Light-emitting assembly for keyboard
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorsBradford J. Zercoe, Craig C. Leong, Keith J. Hendren
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A light-emitting assembly positioned within a switch housing of a keyboard assembly for an electronic device is disclosed. The light-emitting assembly may include a phosphor structure, a transparent material positioned on opposing side surfaces of the phosphor structure, and an epoxy layer formed over an entire back surface of the phosphor structure and the transparent material. The light-emitting assembly may also include a mask layer formed over an entire top surface of: the phosphor structure, the transparent material, and the epoxy layer. The light-emitting assembly may further include a light source positioned within the phosphor structure for emitting a light.
Claims19
A keyboard, comprising:
- a substrate;
- a tactile dome positioned above the substrate;
- a keycap positioned above the tactile dome and configured to move when pressed;
- a light-emitting assembly electrically connected to the substrate, the light-emitting assembly comprising:
- a light source;
- an opaque material defining a first side of the light-emitting assembly, wherein light from the light source is prevented from passing through the opaque material;
- a luminescent structure at least partially enclosing the light source and defining second, third, and fourth sides of the light-emitting assembly, at least one of the second, third, and fourth sides being positioned opposite the first side;
- and
- wherein light from the light source is directable through the second, third, and fourth sides of the light-emitting assembly to illuminate the keycap.
A laptop computer, comprising:
- a casing including a lid portion and a base portion;
- a display positioned in the lid portion;
- a keyboard assembly positioned in the base portion, the keyboard assembly comprising:
- a substrate;
- a set of keycaps positioned over the substrate and configured to move relative to the substrate along an axis of movement;
- a set of light-emitting assemblies positioned under the set of keycaps, each light emitting assembly comprising:
- a light source configured to emit light in at least one direction perpendicular to the axis of movement;
- and
- a light-blocking material configured to prevent light from exiting the light-emitting assembly in at least one other direction perpendicular to the axis of movement.
A key input mechanism, comprising:
- a substrate;
- a keycap positioned above the substrate and configured to move along a vertical axis when pressed;
- a keycap support coupled to the keycap and movable with the keycap;
- a light-emitting assembly electrically connected to the substrate and comprising a light source positioned below the keycap, the light-emitting assembly being configured to emit light along at least three directions in a plane perpendicular to the vertical axis;
- and
- an opaque material that at least partially covers three lateral sides of the light-emitting assembly and prevents light from being emitted through the sidewall along a fourth direction in the plane.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.