Canon Typewriter Keyboards

[Parak]

Got three of these NIB:



Two have cream tactile alps, one has black alps which I haven't unpacked yet:




Wait, how many alps switches does this board have?!



Wut:



Wat:



Lolwut:


(two stage switch, weakly tactile and clicky, and if you keep pressing there's another tactile click at the very bottom similar to a small pushbutton switch)

Das PCB:



ERMAHGERD ERPS:

[Icarium]

Wow, very nice. Much better than those AEKs people usually get cream alps from.

[fossala]

How do the greens feel?

[dirge]

keep looking there must be some blues in there

[fossala]

keep looking there must be some blues in there

Blues aren't that good. To high force to get over the tactile bump.

[maxrunner]

Hey Fossala Blue alps are good

[kps]

So that's what these keyboards are from. I have a damaged one with the same caps, on which the switches are rubber domes, in individual housings just like mechanical switches.

[Parak]

Ah, that's the older (typewriter model-wise) SMK version. HaaTa's got one of them nib. The switches with LEDs in them are proper mechanical SMKs, all the other were apparently domes :/

[Grond]

This is an electonic typewriter with linear switches and double-shot keycaps. Circa 1987.

[r0Ln]

This is an electonic typewriter with linear switches and double-shot keycaps. Circa 1987.

A friend of mine have one of those as well, we opened one of the switches and it turned out to be a SORD switch with individual housings.

[Mattr567]

Which model of Canon typewriter did it come from?

Also SA ALPS KEYCAPS!!!!!!!!

[minirockets]

I'm fairly certain this is the Canon AP360, eg. http://typewriterdatabase.com/198x-cano ... typewriter

Canon had so many variations in this line that they're hard keep track of. All fairly similar in design and layout, several versions launching within the same years, as far as I can. And to think today we yell at Apple, today, for releasing new phones once a year

[minirockets]

Also Parak is a lucky SOB for finding THREE of these NIB. Insane. I'm jealous

[Daniel Beardsmore]

What's this one then?

http://coronthica.com/by-uuid/c6e3bfed- ... 845aa2ef6/

The TI chips are marked "4", which won't be 1974, so that leaves 1984 or 1994. The Mitsubishi chip is however marked "8", so that's most likely to be 1988.

I've added it under 1988 on [wiki]Alps keyboard codes[/wiki]; I can't get anything meaningful out of KCCAA147 as too few model numbers are recorded to be able to place them by date, while the 12KC code on the back of that PCB would be easier to place.

I thought I could date the keyboard approximately by typewriter model, but there are so many of them, and I can't even find a definitive list of models let alone anything matching it. They're all going to be APnnn, but the digits are basically guesswork.

[minirockets]

There are at least 48 versions in the AP line by Canon…

AP 100
AP 1000
AP 105
AP 110
AP 110 II
AP 150
AP 1500
AP 155
AP 160
AP 160 II
AP 170
AP 200
AP 200 E
AP 200 II
AP 200 X
AP 200 X-II
AP 210 X
AP 250
AP 260
AP 300
AP 300 II
AP 300 X
AP 310
AP 330
AP 340
AP 350
AP 350 II
AP 350 X
AP 3500
AP 3510
AP 360
AP 380
AP 390
AP 400
AP 400 II
AP 410
AP 410 X
AP 500
AP 500 II
AP 500 S
AP 5015
AP 510
AP 5415
AP 550
AP 550 II
AP 560
AP 600
AP 6000
AP 610
AP 6100
AP 6300
AP 700
AP 740
AP 7500
AP 780
AP 800
AP 800 III
AP 8000
AP 810
AP 810 III
AP 8100
AP 830
AP 830 III
AP 8300
AP 850
AP 850 III
AP 8500
AP 9017
AP 9417

[minirockets]

Some fantastic information presented by writelephant.com, and typewriterdatabase.com

Take a look through both sites to dive deep into this lineage.

https://writelephant.com/2017/01/07/can ... -part-one/
https://writelephant.com/2017/01/07/can ... -part-two/
https://writelephant.com/2017/02/03/can ... art-three/
https://writelephant.com/2017/03/20/can ... part-four/

[minirockets]

What's this one then?

http://coronthica.com/by-uuid/c6e3bfed- ... 845aa2ef6/

The TI chips are marked "4", which won't be 1974, so that leaves 1984 or 1994. The Mitsubishi chip is however marked "8", so that's most likely to be 1988.

I've added it under 1988 on [wiki]Alps keyboard codes[/wiki]; I can't get anything meaningful out of KCCAA147 as too few model numbers are recorded to be able to place them by date, while the 12KC code on the back of that PCB would be easier to place.

I thought I could date the keyboard approximately by typewriter model, but there are so many of them, and I can't even find a definitive list of models let alone anything matching it. They're all going to be APnnn, but the digits are basically guesswork.

Fairly certain that's an AP350.

There's an AP350 on eBay right now; I asked the seller to pull a cap and photograph the switch under an alpha key. They thankfully did, and it's a Alps SKCC Green switch. I don't have a PCB or anything to confirm, and no interest in buying that particular model, but you're welcome to ask. They're responsive to questions. http://www.ebay.com/itm/152700122028?ul_noapp=true

[Daniel Beardsmore]

Not quite. Same sizes and positions of the side (flat) keys, but the side keys have different functions and the AP350 has an LED in the front-left side key. I can't find anything matching what XMIT's got.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

The one that really interests me is the Canon AP500-II, which uses Alps plate spring switches. Canon typewriter keyboards made by Alps all have a label on the mounting plate indicating (indirectly) the switch series name, and the label inside an AP500-II would give us the series name for plate spring.

