General Electric Company

Peter H Basler

Gregory D Schwehr

James J Kandler

A laminated touch switch panel includes a lowermost insulating board having foil contacts on its top surface and a perforated uppermost board having foil contacts on its bottom surface. A perforated insulating spacer sheet has its bottom surface interfacing with the top of the lowermost board and its upper surface interfacing with an intervening flexible perforated membrane. The membrane has foil contacts on its upper surface which are normally closed with respect to the contacts on the bottom of the uppermost board and has contacts on its lower surface which are normally open with respect to the contacts on the lowermost board. Flexing the membrane with a force applied through the uppermost board opens the normally closed contacts and closes the normally open contacts. In one embodiment, contacts are kept normally closed with resilient elements that apply a force on the membrane which is overcome to open the contacts by applying a force through an aperture in the uppermost board.

Membrane touch switches

A printed wire board has lamp socket holes and switch contact pairs adjacent the holes on the top surface of the board and lamp socket contacts adjacent the holes on its bottom surface. An insulating spacer sheet is adhered to the board and has apertures which are congruent with the switch contact pairs. A membrane, adhered to the top surface of the spacer, has lamp holes and short circuiting contacts on its bottom surface for being flexed through the apertures to bridge gaps between the contact pairs on the board. An apertured rigid plate is superposed over and spaced from the membrane. Combination light channel and switch operating plunger elements fit in the plate apertures and contact the membrane. A film on which switch operating touch zones are delineated is adhered to the plate.

Growing community of inventors

Sussex, WI, United States of America

Peter H Basler