Electrical switch

An electrical slide switch comprising:

• a housing,
• a plurality of fixed contacts located in the housing,
• a switching member supported in the housing for reciprocating rotary movement about an axis,
• at least one moving contact supported by the switching member for movement into and out of contact with the fixed contacts, and
• an actuator supported by the housing for sliding movement of the switching member, wherein the actuator slides in a direction substantially perpendicular to the axis.

An electrical slide switch comprising:

• a housing,
• a plurality of fixed contacts located in the housing,
• a switching member supported in the housing for reciprocating rotary movement about an axis,
• at least one moving contact supported by the switching member for movement into and out of contact with the fixed contacts, and
• an actuator supported by the housing for sliding movement of the switching member, wherein
• the switching member has a substantially cylindrical body that is pivotable about the axis and that includes a lateral projection engaged by the actuator, and
• the actuator includes an aperture in which the projection is slidably engaged.

An electrical slide switch comprising:

• a housing,
• a plurality of fixed contacts located in the housing,
• a switching member supported in the housing for reciprocating rotary movement about an axis,
• at least one moving contact supported by the switching member for movement into and out of contact with the fixed contacts, wherein the switching member has a substantially cylindrical body pivotable about the axis, and the moving contact extends over an angle exceeding 180° around the body, gripping the body, and
• an actuator supported by the housing for sliding movement of the switching member.

An electrical slide switch comprising:

• a housing,
• a plurality of fixed contacts located in the housing,
• a switching member supported in the housing for reciprocating rotary movement about an axis,
• at least one moving contact supported by the switching member for movement into and out of contact with the fixed contacts, wherein the switching member has a substantially cylindrical surface around the axis, and the moving contact is located in that cylindrical surface and lies substantially flush with the cylindrical surface for contact with the fixed contacts, and
• an actuator supported by the housing for sliding movement of the switching member.

An electrical slide switch comprising:

• a housing,
• fours fixed contacts located in the housing,
• a switching member supported in the housing for reciprocating rotary movement about an axis, two of the fixed contacts being located on a first side of the switching member and two of the fixed contacts being located on a second side, opposite the first side, of the switching member, and including two of the moving contacts supported on the switching member,
• at least one moving contact supported by the switching member for movement into and out of contact with the fixed contacts, wherein each moving contact has a first part for electrically inter-connecting a respective pair of the fixed contacts on opposite sides of the switching member in a first position and includes a second part for electrically inter-connecting a respective pair of the fixed contacts on the same side of the switching member in a second position, and
• an actuator supported by the housing for sliding movement of the switching member.

An electrical slide switch comprising:

• a housing,
• a plurality of fixed contacts located in the housing,
• a switching member supported in the housing for reciprocating rotary movement about an axis,
• at least one moving contact supported by the switching member for movement into and out of contact with the fixed contacts, and
• an actuator supported by the housing for sliding movement of the switching member, wherein each fixed contact comprises a resiliently deformable strip having a first end for contact with the moving contact and a second end for connection with an electrical cable, the second end being folded to form a clamp with an adjacent part of the strip for automatically clamping an end of the cable upon insertion.

An electrical slide switch comprising:

• a housing,
• a plurality of fixed contacts located in the housing,
• a switching member supported in the housing for reciprocating rotary movement about an axis,
• at least one moving contact supported by the switching member for movement into and out of contact with the fixed contacts, and
• an actuator supported by the housing for sliding movement of the switching member, wherein the housing has a part engaging the actuator, and one of the actuator and the part of the housing includes a protuberance and the other of the actuator and the part of the housing includes a series of indentations, the protuberance being slidably and resiliently engageable, selectively, with the indentations to define respective distinct stable positions of the actuator.

An electrical changeover switch comprising:

• a housing,
• a switching member supported in the housing for reciprocating movement,
• four fixed contacts located in the housing with two of the fixed contacts adjacent a first side of the switching member and two of the fixed contacts adjacent a second side, opposite the first side, of the switching member,
• two moving contact means supported by the switching member for movement into and out of contact with the fixed contacts, and
• an actuator supported by the housing for sliding movement of the switching member, wherein each moving contact means has a first part for electrically inter-connecting a respective pair of the fixed contacts on opposite sides of the switching member, in a first position, and includes a second part for electrically inter-connecting a respective pair of the fixed contacts on the same side of the switching member, in a second position.

An electrical slide switch comprising:

• a housing,
• a plurality of fixed contacts located in the housing,
• a switching member supported in the housing for reciprocating movement,
• at least one moving contact movable by the switching member to move into and out of contact with the fixed contacts in a first direction, and
• an actuator supported by the housing for sliding movement moving the switching member, the housing having a part engaging the actuator, wherein one of the actuator and the part of the housing includes a protuberance and the other of the actuator and the part of the housing includes a series of indentations, the protuberance being slidably and resiliently engageable, selectively, with the indentations to define respective distinct stable positions of the actuator, and the protuberance is engageable with the indentations in a second direction that is substantially perpendicular to the first direction.