WATERPROOF PRESSKEY STRUCTURE AND WATERPROOF MOBILE PHONE UTILIZING SAME |
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申请号 | US15347810 | 申请日 | 2016-11-10 | 公开(公告)号 | US20170064053A1 | 公开(公告)日 | 2017-03-02 |
申请人 | Power Idea Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.; | 发明人 | JI-DONG MA; DONG-MING CHEN; | ||||
摘要 | A waterproof presskey structure includes a shell, a button or presskey, and an elastic element. The elastic element and the shell can be assembled together with gum, the presskey is movably assembled to the shell and matches with the elastic element. The elastic element comprises a tubular structure having an elastic wall. The elastic wall is arched, and the elastic wall projects out towards within the tubular structure. For the arched elastic wall stretches under pressure from the button or presskey, an assembly of the elastic element and other parts is not affected, the elastic element cannot be separated from the shell due to the gum failing, and water resistance between the presskey and the shell is increased. | ||||||
权利要求 | What is claimed is: |
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说明书全文 | The subject matter herein generally relates to waterproof structures of electronic devices, and particularly, to a waterproof presskey structure of mobile phone. Outdoor electronic devices must withstand outdoor environment, and thus be waterproof. Presskeys or buttons of electronic devices are generally installed in a limited space and move to input characters or commands, that waterproofing is made more difficult. When the presskey 200 is released, the body 302 restores the presskey 200. However, repeated use leads to failure of the glue between the silicone member 300 and the shell 100. As a result, the silicone member 300 breaks away from the shell 100, the waterproof presskey structure fails and the presskey 200 may fail as well. Furthermore, the thin bottom of the silicone member 300 provides little or no protection for the switch 400 when the presskey 200 is impacted, for example, during an accident such as the mobile phone being dropped. The presskey 200 fails if the switch 400 splits away or is damaged during such accidents. Third, being made of soft material, precise relative positioning of the silicone member 300 is difficult to achieve for even sticking to the shell 100 when the shell 100 is being assembled, which reduces the quality and productivity of the waterproof presskey structure. A waterproof presskey structure is provided which is capable of avoiding presskey failure and waterproof failure resulting from the silicone member breaking away from the shell after repeated stretching during presskey presses. A waterproof presskey structure includes a shell, a presskey, and an elastic member. The elastic member is adhesively attached to the shell, the presskey is movably assembled to the shell, wherein the elastic member includes a tubular structure formed with an elastic wall, the elastic wall is of an arched structure and protrudes towards the inside of the tubular structure to form the elastic member. Preferably, a hole is defined in the shell, the tubular structure is press fitted into the hole. A waterproof mobile phone is also provided. The above mentioned waterproof presskey structure is applied to the waterproof mobile phone to render it waterproof in the location of the waterproof presskey structure. The waterproof presskey structure of the present disclosure improves upon the silicone member of related art by forming an elastic wall on the elastic member. When the presskey operates, the elastic wall of the elastic member can deform under force. The stretching of the elastic wall has limited affect due to the arched structure and a deformable length of the elastic wall. Thus the deformation of the elastic wall does not affect the seal or sealing between the elastic member and the shell, and thus presskey failure resulting from the elastic wall breaking away from the shell is reduced. The two features of a deformation of an arched elastic wall to absorb external force exerted and the tubular structure being a press fit in the hole compare favourably with related art, which achieves waterproofing solely by depending on the pasting between the silicone member and the shell. Implementations of the present technology will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the attached figures. The present disclosure is made in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Specific embodiments of the present disclosure are described to further illustrate a waterproof mobile phone with a waterproof presskey structure of the present disclosure. Referring to Referring to Referring to Gum or other adhesive material is applied between the flange 32 and the bottom of the groove 11 to paste the flange 32 and the bottom of the groove 11 together, which improves water resistance of the waterproof presskey structure. The tubular structure 31 is press fitted in the hole 12 and the length of the tubular structure 31 allows for a larger deformable length, such that water resistance of the waterproof presskey structure is increased. Therefore, waterproofing of the waterproof presskey structure can be achieved without gum or other adhesive material applied to paste the flange 32 and the bottom of the groove 11 together. In the embodiment, the flange 32 is formed with a PET layer 39. Since the PET layer 39 is rigid, the PET layer 39 pulls the tubular structure 31 and reduces the total deforming of the tubular structure 31 when the tubular structure 31 is press-fitted in the hole 12 and deforms inwardly under the press of the wall of the hole 12. This maintains the integrity of the press-fitted assembly of the tubular structure 31 and the hole 12. Furthermore, the PET layer 39 is also helpful for positioning the elastic member 3 and therefore helpful for ease of productivity when assembling the elastic member 3 to the shell 1. In another embodiment, the PET layer 39 can be replaced by another rigid layer such as a metal layer or a PC layer. As compared to the related art, the elastic member 3 is more enduring, and unlikely to split away off the shell 1. The elastic wall 33 is of an arched structure and has a deformable length, only the elastic wall 33 deforms and allows the post 38 to move down to trigger the switch 41 when the presskey 2 is pressed. The force exerted on the tubular structure 31 by the elastic wall is not great, therefore repeatedly pressing the presskey 2 does not destabilize the assembly of the elastic member 3 to the shell 1. Furthermore, the step 15 between the holes 12 and 14 supports the tubular structure 31. All those ways provided above make it possible that only the elastic wall 33 deforms when being pressed by the presskey 2, the assembly is not affected and the tubular structure 31 does not break away from the shell 1, even after long repeated use. The waterproofing of the waterproof presskey structure is achieved by press-fitting the tubular structure 31 in the hole 12 of the shell 1. The existence of the flat surface 37 ensures that the force pressing on the key cap 21 can be uniformly conducted to the post 38, and finally exerted on the switch 41. The post 38 provides good feeling for users when operating the presskey 2. Furthermore, the post 38 protects the switch 41 when the presskey 2 is impacted, for example, during an accident such as the waterproof mobile phone being dropped. The switch 41 does not break away from the circuit board assembly 4 and works all the time. Problems of presskey failure and waterproof failure in related art, which result from the silicone member breaking away from the shell after repeated stretching during presskey pressing, are avoided. The waterproofing presskey structure of the present invention provides an elastic member formed with an elastic wall at the bottom. The elastic wall is of an arched structure and has a deformable length to allow the elastic wall to stretch until the switch is triggered. Meanwhile, the tubular structure is press fitted in the shell for waterproofing, the flange of the elastic member is formed with a hard and rigid layer to facilitate and stabilize the assembly of the elastic member to the shell. Furthermore, the elastic member is formed with a post. Altering the thickness of the post can provide a good feeling for users during operation and protect the switch from shock. The embodiments shown and described above are only examples. Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present technology have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the present disclosure, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes can be made in the detail, including in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of the parts within the principles of the present disclosure, up to and including the full extent established by the broad general meaning of the terms used in the claims. |