Illumination structure for uniform illumination of keys
First Claim
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1. A key comprising:
- a compressible dome;
a keycap positioned above the compressible dome;
a light emitting element; and
a light guide positioned at least partially around the compressible dome and optically coupled to the light emitting element, the light guide comprising;
a light-directing feature operative to direct light from the light emitting element around the light guide;
a set of reflection features operative to reflect the light internally around the light guide; and
a set of illumination features operative to illuminate the keycap.
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Abstract
Described is an illumination structure for a key of a keyboard. The illumination structure is used to uniformly illuminate the key and any glyphs that are present on the key. The illumination structure includes a light guide having various features that increase total internal reflection and also illuminate the glyphs of the key.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A key comprising:
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a compressible dome; a keycap positioned above the compressible dome; a light emitting element; and a light guide positioned at least partially around the compressible dome and optically coupled to the light emitting element, the light guide comprising; a light-directing feature operative to direct light from the light emitting element around the light guide; a set of reflection features operative to reflect the light internally around the light guide; and a set of illumination features operative to illuminate the keycap. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An illumination structure for a key of a keyboard, comprising:
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a light emitting element; a structural body; and a curved light guide coupled to the structural body and comprising; a set of reflection features operative to reflect the light internally around the light guide, the set of reflection features being arranged in a first density at a first location within the light guide and arranged in a second density at a second location within the light guide; and a set of illumination features operative to illuminate at least a portion of a keycap positioned above the illumination structure. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A key for a keyboard comprising:
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a keycap disposed within an aperture defined by the keyboard; a compressible dome positioned below the keycap; a key mechanism positioned around the compressible dome and coupled to the keycap; a structural body positioned beneath the key mechanism and formed from an optically translucent material, the structural body coupled to the key mechanism; a light emitting element; and a light guide optically coupled to the light emitting element and comprising; a first internal feature operative to internally reflect light within the light guide; a second internal feature operative to reflect light out of an inner sidewall of the light guide to illuminate a hollow interior portion of the structural body; and a third internal feature operative to illuminate at least a portion of the keycap. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification