Claims
- 1. A lighted computer keyboard comprising:a keyboard housing including an upper clamshell member, said upper clamshell member being at least partially translucent to channel light; a plurality of key members constructed of a substantially hard non-deformable material positioned within said keyboard housing; an elastic diaphragm underlying said key members for biasing said key members in an upward direction; a circuit board underlying said plurality of key members and said elastic diaphragm, said circuit board being operational to produce signals in response to depression of said key members; and a light source optically connected to said clamshell member for communicating light to said clamshell member, said clamshell member channeling light to at least some of said plurality of key members.
- 2. The lighted computer keyboard of claim 1 wherein said light source include LEDs or LECs.
- 3. The lighted computer keyboard of claim 2 wherein said LEDs or LECs are embedded in said clamshell member.
- 4. The lighted computer keyboard of claim 1 wherein said light source include fiber optic cables.
- 5. The lighted computer keyboard of claim 4 wherein said fiberoptic cables are embedded in said clamshell member.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/500,735 filed on Feb. 9, 2000 U.S. Pat. No. 6,217,183, issued on Apr. 17, 2001, which in turn is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/396,141, filed on Sep. 15, 1999, and abandoned on Apr. 27, 2001.
US Referenced Citations (32)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
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WO 9848394 |
Oct 1998 |
WO |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
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Parent |
09/396141 |
Sep 1999 |
US |
Child |
09/500735 |
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US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
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09/500735 |
Feb 2000 |
US |
Child |
09/836628 |
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US |