The versatility of silicone rubber makes it perfect for use as keypads in a myriad of gadgets and devices. The list of devices that use rubber silicone keypads include: mobile phones, landline phones, computer keyboard, household appliances and many more. Many people never take the time to notice just how many devices that they will use or see every day that have Silicone Rubber Keypads as part of the interface.
Manufactures can create specific designs and have silicone rubber keypads easily molded into their specifications. Consumers, like you, have so many options to choose from including which one will feel good to your touch.
Standard silicone rubber keypads are almost never used because the design engineers usually design a silicone rubber keypad to fit into their product and standard keypad rarely have the correct shape, size or feel. With the advancement of technology the price to have a custom silicone rubber keypad made is lower than it has been in the past.
Square and rectangular are the traditional shapes for the buttons in silicone keypads. Designers like to create products that are new and sometimes will use shapes other than rectangular or square. Experiments with different shapes, harness and colors is a good idea to make sure the best product is being designed. By using different features designers try to find what the their end user will find most attractive to maximize sales.
Custom appeal is the main driver for shape and color selection however there are other reasons. Once an engineer has designed a case they may find that a rubber button will not fit and have to try a different shape to fit.
Custom silicone rubber keypads can be made in a wide variety of colors. Instead of just having a black silicone keypad you can pick not only the base color of the keypad but colors of each button. Once you have picked the color or colors of each of the buttons you can also pick different colors for the graphics and symbols to be printed onto each of the silicone buttons.
Importance levels of buttons can be implied by selecting different colors on specific buttons in your custom silicone rubber keypad. If you specified a button to be red and left all of the other buttons gray it would make the red button stick out from all of the rest of the silicone buttons. This could be done to highlight an emergency button, it would stick out from the rest and the user would be able to easily spot this button.
Laser etching and screen printing, also known as silk screening, are the two common methods for marking silicone rubber keypads with letters or symbols. The less expensive option is screen printing, the negative is that it tends to wear off faster compared to laser etching. To create letters and symbols using screen printing a custom screen is created and then ink is applied to the screen, ink only goes through specific area of the custom screen which leave a layer of ink in the shape of the symbol or letter for a specific silicone rubber button.
The preferred method for creating artwork, letters and symbols on custom silicone rubber keypads and buttons is laser etching, this is true even despite the slightly higher cost of laser etching. If you want to be able to back lite (back-light) the letters and symbols you must laser etch, also laser etching lasts longer than screen printing.
With either laser etching or silk screening a coating is usually applied to help the printing last longer. Spray polyurethane (also known as PU Spray) is the less expensive option and is most commonly used. The polyurethane is sprayed onto the keypad and adds a resistive layer on top of the printing, customers can specify a glossy or matte finish. Polyurethane spray coating is cost effective and it works. The more hearty option is to epoxy coat the silicone rubber keypad. Epoxy coating is thick, lasts a long time and is the best protectant for silicone rubber keypads, the only potential negative is that using an epoxy coating will change the final look of the silicone rubber keypad.
During the design phase you must consider many different options available for your custom silicone rubber keypads. Need help with your design? Contact a silicone rubber keypad manufacturer for assistance. You should select a silicone rubber manufacturer that is willing to assist you in your design. When contacting them make sure you ask if they have an silicone rubber keypads that will demonstrate the many different features available in custom silicone rubber keypads.
Manufactures can create specific designs and have silicone rubber keypads easily molded into their specifications. Consumers, like you, have so many options to choose from including which one will feel good to your touch.
Standard silicone rubber keypads are almost never used because the design engineers usually design a silicone rubber keypad to fit into their product and standard keypad rarely have the correct shape, size or feel. With the advancement of technology the price to have a custom silicone rubber keypad made is lower than it has been in the past.
Square and rectangular are the traditional shapes for the buttons in silicone keypads. Designers like to create products that are new and sometimes will use shapes other than rectangular or square. Experiments with different shapes, harness and colors is a good idea to make sure the best product is being designed. By using different features designers try to find what the their end user will find most attractive to maximize sales.
Custom appeal is the main driver for shape and color selection however there are other reasons. Once an engineer has designed a case they may find that a rubber button will not fit and have to try a different shape to fit.
Custom silicone rubber keypads can be made in a wide variety of colors. Instead of just having a black silicone keypad you can pick not only the base color of the keypad but colors of each button. Once you have picked the color or colors of each of the buttons you can also pick different colors for the graphics and symbols to be printed onto each of the silicone buttons.
Importance levels of buttons can be implied by selecting different colors on specific buttons in your custom silicone rubber keypad. If you specified a button to be red and left all of the other buttons gray it would make the red button stick out from all of the rest of the silicone buttons. This could be done to highlight an emergency button, it would stick out from the rest and the user would be able to easily spot this button.
Laser etching and screen printing, also known as silk screening, are the two common methods for marking silicone rubber keypads with letters or symbols. The less expensive option is screen printing, the negative is that it tends to wear off faster compared to laser etching. To create letters and symbols using screen printing a custom screen is created and then ink is applied to the screen, ink only goes through specific area of the custom screen which leave a layer of ink in the shape of the symbol or letter for a specific silicone rubber button.
The preferred method for creating artwork, letters and symbols on custom silicone rubber keypads and buttons is laser etching, this is true even despite the slightly higher cost of laser etching. If you want to be able to back lite (back-light) the letters and symbols you must laser etch, also laser etching lasts longer than screen printing.
With either laser etching or silk screening a coating is usually applied to help the printing last longer. Spray polyurethane (also known as PU Spray) is the less expensive option and is most commonly used. The polyurethane is sprayed onto the keypad and adds a resistive layer on top of the printing, customers can specify a glossy or matte finish. Polyurethane spray coating is cost effective and it works. The more hearty option is to epoxy coat the silicone rubber keypad. Epoxy coating is thick, lasts a long time and is the best protectant for silicone rubber keypads, the only potential negative is that using an epoxy coating will change the final look of the silicone rubber keypad.
During the design phase you must consider many different options available for your custom silicone rubber keypads. Need help with your design? Contact a silicone rubber keypad manufacturer for assistance. You should select a silicone rubber manufacturer that is willing to assist you in your design. When contacting them make sure you ask if they have an silicone rubber keypads that will demonstrate the many different features available in custom silicone rubber keypads.
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Agreed. There are many features that silicone rubber keypads have. Thanks for sharing.
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