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Magnetic Keyswitch
Posted: 16 Nov 2011, 20:28
by HaaTa
Now this is an interesting mechanism...
Unfortunately there are some dead components on this boards so I haven't been able to test it out.
Military keyboard contractor built this one, but didn't sell it. What computer is this keyboard for?
Bonus points for the patents involved.
Posted: 16 Nov 2011, 21:49
by Ascaii
looks a little like the RAFI hall effect switches, though the stem is slightly different. Hall effect switches are used in a lot of military and heavy duty industrial applications.
Posted: 16 Nov 2011, 21:52
by ripster
Animal, mineral or vegetable?
Posted: 16 Nov 2011, 21:56
by Matuka
ripster wrote:Animal, mineral or vegetable?
Ripster, you're playing the game wrong! It's:
Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Other or Unknown?
Posted: 16 Nov 2011, 22:16
by HaaTa
So people don't get off on the wrong track, these are NOT hall effect. Not to give too much of a hint, but the switches do not have individual circuits (the transducer) like hall effect switches do.
And heh, not Magnetic Reed either:
Posted: 17 Nov 2011, 01:06
by ripster
Looks mineral to me, like most electronics.
Over 90% of the Earth's crust is composed of silicate minerals, making silicon the second most abundant element in the earth's crust (about 28% by mass) after oxygen.[4]
Posted: 17 Nov 2011, 03:46
by HaaTa
And a hint for those that have browsed geekhack far too much over the past few years. The manufacturer of the keyboard has a keyboard on the ISS.
Posted: 17 Nov 2011, 21:42
by HaaTa
No bites? The manufacturer is
http://www.cortroninc.com/.
Still looking for a keyboard brand and switch patent though
Posted: 18 Nov 2011, 03:04
by ripster
Let us know when you find those.
Posted: 18 Nov 2011, 07:51
by HaaTa
Find it? The patent numbers are on that sticker
I want someone with too much time, to find me some more info.
Posted: 19 Nov 2011, 21:39
by Ascaii
send me a picture of the sticker and ill look into it when i have time
Posted: 20 Nov 2011, 00:21
by ripster
I hate playing 20 questions when there is no right answer.
Posted: 21 Nov 2011, 23:22
by HaaTa
Heh, sure, the patents are kinda neat.
The only question that is left to answer, what brand is this keyboard?
Posted: 21 Nov 2011, 23:30
by webwit
Hmmm... it doesn't strike me as a Logitech. Am I right?
Posted: 22 Nov 2011, 19:28
by HaaTa
Lol, no.
Another hint. Company created the first computer GUI.
Oh, and the company isn't obscure.
Posted: 22 Nov 2011, 20:11
by ripster
AH!
I know this one.
Microsoft!!!
Ask Steve Jobs. Oh wait.
R.I.P. Steve Jobs
Posted: 22 Nov 2011, 20:13
by Findecanor
You're making it too easy. It is Xerox.
Posted: 22 Nov 2011, 20:46
by ripster
Steve Jobs didn't steal from Xerox PARC. He "enhanced".
After Jobs returned from PARC, he met with a man named Dean Hovey, who was one of the founders of the industrial-design firm that would become known as IDEO. “Jobs went to Xerox PARC on a Wednesday or a Thursday, and I saw him on the Friday afternoon,” Hovey recalled. “I had a series of ideas that I wanted to bounce off him, and I barely got two words out of my mouth when he said, ‘No, no, no, you’ve got to do a mouse.’ I was, like, ‘What’s a mouse?’ I didn’t have a clue. So he explains it, and he says, ‘You know, [the Xerox mouse] is a mouse that cost three hundred dollars to build and it breaks within two weeks. Here’s your design spec: Our mouse needs to be manufacturable for less than fifteen bucks. It needs to not fail for a couple of years, and I want to be able to use it on Formica and my bluejeans.’ From that meeting, I went to Walgreens, which is still there, at the corner of Grant and El Camino in Mountain View, and I wandered around and bought all the underarm deodorants that I could find, because they had that ball in them. I bought a butter dish. That was the beginnings of the mouse.”
Read more
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011 ... z1eSv9u552
Now MICROSOFT......
Posted: 22 Nov 2011, 21:18
by kps
HaaTa wrote:Another hint. Company created the first computer GUI.
Ivan Sutherland was a PhD student, not a company.
Posted: 22 Nov 2011, 21:25
by HaaTa
Posted: 22 Nov 2011, 21:29
by HaaTa
Next question (I don't really know the answer to this one, yet).
Which company manufactured the "S8344" microcontroller? I've seen the branding on quite a few keyboard chips, but haven't figured out which company by the datasheets I've found. It's likely an Intel compatible microcontroller (one that I can't ROM dump...).
Posted: 22 Nov 2011, 23:09
by kps
HaaTa wrote:Which company manufactured the "S8344" microcontroller?
The S is the logo of Signetics, best know for the 555.
There's an Intel 8344, which is an 8051 variant with an on-board high speed serial controller. If this is a second-sourced i8344, there would have to be a ROM connected to the address/data lines (21-28,32-39).
Posted: 22 Nov 2011, 23:26
by HaaTa
Thanks!
Posted: 23 Nov 2011, 14:47
by woody
8051 is such a luxury compared to the 8048.
