Good low-volume front panel source?

There was an outfit in Montreal that used to advertise in the back of Circuit Cellar for short run and prototype membranes. Never tried them.

I can't think of a proper heading for this, so I'm putting it here:

I have bread machines and other devices that seem like they have membrane switches, but instead have 'normal' surface-mount miniature switches, with little plastic buttons on top of the switches to spread out the force. These are mounted to a board behind the panel, and the buttons act through holes in the panel to these switches.

The one that I have experience with (a bread machine) is _very_ durable and dependable.

Anyone have experience with one of those?

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Do you need to implement control loops in software?
"Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" was written for you.
See details at http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html

I saved this URL in the hopes of trying this company some day.

You are on your own.

John

I actually had them floating around in memory, someplace. But it appears that all they do is machined aluminum sheet, with custom printing.

So that wouldn't work this time. It'd be dynamite for a different sort of product, though, and I'll have to remember it!

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Do you need to implement control loops in software?
"Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" was written for you.
See details at http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html

Yes.

I used them on my color reader project, but not for a front panel, as such. I needed a template to guide my dremel while I cut the holes in the top of my cases. The manufacturer wanted around $6 a case to cut those holes, in a $4 dollar case, and I needed to start with a hundred of them! I designed the template in their software, sent it to them, and in a couple of weeks had two templates for drilling at less than $50. I got two in case I mess one up...

I have drilled 60 of the cases so far, and they have worked great!

Charlie

I've done it a few times. They are called "tactile" or "tac" switches, available in various standard heights, Then you get reverse-printed polycarbonate or polyester overlays with an adhesive layer, and fabricate a metal panel with holes in as you say. The overlays normally have a "mar-resistant" roughened surface so scratches don't show up.

But we use touch-screens these days...

--

John Devereux

Why not go for piezo? Works fine and you can screen print the front in whatever colors you like.

They also have membrane solutions.

--
Failure does not prove something is impossible, failure simply
indicates you are not using the right tools...
nico@nctdevpuntnl (punt=.)
--------------------------------------------------------------

I use some stuff I get from VPC called Quick Mark. It is a laminated material that is photo-sensitive. So, you take a sheet of the stuff and expose to UV light through a master artwork. You then peel the stuff and stick it down over a double-sided sticky sheet. The lettering, etc. of the first sheet is on the back side, so it is protected by the sheet. The second sheet is then attached to the metal panel. LEDs can shine through the material. I would expect it could probably be laid over a blank membrane keypad, but I have not tried that.

This stuff is a bit difficult to work with, but looks great on the panels.

Jon

--
Google "membrane switch panel".

I got a lot of hits with "rapid prototype membrane switch". I was mostly interested in getting a name that's been successful for folks in the past.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Do you need to implement control loops in software?
"Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" was written for you.
See details at http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html

Perhaps this outfit:

(I have no first-hand experience, but came across them when I was looking for contract PCB assemblers relatively local to me.)

-- Silvar Beitel

It so nice when you have access to a CNC miller. Making a few front panels with their holes is easy.

Spray the blank panel with the background, silk screen the lettering and then place the piece in the CNC and the way you go.. I suppose you could do the CNC first then all the other stuff afterwards.

Jamie

A flat overlay with out embossed buttons for board mounted tactile switches would be the cheapest. Least amount of layer stackup. But your talking over $1k for tooling. Try NFI, Name Plates for Indusrty or CSI Keyboards. The are all hungry.

Tooling for a comparable overlay, with embossed buttons, and switches runs upwards of $3k, including clear red windows for LED displays. The is multiple layer stackup, so it will cost.

Good Luck

Maybe snap-domes would be a good middle option. They must be more durable than membranes.

--

Reply in group, but if emailing add one more
zero, and remove the last word.

f.

Doesn't everyone and their newborn have an iPad now? Sounds like a job for a web browser and an embedded server...

Tim,

Give General Label in Minneapolis a try. I've used them for labels and panel overlays. They do fine work.

--

Michael Karas
Carousel Design Solutions
http://www.carousel-design.com

Yup. We make pizza dough in it, roll it out, put on Canadian bacon, pineapple, cheese and then bake it in the Weber over charcoal :-)

Seriously, this looks too expensive for a product that won't even sell

100 units. Try to get an enclosure that already has domed film on top. They can usually put custom letteing on that but it'll cost ya. Ask companies such as Pactec:

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

For ten pieces, make your own from scratch.

This is how ordinary run-of-the-mill cheap generic keyboards are put together:

The plastic is just ordinary mylar or acetate, about 4~6 mils thick. I don't know what metal is deposited on them, but whoever deposits metal in your area could probably tell you. Make your own layers, silkscreen your button names on the other side, and the rest should be self-explanatory. (I obviously didn't build the keyboard, but I doubt if there's any law about copying somebody else's idea.) There's almost no tactical feedback, so you might want to add an audible "click"

- generating a "click" in S/W or even a couple of chips is trivial - five cycles of 1 KHz, just like WWV does. :-)

Have Fun! Rich