Apple is cooking something delicious, deep in its experimental labs. Again, the secret plans were blown off by an Apple patent that was filed with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, which showed that the company is working on an even thinner keyboard for its portable Macs. Who knows, maybe even iMacs will be included in the future. The patent is called “Single Support Lever Keyboard Mechanism” and its inventors are Patrick Kessler, Bradley Joseph Hamel and James. J. Niu.
Apple Working on Thinner Keyboards for its Next Products?
In the patent, we find the description for a low-travel keyboard which could be used for a very thin computing device. That makes us think either laptop computer, netbook computer or the new kind of desktop computers. The key caps appear to be made from a variety of materials and take the shape of a flat slab. If you ask me, the actual keyboard used in Apple’s products is already thin, I wonder how much thinner can the designers and engineers at Apple make it.
The support lever will also be made up of a flexible material which should be attached to the substrate on the other end. The link between the support lever and key cap is made up of a metal dome. This dome can be operated in such a way as to activate the switch circuitry of the membrane on the printed circuit positioned underneath the dome.
The motivation for the new invention? The fact that the peripheral devices hold a great importance in how a user interacts with its laptop or computer. Also, the appearance is a major factor of how the user will perceive the computing device. And one challenge related to these devices has always been in shrinking them and making them more attractive and easier to handle. Therefore, the designers of the new keyboard think that it would be beneficial to market a keyboard that is portable, light and yet, one that does provide the stability users need in order to get their tasks done.