Capacitive switching with LED illuminated light-guides.

IGT Industries Ltd and partner Design LED Products Ltd announce the successful integration of it's thin printed lightguide technology with embedded Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) into a Capacitive Switch.

With a wide range of eye catching colours, LED illuminated displays gives customers' products the presence to stand out from the crowd and enhance the user interface functionality.

The switches are typically 1mm to 2 mm thick and include the capacitive switch sense pad, light guides with integral LEDs and outer graphic.

Selective illumination of keys or icons is used to guide through programming options by highlighting only the valid key choices. Simple animation effects communicate the devices operating mode.

Colour change is achieved by integrating two or more different LED's into each light-guide. This is also used to signal a change of device mode to the user.

Illuminating capacitive switches has traditionally caused problems to designers' as the electric field from the light source effects the operation of the switch. Design LED's thin printed lightguide technology allows the LED diodes to be located away from the capacitive sense pad and transports the light to the area to be illuminated.  Additionally the high reliability of LED's complements the capacitive switch, which has no moving parts.

Capacitive switches are already widely used in consumer and industrial goods. Design LED's light-guide technology appeals to a wide range of sectors including Consumer electronic, White goods, Medical, Automotive and Industrial products.

Iain Kyle, Business Manager of Design LED Products Ltd states, "Designers have a new medium to enhance the visual appearance, user friendliness, user feedback and functionality of switch & keypad products. If OEM's seek to improve user satisfaction gained from the interface to their products, then Design LED's light-guide technology used with capacitive switches deserves serious consideration"