US3930135A

US3930135A - Switch with an indicating mechanism

Info

Publication number: US3930135A
Application number: US371073A
Authority: US
Inventors: Yasuo Kodaira
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1972-12-29
Filing date: 1973-06-18
Publication date: 1975-12-30
Anticipated expiration: 1992-12-30
Also published as: USB371073I5; JPS546850Y2; JPS49103972U

Abstract

A switch with an indicating mechanism which is visible or concealed, depending on whether the switch is ON or OFF. The indicating mechanism is slidably mounted within a switch activator (e.g., a handle or actuator button). Inclined surfaces are provided in the switch housing and said indicating mechanism is spring biased against said surfaces, so that when the lower end of the movable member contacts the inclined surface in one position the indicating mechanism remains concealed indicating that the switch is OFF, and which in another position along the inclined surface the spring causes the slidable indicating member to appear and thereby indicate that the switch is ON.

Description

1 51 Dec. 30, 1975 3,538,285 11/1970 ZOO/167R 3,619,533 3,729,607

[ SWITCH WITH AN INDICATING 200/167 R Ellenberger.....................

ll/l97l McFarland..........

MECHANISM [76] Inventor:

Yasuo Kodaira, 5-14 Minamimagome, l-chome, Ota-ku, Tokyo, Japan Primary ExaminerRobert K. Schaefer Assistant ExaminerWilliam J. Smith M [22] Filed: June 18, 1973 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Lawrence I. Field [57] ABSTRACT -A switch with an indicating mechanism which is visi- 21 Appl. No.: 371,073

[44] Published under the Trial Voluntary Protest Program on January 28, 1975 as document no. ble or concealed, depending on whether the switch is B 371,073. ON or OFF. The indicating mechanism is slidably mounted within a switch activator (e.g., a handle or [30] Foreign Application Priority Data actuator button). Inclined surfaces are provided in the Dec. 29, 1972 4g 263[U] switch housing and said indicating mechanism is spring biased against said surfaces, so that when the [52] us. 200/308; 116/124 L lower end of he movable m m r contacts h in- [51] Int. dined Surface in one Position the indicating mechanism remains concealed indicating that the switch is OFF, and which in another position along the inclined [58] Field of Search...... 200/167 R, 308; 116/124 L [56] Ref r Cit d surface the spring causes the slidable indicating mem- UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/1942 Spencer......

her to appear and thereby indicate that the switch is 200/ 167 R 1'1 Claims, 16 Drawing Figures t v 7 I U.S. Patant Dec. 30, 1975 SheetlofZ 3,930,135

US. Patent Dec. 30, 1975 Sheet20f2 3,930,135

SWITCH WITH AN INDICATING MECHANISM This invention relates to a switch with an indicating mechanism, and more specifically to a switch with an tions, respectively, to appear or disappear from the upper surface of the switch actuator.

In prior art toggle switches and corrugated switches,

" the switches conditions may be indicated by the inclined position of the handle or button thereof, means or by with a lamp utilizing illumination therefrom to recognize and indicate the changeover conditions of the switch. There there are some disadvantages such as installation of expensive lamp, or breaking of the lamp during operation of the switch with the result of possible operators mistake. Further, specially designed mechanism and conductors, etc., are also needed for installation of the lamp, and the necessity of installing these components increases the difficulty of minituarization of the switch assembly.

This invention is directed to eliminating these disadvantages. A lamp is not used, and instead an indicating movable member is provided in connection with the switch actuator, and the movable member is made to appear or disappear from within said switch actuator and each of the changeover conditions of the switch is readily determined depending on the appearance or disappearance of the movable member.

Since this invention provides an indication of the switch condition by purely mechanical movement of the movable member, it does not permit as compared with the prior art switch utilizing an indicator lamp, possibility of malindication of the condition of the switch or mistake as to the condition of the switch by an operator caused by a break of the lamp filament, and also it is simple in construction and has an advantage of being cheap and small. Further, in comparison with the prior art switch actuators, this invention is capable of indicating more clearly the changeover conditions of the switch by providing the movable member with features as by changing the color of the upper end of the indicating movable member into red color.

