LED savings on rheometer control panel

Printed light guide technology from Design LED has enabled the creation of an advanced control panel for a Malvern Instruments Kinexis rheometer.

Featuring enhanced ergonomics, compact dimensions and direct communication with host software, the control panel supports intuitive access to the instrument's specialised functions.

Using Design LED's technologies to build low-profile, backlit capacitive switches, IGT Industries - the human-machine interface specialist and a manufacturing partner of Design LED Products - has created a clear and informative control panel featuring intuitive colour effects using a single LED per window.

This has saved 66 per cent of the LEDs normally required to build a panel supporting comparable features and consistent illumination.

Additional benefits include reduced size and cost, faster assembly, improved ergonomics and an attractive, hi-tech appearance.

The control panel overlay is reverse-printed on textured polyester in black, silver and chrome, and completes the user interface design.

Printed light guide technology, developed by Design LED, combines processes used to build membrane keypads with innovative techniques to enable light from LEDs to be distributed to precisely controlled locations.

No hard tooling is required, and the light guides are able to produce consistent colour and brightness across a surface area up to 50 x 50cm.

Potential applications include control panels, instrumentation, signage, general lighting products and specialised applications such as merchandising and branding.

By allowing designers to achieve interesting effects using low-voltage LED technology, including colour-change lighting using RGB sources, printed light guides enable new creative freedoms for designers and also remove challenges such as designing the inverter for an electroluminescent system.

Illumination is scalable and proportionate to the number of LEDs in each light guide segment.

Luminance values from 50 to 5000cd/m2 can be achieved, according to individual project requirements.

Additional advantages include the ability to build flexible illuminated panels, create straight or curved edges, and easily add custom graphics.

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