HMI products: Touch panels, joy sticks add capabilities

Added features and enhancements to two operator interface products are among recent new offerings for automation and control systems. Included is a film-glass panel from Fujitsu Components America Inc. said to provide improved performance, and joysticks from Elobau Sensor Technology Inc. intended for use in a variety of applications.

With the introduction of a 4.3-in. diagonal film-glass panel said to offer superior performance in finger and stylus-based applications, Fujitsu Components America Inc . expands its resistive touch-panel offering. The company calls the move part of its commitment to supplying OEMs with competitively priced, standard-product touch panels with high performance specifications.

The 4-wire touch panel fits Sharp and NEC 4.3-in. LCDs commonly used in handheld applications, and in fixed applications suitable for small LCD screens. It features 86% transmissivity for improved viewing in high-ambient light conditions. Its design incorporates a double-layer PET film with 5% haze anti-glare hard coat that increases durability for finger and stylus input modes. Fujitsu’s proprietary anti-smudge feature resists fingerprints for a better appearance.

In other industrial HMI-related product news, Elobau Sensor Technology Inc . introduces its J4/J5 line of industrial joysticks . Products are designed for heavy-duty use on vehicles and equipment including machinery, cranes, forklifts, and material handling devices in such industries as oil and gas, construction, forestry, and agricultural. Compatible multi-function levers are available with pushbutton or thumbwheel operation to suit most any application.

The joysticks are offered in analog, digital, or PWM and CAN bus output versions. They resist EMC (electromagnetic compatibility) interferences and are housed in IP67 enclosures. Standard analog version provides a rotating magnetic field over a Hall effect sensor; the digital version uses a reed switch mechanism. Standard angular operating range is6is considered typical. Operating temperatures range from -40 to 85 °C (-40 to 185 °F). Knob configurations are available with up to eight pushbuttons or two thumbwheel pots onboard.

—Edited by Jeanine Katzel , senior editor
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Elobau Sensor Technology Inc is a CSIA member as of 3/1/2015

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