Small and robust switches don't exist in nature it seems.
Been doing a design proposal for a yet another ultrathin laptop, this time with "pro gaming" spin.
One of client requirements was "be it the end of the world, but switches must be mechanical."
That sounded like an easy task... , but we ended up spending a week on the switch and having them custom made by a watch parts factory.
It is remarkably difficult to design a purely mechanical mechanism for making a "snapping action" that will be small and moderately wear resistant.
We almost thought of "screw that, lets make the mechanism electrostatically actuated," but finally made a parallelogram mechanism with just enough set of spring loading there, and there
Been doing a design proposal for a yet another ultrathin laptop, this time with "pro gaming" spin.
One of client requirements was "be it the end of the world, but switches must be mechanical."
That sounded like an easy task... , but we ended up spending a week on the switch and having them custom made by a watch parts factory.
It is remarkably difficult to design a purely mechanical mechanism for making a "snapping action" that will be small and moderately wear resistant.
We almost thought of "screw that, lets make the mechanism electrostatically actuated," but finally made a parallelogram mechanism with just enough set of spring loading there, and there