CN111799119A - Optical switch key - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses an optical switch key, which comprises a shell with a deformable part, a movable shaft movably arranged in the shell, an elastic piece arranged in the shell and a switch module comprising a circuit board, an optical transmitter and an optical receiver. The movable shaft can be selectively positioned at an unpressed position and a pressed position; the optical transmitter transmits an optical signal, and the optical signal reaches the optical receiver along the optical transmission path; the deformable part extends inwards from the wall surface of the shell, the deformable part is positioned beside the interfered path of the light transmission path, and the long axis of the deformable part is not perpendicular to the interfered path of the light transmission path; when the movable shaft moves from the non-pressing position to the pressing position in response to the pressing force, the movable shaft moves along the movement path to push the deformable part to locally move laterally, so that the optical signal received by the optical receiver is changed to trigger the switch module to generate the trigger signal. The invention can achieve the fast and accurate conversion of the pressing signal.

Description

Optical switch button

technical field

The present invention relates to an optical switch key, in particular, the present invention relates to an optical switch key that activates a switch in response to a pressing action changing the receiving state of an optical signal.

Background technique

Membrane switch keys and mechanical keys are commonly used key types of conventional keyboards. The main difference between membrane switch buttons and mechanical buttons is the circuit structure that generates the signal. Generally speaking, the membrane switch button is a switch component that uses the membrane circuit layer as a signal to generate. When the keycap is pressed to trigger the membrane circuit layer, the upper circuit layer is deformed so that the switch contacts of the upper circuit layer contact the corresponding switch contacts of the lower circuit layer. Then, the membrane switch is turned on to generate a signal. However, the thin film circuit layer is easily damaged after frequent use or under the condition of improper force, and it is difficult to repair, and when the user presses the keycap to trigger the thin film circuit layer, there is a lack of clear feedback of the step difference, resulting in a poor feeling of pressing, which cannot meet the needs of use. the user's sense of control.

The mechanical button is a switch component that uses the conduction between the metal sheet and the metal contact as a signal. However, the metal sheets and metal contacts are easily worn out due to impact, which affects the service life of the keys, and also causes the metal sheets or metal contacts to corrode due to moisture, resulting in poor conduction and affecting the stability of the keys. Furthermore, the conventional mechanical keys are generally not suitable for use in portable electronic devices that require high thinness, such as notebook computers, due to their complex structures and large volumes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The purpose of the present invention is to provide an optical switch key, which uses a switch module composed of an optical transmitter and an optical receiver, and changes the receiving state of the optical signal through the components in the key along with the pressing stroke, so as to provide a fast and accurate trigger function .

Another object of the present invention is to provide an optical switch key, which integrates the key structure of the optical switch in a low space, and utilizes a laterally displaceable movable member or movable part to selectively change the receiving intensity of the optical signal, so as to It reduces the space requirement in the vertical direction and is suitable for use in portable electronic devices.

In order to achieve the above purpose, the present invention proposes an optical switch key, which includes a casing, a movable shaft, an elastic member and a switch module. The casing has a deformable portion; the movable shaft is movably arranged on the casing, and the The movable shaft can move up and down in the unpressed position and the pressed position along the movement path; the elastic piece is arranged in the housing, the elastic piece is coupled to the movable shaft, and after the pressing force is removed, the elastic piece makes The movable shaft returns to the unpressed position; the switch module includes a circuit board, a light transmitter and a light receiver, the light transmitter and the light receiver are electrically connected to the circuit board, and the light transmitter emits a light signal, the light The signal reaches the light receiver along the light transmission path; wherein when the movable shaft is in the unpressed position, the deformable portion has a first spatial relationship with the light transmission path, and the light signal received by the light receiver is the first strength; when the movable shaft moves from the unpressed position to the pressing position due to the pressing force, the movable shaft moves along the motion path to compress the elastic member and push against the deformable portion to move, so that The deformable portion and the optical transmission path no longer have the first spatial relationship, so that the optical signal received by the optical receiver has a second intensity, and the second intensity is different from the first intensity, so as to trigger the switch The module generates a trigger signal.

As an optional technical solution, when the movable shaft is in the unpressed position, the deformable portion enters the light transmission path less, and the amount of the light signal blocked by the deformable portion is low, and the light received by the light receiver is low. The signal is the first intensity; wherein when the movable shaft is in the pressing position, the deformable portion moves laterally away from the motion path, the deformable portion enters the light transmission path more, and the deformable portion blocks the light signal If the quantity is high, the optical signal received by the optical receiver is the second intensity, so that the second intensity is smaller than the first intensity.

As an optional technical solution, the movable shaft has an action portion, the action portion protrudes along the movement path and corresponds to the deformable portion, and when the movable shaft is in the unpressed position, the action portion is parallel to the deformable portion at least partially overlap in the direction of the motion path; when the movable shaft moves along the motion path and pushes against the deformable portion to move laterally, the action portion and the deformable portion at least partially overlap in the direction perpendicular to the motion path touch.

As an optional technical solution, the acting part has a first inclined surface, the deformable part has a second inclined surface, the first inclined surface corresponds to the second inclined surface, and when the movable shaft moves along the movement path, the first inclined surface is opposite to moving on the second inclined surface, so that the deformable part moves laterally.

As an optional technical solution, the circuit board further has an escape space, and when the movable shaft is located at the pressing position, the end of the action portion extends beyond the deformable portion and enters the escape space.

As an optional technical solution, the casing is formed by combining an upper casing and a lower casing, the upper casing has a through hole and an upper engaging portion, and the movable shaft is movably inserted into the through hole for positioning the elastic part, and the lower casing has a lower engaging part, the lower engaging part is used for engaging with the upper engaging part, so that the upper casing is connected to the lower casing; the deformable part is arranged on the the lower casing; or, the deformable portion is disposed on the upper casing.

As an optional technical solution, the housing further has a grating part, the grating part has a grating hole and the grating part is located between the light transmitter and the light receiver, the deformable part has a horizontal extension axis, when the movable part is When the shaft is in the unpressed position, the horizontally extending shaft does not pass through the grating hole; when the deformable portion moves laterally away from the motion path, the horizontally extending shaft passes through the grating hole.

As an optional technical solution, the circuit board further has a positioning hole, the lower casing has a positioning column, and the positioning column is inserted into the positioning hole to position the casing on the circuit board.

As an optional technical solution, the light switch button further includes a light guide column and a backlight light source, wherein the light guide column is disposed in the housing corresponding to the elastic member, and the backlight light source corresponding to the light guide column is electrically connected to the circuit board to provide light Shoot towards the active axis.

In addition, the present invention also provides another optical switch key, comprising: a casing, a movable shaft, an elastic member, a switch module and a shielding member. The movable shaft is movably arranged in the casing, and in response to the pressing force, the movable shaft can move up and down along the movement path between the unpressed position and the pressed position; an elastic piece is arranged in the casing, and the elastic piece is coupled to the The movable shaft, when the pressing force is removed, the elastic member returns the movable shaft to the non-pressed position; the switch module includes a circuit board, a light transmitter and a light receiver, the light transmitter and the light receiver are electrically The circuit board is connected, and the light transmitter emits a light signal, and the light signal reaches the light receiver along the light transmission path; The shielding element has a first spatial relationship with the light transmission path, and the light signal received by the light receiver is a first intensity; wherein when the movable shaft moves from the unpressed position to the pressed position due to the pressing force, the The movable shaft moves along the moving path to compress the elastic member and drive the shielding member to move, so that the shielding member and the light transmission path no longer have the first spatial relationship, so that the optical signal received by the light receiver is a second intensity, and the second intensity is different from the first intensity, so as to trigger the switch module to generate a trigger signal.

As an optional technical solution, when the movable shaft is in the unpressed position, the shielding member enters the light transmission path less, and the shielding member blocks the light signal with a low amount, and the light signal received by the optical receiver is the first intensity; wherein when the movable shaft is in the pressing position, the shielding member moves laterally away from the moving path, the shielding member enters the light transmission path part more, the shielding member blocks the light signal with a high amount, and the light The optical signal received by the receiver is the second intensity, so that the second intensity is smaller than the first intensity.

As an optional technical solution, when the movable shaft is in the unpressed position, the shielding member is located in the light transmission path, the shielding member blocks the optical signal, and the optical signal received by the optical receiver is the first optical signal. Intensity; wherein when the movable shaft is at the pressing position, the shield moves laterally away from the light transmission path, and the light signal received by the light receiver is the second intensity, so that the second intensity is greater than the first intensity strength.

As an optional technical solution, the casing is formed by combining an upper casing and a lower casing, the upper casing has a through hole and an upper engaging portion, and the movable shaft is movably inserted into the through hole for positioning In the elastic piece, the lower casing has a lower engaging portion, the lower engaging portion is used for engaging with the upper engaging portion, so that the upper casing is connected to the lower casing, and the casing further has a grating portion , the grating portion has a grating hole and the grating portion is located between the light emitter and the light receiver, the shielding member has a shielding portion, and the shielding portion selectively shields the light emitting portion relative to the movement of the movable shaft the grating hole.

In addition, the present invention also provides another optical switch key, comprising: a key cap, a support mechanism, a recovery mechanism and a switch module. The support mechanism is arranged under the keycap and supports the keycap to move up and down; the recovery mechanism is arranged under the keycap to provide a restoring force to make the keycap return to the position before pressing after pressing, and the recovery mechanism includes a casing and an elastic member, the elastic member is arranged in the casing, and the casing has a deformable part; the switch module includes a circuit board, a light transmitter and a light receiver, and the light transmitter and the light receiver are electrically connected to the circuit board , and the optical transmitter emits an optical signal corresponding to the optical receiver, wherein when the keycap is not pressed, the optical signal received by the optical receiver is the first intensity; when the keycap is pressed, the keycap drives the The support mechanism moves so that the elastic member is compressed and the support mechanism pushes against the deformable portion to move to change the light signal received by the light receiver to a second intensity, and the second intensity is different from the first intensity , to trigger the switch module to generate a trigger signal.

As an optional technical solution, the supporting mechanism includes an inner bracket and an outer bracket, the inner bracket is pivotally connected to the inner side of the outer bracket to form a scissors-type supporting mechanism, and the supporting mechanism has a protruding portion, and the protruding portion extends from the inner bracket toward the inner bracket. The inner frame extends and protrudes in the inner direction.

As an optional technical solution, when the keycap is pressed to drive the supporting mechanism to move, the protruding portion pushes against the deformable portion to move to at least partially block the optical signal, so that the second intensity is smaller than the first intensity.

As an optional technical solution, when the keycap is not pressed, the protruding portion and the deformable portion at least partially overlap in the moving direction parallel to the keycap; when the keycap is pressed, the protruding portion pushes against the keycap The deformable portion moves laterally, and the protruding portion is at least partially in contact with the deformable portion in the direction of movement perpendicular to the keycap.

As an optional technical solution, the protruding portion has a first slope, the deformable portion has a second slope, the first slope corresponds to the second slope, and when the keycap drives the support mechanism to move, the first slope is opposite to the second slope. moving on the second inclined surface, so that the deformable part moves laterally.

As an optional technical solution, the casing is formed by combining an upper casing and a lower casing, the upper casing has an upper engaging portion, and the lower casing has a lower engaging portion, and the lower engaging portion is used for The upper casing is engaged with the upper engaging portion, so that the upper casing is connected to the lower casing; the deformable portion is arranged on the lower casing; or the deformable portion is arranged on the upper casing.

As an optional technical solution, the housing further has a grating portion, the grating portion is located between the light transmitter and the light receiver, when the keycap is pressed, the support mechanism pushes against the deformable portion to move to change The relative position of the deformable part and the grating part.

Compared with the prior art, the optical switch button of the present invention uses the optical transmitter and the optical receiver as the switching signal, and achieves a fast and accurate pressing signal by changing the receiving state of the optical signal with any suitable component in the button along with the pressing stroke. , and can be applied to various key structures for portable electronic devices. Furthermore, the optical switch button of the present invention can have a grating structure to avoid interference from external light and improve operation accuracy, and can control the trigger position when pressing to reduce the trigger point error. In addition, the optical switch key of the present invention utilizes a laterally displaceable shield (or deformable portion) to selectively change the received intensity of the optical signal, so as to reduce the space requirement in the vertical direction.

The present invention is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments, but is not intended to limit the present invention.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B are exploded schematic diagrams of the optical switch button at different viewing angles according to the first embodiment of the present invention, respectively.

FIG. 1C is a schematic top view of the combination of the optical switch button of FIG. 1A without the upper casing.

FIG. 1D is a schematic cross-sectional view along the tangent line AA of FIG. 1C including the upper casing.

FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B are schematic diagrams of a lower case from different viewing angles according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2C is a schematic diagram showing the relative positions of the lower case, the light transmitter and the light receiver in FIG. 2B .

3A to 3D are schematic cross-sectional views of the optical switch key including the upper casing at different stroke positions along the tangent line BB of FIG. 1C .

FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B are exploded schematic diagrams of the optical switch button at different viewing angles according to the second embodiment of the present invention, respectively.

4C is a schematic cross-sectional view of the optical switch key according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

5A to 5D are schematic cross-sectional views of the optical switch button of FIG. 4A at different stroke positions.

FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B are exploded schematic diagrams of the optical switch button at different viewing angles according to the third embodiment of the present invention, respectively.

FIG. 6C is a schematic top view of the combination of the optical switch button of FIG. 6A without the upper casing.

FIG. 6D is a partially hollowed out perspective view of the optical switch button of FIG. 6A without showing the upper casing.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the assembly of the lower casing and the shielding member according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B are schematic partial top views of the optical switch button in the unpressed position and the pressed position, respectively.

9A and 9B are schematic partial top views of the optical switch button in the non-pressed position and the pressed position, respectively, according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an exploded schematic diagram of the optical switch key according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

11A and 11B are schematic diagrams of an upper casing and a lower casing of the optical switch key of FIG. 10 , respectively.

12A and 12B are a top view and a three-dimensional schematic view of the optical switch key of FIG. 10 without a keycap.

FIG. 13 is an exploded schematic diagram of the optical switch key according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention.

14A and 14B are schematic diagrams of the upper casing of the optical switch button of FIG. 13 from different viewing angles.

15A and 15B are a top view and a three-dimensional schematic view of the optical switch key of FIG. 13 without a keycap.

FIG. 16A and FIG. 16B are exploded schematic diagrams of the optical switch button at different viewing angles according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention, respectively.

16C is a schematic top view of the combination of the optical switch button of FIG. 16A without the upper casing.

FIG. 16D is a schematic cross-sectional view including the upper case along the tangent CC of FIG. 16C .

FIG. 17A and FIG. 17B are schematic diagrams of a lower case from different viewing angles according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 18A and 18B are schematic cross-sectional views of the optical switch button along the tangent line DD of FIG. 16C including the upper casing in the unpressed position and the pressed position.

FIG. 19A and FIG. 19B are exploded schematic diagrams of the optical switch button at different viewing angles according to the eighth embodiment of the present invention, respectively.

FIG. 19C is a schematic top view of the optical switch button of FIG. 19A with the upper casing not shown.

FIG. 19D is a schematic cross-sectional view along the tangent line EE of FIG. 19C .

FIG. 20A and FIG. 20B are schematic diagrams of the upper casing in different viewing angles according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 21A and 21B are schematic cross-sectional views of the optical switch key along the tangent line FF of FIG. 19C including the upper casing in the unpressed position and the pressed position.

FIG. 22 is an exploded schematic diagram of the optical switch key according to the ninth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a schematic diagram of the lower casing of the optical switch key of FIG. 22 .

24A and 24B are a top view and a three-dimensional schematic view of the optical switch key of FIG. 22 without a keycap.

FIG. 25 is an exploded schematic diagram of the optical switch key according to the tenth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 26 is a schematic diagram of the upper casing of the optical switch key of FIG. 25 .

