A series of 44 newly granted patents for Apple were officially published on May 26 including Apple's new kind of dual-purpose keyboard with U.S. Patent No. 9,041,652, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Apple originally filed it back in September 14, 2011.
John Greer Elias and Steven J. Martisauskas invented this dual-purpose keyboard, which features mechanical keys covered with touch sensors on the surface depressible to two or more different depths or levels to generate different outputs subject to the depth of the key depression, known as the "fusion keyboard."
The invention allows the user both traditional keystroke entry and multi-touch gesture control without lifting one's hands from the fusion keyboard. In the official published document, it is illustrated that the space bar of the fusion keyboard is considered a dual-purpose key, which could be configured to generate mouse-like, or trackpad touch sensitive functions, upon being depressed to the next level.
In addition, the touch sensitive area of the fusion keyboard could detect touch events, such as swipes or taps, on the surface of mechanical keys similar to MacBook's touchpad. With this approach, the fusion keyboard could be utilized for cursor input purposes, such as click, drag, point, select, zoom, and scroll, which are all convenient for users who do not want to remove their hands from the keyboard.
Essentially, input from each of the operator's hands is processed independently, meaning the left hand can encode text data through key depression, while the right hand controls the cursor via touch events, or vice versa. In addition, the system permits the operator to move an onscreen cursor and type or perform touch gestures at the same time.
The Apple's newly patented touch sensitive mechanical keyboard could be incorporated with a processor for detecting touch events and distinguishing levels of key depressions. The onboard processor could produce either a key depression or a touch event command as output to the identified touch events and detected key depressions.
Like any Apple patented invention, it is still unclear whether the fusion keyboard model will be distributed as an individual product or be incorporated into its existing devices. Apple has already greatly invested in their recent Force Touch trackpad for the MacBook so this patented invention could be lost. However, with the new upcoming designs of MacBook saving space area like the 12-inch MacBook with Retina display, Apple could implement the fusion keyboard to reduce the chassis size.
