Keyboard covering film, waterproof keyboard, method for fabricating keyboard covering film, waterproof keycap assembly, and illuminating keyboard

A waterproof keyboard, comprising:

• a housing having an opening;
• a baseplate disposed within the housing;
• a plurality of keycaps disposed above the baseplate and located within the opening through which a top surface of each of the keycaps is exposed;
• a light source disposed below the plurality of keycaps for emitting a light;
• and
• a keyboard covering film extending across the opening, the keyboard covering film comprising:
• a transparent layer;
• a fabric layer disposed on a lower surface of the transparent layer, the transparent layer and the fabric layer comprising a plurality of hollow keycap receiving sections, each of the keycap receiving sections covering one of the keycaps;
• and
• a mask layer disposed on a lower surface of the fabric layer;
• wherein within each of the keycap receiving sections, portion of the fabric layer and the mask layer are removed to form a hollow pattern, so that the light can reach the upper side of the keyboard covering film by passing through the keycap, the hollow pattern and the transparent layer.

A method for fabricating a keyboard covering film, comprising steps of:

• coating a pre-cured transparent plastic material on an upper surface of a fabric layer,
• treating the fabric layer and the transparent plastic material by a hot press process to cure the transparent plastic material to form a transparent layer;
• and to make the transparent layer and the fabric layer jointly form a plurality of keycap receiving sections;
• forming a mask layer on a lower surface of the fabric layer;
• and
• removing portion of the mask layer and the fabric layer located within each of the keycap receiving sections to form a plurality of hollow patterns.

A waterproof keycap assembly, comprising:

• a keyboard covering film comprising a fabric layer and a transparent layer disposed on an upper surface of the fabric layer, wherein the transparent layer and the fabric layer are treated by a hot pressing process to form a plurality of keycap receiving sections;
• the fabric layer and the keycap receiving sections are located on the same side of the transparent layer, the fabric layer has hollow patterns within each of the keycap receiving sections and the hollow patterns are formed by removing a portion of the fabric layer;
• and
• a plurality of keycaps, wherein a mask layer is disposed on at least the top surface of each of the keycaps, each keycap receiving section covers a corresponding one of the keycaps, and the hallow patterns of the fabric layer overlap hollow patterns of the mask layer.

An illuminating keyboard, comprising:

• a baseplate;
• a plurality of keycaps disposed above the baseplate, wherein the keycaps move upward and downward with respect to the baseplate, and every two adjacent keycaps are separated by a keycap gap;
• a keyboard covering film comprising a mask layer, a fabric layer, a transparent layer and a plurality of hollow patterns, wherein the keyboard covering film is disposed on the keycaps and extends across the keycap gap, the mask layer is disposed below the fabric layer, the transparent layer is disposed on the fabric layer, and each of the hollow patterns is disposed above a corresponding one of the keycaps and penetrates the mask layer and the fabric layer;
• and
• a light source disposed on the baseplate for emitting a light, which is projected upwards to penetrate the hollow patterns and the transparent layer and make the hollow patterns recognizable;
• wherein when the keycaps move upward and downward with respect to the baseplate, the transparent layer and the fabric layer are correspondingly deformed and remain extending across the keycap gap;
• wherein the transparent layer has a plurality of press portions, an upper surface of each of the press portions is flat, and each press portion is disposed above a corresponding one of the keycaps and covers a corresponding one of the hollow patterns.