Industrial Keyboards: Touch Sensitive and Wireless Keyboards

There is a whole range of keyboards available in the market today, each one made according to the specific needs of the user. Here we will be talking about industrial computers and keyboards.

What are Industrial Keyboards?

The keyboards that we are referring to have been designed for use in any harsh environment or factory floors. Industrial computers and keyboards withstand shock, humidity, vibration, dust, mist, EMI, RFI and splash.

Thankfully, industrial computers have been made user-friendly with a wide range of configurations and a variety of CPU's, displays, I/O interfaces. The term industrial computer keyboards refer to a single board computer (SBC). Not only that, they also refer to the systems they control. Since industrial computers are used in critical functions and applications they are made rugged and powerful!

The functional part of industrial computers and boards are called buses. Basically buses are a collection of wires through which data is transmitted from one part of a computer to another. Buses are made up of two parts:

• The address bus
• The data bus

The function of the address bus is that it acts as a controller, which directs the transfer of data to a specific location or a group of locations whereas the data bus performs the actual function of transferring the data. The data that is transferred via the buses is based on size which is referred to as the width.

Industrial computers and keyboards have many industrial protocols but they usually implement one, which is supported by a particular industry standard organization. Of course this does differ between American and European standards.

The computer peripherals category includes all kinds of devices:
They are:

• CRT monitors
• LCD modules
• Flat panel displays
• Touch Screens
• Printers
• Plotters
• Input Devices
• Disk Drives
• Memory Storage Devices
• Data Storage Devices

As stated earlier there are a range of other keyboards available in the market. Some of the types are illuminated keyboards, backlit and waterproof keyboards.

Touch Sensitive Industrial Keyboards

This keyboard can handle harsh use in public places and industrial places too. The touch sensitive keyboard has mounts underneath a non-conductive substrate such as ceramic, glass, wood or plastic which is up to 100 mm thick. The touch-sensitive keyboard is so made as to make cleaning a breeze, this is because the top is essentially flat and there is an absence of keys on the outside. Actually the keys are etched into the backlit plastic that is on the top the keypad. This feature ensures that there are no cracks for crumbs and dirt to fall into and also ensures that it performs the function of a waterproof keyboard effectively. The applications that the touch sensitive keyboard is put too are, printing machines, medical equipment, food packaging equipment and public access Internet kiosks.

Wireless Industrial Keyboards

Keyboards that are without wires are called wireless keyboards. This kind of computer does resemble a normal computer keyboard; the only difference is that the wireless keyboard transfers typing data to the computer via infrared beams. When the keys on the keyboard are pressed a beam of information is sent from the keyboard to a receiver that is plugged into a computer. It is because of the absence of wires that the clutter on the desk is reduced considerably. The infrared keyboard should be placed in a location that can be reached from the infrared beam. To ensure this it is essential to check specifications before making a purchase. A problem can be created if the keyboard is not pointed to the general direction of the receiver.