Abstract:
A keyboard structure for improving the uniformity of illumination comprises a substrate having a reflective surface and a key switch assembly. The key switch assembly is disposed adjacent and specifically on top of the substrate and comprises a keycap, a contact assembly and a light emitting means. The light emitting means can be located either between the keycap and the contact assembly or on the substrate and adjacent to the contact assembly. The keycap further has a portion which is optically transmissive. The light from the light emitting means, directly and/or after reflecting from the reflective surface passes through one or more of the gap between adjacent keycaps or a row of keycaps and through the optically transmissive portion of the keycaps, thus illuminating the keyboard structure. Different colors may be used in different zones of the keyboard. The reflective surface and the light emitting means can have the same color.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to keyboard structures for improved uniformity in the reflection of light. This invention has particular, but not exclusive, application in the gaming industry. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Keyboards find use not only as input devices for computing applications, but are also widely used in the gaming industry for controlling purposes. For instance, a gamer may use the key board alone for controlling or a combination of the keyboard and any other device such as a mouse or a joystick. The environment in professional gaming parlours and gaming centres nowadays have less light or very minimal light, the reason for which is to bring out the gaming experience to the fullest. Under conditions of less light, the keys in the keyboards that are used in the gaming centres may not be visible to the gamer. The gamer may press the wrong key which may be undesirable or take time in finding out the key, which wastes a lot of precious time when playing games. 
     Keyboards with backlighting have been developed to ameliorate the problems stated above. In US 2010/0039297, grooves are arranged between the rows of keys on the keyboard. The grooves are illuminated by lighting devices on either end of the grooves. The grooves are located near the base of the keys. The grooves have two sidewalls running along the length of the same. One of the sidewalls has a reflective surface. So when light is transmitted along the groove, the reflective sidewall reflects the light upwards and between the rows of the keys, so as to illuminate the keyboard. 
     Moreover, in US 2010/0148996, the keys in the keyboard are associated with reflective structures such that light from the lighting element associated with the keyboard is reflected by the reflective structures so as to light the internal cavity of the key and illuminate them. 
     However, there is no complete illumination of the keyboard provided by the above described references and also there is no uniform illumination. 
     SUMMARY 
     In an aspect of the invention, there is disclosed a keyboard structure for improved illumination characteristics of the keyboard structure. The keyboard structure comprises a substrate having a reflective surface and a key switch assembly disposed adjacent the substrate. The key switch assembly comprises a keycap, a contact assembly and a light emitting means, wherein light emitted from the light emitting means is incident on the reflective surface of the substrate and is reflected to areas surrounding the key switch assembly. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a side view of an exemplary embodiment of a keyboard structure  10   
         FIG. 2  shows a partial plan view of the keyboard structure  10  (without the keycap  104 ) in accordance with the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1   
         FIG. 3  shows another exemplary embodiment of the keyboard structure  10   
         FIG. 4  shows different zones in the key board structure with different colour characteristics 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Representative embodiments of the disclosure for addressing one or more of the foregoing problems associated with illuminating and/or transmitting light on keyboards and key switch mechanisms are described hereafter with reference to  FIGS. 1 to 4 . For purposes of brevity and clarity, the description herein is directed to a structure for improving illumination characteristics on keyboard structures, such as uniformity of illumination. This, however, does not preclude various embodiments of the disclosure from other applications where fundamental principles prevalent among the various embodiments of the disclosure such as operational, functional, or performance characteristics are required. In the description that follows, like or analogous reference numerals indicate like or analogous elements. 
     Accordingly, the present disclosure has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a structure for improving uniformity in illumination. 
     The structure for improving uniformity in illumination comprises a substrate and a key switch assembly. In many embodiments, the key switch assembly comprises a keycap, a contact assembly and light emitting means. The light emitting means is disposed adjacent the contact assembly, which will be described further below in conjunction with the drawings. In some embodiments, space optimization is achieved by disposing the light emitting means between the keycap and the contact assembly. The substrate by having a reflective surface, the substrate reflects light that is incident on the reflective surface to areas surrounding the key switch assembly. 
