Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Alternate On-Off Switch
This invention relates to an alternate mechanism, and
more particularly, to an improved alternate mechanism
which may be employed in a push-on-and-push-off switch.
It is a divisional of Canadian application Serial No.
418,672, filed December 29, 1982.
There is well known an alternate mechanism which
includes a heart-shaped groove ~ormed on a plunger and a
spring-biased swingable lever having.a fixed base end so
that a free end of the swingable lever swings along the
heart-shaped groove. Such a conventional alternate mecha-
nism, however, has the disa2vantage that the mechanical
life of the mechanism is not satisfactory due to extreme
dimensional accuracy requirements of the swingable lever,
abrasion of plastics by sliding metal and the like.
Moreover, each detailed dimension of the swingable lever
must be precisely adjusted with the heart-shaped groove on
assembling so as to avoid any misoperation of the mecha-
nism, so that its assembling work is complicated and
20. expensive.
It is, therefore, a primary object of this invention
to provide an alternate mechanism which has a long
mechanical life, operates consistently, and is easy to
assemble.
Thus, the present invention relates to an alternate
on-off switch comprising in combinaticn: a tube shaped
plunger member having a card member formed on an inner
wall of the plunger member; a base member; a stationary
blade supported by the base member; a movable blade
supported by the base member so as to be actuated by said
card member; a cover member surrounding said plunger
member; and a switch mechanism located between said
plunger member and said cover member; wherein said
stationary blade and said movable blade are located inside
said plunger member; wherein said cover member is mounted
on said base member and encloses said plunger member and
said switch mechanism; and wherein the card member on the
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plunger member moves said movable blade out of contact
with said stationary blade and moves in a direction which
is substantially parallel to said stationary and movable
blades.
Certain preferred embodiments of the invention are
illustrated by the attached drawings in which:
Fig, 1 is a partially sectional elevation view of a
keyboard switch employing an alternate mechanism as a
preferred embodiment of this invention;
~ig. 2 is a perspective disassembled view of the
keyboard switch of Fig. l;
Fig. 3 is an elevation view of a light emitting diode
employed in the switch of Fig. 2;
Fig. 4 is the alternate mechanism employed in the
switch of Fig. l; and
Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are perspective views illustrating a
sequence of processes for making a base member employed in
the device of Fig. 2.
Detailed Description
Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, there is shown an alternate
mechanism or push-on-and-push-off mechanism which is
employed in a keyboard switch as a preferred embodiment of
this invention. Base member 1 is an insert-molded plastic
member carrying a contact member 2, a locking clip 11 and a
light emitting diode (hereinafter, abbreviated as LED)
supporter 12 as a single molded unit. A cover 3 is mounted
on the base member 1 by engagement with the locking clip 11
so as to support a plunger member 4 for vertical sliding
movement within the cover 3. The plunger member 4 is
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(
upwardly biased by a recessed coil spring 43 within the
cover 3. The case 3 consists of a lower portion of a
square cylindrical shape, and an upper portion of a cylin-
drical shape through which a head portion of the plunger
member 4 projects so as to accept a key button 5. As illu-
strated in Fig. 2, ~here is disposed a window portion 31 on
an upper wall of the square portion of the cover 3. The
window portion 31 is normally closed by a thin plate which
is molded together with the cover 3 as a single unit and is
easily broken to form a hole extending through the window
portion 31 if desired.
As illustrated in Fig. 3, the LED supporter 12 is dis-
posed to support a LED 6 on a head portion of the suppor~er
12. Though other reference numerals in Fig. 3 are made in
reference to components in the left-hand of the drawing
for a simplified explanation, Fig. 3 should read that the
reference numerals 14, 62, 13 and 61 are drawn to the
corresponding components depicted in the right-hand of the
drawing. A pair of terminals 61 of the LED 6 are so guided
by grooves 13 that projecting portions 62 of the terminals
61 are engaged with recesses 14 formed in the grooves 13
for temporarily fixing the LED in position. As the cover
3 is mounted on the base 1, the temporarily fixed LED 6 is
sandwiched between the supporter 12 and an inner wall
surface of the cover so as to fix the LED in position.
Then, the lead terminals 61 are guided by the grooves 31 so
as to extend below the base member 1, so that any addi-
tional connection terminals for the LED need not be dis-
posed on the base member 1. The light emitted from the
LED 6 through the window 31 is guided by a transparent
member 51 embedded in the key button 5 so as to radiate
therefrom. Since the window portion 31 is closed by the
thin plate on molding, it must be broken in advance 50 as
to receive the LED 6.
If the keyboard switch of Fig. 2 is designed for a non-
illuminated switch, it has only to be modified in such a
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( manner that the LED 6 i5 not employed, the key button 5 does
not have the transparent member 51 and the thin plate in the
window portion 31 is not broken. Thus, by employing such
common components, this keyboard switch i5 convertible with
ease b~tween illuminated and non-illuminated switches.
Since the window portion 31 in such a non-illuminated switch
is closed, any foreign matter, such as external dust or the
like, is prevented from entering the cover 3. Alternatively,
if the keyboard æwitch is desired to be solely designed for
this illuminated LED switch, the window portion 31 may be
molded to include a hole extending therethrough.
The plunger member 4 on its lower opposite side walls
includes a pair of stub shafts 42 on which rotary cam 71 is
rotatably mounted. As illustrated in more detail in Fig. 4,
the rotary cam 71 is symmetrical about center hole 70 pierced
by the shaft 42. The rotary cam 71 at its periphery is
provided with a symmetrical pair of grooves 72 and 74 and a
pair of sloping surfaces 73 and 75. A first stationary cam
76 having a projection 77 is mounted on a recessed step
formed on the base member 1 so as to be fixed by a projec-
tion formed on an inner wall of the cover 3 as mounted. A
second stationary cam 32 is formed on an inner side wall
surface of the cover 3 as a single molding.
The operations of the alternate mechanism according to
this embodiment will be described hereinafter with reference
to Fig. 4.
Where the plunger member 4 is in a normal position, viz.,
in the highest position, the shaft 42 is in position Pl.
As the plunger member 4 is downwardly depressed in accordance
with the external depression applied to the key button 5 and
the shaft 42 comes into position P2, the cam 71 takes the
position shown by the two dotted lines 71a where a lower
surface of the cam 71 comes in contact with an upper surfaGe
of the projection 77 of the stationary cam 76. As the
plunger member 4 is further depressed, the top end of the
projection 77 comes in contact with the groove 74
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( of the rotary cam 71 and the shaft 42 comes into position
P3 where the rotary cam 71 takes the angular position
rotated by about 10 degrees as shown by the two dotted lines
71b. If the key button 5 is released, the rotary cam 71
upwardly moves at the same angular position of about 10
degrees but is stopped by the bottom end 33 of the
stationary cam 32, engaging with the upper groove 72 of the
cam 71. Then, the shaft 42 is locked in position P4, and
the cam 71 takes the position shown in the two dotted lines
71c. If the key button 5 is depressed again, the plunger
member 4 is depressed downwardly and the lower sloping
surface 75 comes in contact wi~h the upper surface 77 of the
stationary cam 76 because as the upper groove 72 was engaged
with the bottom end 33 in the former operation, the cam 71
has been further rotated in a counterclockwise direction and
thus retains the same angular position. Upon further
depression of button 5, the rotary cam 71 further rotates
counterclockwise because of the slope 75 engaged with the
slope 77. Upon releasing button 5, the plunger member 4
moves upwardly and the rotary cam 71 further rotates counter-
clockwise because the upper sloping surface 73 and a side
wall of the cam 71 are pushed by the bottom end 33 of the
secondary stationary cam 32, so that the rotary cam 71
returns to its original position where the shaft 42 is in
position Pl.
Thus, the rotary cam 71 is gradually rotated by the
stationary cams 76 and 32, so that there is provided an
alternate mechanism or a push-on-and-push-off mechanism such
that it is locked upon a first depression applied to the key
button 5 and is unlocked upon a second depression after
releasing of the first depression. It should be understood
that the rotary cam 71 is tightly supported by the shaft 42
to such an extent that the cam 71 can be rotated only by the
cams 76 and 32 and is hard to rotate because of external
mechanical shock to the cam 71.
If the keyboard switch is desired to be of a non-
alternate mechanism type or a momen~ary type having no
locking function, the rotary cam 71 and/or the stationary
cam 76 need only be omitted. Thus, by adding only a small
number of components, the keyboard switch according to
this embodiment can be modified from the momentary type to
the alternate type. Alternatively, the first cam 76 may
be molded to further include the second cam 32 so as to be
mounted on the base member 1 as a single component. Or,
the first and second cams 76 and 32 may be modified to be
formed on an inner wall surface of the plunger member 4.
Further alternatively, the first and the second cam 76 and
32 may be formed on an inner wall surface of the plunger
member 4 and the base member 1, respectively.
Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the contact member 2
consists of an arch-shaped stationary blade 21 having a
pair of legs 22 and a springy movable blade 25. The
respective blades 21 and 25 carry respective contacts 23
and 26.
The contact member 2 may be assembled by the following
automated producing processes: In the first step, as illu-
strated in section A of Fig. 5, a single metal plate 29 is
stamped out to form a hoop-shaped member including the
stationary blade 21, a pair of legs 22, a terminal 24, and
a contact 23. In the subsequent step, as illustrated in
section B of Fig. 5, a hoop-shaped member having the
movable blade 25 is driven to a predetermined position
above the hoop-shaped plate 29 from a side direction. In
advance, the movable blade 25 is formed by stamping out a
metal plate, the contact 26 is disposed on the blade 25 at
its free end, and a bent portion 27 is formed. As the
movable blade 25 reaches the above-mentioned predetermined
position, it is put upon the plate 29 so as to fixedly
mount base end of the blade 25 on the terminal blade 24.
Then, a connecting portion of the movable blade 25 is cut
off so as to form a component as illustrated in section C
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( of Fig. 5. ~urther, a connecting portion 28 of the ter-
minal blade 24 is cut off to form a component as illu-
strated in section D of Fig. 5. Then, each such component
is separated one by one so as to form an isolated compo-
nent as shown in Fig. 6. Further, the metal plate of Fig.
6 is inserted in a molded plastic member by an insert-
molding process so as to form base member 1 as illustrated
in Fig. 7. Finally, a peripheral frame portion of the
component of Fig. 7 is cut off so as to constitute the base
member 2 shown in Fig. 2.
According to this assembled contact component 2, the
legs 22 of the stationary blade 21 downwardly extend
through the base member 1 to form connection ter~inals,
and the terminal blade 24 and the blade 21 are made of a
single plate so that they can be thick and solid.
Therefore, the keyboard switch is easy to be mounted on a
printed circuit board without deforming its connecting
terminals, i.e., the bottom ends of the blades 24 and 21.
Moreover, since the switching terminal 24 is positioned
between a pair of interconnected terminals 22, the keyboard
switch can easily be used in a simplified connection pat-
tern on a printed circuit board~ That is, according to an
associated circuit pattern on the board, either of the ter-
minals 2 can be connected to other components on the board.
Where the plunger member 4 is in the highest position,
the bent portion 27 of the movable blade 25 is pushed by a
card or slide pro]ection 41 formed within or on the plunger
member 4 so that the contacts 23 and 26 are separated from
each other as illustrated in Fig. 1. As the card 41 moves
downwardly upon depressing the key button 5, the card 41
slides on a surface of the portion 27 downwardly so that
the springy blade 25 returns in a leftward direction as
shown in Fig. 1 to close the contacts 23 and 26. Thus, as
the button 5 is depressed or locked in a depressed
position, the terminals 22 and 24 make a closed circuit.
3;~
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On the contrary, as such depression or lock is released,
the terminal 21 and 24 provides an opened circuit.
According to this embodiment, the cover 3 is a molded
plastic member having no opening as assembled, so that the
assembled keyboard switch is protected from any external
foreign matter. Further, according to this invention,
there is provided an alternate mechanism which can have a
long mechanical life and provide a high electrical insula-
tion therein because the rotary cam and stationary cams are
plastic mold members with accurate dimensions and thus
engage with one another without abrasion. Moreover, since
the respective components constituting the alternate mecha-
nism are molded in highly accurate dimensions, any mis-
operation, such as inoperative lock and so forth, is
prevented from occurring, and any adjustment on assembling
is unnecessary. By such a simplified assembly, the alter-
nate mechanism can be produced at a reduced cost. If
desired, of course, some components of the alternate
mechanism may be of metal.
It should be understood that the above description is
merely illustrative of this invention and that many
changes and modifications may be made by those skilled in
the art without departing from the scope of the appended
claims.