27A and 27B are a top view and a three-dimensional schematic view of the optical switch key of FIG. 25 without a keycap.

Detailed ways

The present invention provides an optical switch key, which can be applied to any push-type input device (such as a keyboard), or integrated in any suitable electronic device (such as a key of a portable electronic device or a keyboard of a notebook computer) to provide fast And accurate trigger function, and suitable for a variety of key structure design. The structure and operation of each component of the optical switch key according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

1A to 5D are schematic diagrams of the first embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B are exploded schematic diagrams of the optical switch button of the first embodiment of the present invention from different viewing angles, and FIG. 1C is the optical switch button of FIG. 1A . The combined top view of the upper casing is not shown, and FIG. 1D is a schematic cross-sectional view along the tangent line AA of FIG. 1C including the upper casing. As shown in FIGS. 1A to 1D , the optical switch button 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a casing 100 , a movable shaft 130 , an elastic member 140 and a switch module 150 . The housing 100 has a deformable portion 111 . The movable shaft 130 is movably disposed on the housing 100 , and according to the pressing force, the movable shaft 130 can move up and down along the movement path between the unpressed position and the pressed position. The elastic member 140 is disposed in the housing 100, and the elastic member 140 is coupled to the movable shaft 130. After the pressing force is removed, the elastic member 140 restores the movable shaft 130 to the non-pressed position. The switch module 150 includes a circuit board 151 , an optical transmitter 152 and an optical receiver 153 . The optical transmitter 152 and the optical receiver 153 are electrically connected to the circuit board 151 , and the optical transmitter 152 transmits an optical signal, and the optical signal reaches the optical receiver 153 along the optical transmission path. When the movable shaft 130 is in the non-pressed position, the deformable portion 111 has a first spatial relationship with the optical transmission path, and the optical signal received by the optical receiver 153 has a first intensity. When the movable shaft 130 moves from the unpressed position to the pressing position in response to the pressing force, the movable shaft 130 moves along the movement path to compress the elastic member 140 and push the deformable portion 111 to move, so that the deformable portion 111 and the light transmission path are no longer With the first spatial relationship, the light signal received by the light receiver 153 has a second intensity, and the second intensity is different from the first intensity, so as to trigger the switch module 150 to generate a trigger signal.

In addition, the light switch key 10 can optionally include a backlight unit 160 for generating light to form a light-emitting key. For example, the backlight unit 160 includes a light guide rod 161 and a backlight light source 162, wherein the light guide rod 161 is disposed in the casing 100 corresponding to the elastic member 140, and the backlight light source 162 is electrically connected to the circuit board 151 corresponding to the light guide rod 161 to provide light.

The casing 100 is preferably formed by combining the upper casing 120 and the lower casing 110 to form a accommodating space inside for arranging other components of the optical switch button 10 (eg, the elastic member 140 , the light guide column 161 , etc.). In this embodiment, the upper casing 120 has a through hole 121 and an upper engaging portion 122 . The movable shaft 130 is movably inserted into the through hole 121 to position the elastic member 140 . The lower casing 110 has a lower engaging portion 112, and the lower engaging portion 112 is used for engaging with the upper engaging portion 122, so that the upper casing 120 is connected to the lower casing 110 to form the casing 100 with an accommodating space, so as to For accommodating the elastic member 140, the light guide column 161 and the like. For example, the upper engaging portion 122 is preferably a card slot formed on two opposite sides of the upper casing portion 120, and the lower engaging portion 112 is a hook corresponding to the card slot, but not limited thereto. According to practical applications, the upper engaging portion 122 can be a hook formed on the upper casing portion 120 , and the lower engaging portion 112 is a slot corresponding to the hook.

Furthermore, the casing 100 can be positioned on the lower board (eg, the circuit board 151 or the bottom plate (not shown)) by means of, for example, clamping, locking, adhering, and supporting. In this embodiment, the casing 100 is preferably disposed on the circuit board 151, but not limited thereto. In other embodiments, when the casing 100 is disposed on the bottom plate, the circuit board 151 can be selectively disposed above or below the bottom plate according to practical applications. In one embodiment, the housing 100 is preferably positioned on the circuit board 151 by a positioning mechanism. For example, the lower housing 110 may have positioning posts 113 , and the circuit board 151 may have insertion holes 154 corresponding to the positioning posts 113 , so that the housing 100 can be fixed to the circuit by inserting the positioning posts 113 of the lower housing 110 into the insertion holes 154 board 151, but not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the positions of the positioning posts and the sockets can also be interchanged according to practical applications.

The through hole 121 of the upper casing 120 preferably has a shape corresponding to the top of the movable shaft 130 , so that the movable shaft 130 can movably pass through the through hole 121 of the upper casing 120 from below the upper casing 120 , and the movable shaft 130 The top of it protrudes from the through hole 121 . The movable shaft 130 preferably has an acting portion 131 , an actuating portion 132 , a limiting portion 133 and an engaging portion 134 . For example, the movable shaft 130 is preferably sleeve-shaped, the action portion 131 , the actuating portion 132 and the limiting portion 133 are preferably disposed along the periphery of the lower end of the movable shaft 130 , and the engaging portion 134 is preferably disposed on the top of the movable shaft 130 .

Specifically, the acting portion 131 protrudes along a movement path (eg, a path parallel to the Z-axis direction) and corresponds to the deformable portion 111 . For example, the acting portion 131 can be a protruding post or a protruding block extending downward along the Z-axis direction to correspond to the deformable portion 111 of the housing 100 . In one embodiment, the acting portion 131 preferably has a first inclined surface 1311 . In this embodiment, the first inclined surface 1311 is preferably formed at the free end (ie, the lower end) of the acting portion 131 and inclined inward along the movement path. For example, the first inclined surface 1311 preferably extends downward along the Z-axis direction and is inclined toward the inner side of the movable shaft 130 . The actuating portion 132 is disposed corresponding to the extending arm 143 of the elastic member 140 , and the actuating portion 132 is preferably in the form of a bump (eg, an angular block) for interfering with the extending arm 143 of the elastic member 140 to provide a pressing feel. The limiting portion 133 is preferably a cylinder protruding radially from both sides of the movable shaft 130 , so that the distance between the two cylinders is greater than the diameter of the through hole 121 of the upper casing 120 , thereby preventing the movable shaft 130 from The lower casing 110 is disengaged from the upper casing 120 when moving in the through hole 121 . The engaging portion 134 can be, for example, a cross-shaped engaging post formed on the top of the movable shaft 130 for engaging with a key cap (not shown), but not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the engaging portion 134 may be in other forms (eg, engaging holes, bumps) to engage or abut with the keycap.

In this embodiment, the elastic member 140 preferably includes a spring body 141 , a positioning portion 142 and an extension arm 143 , and the positioning portion 142 is connected to the spring body 141 and the extension arm 143 . For example, the positioning portion 142 and the extending arm 143 are preferably formed by bending a rod body extending from one end (eg, the lower end) of the spring body 141 , and the positioning portion 142 and the extending arm 143 serve as the elastic feel of the optical switch button 10 . items, but not limited thereto. In this embodiment, the positioning portion 142 preferably extends horizontally from one end of the spring body 141 , and then is bent substantially upward in the Z-axis direction, and the extending arm 143 is bent and extended relative to the positioning portion 142 . In this embodiment, the included angle between the extension arm 143 and the positioning portion 142 is preferably not greater than 120 degrees. In another embodiment, the elastic member 140 may be implemented as a spring structure having only the spring body 141 without including the positioning portion 142 and the extension arm 143 , and the light switch button 10 may additionally include a feel elastic member (eg, an elastic member) separate from the spring body 141 . torsion spring) to provide a pressing feel corresponding to the actuating portion 132 of the movable shaft 130 . In another embodiment, the elastic member 140 may only have the spring body 141 , and the optical switch button 10 may not provide a feel elastic member, so the movable shaft 130 may not include the corresponding actuating portion 132 . In addition, in this embodiment, although the elastic member 140 is implemented in the form of a spring, it is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the elastic member 140 can be implemented as an elastic body, and is located between the lower casing 110 and the movable shaft 130 to provide a restoring force after pressing.

2A and 2B together, the structural details of the lower case 110 and the arrangement relationship of each component in the lower case 110 will be described in detail. Corresponding to the elastic member 140 , the lower case 110 further has a positioning portion 114 such that the spring body 141 can be positioned at the positioning portion 114 . For example, the positioning portion 114 is an annular wall extending and protruding from the bottom of the lower casing 110 toward the upper casing 120 , so that one end of the spring body 141 can be sleeved on the annular wall, and the other end of the spring body 141 abuts the movable shaft 130 so that the top of the movable shaft 130 protrudes from the through hole 121 of the upper casing 120 . Thereby, a pressing force is applied to the key cap, so that when the movable shaft 130 moves from the unpressed position toward the lower casing 110 to the pressed position, the movable shaft 130 compresses the spring body 141 . When the pressing force is released, the spring body 141 can provide an elastic restoring force so that the movable shaft 130 moves to a non-pressed position in a direction away from the lower case 110 . Furthermore, the lower casing 110 preferably further has a limiting portion 115 corresponding to the positioning portion 142 of the elastic member 140 . The positioning portion 142 is positioned on the lower casing 110 by the limiting portion 115 , and the extending arm 143 extends corresponding to the actuating portion 132 . The limiting portion 115 preferably corresponds to the upper section of the positioning portion 142 (ie, the upright portion adjacent to the extending arm 143 ), so as to limit the displacement of the positioning portion 142 . Specifically, when the spring body 141 is sleeved on the positioning portion 114 of the lower housing 110 , the positioning portion 142 of the elastic member 140 preferably extends horizontally to the limiting portion 115 , so that the upright upper section of the positioning portion 142 passes through the limiting portion. 115 is positioned, and the extension arm 143 extends below the actuating portion 132 relative to the positioning portion 142 . For example, the limiting portion 115 can be a groove formed on the wall of the lower casing 110 , or a wall on which the connecting portion of the positioning portion 142 and the extension arm 143 can bear. In addition, the lower case 110 may optionally further have a striking portion 116 . When the movable shaft 130 moves toward the lower housing 110 in response to the pressing force, the actuating portion 132 is displaced relative to the extension arm 143 along with the downward movement of the movable shaft 130 , so that the user's fingers first feel greater resistance, and then the extension arm When the 143 is released from the pressing force of the actuating portion 132 , the resistance felt by the user's fingers is greatly reduced, which provides the user with a tactile sense of step difference, and the extension arm 143 can generate sound by rebounding and hitting the striking portion 116 . When the pressing force is released, the elastic body 141 provides a restoring force so that the movable shaft 130 moves upward, which drives the actuating portion 132 to move upward, and the extension arm 143 slides downward relative to the actuating portion 132 to return to the original position.

In addition, the lower case 110 preferably has an accommodating portion 1141 corresponding to the backlight unit 160 . For example, the accommodating portion 1141 may be a space surrounded by an annular wall serving as the positioning portion 114 for accommodating the light guide rod 161 . That is, the light guide rod 161 is disposed on the inner side of the positioning portion 114 , and the spring body 141 is sleeved on the outer side of the positioning portion 114 . Furthermore, an opening is preferably formed at the bottom of the lower casing 110 corresponding to the accommodating portion 1141 , and the light source 162 is correspondingly disposed below the light guide rod 161 to emit light toward the light guide rod 161 . In this embodiment, the light source 161 is preferably a light emitting diode, but not limited thereto.

As shown in the figure, in this embodiment, the deformable portion 111 is disposed on the lower casing 110 to correspond to the action portion 131 of the movable shaft 130 . Specifically, the deformable portion 111 is an elastic arm disposed on the lower casing 110 , so that the deformable portion 111 can be displaced (or elastically deformed) in response to the movement of the action portion 131 , thereby changing the relative relation of the deformable portion 111 to the light emitting portion. The spatial relationship (or relative position) of the light transmission path between the light receiving part 152 and the light receiving part 153 is used to trigger the switch unit 150 to generate a trigger signal. In this embodiment, the deformable portion 111 is preferably integrally formed with the lower casing 110 . For example, the bottom of the lower case 110 has an opening 117 , and the deformable portion 111 extends from a wall surface on one side adjacent to the opening 117 toward the opposite side of the opening 117 . In other words, the deformable portion 111 is preferably disposed in the opening 117 , and one end of the deformable portion 111 is connected to the wall portion of the lower casing 110 that defines the opening 117 , and the opposite end of the deformable portion 111 is a free space located in the opening 117 . end. The deformable portion 111 is preferably substantially parallel to the bottom of the lower case 110 and extends horizontally in the opening 117 , so that the deformable portion 111 has an axis L extending horizontally. In other words, the horizontally extending axis L is preferably the long axis from the connecting end to the free end of the deformable portion 111 . In this embodiment, the deformable portion 111 is preferably an L-shaped elastic arm including a connecting portion 1112 and a shielding portion 1113 , wherein the long axis of the L-shaped elastic arm is preferably parallel to the connecting portion 1112 at the bottom of the lower casing 110 , L The short axis of the shaped extension arm is the shielding portion 1113 protruding from the free end of the deformable portion 111 toward the bottom of the lower casing 110 . In other words, one end of the connecting portion 1112 of the deformable portion 111 is connected to the lower case 110 , and the other end of the connecting portion 1112 is connected to the shielding portion 1113 .

It should be noted here that in this embodiment, although the shielding portion 1113 is shown extending downward from the connecting portion 1112 , it is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, according to practical applications, the shielding portion 1113 may extend upward from the connecting portion 1112 . Furthermore, in this embodiment, although the connecting portion 1112 is shown as a connecting arm extending linearly parallel to the bottom of the lower casing 110 , it is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, according to practical applications, the connecting portion 1112 can be a rod-shaped portion or an arm-shaped portion having any suitable shape, so as to serve as a support arm for the elastic deformation (or displacement) of the deformable portion 111 . In addition, as shown in FIG. 2C , the light transmitter 152 and the light receiver 153 are preferably disposed on opposite sides of the shielding portion 1113 of the deformable portion 111 , and are preferably located below the connecting portion 1112 , so that the deformable portion 111 is deformed During displacement, the light transmitter 152 (or the light receiver 153 ) will not hinder the lateral displacement of the connecting portion 1112 and the shielding portion 1113 .

In this embodiment, the deformable portion 111 preferably has a second inclined surface 1111 to correspond to the first inclined surface 1311 of the acting portion 131, so that when the movable shaft 130 moves along the movement path, the first inclined surface 1311 moves relative to the second inclined surface 1111, to move the deformable portion 111 laterally. Specifically, the second inclined surface 1111 is preferably the inner side surface of the shielding portion 1113 (ie, the side surface facing the direction of the movable shaft 130 ), and extends downward along the Z-axis direction and slopes outward, so that the second inclined surface 1111 corresponds to The first slope 1311.

Furthermore, the housing 100 preferably further has a grating portion 118 . The grating portion 118 has a grating hole 1181 and the grating portion 118 is located between the light transmitter 152 and the light receiver 153 . Specifically, in this embodiment, the grating portion 118 is disposed on the lower casing 110 , and the grating portion 118 is disposed corresponding to the light transmitter 152 or the light receiver 153 to define the stroke of pressing the keycap to generate the trigger signal. That is, the grating portion 118 may be a gate grating structure with grating holes 1181 , preferably disposed between the light transmitter 152 and the light receiver 153 and the grating portion 118 is adjacent to the transmitting end of the light transmitter 152 or the light receiver 153 . Receiving end. The grating portion 118 can control the trigger position of pressing by controlling the size and corresponding position of the grating hole 1181 , thereby reducing the trigger error. For example, the possible trigger error when pressing is about the thickness of the light transmitter 152 or the light receiver 153 , which can be reduced by correspondingly controlling the size of the grating hole 1181 to be smaller than the thickness of the light transmitter 152 or the light receiver 153 trigger error. In one embodiment, the grating portion 118 of the lower casing 110 is disposed adjacent to the optical receiver 153, so that the optical signal is not easily disturbed by external light at the receiving end, and the possibility of false triggering is more effectively reduced, but this is not the case. limit. According to practical applications, in accordance with the design of the circuit board 151 , the positions of the light transmitter 152 and the light receiver 153 can be interchanged, so that the grating portion 118 is adjacent to the light transmitter 152 . Furthermore, corresponding to the grating portion 118 , the deformable portion 111 is located on one side of the grating portion 118 , so that when the deformable portion 111 deforms and displaces relative to the lower casing 110 in response to the movement of the acting portion 131 , the deformable portion 111 selectively changes the relationship with the grating. The relative position of the hole 1181 changes the intensity of the optical signal received by the optical receiver 153 . For example, the width and length of the shielding portion 1113 of the deformable portion 111 are preferably greater than or equal to the width and length of the grating hole 1181 , so that when the deformable portion 111 is displaced in response to the movement of the acting portion 131 , the shielding portion 1113 can selectively Block the grating hole 1181 .

The light transmitter 152 and the light receiver 153 are disposed on the circuit board 151 and are electrically connected to the circuit board 151 . Specifically, the circuit board 151 preferably has a switch circuit, and the optical transmitter 152 and the optical receiver 153 are electrically connected to the switch circuit of the circuit board 151, so that the optical transmitter 152 can transmit an optical signal toward the optical receiver 153, and when When the intensity of the optical signal received by the optical receiver 153 changes, the trigger switch module 150 generates a trigger signal. For example, the light transmitter 152 can be any transmitter that can emit light signals having a suitable wavelength, and the light signals emitted by the light transmitter 152 can include electromagnetic waves, infrared light, or visible light. Optical receiver 153 is any suitable receiver that can receive the corresponding optical signal. The light transmitter 152 and the light receiver 153 are preferably arranged in a straight line, so that the light transmission path is a straight path. The circuit board 151 preferably has an escape space 155 , and the escape space 155 communicates with the opening 117 . When the movable shaft 130 is in the pressing position, the distal end of the action portion 131 preferably enters the avoidance space 155, so as to increase the pressing stroke and increase the operating feel. For example, the escape space 155 can be an escape groove (or escape hole) formed on the circuit board 151 , and the light transmitter 152 and the light receiver 153 are disposed on opposite sides of the escape groove.

In addition, corresponding to the setting of the backlight light source 162 , the circuit board 151 preferably has a light source circuit for driving the backlight light source 162 . The backlight light source 162 can be disposed on the circuit board 151 and electrically connected to the light source circuit of the circuit board 151 , so as to provide light entering the light guide column 161 and then emitting from the keycap of the optical switch button 10 . In one embodiment, the backlight light source 162 is preferably a light emitting diode, and the wavelength of the light emitted by the backlight light source 162 is preferably different from the wavelength of the light signal emitted by the light emitter 152 to reduce interference, but not limited thereto.

The operation of the optical switch button 10 of FIG. 1A will be described later with reference to FIGS. 3A to 3D , wherein FIGS. 3A to 3D are schematic cross-sectional views of the optical switch button 10 including the upper casing 120 at different stroke positions along the tangent BB of FIG. 1C , for example 3A, 3B, 3C and 3D are schematic cross-sectional views of the optical switch button 10 at the unpressed position, the contact position between the action portion 131 and the deformable portion 111, the trigger position and the lowest position, respectively. As shown in FIG. 3A , when the movable shaft 130 is in the unpressed position, the action portion 131 preferably at least partially overlaps the deformable portion 111 in a direction parallel to the movement path. For example, when the movable shaft 130 is in the unpressed position, the action portion 131 and the deformable portion 111 preferably at least partially overlap in the Z-axis direction, that is, the vertical projection of the action portion 131 and the deformable portion 111 on the lower casing 110 at least Partially overlapping. Furthermore, when the movable shaft 130 is in the unpressed position, the deformable portion 111 has a first spatial relationship with the light transmission path, and the light signal received by the light receiver 153 has a first intensity. In this embodiment, when the movable shaft 130 is in the unpressed position, the portion of the deformable portion 111 entering the light transmission path is less, the amount of the light signal blocked by the deformable portion 111 is low, and the light signal received by the light receiver 153 is less The first strength is stronger. For example, when the movable shaft 130 is in the unpressed position, the horizontal extension axis L of the deformable portion 111 preferably does not pass through the grating hole 1181 , that is, the deformable portion 111 is preferably located at the light emitter 152 , the grating hole 1181 and the light One side of the virtual connection line (ie, the optical transmission path) of the receiver 153, so that the optical signal emitted by the optical transmitter 152 is preferably received by the optical receiver 153 without being blocked by the deformable portion 111, so that the optical signal strength is relatively Stronger (eg unblocked/attenuated optical signal strength).

As shown in FIG. 3B to FIG. 3D , when the movable shaft 130 moves from the non-pressed position to the pressed position in response to the pressing force, the movable shaft 130 moves along the movement path to compress the elastic member 140 and push the deformable portion 111 to move, so that the movable shaft 130 can move. The deformation portion 111 and the optical transmission path no longer have the first spatial relationship, so that the optical signal received by the optical receiver 153 has the second intensity, and the second intensity is different from the first intensity, so as to trigger the switch module 150 to generate the trigger signal. In other words, when the movable shaft 130 moves to the pressing position toward the bottom of the lower housing 110 along the movement path, the action part 131 pushes against the deformable part 111 to move, so as to change the spatial relationship between the deformable part 111 and the light transmission path, thereby changing the light The intensity of the light signal received by the receiver 153 is used to trigger the switch module 150 to generate a trigger signal. In this embodiment, the first spatial relationship represents that the deformable portion 111 is far away from the light transmission path, and the deformable portion 111 does not substantially change the intensity of the optical signal received by the light receiver 153 . When the deformable portion 111 no longer has the first spatial relationship with the light transmission path, it means that the deformable portion 111 enters the light transmission path, and the deformable portion 111 attenuates the intensity of the optical signal received by the light receiver 153 so that the second intensity is less than The first intensity is used to trigger the switch module 150 to generate a trigger signal.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3B , when the keycap is pressed to drive the movable shaft 130 to move toward the bottom of the lower housing 110 , the action portion 131 moves downward along the movement path with the movable shaft 130 , so that the action portion 131 moves downward along the movement path. The distal end (ie, the lower end) abuts the deformable portion 111 . For example, the acting portion 131 and the deformable portion 111 at least partially overlap in a direction parallel to the motion path (eg, the Z-axis direction), that is, the deformable portion 111 is partially located on the motion path of the acting portion 131, so the acting portion 131 is downward When moving, the distal end (eg, the first inclined surface 1311 ) of the acting portion 131 abuts against the top end (eg, the second inclined surface 1111 ) of the deformable portion 111 .

As shown in FIG. 3C , when the movable shaft 130 continues to move toward the bottom of the lower casing 110 along the movement path to the trigger position, the first inclined surface 1311 of the acting part 131 moves relative to the second inclined surface 1111 of the deformable part 111 , so that the The deformable portion 111 moves laterally to change the spatial relationship between the deformable portion 111 and the light transmission path, thereby changing the intensity of the light signal received by the light receiver 153 to trigger the switch module 150 to generate a trigger signal. For example, when the movable shaft 130 continues to move toward the bottom of the lower housing 110 along the motion path to the trigger position, the deformable portion 111 moves laterally away from the motion path, the deformable portion 111 enters the light transmission path more, and the deformable portion 111 enters the light transmission path more. The amount of the optical signal blocked by 111 is relatively high, and the optical signal received by the optical receiver 153 has a relatively small second intensity (ie, the second intensity is smaller than the first intensity), so as to trigger the switch module 150 to generate a trigger signal. Specifically, in this embodiment, when the action portion 131 moves downwards in contact with the deformable portion 111 , the action portion 131 and the deformable portion 111 at least partially contact in the direction of the vertical movement path, that is, the first inclined surface 1311 contacts the second inclined surface 1111 moves downward relative to the second inclined surface 1111 and generates a lateral component force to push the deformable portion 111 to move laterally in a direction away from the action portion 131 , for example, to move toward the light transmission path. In one embodiment, when the deformable portion 111 moves laterally away from the moving path, the horizontal extension axis L preferably passes through the grating hole 1181 , so that the deformable portion 111 substantially completely blocks the light signal (ie, the light receiving portion) emitted by the light emitter 152 . The optical signal is not received by the device 153, and the second intensity is zero). It should be noted here that by changing the circuit design of the circuit board 151 , the switch module 150 can generate a trigger signal according to the change in the amount of light received by the optical receiver 153 , and can also generate a trigger signal according to whether the optical receiver 153 has received the optical signal. Generate a trigger signal.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3D , when the movable shaft 130 is at the pressing position (eg, the lowest position), the distal end of the acting portion 131 protrudes beyond the deformable portion 111 and enters the avoidance space 155 . Specifically, when the movable shaft 130 continues to move downward from the trigger position to the lowest position, the action portion 131 protrudes from the bottom of the lower case 110 through the opening 117 and enters the avoidance space 155 of the circuit board 151 , so that the pressing stroke Increase and improve the operating feel. After the pressing force is released, the movable shaft 130 can return to the unpressed position as shown in FIG. 3A by the restoring force provided by the elastic member 140 (ie, the spring body 141 ), and drives the deformable portion 111 to return to the original position.

4A to FIG. 5D are schematic diagrams of the second embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B are exploded schematic diagrams of the optical switch button of the second embodiment of the present invention from different viewing angles, and FIG. 4C is the second embodiment of the present invention. Cross-sectional schematic diagram of the optical switch button. As shown in FIG. 4A to FIG. 4C , the optical switch button 10 ′ according to the second embodiment of the present invention includes a casing 100 ′, a movable shaft 130 , an elastic member 140 and a switch module 150 , and the optical switch button 10 ′ can optionally further The backlight unit 160 is included. The difference between the optical switch key 10' of FIG. 4A and the optical switch key 10 of FIG. 1A is that the lower casing 110' does not have the deformable part 111, but the deformable part 123 is provided on the upper casing 120'. Therefore, the structural details and connection relationships of the remaining components of the optical switch key 10' (such as the movable shaft 130, the elastic member 140, the switch module 150, the backlight unit 160, etc.), and the corresponding structural details of the housing 100' and the housing 100, Reference may be made to the related description of the optical switch button 10 of the first embodiment, which will not be repeated here. Next, the differences between this embodiment and the first embodiment will be emphatically described.

In this embodiment, the casing 100' is formed by combining the upper casing 120' and the lower casing 110', and the deformable portion 123 is preferably an elastic arm extending downward from the lower surface of the upper casing 120', and can be The deformation portion 123 corresponds to the opening 117 of the lower casing 110'. Specifically, the deformable portion 123 is preferably an L-shaped elastic arm including a connecting portion 1232 and a shielding portion 1233 , wherein one end of the connecting portion 1232 of the deformable portion 123 is connected to the upper casing 120 ′, and the other end of the connecting portion 1232 is connected to the upper casing 120 ′. The shielding portion 1233 is connected. Specifically, the connecting portion 1232 preferably extends parallel to the motion path of the acting portion 131 and does not interfere with the motion path, while the shielding portion 1233 is the free end of the deformable portion 123 , preferably parallel to the end of the connecting portion 1232 . The bottom surface of the lower case 110' extends. The shielding portion 1233 preferably corresponds to the action portion 131 and is located in the opening 117 of the lower casing 110' (or above the opening 117), that is, the projection of the shielding portion 1233 on the lower casing 110' is located in the opening 117. Furthermore, the width and length of the shielding portion 1233 are preferably greater than or equal to the width and length of the grating hole 1181 , so that when the deformable portion 123 is displaced in response to the movement of the action portion 131 , the shielding portion 1233 can selectively shield the grating hole 1181 . It should be noted here that in this embodiment, although the deformable portion 123 is shown as an L-shaped elastic arm including the connecting portion 1232 and the shielding portion 1233 , it is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, according to practical applications, the deformable portion 123 can be an elastic arm having any suitable shape, so that the deformable portion 123 has a free end corresponding to the action portion 131 and a connection end connected to the upper casing 120 ′, and is free The end can be displaced (or elastically deformed) relative to the connection end by being pushed by the acting portion 131 .

Furthermore, the deformable portion 123 preferably has a second inclined surface 1231 corresponding to the first inclined surface 1311 of the acting portion 131 . Specifically, the second inclined surface 1231 is preferably the inner surface of the shielding portion 1233 (ie, the side surface facing the direction of the movable axis 130 ), and the second inclined surface 1231 extends downward along the Z-axis direction and is inclined outward, so that the second inclined surface 1231 is The inclined surface 1231 corresponds to the first inclined surface 1311 .

The operation of the optical switch button 10 ′ in FIG. 4A will be described later with reference to FIGS. 5A to 5D , wherein FIG. 5A , FIG. 5B , FIG. 5C and FIG. 5D show the optical switch button 10 ′ in the unpressed position, the action portion 131 and the deformable button, respectively. A schematic cross-sectional view of the contact position, the trigger position and the lowest position of the part 123 . As shown in FIG. 5A , when the movable shaft 130 is in the unpressed position, the acting portion 131 preferably at least partially overlaps the deformable portion 123 in a direction parallel to the movement path. For example, when the movable shaft 130 is in the unpressed position, the acting portion 131 and the shielding portion 1233 of the deformable portion 123 preferably at least partially overlap in the Z-axis direction. The vertical projections of ' overlap at least partially. Furthermore, when the movable shaft 130 is in the unpressed position, the deformable portion 123 has a first spatial relationship with the light transmission path, and the light signal received by the light receiver 153 has a first intensity. In this embodiment, when the movable shaft 130 is in the non-pressed position, the shielding portion 1233 of the deformable portion 123 enters the light transmission path less, the amount of the light signal blocked by the deformable portion 123 is low, and the light received by the light receiver 153 The first intensity of the optical signal is stronger. For example, when the movable shaft 130 is in the unpressed position, the horizontal extension axis of the shielding portion 1233 (ie, the extension axis substantially parallel to the direction of the light transmission path) preferably does not pass through the grating hole 1181 , that is, the deformable portion 123 is preferably It is located on one side of the virtual connection line (ie, the optical transmission path) of the optical transmitter 152 , the grating hole 1181 and the optical receiver 153 , so that the optical signal emitted by the optical transmitter 152 is preferably not blocked by the deformable portion 123 Receiver 153 receives such that the optical signal strength is relatively strong (eg, unblocked/attenuated optical signal strength).

As shown in FIG. 5B to FIG. 5D , when the movable shaft 130 moves from the unpressed position to the pressing position in response to the pressing force, the movable shaft 130 moves along the movement path to compress the elastic member 140 and push against the deformable portion 123 to move, so that the movable shaft 130 can move. The deformation portion 123 and the optical transmission path no longer have the first spatial relationship, so that the optical signal received by the optical receiver 153 has the second intensity, and the second intensity is different from the first intensity, so as to trigger the switch module 150 to generate the trigger signal. In other words, when the movable shaft 130 moves to the pressing position along the movement path toward the bottom of the lower casing 110 ′, the action portion 131 pushes against the deformable portion 123 to move, so as to change the spatial relationship between the deformable portion 123 and the light transmission path, and then change the The intensity of the light signal received by the light receiver 153 is used to trigger the switch module 150 to generate a trigger signal. In this embodiment, the first spatial relationship represents that the shielding portion 1233 of the deformable portion 123 is far away from the light transmission path, and the shielding portion 1233 of the deformable portion 123 does not substantially change the intensity of the optical signal received by the optical receiver 153 . When the shielding portion 1233 of the deformable portion 123 no longer has the first spatial relationship with the light transmission path, it means that the shielding portion 1233 of the deformable portion 123 enters the light transmission path, and the deformable portion 123 attenuates the light received by the light receiver 153 The signal strength is such that the second strength is smaller than the first strength, so as to trigger the switch module 150 to generate a trigger signal.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5B , when the keycap is pressed to drive the movable shaft 130 to move toward the bottom of the lower housing 110 ′, the action portion 131 moves downward along the movement path with the movable shaft 130 , so that the action portion 131 moves downward along the movement path. The end (ie the lower end) of the deformable portion 123 abuts against the shielding portion 1233 of the deformable portion 123 . For example, the action portion 131 and the shielding portion 1233 of the deformable portion 123 at least partially overlap in a direction parallel to the movement path (eg, the Z-axis direction), that is, the shielding portion 1233 of the deformable portion 123 is partially located in the movement path of the action portion 131 Therefore, when the action portion 131 moves downward, the end of the action portion 131 (eg, the first slope 1311 ) abuts the top end (eg, the second slope 1231 ) of the shielding portion 1233 of the deformable portion 123 .

As shown in FIG. 5C , when the movable shaft 130 continues to move toward the bottom of the lower housing 110 ′ to the trigger position along the motion path, the first inclined surface 1311 of the acting part 131 moves relative to the second inclined surface 1231 of the deformable part 123 to The deformable portion 123 is moved laterally to change the spatial relationship between the deformable portion 123 and the light transmission path, thereby changing the intensity of the light signal received by the light receiver 153 to trigger the switch module 150 to generate a trigger signal. For example, when the movable shaft 130 continues to move toward the bottom of the lower housing 110' along the motion path to the trigger position, the shielding portion 1233 of the deformable portion 123 moves laterally away from the motion path, and the shielding portion 1233 of the deformable portion 123 enters the There are many parts of the optical transmission path, the amount of the optical signal blocked by the deformable part 123 is high, and the optical signal received by the optical receiver 153 has a relatively small second intensity (that is, the second intensity is smaller than the first intensity) to trigger the switch module. 150 generates a trigger signal. Specifically, when the action portion 131 abuts against the shielding portion 1233 of the deformable portion 123 and moves downward, the action portion 131 and the shielding portion 1233 of the deformable portion 123 at least partially contact in the direction perpendicular to the movement path (eg, the Y-axis direction), For example, the first inclined surface 1311 contacts the second inclined surface 1231 and moves downward relative to the second inclined surface 1231 and generates a lateral component force to push the deformable portion 123 to move laterally in a direction away from the acting portion 131 , such as toward the light transmission path move. In one embodiment, when the deformable portion 123 moves laterally away from the moving path, the horizontal extension axis of the shielding portion 1233 preferably passes through the grating hole 1181 , so that the deformable portion 123 substantially completely blocks the light signal emitted by the light emitter 152 ( That is, the optical receiver 153 does not receive the optical signal, and the second intensity is zero).

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5D , when the movable shaft 130 is in the pressing position, the distal end of the action portion 131 protrudes beyond the deformable portion 123 and enters the avoidance space 155 of the circuit board 151 . Specifically, when the movable shaft 130 continues to move downward from the trigger position to the lowest position, the action portion 131 protrudes from the bottom of the lower case 110 ′ through the opening 117 and enters the avoidance space 155 of the circuit board 151 , so that the pressing The stroke is increased to improve the operating feel. After the pressing force is released, the movable shaft 130 can return to the unpressed position as shown in FIG. 5A by the restoring force provided by the elastic member 140 (ie, the spring body 141 ), and drives the deformable portion 123 to return to the original position.

It should be noted here that in the foregoing embodiments, although the deformable portion (eg, 111 or 123 ) is pushed into the light transmission path by the acting portion 131 as an example, it is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the design of the deformable portion 111 or 123 and the action portion 131 can be changed, so that when the movable shaft 130 is in the unpressed position, the deformable portion 111 or 123 enters and blocks a large amount of light signal, and the movable shaft 130 is moved. When the shaft 130 is in the pressing position, the deformable portion 111 or 123 is pushed by the action portion 131 and displaced laterally, so that the amount of the light signal blocked by the deformable portion 111 or 123 is less, and the intensity of the light signal received by the light receiver 153 is increased. If the intensity is stronger (ie, the second intensity is greater than the first intensity), the trigger switch module 150 generates a trigger signal. Furthermore, in the aforementioned embodiment, the deformable portion 111 or 123 is preferably formed integrally with the lower casing 110 or the upper casing 120', but is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the deformable portion 111 or 123 may be disposed on the lower casing 110 or the upper casing 120' by suitable joining means (eg, adhering, clamping, locking, etc.).

6A to 8B are schematic diagrams of a third embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIGS. 6A and 6B are exploded schematic diagrams of the optical switch button of the third embodiment of the present invention from different viewing angles, and FIG. 6C is a schematic diagram of the optical switch button of FIG. 6A A schematic top view of the combination of the upper casing is shown, and FIG. 6D is a schematic perspective view of the partial hollowing out of the optical switch button of FIG. 6A without showing the upper casing. As shown in FIGS. 6A to 6D , the optical switch button 20 according to the third embodiment of the present invention includes a casing 200 , a movable shaft 130 , an elastic member 140 , a switch module 150 and a shielding member 170 . The movable shaft 130 is movably disposed on the housing 200 , and in response to the pressing force, the movable shaft 130 can move up and down along the movement path between the unpressed position and the pressed position. The elastic member 140 is disposed in the housing 200 , and the elastic member 140 is coupled to the movable shaft 130 . After the pressing force is removed, the elastic member 140 restores the movable shaft 130 to the unpressed position. The switch module 150 includes a circuit board 151 , an optical transmitter 152 and an optical receiver 153 . The optical transmitter 152 and the optical receiver 153 are electrically connected to the circuit board 151 , and the optical transmitter 152 transmits an optical signal, and the optical signal reaches the optical receiver 153 along the optical transmission path. The shielding member 170 is disposed on the housing 200. When the movable shaft 130 is in the unpressed position, the shielding member 170 has a first spatial relationship with the light transmission path, and the light signal received by the light receiver 153 has a first intensity; When the 130 moves from the unpressed position to the pressed position in response to the pressing force, the movable shaft 130 moves along the movement path to compress the elastic member 140 and drive the shielding member 170 to move, so that the shielding member 170 and the light transmission path no longer have the first spatial relationship, The light signal received by the light receiver 153 is made to have the second intensity, and the second intensity is different from the first intensity, so as to trigger the switch module 150 to generate the trigger signal.

It should be noted here that, similar to the foregoing embodiments, the light switch button 20 can optionally further include a backlight unit 160 including a light guide column 161 and a backlight light source 162 , and the movable shaft 130 , the elastic member 140 , and the switch module of the light switch button 20 150 and the backlight unit 160 may have the same or similar structural details and connection relationships as the foregoing embodiments (eg, the optical switch buttons 10 and 10 ′), and reference may be made to the relevant descriptions of the foregoing embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

In this embodiment, the casing 200 is formed by combining the upper casing 120 and the lower casing 210 , and the shielding member 170 is disposed in the lower casing 210 . It should be noted here that the structural details of the upper casing 120 (eg, the through hole 121 and the upper engaging portion 122 ) and some structural details of the lower casing 210 (eg the lower engaging portion 112 , the positioning post 113 , the positioning portion 114 , the For the positioning portion 1141 , the limiting portion 115 , the opening 117 , etc.), reference may be made to the relevant description of the embodiment in FIG. 1A , and details are not described herein again. 7 , the structural details of the shielding member 170 and the connection relationship between the shielding member 170 and the lower casing 210 will be emphatically described. As shown in FIGS. 6C to 6D and FIG. 7 , the shielding member 170 is preferably in the form of an elastic sheet, such as a metal elastic sheet or a plastic elastic sheet. In one embodiment, the shielding member 170 includes a positioning portion 171 , a force-receiving portion 172 and a shielding portion 173 , wherein the positioning portion 171 and the force-bearing portion 172 are disposed at opposite ends of the shielding member 170 , and the shielding portion 173 is connected to the force-bearing portion 172 . . The positioning portion 171 is used for connecting the lower casing 210 to position the shielding member 170 on the lower casing 210 . Specifically, the positioning portion 171 is located at the connecting end of the shielding member 170 , and the force receiving portion 172 and the shielding portion 173 are located at the free end of the shielding member 170 . The force receiving portion 172 corresponds to the action portion 131 of the movable shaft 130 , and moves relative to the action portion 131 in response to the up and down movement of the movable shaft 130 , thereby changing the spatial relationship (or relative position) of the shielding portion 173 and the light transmission path. For example, in this embodiment, the shielding member 170 can be formed by bending a metal sheet similar to a T shape, wherein the horizontal top of the T-shaped metal dome is bent into an L shape, and its opposite ends are the positioning portion 171 and the The force receiving portion 172 is adjacent to the adjacent two sides of the lower casing 210 . That is, the positioning portion 171 and the force receiving portion 172 are connected in an arc shape or an L shape. The upright lower part of the T-shaped metal dome serves as the shielding portion 173 , and the shielding portion 173 is preferably connected below the force-receiving portion 172 .

Corresponding to the positioning portion 171 of the shielding member 170 , the lower casing 210 has locking grooves 211 a and 211 b. Further, the force receiving portion 172 and the shielding portion 173 form free ends that can move or bend and deform relative to the positioning portion 171 . Corresponding to the acting portion 131 , the force receiving portion 172 preferably has an inclined surface 1721 , so that the acting portion 131 can move along the inclined surface 1721 to drive the force receiving portion 172 and the shielding portion 173 to move. In this embodiment, the inclined surface 1721 is preferably disposed on the top of the force receiving portion 172 , and is inclined and extends downward from the direction toward the acting portion 131 . Furthermore, the shielding portion 173 is preferably at least partially bent and extended relative to the force receiving portion 172 , so that at least part of the shielding portion 173 can selectively interfere with the light transmission path. For example, the shielding portion 173 is at least partially bent and extended toward the acting portion 131 , so that when the force receiving portion 172 is driven by the acting portion 131 to move relatively, the force receiving portion 172 drives the shielding portion 173 into or away from the light transmission path. In another embodiment, according to practical applications, the shielding portion 173 can be designed to at least partially bend and extend in a direction away from the action portion 131 . In addition, in this embodiment, although the shielding member 170 is bent so that the positioning portion 171 and the force receiving portion 172 correspond to the adjacent two sides of the lower casing 210 , it is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the positioning portion 171 and the force-receiving portion 172 of the shielding member 170 may be arranged in a straight line, that is, the positioning portion 171 and the force-bearing portion 172 are connected in a straight line to correspond to the same side of the lower casing 210 . For example, the shielding member 170 may be The above horizontal top has no bent T-shaped shrapnel.

In addition, similar to the foregoing embodiments, the shielding portion 173 of the shielding member 170 preferably corresponds to the opening 117 of the lower casing 210 , for example, is located in the opening 117 , or at least its projection on the bottom of the lower casing 210 is located in the opening 117 . When the movable shaft 130 moves from the unpressed position to the pressed position in response to the pressing force, the action portion 131 of the movable shaft 130 drives the shielding portion 173 of the shielding member 170 to move in the opening 117 to change the position relative to the light transmission path.

The operation of the optical switch button 20 of FIG. 6A will be described later with reference to FIGS. 8A and 8B , wherein FIGS. 8A and 8B are partial top views of the optical switch button 20 in the unpressed position and the pressed position, respectively. As shown in FIG. 8A , when the movable shaft 130 is in the unpressed position, the acting portion 131 preferably overlaps with the shielding member 170 in a direction parallel to the moving path at least partially, and the shielding member 170 has a first spatial relationship with the light transmission path, The optical signal received by the optical receiver 153 is the first intensity. For example, when the movable shaft 130 is in the non-pressed position, the acting portion 131 and the force receiving portion 172 preferably at least partially overlap in the Z-axis direction, that is, the vertical projection of the acting portion 131 and the force receiving portion 172 on the lower casing 210 at least Partially overlapping, or in other words, the force-receiving part 172 is partially located on the movement path of the acting part 131 . Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the movable shaft 130 is in the non-pressed position, less portion of the shielding member 170 enters the light transmission path, the shielding member 170 blocks less light signal, and the light signal received by the light receiver 153 is less. The first strength is stronger. That is, when the movable shaft 130 is in the non-pressed position, the shielding portion 173 of the shielding member 170 has less access to the light transmission path, the shielding portion 173 blocks a lower amount of the optical signal, and the optical signal received by the optical receiver 153 is relatively small. The first strength is stronger. In one embodiment, when the movable shaft 130 is in the unpressed position, the shielding portion 173 preferably does not substantially enter the light transmission path (or does not shield the aforementioned grating hole 1181 ), that is, the shielding portion 173 is preferably located between the light emitter 152 and the light emitter 152 . One side of the optical transmission path of the optical receiver 153, so that the optical signal emitted by the optical transmitter 152 is preferably received by the optical receiver 153 without being blocked by the blocking part 173, so that the optical signal strength is relatively strong (for example, no blocking / attenuated optical signal strength).

As shown in FIG. 8B , when the movable shaft 130 moves from the unpressed position to the pressed position in response to the pressing force, the movable shaft 130 moves along the movement path to compress the elastic member 140 and drive the shielding member 170 to move, so that the shielding member 170 transmits the light with the light. The paths no longer have the first spatial relationship, so that the optical signal received by the optical receiver 153 has the second intensity, and the second intensity is different from the first intensity, so as to trigger the switch module 150 to generate the trigger signal. In this embodiment, the first spatial relationship means that there is substantially no action (or no contact) between the force receiving portion 172 of the shielding member 170 and the acting portion 131 , and the shielding portion 173 of the shielding member 170 does not substantially change the light received by the light receiver 153 The received light signal strength. When the shielding portion 173 of the shielding member 170 no longer has the first spatial relationship with the light transmission path, it means that the relative displacement of the force receiving portion 172 and the acting portion 131 causes the shielding portion 173 to enter the light transmission path, and the shielding portion 173 attenuates the light receiver 153 . The intensity of the received optical signal is such that the second intensity is smaller than the first intensity, so as to trigger the switch module 150 to generate a trigger signal.

Specifically, when the movable shaft 130 is in the pressing position, the shielding member 170 moves laterally away from the moving path, the shielding member 170 enters the light transmission path more, the shielding member 170 blocks a higher amount of light signal, and the light receiver 153 receives The optical signal of is a weaker second intensity (ie, the second intensity is less than the first intensity). In other words, when the movable shaft 130 moves from the unpressed position toward the bottom of the lower casing 210 to the pressed position along the motion path, the action portion 131 pushes the force-receiving portion 172 to move laterally away from the motion path, and drives the shielding portion below the force-receiving portion 172 173 moves more into the optical transmission path, so that the blocking portion 173 blocks a higher amount of the optical signal, and the optical signal received by the optical receiver 153 has a relatively weak second intensity to trigger the switch module 150 to generate a trigger signal. In one embodiment, when the acting portion 131 moves downwards and pushes the force-receiving portion 172, the first inclined surface 1311 of the acting portion 131 contacts and moves downward relative to the inclined surface 1721 of the force-receiving portion 172 to generate a lateral component force, so that the force-receiving portion 172 is moved downward. The shielding portion 172 drives the shielding portion 173 to deform and displace laterally relative to the positioning portion 171 , so that the shielding portion 173 substantially completely shields the optical signal emitted by the light emitter 152 (for example, shields the aforementioned grating hole 1181 ), so that the light receiver 153 does not receive the light signal. Optical signal (ie, the second intensity is zero). Furthermore, similarly, when the movable shaft 130 is in the pressing position, the end of the action portion 131 can enter the avoidance space 155 of the circuit board 151 through the opening 117 of the lower casing 210, so that the pressing stroke is increased and the operating feeling is improved. After the pressing force is released, the movable shaft 130 can be returned to the non-pressed position as shown in FIG. 8A by the restoring force provided by the elastic member 140 (eg, the spring body 141 ), and drives the shielding member 170 to return to its original position (or shape). ).

