AU2017279697A1 - Transmission device for push-button switch, push-button switch and socket - Google Patents

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a transmission device, including: a transmission means (20), configured to indicate operation states of a push-button switch by exposing an indication part (22) of the transmission means (20); and an elastic means (30) for driving the transmission means (20), disposed between the transmission means (20) and a rocker (40) of the push-button switch and configured to be deformed in responding to a pushing of a push button (10) of the push-button switch, so as to drive the transmission means (20) to move between a first predetermined position and a second predetermined position, in which, the first predetermined position corresponds to an on state of the push-button switch and the second predetermined position corresponds to an off state of the push-button switch. The embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a push-button switch and a socket. With the transmission device, the push-button switch and the socket according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the transmission means is driven to move through the elastic force generated when the push button is pressed. The number of parts is small and the structure is simple. Fig. 1

Description

TRANSMISSION DEVICE FOR PUSH-BUTTON SWITCH, PUSH-BUTTON

SWITCH AND SOCKET

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a push-button switch, and more particularly to an improvement of an operation-state indication of a push-button switch.

BACKGROUND

[0002] The push-button switch is widely used in homes, factories and other fields. As is well known in the art, unlike the rocker switch, the push-button switch includes a push button that protrudes from the panel, and the operation state of the push-button switch is switched by pressing the push button. For example, when the switch is initially in the on state, if the push button is pressed, the switch is switched to the off state. Then, the push button is released, the push button springs back and the switch remains in the off state. When the switch remains in the off state, if the push button is pressed, the switch is switched to the on state. Then, the push button is released, the push button springs back and the switch remains in the on state. Therefore, the pushbutton switch needs an indication means to indicate the operation state of the pushbutton switch. However, the driving of the indication means for the push-button switch in the prior art is complicated and has a large number of parts, so it is expected to further improve the driving.

SUMMARY

[0003] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a transmission device for a push-button switch, comprising: a transmission means comprising a driving part and configured, in responding to a pushing action to the push-button switch, to drive, by the driving part, a rocker of the push-button switch to pivot, wherein, the transmission means further comprises an indication part for providing an indication function of indicating operation states of the push-button switch; and an elastic means for driving the transmission means, disposed between the transmission means and the rocker of the push-button switch and configured to deform in responding to a pushing to a push button of the push-button switch, so as to drive the transmission means to move between a first predetermined position and a second predetermined position, wherein, the first predetermined position corresponds to an on state of the push-button switch and the second predetermined position corresponds to an off state of the push-button switch.

[0004] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the elastic means is configured in a following manner: in the case that the transmission means is in the first predetermined position, when the push button of the push-button switch is pushed to actuate the push-button switch, the elastic means is deformed, and the transmission means is maintained in the first predetermined position and not moved; when the push button of the push-button switch is released, the transmission means is driven to move to the second predetermined position through a restoring force of the elastic means, so as to change a state indication of the push-button switch; in the case that the transmission means is in the second predetermined position, when the push button of the push-button switch is pushed to actuate the push-button switch, the elastic means is deformed, and the transmission means is maintained in the second predetermined position and not moved; when the push button of the push-button switch is released, the transmission means is driven to move to the first predetermined position through the restoring force of the elastic means, so as to change the state indication of the push-button switch.

[0005] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the transmission means is slidably mounted to the push button of the push-button switch.

[0006] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the indication part is disposed on a top surface of the transmission means and the push button has an opening window provided in a predetermined position, and when the indication part is slid to the predetermined position, the indication part is exposed out of the opening window, so that the operation state of the push-button switch is observable to a user.

[0007] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the transmission means and the push button (10) comprises abutting parts fitted with each other, and the abutting parts promote deformation of the elastic means in the case that the transmission means is maintained in a corresponding predetermined position and not moved.

[0008] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the elastic means is configured to be deformed in responding to a pivoting of the rocker, so as to produce a force adapted to push the transmission means when the push button is released.

[0009] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the elastic means is a spring whose two ends are attached to the transmission means and the rocker, respectively.

[0010] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a pushbutton switch, comprising: a push button; the above transmission device; a rocker pivotably mounted to a housing of the push-button switch and configured to pivot in responding to a downward movement of the transmission means, such that a moving contact of the push-button switch is driven to pivot through the rocker, so as to contact or to be separated from a fixed contact of the push-button switch.

[0011] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the push button has a sliding rail, and the transmission means is slidably mounted to the sliding rail.

