JP4894480B2 - Keypad structure of portable terminal, portable terminal equipped with the same, and keypad assembling method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a keypad structure of a portable terminal, and more particularly to a customizable keypad structure.

  The operation unit of the mobile phone is equipped with a keypad structure in which a plurality of keys including numeric keys are arranged. This keypad structure is, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, and has a click function and a water immersion prevention function, and a rubber or resin rubber part 102 that constitutes each key itself, and is bonded to the surface of the rubber part 102. And a sheet portion 101 decorated with explanatory characters for each key. These are bonded together to be integrally formed as a single component, and this is mounted on a casing (not shown) of the mobile phone. Similarly, Patent Document 1 discloses a structure in which a sheet portion for decorating a key is fused and integrated with the key itself.

  However, the conventional keypad structure has the following problems. First, when there is a defect in a single keypad, it is difficult for the maintenance person to perform the replacement work, and the component unit price is high. Second, it is difficult for the user of the mobile terminal to replace the keypad with his / her favorite one. In particular, in recent years, since mobile phones are widely used, there is a demand that each user wants to customize to a unique one, but such customization is difficult due to the above-described difficulty of replacement work and high cost. It's getting difficult.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a mobile phone having a structure in which a rubber-like sheet (a key sheet in Patent Document 2) having a button portion is provided on a lower layer of a mounting cover in which button holes are formed. Has been. In such a configuration, the user can customize the design of the keypad structure by replacing the rubber-like sheet. However, in the configuration disclosed in Patent Document 2, it is still necessary to remove the mounting cover when exchanging the seat, which is troublesome and the inside of the mobile phone is also exposed. Can occur. Moreover, since the part to be replaced is a rubber-like sheet, there also arises a problem that the replacement cost increases.

JP 2002-197933 A JP 2004-336582 A

  Therefore, the object of the present invention is to improve the inconveniences of the above-described conventional example, and in particular to provide a keypad structure of a portable terminal that can be easily and inexpensively changed in design.

  Therefore, a keypad structure of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention is formed with a plurality of button parts to be pressed and formed in a key constituent part fixedly mounted on a casing of the mobile terminal, and the key constituent part. A sheet part covering the upper surface of each button part, and the sheet part is detachably attached to the key component part and / or the housing. And the sheet | seat part has the decoration corresponding to the button part of the key structure part covered with a sheet | seat part, for example.

  According to the above invention, first, the key component having the button portion is fixedly mounted on the casing of the portable terminal. And the sheet | seat part is attached to the upper surface side so that attachment or detachment is possible. Accordingly, the seat portion can be easily attached and detached later, and the seat portion can be easily replaced without disassembling the casing of the portable terminal. As a result, the manufacturer and the user can easily customize the desired design by exchanging the seat portion at low cost, thereby improving the design.

  In addition, the sheet part has a key component and / or an adhesive part bonded to the housing, and in particular, the adhesive part is formed around the sheet part. Furthermore, the key component is fixed to the casing around the key component, and an adhesive portion formed around the sheet portion is bonded to the casing.

  Thereby, the sheet | seat part currently adhere | attached can be peeled, and a new sheet | seat part can be adhere | attached and mounted | worn. Therefore, the seat part can be replaced more easily, and the seat part can be mounted stably. In particular, by adhering the sheet portion to the casing around the periphery, positioning and removal at the time of mounting become easy.

  A key sheet according to another embodiment of the present invention is a key sheet used for a keypad structure of a portable terminal, and a plurality of button parts to be pressed are formed and fixedly mounted on a casing of the portable terminal. The upper surface of the key component part is covered, and the key component part and / or the casing is detachably mounted.

Furthermore, the assembly method of the keypad structure which is the other form of this invention is as follows.
A method of assembling a keypad structure of a mobile terminal,
A key component assembling step for fixedly mounting a key component formed with a plurality of button parts to be pressed on the casing of the mobile terminal;
A seat part mounting step of detachably mounting a sheet part covering the upper surface of each button part formed in the key constituent part to the key constituent part and / or the housing;
It is characterized by having.

