Rotary switch housing having integral flexible detenting walls and rotor mounting structure
AssigneeAMP Incorporated
InventorsGary Jay Koppenheffer, William Henry Rose
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention relates to a rotary switch of the type wherein an electrical contact is mounted on a rotor or wheel provided with circumferentially spaced and radially projecting levers. The wheel is normally retained in fixed position within a housing by a pair of resiliently deflectable webs engaged against at least a pair of levers. This construction of the switch requires a minimum of component parts and assembly steps.
Claims3
In a rotary switch having moveable electrical contacts mounted on a rotor provided with radially projecting levers and a housing substantially enclosing the rotor and contacts, and the housing enclosing detent means engageable on said rotor, the improvement comprising:
- said housing and said detent means being fabricated in one piece from a dielectric material,
- said housing having a base wall rotatably supporting said rotor and a plurality of sidewall portions integral with and projecting outwardly of said base wall,
- said detent means comprising a pair of elongated and relatively thin and resilient web portions each integrally joined at opposite ends to opposed ones of said sidewall portions,
- said web portions extending between said opposite ones of said sidewall portions and resiliently engaging selected levers of said rotor which is disposed between said web portions,
- said base wall having therein slots extending lengthwise of said web portions for formation of said web portions in spaced relationship from said base wall, and
- axle means rotatably mounting said rotor on said base wall.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.