Method of making keyboard assemblies
US4042439A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 27, 1976 |
| Grant date | Aug 16, 1977 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 27, 1996 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T428/24521
- WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A keyboard assembly includes an insulative substrate upon which are carried a plurality of conductive paths. Respective portions of the paths are selectively bridged upon depression of a dome-shaped conductive resilient contact element. A pair of space-opposed regions of the dome's marginal portion are deformed downwardly away from its apex so as to constitute a pair of space-opposed feet. The feet have a complex shape which leads to high lifetime of the dome. Preferably, the feet rest on corresponding conductive pads, and the pad pairs for adjacent domes may be differently oriented so as better to accommodate the passage of leads between those domes. Leads on the substrate passing beneath dome edges desirably are depressed into the substrate. Overlying the domes in a completed assembly is a layer of deflectable insulating material that is adhesively affixed to the substrate and to the domes; the latter includes an aperture in registry with each dome but of a diameter smaller than the width of such dome. Advantageously, the adhesively-coated layer also is utilized for the purpose of picking up individual domes from a magazine and transferring them to their assigned positions on the…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.