ALPS has developed a thin TACT switch that is the industry's first switch to achieve a long operating life of 3 million cycles. Sample shipments will commence from the end of September 2002.
Recently intensifying competition in development and a diversification of consumer needs has fueled demand for smaller and thinner mobile phones and information terminals that also have enhanced design features. This trend has been paralleled by demand for small and thinner components used in these communications devices.
Also, besides portable game machines, there have appeared various types of PDAs and mobile phones that enable games to be played. For game applications the frequency of usage is higher than for other conventional uses, leading to demand for long-life components in addition to those that are small and thin.
Taking into consideration these needs, this series features a thin switch that is 0.6 mm in height and uses a stainless metal contact with a large diameter of 6.0 mm, which enables a pleasant touch during operation and realizes a long operating life of 3 million cycles, giving it the durability for game applications. This represents a sixfold increase in operating life (operating force of 1.6N specifications) compared with ALPS' other thin TACT switches. Making a large-diameter metal contact enables the securing of a wide diameter 1.5 mm operating portion, where the key top of the set and the switch make contact. This enables a wider tolerance range for slippage of the positioning of the key top. This represents the realization of a more than three times wider area compared with the diameter 0.8 mm operating portion of ALPS' previous thin TACT switches. This also contributes to increased design freedom.
