U.S. patent number 3,885,116 [Application Number 05/371,072] was granted by the patent office on 1975-05-20 for switch with an indicator.
Invention is credited to Yasuo Kodaira.
United States Patent |
3,885,116 |
Kodaira |
May 20, 1975 |
Switch with an indicator
Abstract
In a switch which is opened or closed by pressing an actuator
wherein the actuator is transparent or translucent, there being an
indicating piece disposed beneath the inner portion of said
actuator, and a character, symbol or color on the indicator is
displayed out through the surface of the actuator.
Inventors: |
Kodaira; Yasuo (Ota-ku, Tokyo,
JA) |
Family
ID: |
23462355 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/371,072 |
Filed: |
June 18, 1973 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
200/308; 116/279;
200/309 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01H
9/16 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H01H
9/16 (20060101); H01h 009/16 () |
Field of
Search: |
;116/124L,DIG.28
;200/167R,167A,308,315 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Schaffer; Robert M.
Assistant Examiner: Smith; William J.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Field; Lawrence I.
Claims
What I claim is:
1. A switch in which the opening or closing of the switch is
performed by inclining an actuator leftward and rightward, said
switch comprising:
an actuator formed with the interior thereof being visible from the
exterior;
an indicating piece provided within a cavity located below said
actuator;
a coil spring interposed between a supporting cylinder of said
indicating piece and a supporting member of an indicating plate
inserted into said supporting cylinder to bring an upper surface of
said indicating plate and an inside upper surface of said actuator
into contact with each other when said actuator is inclined;
a pin secured to said supporting member through an elongated hole
provided in said supporting cylinder;
whereby the indication on said indicating piece is indicated on the
surface of said actuator by bringing said indicating plate and the
inside of said actuator into contact with each other.
2. A switch with an indicator as set forth in claim 1, wherein said
actuator is transparent.
3. A switch with an indicator as set forth in claim 1, wherein only
the upper surface of said actuator is transparent or translucent
and other surfaces of said actuator are opaque.
Description
This invention relates to a switch with an indicator and more
particularly to improvements in the indicating portion of the
switch in which the operation of opening or closing of the switch
is performed by inclining or pressing an actuator.
In a conventional rocker-type switch, provisions such as putting a
mark on the opposite sides of the actuator or button, scribing a
character or a symbol on both surfaces of the actuator, and
scribing characters on the switch panel have been suggested to give
information showing the switch conditions such as ON and OFF.
However, with the trend to miniaturization and other advances in
the industrial fields in recent years, it became necessary to mount
many switches on a panel surface, with the result that numerous
accidents due to operator's mistake of information of a switch
condition occurred. Recently, commercially available back-lighted
type switches in which the actuator portion is lit by the light
emitted from self-contained lamp and on-off condition of the switch
is made known by the light have been developed.
However, the back-lighted type switch having an enclosed lamp has a
disadvantage that the wire of the lamp is easily broken with
resulting short life of the lamp. Further since the switch is
constructed so that the on-off condition of the switch is indicated
by the light emitted from the lamp, when the lamp is broken, the
switch may cause serious accident due to its erroneous indication.
Further disadvantages of the back-lighted type switch are that
since the switch contains a lamp, it is limited as to
minaturization and it is troublesome to replace the damaged lamp
and it must contain a lamp circuit specially designed for
indication purpose.
The present invention is provided for eliminating the
above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art. One object of the
invention is the provision of a new switch having an indicator in
which color, character or a symbol may be clearly seen through the
actuator by making the actuator transparent or translucent,
disposing an indicating piece under the inside lower portion of the
actuator and bringing an inner surface of the actuator and an upper
surface of the indicating piece into physical contact with each
other.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new
switch with an indicator which will prevent a mistake by an
operator by changing the color which appears through the surface of
the actuator when the actuator and the indicator are brought into
physical contact with each other and by an indication, clearly
visible only at the side in which the actuator is inclined or
pressed down.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a
new switch with an indicator in which on-off condition of the
switch may be indicated accurately and clearly by provision of a
simple structure.
The above described objects and other objects and features of the
present invention will be apparent by reading the following
detailed description thereof and by reference to the embodiments
shown in the accompanying drawings, in which;
FIG. 1 is a front elevational view, partly in section, of a switch
provided with an indicator;
FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the switch of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the switch body with a cover cap,
actuator, indicating piece and turn key removed from the
switch;
FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the main portion of the
switch FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of the
indicator utilized in the switch;
FIG. 6 is a side elevational view showing condition in which an
indicating plate of the indicator shown in FIG. 5 is in contact
with a lower surface of the actuator;
FIG. 7 is an exploded view showing another embodiment of an
indicator utilized in the switch of the present invention.
Referring now to FIGS. 1 to 4, there is shown a switch provided
with an indicator. Reference numeral 2 shows the well known prior
art switch body, which body 2 includes a plurality of contact
points 18 driven into the inner bottom surface, movable contact
piece receivers 16 secured to the inner bottom surface, movable
contact pieces 14 oscillating on said receivers 16 in response to
the oscillations of the actuator, turn keys 6 transmitting the
movement from the actuator to said movable contact pieces 14 and
other members for providing the necessary switching operations. The
switch body 2 includes a cover cap 3 at the top thereof and flanges
3a are formed on the upper end of said cover cap. Switch mounting
plates 19 are provided on the left and right sides corresponding to
the flanges 3a of the cover cap 3 which are used in mounting the
switch on the panel. Although the plug-in type clamps are used for
the flanges 3a, in the embodiment shown herein, it is apparent that
the flanges may be made such that they are fastened by screws. Axle
6a is provided in the turn key 6 and thereby the turn key 6 is
pivotally mounted on the cover cap 3. The turn key shown in FIG. 4
is in the shape of an H, and other shapes such as rectangular may
be employed instead. Thus, the axle 6a is formed integral with the
turn key in the embodiment herein shown, it is also possible to
form the axle and the turn key 6 separately, to secure the axle to
the cover cap 3 or mount it pivotally on the cover cap 3 and to
mount the turn key pivotally on said axle. Further, bearing holes
3b are provided in the cover cap 3 for supporting the axle 6a, and
when the structures are such that the turn key is always biased
upwardly by a force as induced from a spring, a lower facing
receiver to prevent the axis from moving upwards may be used in the
portion of the bearing holes 3b of the cover cap 3 instead of said
bearing holes. Holes (not shown ) are cut into the lower end of the
turn key 6 and the slides 10 are inserted therein along with
springs 12.
The button or actuator, generally designated at 4, is removably
mounted on the upper portion of the turn key 6 by closely
contacting the legs 4a thereof with the said walls of the turn key
6. It is necessary that the button or actuator 4 be made of
materials having slight resilience such as synthetic resin and also
transparent or opaque in nature. Experiments taken by the inventor
showed that the appropriate results may be obtained by using a
nearly transparent material as the actuator and making the inner
surface of the actuator like that of frosted glass. Button or
actuator 4 could have different colors on the upper surfaces 4b and
4b', respectively, and other portions than the upper surfaces,
instead of making the entire parts transparent or opaque, and
further it will be appreciated that only upper surfaces 4b and 4b'
may be made transparent or translucent and other portions than
these upper surfaces may be made opaque. Furthermore, each upper
surfaces 4b and 4b' only may be removably secured, so and in that
case it is not necessary to mount removably the entire actuator
assembly on the turn key.
A plurality of holes 5 (there are two in the illustrative
embodiment ) are provided on the rib 2a of the switch body 2 and
supporting members 20b of indicating pieces 20 in an indicator are
inserted into each one of the holes 5. Indicating plates 20a are
affixed on the upper part of each individual supporting member, and
in the embodiment herein shown, the actuator 4 is pressed toward
left and the character " Auto " shown on the left hand indicating
piece 20a is exhibited through the left side upper surface 4b of
the actuator 4. When the indicator piece 20 is inserted into the
holes 5 of the switch body, the insertion of the coil spring (not
shown) into said holes beforehand so as to cope with the slight
variations in heights of the actuator and indicating pieces brings
the indicating plates 20a and the actuator 4 into contact with each
other, with the result that a clear and desirable indication is
obtained.
Next referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, there are shown other embodiments
of an indicating piece for use in the indicator of the switch in
accordance with the invention. In these figures, the indicating
piece 22 comprises an indicating plate 22a, a supporting member 22b
and a spring plate 22c. Namely, the indicator plate 22a is fixed
securely on the upper surface of the spring plate 22c secured to
the supporting member 22b. In other words, the indicator plate 22a
is secured to the supporting member 22b through the spring plate
22c, and in this respect indicating piece 22 is different from the
indicating piece 20 shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. As shown in FIG. 6, the
presence of this spring 22c brings the indicating plate 22a and the
inside upper surface of the actuator 4 into contact with each
other, so character and symbol on the indicating plate are clearly
visible. Furthermore in this case the pressure eliminates the need
for a coil spring between the supporting member 22b and the hole 5.
Thus, in the alternative embodiment of the invention, both the
indicating piece 22a and a leaf spring 22c are secured to each
other by pressing the indicator piece 22a onto the leaf spring 22c,
but it is apparent that the arrangement may be employed such that
both the indicating piece and the leaf spring are secured to each
other by pressing the leaf spring from underneath onto the
indicating piece.
Referring to FIG. 7 next, there is shown still another embodiment
of the indicating piece for use in the switch in accordance with
the present invention. The indicating piece, generally designated
at 24, comprises an indicating plate 24a, a supporting member 24b
secured to the indicating plate 24a, a supporting cylinder 25, coil
spring 26 and pin 27. The supporting cylinder 25 may be formed on
the rib 2a of the switch body integral therewith or inserted into
the holes 5 of the switch body. A coil spring 26 is inserted into
supporting cylinder 25 through the supporting member 24b and the
pin 27 is secured to the member 24b through an elongated slot 25a
provided in the cylinder 25. Thus, since the upward force is always
applied to the indicating plate 24a by the spring 26, the pin 27 is
kept in contact with the upper end of the elongated slot 25a in the
normal condition thereof. When the indicating plate 24a is pressed
downwardly, said plate 24a is moved down against the force of the
spring 26 and stopped by engaging the pin 27 with the lower end of
the elongated slot 25a. Thus, the range of movement of the
indicating plate between the lower end and the upper end of the
elongated slot 25a is determined by the length of the slot. Such a
structure brings the upper inside surface of the actuator and the
upper surface of the indicating plate into contact with each other,
the resultant condition of the indicating piece becomes clear.
And it may be possible to mount the supporting member directly on
the rib 2a instead of providing the holes 5 in the rib 2a of the
switch body as shown in FIG. 3, in other words, it may be possible
to form the supporting member integral with the switch body 2. In
this case, an appropriate indicating plate is supported directly or
through a spring on said supporting member.
Still further, when the inside surface of the actuator is made
rough as that of a frosted glass, coating of the upper surface of
the indicating plate with suitable transparent liquid makes the
indication of character, or mark on the indicating plate more
clear.
The present invention may be arranged as described above and
characters on the indicating plate of the left side indicating
piece are indicated through the upper left side 4b of the actuator
when the actuator is inclined left as shown in FIG. 1 and the lower
surface of the upper left side 4b of the actuator is close to or in
contact with the left side indicating piece, and in contrast to
this condition, character on the indicating plate of the right hand
indicating piece are not indicated because of the fact that the
upper right side 4b of the actuator is spaced apart and biased
apart from the right indicating piece. When the right side of the
actuator is pressed down and the actuator is inclined toward right,
the relationship between the actuator and the indicating piece are
reversed, and character on the right side indicating plate are
indicated and character on the left side indicating plate are not
observed. Thus in this way, in accordance with the present
invention, the switch has a characteristics of displaying a
suitable character, mark and/or color on the indicating piece by
bringing mechanically the actuator and the indicating piece close
to or into contact with each other, with the result that the
indicating function thereof is accurate and clear and positive, and
further is effective in preventing an operator from mistaking the
on-off conditions of the switch.
Furthermore, the switch provided with the indicator in accordance
with the present invention is simple in construction and thus also
has an advantage of providing a semipermanent life thereof.
The present invention has been described in connection with the
embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings heretofore, it is
noted that these are illustrative only and have not limited sense
at all. Therefore, various changes may be made and embodied in the
invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the
present invention. In other words, the present invention may be
applied to, for example, the so-called push button type switch
instead of the rocker-type switch and may provide nearly the same
effect, but it is to be understood that all these things mentioned
above are included within the scope of the present invention and
the following claims.
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