Control panel having sheet-formed pushbutton unit and method of producing the same
AssigneeTaisei Plas Co., Ltd.
InventorMasanori Naritomi
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A control panel having a sheet-formed pushbutton unit that satisfies the requirements of hermeticity, clearness of indication and operability and yet allows a cost reduction. A single-cut sheet made of a commercially available light-transmitting thermoplastic synthetic resin material is used as a substrate. Sheet recesses are formed on the single-cut sheet so that each print layer formed on the surface of the single-cut sheet is located on the inner side of the bottom of a sheet recess to prepare a formed sheet. The sheet recesses are filled with a synthetic resin material to produce a key sheet having pushbuttons. The key sheet is thermowelded to the rear side of a case cover by ultrasonic vibrational energy to form an integral unit.
Claims3
A method of producing a control panel having a sheet-formed pushbutton unit, said method comprising the steps of:
- forming a single-cut sheet of a thermoplastic synthetic resin material to produce a plurality of recesses thereon by thermoforming to prepare a formed sheet, said recesses forming pushbutton outer skins;
- inserting said formed sheet into an injection mold and filling a molten resin material into said recesses to produce a key sheet;
- and
- securing said key sheet and a control panel member together into one unit by thermal joining.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.