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Apple Files Patent For a Crumb-Resistant MacBook Keyboard (digitaltrends.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the clean-as-a-whistle dept.

According to a patent application made public on Thursday, March 8, Apple could be developing a new MacBook keyboard designed to prevent crumbs and dust from getting those super-shallow MacBook keys stuck. "Liquid ingress around the keys into the keyboard can damage electronics. Residues from such liquids may corrode or block electrical contacts, getting in the way of key movement and so on," the patent application reads. Digital Trends reports: The application goes on to describe how those problems might be remedied: With the careful application of gaskets, brushes, wipers, or flaps that block gaps beneath keycaps. One solution would include a membrane beneath each key, effectively insulating the interior of the keyboard from the exterior, while another describes using each keypress as a "bellows" to force contaminants out of the keyboard. "A keyboard assembly [could include] a substrate, a key cap, and a guard structure extending from the key cap that funnels contaminants away from the movement mechanism," the patent application reads.

2 of 91 comments (clear)

  1. design flaw by fluffernutter · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It was a design flaw to create a keyboard that couldn't be cleaned in the first place. More of Apple putting form over function. Besides.. there are laptops with waterproof keyboards already, how is a dust free keyboard even eligible for a new patent?

    --
    Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    1. Re:design flaw by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It was a design flaw to create a keyboard that couldn't be cleaned in the first place. More of Apple putting form over function. Besides.. there are laptops with waterproof keyboards already, how is a dust free keyboard even eligible for a new patent?

      It was a design flaw for God to create you.

      Honestly, my work Samsung laptop has keys that are completely un-cleanable. It is also non-water-resistant, causing me to now have to carry-around an external keyboard, because the built-in keyboard now has a few non-functional keys, due to a spilled splash of coffee. And the laptop has to be disassembled down to the very last screw to replace the keyboard.

      Yes, I know Mac laptops are the same in the replacement needing almost complete disassembly. One of the few things I don't like about Apple's "unibody" laptop design.