Membrane switch\ntechnology made it possible for companies to develop more convenient gadgets. Washing\nMachines, Microwaves, Television and various other devices work on the same\ntechnology. Compared to mechanical switches Membrane switches offer a softer\nfeel. As the switch is more sensitive, users can easily change functions or\nshift switches. You can change operations and complete tasks without exerting\nmuch effort. The switch is also leak-proof and waterproof. This makes the\ntechnology ideal for businesses operating with harmful components in harsh\nenvironments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Membrane switches are\ntouch-sensitive devices developed by the printing, cutting and laminating of\nprecision thin-film plastic materials. Low-voltage, low-current momentary\nelectrical contact is made and retained by applying finger-tip force to the\nfront surface of the switch. Membrane switches are primarily used with\nmicroprocessor-based control systems found in communication, medical, instrumentation\nand appliance products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A number of industries now prefer Membrane\nswitches technology for front panel solutions where frequent contact with water\nis an issue due to its sealed nature coupled with its reliability and ability\nto offer tremendous aesthetic flexibility. The technology although\nsophisticated is very simple to create at home and renders fairly effective.\nLet\u2019s have a look at how to create membrane switches from the scratch <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 1: Understanding the Keypad<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first thing to understand is how this keypad works. A matrix style keypad is a grid consisting of rows and columns and each button corresponds to a certain row and column. A 9 button keypad, will use 3 rows and 3 columns. The first button connects the link between Row 1 and Column 1 (R1C1) just like in battleship. 2 would be R1C2, 3 R1C3, and 8 would be R3C2. The main reason to do this is instead of having 9 different buttons to wire up, you would only need to wire up 3 columns and 3 rows for significantly fewer wires. This is very beneficial when you begin adding buttons. Adding one more row and column (2 wires) will add 7 buttons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 2: Collecting Materials.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best thing about this instructable is you probably already have all the things you need to build this in your house. This is a cheap, simple, and effective way of making a membrane keypad. You will need: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

• Aluminum\nFoil *foil tape works too. <\/li>
• Some sort\nof paper or flat material (what you choose here will affect the durability.)<\/li>
• Glue\n(unless you’re using foil tape)<\/li>
• And a\nspacer of some sort (a few layers of paper with holes cut in them may work I’m\nusing double-sided sticky foam pads)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

  Step 3: Decision Time<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  Before\neverything else you have to decide what you want your keyboard to look like\/how\nmany buttons do you want on it. For this instructable, you can use a 3X3 setup\nwith the numbers from 1 to 9 on it. Once you have finalized the look, draw it\nand decide where you want all the wires to go. Make a mock-up on your computer\nusing any design software you like for e.g. Paint, Photoshop, and Illustrator and\nproceed to the next step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  Step 4: Mapping Out Your Cheap\n“Circuit”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  We are going to be glueing on foil to make a flexible, cheap, however effective circuit board. What we need to do now is on our computer mockup we need to make how our columns and rows are going to be set-up. If you are using Photoshop make 2 new layers, one called rows the other columns. If you’re just using paint make a copy of the file called rows and another column. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  We will put large black\nlines on these new layers, where we want our “Circuits” to go. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  Now you need to flip one\nof your images vertically. Go ahead and print these out for the next step. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  Step 5: Faux Circuit Making Time<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  Now that you have your printed templates you can start making your\ncircuit. This is when you glue your foil where your rows and columns are\nsupposed to go. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  *NOTE* At this point it\u2019s\na good idea to re-make your front design to include labels for the hookup at\nthe end of the leads with the labels. R1, R2, R3, C3, C2, C1. This is just\ngoing to make it easier for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  Step 6: Final Assembly<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  In the next step, we will be putting it all together. Take your spacers and apply them to one side of your keypad. You could use silicone technically, the type used for caulking, as a really decent spacer. To apply these spacers we need to make sure that there is a hole in the centre of them so that the rows and columns can contact one another when they are depressed. You could use a hole-punch to get better results. The spacers make sure that other parts of our circuit do not come in contact with each-other incidentally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  Once your spacers have\nbeen applied, you may need to glue whatever you are using and put the other\nside of your keypad on top of this one. You have already made sure that\neverything was mapped out precisely on your template you designed on your computer.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  Optional Step<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  To help your keypad enjoy\na long healthy life, laminate it. It helps to provide structural support for\nthe paper. Constant pressing can and will create depressions in the paper that\nsooner or later will cause your keypad to become ineffectively pressurize that\nbutton constantly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Membrane switch technology made it possible for companies to develop more convenient gadgets. Washing Machines, Microwaves, Television and various other devices work on the same technology. Compared to mechanical switches Membrane switches offer a softer feel. As the switch is more sensitive, users can easily change functions or shift switches. You can change operations and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":""},"categories":[10,4],"tags":[11,6,9,8],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rangvishwa.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rangvishwa.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rangvishwa.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rangvishwa.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rangvishwa.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/rangvishwa.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125,"href":"https:\/\/rangvishwa.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105\/revisions\/125"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rangvishwa.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rangvishwa.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rangvishwa.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rangvishwa.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}