Multi-position electrical switch
First Claim
1. A multi-position electrical switch including in combination:
- a housing having a bottom and a top, said top having an opening therethrough;
at least two pairs of spaced-apart conductors located adjacent the bottom of said housing, each pair of conductors located at a predetermine distance from a point on said bottom;
an actuating member extending through an opening in said top, said actuating member having a flange on the lower end thereof, said flange extending radially outwardly from a central axis through said actuating member, said opening in said top being aligned with said point on said bottom, and said flange being of a greater diameter than the width of said opening;
a deformable resilient support member having a circular opening in the center thereof and having at least a portion thereof in contact with the lower surface of said flange;
spherical bearing means located in the opening in said support member, said bearing means engaging said point on the bottom of said housing and a point at the center of the bottom of said flange of said actuating member;
at least two conductive contact means located on the bottom of said deformable support member and positioned for bridging corresponding ones of said pairs of spaced-apart conductors, whereupon when said actuating member is tilted downwardly about said spherical bearing means toward a selected one of said pairs of spaced-apart conductors, a corresponding one of said contact means is pressed into contact to bridge the space between such selected one of said pairs of conductors to complete an electrical circuit therethrough so long as said actuating member remains tilted downwardly, release of said actuating member allowing said deforable resilient support member to return said actuating member to a rest position where none of said conductive contact means are in electrical contact with any of said spaced-apart pairs of conductors.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A multi-directional switch which is utilized for completing selected ones of a number of different electrical circuits is placed in a housing in which the different electrical circuits to be controlled terminate in pairs of spaced-apart conductors located in the bottom of the housing. A cylindrical pushbutton actuating member extends upwardly through a circular opening in the top of the housing. This actuating member has a flange on the lower end which extends radially outwardly from the main body of the actuating member, and this flange is supported on a deformable support which has a circular opening in the center. A ball bearing is placed in the opening the deformable support and engages the bottom of the housing and the bottom of the actuating member. Conductive contacts are placed on the lower side of the deformable support in registry with the various contact pairs; so that when the actuating member is tilted over a selected contact pair, the corresponding conductive contact completes an electrical circuit across the contact pair selected by the direction of tilting the actuating member.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A multi-position electrical switch including in combination:
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a housing having a bottom and a top, said top having an opening therethrough; at least two pairs of spaced-apart conductors located adjacent the bottom of said housing, each pair of conductors located at a predetermine distance from a point on said bottom; an actuating member extending through an opening in said top, said actuating member having a flange on the lower end thereof, said flange extending radially outwardly from a central axis through said actuating member, said opening in said top being aligned with said point on said bottom, and said flange being of a greater diameter than the width of said opening; a deformable resilient support member having a circular opening in the center thereof and having at least a portion thereof in contact with the lower surface of said flange; spherical bearing means located in the opening in said support member, said bearing means engaging said point on the bottom of said housing and a point at the center of the bottom of said flange of said actuating member; at least two conductive contact means located on the bottom of said deformable support member and positioned for bridging corresponding ones of said pairs of spaced-apart conductors, whereupon when said actuating member is tilted downwardly about said spherical bearing means toward a selected one of said pairs of spaced-apart conductors, a corresponding one of said contact means is pressed into contact to bridge the space between such selected one of said pairs of conductors to complete an electrical circuit therethrough so long as said actuating member remains tilted downwardly, release of said actuating member allowing said deforable resilient support member to return said actuating member to a rest position where none of said conductive contact means are in electrical contact with any of said spaced-apart pairs of conductors. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification