Aircraft Button Manufacturing Process丨Airplane Button

Aircraft Button

Aircraft Button also called as aircraft switches and buttons, airplane button, plane buttons, plane cockpit buttons, aeroplane buttons etc., which is made of transparent elastomer silicone rubber material to be with long lifetime, high elasticity and reliability, good tactile feeling and robust characteristic.

Due to the wide service temperature range, silicone material’s versatility, and easier to application, silicone rubber button become one of the widely used switch technology in airplane cockpit buttons for aircraft flight control system.

Aircraft Buttons Group

Aircraft Buttons With Assembly Housing Case

 

In aim to achieve different aircraft button functions, customers usualy require laser cutting legends&patterns&characters design into the aircraft button surface to allow light to shine through.  

Xiamen Better Silicone Rubber Co.,ltd has rich exprience in customizing and producing the laser cutting aircraft button, airplane buttons, aeroplane buttons, plane cockpit buttons. Laser etching aircraft cockpit button refers to a process in which a high-powered laser is used to remove the top layer of paint on a keypad.

Aircraft Buttons Manufacturing Processes - 

Procedure 1: Molding the transparent or translucent silicone base by compression mold

Procedure 2: Spray white ink coating and black/grey ink coating on the button surface (Customers choose the colors they required)

Procedure 3: Making the laser etching positioning tools according to customer's artwork of legends, then put the sprayed silicone buttons at the specified position, removing the well sprayed black ink coating layer by laser etching (burning away paint in select area), and come-out/reveal the white symbols&characters.

Procedure 4: For preventing the wearing off of the legends on the button surface, most of customers make the choice to spray PU coating or epoxy coating on the button surface for abrasion resistance.

Aircraft Buttons Laser Etching/Cutting Manufacturing Tips -

1.Uneven and less spraying will lead to light leakage

Improvement methods are as follows:

1) Increase spraying time

2) Move evenly when spraying all sides of the button 

3) Make spraying thicker, such as spray twice if required

4) Use good quality ink coating

2.Even and thicker spraying make aircraft cockpit buttons with good shading effect

   There are two effects if spray coating -

1) Spray coating will effect the thickness of the button

2) Spray coating will effect the actuation force and tactile feel if there have key-webbing structure

    

For more details of standard Aircraft Button which made by silicone rubber material, 

please refer to the Aircraft Button Catalog as following -

Why Choose Silicone Rubber Material For Aircraft Buttons?

Aircraft button made by silicone Rubber Button with thermal stability, its low modulus and low glass-transition point enable rubber push button to remain elastic at low temperatures and resist breakdown at high temperatures or in ultraviolet (UV) light, which can withstand the high and low temperature and still maintain the flexibility characters.

Furthermore, airplane button made of silicone material with high dielectric strength (typically ≥ 500 V/mil) and a large coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), it allows airplane buttons to absorb stresses when thermal cycling.

Thus, using silicone rubber to produce plane buttons can meet the extreme environment temperature environment of the aerospace&aircraft industry requirements.

Following Are The Benefits/Advantages Of using Silicone Rubber Material To Make Aircraft Buttons.

1) Made by excellent silicone material which is high resistance to dirt fluids, acids, bases, chemicals, water, oil and fungus, thermal influences etc.,

2) Excellent abrasion resistance with Epoxy/PU coating

3) Wide operating temperature -40°C to +250°C is possilbe

4) UV resistance

5) Rarely risk of maininance

6) Elasticity and flexibility

7) Shape, colour and backlight easy to realize

8) Low outgassing

9) Flame repellent

10) Low chemical reactivity

11) Electrical insulation

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