MX profile Buckling Spring Switch with 2 springs

[Wingklip]

Before the dawn of the IBM buckling spring I read somewhere a patent that involved a single spring. That's it. It buckles and hits the wall of the barrel. No need for directing. Good for a very silent buckling spring, amirite?

Here's the link https://www.google.com/patents/US3699296

We all know the problem of using one spring for the bucking spring, and the complexity and adulteration that is when you use a follower hammer. But what if you thought outside the box, and used 2 springs of smaller diameter and height to bring the profile down to cherry compatible height? If I were to make the device capacitive as well, it would be easy, as cherry already has the capability of that - all we need is a contact pad in a coat of polymer and redesign the keyboard

[Wingklip]

I'm planning to integrate this into a cherry module btw through the tried and tested manufacture of made in China 3d printing.

I also have an idea, IBM had trouble making their springs buckle when they had less and less travel distance but

WHAT IF!

We had multiple smaller springs? )))))))) Then the force on them swill equate to the large one.... Or WHAT IF!

OVULAR SPRINGS!!!11!!1!1111

Then one side will experience less force required to buckle than the other :0000

[suicidal_orange]

Wouldn't this require a metal spring pinging against a metal wall to connect the switch?  Without much room for dampening materials that doesn't seem like it would be very quiet...

[Findecanor]

Alps made a buckling spring design which uses a hammer and follower, which allows for a shorter spring.

In my experience, switches with longer coiled springs tend to have higher starting force than switches with shorter springs. That is something to consider. Personally, I prefer Cherry MX over Alps SKCL/SKCM primarily because Cherry MX has a higher starting force.

Metal-on-metal contacts need to be gold, or there will be corrosion over time. Gold-plated springs are obtainable, but I would be worried about wear and tear. Gold is actually a relatively soft metal.

IBM's buckling spring is only a spring and a hammer or tilting plate. That is incredibly simple already compared to other mechanical switches.
The click from a buckling spring, surprisingly, comes from the spring itself when it reaches the "catastrophic buckling" state - not from anything hitting anything. You can test this for yourself by pressing a spring from a IBM keyboard between your thumb and forefinger.
The foot at the end of a Model M's buckling spring does not clack against the membrane - there is a piece more akin to a wheel at the bottom that presses the membrane together. The flipper only stops it from rotating further.

You can reduce the ringing of a buckling spring switch by  doing the floss mod - if the floss is just the right length, the ringing goes away completely.
Using a thick lubricant could also remove ringing. Too much thick lubricant will reduce both click sound and click-feel, however - you can't reduce the sound without losing the feel.

[Wingklip]

The spring itself? I would only assume that it would ring, and not necessarily click to any loud degree as the model F series do, which I have. That thing is designed to click using the slap of the flippers against naked PCB.

Using a single spring also means the highest reliability of any bucklespring switch because it only has 1 moving part. Also because it hits a metal wall, it would scrape the corrosion present on it without issue.

For sound though, maybe a single straight metal leaf would work better than a spring?

[Wingklip]

We all know the problem of using one spring for the bucking spring, and the complexity and adulteration that is when you use a follower hammer. But what if you thought outside the box, and used 2 springs of smaller diameter and height to bring the profile down to cherry compatible height? If I were to make the device capacitive as well, it would be easy, as cherry already has the capability of that - all we need is a contact pad in a coat of polymer and redesign the keyboard