Super Durable Keyboards?

Pappy VanSlashdot asks: "Slashdot readers have had some great recommendations for durable mice, even industrial strenght mice. How about keyboards? I need to put about a dozen PCs on a factory floor where the main problem will be sand and other dust. I don't think run of the mill keyboards would last very long. I'm well within the budget for this project (thanks to using a lot of free software) so I can spend just about anything to get something that works."

keyboard condom

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm surprised noone else mentioned this, it's basically a form-fitted rubber wrapper for the keyboard. There is indents for each of the individual keys, and they work on standard 101 key keyboards, making replacement a cheaper issue - you can continue using the old wrapper even after the keyboard itself dies. If I remember right, they are designed to stop coffee spills - but they should keep the dust out from the mechanism quite nicely. May I ask what you are doing to protect the computers themselves from the dust? the computers won't like it too much..

Re:1 handed?

[Bryan Andersen]

What about 1 handed keyboards.
IT depends on who you have use the chords,
but 1 hour spend teaching someone to use it would make it still worthwhile.
And it would be smaller, so less area to pick crap up in.

I can see you haven't worked with guys from the shop floor ever. Each person needing to use the machine woud have to be tought chording. That's not praticle. Most of the shop floor people won't even know how to touch type, let alown be very familiar with computers. You need to keep the learning curve as low as possible. This isn't to say they are dumb, but it's yet another skill they must learn to use the machine. Another thing. Shop floors are dirty, any hole to let dirt in will collect it. It dosen't matter how few you have. You don't want any. They recommend computers that go onto shop floors be fully sealed and air tight. Yes this makes cooling a P-III a bit difficult, but it can be done.

Storm makes em.

[Bryan Andersen]

1100 series [storm-keypads.com] from Storm. [storm-keypads.com]

Re:1 handed?

[MathStud!]

The question in my mind is as follows: why woulds you need a P-III on a shop floor? More than likely the machine itself is not used for data crunching. Even it it were, it's unlikely the extra multimedia packages on the P-II would be necessary. I would imagine that most computers on an industrial shop floor would be data entry. They would probably be NC's or less - a dumb terminal. I should think you'd be able to set up an sufficient machine for less than $100.. But if you had to cool a fully sealed P-III, how would you do it? I'm interested to know.

Re:Lexmark | IBM = Unicomp

[CharlieG]

OK,
It doesn't answer the original question (Factory floor keyboard, unless it's LIGHT industry), but If you follow the IBM Keyboard saga, IBM spun off their keyboards to Lexmark, who eventually decided to leave the keyboard business, so they spun off a company called Unicomp, who still makes IBM style keyboards, plus 'Others". Their web address is

http://www.pckeyboard.com

EVERY one of my PCs (Including the one at work that my boss owns) has a Unicomp keyboard

The classic 101 key buckling spring IBM Branded keyboard costs $49. If you WANT the windows keys (and a IBM stick type pointer), it's $59

You want tough?

[cr0sh]

Get rid of the PCs on the floor.

Go with dumb terminals (serial) - the dumber the better. My favorite? The VT100 - green on black monochrome, oh so nice on the eyes, readable in nearly any situation (even a smoke filled room!).

I have seen these things in conditions that would make you blanch. Most of the time, the keyboards are bare, and are covered with such grime you wonder how these guys who can't touch type can hunt-n-peck, because you can't see the letters on the keys anymore (perhaps they really do touch type now, they just don't know it?). The really paranoid places put a keyboard condom on the keyboards, a guess to make 'em last another 15 years or so.

If you can do this in your situation, it would probably be best. The terminals are relatively cheap, and they last forever.

Worldcom [worldcom.com] - Generation Duh!

Re:Old IBM Keyboards

[[e-mail]]

They're still made. You can get em new or do a search on ebay or some other auction site and get them on the cheap.

It's IBM part no: 1391401, but if you do your search for "clicky keyboard" you'll pull up all sorts of hits. I picked up two of them (one for me and one for my my dad) for ~$15 each.

The best part is they last forever and if you get them used, they don't have FULL SIZED space bar and none of those 'effin windows keys.

