Editing Low-profile

'''Low-profile''' (adj.) — a switch module with a shorter height than previous switches.

For example, [[Cherry M9]] was described by [[Cherry]] as "low-profile" because it was significantly shorter than the standard [[Cherry M7|M7]] switch. By modern standards, M7 is oversized, and M9 and MX are standard profile, yet the [[Cherry M6]] switch was also described as "low profile" in Cherry's 1973 and 1974 Switches & Keyboards catalogues. By 1982, the M6/M7 design had been re-designated "Standard Mounting Height" following the introduction of the smaller M8 and M9 switches.

[[Cherry ML]] is Cherry's current low-profile switch, in a form factor that was described originally as "Super Low Profile".

1980s low-profile switches do typically still have the same 3.5–4 mm travel as their larger equivalents, unlike modern low-travel/short-throw switches, which are typically around 2–3 mm.

ITW described the second generation of [[ITW magnetic valve]] switches as "low profile" in their patent, even though these are tall switches.

==Definitions==
The Hi-Tek Corporation patent for the [[Hi-Tek Series 725]] switch—which Hi-Tek themselves describe simply as "Low profile keyswitch"—defines "low profile keyswitch" as follows:<ref>Google Patents — [http://www.google.com/patents/EP0124206A1 Low profile keyswitch]</ref>

:Keyboard specifications for electronic equipment for sale in many industrialized countries require the keyswitch housing to project not more than 17 mm from the attached printed circuit board. A keyswitch which meets the foregoing specification generally is designated as a "low profile keyswitch".

This 17 mm definition is just slightly below the total height of a [[Cherry M7]] switch, being between 19 and 21 mm approximately depending on variant.

==References==
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[[Category:Keyboard terms]]