Date of intro: mar-1967, Origin: USA (List),
Classification: / Company Info,
Info: WILD ROVER Corp. was an American manufacturer of switches and complete keyboards, including keyboards used in electronic calculators during the 1970s.
The company was established in March 1967.
A contemporary SEC notice lists identifies Alexander M. ADELSON as president.
Its original purpose was to develop and manufacture inexpensive, low-pressure, momentary-contact switches.
By early 1971, its activities had focused almost entirely on research and development.
It then applied to register a public share offering to finance production equipment, expansion and marketing; the notice does not establish whether that offering was completed.
Its speciality was the switching mechanism beneath the keys.
WILD ROVER’s TC1 (TC-1) switches used multiple parallel contact points, described as an electrical grating.
Advertisements emphasised their low profile, sealed construction and long operating life.
The same technology formed the basis of the company’s ‘Monolithic’-keyboards.
In this context, touch-activated meant a lightly operated mechanical contact switch, rather than modern capacitive touch sensing.
This suited the rapidly growing calculator industry.
Manufacturers needed thin, inexpensive keyboards for increasingly compact desktop and handheld machines.