Achieving the style and tactile response from Silicone Rubber Keypads can be a complicated process. I strongly recommend that any potential customer considering integrating a Keypad into new product should ensure that they start a dialogue with us early in the project life cycle. By doing this, many of the common design and project timing issues can be avoided which in many instances leads to a lower cost solution.
When beginning to consider designing a Rubber Keypad you first have to decide how to best position the keypad within an assembly and how to choose the correct clamping method and rubber shore hardness depending on the environment the product will be used in and the desired IP rating you wish to achieve.
The base of the keypad is typically supported by a PCB but there are several styles of top case and keypad designs, which when assembled can achieve IP ratings up to IP67. You also need to consider what clearances are required to allow the keys to operate freely and also how the product will be assembled and what alignment features you will use to enable this.
To assist in the design we can supply a free Design Tool consisting of a range of 20 different operating forces and travel, 4 different shore hardness`s and different styles of switching with varying Carbon Pills and even a Metal Dome for comparison.
We would recommend that you contact Diamond Electronics before beginning the design process so we can provide guidance on how to achieve a simple and effective solution that meets all your requirements, with many years’ experience of supplying effective solutions we can also advise on what methods would best suit your budget all of which sets you on the right path to achieving your goal.
