PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-9191475-B2
Application Number: US-201313759729-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Switches and switch mounting structures

Abstract:
An electronic device has circuitry mounted within an electronic device housing. The electronic device housing may have housing walls such as metal sidewalls. Openings are formed in an electronic device housing wall to accommodate buttons. A button may have a switch with a switch housing mounted to the housing wall. A movable button member that extends from the switch housing may protrude through a housing opening. Switch terminals are coupled to signal lines on structures such as flexible printed circuits. The switch terminals may be formed from portions of elongated switch leads supported by support structure that are mounted to the housing wall or may be formed on an inner surface of the switch housing. Support structures may be molded into engagement with features on a housing wall or may be mounted to a housing wall using a fastener such as a screw.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. Apparatus, comprising:
 an electronic device housing that has a sidewall with an opening; 
 a switch mounted in the electronic device housing, wherein the switch has switch leads, a switch housing, and a movable button member in the switch housing that protrudes through the opening; 
 support structures for the leads that are attached to the electronic device housing; and 
 a flexible printed circuit having terminals coupled to the leads, wherein the switch housing has an outer surface adjacent to the sidewall and an opposing inner surface, and wherein the switch leads protrude from the switch housing adjacent to the sidewall. 
 
     
     
       2. The apparatus defined in  claim 1  further comprising a screw that presses the terminals of the flexible printed circuit against the leads. 
     
     
       3. The apparatus defined in  claim 2  wherein the support structures comprise plastic. 
     
     
       4. The apparatus defined in  claim 3  wherein the sidewall comprises metal. 
     
     
       5. The apparatus defined in  claim 4  wherein the terminals comprise a segmented ring of metal traces. 
     
     
       6. The apparatus defined in  claim 5  further comprising a stiffening member, wherein the stiffening member and the support structures have aligned openings and wherein the screw has a shaft that passes through the aligned openings. 
     
     
       7. The apparatus defined in  claim 6  wherein the flexible printed circuit has traces coupled to the terminals and has bent edges that form a meandering path for the traces. 
     
     
       8. The apparatus defined in  claim 7  further comprising an additional screw that attaches the support structures to the metal housing sidewall. 
     
     
       9. The apparatus defined in  claim 8  further comprising a planar member with an opening, wherein the support structures have an opening aligned with the opening in the planar member and wherein the additional screw passes through the opening in the planar member and the aligned opening in the support structures. 
     
     
       10. The apparatus defined in  claim 9  further comprising a bracket that attaches the switch to the sidewall. 
     
     
       11. The apparatus defined in  claim 1  wherein the support structures have an outer surface adjacent to the sidewall and an opposing inner surface on which a portion of the switch leads are located. 
     
     
       12. The apparatus defined in  claim 11  further comprising a screw that presses the terminals of the flexible printed circuit against the portion of the switch leads located on the inner surface of the support structures. 
     
     
       13. The apparatus defined in  claim 1  wherein the electronic device housing comprises engagement features and wherein the support structures comprises plastic support structures that engage the engagement features. 
     
     
       14. The apparatus defined in  claim 1  wherein the electronic device housing comprises protruding structures and wherein the support structures comprise overmolded plastic support structures that engage the protruding structures. 
     
     
       15. The apparatus defined in  claim 14  wherein the sidewall comprises metal and wherein the protruding structures comprise integral portions of the metal sidewall. 
     
     
       16. Apparatus, comprising:
 an electronic device housing that has a sidewall with an opening; 
 a switch mounted in the electronic device housing, wherein the switch has a switch housing with an outer surface adjacent to the electronic device housing and an opposing inner surface, switch terminals on the inner surface, and a movable button member in the switch housing that protrudes through the opening, wherein the outer surface of the switch housing presses against the sidewall; 
 a flexible printed circuit having flexible printed circuit terminals coupled to the switch terminals, wherein the switch has an opening; and 
 a screw that passes through the opening of the switch and screws into the sidewall. 
 
     
     
       17. The apparatus defined in  claim 16  further comprising a bracket that holds the switch body to the sidewall. 
     
     
       18. The apparatus defined in  claim 17  wherein the flexible printed circuit has an opening and wherein the screw passes through the opening in the flexible printed circuit. 
     
