US 10,930,448 B2Granted

Push-button switch member

AssigneeShin-Etsu Polymer Co., Ltd.

InventorsMasayuki Ito, Toshihiro Motoki

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Abstract

A push-button switch member includes: a movable contact and an operation key disposed facing the protruding side thereof, and in contact therewith or spaced therefrom. The movable contact includes: an upper contact portion disposed directly under a key body; an outer fixed portion in the upper contact portion or more outward therefrom in the radial direction, and fixed more outward in the radial direction than the key body; and a non-contacting outer portion provided more outward in the radial direction than the upper contact portion, and disposed to face in a non-contacting state another contact so as to be able to contact another contact which is disposed on an outer side in the radial direction and contacted by the upper contact portion when pushed by the key body. The non-contacting outer portion has a bottom portion for a line contact or a surface contact with another contact.

Claims13

Dependent claims

A push-button switch member, comprising:

a dome-shaped movable contact;
a substrate on which at least two contacts including a first contact and a second contact are disposed;
and
an operation key facing a protruding side of the movable contact and configured to be in contact with or away from the protruding side of the movable contact, and electrically conduct the movable contact with the at least two contacts on the substrate upon pressing the operation key in a direction of the movable contact, wherein
the operation key includes:
a key body;
a dome portion connected to an outer periphery of the key body and deformable upon pressing the key body toward the substrate;
a foot portion connected to an outer periphery of the dome portion and fixed onto the substrate;
and
an intermediate portion facing the substrate and defining a gap between the dome portion and the foot portion,
the movable contact includes:
an upper contact portion disposed immediately below the key body and configured to be brought into contact with the first contact upon pressing the key body toward the substrate;
an outer fixed portion on the upper contact portion or closer to an outer side of the movable contact in a radial direction of the movable contact than the upper contact portion, the outer fixed portion closer to the outer side in the radial direction than the key body of the operation key;
and
an outer contact portion located closer to the outer side in the radial direction of the movable contact than the upper contact portion and facing in a non-contact state the second contact, said outer contact portion being configured to be in contact with the second contact disposed on the outer side in the radial direction of the first contact upon pressing the key body toward the substrate,
the outer contact portion includes a bottom portion configured to be in linear contact or planar contact with the second contact,
the outer fixed portion of the movable contact is elongated from the upper contact portion toward the outer side in the radial direction, and
the outer fixed portion of the movable contact is directly fixed to the intermediate portion.

15 more elements

A push-button switch member, comprising:

a dome-shaped movable contact;
a substrate on which at least two contacts including a first contact and a second contact are disposed;
and
an operation key facing a protruding side of the movable contact and configured to be in contact with or away from the protruding side of the movable contact, and electrically conduct the movable contact with the at least two contacts on the substrate upon pressing the operation key in a direction of the movable contact, wherein
the operation key includes:
a key body;
a dome portion connected to an outer periphery of the key body and deformable upon pressing on the key body toward the substrate;
a foot portion connected to an outer periphery of the dome portion and fixed onto the substrate;
and
an intermediate portion facing the substrate and defines a gap between the dome portion and the foot portion,
the movable contact includes:
an upper contact portion disposed immediately below the key body and configured to be brought into contact with the first contact upon pressing the key body toward the substrate;
an outer fixed portion on the upper contact portion or closer to an outer side of the movable contact in a radial direction of the movable contact than the upper contact portion, the outer fixed portion closer to the outer side in the radial direction than the key body of the operation key;
and
a contacting outer contact portion located at an outermost end of the movable contact in the radial direction and closer to the outer side in the radial direction of the movable contact than the upper contact portion, said contacting outer contact portion being in contact with and disposed on the second contact which is disposed on the outer side in the radial direction of the first contact,
the outer fixed portion of the movable contact is elongated from the upper contact portion toward the outer side in the radial direction, and
the outer fixed portion of the movable contact is directly fixed to the intermediate portion.

14 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 16/471,571Filed 15 Nov 2017
Priority: JP JP2016-24891922 Dec 2016
Published: US 2020/0006020 A12 Jan 2020
Granted: 23 Feb 2021
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification12 codes

H01H 13/14
Movable parts; Contacts mounted thereon: operating parts, e.g. push-button
H01H 13/7006
Having a plurality of operating members associated with different sets of contacts, e.g. keyboard: comprising a separate movable contact element…
H01H 13/79
Characterised by the contacts or the contact sites: characterised by the form of the contacts, e.g. interspersed fingers or helical networks
H01H 2205/016
Movable contacts: separate bridge contact