Any ideas about what this keyboard is from?

[invariance]

Received this recently and I can find very little about the switches and absolutely nothing about the keyboard or the pc/system it could have come from.


Does anyone else have any ideas or more info about the origins of this thing?








The back.



The casing appears to have been machine fabricated by the appearance of the bends, and the top has a nice rough texture.  The timber sides make me wonder if it was pulled from something and the sides were then made for it, and the ribbon cable adds to that theory as it would have run to the mainboard.



Some distinctive keys that make me wonder if it was an input device on a 'mainframe' or possibly an electronic typewriter: Control, Line Feed, Repeat, Null and the best one, Super Shift.
This is the inside and the switches at the top are SMK but are unused.  No manufacturer name on the pcb but has the date code of 8103.



The keyswitches are Clare-Pendar foil and foam, for which there is very little info on also.



I would love to have some idea about it's origins if possible.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

I've so far chosen not to document Clare foam and foil on the wiki, because information on them is too scarce. There are some patents for them, though, filed by General Instrument. In your case, there is a date code, which helps, as now we have a slightly clearer idea. It's interesting to note that the 1981 date code makes yours older than all the General Instrument patents, presumably from the time before the Clare brand was phased out. Are all the switches marked in the same way? There's another keyboard with these switches where only one is marked CP Clare and the rest are unbranded:

https://deskthority.net/keyboards-f2/cray-research-inc-keyboard-made-by-ampex-t11783.html

The PCB is likely Clare/General Instrument as it matches others:

https://deskthority.net/keyboards-f2/identify-this-keyboard-thread-t10405-690.html#p327597

[invariance]

Thanks Daniel.
All of my keyswitches are marked the same.
Interesting my pcb date code predate the General Instruments patents.


The seller also had listed a The Data Group computer at the same time and even though the placement of the arrow keys is the same, everything else about the keyboard is remotely different.



Besides, the company went bankrupt in 1979: http://www.bytecollector.com/the_digital_group.htm


Google comes up empty handed even with "Super Shift" 

[Daniel Beardsmore]

I've added what little I know so far to the wiki: Clare foam and foil

[invariance]

I thought I was getting close with an Apple clone "Pluto", but no.... 



From Peter's z80.eu site blog.