Editing Alps SKCL/SKCM series (section)

===Shell===
The original design was a linear switch, with a hole in the upper shell to take an integrated LED. The tactile or click leaf needs to occupy this slot, making tactility and illumination mutually exclusive; this design limitation would become a problem with the [[Matias Tactile Pro]] series, where customers mistook the necessarily linear LED key switches as manufacturing defects.

All standard linear switches have a recess for an LED. Surprisingly, most of these switches will not actually accept an LED, as there are no holes in the base for the LED legs. Separate part numbers existed for the LED versions, one per LED colour. The front securing tab for the shell also contains a clearance recess to provide room for the LED, which is also absent in the non-LED versions of linear switches. This clearance recess is subtle, but it is nonetheless visible in photographs of both yellow and green Alps switches.

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Alps SKCLFQ and SKCLAR -- top.jpg                 | SKCLFQ (SKCLAR+red LED) and SKCLAR (no LED)
File:Alps SKCLFQ -- base detail.jpg               | SKCLFQ with adapted base design: note LED leg holes
File:Alps SKCLFQ and SKCLAR -- bases.jpg          | Base comparison; note the clearance recess for the LED in the securing tab on the left switch (SKCLFQ)
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In the 1980s, the whole switch shell was made of black plastic. At the very end the 80s, or the early 90s, the upper shell mouldings changed from black to dark grey. From this point onwards, switches would have two-tone grey-black shells, although they appear to have reverted to all-black again a while later.

Not long after this point, the Alps logo was added to the upper shell, allowing switches made from that point onwards to be positively identified as Alps Electric products instead of [[Alps clone]]s. The exact weight of typeface of the Alps logo varied between mould, and later it would change to boldface text.

The lower shell has four "wings" that retain the switch against the mounting plate. These wings may snap off or become weakened, possibly when removing switches from keyboards.

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File:Alps SKCM Orange -- rear view.jpg            | [[Alps SKCM Orange]] switch with two-tone shell
File:Alps SKC -- broken wings.jpg                 | Broken wings found at the bottom of a bag of yellow Alps switches
File:Alps SKC -- broken wings on Cream Damped.jpg | [[Alps SKCM Ivory]] switch with missing wings
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