Integrated mount vs snap-on keycaps

[Daniel Beardsmore]

The following switches all use very similar keycap mounts:

• Most [wiki]buckling spring[/wiki]
• [wiki]NMB Hi-Tek[/wiki]
• [wiki]Fujitsu Peerless[/wiki]
• [wiki]Alps ultra low profile[/wiki]

Buckling springs are said to use "two-piece" keycaps, and yet are classed as having an "integrated" keycap mount, i.e. the keycap contains the slider.

Am I alone in thinking that this doesn't make sense? No other switch is described in this way, and with NMB Hi-Tek and Peerless switches, you'll pull out the slider along with the keycap, whereas with buckling spring, you can easily (with just your fingers) remove the keycap.

Current Unicomp keyboards do use integrated mount keycaps, as the slider and keycap are the same unit, just as with rubber dome boards. For the rest, I would just classify them as having a snap-on keycap mount over sliders.

[002]

with NMB Hi-Tek and Peerless switches, you'll pull out the slider along with the keycap, whereas with buckling spring, you can easily (with just your fingers) remove the keycap.

My experience with the NMB Hi-Tek was that most of the time the keycap only comes off. Certainly not with the ease that an IBM keycap can be removed though.

[HaaTa]

Fujitsu Leaf Spring use a similar mount, though it just change a bit between the generations.

Personally I think all of the said switches should be classified the same way.
The single piece buckling spring keycaps are a different style combining two of the pieces into one.

From what I've seen, there shouldn't have been any reason that either Fujitsu or NMB couldn't have made single piece keycap mechanisms.

[JBert]

Wait, what is the question?

If you say "buckling spring", the Model F range applies as well, and those generally came with keycaps doubling as integral part of the switch (i.e. taking of the keycap would make the switch inoperable).

[Daniel Beardsmore]

I already have some photos of Model M keycaps, but I figured I'd check how many people would flame me if I referred to the lower part as a slider, not keycap, before I posted them.

The way I see it, "single-piece" keycaps are "integrated mount" keycaps, like with most rubber dome keyboards.

"Two-piece" keycaps are, in my mind, nothing more than a slider and a snap-on keycap. It's the exact same distinction that is made with rubber dome keyboards, where the slider may be part of the keycap, or separate.

IBM keyboards tend to get their own privileged terminology that doesn't tie in with all other switches, such as the magical "barrel plate" (this term, to me, only applies to when the barrels are detachable parts, not when it's a single moulding that supports the sliders, like in the Peerless).

[Halvar]

clickykeykoards.com call the parts of the Model M key "key stem" and "key cap". Unicomp also refers to them as "stem" and "cap".

http://www.clickykeyboards.com/index.cf ... tcat/10191
http://pckeyboard.com/page/Buttons/KEY

So who should flame you for that?

I agree the terminology doesn't really need to be different from rubber domes. "Stem" and "slider" both seem ok to me, although I would stick to Unicomp's wording.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

"stem" is Cherry's name for "slider". This gets on my nerves — I end up using "slider" for Cherry MX and "stem" for non-Cherry switches. I try to respect Cherry's terminology just within the context of MX switches, but it's awfully confusing.

[Findecanor]

I think of "slider" as anything that slides and "stem" as a central part on which other parts are attached (either moulded together or not).
For example, in a Cherry MX Blue switch where the slider has two parts, I would classify both parts as being sliders, but only the blue part as being a stem.

[Muirium]

Thanks to the power of ubiquitous Cherry terminology, I thought that too: the blue bit's the stem and the white part is the slider. It's good to have separate names for the two, at least.

[Hypersphere]

Depending on the model year, the IBM Model M and SSK had two different types of keys: integrated one-piece keycap and stem; and two-piece separate keycap and stem.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

For example, in a Cherry MX Blue switch where the slider has two parts, I would classify both parts as being sliders, but only the blue part as being a stem.

I think of the white part as the "click collar" or "sliding collar"; I forget where I picked up this terminology, but it seems fitting. The wiki calls the white one a slider and the blue one, a plunger, just to layer on the inconsistency :) (Especially considering that "slider" and "plunger" are synonymous in keyswitch terminology.)

For me, "slider" specifically means the shaft that connects the internal return spring (helical, dome, etc) out to the keycap. The click collar by definition cannot be called a "slider" as it does not support the keycap nor does it interact with the return spring in any way (it only interacts with the movable contact).

Depending on the model year, the IBM Model M and SSK had two different types of keys: integrated one-piece keycap and stem; and two-piece separate keycap and stem.

I've briefly illustrated both types on the wiki, along with a simple description (both example keycaps come from the same keyboard, too). Buckling spring aficionados are welcome to document it more thoroughly on the [wiki]keycap mount[/wiki] page.