The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 11, 1996
Filed:
Feb. 17, 1995
Carleton M Cobb, III, East Walpole, MA (US);
Gary A Baker, North Scituate, RI (US);
Peter J Bloznalis, North Attleboro, MA (US);
Texas Instruments Incorporated, Dallas, TX (US);
Abstract
A switch system (10) is shown having housing members (12, 13) forming a cavity (14) in which an actuator arm (32) is pivotably mounted. Spring electrical contact members (36, 38) are mounted on the actuator arm and slide into and out of engagement with electrical contact segments (26a, 24a) respectively mounted on respective circuit boards (26, 24) as the actuator arm pivots. The actuator arm is formed with a hub portion (32a) received in bores (12b, 13b) of the housing. The hub in turn has a bore (32b) which is received on and keyed to the manual shaft of a vehicle transmission by opposing flat surfaces (32c). First and second annular spring seal elements (34) are received between respective sealing surfaces (12a, 32a) and (13a, 32a) to prevent ingress of debris into cavity (14). Housing member (12) is formed with a connector portion (16) having a generally cylindrical connector shroud (16a) which receives terminal pins (28) which are electrically connected to contact segments (26a, 24a). Connector portion (16) is received through a first bore (2) of the transmission housing wall (6) and manual lever shaft (8) is received in a second bore (4) of the transmission housing wall (6).