Not a peerless switch

Findecanor

20 May 2014, 11:03

Image
This was posted on a domestic forum. I have seen an identical-looking Victor keyboard before that had Peerless switches but this switch is definitely not Peerless.
I can't identify it. Has anybody seen anything like it before?

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002
Topre Enthusiast

20 May 2014, 11:46

Interesting find!
The board itself still very much resembles a Fujitsu board, the LED windows being the main giveaway. Some examples here:
http://www7.ocn.ne.jp/~hisao/image/4720-T206.htm
http://www.geocities.jp/takabontetsu/4720-t206.htm

Case is identical too. I am guessing it is some Fujitsu switch (if you hadn't deduced that already) but certainly nothing I've seen before :)

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Muirium
µ

20 May 2014, 12:05

Springs mounted to the caps! Is nothing sacred?

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Nuum

20 May 2014, 12:35

Looks like a two piece assembly of the cap, similar to the IBM Model M two piece caps. Maybe they are even compatible? Are the keycaps all the same profile?

Findecanor

20 May 2014, 14:32

Yeah, Fujitsu Peerless and their rubber dome variants have quite large sliders with thin keycaps over.

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Ascaii
The Beard

20 May 2014, 17:50

I have seen this switch on several Amstrad boards.
Is there a marking on the PCB?

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Daniel Beardsmore

20 May 2014, 23:31

Findecanor wrote:I can't identify it. Has anybody seen anything like it before?
My FKB4700 case (identical to the one pictured above) contains an indicator stamping for 1000, 4700 and 2931 (and "X"):
FKB4700 case model markings.jpg
FKB4700 case model markings.jpg (98.59 KiB) Viewed 3050 times
FKB1000 and FKB2931 do not appear to exist, but it does suggest that other keyboards were made using the same case. Why this needed to be marked in the moulding, I have no idea.

Findecanor

21 May 2014, 00:37

Ascaii wrote:I have seen this switch on several Amstrad boards.
Is there a marking on the PCB?
Not my keyboard. The Amstrad switches I have seen are different.
This switch'es spring touches a hammer of some sort, and the switch is reported as both clicky and tactile.

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Daniel Beardsmore

21 May 2014, 01:10

It appears to be metal plate mounted, but whether the switches are discrete, is not clear.

The one thing we need to see, is the label on the back. At least that way, someone else might be able to track own down, or find an other example on the web.

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Daniel Beardsmore

16 Dec 2017, 23:37

Muirium wrote: Springs mounted to the caps! Is nothing sacred?
I've tried to get the spring off, and I can't. It might be possible, but chances are it would stretch the spring to destruction.

It's a discrete switch, plate mounted as I recall. It's got a little contact module with a pivoting actuator. Unlike typical contact modules with foil or very thin metal movable contacts, the movable contact in this is snap action.

In effect, it's a stacked spring switch, with a perpendiculator. Where Alps SKCP puts the snap-action spring laterally across the bottom, this places it vertically and the pivoting part converts the vertical motion to horizontal motion.

At some point in time I'll try to disassemble it further.

A couple of brief photos for now:
Fujitsu thing 1.jpg
Fujitsu thing 1.jpg (268.11 KiB) Viewed 2697 times
Fujitsu thing 2.jpg
Fujitsu thing 2.jpg (80.77 KiB) Viewed 2697 times

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