[0012] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the rocker has a spring seat, and an end of the elastic means is adapted to be accommodated in the spring seat.

[0013] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the rocker is divided into a first portion and a second portion, the second portion is provided with the spring seat, so as to divide the push-button switch into two parts, wherein, the first portion of the rocker, the moving contact and the fixed contact form an installation panel adapted to be mounted to a fixed wall, the push button, the transmission means, the elastic means and the second portion of the rocker form a cover separated from the installation panel, wherein the second portion of the rocker is mounted to a main body of the cover through a pivot shaft.

[0014] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a socket, comprising the above push-button switch for controlling power-on and power-off of the socket.

[0015] With the transmission device, the push-button switch and the socket according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, two functions of transmission and indication are realized in the transmission means. That is, one part has two functions, thus resulting in few parts, a low cost, a convenient assembling and a facilitated production.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0016] Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: [0017] Fig. 1 is a schematic view showing a push-button switch in a first operation state according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; [0018] Fig. 2 is a schematic view of a push-button switch in a transition state according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; [0019] Fig. 3 shows a schematic view of a push-button switch in a second operation state according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; [0020] Fig. 4 shows a perspective bottom view of a push button according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; [0021] Fig. 5 shows a perspective bottom view of a transmission means according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; [0022] Fig. 6 shows a perspective view of a rocker according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and [0023] Fig. 7 shows a schematic view of an embodiment in which a rocker is divided into two portions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the same numerals may be used for similar parts or functional components in the drawings. The accompanying drawings are merely intended to illustrate the embodiments of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art can obtain alternative embodiments from the following descriptions without departing from the spirit and the protection scope of the present disclosure.

[0025] A transmission device for a push-button switch according to embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that a structure of the push-button switch in the drawings is merely exemplary, and some features not related to an inventive concept of the present application are simplified or omitted. In addition, in the illustrated features, some invisible lines or features not relevant to the present application are illustrated with dashed lines. It should be understood that although the present application illustrates the inventive concept of the present application with a pushbutton switch combined in a socket, the specific implementation forms of the pushbutton switch are various. For example, the push-button switch can be used as a standalone switch part and also can be integrated in another part to operate as a module therein. For example, the push-button switch can be integrated in a socket for controlling power-on and power-off of the socket, and the push-button switch can also be integrated in other electrical parts. These variations are all covered by the protection scope of the present application. In addition, direction terms such as upper, lower, left and right described below are merely for convenience of description, but not for limitation. In actual implementations, the direction can be changed according to actual applications.

[0026] Fig. 1 to Fig 3 illustrate an operation principle of a push-button switch according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Fig. 1 to Fig. 3, the push-button switch according to the embodiment of the present disclosure includes a push button 10, a driving device and a rocker 40.

[0027] A transmission device includes a transmission means 20, and the transmission means 20 includes a driving part 26 and is configured, in responding to a pushing action of the push-button switch, to drive, by the driving part, the rocker 40 of the push-button switch to pivot. The transmission means 20 further includes an indication part 22 for providing an indication function of indicating operation states of the pushbutton switch. An elastic means 30 for driving the transmission means 20 is disposed between the transmission means 20 and the rocker 40 of the push-button switch and is configured to be deformed at the push button 10 of the push-button switch in responding to a pushing of the push button 10 of the push-button switch, so as to drive the transmission means 20 to move between a first predetermined position and a second predetermined position. The first predetermined position corresponds to an on state of the push-button switch and the second predetermined position corresponds to an off state of the push-button switch.

[0028] The rocker 40 is pivotably mounted to a housing of the push-button switch and is configured to pivot in responding to a downward movement of the transmission means, such that a moving contact 50 of the push-button switch is driven to pivot by the rocker 40, so as to contact or to be separated from a fixed contact 60 of the pushbutton switch.

[0029] With the transmission device according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, when the push button 10 of the push-button switch is pushed, the elastic means 30 is deformed; when the push button 10 of the push-button switch is released, the transmission means 20 is driven to move by a restoring force of the deformed elastic means 30. The transmission device according to the embodiment of the present disclosure has a simple structure and is easy to implement.

[0030] In an embodiment, a top surface of the transmission means is provided with an indication part 22. The indication part 22, for example, may be an area marked with different colors. The push button 10 has an opening window 12 provided in a predetermined position. When the indication part 22 is slid to the predetermined position, the indication part 22 is exposed out of the opening window 12, so that the operation state of the push-button switch is observable to a user. In another embodiment, the indication part 22 may be configured as an independent part attached to the transmission means.

