Patent filing is a common practice among tech companies. It allows them to secure the design of their future products or the technologies they may use in the future. Late last year, a patent from Samsung revealed its plans for future smart glasses. Now, a similar patent has popped up, but this time, it suggests that Samsung’s future device might come with conductive key buttons.
Samsung’s new patent details the conductive key button planned for a future device
Yesterday, folks over at 91Mobiles spotted a patent filed by Samsung on WIPO. The details available in that patent are rather interesting; it walks through specifics like potential usage, design, and more.
For those wondering, this button will use a conductive metal layer made of stainless steel, aluminum, titanium, etc. The layer should be able to transfer micro currents generated by users’ fingers to electric components inside the device. According to the patent, you’re likely to see the conductive key button on the exterior of the device’s housing.
It’s worth noting that the button will also include a colored deposition layer on top of the metal layer to match the aesthetics of the device. That said, the patent also points out that the additional color layer might make it “difficult to implement additional functions assigned to the key button.” Therefore, the deposition layer will have a very thin color coating.
The button could be useful
No doubt, a touchscreen is still a good input method on any device. But, the conductive key button could offer a more tactile input option. It could also be useful to register biometrics and other information. Remember, the existing Galaxy Watch 6 series doesn’t include any such button.
However, the patent hints that we might actually see the conductive key button on Samsung’s future wearables like smartwatches and even smartphones. We don’t know if a device with such a button will ever come to fruition. Much of the time, the technologies that companies patent don’t see the light of day.
