Touchsurface with level and planar translational travel responsiveness
First Claim
1. A keyboard comprising:
- a plurality of keys, each key including a touchsurface configured to be depressed by a user;
a plurality of leveling and planar-translation effecting mechanisms, each leveling and planar-translation effecting mechanism configured to guide the touchsurface of an associated key of the plurality of keys to be substantively level and to exhibit planar translation when depressed; and
a capacitive keyswitch sensor system proximate to the plurality of keys, the capacitive keyswitch sensor system configured to detect variable capacitances affected by depression of the touchsurfaces of keys of the plurality of keys.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Described herein are one or more techniques related to a touchsurface with level and planar translational travel responsiveness. One or more of the described implementations include an input device having a rigid body including a touchsurface configured to travel along a depression path in response to being depressed by a user. The input device also includes a leveling mechanism that operates in manner to keep the touchsurface substantially level as the touchsurface travels along the depression path in response to being depressed by the user. Furthermore, the input device has a planar-translation-effecting mechanism that defines a planar translation component of the depression path, such that the touchsurface exhibits planar translation as the touchsurface travels along the depression path.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A keyboard comprising:
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a plurality of keys, each key including a touchsurface configured to be depressed by a user; a plurality of leveling and planar-translation effecting mechanisms, each leveling and planar-translation effecting mechanism configured to guide the touchsurface of an associated key of the plurality of keys to be substantively level and to exhibit planar translation when depressed; and a capacitive keyswitch sensor system proximate to the plurality of keys, the capacitive keyswitch sensor system configured to detect variable capacitances affected by depression of the touchsurfaces of keys of the plurality of keys. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An input device comprising:
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a body having a touchsurface configured to be depressed by a user; a leveling and planar-translation effecting mechanism operatively associated with the touchsurface, the leveling and planar-translation effecting mechanism guiding the touchsurface to be substantively level and to exhibit planar translation when the touchsurface travels along a depression path; a capacitive sensor system proximate to the body; and a processing system coupled with the capacitive sensor system, the processing system configured to operate the capacitive sensor system to detect a depression of the touchsurface. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A key assembly comprising:
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a keycap having a touchsurface configured to be depressed by a user; a leveling and planar-translation effecting mechanism configured to guide the touchsurface to be substantively level and to exhibit planar translation when the touchsurface travels along a depression path from an unpressed position to a pressed position; a return mechanism configured to bias the keycap from the pressed position toward the unpressed position; and a capacitive sensor system proximate to the keycap, the capacitive sensor system configured to detect a variable capacitance having a value variable with the keycap along the depression path. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification