Technical Field

1. The present technology relates generally to ergonomic refinements to computer peripherals, which are devices that provide inputs and/or outputs to computers. Embodiments of the technology find particularly effective application in computer keyboards and mice.

Background

2. Computer peripherals for input and/or output of data to computers are known and include mice, microphones, cameras, trackballs, tablets, pens, touchpads, joy sticks, touchscreens and keyboards. Each one has advantages for input of differ ent kinds of data: joysticks for games, mice for pointing, and so on.

3. Using a mouse or joystick for a long time can result in injuries such as RSI, carpal tunnel syndrome, and others. It is typical that people don’t realise how much effort they exert when operating keyboards and mice, and that they use the wrong mus cles to make the action inefficient or dangerous. At the very least, people can get fatigued before they should. Production suffers.

4. Desktop keyboards are well suited for input of text, usually by the typing of one or more characters at a time. Seizing on its potential, users have invested a great deal of time into learning to touch type. The fastest recorded typing speed to date is 216 words per minute, by Stella Pajunas in 1946. Most people of course type much more slowly than that, and when they do, it is fairly common for keyboard operators to sustain injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome which can be the re sult of the long holding of poor posture, and other poor ergonomic positions while typing.

5. Users may be taught key positions and the right body posture for fast, accurate and efficient typing, but for various reasons, in real world situations it often be comes tiring and difficult to hold those body positions for long periods of time.

6. It is clearly important when typing on a keyboard to maintain high accuracy, or a typist spends too much time deleting what they have typed. Frequent deletion of characters or words results in poor typing efficiency. Again, in real world situations it becomes difficult to maintain high levels of accuracy, partly because structural features of known keyboards are not flexible or ergonomic enough to cope with the changing requirements of the human body throughout a day sitting at a desk. 7. Furthermore, known standard keyboards at least are derived from an archaic de sign that did not consider ergonomics. One of the major purposes of that archaic design was to avoid the keys jamming in old mechanical type writers. To achieve that goal, the rows were arranged in an offset layout, each slightly to the left. The offset has resulted in an asymmetrical typing experience with the fingers requiring to reach slightly to the left with each key stroke away from a home row. This means the fingers on the right hand side have an over reach to the left, and the fingers on the left have an under reach to the left.

8. In addition, in a standard keyboard layout, the right hand is required to press 76 keys of a standard 104 key keyboard. This is a huge asymmetry in the usage of the right hand over the left hand. Also, the actual physical distance to the outer most keys on the right (that is the enter, backslash, backspace and F12) are about 3cm further away from centre, than the outer most keys on the left side (i.e. CAPS, Tab, Esc key). This requires extra reach by the right hand, that is not required by the left hand. Exacerbating matters, these distant keys are some of the most fre quently used keys including the backspace, Enter, delete (part of the navigation keys).

9. In summary, keyboards are now quite ubiquitous. They are useful in their present form but they are known to include structural drawbacks which can limit speed and accuracy. They also do not facilitate good ergonomic positioning.

10. Furthermore, there are wrist rests known for use with keyboards, but they are also limited in effectiveness since they overly limit the positioning of the wrist and they have limited flexibility. They too incorporate ergonomic flaws in their design.

11. The present technology therefore seeks to provide a new peripheral and/or periph eral components which ameliorate one or more of the abovementioned disadvan tages.

Summary

12. Broadly, the present technology provides a movable wrist support for use with a computer peripheral. In one embodiment the movable wrist support is used in con junction with a mouse, but it may be used with a keyboard, or other peripheral.

13. Broadly, the present technology provides a support bed for supporting a movable wrist support thereon. In one embodiment the support bed includes some guidance for, and/or limits on, the movable wrist support. Broadly the present technology provides a keyboard which includes a plurality of orthogonal rows of keys, juxtaposed with one or more staggered rows of keys. The arrangement may be such that there are left and right keypads, wherein the or thogonal and staggered rows on the left and right keypads are arranged on the keyboard at an angle to a longitudinal line extending along the keyboard, away from the user.

Broadly the present technology provides a keyboard with a support bed for sup porting a movable wrist support thereon.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a key board including:

a plurality of orthogonal rows of keys substantially aligned in rows and col umns, the orthogonal rows including a base row and a top row; and

one or more staggered rows of keys,

wherein the one or more staggered rows of keys includes a plurality of keys that are laterally offset from the keys in the orthogonal rows, the one or more stag gered rows being disposed adjacent the base or top orthogonal row of keys.

In one embodiment, the keyboard includes at least one base which includes a key support zone disposed in a region of the base which is relatively distal the user, and a wrist support zone, in a region of the base which is disposed relatively prox imal the user.

In one embodiment, the keyboard includes two bases, a left base includes a left keypad, and the other base, the right base, includes a right keypad.

In one embodiment the left and right keypads are substantially symmetrical.

In one embodiment the left base includes a wrist support zone integral therewith.

In one embodiment the right base includes a wrist support zone integral therewith. In one embodiment the left and right bases are connectable to one another. In one embodiment the left and right bases are electrically connectable to one another, by way of a connector cable. In one embodiment the left and right bases are remov ably connectable to one another by way of a clip, or magnets, hooks and loops, or other suitable fastening device.

In one embodiment the base is larger in area in a region of the base that is proxi mal the user than a region of the base that is distal the user. This may be an arrangement where the base region proximal the user is wider than the distal re gion of the base. The base may therefore be generally triangular or some kind of shape that provides more base area in a region proximal the user than in a region distal the user. The arrangement is to facilitate user access to distal regions of the keyboard base. In one embodiment the bases are substantially trapezoidal. In one embodiment the bases are in the overall form of a special case of trapezoid known as a right trape zoid, and the arrangement when the bases are fastened together is such that the angled legs of the right trapezoid are disposed adjacent one another so as to cause the rows of keys to tilt toward one another. In one embodiment the arrangement of the bases is such that the rows of keys are disposed generally normal to the angled legs of the right trapezoid. The angle of the rows may be plus or minus thirty degrees, or twenty-five degrees, or a few degrees deviation from normal.

In one embodiment the angled leg of the trapezoid tapers away towards the distal region of the base, to provide more area of the base in a region proximal the user. This facilitates user access to the keys disposed in the distal regions of the base. This arrangement is particularly advantageous when the keyboard is in use with a moveable wrist support as described hereinbelow.

In one embodiment the wrist support zone includes a support bed for a movable wrist support.

In one embodiment the support bed includes peripheral walls so as to retain the movable wrist support on the bed. In one embodiment the peripheral walls are a few millimetres high just to provide a stop for the movable wrist support.

In one embodiment the support bed is overall generally in the same shape as the key support zone. In one embodiment that means that the support bed is in the shape of a trapezoid. In one embodiment the support bed is a right trapezoid so that the movable wrist support facilitates repeatable access to the keys. The arrangement of corresponding shapes of the support bed and key support zones is such that the peripheral walls facilitate a tactile or haptic bump when the movable wrist support hits thereagainst. That bump or touch provides an indicator to the user of the position of their hands on the keyboard without having to look down. In one embodiment there are provided one or more bumps or other detents on the walls so as to provide some haptic feedback as to location of the movable wrist support relative to the support bed.

In one embodiment the movable wrist support is in the form of a carriage for carry ing a wrist around the support base, from peripheral wall to peripheral wall, without much friction.

In one embodiment the carriage includes a mounting base for providing a chassis. In one embodiment the mounting base is in the form of a plate. In one embodiment the carriage includes friction-reducing elements. In one em bodiment the friction-reducing elements are in the form of slider pads. In one em bodiment the slider pads are low-friction pads. In one embodiment the low friction pads may be constructed from PTFE, or coated with or constructed wholly from Teflon® or coated with some other suitable coating. The carriage may of course have wheels or castors or balls on which to roll.

In one embodiment the carriage includes a support pad for wrist comfort. The sup port pad may be constructed from resilient material or assembly including a sprung board, open cell foam, memory foam, gel, or other suitable material for comfortable resting.

In one embodiment a plurality of slider tabs are disposed on the base face of the mounting base. In one embodiment each slider tab is in the form of a rectangle so as to resist peel along a longitudinal axis.

In one embodiment the carriage is generally rectangular in plan view and sized so as to take about half the area of the support pad so as to provide a wide support area so that the carriages may be readily found by the wrists of the without much looking. In plan view, one embodiment of the carriage may have an offset leg such that it looks like a right trapezium in plan view, to correspond with the shape of the mounting base.

In one embodiment the base includes one or more adjustable stands so as to ad just the angle of the base relative to a desk on which the keyboard is disposed. In one embodiment the adjustable stands may be disposed in one or more corners of the base. In one embodiment the stands may adopt a stowed and a deployed posi tion.

In one embodiment a key output associated with one or more keys may be reas- signable by combined use with another key.

In one embodiment the orthogonal keys are disposed in four orthogonal rows. In those four rows, the arrangement is such that the keys are substantially aligned with one another in a matrix of rows and columns. In this arrangement there is dis posed a top row, which is disposed distal the user, and there is a base row, which is disposed on the base relatively proximal the user.

In one embodiment, a further row, being Row 5, is disposed on a proximal side of the base orthogonal row. Row 5 in this embodiment includes keys that are laterally offset from the keys in the orthogonal rows, so as to facilitate ease of reach.

A further row may be provided, which again has further lateral offsets relative to those keys on Row 5. These keys may be larger in area to provide ease of use for frequent use such as in function keys or other keys which change key mapping. In one embodiment the left base and the right base of the keyboard may be sepa rable so as to provide a suitable selected angular disposition to suit the user. For example, the user may feel comfortable having the bases near each other, in which case, the selected angle of rotation may be larger, depending on how wide ly-set the user’s shoulders and elbows are in a comfortable sitting position. It is thought, for ergonomic comfort, that the angle of the forearms when typing on the keyboard should be about normal to the angle of the key rows.

The keyboard may include a processor so as to provide a change in key mapping. A selected key on the left keypad on Row 6 may be depressed so as to provide a user with a different key map so that, for example, arrow keys and a numeric key pad are provided on selected keys on the right keypad.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention there is provided a movable wrist support for use with a computer peripheral, the movable wrist sup port movable on a surface adjacent the computer peripheral so as to support the wrist and move with the wrist during wrist movement on the surface.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present technology, there is provided a support bed for supporting a movable wrist support thereon. In one embodiment the support bed may be removably attached to or integral with a keyboard for sup porting a wrist of a user that is operating the keyboard.

In accordance with a still further aspect of the present technology there is provided a keyboard for data input to a computer processing system wherein the keyboard includes a wrist support zone integrated therewith and adjacent to a key zone, the wrist support zone for supporting a movable wrist support thereon for movement thereon. In one embodiment the wrist support zone includes peripheral walls to guide and/or limit the movement of the moveable wrist support across the wrist support zone.

One or more kits may be provided from one or more of:

the wrist support as described herein,

the support bed as described herein,

a keyboard, optionally as described herein, and

a removable pad for fitting substantially in and removably mounting on, the support bed.

Advantageously, embodiments of the apparatus provide a keyboard where the wrist is supported during movements across a support surface such as a table or desktop adjacent the keyboard, or movement across a dedicated support zone on a keyboard base. The translation movement across the support surface or zone is not intended to be large, but merely as a support to the repeated use of fingers reaching left, right, front and back, to free up that movement to make it more effi cient and effective. It is thought that there are efficiency and ergonomic bonuses to making the finger movements across a keyboard more active, wherein small movements of other parts of the body may support the repetitive use of the fingers. The concept is that the wrists are freer to move, in that they are less anchored, which is what tends to happen in the real world after a long time typing at a key board, but still supported.

47. It is to be understood that it is advantageous to provide and use the movable wrist support, with or without a support base having peripheral walls, such as for exam ple, with a keyboard, mouse or trackball, joystick or other input peripheral. The er gonomic advantages of a movable wrist support are to be realised with any kind of input peripheral, since over time, people generally fatigue, and it is considered that this kind of support reduces that fatigue and also reduces the effects of that fatigue when it does occur.

