Tapeswitch Corporation was founded in 1959.  The first product manufactured was ribbon switch, which was invented by the founder of Tapeswitch, Robert Koening, and his wife Sondra, who was a brilliant mechanical engineer. 

Over the decades, the simple and elegant ribbon switch design has evolved into many new and improved variations. In addition, ribbon switch has been incorporated into a wide range of switching and sensing product lines, such as safety mats, sensing edges and bumpers, touchpads, and even vehicle sensing devices.

Because ribbon switch is intrinsically easy to modify and customize, each of these products lines has given rise to thousands of variations designed to meet specific customer requirements and perform in unique applications.

For the last 30 years, Tapeswitch has been a major player in the development and manufacture of sensors for safety applications, and currently has the widest range of safety mat, sensing edge, and sensing bumper products available anywhere in the marketplace.

In order to better serve our safety-minded customers, Tapeswitch has, over the years, added complementary electronic devices such as safety controllers and light curtain safety systems, thereby providing one-stop shopping for most applications.

In 1986, Tapeswitch was acquired by Rowan Technologies, a unique family of companies operating in a variety of industries around the world.  This corporate backing and economic clout allows Tapeswitch to continue to be a major player in the safety and sensing field, now and in the future.