Tower Manufacturing Corporation

Oslo Controls, Incorporated

Krause; Ward Barry

W Barry Krause

Ear plug

Switch

An electrical switch construction includes a housing having an aperture therein, fixed and movable contacts in the housing, an actuator in the housing, and an O-ring in the housing. The actuator includes a substantially hemispherical portion and an actuator arm which extends outwardly from the substantially hemispherical portion and through the aperture in the housing. The actuator arm is pivotably mounted in the housing, and it is manipulatable from the exterior of the housing for moving the movable contact between a position of engagement with the fixed contact and a position of spaced disengagement therefrom. The O-ring is mounted in the interior of the housing so that it extends around the aperture therein, and so that it engages the surface of the substantially hemispherical portion of the actuator to provide a water-resistant seal between the actuator and the housing. The O-ring is maintained in uniformly pressurized engagement with the hemispherical portion of the actuator because the actuator is independently and pivotably mounted with aligned pivot pins in a section of the housing. The above sentence has been added to the abstract to more clearly describe applicants switch structure and the components which interact with one another to provide a unique hermetic seal.

Water-resistant switch construction

A rotary switch having a housing carrying a plurality of terminals which may be assembled within the housing in various combinations to give the switch different operating characteristics, with the terminals providing a circular array of spaced switch contacts arranged in a plane normal to the switch axis, has a rotary carrier mounting at least one disc contactor facing the array of contacts, the carrier being biased toward the plane of the contacts to urge the contactor into circuit closing relation with the contacts. A switch base snaps together with the terminal housing to enclose the carrier and an actuator, preferably in the form of a key lock tumbler plug, extends through the base and drivingly engages with the carrier to effect rotation of the contractor relative to the contacts and thereby operate the switch.

Growing community of inventors

Spotsylvania, VA, United States of America

W Barry Krause