Patent Application
20080078054
Wherever possible in the following description, like reference numerals will refer to like elements and parts unless otherwise illustrated.
Referring to
The holder 1 is in form of flat plate and has a recess 11 at its top. The recess 11 has a positioning hole 111 through the whole recess 11, a guide ring 112 and a through hole 113. The positioning hole 111 locates at a center of the recess 11. The guide ring 112 forms around the positioning hole 111 on an inner wall of the recess 11 in a manner that a caved groove 114 forms between the guide ring 112 and the inner wall of the recess 11. The through hole 113 locates between the positioning hole 111 and the guide ring 112. The steel ball 2 is slidably placed inside the through hole 113.
The elastic metallic piece 3 is in round shape and resides under the holder 1. The elastic metallic piece 3 slidably lies against a lower edge of the steel ball 1 to provide an upward support for the steel ball 2. The elastic metallic piece 3 has a through hole 31 and two engagement grooves 32. The through hole 31 locates at a center of the elastic metallic piece 3. The two engagement grooves 32 oppositely locate outside the through hole 31.
The swiveling element 4 is a hollow lid. An open end of the swiveling element 4 slidably covers the caved groove 114 of the recess 11. A sliding portion 41 is mounted around an interior of the swiveling element 4, with a guide groove 42 between the sliding portion 41 and the swiveling element 4. The guide groove 42 matches the guide ring 112 of the holder 1 so that the open end of the swiveling element 4 stably slides along the caved groove 114 when the swiveling element 4 works.
The sliding portion 41 slidably moves along an upper edge of the steel ball 2 to provide a downward pressure against the steel ball 2. The sliding portion 41 has a plurality of notches spaced at intervals. The steel ball 2 slides into or out of the notches 411 by means of turning the swiveling element 4 to create a feeling of segments.
The connecting element 5 is in shape of column, and formed integrally with the swiveling element 4 at an inner center of the swiveling element 4.
The connecting element 5 penetrates through the positioning hole 111 of the holder 1. Two protruding blocks 51 are formed on a bottom surface of the connecting element 5. One screw hole 52 is formed through the connecting element 5. By engaging the two protruding blocks 51 with the engagement grooves 32 of the elastic metallic piece 3 and fixing a screw 53 to the screw hole 52 through the through hole 31 of the elastic metallic piece 3, the elastic metallic piece 3 fixedly connects to the connecting element 5 in a manner that the connecting element 5 locates between the swiveling element 4 and the elastic metallic piece 3 so that the elastic metallic piece 3 turns as the swiveling element 4 swivels.
When in use, the swiveling element 4 can be driven manually to make the steel ball 2 slide against the swiveling element 4 and the elastic metallic piece 3. When the steel ball 2 slides out of the notches of the sliding portion 41, the sliding portion 41 applies pressure against the upper edge of the steel ball 2 to force the steel ball 2 to move downward and accordingly the elastic metallic piece 3 in contact with the lower edge of the steel ball 2 deforms downward. When the steel ball 2 slides into the notches 411 of the sliding portion 41, the pressure applied against the upper edge of steel ball 2 by the sliding portion 41 reduces so that the steel ball 2 moves upward and the elastic metallic piece 3 in contact with the lower edge of the steel ball 2 restores to its original state. The change of the applied force over the steel ball 2 and the elastic metallic piece 3 creates a feeling of segments.
The steel ball 2 used in the invention has a smooth surface and is in point-to-point contact with the sliding portion 41 of the swiveling element 4 and with the elastic metallic piece 3. Therefore, frictions between the steel ball 2 and the sliding portion 41 and between the steel ball 2 and the elastic metallic piece 3 are so small that no scraps generate due to the frictional operation. Furthermore, the change of force applied against the steel ball 2 and the elastic metallic piece 3 by sliding the steel ball 2 into and out of the notches 411 of the sliding portion 41 creates a feeling of segments.
It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the above description is only illustrative of specific embodiments and examples of the invention. The invention should therefore cover various modifications and variations made to the herein-described structure and operations of the invention, provided they fall within the scope of the invention as defined in the following appended claims.
