Electricity: circuit makers and breakers – Multiple circuit control – Pivoted contact
Reexamination Certificate
2002-02-12
2003-07-01
Enad, Elvin (Department: 2832)
Electricity: circuit makers and breakers
Multiple circuit control
Pivoted contact
C200S004000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06586690
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a general-purpose push switch used as a button in electronic equipment such as a cellular phone or a multidirectional input device for operation of electronic equipment such as a cellular phone.
2. Description of the Related Art
Regarding the drawing for a conventional multidirectional input device,
FIG. 18
shows the main part of a conventional multidirectional input device.
A case
50
is a plastic box with an opening at the top. It has an octagonal bottom wall
50
a;
projections
50
d
spaced at regular intervals which protrude upwards from the bottom wall
50
a;
a side wall
50
b
standing upwards from the side edge of the bottom wall
50
a;
and notches
50
c
made at intervals of approximately 90 degrees in the side wall
50
b.
A first fixed contact
51
consists of a contact part
51
a
located at the top end and a terminal
51
b
extending outwards from the contact part
51
a;
the first fixed contact
51
is embedded in the bottom wall
5
a
with the contact part
51
a
exposed in the center of the bottom wall
50
a.
A common contact
52
consists of a semicircular arch contact part
52
a
and a terminal
52
b
extending outwards from the contact part
52
a.
This common contact
52
is embedded in the bottom wall
50
a
with the bottom wall
50
a
exposed on the surface of the bottom wall
50
a,
surrounding the contact part
51
a
of the first fixed contact
51
.
A first movable contact
53
is made of metal. It has the shape of a dome and rests on the bottom wall
50
a
with its periphery guided by the projections
50
d.
With the first movable contact
53
in place, its side edge
53
a
remains in contact with the contact part
52
a
of the common contact
52
and its top
53
b
faces the contact part
51
a
of the first fixed contact
51
. The first fixed contact
51
, common contact
52
and first movable contact
53
constitute a push switch S.
A guide
54
is made of plastic and has virtually the shape of a dome. It has a base
54
b
with a through hole
54
a
at the top; an arm
54
c
supported on one side, extending towards the center from the base
54
b;
and a spacer
54
d
engaged with the arm
54
c.
This guide
54
is fixed by the base
54
b
engaged with the projections
50
d.
Once the guide
54
is fixed in this way, the arm
54
c
faces the top of the first movable contact
53
.
A coil spring
55
is made of a conductive metal. It stands on the bottom wall
50
a
near the side wall
50
b,
surrounding the first movable contact
53
.
A cover
60
is an octagonal flat plate with a through hole
60
a
in the center. A second fixed contact
61
consists of a contact part
61
a
at the top end and a terminal
61
b
bent at right angles from the contact part
61
a.
The second fixed contact
61
is embedded in the cover
60
every approximately 45 degrees with the terminal
61
b
exposed on the lower face of the cover
60
. The cover
60
and the second fixed contact
61
are arranged so as to cover the opening of the case
50
, and a U-shaped metal leg
62
is used to fix them between the case
50
and the leg
62
.
A handle
64
consists of a driving body
65
, a second movable contact
66
embedded in the driving body
65
, and a control shaft
67
spline-connected with the driving body
65
. The driving body
65
is almost cylindrical and has in its center a through hole
65
a
which runs from the top to the bottom and has an oval bottom. The second movable contact
66
is a conductive metal ring disc with outward-stretching projections
66
a
arranged at intervals of 90 degrees. The second movable contact
66
is embedded at a level almost equal to the middle of the height of the driving body
65
. Made of plastic, the control shaft
67
has a cylinder
67
a
and an oval jaw
67
b
at the bottom of the cylinder
67
a.
The cylinder
67
a
is inserted through the through hole
65
a
from below the driving body
65
and the jaw
67
b
is spline-connected with the driving body
65
to control the rotation of the control shaft
67
.
The handle
64
is tiltably housed in the case
50
and the top
65
b
of the driving body
65
is tiltably supported by the through hole
60
a
of the cover
60
. The bottom
67
c
of the control shaft
67
is in contact with a spacer
54
d;
the second movable contact
66
is held pressed up by the coil spring
55
to be pressed against the contact part
61
a
of the second fixed contact
61
. Here, since the second movable contact
66
is in contact with the coil spring
55
, there is always continuity between the second movable contact
66
and the common contact
52
. The second fixed contact
61
and the second movable contact
66
, held pressed by the coil spring
55
, constitute a tilt switch S
6
which normally stays closed. The projections
66
a
of the second movable contact
66
engage with the notches
50
c
in the side wall
50
b
to prevent rotation of the entire handle
64
.
Next, how the conventional multidirectional input device operates will be explained. As the control shaft
67
is tilted in a desired direction, the handle
64
tilts on a fulcrum C which is the point of contact between the contact part
61
a
of the second fixed contact
61
and the second movable contact
66
on the side opposite to the tilting direction, and the tilt switch S
6
on the side of the fulcrum C stays ON while the tilt switch S
6
on the opposite side turns OFF. The coil spring
55
's part on the side opposite to the fulcrum C is contracted.
Also, upon tilting of the handle
64
, the bottom
67
c
of the control shaft
67
bends down the arm
54
c
through the spacer
54
d
so that the first movable contact
53
is pressed and the push switch S
5
turns ON.
Then, as the pressure on the control shaft
67
is released, the coil spring
55
returns to its original state and the second movable contact
66
returns to its original state as well; as a consequence, the handle
64
returns to its neutral position and the tilt switches S
6
all turn ON. The arm
54
c
and the first movable contact
53
return to their original state due their elastic force so the push switch S
5
turns OFF again.
When the control shaft
67
is pushed in axially with the handle
64
in its neutral position, the control shaft
67
moves down as guided by the through hole
65
a
of the driving body
65
, which presses the first movable contact
53
to turn ON the push switch S
5
. Meanwhile, all the tilt switches S
6
stay ON. Then, as the pressure on the control shaft
67
is released, the arm
54
c
and the first movable contact
53
return to their original state due to their elastic force so the push switch S
5
turns OFF again and, the control shaft
67
is pushed back by the arm
54
c
and returns to its original state.
In the conventional multidirectional input device, which has the above-mentioned constitution, there has been a problem that the overall height of the device has to be large enough to accommodate the height of the coil spring
55
in order to ensure that continuity is established between the second movable contact
66
and the common contact
52
through the coil spring
55
.
Another problem is that since the coil spring
55
is located near the side wall
50
b
and the common contact
52
has to be placed around the first movable contact
53
, the device size should be relatively large.
A further problem is that the shape of the common contact
52
must be complicated in order to ensure that the common contact
52
touches the coil spring
55
. In addition, since the arm
54
c
and spacer
54
d
lie between the first movable contact
53
and the control shaft
67
, the overall height should be relatively large.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a low-profile, compact, multidirectional input device which does not use the coil spring
55
.
As a first solution to the above problems, the present invention provides a multidirectional input device comprising: a casing having a bottom wall
Mizobuchi Shinichi
Sasaki Motonari
Shimomura Hisato
Alps Electric Co. ,Ltd.
Beyer Weaver & Thomas LLP
Enad Elvin
Klaus Lisa
LandOfFree
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