MD&M BIOMEDevice 2019 Tradeshow Recap

MD&M BIOMEDevice 2019 Tradeshow Recap

Considered to be New England’s biggest medtech showcase, the MD&M BIOMEDevice Boston once again did not disappoint. The 2019 MD&M BIOMEDevice Show at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center was full of inspiration. Boston, MA was bustling with manufacturers, medical device companies, and design houses from near and far. This was the fifth year CSI Keyboards has exhibited at the Conference. It has proven to be an excellent venue for meeting engineers and buyers from not only all around the country, but the entire world. 

CSI Keyboards showcased our wide range of products including membrane switches, rubber keypads, touch screen interfaces, and our many other user interface and HMI solutions. Being able to exhibit samples of our products allows engineers, buyers or even just the casual or curious passerby to “play” with our products hands-on. It was also great seeing many of our existing customers stop by our booth to chat and learn about some of new products and capabilities. Until next year, Boston!

Full Travel Keyboards

Full Travel Keyboards

CSI Keyboards is a manufacturer of both custom and standard full travel keyboards. Our full travel keyboards can be manufactured in molded rubber, plastic or stainless steel depending on your requirements. Some of our capabilities include (but are not limited to): 

  • Antibacterial medical silicone rubber keyboards
  • Water proof, dust proof, dirt proof industrial control keyboards
  • Vandal proof stainless steel keyboards, 
  • CNC, marine, industrial keyboards
  • Metal keyboards for vending machines, ATM and other self-service devices
  • Molded rubber and stainless steel numeric keypads
  • Stainless steel and molded rubber military full travel keyboards

CSI Keyboards to Exhibit at the MDM BIOMEDevice Show

CSI Keyboards to Exhibit at the MDM BIOMEDevice Show

For the fifth year in a row, CSI Keyboards will be exhibiting at the MDM BIOMEDevice trade show at the Boston Convention Center on May 15th and 16th. Come visit us at Booth 928.

The trade show consists of three expos: BIOMEDevice; Design & Manufacturing; and the Embedded System Conference.

BIOMEDevice focuses on the medtech research, development and products that matter to you, get continuing education experience to keep you current in the industry and on the job. Then explore innovations, source products, and make important connections. 

Design & Manufacturing (D&M) New England is your entryway to the most advanced technologies on the market, from design software and biotech solutions, to contract manufacturing, automation, and robotics. Walk the entire expo floor and meet face to face with thousands of peers while gaining valuable insights from industry pros across the medtech, design and manufacturing, and embedded systems spectrum.

Spanning the embedded systems spectrum, the Embedded Systems Conference brings together engineers searching for solutions with leading suppliers whose products can reduce cost and efficiency.

Reverse Engineering Membrane Switches

Reverse Engineering Membrane Switches

There are two main types of engineering: forward and reverse. Forward engineering is the prototypical process whereby a product moves from an abstract idea to a physical object. This can involve many processes depending on the final product, including drawing approvals, material selection, and choosing a cost-effective production method. Ideally, documentation is organized and protected at every step of the way.

Reverse engineering, on the other hand, takes a previously-produced product and works backward through the process to create design documentation. Reverse engineering is typically required in instances where there are no available drawings, to replace lost documentation, move a prototype to mass production or recreate a product that is no longer available on the market.

Reverse engineering a membrane switch, molded rubber keypad or graphic overlay starts with taking an existing sample part, extracting design data, and creating an improved copy of the engineered keypad. The new keypad can be placed onto the existing machine or controller and the life of the equipment is now extended for years to come. CSI can even reproduce membrane switches that have been worn from continued use. By providing a sample, CSI Keyboards can recreate a new membrane switch, extending the effective life of the product to which it attaches. The cost for reverse engineering and replacing the keypad is much less than the cost of buying new equipment or the cost of not being able to run your machinery. 

Dead Front Membrane Switch Integration

Dead Front Membrane Switch Integration

Looking to make your membrane switch or only portions of your membrane switch visible only when lit?  You’ve come to the right place. CSI Keyboards has been integrating dead front technology into our keypads and user interfaces for over 35 years.

CSI Keyboards manufactures dead front membrane switches and backlit overlays that deliver sleek and intuitive interfaces at a very reasonable price point. Icons and/or nomenclature stay dark/invisible to the user’s eye until the membrane switch backlighting is activated. CSI’s thin backlighting technology can be integrated inexpensively into new designs or product upgrades using various flexible or rigid graphic layer materials.

Dead front membrane switches can be created with either printed inks or by adding diffusing layers to the membrane switch itself. Successful integration of the graphic overlay with the membrane switch electronics dictates a custom membrane switch for almost all applications.

Dead front membrane switches can be produced in rich color to promote your brand or increase product aesthetics. Dead front membrane switches can be produced with almost any background color with black being the most common. You can incorporate just one LED light color or have multiple LED light colors within a single display.

 

Electroluminescent (EL) Panels Explained​

Electroluminescent (EL) Panels Explained

EL or Electroluminescence is one of many technologies used to uniformly backlight overlays or membrane keypads. EL is applied on a very thin layer between the graphic overlay and the circuit. EL uses a printable ink deposit to illuminate the switch and provide a uniformed illumination.

EL panels are the big brother to EL wires – it has the same glow effect but with a flat shape instead of a round shape. The panel is a large sheet of flexible plastic coated with EL material so it’s like one large glowing square. The EL panel emits an even and uniformed glow over the entire shape. 

You can attach the panel by adhered it to the back of a flat surface. It is flexible but will crease and damage if folded. You can cut the panel up as long as the shape you cut out is continuous and has the cable attached. This panel is a blue-green/aqua color when lit and is the brightest of the panels as it is the natural color of EL panel.

Like all EL products, an inverter is required to operate the panel. Because EL tape has more surface area than wire, it requires a more powerful inverter. We suggest you use our 4 x AAA inverter which is strong enough to power a single panel at once. For more permanent installations, the 12V EL inverter can also power a single panel and run off 8 x AA batteries or a wall adapter.

Wearable Electronics & Technologies

Wearable Electronics & Technologies

One of the hottest and fastest growing areas in printed electronics is wearable electronics. New technologies are enabling highly conductive electronic circuits that are flexible, soft, and durable. One of the fastest-growing applications for wearable technology is in the medical field. Medical applications such as patient-worn patches require a high degree of engineering expertise. Our team of engineers works closely with medical device product developers throughout the design, testing, prototyping and manufacturing processes. CSI Keyboards also utilizes the most advanced adhesives, functional printing methods, ink selections, fabrication and assembly methods, hydro-gels, and packaging options to optimize these products’ performance and speed to market.

Other applications for wearable technologies includes wearable health sensors, consumer electronics, and sports. The wearable electronics industry is growing fast and this new application of flex circuit technology is being used more and more with greater results. The adoption of wearable technology is driving new product development and the possibilities for using this technology are endless. 

Printed clear conductive ink, silver ink, carbon and dielectric are key materials in wearable electronics manufacturing. Ink suppliers are helping to develop and advance this technology by developing new conductive inks and advanced materials. Some of the premium quality design and assembly options we offer include embossing, thin film polyester substrates, thru hole printing, and medical grade foams and adhesives. Using the best functional ink is essential in manufacturing wearable electronic circuits, and we employ the finest in the industry. These include silver/silver chloride, radiolucent conductive, zinc, carbon, and dielectric inks. We also offer a broad array of user-specific features, including sealed pouches, surface-mounted components on flexible circuits, screen printed graphics, silicone molding and custom shapes and sizes depending on the design.

At CSI Keyboards, our long history of offering leading edge solutions in the printed electronics technology makes us uniquely qualified to manufacture the finest quality, state-of-the-art wearable electronic circuits, and patch assemblies. Our circuits and assemblies are used for the most challenging applications and in the most demanding industries on the market. To meet the needs of this growing segment, we offer the broadest range of wearable circuit technology available. This includes screen printed circuits, electrodes, and sensors, all available with fast and cost-effective assembly operations.

