Patent Publication Number: US-2018053608-A1

Title: Keyboard device and scissors connecting member thereof

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to the field of input devices, and in particular, to a keyboard device and a scissors connecting member thereof. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Conventional peripheral input devices of a computer include a mouse device, a keyboard device, a trackball device, and the like. The keyboard device can be used by a user to directly enter a letter or a symbol into a computer, and therefore a great deal of attention is paid thereto. 
     First, a structure and functions of a conventional keyboard device  1  are described. Referring to  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 3 ,  FIG. 1  is a structural schematic diagram of an appearance of a conventional keyboard device.  FIG. 2  is a three-dimensional, exploded view of a part of the keyboard device shown in  FIG. 1  from a perspective.  FIG. 3  is a three-dimensional, exploded view of a part of the keyboard device shown in  FIG. 1  from another perspective. To describe more clearly, only one single button  10  and relevant elements are drawn in  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 . A conventional keyboard device  1  includes a plurality of buttons  10 , a button bottom plate  11 , and a thin-film circuit board  12 . A plurality of thin-film switches  121  corresponding to the plurality of buttons  10  is provided on the thin-film circuit board  12 . The button  10  includes a button cap  101 , a scissors connecting member  102 , and an elastic body  103 . The scissors connecting member  102  is connected between the button cap  101  and the button bottom plate  11 , and includes an outer frame  1021  and an inner frame  1022 . The inner frame  1022  is pivotally connected to the outer frame  1021  by means of a rotating shaft  10221  of the inner frame  1022 . Therefore, the outer frame  1021  and the inner frame  1022  are capable of swinging relative to each other. Besides, the elastic body  103  is disposed between the button cap  101  and the button bottom plate  11 , and includes an abutting section  1031 . 
     When a button cap  101  of any button  10  is pressed to move downwards relative to the button bottom plate  11 , the outer frame  1021  and the inner frame  1022  of the scissors connecting member  102  change from a retractable status to a superimposed status. The button cap  101  that moves downwards extrudes the elastic body  103 , such that the abutting section  1031  of the elastic body  103  abuts against and triggers the corresponding thin-film switch  121 , so as to enable the keyboard device  1  to generate a corresponding button signal. When the button  10  is no longer pressed, the button cap  101  moves upwards relative to the button bottom plate  11  under the action of an elastic force of the elastic body  103 . In this case, the outer frame  1021  and the inner frame  1022  change from the superimposed status to the retractable status, and the button cap  101  may recover to the original position. 
     However, because the existing keyboard devices  1  are developing towards lightness and thinness, the thickness of the button  10  also needs to be reduced, so as to meet the requirement of thinness of a keyboard device  1 . However, because the scissors connecting member  102  of the button  10  is made of a plastic material, the overall thickness can only be reduced to 0.8 mm at most. Otherwise, the structural strength of the button  10  may be insufficient, and the stability of support of the button cap  101  may be influenced. 
     Therefore, an improved keyboard device has been provided. In a button of the improved keyboard device, an outer frame of a scissors connecting member thereof is made of a metal material, and therefore, a relatively great structural strength can be provided, such that the overall thickness of the scissors connecting member can be reduced below 0.8 mm. However, it needs to be specified that, in the existing processing, it is not easy to form a rotating shaft that is of an inner frame of the scissors connecting member and configured for being pivotally connected to an outer frame by using a metal. Therefore, the existing inner frames are still made of a plastic material. Accordingly, it is not possible to improve the structural strength by means of a metal material. As a result, the degree by which the overall thickness of the scissors connecting member can be reduced remains limited. 
