Good feeling of oneness with cup rubber

Contents

[top] The Topre switch



Quote: Only one "Made in Japan" electrostatic capacitive non-contact type keyboard in the world

Quote: The present invention has been made in consideration of the above situation, and has as its object to provide a keyboard switch wherein constant hysteresis can be obtained without changing the operation characteristics even if an operation value is arbitrarily set, thereby properly preventing chattering, and wherein an operator can know that the operation member has been depressed to a depth corresponding to the operation value.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a keyboard switch comprising an insulating substrate, a first electrode laid on the insulating substrate, a second electrode facing the first electrode, a dielectric disposed between the first and second electrodes, said second electrode being formed of a conical coil spring, and being positioned on the dielectric so that one end portion of the spring may be in contact with the surface of the dielectric, a capacitance between the first and second electrodes being mainly defined by the contact area between the dielectric and second electrode, a button on the other end portion of the second electrode for compressing the second electrode toward the first electrode to change the contact area when the button is depressed toward the first electrode, said capacitance varying with the change in the facing area which changes substantially in proportion to the depth of depression of the button, and a means for giving snap feeling to an operator when the button is depressed and the capacitance exceeds a given value, whereby the switch is capacitively coupled for a switching operation and the snap feeling is given to the operator when the capacitance exceeds the given value. NOTE: What the quote is refering to there at the begging when refering to the "above situation" is RSI related issues.



But what does all of that mean in practice? Lets see if we can figure it out from various drawings and from some keyboards we have taken apart here.



First lets take a look at Topre's drawing of the switch:





Ok that picture does kinda show how the actual switch looks but how about the actual switch and how that actually works.



Part one of the switch the PCB:



This forms the first part of the switch as described "an insulating substrate, a first electrode laid on the insulating substrate".



Part two of the switch the spring:



Cool now we have this part "said second electrode being formed of a conical coil spring, and being positioned on the dielectric so that one end portion of the spring may be in contact with the surface of the dielectric". As you can see the spring is fits perfectly on top of the first electrode formed in the PCB.



Part three how the capacitance changes:



"a capacitance between the first and second electrodes being mainly defined by the contact area between the dielectric and second electrode"

See how the spring collapses. The bottom coils flatten and come into contact with the dielectric on the PCB. Cool stuff..



Part four that Good feeling of oneness with cup rubber .





There are many aspects of this particular rubber dome that are very interesting. A big part of the patent for the Topre switch is spent on the design of this dome. It is shaped the way it is to provide what they describe as a snap feeling. Here is the relevant quote

Quote: for giving snap feeling include an elastic cap provided between the second electrode and button, whereby said elastic cap is deformed to give the snap feeling to the operator when the button is depressed and the capacitance exceeds the given value



And now the spring in the dome:





So what we have so far is a spring sitting in a specially designed rubber dome and as the dome is pressed down the spring collapses from the bottom until it is completely flat when bottomed out. On bottom out the plunger presses that nice big and thick bump at the top giving a nice soft landing.





Next up we have the switch housing that fits around the dome/spring:







Then we have the plunger that is used to press down on the dome with a key cap attached to the top:



Nice and round so that is can smoothly ride in the housing.



Plunger and key housing combined from the bottom:



Do you see those channels the plunger rides in? That is what keeps the key from twisting.

and from the top:





And now the dome and spring sitting in the housing:



Those two guides on either side of the housing align the dome and sit on the PCB so that the dome and spring are completely contained in the housing. Here is an illustration that shows the point of switch activation as you can see the dome has just buckled to give that snap feeling:



As you continue to press down on the key the dome will collapse on itself and on bottom out the plunger is stoped by the top cap of the dome giving the switch a nice soft landing.



So that is how the Topre switch is put together. A very well put together switch with allot of attention and thought put into every little detail of it.



The Topre switch in their own wordsAnd from the patent we have this:What the quote is refering to there at the begging when refering to the "above situation" is RSI related issues.But what does all of that mean in practice? Lets see if we can figure it out from various drawings and from some keyboards we have taken apart here.First lets take a look at Topre's drawing of the switch:Ok that picture does kinda show how the actual switch looks but how about the actual switch and how that actually works.Part one of the switch the PCB:This forms the first part of the switch as described "an insulating substrate, a first electrode laid on the insulating substrate".Part two of the switch the spring:Cool now we have this part "said second electrode being formed of a conical coil spring, and being positioned on the dielectric so that one end portion of the spring may be in contact with the surface of the dielectric". As you can see the spring is fits perfectly on top of the first electrode formed in the PCB.Part three how the capacitance changes:"a capacitance between the first and second electrodes being mainly defined by the contact area between the dielectric and second electrode"See how the spring collapses. The bottom coils flatten and come into contact with the dielectric on the PCB. Cool stuff..Part four thatThere are many aspects of this particular rubber dome that are very interesting. A big part of the patent for the Topre switch is spent on the design of this dome. It is shaped the way it is to provide what they describe as a snap feeling. Here is the relevant quoteThe patent itself covers all kinds of dome shapes but the one they settled on is the one we have. Another thing mentioned in the paten is that they very the thickness of the dome walls to tune the feel and so the snap happens at precisely the right point. Also note those channels in the bottom of the dome they are their so that air can go in and out of the dome.And now the spring in the dome:So what we have so far is a spring sitting in a specially designed rubber dome and as the dome is pressed down the spring collapses from the bottom until it is completely flat when bottomed out. On bottom out the plunger presses that nice big and thick bump at the top giving a nice soft landing.Next up we have the switch housing that fits around the dome/spring:Then we have the plunger that is used to press down on the dome with a key cap attached to the top:Nice and round so that is can smoothly ride in the housing.Plunger and key housing combined from the bottom:Do you see those channels the plunger rides in? That is what keeps the key from twisting.and from the top:And now the dome and spring sitting in the housing:Those two guides on either side of the housing align the dome and sit on the PCB so that the dome and spring are completely contained in the housing. Here is an illustration that shows the point of switch activation as you can see the dome has just buckled to give that snap feeling:As you continue to press down on the key the dome will collapse on itself and on bottom out the plunger is stoped by the top cap of the dome giving the switch a nice soft landing.So that is how the Topre switch is put together. A very well put together switch with allot of attention and thought put into every little detail of it.

[top] Topre switch force graphs





They were tested using this device.







Enough of that lest take a look at the graphs:



The top two lines are the down stroke and the bottom line the recover. The bottom two lines are for a different key on the same keyboard.





The activation point distances were measured using a table saw dial indicator.





This is the force graph for a typical rubber dome. Although it shares the rather rounded tactile bump the activation point is at the end of the stroke.









This is for the short throw HE0100 keyboard. What is interesting here is that the specification that I have seen for this board and the MD01B0 indicate that these boards should have 40g keys. I can at least verify that the MD01B0 does indeed have 55g keys using the RipOmeter test.





This is a comparison chart. What I find the most interesting here is that the Topre switch has the smoothest force gradient of all the switches.





And more switches. And again the Topre has the smoothest force gradient of all of them.



I recently ran across these switch force graphs and thought that this is a good place for them. I found them here if you want to go and brows around yourself. That site has force graphs for a bunch of keyboards so even if you are not interested in Topre's you will find graphs for most of the available switches.They were tested using this device.Enough of that lest take a look at the graphs:The top two lines are the down stroke and the bottom line the recover. The bottom two lines are for a different key on the same keyboard.The activation point distances were measured using a table saw dial indicator.This is the force graph for a typical rubber dome. Although it shares the rather rounded tactile bump the activation point is at the end of the stroke.This is for the short throw HE0100 keyboard. What is interesting here is that the specification that I have seen for this board and the MD01B0 indicate that these boards should have 40g keys. I can at least verify that the MD01B0 does indeed have 55g keys using the RipOmeter test.This is a comparison chart. What I find the most interesting here is that the Topre switch has the smoothest force gradient of all the switches.And more switches. And again the Topre has the smoothest force gradient of all of them.

Topre/Realforce did not spend all that time and effort on the key switch just to put it in a junky or low quality keyboard. They put just as much thought into the keyboards as well. From the quality of the materials used to the way they are constructed you just know that you are typing on a very high quality keyboard. I'm really not going to spend too much time on the keyboard construction itself and instead point out some of the more distinctive features of most if not all of the Topre/Realforce line of keyboards.





[top] Key Force or Key weight





Here is the official key weighting of the 87U as you can see they have reduced the weighting of the keys that are pressed by the pinky.







With the number of inquisitive members we have and the invention of the low cost







We are not completely sure why some of those keys are measuring 40g but they do. On the 87U and the other variable force keyboards the domes in the alpha area are a single sheet. This makes us wonder if when Topre is changing the wall thickness of the domes if there is some limitation on how much they can change it from row to row. It should also be noted that Topre specifies the dome tolerance at +- 15g so technically they are with in specification. But still if there is some process limitation that does not allow them to do 10g steps they should really update their official weighting chart to reflect that.



All Topre based boards come with either variable or uniform force key weights. On the uniform force or weight keyboards all the keys require the same amount of force to activate a key. On the variable force keyboards depending on the key location the amount of force required to activate a key will be different. The key weightings that have been produced up till now are 30/45/55 and 35/45/55 for the variable force keyboards and 30, 45 and 55 grams for the uniform force keyboards. In the patent for the switch Topre somewhat covers why they decided to offer a variable force keyboard. Their research showed that if you reduce the weight of the pinky keys that the user of the keyboard suffered less fatigue when typing all day. So the original research was really aimed at office workers that must reliably type all day long as part of there job. And they have been very successful in Japan of selling this concept to businesses where they sale the majority of their keyboards.Here is the official key weighting of the 87U as you can see they have reduced the weighting of the keys that are pressed by the pinky.With the number of inquisitive members we have and the invention of the low cost RipOmeter by one of our members we feel that the official force layout is not correct. What we think it should really look like is this:We are not completely sure why some of those keys are measuring 40g but they do. On the 87U and the other variable force keyboards the domes in the alpha area are a single sheet. This makes us wonder if when Topre is changing the wall thickness of the domes if there is some limitation on how much they can change it from row to row. It should also be noted that Topre specifies the dome tolerance at +- 15g so technically they are with in specification. But still if there is some process limitation that does not allow them to do 10g steps they should really update their official weighting chart to reflect that.



Quote: PBT is universally applied on the home appliance market. An important application of PBT is keyboard buttons. PBT has the wear resistance, chemical resistance, and strength for the application; and perhaps more importantly, it can be dyed.



On the majority of the Topre boards the keys have a different shape depending on the row the key is at so you can't just move the keys around on these keyboards because they will not fit properly. On the Topre/Realforce and HHKB Pro the keys are labeled as to which row they go on the underside of the key:





Another unique characteristic of a Topre keyboard is a key that is printed with India(black) ink on black keys. As a result you get a dark almost black key with black printing.





One other thing everyone that types on a Topre board notices is the feel of the surface of the keys. The below picture shows the texture of the key but you really have to put you fingers on it to understand how it really feels. All I can really say is that they feel great.







Topre uses PBT (Polybutylene Terephthalate) for their keys. As quoted from here PBT Market research The dying part of the above quote is important because the majority of Topre/Realforce keyboards keys are dye sublimation printed. The keyboards that are not dye sublimation printed are laser printed.On the majority of the Topre boards the keys have a different shape depending on the row the key is at so you can't just move the keys around on these keyboards because they will not fit properly. On the Topre/Realforce and HHKB Pro the keys are labeled as to which row they go on the underside of the key:Another unique characteristic of a Topre keyboard is a key that is printed with India(black) ink on black keys. As a result you get a dark almost black key with black printing.One other thing everyone that types on a Topre board notices is the feel of the surface of the keys. The below picture shows the texture of the key but you really have to put you fingers on it to understand how it really feels. All I can really say is that they feel great.







The Realforce 101 is a copy of the IBM Model M layout but with Topre switches instead of Buckling spring switches. It also is a variable force board where the pinky keys are 30g and the main keys are 45g with the escape key coming in at 55g.







Currently this keyboard is getting hard to find but you can find it if you want it. Also the only place to get them is from Japan. For Japanese sellers see the Merchants in Japan section.

The Realforce 101 is a copy of the IBM Model M layout but with Topre switches instead of Buckling spring switches. It also is a variable force board where the pinky keys are 30g and the main keys are 45g with the escape key coming in at 55g.Currently this keyboard is getting hard to find but you can find it if you want it. Also the only place to get them is from Japan. For Japanese sellers see the Merchants in Japan section.

[top] Realforce 103U and 103UB



This is the current production full size keyboard it comes in both black and white. The variable weighting is the same as the 87U. (although



White:





And the black one:





Various threads about this keyboard:



This is the current production full size keyboard it comes in both black and white. The variable weighting is the same as the 87U. (although one member reported the pinkies being lighter, 30g)White:And the black one:Various threads about this keyboard: Realforce 103 White - One of our members just ordered this board and this is a long thread discussing what was just purchased. Realforce Topre 87U Vs. 103UB - Another thread about which of the Realforce boards to get either the full size keybaord or the tenkeyless version.



The Realforce 86U is an older model of the 87U. The differences are: One less Windows key (hence, the 86U)

LEDs are not in the keys

No embedded numpad

Instead of 35g it uses 30g for the pinkies

Does not include keypuller or lavendar WASD keys or Red Esc key

The Realforce 86U is an older model of the 87U. The differences are:





[top] Realforce 23U and 23UB





[top] PFU Happy Hacking Keyboard Pro 2









[top] Realforce 106 and 106S





[top] Realforce 108UH and 108UBK





[top] Realforce 91U and 91UBK





[top] So where can I buy one?



So you have decided to purchase a Realforce keyboard or one of the OEM keyboards like the HHKB Pro. Until recently if you wanted a Realforce keyboard you had to get them out of Japan which will drive up the price considerably but some of these keyboards are now available in the US.



So read on in the following sections about where to find these wonderful keyboards.



[top] Merchants in the US



Currently there are a few merchants that carry the HHKB Pro but only one merchant that is importing Realforce keyboards.



Realforce keyboards can be found at elitekeyboards



Realforce keyboards tend to be expensive, no matter where you get them from. Elitekeyboards often has specials throughout the year though, so be on the lookout for them. It's also worth joining their mailing list so you can be notified of these specials early. Another way to get discounts is you can contact them or majestouch to see if they have any "b-stock" (scratch/dent or refurbished) keyboards. They often do, and they are discounted.



If you're interested in ordering a different Realforce keyboard (such as those available on benippon.com or geekstuff4u.com) Brian from EK can do one-off purchases in multiples of 10 keyboards (The 87U is not available). So if you can get a group of at least 10 people together who want the same keyboard that's currently not stocked, contact majestouch on Geekhack or email EK.



HHKB Pro's can be found at multiple vendors if you search for them but in the last search I did elitekeyboards had the lowest price on them. They can be found



elitekeyboards also carries some of the HHKB Pro options as well. Like blank key caps and red ESC keys and blue WSAD keys. You can find them down the page

Currently there are a few merchants that carry the HHKB Pro but only one merchant that is importing Realforce keyboards.Realforce keyboards can be found at elitekeyboards here . elitekeyboards currently only stocks the 103U/103UB and the 86U.Realforce keyboards tend to be expensive, no matter where you get them from. Elitekeyboards often has specials throughout the year though, so be on the lookout for them. It's also worth joining their mailing list so you can be notified of these specials early. Another way to get discounts is you can contact them or majestouch to see if they have any "b-stock" (scratch/dent or refurbished) keyboards. They often do, and they are discounted.If you're interested in ordering a different Realforce keyboard (such as those available on benippon.com or geekstuff4u.com) Brian from EK can do one-off purchases in multiples of 10 keyboards (The 87U is not available). So if you can get a group of at least 10 people together who want the same keyboard that's currently not stocked, contact majestouch on Geekhack or email EK.HHKB Pro's can be found at multiple vendors if you search for them but in the last search I did elitekeyboards had the lowest price on them. They can be found here elitekeyboards also carries some of the HHKB Pro options as well. Like blank key caps and red ESC keys and blue WSAD keys. You can find them down the page here . It should also be noted that the key caps for the HHKB Pro also fit the 87U but you only get enough keys for a HHKB Pro.

[top] Merchants in Europe



In Finland,

In Finland, verkkokauppa.com , a general IT online shop sells a couple of Topre keyboards.

[top] Merchants in Japan













[top] Topre OEM keyboards















[top] Realforce Model Reference





NOTE: In the below tables I have included links to other content where the link leads depends on the column. For instance in the Availability column the links lead to where you can purchase that particular model. Other columns will lead to other places.



NOTE 2: The links to where you can get the keyboards are random and are what I happened to find quickly when putting these tables together. Topre has many resellers in Japan so please take a look at the where to buy section when trying to find one of these keyboards.



This reference is a translation of the one on Moonlight Cafe and is a work in progress as I decipher the meaning of some of the notes.In the below tables I have included links to other content where the link leads depends on the column. For instance in the Availability column the links lead to where you can purchase that particular model. Other columns will lead to other places.The links to where you can get the keyboards are random and are what I happened to find quickly when putting these tables together. Topre has many resellers in Japan so please take a look at the where to buy section when trying to find one of these keyboards.