This is the only keyboard which has been able to withstand my fury (i.e. slamming my fist into it when things go wrong at my workstation), so you know they'll be able to withstand misuse, and if you get one of those rubber skins, you should be able to keep debris out, though I really doubt that would be a problem with this particular model!

Re:Old IBM Keyboards

[technos]

Lexmark (not IBM) still makes them. Want a brand new Model M, it'll run you like $75..

And they hold up to anything. I've seen them fresh off a six year lease with (insert major automobile company) where they were used at dealerships as parts locater terminals in the service department. One had apparently spent much of its life in a pool of gear oil from the amount of sludge in the panel, and it was still typing 100% before cleaning. One of Emerson Electric's divisions used to use them directly on the manufacturing floor, and once again, after nearly six years they worked, just needed a bath in soapy water to get the grime out and return them to factory condition.

Re:Texas Industrial Peripherals

[technos]

Damn, man.. Those fuckers are built like rocks. I didn't know it until I hit that link, but I've seen a few of those on industrial sampling/analysis equipment. Didn't know they were PS/2, the equipment had a fully sealed panel, but I don't think there are two companies making keyboards exactly like that..

Those probably will beat the shit out of IBMs, regardless of my prior recomendation of (and my affinity for) them.

Lexmark, IBM are the best.

[Gerb]

I got mine for 10 years now, and still working fine. Once in a while I put the key-caps in a washing machine and I'm good to go for a year or two again.

Gerb

Old IBM Keyboards

[eap]

What about the old IBM keyboards from the XT series? You know, the ones with the clicky keys. Those things are built like sh*t brickhouses.
I've got one that served as a public library terminal during the 80s, and still gets regular use. I've not seen one break yet. I don't know if Big Blue still sells them, but you could probably get a lot of them at auctions if you didn't mind the hassle.

Rugged Keyboards

[Milo_Mindbender]

I used to work in factory automation and had to solve this problem a lot. There are quite a few industrial automation places like Allen Bradley (http://www.ab.com) that sell this stuff. The problem is they sell it at a very high price.

The solutions range from flat membrane keyboards to the rubber "keyboard condoms" mentioned earlier.

The main problem is that you can usually buy a dozen or more cheap keyboards for the cost of one of these industrial ones. So when we did a factory we frequently put a stock keyboard in a covered drawer, unless it was going to be used a lot. I have seen standard keyboards survive SURPRISING things...one metalurgy lab in a detroit steel mill had a thick layer of carbon-black powder (conductive!) on every keyboard and monitor in the shop and they were all STILL working! My advice would be to consider the covered drawer or just replacing the keyboard frequently unless your environment is super hostile or the keyboard working is very critical. If you need a keyboard that works in a corrosive or explosive environment, then spend the money on the industrial ones. Milo

Slashdot did a review of one...

[ArcticChicken]

...right here [slashdot.org].

What's 19.5 inches long, bright yellow, flexible, and rubber? Wait, don't answer that. To be be more precise, let me rephrase: what's 19.5 inches long, bright yellow, flexible, rubber, and equipped with a 7-foot PS/2 cable?

*Rugged* keyboards

[Reedi]

You could try Access Keyboards who do a range of rugged keyboards sealed to various IP ratings (sounds like you need IP 65 or thereabouts)

http://www.accesskeyboards.co.uk

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Hope this helps.

Ian

1 handed?

[Beowulf_Boy]

What about 1 handed keyboards.
IT depends on who you have use the chords,
but 1 hour spend teaching someone to use it would make it still worthwhile.
And it would be smaller, so less area to pick crap up in.

how about touch screens.

[Neck_of_the_Woods]

Take the keyboard out of the mix?...

Then again maybe you have to do a ton of typing, so I guess that depends. You could take the mouse and the keyboard out of the question. Plus reduce your footprint.

Neck_of_the_Woods

FlexiKeyboard

[audacity242]

While the name "Flexi" conjures up ideas more about maxi pads than keyboards, this is what you're looking for. It's totally waterproof, rolls up, and costs 38 UK pounds plus shipping. I've seen similar keyboards for sale on various US sites, but they tend to be significantly more expensive (taking exchange rates into account, ofcourse)... http://www.iwantoneofthose.com/flexi_keyboard.htm