     It can be known according to the above description that there is still a bottle neck in the process of thinness of a keyboard device, and there is still room for improvement of a conventional keyboard device. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is to provide a scissors connecting member. In particular, the present invention relates to a scissors connecting member whose inner frame is made of a composite material, so as to improve an overall structural strength of the scissors connecting member. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide an input device. In particular, the present invention relates to a keyboard device having the scissors connecting member, so as to develop towards thinness. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the present invention provides a keyboard device, including: 
     a button bottom plate; and 
     a button, disposed above the button bottom plate, and including: 
     a button cap; and 
     a scissors connecting member, connected between the button bottom plate and the button cap, such that the button cap moves up and down relative to the button bottom plate, where the scissors connecting member includes: 
     an outer frame, including at least one shaft hole; and 
     an inner frame, including a frame body and a plurality of rotating shafts, each one of the plurality of rotating shafts being connected to the frame body and extending out of the frame body, and at least one of the plurality of rotating shafts passing through at least one shaft hole of the outer frame, such that the inner frame is pivotally connected to the outer frame, where the frame body and at least one of the plurality of rotating shafts are made of different materials, respectively. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the present invention also provides a scissors connecting member, applicable to a button, including: 
     an outer frame, including at least one shaft hole; and 
     an inner frame, including a frame body and a plurality of rotating shafts, each one of the plurality of rotating shafts being connected to the frame body and extending out of the frame body, and at least one of the plurality of rotating shafts passing through at least one shaft hole of the outer frame, such that the inner frame is pivotally connected to the outer frame, where the frame body and at least one of the plurality of rotating shafts are made of different materials, respectively. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a structural schematic diagram of an appearance of a conventional keyboard device; 
         FIG. 2  is a three-dimensional, exploded view of a part of the keyboard device shown in  FIG. 1  from a perspective; 
         FIG. 3  is a three-dimensional, exploded view of a part of the keyboard device shown in  FIG. 1  from another perspective; 
         FIG. 4  is a structural schematic diagram of an appearance of a keyboard device of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a three-dimensional, exploded view of a part of the keyboard device shown in  FIG. 4  from a perspective; 
         FIG. 6  is a three-dimensional, exploded view of a part of the keyboard device shown in  FIG. 4  from another perspective; 
         FIG. 7  is a structural schematic diagram of an outer frame of a scissors connecting member shown in  FIG. 4 ; and 
         FIG. 8  is a structural schematic diagram of an inner frame of a scissors connecting member shown in  FIG. 4 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to  FIG. 4  to  FIG. 6 ,  FIG. 4  is a structural schematic diagram of a keyboard device of the present invention.  FIG. 5  is a three-dimensional, exploded view of a part of the keyboard device shown in  FIG. 4  from a perspective.  FIG. 6  is a three-dimensional, exploded view of a part of the keyboard device shown in  FIG. 4  from another perspective. To describe more clearly, only one single button  20  and relevant elements are drawn in  FIG. 5  and  FIG. 6 . The keyboard device  2  includes a plurality of buttons  20 , a button bottom plate  21 , and a thin-film circuit board  22  disposed between the buttons  20  and the button bottom plate  21 . The buttons  20  can be classified into common buttons, numeral buttons, functional buttons, and the like. The buttons are respectively provided for being pressed by fingers of a user, to enable the keyboard device  2  to generate corresponding button signals for a computer, such that the computer executes corresponding functions. For example, the common buttons are configured to input symbols such as English letters, the numeral buttons are configured to input numerals, and the functional buttons are configured to provide various shortcut functions, such as F 1  to F 12 . 
     Further, a plurality of thin-film switches  221  respectively corresponding to the buttons  20  is provided on the thin-film circuit board  22 . Each button  20  includes a button cap  201 , a scissors connecting member  202 , and an elastic body  203 . Each scissors connecting member  202  is connected between the corresponding button cap  201  and the button bottom plate  21 , and is configured to enable the corresponding button cap  201  to move up and down relative to the button bottom plate  21 . The elastic body  203  is disposed on the corresponding thin-film switch  221  and passes through the corresponding scissors connecting member  202  to contact the button cap  201 , and the elastic body  203  is provided with an abutting section  2031 . 
     When a button cap  201  of any button  20  is pressed to move downwards relative to the button bottom plate  21 , the button cap  201  may extrude the elastic body  203 , such that the abutting section  2031  of the elastic body  203  abuts against and trigger the corresponding thin-film switch  221 , to further enable the keyboard device  2  to output a corresponding button signal. When the button cap  201  of the button  20  is no longer pressed, the button cap  201  moves upwards relative to the button bottom plate  21  under the action of an elastic force that is generated after the elastic body  203  is extruded, so as to recover to the original position. 
     Referring to  FIG. 7  and  FIG. 8 ,  FIG. 7  is a structural schematic diagram of an outer frame of a scissors connecting member shown in  FIG. 4 .  FIG. 8  is a structural schematic diagram of an inner frame of a scissors connecting member shown in  FIG. 4 . Each scissors connecting member  202  includes an outer frame  2021  and an inner frame  2022 . The outer frame  2021  includes a first shaft hole  20211  and a second shaft hole  20212 . The inner frame  2022  includes a frame body  20220 , a first rotating shaft  20221  corresponding to the first shaft hole  20211 , and a second rotating shaft  20222  corresponding to the second shaft hole  20212 . The first rotating shaft  20221  is connected between two sides of the frame body  20220 , and extends out of the frame body  20220 , to pass through the first shaft hole  20211 . The second rotating shaft  20222  is connected between two sides of the frame body  20220  and extends out of the frame body  20220 , to pass through the second shaft hole  20212 . Therefore, the outer frame  2021  and the inner frame  2022  are pivotally connected, and are capable of swinging relative to each other. 
