ALPS Develops and Commences Mass Production of “SKTH Series” TACT Switch™

Realizing Excellent Operating Feel and Dust Resistance

Munich, Germany, December 08, 2014 – ALPS has developed the “SKTH Series” TACT Switch™, ideal for automotive electronics such as keyless entry systems and car audio systems. Mass production is already underway. Automobiles today are equipped with a wide range of functions contributing to vehicle comfort and safety, such as remote door opening and closing, and music playback. To ensure the reliability of these functions, the automotive systems enabling them need to be both dust-resistant and robust. Reliability is an especially important market requirement. Countermeasures to dust, in particular, not only improve reliability during use, but also help to prevent failure caused early on due to particles infiltrating products during system assembly. This makes it essential that components themselves are dust resistant. In response to these market needs, ALPS has developed and commenced mass production of the SKTH Series TACT Switch™. The SKTH Series employs metal contacts whose shape and material were optimized using mechanical design and material technology built up by ALPS over many years. These metal contacts, combined with an original sealed contact structure, realize both an excellent operating feel and an IP6x dust resistance rating. Furthermore, optimizing part materials and the internal structure has ensured high strength. High durability, even when pushed sideways, was realized along with a long operating life of 200,000 cycles, twice as long as the life of earlier models. Available with an operating force of 1.4N or 3N, and a stem length of 1.8mm or 2.5mm, the SKTH Series joins models like the SKRP and SKSG Series in ALPS TACT Switch™ lineup for the automotive market. By expanding the product variety, ALPS meets size, dust resistance and other diverse requirements of the market. Features TACT Switch™ with excellent compactness and dust resistance High strength realized by optimizing part composition and mechanical design IP6x dust resistance achieved using an original sealed contact structure Excellent operating feel maintained due to the metal contacts Ideal for automotive and other markets demanding high robustness Principal Applications Keyless entry systems and car audio and navigation systems Home appliances, PCs and other consumer electronics Specifications Model: SKTH Series Dimensions (W x D x H); 3.5mm x 3.2mm x 1.8 mm Operating force: 1.4 N Travel: 0.12 mm Operating life: 200,000 cycles Rating (max.): 16V DC 50mA Initial contact resistance: 1Ω max. For more information on the new the product please visit www.alps.com/products/e/npv_product/141113_SKTH/SKTH_E.PDF

ALPS Electric Co., Ltd. ALPS Electric (Tokyo: 6770) is a leading global manufacturer of high-quality electronic components for mobile devices, home electronics, vehicles and industrial equipment. With the philosophy of “Perfecting the Art of Electronics” ALPS Electric supplies over 40,000 different components to about 2,000 companies all over the world. For more information, visit www.alps.com. ALPS ELECTRIC EUROPE GmbH, a subsidiary of ALPS Electric Co., Ltd., was established in 1979. Since 2013 the European Head Office has been located in Munich and as such co-ordinates the Sales, Marketing and Product Engineering activities of our branch offices in Munich, Düsseldorf, Paris, Milton Keynes, Gothenburg as well as our sales office in Milan.