An inductive keyboard based on a two-layer PCB

Abstract

This utility model provides an inductive keyboard based on a two-layer PCB, comprising a two-layer PCB with a top panel and a bottom panel. The bottom panel is equipped with a main control MCU, a power supply connected to it, and multiple inductive shaft ICs. The main control MCU is connected to an external crystal oscillator, which is multiplied to distribute multiple crystal oscillators, optimizing and replacing the active crystal oscillator to provide a stable clock signal, significantly reducing material costs. On the other hand, the key LEDs on the two-layer PCB are RGB, arranged in rows on the PCB. The positive and negative directions of the RGB LEDs in each row are consistent, while the positive and negative directions of the RGB LEDs in adjacent rows are opposite. All RGB LEDs are connected in a single S-shaped wiring pattern, replacing the conventional design where the positive and negative directions of the RGB LEDs in each row are consistent. This optimizes the double S-shaped wiring of the RGB LEDs into a single S-shaped pattern, effectively saving PCB wiring space, reducing signal interference and material costs, and improving production efficiency.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model belongs to the field of keyboards, and relates to inductive keyboards, specifically an inductive keyboard based on a two-layer PCB. Background Technology

[0002] In recent years, as consumers' demands for keyboard performance have increased, inductive keyboards have gradually gained market favor due to their high precision, stability, and durability. Inductive switches utilize a ring-shaped inductor on a circuit board, connected to a magnetic component under the keycap. When the keycap moves, the magnetic component moves within the inductor channel, generating different inductance values ​​to detect the key travel distance. This non-contact inductive switch technology not only achieves higher precision and stability but also enhances the keyboard's durability and stability. Inductive keyboards have not only made technological breakthroughs but also offer more customization options, improving the user experience. For example, they support multi-point actuation and fast actuation, providing actuation travel adjustment up to 0.01 milliseconds. In addition, to meet the high performance and design requirements of inductive keyboards, such as RGB lighting effects, multimedia keys, and macro definitions, the PCB of inductive keyboards usually adopts a 4-layer or 6-layer board design. It uses an active crystal oscillator to precisely control the keyboard timing, improve the stability and reliability of the system, and ensure that key operations are accurately and timely recognized and processed. However, this also brings the disadvantages of complex manufacturing process and high cost. Therefore, while ensuring the performance of inductive keyboards, reducing manufacturing costs as much as possible is one of the current research focuses of inductive keyboards. Utility Model Content

[0003] To address the high cost of existing inductive keyboards, this invention proposes an inductive keyboard solution based on a two-layer PCB. By optimizing component selection and improving wiring methods, the number of traces on the PCB is greatly reduced. This allows the two-layer PCB to meet the wiring requirements of ensuring complete grounding of each coil and power ground without signal interference. Without affecting the fast triggering accuracy and sensitivity performance of the inductive keyboard, the manufacturing cost of the inductive keyboard is significantly reduced.

[0004] To achieve the above objectives, the technical solution adopted by this utility model is as follows.

[0005] This utility model provides an inductive keyboard based on a two-layer PCB, including a keyboard shell and a PCB board disposed inside the keyboard shell. The PCB board is a two-layer board, consisting of a top panel and a bottom panel. The bottom panel is provided with a main control MCU, a power supply connected to the main control MCU, and multiple inductive shaft ICs. The main control MCU is externally connected to a crystal oscillator, which is multiplied to distribute multiple active crystal oscillators. The active crystal oscillators are respectively connected to the main control MCU and the inductive shaft ICs to provide them with stable clock signals. Multiple PCB coils are arranged in rows on the bottom panel, and colorful RGB lights are arranged one-to-one with each PCB coil. The positive and negative directions of the colorful RGB lights in each row are consistent, and the positive and negative directions of the colorful RGB lights in adjacent rows are opposite. All colorful RGB lights are connected in a single S-shape. The power supply and each PCB coil are completely grounded in all directions to ensure the keyboard's fast triggering accuracy and sensitivity.

[0006] To further clarify, the main control MCU is an IN800E microcontroller.

[0007] To further clarify, the main crystal oscillator frequency is 12MHz.

[0008] To further explain, the active crystal oscillator after frequency doubling is 16MHz.

[0009] The beneficial effects of this utility model are as follows: The inductive keyboard PCB of this utility model adopts a two-layer board design, and the keyboard's fast triggering accuracy (RT) can reach 0.01mm, with a key travel error of ±0.1mm. While meeting the high performance requirements of inductive keyboards, it effectively reduces production costs, specifically in the following two aspects.