 

CSI Develops Car Seat Pressure Sensor

CSI Develops Car Seat Pressure Sensor

CSI Keyboards recently worked with a customer in developing a seat belt reminder pressure sensor.  A seat pressure sensor is very similar to a membrane type contact sensor. The contacts of the sensor evenly distribute on the stress-bearing surface of seat, which will generate a trigger signal when the external force presses down on the seat. 

This type of sensor can be applied to any car seat occupant perception system, such as: a safety belt reminder, taxi automatic message accounting system, airbag sensor, and can also detect when an occupant leaves the seat. 

Sensor Parameters:

  • Ambient temperature: 20℃ ± 5℃
  • Rated working voltage: 13.5V
  • Rated long-time working current: ≤10mA
  • Short-time/Pulse working current: ≤20mA
  • Limit voltage: 19VDC
  • Insulation resistance: ≥100MΩ
  • Loop resistance: >40Ω

Advantages of Using Light Guide Film for Backlighting Membrane Switches​

Advantages of Using Light Guide Film for Backlighting Membrane Switches

Light Guide Film is designed to evenly distribute light from top or side firing LEDs, providing bright, uniformed illumination. It also reduces the amount of LEDs needed, saving power consumption. More on light guide film technology below. The design and utilization of light guide film (LGF) technology has become one of the most common methods of interface backlighting. CSI Keyboards uses proprietary techniques to design the light guide film so it is optimized for light redirection and reflection giving the customer the brightest possible backlighting solution. Light guide film dots are also designed and implemented which allow for the optimization of light distribution to obtain maximum brightness and uniformity. Common problems that many of our competitors face are light leakage and hot spots. CSI’s backlighting designs prevent any light leakage and hot spots from occurring, and also result in much brighter light guide film and interface.

The design typically consists of 1-4 side-firing LEDs as the light source. Hot pressing optical patterns or micro lens on the surface of the PC film to refract lights guided by the PC film. It can be easily assembled with dome switch or molded in keypad. 

The Features and Advantages of Light Guide Film are as follows:

Slim & Sleek Design

1. PC/PU/TPU film with optical pattern design (.125 – .30 mm thick)

2. Surface light source

3. High uniformed brightness

Cost

1. 50% cheaper than EL panels

2. 40% cheaper than using standalone LEDs

Energy Consumption

1. 6 LEDs light: 90mA. (LED: 15mA/pcs)

2 . LEDs + LGF: 40mA. (LED: 20mA/pcs)

Durability

1. LED light source offers 50,000 hours of life.

2. PC film is extremely durable and can function in bothhigh or low temperatures.

Use the Light Guide Film (LGF) for Keypads or LCD backlighting allows for backlighting only where needed. The CSI solution allows for uniform distribution of light regardless of the distance from LEDs. It also allows for segmentation of areas to avoid light leakage between areas or colors.

What Industries Use Membrane Switches?​

What Industries Use Membrane Switches?

CSI Keyboards designs and manufactures user and human machine interface products for a wide variety of industries. CSI has designed keypads that are used in medical instrumentation designed to be sealed from moisture and contaminants. Our membrane switches are also utilized in industries such as electronic test and telecommunication networking equipment. Industrial controls and fitness equipment are also industries where membrane switches are the user interface of choice. We have produced keypads for the military which help save lives overseas, as well as keypads for medical equipment to help save lives here at home. CSI has also developed and manufactured products to be used out on the sea, and others for air and space travel. CSI has designed and assembled custom food equipment keypads, custom lighting control keypads, custom appliance keypads, CAN/BUS custom keypads, custom automotive keypads, and custom fitness keypads. 

No matter the industry or application, we are always eager to demonstrate our extensive capabilities as one of the top keyboard manufacturers in the world. Below is a list of some of the industries that we have served over the last 35+ years:

  1. Medical
  2. Military
  3. Industrial Controls
  4. Aerospace
  5. Marine Navigation
  6. Lighting & Lighting Controls
  7. CAN/BUS Controls
  8. Food Equipment
  9. Appliance
  10. Automotive
  11. Fitness
  12. Sporting goods