Editing Apple hairpin spring

{{infobox dswitch
| image name        = 
| manufacturer      = 
| family            = 
| product code      = 
| contact mechanism = Metal contacts
| switch type       = Clicky
| actuation force   = 
| switch mount      = [[Switch mount#PCB mount|PCB mount]]
| keycap mount      = 
| discontinued      = 
| precedes          = 
| patents           = [http://www.google.com/patents/US4525613 US4525613] (1984)
}}

'''Apple hairpin spring''' is a [[low-profile]], clicky spring designed and patented by [[Apple]].

==Description==
Terminals on either side of the switch are connected together when a flat, spiral spring is deflected downwards by the slider. A hairpin spring across the top of the switch provides the tactility and click sound. The patent provides a [[force curve]], of unknown accuracy.

The case is fairly flat, and the switch is intended to be mounted directly onto the PCB. The slider is cruciform, of unknown dimensions. alps.tw's illustration shows white and yellow sliders; no reason for the yellow slider is known.

The manufacturer of the switch is not known. In Apple keyboards, the switch typically has a recessed Apple logo on the top, but the switch has also been found in a Rhino Robots Keyboard Emulator, PCB date 1989, with the Apple logo replaced with a hand-carved "G"; it looks like the switch OEM has altered the moulds by hand and run a fresh batch of switches, while Apple still retained the patent on the switch.<ref name="gh-Rhino" />

==Keyboards==
*[[Apple IIc]] (Apple branded)<ref name="PCW" /> (first couple of years of production)<ref name="DT-IIc" />
*Rhino Robots Keyboard Emulator ("G" branded)<ref name="gh-Rhino" />

==Gallery==
<gallery widths=250 heights=187>
File:Apple hairpin spring -- disassembly.jpg
</gallery>

==References==
<references>
<ref name="PCW">(Wayback Machine) PC World — [http://web.archive.org/web/20131026192054/http://www.pcworld.com/article/143520/article.html Anatomy of an Icon: Inside the Apple IIc] (image 13) Archived 2013-10-26. Retrieved 2015-07-23.</ref>
<ref name="DT-IIc">Deskthority — [http://deskthority.net/keyboards-f2/convert-apple-iic-to-usb-t7256.html#p144313 Convert Apple IIc to usb] (post 12)</ref>
<ref name="gh-Rhino">Geekhack — [http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=49015.0 Rhino Robotics - Keyboard Emulator (non-MX)] Dated 2013-09-26. Retrieved 2015-07-23.</ref>
</references>

[[Category:Apple switches]]
[[Category:Clicky switches]]
[[Category:Metal contact switches]]
[[Category:List of all keyboard switches]]