     
       19. A method for mounting a switch within an electronic device having an electronic device housing sidewall, comprising:
 placing a switch adjacent to an opening in the electronic device housing sidewall so that a movable button member in the switch protrudes through the opening, wherein the switch overlaps a first portion of the electronic device housing sidewall; 
 mounting support structures to the electronic device housing sidewall, wherein the support structures overlap a second portion of the electronic device housing sidewall that is different than the first portion, and wherein the support structures support switch leads that extend from the switch; and 
 coupling terminals on a flexible printed circuit to the switch leads by pressing the flexible printed circuit against the support structures. 
 
     
     
       20. The method defined in  claim 19  wherein the electronic device housing sidewall has protrusions, wherein the support structures comprise plastic support structures, and wherein mounting the support structures comprises overmolding the plastic support structures onto the protrusions. 
     
     
       21. The method defined in  claim 19  wherein the support structures have an opening and wherein mounting the support structures comprises screwing the support structures to the electronic device housing sidewall with a screw that passes through the opening. 
     
     
       22. The method defined in  claim 21  further comprising passing the screw through an opening in the flexible printed circuit, wherein coupling the terminals on the flexible printed circuit to the switch leads comprises pressing the terminals of the flexible printed circuit against the switch leads using the screw. 
     
     
       23. The method defined in  claim 19 , wherein placing the switch adjacent to the opening in the electronic device housing sidewall comprises placing the switch in direct contact with the electronic device housing sidewall, and wherein mounting support structures to the electronic device housing sidewall comprises mounting support structures in direct contact with the electronic device housing sidewall. 
     
