Tamper Resistant Rugged Keypad

A keypad for connecting to a machine having a connector interface, comprising

• a housing having a front panel with an outer face and inner surface, the front panel having a plurality of openings and a plurality of sides projecting from the front panel defining an area;
• a plurality of keycaps protruding through the openings on the front panel from the inner surface to the outer face;
• a multi-layer printed circuit board having a front face having a plurality of conductive pathways, wherein the movement of one of the keycaps connects with one of the plurality of conductive pathways, the multi-layer printed circuit board having a back face with a plurality of terminals associated with at least some of the conductive pathways;
• two or more security-shield layers within the multi-layered printed circuit board comprising switch trace protection interposed between the front and back faces, comprising a pair of conductive pathways positioned around the periphery of each layer creating a closed loop for determining if the multi-layered printed circuit board has been edge tampered with;
• a flexible security circuit interposed between the inner surface of the front panel of the housing and the multi-layer printed circuit board, the flexible security circuit having a plurality of conductive pathways spaced apart by about 0.08 mm to about 0.8 mm for determining if the flexible security circuit has been tampered with;
• a plurality of metal discs mounted to the top face of the flexible security circuit;
• a silicon-rubber keypad actuator interposed between the inner surface of the front panel of the housing and the flexible security circuit wherein the silicon-rubber keypad actuator engages tamper switches on the flexible security circuit;
• a plurality of connectors extending from terminals on the back face of the circuit board to the connector interface of the machine;
• a collar for encircling the connectors that extend from the back face of the multi-layer printed circuit board to the machine to limit unauthorized access to the plurality of connectors;
• and
• a rear backer secured to the housing for enclosing the area.