You can see the label in Parak's example above; from this you can derive KFCMAA018B = Alps SKCM series. (The extra "F" is normally present, but can be absent, which casts a bit of doubt on identifying SKFF from a Canon keyboard label! I assumed that, from its shorter code, that the extra F was absent.)

See [wiki]Alps keyboard codes[/wiki]

I did encounter Write Elephant's site — I gave up with that site as it offers no way to contact him for further information.

[subcat]

The one that really interests me is the Canon AP500-II, which uses Alps plate spring switches. Canon typewriter keyboards made by Alps all have a label on the mounting plate indicating (indirectly) the switch series name, and the label inside an AP500-II would give us the series name for plate spring.

You can see the label in Parak's example above; from this you can derive KFCMAA018B = Alps SKCM series. (The extra "F" is normally present, but can be absent, which casts a bit of doubt on identifying SKFF from a Canon keyboard label! I assumed that, from its shorter code, that the extra F was absent.)

See [wiki]Alps keyboard codes[/wiki]

I did encounter Write Elephant's site — I gave up with that site as it offers no way to contact him for further information.

The AP560 also uses ALPS Plate Springs. I have taken it apart and noticed the following markings on the plate:

20170915_132531.jpg (3.16 MiB) Viewed 31131 times

Hopefully that's helpful. If there's any other info you need, let me know!

[Daniel Beardsmore]

Hmm .... interesting. SKCP series by the looks of it, which alphabetically follows SKCL/SKCM, so is plate spring newer?

The patents are 1974 and 1984, but I always had my doubts on that. The 1974 patent seems to be for a different switch, which was then adapted to make what we call plate spring, giving rise to the 1984 patent. If so, it's probably contemporary with SKCM — perhaps this was some way to get a click version before they thought of using a click leaf a year later.

That is: SKCL (green/cream/cream lock) → SKCL + extra actuator leaf (more tactility) = SKCM Brown → SKCP (1974 design + switchplate) → SKCL + click leaf = SKCM Blue

(SKCP could have come before SKCM Brown though — hard to understand Alps codes, as SKCN and SKCO appear to have been skipped within a very short space of time)

I did wonder why vertical plate spring falls under SKF* which seemed to contain all the little PCB-mount switches — it seems that SKF* is in fact most metal contact stuff, and SKC* is any type with a switchplate. SKE* types use conductive rubber domes inside discrete switches.

Thank you — now we just need a few clean shots of that typewriter model on the wiki.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

OK, how about even just a photo of the label on the typewriter? Is that too much to ask? (It seems that there is no space after "AP" but it's hard to be certain. It seems that where the model is written on the top, the half space between "AP" and the digits may be for decoration and not reflected in the actual model numbers.)

[pngu]

For the sake of documentation, I received an AP-830 with Inverse SMK today. The capslock LED window was round and offcenter, I'm dumb for not asking for better pictures. Switches are the white tactile kind, pretty smooth but barely tactile.

[pngu]

Canon AP 600 on ebay.de with ALPS integrated dome: https://imgur.com/a/OTThGe7

[murdokiwi]

Looks very similar to Canon AP310X

[Findecanor]

The info in this thread is a little unstructured. I have created a table in the Wiki. Please do fill in what you have!

[hansichen]

Good initiative. Wasted my money on an AP 150 lately and hoped for SKCM creams but only received alps domes

[Tias]

I recently bought a Canon AP360 typewriter, and I thought I would share my findings as well. The AP360 seems to be the EU version (or atleast EU-made version) of the AP350 II in the op. Atleast I suspect so as they have a almost indentical layout.

I was unsure exactly what switches the 360 had, but as it had a similar layout to the 350 II and rectangular centered locklight window I decided to gambel and buy it.

This is what the AP360 looks like:

20190711_010016.jpg (4.29 MiB) Viewed 27920 times

This model has apparently been assembled in the French Canon factory in Bretagne.

20190711_010044.jpg (3.69 MiB) Viewed 27920 times

I was also happy to find out that the AP360 also apparently carrie SKCM Creams, SKCL Greens and few weird SKCL Double Action switches

20190713_152516.jpg (3.48 MiB) Viewed 27920 times

Anyway, thought I'd share this in case anyone is looking for Canon TW model with SKCM Creams from the EU

[Findecanor]

The Tab key... ouch!

Interesting use of Double Action key switches. I wouldn't have expected one on the Return key.

[Tias]

The Tab key... ouch!

Yeah, the broken stem is a bummer :/
I don't have any plans for the keyset, but I intend to atleast clean it and try to glue back the broken stem

Interesting use of Double Action key switches. I wouldn't have expected one on the Return key.

These double action switches are really funky tbh, a really weird and stiff feeling when you engage the second action as the plate spring (I assume it is a plate spring) at the bottom of switch housing compresses

Also noticed that there isn't any pictures of this particular switch in the Wiki. I'll disassemble some of them and snap a couple of pictures