| NEW CAPACITIVE SWITCH SYSTEM INCREASES DESIGN POSSIBILITIES | |
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Developed initially for passenger aircraft seating controls, a new capacitive switching system from WASP is easily adapted for use in almost every situation where non-mechanical switching is required. A conventional printed graphic overlay, protected by clear acrylic or polycarbonate is used together with a circuit design which operates a switch using the user's natural body capacitance. The switch panel uses a proprietary capacitive sensor IC to detect the operation from the user. |
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IC's project sense fields (from conductive sensors) up through dielectric,
translucent material which can be up to 10mm thick. The use of capacitive
switching enables designers to backlight the switch positions while allowing
the use of clear material to be used in capacitive touch screen assembly.
The use of such materials means that the switch is easily cleaned and
impervious to accidental liquid ingression.
Capacitive sensors can be designed to take into account many conditions before the switch is activated by continuous self calibration. This is achieved by changing the duration of the capacitive charge burst and allows the product to be used in any condition. A complete
lack of moving parts means that mechanical failure is eliminated and
sense fields can be predicted through dielectric material enabling vandal
resistant |
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