Electricity: circuit makers and breakers – Multiple circuit control – Pivoted contact
Reexamination Certificate
2003-06-03
2004-06-15
Friedhofer, Michael A. (Department: 2832)
Electricity: circuit makers and breakers
Multiple circuit control
Pivoted contact
C200S0050EA, C338S047000, C338S092000, C345S161000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06750408
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a multi-directional operation switch and a multi-directional input device using the switch which are used for an input of data in an electronic device, such as a mobile telephone, a mobile data terminal, or a remote controller.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A conventional multi-directional operation switch will be explained referring to
FIGS. 15
to
17
.
FIG. 15
is a front cross sectional view of the conventional multi-directional operation switch. An upper opening of a box-like case
1
made of insulating resin is covered with a cover
2
of a metal sheet. In the case
1
, four of front, rear, left, and right, peripheral fixed contacts
3
to
6
provided on a bottom side thereof by insert forming, as shown in an exploded perspective view of FIG.
16
. Four elastic strip portions
9
to
12
of a common movable contact
8
secured to protrusions
1
A and connected to a common lead
7
are located over peripheral fixed contacts
3
to
6
to face the contacts
3
to
6
. A supporter
14
urged upward by a compression coil spring
13
mounted along an inner wall of the case
1
has square uppermost end
14
A pressed to contact the cover
2
. The supporter
14
has a recess
14
B provided in the center thereof for accommodating a semi-spherical pivotable member
15
. More particularly, the pivotable member
15
has a flange portion
15
A located on a rim portion about the center recess
14
B of the supporter
14
while having a round portion
15
B fitting to a round opening
2
A provided in the center of the cover
2
. The center recess
14
B restricts a pivotal movement of the flange portion
15
A in a lateral direction of the pivotable member
15
. The pivotable member
15
has a small spherical bottom
15
C provided at the center of the lower side thereof which directly contacts a bottom center of the case
1
and can thus be tilted in any direction by its pivotal movement. A rod-like operating shank
16
extending upwardly from the top of the round portion
15
B of the pivotable member
15
has a knob
17
mounted to the distal end
16
A thereof. The supporter
14
has pressing portions
18
A to
18
D (portions
18
B and
18
C are not shown) provided on an edge of the lower side thereof corresponding to elastic strip portions
9
to
12
of the common movable contact
8
, respectively.
An operation of the conventional multi-directional operation switch will be explained.
FIG. 15
illustrates the switch is turned off while the operating shank
16
is held at a neutral center position.
When the knob
17
mounted to the distal end
16
B of the operating shank
16
is depressed at the upper left in a direction A in the front cross sectional view of
FIG. 17
, the operating shank
16
tilts, and the pivotable member
15
turns to the left. At this moment, the round portion
15
B contacts directly the inner edge in the round opening
2
A of the cover
2
. Simultaneously, the flange portion
15
A of the pivotable member
15
presses down at the left against the bottom at the recess
14
B of the supporter
14
. This operation causes the supporter
14
to tilt leftward about the square uppermost end
14
A at the right or opposite side to the left as a fulcrum. As the elastic strip portion
9
is pressed down against the fixed contact
3
by the pressing portion
18
A of the supporter
14
, the common movable contact
8
is electrically connected with the fixed contact
3
, thus outputting a switching signal between terminal ports
7
A and
3
A.
At the moment, the uppermost end
14
A at the left of the supporter
14
departs downwardly from the lower side of the cover
2
as resisting against a yielding force of the coil spring
13
.
Then, when the depressing of the knob
17
is canceled, the yielding force of the coil spring
13
drives the supporter
14
and the pivotable member
15
to return back to their original neutral positions shown in FIG.
15
. Simultaneously, the elastic strip portion
9
moves back by its elastic force from the fixed contact
3
to the original position shown in
FIG. 15
, hence turning the switch off.
Similarly, while the knob
17
mounted to the operating shank
16
shifts to the right, front, or rear, the switching signal can be output from one of lead ports
4
A to
6
A.
However, although an electronic device is demanded to have a reduced thickness or overall dimensions, such conventional multi-directional operation switch is large in the height and permit one switching signal to be released by any single action towards a desired direction.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A multi-directional operation switch includes plural annular conductive layers provided concentrically and having lead ports, respectively, an elastic first insulating sheet spaced by a distance from the annular conductive layers, an annular resistor layer provided on a first side of the first insulating sheet, facing the annular conductive layers, and having at least three lead ports, and an operating member including plural pressing portions provided over the annular conductive layers corresponding to the pressing portions, respectively. The pressing portions is provided over a second side of the first insulating sheet. The pressing portions of the operating member presses the first insulating sheet to make the annular conductive layers sequentially contact the resistor layer.
The multi-directional operation switch is low in the height and can produce a number of different switching signals depending on desired angular directions of its switching operation.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5828363 (1998-10-01), Yaniger et al.
patent: 6067005 (2000-05-01), DeVolpi
patent: 6087925 (2000-07-01), DeVolpi
patent: 6313826 (2001-11-01), Schrum et al.
patent: 6437682 (2002-08-01), Vance
patent: 6653579 (2003-11-01), Inoue et al.
Inoue Hiroto
Okada Hiroyasu
Sawada Masaki
Yamamoto Tamotsu
Friedhofer Michael A.
RatnerPrestia
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