U.S. patent number 3,816,686 [Application Number 05/337,546] was granted by the patent office on 1974-06-11 for slide actuator for toggle switch.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Ideal Security Hardware Corporation. Invention is credited to Garland D. Budd, Gregory R. Colombo, Russell W. Waldo.
United States Patent |
3,816,686 |
Budd , et al. |
June 11, 1974 |
SLIDE ACTUATOR FOR TOGGLE SWITCH
Abstract
A switch operating slide member for concealing actuator arm wall
mounted switches of the type generally known as toggle switches,
and for imparting oscillatory or pivotal switch operating movement
to the actuator arm when generally straight line movement is
imparted to the slide member. The slide member is disposed in a
substantially constant attitude in different positions of its
sliding movement.
Inventors: |
Budd; Garland D. (Minneapolis,
MN), Colombo; Gregory R. (Stillwater, MN), Waldo; Russell
W. (Saint Paul, MN) |
Assignee: |
Ideal Security Hardware
Corporation (St. Paul, MN)
|
Family
ID: |
23320964 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/337,546 |
Filed: |
March 2, 1973 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
200/330;
74/99R |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01H
23/148 (20130101); Y10T 74/18888 (20150115) |
Current International
Class: |
H01H
23/00 (20060101); H01H 23/14 (20060101); H01h
003/02 () |
Field of
Search: |
;200/172A,168G
;74/99R,99A,103 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Scott; James R.
Assistant Examiner: Smith; William J.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Merchant, Gould, Smith &
Edell
Claims
We claim:
1. A device for operating a switch having means for securing the
same on a wall, said switch having an oscillatory arm oscillating
about a given axis, said device comprising, a slide member, pivot
means mounting said slide member on said actuator arm for pivotal
movement of the slide member relative to said actuator arm on an
axis parallel to the axis of oscillatory movement of said actuator
arm, stationary guide means having spaced apart outer guide surface
portions, said slide member including a pair of elements spaced
apart in the direction of movement of the slide member for sliding
engagement with said outer guide surface portions, said guide
surface portions cooperating with said pivot means to hold said
slide member in a substantially constant attitude relative to the
wall on which said switch is mounted.
2. The switch operating device defined in claim 1 in which said
outer guide surface portions each describe a path generally similar
to the path of oscillatory movement of the switch actuator arm.
3. The switch operating device defined in claim 1 in which said
guide means comprises a cover plate for the switch and having an
opening therethrough for said actuator arm and elongated in the
direction of oscillatory movement of said actuator arm, and a guide
member having said outer guide surfaces thereon and including other
portions seated in said elongated opening.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Generally, wall mounted switches of the toggle variety are
concealed by decorative cover plates having openings through which
project the switch actuator arms which are pivotally swung usually
generally upwardly and downwardly between circuit closing and
opening positions. Due to their size and shape, these arms do not
lend themselves to great variation of design or ornamentation, and
are sometimes inconvenient to operate, due to their relatively
small size.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An important object of this invention is the provision of a
switched operating device for wall mounted toggle switches that is
easy to locate and operate.
Another object of this invention is the provision of a switch
operating device which lends itself to a wide variety of ornamental
design and which can be inexpensively produced.
To the above ends, we provide a slide block or plate having pivotal
engagement with the oscillatory or swinging actuator arm of a wall
mounted toggle switch. The slide block slidably engages surface
portions associated with a stationary guide plate secured to the
switch, these surface portions being disposed to guide the slide
block in generally straight line movement in opposite directions
generally parallel with the wall in which the switch is mounted.
