Silicone rubber keypad

Silicone rubber keypads are a central component in many keyboards. Using integrated contact pills, they trigger a direct switching function on the circuit board underneath and determine the tactile feeling. A rubber keypad can optionally be provided with keycaps to change the visual and haptic impression and to increase the robustness. Otherwise, the silicone rubber keypad itself serves as the optical element and represents the buttons.

Safety mats are injection molded from the base material silicone rubber and usually consist of several switching domes. Its inner end consists of a contact pill or optionally a snap disc and represents the electrical contact element. The outer end is the confirmation side, which can either be equipped with keycaps or was designed directly as an operating surface. The feel and color of the keys and the tactile feel can be further regulated via the shape of the dome and the bridges as well as the selection of the material used. The choice of the contact pill determines the electrical properties of the button. Common contact pills are carbon-filled or coated, Supra conductive or snap disks.

By laminating plastic keycaps on the silicone keys, a hard user interface can be created despite the soft rubber keypad. This further increases the design options. For example, the keycaps can be painted or lasered and the keys can be equipped with lighting.

 
  • Very flexible and therefore easily adaptable to the construction
  • Individual button shapes and colors are just as easy to implement as backlighting
  • Resistant to water, dust, thermal and chemical influences
  • Button stroke and actuating force are freely selectable during development
  • The electrical contacting can be realized differently depending on requirements and budget.
  • Special surface coatings such as PU coating make the buttons highly abrasion-resistant
  • Low maintenance with a long mechanical service life
  • Flexible design thanks to optional plastic or stainless steel key caps

Silicone rubber keypads can be found in almost all mobile devices. Remote controls and other handheld devices are almost always equipped with silicone keypads in both the consumer and professional sectors.  A keyboard layout with a silicone rubber keypad is also particularly suitable for devices in areas of application in which they come into contact with water and dust, since the rubber keypad is absolutely leak-proof and can be easily manufactured with a circumferential seal. Flat variants are often used in medical applications because they are easy to clean and disinfect. And silicone rubber keypads are also often used in classic typing keyboards.