     
       24. The method defined in  claim 19 , wherein the first and second portions are non-overlapping.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     This relates generally to electronic devices and, more particularly, to switches mounted within electronic device housings. 
     Electronic devices include electrical components such as buttons. Buttons contain electrical switches. Metal traces on printed circuits are sometimes used to form electrical connections with the electrical switches. For example, an electrical switch in a button such as a cellular telephone ringer button may be coupled to control circuits using traces on a flexible printed circuit. To couple the metal traces to the electrical switch, the flexible printed circuit may be placed between the electrical switch and a housing sidewall. To route the flexible printed circuit to the control circuits, the flexible printed circuit is bent. 
     The bend in the flexible printed circuit may be characterized by a bend radius. If the bend radius is too large, space may be wasted. If the bend radius is too small, the traces on the flexible printed circuit may fail due to cracking. 
     It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide electronic devices with improved arrangements for mounting electronic switches for buttons. 
     SUMMARY 
     An electronic device has circuitry mounted within an electronic device housing. The electronic device housing may have housing walls such as metal sidewalls. Openings may be formed in the electronic device housing walls to accommodate buttons. 
     A button may have a switch with a switch housing. A switch mechanism within the switch housing may be controlled with a movable button member. The switch housing may be mounted so that an outer switch housing surface is adjacent to an inner surface of an electronic device housing wall and so that an opposing inner switch housing surface faces interior portions of the electronic device. 
     When the switch is mounted to the electronic device housing wall, the movable button member protrudes through an opening in the electronic device housing wall. The switch mechanism within the switch housing is coupled to switch terminals using signal paths. The switch terminals are coupled to signal lines on structures such as flexible printed circuits. The flexible printed circuit may route switch signals to control circuitry within the electronic device. 
     The switch terminals may be formed from portions of elongated switch leads. The switch terminals may be formed on the inner surface of the switch housing or may be supported by support structures that are located adjacent to the switch housing. The support structures may be mounted to an electronic device housing wall. Support structures may be molded over protruding structures or other engagement features on an electronic device housing wall or may be mounted to a housing wall using a fastener such as a screw. 
     Further features, their nature and various advantages will be more apparent from the accompanying drawings and the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device of the type that may be provided with switch mounting structures in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic view of an illustrative electronic device of the type that may be provided with switches mounted in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of an illustrative button and a portion of an electronic device housing structure having an opening in which the switch may be mounted in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional side view of a switch structure that has been mounted in an electronic device housing in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective of a switch having leads for use in mounting the switch in an electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a flexible printed circuit having traces that are configured to mate with traces on a switch in an electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 7  is an exploded perspective view of a switch having leads supported by support structures on an electronic device housing wall and a flexible printed circuit that mates with the leads in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 8  is a top view of the switch and support structures of  FIG. 7  following attachment of the traces in the flexible printed circuit to the leads of the switch by mounting the flexible printed circuit and support structures to a housing sidewall in an electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 9  is a diagram showing equipment and operations involved in mounting a button within an electronic device housing elongated switch leads and mounting structures in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 10  is a top view of a button having a switch housing with an extended portion on which terminals are located that are configured to mate with corresponding terminals on a flexible printed circuit when the switch housing is mounted to an electronic device housing wall in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 11  is a top view of a switch with extended leads supported by support structures that are overmolded on top of electronic device housing engagement features such as a housing wall protrusions in an electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 12  a diagram showing equipment and operations involved in mounting a switch within an electronic device housing overmolded plastic switch lead support structures attached to engagement features on an interior surface of an electronic device housing wall in accordance with an embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     An illustrative electronic device that may be provided with buttons and other electrical components and that may be provided structures for use in mounting buttons and other electrical components is shown in  FIG. 1 . Electronic devices such as electronic device  10  of  FIG. 1  may be cellular telephones, media players, other handheld portable devices, somewhat smaller portable devices such as wrist-watch devices, pendant devices, or other wearable or miniature devices, gaming equipment, tablet computers, notebook computers, desktop computers, televisions, computer monitors, computers integrated into computer displays, or other electronic equipment. 
