Patent Publication Number: US-11037742-B2

Title: Keyboard device

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the priority benefit of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 62/863,428, filed on Jun. 19, 2019 and Patent Application No. 108131142 filed in Taiwan, R.O.C. on Aug. 29, 2019. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent applications are hereby incorporated by references herein and made a part of the specification. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Technical Field 
     The instant disclosure relates to an input device, in particular, to a keyboard device. 
     Related Art 
     Keyboards are common input devices. Usually, they are used along with daily computer products (such as laptops, notebook computers, smart phones, or tablets), industrial scaled control equipment, or processing equipment for operation or text inputs. 
     SUMMARY 
     In general, a keyboard known to the inventor(s) has a substrate, a frame, and several keycaps, the frame and the keycaps are disposed on the substrate, and the fixation between the frame and the substrate may be achieved by hot-welding. A common approach for the hot-welding process is that, the substrate has welding holes corresponding to welding posts on the frame, and the welding posts on the frame are welded and fixed with the welding holes. However, in most cases, the welding posts of the frame pass through the welding holes and welded and fixed on the bottom surface of the substrate, causing the bottom surface of the substrate being uneven, thereby being detrimental for assembling other components on the bottom surface of the substrate. Moreover, before being assembled on the bottom surface of the substrate, the components to be assembled on the bottom surface of the substrate has to undergo the hole-blowing process to eschew the welding portions on the bottom surface, and the hole-blowing process thereby damaging the structural strength of the components and affecting the performance of the components. 
     In view of this, in one embodiment, a keyboard device is provided. The keyboard comprises a substrate, a plurality of keycaps, and a frame. The substrate has a top surface and a bottom surface opposite to the top surface. The top surface comprises a welding-fixing portion. The welding-fixing portion comprises a through hole and an arch-shaped bridge member. The through hole is defined through the top surface and the bottom surface. The arch-shaped bridge member is connected in the through hole and divides the through hole into a plurality of partition holes. The arch-shaped bridge member has an arch portion and a plurality of bridge bases extending from the arch portion. The bridge bases are connected to an edge portion of the through hole. The arch portion protrudes from the top surface to form a recessed portion. The keycaps are disposed on the top surface of the substrate. The frame is disposed on the top surface of the substrate. The frame comprises a plurality of hollow holes respectively corresponding to the keycaps. The frame comprises a welding member, and the welding member comprises a plurality of welding posts and a welding-fixing base connected to end portions of the welding posts. The frame is leaned on the arch portion, the welding posts respectively pass through spaces between the edge portion of the through hole and the arch-shaped bridge member, and the welding posts respectively correspond to the partition holes. The end portion of the welding posts are hot-welded and solidified to form the welding-fixing base, and the welding-fixing base is received and fixed in the through hole and the recessed portion. 
     Based on the above, in the keyboard device according to one or some embodiments of the instant disclosure, the arch-shaped bridge member is connected in the through hole of the welding-fixing portion of the substrate, and the arch-shaped bridge member has the arch portion protruding from the top surface of the substrate and forms the recessed portion. Hence, portions of the welding-fixing base of the welding member of the frame can be welded and fixed in the recessed portion and do not protrude out of the bottom surface of the substrate. Therefore, the bottom surface of the substrate is even, facilitating the assembly of other components (e.g., the backlight module) on the bottom surface of the substrate. Moreover, the components to be assembled on the bottom surface are not necessarily provided with blow holes and still can eschew the welding-fixing post. Consequently, the structural strengths of the components to be assembled on the bottom surface can be retained, and the performances of the components to be assembled on the bottom surface can be properly exploited. Moreover, the welding member of the frame can enclose the arch-shaped bridge member, so that the welding member can have a proper pulling capacity, thereby enhancing the fixation strength of the frame on the substrate. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The disclosure will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below for illustration only, and thus not limitative of the disclosure, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a perspective view of a keyboard device according to a first embodiment of the instant disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a cross-sectional view along line  2 - 2  shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a partial exploded view of the keyboard device of the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates an enlarged partial perspective view of  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 5  illustrates a schematic view showing the welding procedure of the keyboard device of the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 6  illustrates a schematic view showing the welding and fixing procedure of the keyboard device of the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 7  illustrates a schematic view showing that a backlight module is assembled on the bottom surface of the substrate of the keyboard device of the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 8  illustrates a cross-sectional view of a keyboard device according to a second embodiment of the instant disclosure; 
         FIG. 9  illustrates a partial exploded view of a keyboard device according to a third embodiment of the instant disclosure; and 
         FIG. 10  illustrates a partial exploded view of a keyboard device according to a fourth embodiment of the instant disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a perspective view of a keyboard device according to a first embodiment of the instant disclosure.  FIG. 2  illustrates a cross-sectional view along line  2 - 2  shown in  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 3  illustrates a partial exploded view of the keyboard device of the first embodiment.  FIG. 4  illustrates an enlarged partial perspective view of  FIG. 3 . As shown in  FIGS. 1 to 4 , in this embodiment, the keyboard device  1  comprises a substrate  10 , a plurality of keycaps  20 , and a frame  30 . The frame  30  and the keycaps  20  are disposed on the substrate  10 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 to 4 , the substrate  10  may be a rigid plate made of metal (e.g., iron, aluminum, alloy, etc.), or plastic material for performing a supporting function. The substrate  10  has a top surface  11  and a bottom surface  12  opposite to the top surface  11 , and the substrate  10  comprises at least one welding-fixing portion  13  (as shown in  FIG. 3 , in this embodiment, the substrate  10  comprises a plurality of welding-fixing portions  13 ) for welding and fixing with the frame  30 . As shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , in this embodiment, each of the welding-fixing portions  13  comprises a through hole  14  and an arch-shaped bridge member  15 . The through hole  14  is defined through the top surface  11  and the bottom surface  12  of the substrate  10 . The arch-shaped bridge member  15  is connected in the through hole  14  and divides the through hole  14  into a plurality of partition holes  141 . The arch-shaped bridge member  15  has an arch portion  151  and a plurality of bridge bases  153  extending from the arch portion  151 . The bridge bases  153  are connected to an edge portion of the through hole  14 . The arch portion  151  protrudes from the top surface  11  of the substrate  10 , so that a recessed portion  152  is formed below the arch portion  151 . In this embodiment, the through hole  14  is of a circular shape, but embodiments are not limited thereto; the through hole  14  may be of other shapes (e.g., rectangular, elliptical, trapezoidal, or the like). A number of the bridge bases  153  for each of the arch-shaped bridge members  15  is two, and for each of the arch-shaped bridge members  15 , the two bridge bases  153  are respectively extending from two opposite ends of the arch portion  151 , so that the arch-shaped bridge member  15  is of a linear shape to divide the through hole  14  into two partition holes  141 , where the two partition holes  141  are of a semicircular shape, but embodiments are not limited thereto; indeed, it is understood that the shape of the partition hole  141  depends on the shape of the through hole  14 . 
     In some embodiments, the arch-shaped bridge member  15  may be a portion of the substrate  10  and is formed by stamping or bending. In other words, supposed that the substrate  10  is a metal plate, the arch-shaped bridge member  15  is a bar-shaped metal piece integrally connected to the substrate  10 . For example, the manufacturing process for each of the welding-fixing portions  13  may be performed as following. Firstly, the substrate  10  is stamped with machine(s) to form the partition holes  141  and a bar-shaped sheets is formed between the partition holes  141 . Next, machine(s) is used to stamp or bend the middle portion of the bar-shaped sheet toward the top surface  11  of the substrate  10  so as to form the arch portion  151  of the arch-shaped bridge member  15  protruding from the top surface  11 ; portions of the bar-shaped sheet which are not stamped or bent form the bridge bases  153  of the arch-shaped bridge member  15  connected to the edge portion of the through hole  14 . However, it is understood that, the aforementioned manufacturing method for the welding-fixing portion  13  is provided as an illustrative example, but not limitations of the instant disclosure. The welding-fixing portion  13  may be formed by other processing techniques. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 to 3 , in this embodiment, the keyboard device  1  may be a computer keyboard and have a plurality of keycaps  20 . In this embodiment, three keycaps  20  are illustrated as an example; it is understood that, the keycaps  20  may comprise a plurality of alphabet keys, a plurality of number keys, a space key, an enter key, a caps lock key, etc. A membrane circuit board  40  may be disposed on the top surface  11  of the substrate  10  of the keyboard device  1 , and the keycaps  20  are pressibly disposed and arranged on the membrane circuit board  40 . For example, a resilient member (not shown) may be between each of the keycaps  20  and the membrane circuit board  40 , and the resilient member may be an elastic member or an elastic pin. The frame  30  is disposed on the membrane circuit board  40 , so that the membrane circuit board  40  is located between the top surface  11  of the substrate  10  and the frame  30 . The frame  30  comprises a plurality of hollow holes  31  respectively corresponding to the keycaps  20 . The resilient members are respectively disposed in the hollow holes  31 , so that the keycaps  20  can be moved within the hollow holes  31  so as to be pressible. For example, when the keycap  20  is pressed, the keycap  20  is moved toward the membrane circuit board  40  downwardly to trigger a signal and to compress the resilient member to store an elastic force. Conversely, when the keycap  20  is released, the keycap  20  is moved upwardly to the original position of the keycap  20  by the elastic force stored in the resilient member. In other embodiments, the keyboard device  1  may be the key sets of other electronic devices, but embodiments are not limited thereto. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 to 4 , in this embodiment, the frame  30  is formed by intersecting and connecting a plurality of bars  32  with each other, and the frame  30  comprises welding members  33  for correspondingly welded and fixed with the welding-fixing portions  13  of the substrate  10  (as shown in  FIG. 3 , each of the bars  32  of the frame  30  comprises the welding member(s)  33 ). Hence, the frame  30  and the substrate  10  can be assembled and fixed with each other. In this embodiment, the frame  30  may be made of plastic material(s), and the welding members  33  are integrally extending from the bottom portion of the frame  30 . In one embodiment, the welding members  33  are disposed at the bottom portion of the frame  30 , but embodiments are not limited thereto. It is understood that, the position and the number of the welding members  33  are adjustable according to actual needs. Each of the welding members  33  comprises a plurality of welding posts  334  and a welding-fixing base  332  connected to end portions of the welding posts  334 . The welding-fixing base  332  is a base which is formed by a hot-welding treatment and then solidified. The bars  32  of the frame  30  having the welding members  33  are leaned on the arch portions  151 , respectively. The welding posts  334  of each of the welding members  33  respectively pass through spaces between the edge portion of the corresponding through hole  14  and the corresponding arch-shaped bridge member  15 , and the welding posts  334  of each of the welding members  33  respectively correspond to the partition holes  141  of the corresponding through hole  14 . The welding fixing bases  332  are respectively received in the through holes  14  and the recessed portions  152  and do not protrude from the bottom surface  12  of the substrate  10 . The manufacturing process for the assembly of the substrate  10  and the frame  30  is described as following. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , in this embodiment, the membrane circuit board  40  comprises a plurality of via holes  41  each corresponding to the through hole  14  of the corresponding welding-fixing portion  13  of the substrate  10 . The bottom portion of each of the bars  32  of the frame  30  comprises a plurality of welding members  33 . During welding the frame  30  with the substrate  10 , the welding posts  334  of each of the welding members  33  of the frame  30  firstly pass through the corresponding via hole  41  of the membrane circuit board  40  and the partition holes  141  of the corresponding through hole  14  of the substrate  10 . Please further refer to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , where  FIG. 5  illustrates a schematic view showing the welding procedure of the keyboard device of the first embodiment. In this embodiment, the welding posts  334  of each of the welding members  33  pass through the corresponding via hole  41  and the corresponding partition holes  141  and protrude out of the bottom surface  12  of the substrate  10 . In some embodiments, the structure of the welding post  334  may correspond to the shape of the partition hole  141 . For example, in the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the partition hole  141  is of a semicircular shape and the welding post  334  is of a semicircular cylinder structure, but embodiments are not limited thereto. 
     Next, as shown in  FIG. 6 , which illustrates a schematic view showing the welding and fixing procedure of the keyboard device of the first embodiment. After the welding posts  334  of each of the welding members  33  pass through the corresponding via hole  41  and the corresponding partition holes  141  and protrude out of the bottom surface  12  of the substrate  10 , the welding posts  334  may be heated by a hot-welding machine, so that the welding posts  334  of each of the welding members  33  become melted fluid which flows into and fills into the corresponding through hole  14 , the recessed portion  152  of the corresponding arch-shaped bridge member  15 , and the spaces between the edge portion of the corresponding through hole  14  and the corresponding arch-shaped bridge member  15 . After the welding posts  334  are cooled and solidified, the welding-fixing base  332  can be formed. Accordingly, the welding member  33  is welded and fixed with the welding-fixing portion  13  of the substrate  10  and encloses the arch-shaped bridge member  15 . 
     Based on the above, in the keyboard device  1  according to one or some embodiments of the instant disclosure, the arch-shaped bridge member  15  is connected in the through hole  14  of the welding-fixing portion  13  of the substrate  10 , and the arch-shaped bridge member  15  has the arch portion  151  protruding from the top surface  11  of the substrate  10  and forms the recessed portion  152 . Hence, portions of the welding-fixing base  332  of the welding member  33  of the frame  30  can be welded and fixed in the recessed portion  152  and do not protrude out of the bottom surface  12  of the substrate  10 . Therefore, the bottom surface  12  of the substrate  10  is even, facilitating the assembly of other components on the bottom surface  12  of the substrate  10 . Moreover, the welding member  33  of the frame  30  can enclose the arch-shaped bridge member  15 , so that the welding member  30  can have a proper pulling capacity, thereby enhancing the fixation strength of the frame  30  on the substrate  10 . Furthermore, the components to be assembled on the bottom surface  12  of the substrate  10  are not necessarily provided with blow holes and still can eschew the welding-fixing base  332 . Consequently, the structural strengths of the components to be assembled on the bottom surface  12  of the substrate  10  can be retained, and the performances of the components to be assembled on the bottom surface  12  of the substrate  10  can be properly exploited. As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 7 , in this embodiment, a backlight module  50  is further assembled on the bottom surface  12  of the substrate  10 . Since the welding-fixing base  332  of the welding member  33  of the frame  30  does not protrude out of the bottom surface  12  of the substrate  10 , the backlight module  50  does not need to have blow holes for eschewing the welding-fixing base  332 . Therefore, the structural strength of the backlight module  50  can be retained, and the backlight module  50  can provide an optimum light emitting performance. 
     In some embodiments, the size of the arch portion  151  of each of the arch-shaped bridge members  15  of the substrate  10  is greater than a half of the size of the arch-shaped bridge member  15 . As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 4 , in this embodiment, the length of the arch portion  151  of each of the arch-shaped bridge members  15  is greater than a half of the length of the arch-shaped bridge member  15 , so that the space within the recessed portion  152  below the arch portion  151  can increase, thereby increasing the size of the portion of the welding-fixing base  332  of the welding member  33  fixed in the recessed portion  152 . Hence, the pulling capacity of the frame  30  and the fixation of the frame  30  on the substrate  10  can be enhanced. 
     Further, as shown in  FIG. 2 , in some embodiments, the pore diameter of the via hole  41  of the membrane circuit board  40  may be less than the pore diameter of the through hole  14  of the substrate  10 , such that the membrane circuit board  40  can cover the edge portions of the through holes  14  of the substrate  10 . Accordingly, during welding the frame  30  with the substrate  10  (as shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 ), the welding posts  334  in the welded state can be blocked by the membrane circuit board  40  and do not overflow upward, and the membrane circuit board  40  is not exposed from portions of the substrate  10  adjacent to the through holes  14 . Therefore, the light emitted by the backlight module  50  can be prevented from being reflected by the substrate  10  and leaking from the through holes  14 , which would adversely affect the light emitting performance of the keyboard device  1 . Alternatively, as shown in  FIG. 2 , in some embodiments, the bar  32  of the frame  30  may cover the via hole  41  of the membrane circuit board  40  and the through hole  14  of the substrate  10  to prevent the light emitting performance of the keyboard device  1  from being adversely affected. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 2, 5, and 6 , in some embodiments, the membrane circuit board  40  has a lower surface  42  facing the top surface  11  of the substrate  10 , and a portion of the lower surface  42  adjacent to an edge portion of the via hole  41  further comprises a groove  421 . Accordingly, during welding the frame  30  with the substrate  10 , the welding posts  334  in the welded state can further flow into the groove  421  at the lower surface  42  of the membrane circuit board  40 . Therefore, the welding posts  334  in the welded state would overflow out of the through hole  14  more difficultly. Moreover, when the welding post  334  is solidified, the welding-fixing base  332  of each of the welding members  33  is further received and fixed in the groove  421 , so that the membrane circuit board  40  and the substrate  10  can be fixedly assembled with each other. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 8 .  FIG. 8  illustrates a cross-sectional view of a keyboard device according to a second embodiment of the instant disclosure. The difference between the embodiment shown in  FIG. 2  and this embodiment is at least that, in this embodiment, the pore diameter of the via hole  41  of the membrane circuit board  40  is greater than the pore diameter of the through hole  14  of the substrate  10 . Therefore, the top surface  11  of the substrate  10  has an exposed region  111 , and the exposed region  111  is located between the edge portion of the via hole  41  and the edge portion of the through hole  14 . In this embodiment, the exposed portion  111  of the substrate  10  may comprise a shielding layer  112 . The shielding layer  112 , for example, may be a dark colored ink layer or a dark colored glue layer, and the shielding layer  112  is adapted to prevent the light emitted by the backlight module  50  from leaking from the through holes  14 , which would adversely affect the light emitting performance of the keyboard device  10 . Alternatively, in some embodiments, the bar  32  of the frame  30  may cover the exposed region  111  of the substrate  10  to prevent the light emitting performance of the keyboard device  1  from being adversely affected. 
     In some embodiments, the number of the bridge bases  153  of each of the welding-fixing portions  13  may be three or more, and the bridge bases  153  are equiangularly disposed with respect to a center portion of the arch portion  151 . Please refer to  FIG. 9 .  FIG. 9  illustrates a partial exploded view of a keyboard device according to a third embodiment of the instant disclosure. The difference between the embodiment(s) shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4  and this embodiment is at least that, in this embodiment, the arch portion  151 A of the welding-fixing portion  13 A is of a Y shape, and the welding-fixing portion  13 A has three bridge bases  153 A respectively connected between three end portions of the arch portion  151 A and the edge portion of the through hole  14 . Therefore, the three bridge bases  153 A are equiangularly disposed (in this embodiment, 120 degrees) by taking the arch portion  151 A as the center, and the three bridge bases  153 A divide the through hole  14  into three partition holes  141 A. During welding the frame  30  with the substrate  10 , the welding member  33 A of the frame  30  has three welding posts  334 A for correspondingly passing through the three partition holes  141 A for welding. Accordingly, as compared with the linear arch portion  151  of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 3 , the Y-shaped arch portion  151 A in this embodiment further increases the size of the portion of the welding member  33 A fixed within the space below the arch portion  151 A. Hence, the pulling capacity of the frame  30  and the fixation of the frame  30  on the substrate  10  can be further enhanced. 
     Alternatively, as shown in  FIG. 10 , a partial exploded view of a keyboard device according to a fourth embodiment of the instant disclosure is illustrated. The difference between the embodiment(s) shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4  and this embodiment is at least that, in this embodiment, the arch portion  151 B of the welding-fixing portion  13 B is of a cross shape, and the welding-fixing portion  13 B has four bridge bases  153 B respectively connected between four end portions of the arch portion  151 B and the edge portion of the through hole  14 . Therefore, the four bridge bases  153 B are equiangularly disposed (in this embodiment, 90 degrees) by taking the arch portion  151 B as the center, and the four bridge bases  153 B divide the through hole  14  into four partition holes  141 B. During welding the frame  30  with the substrate  10 , the welding member  33 B of the frame  30  has four welding posts  334 B for correspondingly passing through the four partition holes  141 B for welding. Accordingly, as compared with the linear arch portion  151  of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 3 , the Y-shaped arch portion  151 B in this embodiment further increases the size of the portion of the welding member  33 B fixed within the space below the arch portion  151 B. Hence, the pulling capacity of the frame  30  and the fixation of the frame  30  on the substrate  10  can be further enhanced. 
     While the instant disclosure has been described by the way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention need not be limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims, the scope of which should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures.