SKCC double action [SKCCKB]
Posted: 20 Sep 2019, 08:06
I pulled this out of a Cannon AP350X and I do not see them on the wiki. I can say, without any hyperbole, that these are my new favorite switch.
First off, here is what I know or suspect about the switch:
1) These are in fact alps switches. They have an alps logo on the bottom and the PCB is also clearly branded ALPS.
2) These switches are double actuation switches. They have a second contact assembly embedded in the bottom of the switch that is actuated by a peg in the slider pressing down when firmly bottoming out. This peg pokes through the spring and makes it very easy to keep the spring in place when taking the switch apart.
3) They feel like a heavier SKCC switch. I do not have the tools to compare them with SKCC cream, but considering they are heavier than the greens used for the rest of the board, I suspect they may be similar in weighting.
and here I go with wild speculation
4) They are likely newer than SKCC but older than SKCM. I say this for a few reasons. The slider inside the switch is symmetrical and shaped more similarly to SKCM than SKCC. The other big thing that makes them feel newer than SKCC is that the top housing is symmetrical in a similar way to SKCM brown. It would not surprise me if ALPS initially tried to put two vertical switchplates in this switch but determined that there was no way to get a contact leaf on a vertical switchplate to actuate reliably on a hard bottom out and they ended up using a horizontal contact assembly molded into the bottom of the switch instead. The horizontal switchplate actually clicks when it is actuated so it is reasonable to assume that ALPS wanted the second actuation to be noticeable. It is likely that in the process of messing around with contact leaf shapes in an attempt to make the second actuation noticeable they likely happened on a leaf shape similar to brown alps and when making SKCM switches they included a second dummy assembly as a way to increase tactility and later a simplified leaf with all designs after brown alps. If all this is true it would mean that SKCL green and SKCM brown are for sure the oldest switches of that line.
5) The stabilized caps that use this switch (minus the space bar) use wire stabilizers that are almost identical to those used with SKCM switches, even though the caps support a rod-stye stabilizer in the same way SKCC does.
6) I don't think the switches I have are the standard switch type of the family they belong to. The blue marking on the top of the slider reminds me an awful lot of striped amber, and since these are pretty heavy, there likely exists an unmarked variety that is lighter.
7) These aren't different enough from SKCC for a single actuation switch to make sense, they are to different from SKCM to fit in with those switches either, and a few keyboards that use double actuation switches along side SKCC seem to use SKFF. SKFF had to have ceased production by the time these were brought out, but there isn't a lot of demand for this type of switch for it to be made without a specific client asking for it. I suspect that these were designed and made by ALPS for a specific client and weren't produced much outside of what that client needed. ALPS likely used this as an opportunity to get a client to basically pay for RND on their next proper switch design and the things ALPS learned when designing this switch likely lead directly to what ALPS did with the SKCL/SKCM line, including the switch to wire stabilizers on all keys.
If anyone has any information on these at all, a part number or anything they were used in besides the cannon typewriter would be huge. If you have a supplier that can get me like a thousand or so of these for sure hit me up.
First off, here is what I know or suspect about the switch:
1) These are in fact alps switches. They have an alps logo on the bottom and the PCB is also clearly branded ALPS.
2) These switches are double actuation switches. They have a second contact assembly embedded in the bottom of the switch that is actuated by a peg in the slider pressing down when firmly bottoming out. This peg pokes through the spring and makes it very easy to keep the spring in place when taking the switch apart.
3) They feel like a heavier SKCC switch. I do not have the tools to compare them with SKCC cream, but considering they are heavier than the greens used for the rest of the board, I suspect they may be similar in weighting.
and here I go with wild speculation
4) They are likely newer than SKCC but older than SKCM. I say this for a few reasons. The slider inside the switch is symmetrical and shaped more similarly to SKCM than SKCC. The other big thing that makes them feel newer than SKCC is that the top housing is symmetrical in a similar way to SKCM brown. It would not surprise me if ALPS initially tried to put two vertical switchplates in this switch but determined that there was no way to get a contact leaf on a vertical switchplate to actuate reliably on a hard bottom out and they ended up using a horizontal contact assembly molded into the bottom of the switch instead. The horizontal switchplate actually clicks when it is actuated so it is reasonable to assume that ALPS wanted the second actuation to be noticeable. It is likely that in the process of messing around with contact leaf shapes in an attempt to make the second actuation noticeable they likely happened on a leaf shape similar to brown alps and when making SKCM switches they included a second dummy assembly as a way to increase tactility and later a simplified leaf with all designs after brown alps. If all this is true it would mean that SKCL green and SKCM brown are for sure the oldest switches of that line.
5) The stabilized caps that use this switch (minus the space bar) use wire stabilizers that are almost identical to those used with SKCM switches, even though the caps support a rod-stye stabilizer in the same way SKCC does.
6) I don't think the switches I have are the standard switch type of the family they belong to. The blue marking on the top of the slider reminds me an awful lot of striped amber, and since these are pretty heavy, there likely exists an unmarked variety that is lighter.
7) These aren't different enough from SKCC for a single actuation switch to make sense, they are to different from SKCM to fit in with those switches either, and a few keyboards that use double actuation switches along side SKCC seem to use SKFF. SKFF had to have ceased production by the time these were brought out, but there isn't a lot of demand for this type of switch for it to be made without a specific client asking for it. I suspect that these were designed and made by ALPS for a specific client and weren't produced much outside of what that client needed. ALPS likely used this as an opportunity to get a client to basically pay for RND on their next proper switch design and the things ALPS learned when designing this switch likely lead directly to what ALPS did with the SKCL/SKCM line, including the switch to wire stabilizers on all keys.
If anyone has any information on these at all, a part number or anything they were used in besides the cannon typewriter would be huge. If you have a supplier that can get me like a thousand or so of these for sure hit me up.
