Sunarrow Limited

Yuichi Iohara

A key unit includes a reinforcing plate having a support frame for surrounding and supporting key groups arrayed on a key-operating surface of the key unit. The support frame is formed at least by processing the outer edge of the reinforcing plate, and the key unit is installable to a mobile device directly from an outside of a casing of the mobile device through the support frame, for example, by fitting the support frame into an opening provided on the casing of the mobile device into which the key unit should be incorporated. For a decoration to the support frame or an exposed part of the reinforcing plate, there are used printing, painting, or various film-forming methods with a metal or a nonmetal.

Key unit with support frame

The object of the present invention is to utilize a reinforcing plate formed out of a metal or a hard resin introduced into a key unit in order to overcome the weak point that conventional rubber keypads are too soft and lack shape stability, as a design element of equipment including a key unit into which the plate is incorporated. For example, a part of metal reinforcing plateis positively exposed to a position which can be seen from the outside of key unit, and various decorations are applied to the exposed partso as to allow it to function as a decorated component. As a location where the reinforcing plate is exposed, there can be cited a part between each key on the key face or an annular part which encircles a plurality of key clusters. A mode may be considered in which the part of the exposed reinforcing platesurrounds each individual key toplike a key frame, so as to substitute a key frame which has been conventionally realized by the equipment casing. The shape of the exposed part of the reinforcing plateis arbitrary. For example, letters, symbols, or the like may be formed.

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Ibaraki, Japan

Yuichi Iohara