US2616002A - Switch construction - Google Patents

Description

Patented Oct. 28, 1952 2,616,002 SWITCH CONSTRUCTION Alex J. Junker and John J. Koski, Toledo, Ohio,

assignors to Willys-Overland Motors, Inc., Toledo, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware I Application March 11, 1950, Serial No. 149,174

"This invention relates-to switches and especially to switches of the push button type particularly adapted for use in motor vehicles to cornpletean electrical circuit through a horn or other electrically energizable unit.

The invention embraces the provision of a push button type of switch construction wherein the movable circuit completing element of the switch is normally supported in open circuit position by distortable or yieldable material capable of returning to its initial position when application of force is removed from the button actuating the movable element.

An object of the invention resides in the provision of a push button type of circuit closing switch means in which the movable button and circuit completing contact are yieldably maintained in open circuit position through the utilization of mounting means formed of rubber or the like wherein the use of metallic springs is eliminated.

An object of the invention resides in the provision of a push button mounting construction embodying radially spaced su porting elements acting against yieldable abutments, the latter being distortable in radial directions during circuit open and closing movements of the push button and contact elements.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a mounting construction for a push button element of a switch device incorporating a support formed of molded rubber or the like which serves as a sound dampening or attenuating means for eliminat ng the transmission of noise.

Another obiect of the invention resides in a simplified mounting means for a push button element and circuit completing contact of a switch mechanism wherein the number of elements have been re uced yet providing a construction which is positive in operation and one in which wear of the parts or elements is eliminated and which is capable of long life and which is not liable to become disassembled in use.

Another object of the invention resides in the provis on of a simplified mounting means for the push button and movable contact elements of a switch construction whereby the assembly of the elements may be accomplished in a minimum of time and which may be carried on by unskilled labor whereby the construction may be economi cally manufactured in mass quantities.

A further benefit of the invention is the provision of a resilient or yieldable mounting means for a horn button and contact element wherein the same functions to automatically center the V Claims. (Cl. 200-59) horn button so as to render the movable switch contact at all times in proper position to engage a stationary switch contact to positively assure completion of the electrical circuit when the button is actuated to circuit closing position.

Further objects and advantages are within the scope of this invention such as relate to the arrangement, operation and function of the related elements of the structure, to various details of construction and to combinations of parts, elements per se, and to economies of manufacture and numerous other features as will be apparent from a consideration of the specification and drawing of a form of the invention, which may be preferred, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of a vehicle steering wheel illustrating a form of switch constriction of our invention associated therewith;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary detail sectional view taken substantially on the line 4- -4 of Figure 2,

and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially on the line 55 of Figure 2.

While we have shown a form of our invention as especially configurated and adapted to energize or complete an electrical circuitof a signal device on a vehicle as for example, a horn, it is to be understood that we contemplate the utilization of the arrangement of our invention wherever the same may be found to be adaptable.

Referring to the drawings in detail, and first with respect to Figure 1 there is illustrated a steering wheel ll! of a vehicle including a circular rim 1 I, a central hub portion [2 which is connected with the rim H by means of spokes or bars M. The steering wheel construction including the rim H, hub l2 and spokes I4 is preferably formed of molded plastic or the like as an integral unit, the structure being reinforced by means of metal bars or wires l5 and I6 imbedded in the molded plastic. Disposed centrally of the hub I2 is a push button construction l8 particularly shown in Figure 2 which is formed with a curved exterior upper surface as shown in Figure 2 which blends with the exterior curvature or contour of the hub portion 12 to present a smooth and pleasing appearance. The button or member I8 is movably supported in a manner hereinafter explained for effecting a completion of an electrical circuit. The button 18 may be formed of molded plastic or other resinous ma- 3 terial and may be oonfigurated and colored to present an attractive design and appearance.

The hub portion E2 of the steering wheel is mounted upon the upper extremity of a steering post or shaft 20 the latter being connected at its lower end to suitable steering gear (not shown) for manipulating the dirigible wheels of a vehicle. The shaft 28 is suitably enclosed within a tube, column or sleeve 22 which is nonrotatably supported upon the vehicle. The mounting means for the steering wheel hub I2 includes a metal sleeve or bushing 24 which is molded, in the hub l2 and is held against rotation by means of the reinforcing bar 16 extending into a recess formed in the sleeve 24, this feature being particularly illustrated in Figure 2. The sleeve or bushing 26 is provided with a hollow interior,a portion of the Wall being tapered to cooperate or fit over a correspondingly tapered portion 25 of the shaft 20 whereby the steering wheel unit is assembled in centered relation with the. steering post or shaft 2-53. The upperend of the tapered portion 26' terminates in a threaded tenon 21' to receive a securing nut 28, a washer 28 being interposed between the upper end of the sleeve '24. and the nut 28. A portion of the interior wall of the sleeve 24 and an adjacent portion-of the exterior wall of the steering post or shaft 2 3 are provided with cooperating knurled configurations 3d so that when the nut 28 is tightly drawn up, the cooperating knurled configurations 3Q prevent relative rotation between the steering wheel and the steering post, the tapered portion 26 serving to center the post 29 with the hub l 2.