     In the preferred embodiment, the inner frame  2022  of each scissors connecting member  202  further includes a third rotating shaft  20223  and a fourth rotating shaft  20224 . The button bottom plate  21  includes a plurality of first bottom plate hooks  211  and a plurality of second bottom plate hooks  212  that extend upwards and pass through the thin-film circuit board  22 . Two ends of the third rotating shaft  20223  are connected to a side of the frame body  20220  and a corresponding first bottom plate hook  211 , respectively. Two ends of the fourth rotating shaft  20224  are connected to the side of the frame body  20220  and a corresponding second bottom plate hook  212 , respectively. 
     Further, in the preferred embodiment, the inner frame  2022  of each scissors connecting member  202  further includes a fifth rotating shaft  20225  and a sixth rotating shaft  20226 , and each button cap  201  includes a first button cap clamp  2011  and a second button cap clamp  2012 . Two ends of the fifth rotating shaft  20225  are connected to an other side of the frame body  20220  and a corresponding first button cap clamp  2011 , respectively. Two ends of the sixth rotating shaft  20226  are connected to the other side of the frame body  20220  and a corresponding second button cap clamp  2012 . Therefore, when a button cap  201  of any button is pressed to move downwards relative to the button bottom plate  21 , the scissors connecting member  202  changes from a retractable status to a superimposed status. When the button cap  201  of the button is no longer pressed and recovers to the original position under the action of an elastic force generated by the elastic body, the scissors connecting member  202  changes from the superimposed status to the retractable status. 
     To improve the structural strength of the button  20  and the stability of support of the button cap  201 , in the present invention, the materials of the first rotating shaft  20221  to the sixth rotating shaft  20226  in the inner frame  2022  of the scissors connecting member  202  are separately different from that of the frame body  20220 . Specifically, in the preferred embodiment, the outer frame  2021  and the frame body  20220  of the inner frame  2022  of the scissors connecting member  202  are made of a metal material, and the first rotating shaft  20221  to the sixth rotating shaft  20226  of the inner frame  2022  are made of a plastic material. The first rotating shaft  20221  to the sixth rotating shaft  20226  may be formed by means of an in-mold injection molding process, and are connected to the frame body  20220 . The in-mold injection technology is well known by a person skilled in the art, and therefore is not described in detail herein. It needs to be specified that the design can resolve the problem of insufficient structural strength caused by the use of only a plastic material for the conventional inner frame  2022  since it is not easy to form the rotating shafts  20221  to  20226  by using a metal by means of the existing processing. 
     Besides, the frame body  20220  of the inner frame  2022  is not limited to the form of plate. In the preferred embodiment, the frame body  20220  includes a plate section  202200  and a first bent section  202201  to a sixth bent section  202206  that are bent downwards from and extend out of a periphery of the plate section  202200 , the plate section  202200  and the first to sixth bent sections  202201  to  202206  being formed by a same metal sheet. The first bent section  202201  to the sixth bent section  202206  are configured for being connected to the first rotating shaft  20221  to the sixth rotating shaft  20226 , respectively. The frame body  20220  may be formed by means of a sheet metal manufacturing process. The sheet metal manufacturing process is well known by a person skilled in the art, and therefore is not described in detail herein. It needs to be specified that the object of designing the first bent section  202201  to the sixth bent section  202206  that are bent downwards from and extend out of the periphery of the plate section  202200  in the present invention is to enable the frame body  20220  to have a good moment of inertia, so as to enable the frame body  20220  to have a relatively great rigidness and structural strength. 
     In view of the foregoing description, the design of manufacturing the inner frame of the scissors connecting member by using a composite material in the present invention can improve the structural strength of the scissors connecting member, and provides flexibility for reducing the overall thickness of the scissors connecting member, so as to further enable the keyboard device to develop towards thinness. Therefore, the keyboard device and the scissors connecting member thereof in the present invention have a great industrial value. 
     The above are only the most preferred embodiments of the present invention, and the present invention needs not be limited to the disclosed embodiments. Therefore, all equivalent changes or modifications included within the spirit and scope of the present invention fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention.