8 Nov
2011
8 Nov
'11
2:17 p.m.
Chuck Guzis wrote:
Why not standardize the "undercarriage", if
you will? An 8-by-28 (or
something like that) key PCB and overlying metal frame, where one
simply snaps in the keyswitches in the positions one desires?
Because the non-alphanumeric keys don't have uniform widths, and because
I want to be able to make keyboards of various overall widths per the
user's desire, i.e., if the user doesn't want a numeric keypad, I don't
want to have a lot of empty space where it would go.
One thing I miss from the old George Risk keyboards is
switches that
are calibrated to respond to a certain force, so that function and
other special keys take a bit more force to activate.
I think that would require manufacturing custom keyswitches, because the
standard ones are only available for one force specification.
On the other hand, if you don't want to use off-the-shelf mechanical
tactile switches, there might be some way to do it. That will push up
the cost.
Possibly Keytronics-style capacitive switches could be an option,
although I haven't looked into how well that will work using a routed
PCB without routing out voids. Then you could get different forces by
using different densities of foam.