[top] Full Size Keyboards



Topre Model Number Model Name Connector Number of Keys Win keys Key weight key labeling type Enclosure LED's DIP Switch Date Released Availability ML0100 101 PS/2 101 No Variable Force Sublimation White Yellow green Yes 04/03 Available ? Japan ML01K0 101W PS/2 101 No Variable Force Hangul sublimation White Yellow green No 01/07 Discontinued ML11K0 101B PS/2 101 No Variable Force Hangul laser Black Yellow green No 01/07 Discontinued SE0100 103 ? 103 Yes ? Traditional sublimation White ? No 09/07 Prototype SE1100 103-UW PS/2 103 Yes Variable Force Traditional sublimation White Yellow green No 12/07 Not Avalible

Prototype?

Only 10? SE11B0 103-UB PS/2 103 Yes Variable Force Sublimation (2) Traditional Han Black Yellow green No 12/07 Not available

Prototype? Only 10? SE0200 103U USB 103 Yes Variable Force Sublimation White Blue No 06/09 Available US Japan SE02B0 103UB USB 103 Yes Variable Force Sublimation (2) Black Blue No 06/09 Available US Japan SE1200 103U-UW USB 103 Yes Variable Force Traditional sublimation White Blue No 05/08 Available US SE12B0 103U-UB USB 103 Yes Variable Force Traditional laser Black Blue No 05/08 Not Available SE3200 103UKW USB 103 Yes Variable Force Hangul sublimation White Blue No 07/08 Not Available SE32B0 103UKB USB 103 Yes Variable Force Sublimation (2) Hangul Black Blue No 07/08 Not Available WE1100 105UFW USB 105 Yes Variable Force Sublimation White Blue No 12/09 Available N. Europe WE11B0 105UFB USB 105 Yes Variable Force Sublimation Black Blue No 12/09 Available N. Europe LA0100 106 PS/2 106 No Variable Force Sublimation White Yellow-green No 07/01 Available Japan LA0200 106S PS/2 106 No Uniform 30g Sublimation White Yellow-green No 01/03 Available Japan FD0100 OEM PS/2 106 No Uniform 45g Sublimation White Yellow-green No 12/04 Limited Availability ? FD01D0 No stamp PS/2 106 No Uniform 45g Blank keys Black Yellow-green No 12/04 Not Available PJ0800 106UB USB 106 No Variable Force Laser Black Blue No 12/04 Not Available PJ08J0 JUST Limited 106UB USB 106 No Variable Force Laser Black Orange No 12/05 Not Available Only 500 built QK01X0 106U OEM USB 106 No Variable Force Sublimation White Yellow-green No 04/08 Limited Availability Japan SA0100 108UH USB 108 Yes Uniform 45g Sublimation White Blue No 04/07 Available Japan SJ08B0 108UBK USB 108 Yes Variable Force Kana laser Black Blue No 01/08 Available Japan SJ38C0 108UDK USB 108 Yes Uniform 30g Sublimation Black Blue No Before 11/09 Available at Cleverly (Akihabara) SJ08J0 JUST Limited 108UB USB 108 Yes Uniform 45g Laser Black Orange No 12/07 Not Available 700 Units EDKEY2 EDIUS Keyboard II USB 108 Yes ? ? Black ? No 08/06 Not Readily Available (1) NS - KEYBOARD NS - KEYBOARD USB 108 Yes ? ? White ? No 11/07 Not Readily Available (1) Original NS KEYBOARD Original NS KEYBOARD ? 106 No ? ? Ash ? No 01/07 Not Readily Available (1)

(1) These keyboards are included with a full system. In both cases these are Video editing workstations that are multi million Yen systems.



(2) These keyboards have the black on black key lettering. See the keys section for what this looks like.



(1) These keyboards are included with a full system. In both cases these are Video editing workstations that are multi million Yen systems. NS Keyboard I think this is the EDKEY 2 It is in the picture with the system.(2) These keyboards have the black on black key lettering. See the keys section for what this looks like.