       FIG. 1  shows a side view of an exemplary embodiment of a keyboard structure  10 . The keyboard structure  10  is for improving uniformity in illumination. Keyboards, key switch mechanisms and other computer peripherals are essentials for gaming applications and for most of the time, these games are played with minimal or no environmental lighting. Therefore, it is essential for keyboards, key switch mechanisms and other computer peripherals to be illuminated. The keyboard structure  10  is suitable for implementing in keyboards and/or key switch mechanisms. In other words, the keyboard structure  10  can be integrated into keyboards and/or key switch mechanisms. 
     The keyboard structure  10  comprises a substrate  100  and a key switch assembly  102 . The key switch assembly  102  is disposed adjacent the substrate  100  and in many embodiments, the substrate  100  has a reflective surface. This will be further elaborated later. The key switch assembly  102  comprises a keycap  104 , a contact assembly  106  and a light emitting means  108 . In many embodiments, the contact assembly  106  is disposed between the keycap  104  and the substrate  100 . 
     The substrate  100  comprises a top surface  110  and a bottom surface  112  opposite the top surface  110 . Both the top surface  110  and the bottom surface  112  of the substrate  100  are substantially planar. In some embodiments, the substrate  100  comprises a raised border. The substrate  100  is made from plastic, metal or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the substrate  100  is a printed circuit board. To facilitate the improvement in uniform illumination from the light emitting means  108 , the substrate  100  has a reflective surface formed by a reflective paint layer. In some embodiments, the reflective paint layer is formed at the top surface  110  and in some other embodiments, a separate reflective plate is formed and disposed on the top surface  110 . Formation of the reflective paint layer is achieved by immersing or coating the substrate  100  with reflective paint. This ensures that the reflective paint is homogenously applied on the substrate  100  to facilitate uniformity in reflection and subsequent uniformity in illumination of the keyboard structure. The reflective paint is of at least one of blue, green, red, orange and yellow colour. 
       FIG. 2  shows a partial plan view of the keyboard structure  10  (without the keycap  104 ) in accordance with the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 . The substrate  100  comprises perforations  114  and each of the perforations  114  is shaped and dimensioned to accommodate the key switch assembly  102  therethrough. In other words, the perforations  114  are shaped and dimensioned such that the contact assembly  106  can protrude from each perforation  114  therethrough. The dimensions of the perforations match those of the keycap  104 . 
     The keycap  104  serves to represent specific keys of a keyboard or key switch mechanism. Icons, numbers, alphabets, figures, and/or symbols can be inscribed on the keycap  104  to distinctly identify a specific key of a keyboard or key switch mechanism. In many embodiments, at least a portion of the keycap  104  is optically transmissive. While it is usual for the inscribed portions on the keycap  104  to be optically transmissive, the optically transmissive portions of the keycap  104  are not restricted to those inscribed portions. When the light emitting means  108  is in operation, the optically transmissive portions of the keycap  104  facilitates light from the light emitting means  108  and the light reflected from the reflective surface of the substrate  100  to be transmitted through the optically transmissive portions of the keycap  104  and hence improving visibility of the keycap  104 . This will be explained in details later. 
     The contact assembly  106  is a type of mechanical switch suitable for use with keyboards and key switch mechanisms. One example of a mechanical switch is one manufactured by Cherry Corporation (Auerbach, Germany). As will be appreciated by an ordinary person in the art, each contact assembly  106  is coupled to at least one keycap  104 . The contact assembly  106  is configured to provide a tactile user feedback upon user actuation of the key and is one of physically and electrically coupled to a circuit module (not shown). 
     The light emitting means  108  includes a light emitting diode and the light emitting means  108  is electrically coupled to the contact assembly  106 , such that when the key cap  104  is pressed, power is supplied to the light emitting means  108 . In some other embodiments, the light emitting means  108  is electrically coupled to other power sources such as a circuit module (not shown) so as to provide energy to operate the light emitting means  108 . In this case, power is supplied always to the light emitting means  108  so that there is always light being emitted from the light emitting means  108 , regardless of whether the keycap  104  is pressed or not. The light emitting means  108  includes but is not limited to at least one of blue, green, red, orange and yellow colour. In some embodiments, the light emitting means  108  is of a single homogeneous colour while in other embodiments, the light emitting means  108  can be multi-coloured. For instance, portions of the light emitting means  108  can be blue while other portions of the same said light emitting means  108  is in red or green colour. 