48. It is to be understood that the moveable wrist supports may be provided with any particular key arrangement on a keyboard and in no way are the moveable wrist supports or wrist support zones to be limited to use or combination with the specif ic key arrangement described in the claims or specification. The two technologies are to be considered to be different inventions but combinable where appropriate and when considered to be advantageous.

49. One of the advantages of the present technology is that certain ergonomic im

provements are made, but by retaining certain elements of the layout of conven tional keyboards, a learning curve associated with those ergonomic rearrange ments is made less steep.

Clarifications

50. In this specification, where a document, act or item of knowledge is referred to or discussed, this reference or discussion is not an admission that the document, act or item of knowledge or any combination thereof was at the priority date:

(a) part of common general knowledge; or

(b) known to be relevant to an attempt to solve any problem with which this specification is concerned.

51. It is to be noted that, throughout the description and claims of this specification, the word 'comprise' and variations of the word, such as 'comprising' and 'comprises', is not intended to exclude other variants or additional components, integers or steps. Brief Description of the drawings

52. In order to enable a clearer understanding, an embodiment of the technology will now be further explained and illustrated by reference to the accompanying draw ings, in which:

53. Figure 1 is an isometric view of a keyboard with a new key arrangement and wrist support base in accordance with an embodiment of the present technology;

54. Figure 2 is a plan view of the keyboard shown in Figure 1 ;

55. Figure 3 is a right side elevation view of the keyboard shown in Figure 1 ;

56. Figure 4 is a rear elevation view of the keyboard shown in Figure 1 ;

57. Figure 5 is a plan view from underneath of the keyboard shown in Figure 1 ;

58. Figure 6 is a plan schematic view of a key mapping arrangement on the keyboard, highlighting new function keys to alter the active key mapping;

59. Figure 7 is another plan schematic view of a key mapping arrangement on the keyboard highlighting active key mapping accessible by pressing of one or more FN SHIFT and/or FN LOCK keys;

60. Figure 8 a further plan schematic view of a key mapping arrangement, this time showing NUM LOCK and NUM SHIFT active mapping;

61. Figure 9 is a plan view general arrangement of the keyboard assembly, showing two adjacent and abutting keyboard bases, left and right, as well as a wrist car riage disposed on the wrist support zone;

62. Figure 10 is an exploded isometric view of the wrist support carriage, showing base, comfort pad and sliding foot elements; and

63. Figure 11 is a perspective view of the movable wrist support in use with a mouse;

64. Figure 12 is a perspective view of the movable wrist support in use with a key board;

65. Figure 13 is an assembly view of the movable wrist support in use with a dedicated support bed;

66. Figure 14 is an underside view of a wrist-mounted movable wrist support; and

67. Figure 15 is an underside view of another embodiment of wrist-mounted movable wrist support. Detailed description of an example embodiment

68. Referring to the drawings there is shown an embodiment of the present technolo gy, which is a keyboard with an integral wrist slider support (shown at least partially assembled in Figure 9), generally indicated at 10.

Keys

69. The keyboard 10 includes a plurality of orthogonal rows of depressible keys 20 substantially aligned in rows and columns, the orthogonal rows of depressible keys 20 including at least a bottom row of keys 22 and a top row of keys 24. The key board 10 also includes one or more staggered rows of keys 26 disposed adjacent one or more of the orthogonal rows of keys 22 or 24, wherein the one or more staggered rows of keys 26 includes a plurality of keys that are laterally offset from the keys in the orthogonal rows 22, 24.

70. The keyboard 10 further includes at least one base 30 which includes a key sup port zone 32 disposed in a distal region of the base which is relatively distal the user, and a wrist support zone 34, in a proximal region of the base which is dis posed relatively proximal the user. The wrist support zone 34 is configured to pro vide an area on which a movable wrist support 50 may move about fairly friction- lessly, underneath a wrist of a user, while the user operates the keyboard.

