The production process of membrane switches mainly involves key steps such as material selection, circuit printing, laminated assembly, and functional testing. Below, I will outline the core process for you:
1、 Material selection and preparation
Panel layer: commonly made of PVC, PC, or PET materials, printed with button markings and decorative patterns through UV screen printing or offset printing processes.
Circuit layer: Conductive silver paste or carbon paste is printed on the substrate to form contacts. The substrate can withstand a voltage of up to 2kV, ensuring stable operation at a working voltage of 50V.
Isolation layer: Use elastic adhesive layer to achieve button rebound, with contact resistance controlled within 100 Ω and working current of 100mA, ensuring signal transmission efficiency.
2、 Circuit printing and graphic production
Screen printing: Functional inks such as conductive silver paste, carbon paste, and insulating oil are printed on substrates through screen printing technology to form circuits.
Photochemical etching: Some high-end products use photochemical etching technology to produce circuit patterns with higher accuracy.
3、 Laminated assembly
Heat sealing or pressure-sensitive adhesive: Assemble graphic display layers, circuit layers, isolation layers, etc. together through heat sealing films or pressure-sensitive adhesives.
Overall sealing structure: The membrane switch adopts a planar multi-layer combination of an overall sealing structure, which integrates buttons, switches, panel function markings, reading display windows, indicator light transparent windows, switch internal wiring, switch circuit leads, as well as the text, symbols, and decorative content to be marked on the conventional panel.
4、 Functional testing and quality verification
Conductivity test: Ensure that the circuit is conducting normally and the contact resistance meets the requirements.
Life test: Passed ISO9001 quality certification, designed for a lifespan of up to 1 million presses.
Protection test: It has IP65 level protection capability and can effectively block dust and liquid intrusion.
5、 Process Innovation and Industry Trends
Material upgrade: Adopting FPC flexible circuit board instead of traditional hard substrate to improve bending resistance.
Function integration: By embedding LED indicator lights or touch sensors, status display and multi-level operation can be achieved.
Nano coating technology: Some high-end products introduce nano coating technology to further enhance wear resistance and fingerprint resistance.
The manufacturing process of membrane switches combines materials science, printing technology, and electronic engineering. Through precise design and rigorous testing, it ensures stable performance and long lifespan, and is widely used in fields such as electronic communication, industrial control, and medical equipment.