Autostat from MacDermid Autotype provides electricity and water meters with long lasting, high quality finish

Metalgrapho is based in Cape Town, South Africa, and provides companies worldwide, across a diverse range of industries, with customised printing and engineering solutions. Each of its products undergoes strict inspection and testing before it is dispatched, to ensure the company’s high standards are met. From membrane switches and specialised signage to fabricated sheet metal enclosures and digital printing, Metalgrapho is committed to quality and customer satisfaction.

Recently, Metalgrapho was asked to design a range of electricity and water meters, which would allow end users to pre-pay for their utilities by topping up cards at supermarkets and other retail environments, and insert the card into the meter installed in their home. With no need for a meter reader and no outstanding payments to investigate, the utilities companies would be able to make considerable savings and pass these discounts onto their customers, offering reduced rates.

For the system to work effectively, the meters would have to be simple to use and durable. Metalgrapho set out to find a suitable film substrate that would allow them to produce a reliable and robust membrane keypad that offered good tactile response and aesthetic characteristics. In particular, the film would need both to enable high definition graphics to be printed on the underside, and circuit layers to be bonded to the graphics overlay. Bruno Iseppi, Director of Metalgrapho, explained, “We tested a number of films but none offered a high enough level of quality or durability. Then we found Autostat from MacDermid Autotype, which was perfect for the application.”

Autostat is a heat stabilised polyester film, ideally suited to the circuit layers in membrane touch switches, keyboards and keypads. Heat stabilisation allows circuit printers to cure conductive inks at high temperatures without affecting the registration or the lay-flat characteristics of the film. As a result, Autostat offers excellent stability and flatness with an absence of surface imperfections for a high quality finish.

The electricity and water meters are today being used throughout South Africa with great results, and Metalgrapho are now making them for the Spanish and South American markets too. Bruno Iseppi believes the Autostat film is a vital element in the success of the project, “The meters have a high quality look and feel and are designed to offer long service life with repeated use. The Autostat film has made this possible, allowing us to produce membrane keypads simply, quickly and consistently.”

He continued, “As well as offering the best product available, MacDermid Autotype have offered us prompt and dependable technical support throughout the development process. We simply wouldn’t get this kind of service with a cheaper supplier. Indeed, such has been the level of service we’ve received from MacDermid, that we’re now using their products for a number of other applications, from the periscopes on submarines to walk-in ovens.”