Thus, the slide block is disposed in a substantially constant
attitude with the wall in all positions of its movement, and can be
produced in various easily grasped shapes capable of a wide variety
of ornamentation and design.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a fragmentary view in perspective of a switch operating
device of this invention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken substantially on
the line 2--2 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken substantially on
the line 3--3 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a view corresponding to FIG. 1 but showing a modified
arrangement;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary detail taken generally on the
line 5--5 of FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on the line 6--6 of
FIG. 4;
FIG. 7 is a view corresponding to FIGS. 1 and 4 but showing another
modified arrangement; and
FIGS. 8 and 9 are enlarged fragmentary sections taken on the lines
8--8 and 9--9 respectively of FIG. 7.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
In the wall embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, a
wall of a room is shown fragmentarily and indicated at 1, a
conventional electrical switch of the type generally known as a
toggle switch generally indicated at 2 and comprising a body 3 that
is provided with a pair of plate-like brackets 4 that are used to
support the switch 2 within the usual metallic mounting box or the
like, not shown. The switch 2 may be either the mechanical or the
silent mercury variety, the same being operated by an actuator arm
5 which is manually oscillated or swung between switch open and
switch closed positions. The arm 5 swings about an axis indicated
at 6 in FIG. 2. The switch 2 and the box in which it is mounted, is
concealed behind a cover plate 7 of conventional design having a
generally rectangular central opening 8 through which the actuator
arm 5 projects, the cover plate 7 being secured to the mounting
brackets 4 by screws 9, as is customary.
A slide member 10 is disposed laterally outwardly of the cover
plate 7, and is formed to provide a generally vertically disposed
outer wall 11 generally parallel to the cover plate 7 and wall 1, a
pair of generally horizontal upper and lower walls 12 and 13 that
project laterally inwardly from the outer wall 11 toward the cover
plate 7 and which are joined by a pair of laterally spaced
generally vertical side walls 14.
The several walls of the slide member 10 cooperate to define a
cavity 15 that opens laterally inwardly toward the switch 2 and
which receives the outer end portion of the switch actuator arm 5.
The slide member 10 is mounted on the actuator arm 5 by a pair of
axially aligned pointed set screws 16 that are screw threaded
through suitable openings in the side walls 14 on an axis parallel
to the axis 6 of swinging movement of the actuator arm 5. The inner
pointed ends of the set screws 16 bite into the material of the arm
5 and mount the slide member 10 for relative pivotal movement
therebetween and the arm 5 on the common axis of the set screws
16.
The inner ends of the top and bottom walls 12 and 13 of the slide
member 10 are disposed to slidably engage guide surfaces 17 and 18
respectively of a guide member 19 that is mounted on the outer
surface of the cover plate 7. Guide member 19 is provided with a
pair of vertically spaced lugs 20 that project laterally into the
opening 8 in the cover plate 7 adjacent the opposite ends of the
opening 8, to hold the guide member 19 against movement relative to
the cover plate 7, the guide member 19 defining a generally
rectangular opening 21 through which the actuator arm 5
projects.
As the actuator arm is swung between its full line position of FIG.
2 and its dotted line position thereof, by upward and downward
movements of the slide member 10, the guide surfaces 17 and 18
slidingly engage the inner ends of the end walls 12 and 13
respectively to guide the slide member 10 in such manner that the
slide member 10 remains in a substantially constant attitude
relative to the cover plate 7 and wall 1 with the outer wall 11
remaining in substantially parallel relationship to the plane of
the wall 1. It will be noted that, although the guide surfaces 17
and 18 are substantially flat, the sloping arrangement of each pair
thereof closely approximates a curve or arc having a radius equal
to the distance between the axis 6 and the common axis of the pivot
or set screws 16. Thus, the slide member 10 deviates very little
from a straight line movement between switch-on and switch-off
positions. It will be appreciated that the outer wall 11 of the
slide member 10 may be of various shapes, and may be variously
decorated with any desired ornamentation.
DESCRIPTION OF MODIFIED FORM OF FIGS. 4-6
In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4-6, the building wall, switch and
actuator arm are identical to those of FIGS 1-3, and are designated
by identical reference numerals. A cover plate 22 is mounted by
means of a pair of screws 23 similar to the screws 9, the outer
surface of the cover plate 22 being flat and smooth, except for
ornamentation, such as stripes 24. Further, the cover plate 22 is
provided with a switch actuator arm receiving opening 25, similar
to the opening 8 in the cover plate 7.