These and other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and reference to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings, in which;

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view, partly in section, of an embodiment of the switch provided with an indicating mechanism in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2a is a plan view of the lower half part of the switch shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 2b is a perspective view showing an alternative embodiment of making the inclined surfaces of the case detachable in the switch in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the major portion of the switch shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the switch in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 5a and FIG. 5b are schematic front elevational views showing each of the ON-OFF indicating conditions of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 6a and FIG. 6b are schematic front elevational views showing each of the ON-OFF indicating conditions of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a further embodiment of the switch in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing another modification of theindicating movable member in the switch in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 9a is a partial sectional view showing another modification of the switch actuator and indicating movable member in the switch in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 9b is an exploded, fragmentary, perspective view of the switch actuator and indicating movable member shown in FIG. 90.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing still another embodiment of-the switch in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a schematic view showing another modification of the contacts in the switch in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view showing a further embodiment of the switch in accordance with the present invention.

In FIG. 1 showing one embodiment of the present invention, 1 is a switch case, 2 is a cover cap, 3 is a sleeve provided with external threads and 4 is a handle or switch actuator. The handle 4 is restrained against upward movement out of sleeve 3 by'its central bulb means 5 (see FIG. 3) and is mounted to be inclined to and fro about this bulb means within the sleeve. A collar 6 is formed on the lower portion of the handle 4 and a changeover member 7 is upwardly and downwardly slidably filled thereunder.

The changeover member 7 is formed in an elongated rectangular shape as shown in FIG. 3 and holes extending upwardly through the changeover member are provided at the front and rear parts of the lower surface of the changeover member, and slide members 9 are inserted into these holes through springs 8. That is to say, this switch has two sets of contacts. The slide members 9 are slidably mounted on the upper surfaces of the movable contact plates 10, and the latter are pivotally mounted on a receiving member 11. Fixed contacts 12 are securely fitted on the bottom surface of the case 1 in confronting relationship with lower surfaces of the plates 10 and both the right and left side terminal pins 13 projecting from lower surface of the case 1 are connected with the receiving members, respectively.

A longitudinal narrow channel 15 extending longitudinally through the handle 4 is provided within the handle 4 and an elongated rodshaped indicating movable member 16 is inserted therein. The lower end of the movable member 16 is formed in semisphere shape 17 and a spring 19 is inserted between the upper surface of the shape 17 and a central recess 18 of the changeover member 7 (see FIG. 1). Inclined surfaces 20 (see FIGS. 1 and 2a) rising from the bottom surface of the case 1 are formed inside the case 1 and there is provided a lowest line 21 at the position suitably shifted left from the central crossing line of both inclined surfaces. The changeover member 7 is always biased upward by the spring 8 into contact with the collar 6 and the movable member 16 is in the condition such that the upper surface of the lower semi-sphere shape 17 is pressed down by the spring 19 from the lower surface of the recess of said changeover member 7 into abutting engagement with the inclined surfaces 20. Thus, in

.able member 16 is gradually raised along the inclined surface 20, and thereby the upper end of the movable member 16 is gradually raised until it extends slightly above the uppermost part of the hole 15 of the handle 4when the handle 4 is finally disposed in the most inclined left-ward position. These conditions are shown in FIGS. 5a and 5b.

The spring 19 is usually made substantially weaker than the springs8. Therefore, even if the handle 4 is inclined leftward and the lower end of the movable member 16 is in the, right hand high position in the inclined surface 20, the handle 4 is kept stabilized at this position. However, depending on requirement, the switch may be made into a so-called momentary switch of self-returning type by installing a strong spring 19 and making the inclination of the surface 20 steep. Releasing the finger from the handle permits the handle to return to its original position. Further, when the switch is the type having three switch positions such as left-neutral-right, i.e., ON-OFF-ON, the lowest line 21 of the inclined surfaces 20 may be set in the center between the right and left sides of the surfaces, and the movable member 16 may be extended out of the handle 4 when it is in the right and left ON positions and may be withdrawn into the handle when it is in the central OFF position. Further, instead of raising the inclined surface 20 out of inner bottom surface of the case integrally therewith, another block 20 a having inclined surface 20 at its upper surface, as shown in FIG. 2b, may be provided and detachably inserted into the bottom surface of the case la. This allows other blocks having any one of the desired inclined surfaces to be installed.

