Keyswitch with adjustable tactile feedback and switch thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10079601-B2
Application number	US-201715636651-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 29, 2017
Priority date	Jul 1, 2016
Publication date	Sep 18, 2018
Grant date	Sep 18, 2018

Abstract

A keyswitch includes a base having a pillar, a cap having a rib and movable relative to the base, a sleeve rotatably sleeving the pillar and having first and second top surfaces and convex and concave portions, an elastic member abutting against the sleeve and the base, and a resilient arm abutting against a first or second position on the convex portion with rotation of the sleeve. When the resilient arm abuts against the first position, the rib abuts against the first top surface to prepress the elastic member for generating a first preload. When the cap is pressed for moving the sleeve downward, the resilient arm moves from the first or second position to the concave portion. When the resilient arm abuts against the second position, the rib abuts against the second top surface to prepress the elastic member for generating a second preload larger than the first preload.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A keyswitch comprising:
a base having a pillar extending along a Z-axis, the Z-axis, an X-axis and a Y-axis being perpendicular to each other;
a cap having a first rib and a limiting arm, the first rib protruding toward the base along the Z-axis, the limiting arm protruding toward the base along the Z-axis and being movably connected to the base, so as to make the cap movable upward and downward between a high position and a low position along the Z-axis;
a sleeve rotatably sleeving the pillar, the sleeve being located under the cap and having a first top surface, a second top surface, and an outer annular surface formed thereon, the first top surface being higher than the second top surface along the Z-axis, the outer annular surface having a convex portion and a concave portion;
an elastic member abutting against the sleeve and the base for driving the sleeve to move away from the base; and
a resilient arm adjacent to the pillar, corresponding to the rotation of the sleeve on the pillar around the Z-axis, the resilient arm selectively abutting against a first position or a second position on the convex portion to have a first amount of deformation when the cap is located at the high position, the resilient arm abutting against the concave portion to have a second amount of deformation when the cap is located at the low position, the first amount of deformation being different from the second amount of deformation;
wherein when the resilient arm abuts against the first position, the first rib abuts against the first top surface to make the sleeve prepress the elastic member at a first length for generating a first preload, and when the cap moves downward along the Z-axis to move the sleeve downward, the resilient arm moves from the first position to the concave portion;
when the resilient arm abuts against the second position, the first rib abuts against the second top surface to make the sleeve prepress the elastic member at a second length for generating a second preload, the first length is larger than the second length to make the first preload smaller than the second preload, and when the cap moves downward along the Z-axis to move the sleeve downward, the resilient arm moves from the second position to the concave portion;
when the cap is released, the elastic member drives the sleeve to move to the high position along the Z-axis relative to the pillar, so as to make the resilient arm back to abut against the first position or the second position on the convex portion.

2. The keyswitch of claim 1 , wherein the cap further has a second rib protruding toward the base, the first rib and the second rib are opposite to each other and are in an arc shape, the sleeve further has a third top surface and a fourth top surface formed thereon, the third top surface and the fourth top surface are opposite to each other and are in an arc shape; when the resilient arm abuts against the first position, the first rib and the second rib abut against the second top surface and the fourth top surface of the sleeve respectively, so as to make the sleeve prepress the elastic member at the first length for generating the first preload, and when the resilient arm abuts against the second position, the first rib and the second rib abut against the first top surface and the third top surface of the sleeve respectively, so as to make the sleeve prepress the elastic member at the second length for generating the second preload.

3. The keyswitch of claim 2 , wherein the first rib and the second rib have the same center of curvature, and a first curvature radius of the first rib is larger than a second curvature radius of the second rib.

4. The keyswitch of claim 1 , wherein the convex portion and the concave portion are in an annular shape and extend along a plane formed by the X-axis and the Y-axis in parallel.

5. The keyswitch of claim 1 further comprising a contact point opposite to the resilient arm, the contact point and the resilient arm extending toward the cap respectively and being coupled to a circuit board respectively;
wherein when the cap is located at the high position, the convex portion abuts against the resilient arm to cause outward deformation of the resilient arm for generating the first amount of deformation of the resilient arm, so as to make the resilient arm separate from the contact point, and when the cap is located at the low position, the resilient arm moves to abut against the concave portion to reduce deformation of the resilient arm for generating the second amount of deformation of the resilient arm, so as to make the resilient arm abut against the contact point.

6. The keyswitch of claim 1 further comprising:
a linkage mechanism connected to the sleeve for driving the sleeve to rotate on the pillar around the Z-axis, so as to make the resilient arm selectively abut against the first position or the second position on the convex portion;

wherein the linkage mechanism comprises a sliding plate and a linkage member, the sliding plate is movable between a third position and a fourth position, and the linkage member extends outwardly from the outer annular surface of the sleeve to be movably connected to the sliding plate;
when the sliding plate is located at the third position, the linkage member drives the sleeve to rotate on the pillar around the Z-axis with movement of the sliding plate, so as to make the resilient arm abut against the first position on the convex portion;
when the sliding plate is located at the fourth position, the linkage member drives the sleeve to rotate on the pillar around the Z-axis with movement of the sliding plate, so as to make the resilient arm abut against the second position on the convex portion.

7. The keyswitch of claim 1 , wherein the pillar has a positioning arm, the sleeve has at least two positioning slots, a protruding point is formed at an end of the positioning arm corresponding to the at least two positioning slots; when the protruding point is engaged with one of the at least two positioning slots, the sleeve is positioned to make the resilient arm abut against the first position on the convex portion; when the protruding point is engaged with another of the at least two engaging slots, the sleeve is positioned to make the resilient arm abut against the second position on the convex portion.

8. The keyswitch of claim 1 further comprising:
an adjusting tool having two third ribs, the two third ribs protruding downward and being separate from each other;
wherein after the cap is detached from the base, the adjusting tool sleeves an top end of the sleeve to make the two third ribs laterally abut against the first top surface for driving the sleeve to rotate on the pillar around the Z-axis, so as to make the resilient arm selectively abut against the first position or the second position.

9. A keyswitch comprising:
a base having a pillar extending along a Z-axis, the Z-axis, an X-axis and a Y-axis being perpendicular to each other;
a cap having a limiting arm, the limiting arm protruding toward the base along the Z-axis and being movably connected to the base, so as to make the cap movable upward and downward between a high position and a low position along the Z-axis;
a resilient arm adjacent to the pillar;
a sleeve abutting against the cap and rotatably sleeving the pillar for rotating on the pillar around the Z-axis, the sleeve having an outer annular surface formed thereon, the outer annular surface having a first convex portion, a first concave portion, a second convex portion, a second concave portion and an arc-shaped bar, the arc-shaped bar extending above the second convex portion but not extending above the first convex por

Assignees

• Darfon Electronics Corp

Inventors

• Liu Chia-Hung

Classifications

• G06F3/0202

  Constructional details or processes of manufacture of the input device · CPC title

• H01H2235/016

  Preloading · CPC title

• H01H2215/028

  alterable · CPC title

• H01H13/00

  Switches having rectilinearly-movable operating part or parts adapted for pushing or pulling in one direction only, e.g. push-button switch (wherein the operating part is flexible H01H17/00) · CPC title

• H01H13/705

  characterised by construction, mounting or arrangement of operating parts, e.g. push-buttons or keys · CPC title