       FIG. 3  shows another exemplary embodiment of the keyboard structure  10 . As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 3 , the light emitting means  108  can be configured in a plurality of ways. In both embodiments, the light emitting means is disposed adjacent the contact assembly  106 , which will be further described below. In  FIG. 1 , the light emitting means  108  is disposed between the keycap  104  and the substrate  100 . In  FIG. 3 , the light emitting means  108  is disposed on the substrate  100  and is thereby adjacent to both the substrate  100  and the contact assembly  106 . Although this disclosure describes two configurations of disposing the light emitting means  108  as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 3 , it should be appreciated by a person of ordinary skill in the art that other configurations can be implemented. In other words, the scope of the embodiments in this disclosure regarding the disposal of the light emitting means  108  should not be limited by these two configurations. Depending upon embodiment details, the keyboard structure  10  can comprise one or more configurations in relation to the disposal of the light emitting means  108 . For instance, in a keyboard structure  10 , a portion of the light emitting means  108  can be positioned adjacent the contact assembly  106  ( FIG. 1 ) and the remaining of the light emitting means  108  is positioned adjacent the substrate  100  ( FIG. 3 ). 
     By disposing the light emitting means  108  adjacent the contact assembly  106  and/or adjacent the substrate  100 , light emitted from the light emitting means  108  is incident on the reflective surface of the substrate  100  and is reflected to areas surrounding the key switch assembly  102 . The areas surrounding the key switch assembly refers to the periphery of each key cap  104 , the gaps between adjacent keycaps or a row of keycaps, and also above the keycap  104 . The light emitted from the light emitting means  108  and the light reflected from the reflective surface of the substrate  100  is incident on the internal surface of the keycap and is transmitted through the optically transmissive portion of the keycap  104 . The internal surface of the keycap can have the colour of the LED or white in colour to facilitate reflection of incident light onto the reflective surface of the substrate  100 . To a user, the light from the light emitting means  108  is visible as light reflected off the surface of the substrate  100  which is transmitted through the gaps between rows of keycaps in the keyboard structure and/or through the optically transmissive portions of the keycap  104 . The reflection of light off the reflective surface of the substrate  100  improves uniformity in illumination of the keyboard structure  100 . This also provides uniform lighting to the peripheral portions of the keycap  104  and the gaps between the keycaps or between rows of keycaps. In other words, the uniformity in illumination of the keyboard structure  10  is by way of light reflected off the surface of the substrate  100 . As such, the keyboard structure  10  can be an integral part of an illuminated keyboard and/or key switch mechanism to provide uniform light illumination. 
     To improve intensity of illumination and light efficiency, the substrate  100  and the light emitting means  108  can have identical colour characteristics. For instance, the keyboard structure  10  can comprise a substrate  10  having a reflective surface formed by green reflective paint and the light emitting means  108  being green in colour. 
       FIG. 4  shows different zones in the key board structure with different colour characteristics. The keyboard structure  10  can be multi-coloured by having reflective paints with different colours on different zones on the surface of the substrate  100 . For instance, as illustrated in  FIG. 4 , the substrate  100  can have a first zone  120  having a green reflective surface and light emitting means  108  emitting green light. Further, the substrate  100  can have a second zone  130  having a red reflective surface and light emitting means emitting red light. In this way, a single keyboard or a key switch mechanism can have more than one colour, which helps with easy identification of control zones. To elaborate, applying the above to a normal QWERTY keyboard, the reflective surface can be red under the NUM pad and the reflective surface can be green under the alphabet pad. Any different colour combination can be used as well and is not limited to the above. Having more than one colour of reflective paint on the surface of the substrate  100  enhances the aesthetic appearance of the keyboard structure  10  by creating multi colour effects. For some specific gaming applications, having a multi-coloured keyboard structure  10  enhances the gaming experience of the user and/or allows the user to clearly and/or easily identify certain keys within a designated colour ‘zone’. 
     The keyboard structure  10  disclosed herein in this disclosure allows and facilitates improvement in the uniform illumination of the keyboard structure. When the colour of the reflective paint on the surface of the substrate  100  is identical to the light emitting means  108 , the intensity of light transmitted and/or dispersed from the keys is reinforced. 
     It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes/modifications may be made in detail, especially in matters of size, shape, colour and arrangement of parts within the principles of the embodiments of this disclosure to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.