[top] Ten Keyless Keybaords



Topre Model Number Model Name Connector Number of Keys Win keys Key weight key labeling type Enclosure LED's DIP Switch Date Released Availability SE0500 86U USB 86 Yes Variable Force Sublimation White None Yes 08/08 Available Japan SE15K0 86UKW USB 86 Yes Variable Force Hangul sublimation White No LED's Yes 04/08 Not Available SE05K0 86UKB USB 86 Yes Variable Force Sublimation (2) Hangul Black No LED's Yes 04/08 Not Available SE05T0 86UTW USB 86 Yes Variable Force Traditional sublimation White No LED's Yes 03/09 ? Not Available SE0700 87UW USB 87 Yes Variable Force Sublimation White Blue Yes 03/09 Not Available SE1700 87UB USB 87 Yes Variable Force Sublimation (2) Black Blue Yes 03/09 Limited Availability US Japan SE1800 87UB USB 87 Yes Uniform 55g Sublimation (2) Black Blue Yes 03/09 Limited Availability US Japan ? 87UKW USB 87 Yes Variable Force Hangul sublimation White Blue Yes 03/09 Limited Availability ? 87UKB USB 87 Yes Variable Force Sublimation (2) Hangul Black Blue Yes 03/09 Limited Availability ? 87UW USB 87 Yes Variable Force Sublimation White Blue Yes 03/09 Limited Availability ? 87UB USB 87 Yes Variable Force Sublimation (2) Black Blue Yes 03/09 Limited Availability SE08K0 87UKW55 USB 87 Yes Uniform 55g Hangul sublimation White Blue Yes 03/09 Limited Availability SE18K0 87UKB55 USB 87 Yes Uniform 55g Sublimation (2) Hangul Black Blue Yes 03/09 Limited Availability ? 87UW No stamp USB 87 Yes Uniform 55g Blank Keys White Blue Yes 03/09 Limited Availability Only 7 ? 87UB No Stamp USB 87 Yes Uniform 55g Blank Keys Black Blue Yes 03/09 Limited Availability Only 7 ND0100 89 PS/2 89 No Variable Force Sublimation White NO LED's No 10/03 Not Available NF0100 89U USB 89 No Variable Force Sublimation White No LED's Yes 12/03 Not Available NF01B0 89UB USB 89 No Variable Force Laser Black No LED's Yes 02/07 Not Available ND01N0 CSNEO OEM PS/2 89 No ? ? Black No LED's ? Fall/05 Not Available NE0100 91 PS/2 91 Yes Variable Force Sublimation White No LED's No 08/04 Available ? NG0100 91U USB 91 Yes Variable Force Sublimation White No LED's No 08/04 Available Japan NG01B0 91UBK USB 91 Yes Variable Force No Kana laser Black No LED's No 12/05 Available Japan NG02B0 91UDK-G USB 91 Yes Uniform 45g Sublimation (2) No Kana Black No LED's Yes 11/08 Available ? Ng01Bs 91Ubk-S Low Noise USB 91 Yes ? Laser Black No LEDs ? ? Available Japan NG01J0 JUST Limited 91UW USB 91 Yes Variable Force Sublimation White No LED's No 12/06 Not Available Limited to 550 NG11J0 JUST Limited 91UB USB 91 Yes Variable Force Laser Black No LED's Yes 12/06 Not Available Limited to 750 NG02J0 JUST Limited 91UW2 USB 91 Yes Uniform 45g Sublimation White No LED's Yes 12/08 Not Available Limited to 300 NG22J0 JUST Limited 91UB2 USB 91 Yes Uniform 45g Laser Black No LED's Yes 12/08 Not Available Limited to 300 DRTCKB 91UBK DHARMA TACTICAL KEYBOARD (91SUBK) USB 91 Yes Uniform 30g No Kana Bold Laser Black No LED's Yes 05/08 Available Japan ? 92 Prototype 92 92 Yes Variable Force Laser White No LED's ? 11/02 Not Available Prototype

(2) These keyboards have black keys with black lettering. See the keys section for a example.



(2) These keyboards have black keys with black lettering. See the keys section for a example.

[top] Old content that will be re-factored into the new content.

So you want to understand the mystery of the keyboards with Topre switches. Well you have come to the right place. This wiki page is an attempt to answer that question. As well as being a reference for all the keyboards that use the Topre switch. This includes the Topre branded Realforce product line and all the OEM boards that currently use the Topre switch. Of the OEM keyboards the HHKB Pro line by PFU is the most fames.We are also going to try to cover how you go about getting your hands on one of these keyboards as well. Either locally in the US or shipped out of Japan or Korea depending on witch keyboard you want.The new content will take shape over time because I can only work on this for a limited amount of time every day. I will also be testing some BBCode as well so expect things to be mangled while I do this. Sorry.