Emhart Industries, Inc.

Gregg V Speer

Donald L Ray

Mark L Petre

An electromechanical switch having a manually operable lever with a long lever arm, a low power circuit on a circuit board, low pressure contacts and a force decoupling assembly for connecting the lever and contacts while decoupling the forces associated with the operation of the lever from the forces associated with contacting the circuit. The force decoupling assembly includes a contact carriage pivotable in a first direction to move the contacts across traces on the circuit board to activate the switch and springs for biasing the contacts against the traces in a direction perpendicular to the pivot plane.

Electromechanical switch

A shaft is rotatable in a housing and connected to a rotatable actuator having a notch that pivots around the shaft. A slidable actuator is slidable along the shaft and has a notch that moves parallel to the shaft. The shaft is inserted into a slot in a lever, and a pin having a shoulder is passed through the lever perpendicular to the slot, passing through a bore in the shaft and the shoulder pressing the shaft against the side of the slot. The pin is driven in with a predetermined force high enough to hold the lever and shaft together with zero clearance and low enough to allow the lever to easily pivot on the shaft. The lever is deformable and thus grips the pin. A pair of identical carriages are pivotable on pins, each carriage having an arm that fits into one of the notches in the actuators, the arm and notches having surfaces shaped to provide a zero-clearance, non-jamming fit over their entire range of motion. Contacts are mounted on the carriages and are moved across traces on a circuit board by the pivoting motion of the carriages to activate the switch.

Electrical switch with improved mechanical assembly

An electromechanical switch includes a lever movable between neutral and activate positions, a first cam comprising a cylinder having oppositely disposed flat sides, a pair of elongated leaf springs, and a housing supporting the first cam sandwiched between the leaf springs, with the leaf springs bent a first non-zero amount when the lever is in neutral position and a second amount larger than the first amount when the lever is in the activate position, the leaf spring thereby acting to return the lever to neutral position whenever it is moved to activate position. There is also a detent which includes a second cam and a stop integrally formed with the second cam which is located between the lever and the first cam.

Growing community of inventors

Bloomington, IN, United States of America

Gregg V Speer