     In the example of  FIG. 1 , device  10  includes a display such as display  14 . Display  14  has been mounted in a housing such as housing  12 . Display  14  may be a touch screen display that incorporates a layer of conductive capacitive touch sensor electrodes or other touch sensor components (e.g., resistive touch sensor components, acoustic touch sensor components, force-based touch sensor components, light-based touch sensor components, etc.) or may be a display that is not touch-sensitive. Capacitive touch screen electrodes may be formed from an array of indium tin oxide pads or other transparent conductive structures. 
     Display  14  may include an array of display pixels formed from liquid crystal display (LCD) components, an array of electrophoretic display pixels, an array of plasma display pixels, an array of organic light-emitting diode display pixels, an array of electrowetting display pixels, or display pixels based on other display technologies. The brightness of display  14  may be adjustable. For example, display  14  may include a backlight unit formed from a light source such as a lamp or light-emitting diodes that can be used to increase or decrease display backlight levels and thereby adjust display brightness. Display  14  may also include organic light-emitting diode pixels or other pixels with adjustable intensities. In this type of display, display brightness can be adjusted by adjusting the intensities of drive signals used to control individual display pixels. 
     Display  14  may be protected using a display cover layer such as a layer of transparent glass or clear plastic. Openings may be formed in the display cover layer. For example, an opening may be formed in the display cover layer to accommodate a button such as button  16 . An opening may also be formed in the display cover layer to accommodate ports such as speaker port  20 . 
     Housing  12 , which may sometimes be referred to as an enclosure or case, may be formed of plastic, glass, ceramics, fiber composites, metal (e.g., stainless steel, aluminum, etc.), other suitable materials, or a combination of any two or more of these materials. Housing  12  may be formed using a unibody configuration in which some or all of housing  12  is machined or molded as a single structure or may be formed using multiple structures (e.g., an internal frame structure, one or more structures that form exterior housing surfaces, etc.). 
     Device  10  may have planar front and rear surfaces surrounded by peripheral housing structures such as sidewall structures  18  of  FIG. 1 . Device  10  may, for example, have a planar rear housing wall formed from a sheet of plastic, glass, metal, fiber-based composite, or other materials. Walls  18  may be formed from a band of metal that runs around the periphery of housing  12 . For example, walls  18  may be formed from a band of metal with one or more gaps along its length. Walls  18  may also be formed from integral extending portions of a rear housing wall (e.g., curved or vertical metal or plastic sidewalls that extend smoothly upwards from a planar rear housing wall), may be formed from glass, ceramic, or other materials, or may be formed from other suitable structures. Illustrative configurations for housing  12  in which sidewall structures  18  are formed from metal structures such as peripheral metal structures that run around the rectangular periphery of device  10  are sometimes described herein as an example. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , housing sidewall structures  18  may have openings to accommodate buttons such as buttons  22  and  24 . Buttons  22  may be circular push buttons that are mounted within circular openings in housing sidewall  18  or may have other shapes. Button  24  may be a slide switch that has two or more positions. Button  24  may, for example, be a ringer button in a cellular telephone that is used to place the cellular telephone in either a regular mode in which its ringer is audible or in a silent mode in which a vibrator is used in place of the ringer (i.e., a mode in which the ringer has been muted). 
     A user of device  10  may control the position of button  24  by moving a movable member such as movable button member  26  within opening  28  in sidewall  18 . The user may, for example, slide button member  26  back and forth within opening  28  to place device  10  in a regular or silent mode of operation or to control other device functions. 
     A schematic diagram of device  10  is shown in  FIG. 2 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , electronic device  10  may include control circuitry such as storage and processing circuitry  40 . Storage and processing circuitry  40  may include one or more different types of storage such as hard disk drive storage, nonvolatile memory (e.g., flash memory or other electrically-programmable-read-only memory), volatile memory (e.g., static or dynamic random-access-memory), etc. Processing circuitry in storage and processing circuitry  40  may be used in controlling the operation of device  10 . The processing circuitry may be based on a processor such as a microprocessor and other suitable integrated circuits. With one suitable arrangement, storage and processing circuitry  40  may be used to run software on device  10  such as internet browsing applications, email applications, media playback applications, operating system functions, software for capturing and processing images, software implementing functions associated with gathering and processing sensor data, software that makes adjustments to display brightness and touch sensor functionality, etc. 
