Keytronic (; formerly Key Tronic) is a technology company founded in 1969. Its core products initially included

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

mice A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

and other input devices. KeyTronic currently specializes in PCBA and full product assembly. The company is among the ten largest contract manufacturers providing electronic manufacturing services in the US. The company offers full product design or assembly of a wide variety of household goods and electronic products such as keyboards, printed circuit board assembly, plastic molding, thermometers, toilet bowl cleaners, satellite tracking systems, etc.

Keyboards

After the introduction of the

IBM PC The IBM Personal Computer (model 5150, commonly known as the IBM PC) is the first microcomputer released in the IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible de facto standard. Released on August 12, 1981, it was created by a team ...

, Keytronic began manufacturing keyboards compatible with those computer system units. Most of their keyboards are based on the

8048 The MCS-48 microcontroller series, Intel's first microcontroller, was originally released in 1976. Its first members were 8048, 8035 and 8748. The 8048 is probably the most prominent member of the family. Initially, this family was produced us ...

microcontroller A microcontroller (MCU for ''microcontroller unit'', often also MC, UC, or μC) is a small computer on a single VLSI integrated circuit (IC) chip. A microcontroller contains one or more CPUs (processor cores) along with memory and programmable i ...

to communicate to the computer. Their early keyboards used an

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...

8048 MCU. However, as the company evolved, they began to use their own 8048-based and 83C51KB-based MCUs. In 1978, Keytronic Corporation introduced keyboards with capacitive-based switches, one of the first keyboard technologies to not use self-contained switches. There was simply a sponge pad with a conductive-coated Mylar plastic sheet on the switch plunger, and two half-moon trace patterns on the printed circuit board below. As the key was depressed, the capacitance between the plunger pad and the patterns on the PCB below changed, which was detected by

integrated circuits An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...

(IC). These keyboards were claimed to have the same reliability as the other "solid-state switch" keyboards such as inductive and Hall-Effect, but competitive with direct-contact keyboards.

ErgoForce

Among modern keyboard enthusiasts, Keytronic is known mostly for its "ErgoForce" technology, where different keys have rubber domes with different stiffness. The alphabetic keys intended to be struck with the little finger need only 35 grams of force to actuate, while other alphabetic keys need 45 grams. Other keys can be as stiff as 80 grams.

Corporate information

The company, which has been described as a contract manufacturer, was founded in 1969, went public in 1983, and has an estimated 5,000 employees. During 2016-2017, statements and press releases about Cemtrex's proposed acquisition of Keytronic have been released.

References

External links

*
Circuitsassembly.com: "Key Tronic named the CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY EMS Company of the Year in 2009"
Computer peripheral companies Computer companies of the United States Companies based in Spokane, Washington Computer companies established in 1969 Electronics companies established in 1969 Companies listed on the Nasdaq Computer keyboard companies {{compu-hardware-stub