The column or sleeve 22 extends into a cylindrical recess 32 formed in the hub 52 asshown in Figure 2 and is adapted to receive a bushin or .cup-like member 33 which extends into the upper portion of the sleeve 22.

The lower end of the member 33 is flanged inwardly as at 35 forming a ball race for accommodating a, plurality of bearing balls 36. A-sleeve member 31' in slidable engagement with the steering post 20 has its upper portion flanged outwardly as at 38 to form an upper race for the bearing balls .36. Disposed above the flange portion or race 33 is a disk or. washer cc and disposed between the bushing'z l and disk 48 is an expansive coil spring l! serving to exert a down wardly directed force to maintain the race '38 in contact with, the bearing balls '35. Surrounding the lower end portionof the sleeve 311 is a ring or annulus 33 which is assembled with the sleeve, an end portion a l of the sleeve 31 being swaged or spun outwardly to secure the sleeve and annulus '43 in assembled relationship. Disposed between the annulus 43 and the race 35 an annular' dust guard and grease retainer .45 of felt or other suitable material. The bearing construction provided by bearing balls as and races .35 and 38 serve to center shaft or post is in the steering column or tube 22.

Means areprovided for conveying electrical energyto a metal member Eli-carried by the push button It, the member 58 'forming a relatively movable contactrof theswitch mechanism hereinaiter described in further detail. The steering post 2c is of tubular or hollow configuration and extending through the hollow interior of the shaft. isa current conducting elementv or wire 52 which :is insulated .and which is provided at its upper :end with a contact piece '3 which engages a contact button 54 which issnugly secured in a :bore formed in an insulating sleeve Extending into the interior of the upperend of the post 20 is a metal sleeve 51 which has a flange 58 at its upper portion adapted to abut the upper end of the post 20 so as to predetermine the position of the sleeve 57 in the post. The sleeve 5? is of an interior diameter to slidably accommodate the member 55 of insulating material so that the latter may be reciprocated in the sleeve 5'! to facilitate the; closing of the switch mechanism in a manner hereinafter explained. The lower end of the sleeve 51 is flanged inwardly as at Bil providing a ledge to support an expansive coil spring til disposed between the ledge 59 and the lower extremity of the insulating member 55. The spring 6i functions to normally urge the insulating member 55 in an upward direction so as to maintain engagement of the abutment 54 with the relatively movable switch contact member fill.

The circuit of a signaling device or other electrically energized means is completed by the member 56 contacting some portion of the upper surfgaceof thenut 28 carried E'at'the upperend of the steering post "28.. The steering-post being a metal part of; the vehicle assemblyqforms a part of the ground orreturn conductor so :as: to complete the electrical circuit with a battery or other source of current. Means are provided for normally maintaining the button it and the contact member 59 carried thereby in a predetermined position with the switch mechanism out of closed or circuit energizing position. As particularly shown in Figures 2 and 3, the hub portion l2 of the steering wheel unit is formed with a circular recess 66 providing a ledge 65, the latter adapted to support ansannulusor ring 36 formed of sheet metal. The ring 66 is securedto the hub l2 by means of a plurality of screws .67 extending through suitable openings in the ring and threaded into registering openings formed in the hub 12. In the embodiment illustrated 'as shown in Figure 3 there are three screws for securing the annulus 66 to the ledge 65.

