1982
Sinclair patents its keyboard switch
Sinclair Research filed a patent for a keyboard switch forming part of the company's distinctive low-cost keyboard technology. The patent describes a switch arrangement using flexible layers and conductive contacts, allowing a key press to operate an electrical switch without the conventional mechanical switches used in many computer keyboards.
The patent has a priority date of 25 February 1982 and was assigned to Sinclair Research Limited. It was subsequently published in Europe as EP0087918A1 on 7 September 1983 under the title Keyboard Switch.
The technology is particularly relevant to Sinclair's computers of this period, including the ZX Spectrum, whose 40-key keyboard used a thin rubber membrane and conductive contacts rather than conventional individual mechanical key switches.
Image: CGI Representation of a ZX Spectrum keyboard membrane — flexible circuit sheet showing key contacts and ribbon connectors. Image created with Microsoft Copilot (AI‑generated).
The patent has a priority date of 25 February 1982 and was assigned to Sinclair Research Limited. It was subsequently published in Europe as EP0087918A1 on 7 September 1983 under the title Keyboard Switch.
The technology is particularly relevant to Sinclair's computers of this period, including the ZX Spectrum, whose 40-key keyboard used a thin rubber membrane and conductive contacts rather than conventional individual mechanical key switches.
Image: CGI Representation of a ZX Spectrum keyboard membrane — flexible circuit sheet showing key contacts and ribbon connectors. Image created with Microsoft Copilot (AI‑generated).
