CN214477088U

CN214477088U - Key assembly and electronic equipment

Info

Publication number: CN214477088U
Application number: CN202120601434.2U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李钧
Original assignee: Vivo Mobile Communication Co Ltd
Current assignee: Vivo Mobile Communication Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-03-23
Filing date: 2021-03-23
Publication date: 2021-10-22
Anticipated expiration: 2031-03-23

Abstract

Some embodiments of the present application provide a key assembly and electronic equipment, key assembly includes that the middle part is provided with key cap, function button, first flexible circuit board and the balance arm in fingerprint induction zone. The function keys are arranged on one side of the key cap, one end of the first flexible circuit board is electrically connected with the fingerprint sensing area and led out from the first end of the key cap and the function keys, the key assembly is electrically connected with the circuit board of the electronic equipment through the other end of the first flexible circuit board, the balance arm is led out from the second end of the key cap and the function keys, and the second end is opposite to the first end. The key assembly that this application embodiment provided is through inciting somebody to action the balance arm with first flexible circuit board symmetry is followed the both ends of key cap are drawn forth, have improved on the basis of having guaranteed the high-efficient fingerprint identification of first flexible circuit board the structural stability of key assembly.

Description

Key assembly and electronic equipment

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of electronic equipment components, in particular to a key component and electronic equipment.

Background

With the continuous development of communication technology, electronic devices have more and more diversified functions, and fingerprint identification technology is a technology generally applied to electronic devices in recent years.

Taking a mobile phone as an example, the fingerprint identification technology on the mobile phone is generally used for functions of unlocking the mobile phone, paying the mobile phone, and the like. Most of the fingerprint identification keys are positioned on the front face of the mobile phone, so that a larger screen display position is occupied. Now, more side fingerprint identification keys gradually appear, as shown in fig. 1, these side fingerprint identification keys generally include a fingerprint sensing area, a fingerprint FPC, a power switch, an elastic arm thereof, and other components. Wherein, fingerprint FPC draws forth from fingerprint induction zone's one side, and fingerprint FPC has certain structural strength moreover, leads to the button atress inhomogeneous, influences the structural stability of button.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

The present application is directed to a key assembly and an electronic device, which at least solve one of the problems of the related art.

In order to solve the technical problem, the present application is implemented as follows:

in a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a key assembly, which is applied to an electronic device, and includes:

the key cap is provided with a fingerprint sensing area in the middle;

the function key is arranged on one side of the keycap;

one end of the first flexible circuit board is electrically connected with the fingerprint sensing area and led out from between the first end of the keycap and the function key, and the key assembly is electrically connected with the circuit board of the electronic equipment through the other end of the first flexible circuit board;

a balance arm extending from between a second end of the keycap and the function key, the second end being opposite the first end;

and under the condition that the fingerprint sensing area is in a pressed state, the function key is triggered.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an electronic device, including a middle frame and the key assembly of the first aspect;

an opening is formed in the middle frame, and the key assembly is connected into the opening.

In the embodiment of this application, some embodiments of this application provide a key subassembly, including the key cap, function button, first flexible circuit board and the balance arm that the middle part was provided with the fingerprint induction zone, the fingerprint induction zone is in under the condition of pressing the state, the function button is triggered. The embodiment of the application provides the button subassembly through inciting somebody to action the balance arm with first flexible circuit board symmetry is followed the both ends of key cap are drawn forth, have avoided the user to press the fingerprint response zone time first flexible circuit board is right the triggering of function button causes the influence, has improved on the basis of having guaranteed the high-efficient fingerprint identification of first flexible circuit board the structural stability of button subassembly.

Additional aspects and advantages of the present application will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the present application.

Drawings

The above and/or additional aspects and advantages of the present application will become apparent and readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a conventional side key assembly;

fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a key assembly according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of another key assembly provided in the embodiments of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of another key assembly provided in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of another key assembly provided in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view of another key assembly provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Reference numerals:

1-a fingerprint sensing area; 2-function key; 21-a conductive group; 3-a first flexible circuit board; 4-a balance arm; 5-a second flexible circuit board; 51-a spring plate; 22-a resilient arm; 221-a connecting portion; 23-a flexible mat; 100-middle frame; 101-a fixed part.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present application, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar function throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the drawings are exemplary only for the purpose of explaining the present application and are not to be construed as limiting the present application. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

The features of the terms first and second in the description and in the claims of the present application may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of such features. In the description of the present application, "a plurality" means two or more unless otherwise specified. In addition, "and/or" in the specification and claims means at least one of connected objects, a character "/" generally means that a preceding and succeeding related objects are in an "or" relationship.

In the description of the present application, it is to be understood that the terms "central," "longitudinal," "lateral," "length," "width," "thickness," "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inner," "outer," "clockwise," "counterclockwise," "axial," "radial," "circumferential," and the like are used in the orientations and positional relationships indicated in the drawings for convenience in describing the present application and to simplify the description, and are not intended to indicate or imply that the referenced devices or elements must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and are therefore not to be considered limiting of the present application.

In the description of the present application, it is to be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified or limited, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "connected" are to be construed broadly, e.g., as meaning either a fixed connection, a removable connection, or an integral connection; can be mechanically or electrically connected; they may be connected directly or indirectly through intervening media, or they may be interconnected between two elements. The specific meaning of the above terms in the present application can be understood in a specific case by those of ordinary skill in the art.

Technical solutions disclosed in the embodiments of the present application are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic structural diagram of a conventional side fingerprint key assembly, which includes a fingerprint sensing area, a fingerprint FPC, a power switch, and an elastic arm thereof. Wherein, fingerprint FPC's one end sets up between fingerprint response region and elastic arm, and fingerprint FPC extends out on one side of the length direction that elastic arm set up moreover. When the user is pressing the fingerprint induction zone, because fingerprint FPC sets up between fingerprint induction zone's one side and elastic arm, and fingerprint FPC is difficult to produce again and warp, can cause fingerprint FPC to shelter from one side of elastic arm, lead to one side of elastic arm to be difficult to warp, and the opposite side normally produces deformation, it is inhomogeneous to cause elastic arm both sides atress, probably lead to the fingerprint to press the key subassembly card to pause, the protrusion is inhomogeneous and the fingerprint is pressed the problem that the key subassembly was dragged, the inhomogeneous inevitable structural stability that can reduce switch of deformation of elastic arm.

As shown in fig. 2 to 6, according to some embodiments of the present application, a key assembly is provided, which is applied to an electronic device, and specifically can be disposed on a side surface of the electronic device, and the key assembly includes:

the middle part is provided with key cap, function button 2, first flexible circuit board 3 and balance arm 4 of fingerprint induction zone 1, first flexible circuit board 3 specifically can be one of fingerprint FPC, transmission line and conductive film, all can utilize its better deformability to reach the effect of nimble transmission fingerprint information.

The function key 2 is arranged on one side of the keycap, and the keycap is generally arranged on a shell of the electronic device and is exposed to the outside, so that the function key 2 can be arranged on the inner side of the keycap to achieve effective protection of the function key 2. Function button 2 is used for triggering key assembly's switch, specifically, function button 2 can switch on after the pressurized deformation switch, can control operations such as electronic equipment's bright screen, go out the screen and switch on and off after the switch switches on.

One end of the first flexible circuit board 3 is electrically connected with the fingerprint sensing area 1 and is led out from the first end of the key cap and the functional keys 2, the key assembly is electrically connected with the circuit board of the electronic equipment through the other end of the first flexible circuit board 3, the balance arm 4 is led out from the second end of the key cap and the functional keys 2, the structural strength of the balance arm 4 is equal to or close to that of the first flexible circuit board 3, and the second end is opposite to the first end.

Under the condition that fingerprint induction zone 1 is in the state of pressing, because the structural strength of balance arm 4 is equivalent to or is close to the structural strength of first flexible circuit board 3, balance arm 4 with the one end of first flexible circuit board 3 can take place the equilibrium and warp, and then trigger function button 2 realizes jointly the fingerprint button function and the switch function of pressing the key subassembly.

Specifically, since the carrier material of the first flexible circuit board 3 is generally a hard TPU material, the structural strength of the first flexible circuit board 3 is large, and one end of the first flexible circuit board 3 is led out from between the first end of the keycap and the function key 2, when a user presses the fingerprint sensing area 1, the triggering of the function key 2 is affected by the first flexible circuit board 3, and the structural strength specifically includes tensile strength, compressive strength and bending strength. When the balance arm 4 and the first flexible circuit board 3 are symmetrically led out from the two ends of the keycap, the influence on the triggering function of the functional key 2 caused by the deformation of the first flexible circuit board 3 can be avoided.

The key assembly that this application embodiment provided is through inciting somebody to action balance arm 4 with 3 symmetries of first flexible circuit board are followed the both ends of key cap are drawn forth, have avoided the user when pressing fingerprint induction zone 1 first flexible circuit board 3 is right the triggering of function button 2 causes the influence, has improved on the basis of having guaranteed 3 high-efficient fingerprint identification of first flexible circuit board the structural stability of key assembly specifically includes switch's structural stability.

Alternatively, referring to fig. 2 to 4, the balance arm 4 and the first flexible circuit board 3 are symmetrically arranged on both sides of the keycap.

In particular, since the carrier material of the first flexible circuit board 3 is generally a hard TPU material, the balance arm 4 may be made of a material having the same hardness as or close to the hardness of the TPU material, such as a TPE or PU material. In order to improve the deformation balance between the balance arm 4 and the first flexible circuit board 3, the balance arm 4 and the first flexible circuit board 3 may be symmetrically disposed at two sides of the key cap, specifically, the balance arm 4 and one end of the first flexible circuit board 3 close to the fingerprint sensing area 1 may have the same size and be symmetrically disposed, and the bending strength of the balance arm 4 is the same as that of the first flexible circuit board.

Optionally, referring to fig. 6, the key assembly further includes a second flexible circuit board 5, the second flexible circuit board 5 is disposed on one side of the function key 2 away from the first flexible circuit board 3, an elastic sheet 51 is disposed on the second flexible circuit board 5, a conductive base 21 opposite to the elastic sheet 51 is disposed on the function key 2, and when the function key 2 is deformed by pressure, the elastic sheet 51 abuts against the conductive base 21 to turn on the function key 2, so as to implement a power switch function of the function key 2.

Specifically, the second flexible circuit board 5 may be one of a power switch FPC, a power switch lead wire, and a power switch conductive film. The power switch can be a switch for controlling the operations of screen on, screen off, on and off of the electronic equipment and the like. When the function key 2 is deformed under pressure, the elastic sheet 51 is communicated with the conductive base 21, that is, the power switch is turned on, and at this time, a user can realize different functions of the power switch by the degree and duration of deformation of the function key 2. For example, the short-term communication between the elastic sheet 51 and the conductive base 21 can realize the operation of turning on or off the screen of the electronic device, and the longer-term communication between the elastic sheet 51 and the conductive base 21 can realize the operation of turning on or off the electronic device. In addition, in order to maximize the deformation of the conductive base 21 on the function key 2, the conductive base 21 may be disposed in the middle of the elastic sheet 51.

Optionally, the function key 2 further comprises an elastic supporting part;

under the condition that the fingerprint sensing area 1 is deformed under pressure, the elastic supporting part is deformed to enable the elastic sheet 51 to be abutted against the conductive base 21.

Specifically, on the basis of ensuring that the function key 2 realizes the power switch function when pressed and deformed, the function key 2 is required to be separated from the conductive base 21 in order to avoid mistaken touching of the function key 2 under normal conditions, that is, when the function key 2 is not triggered. The elastic supporting part is arranged to just realize the abutting of the elastic sheet 51 and the conductive base 21 when the elastic supporting part is deformed, and the elastic sheet 51 is separated from the conductive base 21 when the elastic supporting part is not deformed, so that the stability and the accuracy of the function realization of the function key 2 are ensured.

Optionally, referring to fig. 2 to 4, the elastic supporting portion is an elastic arm 22, two ends of the elastic arm 22 are respectively led out from a first end and a second end of the key cap, and the key cap and the middle frame of the electronic device are connected through the two ends of the elastic arm 22. The elastic arm 22 can provide stable support for the function key 2 under the condition of not being pressed and deformed; when the elastic arm 22 deforms under pressure, the elastic arm 22 may deform with the connection position between the two ends of the elastic arm and the middle frame of the electronic device as a fulcrum, so as to realize the contact between the elastic sheet 51 and the conductive base 21.

Alternatively, referring to fig. 5 and 6, the elastic supporting portion is a flexible pad 23, and the flexible pad 23 is disposed between the end of the function key 2 and an internal component of the electronic device.

Specifically, the flexible pad 23 may be made of a compressible and elastic material such as sponge or rubber, and the pressing feel of the function key 2 is not affected in the process of compression deformation. The flexible pad 23 is disposed between the end of the function key 2 and an internal component of the electronic device, for example, the flexible pad 23 is disposed between the end of the function key 2 and a battery component in the electronic device, so as to provide stable support for the function key 2 and ensure the pressing stability of the function key 2.

Alternatively, referring to fig. 5, the balance arm 4 may be a third flexible circuit board electrically connected to the first flexible circuit board 3.

