Custom Silicone Rubber Keypad Guide Manufacturer

Custom Silicone Rubber Keypad Guide Manufacturer
Silicone rubber keypad, also called silicone rubber keyboard, control button pad,  which is made of elastomeric transparent silicone rubber materials and forming by compression molding, is widely used in electronic remote controller, medical device,
telecommunication products etc, as reliable switch performance.


Silicone  rubber keypad web / wall thickness and uniformity, key travel, and silicone materials
hardness which mainly determine keypad auctuation force and also known as tactile feeling.
High or low auctuation force keypad, which can’t determine elastomer keypad’s tactile feeling.
Making good tactile feeling keypads should care about the global keypad designs, and also keytop hardness, keypad wall uniformity,keypad travel,tooling EDM process etc.
Silicone rubber keypads have many types according surface legends, conductive ways and materials Property demands.



 Silicone rubber keypads have many types according surface legends, conductive ways and materials Property demands.

1. Spray Paint Keypad:
Spray Paint Silicone Rubber Keypad, Silicone Rubber Key pad surface is coated by color spraying to decorate keypad appearance, and some is used to legends laser etched / engraving.
(The bottom spraying/coating color demands on the keypads legends color)


2. Screen Printing Keypad:
Silk Screen Silicone Rubber Keypad, which have two kinds. One is Surface silk screen keypad, the other Bottom Silkscreen Keypad.
Surface Silkscreen keypad: The keypad need spray painted before do font or symbol printing, and the do PU coating process to protect the legends. Bottom Silkscreen Keypad is generally for transparent backlight silicone keypad.
Silkscreen Keypad Abrasion and Protection:
Font or symbol on the surface of silicon rubber keypads and spray paint is easy to wear off if without do PU coating, UV+PU coating, Epoxy Coating or plastic covers etc.


3. Rubber Silicone Laser Etching Keypad:
Laser etching silicone keypads are customized using translucent silicone rubber which is available in a variety of colors.
Generally, custom made laser etching rubber keypad, the materials choose transparent silicone rubber, which better than normal translucent silicone materials.After finished basic compression transparent elastomer rubber keypads production, the laser etching keypads are sprayed opaque coating. First processing coated color (inner color) is same to the desired legends color, and the second processing coating color which is keypad surface colors.
After finished the laser keypads coating, puting the keypads into the laser carving machines for laser etching process.
Notes: Inner color and surface color gennerally is big color contrast.
Like inner plating color is white, the surface color mostly choose black.
Choose inner translucent silicone keypad with gray or black color keypad to do laser carving process, the keypad can't shows laser mark characters without backlight.


4. Epoxy Keypad
Silicone Rubber Epoxy Keypad, an Epoxy coating can be applied to conductive rubber keypads to give the keypad a hard plastic feel. This method is used as an alternative to producing custom keypads with plastic keytops. The costs associated with producing a custom keypad with an epoxy coating are significantly less when compared to the costs associated with producing a custom keypad with plastic keytops. Applying an epoxy crown to keytops is both visually appealing and economical. we can help you in incorporating the application of epoxy crowns into the design and manufacture of custom silicone rubber switches.

 
 
5. Dual Durometer Keypad:
Dual Hardness (Durometer) Silicone Rubber Keypad, also called twice-forming keypads, which is aim to improve keypad tactile feelings or beauty, and not to affect the keypads auctuation force.

6. Led Backlight Keypad:
Silicone Backlight Keypad, that have some ways to process the backlight silicone keypads.
1.)Laser Etched Silicone Backlight Keypad.
Firstly, Do Printed Ink Process, the printed ink color is same to the laser etched legends, and then spray coating on the surface the silicone rubber keypad. Lastly place the keypads on the laser etched machines for process.
 (Notes:The legends color should have a high contrast with the spray coating color
Like following case: The legends color is white, and the spray coated color is gray.)
2.)Translucent Silicone Backlight Keypad
2.1)    Translucent Silicone Backlight Keypad take full advantage of silicone original materials which is translucent. Different silicone is different transparency. Generally, more better silicone materials, the color is more transparent. The original color of liquid silicone is almost transparent.
2.2)   Silk Screen Translucent Silicone Backlight Keypad, generally, need spray painted before do font or symbol printing on the surface, and the do PU coating process to protect the legends. However, Silk Screen Translucent Silicone Backlight Keypad, which needn't do spray coating process. For better backlight legends effects, sometimes, also needn't do PU coating or UV+PU coating.