71. The keyboard 10 is provided as shown in the form of two bases 30, such that a left base 31 is provided, which includes a left keypad 31a, and the other base, the right base 33, includes a right keypad 33a. The two bases are provided so that the left and right keypads 31a, 33a can be arranged to suit the ergonomic requirements of individual users, which affords a degree of customisation to each user’s individual body structure and arrangement. So, each base 31 , 33 can be set at its own de sired position relative to the other base, on the desktop relatively remote or proxi mal the user, and at its own angle, selected for the greatest comfort and efficiency of the user.

72. The arrangement of keys on the left and right keypads 31a, 33a are substantially symmetrical. The keys are arranged in four orthogonal rows 20, which includes the bottom row 22 and the top row 24, and there is also provided two middle orthogo nal rows 25. Each orthogonal row on the left keypad includes five columns of sub stantially aligned keys, wherein an alphanumeric group 27, being five in number, are square in plan, while a function group 28 are rectangular in plan, reflecting their different uses and established, conventional configurations. One of the ad vantages of the present technology is that certain ergonomic improvements are made, but by retaining certain elements of conventional keyboards, a learning curve associated with those ergonomic rearrangements is made less steep. Each key row has different heights and angles as can be seen in Figure 3, so that the keys are arranged in a sort of amphitheatre, where the top row 24 is the high est in elevation, and the tops of the keys are angled the greatest towards the user. The other keys gradually, row by row, reduce in height until the base row 20, which is also the lowest in height and has the flattest key cap tops. The staggered row below row 20 has an angle facing slightly distal the user and the function key rows most proximal the user have key top surfaces that are angled slightly towards the user.

The base row of keys, Row 6, is changed from the arrangement found on the con ventional keyboard. The spacebar on a conventional keyboard has been identified as being too much underutilized space on the keyboard. It is considered that at least some of this excess space can be utilized to greater effect. Thus, by shorten ing the space bar, Row 6 now has more room for more efficient features which in cludes (i) dedicated proprietary Function Shift Keys 98, (ii) dedicated proprietary Num Shift keys 99. These keys activate a different layout for the keyboard, effec tively re-mapping at least some of the keys in a way described below. This im proves the ease of reaching for certain keys, while limiting movement of the wrist. Additionally, it is considered that many typists have a dominant thumb for pressing the space key, while the other thumb goes largely under-utilized. It is thought that this under-utilized thumb can be put to use by allocating a dedicated key to that thumb. The chosen key is the Enter key 97. Also, the embodiment shown provides the option to swap the Enter key 97 and Space key 94 to accommodate a user’s dominant thumb. That is, the Space key 94 may be disposed on the left, while En ter key 97 may be disposed on the right.

To address the asymmetry of reach between the outer most right keys and the outer most left keys, and hence to also address the asymmetry in frequency of key presses between the left and right hands, the Enter 97, Backspace 96, and Delete key 95 have been relocated to the left side.

Furthermore, in the standard mapping of the embodiment shown of the present technology, the majority of keys remains unchanged from a conventional keyboard, but there are some exceptions:

The Delete 95 key has moved to position [2][1], in the place where a Tilde [~] normally resides;

Backspace 96 has moved to position [3][1], replacing the Caps Lock;

Spacebar 94 has been halved in length and one half is shown as an Enter key 97;

Caps lock 93 has been moved to the bottom right corner. 78. It is to be understood that some keys may be subject to change, depending on re search results, from research being conducted at the time of filing and thereafter, as well as that which has already been conducted.

79. The keys on either one of the keypads 31a, 33a may be re-mapped by one or more function keys on one or other of the keypads. That is, as shown in Figure 8, pressing the NUM SHIFT key 99 re-maps (pressing NUM LOCK 99a holds the set ting even after release until it is pressed again) certain of at least the alphanumeric keys on the right keypad 33a to a conventional numeric keypad. This re-mapping essentially replaces the need for a separate numeric keypad, contributing to a symmetry of reach. Conventional numeric keypads are orthogonal in layout so there is very little re-learning to do for a new user of the keyboard 10. The NUM SHIFT key 99 is one of the keys on the base staggered row of keys, the key itself 99 being larger in area to facilitate its selection.

80. The function layout is accessible by pressing the FN SHIFT key 98 (accessible on both keypads 31a and 33a. Pressing this key 98 (or FN LOCK 98a) re-maps the top orthogonal row 24 so that the Media keys 124 are accessed, while at the same time, arrow navigation keys are now mapped on the bottom row 122 of orthogonal keys, as well as a selected number of other special purpose keys are mapped at 125: Windows shortcuts for Select, Save, Find, Undo, Cut, Copy, Paste, Redo, Home, Reverse Tab and Delete. It is thought that this provides an excellent one- handed experience on the right hand side, with the location of the FN SHIFT, Navi gation keys, and delete keys all within reach using a single right hand.

81. The orthogonal rows of keys 22 and 24 are shorter (laterally narrower) than the staggered rows 26 (Rows 5 and 6). This is to facilitate the angle of repose of the keys (angled inwards) which are in turn facilitated by the angled legs 38, 39 being angled to open the proximal end of the base 31 , 33 and closed at the distal end as discussed below.

Bases

82. The left base 31 includes a wrist support zone 35 integral therewith, and the right base 33 includes a wrist support zone 36 integral therewith. This reduces setup time during customisation of the keyboard angles and inter-base separation to suit a user. It can be seen that the bases 31 , 33 are larger in area in a region of the base that is proximal the user than a region of the base that is distal the user. Essentially the the base region proximal the user is wider than the distal region of the base 31 ,33. The base, it can be seen, is therefore generally frusto-triangular or some kind of shape that provides more base area in a region proximal the user than in a region distal the user. The arrangement is to facilitate ergonomic user access to distal regions of the keyboard base.

So, it can be seen in the Figures that the bases are substantially trapezoidal. They are shown in overall, general form, to be a special case of trapezoid known as a right trapezoid, and the arrangement when the bases are abutting is such that the angled legs 38, 39 of the right trapezoid are disposed adjacent one another so as to cause the rows of keys 22, 24, 25, to tilt toward one another. The arrangement of the keys on the bases is such that the rows of keys are disposed generally nor mal to (within a few degrees) the angled legs 38, 39 of the right trapezoid.

The angled leg of the right trapezoid tapers away towards the distal region of the base 31 , 33, to provide more area of the base in a region proximal the user. This facilitates user access to the keys disposed in the distal regions (Top rows 24) of the base 31 , 33. This arrangement is particularly advantageous when the keyboard is in use with a moveable wrist support 50 as described hereinbelow under the heading Movable wrist support.

Figure 2 shows a removable pad 97 which fits in the wrist support zone. It is a gel pad 97 which may be sold separately or in a kit form. The removable pad 97 can be switched out for the movable wrist support when desired.

It may be desirable for the movable sliders to have toughened glass on the under side of the base plate, or as the base plate itself. This is not likely but there may be a laminated glass which is not prone to shattering, while the upper surface of the wrist support bed 37 may be plastic. In this way, it can be understood that com plementary surfaces may be identified and those may be used, one on one surface and the other on the other.

Finally, the base includes one or more adjustable stands 92 so as to adjust the an gle of the base relative to a desk on which the keyboard is disposed. The stands are disposed in the corners and may adopt a stowed and one or more deployed positions. Movable wrist support

89. It can be seen in the Figures that the wrist support zone 35 includes a support bed 37 configured to support the movable wrist support 50.

90. The support bed 37 includes peripheral walls 40 so as to keep the movable wrist support 50 within the confines of the support bed 37 when it moves around the bed. The peripheral walls 40 are a few millimetres high just to provide a stop 41 for the movable wrist support 50 without being too noticeable by eye or feel. As will be appreciated, the forearm or wrist or some hand pad or other may rest on the pe ripheral wall 40 so the peripheral walls 40 are not intended to interfere with long term resting thereon.

