Combined push-to-activate and rotary switch |
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申请号 | EP00102769.7 | 申请日 | 2000-02-10 | 公开(公告)号 | EP1028446B1 | 公开(公告)日 | 2008-05-14 |
申请人 | MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD; | 发明人 | Shigemoto, Hideki; Matsui, Hiroshi; Inoue, Hiroto; | ||||
摘要 | |||||||
权利要求 | |||||||
说明书全文 | The present invention relates to a push and rotary operating type electronic device mainly employed in communication terminal equipment such as a portable telephone. Such a push and rotary operating type electronic device is operated by rotating a portion of an outer periphery of a cylindrical operating knob projecting from an operating surface of the equipment toward a tangential direction and also by depressing the same toward a center of rotation. A rotary encoder equipped with a push switch such as one shown in a general perspective view of This rotary encoder equipped with a push switch includes a mount board 1 having contact points, a rotary encoder unit 2 as a rotary operating type electronic component disposed on the mount board 1, and a push switch unit 3 as a push-to-operate type electronic component also disposed on the mount board 1 at an opposite side of the rotary encoder unit 2, as shown in The mount board 1 having contact points includes a plate-shaped plastic body provided with a recess 5 including guide rails 4 for the rotary encoder unit 2 to move along, another recess 6 for fixing the push switch unit 3, and contact plates 8 having terminals 7 protruding downwardly for leading an electric signal of the rotary encoder unit 2 to an outside, as shown in a general perspective view of The rotary encoder unit 2 includes: (a) a sliding contact body 9 made of plastic, inserted into the recess 5 of the mount board 1 having contact and retained by the guide rails 4 so as to be movable within a certain extent in the vertical direction (the direction of the arrow V shown in A leaf spring 16 protruding from a bottom end of the sliding contact body 9 provides for a biasing force by contacting resiliently against pin-shaped projections 17 (refer to The push switch unit 3 is fixed on the mount board 1 having contact points by being inserted in the recess 6 on a surface opposite to the rotary encoder unit 2 in a manner that an actuating button 18 of the push switch unit 3 is in contact with a pushing section 12A at the backside of the cylindrical axle 12 of the rotary encoder unit 2, as shown in As the rotary encoder equipped with a push switch is constructed as above, it is mounted on a wiring board 20 in equipment, with the terminals 7 of the rotary encoder unit 2 and the terminals 19 of the push switch unit 3, all protruding from a mount surface at the underside of the mount board 1, inserted into mount holes 21 and 22 and soldered, as shown in The rotary encoder is installed in a manner that a peripheral rim 15A of the disk-shaped operating knob 15 protrudes from an operating surface 23 on an upper enclosure of the equipment in order that the peripheral rim 15A is manipulable. The rotary encoder equipped with a push switch constructed as above operates in a manner, which will be described hereinafter. When the peripheral rim 15A of the disk-shaped operating knob 15 is turned by applying a force in a tangential direction (the direction of an arrow H shown in A flexible contact blade 11A fixed to the sliding contact body 9 at a front side slides resiliently over the radially-extended movable contact plate 13 on the back surface of the rotor 14 so as to make and break an electric current, thereby functioning as the rotary encoder unit 2. The electric current is transferred from the flexible contact blade 11A to the contact plate 8 on the mount board 1 having contact points via the flexible contact blade 11B in the back. The electric current is then communicated to a circuit on the wiring board 20 of the equipment through the terminals 7 provided for external connection. As shown in The rotary encoder unit 2 is thrust back and returns into its original position by the resilient restoring force of the leaf spring 16, when the depressing force being given to the disk-shaped operating knob 15 is removed. When mounting the push and rotary operating type electronic device of the prior art on communication terminal equipment or the like, however, it shall be so mounted as to avoid the mount board 1 having contact points from coming out of the operating surface 23 of the upper enclosure. Since the mount surface of the mount board 1 to be mounted on the wiring board 20 is designed to locate in a position considering the lowest portion of the outside diameter and upward/downward within its movable range of the peripheral rim 15A of the disk-shaped operating knob 15, a space