FIG. 4 shows an actuator button 22 in which the present invention may be incorporated in the switch. Also in this case, a longitudinal hole extends through the button similar to hole described above, except the hole in the button 22 is rectangular in shape, and an indicating movable member 23 is slidably inserted into the hole. Short studs 24 are fixed integrally or separately in the center of the front and rear surfaces of the button 22 in order to pivotally support it against the movable member. Projection 25 may be formed integrally with and downwardly from the undersurface of the button 22 and it may serve in the same manner as described above except that the changeover member 7 shown in FIG. 1 and the projection 25 are made to be slidably mounted. That is to say, there are provided holes in the front and rear portions of said undersurface for inserting springs 8 and slide member 9 thereinto and rectangular through hole for receiving the lower end of the movable member 25 is provided centrally between both holes. The lower end of the movable member 23 includes an expanded portion similar to the hemispherical portion 17 shown in FIG. 1 except that it is rectangular shaped and a spring similar to the spring 19 is provided for pressing down this expanded portion against the inclined surface, and downward directed shoulder portion is formed near the lower end of the central through hole for receiving the upper end of this spring. As a modification, instead of providing spring 19 around the movable member as shown in FIG. 1, the lower end of the movable member 23 may be projected toward front and rear only and thereafter a spring having small diameter may be provided on the upper surface of each projected member. Still further, instead of employing a rectangular shaped movable member 23, a circular shaped movable member may be installed. Conditions when the button 22 is inclined toward left and right, respectively, are shown in FIGS. 6a and 612. Also, in this case, it may be easily determined whether the switch is in the ON or OFF condition by the conditions of appear or disappear of the upper end of the movable member in relation to the button 22.

FIG. 7 shows an embodiment in which inclined surfaces 20 are provided in the inner surfaces of the front and rear walls of the case 1 instead of immediately below the handle 4. Therefore, a small bar 27 is projected forwardly and rearwardly from a cylindrical enlarged portion 26 formed at the lower end of the movable member 16 and the forward and rearward ends of the bar are mounted on the inclined surfaces 20. In this example, only one slide member 9 is mounted directly at the lower end of the handle 4. Hence there is only one set of contacts 12-10-12 within the case. Slots 28 are formed at the lower forward and rearward portions of the handle 4 for inserting the small bar 27 thereinto, and downward directed shoulder portion 29 is provided in the lower midway portion of the through hole 15 in order to receive the upper end of the spring 19. In order to maintain the separate movements of the slide member 9 and the movable member 16 with respect to each other, a downward directed shoulder portion 30 is provided in the inner surface of the lower end of the handle 4 and the upper end of the spring 8 is received by this shoulder portion. For accomplishing these arrangements it is preferable to employ a spring 8 such as tapered coil spring having larger diameter upper turn than that of lower turn. And instead thereof, a circular bottom plate may be inserted into the shoulder portion 30 and a coil spring having an ordinary shape may be received by the circular bottom plate.

FIGS. 9a and 9b are views showing major portions of still another embodiment of the switch in accordance with the present invention, wherein the switch actuator has removable parts at its upper part, in other words, the switch actuator body 4 and the head 4a thereof are separately formed and mounted. Collar 6 is formed on the upper part of the indicating movable member 16 and a spring 19 is inserted between said collar 6 and shoulder portion 4a provided in approximately the central part of the head 4a of the switch actuator. Such an arrangement provides convenience in the minituarization of the switch body. Still further, a suitably colored cap 16a is inserted into the end of the indicating movable member 16. The cap 16a is detachably mounted in the indicating movable member 16 and may be replaced by other caps of red or blue color.

Referring now to FIG. 10, there is shown still another embodiment of the switch in accordance with the present invention. In this embodiment, the end of the indicating movable member is made to be visible or concealed, not by providing a specifically designed inclined surface in the center of the switch body, but by changing the type of the movable contact plate and utilizing rightward and leftward inclinations thereof. In the figure, the movable contact plate 10 is inclined up toward right. Therefore when the actuator 4 is inclined toward right, the movable member 16 is kept inside the switch actuator 4 by being pressed down by spring 19, but when the switch actuator 4 inclined toward the left, as shown in the dotted line, the lower end of the movable member 16 is pressed by the righthand projection of the movable contact plate a, so the movable member 16 is moved upward against the action of the spring 19, with the result that the upper end of the movable member 16 is made to be visibly out of the switch actuator.

