Electronic device casing including living spring button and method

Abstract

A spring button assembly is integrally formed with a casing for an electronic device. The spring button assembly includes a press button disposed facing an exterior of the casing, the PCB contact extension disposed facing an interior of the casing, and a resilient connector connecting the press button and the PCB contact extension to the casing. The casing can be molded with many different configurations of the spring button assembly, enabling the button to be placed far from its corresponding PCB contact including around complex geometry. The PCB contact extension may be configured to actuate a contact switch on the PCB or may be provided with a conductive surface to connect conductive traces on the PCB. In one arrangement, the PCB contact extension includes a cam surface adapted to engage a contact block for activating the PCB contact. In yet another arrangement, the button assembly includes components to be an LED indicator.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.