Computer keyboard backlighting
First Claim
1. A backlit keyboard for use with a computer or internet television, the keyboard comprising:
- a plurality of keyswitches, each having a cap and a stem extending downwardly from the cap, wherein at least a portion of the cap is transparent or translucent;
wherein said caps are spaced apart to provide gaps between the caps;
a substantially planar panel of light-emitting electroluminescent material extending beneath said caps; and
wherein said panel emits light directly up through said keyswitches by passing through said portion of each cap that is translucent or transparent; and
wherein said panel emits light up between the caps through said gaps to be visible by a user.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments of a peripheral backlighting system for keyboards are shown and described, which include one or more light-emitting panels exterior to the keyswitches of the keyboard. The panels are preferably electroluminescent material and surround at least two sides, and preferably all sides, of the stem of a keyswitch or the space in which the stem slides up and down during use. Alternatively, the electroluminescent panel(s) may extend substantially continuously between and underneath a plurality of keyswitches. The panels extend closely adjacent to the stem or stem path, or under the keyswitch, to be as far under the key cap as possible without extending into the stem or cap of the keyswitch. The EL panels are preferably powered by the computer keyboard port, via voltage inverters. Preferably, the keyswitch is translucent or partially translucent, and the base plate over the EL panels, if any, is at least partially translucent or transparent. This way, the light from the light-emitting panels radiates upward through, and preferably around the outer surface of, the translucent keycaps, rather than up through an aperture or lightpipe in the center of the keycaps.
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Citations
80 Claims
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1. A backlit keyboard for use with a computer or internet television, the keyboard comprising:
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a plurality of keyswitches, each having a cap and a stem extending downwardly from the cap, wherein at least a portion of the cap is transparent or translucent;
wherein said caps are spaced apart to provide gaps between the caps;
a substantially planar panel of light-emitting electroluminescent material extending beneath said caps; and
wherein said panel emits light directly up through said keyswitches by passing through said portion of each cap that is translucent or transparent; and
wherein said panel emits light up between the caps through said gaps to be visible by a user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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17. A backlit keyboard for use with a computer or internet television, the keyboard comprising:
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a plurality of keyswitches, each having a cap and a stem extending downwardly from the cap, wherein at least a portion of the cap is transparent or translucent;
wherein said caps are spaced apart to provide gaps between the caps; and
a substantially planar panel of light-emitting electroluminescent material extending beneath said caps;
wherein said panel emits light directly up through said keyswitches by passing through said portion of each cap that is translucent or transparent;
wherein said panel emits light up between the caps through said gaps to be visible by a user; and
wherein the caps each have an outer perimeter and wherein said panel comprises non-light-emitting areas directly below the gaps so that the panel radiates light from near the outer perimeters up through the gaps at an angle to said panel but so that the panel does not radiate light straight up from below the centers of the gaps.
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18. A backlit keyboard for use with a computer or internet television, the keyboard comprising:
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a plurality of keyswitches, each having a cap and a stem extending downwardly from the cap, wherein at least a portion of the cap is transparent or translucent;
wherein said caps are spaced apart to provide gaps between the caps;
a substantially planar panel of light-emitting electroluminescent material extending beneath said caps;
wherein said panel emits light directly up through said keyswitches by passing through said portion of each cap that is translucent or transparent; and
wherein said panel emits light up between the caps through said gaps to be visible by a user; and
the keyboard further comprising a base plate received between said plurality of keyswitches, below the caps, and above said panel of light-emitting electroluminescent material, wherein at least a portion of the base plate is transparent or translucent so that the light emitted by said panel up through said gaps passes through said transparent or translucent portion of the base plate;
wherein the caps each have an outer perimeter and wherein said base plate comprises opaque areas generally centered below the gaps and wherein said base plate further comprises translucent or transparent areas near said outer perimeters, so that the panel emits light from near the outer perimeters of the caps through the base plate translucent or transparent areas and through the gaps at an angle to said panel, but the base plate opaque areas block light from being emitted straight up through centers of the gaps. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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20. A backlit keyboard for use with a computer or internet television, the keyboard comprising:
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a plurality of keyswitches, each having a cap and a stem extending downwardly from the cap, wherein at least a portion of the cap is transparent or translucent;
wherein said caps are spaced apart to provide gaps between the caps;
anda substantially planar panel of light-emitting electroluminescent material extending beneath said caps;
wherein said panel emits light directly up through said keyswitches by passing through said portion of each cap that is translucent or transparent; and
wherein said panel emits light up between the caps through said gaps to be visible by a user;
wherein the keyboard does not include any base plate above the panel of light-emitting electroluminescent material; and
wherein the caps each have an outer perimeter and said panel comprises areas of non-light-emitting material and areas that emit light, wherein said areas of non-light-emitting material are generally centered below the gaps and said areas that emit light are nearer said outer perimeters, so that the panel emits light up through the gap near the cap outer perimeters but the non-light-emitting areas block light from passing directly up through centers of the gap.
