US 5,410,333 · Granted 1995-04-25
The Split Keyboard That Tried to Bend Your Hands the Right Way
Imagine a keyboard that splits in half and folds around your hands like a glove, with keys on multiple surfaces so your fingers and thumbs can work in a more natural position. Instead of stretching your arms flat across a rigid board, this design lets each half adjust independently to match how your hands actually want to move.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers a two-part keyboard where each section has keys mounted on multiple surfaces (like the top and bottom of one half, or just the top of the other), designed so the pieces can move and adjust relative to each other. What's protected here is the specific arrangement of having keys accessible from different angles and the ability for the two halves to be repositioned and mounted on a support system that lets a user operate it between their fingers and thumb rather than on a flat desk.
Why it matters
This patent tackled a real problem in the early 1990s: traditional flat keyboards force users into awkward hand and arm positions for hours, contributing to repetitive strain injuries. By splitting the keyboard and allowing independent adjustment, this design challenged the dominant one-size-fits-all keyboard format. While split and ergonomic keyboards never became mainstream enough to replace the standard QWERTY layout, this patent represents an important moment when inventors began rethinking computer input as a physical wellness issue rather than just a functional tool.
Real-world use
If you've ever used a split keyboard or seen one with a curved, hinged design that lets each half tilt independently, you're looking at concepts descended from patents like this one that reimagined how keyboards could conform to human hands instead of the reverse.
Original USPTO abstract
An ergonomic computer keyboard. The computer keyboard includes two keyboard portions having keyboard keys disposed on at least two surfaces of one keyboard portion (e.g., a top side and a bottom side) and on at least one surface of the other keyboard portion (e.g., a top side). The keyboard portions are positionable for operation between a user's fingers and thumb, are interconnected, are positionally adjustable with respect to each other and are mountable on a support mechanism for operation off of a working surface.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 5,410,333
- Filing date
- 1993-11-12
- Grant date
- 1995-04-25
- Assignee
- Conway; Kevin M.
- Inventor(s)
- CONWAY; KEVIN M.
- CPC class
- B41J5/10
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