Patent Publication Number: US-2011073449-A1

Title: Keyboard

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The disclosure generally relates to keyboards, and particularly to a keyboard having an illuminating device. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Keyboards are usually an essential peripheral of an electronic device. An additional illuminating apparatus is needed to supply illumination when the keyboard is used in a dark environment. Therefore, what is needed is a keyboard having an illuminating device. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The components of the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the embodiments of a keyboard. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout several views. 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a keyboard applied to an electronic device in accordance with one embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the keyboard of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-2 , a keyboard  10  adopted by an electronic device  100  is shown. The keyboard  10  includes a keypad portion  20 , a base board  30 , an illuminating device  40 , and a circuit board  50 . The keypad portion  20  including a plurality of input keys is fixed to the base board  30  and is configured for receiving input operations. The illuminating device  40  is fixed to the base board  30  and surrounds the keypad portion  20 . In the embodiment, the electronic device  100  is a notebook computer. The keyboard  10  is a laptop-size keyboard applied to the notebook computer. In other embodiments, the keyboard  10  can be a standard keyboard or a multimedia keyboard used in desktop computers. 
     The base board  30  includes an upper surface  320  defining a rectangular receiving space  310 . The circuit board  50  is housed in the receiving space  310 . The keypad portion  20  is received in the receiving space  310 , covers and is electrically connected to the circuit board  50 . A slot  330  is defined in the upper surface  310 . The slot  330  is substantially rectangular and surrounds the receiving space  310 . The illuminating device  40  is mounted in the slot  330  and is further electrically connected to the circuit board  50 . In the embodiment, the illuminating device  40  includes a plurality of illuminating units, such as, LEDs (light-emitting diodes). In other embodiment, the illuminating device  40  is a flexible illuminating strip. The flexible illuminating strip is disposed substantially coplanar with respect to a top surface of the keypad portion  20 . The circuit board  50  is further electrically connected to a power supply (not shown). The power supply is configured to supply the illuminating device  40  with power. 
     The keyboard  10  further includes a switch  60 . In the embodiment, the switch  60  is mounted at a side surface of the base board  30 . In other embodiments, the position of the switch  60  mounted at other locations on the keyboard  10 . The illuminating device  40  is electrically connected to the circuit board  50  via the switch  60 . the switch  60  controls power to the illuminating device  40 . 
     In other embodiments, when the keyboard  10  is connected to an external processing system (not shown), for example, a personal computer. Power to the illuminating device  40  can be controlled via software drivers of the external processing system. 
     Although the present disclosure has been specifically described on the basis of the embodiments thereof, the disclosure is not to be construed as being limited thereto. Various changes or modifications may be made to the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure.