US 10,079,601 B2Granted

Keyswitch with adjustable tactile feedback and switch thereof

AssigneeDarfon Electronics Corp.

InventorChia-Hung Liu

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Abstract

A keyswitch includes a base having a pillar, a cap having a rib and movable relative to the base, a sleeve rotatably sleeving the pillar and having first and second top surfaces and convex and concave portions, an elastic member abutting against the sleeve and the base, and a resilient arm abutting against a first or second position on the convex portion with rotation of the sleeve. When the resilient arm abuts against the first position, the rib abuts against the first top surface to prepress the elastic member for generating a first preload. When the cap is pressed for moving the sleeve downward, the resilient arm moves from the first or second position to the concave portion. When the resilient arm abuts against the second position, the rib abuts against the second top surface to prepress the elastic member for generating a second preload larger than the first preload.

Claims44

Dependent claims

A keyswitch comprising:

a base having a pillar extending along a Z-axis, the Z-axis, an X-axis and a Y-axis being perpendicular to each other;
a cap having a first rib and a limiting arm, the first rib protruding toward the base along the Z-axis, the limiting arm protruding toward the base along the Z-axis and being movably connected to the base, so as to make the cap movable upward and downward between a high position and a low position along the Z-axis;
a sleeve rotatably sleeving the pillar, the sleeve being located under the cap and having a first top surface, a second top surface, and an outer annular surface formed thereon, the first top surface being higher than the second top surface along the Z-axis, the outer annular surface having a convex portion and a concave portion;
an elastic member abutting against the sleeve and the base for driving the sleeve to move away from the base;
and
a resilient arm adjacent to the pillar, corresponding to the rotation of the sleeve on the pillar around the Z-axis, the resilient arm selectively abutting against a first position or a second position on the convex portion to have a first amount of deformation when the cap is located at the high position, the resilient arm abutting against the concave portion to have a second amount of deformation when the cap is located at the low position, the first amount of deformation being different from the second amount of deformation;
wherein when the resilient arm abuts against the first position, the first rib abuts against the first top surface to make the sleeve prepress the elastic member at a first length for generating a first preload, and when the cap moves downward along the Z-axis to move the sleeve downward, the resilient arm moves from the first position to the concave portion;
when the resilient arm abuts against the second position, the first rib abuts against the second top surface to make the sleeve prepress the elastic member at a second length for generating a second preload, the first length is larger than the second length to make the first preload smaller than the second preload, and when the cap moves downward along the Z-axis to move the sleeve downward, the resilient arm moves from the second position to the concave portion;
when the cap is released, the elastic member drives the sleeve to move to the high position along the Z-axis relative to the pillar, so as to make the resilient arm back to abut against the first position or the second position on the convex portion.

6 more elements

A keyswitch comprising:

a base having a pillar extending along a Z-axis, the Z-axis, an X-axis and a Y-axis being perpendicular to each other;
a cap having a limiting arm, the limiting arm protruding toward the base along the Z-axis and being movably connected to the base, so as to make the cap movable upward and downward between a high position and a low position along the Z-axis;
a resilient arm adjacent to the pillar;
a sleeve abutting against the cap and rotatably sleeving the pillar for rotating on the pillar around the Z-axis, the sleeve having an outer annular surface formed thereon, the outer annular surface having a first convex portion, a first concave portion, a second convex portion, a second concave portion and an arc-shaped bar, the arc-shaped bar extending above the second convex portion but not extending above the first convex portion, the resilient arm selectively abutting against the first convex portion or the second convex portion when the cap is located at the high position;
and
an elastic member abutting against the sleeve and the base respectively for driving the sleeve to move away from the base;
wherein when the resilient arm abuts against the second convex portion and the cap is pressed to move the sleeve downward along the Z-axis, the resilient arm needs to cross the arc-shaped bar with downward movement of the sleeve during the resilient arm moves from the second convex portion to the second concave portion;
when the resilient arm abuts against the first convex portion and the cap is pressed to move the sleeve downward, the resilient arm does not need to cross the arc-shaped bar during the resilient arm moves from the first convex portion to the first concave portion;
when the cap is released, the elastic member drives the sleeve to move upward along the Z-axis relative to the pillar, so as to make the resilient arm move back to abut against the first convex portion or the second convex portion.

6 more elements

A keyswitch comprising:

a base having a pillar, a top surface and a protruding block adjacent to the pillar, the pillar protruding from the top surface along a Z-axis, the Z-axis, an X-axis and a Y-axis being perpendicular to each other, the protruding block being higher than the top surface along the Z-axis;
a cap having a limiting arm extending toward the base along the Z-axis, the limiting arm being movably connected to the base to make the cap movable upward and downward between a high position and a low position along the Z-axis;
a sleeve abutting against the cap and rotatably sleeving the pillar, the sleeve having an outer annular surface formed thereon, the outer annular surface having a first convex portion, a first concave portion, a second convex portion, and a second concave portion, a groove and a bottom surface being formed on a bottom end of the sleeve, the sleeve rotating on the pillar around the Z-axis to make the protruding block selectively located under the groove or the bottom surface;
an elastic member abutting against the sleeve and the base respectively for driving the sleeve to move away from the base;
and
a resilient arm adjacent to the pillar, the resilient arm abutting against the first convex portion when the sleeve rotates around the Z-axis to make the protruding block located under the groove, and the resilient arm abutting against the second convex portion when the sleeve rotates around the Z-axis to make the protruding block located under the bottom surface;
wherein when the protruding block is located under the groove and the cap is pressed, the sleeve moves downward and the resilient arm moves from the first convex portion to the first concave portion until the protruding block is contained in the groove, so that a maximum movable distance of the cap along the Z-axis is set as a first travel distance;
when the protruding block is located under the bottom surface and the cap is pressed, the sleeve moves downward and the resilient arm moves from the second convex portion to the second concave portion until the protruding block abuts against the bottom surface, so that the maximum movable distance of the cap along the Z-axis is set as a second travel distance less than the first travel distance;
when the cap is released, the elastic member drives the sleeve to move upward along the Z-axis relative to the pillar, so as to make the resilient arm move back to abut against the first convex portion or the second convex portion.

6 more elements

A keyswitch comprising:

a base having a pillar extending along a Z-axis, the Z-axis, an X-axis and a Y-axis being perpendicular to each other;
a cap having a limiting arm, the limiting arm protruding toward the base along the Z-axis and being movably connected to the base, so as to make the cap movable upward and downward between a high position and a low position along the Z-axis;
a switch unit adjacent to the pillar, the switch unit having a resilient arm and a contact point opposite to the resilient arm, the contact point and the resilient arm extending toward the cap respectively, the switch unit being electrically connected to a circuit board;
a sleeve abutting against the cap and rotatably sleeving the pillar for rotating on the pillar around the Z-axis, the sleeve having an outer annular surface formed thereon, the outer annular surface having a first convex portion, a first concave portion, a second convex portion, a second concave portion, a first transition portion, and a second transition portion lower than the first transition portion along the Z-axis, the first convex portion, the first transition portion and the first concave portion being arranged from down to up along the Z-axis, the second convex portion, the second transition portion and the second concave portion being arranged from down to up along the Z-axis, the resilient arm selectively abutting against the first convex portion or the second convex portion when the cap is located at the high position;
and
an elastic member abutting against the sleeve and the base respectively for driving the sleeve to move away from the base;
wherein when the resilient arm abuts against the first convex portion and the cap is pressed to move the sleeve downward along the Z-axis, the resilient arm abuts against the sleeve member and moves from the first convex portion to the first concave portion along the first transition portion to make the resilient arm located at a first triggering position for triggering the contact point;
when the resilient arm abuts against the second convex portion and the cap is pressed to move the sleeve downward along the Z-axis, the resilient arm abuts against the sleeve member and moves from the second convex portion to the second concave portion along the second transition portion to make the resilient arm located at a second triggering position lower than the first triggering position along the Z-axis for triggering the contact point;
when the cap is released, the elastic member drives the sleeve to move upward along the Z-axis relative to the pillar, so as to make the resilient arm move to abut against the first convex portion or the second convex portion and to be separate from the contact point.

6 more elements

A keyswitch comprising:

a base having a pillar extending along a Z-axis, the Z-axis, an X-axis and a Y-axis being perpendicular to each other;
a cap having a first rib and a limiting arm, the first rib and the limiting arm protruding toward the base along the Z-axis, the limiting arm being movably connected to the base to make the cap movable upward and downward between a high position and a low position along the Z-axis;
a resilient arm adjacent to the pillar;
an internal sleeve having a support surface;
an external sleeve supported on the support surface, the external sleeve rotatably sleeving the pillar for rotating on the pillar around the Z-axis, the external sleeve having a first top surface, a second top surface, and an outer annular surface formed thereon, the first top surface being higher than the second top surface along the Z-axis, the outer annular surface having a first convex portion, a first concave portion, a second convex portion, a second concave portion, and an arc-shaped bar, the resilient arm selectively abutting against the first convex portion or the second convex portion when the cap is located at the high position, the arc-shaped bar at least extending above the second convex portion and having a bottom edge surface and an upper edge surface;
and
an elastic member abutting against the internal sleeve and the base for driving the internal sleeve to move away from the base;
wherein when the resilient arm abuts against the second convex portion, the first rib of the cap is separate from the second top surface of the external sleeve at a gap, and the resilient arm needs to cross the arc-shaped bar during the resilient arm moves from the second convex portion to the second concave portion;
when a downward moving distance of the cap is less than the gap, the cap drives the internal sleeve to move downward and the resilient arm abuts against the bottom edge surface to make the external sleeve not move together with the internal sleeve, so as to make the external sleeve separate from the support surface of the internal sleeve;
when the downward moving distance of the cap is larger than the gap to make the cap drive the external sleeve to move downward, the resilient arm crosses the arc-shaped bar to abut against the upper edge surface with downward movement of the external sleeve, and then the resilient arm drives the external sleeve to collide with the support surface of the internal sleeve for making a sound;
when the resilient arm abuts against the first convex portion, the first rib abuts against the first top surface, and then the resilient arm moves from the first convex portion to the first concave portion when the cap is pressed to move the internal sleeve and the external sleeve downward along the Z-axis;
when the cap is released, the elastic member drives the external sleeve via the internal sleeve to move upward along the Z-axis relative to the pillar, so as to make the resilient arm back to abut against the first convex portion or the second convex portion.

9 more elements

A switch comprising:

a base having a positioning structure extending along a Z-axis, the Z-axis, an X-axis and a Y-axis being perpendicular to each other;
a resilient arm adjacent to the positioning structure;
a sleeve having an outer annular surface and rotatably sleeving the positioning structure for rotating on the positioning structure around the Z-axis and moving upward and downward between a high position and a low position along the Z-axis, the outer annular surface having a first large radius portion, a first small radius portion, a second large radius portion, and a second small radius portion, the resilient arm selectively abutting against the first large radius portion or the second large radius portion when the sleeve is located at the high position;
and
an elastic member abutting against the sleeve and the base respectively for driving the sleeve to move away from the base;
wherein when the resilient arm abuts against the first large radius portion and the sleeve moves downward along the Z-axis, the resilient arm moves from the first large radius portion to the first small radius portion along a first path and the first path interacts with the resilient arm to generate a first tactile feedback;
when the resilient arm abuts against the second large radius portion and the sleeve moves downward along the Z-axis, the resilient arm moves from the second large radius portion to the second small radius portion along a second path and the second path interacts with the resilient arm to generate a second tactile feedback;
when the sleeve is released, the elastic member drives the sleeve to move upward along the Z-axis, so as to make the resilient arm move back to abut against the first large radius portion or the second large radius portion.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 15/636,651Filed 29 Jun 2017
Priority: TW 105120945 A1 Jul 2016
Published: US 2018/0006648 A14 Jan 2018
Granted: 18 Sep 2018
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification16 codes

H01H 13/85
Characterised by ergonomic functions, e.g. for miniature keyboards; characterised by operational sensory functions, e.g. sound feedback:…
H03K 17/975
Switches controlled by moving an element forming part of the switch: using a capacitive movable element
G06F 3/0216
Constructional details or processes of manufacture of the input device: arrangements for ergonomically adjusting the disposition of keys of a keyboard
H01H 13/705
With contacts carried by or formed from layers in a multilayer structure, e.g. membrane switches: characterised by construction, mounting or…