Seamless Button Air Gap Design for Liquid and Dirt Ingress Prevention

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional buttons embedded in devices suffer from gaps that lead to dirt accumulation, light permeation, and potential operational failures due to liquid ingress, and lack individual illumination clarity.

Innovation Solution

A seamless button design featuring a rigid guiding element with a lightproof chamber and an elastic actuating element spaced by an air gap, which is molded to adhere to a mounting plate with a switch, ensuring mobility and illumination without gaps, and allowing individual color illumination.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If a gap is provided between the button and the device to enable mobility, then the button can move freely, but the gap allows dirt accumulation, liquid ingress, and light permeation

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebutton mobilityVSAvoiddirt accumulation, liquid ingress, light permeation

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The button element is nested within the guiding element's inner chamber, with the profile area of the button element nesting against the outer wall and pedestal of the guiding element. This nested configuration eliminates the gap between the button and device housing while preserving the button's mobility through the air gap between the shaft and chamber walls.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #7Nested doll (Nesting)

Solution Approach 2:

The button element is made of elastic material with a flexible profile area that can deform to adhere to the guiding element's outer wall and pedestal. This flexible adaptation creates a seamless, lightproof connection that prevents dirt and liquid ingress while allowing the button to maintain its actuation functionality.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #30Flexible shells and thin films

2Object-affected harmful factors

If the button is made seamless to prevent dirt and light ingress, then protection is improved, but the manufacturing complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveprotection against dirt and light ingressVSAvoidbutton structure complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The seamless connection is achieved by extracting the sealing function from a separate sealing component and integrating it directly into the button element through the profile area. This integration eliminates the need for additional sealing elements while maintaining the seamless protection against dirt and light.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The profile area of the button element combines multiple functions: structural support, sealing against the guiding element, and lightproofing. By merging these functions into a single integrated feature rather than separate components, the design achieves seamless protection without proportionally increasing complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

3Ease of operation

If the button element is made of elastic material to enable movement, then actuation functionality is improved, but precision in positioning may be reduced

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveactuation functionalityVSAvoidpositioning precision

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The button element has different local properties: the shaft portion is made elastic to enable actuation movement, while the profile area is designed to adhere precisely to the guiding element's rigid outer wall and pedestal. This local differentiation allows the elastic material to provide movement where needed while maintaining precise positioning where required.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The profile area of the button element is pre-formed during molding to match the geometry of the guiding element's outer wall and pedestal. This preliminary shaping ensures that when the button is assembled, the elastic material naturally adheres in the correct position with high precision, eliminating the need for additional positioning adjustments.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

The seamless button design prevents dirt and liquid ingress, maintains lightproofing, and enables clear individual illumination, while maintaining actuation functionality and tactile feedback.

Implementation Method 1

a massive middle shaft spaced from the inner walls of the chamber by an air gap

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectAir gap:

Implementation Method 2

The movable actuating element is made of elastic material

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectElasticity: Elasticity

Data Source

PatentUS10248151B2Seamless button

Publication Date: 2019.04.02 ABLETON

AI summary

A seamless button including a guiding element, a movable actuating element and a switch located on a mounting plate. The movable actuating element is made of elastic material with a massive middle shaft spaced from the inner walls of the chamber by an air gap. It has an upper actuating surface and crimp surrounding the actuating surface above the air gap. It also has a profile area at the outer circumference of the movement crimp, where the horizontally outwardly extending portion of the profile area rests on top of the outer wall, the downwardly extending portion of the profile area rests on the outside of the outer profile edge and the protrusion rests on the pedestal covering it at least partially. A seamless multi-button is also disclosed, with a method for manufacturing seamless buttons.