Information
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Patent Grant
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6323450
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Patent Number
6,323,450
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Date Filed
Friday, July 28, 200024 years ago
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Date Issued
Tuesday, November 27, 200123 years ago
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Inventors
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Original Assignees
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Examiners
- Bradley; Paula
- Nguyen; Nhung
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CPC
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US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 200 401
- 200 438
- 200 439
- 200 339
- 200 408
- 200 409
- 200 553
- 200 557
- 200 6 R
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International Classifications
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Abstract
A switch assembly, an ON/OFF control mechanism for power supply, mainly comprises a switch knob, a contact control member, and a resilient contact piece, wherein the switch knob is to be depressed to drive a protuberance to directly oppress or release the contact control member so as to in turn oppress or release the resilient contact piece for effecting or cutting off a power supply. By using a simple structure like this, easy assembling, low cost, simplification of interactive process, and low breakdown ratio are made possible.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a switch assembly, and more particularly, to a switch assembly, which is implemented for ON/OFF control by taking advantage of a protuberance of a switch knob that directly depresses or releases a contact control member to thereby oppress or release a resilient contact piece to effect or cut off the power supply.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Power switch is a widely used electronic component for ON/OFF control of a power supply, and is highlighted in its structural complexity in consideration of cost, or furthermore, in its reliability of security.
For improvement of a switch assembly, many patents, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,167,720, 4,937,548, 5,223,813, 5,451,729, 5,558,211, etc., have been disclosed, wherein a common defect is known as excessive elements being used down from a switch knob that results in a complicated interactive process with high breakdown ratio and fabrication cost.
For example, in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,223,813 shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, after a switch knob has been depressed, a link rod under the switch knob is driven to drive a sway component to oppress or release a resilient contact piece thereunder to enable an upper contact dot to depart from or contact with a lower contact dot to thereby effect or cut off a power supply. It can be operated all right under normal conditions, however, in consideration of cost, productivity, and blunt response, there are still rooms for further improvements.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The primary object of this invention is to provide a switch assembly for improvement of assembling work, production cost, response time, and breakdown ratio.
Another object of this invention is to pair a thermal-sensitive element with a tact control member so as to ensure security in case of overload or overheat.
For more detailed information regarding this invention together with further advantages or features thereof, at least an example of preferred embodiment will be elucidated below with reference to the annexed drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The related drawings in connection with the detailed description of this invention, which is to be made later, are described briefly as follows, in which:
FIG. 1
is an exploded view of a prior art in three dimensions;
FIG. 2
is a cutaway sectional view showing the prior art under OPEN (OFF) state;
FIG. 3
is a cutaway sectional view showing the prior art under CLOSE (ON) state;
FIG. 4
is an exploded view of an embodiment (1) of this invention in three dimensions;
FIG. 5
is an assembled cutaway sectional view showing the embodiment (1) of this invention under OPEN (OFF) state;
FIG. 6
is an assembled cutaway sectional view showing the embodiment (1) of this invention under CLOSE (ON) state;
FIG. 7
is an exploded view of another embodiment (2) of this invention in three dimensions;
FIG. 8
is a cutaway sectional view of the embodiment (2) showing another structure of a contact control member of this invention under CLOSE (ON) state;
FIG. 9
is a cutaway sectional view showing a cutoff action of the embodiment (2) of this invention in case of overload or overheat.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
A switch assembly of this invention illustrated in
FIG. 4
mainly comprises a switch knob
1
, a casing
2
, a contact control member
3
, and a resilient contact piece
4
.
In the switch knob
1
, a dipped arcuate face is formed on a top end, also, an axle-supporting groove
11
is concavely and centrally disposed at a bottom end to enable the switch knob
1
to rotate surrounding the axle-supporting groove
11
, and the bottom end of the switch knob
1
is extended downwardly to form at least a protuberance
12
, which, in this case, is substantially a triangular protrusion.
The casing
2
is a hollow housing having an open lateral wall, wherein an opening
21
is formed at a top end of the casing
2
; an axle-supporting rod
201
is protrusively resided on an inner wall under the opening
21
for assembling and disposing the switch knob
1
in the axle-supporting groove
11
; a first and a second slot
23
,
25
are arranged in a bottom end of the casing
2
for plugging a first and a second terminal
24
,
26
respectively; a hollow combining column
202
, a stopper
22
, and a stationary supporting pin
27
are protrusively fitted on the inner wall, and a plurality of combining holes
203
are distributed to corners of the inner wall. Moreover, a cover
28
is provided to the casing
2
, wherein an assembling post
281
in a position corresponding to the hollow combining column
202
is protuberantly disposed on an inner wall of the cover
28
, and a plurality of combining holes
282
in positions corresponding to the combining holes
203
of the casing
2
are distributed to corners of the cover
28
; and the cover
28
is riveted to joint with the casing
2
with a plurality of rivets
283
.
In the contact control member
3
, it is found: at least an upper lump
31
located on a top end of contact control member
3
; the top end being extended to form a hook portion
32
; at least a lower lump
33
formed at a bottom end of the contact control member
3
in a position substantially corresponding to the upper lump
31
; and the contact control member
3
being extended to form a tail end
30
with a propping end
301
. Furthermore, an upright longitudinal slot
37
is trenched in a lateral face inside the contact control member
3
for assembling and jointing the contact control member
3
to the stationary supporting pin
27
of the casing
2
so that the contact control member
3
is movable up and down along the stationary supporting pin
27
.
The resilient piece
4
is provided with a contact hole
41
at its upper free end for combining with an upper contact dot
42
which is located right above a lower contact dot
241
of the first terminal
24
, and the lower end of the contact piece
4
is a flat sheet coupled with an upper end of the second terminal
26
, and is fixedly clamped between a fixing plate
251
and a sole plate of the casing
2
.
As shown in
FIG. 5
, an assembled cutaway sectional view of an embodiment (1) of this invention under OPEN (OFF) state controlled by a user, when the user depresses the right end of the switch knob
1
, the switch knob
1
is forced to rotate clockwise surrounding the axle-supporting rod
201
which is taken as a pivot. Simultaneously, taking the axle-supporting rod
201
as a pivot, the protuberance
12
rotates clockwise in an arcuate movement (leftward in this case), and the bottom end of the protuberance
12
slides from the right side of the upper lump
31
of the contact control member
3
to the left side of the upper lump
31
so that the resilient contact piece
4
is freed from constraint of the lower lump
33
of the contact control member
3
to bounce upwardly and allow the upper contact dot
42
to depart from the lower contact dot
241
so as to separate the first terminal
24
from the second terminal
26
and cut off the power supply accordingly.
As illustrated in
FIG. 6
, an assembled cutaway sectional view of the embodiment (1) of this invention under CLOSE (ON) state, when a user depresses the left end of the switch knob
1
, the switch knob
1
is forced to rotate counterclockwise and so is the protuberance
12
for arcuate movement (rightward in this case) by taking the axle-supporting rod
201
as a pivot. Simultaneously, the bottom end of the protuberance
12
slides from the left side of the upper lump
31
of the contact control member
3
to the right side to depress the contact control member
3
downwardly to have the lower lump
33
constrain the resilient contact piece
4
so that the upper contact dot
42
at the bottom face of the free end of the resilient contact piece
4
will contact the lower contact dot
241
to thereby build a ready route for the power supply to go through the first terminal
24
, the lower contact dot
241
, the upper contact dot
42
, the resilient contact piece
4
, and the second terminal
26
.
Moreover, under OPEN (OFF) state of the switch, the propping end
301
at the tail end
30
of the contact control member
3
is located exactly over the top face of the stopper
22
of the casing
2
, on the contrary, the propping end
301
will prop against the top face of the stopper
22
under CLOSE (ON) state and serve as a pivot center for rotation of the contact control member
3
so that the lower lump
33
will rotate counterclockwise to depress the resilient contact piece
4
and enable the upper contact dot
42
to contact the lower contact dot
241
.
Using such a simple structure, a power supply route can be effected or voided by depressing the switch knob
1
to have the protuberance
12
push or release the interacted contact control member
3
to in turn oppress or release the resilient contact piece
4
.
In another embodiment (2) of this invention illustrated in
FIGS. 7
,
8
, an assembling slot
34
is recessively disposed in a lateral face of the contact control member
3
, wherein a slot opening
341
is formed in a tail end of the assembling slot
34
; a movable tail end
35
with the same function as the tail end
30
in embodiment (1) is assembled in the assembling slot
34
; a flange
351
is formed enclosing a nearer end of the column body of the movable tail end
35
, the farther end of the movable tail end
35
is a propping end
352
, and the cross-sectional area of the movable tail end
35
is slightly smaller than that of the slot opening
341
; and a resilient member
36
(a compressible spring in this case) is disposed in the assembling slot
34
so that the movable tail end
35
can be stretched or compressed relatively in the assembling slot
34
and limited by the flange
351
.
By taking advantage of assembling a paired metallic alloy strip
5
(thermal-sensitive element) to the movable tail end
35
, the alloy strip
5
will prop against the propping end
352
of the movable tail end
35
in case of overload or overheat (shown in
FIG. 9
) such that the movable tail end
35
will retreat back toward the casing of the contact control member
3
, and accordingly, the propping end
352
is interacted to depart from the top face of the stopper
22
. Thus, the lower lump
33
will rotate clockwise surrounding the stationary pillar
27
in the longitudinal slot
37
to have the resilient contact piece
4
set free from constraint and bounced upwardly to drive the upper contact dot
42
to escape from the lower contact dot
241
and thereby cut off the power supply to ensure security.
Although, this invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiments, it is apparent that numerous variations and modifications may be made without departing from the true spirit and scope thereof, as set forth in the following claims.
Claims
- 1. A switch assembly comprising:a casing having a top opening and an inner wall formed with at least an axle supporting rod; a switch knob having a bottom end formed with at least an axle supporting groove, and a protuberance extended downwardly from said bottom end, said switch knob being received through said top opening by said casing with said axle supporting groove supporting said axle supporting rod; a contact control member having a top end formed with a hook portion and at least an upper lump, a bottom end formed with at least a lower lump, a lateral side formed with a recessive assembling slot with a slot opening at a tail end of said contact control member, a resilient member disposed in said assembling slot, and a column body coupled to said resilient member and disposed in said slot opening to form a movable tail end supported by a stopper disposed in said casing; a thermal-sensitive metal strip disposed within said casing, said movable tail end being pushed by said resilient member against said thermal-sensitive metal strip; a first terminal with a lower contact dot; and a resilient contact piece having a lower portion coupled to a second terminal, and an upper portion having a free end formed with an upper contact dot, said resilient contact piece being disposed below said contact control member; wherein said switch assembly is operated to an OFF state by depressing a first side of said switch knob to rotate said protuberance clockwise for controlling said contact control member to free and disconnect said upper contact dot from said lower contact dot, to an ON state by depressing a second side of said switch knob to rotate said protuberance counter clockwise for controlling said contact control member to connect said upper contact dot to said lower contact dot, and said thermal-sensitive metal strip is expanded to push said movable tail end off said stopper to disconnect said upper contact dot from said lower contact dot when said switch assembly is overloaded or overheated in an ON state.
- 2. The switch assembly as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an upright longitudinal slot formed in said contact control member and a stationary supporting pin disposed in said casing, wherein said stationary supporting pin is positioned within said upright longitudinal slot and said contact control member is movably constrained upwards or downwards by said upright longitudinal slot.
- 3. The switch assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein said column body has one end formed with a flange for coupling to said resilient member.
- 4. The switch assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein said resilient member is a compressible spring.
US Referenced Citations (5)