PenMount Saves Projects with Ingenuity

08/23/2019 | Bulletin No. : PMY19008

Many customers come to PenMount when they discovery currently adopted touch solutions to be too rigid, cumbersome, or unwieldy to meet their needs.  The characteristics that distinguish PenMount software and hardware are flexibility, utility, and user-friendliness.  Due to this approach, we have numerous success stories focused on quickly overcoming serious functionality issues during customer operation.

One such project involves a wearable medical device.   Since this device is worn on patients long-term, risk of accidentally dropping the device on the floor is high, so a glass cover lens cannot be utilized on the medical device’s projected capacitive (PCAP) touch panel.  Thus, a polycarbonate material must be chosen for the cover lens.

The lower dielectric constant of polycarbonate compared to glass means that a polycarbonate cover lens will reduce the ability to detect PCAP touch signals.  The previous vendor offered to move the polycarbonate to the rear side and add a graphic overlay on the front side.  However, this type of design caused several problems when operating the PCAP touch panel.  The film-film (F/F) PCAP sensor was fragile and easily damaged (the graphic overlay is very soft) and it was difficult to render this structure water resistant.  The PCAP panel signal was frequently unstable and, when optically bonding touch panel and LCD screen, the bonding adhesive did not adhere well to the polycarbonate backing.

When the customer approached PenMount for a solution, we suggest positioning the polycarbonate backer to the front side of PCAP sensor. In the beginning, the customer was very skeptical regarding PenMount’s ability to provide a solution to the challenges of a polycarbonate cover lens.  We returned the polycarbonate panel to the front of a specially designed PCAP touch sensor.  When paired with finely tuned PenMount PCAP firmware, the touch panel was able to deliver superior touch performance as follows:

  • Highly sensitive and accurate performance utilizing a 3mm thick panel of polycarbonate.
  • PenMount product design allows for easier water proofing of the mechanism.
  • The PenMount touch solution enhances product durability.
  • Passes IEC 60601 EMC standard for medical devices.

PenMount’s range and degree of customization and our willingness to support our customers is unmatched in the industry.  Please contact our sales representatives and they will help you build a successful product whatever your market.

To learn more about PenMount’s industry leading noise immunity, please contact our sales representatives.

You are welcomed to download all of PenMount’s standard product data and drivers directly from our website at: //www.salt.com.tw and //www.PenMount.com.

If you have any suggestions or comments please send e-mail to: salt@salt.com.tw .


Salt International Corp.

ADD:8F., No. 43-8, Zhongxing Rd., Xizhi Dist., New Taipei City 221012, Taiwan
TEL:+ 886 – 2 – 2914 – 6684
FAX:+ 886 – 2 – 2911 – 5345
E-mail:salt@salt.com.tw