Capacitive Touch Key with Tactile Button for Consistent Feel
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Mechanical keyboards with smaller arrow keys face issues due to variations in tactile feel caused by using different types of tactile buttons, leading to inconsistent user experience.
Innovation Solution
A capacitive touch enabled mechanical key with a corresponding tactile button, featuring a key cap coupled with a capacitive touch sensor and a tactile button, allowing for sensitive touch detection and consistent tactile response, enabling multiple inputs on a single key.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If different types of tactile buttons are used for smaller keys (e.g., rubber dome instead of metal dome), then the physical size constraint is satisfied, but the tactile feel consistency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by using the same metal dome tactile button structure for both full-size and smaller arrow keys. This allows the tactile mechanism to serve multiple key size requirements while maintaining consistent tactile feedback characteristics across all keys, resolving the contradiction between size reduction and tactile consistency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameters of the metal dome button (such as dome height, diameter, or material properties) to optimize it for smaller key sizes while preserving the fundamental metal dome structure. This allows the same type of tactile mechanism to provide consistent feel across different key sizes without switching to rubber dome technology.
2Measurement precision
If capacitive touch sensor is added to the key cap, then touch sensitivity is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the capacitive touch sensor with the key cap structure, integrating the sensing function into an existing component rather than adding a separate mechanism. This combination approach improves touch detection sensitivity while minimizing the increase in overall device complexity by reusing the key cap as both a mechanical and capacitive interface.
Solution Approach 2:
The key cap is given dual functionality: it serves as both the mechanical interface for the tactile button and the capacitive sensing surface. This multi-functionality allows the same component to provide both tactile feedback and capacitive touch detection, improving sensing capabilities without proportionally increasing complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides a consistent tactile experience and sensitive touch detection, allowing for multiple inputs on a single key, enhancing user interaction and reducing variations in tactile feel across the keyboard.
Implementation Method 1
a capacitive touch sensor coupled to the key cap
Data Source
AI summary
For mechanical keyboards or other input devices with individual mechanical key buttons, and particularly for compact keyboards used for laptops and other such devices, the size of the up and down arrow keys is usually half the size of most other keys on the keyboard. For example, each letter key on a physical keyboard is typically double the size of each of the up and down arrow keys on that same keyboard. Due to the smaller physical size of the up and down arrow keys, a modified mechanical configuration is used which results in a variation in the tactile feel of the various buttons of the keyboard for a user. The present disclosure discloses a capacitive touch enabled key with a corresponding tactile button to allow the key to represent multiple different inputs while also maintaining a same tactile response as other single input keys of the input device.