How much pressure/force to push a mobile phone key

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the amount of force or pressure required to depress a key on a mobile phone. Participants explore the lack of readily available information on this topic and consider various approaches to obtain the data, including contacting manufacturers or looking for technical specifications.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Technical explanation, Homework-related

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses a need for information on the force required to depress a mobile phone key, noting the absence of resources and equipment for testing.
  • Another participant suggests contacting manufacturers directly for information.
  • A different participant doubts the likelihood of receiving a response from manufacturers and mentions the potential difficulty in finding the right contact.
  • A later reply points out that the actuation force varies by mobile phone model and that manufacturers specify this force for their buttons, referencing a specific example of a tactile switch that actuates with 5 Newtons.
  • One participant acknowledges the information provided about manufacturers using generic buttons, indicating appreciation for the clarification.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on a specific value for the force required to depress a mobile phone key, and multiple views on how to obtain this information are presented.

Contextual Notes

The discussion highlights the variability in actuation force across different mobile phone models and the dependence on manufacturer specifications. There is no resolution on the exact force required, and assumptions about the availability of information are noted.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in mobile phone design, engineering, or those conducting research related to user interface mechanics may find this discussion relevant.

James1986
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Homework Statement



This isn't homework, I just can't find any information on the internet, and I don't have the neccesary equipment available to perform a test.

Just wondering if anyone knows an average amount, or at least a link to a paper that has done something as mundain as this. How much force or pressure is required to depress a key on a mobile phone?

Thanks!
 
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You could try writing directly to various manufacturers.
 
Yeah, I thought about it, but I'd be shocked if they even gave my email any consideration. Plus finding the paper trail to the right person would take weeks of backwards and forwards communication.

I just hoped someone 'knew' a place where they had seen it before.
 
James1986 said:

Homework Statement



This isn't homework, I just can't find any information on the internet, and I don't have the neccesary equipment available to perform a test.

Just wondering if anyone knows an average amount, or at least a link to a paper that has done something as mundain as this. How much force or pressure is required to depress a key on a mobile phone?

Thanks!

MODS: Please move this thread to the EE subforum. To the submitter, that's where such non-homework questions belong.

In any case, you don't need to do studies on how much force is required to actuate a cell phone key. This varies by cell phone model (and sometimes, even within models). However, the reason you don't need to do a study (for any given model) is that every button is designed (specified) to have a certain actuation force. For instance, you can go to Omron (one of the companies that makes these things) and order membrane tactile switches that actuate with, say, 5 Newtons (or 1.12 lbs) of force.

But yeah, short of measuring this information yourself, you'd have to contact the manufacturer. That or this might be in the manual under technical specifications.
 
Thanks Matalab, that's exactly what I was looking for. Didn't think about companies purchasing generic buttons for their phones ^_^.
 

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