Touchscreens target industrial and medical OEMs.

Press Release Summary:



AccuTouch 5-wire resistive touchscreen operates in temperatures to 70°C and at RH to 90% RH at 50°C. Standard cable attachment uses adhesive for strain relief and withstands straight-line pull of 10 lb maintained for 5 min. Optional true flat attachment for cable assembly is offered for applications where touchscreen is integrated with thin foil frame such as polyester, rather than plastic or aluminum bezel.



Original Press Release:



ELO Announces Next Generation of Industry-Leading Accutouch Touchscreen



SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (June 7, 2006) - Elo TouchSystems, the global leader in
touch technology and a division of Tyco Electronics Corporation, announces the
next generation of its industry-leading AccuTouch five-wire resistive touchscreen
technology. The new touchscreen construction offers original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) improved environmental specifications and a new option for a true flat cable attachment. Previous significant developments included the change to a Z border electrode pattern for greater edge linearity and the introduction of higher-quality glass substrates for increased durability; now Elo is adding a new construction for increased environmental stability.

Industry-Leading Product Just Got Better

"Elo invented the resistive touchscreen 35 years ago," says Elo product manager David Chen. "As one of our core touch technologies, we are committed to continuing to refine AccuTouch, the most respected brand in resistive touchscreens." Importantly for OEMs, this latest generation of the product maintains all major components of the touchscreen, including but not limited to the material construction of the glass, coversheet, fired-on electrode pattern, cable and soldered cable attachment. "With a
new manufacturing process for the attachment of the coversheet, we can now provide a
higher temperature and humidity performance range for the resistive product line, all
while maintaining our renowned tight coversheet fit, and without lowering any other
performance specification." The operating temperature specification has been extended
to 70°C and operating humidity to 90% RH at max 50°C.

The new construction has been extensively tested for nearly a year to ensure long-term
reliability - the hallmark of AccuTouch touchscreens.

New Cable Attachment Option

Specifically for industrial and medical OEMs, the new AccuTouch touchscreens now offer
an additional option for its cable assembly - a true flat attachment to the touchscreen - which significantly improves the integration of the touchscreen with thin front foils.

AccuTouch has always featured a flex cable, which, unlike the cables on most other
resistive touchscreens, may be folded and creased for easy routing around other components. The standard AccuTouch touchscreen uses a powerful adhesive for strain relief for the cable attachment, specified to withstand a straight-line pull of 10 pounds maintained for a period of five minutes, as well as strong pulls from an angle. However, some OEMs prefer a true flat cable attachment, necessary for cosmetic reasons when the touchscreen is integrated with a thin foil frame such as polyester, rather than a plastic or aluminum bezel. With the new AccuTouch touchscreens, industrial and medical OEMs now have a choice of extra strength or flat cosmetics on the cable attachment.

Chen continues, "OEMs who produce high-quality products have trusted Elo AccuTouch for
years when it comes to their critical user interface. The improved AccuTouch touchscreen is part of our ongoing drive to provide customers with the highest-quality, most durable resistive touch technology possible while remaining cost competitive."

COACh III Universal Controller Chip or Integrated Controller Board

Elo's COACh III (Controller On A Chip, third generation) is a compact universal resistive touchscreen controller solution in a 64-pin LQFP package. It supports both serial and USB communication interfaces and is capable of driving either AccuTouch five-wire or Elo AT4 four-wire resistive touchscreens. Regardless of the configuration, operation is automatically detected on power-up and needs no user intervention. The COACh III fully supports Elo's SmartSet protocol and all software drivers, both serial and USB.

For those OEMs who prefer a higher level of integration, Elo offers the 2216 dual serial/USB, four-/five-wire resistive touchscreen controller board in a reduced form factor of only 1.38 inches (35.00 mm) by 2.36 inches (60.00 mm).

The complete AccuTouch product line of touchscreens, plus the 2216 controller, COACh III, COACH II, and original COACh chips, along with Elo's feature-rich touchscreen drivers, are all designed to work seamlessly together from a single supplier. All components are fully RoHS compliant.

Elo TouchSystems, global leader in touch technology, is a division of Tyco Electronics
Corporation. Elo develops, manufactures and markets a complete line of touch products that simplify the interface between people and computers in both public-access and employee-activated applications. Founded in 1971, the company is headquartered in Menlo Park, California, with manufacturing sites in the United States, Belgium, Brazil, China and Japan. (Elo operates in Japan under the name of Touch Panel Systems.) For more information on Elo's products and services, please contact Elo TouchSystems at 800-ELO-TOUCH (800-356-8682), visit Elo's website at www.elotouch.com or direct electronic mail inquiries to eloinfo@elotouch.com.

Elo TouchSystems, AccuTouch, COACh, and SmartSet are trademarks of Tyco Electronics
Corporation. All products and company names referred to herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies or mark holders.

Mike Ratcliff
Tyco Electronics
Tel: 717.592.2316
mike.ratcliff@tycoelectronics.com

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