 

7. P+R Keypad:
Plastic Rubber Keypad, this kind keypads combine the benefits of plastic keycap with the elastomeric and sealing feature of silicone rubber keypads by glue. The interface support many kinds of colors, textures, graphic pattern, which can enhance the aesthetic and backlight effects of products.
Basic Information
1.Production Process: 1.) Keypads Forming and Plastic Keycap Injection Forming. 2.) Silk Screen Printing, Spray Coating, Laser Etching, Back-lighted. 3.) Trimming Die for Plastic Keycap, and Silicone Keypad Deburring. 4.) Assembly keycap and Keypads by Glue. 5.) Baking Process for combination.
2.Plastic Keycap: 1.) Materials: PC, PMMA (acrylic), ABS, ABS+PC. 2.) Usage: Light Guide, Textures, Metallic Color Effects etc. 3.) Keypad Height >0.8mm. 4.) Sharp Corner Radius 0.2mm 5.) Graphics with or without backlighting(Back plastic keypad can choose silk screen printing). 6.)Abrasion Resistance Coating and UV Coating.
3.Appliance: Cell Phone, POS terminal, Calculator, Music Device etc.
1. Advantages
1.) Good aesthetic and backlight effects.
2.) Good Touch Feeling, Anti-dust.
3.) Cost effective to large quantities.
3.) Long lifespan keypad
2. Disadvantage.
1.) High injection mold-making cost: If choose PC/PMMA materials and up to light guide effects, that need choose good mold core steels.
2.) High Keycap Demands: No flowing mark, no texturing and up to light guide effects. That need good injection machines and injection standard parts.
3.) Unsuitable to low quantities.

8. Conductive Coating Keypad
Electrically Conductive Ink Printing Keypad:
Electrically Conductive Printing Silicone Rubber keypad, also called Transfer Printing Electric Conduction Keypad, which choose conductivity ink instead of black carbon pills as silicone rubber  keypad’s electroconductive point.
Why choose electrically conductive ink printing as the keypad contact dome?
Keypad electrically conductive zones is irregular, or O-ring / Rectangular Shaped for backlight.
Mostly silicone keypad choose black carbon pills to electric conduction.
However, some keypad conductive zones is irregular, specially about laser etched keypad and silkscreen silicone rubber keypad for Led backlight / backlit switch effects.
Save production cost:
Placed many quantity or many types of black carbon pills to produce elastomeric keypad which will affect the production efficiency.
If choose transfer conductive printing, workers just place elastomeric silicone rubber materials to produce keyboard that will save production time. Electrically Conductive Ink Printing can coat many types keypad contact zones at a time, and also that is auto-complete printing.
Disadvantage:
1. Electrically conductive printing ink Keypad, which contact resistance is mostly higher than black carbon pill.
Black Carbon Pill Keypad contact resistance which is easy to control below 100 OHMS, some can up to 0-50 OHMS.
Electric conductive printing Keypad contact resistance, mostly is about 150 OHMS, and possibly up to 200 OHMS.
If need electric conductive printing ink keypad’s control contact resistance, not only need use more conductive materials as printing ink, but also need make precision assistant tooling and also improve the printing in electric conductive coated layer
2. Black Carbon Pill keypad is more strong and durable.
After a long time use, elastomeric keypad’s electrically conductive ink will removing, and also keypad contact resistance will getting higher.
If need improving the lifespan of transfer conductive printing keypad, one is use qualified electric conductive ink, and make sure conductive coating ink is dry enough after drying.


9.M+R Keypad
Metal Silicone Rubber Keypad:

10. Conductive Silicone Keypad:
Conductive Silicone Keypad which silicone rubber materials is nickel coated copper powder, silver, aluminum glass silver and silver conductive grains distribution in silicone 
rubber, through the pressure of conductive particle contact, achieve good conductivity.


11.Fluorescent Silicone Keypad