Microchip introduces the world's first family of capacitive touch screen controllers certified for safety in the home appliance market

     To reduce the risk of kitchen fires and laundry room flooding, the European IEC 60730 and US UL 60730 Class B specifications require the installation of safety devices on household appliances such as ovens, stoves, washing machines and clothes dryers. Microchip Technology announced the MaxTouch MXT336UD-MAUHA1 family of capacitive touch screen controllers to help designers meet the functional safety requirements of touch screen devices. The new line is the only touch screen controller on the market to offer pre-certified Class B firmware and includes three controllers, the MXT112UD-MAUHA1, the MXT228UD-MAUHA1 and the MXT336UD-MAUHA1, each capable of meeting different screen sizes from 2 "to 8".

     Class B certified touch controllers offer unique safety-related features that enable the system to be turned off via an intuitive soft button on the touch screen, eliminating the need for an external safety-certified stop or cancel button and associated MCU. This controller also allows the device to detect touch screen or device failures and automatically shut down the device through various self-test functions.

     For example, if the glass on the stove breaks, the touch screen will dim and turn off the device, so as not to have accidental damage in the home. As the number of touch home appliances continues to increase, the MXT336UD-MAUHA1 series transfers the required security functions to a simplified single touch screen interface, helping Oems reduce costs and time to market.

     Fanie Duvenhage, vice president of Microchip's human interface business unit, said: "Because home appliances can cause house fires, appliance manufacturers must add safety features to the machines they produce. Microchip's MXT336UD-MAUHA1 family of touch screen controllers has been certified to the required safety standards. Integrating Level B certification into our touch controllers simplifies the design and certification process for touch devices, ultimately putting safety first while reducing costs and enabling modern user interface solutions."

     In addition, the new series uses a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) design and an indigenous differential mutual acquisition scheme that enables the machine to reliably detect and track multiple fingers with wet, wet or greasy surfaces, even when the user is wearing gloves.