[0031] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the elastic means 30 is configured in a following manner: in the case that the transmission means 20 is in the first predetermined position, when the push button of the push-button switch is pushed to actuate the push-button switch, the elastic means 30 is deformed in a pushing direction, and also, the transmission means 20 is maintained in the first predetermined position and not moved; when the push button of the push-button switch is released, the transmission means 20 is driven to move to the second predetermined position through the restoring force of the elastic means 30, so as to change a state indication of the push-button switch; in the case that the transmission means 20 is in the second predetermined position, when the push button of the push-button switch is pushed to actuate the push-button switch, the elastic means 30 is deformed in the pushing direction, and also, the transmission means 20 is maintained in the second predetermined position and not moved; when the push button of the push-button switch is released, the transmission means 20 is driven to move to the first predetermined position through the restoring force of the elastic means 30, so as to change the state indication of the push-button switch.

[0032] In the illustrated embodiment, the elastic means 30 is used to drive the transmission means 20 to move, and also acts as a restoring spring for resetting the push button 10. In other embodiments, the elastic means 30 may be another means that is independent from the restoring spring that resets the push button 10.

[0033] The structure and operation principle of the transmission device according to the embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below in combination with the operation process of the push-button switch. As is well known in the art, the pushbutton switch has only two operation states, i.e., an on state and an off state. When the push button is pressed and released, the operation state of the push button is switched. Each time the push button is pressed and released, the operation state of the push button is switched once. Therefore, an indication device is required to indicate the operation state of the push-button switch. The design difficulty of the indication device lies in how to use the on-off switching movement of the push-button switch to realize the drive of the indication device.

[0034] As shown in Fig. 1, in an initial state, the moving contact 50 and the fixed contact 60 are engaged with each other, and the switch is in the on state. In this state, the rocker 40 is in the initial tilted position, and a driving part 26 (a right driving part in the drawing) of the transmission device 20 abuts against a slave part 46 (a right driving part in the drawing) of the rocker 40. However, as the transmission means and the rocker are in an equilibrium state, there is no relative movement therebetween.

[0035] In this state, the transmission means 20 is stationary, and the indication part 22 is exposed out of the opening window 12, so that the operation state of the pushbutton switch is observable to the user through the opening window 12.

[0036] When the user desires to turn the switch off, the user needs to press the push button 10 and then release the push button 10. The operation of pressing and releasing realizes the operation of turning off the push-button switch. Moreover, the push button 10 maintains in the state that the moving contact 50 and the fixed contact 60 are separated, when the user releases the push button 10. The working principle of the push-button switch and the transmission device will be described below with reference to Figs. 2 and 3.

[0037] As shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, when the user presses the push button 10, the push button 10 moves downwards to push the transmission means 20 to move downwards; as the transmission means 20 moves downwards, the right driving part 26 of the transmission device 20 presses down the right slave part 46 of the rocker 40; since the rocker 40 is pivotably connected to a main body of the push-button switch, the rocker 40 rotates clockwise (the direction observed in the drawing) around a rotating shaft 48 along with the right driving part 26 of the transmission means 20pressing down the right slave part 46 of the rocker 40; along with the rotation of the rocker 40, the rotation movement drives the moving contact 50 to rotate counterclockwise so as to be separated from the fixed contact 60, thereby turning off the switch. It should be noted that the push button 10 is not released yet.

[0038] In this process, since both ends of the elastic means 30 are respectively mounted to the transmission means 20 and the rocker 40, therefore, the elastic means 30 is deformed in response to the pivoting of the rocker 40, as the right driving part 26 of the transmission means 20 presses down the right slave part 46 of the rocker 40 and the rocker 40 rotates clockwise around the rotating shaft 48. As can be clearly seen from Fig. 2, the rocker 40 pushes the elastic means 30 to deform, as the right part of the rocker 40 moves to the lower left (rotating clockwise). At the same time, since the user’s hand is still pressed on the push button 10, the transmission means 20 remains in the original position under the pressure of the push button 10. In other words, although the moving contact 50 and the fixed contact 60 have been separated at this time, the indication part 22 still remains in the exposed position. It should be noted that, at this moment, the elastic means 30 moves leftwards and downwards (rotating clockwise) in response to the right part of the rocker 40, and the rocker 40 pushes the elastic means 30 to deform.

