Illuminated button backlighted by white light
AssigneeMitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsToshiya Inubushi, Koji Saito, Tsutomu Inoue
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Abstract
An illuminated button including a key button and an electroluminescent light (EL) for illuminating the key button from its bottom. The key button is composed of a silicone rubber material mixed with white color particles which prevent, while the EL is inoperative, a pink light reflected from the EL from being projected to the outside through the key button. This makes possible to solve a problem of a conventional illuminated button, which includes a key button and a white light EL used as a backlight, in that the pink color of the EL is seen from the outside through the key button, and this spoils the beauty of the illuminated button.
Claims20
An illuminated button, comprising:
- a key button composed of a light transmission material;
- an electroluminescent light source, disposed on a bottom side of said key button, for illuminating, while said electroluminescent light source is operative, said key button from its bottom side;
- switch contacts for producing a key operation signal when said key button is depressed;
- and
- means for attenuating reflected light from said electroluminescent light while it is inoperative, said attenuating means functioning to prevent light reflected by said electroluminescent light source from being projected through said key button when said electroluminescent light source is not operative.
An illuminated button pad including a plurality of illuminated buttons, each of the illuminated buttons comprising:
- a key button composed of a light transmission material;
- an electroluminescent light source, disposed on a bottom side of said key button, for illuminating, while said electroluminescent light source is operative, said key button from its bottom side;
- switch contacts for producing a key operation signal when said key button is depressed;
- and
- means for attenuating reflected light from said electroluminescent light while it is inoperative, said attenuating means functioning to prevent light reflected by said electroluminescent light source from being projected through said key button when said electroluminescent light source is not operative.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.