Help identifying switch type

[Blaise170]

Currently looking at a Mouse Systems IBM AT keyboard for $15. Anyone know what kind of switch it uses? I don't know much about it, but here is a picture.

[keyhopper]

Hi!

I don't know that keyboard. But for fun, I'll give you my guess.

The image you uploaded was a bit blurry, so I searched in google images for the text on the image:   

                   In google images, type:
                   classic keyboard additional keys "mouse systems"

This is the image in full quality, that I found:

              http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTA2NlgxNjAw/z/AfoAAOxywFhTc94I/$_57.JPG

The box in that zoomed in image says:
        --------
        Product Features:
              * Three additional keys for increased functionality with Windows 95
              * Withstand a minimum of 30 million keystrokes
              * Membrane tactile keys give you quiet environment

        Contents:
              * 104-key Keyboard
              * Free PS/2 mini-DIN connector
        --------


I can see clearly tell the following:

             -It says Windows 3.xx / NT / 95 compatible. This means that the keyboard box was made after 1994 and before 1998.

             -It says "IBM Compatible". The keyboard brand is "Mouse Systems".

             -Though it says it uses membrane switches, it claims that they are tactile and last 30 million keystrokes.


So it confuses me that it claims that is membrane, while being tactile and lasting 30Million keystrokes.

My guess is that they are the following thing that I found:

                Dome-switch keyboard

                How a dome-switch keyboard works: Finger depresses the dome to
                complete the circuit.

                Dome-switch keyboards are a hybrid of flat-panel membrane and
                mechanical keyboards. They bring two circuit board traces
                together under a rubber or silicone keypad using either metal
                "dome" switches or polyurethane formed domes. The metal dome
                switches are formed pieces of stainless steel that, when
                compressed, give the user a crisp, positive tactile feedback.
                These metal types of dome switches are very common, are usually
                reliable to over 5 million cycles   
                [...]

                [ From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboard_technology ]

So, my guess that they are a hybrid. Though not the topre kind of hybrid (because Topre are capacitive, they don't have a "membrane").
So my guess is membrane + domes made of something other than rubber.
And also guess that they probably guesstimated the 30M keystrokes duration.

If you have room for a new keyboard, I would buy it just out of curiosity if I were you (and tell us how it feels!). The key's look sculpted, which is not easy to find in cheap keyboards these days (everyone imitates flat laptop keyboards nowadays in cheap keyboards). It is not a known brand though.

Cheers!
.KeyHopper.

[keyhopper]

I also forgot to mention that I noticed something odd.

Looking at the image more closely, I can see that all the modifier keys (CTRL, WIN, ALT, MENU), have a size of 1.5units (size of a TAB key).
Which is big, considering that they went same size for all of the modifiers.

This makes the spacebar a small 4.5u key.

(usually, either all the modifiers have a size of 1.25u, or CTRL and ALT are 1.5 with WIN and MENU just 1u)


So, all mods 1.5u with a small space bar of 4.5units is unusual.

Cheers!
.KeyHopper.

[davkol]

Bottom row layout is the same as on Chicony 5911 (rubber dome); keycap printing is the same at least on special keys (Enter, Num Lock, Shift) too.

[Findecanor]

Yeah, the look screams "Chicony"rubber dome" to me, but I couldn't find an exact match on Google Image search. The Chicony keyboards I find have larger borders.

[keyhopper]

Bottom row layout is the same as on Chicony 5911 (rubber dome); keycap printing is the same at least on special keys (Enter, Num Lock, Shift) too.

Rubber dome with 30Million keystrokes advertised? Either they are blatantly lying in the box, or the switch is something different.

I still maintain my guess to be what the wikipedia describes (see my post above) to be:
       A rubber sheet with metal cups (domes) beneath. Ie: some kind of hybrid.

Especially since they advertise a "tactile" feel in the box.

I found pictures of the Chicony 5911:
              http://utensilia.tk/urzadzenia/chicony_kb-5911.html
              http://utensilia.tk/urzadzenia/chicony_kb-5911/1.jpg
I never had one. So I don't know whether the big L shaped enter key is always like that on the chicony. But that is one difference. Though it looks extremely similar. The fonts in the numpad seem bigger on the chicony, and it looks like the bottom row keys are rounded, convex, in the chicony but looks like sharp concave ones in the OP mouse system's box.
Also, the chicony has a normal CapsLock, while the Mouse System's one has an off-center CapsLock.

Having the same caps doesn't imply having the same switches.
IBM made rubber domes Model M look alikes with as far as I know the same caps.
Cherry has made or makes both rubber dome and mechanical keyboards too.

Image of the box that I found in full quality in an ebay article:
     

Image of the chicony:
     

Want to know!:
Whats in the box!
Whats in the box!
Whats in the box!
 

Cheers!
.KeyHopper.

[davkol]

Probably the same OEM, only some kind of a rebrand. I wouldn't bother, unless you're some sort of a keyboard historian like Mr. Beardsmore.

Basically all rubber domes are tactile by design.

[Blaise170]

Thanks for the replies, I think I'll leave it alone.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

Don't forget that keycaps are often sourced from keycap specialists such as Comptec/Signature Plastics or Tai-Hao.

I don't know exactly how much manufacturing capacity Chicony have. Even Matias switches use parts sourced from different companies; Gaote perform the final assembly for Matias, but they're fed parts from other manufacturers. I assume there are also membrane specialists that supply many keyboard manufacturers with the membrane sheets.

Mouse Systems probably outsourced the whole process to another company such as DSI, Chicony or Costar, who in turn outsource it to a bunch more companies.

I imagine this keyboard is just a very ordinary integrated-mount rubber dome.