

The exact design goals are currently unknown.

The redesigned shell also brought with it a different approach to illumination, placing the LED inside the switch instead of supported above it on coil springs. While SKCC and SKCL/SKCM are around the same size as each other, these changes permitted a substantial reduction in keyboard profile without altering the switching operation in any way. The "switchplate" contact assembly was lifted wholesale from the earlier switch the important changes were repositioning the mounting plate to be much lower down the switch body, and a new slider design that allowed the mounting stem within the keycap to pass inside the switch.
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SKCL/SKCM series itself appears to a DIN standard re-imagining of the earlier Alps SKCC series. According to Sandy, 'SK' stands for "single key" "SK" is used in the part numbers of many Alps switches.

There is no known name or term that covers both complicated (SKCL/SKCM) and simplified ( SKBL/SKBM series) switches. The term "Complicated Alps" comes from the complexity of the design, with a fairly high 10–13 parts per switch, especially in comparison to the "simplified" Alps SKBL/SKBM series that followed it. "Bigfoot" as a moniker derives from the term " Alps Bigfoot" used to refer to the Alps standard keyboard platform. The Alps data sheet below-depicting what seems to be bamboo white (SKCLCQ)-uses the term "SKCL/SKCM series" ("SKCL/SKCMシリーズ"), suggesting that Alps changed the series name in the mid 90s there was also very tentative evidence that Alps SKFL series was referred to in this manner. A catalogue fragment for Alps SKCM Blue also suggests CM series or even KCM. The 1994 Alps catalogue apparently referred to " CL series" and " CM series", indicating that the previous community name " Alps CM" may be correct, for a subset of the switches (the tactile and clicky models). It also appears that the series name changed within Alps. The terms "ALPS" and "Alps" are widely misused to refer to a large number of clone switches manufactured by other companies, as well as similar-looking switches that share the same keycap mount although most clones are clearly different from genuine Alps switches, they are similar enough that many people fail to differentiate Alps switches from the copies.Īlps SKCL/SKCM series has gone by many names, owing to widespread misunderstanding. Early variants of the Alps switch did not carry the Alps logo on the top part of the case, and only had it moulded into the base of the switch. Over the years there have been many variants of the keyswitch, including changes in colour and design.

First introduced as early as 1983, the Alps SKCL/SKCM series has been one of the first commonly available, compact-design keyboard switches. This article requires additional photographic illustration - pictures of SKCL Double Action are missingĪlps SKCL/SKCM series switches, also referred to as complicated Alps, Alps Bigfoot, and Alps CM, are the most common type of Alps switches used in computer keyboards. This article requires illustration in the form of diagrams - need disassembly diagrams, and diagrams showing operation For simplified Alps switches, see Alps SKBL/SKBM series. This article is about complicated Alps switches.