It should be noted here that in the third embodiment, although the shielding member 170 is pushed by the acting portion 131 to make the shielding portion 173 enter to block the light signal as an example, it is not limited to this. In other embodiments, the design of the shielding member 170 and the acting portion 131 can be changed, so that the shielding member 170 is driven by the acting portion 131 to keep the shielding portion 173 away from the light transmission path. 9A and 9B are schematic partial top views of the optical switch button in the non-pressed position and the pressed position, respectively, according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 9A , when the movable shaft 130 is in the unpressed position, the shielding member 170 is located in the light transmission path, the shielding member 170 blocks the light signal, and the light signal received by the light receiver 153 has a weak first intensity. Specifically, when the movable shaft 130 is in the unpressed position, the acting portion 131 abuts against the force-receiving portion 172 of the shielding member 170 , so that the force-receiving portion 172 is elastically deformed relative to the positioning portion 171 in a direction away from the acting portion 131 , and further The shielding portion 173 under the driving force-receiving portion 172 is located in the light transmission path, for example, the grating hole 1181 is substantially shielded, so that the light receiver 153 substantially does not receive the light signal (ie, the first intensity is zero). As shown in FIG. 9B , when the movable shaft 130 is in the pressing position, the shielding member 170 is moved laterally away from the light transmission path, and the light signal received by the light receiver 153 has a strong second intensity (that is, the second intensity is greater than the first intensity). intensity) to trigger the switch module 150 to generate a trigger signal. Specifically, when the movable shaft 130 moves from the non-pressed position to the pressed position, the acting portion 131 moves relative to the force-receiving portion 172 of the shielding member 170 and passes over the force-receiving portion 172 (eg, moves below the force-receiving portion 172 ), so that The force receiving portion 172 is no longer pushed by the acting portion 131 and rebounds relative to the positioning portion 171 in the direction of approaching the acting portion 131, thereby driving the shielding portion 173 to move away from the light transmission path (that is, the shielding portion 173 enters the light transmission path. The light receiver 153 can receive the light signal transmitted by the light transmitter 152 along the light transmission path, so as to trigger the switch module 150 to generate the trigger signal.

It should be noted here that in the embodiment of FIGS. 9A and 9B , the inclined surface of the force receiving portion 172 is preferably disposed below the force receiving portion 172 , and extends from top to bottom and slopes away from the acting portion 131 . In this way, after the pressing force is released, the movable shaft 130 can drive the action portion 131 to move upward along the slope of the force-receiving portion 172 by the restoring force provided by the elastic member 140, and then return to the action portion 131 shown in FIG. 9A to push against the force-bearing portion. The portion 172 is used to block the unpressed pressing position of the optical signal. Furthermore, in the embodiments of FIGS. 8A to 8B and FIGS. 9A to 9B , the optical switch button generates a trigger signal by changing the intensity of the optical signal received by the optical receiver 153 through the shielding member 170 disposed on the housing 200 , so only The shading effect of the shielding member 170 needs to be considered, and the material and color of the casing 200 may not be limited by the shading requirement.

10 to 12B are schematic diagrams of the fifth embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 10 is an exploded view of the optical switch button of the fifth embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 11A and 11B are respectively the upper casing of the optical switch button of FIG. 10 . 12A and 12B are a top view and a three-dimensional schematic view of the optical switch key of FIG. 10 without showing the keycap. As shown in FIGS. 10 to 12B , the optical switch key 30 according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention includes a key cap 310 , a support mechanism 320 , a recovery mechanism 330 , a switch module 340 and a bottom plate 350 . The support mechanism 320 is disposed under the keycap 310 and supports the keycap 310 to move up/down, and the support mechanism 320 has a protruding portion 323 . The restoring mechanism 330 is disposed under the key cap 310 to provide restoring force, so that the key cap 310 returns to the position before the pressing after being pressed. The restoring mechanism 330 includes a casing 331 and an elastic member 332 , wherein the elastic member 332 is disposed in the casing 331 , and the casing 331 has a deformable portion 333 . The switch module 340 includes a circuit board 341 , an optical transmitter 342 and an optical receiver 343 , wherein the optical transmitter 342 and the optical receiver 343 are electrically connected to the circuit board 341 , and the optical transmitter 342 emits optical signals corresponding to the optical receiver 343 . When the keycap 310 is not pressed, the light signal received by the light receiver 343 is the first intensity; when the keycap 310 is pressed, the keycap 310 drives the support mechanism 320 to move, so that the elastic member 332 is compressed and the protrusion 321 pushes against The deformable portion 333 moves to change the light signal received by the light receiver 343 to a second intensity, and the second intensity is different from the first intensity, so as to trigger the switch module 340 to generate a trigger signal.

Specifically, the keycap 310 can be, for example, an injection-molded rectangular keycap, and the lower surface of the keycap 310 has a coupling member (not shown) coupled to the support mechanism 320 . The coupling member may be a coupling structure with a shaft hole or a sliding groove. Furthermore, according to practical applications, the keycap 310 can be a light-transmitting keycap having a light-transmitting portion, so as to be applied to a light-emitting keyboard. For example, the light-transmitting portion may be in the form of characters to represent keystroke commands.

The bottom plate 350 can be used as a structural strength support plate for the optical switch button 30 , and has connecting members 351 and 352 for connecting the support mechanism 320 . In one embodiment, the bottom plate 350 is preferably formed by stamping a metal plate. The connectors 351 and 352 are preferably hook-type connectors that are bent and protruded from the surface of the bottom plate 350 toward the keycap 310 . It should be noted here that when the circuit board 341 has sufficient structural strength, the connecting members 351 and 352 can be selectively disposed on the circuit board 341 without the use of the bottom plate 350 .

The supporting mechanism 320 preferably includes an inner bracket 321 and an outer bracket 322, and the inner bracket 321 is pivotally connected to the inner side of the outer bracket 322 to form a scissors-type supporting mechanism. The inner bracket 321 and the outer bracket 322 are preferably, for example, injection-molded rectangular frames, and the inner bracket 321 and the outer bracket 322 can be rotatably connected by, for example, a pivot and a shaft hole mechanism. For example, the opposite side of the middle section of the inner bracket 322 has a pivot shaft protruding outward, and the opposite inner side of the outer bracket 322 has a shaft hole corresponding to the pivot shaft, so that the middle section of the inner bracket 321 and the middle section of the outer bracket 322 are coupled to each other . In addition, both ends of the inner bracket 321 and the outer bracket 322 are respectively movably connected to the keycap 310 and the bottom plate 350 . For example, the keycap end of the inner bracket 321 has a coupling member rotatably connected to the keycap 310 , and the bottom plate end of the inner bracket 321 has a connecting member 351 movably connected to the bottom plate 350 . Similarly, the keycap end of the outer bracket 322 has a coupling member movably connected to the keycap 310 , and the bottom plate end of the outer bracket 322 has a connector 352 movably connected to the base plate 350 . Thereby, the support mechanism 320 can smoothly support the keycap 310 to move up/down relative to the bottom plate 350 .

The protruding portion 323 is disposed on the inner bracket 321 and extends and protrudes from the inner bracket 321 toward the inner side of the inner bracket 321 . For example, the protruding portion 321 is preferably disposed on the inner side of the keycap end of the inner bracket 321 , and the protruding portion 323 preferably has a first inclined surface 3231 . In this embodiment, the first inclined surface 3231 of the protruding portion 323 is disposed at the end of the protruding portion 323 (ie, away from the free end of the inner bracket 321 , and the protruding portion 323 also has a connecting end connected to the inner bracket 321 ), and preferably protrudes from the inner bracket 321 The distal end of the portion 323 is inclined downward toward the connecting end of the inner bracket 321 so as to face the deformable portion 333 of the housing 331 .

The circuit board 341 is preferably disposed on the bottom plate 350 , and the circuit board 341 has an opening 3411 to allow the connecting members 351 and 352 of the bottom plate 350 to pass through and connect to the supporting mechanism 320 . The light transmitter 342 and the light receiver 342 are disposed on the circuit board 341 and are electrically connected to the circuit board 341 . Specifically, the circuit board 341 preferably has a switch circuit, and the optical transmitter 342 and the optical receiver 343 are electrically connected to the switch circuit of the circuit board 341 , so that the optical transmitter 342 can transmit an optical signal toward the optical receiver 343 , and when When the intensity of the optical signal received by the optical receiver 343 changes, the trigger switch module 340 generates a trigger signal. In other words, the operation of the switch module 340 to generate the trigger signal is similar to that of the switch module 150 of the foregoing embodiments. The circuit board 341 preferably has an escape space 3412 for accommodating part of the protruding portion 333 (eg, the end of the protruding portion 333 ). For example, the escape space 3412 can be an escape groove formed on the circuit board 341, and the light transmitter 342 and the light receiver 343 are disposed on opposite sides of the escape groove.

In addition, the light switch key 30 may optionally have a backlight light source 360 . The circuit board 341 preferably has a light source circuit for driving the backlight light source 360 . The backlight light source 360 may be disposed on the circuit board 341 and electrically connected to the light source circuit of the circuit board 341 to provide light to be emitted toward the light-transmitting portion of the keycap 310 . The backlight light source 360 is preferably disposed on the opposite side of the light emitter 342 and the light receiver 343 , and is preferably located in the vertical projection area of the inner bracket 321 on the bottom plate 350 . For example, the light transmitter 342 and the light receiver 343 are preferably disposed adjacent to the keycap end of the inner bracket 321 corresponding to the protruding portion 323 , and the backlight light source 360 is correspondingly disposed adjacent to the bottom plate end of the inner bracket 321 .

The restoring mechanism 330 is disposed between the keycap 310 and the bottom plate 350 (or the circuit board 341 ), and the restoring mechanism 330 includes a casing 331 and an elastic member 332 . In this embodiment, the elastic member 332 is preferably a spring to provide a mechanical pressing operation feel, but not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the elastic member 332 can be an elastic body to provide a restoring force after pressing. The casing 331 is formed by combining the upper casing 334 and the lower casing 335 to enclose an accommodating space for arranging the elastic member 332 . The restoring mechanism 330 further includes a movable portion 336 , and the movable portion 336 can be movably sleeved on the upper housing 334 relative to the upper housing 334 (or the lower housing 335 ). Specifically, the restoring mechanism 330 composed of the elastic member 332 , the upper casing 334 , the lower casing 335 and the movable portion 336 has similar to the casing 100 (or 100 ′, 200 ), the movable shaft 130 and the elastic member in the previous embodiment. 140 structural details and connections. For example, the upper casing 334 has a through hole 3341 and an upper engaging portion 3342 (eg, a slot). The movable portion 336 is movably inserted into the through hole 3341 from bottom to top to locate the elastic member 332 and act as an actuating member when the keycap 310 is pressed. The lower casing 335 has a lower engaging portion 3351 (eg, a hook) for engaging with the upper engaging portion 3342 , so that the upper casing 334 is connected to the lower casing 335 .

In this embodiment, the upper casing 334 is preferably a rectangular cover structure with a notch 3343 . The upper engaging portion 3342 is preferably disposed on both sides of the notch portion 3343, so that a left arm portion 3345 is formed between the upper engaging portion 3342 on the left side and the notch portion 3343, and a gap between the upper engaging portion 3342 on the right side and the notch portion 3343 is formed. A right arm portion 3346 is formed therebetween. When the restoring mechanism 330 is disposed on the circuit board 341 , the light transmitter 342 and the light receiver 343 are preferably shielded by the housing 331 to achieve dustproof and reduce external light interference. For example, the light transmitter 342 and the light receiver 343 are respectively located on opposite sides of the notch portion 3343 and covered by the upper housing portion 334 . In one embodiment, the lower casing 335 preferably has a substantially U-shaped horizontal section. The left arm portion 3345 and the right arm portion 3346 of the upper casing 334 protrude from the lower casing 335 (that is, the left arm portion 3345 and the right arm portion 3346 of the upper casing 334) toward each other from both sides of the U-shaped horizontal section toward the center of the U-shaped horizontal section. The vertical projection of the arm portion 3346 is beyond the vertical projection range of the lower casing 335 ) to form a gap portion 3343 between the left arm portion 3345 and the right arm portion 3346 . The light transmitter 342 and the light receiver 343 are preferably located under the left arm portion 3345 and the right arm portion 3346, respectively, so as to achieve the effect of dust prevention, but not limited thereto. Furthermore, when the keycap 310 is pressed, the protruding portion 323 preferably moves outside the elastic member accommodating space enclosed by the upper casing 334 and the lower casing 325 (ie, moves in the notch portion 3343 ).

The movable portion 336 is preferably sleeve-shaped, and the movable portion 336 further has a limiting portion 3361 and an actuating portion 3362 on the opposite side of the sleeve, wherein the limiting portion 3361 is used to limit the displacement of the movable portion 336 relative to the upper casing 334 , and the actuating portion 3362 cooperates with the tactile elastic member (eg, the extension arm 143 or the torsion spring of the elastic member 140 in the foregoing embodiment) to provide tactile feedback. It should be noted here that the structural details of the limiting portion 3361 and the actuating portion 3362 and their functional relationship with the upper casing 334 and the feel elastic member may refer to the limiting portion 133 and the actuating portion 132 of the movable shaft 130 in the foregoing embodiment. The related descriptions will not be repeated here.

The lower casing 335 further has a positioning portion 3352 for positioning the elastic member 332 . In one embodiment, the positioning portion 3352 protrudes from the bottom surface of the lower casing 335 corresponding to the movable portion 336 toward the upper casing 334 . When the restoring mechanism 330 is assembled, the spring-type elastic member 332 is sleeved on the outer side of the positioning portion 3352 of the lower casing 335 , so that the elastic member 332 is positioned between the movable portion 336 and the lower casing 335 . When the keycap 310 is pressed, the movable portion 336 can move downward relative to the upper casing 334 to compress the elastic member 332 . When the keycap 310 is released, the elastic member 332 provides elastic force, so that the movable portion 336 drives the keycap 310 to move upward relative to the upper housing portion 334 and is positioned at the position before pressing by the limiting portion 3361 .

In this embodiment, the restoring mechanism 330 can be positioned on the circuit board 341 through the lower casing 335 . Specifically, the lower case 335 may include supporting portions 3353 and 3354 , which are preferably disposed on opposite sides of the lower case 335 , so that the supporting portion 3353 is supported on the circuit board 341 adjacent to the light emitters 342 and 335 . Where the light receiver 343 is located, the supporting portion 3354 is supported on the circuit board 341 adjacent to the backlight light source 360 . In one embodiment, the supporting portion 3353 can be a pair of supporting arm portions extending and protruding toward each other from the lower casing 335 , and the pair of supporting arm portions corresponding to the light transmitter 342 and the light receiver 343 are respectively located on the upper casing 334 . Below the left arm portion 3345 and the right arm portion 3346 . The supporting portion 3354 can be a pair of supporting concave blocks extending and protruding from the lower casing 335 opposite to each other, so that the upper casing portion 334 is formed with a notch 3344 corresponding to the supporting portion 3354, and the setting position of the backlight light source 360 preferably corresponds to the concave. port 3344. In this way, the light emitted by the backlight light source 360 is blocked by the recovery mechanism 330 to avoid affecting the intensity of the light signal received by the light receiver 343 , thereby preventing the switch module 340 from erroneously generating a trigger signal.

