Technical article: Customization off the shelf - Manufacturing of customized PC long-travel keyboards
Item no. 1869
Description
| Author: Dipl.-Phys. Gert Breidenbach, Leiter Entwicklung und Marketing bei GeBE Elektronik und Feinwerktechnik GmbH in Germering bei München | |
| Customized long travel keyboards | |
| Customized solutions do not always have to be expensive to develop. Nowadays, customer-specific keyboards can be manufactured quickly and inexpensively using standardized components and modules. The author describes the profile of a comfortable full-travel keyboard and special manufacturing processes. | |
| Long-stroke keyboard with magnetic card reader | |
| In addition to convenient touchscreen technology, the traditional keyboard is still the most important human-machine interface for operating machines that are equipped with intelligent control systems. Although command input is more complex than mouse-supported menu input, sometimes you don't need a complete screen for the simplest controls. However, the flexibility of the keyboard is indispensable for entering text and setting complicated parameters with a large value field. The ease of movement and the longevity of the contacts (over 50 million operations) predestine long-travel keyboards in use primarily for fast multi-finger technology and frequent operation. The full-travel keyboard developed by GeBE is used for operating, configuring and parameterizing a process control system. Your alphanumeric keypad is equipped country-specifically in the key caps in the course of worldwide deliveries. The various available function keys are adapted to the various tasks on their caps with specific legends. To check the access authorization of the operating personnel, a slide-in magnetic card reader is integrated as an ID medium, which sends the read data packed as a string via the serial interface to the host. The elegantly designed plastic housing is not manufactured using injection molding technology because of the smaller quantities, but using vacuum deep-drawing technology because of the significantly lower tooling costs. | |
| Flexible alphanumeric function keyboards | |
| The typical key travel of a long-travel keyboard of > 4 mm results in adequate tactile feedback. When pressed frequently, the physiological strain on the hands is lower compared to other key technologies. The key caps can be colored differently from other keys to support ergonomics and be inscribed with a laser to make them abrasion-resistant. Keycaps with transparent windows allow a variety of changing inscriptions. The layout of the individual keys can be freely designed during construction. An important element that contributes significantly to the longevity of a long-travel keyboard is the so-called keyplate. The forces exerted on the keyboard when writing are absorbed by it and thus kept away from the sensitive circuit board carrying the wiring and the controller. The key contacts connect the rows and columns of keys at the crossing points with one another and thus identify the keys that have been pressed. To avoid so-called shadow keys, decoupling diodes are connected in series with the keys. This enables the error-free recognition of several keys pressed at the same time, e.g. the key combination Alt-Ctrl-Del. | |
| Controller functions | |
| While in so-called matrix keyboards, rows and columns can be connected to an external keyboard controller, e.g. the GCK-972 series from GeBE, via a multi-pole connector, the controller is implemented directly on the keyboard circuit board in somewhat larger series for reasons of cost and reliability. In addition, I/O components such as card readers, displays and trackballs can also be integrated. | |
| Technology and costs | |
| Even for smaller series, the delivery of the customer-specific long-travel keyboard is possible in a cost-effective, deep-drawn plastic housing with an attractive design. Because today there are processes available in negative deep-drawing technology that enable not only a finely grained surface but also undercuts. Viewed from the outside, only a specialist can today distinguish between deep-drawn parts and injection-moulded parts. This technology is also particularly suitable for double-shell keyboard housings because the half-shells are not drawn that deep. As a result, the wall thicknesses remain relatively thick, which contributes significantly to the achievable high stability of the keyboard housing. In a price comparison with injection molding technology, the tool costs, which are often 10 times lower, have a positive effect on small and medium-sized series (< approx. 1,500 pieces), although the housing unit price is of course significantly higher than that of the injection-moulded part due to the rework required on the drawn part. Whenever the planned series does not significantly exceed 3,000 pieces, it is appropriate to include deep-drawing technology in the cost discussion by means of break-even considerations. And another advantage should not be ignored in these fast-moving times: the time to market is 2 1/2 to 3 months shorter with this technology. |
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