Has there ever been a Mechanical Keyboard with drop in switches?

[Kamen Rider Blade]

I was just curious, has anybody ever designed a Mechanical Keyboard with switches that can literally be plugged in and pulled out like old school nintendo cartridges, basically without having to sodder.

Would there be a market for this type of keyboard design, where each switch can be removed and replaced arbitrarily?

[Pacifist]

some korean desinged one

[fohat.digs]

Personally, I like rock-solid feel and the ability to bang away at the keys without getting the idea that I am damaging something.

It is hard to imagine a plug-in scenario that would give a really satisfying level of solidity, unless maybe the base was a thick solid steel plate.

[Oobly]

Personally, I like rock-solid feel and the ability to bang away at the keys without getting the idea that I am damaging something.

It is hard to imagine a plug-in scenario that would give a really satisfying level of solidity, unless maybe the base was a thick solid steel plate.

It's possible to make one with a steel plate and a PCB with sockets for the switches. Increases the height a little, though (due to the sockets). The switches will feel solid as they are mounted in the plate, but can be removed easily enough.

I don't really see much point, though. If you want to change switch types, you can change out the switch internals on a normal board, or just change the whole board.

Oh, and the term is "solder", with an "L". Never did understand why Americans tend to leave it out when saying the word. For us English speakers it's "soul-da".

[tooki]

The language in USA is also "English". I think in your last sentence you mean "British English", as we linguists call it.

In American English, it is indeed pronounced "sodder", but the spelling remains solder. Why? Who knows. It's the same kind of sound deletion that cause British English and Boston dialect of American English to pronounce "car" as "cah".

[fohat.digs]

British English and Boston dialect of American English to pronounce "car" as "cah".

And to pronounce "Atlanta" as "Atlantar"

[Findecanor]

Key Tronic's vintage capacitative foam-and-foil switches has separate key modules that are just snapped into a steel plate from the top. On the bottom is only a PCB with a capacitative controller.
The resistance is in form of a coiled spring or a rubber sleeve between the switch module and the keycap.
Switches with a coiled spring are linear and the ones with rubber sleeve are tactile, and you only have to pull the key caps to get access to change them.
The foil touches the PCB mid-actuation, and the foam is compressed until bottom.

BTC also have a foam-and-foil keyboards that work the same way.

"Mitsumi Hybrid Switches" are similar, but do not have separate key modules.

Both types of switches are quite mushy after actuation because of the foam (Key Tronic and Mitsum) and whatever Mitsumi uses (I think that has varied).

Today, Topre switches are a little bit like this. The Space bar has a coiled spring just underneath the keycap to make it harder to press than other switches.

[sth]

this would only be useful for people who spend more time modifying their keyboards than working with them, which admittedly is a decent population on geekhack. even then, existing, widely-available switches are not constructed to be inserted and removed over and over, and you could pretty easily damage the pins on the switch.

[Oobly]

The language in USA is also "English". I think in your last sentence you mean "British English", as we linguists call it.

In American English, it is indeed pronounced "sodder", but the spelling remains solder. Why? Who knows. It's the same kind of sound deletion that cause British English and Boston dialect of American English to pronounce "car" as "cah".

English, as in the language spoken by the English people, from England (and all the colonies of the British Empire). As opposed to "American English", or simply "American" as I call it 

I do admit, however, that English really is a mixed up language with loan words and pronunciations from all sorts of other languages and regions and exceptions to many of it's own rules. Syllables are often pronounced differently even though they're spelt the same. The American variant is very much altered from "the Queen's English", though.

Gone a bit off-topic there, sorry..

I think a plate with spaces for removing the switch tops is enough for most, myself included. You can change and modify pretty much everything like that without having to desolder anything. Unfortunately most of the commercial manufacturers use plates without the notches, so you have to desolder to modify / change switches.

[tp4tissue]

problem is the prongs on cherry.. 

[The_Beast]

Or just get a plate that allows switch top removal. Or go PCB mount and just change switch internals if you want to.