91. The support bed 37 is overall generally in a similar shape in plan view (but a little shorter in height) as the key support zone 32. Thus, the support bed 37 is in the shape of a trapezoid when viewed in plan view (from above). The support bed 37 is shaped as a right trapezoid in plan view, so that the movement of the movable wrist support 50 over the support bed 37 facilitates a corresponding access to sub stantially all of the keys in the key support zone 32. That is to say, for example, the act of sliding one’s wrist, while it was resting on the movable wrist support 50, over to a right-hand corner of the support bed 37, would provide access for the outside fingers to the keys in the right-hand corner of the key support zone 32.

92. An alternative embodiment of support bed 137 is shown in Figure 13. The support bed 137 is a standalone support bed 137 and while the underside is not shown, it is to be understood to have similar features to those shown in the keyboard base 31 and 33. That is, at the base, just as can be understood from Figure 5, there may be stands provided in the corners, and these stands may be used to provide an increase in height or attitude of the standalone support bed 137.

93. The movable wrist support 50 is in the form of a carriage 52 for carrying a wrist around the support bed 37, in its travels from one part of the peripheral wall 40 on one side of the support bed 37, say, the left, to other parts of the peripheral wall on the support bed 37, say, the right, top or bottom, without much friction.

94. The carriage 52 may be wheeled, but in the form shown, it is a skate 53. The skate 53 includes a base 54 for providing a strong chassis on which other components may be mounted. The base 54 is in the form of a base plate 55. The carriage 52 includes friction-reducing elements 56. The friction-reducing ele ments 56 are in the form of skids or slider tabs 57. The slider tabs 57 are low-fric tion pads which may be constructed from PTFE. Substantially the whole base of the base plate 55 may be coated with Teflon®, or the whole base plate 55 may be constructed wholly from some low-friction plastic, or some suitable plastic, or Teflon®, or the base plate 55 may be coated with some other suitable friction-re ducing coating. The slider pads 57, equally, may be constructed from PTFE, or coated with PTFE for reducing friction on the bed 37 or on a desk.

The carriage 52 includes a support pad 58 for improving wrist comfort. The support pad 58 may be constructed from textile such as a pad of cotton wraps or strips or simply rags. The pad 58 may be resilient material or it may be an assembly of some sort for improving comfort, including a sprung board, open cell foam, memo ry foam, gel, or other suitable apparatus for comfortable resting such as a pocket spring mattress (not shown). The support pad 58 may be contoured to more natu rally conform to a wrist.

A plurality of slider tab 57 can be seen disposed on the base face of the mounting base 54, each one in the form of a rectangle so as to resist peel along a longitudi nal axis. Each rectangle of slider tab 57 extends parallel to the edge to which it is adjacent.

The carriage 52 is generally rectangular in plan view and sized so as to take up about half or three-quarters of the area of the support pad so as to provide a wide support area so that in use, the carriages may be readily found by the wrists of the support be 37 by feel, that is, without a user needing to look down at the bed 37. It may be seen in Figure 13 that the movable wrist support 50 has a dedicated support bed 137 with its own peripheral wall 140. This kind of assembly may be useful for certain users who want to use their own keyboard or mouse and may want the benefit of some set limits on travel of movable wrist support 50. The user may therefore find of benefit the peripheral walls on the bed 137 which can guide the user and inhibit too much overreaching, for example. This kind of arrangement can also be useful with a mouse, to inhibit too much travel by the mouse, leading to early fatigue on a given workday.

The support beds 37, 137 include a panel of toughened glass 90 so as to reduce friction. The mounting base with or without the slider pads 57 of teflon slides freely over the toughened glass 90. The glass panel 90 (or indeed any upper surface) may be curved very slightly con vex or concave, and there may be a cooperating curve on the base plate 55. In the embodiments shown the support bed 37 surfaces are flat, to cooperate with a flat base panel 55, but some users may prefer curvature in the cooperating surfaces. An option for the carriage 52 or skate 53 is a similar feature to that shown in the keyboard base 31 and 33. That is, at the base, just as can be understood from Figure 5, there may be stands provided in the corners, and these stands may be used to provide an increase in height or attitude of the carriage 52 or skate 53. The stands may be provided with PTFE feet, or they may be disposed under a portion of the PTFE feet, so as to extend at least a portion of the PTFE foot when a differ ent angle may be desired for the base plate 55.

