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US 6,379,060 B1Granted
Ergonomic keyboard apparatus and method of using same
OwnerWilliam M. Louisinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A keyboard arrangement with a pair of angularly disposed, spaced apart groups of character keys dedicated for operating use respectively by the left hand and the right hand of a user. A space bar key is operable by either thumb of the user and bridges between the two groups of character keys. The rows of keys in each group are staggered, and each key bears character indica disposed at an angle to the transverse direction of its group of keys.
Claims17
A keyboard construction, the keyboard construction for resting on a generally horizontal support surface, comprising:
- a housing having a front portion and a rear portion;
- a plurality of alpha-numeric key means mounted on the housing arranged in a plurality of V-shaped rows, the plurality of alpha-numeric key means being arranged in a QWERTY configuration to facilitate conventional QWERTY keystroke techniques;
- said plurality of alpha-numeric key means including a right group of QWERTY key means arranged in rows and staggered columns, and a left group of QWERTY key means arranged in rows and staggered columns;
- means defining a space between said right group of QWERTY key means and said left group of QWERTY key means, said space being sufficiently widely spaced apart to position the hands of the user in co-extending alignment with their respective wrists for enabling the fingers of the user to rest comfortably for touch typing purposes;
- means coupled to the housing and disposed beneath said housing for positioning said housing front portion in a raised position to cause the key means to be disposed in a generally downwardly inclined position from front to rear when the keyboard construction rests on the generally horizontal support surface:
- and
- said means causing the housing to be supported generally in a plane disposed at an angle β relative to the horizontal to help position the hands of the user in co-extending alignment with their respective wrists for enabling the fingers of the user to rest comfortably for touch typing purposes.
4 more elements
A keyboard construction according to claim , wherein said angle β is between about 0 degrees and about 10 degrees.
A method of using an ergonomic keyboard assembly, the assembly including a housing and a support member, comprising:
- using the housing, the housing further having angularly spaced apart arrangements of a left group of QWERTY key means including a left hand group of starting position key means for left finger resting position placement to facilitate conventional left digit QWERTY keystrokes, and a right group of QWERTY key means including a right hand group of starting position key means for right finger resting position placement to facilitate conventional right digit QWERTY keystrokes;
- positioning the keyboard assembly on a substantially horizontal resting surface;
- supporting from below the housing in a generally upwardly inclined position from rear to front to raise a front portion of the housing for helping the hands and wrists of the user to be maintained in a substantially straight co-extending manner relative to one another respectively when the fingers of the user are extended to said left hand group and said right hand group of starting position key means;
- said supporting including positioning the housing at an angle β relative to the resting surface where said angle β is between about 0° and about 10°;
- and
- maintaining in a substantially straight co-extending alignment relative to one another respectively the hands and wrists of the user when the fingers of the user are extended to their left group and right group of key means.
3 more elements
An ergonomic keyboard apparatus, the keyboard apparatus being positioned on a generally horizontal supporting surface, the keyboard apparatus comprising:
- a left group of QWERTY key means including a left hand group of starting position key means for left finger resting position placement to facilitate conventional left digit QWERTY keystrokes;
- a right group of QWERTY key means including a right hand group of starting position key means for right finger resting position placement to facilitate conventional left digit QWERTY keystrokes;
- housing means for supporting from below said left group of QWERTY key means and said right group of QWERTY key means, and for positioning the right and left groups of QWERTY key means in an ergonomic arrangement wherein said left and right groups of QWERTY key means are sufficiently widely spaced apart and angularly disposed relative to one another to help the hands and wrists of the user to be maintained in a substantially straight co-extending alignment relative to one another respectively when the fingers of the user are extended to their respective left and right hand groups of starting position key means;
- means for supporting from below said housing means and for positioning it in a generally upwardly angularly inclined plane from rear to front relative to the generally horizontal surface to help the hands and wrists of the user to be maintained in a substantially straight co-extending manner relative to one another respectively when the fingers of the user are extended to their respective left and right hand groups of starting position key means to rest comfortably for touch typing purposes;
- and
- said means for supporting enabling said housing means to be disposed at an angle β relative to the supporting surface, said angle β between about 0° and about 10°.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.