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27. A backlit keyboard for use with a computer or internet television, the keyboard comprising:
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a plurality of keyswitches each comprising a cap and a stem extending downwardly from the cap, wherein each cap has a translucent or transparent portion and an outer perimeter;
light-emitting electroluminescent material positioned below the caps and illuminating said translucent or transparent portions of the caps, and positioned at least partially between the keyswitches and emitting light up between the caps to illuminate said outer perimeters of the caps;
a base plate below the caps and above the light-emitting electroluminescent material, the base plate comprising a transparent or translucent area to transmit light from said electroluminescent material up through the base plate between the caps for said illumination of the outer perimeters. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A backlit keyboard for use with a computer or internet television, the keyboard comprising:
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a plurality of keyswitches each comprising a cap and a stem extending downwardly from the cap, wherein each cap has a translucent or transparent portion and an outer perimeter;
light-emitting electroluminescent material positioned below the caps and illuminating said translucent or transparent portions of the caps, and positioned at least partially between the keyswitches and emitting light up between the caps to illuminate said outer perimeters of the caps;
wherein the keyboard does not include any baseplate above the electroluminescent material, so that light emitted up between the caps is visible by a user. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 80)
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41. A backlit keyboard for use with a computer or internet television, the keyboard comprising:
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a plurality of keyswitches, each having a cap and an actuator below the cap, wherein at least a portion of the cap is transparent or translucent;
wherein said caps are spaced apart to provide gaps between the caps;
a substantially planar panel of light-emitting electroluminescent material extending beneath said caps; and
wherein said panel emits light directly up through said keyswitches by passing through said portion of each cap that is translucent or transparent; and
wherein said panel emits light up between the caps through said gaps to be visible by a user. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66)
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57. A backlit keyboard for use with a computer or internet television, the keyboard comprising:
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a plurality of keyswitches, each having a cap and an actuator below the cap, wherein at least a portion of the cap is transparent or translucent;
wherein said caps are spaced apart to provide gaps between the caps; and
a substantially planar panel of light-emitting electroluminescent material extending beneath said caps;
wherein said panel emits light directly up through said keyswitches by passing through said portion of each cap that is translucent or transparent;
wherein said panel emits light up between the caps through said gaps to be visible by a user; and
wherein the caps each have an outer perimeter and wherein said panel comprises non-light-emitting areas directly below the gaps so that the panel radiates light from near the outer perimeters up through the gaps at an angle to said panel but so that the panel does not radiate light straight up from below the centers of the gaps.
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58. A backlit keyboard for use with a computer or internet television, the keyboard comprising:
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a plurality of keyswitches, each having a cap and an actuator below the cap, wherein at least a portion of the cap is transparent or translucent;
wherein said caps are spaced apart to provide gaps between the caps;
a substantially planar panel of light-emitting electroluminescent material extending beneath said caps;
wherein said panel emits light directly up through said keyswitches by passing through said portion of each cap that is translucent or transparent; and
wherein said panel emits light up between the caps through said gaps to be visible by a user; and
the keyboard further comprising a base plate received between said plurality of keyswitches, below the caps, and above said panel of light-emitting electroluminescent material, wherein at least a portion of the base plate is transparent or translucent so that the light emitted by said panel up through said gaps passes through said transparent or translucent portion of the base plate;
wherein the caps each have an outer perimeter and wherein said base plate comprises opaque areas generally centered below the gaps and wherein said base plate further comprises translucent or transparent areas near said outer perimeters, so that the panel emits light from near the outer perimeters of the caps through the base plate translucent or transparent areas and through the gaps at an angle to said panel, but the base plate opaque areas block light from being emitted straight up through centers of the gaps. - View Dependent Claims (59)
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60. A backlit keyboard for use with a computer or internet television, the keyboard comprising:
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a plurality of keyswitches, each having a cap and an actuator below the cap, wherein at least a portion of the cap is transparent or translucent;
wherein said caps are spaced apart to provide gaps between the caps; and
a substantially planar panel of light-emitting electroluminescent material extending beneath said caps;
wherein said panel emits light directly up through said keyswitches by passing through said portion of each cap that is translucent or transparent; and
wherein said panel emits light up between the caps through said gaps to be visible by a user;
wherein the keyboard does not include any base plate above the panel of light-emitting electroluminescent material; and
wherein the caps each have an outer perimeter and said panel comprises areas of non-light-emitting material and areas that emit light, wherein said areas of non-light-emitting material are generally centered below the gaps and said areas that emit light are nearer said outer perimeters, so that the panel emits light up through the gap near the cap outer perimeters but the non-light-emitting areas block light from passing directly up through centers of the gap.
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67. A backlit keyboard for use with a computer or internet television, the keyboard comprising:
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a plurality of keyswitches each comprising a cap and an actuator below the cap, wherein each cap has a translucent or transparent portion and an outer perimeter;
light-emitting electroluminescent material positioned below the caps and illuminating said translucent or transparent portions of the caps, and positioned at least partially between the keyswitches and emitting light up between the caps to illuminate said outer perimeters of the caps;
a base plate below the caps and above the light-emitting electroluminescent material, the base plate comprising a transparent or translucent area to transmit light from said electroluminescent material up through the base plate between the caps for said illumination of the outer perimeters. - View Dependent Claims (68, 69, 70, 71, 72)
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73. A backlit keyboard for use with a computer or internet television, the keyboard comprising:
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a plurality of keyswitches each comprising a cap and an actuator below the cap, wherein each cap has a translucent or transparent portion and an outer perimeter;
light-emitting electroluminescent material positioned below the caps and illuminating said translucent or transparent portions of the caps, and positioned at least partially between the keyswitches and emitting light up between the caps to illuminate said outer perimeters of the caps;
wherein the keyboard does not include any baseplate above the electroluminescent material, so that light emitted up between the caps is visible by a user. - View Dependent Claims (74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79)
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Specification