A silicone key

Abstract

The utility model discloses a silica gel key, including key cap, elastic arm and bottom plate, the lower surface of key cap is equipped with support column, and the bottom edge of elastic arm is equipped with the elastic deformation's limiting piece that projects upwards, the distance D from the upper surface of limiting piece to bottom plate is greater than the length H of support column, so that when the key is pressed, the lower surface of key cap first contacts the top of limiting piece and compresses the limiting piece before support column contacts bottom plate, the utility model adds an elastic limiting piece that projects upwards in the bottom of elastic arm, and makes its height greater than key cap support column, combines the movement stroke when key cap is pressed, and forms a flexible buffer barrier that occurs before rigid bottom touch, realizes the effective absorption and dissipation of bottom touch impact energy, improves the hand feeling comfort and quality feeling of key pressing process, solves the noise and the abrupt feeling problem caused by the rigid collision of support column and bottom plate of existing device, and significantly improves the user experience and market competitiveness of silica gel key product.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to keyboards, and more particularly to a silicone keypad. Background Technology

[0002] Silicone keys are widely used in the input interfaces of electronic devices such as laptops due to their excellent sealing, weather resistance, and soft feel. A typical structure includes a keycap, a cup-shaped elastic arm, and a base plate. A conductive base post is located at the bottom of the elastic arm, and a support post for limiting movement is located under the keycap. During operation, pressing the keycap deforms the elastic arm, causing the conductive base post to contact the base plate circuitry to trigger the key. Simultaneously, the support post also contacts the base plate to prevent excessive deformation of the elastic arm and provide bottoming-out feedback. (See attached instruction manual) Figure 1-4 As shown, existing silicone keycaps mainly consist of a keycap 1, an elastic arm 2, and a base plate 3. The lower surface of the keycap 1 has a downwardly extending columnar support post 11 at its center. The elastic arm 2 is generally bowl-shaped and integrally molded from silicone. From top to bottom, it includes a keycap mounting portion 21 for mounting the keycap 1, an elastic deformation portion 22, and an annular base 23. The lower surface of the annular base 23 is fixed to the base plate 3 by adhesive or snap-fit. The bottom of the keycap mounting portion 21 has a downwardly protruding conductive base post 24. A thin-film circuit contact is located on the base plate 3 opposite to the conductive base post 24. When the conductive base post 24 contacts the thin-film circuit contact on the base plate 3, a circuit is formed. However, this conventional structure has a significant drawback: the contact between the support post and the base plate is a rigid collision. The instantaneous impact produces unpleasant typing noise and a harsh, jerky feel upon bottoming out, which can easily cause finger fatigue in users with prolonged use. Utility Model Content

[0003] Purpose of the utility model: The purpose of this utility model is to provide a silicone button with low bottoming noise, soft feel and reliable triggering.

[0004] Technical solution: The present invention provides a silicone keypad, comprising a keycap, an elastic arm, and a base plate. The lower surface of the keycap is provided with a support post, and the bottom edge of the elastic arm is provided with an upwardly protruding, elastically deformable limiting member. The distance D from the upper surface of the limiting member to the base plate is greater than the length H of the support post.

[0005] Preferably, when the button is pressed, before the support column contacts the base plate, the lower surface of the keycap first contacts the top of the limiting member and compresses the limiting member.

[0006] Preferably, the elastic arm includes a keycap mounting part, an elastic deformation part, an annular base and a conductive base post, and the limiting member is disposed on the upper surface of the annular base.

[0007] Preferably, the limiting member is an annular protrusion or discrete protrusions evenly distributed along the circumference of the annular base.

[0008] Preferably, the keycap mounting part, elastic deformation part, annular base, conductive base post and limiting part are integrally molded from silicone material.

[0009] Preferably, the height of the top surface of the limiting member is lower than the height of the bottom surface of the keycap mounting part.

[0010] Preferably, the radial cross-section of the limiting member is trapezoidal, narrower at the top and wider at the bottom.

[0011] Preferably, the top of the limiting member is provided with an arc-shaped contact surface.

[0012] Preferably, the limiting member has an internal cavity.

