Click pad

• US 9,984,838 B2
• Filed: 08/29/2014
• Issued: 05/29/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Huang, Chin-Hung, Yu, Ming-Jen
• Primary Examiner(s): LEA EDMONDS, LISA S
• Application Number:
  US15/309,829
• Publication Number:
  US 20170271101A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,369 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/169 the I/O peripheral being an integrated pointing device, e.g. trackball in the palm rest area, mini-joystick integrated between keyboard keys, touch pads or touch stripes G06F1/1643 takes precedence; constructional details of pointing devices G06F3/033
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: H01H 13/14 Operating parts, e.g. push-button
• CPC Class Codes: H01H 2215/004 Collapsible dome or bubble

Abstract

Examples disclosed herein relate to a click pad. Examples include a circuit board and a switch formed to extend from the circuit board. A stationary pad surrounds all surfaces of the switch extending from the circuit board, is coupled to the switch opposite to the circuit board, and is to be compressed by actuation of the circuit board when a pressure is put on the click pad. A bracket is coupled to the pad to compresses the pad between the circuit board and the bracket.

Claims

1. A click pad comprising:

a circuit board and a switch formed to extend from a first surface of the circuit board;

a stationary pad to surround all surfaces of the switch extending from the circuit board, a first surface of the pad coupled to a first surface of the switch opposite the first surface of the circuit board, and to be compressed by actuation of the circuit board when a pressure is put on the click pad; and

a bracket coupled to a second surface of the stationary pad opposite to the first surface of the stationary pad to compress the stationary pad between the circuit board and the bracket.

2. The click pad of claim 1, wherein the second surface the stationary pad is a stepped surface with an upper protrusion coupled to the bracket.

3. The click pad of claim 2, wherein the upper protrusion of the stationary pad is to deform in response to a deformation of the bracket to prevent actuation of the switch by the deformation of the bracket within a tolerance level of the upper protrusion of the stationary pad.

4. The click pad of claim 1, further comprising:

a support frame disposed on the first surface of the circuit board with a first opening to expose the switch including a support arm extending from the support frame,

wherein the support arm is disposed to support the bracket in an unloaded position.

5. The click pad of claim 1, wherein the switch is disposed along a first edge of the touch panel.

6. The click pad of claim 5, wherein the switch is disposed approximately in the center of the first edge of the touch panel.

7. A computing device comprising:

a click pad, the click pad comprising;

a circuit board and a switch formed to extend from a first surface of the circuit board;

a support frame disposed on the first surface of the circuit board with a first opening to expose the switch including a support arm extending from the support frame;

a cover disposed on a second side of the circuit board opposite to the first side of the circuit board, the cover to receive a force in the direction towards the circuit board;

a stationary pad to surround an upper and side surfaces of the switch on the circuit board, a first surface of the stationary pad coupled to a first surface of the switch opposite the first surface of the circuit board, and to be compressed by actuation of the circuit board when a pressure is put on the cover; and

a bracket coupled to a second surface of the stationary pad opposite to the first surface of the stationary pad and secured to the support frame to compress the stationary pad between the circuit board and the bracket,

wherein the support arm is disposed to support the bracket in an unloaded position.

8. The computing device of claim 7, wherein the stationary pad surrounds the switch on the circuit board and is coupled to the switch by an adhesive.

9. The computing device of claim 7, wherein the second surface of the stationary pad is a stepped surface with an upper protrusion coupled to the bracket.

10. The computing device of claim 9, wherein the upper protrusion of the pad is to deform in response to a deformation of the bracket to prevent actuation of the switch by the deformation of the bracket within a tolerance level of the upper protrusion of the stationary pad.

11. The computing device of claim 7, wherein the stationary pad is at least one of a dome, pyramid, and trapezoid coupled to the circuit board and the switch.

12. The computing device of claim 7, wherein the switch is disposed along a first edge of the circuit board.

13. The computing device of claim 7, wherein the switch is disposed approximately in the center of the first edge of the circuit board.

14. The computing device of claim 7, further comprising:

a cover bracket to support the circuit board on a first surface of the cover bracket and the cover on a second surface of the cover bracket opposite the first surface of the cover bracket.

15. A method of dissipating deformation force from a bracket in a click pad, comprising:

receiving the deformation force from the bracket at a stationary pad disposed on a first surface of a switch extending from a printed circuit board, wherein the stationary pad surrounds an upper and side surfaces of the switch; and

compressing an upper protrusion from a first surface of the stationary pad coupled to the bracket in response to receiving the deformation force,

wherein the upper protrusion of the first surface of the pad is to dissipate the deformation force from reaching the switch when the deformation force is less than a tolerance level of the upper protrusion of the first surface of the pad to the deformation force.