Alps SKCC Series
| Alps SKCC Series | |
| Manufacturer | Alps Electric |
| Sense method | Metal contact |
| Mount | Plate mount |
| Rated lifetime | 10 million cycles1) |
Alps SKCC Series is a line of switch Produced by Alps Electric which was in production from 19792) to at least 19893). The series was previously known as KCC Series until the Alps part names were switched to their current format, and possibly AKC2 before that.
The following switches are in the SKCC series:
Characteristics
Switches in this series are usually linear, although the Lock and Double Action switches have non-linear components to their travel.
Switches in this series generally have 5 parts, an upper and lower housing, a contact module, a stem, and a spring. The contact module is shared with several other Alps Electric switches, most notably in the Alps SKCL/SKCM series.
The Switches in this series vary in keycap mount. Most switches will have a T mount, but Side-Angled Cream and Double Action switches are bar mount and cruciform mount respectively. The other switches are sometimes erroneously described as cruciform mount, but they are actually have T mount sliders. This T mount is rotationally symmetrical only for rotations of 180°. That is to say the keycaps can only be mounted safely in 1 of 2 orientations. Switches will typically be mounted such that, for keys lacking stabilizers, the top of the T is aligned with the expected direction of movement as mounting in this way very slightly increases stability along the direction of movement. Wide keys will usually be mounted in either Ʇ or T positions, and 1 unit wide keys will usually be mounted in either ⊢ or ⊣ positions.4)
Additional Information
Keycaps meant for SKCC switches, even though they visually appear to be cruciform mount, are keyed to nubs found on SKCC switches and as a result should not be mounted unless the nubs on the switch are mating with correctly with the indents inside the keycap's slider. For keyboards made by Alps this convention is followed with the exception of 1 unit wide caps lock keys which are mounted on switches in either a Ʇ or T position even though the cap is keyed for switches in either a ⊢ or ⊣ position.5) Many keycaps produced by Alps Electric for SKCC Cream/Green/Lock/Double Action are also compatible with almost all Alps KFF switches, although examples of SKCC exclusive caps do exist.