Patent ID: 6999009

Claim:
A key sensing device for a keyboard key comprising: a first conductive contact and a second conductive contact spaced from one another by a low-force spacer element which includes a low-force aperture disposed between the first conductive contact and the second conductive contact; and a third conductive contact and a fourth conductive contact spaced from one another by a high-force spacer element which includes a high-force aperture disposed between the third conductive contact and the fourth conductive contact; wherein the low-force aperture and the high-force aperture are configured to be aligned with a keyboard key so that a pressing of the keyboard key with a sufficient force causes contact between the first conductive contact and the second conductive contact through the low-force aperture and contact between the third conductive contact and the fourth conductive contact through the high-force aperture, and wherein the low-force aperture is larger in size than the high-force aperture so that a lower force is required to cause contact between the first conductive contact and the second conductive contact than to cause contact between the third conductive contact and the fourth conductive contact.