Claims
- 1. An expandable keyboard comprising:a keyboard housing which is extendible substantially in a single plane from a contracted position to an expanded position; at least one elastic belt, the elastic belt attached to the housing; and a plurality of keyswitch assemblies, each keyswitch assembly attached to the elastic belt so that when the keyboard housing is extended from a compressed position to an expanded position the key pitch is increased, a plurality of keytops associated with the plurality of keyswitch assemblies, the keytops being rotatable about an axis substantially perpendicular to the plane between a first position and a second position substantially perpendicular to the first position.
- 2. A keyboard according to claim 1, further comprising:a plurality of elastic cords associated with the plurality of keytops for biasing the keytops into one of the first position and the second position.
- 3. A keyboard according to claim 1, further comprising:a plurality of non-stretchable cords associated with the plurality of keytops for urging the keytops into one of the first position and the second position when the keyboard is extended from the contracted position to the expanded position.
- 4. The keyboard according to claim 1, wherein the housing includes components movable relative to one another to extend the housing substantially in the single plane between the contracted position and the expanded position, the components of the housing substantially rigid as compared to the elastic belt.
- 5. The keyboard according to claim 1, wherein the keyboard housing is extendible without folding.
CROSS REFERENCE
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/558,866, filed Apr. 26, 2000. This application also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/178,936, filed Feb. 1, 2000, U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/221,114, filed Jul. 27, 2000, U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/233,965, filed Sep. 20, 2000, and Provisional Application No. 60/255,295, filed Dec. 13, 2000.
US Referenced Citations (36)
Provisional Applications (4)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60/255295 |
Dec 2000 |
US |
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60/233965 |
Sep 2000 |
US |
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60/221114 |
Jul 2000 |
US |
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60/178936 |
Feb 2000 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09/558866 |
Apr 2000 |
US |
Child |
09/775291 |
|
US |