What are industrial keypads?
Industrial keyboards are keyboards that will find their main application in projects with increased technical requirements, where classic - plastic, destkop keyboards, will not necessarily be the best solution. Industrial keyboards are dedicated to installation in places where we have to deal with extremely high or low temperatures, high dust, moisture, water, the possibility of mechanical damage or contact with chemical substances such as acids.
Types of industrial keyboards
Industrial keypads can be divided into several main categories depending on the type of assembly and the material they are made of. As the main ones, we distinguish stainless steel keypads with IP65 protection, glass keypads, silicone keypads with IP68 protection, medical keypads (compliant with EN 60601-1-2) and membrane (film) keypads. Industrial keypads typically allow mounting in several ways, including panel mounting (i.e., built-in keypads), rack mounting or free-standing (classic) mounting. In addition, industrial keyboards are characterized by the possibility of having a built-in mouse in the form of a touchpad or trackball.
Example application sites
Depending on the conditions in which the keyboard is potentially to work, we should select a keyboard of the appropriate type. The following table shows the resistance of keyboards to selected external factors:
| high temperatures | low temperatures | pollution | humidity | water | mechanical damage | chemicals | EMC for EN 60601-1-2 | |
| stainless steel keypads | x | x | x | x | x | x | ||
| glass keyboards | x | x | ||||||
| silicone keyboards | x | x | x | x | x | x | ||
| medical keyboards | x | x | x | |||||
| membrane keyboards | x | x | x | x | x |
As you can see, stainless steel keypads will be ideal for heavy industry, where they are exposed to mechanical damage, water, dust or extreme temperatures. A typical place of application for a stainless steel keypad would be gaming machines, CNC machine controls or a glass processing plant using industrial machinery for the process. An example of a stainless steel keyboard is Inputel's keyboard, KB-CA1 with 66 keys and a trackball.
Glass keypads, due to their good resistance to chemicals, detergents and ease of cleaning, are best suited for simple medical applications where medical compliance is not required, such as hospital corridor controls.
Silicone keypads, thanks to their high resistance to temperature, dust, water moisture and chemicals, have a very wide range of practical applications, from hospitals to tobacco factories, where the key to reliability is high resistance to very fine dust. An example of a silicone keyboard is Inputel's keyboard, SK301 with 102 keys and built-in mouse buttons.
Medical keyboards that are compliant with medical standard EN 60601-1-2 will find use in the most restrictive places, such as hospitals, clinics and medical laboratories. One of the medical keyboards, is the KG19269 keyboard from manufacturer GETT, with 106 keys and a numeric block.
Membrane keyboards, are characterized by a relatively low price, resistance to temperature, dust, chemicals and mechanical damage. Combined with the very high possibility of customizing the appearance and thickness of the keyboard for specific design requirements, membrane keyboards are mainly installed as part of other electronic devices, such as at control machines.
We hope that our article has helped you choose the right industrial keyboard for your project. However, if you still have doubts, please feel free to consult our commercial department.
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