WO2009030690A3 - Variable electric resistor - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a variable electric resistor, comprising a contact track (1) having at least two contact regions (1a, 1b, 1c) separated from each other by a gap (2), each having an associated electric resistor (3a, 3b, 3c) and at last one contact that can be moved along the contract track and is configured as a slider (4) and has at least one contact surface disposed toward the contact track, the geometry of the gap and the contact surface (4') being configured such that the slider is initially in electrical contact with a first contact region adjacent to the gap upon a movement along the contact track in the region of the gap, is subsequently in electric contact with both contact regions simultaneously, and in further progression of the movement is in electrical contact with the second contact region only, characterized according to a first embodiment of the invention in that the contact surface of the slider has a convex curvature and is immersed into said gap when the slider moves in the region of the gap, wherein the width (b) and the depth (t) of the gap and the curvature of the contact surface are aligned to each other such that a distance remains within the gap between the contact surface and the surface of the carrier material (6) at the maximum immersion depth of the slider into the center of the gap.