NKK Switches' Subminiature Full-Face Illuminated PushButtons with Ultra Quiet Actuation

ELECTRONICS:  NKK Switches recently announced the availability of the HB2 Series of subminiature pushbuttons with full-face illumination and quiet actuation. The compact and contemporary design of this series makes it the preferred choice for a cutting edge appeal on front panel designs.The HB2 Series was developed in response to design engineers’ requests for a smaller version of NKK’s acclaimed KP01 Series of pushbuttons. HB2 Series switches are SPST momentary devices featuring quiet actuation combined with a crisp tactile feedback, making them especially well-suited for telecommunications, medical, test, measurement, audio and broadcast equipment.

These pushbuttons come standard with either red/green or red/yellow bicolor built-in LEDs; the red/yellow combination can be combined to produce amber illumination. The LEDs are an integral part of the design and as a result, illumination is evenly diffused throughout.

Caps for HB2 Series switches were specially designed to accommodate various methods of applying legends. Options include laser etching, screen printing, film insert and pad printing. Custom legends, as well as value added assemblies, are available from NKK upon request.

The caps are 7.5 mm square and have a clear lens with a white diffuser. The stroke has a total travel 1.8 mm, with a pretravel of 1.3 mm and an overtravel of 0.5 mm.The nominal operating force is 1.8N. A unique actuation guide gives positive indication of circuit transfer and a smooth and quiet actuation.

The HB2 Series’ compact design is further accentuated with a short body height of just 17mm from the PC board to the top of the cap. The housing is black and made of glass fiber-reinforced polyamide. These devices feature especially secure PC board mounting and alignment with crimped power terminals that also prevent dislodging during soldering.

Mechanical and electrical life is rated at 100,000 operations minimum. Contact reliability for logic level switching is ensured with NKK’s award-winning Sliding Twin Crossbar (STC) design, providing unequalled reliability and long life. Rated at 0.4 VA maximum @ 28V ac/dc maximum, these switches also have contacts with gold plating and an operating temperature range of -13 through 122F.

- Edited by Liz Taurasi