The mystery of the Realforce is finally revealed. Under each key is your own Vestal Virgin:





Actually it's easy to pop open these guys. I just used my fingernail to gently open each of the 4 tabs at the bottom. The indentation under the label is NOT a screw luckily.


Everything comes apart easily at this point.


Lots of screws holding the metal plate to the PCB. No wonder this thing feels so solid.




Wait, it looks like just your everyday rubber dome board!



But under each dome is one of these:


Now in an ideal world I would astound you by now swapping springs from key to key to customize my Realforce happiness. The springs in the picture are from a 30g key and a 55g key. They are the same. The vestal virgins sob.

You see the rubber dome is slightly (and I mean slightly) different on some keys. Same materials, slightly different thickness I guess.

Now a real modder could just grab a Xacto knife and start cutting and pasting domes but I've decided that for me maybe slightly (and I mean slightly) different key weighting isn't that big a deal.

Hope this helps those of you who can't try a Topre board in person. Nothing magical going on here - think a slightly springy rubber dome board with rock solid construction.

- Ripster

POSTSCRIPT EDITED IN LATER....

The function of the spring is documented in the US Patent Filing.

In the diagrams it is labeled 36, a "contractable electrode". In other words it acts as the switch. When the key is pushed it compresses the spring until the capacitance reaches a trigger point. In the Patent Topre claims this is what allows them to say:

"No chattering over 30 million times"

In other words, key bounce is eliminated.

The other advantage is obviously wear and tear is limited to the rubber domes, maybe a little on the springs (doubtful), and the sliding of the keys.

Speaking of the plastic key plunger/casing mechanism Topre obviously spent a lot of time engineering this. I also believe this contributes a lot to the "solid" feel of the Topres.

Just because there isn't a mechanical switch doesn't mean it's time for Cheetos and Coke though. The parts are still susceptible to corrosion. One Coke spill and it may be over, baby. At least the way the rubber domes almost "static cling" to the PCB gives some protection.

The patent also mentions air holes for presumably reducing the "Topre Fart".



It is debatable to what extent the springs change the key feel. I call the springs wimpy - less than 5g of resistance, almost undetectable. The patent filing claims:

Hope this helps. I'm always curious how something works, especially when it costs over $300 shipped. I do feel better that there is some careful engineering going on here.

Don't Miss PART TWO of the saga - Click Here To Read.

Attached Images

	FLA_3198.jpg (229.8 KB, 1493 views)
	361px-Vestal.jpg (303.0 KB, 1522 views)
	FLA_3218.jpg (237.8 KB, 1913 views)
	FLA_3228.jpg (213.7 KB, 1920 views)
	FLA_3230.jpg (288.2 KB, 752 views)
	FLA_3232.jpg (304.3 KB, 615 views)
	FLA_3220.jpg (270.5 KB, 617 views)

Created by ripster, 10 April 2009 at 03:06 Last edited by ripster, 15 March 2010 at 23:53 Last comment by rdjack21 on 09 June 2009 at 15:13 61 Comments, 5,870 Views (protected)