Claims
- 1. An electric switch assembly, comprising:
a housing having an upper housing portion with a vertical upper bore that has a vertical axis, said housing having a lower housing portion; an actuation member which is movable vertically along said vertical upper bore; a resiliently deformable switching element which has a first part that is connected to a first terminal, said switching element having a second part that is upwardly biased to an upward position but which can be resiliently deflected downwardly against a second terminal; said second part of said switching element having a hole, said actuation member having a lower portion that extends through said hole, and said lower housing portion has a vertical lower bore that lies below said switching element and that is aligned with said upper bore, said actuation member having a lower end that lies in said lower bore and that is vertically slideable therein.
- 2. The switch assembly described in claim 1 wherein:
said switching element comprises a piece of sheet metal which is deformed into a dome shape with a done center that forms said hole.
- 3. The switch assembly described in claim 1 including:
a coding wheel that is rotatably fixed to said actuation member to pivot about said axis with said actuation member, said coding wheel having at least one contacting part and one space lying on as imaginary circle; a plurality of contacts with engaging parts positioned in vertical alignment with said circle, so each contacting part is positioned to engage and not engage said at least one contacting part as said coding wheel is selectively pivoted about said axis.
- 4. The switch assembly described in claim 1 including:
a circuit board that has a hole; said lower housing portion has a lower surface lying below a bottom of a majority of the housing, and said lower housing has a downward projection that projects into said circuit board hole, said downward projection forming a portion of said lower bore.
- 5. The switch assembly described in claim 1 including:
a collar that is fixed to said actuation member and that lies above said switching element, said collar extending in a ring about said axis and having a cross-section along said ring that has a convex lower surface to depress said switching element.
- 6. The switch assembly described in claim 1 wherein:
said switching element includes a sheet of conductive material with a convex upper surface, a concave lower surface, and a periphery, and a central hole, said actuation member lower portion projecting through said hole; said first terminal lies under said periphery to constantly engage said switching element and said second terminal lies under a middle portion of said switching element to engage said middle portion when said middle portion is depressed.
- 7. An electrical switch assembly, comprising:
a housing having an upper housing portion with a vertical upper bore, said bore having a vertical axis; an actuation member which is moveable vertically along said vertical bore and which is pivotable about said axis; a resiliently deformable switching element which has a first part that is connected to a first terminal and that is supported on said housing against downward movement, said switching element having a second part that is biased to an upward position but which can be resiliently downwardly deflected against a second terminal; a conductive coding wheel which is rotatably fixed to said actuation member to pivot about said axis with said actuation member, said coding wheel having at least one conductive tooth and one space lying on an imaginary circle centered on said axis; a plurality of contacts with engaging parts positioned in vertical alignment with said circle, so each contacting part engages and does not engage a selected one of said engaging parts as said coding wheel is selectively turned; said engaging parts positioned to allow vertical movement of said actuator member to downwardly deflect said second part of said switching element against said second terminal and to release said second part of said switching element to allow it and said actuation member to move to an upward position.
- 8. The switch assembly described in claim 7 wherein:
said second part of said switching element has a hole, said actuation member has a lower portion that extends through said hole, and said housing has a lower housing portion with a lower bore that lies below said hole and that guides said lower portion of said actuator member in vertical movement.
- 9. A switch assembly comprising:
a housing that includes upper and lower housing parts with peripheries that are joined, said housing parts forming an internal cavity between them, said cavity having top and bottom walls that have aligned bores; an actuation member having an upper portion projecting through the bore in said upper wall and having a lower portion lying in said bore in said lower wall, said actuation member being vertically slideable in said bores; a resilient dome-shaped switching element; a pair of contacts including a first contact in engagement with a periphery of said switching element and a second contact lying under a center portion of said switching element; said dome-shaped switching element has a hole and said actuation member lower portion projects through said hole.
- 10. The switch assembly described in claim 9 including:
a circuit board with conductive traces, said contacts engaged with said traces, and said circuit board having a board hole; and wherein
said bottom wall has a downward projection that forms at least a portion of one of said bores, said projection projecting into said board hole.
- 11. The switch assembly described in claim 10 wherein:
said bore in said projection, extends to the extreme bottom of said projection.
- 12. The switch assembly described in claim 9 wherein:
said actuation member is pivotable about a axis that passes through said bores, between first, second and third rotational positions; a coding wheel fixed to said actuation member to turn with it, said coding wheel having at least one conductive tooth and a gap both lying on a circle centered on said axis; at last two pairs of coding contacts positioned below said circle, said pairs of coding contacts positioned so only a first pair of said coding contacts and only a second pair of said coding contacts is engaged by said at least one tooth in said first and second member positions, respectively, and with neither pair engaged with said at least one tooth in said third position.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
99 09440 |
Jul 1999 |
FR |
|
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This is a continuation-in-part of PCT application PCT/EP00/06051 filed Jun. 29, 2000 which designates the United States, and claims priority from French application 99/09440 filed Jul. 21, 1999.
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
PCT/EP00/06051 |
Jun 2000 |
US |
Child |
10045807 |
Jan 2002 |
US |