Hello,
I am developing a gadget that will have a membrane switches keypad. Has any
of you dealt with companies that make custom membrane keypads? I have
concerns about initial costs and lead time. I would appreciate any
information on this subject.
Thanks.
T.
I had an application for a membrane keypad for something we built
in-house for our own use. There was a demand for the things but a
very limited market.
We wanted something that looked good and was water-oil-dirt resistant.
Membrane keypad was the ideal answer but the tooling for molds was
expensive and the device was still evolving so a newer model would in
design before the first one sold.
We found some tiny pushbutton switches that are used for on-board
reset buttons etc. They have a plastic housing and sharp positive
"feel." Price was 10 cents for the small one and 40 cents for the
larger one (I forget the vender, but they are pretty common).
A local sign shop came up with thin flexible vinyl plastic and
produced the graphics for it. It was just a matter of designing the
enclosure to hold the plastic sheet with the switches just under the
plastic. Cheap, worked very well, no tooling costs, and the design
can be modified with just a different enclosure, circuit board and new
graphics.
The sign shop could turn out any size graphics and was all automated.
Arrange it on a computer screen, and a X-Y plotter gizmo cuts out the
vinyl. They transfer and adhere to the substrate sheet with adhesive
until they are fused together. The thing was designed for large
signs, but would make characters down to .5 centimeters.
Silk screening would have worked for the lettering too, but the sign
shop solved our problems and the savings wouldn't have been that
great.
