Univac 1701 Keypunch Keyboard
In the last few weeks, I happened on a vintage Univac keyboard from a 1701 Kyepunch. I had seen one in my travels at Deskthority.net, a keyboard enthusiasts web community and it did pique my interest due to the brand name and history behind it. I searched again for the post at Deskthority and it talked of a very similar 1710 keyboard here. I have very few keyboards that I don’t actually use for my vintage collection but this one was old and I had to have it.
This particular Univac keyboard has old Micro Switch key switches internally. You can see that it had its usage in the day with some of the key caps actually worn down. What this did prove, however, is that the key caps were “double shots” or molded with the characters or symbols embedded. The Deskthority Wiki article on Double Shot molding is very good at describing the manufacturing process.
Below are pictures of it.
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- Univac 1701 – keyboard
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- Univac 1701 – keyboard key caps removed
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- Univac 1701 – internal keyboard circuit board top
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- Univac 1701 – internal keyboard circuit board
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- Univac 1701 – Internal top profile
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- Univac 1701 – face plate
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- Univac 1701 – internal Micro Switch switches
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- Univac 1701 – internal key switch model 1PB877
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- Univac 1701 – Keyboard identifier 5030547-
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- Univac 1701 – key caps with some damage
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- Univac 1701 – key caps double shot proof
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- Univac 1701 – keyboard connector bottom
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- Univac 1701 – keyboard connector top
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- Univac 1701 – dated November 30 1970
You can still buy these: http://www.surplussales.com/ComputerAccess/Keyboards.html