I am trying to wire and old 1920's typewriter to a modern PS/2
connection, AT computer keyboard. I plan to basically remove the
control IC from an old keyboard, and wire each keyswitch connection to
a momentary button, which is hooked to mechanical levers in the
typewriter. Does anyone have a wiring diagram of the internal
keyswitches in a standard PC keyboard. I havent been able to fiond one
online, all i keep getting is PS/2 pinouts, or the pinouts for the IC.
thanks in advance,
-Rich
Good morning, Rich. That's a cool idea, which should be quite a bit of work.
$2.50 will get you free advice and a cup of coffee at Starbucks, so for what
it's worth, a few observations....
The one time I wanted a keyboard schematic (arc-percussive welder/high noise
environment, wanted to do additional filtering of signals without
optocoupling), I had to call the keyboard manufacturer's US office and ask.
They sent one over with no problem. You might have to use the usual subterfuge
to get them to cooperate.
Communication between the PC and the keyboard is accomplished through a
proprietary serial communication protocol. The original IBM PC had a dedicated
Intel peripheral chip to accomplish this, and the AT and later keyboards use a
dedicated microcontroller IC in the keyboard which reads the key matrix and
then communicates the results to the PC. Since there aren't individual outputs
for each of the keys, you can't get there directly from the keyboard. Even if
you were to disable/remove the microcontroller and just run directly off the
individual keyswitches, the 102 keys are read by the microcontroller in a
matrix, so you will need to manufacture a scanner circuit to read the keyboard
matrix and translate the signals to individual outputs. For a hobbyist
project, this doesn't look too hopeful.
But, there are ways to get the cool effect you're looking for. First, I would
look at the IBM Selectrics (II and newer). They have a data port in the back,
where you can control the typewriter with outside logic level signals. A
friend did a PC/Selectric typewriter interface about 20 years ago, and was
happy with the results. A standard digital I/O board such as the Measurement
Computing CIO-DIO-48 ($119.99 USD) would be just about all you'd have to buy.
You could put that card in an old PC, sweat out the comm I/O and timing issues
in the programming flavor of choice, and you're good to go.
If you _really_ want to use individual solenoids to flip the levers, you might
want to try getting a couple of CIO-DO48-DD boards from Measurement Computing
($199.00 USD ea.). Each output can drive up to 500mA at 50VDC, which should be
enough for small solenoids (you're going to need a lot of those, too, but
that's another story). Slap those in an old PC, wire 'em up, program, and
you're done.
There are a lot of very difficult mechanical issues involved in getting enough
electrical solenoids into such a small space as the underside of an old
Underwood. The earliest electric typewriters were bulky, balky, and quickly
junked as better ones became available. Pretty steep learning curve there.
Summary:
1) Very difficult to do this without some kind of computer between the keyboard
and the typewriter.
2) Cool effect possible with IBM Selectric II or III.
Good luck.
Chris