Polymer composite enhances safety for P-cap touch displays
Material technology for use with P-cap (projected capacitive) touchscreens, Polym Touch, has been developed by AMT, and is available from Review Display Systems (RDS).
Polym Touch uses a new polymer composite material as the top cover lens to enhance the protection of the P-cap substrate. It is claimed to “significantly improve the ability to withstand impact forces”.
Impact resistant P-cap touch displays typically require thick glass cover lenses, yet health and safety regulations dictate that equipment and production machinery used within the food industry, and public information terminals and kiosks, must avoid the use of glass materials in touch-based systems. The weight of the glass cover increases significantly as the size of the product increases but Polym Touch’s polymer composite for the cover lens weighs half glass of the equivalent size, said RDS.
The polymer composite cover lens enables the complete P-cap touch solution to be thin, lightweight, and exceptionally durable. It also has “significantly improved” impact resistance while still meeting the requirements of the IK10 drop ball test rating (equivalent to a 5kg mass dropped from 400mm above the impact surface), said the company.
The composite polymer material also features anti-UV properties and meets the ASTM G154-Cycle 1QUV 1000 hours standard for measuring accelerated outdoor weathering conditions. Polym Touch is therefore able to withstand UV ray damage without any additional processing. An operating temperature range of -30 to +60 degrees C is supported.
Polym Touch is suitable for small and medium-sized products that need to be lightweight, rugged, and able to meet industry standard drop test specifications, said Justin Coleman, display business manager, RDS. “The new Polym Touch cover lens solution offers greater scope and versatility for new P-cap touch designs,” he added.
The polymer composite material can be applied to a range of AMT P-cap designs and offers support for a wide range of touch controllers including PenMount P2 series (Microchip IC), PenMount K1 series (ILITEK IC), and AE series (EETI IC) touch controllers.
AMT Polym Touch is now available from Review Display Systems for P-cap touch panels with up to 15-inch displays with 362 x 216mm mechanical outline dimensions. Cover lens thicknesses of 1.0mm, 1.5mm and 2.0mm are supported.