[0013] Beneficial effects: Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages: By adding an upwardly protruding elastic limiting member at the bottom of the elastic arm and making its height greater than that of the keycap support column, the present invention, combined with the movement stroke when the keycap is pressed down, forms a flexible buffer barrier that occurs before the rigid bottoming out, realizing the effective absorption and dissipation of the impact energy of bottoming out. This not only improves the tactile comfort and quality of the key pressing process, but also solves the noise and jerking problem caused by the rigid collision between the support column and the base plate in the existing device, significantly improving the user experience and market competitiveness of silicone key products. Attached Figure Description

[0014] Figure 1 This is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of the elastic arm of a silicone button in the prior art;

[0015] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the elastic arm structure of a silicone button in the prior art;

[0016] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the overall structure of a silicone button in the unpressed state of existing technology;

[0017] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the overall structure of a silicone button in the pressed state of existing technology;

[0018] Figure 5 This is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of the elastic arm of the silicone button of this utility model;

[0019] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the elastic arm structure of the silicone button of this utility model;

[0020] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the silicone button of this utility model in the unpressed state;

[0021] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the silicone button in the pressed state of this utility model. Detailed Implementation

[0022] The technical solution of this utility model will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0023] like Figure 1-4 As shown, the silicone keypad mainly consists of a keycap 1, an elastic arm 2, and a base plate 3. The lower surface of the keycap 1 has a downwardly extending columnar support post 11 at its center. The elastic arm 2 is generally bowl-shaped and integrally molded from silicone. From top to bottom, it includes a keycap mounting part 21 for mounting the keycap 1, an elastic deformation part 22, and an annular base 23. The lower surface of the annular base 23 is fixed to the base plate 3 by adhesive or snap-fit. The bottom of the keycap mounting part 21 has a downwardly protruding conductive base post 24. A thin-film circuit contact is located on the base plate 3 opposite to the conductive base post 24. When the conductive base post 24 contacts the thin-film circuit contact on the base plate 3, a circuit is formed. Figure 5-8 As shown, the core improvement of this embodiment lies in the integral forming of an upwardly protruding annular limiting member 25 on the upper surface of the annular base 23. The radial cross-section of the limiting member is a trapezoid with a narrower upper section and a wider lower section, and its top is machined with a smooth arc-shaped contact surface. The vertical distance D from the top surface of the limiting member 25 to the upper surface of the base plate 3 is designed to be greater than the vertical distance H from the end of the support column 11 on the keycap 1 to the upper surface of the base plate 3.

[0024] The working principle of the silicone key of the present invention is as follows: In its natural state, the keycap 1 is supported by the elastic deformation part 22 of the elastic arm 2 and is higher than the limiting member 25. When the user applies a pressing operation, the keycap 1 moves down, and the elastic deformation part 22 is forced to undergo elastic deformation through the keycap mounting part 21, thereby driving the conductive base post 24 to move downward and contact the circuit contacts on the base plate 3, realizing circuit conduction. In this process, due to the size relationship of D>H, the lower surface of the keycap 1 will first contact the top of the limiting member 25 before the supporting post 11 is about to contact the base plate 3. As the pressing force continues, the keycap 1 will compress the relatively soft limiting member 25, causing it to generate additional elastic deformation. This process absorbs most of the impact kinetic energy. After that, the supporting post 11 contacts the base plate 3, playing the role of final hard limiting.

[0025] Through the above structural design and working method, when using this silicone button, the entire process from pressing the keycap 1 to bottoming out is divided into two stages: first, the conductive base 24 reliably triggers the button; then, the limiting member 25 provides flexible buffering; and finally, there is a slight hard contact. This method effectively transforms a violent rigid impact into a gentle, elastic buffering stroke, thereby significantly improving the bottoming-out feel while ensuring the reliability of the circuit triggering function. It makes the bottoming-out feel smoother and quieter, perfectly solving the problems of high noise and strong jerkiness inherent in traditional structures.

Claims

1. A silicone keypad, comprising a keycap (1), an elastic arm (2), and a base plate (3), wherein a support post (11) is provided on the lower surface of the keycap (1), characterized in that: The bottom edge of the elastic arm (2) is provided with an upwardly protruding, elastically deformable limiting member (25); the distance D from the upper surface of the limiting member (25) to the bottom plate (3) is greater than the length H of the support column (11).

2. The silicone button according to claim 1, characterized in that: The elastic arm (2) includes a keycap mounting part (21), an elastic deformation part (22), an annular base (23) and a conductive base post (24), and the limiting member (25) is provided on the upper surface of the annular base (23).

3. The silicone button according to claim 2, characterized in that: The limiting member (25) is an annular protrusion or discrete protrusions evenly distributed along the circumference of the annular base (23).

4. The silicone button according to claim 2, characterized in that: The keycap mounting part (21), elastic deformation part (22), annular base (23), conductive base post (24) and limiting part (25) are integrally molded from silicone material.

5. The silicone button according to claim 1, characterized in that: The top surface of the limiting member (25) is lower than the bottom surface of the keycap mounting part (21).

6. The silicone button according to claim 1, characterized in that: The radial cross section of the limiting member (25) is trapezoidal, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom.

7. The silicone button according to claim 1, characterized in that: The top of the limiting member (25) is provided with an arc-shaped contact surface.

8. The silicone button according to claim 1, characterized in that: The limiting member (25) has an internal cavity.

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