom portion 20113, the first side wall 20111 and the second side wall 20112 are arranged at both ends of the recessed bottom portion 20113 and are connected to the recessed bottom portion 20113, respectively, and the first side wall 20111 and the second side wall 20112 form an included angle with the recessed bottom portion 20113, respectively, and the included angles formed by the two are obtuse angles, i.e., the angles are greater than 90°.

[0039] The elastic body 20 designed as above, because the included angles in the recessed space 2011 are obtuse angles, when the elastic body 20 is deformed under pressure, the recessed space 2011 of the top portion 201 can provide more buffer space for the downward movement of the conducting column 203, so that the downward stroke of the elastic body 20 is free from the space limitation of the notebook keyboard, thereby increasing the additional conduction, so that the elastic body 20 reaches the stroke termination point within the specified stroke of the key.

[0040] The elastic body 20 designed as above is elastically deformed under the action of the keycap 10, the top portion 201 and the conducting column 203 of the elastic body 20 gradually move downward, i.e., toward the position of the first pressure sensing area 401 of the piezoresistive thin film sensor 40, due to the elasticity of the elastic body 20 itself and the space limitation inside the keyboard, the second side wall 20112 and the ring wall 202 are deformed correspondingly due to the force, and the ring wall 202 also contacts the position of the first pressure sensing area 401 of the piezoresistive thin film sensor 40, when the external force is removed, the elastic body 20 restores to the initial state by the elastic restoring force of the elastic body itself.

[0041] In an optional embodiment of the first embodiment, as shown in Figure 6 The bottom surface of the elastic body 20 can be designed as a circular arc. When the user taps the corner of the keycap, the elastic body 20 can ensure that the contact area and the trigger force between the elastic body 20 and the first pressure sensing area 401 of the piezoresistive film sensor 40 are sufficient to generate an input signal, so that the elastic body 20 can achieve the effect of stable input.

[0042] In an optional embodiment of the first embodiment, as shown in Figure 7 The key structure further includes a thin film circuit layer 60 arranged on the piezoresistive film sensor 40. When the thin film circuit layer 60 is provided, the elastic body 20 and the scissors leg support 30 are arranged on the thin film circuit layer 60. The thin film circuit layer 60 can transmit the pressure generated by the elastic body 20 and the scissors leg support 30 to the piezoresistive film sensor 40. The thin film circuit layer 60 has a circuit connected to the piezoresistive film sensor 40. The circuit can collect the resistance value converted by the piezoresistive film sensor 40 and output corresponding electrical signals.

[0043] Second embodiment

[0044] The application provides a keyboard comprising the key structure in any optional embodiment of the first embodiment. The description of the key structure is similar to that of the first embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

[0045] In the above-described keyboard, since the keyboard is composed of the key structure in the first embodiment, the keyboard not only sets the first pressure sensing area on the piezoresistive film sensor corresponding to the elastic body, but also sets the second pressure sensing area on the piezoresistive film sensor to detect the pressure received by the scissors leg support. The pressure detected by the piezoresistive film sensor is the combination of the pressure of the scissors leg support and the pressure of the elastic body. The combination of the pressure of the scissors leg support and the pressure of the elastic body can well reflect the external force received by the keycap. Therefore, the design of the application can make the piezoresistive film sensor detect more obvious and accurate force changes, thereby improving the accuracy of the piezoresistive film sensor in detecting and identifying the force.

[0046] In the description of the present application, it should be noted that the terms "inner", "outer", etc. indicate the position or location relationship based on the position or location relationship shown in the drawings, or the position or location relationship when the product of the present application is usually placed, and are only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the present application. In addition, the terms "first", "second", etc. are only used to distinguish the description and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0047] It should also be noted that unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "provided", "connected" should be broadly understood, for example, can be fixedly connected, can also be detachably connected, or integrally connected; can be directly connected, can also be indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, can be internal communication of two elements. For those skilled in the art, the specific meaning of the above terms in the present application can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0048] The above only describes the embodiments of the present application and is not used to limit the protection scope of the present application. For those skilled in the art, the present application can have various modifications and changes. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present application shall be included in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A key structure, characterized in that: The key structure includes a key cap, an elastic body, a scissor foot bracket, a piezoresistive film sensor and a base plate; The piezoresistive film sensor is arranged on the bottom plate, the scissor foot bracket and the elastic body are arranged between the keycap and the piezoresistive film sensor, the piezoresistive film sensor includes a first pressure sensing area and a second pressure sensing area, the elastic body corresponds to the first pressure sensing area, and the scissor foot bracket corresponds to the second pressure sensing area, so that when the keycap is pressed to generate pressure, the downward pressure of the elastic body acts on the first pressure sensing area, and the downward pressure of the scissor foot bracket acts on the second pressure sensing area; The scissor leg bracket includes an inner scissor leg and an outer scissor leg, wherein the middle portions of the inner scissor leg and the outer scissor leg are rotatably connected, the first edges of the inner scissor leg and the outer scissor leg are both connected to the piezoresistive film sensor, and the second edges of the inner scissor leg and the outer scissor leg are both connected to the keycap, wherein the first edge and the second edge are opposite to each other; The outer scissor leg and the inner scissor leg both have a hollow portion, the inner scissor leg is arranged in the hollow portion of the outer scissor leg, and the elastic body is arranged in the hollow portion of the inner scissor leg.

2. The key structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: The second sensing area corresponds to the second edges of the inner scissor leg and the outer scissor leg.

3. The key structure according to claim 2, characterized in that: The second sensing area includes a first long sensing area and a second long sensing area. The first long sensing area corresponds to the second edge of the inner scissor leg, and the second long sensing area corresponds to the second edge of the outer scissor leg.

4. The key structure according to claim 2, characterized in that: The outer scissor leg and the inner scissor leg are both quadrilateral brackets, the second sensing area includes a first contact sensing area, a second contact sensing area, a third contact sensing area and a fourth contact sensing area, and the two edge corners of the second edge of the outer scissor leg correspond to the first contact sensing area and the second contact sensing area respectively; the two edge corners of the second edge of the inner scissor leg correspond to the third contact sensing area and the fourth contact sensing area respectively.

5. The key structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: The key structure further includes a thin film circuit layer, which is disposed on the piezoresistive film sensor to transmit the pressure of the elastic body and the scissor leg bracket to the piezoresistive film sensor.

6. The key structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: The elastomer includes a top, an annular wall, a conductive column and a bottom. The two ends of the annular wall are respectively connected to the top and the bottom and form an internal space in the annular wall. The conductive column is located in the internal space and is arranged between the top and the bottom. The first end of the conductive column is connected to the top, and the opposite end of the first end of the conductive column is spaced a preset distance from the bottom. The bottom is connected to the first pressure sensing area.

7. The key structure according to claim 6, characterized in that: A recessed space is provided on the top, and the recessed space includes a first side wall, a second side wall and a recessed bottom wall. The first side wall and the second side wall are respectively connected to the recessed bottom wall, and an angle formed by the first side wall, the second side wall and the recessed bottom wall is an obtuse angle.

8. A keyboard, characterized in that: The keyboard comprises the key structure according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

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