     Input-output circuitry  32  may be used to allow input to be supplied to device  10  from a user or external devices and to allow output to be provided from device  10  to the user or external devices. 
     Input-output circuitry  32  may include wired and wireless communications circuitry  34 . Communications circuitry  34  may include radio-frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry formed from one or more integrated circuits, power amplifier circuitry, low-noise input amplifiers, passive RF components, one or more antennas, and other circuitry for handling RF wireless signals. Wireless signals can also be sent using light (e.g., using infrared communications). 
     Input-output circuitry  32  may include input-output devices  36  such as buttons  42  (e.g., button  16  of  FIG. 1 , buttons  22  of  FIG. 1 , button  24  of  FIG. 1 , etc.). Input-output circuitry  32  may also include joysticks, click wheels, scrolling wheels, a touch screen such as display  14  of  FIG. 1 , other touch sensors such as track pads or touch-sensor-based buttons, vibrators, audio components such as microphones and speakers, image capture devices such as a camera module having an image sensor and a corresponding lens system, keyboards, status-indicator lights, tone generators, key pads, and other equipment for gathering input from a user or other external source and/or generating output for a user. 
     Sensor circuitry such as sensors  38  of  FIG. 2  may include an ambient light sensor for gathering information on ambient light levels, proximity sensor components (e.g., light-based proximity sensors and/or proximity sensors based on other structures), accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetic sensors, and other sensor structures. 
     An exploded perspective view of button  24  of  FIG. 1  is shown in  FIG. 3 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , housing wall  18  may be provided with an opening such as rectangular opening  28  through which button member  26  may protrude when button  24  is mounted within device  10 . Button  24  is formed from a switch such as switch  50 . Switch  50  can be placed in a desired state (e.g., open or closed in a two-position switch configuration) by sliding button member  26  in upwards direction  44  or downwards direction  46 . This causes button member  26  to move within switch housing opening  48 . Switch  50  of button  24  may be a slide switch (as shown in  FIG. 3 ) or any other suitable type of switch (e.g., a push button switch, a momentary switch, a three-position switch, an infinitely variable sliding switch, a rotary switch, etc.). Configurations for button  24  in which switch  50  is a two-position slide switch are sometimes described herein as an example. This is, however, merely illustrative. Button  24  may be based on any suitable type of switch structures. 
     A cross-sectional view of button  24  taken along line  30  of  FIG. 1  and viewed in direction  31  is shown in  FIG. 4 . In the illustrative configuration of  FIG. 4 , electronic device  10  has a vertical electronic device housing sidewall  18  with an opening such as opening  28  to accommodate sliding button member  26  of button  24 . During operation of device  10 , a user of device  10  may slid button member  26  within opening  28 . For example, button member  26  may be slid downward in direction  46  until coming to rest in the position shown in  FIG. 4  or may be slid upward in direction  44  until coming to rest in position  26 ′. Switches with button members that can be placed in additional positions (e.g., one or more intermediate positions between the position shown by member  26  and position  26 ′ of  FIG. 4 ) may be incorporated into device  10  if desired. The arrangement of  FIG. 4  is merely illustrative. 
     Housing  12  may have structures such as rear housing structure  12 B and front housing structure  12 A. Front housing structure  12 A may, as an example, form part of a display cover layer such as a sheet of glass or plastic. Front and rear housing structures  12 A and  12 B may form housing walls that are separate from or integral portions of sidewall  18 . Front and rear housing structures  12 A and  12 B may be formed from layers of plastic, layers of glass, layers of metal, glass mounted on metal, fiber-based composite material, other suitable materials, or combinations of these materials. 
     With one suitable arrangement, housing wall  18  may be formed from a peripheral housing structure such as a metal band or metal sidewall structure and rear housing wall  12 B may be formed from an integral metal structure or from a separate structure formed from glass, plastic, metal, or other material. Housing sidewall  18  has a vertical exterior surface. If desired, the outer surface of the housing sidewalls in device  10  may be provided with curved shapes. 
     Switch  50  may have two or more terminals. For example, switch  50  may have a pair of metal terminals. The terminals of switch  50  may be formed from extending (elongated) metal structures (sometimes referred to as leads), such as leads  52  of  FIG. 5 . Leads  52  may be formed from copper, aluminum, gold-plated copper, or other metals. As shown in  FIG. 5 , switch  50  may have a rectangular housing formed from plastic or other dielectric material such as switch housing (body)  56 . Leads  52  may, if desired, extend from housing  56  at surface  57  (e.g., through housing surface  57  or through the side of housing  56  near surface  57 ). 
     A switch mechanism such as switch mechanism  60  may be mounted within switch housing  56 . Switch mechanism  60  may be based on structures such as dome switch structures, spring-based switch structures, microelectromechanical systems switch structures, transistors and other solid state devices, or other switching circuitry. 