FIG. 1 1 shows still another embodiment of the switch in accordance with the present invention. The difference between this embodiment and the embodiment shown in FIG. 10 is in that the movable contact plate is conventional type and either one of the fixed contact points is higher than the other contact. In FIG. 11, right side contact point 12a is higher than the left side contact point 12. Such an arrangement can accomplish the same effect as that obtained from the embodiment shown in FIG. 10.

The above described embodiments are described with a switch in which the switch actuator is han-. dle 4 or the actuator is corrugated button 22 which are inclined toward left and right. The present invention may also be applied to a switch in which said switch actuator is slidable, namely, to the slide type switch. FIG. 12 shows an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a slide type switch. In the figure, slider 46 of the switch actuator is slidable along the opening provided in the cover cap 44 mounted over the switch body 40. Indicating movable member 47 is inserted into the slider 46 through spring 48 and the lower end of the member is made to be slid along the upwardly inclined surface 42 rising within the switch body 40. Therefore, the movable member 47 is moved up and down in accordance with the sliding movement of the slider 46, and when the slider 46 is in the position shown or rightmost position, the upper end of the movable member 47 is projected out of the slider 46, and when the slider 46 is in the leftmost position, the upper end thereof is made to be concealed in the slider 46.

What I claim is:

1. In a switch an indicating mechanism comprising:

an actuating member having a longitudinally extending bore;

a movable indicating member slidably received in said bore; i a switch case including at least one inclined surface formed in the switch case,

a spring located at the lower end of said movable indicating member, urging the lower end of said member to make contact with and move along said inclined surface;

whereby the upper end of the indicating member is made to be selectively visible or concealed by extending out of or being recessed within the upper surface of the actuator in accordance with the operating position of said actuating member.

2. A switch with an indicating mechanism as set forth in claim 1 wherein said spring is inserted between a collar on said indicating member and a hemispherical portion provided at the lower end thereof.

3. A switch with an indicating mechanism as set forth in claim 1, wherein said inclined surface is fixed at the central part of the switch case.

4. A switch with an indicating mechanism as set forth in claim 1, wherein said inclined surface is detachably inserted into the bottom surface of the switch case.

5. A switch with an indicating mechanism as set forth in claim 1, wherein inclined surfaces are provided on both sides of the switch case.

6. A switch with an indicating mechanism as set forth in claim 5, wherein a slide member is mounted on the lower end of said indicating member.

7. A switch with an indicating mechanism as set forth in claim 1, wherein the lowest line of said inclined surface is provided midway of said inclined surface.

8. A switch with an indicating mechanism as set forth in claim 1, wherein said actuator member is detachably mounted at the upper part of said switch and includes a suitably colored cap inserted into the end of said indicating member and a spring inserted into the upper part of the longitudinal bore of said movable member.

9. A switch with an indicating mechanism as set forth in claim 1, wherein said inclined surface is an inclined plate.

10. A switch with an indicating mechanism as set forth in claim 9, wherein one of the contact points is formed higher than the other.

11. A switch with an indicating mechanism as set forth in claim 1, wherein said switch actuator is slidable.

Patent No. 3,930,135 Dated December 30 1975 Inventor) Yasuo Kodaira It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 1, line 11, "switches" should read switch Column 1

lines

12 and 13, "means or by" should read or by 0 means Column 1 line 16 delete "there", second occurrence Column 1 line 20 after "conductors" insert sockets Column 1, line 50 should read Column 3, line 14 "left-ward" should read leftward Column 3 line 21 "requirement" should read requirements Q Column 5, line 10 after "visibly" insert extending UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE 0F CGRRECTIQN Column 5, line 28 delete "to the".

' fiigncd and Sealed this twenty-seventh D3) of April1976 [SEAL] Arrest:

RUTH C. MASON C. MARSHALL DANN Arresting Officer (umml'ssimu'r uj'PaIenls and Tradenmrks

Claims

1. In a switch an indicating mechanism comprising: an actuating member having a longitudinally extending bore; a movable indicating member slidably received in said bore; a switch case including at least one inclined surface formed in the switch case; a spring located at the lower end of said movable indicating member, urging the lower end of said member to make contact with and move along said inclined surface; whereby the upper end of the indicating member is made to be selectively visible or concealed by extending out of or being recessed within the upper surface of the actuator in accordance with the operating position of said actuating member.