In this embodiment, the restoring mechanism 330 further includes a tactile elastic member 370, and the tactile elastic member 370 is used for providing tactile feedback when pressing. For example, the feel elastic member 370 may be implemented as a torsion spring, and one end of the torsion spring serves as a positioning portion (eg, 371 shown in FIG. 13 ), and the other end of the torsion spring serves as an extension arm 372 . The lower casing 335 has a positioning hole correspondingly. When the feel elastic member 370 is disposed on the lower casing 335 , the positioning portion is coupled to the positioning hole, and the extending arm 372 corresponds to the actuating portion 3362 of the movable portion 336 . When the keycap 310 is pressed, the actuating portion 3362 is displaced relative to the extension arm 372 of the torsion spring with the downward movement of the keycap 310, so that the user's finger first feels a greater resistance, and then the extension arm 372 is disengaged from the actuation When the part 3362 is pressed down, the user's fingers feel the resistance is greatly reduced, thus providing the user with a tactile sense of step difference, and the extension arm 372 can tap the upper housing part 334 or the lower housing part 335 to generate sound. When the keycap 310 is released, the elastic member 332 provides a restoring force to move the keycap 310 upward, driving the actuating portion 3362 to move upward, and the extension arm 372 slides downward relative to the actuating portion 3362 to return to the original position.

It should be noted here that, similar to the foregoing embodiments, the casing 331 may have a grating portion 337 , and the grating portion 337 is preferably disposed on the upper casing 334 . For example, the grating portion 337 may be disposed on the left arm portion 3345 or the right arm portion 3346 of the upper casing 334 and adjacent to the light emitter 342, but not limited thereto. According to practical applications, the grating portion 337 can be adjacent to the optical receiver 343 , so that the optical signal at the receiving end is not easily disturbed by external light, and the possibility of false triggering is more effectively reduced.

As shown in FIG. 11B , in this embodiment, the deformable portion 333 of the casing 331 is disposed on the lower casing 335 to correspond to the protruding portion 323 of the support mechanism 320 . Specifically, the deformable portion 333 is an elastic arm disposed on the lower casing 335 and extending toward the keycap 310 (eg, upward), so that the deformable portion 333 can be displaced (or elastically deformed) in response to the movement of the protruding portion 323 . and then change the spatial relationship (or relative position) of the deformable portion 333 relative to the light transmission path between the light emitting portion 342 and the light receiving portion 343 to trigger the switch unit 340 to generate a trigger signal. In this embodiment, the deformable portion 333 is preferably integrally formed with the lower casing 335, but not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the deformable portion 333 may be connected to the lower housing 335 by any suitable joining mechanism. In this embodiment, the deformable portion 333 may extend from the wall of the bottom end of the U-shaped horizontal section of the lower casing 335 toward the open end of the U-shaped horizontal section. In other words, one end of the deformable portion 333 is preferably connected to the lower casing 335 , and the opposite end of the deformable portion 333 is a free end located in the notch portion 3343 of the upper casing 334 . In this embodiment, the deformable portion 333 is preferably an elastic arm including a connecting portion 3332 and a shielding portion 3333 , wherein the connecting portion 3332 is preferably a connecting arm extending horizontally parallel to the bottom surface of the lower case 335 to connect the lower case body 335 and shielding part 3333. The shielding portion 3333 extends from the connecting portion 3332 toward the key cap 310 (ie, extends upward along the Z-axis direction) to be located in the notch portion 3343 of the upper housing 334 and correspond to the protruding portion 323 of the support mechanism 320 .

Furthermore, the deformable portion 333 preferably has a second inclined surface 3331 corresponding to the first inclined surface 3231 of the protruding portion 323 . When the keycap 310 drives the support mechanism 320 to move, the first inclined surface 3231 moves relative to the second inclined surface 333 to move the deformable portion 333 laterally. Specifically, the second inclined surface 3331 is preferably the outer side surface of the shielding portion 3333 (ie, the side surface facing the direction of the protruding portion 323 ), and extends downward along the Z-axis direction and slopes outward, so that the second inclined surface 3331 corresponds to The first slope 3231.

The operation of the optical switch key 30 according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described later with reference to FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B . As shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B , when the keycap 310 is not pressed, the protruding portion 323 and the deformable portion 333 at least partially overlap in a direction parallel to the movement direction of the keycap 310 (eg, the Z-axis direction), and the deformable portion 333 and The optical transmission path has a first spatial relationship, and the optical signal received by the optical receiver 343 has a first intensity. When the keycap 310 is pressed, the keycap 310 drives the supporting mechanism 320 to move, so that the elastic member 332 is compressed and the protruding portion 323 pushes against the deformable portion 333 to move, so that the deformable portion 333 and the light transmission path no longer have the first spatial relationship , so that the light signal received by the light receiver 343 has the second intensity, and the second intensity is different from the first intensity, so as to trigger the switch module 340 to generate the trigger signal.

In this embodiment, the first spatial relationship represents that the deformable portion 333 is far away from the light transmission path, and the deformable portion 333 does not substantially change the intensity of the optical signal received by the light receiver 343 . When the deformable portion 333 no longer has the first spatial relationship with the light transmission path, it means that the deformable portion 333 enters the light transmission path, and the deformable portion 333 attenuates the intensity of the optical signal received by the light receiver 343 so that the second intensity is less than The first intensity is used to trigger the switch module 340 to generate a trigger signal.

Specifically, when the keycap 310 is pressed to drive the supporting mechanism 320 to move, the protruding portion 323 pushes against the deformable portion 333 to move to at least partially block the light signal, so that the second intensity is smaller than the first intensity. In one embodiment, when the keycap 310 is pressed, the protruding portion 323 pushes against the deformable portion 333 to move laterally, and the protruding portion 323 and the deformable portion 333 at least partially contact the moving direction perpendicular to the keycap 310 , such as protruding. The portion 323 is at least partially in contact with the deformable portion 333 in the Y-axis direction. Specifically, when the keycap 310 drives the support mechanism 320 to move, the first inclined surface 3231 of the protruding portion 323 moves relative to the second inclined surface 3331 of the deformable portion 333 and generates a lateral component force, so that the deformable portion 333 laterally move into the light transmission path. For example, the first inclined surface 3231 of the protruding portion 323 moves relative to the second inclined surface 3331 of the deformable portion 333 and generates a lateral component force, so that the deformable portion 333 is close to the bottom end of the U-shaped horizontal cross-section of the lower casing 335 The direction (that is, the direction away from the connecting end of the protruding portion 323 and the inner bracket 321, the moving direction is shown by arrow A) is moved laterally to change the relative position of the deformable portion 333 and the grating portion 337 (for example, at least partially blocking the grating portion 337). grating hole), so that the second intensity is smaller than the first intensity, so that the switch module 340 generates a trigger signal.

In one embodiment, when the keycap 310 is pressed to drive the protrusion 323 to move, the deformable portion 333 preferably completely blocks the light signal, so that the light receiver 343 cannot receive the light signal (ie, the second intensity is zero). It should be noted here that by changing the circuit design of the circuit board 341 , the switch module 340 can generate a trigger signal according to the change of the light quantity received by the light receiver 343 , or according to whether the light receiver 343 receives the light signal or not. Generate a trigger signal.

13 to 15B are schematic diagrams of the sixth embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 13 is an exploded view of the optical switch button of the sixth embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 14A and 14B are respectively the upper casing of the optical switch button of FIG. 13 . 15A and 15B are schematic diagrams from different viewing angles, and FIG. 15A and FIG. 15B are a top view and a three-dimensional schematic diagram of the optical switch key of FIG. 13 without the keycap. As shown in FIGS. 13 to 15B , the optical switch key 30 ′ of the sixth embodiment of the present invention includes a key cap 310 , a support mechanism 320 , a recovery mechanism 330 ′, a switch module 340 and a base plate 350 , and the optical switch key 30 ′ can be selected Optionally, a backlight source 360 is further included. The difference between the optical switch key 30' of Fig. 13 and the optical switch key 30 of Fig. 10 is that the lower case 335' does not have the deformable portion 333, but the deformable portion 338 is provided on the upper case 334'. Therefore, the structural details and connection relationships of the remaining components of the optical switch key 30 ′ (such as the key cap 310 , the support mechanism 320 , the switch module 340 , the bottom plate 350 , the backlight light source 360 , etc.) For structural details, reference may be made to the related description of the optical switch button 30 of the fifth embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

In this embodiment, the casing 331' is formed by combining the upper casing 334' and the lower casing 335', and the deformable portion 338 is preferably an elastic arm extending from the upper casing 334'. Specifically, the deformable portion 338 is preferably an L-shaped elastic arm including a connecting portion 3382 and a shielding portion 3383, and is preferably disposed corresponding to the opening of the notch portion 3343, wherein one end of the connecting portion 3382 is connected to the upper casing 334', The other end of the connecting portion 3382 is connected to the shielding portion 3383 . The connecting portion 3382 of the deformable portion 338 is preferably a rod-like portion or an arm-like portion having any suitable shape, wherein one end of the connecting portion 3382 is preferably connected to one of the right arm portion 3346 or the left arm portion 3345, and the connecting portion The other end of the 3382 extends toward the other of the right arm portion 3346 or the left arm portion 3345 and is connected to the shielding portion 3383 to form the free end of the deformable portion 338 . For example, one end of the connecting portion 3382 of the deformable portion 338 is connected to the right arm portion 3346 , and the other end of the connecting portion 3382 extends toward the left arm portion 3345 and partially corresponds to the opening of the notch portion 3343 . The shielding portion 3383 preferably extends downward from the connecting portion 3382 along the Z-axis direction, and corresponds to the protruding portion 323 . It should be noted here that in this embodiment, although the shielding portion 3383 is shown extending downward from the connecting portion 3332, it is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, according to practical applications, the shielding portion 3383 may extend upward from the connecting portion 3382 . Furthermore, according to practical applications, the deformable portion 338 can be an elastic arm having any suitable shape, so that the deformable portion 338 has a free end corresponding to the protruding portion 323 and a connection end connected to the upper casing 334 ′, and the free end can be It is displaced (or elastically deformed) relative to the connecting end by being pushed by the protruding portion 323 .

Similarly, the deformable portion 338 preferably has a second inclined surface 3381 to correspond to the first inclined surface 3231 of the protruding portion 323 . Specifically, the second inclined surface 3381 is preferably the outer side surface of the shielding portion 3383 (ie, the side surface facing the direction of the protruding portion 323 ), and the second inclined surface 3381 is adjacent to the top of the shielding portion 3383 and extends downward along the Z-axis direction and It slopes outward so that the second slope 3381 corresponds to the first slope 3231 .

The operation of the optical switch key 30' according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described later with reference to FIGS. 15A and 15B . As shown in FIGS. 15A and 15B , when the keycap 310 is not pressed, the protruding portion 323 and the deformable portion 338 at least partially overlap in a direction parallel to the moving direction of the keycap 310 (eg, the Z-axis direction), and the deformable portion 338 and The optical transmission path has a first spatial relationship, and the optical signal received by the optical receiver 343 has a first intensity. When the keycap 310 is pressed, the keycap 310 drives the supporting mechanism 320 to move, so that the elastic member 332 is compressed and the protruding portion 323 pushes against the deformable portion 338 to move, so that the deformable portion 338 and the light transmission path no longer have the first spatial relationship , so that the light signal received by the light receiver 343 has the second intensity, and the second intensity is different from the first intensity, so as to trigger the switch module 340 to generate the trigger signal. Similarly, in this embodiment, the first spatial relationship represents that the deformable portion 338 is far away from the light transmission path, and the deformable portion 338 does not substantially change the intensity of the optical signal received by the light receiver 343 . When the deformable portion 338 no longer has the first spatial relationship with the light transmission path, it means that the deformable portion 338 enters the light transmission path, and the deformable portion 338 attenuates the intensity of the optical signal received by the light receiver 343 so that the second intensity is less than The first intensity is used to trigger the switch module 340 to generate a trigger signal.

Specifically, when the keycap 310 is pressed to drive the supporting mechanism 320 to move, the protruding portion 323 pushes against the deformable portion 338 to move to at least partially block the light signal, so that the second intensity is smaller than the first intensity. In one embodiment, when the keycap 310 is pressed, the protruding portion 323 pushes against the deformable portion 338 to move laterally, and the protruding portion 323 and the deformable portion 338 at least partially contact in the moving direction perpendicular to the keycap 310 , such as protruding. The portion 323 is at least partially in contact with the deformable portion 338 in the Y-axis direction. Specifically, when the keycap 310 drives the supporting mechanism 320 to move, the first inclined surface 3231 of the protruding portion 323 moves relative to the second inclined surface 3381 of the deformable portion 338 and generates a lateral component force, so that the deformable portion 338 laterally moves Move into the light transfer path. For example, the first inclined surface 3231 of the protruding portion 323 moves relative to the second inclined surface 3381 of the deformable portion 338 and generates a lateral component force, so that the deformable portion 338 is moved toward the bottom end of the notch portion 3343 close to the upper casing 334' The direction (that is, the direction away from the connecting end of the protruding portion 323 and the inner bracket 321, the moving direction is shown by the arrow A) moves laterally, at least partially blocking the light signal, so that the second intensity is smaller than the first intensity, and then the switch module 340 is triggered. Signal.

In one embodiment, when the keycap 310 is pressed to drive the protrusion 323 to move, the deformable portion 338 preferably completely blocks the light signal, so that the light receiver 343 cannot receive the light signal (ie, the second intensity is zero). It should be noted here that by changing the circuit design of the circuit board 341 , the switch module 340 can generate a trigger signal according to the change of the light quantity received by the light receiver 343 , or according to whether the light receiver 343 receives the light signal or not. Generate a trigger signal.

It should be noted here that in the first to sixth embodiments, the optical switch button drives the deformable portion (eg 111, 123, 333 or 338) or the shielding member 170 disposed on the casing moves substantially laterally (or horizontally) relative to the pressing direction to change the intensity of the light signal received by the light receiver (such as 153 or 343), thereby triggering the switch module (such as 150 or 343). 340) generating a trigger signal, thereby reducing the space requirement of the optical switch button in the Z-axis direction, and effectively reducing the height of the button, but not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the optical switch button can be driven by the action portion 131 of the movable shaft 130 or the protruding portion 323 of the support mechanism 320 to drive the deformable portion of the housing to move (or move vertically) substantially parallel to the pressing direction, so that the switch module (eg, 150 or 340) is triggered.

16A to 18B are schematic diagrams of a seventh embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIGS. 16A and 16B are exploded schematic diagrams of the optical switch button of the seventh embodiment of the present invention from different viewing angles, and FIG. 16C is the optical switch button of FIG. 16A . The combined schematic diagram of the upper casing is not shown, and FIG. 16D is a schematic cross-sectional diagram including the upper casing along the tangent line CC of FIG. 16C . As shown in FIGS. 16A to 16D , the optical switch button 11 according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention includes a casing 400 , a movable shaft 130 , an elastic member 140 and a switch module 150 , and the optical switch button 11 can optionally further include a backlight unit 160. The difference between the optical switch key 11 of FIG. 16A and the optical switch key 10 of FIG. 1A lies in the form of the deformable portion 411 of the lower case 410 . Therefore, for the structural details and connection relationship of the remaining components of the optical switch key 11 (eg, the movable shaft 130, the elastic member 140, the switch module 150, the backlight unit 160, etc.), and the corresponding structural details of the casing 400 and the casing 100, please refer to The related description of the optical switch key 10 of the first embodiment will not be repeated here.