[0010] Firstly, this invention utilizes the external crystal oscillator of the existing main control MCU, which is multiplied and then distributed into multiple 16MHz crystal oscillators. This optimizes and replaces the active crystal oscillator to provide a stable clock signal, enabling precise control of the keyboard timing and significantly reducing material costs.

[0011] Secondly, this utility model optimizes the selection of button light components. Specifically, the button lights adopt colorful RGB, arranged in rows on the PCB board. The positive and negative directions of the colorful RGB in each row are consistent, while the positive and negative directions of the colorful RGB in adjacent rows are opposite. All colorful RGB are connected in a single S-shape, replacing the conventional design where the positive and negative directions of each row of RGB are consistent. The double S-shaped wiring method of colorful RGB is optimized into a single S-shape, which effectively saves PCB board wiring space, reduces signal interference and material costs, and improves production efficiency. Attached Figure Description

[0012] Figure 1This is a schematic diagram of the functional structure of the bottom panel of the two-layer PCB in this embodiment.

[0013] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the existing RGB wiring connection.

[0014] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the wiring connection for the colorful RGB in this embodiment. Detailed Implementation

[0015] The technical solutions of the present utility model will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings of the embodiments. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present utility model, and not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present utility model, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the protection scope of the present utility model.

[0016] In this utility model, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, terms such as "connection" and "linked" should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; they can refer to a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; and they can also refer to the internal connection of two components. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this utility model according to the specific circumstances.

[0017] The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to specific accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the preferred embodiments described herein are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

[0018] Example 1.

[0019] As a specific implementation method, the inductive keyboard provided in this embodiment includes a keyboard housing and a PCB board disposed inside the keyboard housing, as detailed below. Figure 1As shown, the PCB board is a two-layer board, consisting of a top panel and a bottom panel 1. The bottom panel 1 is equipped with a main control MCU 11, a power supply 12 connected to the main control MCU 11, and multiple inductor shaft ICs 13. The main control MCU 11 is externally connected to a crystal oscillator 111. The crystal oscillator 111 is multiplied by the frequency multiplier unit 112 of the main control MCU 11 to generate multiple active crystal oscillators 113. The active crystal oscillators 113 are connected to the main control MCU 11 and the inductor shaft ICs 13 respectively, providing them with a stable clock signal. Multiple PCB coils 14 are arranged in rows on the bottom panel 1, and RGB LEDs 15 corresponding to each PCB coil 14 are arranged in rows. The positive and negative directions of the RGB LEDs 15 in each row are the same, and the positive and negative directions of the RGB LEDs 15 in adjacent rows are opposite. All RGB LEDs 15 are connected in a single S-shape. The power supply 12 and each PCB coil 14 are completely grounded in all directions to ensure the keyboard's fast triggering accuracy and sensitivity.

[0020] In this embodiment, the main control MCU 11 of the inductive keyboard can be an IN800E microcontroller. To meet the high-precision clock requirements, an external 12MHz crystal oscillator 111 is needed. The IN800E has a built-in phase-locked loop (PLL) circuit, which can multiply the external crystal oscillator to a higher system clock frequency. In this embodiment, the external crystal oscillator 111 connected to the main control MCU 11 is multiplied from 12MHz to 16MHz, and then multiple active crystal oscillators 113 are obtained by crystal oscillator distribution. These are connected to the main control MCU 11 and the inductive axis IC 13 respectively to provide a stable clock signal for precise control of the keyboard timing. This embodiment optimizes and replaces the active crystal oscillators, while meeting the high-performance requirements of the inductive keyboard such as RGB lighting effects, multimedia keys, macro definitions, and fast triggering, while reducing the number of components, saving PCB wiring space, and significantly reducing costs.