between the operating surface 23 and the wiring board 20 in the equipment needs to be widened. This causes a problem that a thickness of the equipment from the operating surface 23 of the upper enclosure to a rear surface of a bottom enclosure becomes so bulky. In addition, the push and rotary operating type electronic device of the prior art requires a circuit for the signal of the rotary encoder unit 2 to include a path through the flexible contact blade 11B on the sliding contact body 9 and the contact plates 8 on the mount board 1, thereby giving rise to another problem that demands great care in handling during assembling and for maintaining reliable electrical contacts in a long term of usage due to many flexible contacts and sliding contact plates. A push and rotary operating type electronic device is defined in claim 1. The push and rotary operating type electronic device of the invention, to be more specific, includes: the cylindrical operating knob supported at both of its end surfaces in a manner to be rotatable around its axis, and for being manipulated with the peripheral surface; the rotary contact plate having an electric contact surface, and disposed on one of the end surfaces of the cylindrical operating knob; the rotatable body supported rotatably at one side of it, and for rotatably supporting the cylindrical operating knob; the substrate body for rotatably supporting the rotatable body together with the cylindrical operating knob as an integral unit; the push-to-operate type component disposed on the substrate body in a position apart from a supporting portion of the rotatable body in such a manner as to be operated by rotational motion of the rotatable body; and a contact bar having the flexible contact blade at one end for contacting resiliently with an electric contact surface provided on the rotary contact plate and an externally connecting terminal at the other end of it, and fixed to the substrate body. A push and rotary operating type electronic device has such features as: (a) it can enlarge the manipulating surface of the operating knob because of its extended width and cylindrical shape; (b) it can reduce a height dimension of an enclosure of the equipment in which this push and rotary operating type electronic device is installed; (c) the push-to-operate type component can be manipulated smoothly, since the rotatable body can move around the supporting part at one side of it, when the cylindrical operating knob is depressed; and furthermore (d) it provides high contact reliability at a low cost, since it contains a small number of resilient contacts and contacting points. The push and rotary operating type electronic device is provided with an actuator having resiliency as an integral part of or securely fixed to the rotatable body. The push-to-operate type component is actuated by depressing it with this actuator. The actuator having resiliency has an effect of buffering an adverse effect to the push-to-operate type component, if an impulsive load is applied in a direction of depressing the cylindrical operating knob. The actuator can also prevent the push-to-operate type component from making an abnormal sound due to an angular play in the rotatable body. The push and rotary operating type electronic device includes a spring disposed between the rotatable body and the substrate body for providing a biasing force in a direction of separating them with respect to each other. Disposing the spring allows adjustment of the depressing force required to manipulate the push and rotary operating type electronic device to an appropriate value. The spring can also reduce the likelihood of actuating the push-to-operate type component erroneously during a rotating manipulation of the cylindrical operating knob. It also has an effect of preventing an abnormal sound due to an angular play in the rotatable body. The push and rotary operating type electronic device is so constructed that the rotatable body is supported rotatably from both ends at one side of it in a direction parallel to a rotational axis of the cylindrical operating knob, in a span wider than a longitudinal dimension of the cylindrical operating knob, and the push-to-operate type component is disposed at the other side in generally mid point between the supporting portions at both ends of the rotatable body This structure has an advantageous effect for making the push-to-operate type component to operate by rotating the rotatable body smoothly irrespective of position on a peripheral surface of the cylindrical operating knob where upon the depressing force is applied, when manipulating the cylindrical operating knob. The push and rotary operating type electronic device includes a rotary encoder and a push switch to serve respective functions of the rotary operating type component and the push-to-operate type component. The electronic component providing function of a rotary encoder equipped with a push switch can be connected directly to a digital circuit such as a microcomputer and the like, that are used widely for communication equipment in late years, thereby providing an advantage of simplifying control of the equipment. The push and rotary operating type electronic device is provided with a plurality of radially-oriented ditches and ridges on either of an end surface of the cylindrical operating knob and the rotary contact plate. A bulge on a resilient body retained by the rotatable body is in contact resiliently and slidably on the radially-oriented ditches and ridges. In this structure, the rotary contact plate stops in such a position where the flexible contact blade does not stay in contact with the electric contact surface, when the bulge on the rotatable body slips into any one of ditches. This structure has such advantages as providing a stable manipulation accompanying a feel of clicks when turning the cylindrical operating knob, and no likelihood of producing an erroneous signal due to a malfunction of the rotary operating type component during a manipulation of the push-to-open component. The push and rotary operating type electronic device disposes the flexible contact blade fixed to the substrate body in a manner to make resilient contact with the rotary contact plate in a position on or close to a line drawn between a center of the rotary contact plate and a rotational axis, i.e. a center of a rotational motion of the rotatable body. This arrangement gives an advantage of reducing a shift in position where the flexible contact blade makes resilient contact with the rotary contact plate during a depressing manipulation of the cylindrical operating knob. It also helps to assure a length of the flexible contact blade necessary for it to keep a predetermined magnitude of flexion. The push and rotary operating type electronic device disposes the flexible contact blade fixed to the substrate body in a manner to make resilient contact with the rotary contact plate in a position on or extremely close to a line, which passes through a center of the rotary contact plate in a direction perpendicular to the line drawn between the center of the rotary contact plate and the rotational axis, i.e. the center of the rotating motion of the rotatable body. This arrangement gives an advantage of virtually eliminating adverse effect of a shift in position where the flexible contact blade makes resilient contact with the rotary contact plate during a depressing manipulation of the cylindrical operating knob, by allowing a fair margin of a dimension in a radial direction of the rotary contact plate, since the shift occurs in this direction only. The push and rotary operating type electronic device has a distinctive structure in that: (a) the cylindrical operating knob is provided with a recess of large diameter at one of end surfaces and a circular hole in a center of the other one of the end surfaces; (b) the rotary contact plate is fixed in an inner periphery of the recess; (c) the cylindrical operating knob is rotatably supported by inserting from an exterior side a supporting axle of a relatively thin diameter fixed to the rotatable body through a small circular hole in a center of the rotary contact plate, and inserting another supporting axle projecting from the rotatable body into the circular hole in the other end surface; (d) the flexible contact blade fixed to the substrate body is held to be in resilient contact with the electric contact surface on an exterior side of the rotary contact plate; and (e) the bulge on the resilient body fixed to the thin supporting axle is held to be in contact resiliently with the ditches and ridges on an interior side surface of the rotary contact plate within the recess. This structure provides an advantage of realizing the push and rotary operating type electronic device of small size that produces a feel of clicks during a rotating manipulation of the cylindrical operating knob, and gives a smoothness in depressing manipulation. Furthermore, the push and rotary operating type electronic device has a structure in that (a) the rotatable body, the thin supporting axle and the resilient body are made of metallic material, and (b) a flexible contact having an electrical continuity to a grounding terminal and fixed to the substrate body is so positioned as to be in contact resiliently with the rotatable body. This structure provides an effect of reliably protecting the equipment from an adverse effect of static electricity generated during manipulation of a peripheral surface of the cylindrical operating knob.
