Electricity: circuit makers and breakers – Solid contact – Rocking actuator
Reexamination Certificate
2002-06-03
2003-06-17
Enad, Elvin (Department: 2832)
Electricity: circuit makers and breakers
Solid contact
Rocking actuator
C200S0060BB
Reexamination Certificate
active
06580045
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a switch, more particularly to a switch with a pivotable actuator.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to
FIGS. 1
,
2
,
3
and
4
, a conventional state-setting switch
1
is shown to comprise a lower insulator body
2
, an upper insulator body
3
mounted on the lower insulator body
2
, and a set of switch actuators
4
pivoted to the upper insulator body
3
.
The lower insulator body
2
is a rectangular body made of an insulator material, such as rubber or plastic, and has a top surface
21
. A flange
23
is disposed around the rim of the top surface
21
. A plurality of conductive terminal sets
22
extend parallel to the top surface
21
along a longitudinal direction. Each terminal set
22
includes a long terminal
221
and a short terminal
222
. The short terminal
222
extends above the long terminal
221
to make electrical connection therebetween, as best shown in FIG.
3
. Each of the terminals
221
,
222
extends downwardly to form a terminal tail
223
.
The upper insulator body
3
is a rectangular body made of an insulator material, such as rubber or plastic, and has an open bottom end
31
, a retaining cavity
32
extending inwardly from the open bottom end
31
, and a peripheral wall
33
for engaging the flange
23
of the lower insulator body
2
. The upper insulator body
3
further has a set of actuator slots
321
, each corresponding to a terminal set
321
of the lower insulator body
2
and being communicated with the retaining cavity
32
.
Each switch actuator
4
is made of an insulator material, such as rubber or plastic, and has a mounting portion
41
retained pivotally in the retaining cavity
32
, a pressing projection
42
projecting downwardly from the mounting portion
41
, and an operating portion
43
extending from the mounting portion
41
outwardly of the retaining cavity
32
via a respective one of the actuator slots
321
.
During assembly, the mounting portions
41
of the switch actuators
4
are first mounted pivotally in the retaining cavity
32
of the upper insulator body
3
such that the operating portions
43
extend through the actuator slots
321
. Then, with the pressing projections
42
abutting against the long terminals
221
, the peripheral wall
33
of the upper insulator body
3
is mounted on the flange
23
of the lower insulator body
2
.
As shown in
FIG. 4
, the application of a pressing force on the operating portion
43
of the actuator
4
will cause the pressing projection
42
to move the long terminal
221
away from the short terminal
222
, thus breaking the electrical connection between the terminals
221
,
222
. The switch
1
is at a switch-off state at this time. As shown in
FIG. 3
, the application of an uplifting force on the operating portion
43
of the actuator
4
will move the pressing projection
42
away from the long terminal
221
such that, by virtue of the resiliency of the long terminal
221
, the long terminal
221
once again contacts the short terminal
222
, thus making the electrical connection between the terminals
221
,
222
. The switch
1
is at a switch-on state at this time.
The following are some of the drawbacks of the aforesaid conventional switch
1
:
1. The terminal set
22
is normally made of copper, which is highly susceptible to spring fatigue after a period of use. Spring fatigue results in failure of the long terminal
221
to connect properly with the short terminal
222
. This situation is aggravated in view of the contact configuration between the long and short terminals
221
,
222
, which requires a fairly strong torque on the long terminal
221
to make and break electrical connection with the short terminal
222
.
2. No positioning mechanism is provided for stable positioning of the terminal sets
321
during the assembly process, which can result in an increase in defective products during mass production, thereby resulting in lower yield and higher costs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to provide a switch with a pivotable actuator that can overcome the aforesaid drawbacks of the prior art.
Accordingly, a switch of this invention comprises:
a lower insulator body including a bottom wall with front and rear portions spaced apart in a longitudinal direction, and front and rear lower walls respectively extending upward from the front and rear portions of the bottom wall so as to define an upwardly opening terminal bridging cavity;
front and rear terminals spaced apart from each other in the longitudinal direction, each of the front and rear terminals having a middle portion embedded in a junction between the bottom wall and a respective one of the front and rear lower walls, a contact end portion extending from the middle portion into the terminal bridging cavity, and a connecting end portion extending from the middle portion and outwardly of the terminal bridging cavity;
a resilient conductive contact member having an anchoring segment mounted on the rear lower wall, and a bridging segment extending from the anchoring segment in the longitudinal direction and disposed above the contact end portions of the front and rear terminals in the terminal bridging cavity;
an upper insulator body including a top wall with front and rear ends spaced apart in the longitudinal direction, and front and rear upper walls respectively extending downward from the front and rear ends of the top wall so as to define a downwardly opening actuator mounting cavity, the front and rear upper walls respectively engaging the front and rear lower walls, the upper insulator body having an actuator slot formed through the front upper wall and communicated with the actuator mounting cavity; and
a pivotable actuator having
a mounting portion disposed pivotally in the actuator mounting cavity and pivotable about a pivot axis that extends in a transverse direction transverse to the longitudinal direction,
an operating portion extending from the mounting portion outwardly of the actuator mounting cavity via the actuator slot, and
a pressing projection projecting downwardly from the mounting portion toward the bridging segment of the contact member.
Application of a pressing force on the operating portion of the actuator causes the actuator to pivot in the actuator mounting cavity to a switch-on state and enables the pressing projection to press the bridging segment of the contact member downward so that the bridging segment bridges together the contact end portions of the front and rear terminals to make electrical connection between the front and rear terminals.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3878344 (1975-04-01), Lockard
patent: 4311884 (1982-01-01), Henley et al.
patent: 4389549 (1983-06-01), Brown
patent: 4423300 (1983-12-01), Chesemore et al.
patent: 4644110 (1987-02-01), Watanabe et al.
patent: 4975548 (1990-12-01), Brouilette et al.
patent: 5601183 (1997-02-01), Boyd et al.
Enad Elvin
Excel Cell Electronic Co., Ltd.
Klaus Lisa N.
LandOfFree
Switch with pivotable actuator does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Switch with pivotable actuator, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Switch with pivotable actuator will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3158007