Autotex film gives keyboards stainless finish
A
MacDermid Autotype product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Jun 8, 2009
MacDermid Autotype has introduced a hardcoated polyester film for producing stainless-steel effects for membrane keyboards, keypads and fascia panels.
The Autotex Steel film is easy to handle and print, combining high levels of colour reproduction and definition with a tough outer surface that offers excellent resistance to abrasions and many chemicals and solvents.
This hardcoat film offers stainless finish for keyboards and graphic panels
Autotex Steel is manufactured using a conventional flexible polyester substrate.
This is coated with an ink adhesion layer on the underside or reverse and a specially developed hardcoat outer layer that is chemically bonded and UV cured.
The hardcoat layer has a textured finish that, when the film is printed on the reverse with standard metallic or silver inks, creates the appearance of a brushed stainless-steel panel.
This film-based solution offers many advantages over conventional stainless-steel materials, including the ability to produce high-quality keyboard or graphics panels at a lower cost, using standard screen processes.
Autotex Steel can easily be embossed, making it ideal for use with domed tactile membrane keypads or in applications in which keys or panel areas need to have raised edges.
Embossed areas have an excellent flex modulus, with a typical flex life for domed keys in excess of five-million actuations.
Unlike stainless steel, Autotex Steel does not show fingerprints and can easily be printed with clear display-windows, or can contain secret-until-lit graphics, with the film offering excellent colour rendition and light transmission in clear areas.
Graphics are normally reverse-printed, so are protected from wear and abrasion by the body of the film substrate and the textured hardcoat layer.
This layer has also been formulated to resist a variety of common industrial solvents and cleaning fluids, including alcohols, ketones, weak acids and hydrocarbons.
Autotex Steel can be supplied in thicknesses of either 150 or 200 microns, with each being available for use with solvent or UV cured inks, offering product designers and screen printers an efficient and versatile method of developing striking and high-quality graphics products with the appearance of stainless steel.
Not what you're looking for? Search the site.
Contact MacDermid Autotype
Tel +44 1235 771111
Other MacDermid Autotype stories
-
Pre-pay meters utilise MacDermid polyester films
Autostat polyester films from MacDermid Autotype are being used by Metalgrapho in the production of a range of pre-pay electricity and water meters. -
Antimicrobial film used in nurse call systems
Antimicrobial film from MacDermid Autotype is being used in a range of Medicare nurse call systems to ensure the devices meet the stringent hygiene standards demanded by hospitals. -
MacDermid supplies polyester film technology
MacDermid Autotype has supplied its polyester film technology to Minimax for use in its FMZ 5000 central fire-alarm system, which offers superior fire detection and automatic fire extinguishing. -
Film protects medical alarms from microbes
Autotex AM hard coated film incorporates a specially developed Microban antimicrobial agent, which is evenly distributed throughout the film coating. -
Polyester film provides hygiene boost
SIGMAGraF Shield AM is a heat-stabilised polyester film with a UV-cured hard coating on the front side and a pressure sensitive, acrylic adhesive on its reverse surface.
Browse by category
-
Capital Equipment (3,429)
- Capital Equipment (1)
- Compressors and Air Treatment (522)
- Electrical hardware (131)
- Electronics Manufacturing, Tools, Instruments (192)
- Machinery and Production Equipment (1,108)
- Manufacturing Machinery and Plant Equipment (468)
- Production line blowers and fans (65)
- Robotics, Handling and Storage (942)
- Consultancy and Services (909)
-
Control and Instrumentation (5,073)
- Cabling, Conduit, Signal Conditioning (808)
- CNC and Motion Controllers (187)
- Control and Instrumentation (2)
- HMIs/Operator Interfaces (295)
- Logic Controllers, Timers and Relays (96)
- Mid-range and Large PLCs (202)
- Plant- and Machine-Wide Communications (1,187)
- Plantwide control (1,338)
- Power Supplies, Uninterruptible Power (570)
- Smaller-Sized PLCs (388)
-
Drives, Motors and Controls (3,402)
- Drives, Motors and Controls (1)
- Industrial Drives/Controls (1,285)
- Industrial Motors (500)
- Linear Drives and Motors (117)
- Precision Motors and Gears (420)
- Stepper and Servo Drives, Motors, Controls (1,077)
-
Electrical and Electronic Equipment Design (4,213)
- Batteries, chargers and circuit protection (559)
- Connectors, Terminals, Busbars, Slip Rings (695)
- Electrical and Electronic Components (636)
- Electrical and Electronic Equipment Design (1)
- Electrical and Electronic Subassemblies (371)
- Enclosures and Equipment Cooling Fans (713)
- Knobs, Handles and Enclosure Hardware (426)
- PCs and Embedded Systems (812)
-
Engineering Design Software (6,245)
- 2D CAD software (201)
- 3D CAD software (1,163)
- CAM, CNC, production management software (572)
- Data, document management software (315)
- Electrical design software (165)
- Engineering Design Software (15)
- FEA and structural analysis software (374)
- File conversion software, data capture (355)
- Fluid, thermal, noise, vibration software (334)
- Materials design and moulding design software (152)
- Maths, charting, statistics, QA software (320)
- PLM and collaboration software (652)
- Process, instrumentation, automation software (264)
- Publishing and documentation software (233)
- Rendering, visualisation, styling software (201)
- Simulation, modelling, validation software (929)
-
Engineering Industry News, Resources (6,146)
- Electronic Resources for Engineers (278)
- Engineering Business News, Views (388)
- Engineering Conferences (433)
- Engineering Education, Resources, Standards (845)
- Engineering Exhibitions, Events (568)
- Engineering Guides, Newsletters (357)
- Engineering Industry Developments, Awards (636)
- Engineering Industry News, Resources (4)
- Engineering Industry Reports, Surveys (597)
- Engineering Recruitment, Employment (219)
- Engineering Seminars (405)
- Engineering Training Courses (443)
- Health and Safety Consultancy, Software (176)
- Health and Safety Events, Training, News (280)
- Health and Safety Legislation (402)
- Health and Safety Strategy, Risk Assessment (115)
- Machine Building (4,573)
-
Materials and Processing (2,998)
- Materials and components (2,241)
- Materials and Processing (5)
- Materials processing and testing (288)
- Rapid Prototyping (464)
-
Monitoring, Measurement and Quality (5,548)
- Data Acquisition Hardware and PC I/O Boards (479)
- Data acquisition Software and Communications (498)
- Data loggers (423)
- Electrical and Electronic Testing, PAT Equipment (636)
- Form/co-ordinate, optical, vision instruments (737)
- Gauges, Indicators and Instruments (446)
- Materials testing equipment (420)
- Monitoring, Measurement and Quality (1)
- Telecomms/network test equipment, software etc (156)
- Testing and Calibration Services and Information (510)
- Testing, analysing and monitoring equipment (1,242)
-
Powertrain Design (3,654)
- Bearings (960)
- Chains and belts (330)
- Gears, brakes, couplings and engines (1,456)
- Hydraulic Components (473)
- Lubricants (431)
- Powertrain Design (3)
-
Sensors (7,155)
- Accelerometers and Vibration Sensors (436)
- Barcode Sensors (103)
- Flowmeters and Flow Sensors (624)
- Gas, Chemical, Radiation, Magnetic Sensors (286)
- Humidity and Environmental Sensors (155)
- Level Sensors and Leak Detectors (529)
- Linear Position Sensors (408)
- Loadcells, Force Sensors, Torque Sensors (712)
- Pressure sensors (626)
- Proximity Sensors (708)
- Rotary Position, Tilt and Angular Sensors (551)
- Sensors (8)
- Temperature sensors (613)
- Vision and Colour Sensors (1,396)
- Small Mechanical Components, Joining, Tools (1,989)
- Valves, Pumps, Process Hardware (3,664)