I don't see the point of having drop in switches at all

[strict]

Or just get a plate that allows switch top removal. Or go PCB mount and just change switch internals if you want to.


I don't see the point of having drop in switches at all

I was just about the post almost this exact same thing. Its a shame plates like that are so hard to come by. Ive been searching for a few weeks now and haven't been able to locate a single one.

[kilogeek]

This could be nice but the best design to keep a solid feeling would be to use screws, and even with that, not soldered switch may induce bad contacts. But yes maybe, you could imagine soldered connectors like the 4 pins CPU power connector, soldered and screwed on a metal plate, switches pluged in such connectors would give a good solid feeling. But such design would cost much more than what is currently on the market.

IMO something more important than switch fixation system should be switch and plate/pcb water/dust proofing as this is the main weakness of all mech keyboards, there are design solution for that, and the best would be to use a plastic shell like on some domes keyboard so water dropped on keyboard may never go inside the shell, this is possible by changing keycap design and shell design.

When I lubed my AT101 ALPS keyboard, there was dust in some switchs, don't know how dust could go in there, but it's a 26 years old keyboard...^^

[CPTBadAss]

Check this post/thread out OP. I think the discussion was that it was cool but there are concerns of pulling out switches when switch keycaps. Also I recall a discussion that the SIP sockets or components he used might not hold up to repeated usage (worried about wear over time).

[tooki]

English, as in the language spoken by the English people, from England (and all the colonies of the British Empire). As opposed to "American English", or simply "American" as I call it 

Very few Americans refer to their language as "American". We speak English, we study literature in English class in school, and when you call a company, you're asked "For English, press 1, para Espaņol, oprime el 2".

I do admit, however, that English really is a mixed up language with loan words and pronunciations from all sorts of other languages and regions and exceptions to many of it's own rules. Syllables are often pronounced differently even though they're spelt the same. The American variant is very much altered from "the Queen's English", though.

I completely disagree. (And remember, I studied this...)

Standard American English, accent aside, is practically indistinguishable from Standard British English. (Standard American accent has a lot in common with the Dublin accent, by the way.) If you take two written texts and standardize the spellings (-ize/-ise, -o-/-ou-), it takes a very astute eye to determine whether the author was American, British, Canadian, or Australian.

What varies widely, of course, is vernacular. And in this, the UK has far more deviation from its standard than the US has from its standard. (So please, people, stop comparing American vernacular with Queen's English, and vice versa, don't compare Liverpuddlian with Standard American English!)

You are absolutely correct that English (in particular, its spelling) is full of exceptions and contradictions. It is indeed the legacy of spellings that have remained static even as pronunciation has shifted and new words were borrowed. Ever heard of the poem the Chaos? It's an exceptional challenge to pronounce correctly, even to the most skilled of English orators.

http://www.spellingsociety.org/journals/j17/caos.php

[Jumpjet]

 

it takes a very astute eye to determine whether the author was American, British, Canadian, or Australian.

As a Briton, I can confirm that this is the case! It's even more confusing in Scotland, where a lot of what the English think of as Gaelic words are actually Old English ('Saxon'), extinct or changed beyond recognition in England and the old colonies.

[tp4tissue]

it takes a very astute eye to determine whether the author was American, British, Canadian, or Australian.

As a Briton, I can confirm that this is the case! It's even more confusing in Scotland, where a lot of what the English think of as Gaelic words are actually Old English ('Saxon'), extinct or changed beyond recognition in England and the old colonies.

The solution is to stop bickering, forget every other language, and learn Klingon.... 


Qapla'

[tooki]

I find it amusing (again, as a linguist) that there is a divide among the Klingon-speaking community of how to expand the vocabulary. The pragmatists believe in using loan words, under the assumption that Klingons did indeed have contact with other worlds, while the purists believe that the Klingon vocabulary should be free of such influences and be racially pure, so to speak.

 The Klingon-speaking community. I love that this exists!