Using an iPad with a keyboard is something that is practically mandatory today. In addition to improving personal productivity, a wide variety of options are opened to work comfortably. Now the Cupertino company wants to work to improve its own official keyboards with the goal. This has been materialized in a recent patent that has been registered. In this article we will tell you all the improvements that could be finished including in the future in this accessory.
The backlighting would end up reaching the keyboards
One of the big problems in the Smart Keyboard is undoubtedly the absence of backlighting on the keys. This makes working at night a big problem by not seeing the keys or positioning yourself comfortably in case you already know the key locations. This could end up changing entirely through a patent that has been granted to Apple called ‘Fabric Articles With Thermally Printed Light Emitting Regions’.
Currently, Apple cloth keyboards present a problem to be able to introduce this technology. The theory dictates that different holes must be made in the fabric in order to introduce these diodes. Right now all the keys are not integrated under the same fabric without any type of hole, something that does not happen for example in the Magic Keyboard. This has many positive sides especially on the clean side as no dust gets between the keys.
This patent seeks to introduce backlighting but keeping the same fabric. In the text itself, it is recognized that this is a great challenge, especially to be able to look as attractive as possible. That is why the possibility of making use of fabric materials with polymer strands with higher melting temperatures than optical fiber arises. This is informed by the following mechanism:
The protrusions form corresponding light scattering voids in the cladding portions of the optical fibers. By modeling the protrusions in the mold, corresponding thermally printed light-emitting regions can be formed into the fabric.
The complexity of making this keyboard a reality
As the patent itself informs and as we have commented, for this product to become a reality is complicated. The fact of having a fabric that prevents having a gap makes the manufacturing process extremely complicated as well as design. And despite the fact that it can be done, Apple wants to prioritize the aesthetics of its products above all, as is logical as it happens in other products.
It is for all this that patents should always be taken with great care since although they are typical of the company they do not always end up being complied with. There are many ideas that are had within the working group but that we do not see materialized in reality. Although this does not mean that the Magic Keyboard must have this technology by not having such a committed design in this sense, something that is not yet fully understood.