Keyboard Patents

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A gallery of patents that describe technologies or illustrate designs relating to IBM and family keyboards, typewriters and keypunches. This includes keyswitch/actuator designs, ornamental designs (overall appearance), integrated pointing devices such as TrackPoints, and host systems such as PCs, laptops, terminals, consoles and electronic typewriters. All illustrations provided are from the patents themselves, which are believed to be within the public domain. A total of 112 patents have been recorded. The patent list is currently filtered to 1 patent(s).

British Utility Patent 1,363,777 (GB1363777A)

Patent diagrams of IBM's toggle switch at rest (left) and pressed (right)

Applied 21 Aug 1972

Published 14 Aug 1974

More info

Name	Toggle mechanism
Inventors	Richard H. Harris, Robert J. Wolfrom
Assignees	IBM
Description	An invention of a keyswitch that uses a cantilever snap mechanism to provide an actuator for a capacitance-sensing PCB. The mechanism consists of a leaf spring and a blade spring coupled together; the former is bent to push a capacitive plate towards its rest position and then snaps to an inverted position to lift the plate when force is applied. This was implemented as the IBM beam spring used on all Model B family keyboards.