Membrane switches are found everywhere today. In almost any industry, office setting, home and Medical environments. One of the main reasons being, they are sealed units with the PSA (Pressure Sensitive Adhesive) on the back, and therefore, easy to clean and resistant to most chemicals and cleaning agents.
Polyester (PET) films are generally used to produce membrane switches. PET film is easy to form or emboss, and does not “work harden” and crack as easily as Polycarbonate (PC) films. PET films can be sourced in different textures to give a look and feel as desired.
In recent years, new techniques have developed in the printing of graphics for membrane switches. Therefore, almost any design that can be thought up can be printed on the films. With the graphics printed on the reverse side of the film, the graphic life does not even need to be a concern.
Besides being very attractive, easy to clean, and long lived, membrane switches are extremely functional. With the circuit contained in the thin stack-up, finished product can be kept to a thin profile if desired. The circuit contained in the membrane stack-up can be connected to the PCB of the main unit by a ribbon tail and connector combination. The tail can exit the membrane switch by a Planar Tail (coming off an edge of the membrane switch) or by a Perpendicular tail (coming off the membrane anywhere on the back side).
The keys on a membrane switch can have many designs. They can be flat, embossed, have flat keys but be surrounded by an embossed ring, etc. The flat keys can have no tactile feel or have metal dome arrays under them for tactile feel. The embossed keys can have metal domes or can just have the tactile feel resulting from the embossing of the PET film.
Membrane switches can have windows which can remain clear or be colored with transparent ink. The windows can be glossy or have some texture, either by the material itself or by printing the texture on the surface.
Please check out our web site, www.elitesales.com for more details or feel free to contact our NC office at 1-888-772-7042 or our TX office at 817-642-8824 for more information and assistance in the design of your membrane switch.
Elite Sales & Technology, Ltd.
