ALPS Develops “SKTK Series” TACT Switch™

Double the Travel Despite a Low Profile

Munich, Germany, October 06, 2015 – ALPS has developed the “SKTK Series” TACT Switch™ with IP67 dust and water resistance, ideal for home function switches on smartphones. Mass production is already underway.

Smartphones have recently started to include home function switches for greater operability and fingerprint recognition switches for enhanced security. Used frequently, these switches need to provide a pleasant, clear operating feel over a long operating life to maintain the quality of the smartphone.

Smartphone casings have little space to house parts and switches must simultaneously realize a low profile, long travel distance, long life and excellent feel, all without affecting operability.

Recognizing these market needs, ALPS has developed the SKTK Series TACT Switch™, which delivers on all of the above features. Mass production began in September.

ALPS applied mechanical design expertise accumulated over many years to realize a TACT Switch™ with external dimensions of 5.9 × 4.0mm and a height of 0.78mm for a low profile while at the same time achieving a 0.23mm travel, almost double the travel of existing switches of the same size. An excellent operating feel and a one-million-cycle long life on a par with game controllers have also been achieved and will help to improve the reliability of end products.

To ensure sound reliability, a projection structure was adopted for the metal contact. This both prevents differences in feel caused by position variations during installation and enables stable operation of the switch even when it is pressed from the edge or diagonally. The projection structure used is an “inner projection.” This increases projection strength, thereby improving durability.

Features
TACT Switch™ achieving low profile, long travel, long life and excellent feel

Principal Applications

Specifications

Model:
SKTK Series
Dimensions (W×D×H):
5.9 × 4.0 × 0.78mm
Operating force:
2.5N
Travel:
0.23mm
Operating life:
1,000,000 cycles
Rating (max.)
50mA 12V DC
Contact resistance:
500 mΩ max.
Protective structure:
IP67

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.