Scissor-Key Overlay for Tactile Input on Capacitive Touchscreens
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Solution Overview
Problem
On-screen keyboards lack physical key movement and tactile feedback, leading to reduced operability compared to physical keyboards, and existing wireless keyboards with batteries and membrane switches limit their thinness and weight.
Innovation Solution
A keyboard device with conductive keycaps, scissors mechanisms, insulating support plates, and conductive pads that allow vertical key movement, providing tactile feedback without the need for batteries or wireless modules, ensuring electrical connections with a capacitive touch screen.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a physical keyboard device with battery, membrane switch, and wireless module is used, then operability is improved, but the device becomes thicker and heavier
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the battery, membrane switch, and wireless module from the keyboard device. Instead, it uses the capacitive touch screen of the information apparatus itself for input detection, keeping only the essential mechanical key structure with scissors mechanism and conductive pads for tactile feedback and electrical connection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent makes the keyboard device universal by eliminating device-specific components like batteries and wireless modules. The simplified design with conductive pads can interface with any capacitive touch screen, making the keyboard compatible across different information apparatuses without requiring proprietary components.
2Ease of operation
If a physical keyboard device with battery, membrane switch, and wireless module is used, then operability is improved, but the device becomes thicker
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the battery, membrane switch, and wireless module from the keyboard device. Instead, it uses the capacitive touch screen of the information apparatus itself for input detection, keeping only the essential mechanical key structure with scissors mechanism and conductive pads for tactile feedback and electrical connection.
3Weight of moving object
If a screen keyboard is used, then the device remains thin and light, but operability and tactile feedback are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the keyboard into individual keycaps, each with its own scissors mechanism and conductive pad structure. This segmentation allows each key to provide independent tactile feedback while maintaining the overall thinness of the device, as each key unit is compact and self-contained.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by providing tactile feedback only at the key locations where needed, rather than throughout the entire device. The scissors mechanism and rubber dome structure create localized tactile response at each keycap, while the rest of the device remains thin and lightweight.
4Reliability
If conductive pads are provided to cover through holes, then electrical connection with screen keyboard is enabled, but adjacent keys may short circuit
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses an insulating plate as an intermediary between the conductive pads and the through holes. The insulating plate prevents electrical short circuits between adjacent keys while allowing the conductive pads to make proper electrical contact with the capacitive touch screen through the through holes, thus mediating between electrical connection needs and isolation requirements.
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 enables a thinner, lighter keyboard device that maintains high operability, reducing the risk of input failures and allowing easy portability and integration with capacitive touch screens.
Implementation Method 1
rubber domes respectively provided between the respective keycaps and the support plate
Implementation Method 2
having a conductive contact portion contacting the keycap, and a conductive pressing portion being in electrical connection with the contact portion
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
The present invention provides a keyboard device and an information apparatus system that can be made thinner and lighter and achieve a high degree of operability. The keyboard device is a keyboard device for providing an input to a screen keyboard displaying a plurality of keys on a capacitive touch screen, the device including a plurality of conductive keycaps, scissors mechanisms respectively provided directly beneath the respective keycaps and configured to support the keycap to be vertically movable, an insulating support plate having respective through holes directly beneath the respective keycaps and configured to support each scissors mechanism on an upper surface side, rubber domes respectively provided between the respective keycaps and the support plate, and having a conductive contact portion contacting the keycap, and a conductive pressing portion being in electrical connection with the contact portion and passing through the through hole when the keycap is pressed, and a plurality of conductive pads provided on a lower surface side of the support plate to respectively cover the respective through holes in a state in which adjacent conductive pads are isolated from each other, and that are respectively able to be in electrical connection with the respective keys of the screen keyboard.