The slide member of FIGS. 4-6 comprises a pair of cooperating inner
and outer sections 26 and 27 the former of which comprises a flat
base portion 28 and a central laterally outwardly projecting hollow
boss 29 having generally vertically disposed parallel side walls 30
and defining an opening 31 for reception of the actuator arm 5. As
shown particularly in FIGS. 5 and 6, the base 28 normally lies
against the outer surface of the cover plate 22 and is vertically
slidable thereon. A pair of aligned set screws 32 are screw
threaded in suitable openings through the side walls 30 and have
pointed inner ends which engage opposite sides of the actuator arm
5 in the same manner as the above described set screws 16, the
common axis of the screws 32 being parallel to the axis 6 of
swinging or oscillatory movement of the actuator arm 5.
The outer slide member section 27 is formed to provide an outer
wall 33 and a pair of laterally spaced parallel vertically
extending side walls 34 that project laterally towards the cover
plate 22, the inner edges of the side walls 34 slidably engaging
the outer surface of the cover plate 22. Inwardly of the outer wall
33 and adjacent each side wall 34, the outer slide member section
27 is formed to provide a pair of bosses 35 that are adapted to
snap into engagement with arcuate notches 36 in the side walls 30
of the inner slide member section 26 to provide limited pivotal and
lateral movement of the outer section 27 relative to the inner
section 26, on an axis parallel to the common axis of the set
screws 32 and to the axis 6. This arrangement permits the outer
section 27 to slide along the outer surface of the cover plate 22
while the inner slide member section 26 may travel in a slightly
arcuate path about the axis 6. The outer slide member section 27
may tilt slightly during movement from one limit of its movement to
the other thereof, but at its opposite limits of movement, the
outer wall 33 is disposed in parallel relationship to the outer
surface of the cover plate 22 and the adjacent wall 1. In the
arrangement of FIGS. 4-6, when the outer section 27 is snapped into
engagement with the inner section 26, the outer ends of the set
screws 32 are hidden, unlike the outer ends of the set screws
16.
SWITCH OPERATING DEVICE OF FIGS. 7-9
In the arrangement illustrated in FIGS. 7-9, a flat wall 37 is
shown as containing a conventional switch box 38 in which is
mounted a toggle acting switch 39 similar to the switch 2 and
having mounting brackets 4 that are secured to the mounting box 38
by screws 40. The switch 39 is provided with a switch actuator arm
41 that operates in the same manner as the actuator arms 5.
A guide member in the nature of an elongated guide bar 42 is
secured to the outer surfaces of the mounting brackets 4 of the
switch 39 by means of screws 43, and is provided intermediate its
ends with an opening 44 for reception of the actuator arm 41. The
guide bar 42 is further provided at its opposite side edges with
longitudinally extending tongues 45. A slide member 46 is generally
rectangular in shape, and of a size to completely cover the switch
39 and switch box 38, having a generally flat outer surface 47 that
is disposed in outwardly spaced parallel relationship to the wall
37. The inner surface 48 of the slide member 46 is formed to
provide a vertically extending open ended channel 49 for sliding
reception of the guide bar 42, the channel 49 being provided at its
opposite sides with inwardly opening grooves 50 for reception of
the tongues 45 of the guide bar 42. At its longitudinally central
portion, the slide member 46 is formed to provide a recess 51 for
reception of the outer end of the actuator arm 41. As the slide
member 46 is moved upwardly or downwardly with respect to the
switch 39 and guide member 42, engagement of the outer end of the
switch arm 41 with the opposite sides of the recess 51 causes the
switch arm 41 to oscillate or swing about its axis of swinging
movement, indicated at 52 in FIG. 8.
In the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3, only the members 10 and 19 are
added to a conventional switch arrangement. In the modification
illustrated in FIGS. 4-6, only the members 26 and 27 are added. In
the arrangement illustrated in FIGS. 7-9, the customary cover plate
of the types indicated at 7 and 22 in FIGS. 1 and 4 are removed and
the guide member 42 substituted therefor, the slide member 46 being
added.
While we have shown and described a preferred embodiment of our
switch operating device, and two modified arrangements, it will be
understood that the same is capable of further modification without
departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in
the claims.
* * * * *