Texas Instruments Klixon

Contents

• Overview
• Types
  • 1KS
  • 6KS
  • 3KS
  • 2KS
• Documentation

Overview

Klixon® is a type of metal dome switch produced by Texas Instruments, used for keypads. According to Texas Instruments advertisements, it was a popular choice of keypad for pocket calculators.

Types

1KS

1KS is a Klixon internal assembly: gold-plated snap-action domes mounted in a panel and sealed in Mylar for protection against dirt and liquids. It appears that the domes bridge contact fingers on a PCB. The whole assembly is only 0.150″ (3.81 mm) thick.

6KS

6KS is a complete keypad assembly based around 1KS, 0.320″ (8.13 mm) in thickness. This includes double-shot buttons.

3KS

3KS uses smaller domes than 1KS, suggesting that more buttons can be fitted into the same size keypad.

2KS

The only details given of 2KS in the December 1973 advertisement is a photograph depicting an ultra-thin design of only 0.050″ (1.27 mm) thickness.

Documentation

All material was scanned by Bitsavers unless otherwise noted.

• Klixon keyboard advertisement, Electronic Design, Vol. 21 No. 17, August 16 1973
• Keyboards advertisement, Electronic Design, Vol. 21 No. 26, December 20 1973