Patent ID: 8253052

Claim:
A mobile device comprising: a housing having a front face; a display screen disposed on the front face; and a keyboard disposed on the front face adjacent to the display screen, said keyboard comprising: a circuit board having a plurality of dome pads, each of said plurality of dome pads corresponding to a key of the keyboard and each dome pad defining a venting aperture; a dome sheet disposed over the circuit board, said dome sheet configured to form an air space over each dome pad; and a stiffener disposed beneath the circuit board, said stiffener comprising a top layer and a bottom layer beneath the top layer, and the top layer defining a plurality of cutouts, each of said cutouts providing a sealed air cavity between the circuit board and the bottom layer of the stiffener, wherein each sealed air cavity is in fluid communication with at least one of the air spaces associated with each dome pad, and whereby when one of the keys of the keyboard is depressed, some of the air travels between the air space associated with the key of the keyboard to the corresponding sealed air cavity.