In this embodiment, the casing 400 is formed by combining the upper casing 120 and the lower casing 410 , and the deformable portion 411 is preferably an elastic arm extending from the lower casing 410 into the opening 117 . As shown in FIGS. 17A and 17B , the deformable portion 411 is preferably an elastic arm including a connecting portion 4111 and a shielding portion 4112 , wherein the connecting portion 4111 is preferably a connecting arm extending horizontally parallel to the bottom surface of the lower casing 410 , In order to connect the lower casing 410 and the shielding part 4112 . The shielding portion 4112 is located at the free end of the deformable portion 411 and corresponds to the action portion 131 of the movable shaft 130 . The shielding portion 4112 can be pushed by the acting portion 131 , so that the deformable portion 411 is bent and displaced downward. When the shielding portion 4112 is pushed by the acting portion 131 , the shielding portion 4112 drives the connecting portion 4111 to elastically deform relative to the lower casing 410 . In one embodiment, the shielding portion 4112 of the deformable portion 411 preferably has a size that can substantially completely shield the optical signal, but is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the shielding portion 4112 of the deformable portion 411 at least partially shields the light signal.

The operation of the optical switch button 11 according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention will be described later with reference to FIGS. 18A and 18B , wherein FIGS. 18A and 18B respectively show the optical switch button 11 along the tangent line DD of FIG. 16C including the upper casing in the unpressed position and Schematic cross-sectional view of the pressing position. As shown in FIG. 18A , when the movable shaft 130 is in the unpressed position, the acting portion 131 preferably at least partially overlaps the deformable portion 411 in a direction parallel to the movement path. For example, when the movable shaft 130 is in the unpressed position, the action portion 131 and the deformable portion 411 preferably at least partially overlap in the Z-axis direction, that is, the vertical projection of the action portion 131 and the deformable portion 411 on the lower casing 410 at least partially overlap. Furthermore, when the movable shaft 130 is in the unpressed position, the deformable portion 411 has a first spatial relationship with the light transmission path, and the light signal received by the light receiver 153 has a first intensity. In this embodiment, when the movable shaft 130 is in the unpressed position, less of the deformable portion 411 enters the light transmission path, the amount of the light signal blocked by the deformable portion 411 is low, and the first portion of the optical signal received by the light receiver 153 is low. A strong strength. For example, when the movable shaft 130 is in the unpressed position, the deformable portion 411 is preferably located above the light transmission path, so that the light signal emitted by the light transmitter 152 is preferably received by the light without being blocked by the deformable portion 411 . Receiver 153 so that the optical signal strength is relatively strong (eg, unblocked/attenuated optical signal strength).

As shown in FIG. 18B , when the movable shaft 130 moves from the unpressed position to the pressing position in response to the pressing force, the movable shaft 130 moves along the movement path to compress the elastic member 140 and push the deformable portion 411 to move, so that the deformable portion 411 moves There is no longer a first spatial relationship with the optical transmission path, so that the optical signal received by the optical receiver 153 has a second intensity, and the second intensity is different from the first intensity, so as to trigger the switch module 150 to generate a trigger signal. In other words, when the movable shaft 130 moves to the pressing position toward the bottom of the lower housing 410 along the motion path, the action portion 131 pushes the deformable portion 411 to move downward, so as to change the spatial relationship between the deformable portion 411 and the light transmission path, thereby changing the The intensity of the light signal received by the light receiver 153 is used to trigger the switch module 150 to generate a trigger signal. In this embodiment, the first spatial relationship represents that the deformable portion 411 is far away from the light transmission path, and the deformable portion 411 does not substantially change the intensity of the optical signal received by the light receiver 153 . When the deformable portion 411 no longer has the first spatial relationship with the light transmission path, it means that the deformable portion 411 enters the light transmission path, and the deformable portion 411 attenuates the intensity of the optical signal received by the light receiver 153 so that the second intensity is less than The first intensity is used to trigger the switch module 150 to generate a trigger signal.

Specifically, when the keycap is pressed to drive the movable shaft 130 to move toward the bottom of the lower housing 410 , the action portion 131 moves downward along the movement path with the movable shaft 130 , so that the end (ie, the lower end) of the action portion 131 abuts against The shielding portion 4112 of the deformable portion 411 is pressed downward against the shielding portion 4112, so that the deformable portion 411 is elastically deformed downward with the connecting end of the connecting portion 4111 as a fulcrum, and the shielding portion 4112 at least partially blocks the light signal (for example, at least partially The grating hole 1181) is blocked so that the second intensity is smaller than the first intensity, so that the switch module 150 generates a trigger signal.

19A to FIG. 21B are schematic diagrams of an eighth embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 19A and FIG. 19B are exploded schematic diagrams of the optical switch button of the eighth embodiment of the present invention from different viewing angles, and FIG. 19C is the optical switch button of FIG. 19A . The combined top view of the upper casing is not shown, and FIG. 19D is a schematic cross-sectional view along the tangent line EE of FIG. 19C including the upper casing. As shown in FIGS. 19A to 19D , the optical switch button 11 ′ of the seventh embodiment of the present invention includes a casing 400 ′, a movable shaft 130 , an elastic member 140 and a switch module 150 , and the optical switch button 11 ′ can optionally further The backlight unit 160 is included. The difference between the optical switch key 11' of FIG. 19A and the optical switch key 10' of FIG. 4A lies in the form of the deformable portion 421 of the upper casing 420. Therefore, the structural details and connection relationships of the remaining components of the optical switch key 11 ′ (eg, the movable shaft 130 , the elastic member 140 , the switch module 150 , the backlight unit 160 , etc.), as well as the corresponding structural details of the housing 400 ′ and the housing 100 ′ , you can refer to the related descriptions of the optical switch buttons 10 and 10 ′ of the first or second embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

In this embodiment, the casing 400' is formed by combining the upper casing 420 and the lower casing 410', and the deformable portion 421 is preferably an elastic arm extending from the upper casing 420. As shown in FIGS. 20A and 20B , the deformable portion 421 is preferably an elastic arm including a connecting portion 4211 and a shielding portion 4212 . For example, the connecting portion 4211 is preferably an L-shaped connecting arm, wherein the connecting portion 4211 extends vertically downward from the lower surface of the upper casing 420 toward the lower casing 410 ′, and then extends horizontally to connect the shielding portion 4212 and correspond to the lower casing 410 ′. on the action portion 131 of the movable shaft 130 . In other words, the length of the connecting portion 4211 extending downward from the upper casing 420 is preferably such that a portion of the connecting portion 4211 extends horizontally below the acting portion 131 . The shielding portion 4212 is located at the free end of the deformable portion 421 , and the size of the shielding portion 4212 is preferably larger than that of the connecting portion 4211 , so that the connecting portion 4211 has a larger elastic deformation force relative to the shielding portion 4212 . When the horizontal section of the connecting portion 4211 is pushed by the acting portion 131, the shielding portion 4212 is driven to elastically deform downward relative to the lower casing 410'. In one embodiment, the shielding portion 4212 of the deformable portion 421 preferably has a size that can substantially completely shield the optical signal, but is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the shielding portion 4212 of the deformable portion 421 can at least partially shield the light signal.

The operation of the optical switch button 11 ′ according to the eighth embodiment of the present invention will be described later with reference to FIGS. 21A and 21B , wherein FIGS. 21A and 21B show the optical switch button 11 ′ in the unpressed position and the pressed position along the tangent line FF in FIG. 19C , respectively. Schematic diagram of the cross section. As shown in FIG. 21A , when the movable shaft 130 is in the unpressed position, the acting portion 131 preferably at least partially overlaps with the deformable portion 421 in the direction parallel to the movement path. For example, when the movable shaft 130 is in the unpressed position, the acting portion 131 and the deformable portion 421 preferably at least partially overlap in the Z-axis direction, that is, the acting portion 131 and the deformable portion 421 are perpendicular to the lower casing 410'. The projections overlap at least partially. Furthermore, when the movable shaft 130 is in the unpressed position, the deformable portion 421 has a first spatial relationship with the light transmission path, and the light signal received by the light receiver 153 has a first intensity. In this embodiment, when the movable shaft 130 is in the non-pressed position, the deformable portion 421 enters less part of the light transmission path, the amount of the light signal blocked by the deformable portion 421 is low, and the optical signal received by the optical receiver 153 is the first part of the optical signal. A strong strength. For example, when the movable shaft 130 is in the unpressed position, the deformable portion 421 is preferably located above the light transmission path, so that the light signal emitted by the light emitter 152 is preferably received by the light without being blocked by the deformable portion 421 Receiver 153 so that the optical signal strength is relatively strong (eg, unblocked/attenuated optical signal strength).

As shown in FIG. 21B , when the movable shaft 130 moves from the unpressed position to the pressing position in response to the pressing force, the movable shaft 130 moves along the movement path to compress the elastic member 140 and push the deformable portion 421 to move, so that the deformable portion 421 moves There is no longer a first spatial relationship with the optical transmission path, so that the optical signal received by the optical receiver 153 has a second intensity, and the second intensity is different from the first intensity, so as to trigger the switch module 150 to generate a trigger signal. In other words, when the movable shaft 130 moves to the pressing position toward the bottom of the lower housing 110 along the motion path, the action portion 131 pushes the deformable portion 421 to move downward, so as to change the spatial relationship between the deformable portion 421 and the light transmission path, and further The intensity of the light signal received by the light receiver 153 is changed to trigger the switch module 150 to generate a trigger signal. In this embodiment, the first spatial relationship represents that the deformable portion 421 is far away from the light transmission path, and the deformable portion 421 does not substantially change the intensity of the optical signal received by the light receiver 153 . When the deformable portion 421 and the light transmission path no longer have the first spatial relationship, it means that the deformable portion 421 enters the light transmission path, and the deformable portion 421 attenuates the intensity of the optical signal received by the light receiver 153 so that the second intensity is less than The first intensity is used to trigger the switch module 150 to generate a trigger signal.

Specifically, when the keycap is pressed to drive the movable shaft 130 to move toward the bottom of the lower housing 410 ′, the action portion 131 moves downward along the movement path with the movable shaft 130 , so that the end (ie the lower end) of the action portion 131 abuts against Connect and press down against the deformable portion 421 (for example, the horizontal section of the connecting portion 4211 or the shielding portion 4212), so that the deformable portion 421 is elastically deformed downward with the connecting end of the connecting portion 4211 as a fulcrum, and at least partially blocks the light signal ( For example, the grating hole 1181) is at least partially blocked, so that the second intensity is smaller than the first intensity, so that the switch module 150 generates a trigger signal.

22 to 24B are schematic diagrams of the ninth embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 22 is an exploded schematic diagram of the optical switch button of the ninth embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 23 is a schematic diagram of the lower casing of the optical switch button of FIG. 22 , and 24A and 24B are a top view and a three-dimensional schematic view of the optical switch key of FIG. 22 without a keycap. As shown in FIG. 22 to FIG. 24B , the optical switch key 31 of the ninth embodiment of the present invention includes a key cap 310 , a support mechanism 320 , a recovery mechanism 530 , a switch module 340 and a bottom plate 350 , and the optical switch key 31 can optionally further A backlight source 360 is included. The difference between the optical switch key 31 of FIG. 22 and the optical switch key 30 of FIG. 10 lies in the form of the deformable portion 533 of the lower case 535 . Therefore, the structural details and connection relationships of the remaining components of the optical switch key 31 (such as the key cap 310 , the support mechanism 320 , the switch module 340 , the bottom plate 350 , the backlight light source 360 , etc.), and the corresponding structural details of the recovery mechanism 530 and the recovery mechanism 330 For the connection relationship, reference may be made to the related description of the optical switch button 30 of the fifth embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

In this embodiment, the casing 531 is formed by combining the upper casing 334 and the lower casing 535 , and the deformable portion 533 is preferably an elastic arm extending from the lower casing 535 into the notch 3343 of the upper casing 334 . As shown in FIG. 23 , the deformable portion 533 is preferably an elastic arm including a connecting portion 5331 and a shielding portion 5332 . The connecting portion 5331 preferably extends from the wall of the bottom end of the U-shaped horizontal section of the lower casing 535 toward the open end of the U-shaped horizontal section, and extends upward in the direction of the upper casing 334 , and then extends horizontally in the direction of the acting portion 131 for acting. below the portion 131. In this embodiment, the length of the connecting portion 5331 extending upward from the lower casing 535 is preferably such that a portion of the connecting portion 5331 extends horizontally above the light transmission path. The shielding portion 5332 is located at the free end of the deformable portion 533 . When the horizontal section of the connecting portion 5331 is pushed by the acting portion 131 , it drives the shielding portion 5332 to elastically deform downward relative to the lower casing 535 . In one embodiment, the shielding portion 5332 of the deformable portion 533 preferably has a size that can substantially completely shield the optical signal, but is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the shielding portion 5332 of the deformable portion 533 can at least partially shield the light signal.

The operation of the optical switch key 31 according to the ninth embodiment of the present invention will be described later with reference to FIGS. 24A and 24B . As shown in FIGS. 24A and 24B , when the keycap 310 is not pressed, the protruding portion 323 and the deformable portion 533 at least partially overlap in a direction parallel to the movement direction of the keycap 310 (eg, the Z-axis direction), and the deformable portion 533 and The optical transmission path has a first spatial relationship, and the optical signal received by the optical receiver 343 has a first intensity. When the keycap 310 is pressed, the keycap 310 drives the supporting mechanism 320 to move, so that the elastic member 332 is compressed and the protruding portion 323 pushes against the deformable portion 533 to move, so that the deformable portion 533 and the light transmission path no longer have the first spatial relationship , so that the light signal received by the light receiver 343 has the second intensity, and the second intensity is different from the first intensity, so as to trigger the switch module 340 to generate the trigger signal.

In this embodiment, the first spatial relationship represents that the deformable portion 533 is far away from the light transmission path, and the deformable portion 533 does not substantially change the intensity of the optical signal received by the light receiver 343 . When the deformable portion 533 no longer has the first spatial relationship with the light transmission path, it means that the deformable portion 533 enters the light transmission path, and the deformable portion 533 attenuates the intensity of the optical signal received by the light receiver 343 so that the second intensity is less than The first intensity is used to trigger the switch module 340 to generate a trigger signal.

Specifically, when the keycap 310 is pressed to drive the supporting mechanism 320 to move, the protruding portion 323 pushes against the connecting portion 5331 or the shielding portion 5332 of the deformable portion 533 , so that the shielding portion 5332 is connected with the lower casing 535 by the connecting portion 5331 The end acts as a fulcrum to elastically deform downward, thereby at least partially blocking the optical signal, so that the second intensity is smaller than the first intensity. In one embodiment, when the key cap 310 is pressed to drive the protrusion 323 to move, the deformable portion 533 preferably completely blocks the light signal, so that the light receiver 343 cannot receive the light signal (ie, the second intensity is zero). It should be noted here that by changing the circuit design of the circuit board 341 , the switch module 340 can generate a trigger signal according to the change of the light quantity received by the light receiver 343 , or according to whether the light receiver 343 receives the light signal or not. Generate a trigger signal.