As shown in The substrate body 32 made of plastic has a shape of flat plate. A pair of stationary contacts 31A and 31B is fixed in a circular recess located at one side in generally mid point of it by insertion molding in a manner that they are exposed on an upper surface. Connecting terminals 31C and 31D, each having an electrical continuity with their respective stationary contacts 31A and 31B, are led out downwardly at one side of the substrate body 32. The push switch unit 31 is formed by placing a circular dish-like resilient movable contact 31E over the stationary contacts 31A, and covering the top of them by a flexible film 31F. A pair of circular supporting holes 32A and 32B are provided facing against each other at both ends of the substrate body 32 at a longitudinal side opposite to the push switch unit 31. The rotatable body 33 is a square-shaped frame made of metal, and projections 33A and 33B on both ends at one side of it are supported rotatably by the pair of circular supporting holes 32A and 32B of the substrate body 32. A hook 32C extended from the substrate body 32 to connect with a longitudinal side frame 33C opposite to the supported side limits a position of the rotatable body 33 below an upper bound. A projection 33E located on a lower surface of a flexible arm 33D provided near the longitudinal side frame 33C stays in contact with a top end of the push switch unit 31, so as to maintain the rotatable body 33 in the upper bound position within its movable limit under normal conditions. The rotatable body 33 actuates the push switch unit 31 when it rotates and moves downward from this ordinary position. The cylindrical operating knob 34 having a peripheral manipulation surface 34A in a longitudinal width smaller than a span between the pair of circular supporting holes 32A and 32B is retained inside of the frame of the rotatable body 33. The cylindrical operating knob 34 is rotatable about a rotary axis shown as a dashed line in The cylindrical operating knob 34 has the rotary contact plate 35, which is press-fixed to an inner periphery of a recess 34B provided in one end surface of it, as shown in The rotary contact plate 35 is provided on its exterior side surface with a center contact portion 39A serving as a common contact point and a plurality of radial contact points 39B extending radially outward from the center contact point 39A at predetermined angular intervals, as shown in When the rotary contact plate 35 is turned with the cylindrical operating knob 34, the flexible contact blades 36A and 36B slide resiliently on the center contact portion 39A and the radial contact portions 39B, and the resilient bulge 41A slides resiliently on the radially-oriented ridges and ditches 40 respectively, so as to function as the rotary encoder unit 37 for generating an electric signal (pulse signal) between the connecting terminals 36E and 36F, while producing a feeling of clicks. Positions where the flexible contact blades 36A and 36B make resilient contact with the exterior side surface of the rotary contact plate 35 are located on or near a line connecting in phantom from a center of the rotary contact plate 35 to a center of the circular supporting holes 32A and 32B, i.e. an rotational axis of a rotational motion of the rotatable body 33, and in between these centers, as shown in In addition, a grounding contact bar 42 (refer to The rotary encoder equipped with a push switch of the present exemplary embodiment is constructed as above, and it operates in a manner, which will be described next. In According to the rotation of the rotary contact plate 35 a flexible contact blades 36A and 36B fixed to the substrate body 32 slide resiliently over the center contact portion 39A and radial contact portions 39B on the exterior side surface of the rotary contact plate 35, to make and break a circuit, and function as the rotary encoder unit 37. At the same time, the resilient bulge 41A of the leaf spring 41 slides resiliently on the plurality of radially-oriented ridges and ditches 40 on the interior side surface of the rotary contact plate 35 to produce a feeling of clicks in coordination with the making and breaking of the circuit. When the cylindrical operating knob 34 stops rotating, the resilient bulge 41A slips into one of the ditches 40A among the radially-oriented ridges and ditches 40, and the flexible contact blade 36B stops on the insulated surface area separated from the radial contact portions 39B. Signal from the rotary encoder unit 37 is transferred via the connecting terminals 36E and 36F to the circuit in the equipment in which the rotary encoder is used. Incidentally, a depressing force is applied downwardly on the upper part of the cylindrical operating knob 34, when it is turned. However, a force required to cause the dish-like resilient movable contact 31E of the push switch unit 31, with which the flexible arm 33D of the rotatable body 33 supporting the cylindrical operating knob 34 makes contact, to make an elastic deformation