The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 22, 2003
Filed:
Oct. 24, 2000
Tsuyoshi Narusawa, Fukushima-ken, JP;
Masaaki Kageyama, Fukushima-ken, JP;
Alps Electric Co., Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A key switch in which a pair of lever members which form a cross-link member are molded out of resin materials having different shrinkage coefficients. A shaft-receiving hole is formed in the lever member molded out of the resin material having a small shrinkage coefficient, while a linking shaft is formed on the lever member molded out of the resin material having a large shrinkage coefficient. When the key switch is structured in this way, after the lever member having the shaft-receiving hole has been molded, the resin material having a large shrinkage coefficient is hardened in a die in which the shaft-receiving hole forms a portion of a cavity in order to form the other lever member. By forming the other lever member, the linking shaft is formed in a pivotally mounted state in the shaft-receiving hole. Therefore, it is no longer necessary to link the pair of lever members by a manual operation. Accordingly, the invention provides a key switch which makes it possible to easily and reliably link a pair of lever members which support a key top in order to form a cross-link member without having to carry out a manual operation, and which makes it possible to accelerate size reduction and to carry out an assembly operation with greater ease. The invention also provides a method of producing the same.