     Switch mechanism  60  may be coupled to the terminals of switch  50  (e.g., leads  52 ) using signal path  58 . Signal path  58  may include two or more wires or other conductive lines. For example, in a configuration in which switch mechanism  60  includes a pair of terminals and in which there are two corresponding terminals on the exterior of switch body  56  such as leads  52 , two respective conductive lines may be included in signal path  58 . Each of the lines in path  58  may couple a respective internal switch mechanism terminal to a respective switch lead. 
     Leads  52  of switch  50  may be sufficiently elongated to allow the leads to be mounted on top of a support structure that is placed adjacent to switch  50 . Switch  50  may also be constructed using a configuration for switch body  56  that allows the leads to be contacted from the inner (interior-facing) surface of switch body  56 . In a conventional cellular telephone switch, switch terminals face outwards and contact with the switch terminals is made by interposing a flexible printed circuit with signal traces between the outwardly-facing switch terminals and the inner surface of the cellular telephone housing wall, adding undesired bulk and forcing the flexible printed circuit to bend in the vicinity of the switch. 
     By providing switch  50  of  FIG. 5  with suitably configured terminals, improved connections may be made to switch  50  when installing switch  50  within device  10  to form button  24 . Flexible printed circuit lines or other such lines may, for example, be coupled to switch leads such as leads  52  at a location that is located to the side or rear of switch  50 , thereby conserving space and simplifying switch mounting. 
     Signal path structures of the type that may be used to couple switch  50  to control circuitry  40  in device  10  are shown in  FIG. 6 . As shown in  FIG. 6 , signal path structures  62  may include a substrate such as substrate  76  on which signal lines such as metal traces  64  and  66  may be formed. Substrate  76  may be a plastic carrier, glass, ceramic, or other dielectric materials. For example, substrate  76  may be a printed circuit substrate such as a rigid printed circuit board (e.g., a fiberglass-filled epoxy board) or a flexible printed circuit (e.g., a layer of polyimide or other sheet of flexible polymer). Illustrative configurations for signal path structures  62  in which substrate  76  is a flexible printed circuit are sometimes described herein as an example. 
     Metal traces  64  and  66  may be embedded within flexible printed circuit  76  (e.g., in configurations in which flexible printed circuit  76  is a multilayer printed circuit) or may be formed on one or more exposed surfaces on printed circuit  76 . 
     Terminal portions  68  of metal traces  64  and  66  may form terminals (contacts) for flexible printed circuit  76 . These terminals may be configured to mate with terminals  52  of switch  50 . In the illustrative configuration of  FIG. 6 , end portion  74  of flexible printed circuit  76  has been provided with stiffening structures such as stiffener  72 . Stiffener  72  may be formed from a square sheet of plastic or sheet metal (e.g., stainless steel) or other stiffening member. Opening  70  may be formed through flexible printed circuit  76  and stiffening member  72  (i.e., flexible printed circuit  76  may have an opening that is aligned with an opening in stiffening member  72 ). Stiffening member  72  may be attached to flexible printed circuit  76  using adhesive (as an example). 
     Terminals  68  of metal traces  64  and  66  may each have the shape of a curved strip of metal that runs around at least part of opening  70 . Opening  70  may have a diameter that is configured to accommodate a screw shaft. Terminals  68  may form a segmented circular ring of metal traces having a diameter that is larger than the diameter of screw hole  70 , but that is less than the diameter of the head of the screw. With this arrangement, the inner surface of the head of the screw will provide a concentrated force on terminals  68  that helps press terminals  68  in place against terminals  52  when the screw is inserted through opening  70  and is used to attach flexible printed circuit  76  within device  10 . Other terminal shapes may be used for flexible printed circuit terminals  68  if desired. The use of a segmented circular terminal shape that matches the size of the head of a flexible printed circuit mounting screw is merely illustrative. 
     If desired, device  10  may be provided with support structures for leads  52 . The support structures may, for example, be implemented using a molded plastic member or other dielectric structures such as support structures  77  of  FIG. 7 . As shown in  FIG. 7 , switch  50  may be mounted so that its outermost surface (surface  57  of  FIG. 5 ) is adjacent to inner surface  98  of housing sidewall  18  (or other portion of housing  12 ). As an example, one or more mounting structures such as bracket  90  may be used to press against opposing inner surface  96  of switch housing  56  so that the outer surface of switch housing  56  presses against surface  98  of housing sidewall  18 . 
     Switch mounting bracket  90  may have screw holes such as opening  92  to accommodate mounting screws such as screw  94 . Mounting screws  94  may have threaded shafts that pass through openings such as opening  92  and that screw into corresponding threaded openings in housing sidewall  18 . If desired, welds, adhesive, solder, mating engagement features, or other mounting structures may be used in attaching switch mounting structures such as bracket  90  to housing sidewall  18 . The illustrative configuration of  FIG. 7  in which switch  50  is attached to housing wall  18  in housing  12  using bracket  90  over switch housing  56  is merely illustrative. 
     Support structures  77  may be attached to housing sidewall  18  in a position that is adjacent to switch  50 . The outer surface of support structures  77  rests against housing sidewall  18  and opposing inner surface  82  of support structures  77  serves as a support for switch leads  52 . Support structures  77  may be formed from a material such as plastic, from metal coated with plastic, from glass, ceramic, other materials, or combinations of these materials. 
     Support structures  77  may be attached to housing sidewall  18  using adhesive, welds, solder, engagement features, fasteners, or using other suitable mounting structures. As shown in  FIG. 7 , for example, fasteners such as screw  108  may be used in attaching support structures  77  to housing sidewall  18 . 
     Screw  108  may have a threaded shaft that passes through support structures  77  via opening  110  and that threads into a mating threaded opening in housing sidewall  18 . Strengthening members such as metal sheet  86  (e.g., a metal washer) or other stiffening structures may be used to help strengthen support structures  77  in the vicinity of opening  110  to help prevent damage to support structures  77  when support structures  77  are being attached to housing wall  18  using screw  108 . Screw hole opening  110  for screw  108  may be formed from opening  84  in stiffening member  86  and aligned opening  88  in support structures  77 . 
     Leads  52  of switch  50  may exit switch housing  56  at surface  57  of switch housing  56  near inner surface  98  of housing sidewall  18 . Leads  52  may then run along vertical wall  80  of support structures  77 . The tips of leads  52  such as terminal portions  52 T may lie on inner surface  82  of support structures  77 . As shown in  FIG. 7 , terminal portions  52 T of leads  52  may have a segmented circular shape. Terminal portions  52 T may, for example, form first and second semicircular terminals that are supported by inner surface  82  of support structures  77  and that are configured to mate with corresponding first and second semicircular terminals  68  at the end of signal lines  64  and  66  on the outermost surface of flexible printed circuit  76  (see, e.g.,  FIG. 6 ). 
     To form an electrical connection between switch  50  and other circuitry in device  10  such as control circuitry  40  ( FIG. 2 ), screw  102  may be used to screw portion  74  of flexible printed circuit  76  into place against leads  52 . Shaft  104  of screw  102  has threads that screw into corresponding threads in a threaded opening in housing wall  18 . Support structures  77  have an opening such as opening  78  that is aligned with opening  70  of flexible printed circuit  76 . When openings  70  and  78  are aligned with each other and when flexible printed circuit  76  has been placed against leads  52  so that leads  52  are sandwiched between end portion  74  of flexible printed circuit  76  and support structures  77 , screw  102  may be screwed into place on housing sidewall  18 . This causes head  100  of screw  102  to bear against stiffening member  72  and flexible printed circuit  76 . When flexible printed circuit  76  is mounted to support structures  77  and housing sidewall  18  in this way, each of terminals  68  of the metal traces on flexible printed circuit  76  will mate with a corresponding one of the terminals formed from portion  52 T of leads  52 . Head  100  will then compress terminals  68  against portions  52 T of leads  52  to form low resistance connections and thereby electrically connect switch  50  to signal line paths  64  and  66  of flexible printed circuit  76 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 7 , flexible printed circuit  76  may have an elongated shape with bent edges such as bends  106  so that traces  64  and  66  and the substrate of flexible printed circuit  76  follow a meandering path. Flexible printed circuit  76  may, if desired, be cut using a laser cutter or die press so that the outline of the flexible printed circuit has a serpentine shape. The meandering path shape of flexible printed circuit  76  may be used in forming a service loop that can accommodate movement of end portion  74  within device  10  without damaging flexible printed circuit  76  or detaching flexible printed circuit  76  from other circuitry within device  10 . A service loop may also be formed by folding flexible printed circuit  76 . 
       FIG. 8  is a top view of button  24  and support structures  77  of  FIG. 7 . As shown in  FIG. 8 , when switch  50  is mounted against inner surface  98  of housing wall  18  with bracket  90 , button member  26  protrudes through opening  28  in housing wall  18  so that button  24  can be controlled by a user of device  10 . Due to the pressure from screw  102 , leads  68  on the outwardly facing surface of flexible printed circuit  76  are pressed against mating portions  52 T of switch leads  52 . Shorting leads  52  to contacts such as the segmented circular structures formed from metal traces  68  on flexible printed circuit  76  in this way serves to interconnect switch  50  of button  24  with control circuitry  40  in device  10 . Because flexible printed circuit  76  is attached to leads  52  on upper surface  82  of support structures  77 , it is not necessary to form a bend in flexible printed circuit  76  in the vicinity of switch  50  when connecting flexible printed circuit  76  to leads  52 , thereby reducing stress on the metal traces in flexible printed circuit  76  such as traces  64  and  66 . 
       FIG. 9  is a diagram of illustrative equipment and operations involved in mounting button  24  within device  10  using an approach of the type described in connection with  FIGS. 5 ,  6 ,  7 , and  8 . 
     Initially, a housing may be constructed for device  10 . Housing  12  (e.g., sidewall  18 ) may then be processed using processing equipment such as machining equipment  114  to form features such as opening  28  for button member  26 , openings such as threaded screw hole openings  116  and  118  for screws  102  and  108 , respectively, and bracket screw openings  92  ( FIG. 7 ). Housing structure  18  and features such as opening  28 , openings  116  and  118 , and bracket screw openings  92  may be formed using processes such as molding, casting, stamping, laser cutting, water-jet cutting, machining with equipment  114  using a rotating cutting head such as a milling bit, drill bit, or other cutter, grinding, polishing, etc. 
     Assembly equipment  120  (e.g., computer-controlled positioners and other assembly equipment) may be used in installing switch  50  using screws  94  and bracket  90 , may be used in attaching support structures  77  to housing wall  18  using screw  108 , and may be used in attaching flexible printed circuit  76  to support structure  77  and housing  18  using screw  102  (i.e., so that metal traces  68  on flexible printed circuit  76  mate with portions  52 T of switch leads  52 ). 
     If desired, switch  50  may be provided with terminals (leads) that are formed directly on inner (rear) surface  96  of switch housing  56 , as shown in  FIG. 10 . In this type of configuration, switch mechanism  60  may be coupled to terminals  52 T on surface  96  using conductive lines in signal path  58  (e.g., a pair of lines in path  58  may be used to couple a pair of terminals in switch mechanism  60  to a respective pair of terminals  52 T formed from metal on inner surface  96  of switch housing  56 ). A screw hole may be formed in switch housing  56  and an aligned screw hole may be formed in housing sidewall  18  to receive shaft  104  of screw  102 . The opening in housing  18  may have threads that receive mating threads on shaft  104 , thereby allowing screw  102  to be screwed into housing wall  18  to hold flexible printed circuit terminals  68  and flexible printed circuit  76  against switch terminals  52 T. Screw  102  may also mount switch housing  56  to housing wall  18 . Switches such as switch  50  of  FIG. 10  may be assembled with the structures of device  10  using equipment such as assembly equipment  120  of  FIG. 9 . 
     As shown in the illustrative configuration of  FIG. 11 , housing wall  18  may be provided with engagement features such as housing recesses or protrusions. As an example, housing wall  18  may be provided with engagement structures such as protruding structures  126 . Structures  126  may be formed from plastic, metal, or other materials. As an example, housing wall  18  may be formed from metal and protruding structures  126  may be protrusions that are formed as integral portions of housing wall  18  or may be metal structures that are welded or otherwise attached to housing wall  18 . Support structures  77  may be formed from plastic or other material that engages protruding structures  126 . For example, structures  77  may be formed from plastic that is overmolded on top of protruding structures  126 . 
       FIG. 12  is a diagram of illustrative equipment and operations involved in mounting button  24  within device  10  using an approach of the type described in connection with  FIG. 11 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 12 , a housing may be constructed for device  10  with protruding portions  126  using fabrication equipment  138 . Fabrication equipment  138  may include molding equipment for forming housing structures  18  from molded plastic, machining equipment for forming housing structures  18  from metal, or other suitable equipment. During formation of housing wall structures  18 , protruding structures  126  on inner surface  98  of housing wall structures  18  may be formed using fabrication equipment  138  (e.g., by molding structures  126  as an integral portion of housing wall structures  18 , by welding metal structures or other structures  126  to inner surface  98 , by machining a metal structure to form integral protrusions  126  on housing wall  18 , or by otherwise fabricating housing wall  18  with protruding structures  126 ). If desired, housing  18  may be provided with recesses that serve as engagement features for support structures  77 . The use of protruding shapes for forming engagement features  126  of  FIG. 12  is merely illustrative. 
     Following formation of protruding structures  126  (or recess-shaped engagement structures), molding equipment  130  may be used to overmold plastic onto protruding structures  126  to form support structures  77 . 
     Machining tool  132  may use a rotating cutting head or other equipment to form openings  28  and openings such as opening  134  in support structures  77 . Screw holes for bracket mounting screws and other features may also be machined using equipment  132 . 
     Computer-controlled positioners and other equipment in assembly equipment  136  may then attach the structures of  FIG. 12  to housing wall  18 . For example, switch  50  may be attached to housing wall  18  using bracket  90  and leads  52  may be interposed between the innermost surface of support structures  77  and terminals  68  on flexible printed circuit  76 . 
     The foregoing is merely illustrative and various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The foregoing embodiments may be implemented individually or in any combination.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20130205
Publication Date: 20151117
Grant Date: 20151117
Priority Date: 20130205
Inventors: MALEK SHAYAN
COHEN SAWYER I.
WITTENBERG MICHAEL B.
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "Y10T29/49124", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01H2207/004", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01H2223/014", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01H15/24", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01H2221/014", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M1/236", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01H2231/022", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04M1/236", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01H2221/014", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "Y10T29/49124", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01H15/24", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01H2231/022", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01H2207/004", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01H2223/014", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 51258368