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US 6,720,892 B1Granted
Electronic keyboard with luminous keys
AssigneeThomson-CSF Sextant
InventorWladyslas Lachor
Life of this patent
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AssigneeThomson-CSF Sextant
InventorWladyslas Lachor
Estimating the term…
An electronic keyboard, in particular one to be used in a dark environment and which therefore requires illumination of the keys. The keyboard includes a rigid printed circuit on which are soldered switches which can be actuated indirectly by the finger of the user, each switch being surmounted by an at least partially transparent key and an illumination device designed to illuminate the key from the rear of the key. A flexible printed circuit, carrying supply conductors for light-emitting diodes, is interposed between the keys and the rigid printed circuit carrying the switches. The flexible printed circuit includes a rigid part between a key and the corresponding switch, and the light-emitting diode which is to illuminate each key from the rear is soldered on the rigid part of the flexible printed circuit, between the key and the switch. The key preferably includes a cavity in which the diode will be housed. A key bears on the switch by way of the rigid part without bearing on the diode.
An electronic keyboard comprising a rigid printed circuit on which is soldered at least one switch which can be actuated indirectly by a finger of a user, an at least partly transparent key surmounting the switch and a means of illumination for illuminating the key from underneath the key, light rays emanating from the means of illuminating being visible to the user via the transparent part of the key, wherein the keyboard furthermore comprises a flexible printed circuit interposed between the key and the rigid printed circuit carrying the switch, in that the flexible printed circuit comprises a rigid part situated between the key and the switch, in that the means of illuminating comprises a light-emitting diode soldered on the rigid part between the key and the switch and in that the key comprises a cavity surrounded by a peripheral edge, the diode being housed in the cavity and the peripheral edge coming to bear on the rigid part around the diode.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.