Specifically, the third flexible circuit board and the first flexible circuit board 3 may form a symmetrical flexible circuit board structure, so that the flexible circuit board structure is led out from two sides of the keycap and is fixed on a middle frame of the electronic device by using a double-sided adhesive tape. Under the condition that the two ends of the third flexible circuit board are electrically connected with the first flexible circuit board 3, the third flexible circuit board and the first flexible circuit board 3 form a symmetrical flexible circuit board structure and can also be used as an elastic arm of the key assembly, so that the stability of realizing the functions of the function keys 2 is ensured.

The embodiment of the application also provides an electronic device, which comprises a middle frame 100 and the key assembly;

an opening is formed in the middle frame 100, and the key assembly is connected to the opening.

Specifically, the button subassembly through with balance arm 4 with first flexible circuit board 3 symmetry is followed the both ends of key cap are drawn forth, have avoided the user when pressing fingerprint induction zone 1 first flexible circuit board 3 is right function button 2's deformation causes the influence, guarantee first flexible circuit board 3 fingerprint identification efficiency with the structural stability of button subassembly has promoted electronic equipment's use is experienced.

Optionally, referring to fig. 2 to 4, the elastic arm 22 is provided at both ends thereof with a connecting portion 221, and the middle frame 100 is provided therein with a fixing portion 101 connected to the connecting portion 221.

Specifically, the connecting portion 221 and the fixing portion 101 may be detachably connected, so that the elastic arm 22 can be replaced when the deformation of the elastic arm 22 is too large. In order to improve the connection strength between the connection part 221 and the fixing part 101, the connection part 221 and the fixing part 101 may be fixedly connected.

In a specific embodiment, referring to fig. 2, the connecting portion 221 and the fixing portion 101 are connected in a hanging-table manner, specifically, the connecting portions 221 at two ends of the elastic arm 22 are stop grooves, the stop grooves are located at one side of the elastic arm 22 away from the key cap, the connecting portion 221 is a first protruding block fixed in the middle frame 100, and the two first protruding blocks respectively abut against the two stop grooves; in another specific embodiment, referring to fig. 3, the connecting portion 221 and the fixing portion 101 may also be connected in a hook type, specifically, the connecting portions 221 at two ends of the elastic arm 22 are annular grooves, the connecting portion 221 is a second protrusion fixed in the middle frame 100, and the two second protrusions are respectively inserted into the two annular grooves.

In addition, referring to fig. 4, the fixing portion 101 can also be used as a shared fixing portion for fixing the elastic arm 22 and other key assemblies at the same time, so as to achieve the purpose of simplifying the internal structure of the electronic device.

In the description herein, reference to the description of the terms "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "an illustrative embodiment," "an example," "a specific example," or "some examples" or the like means that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the application. In this specification, the schematic representations of the terms used above do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.

While embodiments of the present application have been shown and described, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: various changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to the embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the application, the scope of which is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A key assembly applied to an electronic device, comprising:

the key cap is provided with a fingerprint sensing area in the middle;

the function key is arranged on one side of the keycap;

2. The key assembly of claim 1, wherein the balancing arm and the first flexible circuit board are symmetrically disposed on both sides of the key cap.

3. The key assembly according to claim 1, further comprising a second flexible circuit board, the second flexible circuit board being disposed on a side of the function key away from the first flexible circuit board, the second flexible circuit board being provided with a spring sheet, the function key being provided with a conductive base opposite to the spring sheet, and the spring sheet abutting against the conductive base when the function key is deformed by pressure.

4. The key assembly of claim 3, wherein the function key further comprises a resilient support;

under the condition that the fingerprint sensing area is deformed under pressure, the elastic supporting part is deformed so that the elastic sheet is abutted to the conductive base.

5. The key assembly of claim 4, wherein the elastic supporting portion is an elastic arm, two ends of the elastic arm are respectively led out from a first end and a second end of the key cap, and the key cap and the middle frame of the electronic device are connected through the two ends of the elastic arm.

6. The key assembly of claim 4, wherein the resilient support is a flexible pad disposed between an end of the function key and an internal component of the electronic device.

7. The key assembly of claim 6, wherein the balancing arm is a third flexible circuit board, the third flexible circuit board being electrically connected to the first flexible circuit board.

8. An electronic device, comprising a bezel and the key assembly of any of claims 1-7;

9. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein the key assembly comprises a resilient arm, the resilient arm is provided with a connecting portion at each end, and a fixing portion connected to the connecting portion is provided in the middle frame.

10. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the connecting portion is a stopping groove, the stopping groove is located on a side of the elastic arm away from the key cap, and the fixing portion is a first protrusion abutting against the stopping groove; or the like, or, alternatively,

the connecting part is an annular groove, and the fixing part is a second lug penetrating through the annular groove.