The present invention relates to a switch structure electrically linked with a light source, and more particularly, to a switch structure that is provided with an internal switch assembly for independently controlling a light source to operate without occupying any control contact for connecting to a external device to be controlled. Therefore, the switch structure can have simplified wiring, increased scope of application, and upgraded operational efficiency.
When using a conventional small and simple type control switch, there are often factors to be taken into consideration, such as cost and available space. Therefore, it is impossible to synchronously indicate the operational movement and the operational state of the switch by using an expensive programmable logic controller (PLC) or other external switch controlled light source. If it is necessary to synchronously indicate the switch operational movement or operational state with a light source, one of the control contacts on the switch that is originally intended for connecting to an external device to be controlled must be occupied exclusively by the light source to enable the synchronous indication of the switch operational state.
In practical application of the conventional switch device, the control terminal 51 on one of the remaining contact blocks 5 is serially electrically connected to the electrical contact 101 of the light holder 10 before being connected to an external power source. When the push button assembly 20 is pushed to control the contact blocks 5, the light source on the light holder 10 is electrically made at the same time to emit light for indicating the operational movement and operational state of the switch device. With these arrangements, the quantity of the contact blocks that can be used by the switch device to control the external devices is decreased, and the practical application efficiency of the switch device is also reduced. Further, the electrical connection between the control terminals 51 on the contact blocks 5 and the electrical contact 101 on the light holder 10 not only influences the internal structural design of the switch device, but also makes the wiring of the switch device more complicated.
In view of the above shortcomings in the light source control mechanism of the conventional small and simple type switch, it is tried by the inventor to develop a switch structure electrically linked with a light source in an attempt to overcome the disadvantages of the conventional switch device.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a switch structure electrically linked with a light source, which includes a main body, a push button assembly, and at least one contact block. The main body includes a base provided with a plurality of power terminals for connecting to an external power source, and an internal switch assembly being serially connected to between the power terminals and a light source. The contact block includes a plurality of control terminals for connecting to an external device to be controlled. The push button assembly is able to drive the internal switch assembly and the contact block, such that the contact block changes an electrical connection state between the control terminals and the internal switch assembly can synchronously control the light source to electrically connect to the external power source. Since the above arrangement does not occupy any contact block that is originally intended for connecting to the external device to be controlled, the switch structure can have overall upgraded usage effectiveness.
Another object of the present invention is to provide the above switch structure electrically linked with a light source, the internal switch assembly of which includes two fixedly spaced conducting section and an elastic conducting element (such as a torsion spring) located between the two conducting sections. The two conducting sections are electrically connected to the power terminals and the light source, respectively. The elastic conducting element is driven by the push button assembly to contact with the two conducting sections at the same time or separate from the two conducting sections at the same time, so as to control the connection or disconnection of the light source to or from the power source. With these arrangements, the switch structure can operate in a simple and accurate manner and have simplified internal wiring.
A further object of the present invention is to provide the above switch structure electrically linked with a light source, the push button assembly of which includes a push button and an actuator electrically connected to each other. The actuator can actuate a link member and the contact blocks synchronously to change the electrical connection state between the control terminals of the contact block, so as to control the external device to operate. The link member brings the elastic conducting element (torsion spring) of the internal switch assembly to move, enabling the light source to emit light in response to the electrical connection state of the contact block.
The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein
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The internal switch assembly 13 includes two post-like conducting sections 132 spaced from each other by a fixed distance and an elastic conducting element 133, such as a torsion spring, provided between the two post-like conducting sections 132. One of the two post-like conducting sections 132 is electrically connected to one of the power terminals 121, and the other post-like conducting section 132 is electrically connected to an end of the light source 3, such that the internal switch assembly 13 is serially connected to between the light source 3 and the power terminals 121. The elastic conducting element 133 has a middle portion formed into a cylindrical coil body 134, and two elastically bendable conducting arms 135 straightly or obliquely extended from two lateral sides or two ends of the cylindrical coil body 134 toward the two post-like conducting sections 132. The elastic conducting element 133 (i.e. the torsion spring) can be driven by the push button assembly 2 for the two conducting arms 135 to contact with or separate from the two post-like conducting sections 132, so as to control the light source 3 to ON or OFF.
In the above structure, two post-like insulation stop sections 131 may be provided at two lateral outer sides of the two post-like conducting sections 132, if necessary. The insulation stop sections 131 are located in front of a moving path of the elastic conducting element 133. For example, as shown in
The push bottom assembly 2 includes a push button 21, an actuator 22, a push-bottom seat 24, and a link member 25. The push button 21 is a structure pervious to light. The push button 21 and the actuator 22 are received in the push-button seat 24, and the push-button seat 24 is mounted in a mounting hole 41 on a coupling seat 4. The coupling seat 4 is configured to parallelly connect and hold the main body 1 to at least one normally open contact block 5. The normally open contact block 5 has a substantially rectangular configuration and is provided with a plurality of control terminals 51, which are connectable to external devices to be controlled, and a push section 52 for controlling the control terminals 51 to an open or a closed circuit.
The actuator 22 has an end connected to the push button 21 and is accordingly, movable simultaneously with the push button 21. Another end of the actuator 22 is provided with first abutting sections 221 and second abutting sections 222 that are radially spaced from each other relative to a center of the actuator 22. The second abutting sections 222 can correspondingly abut against the push sections 52 of the normally open contact blocks 5. An elastic element 23 is fitted between the first and the second abutting sections 221, 222 to press against a top of the main body 1 (i.e. the cover 14), so that the actuator 22 together with the push button 21 has a degree of elasticity to maintain at a non-pushed position.
The link member 25 includes a coupling section 251 and at least one upward protruded section 252. The coupling section 251 is coupled with the cylindrical coil body 134 of the elastic conducting element 133, and the upward protruded section 252 is located corresponding to the first abutting sections 221.
In an operable embodiment, the two conducting sections 132 are provided on the circuit board 12, which is provided at a position between the two conducting sections 132 with a longitudinally extended guide slot 122. The insulation stop sections 131 are provided in the receiving space 111 of the base 11, such that the insulation stop sections 131 are just located at two lateral outer sides of the two conducting sections 132 after the circuit board 12 is assembled to the receiving space 11. The link member 25 further includes a sliding guide section 253, which is transversely extended between the coupling section 251 and the upward protruded section 252 to be located and slidable in the sliding guide slot 122, such that the link member 25 can bring the elastic conducting element 133 to move along a longitudinal path between the two conducting sections 132.
In the first embodiment, when the push button 21 is in a natural state without being downward pushed, the actuator 22 is supported by the elastic element 23 and located at a position spaced from the link member 25, and the link member 25 is not in contact with the push sections 52 of the normally open contact blocks 5. Therefore, the two control terminals 51 maintain at the electrically disconnected state, and the external device connected to the two control terminals 51 is in a disabled state. Meanwhile, the insulation stop sections 131 are abutted against the two straight conducting arms 135 of the elastic conducting elements 133, such that the two conducting sections 132 are in a pressure preloaded condition and could not contact with and electrically connect to the two conducting arms 135. Therefore, the light source 3 is not electrically connected to the external power source and could not emit light, as shown in
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In the above structure, the two insulation stop sections 131 are located in front of the moving path along which the elastic conducting element 133 is moved toward the conducting sections 132. With this arrangement, it is able to ensure the two conducting arms 135 would not contact with the two conducting sections 132 when the push button 21 is not pushed down and to avoid incorrect conduction. Further, when the push button 21 is downward pushed, the two insulation stop sections 131 can serve as an aid to first turn the two conducting arms 135, so that the two conducting arms 135 can contact with the two conducting sections 132 mildly and smoothly with a somewhat small force to avoid the two conducting sections 132 from bending and deforming due to a sudden strong force applied thereto.
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The second embodiment is different from the first one in that the coupling seat 4 is configured for fixedly connecting the main body 1 and at least one normally closed contact blocks 50 in parallel, and each normally closed contact block 50 is provided with a plurality of control terminals 501 for connecting to an external device to be controlled and a push section 52 for controlling the electrical connection or disconnection of the control terminals 501. In the drawings shown the second embodiment, two normally closed contact blocks 50 are shown. The internal switch assembly 13 includes two post-like conducting sections 132 spaced from each other by a fixed distance, two post-like insulation stop sections 131 provided between the two conducting sections 132, which are connected to between the light source 3 and the power terminals 121 in series, and an elastic conducting element 133, such as a torsion spring. The elastic conducting element 133 includes a middle portion formed into a cylindrical coil body 134, which is connected to a link member 25 of the push button assembly 2 to move along with the push button 21, and two elastically bendable conducting arms 135 extended from two lateral sides of the cylindrical coil body 134 toward the two conducting sections 132. The insulation stop sections 131 are located in front of a moving path of the elastic conducting element 133. For example, as shown in
In the second embodiment, when the push button 21 is in a natural state without being pushed downward, the actuator 22 is supported by the elastic element 23 to maintain at a position spaced from the base 11, such that the second abutting sections 222 are not in contact with the push sections 52 of the normally closed contact blocks 50, the control terminals 501 maintain at the closed position, and the first abutting sections 221 are not in contact with the upward protruded section 252 of the link member 25. At this point, the two conducting arms 135 of the elastic conducting element 133 are located at a position in contact with the two conducting sections 132, and the light source 3 is electrically connected to the external power source and lighted, as shown in
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The third embodiment is different from the first one in having a light source 3a, which is a light emitter capable of emitting different color lights. The light source 3a is fixedly fitted in the assembling hole 141 of the cover 14 and includes a plurality of input pins. The internal switch assembly 13a includes two fixedly spaced post-like first conducting sections 132 and two fixedly space post-like second conducting sections 132a. The first conducting sections 132 and the second conducting sections 132a are located in the moving path of the elastic conducting element 133 but at different positions relative to the moving path. For example, as shown in
The elastic conducting element 133, such as a torsion spring, has a middle portion formed into a cylindrical coil body 134 for coupling with and moving along with the link member 25 of the push button assembly 2, and two elastically bendable conducting arms 135 extended from two lateral sides of the cylindrical coil body 134 toward the two conducting sections 132 and the two conducting sections 132a.
In the third embodiment, when the push button 21 is in a natural state without being downward pushed, the two conducting arms 135 of the elastic conducting element 133 respectively maintain at a straight position to contact with and electrically connect to the two second conducting sections 132a, and the pins of the light source 3a corresponding to one color light, such as red color light, are electrically connected to the external power source, so that the light source 3a emits light, as shown in
According to the above discussion, the switch structure electrically linked with a light source according to the present invention has the advantages of having a simplified overall structure, avoiding occupation of the original control contacts of the contact block, and effectively upgrading an overall operational efficiency. Therefore, the present invention meets the requirements of novelty and improvement for granting a patent. It is also understood the present invention has been described with some preferred embodiments thereof and it is understood that many changes and modifications in the described embodiments can be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention that is intended to be limited only by the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 112151592 | Dec 2023 | TW | national |