Variable Thickness Light Guide Film for Keyboard Backlighting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing keyboard backlighting techniques often result in inconsistent illumination, leading to unduly bright and dim areas, which can hinder accurate use and detract from the aesthetic quality of the keyboard.
Innovation Solution
A light guide film with varying thicknesses is used under the keycaps, with thicker peripheral areas to enhance backlighting intensity, allowing for customizable and uniform illumination across the keyboard, using side-firing LEDs and materials like silicon rubber and thermoplastic urethane, and optionally incorporating interior light sources.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If uniform thickness light guide film is used, then manufacturing is simple, but backlighting consistency across keycaps deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The light guide film is designed with varying thickness across different regions - thicker in areas requiring more light and thinner in areas requiring less light. This local variation in thickness creates non-uniform light distribution that compensates for the natural light falloff patterns, achieving consistent backlighting across all keycaps while maintaining a relatively simple manufacturing process using co-molding techniques.
2Illumination intensity
If thicker light guide film is used, then backlighting intensity increases, but light distribution uniformity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Different regions of the light guide film have different thicknesses optimized for their specific lighting requirements. Peripheral areas may be thicker to compensate for light falloff at the edges, while central areas have appropriate thickness for their lighting needs. This localized thickness variation ensures each region receives appropriate light intensity while maintaining overall uniformity across the keyboard surface.
3Illumination intensity
If variable thickness light guide film is used, then backlighting consistency improves, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the physical parameter of thickness across the light guide film to achieve consistent backlighting. By systematically varying the thickness parameter from uniform to non-uniform distribution, the patent achieves improved light distribution while using standard co-molding manufacturing techniques, avoiding the need for complex assembly of multiple components.
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
This solution ensures consistent and adjustable backlighting, enhancing usability and aesthetics by providing brighter or dimmer areas as needed, accommodating different keyboard designs and keycap materials, and allowing for empirical or virtual design optimization.
Implementation Method 1
A light guide film with varying thicknesses is used under the keycaps, with thicker peripheral areas to enhance backlighting intensity
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus (such as a keyboard) has a plurality of keycaps and a corresponding light guide film disposed on the underside of those keycaps. The light guide film has a periphery, and at least portions of that periphery are thicker than in an interior portion of the light guide film. So configured, more light can be made available for backlighting purposes in the thicker portions than at the thinner portions. These teachings include determining the various (different) thicknesses to employ for the light guide film based upon desired backlighting of one or more of the plurality of keycaps.