Control without touching to minimise COVID-19 risks

14th July 2020

Schurter AG

Alex Lynn

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The threat of the COVID-19 is forcing us all to take far-reaching measures to reduce health risks as much as is possible. Many SCHURTER customers have questions about the hygiene of control panels. Are these applications hygienic enough? SCHURTER offers the possibility to control without touching.

Operate capacitive switches without touching them: SCHURTER has developed a special capacitive sensor with extra active guard. This results in maximum sensitivity, allowing the finger to be noticed sooner. The guard ensures that the capacitive action of the CapKey is more concentrated towards the user. The capacitive key can therefore be operated without touching the glass. Keeping one finger near the CapKey is enough for a good switching contact.

In the development of PCAP sensors, SCHURTER has taken an important new step when it comes to hygiene. By developing sensors and fine-tuning the controller, SCHURTER has succeeded in making a projected capacitive touch screen ‘touchless’.

The touchscreen reacts at a small distance between the finger and the actual surface. The hardware and software settings of the PCAP controller, especially in terms of sensitivity, are crucial in this respect. With our extensive knowledge of design and firmware we have been able to make this development possible.

The ‘touchless’ operation of CapKey and PCAP control panels ensures exceptional hygiene. Coffee and parking machines no longer need to be touched. The touch screens at petrol stations, kiosks and in many other places remain untouched and therefore cleaner.

The customer can decide if the ‘touchless’ option requires to be switched on or off on the application; SCHURTER’s engineers will make sure that this change can be carried out by the customer himself.