Help Needed Desiging a Keyboard Device

So far I have only managed to find two examples of button switches which may be suitable:

http://uk.farnell.com/c-k-components/k12pbk25n/switch-snap-in-2mm-5n-blk/dp/1908210?Ntt=1908210[

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/tactile-switches/0102383/

Perhaps you can develop a specification to describe what you want.

Samples may be available, but you may need to provide some incentive for them.

Your description of the qualities you desire may help.

You are in a sea of people wanting samples.

Good luck.

Maybe look for switches being used in electric pianos.

Not sure what they have there but its worthwhile exploring!

If you require NEW switches, try places on line like NEWARK or DIGIKEY or MOUSER. They all have on line catalogs for you.

Often a recycled switch is cost effective for a prototype / proof design.

Go to a recycle depot and explain your needs. They would probably allow you to salvage a keyboard from a laptop (your target spec ). You could search the pawn shops for it or other source of used equipment. EBAY ( no plug intended ) often lists Laptop Keyboards for sale cheaply. your local scrap dealer might be a search location Or if you are in an area that has electronics surplus store thats a very good place too. How about Radio flea markets or other exhibitions of that kind. Go to a repair shop and ask if they have a discard that you can salvage from. How about a local radio / computer club ?

Be creative, there's more ideas I am sure. Maybe I gave you a direction to look.

Good Luck.

There is a company in Nashville that will build custom PC designs. Simply Circuits.Com is the name of the company. They are on FaceBook. They may be able to assist you.

Dragon

I agree that the force info is not 100% available. You really cant describe tactle feel and you can't go to the store and play touchy-feely either,

Yeah, you can! Might mean putting your socks on though.

Re-use stores like the Sally Ann have piles of keyboards which they end up throwing out at the end of the month because nobody wants them.

Lap top stuff is shite. You cannot take the keys out and place them anywhere else...the keys exist entirely on the circuit board underneath the keys. Can't remove the keys and laptops are notoriously anthromorphically non-intuitive. Your fingers stray....

Try searching eBay. It's amazing what you can find there.

Typical keyboards use a tactile rubber membrane and a membrane switch configuration to give the switching action. But with this kind of setup the resistances of the printed silver circuit may give slower switch reaction. High end keyboard devices use mechanical Cherry MX switches mounted on a PCB. These give much faster response times and improved tactile feel. The Cherry MX switches come in various varieties of actuation force and audible click to meet whatever requirements you have. There are many other switches available as well. Try searching through Mouser, RS, Arrow, etc for low profile tactile switches. You should find something that meets your needs.

Modern keyboards are membrane devices with water resistant design due to frequent abuse during operation. Contact a keyboard manufacturing company for a quote. Don't reinvent the wheel! Some interfaces are capacitance switch designs so that the number of cycles doesn't affect the service life and the actual keyboard is "smart," so that the game has no need to learn it's timing peculiarities... it's built into the chip on the keyboard.

Thank you everyone for your replies. There are some very useful ideas here which have been a big help.

You should have a look at "Mechanical Keyboard" switches. The tactile feedback is better than membrane type switches. Google it and see what your "competitors" have on the market. Here's a link explaining different types of switches. Good luck.

Thank you for that link Terraman. It's very useful. :)

I want to use short travel 'scissor-switch' keys for my keypad design.

Perhaps if you can find maintenance or parts manuals for arcade games or kiosk use, which may be more rugged than standard keypads, they may list key manufacturers and part numbers.

With so much of "that kind of thing" coming in fully assembled from China, sourcing individual parts may prove difficult.