When shopping for keypads to use at your business’s workplace, you may notice that some of them are made of silicone rubber. Silicone rubber doesn’t have the same stiff and rigid texture as traditional plastic. Rather, it’s softer and more elastic. What are silicone rubber keypads, and why you choose them over traditional plastic keypads?
What Is a Silicone Rubber Keypad?
A silicone rubber keypad is any keypad that uses silicone rubber for the webbing material. Most keypads have webbing material. Webbing material is the “stuff” that connects a button to the base of a keypad. It wraps around the center of a switch while forming a shell. Silicone rubber keypads are defined by their use of silicone rubber webbing material.
The Basics of How Silicone Rubber Keypads Work
The mechanics of silicone rubber keypads are relatively simple. Each of the keypad’s buttons essentially has its own switch. Directly underneath each button is a conductive contact, such as a carbon or cold pill. Following this conductive contact is a layer of air. Below the layer of air is another conductive contact. Pressing a button will push its contact into that of the bottom layer, thereby completing the circuit.
Other keypads use a similar method of operation as well. Only silicone rubber keypads, however, feature silicone rubber webbing material. The webbing material is placed around each of the keypad’s buttons. It’s responsible for creating the layer of air that separates the buttons’ two conductive contacts.
Why Choose Silicone Rubber Keypads
When compared to other types of keypads, silicone rubber keypads typically offer greater protection against moisture and liquids. Silicone rubber, of course, is naturally resistant to moisture and liquids. Even when used in a humid environment, moisture won’t penetrate into or past the keypad’s silicone rubber webbing material. This makes silicone rubber keypads a popular choice for use in restaurants, manufacturing facilities and other environments where moisture or liquids is a concern.
Silicone rubber keypads also produce tactile feedback. When you release your finger from one of the keypad’s buttons, you’ll feel it spring back up. Silicone rubber has excellent memory recall properties. In other words, it will retain its shape after being deformed. The silicone rubber webbing material will revert back to its original shape when you release your finger from the button, thus creating tactile feedback that you can feel and hear.
