LOW-TRAVEL KEY MECHANISMS USING BUTTERFLY HINGES

摘要

A key mechanism including one or more butterfly hinges. Each butterfly hinge may include a double wing design operative to move between a depressed position and non-depressed position. Hinged coupling mechanisms couple respective arms of the wings together. Additionally or alternatively, a key mechanism can include one or more half-butterfly hinges. Each half-butterfly hinge includes a double wing design operative to move between a depressed position and non-depressed position. A hinged coupling mechanism couples one set of corresponding arms of the wings together, while the other set of corresponding arms are not coupled together.

主权项

1. A key mechanism, comprising:
a keycap assembly; a support structure; a half-butterfly hinge comprising two separate wings positioned adjacent to each other such that a cavity is formed between the two wings, each wing comprising a major arm and a minor arm shorter than the major arm, each wing comprising a pair of pivot pins coupled to the support structure and a pair of keycap pins coupled to the keycap assembly; and a coupling mechanism coupling the major arms of the half-butterfly hinge together.