  Then, the sheet part mounting step is characterized in that the sheet part is attached to the key constituent part and / or the case and is detachably attached to the case. Also, the key component assembly step is fixedly mounted on the casing around the key component, and the seat mounting step is detachably mounted on the casing by bonding the sheet portion to the casing. It is characterized by that.

  Even the invention of the key sheet and the assembling method having the above-described configuration has the same operation as that of the key pad structure, so that the above-described object of the present invention can be achieved.

  Since the present invention is configured and functions as described above, according to this, the seat portion constituting the keypad structure of the portable terminal can be easily replaced at low cost, and the design can be easily performed. It has an unprecedented excellent effect that it can be customized and the design can be improved.

  The present invention is characterized in that the seat portion located on the outermost surface of the keypad structure is detachably mounted. In the following, the keypad structure will be described in detail in the embodiments. Note that a mobile phone will be described as an example of a mobile terminal equipped with a keypad structure. However, mobile terminals equipped with the keypad structure of the present invention include PDAs, notebook computers, electronic dictionaries, game machines, and the like. It may be an electronic device.

  A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a keypad structure, and FIGS. 2 to 3 are diagrams illustrating how the keypad structure is assembled to a mobile phone.

[Constitution]
The keypad structure according to the present invention is provided in the lower casing 4 as an operation unit of the foldable mobile phone 10 including the upper casing 3 and the lower casing 4 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. It is. As shown in FIG. 1, the keypad structure of the mobile phone 10 includes a rubber part 2 and a key sheet part 1.

  The rubber part 2 (key component part) is a single rubber member having a predetermined thickness for the purpose of, for example, a click function of a key pressing operation by a user, a flood prevention function, and protection of electrical components inside the housing. Is formed. The shape is slightly smaller than the surface shape of the lower housing 4 and is slightly larger than the opening 41 (see FIG. 2) formed on the operation surface side of the lower housing 4. It is formed in a rectangular shape. In addition, a plurality of button portions 21 are formed on the surface of the rubber portion 2, and each correspond to a numeric key, a symbol key, a power key, a cross key, and the like. As shown in FIG. 2, the rubber part 2 is arranged around the rubber part 2 inside the lower casing 4 with the button part 21 exposed from the opening 41 of the lower casing 4. The lower casing 4 is fixedly equipped. The rubber portion 2 is not limited to being made of rubber having elasticity, and may be formed of other materials such as plastic.

  The sheet portion 1 is a substantially rectangular thin film member having substantially the same shape as the rubber portion 2, and is formed of, for example, polycarbonate, acrylic, PET film, or the like. The sheet portion 1 is transparent or translucent, and decorations 12 such as numbers, letters, and figures are formed on the surface corresponding to the positions of the button portions 21 formed on the rubber portion 2. Yes. In FIG. 1 and the like, as an example of the decoration 12, only the numbers corresponding to the numeric keypad that is the button unit 21 are shown, but of course, decorations other than numerals may be provided. Further, an adhesive tape 11 (adhesive portion) is provided on the back surface of the sheet portion 1, that is, around the surface facing the rubber portion 2 and the lower housing 4. In particular, the adhesive tape 11 is provided so as to be positioned outside the opening 41 formed in the lower housing 4 when the sheet portion 1 is attached to the mobile phone 10. That is, as will be described later, the adhesive tape 11 is provided only around the sheet portion 1 so as to be adhered only to the housing surface of the lower housing 4.

[Assembly method]
Next, a method for assembling the above keypad structure to the mobile phone 10 will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 2, the rubber part 2 is arranged so that its periphery is located inside the lower casing 4 and is fixed to the lower casing 4 around the rubber part 2 (key configuration). Part assembly process). Accordingly, the button portion 21 of the rubber portion 2 is exposed to the outside from the opening 41 formed in the lower housing 4 and is fixedly mounted on the lower housing 4.

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 2, the seat portion 1 is covered from above with respect to the rubber portion 2 fixedly mounted on the lower housing 4 while aligning the position thereof. Specifically, the decoration 12 such as numbers and letters formed on the sheet portion 1 is made to correspond to each button portion 21 of the rubber portion 2, and the adhesive tape 11 provided around the back side of the sheet portion 1 is provided. The sheet portion 1 is aligned so as to be positioned around the opening 41 that is the outer peripheral portion of the surface of the lower housing 4. And as shown in FIG. 3, the adhesive tape 11 is affixed on the surface outer peripheral part of the lower housing | casing 4, and the sheet | seat part 1 is mounted | worn to the lower housing | casing 4 (sheet | seat part mounting process).

  As described above, since the sheet portion 1 is attached and attached to the lower housing 4 with the adhesive tape 11, it can be easily peeled off later, and as described above, other sheet portions 1 can be easily pasted. That is, the seat portion 1 is detachably attached to the lower housing 4.

  In the present invention, the rubber portion 2 that is a key component that realizes the click function is fixedly mounted on the housing 4, and the sheet portion 1 that covers the surface of the rubber portion 2 is separated from the rubber portion 2. In addition, since the seat portion 1 is detachably attached, the seat portion 1 can be replaced easily and at low cost from the outside even after manufacturing without disassembling the mobile phone 1. can do.

  Therefore, for example, as a manufacturer, even after the mobile phone 10 is completed, the seat unit 1 can be easily and inexpensively replaced according to the sales destination and specifications of the mobile phone 10. Can be expanded. In addition, since it is easy for the user to replace the seat portion 1, the display contents of the keypad structure can be diversified by replacing the seat portion 1 with another design, thereby improving the design. Can do.

  Here, the configuration in which the adhesive tape 11 is provided around the sheet portion 1 and the sheet portion 1 is bonded only to the housing 4 has been described above, but the position where the adhesive tape 11 is provided and the shape of the adhesive tape 11 itself. Are not limited to those described above, and the sheet portion 1 may be attached by being attached to the housing 4 and the rubber portion 2 or only the rubber portion 2. Moreover, it is not limited to using the adhesive tape 11 in order to attach the sheet | seat part 1 to the housing | casing 4 or the rubber part 2, You may attach | detach detachably using another material and member.

  In the above description, the sheet portion 1 has been described as being transparent or translucent, but may not have transparency. Further, by forming the material of the sheet portion 1 with various materials as described above (polycarbonate, acrylic, PET film, etc.), the texture can be changed and the user's preference can be improved.

  The keypad structure of the present invention can be equipped as an operation unit such as a mobile phone, and has industrial applicability.

It is a figure which shows the structure of a keypad structure. It is a figure which shows a mode when attaching a keypad structure to a mobile telephone. It is a figure which shows a mode when attaching a keypad structure to a mobile telephone. It is a figure which shows the structure of the keypad structure in a prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Sheet | seat part 2 Rubber part 3 Upper housing | casing 4 Lower housing | casing 10 Mobile telephone 11 Adhesive tape 12 Decoration 21 Button part 41 Opening part

Claims (5)

A keypad structure of a mobile terminal,
A plurality of button parts to be pressed are formed, and a key component part fixedly mounted on the casing of the mobile terminal;
A sheet part covering the upper surface of each button part formed in the key component part,
The key component is fixedly mounted on the casing by arranging the periphery of the key component inside the casing with the button portion exposed from an opening formed in the casing. ,
The seat portion, as well as detachably mounted to the front Kikatami body is bonded to the housing surface located outside than the opening of the casing by an adhesive portion formed around the said seat portion ,
A keypad structure characterized by that. The seat portion has a decoration corresponding to the button portion of the key component covered by the seat portion.
The keypad structure according to claim 1 . A portable terminal comprising the keypad structure according to claim 1 . A cellular phone comprising the keypad structure according to claim 1 . A method of assembling a keypad structure of a mobile terminal,
A key component having a plurality of buttons to be pressed is formed around the key component with the button exposed from an opening formed in the case of the mobile terminal. A key component assembling step that is arranged in a fixed manner on the housing;
The seat covering an upper surface of each button portion formed in the key component, the freely mounted detachably before Kikatami body, the said housing by an adhesive portion formed around the said seat portion A sheet mounting process for bonding to the housing surface located outside the opening ; and
A method for assembling a keypad structure, comprising:

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