Itt Manufacturing Enterprises, Inc.

Klaus Lamm

Michael Stoffers

Rainer Maurer

Uwe Gillmann

Henning Koschke

Uwe Gillman

Klaus Wisskirchen

Hartmut Draeger

Willi Semmelroggen

Uwe Immig

A switch has a housing (), a pair of switching units () with buttons () that can be depressed to operate each switch unit, and a rocker () pivotally mounted on the housing to pivot clockwise and counterclockwise from a neutral position. An elastomeric diaphragm () mounted on a top wall () of the housing, extends across an aperture () in the housing, with first and second lower parts () of the rocker passing through the diaphragm to rest closely above the buttons on the switch units. The diaphragm not only largely seals the switch units, but biases the rocker towards the neutral position.

Rocker/pushbutton switch

The invention relates to a joystick having a hand-grip, which is mounted with two degrees of freedom in a mounting in a housing and which may be deflected in different directions out of an initial position, the grip being biased by a spring mechanism towards its initial position and sensor apparatus being provided to sense the different positions of the grip and to generate an output signal which may be used to control machine and/or vehicle functions. A housing cover ( ) is provided having its upper side directed towards the grip, while on the underside, there is pivotally mounted a cardan joint center portion ( ) on whose underside there is pivotally mounted a cardan joint inner portion ( ), whose underside is provided with spherical segments, which are mounted in complementary bearing cup-portions provided on a receiving support ( ).

Joystick

An electrical switch (26) is mounted in a rigid housing in the form of a control handle (10), where the housing has a soft flexible covering (32) with a portion (40) that can be depressed to operate the switch. The housing is in the form of a shell with first and second separately molded shell parts (14,16). The first shell part has a hole (24) in it that is aligned with the switch actuator, and the covering is overmolded onto the first shell, with the portion of the covering lying over the hole in the first shell being thickened at the middle (44) of the hole to indicate the area to be depressed and for more comfortable depression. A peripheral area of the first shell has an upstanding wall (62) with passages (66) therein, and the overmolded flexible covering has connection portions (72) that extend from the main covering portion (46) and through the passages to a peripheral covering portion (74), with the peripheral covering portion lying between the first and second shell parts to seal the gap (70) between them.

Actuatable switch in sealed housing

Growing community of inventors

Berlin, Germany

Klaus Lamm