Membrane Switches
Hoffmann + Krippner custom membrane switches empower exceptional product design for the perfect membrane switch keyboards and other man-machine interface solutions.
Membrane switches stand out even among the wide array of user interface options available today. Compact, cost-effective, and endlessly customizable, it’s no wonder they have become so popular in homes, offices, and industrial applications as a favored tool of product designers and managers.
Hoffmann + Krippner elevates an already excellent product. Designed and manufactured according to DIN (Deutsches Institut für Normung e.V., the German Institute for Standardization) standards, our membrane switches offer world-class engineering, incorporate in-house patented technology, and have set European and worldwide standards in longevity, functionality, and design.
With unrivaled durability (even self-healing after damage), flexibility, and features that please end-users (like our own GT Technology for producing attractive, resilient domed keys), our custom membrane switches and membrane switch keyboards can help you put the finishing touches on your exceptional product.
What would you like to know about our membrane switches?
- What sets them apart?
- What special features do they include?
- What custom membrane switch options are available?
- How they can work as part of a larger custom membrane switch solution?
- How are they manufactured?
Or please contact us here to start developing your custom membrane switch today.
Why use a Hoffmann + Krippner membrane switch keyboard or keypad?
Our membrane switches are endlessly customizable to create the perfect product design.
Product managers and designers need world-class parts and tools if they want to design best-in-business products. Thanks to easy and comprehensive customization options, Hoffmann + Krippner screen- and digital-printed custom membrane switches can be adapted to virtually any possible design idea, regardless of application. Custom membrane switches, keyboards, and keypads can:
- Be made with and without tactile feedback, and rigid or flexible
- Mounted on printed circuit board, allowing for more compact designs
- Take up less space than other input devices, leaving designers more options
Other design options include (but are not limited to):
- Illuminated keys with backlit membrane switches
- Raised (domed) keys (see GT Technology below for more information)
- Double contact switches for enhanced security
Our membrane switches offer user-friendly operability for a better end-user experience.
Successful products please users; and tactile feedback makes input devices easier and more pleasing to use, while simultaneously reducing information entry error rates. Our membrane switches with tactile feedback ensure clear, low-bounce switching behavior, regardless of who is using it, while the shape of the contact fields guarantees reliable contact. Further, our membrane switches:
- Facilitate optimal ergonomic operation of user interface
- Can enhance or replace tactile feedback with optical and/or acoustic signals
- Are compact and safe to operate
- Can provide a graphic overlay visible in a 180° radius
- Are easy to clean with a variety of cleaning materials, including fluids
Our membrane switches enjoy extended durability and exceptional working lifespan.
Hoffmann + Krippner membrane switches offer over one million operations or switching cycles, in a variety of environmental conditions.
- With no moving parts, there is no mechanical wear of the contacts
- Hoffmann + Krippner uses only the most reliable parts and materials
- Some models use gold-plated electrical contact surfaces to increase longevity
- Sealable design protects against water or chemical fluid ingress into the switch area
- There is no danger of an electrostatic discharge
- Self-healing features can repair damage without user action (see below)
Our membrane switches are excellent for hygiene-critical environments.
Some applications place additional demands on the products used, and membrane switches can easily accommodate specialized applications, such as health care, food production, nuclear technology, and more.
In fact, advanced technologies in Hoffmann + Krippner membrane switches open completely new avenues for product design in these areas, including antimicrobial surface preparation (detailed further below). Additionally, due to its high voltage and frequency, EL lighting is often not permitted in medical technology, while H + K’s LED-based keypad lighting can be used freely.
Hoffmann + Krippner Membrane Switch Turnkey Solutions
Hoffmann + Krippner can provide a complete solution from a single source.
Easily adaptable and highly functional, our custom membrane switches and membrane switch keyboards can be integrated into a vast array of products, applications, and situations. Even better, they work seamlessly with other Hoffmann + Krippner products, including touchscreens and input devices. With our partners OKW and TES-Frontdesign, we can also incorporate an extensive portfolio of beautifully-designed, cost-effective enclosures – including stainless steel or aluminum.
Consequently, our custom membrane switches can be incorporated into full turnkey solutions that solve almost any technical need or challenge, complete with expert design and engineering from Hoffmann + Krippner. If you’d like to speak with one of our consultants to solicit input about your project or to inquire about our membrane switches, please send us a message here.
You can review our gallery of membrane switches products here, or keep scrolling down to learn about industry-leading options available with our membrane switches.
Options Available with Hoffmann + Krippner Membrane Switches
Membrane Switch Backlighting with Side-LEDs
Many machines and work stations operate in low light conditions, which mandates internally illuminated membrane switches. An ingenious combination of side-LED and light diffusing panels improves upon electroluminescent film (EL film) technology to offer extensive color options, low power consumption, flat design, and long lifespan.
LED equipped backlit membrane switches by Hoffmann + Krippner are less than 3mm thick and provide a uniform, bright, long-lasting illumination. Optionally, we can achieve a full light separation between the keys and allow to separately illuminate each individual key. The use of bi-color or RGB LEDs also provides a virtually unlimited choice of colors. In combination with our GT technology, the lighting effect can be enhanced even further.
Featured Benefits
- ► Ideal extension to membrane switches
- ► Extremely flat, cold light source
- ► Even surface illumination of lettering on keyboard
- ► Wide range of brightness adjustments
For more information about Side-LED Illumination, get the datasheet here.
Double Contact Membrane Switches
Double contact membrane switches offer enhanced security and maximum reliability through keys with two switch levels. A speed function (slow/fast) controlling a crane, for example, requires two distinctly different switching functions. Hoffmann + Krippner has developed membrane switches with double contact functions specifically for such requirements. For example, the first switching level is activated at a pressure of around 7N, and the second level at about 13N.
Double contact membrane switches offer a guaranteed service life of 1 million operating cycles with increased robustness through spherical, domed keys (see “GT technology” below), and sealed overlay – all with an overall thickness of about 3mm.
Review our gallery of membrane switches products here, or keep scrolling down to learn how our membrane switches are constructed to improve your applications.
Special Features of Hoffmann + Krippner Membrane Switches
Advanced nanotechnology protects against damage.
We use nanotechnology to create dirt-repelling overlays that protect against any kind of contamination and mechanical damage. The front foil of every Hoffmann + Krippner membrane switch is printed from the back side. The upper layer of the membrane switch, with its sandwich construction, offers effective protection and the overlay can be easily cleaned and disinfected.
“For more information about GT Technology, get the datasheet here.”
Domed Keys with GT Technology ensures unbeatable key durability and longevity.
Hoffmann + Krippner patented GT technology provides a raised key feature for membrane switches. Raised keys allow the operator to feel where the key is located and trigger its functions without having to see the otherwise flat key. As such, GT keys enable accessible products, such as safe operation by blind operators.
Furthermore, with a dome-shaped area of shiny plastic accurately positioned onto the front of the membrane switch, GT increases the readability of keys and signal or control lights, as well as the viewing angle for the keys and user interface. GT provides:
- Creative aesthetics and exclusive design possibilities, e.g. application of the domes onto company logos, displays, LEDs, etc.
- Pleasant, operator-friendly keyboard overlay with optimal haptic
- Accelerated data entry thanks to elastic key domes
Self-Healing technology restores original shape after damage.
GT technology also enables self-healing properties that can be used for large, rectangular keys for tough industrial applications. The GT material has a self-healing feature, which almost magically brings the dome back to its original shape after the key has been damaged with something like the tip of a screw driver. To learn more, please contact us and request a free sample
- Extremely high chemical and mechanical durability of keys
- Pressure points due to hard objects “heal” on their own and leave no scratch
Antimicrobial membrane switches, keyboards, and keypads are hygienic for a lifetime.
For hygienically demanding environments, such as medical and food processing applications, Hoffmann + Krippner offers a specially developed antimicrobial film for sustained protection of membrane switches and keypads against bacterial contamination.
This innovative membrane switch material combines antimicrobial properties with a hard, durable surface. The antimicrobial protection is directly integrated into the hard-structured coating to ensure an even distribution of the antimicrobial agent across the entire overlay for the product’s service life.
When microorganisms encounter the surface of your user interface, their cell walls are penetrated by the protective agents within the membrane. Cell functions are interrupted, which prevents further growth and cell reproduction.
We also offer standalone medical keyboards, the keywi CleanBoard and keywi CleanBoard Mini, specifically for use in demanding medical environments where hygiene is paramount.
For more information about antimicrobial protection, get the datasheet here.
The antimicrobial effectiveness was tested with the following bacteria (Test method: AATCC Test Method 100):
- Staphyloccus aureus (MRSA)
- Escherichia coli 0157
- Listeria monocytogenes
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa
- Salmonella enteritidis
- Bacillus cereus
- Streptococcus faecalis
- Kelbsiella pneumoniae
- Aspergillus niger
- Penicillium purpurogenum
- Phoma violacea
- Saccharmyces cerevisae
Chemical Properties Resistant Against (Test method: DIN 42115):
- Alcohol
- Diluted acids
- Diluted alkalis
- Ester
- Hydrocarbons
- Ketones
- Household cleaners
Ready to start?
Hoffmann + Krippner provides state of the art custom input solutions for the ultimate man-machine interface experience. Put us through the test!
Please contact us to get started or directly fill out our non-binding form for a custom membrane switch proposal.
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