[0021] To facilitate PCB surface mount technology (SMT), the key LEDs of inductive keyboards in current technology are generally arranged in a row in the same direction, as shown in the example below. Figure 2As shown, the keyboard key lights use vibrant RGB lighting, with multiple vibrant RGB lights arranged in rows. The positive and negative polarities of each vibrant RGB light are aligned. When connecting the vibrant RGB lights, the first row of lights is connected sequentially from right to left. Then, the process moves to the end of the second row and continues from right to left, connecting the lights in the second row sequentially. This process is repeated until all vibrant RGB lights are connected. It can be seen that in existing technologies, the PCB wiring for vibrant RGB lights is generally double S-shaped, requiring additional wiring to connect adjacent rows. However, in this inductive keyboard, the positive and negative polarities of the vibrant RGB lights in each row are aligned, while the positive and negative polarities of adjacent rows are opposite. When connecting the vibrant RGB lights, after the first row of lights is connected sequentially from right to left, the lights in the second row are directly connected sequentially from left to right at the beginning. At the end of the third row, the connection continues sequentially from right to left, repeating the steps until all vibrant RGB lights are connected. For details, please refer to [reference needed]. Figure 3 In this embodiment, the RGB lights are connected in a single S-shape on the PCB, with adjacent rows connected end-to-end, compared to... Figure 2 The existing wiring method reduces the number of wiring connections at both ends between adjacent rows of RGB lighting, making the wiring simpler and saving PCB wiring space. Figure 2 and Figure 3 In the schematic diagram of the colorful RGB wiring connection, the first row of colorful RGB can also be connected sequentially from left to right, and then connected to the colorful RGB of the lower row according to the two wiring methods mentioned above. This embodiment is only used for explanation and is not intended to limit it.

[0022] In the design process of the inductive keyboard PCB in this embodiment, by optimizing the selection of RGB LED components and improving their wiring method, and by making full use of the processor's external crystal oscillator to optimize the replacement of the active crystal oscillator, the number of traces on the PCB board is greatly reduced, saving PCB wiring space. This allows the two-layer PCB to meet the wiring requirements of each PCB coil and power ground being completely enclosed and free from signal interference, greatly reducing the manufacturing cost of the inductive keyboard.

[0023] The performance of the inductive keyboard in this embodiment was tested using HONGDA's S205 PLUS precision load-displacement curve analyzer to measure the key travel and rapid triggering accuracy (RT). The performance verification results show that the rapid triggering RT accuracy of the inductive keyboard in this embodiment can basically reach 0.01mm, and the key travel error is within ±0.1mm. While meeting the high-performance requirements of inductive keyboards such as RGB lighting effects, multimedia keys, macro definitions, and rapid triggering, the manufacturing cost is effectively reduced.

[0024] In summary, the inductive keyboard based on a two-layer PCB provided by this utility model utilizes the external crystal oscillator of the existing main control MCU. After frequency multiplication, the oscillators are distributed into multiple 16MHz crystal oscillators, optimizing and replacing the active crystal oscillator to provide a stable clock signal and precisely control the keyboard timing. On the other hand, by optimizing the selection and layout design of the key LED components, the positive and negative directions of each row of RGB LEDs are consistent, and the positive and negative directions of adjacent rows of RGB LEDs are opposite. This replaces the conventional design where the direction of each row of RGB LEDs is consistent, and optimizes the double S-shaped wiring method of the RGB LEDs into a single S-shaped method. This effectively saves PCB space, reduces signal interference and material costs, and improves production efficiency.

[0025] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solution of this utility model and are not intended to limit it. Although this utility model has been described in detail with reference to preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications or equivalent substitutions can be made to the technical solution of this utility model without departing from the spirit and scope of the technical solution of this utility model, and all such modifications or substitutions fall within the scope of this patent.

Claims

1. An inductive keyboard based on a two-layer PCB, comprising a keyboard housing and a PCB board disposed inside the keyboard housing, characterized in that, The PCB board is a two-layer board, consisting of a top panel and a bottom panel. The bottom panel houses the main control MCU, a power supply connected to the main control MCU, and multiple inductor shaft ICs. The main control MCU is externally connected to a crystal oscillator, which, after frequency multiplication, generates multiple active crystal oscillators. These active crystal oscillators are connected to the main control MCU and the inductor shaft ICs respectively, providing them with a stable clock signal. The bottom panel also features multiple PCB coils arranged in rows, along with corresponding RGB LEDs. The positive and negative polarities of the RGB LEDs in each row are aligned, while those in adjacent rows are opposite. All RGB LEDs are connected in a single S-shape. The power supply and each PCB coil are completely grounded in all directions, providing fast triggering accuracy and sensitivity.

2. The inductive keyboard based on a two-layer PCB according to claim 1, characterized in that, The main control MCU is an IN800E microcontroller.

3. The inductive keyboard based on a two-layer PCB according to claim 2, characterized in that, The main crystal oscillator frequency is 12MHz.

4. The inductive keyboard based on a two-layer PCB according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The active crystal oscillator, after frequency doubling, is 16MHz.

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