25 to 27B are schematic diagrams of the tenth embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 25 is an exploded schematic diagram of the optical switch button of the tenth embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 26 is a schematic diagram of the upper casing of the optical switch button of FIG. 25 , and 27A and 27B are a top view and a three-dimensional schematic view of the optical switch key of FIG. 25 without a keycap. As shown in FIGS. 25 to 27B , the optical switch button 31 ′ of the tenth embodiment of the present invention includes a key cap 310 , a support mechanism 320 , a recovery mechanism 530 ′, a switch module 340 and a bottom plate 350 , and the optical switch button 31 ′ can be selected Optionally, a backlight source 360 is further included. The difference between the optical switch key 31' of FIG. 25 and the optical switch key 30' of FIG. 13 lies in the form of the deformable portion 538 of the upper casing 534. Therefore, the structural details and connection relationships of the remaining components of the optical switch key 31 ′ (such as the key cap 310 , the support mechanism 320 , the switch module 340 , the bottom plate 350 , the backlight source 360 , etc.), as well as the recovery mechanism 530 ′ and the recovery mechanisms 330 and 330 'For the corresponding structural details and connection relationship, reference may be made to the relevant description of the optical switch button of the fifth or sixth embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

In this embodiment, the casing 531' is formed by combining the upper casing 534 and the lower casing 535', and the deformable portion 538 is preferably an elastic arm extending from the upper casing 534 to the notch 3343 of the upper casing 534. As shown in FIG. 26 , the deformable portion 538 is preferably an elastic arm including a connecting portion 5381 and a shielding portion 5382 . One end of the connecting portion 5381 is connected to the upper casing 534 , and the other end of the connecting portion 5381 is connected to the shielding portion 5383 . The connecting portion 5381 of the deformable portion 538 is preferably a rod-like portion or an arm-like portion having any suitable shape, wherein one end of the connecting portion 5381 is preferably connected to one of the right arm portion 3346 or the left arm portion 3345, and the connecting portion The other end of the 5381 extends toward the other of the right arm portion 3346 or the left arm portion 3345 to connect with the shielding portion 5382 to form the free end of the deformable portion 538 . For example, one end of the connecting portion 5381 of the deformable portion 538 is connected to the right arm portion 3346 , and the other end of the connecting portion 5381 extends toward the left arm portion 3345 and partially corresponds to the opening of the notch portion 3343 . The shielding portion 5382 is preferably connected laterally from the end of the connecting portion 5381 and extends downward along the Z-axis direction. Furthermore, according to practical applications, the deformable portion 538 can be an elastic arm having any suitable shape, so that the deformable portion 538 has a free end corresponding to the protruding portion 323 and a connection end connected to the upper casing 534, and the free end can be The protruding portion 323 is pushed against displacement (or elastically deformed) relative to the connecting end. In one embodiment, the shielding portion 5382 of the deformable portion 538 preferably has a size that can substantially completely shield the optical signal, but is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the shielding portion 5382 of the deformable portion 538 can at least partially shield the light signal.

The operation of the optical switch key 31' according to the tenth embodiment of the present invention will be described later with reference to FIGS. 27A and 27B . As shown in FIGS. 27A and 27B , when the keycap 310 is not pressed, the protruding portion 323 and the deformable portion 538 at least partially overlap in a direction parallel to the moving direction of the keycap 310 (eg, the Z-axis direction), and the deformable portion 538 and The optical transmission path has a first spatial relationship, and the optical signal received by the optical receiver 343 has a first intensity. When the keycap 310 is pressed, the keycap 310 drives the supporting mechanism 320 to move, so that the elastic member 332 is compressed and the protruding portion 323 pushes against the deformable portion 538 to move, so that the deformable portion 538 and the light transmission path no longer have the first spatial relationship , so that the light signal received by the light receiver 343 has the second intensity, and the second intensity is different from the first intensity, so as to trigger the switch module 340 to generate the trigger signal.

In this embodiment, the first spatial relationship represents that the deformable portion 538 is far from the light transmission path (eg, above the light transmission path), and the deformable portion 538 does not substantially change the intensity of the light signal received by the light receiver 343 . When the deformable portion 538 no longer has the first spatial relationship with the light transmission path, it means that the deformable portion 538 enters the light transmission path, and the deformable portion 538 attenuates the intensity of the optical signal received by the light receiver 343 so that the second intensity is less than The first intensity is used to trigger the switch module 340 to generate a trigger signal.

Specifically, when the keycap 310 is pressed to drive the supporting mechanism 320 to move, the protruding portion 323 pushes against the connecting portion 5381 or the shielding portion 5382 of the deformable portion 538 , so that the shielding portion 5382 is connected with the upper casing 534 by the connecting portion 5381 The end acts as a fulcrum to elastically deform downward, thereby at least partially blocking the optical signal, so that the second intensity is smaller than the first intensity. In one embodiment, when the keycap 310 is pressed to drive the protrusion 323 to move, the deformable portion 538 preferably completely blocks the light signal, so that the light receiver 343 cannot receive the light signal (ie, the second intensity is zero). It should be noted here that by changing the circuit design of the circuit board 341 , the switch module 340 can generate a trigger signal according to the change of the light quantity received by the light receiver 343 , or according to whether the light receiver 343 receives the light signal or not. Generate a trigger signal.

It should be noted here that in the embodiments of FIGS. 1A to 15B , although the changing action portion 131 (or the protruding portion 323 ) and the deformable portion have corresponding first and second slopes, the deformable portion is The action portion 131 (or the protruding portion 323 ) is pushed and displaced laterally, but not limited thereto. In other embodiments, by changing the design of the acting portion 131 (or the protruding portion 323 ) and the deformable portion, only one of the acting portion 131 (or the protruding portion 323 ) and the deformable portion has a suitable slope, or the The deformable portion and the acting portion 131 (or the protruding portion 323 ) move relatively along the inclined plane, thereby pushing against the deformable portion for lateral displacement. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 16A to 27B , the acting portion 131 (or the protruding portion 323 ) and the deformable portion do not have corresponding slopes, so that when the deformable portion is pushed by the acting portion 131 or the protruding portion 323 , it follows the acting portion. 131 or protrusion 323 moves along the motion path. Furthermore, in the embodiments of FIGS. 16A to 27B , although the deformable portion is pushed by the acting portion 131 or the protruding portion 323 to at least block the light signal as an example, it is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the design of the deformable part and the action part (or the protruding part) can be changed, so that when the optical switch button is in the unpressed position, the deformable part enters more part of the light transmission path or blocks the amount of light signal. When the optical switch is pressed in the pressing position, the deformable part is pushed by the acting part (or the protruding part) and is displaced downward, so that the amount of optical signal blocked by the deformable part is less, so that the light receiver 153 can receive The intensity of the optical signal is relatively strong (ie, the second intensity is greater than the first intensity), and the trigger switch module 150 generates a trigger signal.

In addition, in the above fifth, sixth, ninth and tenth embodiments, although the protruding portion 323 of the support mechanism 320 pushes against the deformable portion of the housing, it is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the design of the deformable portion can be changed, and the support mechanism 320 pushes against the deformable portion without the need for a protruding portion. Specifically, when the keycap is not pressed, the deformable portion may have a length extending below the support mechanism 320 , so that when the keycap is pressed, the support mechanism 320 moves downward and pushes the deformable portion to move to change the light reception The optical signal strength received by the receiver. For example, when the keycap is not pressed, the deformable portion substantially at least partially overlaps with the vertical projection of the keycap end of the inner bracket 321 of the support mechanism 320 on the bottom plate, that is, the deformable portion extends below the keycap end of the inner bracket 321 . Therefore, when the keycap is pressed and the supporting mechanism 320 moves downward, the keycap end of the inner bracket 321 can push against the deformable portion to move, so as to change the intensity of the optical signal received by the light receiver. Furthermore, according to practical applications, the inner edge of the keycap end of the inner bracket 321 and the deformable portion may or may not have corresponding slopes, so that when the keycap is pressed, the inner bracket 321 pushes against the deformable portion for lateral displacement or vertical downward displacement. .

It is hoped that the features and spirit of the present invention can be described more clearly by the detailed description of the preferred embodiments above, rather than limiting the protection scope of the present invention by the preferred embodiments disclosed above. On the contrary, the intention is to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements within the scope of the claims to which the present invention seeks to apply. Therefore, the scope of protection of the claims of the present invention should be construed in the broadest sense in accordance with the foregoing description so as to encompass all possible modifications and equivalent arrangements.

Claims (20)

1. An optical switch key, comprising:

a housing having a deformable portion;

the movable shaft is movably arranged on the shell and can move up and down along a movement path to a non-pressed position and a pressed position in response to the pressing force; and

the switch module comprises a circuit board, an optical transmitter and an optical receiver, wherein the optical transmitter and the optical receiver are electrically connected with the circuit board, the optical transmitter transmits an optical signal, and the optical signal reaches the optical receiver along an optical transmission path;

the deformable part extends inwards from the wall surface of the shell, the deformable part is positioned beside the interfered path of the optical transmission path, and the long axis of the deformable part is not perpendicular to the interfered path of the optical transmission path;

when the movable shaft moves from the non-pressed position to the pressed position in response to the pressing force, the movable shaft moves along the movement path to push the deformable part to locally move laterally, so that the optical signal received by the optical receiver is changed to trigger the switch module to generate a trigger signal.

2. The optical switch key of claim 1, wherein: when the movable shaft is located at the non-pressing position, the part of the deformable part entering the optical transmission path is less, the deformable part blocks the optical signal to be low, and the optical signal received by the optical receiver has first intensity; when the movable shaft is located at the pressing position, the local lateral movement of the deformable part is far away from the motion path, the deformable part enters the light transmission path in a large amount, the deformable part blocks the light signal quantity to be high, and the light signal received by the light receiver has a second intensity, so that the second intensity is smaller than the first intensity.

3. The optical switch key of claim 1, wherein: the movable shaft is provided with an acting part which protrudes along the motion path and corresponds to the deformable part, and when the movable shaft is positioned at the non-pressing position, the acting part and the deformable part at least partially overlap in a direction parallel to the motion path; when the movable shaft moves along the motion path to push the deformable part to locally move laterally, the acting part is at least partially contacted with the deformable part in a direction perpendicular to the motion path.

4. An optical switch key as defined in claim 3, wherein: the action part is provided with a first inclined surface, the deformable part is provided with a second inclined surface, the first inclined surface corresponds to the second inclined surface, and when the movable shaft moves along the motion path, the first inclined surface moves relative to the second inclined surface so as to enable the deformable part to locally move laterally.

5. An optical switch key as defined in claim 3, wherein: the circuit board further has an avoidance space, and when the movable shaft is located at the pressing position, the end of the acting portion exceeds the deformable portion and enters the avoidance space.

6. The optical switch key of claim 1, wherein: the optical switch key also comprises an elastic piece, the elastic piece is arranged in the shell and coupled with the movable shaft, and when the pressing force is removed, the elastic piece enables the movable shaft to return to the non-pressing position; the shell is formed by combining an upper shell and a lower shell, the upper shell is provided with a through hole and an upper clamping part, the movable shaft is movably inserted into the through hole to position the elastic piece, the lower shell is provided with a lower clamping part, and the lower clamping part is used for clamping with the upper clamping part so as to enable the upper shell to be connected with the lower shell;

the deformable part is arranged on the lower shell; alternatively, the deformable portion is provided to the upper case.

7. The optical switch key of claim 1, wherein: the shell further comprises a grating part, the grating part is provided with a grating hole and is positioned between the light emitter and the light receiver, the deformable part is provided with a horizontal extension shaft, and when the movable shaft is positioned at the non-pressing position, the horizontal extension shaft does not pass through the grating hole; the horizontally extending shaft passes through the grating aperture when the deformable portion is moved laterally away from the motion path.

8. The optical switch key of claim 1, wherein: the circuit board is further provided with a positioning hole, the shell is provided with a positioning column, and the positioning column is inserted into the positioning hole so as to position the shell on the circuit board.

9. The optical switch key of claim 1, wherein: the optical switch key further comprises an elastic piece, a light guide column and a backlight light source, wherein the elastic piece is arranged in the shell and coupled with the movable shaft, and when the pressing force is removed, the elastic piece enables the movable shaft to return to the non-pressing position; the light guide column is arranged in the shell corresponding to the elastic piece, and the backlight light source is electrically connected with the circuit board corresponding to the light guide column so as to provide light rays to be emitted towards the movable shaft.

10. An optical switch key, comprising:

a housing;

the movable shaft is movably arranged on the shell and can move up and down along a movement path to a non-pressed position and a pressed position in response to the pressing force;

the switch module comprises a circuit board, an optical transmitter and an optical receiver, wherein the optical transmitter and the optical receiver are electrically connected with the circuit board, the optical transmitter transmits an optical signal, and the optical signal reaches the optical receiver along an optical transmission path; and

a shielding member disposed at the side of the interfered path of the light transmission path, wherein the direction of the shielding member extending from the wall surface of the housing is not perpendicular to the interfered path of the light transmission path,

when the movable shaft moves from the non-pressed position to the pressed position in response to the pressing force, the movable shaft drives the shielding member to move laterally, so that the optical signal received by the optical receiver is changed to trigger the switch module to generate a trigger signal.

11. The optical switch key of claim 10, wherein: when the movable shaft is located at the non-pressing position, the part of the shielding piece entering the optical transmission path is less, the shielding piece blocks the optical signal to be low, and the optical signal received by the optical receiver is of a first intensity; when the movable shaft is located at the pressing position, the shielding piece moves laterally away from the moving path, the shielding piece enters the light transmission path in a large amount, the shielding piece blocks the light signal quantity, and the light signal received by the light receiver has a second intensity, so that the second intensity is smaller than the first intensity.

12. The optical switch key of claim 10, wherein: when the movable shaft is located at the non-pressing position, the shielding piece is located in the optical transmission path, the shielding piece blocks the optical signal, and the optical signal received by the optical receiver has a first intensity; when the movable shaft is located at the pressing position, the shielding piece moves laterally away from the optical transmission path, and the optical signal received by the optical receiver has a second intensity, so that the second intensity is greater than the first intensity.

13. The optical switch key of claim 10, wherein: the housing further has a grating portion having a grating hole and located between the light emitter and the light receiver, and the shielding member has a shielding portion selectively shielding the grating hole relative to the light emitting portion in response to movement of the movable shaft.

14. An optical switch key, comprising:

a keycap;

the supporting mechanism is arranged below the keycap and supports the keycap to move up and down;

the restoring mechanism is arranged below the keycap to provide restoring force so that the keycap is restored to the position before pressing after pressing, and the restoring mechanism comprises a shell which is provided with a deformable part; and

a switch module including a circuit board, a light emitter and a light receiver, the light emitter and the light receiver are electrically connected to the circuit board, the light emitter emits a light signal corresponding to the light receiver, the deformable portion is located beside the interfered path of the light transmission path, the long axis of the deformable portion is not perpendicular to the interfered path of the light transmission path,

when the keycap is pressed, the keycap drives the supporting mechanism to move, so that the supporting mechanism pushes the deformable part to move laterally to change the optical signal received by the optical receiver, and the switch module is triggered to generate a trigger signal.

15. The optical switch key of claim 14, wherein: the supporting mechanism comprises an inner support and an outer support, the inner support is pivoted on the inner side of the outer support to form a scissor-type supporting mechanism, and the supporting mechanism is provided with a protruding part which extends and protrudes from the inner support towards the inner side direction of the inner support.

16. The optical switch key of claim 15, wherein: when the keycap is not pressed, the optical signal received by the optical receiver is of a first intensity; when the keycap is pressed to drive the supporting mechanism to move, the protruding portion pushes the deformable portion to move so as to at least partially block the optical signal, so that the optical signal received by the optical receiver has a second intensity, and the second intensity is smaller than the first intensity.

17. The optical switch key of claim 15, wherein: when the keycap is not pressed, the protruding part and the deformable part at least partially overlap in a moving direction parallel to the keycap; when the keycap is pressed, the protruding part pushes the deformable part to move laterally, and the protruding part and the deformable part are at least partially contacted in the moving direction perpendicular to the keycap.

18. The optical switch key of claim 15, wherein: the protruding portion has a first inclined surface, the deformable portion has a second inclined surface, the first inclined surface corresponds to the second inclined surface, and when the keycap drives the supporting mechanism to move, the first inclined surface moves relative to the second inclined surface, so that the deformable portion moves laterally.

19. The optical switch key of claim 14, wherein: the shell is formed by combining an upper shell and a lower shell, the upper shell is provided with an upper clamping part, the lower shell is provided with a lower clamping part, and the lower clamping part is used for clamping with the upper clamping part so as to enable the upper shell to be connected with the lower shell;

the deformable part is arranged on the lower shell; alternatively, the deformable portion is provided to the upper case.

20. The optical switch key of claim 19, wherein: the shell further comprises a grating part, the grating part is located between the light emitter and the light receiver, and when the keycap is pressed, the support mechanism pushes the deformable part to move so as to change the relative position of the deformable part and the grating part.

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