Design Files
Please provide Adobe Illustrator, PDF or Coreldraw file for artwork. For circuitry design, a draft in any format, even a sketch, is acceptable for ElecFlex.
Circuits
Circuit Schematics and Circuit Layer Drawing: Based on your circuit design schematics (electrical design), we will generate circuit layer drawing (the actual physical circuit layout artwork.) We will usually send you circuit layer drawing for your approval. You must approve or revise it within 24 hours to meet our delivery commitment. You can however provide your own circuit layout drawing so that it be layed out exactly as you like. Please provide it in Corel or Adobe Illustrator file format. Bmp or pdf files are also acceptable.
Button/Dome
Button Dome Actuation Force: To provide the tactile feedback, normally a button dome is used, although special applications call for non-tactile buttons. Button domes can be Stainless Steel Metal Dome or Polyester Dome. No appreciable difference exists between these two materials. Actuation force can range from 85 to 500 grams. Typical specification for Polydome is 190 gram (6 oz), 270 grams (8.7 oz), or 340 grams (11 oz) of force. For Steel Dome, it is usually 320 gram (10 oz) or 350 grams (11 oz) of force. Stainless Steel Domes are increasingly more popular in the United States. Plydomes often incur extra tooling charge for pillow embossing. There are normally some variation in actuation force of up to +/- 20%, but it normally does not affect application. Our button domes are rated for a minimum of 1 million actuations.
Button Dome Size and Profile: We can provide dome sizes ranging from 6mm (.236 inch), 8mm, 10mm (.393 inch), 12mm, 14mm, or 16mm (.630 inch). You can choose profiles: Curved Dome or Raised Flat Dome . Either dome styles can be used for metal dome, but curved dome is typical of polydome. If the design does not specify the profile, we will provide it with Curved Profile domes.
Tail & Connector
 
There will be no extra charge for a tail up to 4 inches. The maximum tail length we can provide is 23.5 inches. We can also provide multiple tails. Please indicate the exact position where the tail exits, since the tail needs to exit the switch casing to interface with a PCB or a cable.
Most membrane switch tails do not have connectors, as the tails typically plug into flat cable connectors on PCB. We can provide female connector on the tail if such is desired. Typical pitch for the tail circuit and connector is .100Ħħ (2.54mm) in the US. 1mm(0.0394Ħħ) pitch is also available. To add tail connector, your tail length must be at least .600Ħħ.
LEDs and Resistors
Imbedded LEDs and Resistors: We can provide imbedded surface mounted miniature LEDs (typically 0805 type SMD LEDs from Lite-On or equivalent.) You must specify the polarity (anode and cathode) of each LED on your mechanical drawings. We can also provide imbedded resistors.
Shielding
 
We can provide EMI and RFI shielding with Printed Metal Grid Shielding or Aluminum Shielding method. These shieldings are printed onto a special layer or laminated onto your circuit providing protection against ESD or EMI. The ground needs to be connected with your switch cable or by a dedicated cable. When shielding is inserted, we recommend to increase the button actuation force to be increased by 2 oz since the button tactile feedback is reduced. Printed grid costs slightly more but more popular among our customers.
Backlighting
We can provide electroluminescent (EL) or fiber-optic backlighting to your switch. You can review it in our Resources page. Many possibilities arise when you backlight the keys or other areas of membrane switch. EL backlighting requires inverter for the power input. Backlighting materials often lower the tactile feedback of domed keys. To compensate it, we normally need to increase the actuation force by about 2 oz.
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