Mounted upon the ring 65 is a plurality of brackets 69 each of which is formed of U-shaped configuration. Each of thebrackets'fidis formed with projecting flanges or ear port-ions lo-which are. spot weldedas at '1! to the-ring 6.6. Disposed Within the iii-shaped configuration of each bracket is an element 72 formed of yieldable or flexible material as for example, rubber, having a fairly high degree of resilience or flexibility. Each element is fixedly secured within its respective bracket by the indenting or corner portions M of the brackets which extend into adjacent recesses formed in the elements 7'2 to prevent relative bodily movement of the elements with respect to the brackets. Each resilient element 12 is formed with a cylindrical bore adapted to accommodate a cylindrically shaped plunger or detent member 16. Each borein an element i2 is terminated by a wall portion 11 adapted to engage the end of a plunger 16 as particularly shown in gure ,2. The abutment or wall 7"! is integrally molded as a partof the flexible element 12 and is. adapted to yield outwardly in a radial direction with respectto the axis of the steering wheel hub I! for a purpose hereinafter explained. Each wall ll isprovided with a small opening 18 forming an air relief to prevent air lock between the plunger i6 and the wall when these elements are assembled together. The button l8 forming the manipulating mean-s for the switch construction is formed with an integral annularly shaped depending portion 89 which lies within an area bounded by the brackets 69 as shown in Figure 3. The depending annulus 80 is provided with three openings or recesses 8| adapted for respective registration and alignment with the plungers or detents 16. It should be noted that each of the recesses or openings 8| is of a lesser diameter than that of the plunger 16 cooperating therewith, the extremity of the plunger or detent adjacent an opening being rounded or curved as indicated at 83 so that an end portion of each detent 16 partially extends into a recess 8|. The resilient or yieldable wall 1'! is molded in a manner having an inherent stress acting radially upon its adjacent detent 16 to yieldingly hold the detent in cooperative relation with its respective recess 8| formed in the annulus 82 of the manipulating button l8. As particularly shown in Figure 2 the bores formed in the resilient elements 72 are normally in a position to maintain the detent 18 substantially in a plane normal to the axis of the steering post 25. Disposed adjacent the annulus B is a cup-shaped member 50 which is movable with the button l8. of the ledge 85 are bent upwardly to form ears 84 which snugly and frictionally engage the inner wall of the depending annulus 80 to maintain the cup shaped member 50 in assembled relation with the button H8. The member 50, being in metallic contact with the button 54 at the extremity of the current conductor 52, provides a movable contact member of the switch construction. Thus upon depression of the manipulating button l8, some portion of the ledge 85 of the member 50 will be brought into metallic engagement with the nut 28 carried at the upper end of the steering post 20. This engagement completes the electrical circuit through the horn or other signal device (not shown) with which the circuit may be connected. The depression of button l8 distorts the resilient elements 72 so that the detents 15 may be canted radially downwardly as the button |3 is depressed to complete the electrical circuit. As soon as pressure is removed from the button l8, the inherent resiliency in the elements '12 returns the detents '16 to their normal position as indicated in Figure 2, and restoring the button l8 to open circuit position with the ledge 85 out of contact with the nut 2 8.

The periphery of the depending annularlyshaped portion 80 of the button i8 is provided with pairs of vertically extending bosses 90, a boss of each pair being disposed adjacent either side of a recess 8| as shown in Figure 5. The pairs of bosses serve as a guiding means to direct the detents l6 into registration with their respective recesses 8| during the operation of assembling the horn button l3 in position. It will be noted from Figure that the inner edges 92 of the bosses converge slightly in an upward direction so as to facilitate guiding the detents into the recesses.

It will be apparent that the switch of our invention is of simple construction in which the components may be readily and quickly assembled and which is positive in its operation and capable of long life.

It is apparent that, within the scope of the invention, modifications and difierent arrangements may be made other than is herein dis" closed, and the present disclosure is illustrative merely, the invention comprehending all variations thereof.

What is claimed is:

l. A switch construction'for an electrical circuit including in combination, a support; a plurality of yieldable abutments mounted on the Peripherally spaced portionsher;

support; each of said abutments being formed with a recess; a manually actuable member centrally mounted with respect to said abutments; said member being formed with recesses in substantial alignment respectively with said spaced abutments; an element disposed in the recess in each abutment and extending into a recess in said member aligned therewith; said yieldable abutments being arranged to normally maintain said member in a predetermined position; a metal contact element carried by said member; a relatively stationary contact element; said abutments being formed to be flexed upon relative movement of the member to effect engagement of the contact element carriedby the member with the relatively stationary contact element.

2. A switch construction for an electrical circuit including in combination, a support mema manually movable member; yieldable abutment means carried by one of said members; a plurality of spaced recesses formed in the other of said members; a plurality of plungers en gageable with said recesses and said abutment means, said abutment means being arranged to yieldingly maintain said plungers and said manually movable member in a predetermined position; a contact member carried by the manually movable member; a relatively stationary contact member; said abutment means being arranged to be flexed upon relative movement of the manuall movable member to efiect engagement of the contact members.

3. A switch construction of the push button type for use with a post and steering wheel assembly of a vehicle, a relatively movable push button member associated with the vehicle steering Wheel; abutment means of yieldable mate rial carried by the steering wheel; a plurality of plungers disposed between said yieldable abutment means and said push button member for normally biasing the push button member to a predetermined position; a contact element carried by said push button member; said abutment means and plungers being arranged to guide the push button member to complete an electrical circuit through the contact member carried thereby and the steering post.

4. A switch construction of the push button type for use with a post and steering wheel assembly of a vehicle, a relatively movable push button element; a plate element mounted on the steering Wheel; yieldable abutment means carried by one of said elements; a plurality of spaced recesses formed in the other of said elements; a plurality of plungers engageable with said abutment means and extending into said recesses for normally and yieldably supporting the push button element in a predetermined position; a contact member carried by said push button element; said abutment means adapted to yield upon relative axial movement of the push button element to establish an electrical circuit through the contact member carried thereby and the steering post.

5. A switch construction of the push button type for use with a post and steering wheel assembly of a vehicle including a relatively movable push button element associated with the steering wheel; a plurality of abutments of yieldable material carried by the steering wheel and circumferentially spaced about the axis thereof; a plurality of radially arranged plungers disposed between said yieldable abutments and said push button member for normally and yieldably supporting the push button member in a predetermined position; a contact member carried by said push button element; said abutments and plungers being arranged to guide the .push button element upon relative axial movement thereofv to establish an electrical circuit through the contact member and the steering post.

6. vA switch construction of thepush button type for use with a post and steering wheel assembly of a vehicle, a relatively movable push button element associated with the steering wheel; a plurality of members formed of yieldable material carried by the steering wheel and circumferentially spaced about the axis thereof; each of said members being formed with a socket; a plunger mounted in each of said sockets and projecting exteriorly thereof; said push button element being formed with a plurality of accesses each of which is respectively engaged by the projecting portion of a plunger; a contact member carried by thepush button element; said members of yieldable material being arranged to be flexed upon relative axial movement of the push button element to establish an electrical circuit through the contact member carried thereby and the steering post.

7. A switch construction or" the push button type for use with a post and steering wheel assembly of a vehicle, a relatively movable push button element associated with the steering wheel; a plurality of members formed of flexible rubber circumferentially spaced about the axis of the steering wheel; a bracket supporting each of the members; each of said members being formed with a socket; a plunger mounted in each of said sockets and projecting exteriorly thereof; said push button element being formed with .a plurality of openings of lesser diameter than that of the plungers, each of said openings adap ed to receive the projecting portion of a plunger; .a contact member carried by the push button element; said members being arranged to be flexed upon relative axial movement of the push button element to establish an electrical circuit through the contact member carried thereby and the steering post.

8. A switch construction for use with a steering post and steering wheel assembly of a vehicle including, in combination, a plurality of brackets carried by the steering wheel and circumferentially spaced with respect to the axis thereof; an abutment formed of yieldable material carried byv each of :said brackets; a push button centrally mounted with respect to the axis of the steering wheel; a metal contact member carried by said push button; recesses formed in said'push button in respective alignment with the circumferentially arranged abutments; a plunger disposed between each of said recesses and a yieldable abutment; said push button adapted to be moved axially to establish a metallic current coning post and steering wheel assembly of a vehicle including, in combination, a plurality of brackets circumferentially spaced with respect to the axis of the steering wheel; an abutment formed of flexible rubber carried by'each of said brackets; a push button centrally mounted with respect to the axis of the steering wheel; a metal contact member carried by said, push button;

recesses formed in saidipush button inrespective alignment with the circumferentially arranged abutments; a plurality of plungers, each carried by an abutment and arranged to extend into one of the recesses formed in the push button; said push button'adapted to be moved axially to bring the contact member carried thereby into circuit establishing position with the steering post to complete an electrical circuit; said abutments normally and yieldingly maintaining said push button and contact member in open circuit position.

10. A switch construction for use with a steering post and steering wheel of a vehicle including in combination a plurality of brackets circumferentially spaced with respect to the axis of the steering wheel; an abutment formed of yieldable material carried by each of said brackets; a push button centrally mounted with respect to the axis of the steering wheel; a metal contact member carried by said push button; a nut threaded upon the steering post; recesses formed in said push button in respective alignment with the circumferentially arranged abutments; a plunger arranged in each of said recesses and in engagement with a yieldable abutment; said push button adapted to be moved axially to bring the contact member carried thereby into engagement with the nut carried by the steering post to complete an electrical circuit; said yieldable abutments normally and yieldingly maintaining said push button in a position holding the contact carried thereby out of engagement with said nut.

ALEX J. JUNKER. JOHN J. KOSKI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,967,030 Kull July 17, 193 i 2,061,222 Creson Nov. 17, 1936 2,181,783 Creson Nov. 28, 1939

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