Hi-Tek Corporation
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| Headquarters | 7274 Lampson Avenue, Garden Grove, California, United States |
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Hi-Tek Corporation was a US-based electronics manufacturer known for designing and manufacturing computer keyboards and keyswitches.
History
In 1983, Nippon Miniature Bearing Co., Ltd. of Japan (now known as Minibea) purchased Hi-Tek and placed it under its US subsidiary, NMB.[1] This took place just after the then-new Series 725 keyboards had been introduced.[2] Keyboards continued to have only Hi-Tek branding on the PCB into 1984, after which both the Hi-Tek and NMB logos were placed side by side on the PCB. Rear labels continued to list only the Hi-Tek brand. Somewhere around 1990, Hi-Tek was absorbed into NMB, becoming the "Hi-Tek Keyboard Division", as shown by both the PCB branding and rear labels.
Hi-Tek–only branding on a Tava 1984 Hi-Tek Series 725 first generation keyboard; the back panel bears no branding
NMB/Hi-Tek Corporation branding on a late 1988/early 1989 Hi-Tek 115039-003 PCB
Rear label of the 115039-003, with only Hi-Tek branding
"Hi-Tek Keyboard Division" branding on a 1990 Hi-Tek 116300-004 PCB
Rear label of the 116300-004
Products
Keyboards
For the most part, Hi-Tek manufactured switch grids for other companies, who would supply their own PCB. However, keyboards do exist where Hi-Tek also provided the PCB. The "A/W" codes on the PCBs suggests that the PCB supplier may have been the same supplier used by Alps Electric USA (as found in Apple and Wang keyboards) whose keyboards also had "A/W" codes in the same format.
With Series 725, they had decided to produce complete keyboards. Prior to Series 725, Hi-Tek used double-shot keycaps; with Series 725 this was changed to dye sublimation for increased flexibility and reduced costs.[2]
See: Hi-Tek keyboards
HP 9816 keyboard, one of the few Hi-Tek High Profile keyboards where Hi-Tek provided the PCB as well as the switches
Corona PPC-400 keyboard
Original Hi-Tek Series 725 keyboard, pre-NMB
Switches
See:
Waffle frame linear switches
Flat-top linear switches
Original Series 725 switches
References
- ↑ US Department of Commerce — Foreign Direct Investment in the United States 1983
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Telephone conversation with D'Milo Hallerberg, 2015-08-03
