Push button
AssigneePenn Engineering & Manufacturing Corp.
InventorJonathan Brunk
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The components of a push button comprise a plunger, a retainer, a spring and an end cap. The plunger has a button at the top, a middle section with an enlarged square cross-section, and a pin of reduced diameter at the bottom end. The plunger slidably strokes up and down within a retainer which has an upper portion that closely holds the button on the top of the plunger and also includes a rectilinear recess sized to receive the square midsection of the plunger. A middle portion of the retainer comprises an enlarged cylindrical cavity bounded above and below by opposing roof and floor surfaces. The roof and the floor have cams that engage the corners of the plunger midsection which cause it to rotate during plunger strokes. A spring within the retainer biases the plunger upward. The assembly of parts is captivated by a retainer end cap.
Claims20
A push button, comprising:
- a retainer with top and bottom ends and an axial bore extending from the top end to the bottom end of the retainer, the retainer further comprising a collar at a distal portion of the top end;
- wherein the axial bore includes a central cavity and a counterbore, the counterbore extending from a distal portion of the bottom end, the central cavity bounded by a roof portion and a top of the counterbore, said roof portion having a first set of cams;
- a cam ring insert formed as a separate feature from the retainer, disposed against the top of the counterbore, and including a second set of cams;
- a plunger received within the axial bore and axially slidable between extended and retracted positions, said plunger comprising:
- a button portion at a distal top end of the plunger, a pin portion at a distal bottom end of the plunger, and a flanged midsection of lateral square cross-section located between the top and bottom ends of the plunger, and
- wherein corners of the flanged midsection act upon the first and second sets of cams when the plunger is moved between the retracted and extended positions whereby the plunger is rotated.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.