General Silicones advances silicone rubber for smart control panels

Hsinchu, Taiwan – Silicone products manufacturer General Silicones (GS) is supplying its Compo-SiL technology to Taiwan-based Cochief for the creation of new touch-sensor controls, GS recently announced.

The cooperation, said GS, will support increasing demand for human-machine interfaces (HMIs) in outside of the consumer-products arena – including in devices for interaction and control on automotive dashboards.

Conventional interface surfaces, said the company, use glass or acrylic materials, which give users a hard and dry tactile feedback and lack the “superior haptic feel” of silicone rubber.

GS believes its patented Compo-SiL technology offers Cochief several advantages that previously used materials for its touch sensors could not deliver. 

For example, the company said the soft touch and feel can be modified to provide different friction levels, while embossments can mimic surface patterns of other materials such as leather. 

“Combined with the ability to make the silicone semi-transparent and the use of standard adhesion procedures, the Compo-SiL silicone rubber opens new pathways for improved HMIs,” GS further stated.

A patented polyurethane-modified layer, it continued, allows for digital printing to give the appearance of surface structures like wood or metal and to indicate the location of buttons and sliding switches. 

Cochief “can bring all the benefits that silicone rubber provides to create advanced human-machine interfaces,” commented Michael Lin, CEO of General Silicones in an 8 July statement.

“We are just starting to understand what potential our cooperation can deliver to the many industries requiring HMIs," added Lin.