In other options, a kit may be provided in which a shim can be mounted under an edge of the pad so as to adjust the angle of the pad 58 to suit a user.

The base plate may also have an angled upper surface so that the wrist support generally has an angled attitude.

Figures 14 and 15 show a carriage 52 or skate 53 which are mounted to a wrist. Strap 95 provides the wrist mounting. The strap could be something as simple as hook and loop fastening, or it could be a leather strap with a buckle or other form of strap 95 suitable for secure wrist mounting. In Figure 13, the carriage 52 does not include any slider pads, since the base plate 55 is made of a plastic which is sufficiently low in friction, or some other kind of base plate material which slides easily on toughened glass. It has been found that this version provides a sufficient ly low coefficient of friction when used with a wrist support zone which has a panel of toughened glass on which to run, as a support bed 37 or top layer thereof. Figure 15 shows a carriage 52 or skate 53 which includes Teflon slider tabs 57 and a strap 95 for mounting the carriage 52 or skate 53 to the wrist. The Teflon slider tabs 57 are deployed around the perimeter of the base plate 55, to reduce peeling.

OPERATION

107. In operation, a small movement of the wrists is thought to be enough to obtain an ergonomic and efficiency benefit in operating the peripherals, and a reduction in injury. Given the size of the carriage 52 relative to the size of the support bed 37 (where provided), it can be seen that a small movement of the wrist support 50 is enough to cause the carriage 52 to bump into the left peripheral wall 40 and simi larly, a small movement, reaching slightly for the keys in the top row, is enough to make contact with the upper peripheral wall, but may provide an improvement in efficiency, or slightly less effort for certain muscles in the wrist, arm, or fingers or hand, to provide slightly less injury when in prolonged use.

108. The same reduction in injury or increase in efficiency or reduction in effort or in crease in comfort may be achieved by this device, when the movable wrist support 50 is used on a desk, with a keyboard which does not have a support base 37 or peripheral wall 40.

109. Furthermore, the same reduction in injury and increase in efficiency or reduction in effort or in crease in comfort may be achieved by this device, when the movable wrist support 50 is used on a desk, with a mouse that does not have a support base 37 or peripheral wall 40. This is shown in Figure 11 , and, similarly, in Figure 12, where a person may touch type with a normal keyboard and use the sliding wrist support 50 on a desk, to take advantage of sliding wrist supports.

110. The keyboard includes a processor so as to provide the change in key mapping. In operation, as described, a selected key on the left keypad on Row 6 may be de pressed so as to provide a user with a different key map so that, for example, ar row keys and a numeric keypad are provided on selected keys on the right keypad. The processor in the embodiment shown is COTS from the manufacturer Mi crochi p/Atmel. The model identifier of the processor is AT90USB1286. The proces sor is disposed inside the left base 31 of the keyboard, although it may be dis posed in the right base 33 if it is convenient. The processor manages the keyboard operation at all times, and so it is constantly on and running, except for when the PC is turned off. The processor runs keyboard firmware/software. The high-per formance, low-power Microchip 8-bit AVR RISC-based microcontroller combines 128KB ISP flash memory with read-while-write capabilities, 4KB EEPROM, 8KB SRAM, 48 general purpose I/O lines, 32 general purpose working registers, real time counter, 4 flexible timer/counters with compare modes and PWM, USART, byte oriented 2-wire serial interface, USB 2.0 low-speed and full-speed device, an 8-channel 10-bit A/D converter with optional differential input stage with pro grammable gain, programmable watchdog timer with internal oscillator, SPI serial port, JTAG (IEEE 1149.1 compliant) interface for on-chip debugging, and six soft ware selectable power saving modes. By executing powerful instructions in a sin gle clock cycle, the device achieves throughputs approaching 1 MIPS per MHz, balancing power consumption and processor speed.

Clarifications

111. Modifications and improvements to the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Such modifications and improvements are intended to be within the scope of this invention.