[0039] Referring next to Fig. 3, when the user releases the push button 10, the pressure acted on the transmission means 20 is removed. Since an end of the elastic means 30 is fixed or attached to the transmission means 20, the transmission means 20 moves rightwards and upwards under the restoring force of the elastic means 30, so that the indication part 22 of the transmission means 20 moves to the right side of the push button 10 and is hidden by the push button 10, that is, the user cannot see the indication part 22 on the transmission means 20 through the opening window 12. At the same time, the left driving part 26 of the transmission means 20 moves to a position corresponding to the left slave part 46 of the rocker 40. The moving contact 50 and the fixed contact 60 are kept in the separated state, and the push-button switch is kept in the off state.

[0040] At the same time, when the user desires to turn on the push-button switch, the user can press the push button 10 to perform a process similar to the entire process from Fig. 1 to Fig. 3 described above, so as to achieve a position from off to on; in this process, the indication part 22 moves from the right hidden position to the left exposed position, so as to indicate the on state of the switch. For the sake of brevity, its detailed description is omitted.

[0041] The structure details of the push-button switch and the driving device of the present application will be further described below with reference to Fig. 4 to Fig. 6.

[0042] In the illustrated embodiment, the push button 10 includes a cavity defined by its top and side walls and the transmission means 20 is slidably mounted to the push button 10 of the push-button switch. Sliding is used to drive the transmission means, the movement process of the transmission device is simple and it is convenient to control the movement of the transmission means.

[0043] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the transmission means 20 part and the push button 10 include abutting parts fitted with each other, and the abutting parts promote deformation of the elastic means 30 in the case that the transmission means 20 remains in a corresponding predetermined position and is not moved. In the illustrated embodiment, a position limiting part may be provided at an appropriate position in the cavity of the push button, and a sliding stroke of the transmission means 20 can be limited when the abutting part and the position limiting part interact with each other.

[0044] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in Fig. 4, the push button 10 is provided with a sliding rail 121, and the transmission means 20 is slidably mounted to the sliding rail 121. As shown in Fig. 5, two sides of the transmission means 20 are provided with a sliding part 24, and the sliding part 24 can be mounted to the sliding rail 12 F As shown in Fig. 5, the transmission means 20 may be provided with a hook part 28, and another end of the elastic means 30 can be hooked by the hook part 28.

[0045] In an embodiment, both ends of the elastic means 30 may be respectively fixed to the rocker 40 and the transmission means 20. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in Fig. 6, the rocker 40 is provided with a spring seat 42, and an end of elastic means 30 is adapted to be received in the spring seat 42. Fig. 6 also shows a pivot shaft 48, and the rocker 40 can be pivotably mounted to the body of the push-button switch through the pivot shaft 48. The term “fixed” here includes detachable fixing, without any limitation to a specific structure, as long as it is ensured that the elastic means 30 is not separated from the rocker 40 and the transmission means 20 when the elastic means 30 is deformed, and that the elastic means 30 remains engaged with the rocker 40 and the transmission means 20 when the elastic means 30 releases the restoring force. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the push-button switch is divided into two parts. One part of the push-button switch can be configured in the form of an installation panel fixed in a support surface such as a wall or the like, and the installation panel can be fixed to the support surface (such as the wall or the like) with a screw. The other part of the pushbutton switch can be configured in the form of a cover matched with the installation panel, and the cover can cover the installation panel and be fitted with the installation panel.

[0046] In an embodiment, as shown in Fig. 7, the rocker 40 is divided into a first portion and a second portion 42’ provided with the spring seat, and thereby the pushbutton switch is divided into two parts. The first portion of the rocker 40, the moving contact 50 and the fixed contact 60 form the installation panel adapted to be mounted to a fixed wall surface. The push button 10, the transmission means, the elastic means 30 and the second portion of the rocker 40 form the cover separated from the installation panel. These two can be mounted together by means of surface fit. In order to ensure that the separate portion provided with the spring seat can be rotated with the rest portion of the rocker, the separate portion can be provided with a shaft, and the separate portion is rotatably mounted to the main body of the cover through the shaft. It should be understood that a person skilled in the art would conceive other ways of dividing the rocker 40, under the teachings of the present disclosure.

[0047] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, an end of the elastic means is provided with a seat body, the rocker includes a seat hole, and the seat body is received in the seat hole when another portion is mounted to a portion.

[0048] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a socket including the above push-button switch for controlling power-on and power-off of the socket. Thus, the push-button switch can control power-on and power-off of a jack in the socket. In other embodiments, the push-button switch can be integrated into other electrical devices. These devices all have the advantages of the transmission device according to embodiments of the present application.

[0049] With the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings, many modifications and other embodiments of the present disclosure herein will recognized by those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains. Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the disclosed specific embodiments, and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the present disclosure. In addition, although the above descriptions and related drawings describe the example embodiments in the context of some example combinations of parts and/or functions, it should be realized that different combinations of parts and/or functions may be provided by alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In this regard, for example, other combinations of parts and/or functions more or less different from those explicitly illustrated above are also expected as being within the scope of the present disclosure. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used only in a generic and descriptive sense and not for purpose of limitation.

[0050] Throughout the specification and the claims that follow, unless the context requires otherwise, the words “comprise” and “include” and variations such as “comprising” and “including” will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or group of integers, but not the exclusion of any other integer or group of integers.

[0051] The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgement of any form of suggestion that such prior art forms part of the common general knowledge.

Claims (12)

1. A transmission device for a push-button switch, comprising: a transmission means comprising a driving part and configured, in responding to a pushing action to the push-button switch, to drive, by the driving part, a rocker of the push-button switch to pivot, wherein, the transmission means further comprising an indication part for providing an indication function of indicating operation states of the push-button switch; and an elastic means for driving the transmission means, disposed between the transmission means and the rocker of the push-button switch and configured to deform in responding to a pushing to a push button of the push-button switch, so as to drive the transmission means to move between a first predetermined position and a second predetermined position, wherein, the first predetermined position corresponds to an on state of the push-button switch and the second predetermined position corresponds to an off state of the push-button switch.

2. The transmission device according to claim 1, wherein, the elastic means is configured in a following manner: in the case that the transmission means is in the first predetermined position, when the push button of the push-button switch is pushed to actuate the push-button switch, the elastic means is deformed, and the transmission means is maintained in the first predetermined position and not moved; when the push button of the push-button switch is released, the transmission means is driven to move to the second predetermined position through a restoring force of the elastic means, so as to change a state indication of the push-button switch; in the case that the transmission means is in the second predetermined position, when the push button of the push-button switch is pushed to actuate the push-button switch, the elastic means is deformed, and the transmission means is maintained in the second predetermined position and not moved; when the push button of the pushbutton switch is released, the transmission means is driven to move to the first predetermined position through the restoring force of the elastic means, so as to change the state indication of the push-button switch.

3. The transmission device according to claim 1, wherein, the transmission means is slidably mounted to the push button of the push-button switch.

4. The transmission device according to claim 3, wherein, the indication part is disposed on a top surface of the transmission means, the push button has an opening window provided in a predetermined position, and when the indication part is slid to the predetermined position, the indication part is exposed out of the opening window, so that the operation state of the push-button switch is observable to a user.

5. The transmission device according to claim 4, wherein, the transmission means and the push button comprise abutting parts fitted with each other, and the abutting parts promote deformation of the elastic means in the case that the transmission means is maintained in a corresponding predetermined position and not moved.

6. The transmission device according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein, the elastic means is configured to be further deformed in responding to a pivoting of the rocker, so as to produce a force adapted to push the transmission means when the push button is released.

7. The transmission device according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein, the elastic means is a spring whose two ends are attached to the transmission means and the rocker, respectively.

8. A push-button switch, comprising: a push button; a transmission device according to any one of claims 1-7; a rocker pivotably mounted to a housing of the push-button switch and configured to pivot in responding to a downward movement of the transmission means, such that a moving contact of the push-button switch is driven to pivot through the rocker, so as to contact or to be separated from a fixed contact of the push-button switch.

9. The push-button switch according to claim 8, wherein, the push button is provided with a sliding rail, and the transmission means is slidably mounted to the sliding rail.

10. The push-button switch according to claim 8, wherein, the rocker is provided with a spring seat, and an end of the elastic means is adapted to be accommodated in the spring seat.

11. The push-button switch according to claim 10, wherein, the rocker is divided into a first portion and a second portion, the second portion is provided with the spring seat, so as to divide the push-button switch into two parts, wherein, the first portion of the rocker, the moving contact and the fixed contact form an installation panel adapted to be mounted to a fixed wall, the push button, the transmission means, the elastic means and the second portion of the rocker form a cover separated from the installation panel, wherein the second portion of the rocker is mounted to a main body of the cover through a pivot shaft.

12. A socket, comprising a push-button switch according to any one of claims 911 for controlling power-on and power-off of the socket.