may be designed to be greater than the depressing force so that an erroneous operation of the push switch unit 31 can be avoided during the rotating manipulation of the rotary encoder unit 37. Furthermore, a location on the peripheral manipulation surface 34A of the cylindrical operating knob 34, to which the tangential force is applied, is not necessarily the upper part at the center in a widthwise direction of the peripheral manipulation surface 34A of the cylindrical operating knob 34. The cylindrical operating knob 34 can rotate smoothly in the like manner, even if the force is applied to the cylindrical operating knob 34 at any other locations off the center toward either the right side or the left side, and the rotary encoder unit 37 can be operated satisfactorily. Static electricity may be generated by a hand and fingers of an operator making contact with the peripheral manipulation surface 34A of the cylindrical operating knob 34. However, the static electricity does not cause an adverse effect to the circuit of the equipment, since it is discharged from the metal rotatable body 33 and the cover plate 38 to a grounding circuit of the equipment via the flexible contact blade 42A and the connecting terminal 42B of the grounding contact bar 42. On the other hand, when a depressing force is applied vertically downward (the direction of the arrow V) to the upper part of the peripheral manipulation surface 34A of the cylindrical operating knob 34 in order to push down the cylindrical operating knob 34, as shown in An underside surface at the center of the resilient movable contact 31E comes into contact with the stationary contact 31B, so as to close between the stationary contacts 31A and 31B. This makes an electrical continuity of the push switch unit 31, and an electric current is transferred to a circuit in the equipment via the connecting terminals 31C and 31D. When the depressing force applied to the cylindrical operating knob 34 is removed thereafter, an elastic restoring force of the resilient movable contact 31E of the push switch unit 31 pushes back the rotatable body 33 into its original position shown in The push switch unit 31 functions as a push-on type switch in the case described above. In this exemplary embodiment, a location on the peripheral manipulation surface 34A of the cylindrical operating knob 34, to which the depressing force is applied when actuating the push switch unit 31, is not necessarily the upper part at the center in the widthwise direction of the peripheral manipulation surface 34A of the cylindrical operating knob 34. The rotatable body 33 can be moved smoothly to actuate the push switch unit 31, even if the depressing force is applied to the cylindrical operating knob 34 at any other locations off the center toward either the right side or the left side, since the peripheral manipulation surface 34A of the cylindrical operating knob 34 has the longitudinal width smaller than the span between the pair of circular supporting holes 32A and 32B of the substrate body 32 retaining the rotatable body 33, as has been described. In addition, the rotary contact plate 35 of the rotary encoder unit 37 does not rotate while actuating the push switch unit 31 with a depressing force applied to the cylindrical operating knob 34, because the resilient bulge 41A of the leaf spring 41 stays in one of the ditches 40A among the radially-oriented ridges and ditches 40 on the interior side surface of it, as described above. The points where the flexible contact blades 36A and 36B, i.e. contact points of the rotary encoder unit 37, contact resiliently on the center contact portion 39A and the radial contact portions 39B on the exterior side surface of the rotary contact plate 35 shift slightly, when actuating the push switch unit 31. However, this does not cause any adverse effect even if the resilient contacting point is shifted slightly, since the flexible contact blade 36A is in resilient contact with the center contact portion 39A, i.e. a common contact. A magnitude of the rotational motion at a given point of the rotatable body 33 increases with a distance of that point from a center line drawn in phantom across the two projections 33A and 33B, i.e. the rotational axis of the rotatable body 33. Hence, the magnitude becomes smaller as the distance to the rotational axis becomes shorter. The flexible contact blade 36B shifts very slightly with a motion of the rotatable body 33, because it is closest to the rotational axis of the rotatable body 33. Moreover, since the flexible contact blade 36B stays on the insulated area without resiliently contacting any of the radial contact portions 39B, as described above, there is not the slightest chance for the rotary encoder unit 37 to generate an erroneous signal. If an excessively large depressing force is applied vertically downward to the cylindrical operating knob 34, the flexible arm 33D of the rotatable body 33 elastically deforms by a predetermined dimension, as shown in As described above, the push and rotary operating type electronic device of the present exemplary embodiment is provided with a large cylindrical manipulating surface, yet it can reduce a height dimension of an enclosure of the equipment in which this push and rotary operating type electronic device is housed. In addition, the push-to-operate type component can be manipulated smoothly, since the rotatable body can move around the supporting part at one side of it, during depressing manipulation the cylindrical operating knob. Furthermore, this electronic device has an advantage of providing high contact reliability with low cost, since it contains a small number of resilient contacts and contacting points. With reference to the accompanying figure, a rotary encoder equipped with a push switch will be described hereinafter as a representative of a push and rotary operating type electronic device of a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention. According to the above configuration, when an excessively large depressing force is applied to the cylindrical operating knob 34, the elastic actuator 44 is compressed by a predetermined magnitude after the push switch unit 31 closes the circuit (in the case of a push-on type switch), and a projection 43C provided on each side of the elastic actuator 44 strikes on the upper surface of the substrate body 32 to stop the depressing force. This push and rotary operating type electronic device of the present exemplary embodiment can provide a similar effectiveness while achieving a further reduction in size of the device than the structure of the first exemplary embodiment. Referring now to the accompanying figures, a rotary encoder equipped with a push switch will be described hereinafter as a representative of a push and rotary operating type electronic device of a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The depressing force required to manipulate the cylindrical operating knob 34 of the rotary encoders equipped with push switch can be greater than the force required for the resilient movable contact 31E of the push switch unit 31 to make a resilient deformation, with the spring 45 or 46. Moreover, the gap can provide an inactive stroke of the cylindrical operating knob 34, prior to a start of depressing the resilient movable contact 31E of the push switch unit 31 in the course of a depressing manipulation. The inactive stroke can reduce the likelihood of actuating the push switch unit 31 in error when, for example, turning the cylindrical operating knob 34, and prevent an abnormal sound due to the angular play in the rotatable body 33. In In the rotary encoder equipped with a push switch having the foregoing structure, the positions where the flexible contact blades 48A and 48B make resilient contact with the center contact portion 39A and the radial contact portions 39B on the rotary contact plate 35 shift slightly as the rotatable body 33 makes a rotational movement in the course of a depressing manipulation of the cylindrical operating knob 34 when actuating the push switch unit 31. However, an adverse effect of this shift can be avoided by allowing a fair margin in a dimension of a radial direction of the individual contacts on the rotary contact plate 35, i.e. an increase of a radius of the rotary contact plate 35 to a greater dimension than a predetermined value, since the flexible contact blades 48A and 48B shift their respective points of resilient contact in a direction of the radius, which is perpendicular to the line drawn in phantom between the center of the rotary contact plate 35 and the rotational axis, or the center of the rotational motion, of the rotatable body 33. In the first through fourth exemplary embodiments, although what has been described in detail is examples of the rotary encoder in which a push-on type switch is equipped, a push-off type switch may also be used as the push switch unit. Furthermore, although what has been described in detail in the foregoing exemplary embodiments is an example in that the rotary contact plate is mounted on one of the end surfaces of the cylindrical operating knob, one each of the rotary contact plates can be mounted on both of the end surfaces of the cylindrical operating knob. As has been described, the present invention provides an advantageous effect of realizing the push and rotary operating type electronic device that has features including: (a) it has a large cylindrical manipulating surface, yet it can reduce a height dimension of an enclosure of the equipment in which this push and rotary operating type electronic device is housed; (b) the push-to-operate type component can be manipulated smoothly, since the rotatable body can move around the supporting part at one side of it, during depressing manipulation of the cylindrical operating knob; and (c) it provides a push and rotary operating type electronic device with high contact reliability at a low cost, since it contains a small number of resilient contacts and contacting points. |